"Mia; we, well I, am a descendant of the Great Tricould." She
began, slightly turning my head toward her so that we were now
looking in each others eyes. "I, Mia at one time was just as special
as you." She smiled. "See many people of the Weeping Mountains
believed, that the bringer of the red moon would never be
someone of Chief Tricoulds blood; because it was he who caused
such devastation to the lands, the people and the animals that
roamed here.
But the gods believed, that the only way they could
teach Chief Tricould a lesson for what he did; would be to give his
blood a chance to prove that they are capable of owning such a
power; the power of opening the caves, by taking the life of
someone that he loved dearly.”
She said as she softly ran her
hand over my back.
“So his wife Mialana, with whom he had a son, was given a
test to prove that she was worthy of the power that they wanted to
give to her. The God's ordered her to give her son to them as a
sacrifice for all the evil that Chief Tricould had done.” She said
softly, as she took my hands in hers.
She gently rubbed my
hands, tracing all the lines of my hands with her wrinkled fingers.
She touched the ring that I got from Lauren for graduation; and
stared at it, letting the red color of the ruby reflect through her
eyes.
“Mialana asked the God's why should I give my son for his
fathers own misdeeds? The God's told her that if she did not give
someone she loved with all her heart to them, they would destroy
everything and she will no longer have all that she loved; her
family, her lands and her people. So with a sad heart she took her
son to the edge of the lake and prayed. She told her son that he
would go with the God's and that in doing so he would save the
world that they knew.” She continued slowly.
“Her son, David, did not want to go with the God's and cried
out to them. Please let me stay with my mother. As they both
cried, she took out a knife and told her son that even if he would
not be with her any more, they would save the world and in
another life; she would find him and they would never part again.
But she did something that I don't think the god's was prepared
for; she raised the knife into the air and plunged it into her own
chest.” She said with her eyes trained on mine.
“With that the water in the lake raised up into the air and
covered her completely, throwing her son aside. The God's were
not angry with her for doing so, instead they felt pity for her and at
that moment chose her to lead the people; because she was
willing to give her own life instead of her sons, to pay for the
misdeeds of someone else she loved; to protect the world." She
said, looking me with a smile as she pulled my single strand of
hair behind of my ear.
"It was she who defeated the evil that came after.
It was she
that brought about the red moon and found the diamonds to
defeat it. Oh boy, was it a bloody battle; many people died, many
animals died. But understand Mia that with great power comes
great sacrifice and sometimes it's a sacrifice that none of us would
like. When peace returned to their lands, Mialana had a baby girl
and so she went to the lake and threw the diamonds into it;
screaming out to the God's to take it back, I have no more need
for this magic; everything is at peace.” She said as she moved
closer to me on the bed.
“The god's took back the diamonds and closed the caves
again. But they warned her that with every generation the
Elemental's and the Bringer of the Red Moon will be called upon
to defend the Weeping Mountains to keep others from finding the
diamonds and using it for evil. So, generation after generation we
all have fought the same darkness that Mialana did so many years
ago to defend the Mountain.” She said, as she ran her fingers
through my strand of white hair.
“Mia, that is why your grandfather and I left so many years
ago. It was one of the hardest things that I ever had to do but I
needed to. None of the other tribes knew that this power passed
through our blood, no one knew that we held the power to find the
diamonds. But over the generations the Elemental's had to be told
because we needed them to help provide protection for us, as
others started to realize who carried the power of the red moon.
Although, no one knew that we, Mia, our blood was the same
blood that flowed through Chief Tricoulds veins." She said as she
slowly stood up and walked over toward the crowded old boxes
that sat at the far end of the tent.
"This Mia, are the sacred scrolls of the Weeping Mountains.
They were given to Mialana the day the Gods bestowed the
powers of the red moon upon her.
It contains spells of shape
shifting, spells of protection, and spells to help you find the red
diamonds." She said, as she took out a beautiful, shiny gold
canisters. "This is the secret to our powers. This is what you will
need as your journey will begin soon." She said with such sadness
in her eyes.
I looked back at her and tilted my head, slouching on
the bed.
"The candle that burns in me will burn out soon Mia and I can
feel it, but as my light leaves me yours will grow tremendously."
She said, so softly, so regretfully.
"So why did you leave Tucker
and I so long ago." I asked her, looking at the gold canister that
she held in her hands.
She looked back at me and smiled.
"Well Mia; someone came to take the scrolls to find the red
diamonds from the mountain.
Only this time she knew exactly
who to come for. So your grandfather and I left town and retreated
to the Mountains to hide; but it did not stop her from finding us.
We fought a great fight and the Elemental's and I used the
diamonds to send her away.
But I did not have the heart to
destroy her, and now Mia I fear that she has grown stronger and
will now come after you, which apparently she already have." She
said as she once again ran her fingers through my strand of white
hair.
“Wait what do you mean; she already has?”
I quickly asked.
“That is why the change is happening to you Mia, because she's
here.”
Grandma said as she let my hair drop through her fingers.
“So this dark person is here for me? There to steal those from
me?”
