Dark Woods. Land of Beonia Book 1

Chapter 2

"She is not your personal worker Olspian! She is just a kid! She deserves to enjoy her time at school." My mother, Asacia, argued with my father. I sat outside sitting under a leaf I grew to guard me from the light rain that had started as I had started to leave for school. Opica and Bridar had continued walking when my father had started shouting at me to stop.

"She doesn't need school! She can stay here and work on her gift while helping her family! How is that selfish?" My father asked.

"She's a 10 year old who needs to socialize. The other Nadartachi go to school. They just attend an extra class when the others leave. It's made to help them!"

"It's a waste of time for them. They can learn more through work than at school. Opica is only going to go for 2 more years and then start working at your bakery. Then Bridar will go for three more and then be working with me. Raydenia does not need to continue at all. She just needs to connect to nature around her, that's all." My father argued.

"How do you know that's all she needs? We've never had Nadartach in our families. All the other families send their kids and their kids have thrived. Why can't you just accept that?" My mother rebutted on the verge of tears.

I sighed using a stick to draw in the dirt. The rain stopped but I kept the leaf over me. I stared at the Nacemerke on my hand. "This isn't a gift...it's a curse." I mumbled. I sharpened the stick and raised it aiming it at my hand.

"Raydenia stop!" my mother yelled running out to me carrying Flophane. She ripped the stick from me and threw it down the road. "Is this what you want, Olspian?" She asked, turning to face my father who had come running.

I kept my head down, tears mixing with the rain. I didn't want to be Nadartach. I wanted to be Normtech. My mother ushered me to go to school. I stood up and walked down the dirt path to the school. I entered the log building and sat in the back near a window. The teacher had started but didn't notice that i had come in. That day passed in a blur.

When the other Nadartachi stayed I decided to leave, only to be stopped by the teacher Fase. "Where are you going?" She asked, blocking me with with her right hand. Her nacemerke shimmered in the light.

I looked into her blue-green eyes. Fase came from a family of Nadartach, only her older brother was Normtech. She wouldn't understand the situation I was in. "I have to help my father." I whispered.

Fase squatted down to my level, her raven hair slipping over a shoulder. "Raydenia, you are too young to be helping. You have things to learn." she responded by rubbing my arm. "If you need to leave early, just stay for half an hour. It is better than nothing." She suggested with a smile. "You're one of the youngest here, the others will help you a lot."

I looked back at the room. It was true. There was one younger boy who was only six but his father took him home for practice since he too was Nadartach. An older boy who was in Opica's class smiled at me. His sandy blonde hair reflected in the sunlight. "Raydenia!" He called out, motioning to me to come next to him.

That day I stayed longer than 30 minutes. I practiced and practiced all the way home enjoying connecting with nature without feeling pressured by my father. Reality hit me when I got home as I was quickly sent to the garden to heal some of the vegetables that had been attacked by some insects. I didn't know it then but that would be my last time attending the after school program for Nadartach. For the rest of the year my father would be there to get Opica, Bridar and me. He refused to speak with Fase and even went to the elders to keep her away from me.

I knew then that I wouldn't be able to escape my father's grasp...things only got worse six years later when my mother died.   

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Shaking my head to clear the past from my mind I approach the market place...which was louder than usual.