The Delta's Daughter Chapter 222

11 YEARS AGO

HUNJI

“AGAIN!” Chakor shouted, bringing the stick across the back of my legs once again. The bite of the sting buckled my knees, and I growled out with frustration.

I was a fighter and a damn good one. I trained warriors – I was the best in our kingdom. It had been almost three years since I was brought to the sanctuary. My wolf had been returned to me and when he had, all my pain and injuries healed. It took a few weeks, but my body righted itself and started to become stronger again. The only thing that didn’t heal physically were the scars that littered my body. Mentally, I had managed to overcome my vengeance and hatred, putting all my efforts into training and learning.

Hours upon hours and I read scrolls and books, prophecies, legends, and lore. Poured through countless pages of history and then trained, becoming stronger and faster each day. So, when Chakor’s stick hit me once again, I lashed out.

I spun around twirling my Bo staff and swinging it at him in rage. Attacking him head-on reigning down blow after blow which was met with his blocks each time. I was on my back yet again and Chakor was standing over me.

“Hunji, let go of your anger. That anger will only hinder you.” He reached out a hand for me to grab and I took it graciously, hauling back up to my feet. “Now, center yourself, and begin.”

I closed my eyes, inhaling and exhaling slowly. Once I felt the anger dissipate and my wolf calm, I opened my eyes and took my stance.

Chakor advanced first – he was fast for an old man – swinging his staff behind his back and leaping into the air descending down on me. I blocked his attack, maneuvering to the side and bringing my own staff around to hit his back. He ducked and rolled out of the way, but I didn’t let up. I stomped my feet towards him, each pound and tromp of my feet missing its target. 

In no time he was on his feet, I swung out countering his blocks. focusing on one thing – defeating my opponent. My moves sped up becoming more fluid, my hits became harder until each of my advances was harder for Chakor to block.

Finally knocking his staff from his hand, I swung my staff back around, catching him by the back of the legs, giving him no chance to recoup as he landed hard on his back, I pinned him by the neck with the end of my Bo. Stopping short of jamming it through his windpipe.

A few seconds pass until I let up and step back, this time offering him my hand. “You are getting faster young Hunji. Tomorrow, we start training with swords.” He smiled.

He was pleased that I had knocked him down, this was the result he wanted: To make me faster, stronger, to make me the best. They were molding me to be the best version of myself.

For the next couple of weeks, I trained harder than ever. Chakor and Asena pushed me to my limits until there was no one left at the sanctuary for me to defeat. Until there were no more books for me to read and no more scrolls to decipher.

“The student becomes the master. I fear there is no more for you to learn Hunji. And just in time.”  Asena addressed me as she came in just after I had finished another sparing lesson with Chakor.

Chakor was a master of martial arts and a weapons expert, older than I could fathom a guess but fought with the vigor and energy of a young man. His feline reflexes - were still graceful and easy and his mind was as sharp as a whip. “He is strong, I am proud of his improvement and young Hunji here has exceeded any expectations we had. He even overpowered Mansa in less than five minutes.” Chakor reiterated about a bear shifter he had me spar against just yesterday.

“Good.” Asena faced me and smiled, “It seems it is time for you to fulfill your promise.”

I cocked my head at her “Which one?” I asked.

“The chosen one has made her spirit known, I have seen and felt her. It is time for you to fulfill your promise and find her.”

“And what do I do when I find her?” This was the part we hadn’t spoken about, what would happen once we found this ‘chosen one.’ A chosen one of great power, stronger than all, one who will rule over the realm. No scroll nor prophecy that I have read, had yet to mention this person, who I have now been told is a female.

“You will protect her until the day comes that she takes her rightful place. She need not know who she is, she must discover that for herself.” There was a sad look in Asena’s emerald eyes. I was sure she knew more, but it was not something she would tell me. Only riddles are what she gave me regarding my promise to her and the Goddess Ashe. After all these years I knew better than to ask, as I would receive no explanation or answer. Just more cryptic words.

“How do I find her?” Asena sits back contemplating how to answer, her lips pulling into a tight line.

“That is the vexed question, one that there is no solid answer to.”

I furrow my brows and tilt my head, “How do I find someone when we have no place to start and no idea what she looks like? Do we at least have a name?”