I said looking at her with wide eyes.
“Yes.”
She said without even a flinch.
We could hear voices outside the tent getting closer and
closer until I recognized Tucker's laugh.
"Looks like they're done with their training for now." She said
listening to the growing laughter.
"Lana, Mia lunch is done." We could hear grandpa calling out.
"Come on Mia let's eat, I think you need it more than me." She
said with a smile pulling me up from the bed.
"More like we both do." I said standing up with a giggle.
We stepped out of the tent, the blinding sun was now high
which told me it was just about midday. The air was thick and
warm.
My mind was clouded by all that I was told, I didn't take
much notice to everyone around me. "Hey, what happened to
you." Tucker said. I jumped back startled. "Oh.. Yeah I'm fine, I
came back earlier to talk to grandma and I think I understand
now." I said, with a smile. "Good, I'm glad that you're at least a
little bit at ease about everything.
You know I might not
understand a lot about what's going on, but I'm willing to just do
what I have to." He said picking up a plastic bowl from the already
set table. There was wild rice that I know grandpa prepared and a
huge pot of stew, hot off the fire. Everything smelled wonderful.
Grandma walked over to where grandpa stood, and they
started talking; grandpa kept on nodding in his head with a smile
on his face. I think he did that, to mask his real expression toward
what they were talking about. We all sat around the small fire
burning in the middle of the camp. Jon came over to where I sat
and plopped down on the ground.
He was always so simple like
that.
"What are you doing, you wanna sit here with me." I said, as I
motioned to the log I sat on.
"Nah, I'm fine." He said scarfing
down his food.
I just smiled and slightly turned to face him. "Here.
I got this for you."
He said handing me a small purplish blue wild
flower. "I got it on our way back to the camp." He said proudly.
"Thank you. I think I remember seeing this as a kid with my
grandma." I said examining the flower closely. "I think you can eat
it, in fact I know you can." I said tearing a peddle off and putting it
into my bowl of stew, I took a big bite and the petals tasted like
pepper. "Um, this is good. You wanna try?" I asked handing some
petals to him. "No thanks, I think I'll just stick with it this was." He
laughed.
When we all finished eating uncle Tom stood up and headed
toward grandma and grandpa who was still busy talking, some
time after he disappeared into the forest. "Ok guys; Tom's gonna
be back later tonight to continue with your training but for now you
folks should rest.
I think you'll be in for a long evening." Grandpa
said beginning to clean off the table. "The night is going to come
quick, and you are all gonna need your energy." Grandma said
helping.
"I'd ask you to come to my tent; but I don't think they'll
approve." Jon said softly with a chuckle, while looking over at
grandpa; who's keen eyes were watching. "Yeah, I don't think so."
I agreed with a giggle of my own.
"Besides, I wanna show
something to Tucker anyways. I'll see you later." I said with a
smile leaning in to give him a kiss. He pushed forward and kissed
me back.
I headed to the tent where Tucker already laid on his
bed.
"Hey Tucker, I wanna show you something." I said, taking the
golden canister out from under the blanket. "Wow; what's that Mia,
it's so shiny and is that real gold?" He said, hurrying over to my
bed.
His eyes reflected the gold from the canister. "Yeah;
grandma gave this to me earlier. She said that these were the
sacred scrolls of the Bringer of the Red Moon." I said, in my most
deep narrator voice; twisting the top that came off with a pop.
I pulled out a roll of papers that was obviously aged with small
water stains and discoloration. I unrolled the papers that was tight
together and saw pictures that were drawn with very little words.
"Look it's the Mountains I think, but it's an old picture, see the town
should be right here." Tucker said examining the pictures details.
"Look there's even the path from the camp to the clearing that we
went to today." He cleverly pointed out. "Yeah; you're right, it is." I
said staring at the picture. "Did grandma explain with this is for?”
He asked so inquisitively with his eye peering at the paper.
"Well kind of, but we stopped talking about it when we heard
all of you come back." I said, re-rolling the papers tightly and
sticking them back into it's golden canister. "So how did your
training go?" I asked, curious about what went on after I left.
"Alright I guess, but man uncle Tom's a mean old man; he’s
always yelling at us to do things this way, not that way, blah, blah,
blah." He said, sounding very irritated. "So why don't you guys tell
him to ease up a bit." I said trying to find a good position on the
bed. "Yeah right; and risk getting a slap like you did." He laughed.
"Ha ha ha, you're right." I laughed back. We both fell fast asleep in
no time.
I could see myself walking through the darkness. I felt cold;
the ground under my feet felt wet and slippery; the wind blew
around me pushing me forward. I felt scared and like I didn't
wanna keep moving; but the wind wouldn't let me stop. I could
hear someone in the distance calling out to me, but I didn't
recognize the voice. The closer I got to the voice it seemed to get
even farther.
"Who is that." I called out, with nothing but an echo to answer
me.
"Mia." I heard again, through the darkness. "Who is that?" I
called out again, this time the echo never followed. "Mia, she
wants the scrolls, and will try to use your brother to take it. You