(People murmuring)
I wake up to find myself in the middle of a crowd.
“ Ahh you are the defeated one yet you are alive”
“ Hey she reached here which means we still have hope”
“ What do you mean. The Count can’t reach here. The blood smell is purified by the fragrance of millions of flowers in these lands.”
“ Yes but he may come for her”
I look at their faces.
“ Wow looks like I l slept when I reached here”
“ Yes lordess…..but your presence might harm our way of life here”
“ But I was destined to be here”
“ Well maybe for your powers. “
“ Wait the powers of the mage protects this kingdom and if she takes one of these. The land can be weakened can it.”
“ You only here for a year boy. You know nothing about this land. Only Sumatra is a safe place other than Paraag. I have seen the Count try and failed”
“ Wow you saw the Dracula?”
“ Yes lordess. But he will someday come for you eventually. Which is why it is our duty to help you reach your power.But you must promise us”
“ Promise you?”
“ Yes that you will reach Neera the croc and make sure she perimeters the land after you take the power. Neera is a powerful being who can defend from the jackals and the vultures in the shores at the other end”
“ Well she helped me to cross the river maybe she will.”
“ She must have smelled you. She will reach you when you cross Paraag and head towards your country”
“ Well I certainly need some powers or else my friends will be troubled”
“ You are the only one who can reach the good Mage. Please do try to reach Sumatra”
“ Yes I believe that’s my destiny”
An old woman appears.
“ It’s her the cursed one……………………..you should take your powers and be gone now”
“ Cursed one?”
The woman whispers into the crowd as they become surprised.
“ Catch her”
I remember being slammed on my head as my eyes close.
(Crowds chanting)
“ Burn her! Burn her”
I was confused but not fearful as I had faced hungry jackals and witches. But I was tied to a big log.
A man reaches me.
“ As the old woman said this here is a cursed lordess revived . She is a spirit who should have been an animal but has revived into a human. This is against the law of the magiclands.”
“ But she is the chosen one. And Paraag is a place where we love everyone”
“ Not witches or hags”
I look around as fear starts to make me a child.
“ Revived? What do you mean. I am Rose Evalina, a lordess who wants to find her power in the hut”
No sooner I ended my sentence a source of lighting hits me.
(People shouting)
“ She is electrocuted. Wait………..look”
“ What in heavens?”
I carried the log from my back and threw it into the men. Almost 3 of them get squashed. But seeing them cry in pain I take the log away. I couldn’t believe I could lift a 50 kg log with ease.
“ Wow what was she meant to be…………………….a tigress or an elephant?”
“ Yes she is ferrocious as a lioness and powerful as an elephant”
“ Looks like she is the chosen one”
“ Lordess you have found your first power”
“But they said I would find it on the hut on a marked place”
“ Well we saw it this place is the hut”
“ The hut?”
“ Yes lordess we called it the marked hut . But there is a long history about here. At the mean time you must be able to use your first power”
“ Yes I do feel like I can carry even a huge rock”
“ Well the strength power. You have the strength of a tigress o lordess. Look at your nails, it has the shape of a tiger’s claw”
I look at my nails which weren’t quite unique as the man was saying.
“ Well look carefully baroness”
I couldn’t believe that my nails were sharp as a dagger.
“ You indeed are the chosen one. You should have become a tigress after your death but it seems the mage loves you after all”
“ What do you mean?”
“ Well for a thousand years we heard many saviours were made after their unfortunate battle with the count.”
“ Saviour? I don’t understand”
“ Well the count has killed already a large number of people who were lords, knights, lordess, kings, princes, princess and other warriors over 700 years for his absolute dominance in the magical lands”
“ But why?”
“Well let me tell you about the people, the saviours, the dark ones, the champions, the elites and the chosen ones.”
“ Wow there are 5”
“ Yes my child. The people are mere public with no powers. The champion is a one who challenges the Count, the saviour is a creature reborn after his or her battle with the count’s followers called the dark one’s. There were some 1000 saviours two centuries ago but now there are merely some dozen.”
“You mean Richard and Neera?”
“ Yes both of them are your Saviours. Every chosen one has at-least one as I heard.”
“ Please tell me more”
“ Well you will have to help us first for that”
“ How?”
“ You need to use this power of yours? All the Saviours and the dark ones are prohibited here. We need a large fencing and a bridge at the river. And only your power can aid us”
“ How can I build a bridge?”
“ Well you could throw a log easily into us. We need someone to carry those logs in no time near the rivers”
I looked at the people of Paraag with pity as I was confused whether my powers would be used wisely here.