Chapter 2

I sat on the beach and watched the rolling waves as the sun slowly rose on the horizon. I ignored the fearful looks of the villagers tending their small boats, loading them with fishing nets and water flasks, and raising the small grey sails on the railings.

This was my place, not theirs, so I didn’t leave when I saw them approaching, dragging their boats through the sand. I could hear from their hushed voices that they were hoping for more favourable currents from this stretch of the beach.

Still, no one dared to speak to me and apart from their fearful glances, they didn’t acknowledge my presence. With time, I had grown used to it, and it no longer made me lonesome, only vexed. Had they forgotten that one day I would become a Keeper and carry Niar’s staff, and it would give me the authority to decide their fate? I smiled. When that time came, I would become the monster they had feared me to be ever since I was born.

Yet the smile faded from my face as soon as it appeared, and tears filled my eyes. Niar was getting old and rarely left our cave, seeking warmth and comfort from the small fire I kept burning with the firewood I collected on a beach when the tide was low.

What would happen when he was gone? These thoughts had crept into my mind lately when I lay in my bed listening to the storm raging outside, knowing that there were neither herbs nor charms that could cure him of old age.

What would I do when it transpired, and I would be left alone, made to dwell in the empty cave and keep our customs until I chose my successor? I had the right to select who would become the Keeper once I was gone, and it terrified the villagers to know I could point my staff at one of them at any moment and claim them as my own. They did not know it yet, but they would be spared from this fate. I didn’t want to dissipate their fears, though. I was a monster, but could not bring myself to force my fate on someone else, regardless of how much they deserved it.

When I entered the cave carrying a load of driftwood in my arms, Niar lay in bed, covered by a heavy blanket. He appeared to be asleep and didn’t greet me, and a pang of fear shot through my heart, but I quickly relaxed when I saw his breath form a grey mist in the chilly air.

I knelt in front of our fire pit and placed the freshly gathered driftwood around it to let it dry by the flames. I moved the log that lay on the still-hot coals and blew on it until it burst into flames, filling our cave with warmth and light. Niar stirred in his bed, woken up by the noise, and sat up, leaning his back against the cave's wall. He looked at me, and a smile appeared on his face.

“Thank you, Laya, you're a good girl,” he said with a soft smile.

He coughed, and I checked the fire pit. The wood burned brightly and didn’t produce much smoke, yet I felt the sudden urge to move the log to the centre, believing it would burn better there. I put my hands into the flames and, ignoring the pain, picked it up, only to drop it down when Niar’s voice reached me.

“Don’t, Laya. You are not a monster”

I turned and looked at him with a frown, only to be met by his gentle smile. I didn’t dare to meet his eyes, so I spread my hands, showing him that my palms were unharmed by the fire.

“Laya…”, he said gently, and my eyes filled with tears, knowing the words that would follow. I had heard them many times before.

“Laya.. You deserve better than this. Leave when I am gone. There are other places…”

He coughed again, and I turned to the fire pit to hide my tears. He had kept saying it for months now, telling me about the things he had seen beyond the walls of our village. When he was a young boy, he ran away and joined the merchants who came to our village a few times a year. I used to wonder why he had returned, since he must have known that he would be punished for his crime. Yet he did it anyway, accepting his punishment without a word and becoming a Keeper. I had never dared ask him for his reasons, believing that if he wanted to share them with me, he would do so of his own will.

He leaned over from his bed and reached out, trying to put his hand on my shoulder, but I moved away as soon as I realised his intentions.

“Don’t touch me, Niar!... Don't.”, I told him firmly. “You will be cursed if you do.”

I could feel anger building in my chest. Why did he always need to be like this?

“Laya…” His voice was strained, weakened by the effort he put into reaching towards me.

“Forgive me…. I didn’t know any better. Laya…”

I didn’t hear what he tried to say next. I ran towards the cave’s entrance as soon as he whispered my name and hurried towards the beach, almost slipping and falling as I lost my footing on the wet stones that lay on my path. I didn’t care what would happen if I fell; everything was better than Niar’s guilt-ridden voice tugging at my heart.