Can reasons really be enough,

They called her a curse,

The one put upon by time.

They called her dispensable sometimes,

Something that needs to be squished again

Yet her happening shook the realm.

Making it vulnerable one more time.

The enemies rejoiced.

The heroes were destroyed.

For sometimes she had a mind

and sometimes she did not.

Anaya stood on the top of the mountain, taking in the view. Dravyana was beautiful. Strange warmth swept through her body.

Was it something to do with Dravyana then? She thought.

Grey was saying something about the border, which she did not hear. As she took another step towards the fort, a bizarre sensation filled her. Anaya froze. This was not nausea; this was different. It was as if the air itself had changed. Like the air was filled with a strange taste, and then it happened.

Anaya saw the same fence she had seen a hundred times in her dreams, only this time it was the color of rainbows. Everything around her seemed to wade out of her senses. She took another step into the mysterious world. It was never this real, never so beautiful. She focused her eyes beyond the fence looking for her mother. Anaya’s mother was nowhere to be found.

Out of nowhere, Grey popped up in front of her. He was saying something, which Anaya was not able to infer. His face was tensed; his grey eyes almost black. Anaya was not able to comprehend much of what he said. What she did understand was that the fence was dangerous and it would kill her if she crossed it. Grey’s voice faded in and out of Anaya’s senses. Anaya looked again beyond the fence for her mother but she was not there.

“But-” Anaya tried fruitlessly to explain.

But Grey did not seem to see what she did. He muttered something and guided her away into a different path. He took the lead this time.

“Anaya. Do you not want to come?” Her mother’s shallow voice floated through the air and danced with the winds.

Anaya came to an abrupt stop, she turned around slowly. Her mother was there beyond the fence now. She was dressed in her red sari like always, looking young and beautiful. She smiled graciously. Anaya wished her smile was as beautiful as her mother’s.

“Mom…” she whispered.

“It’s okay, my dear. You need to do this.”

“But Mom-”

“Do this for me, my dear. Trust me and I will let no harm come to you,” Her mother promised. Her mother’s face filled with sadness. Anaya could feel her mother’s sadness, her very presence as if she was touched by her mother’s aura.

“Come, my dear. Just do it… For me…” Anaya’s mother pleaded.

Anaya took a deep breath and broke into a run.

* * *

Anaya could hear Grey yell something behind her. He was catching up with her. Anaya lunged forward with everything she had got. She ran downhill jumping past every rock and bush in her way. She could feel Grey’s desperate screams becoming distant. Her feet and ankle ached from the bruises she had suffered the previous day but nothing could stop her from getting past the fence. She was getting farther from him. But to Anaya, the only thing that mattered to her at that moment was reaching her mother.

“Anaya” Her mother breathed with gleaming eyes.

Anaya had never seen her mother cry, not even once. She ran even faster. She felt like she was running over water. Like the ground below liquefied beneath her feet.

“Almost there, my dear,” she whispered with an anxious smile.

Anaya was hardly panting. Nothing else mattered to her at that moment. She ran with everything she had got. Anaya could see the fence in front of her. It was hardly a few feet away. Anaya’s mother’s face filled with hope and triumph.

Anaya jumped into the rainbow-colored fence and like always the fence dissolved into the thin air. Her mother smiled with pride. Anaya went running way past the fence before she collapsed and went rolling on the ground. She was breathing hard. She expected her mother to show up. But Anaya already knew her mother would not come. Her panting started to slow down a bit. Then she heard the steady running steps of someone. Anaya’s eyes went wide.

Grey is going to be so furious!

After a few seconds, Grey came to a stop, a few feet from her, staring down at her collapsed form, with disbelief and shock. Grey’s eyes were still changing colors; it had gotten lighter, but then started getting darker. Anaya’s skin lurched with goose bumps. He was breathing hard with a deep, shocked frown, and his mouth agape. He bent over; catching his knees but did not take his eyes off her even for a second. Anaya slowly sat up, holding her wrist over her bent knees. Anaya met Grey in the eyes. She didn’t want to throw any comment but a smirk spread on her face anyway. Grey dropped his head facing the ground.

“Are you alright, Grey?” Anaya grinned.

Aara : Legacy of the fire queen,
Vandana Rajan

Read the whole story Aara: The legacy of the fire queen here