Birds glided their wings gracefully through the sky, as if keeping a watchful eye, to the small boat where Ganadara and Mindaza were resting.
Ganadara had her head down, peacefully lost in a deep sleep. Meanwhile, Mindaza's eyes were tightly shut, as her face facing the bright morning sun. The boat rocked gently by the waves and drew further.
The two of them were still unaware of where the wave of the sea had brought them.
One eagle came, spread its wide wings as it soared through the sky, its keen eyes scanning the ground below for any signs of movement. Out of nowhere, it spotted a potential meal and, with incredible agility, swooped down, its talons ready to grab the flying fish. As its feet hit the surface of the sea level, a splash of water erupted, sending droplets flying everywhere. One of those droplets hit Ganadara's face, waking her up from her slumber.
"Oh my...!" Ganadara muttered. She wipes her face then look at her surroundings. After she realize that there is no one near on the area, she stands up to wake up Mindaza.
"Mindaza.. Wake up!" Ganadara called. But the second time she patted Mindaza's back, she wondered why she still hadn't woken up.
"Mindaza, the sun's up! We need to get this boat moving as far as we can," Ganadara said, glancing out at the vast ocean, worried that their enemies might spot them.
Ganadara picked up a small, flat wooden oar and began to paddle the boat they were in. In the distance, she spotted something dark-definitely land. She kept at it, focused on her task. After an hour, Mindaza still hadn't stirred, and worry crept in for Ganadara. She tried to wake her up again, but was surprised when Mindaza fell straight into her arm. After her quick check, it revealed that Mindaza was still breathing, but she was out cold and unconscious.
Mindaza's dream;
"Mother..!!?" She called Sulaya who standing under the tree, watching the vast ocean.
Sulaya turn on her way. She smiled at her and said.. "Mindaza... My lovely daughter."
"Mother, what are you doing here?" Mindaza asked, but at the same time, she feels that there is something an emptiness on her heart.
"It's because you always called me.."
"It's not like that- uhm..." Mindaza bow down her head. She refuse to accept the fact that her mother is already dead, she knew it! She remember how her mother died, she remember her face, until her body sink on the deepest part of the water.
"Mother.. forgive me. I can't..."
"I know my daughter is brave. Continue your journey and take more lessons in life. Don't stop.. you must go on.." Sulaya told her.
"But I need you mother!!" Like a child, Mindaza shouted this words.
"Don't be sad.. I'll always watching you, and guide you 'till the very end"
"Mother .." Mindaza said. Tears flows from her eyes.
"It is time to follow your destiny, warrior!"
Perhaps it was because of the clarity of the voice, but Mindaza felt an easing of her grief. She had other things on her mind; somehow, she had to cross to the northern shore of the Forth, as Sulaya had intended.
"Where? And how should I start?" Mindaza whispered.
Sulaya stood there like a warrior queen, a stunning woman radiating with strength. Her voice was calm, but as her body began to embrace the light and sway with the wind, her beautiful smile seemed to dissolve into the air.
"Don't leave me, Mother. Don't leave me alone out here!" Mindaza requested.
Like it stretched endlessly, wrapped in a heavy darkness that enveloped Mindaza, concealing the joy of her past and the deep sorrow of her present. It gave her space to worry about her mother and the islanders she had known her whole life, while also allowing her to remember the horrific events of the recent battles. It felt like a lifetime ago, an eternity filled with the anguished cries of severely wounded men and the haunting death rattles of those who had already fallen. Mindaza closed her eyes and said, " Mother! I'm afraid"
As Sulaya began to fade, Mindaza could feel a change in the air. It started with the softest hint of light, a delicate band of lighter darkness that transformed into a gentle pink hue and spreading. The transition was slow at first, but then it quickened as the sun made its grand entrance. Until that light, is gone.
The surroundings didn't bring any sense of hope, instead, it unveiled a vast, endless sea stretching out, as Mindaza glance in every direction. Waves rolled in one after another, some as blue as a summer sky, others a deep azure, and a few fierce greens, their crests whipped away by a barely-there breeze. This time, Mindaza realized that she was in a small island, at the heart of the sea.
"I am alone," Mindaza said to herself.
It was the first time in her life that she had been truly alone. Always, there had been her mother in the background and some of the islanders there to help or support her. Now there was nobody and nothing, not even a trace of land.
"Alone... " Mindaza yells and screams. She hoped that at least some of the Spiral Hunters had reached the north shore of the Forth in safety. She wished she had been able to remain with them. She wished her mother was there. She wished the Northern men had killed her in place of her mother. She wished anything other than what was.
"Mindaza..." A common voices that Mindaza suddenly heard.
"Mindaza, wake up!" Another called. Soon Mindaza felt something, she slowly open her eyes, and found a shadow of someone's face.
"Good! You will be fine. Take a rest." A voices of a woman said.
Ganadara put Mindaza's body covered in thick cloth, to avoid her body direct from the heat of the sunlight. She let her sleep for a while, then she continue to paddle. Above her, she did not see a bird coming, until it landed at her side, a black and white bird called "Matang lawin" best known as eagle, with a long beak of the same proud colour.
"You came as always, my tour guide" Ganadara said. Matang lawin perched beside her on the narrow bench, its eyes bright and hard.
Ganadara swayed with exhaustion and lack of food and water. The bird did not move.
"Same as you, I'm hungry too" Ganadara chided, "You had better do some guiding before we die here" She lifted the paddle again, dipped it into the sea and thrust forward.
"If you don't guide me, then I must make my judgement without your help"
The bird took off again, circled the coracle and flew away, going to the south of west.
"That way, is it?" Ganadara asked. She briefly wondered what to do, sighed and altered course to follow the black and white bird. When a sudden squall brought rain, she leaned her head back to drink what fresh water she could, regretted that she had brought no food and paddled on. She ignored the cramp in her legs and back from her unusual squatting position, ignored the pain in her arms and shoulders and continued chasing that always receding horizon.
In her front, Mindaza is still sleeping. Ganadara understand that this child might experienced a super deep depressions, watching her mother died last night. Ganadara feel that pain too, but she had to move onto continue the journey and to protect Mindaza. This is what she promised to her mother before.
Behind her and to her right, the sun ascended, growing in heat as the day wore on. Her thirst seemed to increase in direct proportion to the increasing weakness of her arms. She continued to paddle as the bird circled above her, flew a quarter of a mile ahead and returned again and again, encouraging her onward.
"I wondered what the bird were guiding in" she said calmly.
After the tiring whole day of paddling, Finally Ganadara reach the shore. She tied the boat in the rock. And because she was hungry, she proceed to look for something to eat in the wild nearby. Leaving Mindaza alone, sleeping in that small boat.
Darkness slowly covered the world before the night time comes, Ganadara didn't returned yet. Mindaza now started to gain her strength back, until she open her eyes only to realize that she was sleeping for the whole time. Then she remember now, she's with Ganadara until this time.
"Where is she? Ganadara?!" She called out, her voice came as a dry croak.
She stand up and jump from the boat, only for all strength to drain from her legs. She did not feel herself falling, only the strength of the man as he caught her before she hit the ground.
"I've got you" His voice was reassuring. "You're safe with me"
The world was spinning around her, trees and bushes and sea merging into a constant whirl that she could neither control nor comprehend. She blinked, closed her eyes and opened them again. A man's face appeared, a stranger she did not know.
"And who are you?" Mindaza was frowned and confused.