Our Journey: Where Thoughts Rest

"Ashley, my dear, why are your eyes so puffy?" my mother asked, looking at her little daughter with sweet, concerned eyes, while I sat down across from my family.

Ashley sat down afterward and looked at her mother.

"It's nothing, Mommy. I just miss my unicorn."

She patted Ashley's head and smiled.

"Don't worry. I'll bring your unicorn back tomorrow. I'm sure they're done working on it."

Ashley's eyes sparkled as my mother said that.

"Really?!" Ashley sat up from her chair.

My mother giggled and nodded before a phone began to ring. She gave me a look.

"Go answer it."

So I got up quietly and answered the call while Jasmine whispered in my mother's ear:

"Mother, Riana probably bullied Ashley behind your back... That's why Ashley lied and said she missed her unicorn. Don't you think Riana deserves to be punished? You've let her get away too many times."

She looked at Jasmine to see if she was telling the truth, then looked at me as I spoke on the phone.

"Hello, this is Sky House 35. May I ask who's calling?"

A husky voice replied:

"Hello, this is one of the Aetherguard. I'm here to inform you that your father is on the brink of death. We want the family—especially Riana—to come to Sky Alley 13 to have your final words with him before we bring him to Vaelora's Root. The creature has destroyed one of his legs, and it seems he can barely catch his breath."

The moment I heard this, I rushed to put on my shoes and ran out without telling the others what I had heard, leaving them clueless. The phone lay on the floor as they all ran to the window, wondering why I had left in such a hurry.

But in my mind, I couldn't think of anything except my father—the man who helped raise me when I was little, even if he wasn't my biological one.

When I arrived at Sky Alley 13, all I saw were bloodstains and torn clothes on the ground, yet no sign of any dead creature.

Now I started to wonder how many of them there were, and why they were in the Dark Forest to begin with.

Then, when I heard my name called from the right, I turned immediately and saw my dad in the arms of a guard. I rushed to him and cried out:

"Father! Why are you like this?!"

He slowly grabbed my hands and held them tightly.

"My sweetheart... I'll be fine. I'm sorry that I brought you to this family... you don't deserve that cruelty... but today you... have to go find your real family who shares your blood. Your real father... he is still alive somewhere, and I was told... to watch over you and keep you out of this bloodstain."

He took out a glowing blue shard from his hand and put it in mine.

"Take this... and go find hi...m."

He slowly closed his eyes and went to sleep forever as I cried in sorrow—until I heard a strange voice in my head. It was my dad, coming from the glowing blue shard, telling me to rest my soul. It gave me warm comfort, just like my mother, but different in a way that told me I should keep moving forward.

The guard patted my shoulder as I was in a trance from the comfort, and I snapped out of it the moment I was touched.

"Are you Riana?"

I nodded slowly.

"Well, it's time that we bring him to the place. We suggest that you head home and avoid going to the front alley. And please let your family know that they can check on their beloved at Vaelora's Root."

"Alright..." I wiped my tears while I replayed my dad's words in my head—to go find my real family.

"Maybe I should run away from this place... I have so many answers I want to find. I cannot stay in the house and live in fear when there is no one to protect me right now. I have to make a move."

Back at the house

Ashley looked at her mother while sitting on the couch with her.

"Mommy... do you think something happened out there that made sister Riana leave?"

Her mother pulled her close and smiled.

"No, nothing happened... maybe your sister received a call that they were finished with your unicorn, so she went to grab it."

Ashley smiled back.

"I hope so."

A dark and husky voice whispered in Ashley's ear:

"Your sister doesn't like you. She left you and got tired of you whining to her every single day. Give me your shard, and I will help you bring your sister back."

Ashley screamed in fear as she hugged her mother tightly, covering her ears as a fever started to rise.

Her mother looked at her, worried.

"Sweetie! What's wrong?!"

She carried her daughter and headed to Devin.

On the other hand, Jasmine didn't follow but stayed behind and went to my room. She grabbed my pillow and threw it to the side, then took my real mother's picture and left the house.

She then headed to a small forest and pinned the picture to a tree, throwing rocks at my mother's face.

"I hate, hate, hate this woman! You stole my mother's man! A betrayer! A sinner!"

Back to Riana

I held tightly to my real dad's blue shard and headed to the Dark Forest. There was a sign that said:

DO NOT ENTER – WILL BE SENT TO THE DUNGEON FOR TRESPASSING.

But I ignored the words and walked further into the darkness, wondering if there was another place behind this forest that no one knew about.

My dad's blue shard was glowing brighter, like a torch that could light up my path, so I decided to raise it—yet it stopped and turned into a bracelet that wrapped around my wrist.

I was confused, as it was my first time seeing a shard act like this. And as far as I know, this blue shard contained the spirit-soul of someone who could still be breathing.

There are three shards in this world:

The Red Shard, which represents a dead soul.

The Orange Shard, for a broken spirit.

And lastly, the Blue Shard.

For the Blue Shard to return to its owner, I just need to find their original body and perform a small ritual.

I know these are real, as they were mentioned in one of the ancestor books that was under my dad's bed.

Only gifted people are allowed to see these shards.

But why would he have it in his hands?