The Girl with an Owl

Chapter 22

"Hey, are you okay?" Ajana asked concern obvious in her voice.
"Am I okay?" Kieran laughed bitterly.
"What kind of question is that?
My world is in war, my family has broken apart, and I am here being useless. So don't you dare ask me if I am okay!" Kieran said.
"I am sorry," Ajana said lost for words.

"What are you sorry for?
That my world is one huge battlefield? That magical beings hate us even though they don't even truly know us?
Are you sorry that we have a never-ending war? That I have seen so many members of my family die excruciating deaths and instead of revenging them I have to go to SCHOOL?" Kieran said bitterly while the word school dripped with venom.

"Can 'sorry' bring back the peace and quiet that was destroyed forever? Can it rebuild the houses that are just rubble now? Or can it maybe bring back the lost family members?" He asked.
"Do you have any idea how it is to watch your little sister die and not being able to stop it?
You who were supposed to protect her, to stop anyone from hurting her!" Kieran yelled as his face turned bright red.

Ajana swallowed loudly after hearing what he had to say.
She couldn't even imagine how he must have felt. All she knew was that he was probably going through hell.
Her family was an average happy family and while her world wasn't always at peace she had never experienced war in her lifetime, so she couldn't really say that she understood how he felt.
Instead of saying anything, she just stood there with her mouth wide open.
What could she possibly say to him to make him feel better?
Even Rex was quiet in her bag, only slightly shaking from fear when Kieran's voice got too loud.

"Can sorry wash away Alavara's blood off my hands?
Can it erase the memory of getting there too late and only being able to hold my little sister's fragile body while life drained out of her, lying to her that everything would be okay and wishing it was me lying in the pool of blood instead of her?
She was only ten! For Shevarash sake, she had so much to live for! Instead, the grass is growing over her grave.
Can your lousy 'sorry' make all that go away!? Can it!?" He yelled as tears started running down his face.
With an aggressive move of his hand, he wiped away the tears and before Ajana had the chance to say anything he walked away almost running.

Annoyed with herself for making Kieran relive those awful moments of his life and sad for his terrible plight Ajana went to meet up with Wallace.
"It's so good to see a friendly face," Ajana said the moment she saw him.
Rex also flew out of her bag to go to Wallace and settle on his shoulder.
"I am guessing you've had quite a day today.
Why don't I take you to one of my favorite places and then you can tell me all about your day." Wallace said.

"What about the tutoring? Shouldn't we start with that immediately?
I mean I have so much to learn. There are so many things I don't understand." Ajana said.
"We will get to that part soon enough, but first I want to help you relax and unwind by telling me about your day.
I have a feeling that what I want to teach you today will tie in nicely with what you have to tell me about your day." Wallace said knowingly.

The road they took seemed like a regular nature path until they reached their destination.
The place they reached was a bright green lake surrounded by two huge red mountains that were perfectly reflected in the water's surface.
"Wow, why is the water green? Is it dirty?" Ajana asked curious about the waters strange color.

"That is an excellent question, my dear.
You see, your whole life you have been taught that the color of the water in a lake has to be blue, but why?
Well, mostly because that is your world's truth but just because it is true for people in your world it doesn't necessarily make it true for everyone, everywhere.
Believe it or not, we all have our way of seeing reality and it is completely different for different people. Although we call it 'reality', it can be quite a subjective term.
You have to learn that although some things are true in your world they are not true everywhere.
Often times, things are not as they seem.
Come, take a sip of this water." Wallace said pointing towards the lake with one of his colorful wings.

Ajana trusted Wallace.
He was more than her tutor he was her familiar, as well but even the mere thought of drinking the green water made her hesitant.
Not wanting to offend Wallace, she did one thing she had known how to do since childhood.
She blocked all her thoughts.
Her head was free of not only all the worries and fears but also of any thoughts whatsoever.
The best way to describe it would be to say that there was a huge wall between herself and her mind.

Reflexively, she approached the lake and took a handful of water drinking it before it could drip through her cupped hand.
The water was like nothing she had tasted before, it had the freshness of a mountain stream, but there was something more to it.
An unknown ingredient that made her body feel well-rested and alive.
Everything around her came into focus and all her senses were working more perfectly than she thought possible.
She could hear a bird feeding its young in the nearby tree, smell some unusual flowers under the tree and feel the gentle breeze that she was unable to feel before she tried the water.

That was when she realized that Wallace was right, nothing was the way it seemed. It seemed to her like a dirty lake but it was actually the source of fresh water and vital energy.
Encouraged by their isolation and the energizing water, she asked what had been on the tip of her tongue since Wallace's class.

"Why do people dislike the elves so much?
What is exactly happening in their world?" She asked.

"Ah, that is a long story, but I think it's better I told you now so that you can better understand others'... hm... hesitance when it comes to elves.
That is actually a story I was planning on telling you anyway since it turned out that Kieran would be your partner.
It's important for you to understand their world, to understand him so that you can work together.
Also, it will help you better understand some things that happened today." Wallace said.

Ajana settled down on the soft grass near the green lake and as the gentle sun's rays warmed her skin she listened to yet another story that would help her better understand the complexities of the culture in Mag and the elf issue.