Memories from the past.

~Acceptance is the only provenance to peace~ Tahseen Anam

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Delaney still hadn't recovered from the shock she just received. She felt like her brain was running a marathon and her heart was still pounding in her ears. She saw the dragon's nostrils flare but he didn't breathe fire anymore.

Grabbing onto the wall for support, she tried moving stealthily out of the room. Sensing her actions, Merikh's eyes turned to look at her and she almost became one with the cavve wall, as she squeezed further from him. His eyes narrowed and she gulped nervously. They stared into each other's eyes, Delaney not daring to make any movement. She was afraid to even let out a breath. She was startled when it's clawed legs moved but not towards her. Turning around, she could see it's magnificent, scaled tail as it walked back to the deepest part of the cave.

Delaney only released her breathe when she could no longer see it. She patted her chest then walked out hurriedly. After walking for a long time without stopping, she could finally feel air returning to her lungs. She swore in her heart to never set foot in that cave again. No matter how pathetic her life was, she wasn't ready to die so soon. And even if her time came, she would rather not burn to death.

She downed two glasses of water, first thing when she got into the house. Merikh and his dragon powers can go to hell! She took the book Malcolm had given her, stared at it for a long time before returning it to its previous spot. It was still Malcolm's property so she had no right to burn it. She only realised she hadn't returned with that piece of paper when she was going to relax in her room.

She dipped her hand in her satchel but there was nothing. Panicking, she removed the satchel from her shoulder and holding it by the bottom, poured it's contents on the floor. Her eyes swept over all the apples and the quiver of arrows she had used to hunt, but there was nothing.

"Dammit!" she cursed, throwing the satchel on the ground as well. She pinched her nose bridge, wondering how to retrieve that piece of paper. She just swore that she wouldn't risk her life by going there but she couldn't just loose something that belongs to Malcolm just like that. She didn't even remember at what moment in time she had lost it.

She paced around the room but in the end, she decided to wait for Malcolm and try explaining things to him. He could even go and get it himself. For all she had seen, the dragon always 'behaved' in Malcolm's presence.

Sitting on a couch in the living room, Delaney couldn't help but feel sorry for herself. Only in times like these when she had no work did she realise how lonely she was. She had no friends or family. She didn't go to any gatherings like young women of her age and only interacted with old people like Mrs Wade and Malcolm.

Her life had been an empty vessel ever since she was young. She had a very close relationship with her father but all that went up in flames when she brought another woman to their house. She was happy at first, because she thought she could finally have a mother like every normal child but with time, she realised that a woman can only mother a child she has given birth to.

At times she would remember how she would run to her father when he returned home in the evening, and he would carry her in his arms. He would tell her about his adventures in other kingdoms or how he spent his day and he would tickle her little limbs and she would laugh without a care in the world. Even if she had spent the whole day doing chores for Angela and her daughter, she would push all that to the back of her mind and try enjoying the fun moments in her life with her beloved father.

Her father would always dote on her, even after his second daughter, Elsie was born. Things changed when she started complaining about Angela to her father. She had thought that the beating would only be a one time thing and she could bear with it but she was wrong. It became a habit for her step mother to treat her like her punching bag.

If she was in a bad mood or someone angered her in the market, she would take it out on poor Delaney. If Delaney broke something whether by accident or not, she would be whipped until she could no longer stand on her feet. Her younger sister soon got the impression that mistreating Delaney was a normal thing so the mother and daughter joined hands to make her life a living hell.

One time, when she was eleven, she decided to tell her father and he got so angry that he punished her by locking her up in the basement. He said that falsely accusing her mother was wrong and she needed to learn her lesson. Delaney had never been heartbroken like she was back then. She cried and begged in the dark, dusty basement but no one ever came to her aid.

Her father had only meant to lock her up for a day but how could her wicked stepmother miss the chance to destroy her. They left her in the basement and starved her until she started having illusions, and almost went insane at the age of eleven!

Tears pulled at the corner of her eyes but there were none to shed. The abuse and torture that had followed for the next ten years had hardened her heart and she no longer lived like a normal human being. For Delaney, it was always about surviving. Sometimes she wished to sleep and never see the light of the day again, but she would only get dissapointed over and over again. That was why she resolved to drinking. If she was intoxicated, she would sleep like a baby and even if someone carried her away at night, she wouldn't feel anything, not to mention nightmares.

Even when she was together with Collins, she could only hope that she will eventually return to the old Delaney, so that Collins wouldn't have to marry such a miserable woman. He would try his best to cheer her up and encourage her and she would also try her best to feel it. She had learnt to let her guard down with Collins, but it all ended up backfiring right in her face. The heart that had started to regain life went back to being stone more hardened than ever.

After Collins betrayed her, she decided to disentangle herself with anyone and everyone. Not like anyone in Gatria wanted anything to do with her, but she still build her walls up, higher than before.

Sighing deeply, Delaney left the house and headed to Mrs Wade's house. As the only person who had shown her true love since the beginning, she felt like she owed her life to Mrs Wade, therefore she took it upon herself to take care of every of her needs. She was not someone to repay kindness with cruelty.

She passed by the Koza Tarven and picked up a drink, before proceeding to the old woman's house.

She knocked on the door twice before entering. "Mrs Wade?" she called, but there was no response. She heard some strange noises from upstairs and she pricked her ears. She climbed up the stairs cautiously, hands on her daggers, ready to attack at any moment.

The voices became more distinct as she neared Mrs Wade's room, and she moved to that direction. She held the doorknob tightly, before turning it slowly, trying as hard as she could not to make a sound.

She peeked behind the door and she saw a few women sitted in a circle. Their hands were on each other's shoulders as they moved in a circular movement, humming in some language she couldn't understand. Their heads were lowered, but she could easily spot Mrs Wade among the women. She was the only one with grey hair.

She walked into the room curiously, and what she saw made her jaw drop in astonishment. In the space, between the women, candles were lit, surrounding a painting of a woman she knew by heart. The women didn't seem to notice her presence and continued chanting. She moved closer, craning her neck just to make sure she wasn't imagining things and her eyes widened. It was her! It really was her! A woman whose features were distinctively engraved in her mind.

Her mind went blank and she subconsciously took a step back, only to stumble on a table holding a vase which fell to the ground, making a loud clattering noise. The room fell dead silent, all the heads turning to look at her in disbelief.