“Ha!” She laughs “If only my visions gave me precise and exact facts. As an oracle I only get snippets, sometimes only a glance or a feeling, other times I see a whole day, but non ever give me the full picture.” She sighs and takes my hand in hers. “The day I found you, I knew the moment I touched you, that you were the one to find her. It was your destiny to be delivered to me and it is your destiny to protect the child. Follow your wolf’s instincts, he will guide you. If I had to take a guess, I would think the chosen child would be in Andora, but I do not know for sure.”

“When do I leave?” Resolving myself to the fact that she could tell me to pack my shit and go immediately.

“In a few days. There are still things we must discuss and go over before I send you on your journey and depart.” This time she offered me comforting a smile that reached her eyes.

“Yes, priestess.” I bowed my head to her “If you will excuse me; I will go wash up now.”

“Very good, meet me in the great hall when you are done. We will pray to the goddess to protect you on your upcoming journey.”

*****

I took a seat in the great hall, on one of the many benches on the outskirts. I sat silently watching and listening to others who had dedicated their lives to the gods – mumble their prayers. Their whispered words were barely audible even for a wolf’s hearing.

Asena took a seat beside me. Her slim frame was shadowed by my large one. “That one is praying to Demeter, to bring us a good harvest” She pointed to a young man no older than me, “She is praying to Sekhmet for the health of her child.” She nodded her head towards a woman. “Who do you pray to Hunji?”

I didn’t know. I used to pray to the god Osiris – the God of rebirth and afterlife, but as of recently, I have only given thanks to the moon goddess and her gifts.

“Whom you pray to does not matter so much as what you are praying for,” Asena said noticing my silence. “There are many gods, some above the others, and there are more forgotten than there are known. I’m sure you have noticed that in our sanctuary we do not discriminate, as long as your intentions are good and just.”

“This chosen one has a dormant gene, the blood of the first werewolf born, and the genes of the first Lycan, she also carries the blood of gods. The genes run strong in her DNA. Genes that have sat dormant for far too long. She will be bigger, stronger, and faster than any other shifter to roam this realm. She is young Hunji, and she needs a protector. A disciple of the moon goddess. Things will come to pass one day, and she will need to be ready. As I have said before – history has a habit of repeating itself. The gods will play games once more and they cannot be allowed to interfere this time. She is a descendant of the lost child of Conri and Nehalennia.

Conri was the son of the goddess Inanna and King Conrad. Nehalennia was the daughter of Ashe. It was their child, a daughter that was lost long ago, taken into hiding by an aunt, and hidden from the eyes of the gods.”

Ashe, a name I would never forget, the name whispered to me before I opened my eyes in the pool of water, when Ruda, my wolf was returned to me. Since then, I have read the scrolls and recorded the visions Asena has been gifted.

“What was the lost daughter's name?” I asked, more than curious. A niggling feeling in my bones told me I already knew but when Ascena spoke the name, I had not heard it before. And I would not hear that name again until many years later.

“It is said she was named Nessie. Of course, no one knows for sure. Again, she was lost and there is no more information on her.” Ascena held a faraway look in her eyes, as if she was remembering something long ago, a pert sad smile sat on her lips.

The name pricked the ears of my wolf, and he began to pace in my head. He knew something but couldn’t say it. Our animal spirits had been around for thousands of years, being reborn into shifter after shifter. When our human side died, our animal spirits would return to the moon goddess and go into a deep sleep, only being awakened when the moon goddess had a new vessel for them.

“Before we send you to find the chosen, I have a task for you. A challenge if you will; Climb the highest mountain of Mint, and on its peak, you will find a flower. Its petals shine silver in the moonlight and indigo during the day. Bring me that flower first.” Without another word Asena stood and walked away, leaving me to watch after her.

She hadn’t said anything else about the flower and didn’t give me a chance to ask. So, I found myself in the library pouring through books, looking for information on this plant she wanted me to retrieve. Sure, I could have gone after her and asked, though she would only answer me with more cryptic words or tell me that it was a need-to-know basis.

By the time I left, a few days later, to climb the mountain I still hadn’t found anything on this flower. So, I only had her description to go off. Several weeks later, after many bone-chilling nights and freezing days, I had reached the top of the highest peak. It was dark and the mist hid the night sky along with the stars and moon. I was in wolf form because it was warmer and easier to navigate the rough terrain – Plus my wolf’s night vision was far superior. I was looking for a place to hunker down for the night when a patch of snow fell from the face of the mountain revealing a small entrance to what looked like a cave.

