Page 1 of Restoring the Ngozii

Chapter 1

Tavionna

Asmallmoanslipsfrom my lips as my mind wakes. I’m warm, weighted down by arms, breath blowing my hairs across my face. My eyes flutter open to find Xenshay’s sleeping face before mine, lips slightly parted as he breathes deeply, his arm across my middle, hand wrapped around Seuke’s arm, which is also across my middle. Slipping down the bed between them, I leave their arms linked as I quietly slide from the bed and dress in a modest dark green outfit that covers my breasts and arms, a long skirt with high slits covering my lower body. I manage to attach my jeweled hair charms and necklaces without too much noise before tiptoeing from the room, taking one last glance back at my men as they sink closer to each other, clinging together in sleep.

My heart squeezes tightly, stealing the air from my lungs as I stare at them, wishing my mind wasn’t feeling so weighted so I could enjoy the cuddles with them. The doubtful part of me speaks up, taunting me and making me wish I could get away from the dark clouds that feel ever present in my life. I don’t deserve them, do I? They’re so patient, so understanding, and they give me all the love I could ever want. I fear that I’m too broken, too hurt by my past and too engulfed in the revenge I seek to give them the love they deserve in return. What does that make me?

Sighing, I step from the room, letting the curtain fall closed behind me as I nod to the guards in the hall. “I’m going to check on the sick and then meditate.”

The one guard bows deeply, his low, hoarse voice sends shivers up my arms. “I’ll let them know when they wake, Priestess.” When he rights himself, I give him a polite bow before making my way through the caves, nodding and greeting anyone awake who looks my way.

I love my people, more than my mother ever did in my opinion, and I want nothing more than to stop this illness and find a way for us to move forward and prosper. Our numbers have dwindled slowly over the generations, the caves being plenty to sustain us, and I know there used to be more life on the surface of our planet than there is now. How it’s managed to die off, I’m not entirely sure. It wasn’t something that was in my lessons, but I wish it was. Maybe having learned from that, I would know what to do now to save us all.

Mother searched very hard for answers to questions she dare not share with me, questions I wish I knew of to find the answers myself. Whatever they were, it made her angry and bitter over the years as she tried and failed to find what she looked for. Perhaps it’s better that I didn’t go searching for the same answers, seeing as how it turned her into a shell of the mother and priestess she could have been. Unfortunate, that.

I wished every day when I was a child that she would give up her quest and see what was in front of her, see the progress I made and be happy with that. Instead, she continued to cast me aside and close herself off. What good did it do? It left behind a forgettable legacy and a daughter filled with negative emotions and no real sense of loss. Does that make me horrible, not feeling all that bad that my mother is gone when she was the only family I had? Perhaps I’m not meant to be Priestess, maybe that’s what all this strife is telling me.

Then again, the goddess did bless me personally, gifted me with magic I’ve never known. It’s so hard to find your own path in a world that’s pulled you in so many directions that you don’t even know who you are anymore. Sighing loudly, internally and externally, I keep moving.

My bare footsteps echo quietly through the halls as I march along, finally reaching the sick cave and checking each person over carefully. Those in the back of the cave, the ones that have been in suspension the longest, are beginning to show signs of degeneration. They’re worsening despite my efforts, their skin paling, breath laboring, heartbeat softening. They don’t have much time.

My steps are slow and unsure as I make my way deeper into the caves to my meditation room, seeking the comfort and wisdom of my guides, if they’ll grant me any. Emotions swirl within me, making it hard to breathe as they take over my mind and convince me that I’m going to fail just like my mother. My efforts are useless, my ideas don’t work, and my people are suffering. What kind of priestess am I if I can’t help them, can’t guide them to thrive?

I pause, my right hands pressing into the wall as I lean into it for support, my breath coming in pants as I struggle to fight the intense wave of emotions.I’m not worthy of this position, of this magic, of their love. I’ll never be worthy, will I?

