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03: A Tamer's Sacred Oath

03: A Tammer's Sacred Oath

It was freezing. There was no fire in the furnace to help me as I tremble from the cold when I woke up on the floor in the middle of the night. Silence envelopes the whole household aside from the sound of crickets outside. Only the light of the moon has given color to this already abandoned room.

I stayed lying on the floor, not minding the dust encircling me as I keep my eyes close. It was so cold, from the midnight breeze blowing inside this room down to this dusty floor. I gritted my teeth as I tightly hugged my coat, hoping that it would at least make me feel warm. I was already drifting back to sleep when the hairs on my neck bristled. My body tensed and my eyes opened with alert.

I would have stayed asleep if not for the shushed voices outside our property. I could hear three people talking in low voices, as if afraid to be heard. I closed my eyes and tried to listen, but something is trying to suppress me from using my gift as a tamer.

I walked silently and stood up to peep from the window. I could see three silhouettes hiding behind the bushes right across our wooden gate. One of them tried to step on the grass of our land, but then stopped after stepping on the invisible line before he could cross it. He limped back to the other two as they glance at this house every once in a while.

I kept watching as they tried chanting words that could break the protection of this land, but every time they try, it also kept on bouncing back at them. They slumped their backs on the carriage they brought in exhaustion. They must have realized that it is futile to trespass to our property.

I put on the hood of my cloak and stepped back. I glanced again and found them looking at my direction. They must have felt someone was watching them.

I started walking towards the door noiselessly. The wind seeped through the holes of the window, and I let my clothes sway with it as it gently brushed past me. When I finally opened the door, I caught sight of their bodies standing up immediately after seeing my silhouette.

The vines that protect this house started parting as I walk along the cemented aisle between our flower and vegetable garden. The branches and leaves rattled, recognizing the passing owner, as if welcoming me again after years of being away.

I could see their astonished faces while watching me as I walk silently. Why? Have they not seen anyone who is one with the vines?

I couldn't help but scoff as their mouths dropped once again when I opened our gate. Golden dusts came out from my hand and floated midair, attaching themselves to the wooden gate filled with vines that opened on its own. The gate closed on its own as I took a step outside. The vines protected me once again, ready to attack whoever among them would plan to attack me.

"Who are you?" My voice, concealed to be indistinguishable by the power of our land, reached them. As if an invisible force hit them in their mind, they were woken up from a long trance.

They looked at each other and I squinted my eyes in annoyance behind my cloak as I saw them communicate through their eyes. They all stepped forward, and if I had not calmed down the vines, they would have been attacked and shredded to pieces by its thorns and sharp edges.

"We are from the palace. We were sent by the King." The woman in the middle said. I pursed my lips to stop me from being surprised. A King? This land has no king. We only have a Ministry, an organization led by some influential families.

"We were sent here by King Adelio Fritzgerald. We are here to escort you to the palace." I scoffed. Fritzgerald, huh?

"Why would I trust a stranger like you?"

"I told you! This would be hard."

"Let's just show it to her."

"But she won't believe us! We all know their government is different from ours."

I raised my eyebrow while listening to their exchange of ideas on how to convince me. Our government is different from them? Of course, for we have no king. All members of the ministry have equal powers. They govern different sectors, and no one has the power to meddle with each other's affairs. Except for one family.

"We have a symbol. A symbol that proves that we are members of the palace." They took off their coats and raised the sleeves of their suit. There glowed a symbol, an imperfect diamond inside a circle with a triangle in its center.

"Why am I not surprised?" They shot me a confused look. I shook my head in disappointment.

I should not have asked. A Fritzgerald is ruling a country. What better way to show their power? Certainly a family's symbolism. A sacred symbol.

I waved my hand in the air and all the vines around me went back to the ground. As I walk towards them with my guard up, the vines started encircling our household until everything is covered by living vines and dusts.

"Take me to the King." I said as I came face to face with the three escorts sent by the King himself. Their eyes lit up and the woman opened her mouth to speak, but she closed it even without a single word.

Fritzgerald. I wonder why he knows the exact day of my return.

"Please get in the carriage. It would be faster to take you there through this than by foot." The tallest man among them led me to the door of the carriage. He opened it for me and waited for me to get inside.

"How long will it take to get there?" I asked. They looked at each other and the woman looked directly into my eyes.

"Hours, milady. This is the most secluded part of the land, atop the mountains, and near the edge of the boundary."

I looked around and noticed the difference of the geography. From what I could recall, this was not as secluded as before. There were still houses near us, but three other houses particularly stood out. For just like ours, those houses were also covered by the mark of their families.

I turned around and sniffed the air. I let my senses take over as I closed my eyes to feel my surroundings. There were only four people here, myself included. I couldn't even sense any animals nearby aside from the horses they brought with them.

"Milady?" A baritone voice called me, making me lose my connection to the forest. He stepped back when I looked at him with an expressionless stare.

"Let me do something first."

Before I entered the carriage they have with them, I led my feet to our land. I let myself walk on the line that my great grandfather created to stop all kinds of uninvited creatures from coming, humans included.

I bowed my head as I knelt with only one knee and two palms touching the ground, and took an oath that would cost my life.

"I will be back. I will face everything, even if it risks my life as long as I can bring you back. And this... is my promise."

My body glowed with millions of golden dusts surrounding me. The dusts floated, created a path connecting with each other until it turned into a golden orb in front of me. As I reached for it and held it in my hands, the glowing orb slowly entered my body, passing in my veins, leaving lines colored in gold, until it reached my chest before everything vanished. The sky turned into an array of shining stars before the glimmers disappear along with the vanishing of the specs around me.