I squeezed my body and bag into the opening and once inside found that it was larger than expected. It was still cold in here, but at least I was sheltered from the icy wind. Walking deeper into the cave I found an offshoot tunnel that probably led to a smaller inner cavern. Worn and tired I hunkered down on the cold stone floor, my fur doing little to keep the chilliness at bay. At some point, I fell asleep in wolf form only to wake in my skin form, freezing.

An ethereal glow shone from the tunnel I had seen earlier; its light was warm and beckoning me. Without thought, I ventured into the tunnel coming into another cavern, this one smaller. The richness of the light drew me in, the source of that glow was surrounding a pedestal – and upon it sat a rock.

I looked up and around noticing a hole at the top of the inner cave where the sun shone down and through brightly, illuminating the rock. ‘Take me’ I thought I heard a voice.

‘Take me’ The voice said again.

‘Take it’ My wolf encouraged.

Without questioning myself or my wolf, my hands reached out and plucked the stone from where it sat. It was heavy and smooth, its shape oval. Despite its weight, it felt fragile, and I carefully examined it, a strange pulsing energy emanated from it, making my fingers hum. It didn’t look special; at least nothing special that I could see. Yet, it felt like magic, so I took it and placed it in my bag, a comfort settling deep inside me as I did.

I did climb the mountain and I did find the flower Asena asked me to. A lone, singular flower, indigo in color and delicate. I plucked it from the frozen ground and placed that too in my bag. Then began the descent down the mountain, back to the sanctuary.

*****

“Where did you find that Hunji?” Asena asked with surprise in her eyes. Her green orbs were wide and glowing as she took the rock from me. It was the flower she wanted, but it was the strange rock that held her interest more.  

“On the same mountain that I picked your flower from. It called to me. I swear it told me to take it. My wolf told me to take it and I did.” I told the truth, still not understanding what the big deal was. Sure, the rock felt like it held some kind of magical essence. Aside from that, it was just a rock.

“Thousands of moons ago, when this realm was still young, and gods walked amongst the mortals - magic existed and legends were born. During the first phase of this realm, when the sky gods still existed, Apsu and Tiamat heard what the moon goddess and Morrigan did, they begged the deities to grant them a child. The goddess’s granted their wish and Tiamat gave birth in the form of an egg.

"One day a powerful man, blessed with the strength of a god came to claim Apsu and Tiamat’s egg. A war began between the sky gods and the mortal clan of Dacians. The sky gods were defeated when Tiamat was struck down and Morrigan pleaded for Artaius the bear god of the mountains to take the egg. He sent Arcas to retrieve it who hid it deep within the mountains and Morrigan placed a spell on the egg, that it would not hatch until her blood awakened it.

It was at this point the bloodlines became messy. Morrigan gave birth to three daughters. Who would eventually become known as the Morrigan sisters. Two sisters would have three daughters of their own the third would only birth males. And so on. Eventually, the Morrigan bloodline mixed with Ashe the first’s ancestors, as well as Arcas and the goddess Bastet and many more. The moon goddess fating bloodlines together until it was eventually watered down, and no one could tell who came from who anymore.”

“This story was not in any books I read.”

“No, it was not, because it is just a fairytale told to children.” Asena smirked while still holding the stone and turning it in her hands, “It does look like an egg though” She chuckled.

“It does,” I laughed at my own gullibility at believing her story for a mere second. Sometimes you wondered what fact was real, and what was fiction when Asena told a story.

“I think I will keep this as a memento; of treasures that can be found when you are not looking for them.”

“I would hardly call a rock a treasure, a strange rock but no less still a rock. What is the flower for?”

“Oh that, it's used for medicinal purposes, helps one without healing gifts to… well, heal faster. A rare flower as you know. Poisonous if its essence is not extracted in the correct way.” She smiled.

I never thought of that stone again. Or the use of the strange flower. Some weeks later I was packed up and sent on my way to find the girl they call the chosen one, destination unknown. Asena said I will know her when I find her. I didn’t see how that was possible, what was I to do, ask every young girl I came across if they were a descendant of gods.?

With no destination in mind and only a bag on my back, I left the sanctuary and followed my wolf.