The Healer And The Boneless

Chapter 11

I made my way towards the home. I felt a great sense of freedom.
The door opened by itself. A woman was throwing wood in the fireplace. The energy shifted when I entered the poorly lit home. It felt thick and time seemed to stretch before me. My movements became slow while everyone else seemed to move at a normal pace. The whole room shifted when the woman stood up and walked past. Now, a boy laid on the bed, a fatal wound upon his stomach... and a younger version of myself by his side. The memory stitched itself together. The missing pieces came back to me, and I remembered how I felt, how the room smelled. Who he was: my bastard brother, Blyth. I needed to save him. He was always getting himself into these kinds of things. I watched myself, I had placed a hand over his wound and sobbed, and then I felt it. A stinging sensation that starts at the tip of my toes and then travels through my veins. I guided the electric feeling and thought hard enough to bring it to the tip of my finger, and with that, his wound started to heal itself. Skin began knitting back together. He woke up as the last bit of flesh sealed and watched a little bit of blood roll back inside its rightful place. His reaction that followed surprised me. He grew scared, curled himself into a ball and screamed, "you're a witch!"
He ran towards the door before I could tell him anything. I sobbed harder and the woman placed her hand on my shoulder. I fell to my knees. She was my mother: Renee, her touch gave me back her memory and the room shifted again. I was in the hut again with Freya. She gave me a potion to forget where I came from, she cut my hair, changed my clothes and sold me to England.
"They want your power, they can't know who you are." She whispered and touched my face, with each soft stroke to my cheek the room sank further into darkness.

I woke to see Seereess staring at me with a blank face. "Your brother was an asshole." She said, my mind was racing with so many more questions.
I sat up and held on to the blissful feeling I was left with knowing my mother. A farmer, away from the village, who had a beautiful singing voice, and tended elegant horse. I remembered having a dog as a pet. I can't think of the name but a still picture of her sits in my head.

I could still feel her strong, resilient grip on my shoulder. I could almost hear her silver voice in the memories. She was young and patient.

"My mother was ordinary?" I asked, realization hitting me, as I remembered riddles my mother sang, and playing hide and seek right before bed.

I looked to Seereess, puzzled, and she only returned the stare. "This doesn't answer anything!" I yelled, frustrated. Seereess stands and holds a hand out to stop me from yelling.

"The purpose of that potion was to bring back your memory, stitch back the holes of it."

"No," I shook my head, "why do I have these powers!?"

Seereess cackled loudly. "I don't know why the Gods choose you. For sure, I would have picked someone else too." She stood up and walked towards the door. Her words surprised me by how much they had hurt. Though, I strained my face to not show it. She opens the door and tells me to walk outside with her. "Though, with time, I hope you prove me wrong, Nia. For some reason, you were born with that power. When was the last time you used it?"

"Two years ago." I answered as we walked into the forest. She almost turned to look back at me but she hesitated.
"Who? Were you and this person close?" She asked.
"I was fairly close. I admit I think I liked him more than a friend for a while."
She smiled and looked at me, "And did he feel the same?" She raised her eyebrow when she tilted her head to look back at me, her lips curled into a mischievous smile.
"No, he didn't." The tightness went away and she turned away from me again.