There was a time in her life where everything was green and mundane. A time where her feet were always tickled by the grasses of the field. A time where the back of her neck stung red from the heat of the sun. A time where her hand was familiar with the weight of the sickle.
A time where she knew nothing in the world but that little farm her grandfather owned and the small town across the road.
Who would have thought that, with just one premonition, Winona's life would change?
She could still remember it clearly, as if she is seeing it at this very moment.
She was on her way back home from the town's market. It was a successful sale for her. Her baskets were empty. The tinkle of the coins in her pocket was music to her ears. Along with the sound of the gold coins, her friend, the daughter of a milkmaid in their farm, was talking to her.
"You promised to share with me your earnings today, Winona," the girl reminded her.
Winona was not happy with her demands. The girl did nothing but play around while she has her throat hoarse from all the yelling she had done to get people to buy her cabbages.
Winona stopped and said, "I will not! You did not even do anything."
The smile on the other girl's face fell and she too was not happy with Winona's accusation.
"I accompanied you to the market. Don't be greedy, Winona!"
The memory blurred at that part. Winona could not exactly remember the exact jibes and insults that they exchanged with each other.
Afterall, it was not as important as the next thing that happened.
The girl threw her the last insult. She even had the audacity to throw the basket she was carrying for Winona at the paved road.
That was when the vision showed up.
If she could describe the feeling of falling in that trance, Winona could describe it as awful and unpleasant. It was as if someone pulled you hard and the jarring action made one's guts queasy.
That was not even the worst part.
She saw it.
The vision will invade every senses of her body as if it was making sure that Winona was taking this seriously. It invaded her sense of sight, hearing, smell, touch and even taste.
She can taste the blood in her mouth. She can feel the thundering hoofbeats against the road. She can smell the stable scent of that mammal. She can hear the crazed neigh of that wild horse. She can see the moment the horse charged straight to the girl and consequently, trampled her under its hooves.
The vision went out. Then, the surge of fear coursed through her veins.
That fear was tremendous for a young girl of twelve who just awakened her powers and was clueless on how to understand the situation.
"Stop!" Winona shouted at the girl. "Do not even think of crossing that road!"
"Shut up!"
"There is a wild horse coming!"
Emotions were running high. Winona was drowning in fear and the girl was swimming in anger.
"Do not tell me what to do, you albino freak!"
The girl stuck her tongue out and took a step to cross the road.
It happened too fast and too slow at the same time. As soon as the girl took five steps from her, a massive brown horse appeared. Winona watched with her own eyes as the girl looked at the mad beast with terrified eyes, its shadow casting an omen over her soul.
The beast was not too happy for an obstacle to show up during its free run. It held back its weight and reared while roaring an animalistic sound. Then, it came down on the girl's lithe body.
Fear casted its cloak in Winona while dread forced her to watch the scene. The beast stomped over the poor girl with its massive weight. Its hooves were making thunderous sounds against the ground along with screams of terror and the sickening sound of bones cracking.
There was nothing much Winona could do but stare with horror-filled eyes at the scene. Her mind was still boggling over the vision that she saw and the consequent horror that happened after.
And just as swift the beast appeared before them, the fast it disappeared.
It suddenly stopped when its victim turned quiet. Its ears moved as if it picked up a certain noise from a distance. Winona flinched when its eyes scanned the surroundings and laid its terrifying crazed eyes at her. Its nose was flaring angrily, as if it was considering if Winona could survive that treatment as well.
A sudden dread that gripped her as she stared back at the animal. Five seconds passed, no one moved until Winona picked up a certain noise from a distance. There was the distant shouting of a group of people coming their way.
Perhaps, the horse has also picked up the noise. It tore away its gaze from her to check the surroundings and returned its gaze back to Winona before it turned to run away from the scene.
Winona stood there, still frozen in place, trying to make sense of what transpired earlier. The visions, the wild beast, her neighbor's gruesome fate. Everything was too much.
That was how the townspeople saw her.
It was a blur what happened after. Winona could remember there were shouts of horror upon seeing the girl lying on the ground.
The visions. The wild beast. The girl's gruesome fate.
Someone placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and found a familiar face among the sea of crying and shouting people. It took her a minute to recognize her grandfather's face and she trembled in fear.
"Papang, I–"
"Winona, are you alright?" her grandfather asked, crouching to check her face if she was truly hurt.
"A wild horse stomped over Lana," Winona exhaled with a shaking breath. "I s-saw it."
"Yes, I knew," her grandfather gently said as he turned over Winona's hand to check if she was truly not harmed by that wild beast. "But, you did not answer my question, my love," he took a pause. "Are you alright?"
Winona was tempted to say yes. Unlike Lana who was almost stomped to death, she was fine. But, there was something constricting her from assuring her grandfather that she was indeed fine.
The visions. The wild beast. The girl's gruesome fate.
"I–"
"She's a witch!"
Both Winona and her grandfather turned to the crowd.
Lana was still lying on the ground, bloodied and broken like the doll that Winona accidentally dropped from their house. Her limbs were all twisted in a grotesque way that Winona has to avert her eyes to completely not process the image.
"A witch!"
"My child, what are you talking about?" someone asked from the crowd.
Lana pointed an accusing finger at Winona and exclaimed, "She's a seer! She knew about that wild beast! She saw it before it appeared!"
If fear was what gripped her when the wild horse appeared, there was nothing that could describe the ominous feeling that engulfed her chest when all eyes turned to her. There were a mix of accusations, terror, glee, horror and vex on those eyes.
"Winona is a witch! We must burn her!"
Winona blinked away the memory as confetti rained down from above.
She was wearing an emerald dress adorned with the crown jewels. A tiara was placed on her head. The crowd was cheering for her name.
"Her Imperial Highness, Grand Princess Winona Astoria Lazarenne, heiress to the Sun Throne!"
The crowd cheered.
However, the cheers and triumphant noise did not stop her powers from pulling her once again to see a vision. A vision that she did not want to happen in the future.
It was a vision of her mother, Empress Myrtle, stabbed to death in a cave.