The swirling pattern along my skin glows, lighting the cave as I stare down at my stomach in shock, my hands lifting in my face to see them. Power thrums in my veins, startling me with its intensity as I gasp, feeling a burst of pride, love, and confidence.

“If you were not worthy, I would not have granted your powers. Trust in yourself, child. All will work out in the right time. Believe in yourself, believe in love, and trust those that seek to help you. You’re not alone, nor are you incapable. You have your goddess’s blessing, that’s all you need, Tavi.”

The markings fade to nothing more than dull silver swirls along my skin, the voice fading from my mind as love envelops me, making tears spring to my eyes. Without hesitating or thinking, I drop to my knees, my forehead resting against the cool rock of the cave floor as my arms spread out in front of me. My voice is barely a whisper as my tears fall to the floor with barely audible splats.

“Asànte, Wakike Wonékano. Thank you.”

Air swirls around me, lifting my hair in a small gust before disappearing. I stay like that for another moment, soaking in the feelings of love and pride, letting them build my confidence before I rise and dry my tears, marching down the halls with determined steps as I head for my meditation chamber.

Rounding the corner into the cave room, the sounds of trickling water calling to my aching soul, I come to an immediate stop as the semi-transparent image of a human woman whirls around in shock to face me. My eyes widen for a moment before I register who she is, why she seems familiar, and I snarl. “What the hell are you doing here, human?”

She shouldn’t be here, she has no magic to dream travel, so how is she achieving this!? The determined calm I had so recently cultivated vanishes as anger pulses through me. All I want to do is throw her out of here by her ugly yellow hair.

She has the audacity to shrug as if it’s no big deal, as if she isn’t in my sacred space, ruining my private meditation chambers. No one is allowed in here but Seuke and Xenshay. No one else dares enter for facing my wrath and ruining the environment I’ve created for my magic to flow.

“I don’t even know where here is or how I got here.” She stares at me with wide eyes, her chest heaving in small pants as if she’s afraid. As she should be. I’m feeling a bit murderous right now.

Like the fierce animal I feel like, I plant two hands on my hips, two crossing over my chest as I circle, awaiting my chance to pounce. “It seems you’re dream walking, my dear. How you did it, I don’t know, but you don’t belong here.” I keep my voice soothing, gentle, despite the menacing hint behind it as I sneer at her, hoping she senses this false calm for the threat that it is. My hands squeeze my biceps as I itch to claw at her, scream at her, anything to pacify this rage, but I keep myself reined in as I await her explanation.

“You said you’re coming after our village and Criido’s life. I can understand being angry at your father, but why go after the village at all? Why leave this place? It’s beautiful.” Her eyes wander around the cave, only igniting my anger further. How dare she look around my sacred space as if it’s some private show for her!

“You don’t understand anything, do you? The last thing I want to do is relocate my people, but it’s my last resort. This is my only option to save us all. It just happens to be a massive bonus that Father Dear gets what’s coming to him. He doesn’t deserve my love.” My rage is evident in my tone as I snark at her, scoffing as I end my statement, my gaze never leaving hers. The calm she’s attempting to exude is infuriating when my own emotions are so turbulent that calm is nowhere near attainable.

“You don’t even know him, Tavionna. He didn’t know you existed. Your mother never told him!”

Lies! How could he impregnate my mother and not be aware of it? Is he so incompetent that he doesn’t understand the basics of mating? I know my mother wanted a husband, I heard her mourn a lost love only once in my life, but I know she missed it. So, why would she give up the opportunity for a happy family when she grieved one? His excuses will not sway me.

“I don’t want to hear excuses for him!” I scream, unable to contain my anger a second longer. There is no obligation for me to stand here and let her make excuses or lie blatantly to my face. It’s not even tolerated when my people do it, I won’t have it from her. “I made my intentions very clear when we last spoke, and nothing you say is going to stop me. I have more power than any priestess before me, thanks to my bonds that unlocked my goddess given gifts. My people will be saved, and yours better get out of my way if they want to live. I will not be stopped.”

My righteous anger seems to have activated the power within me as I begin to glow, my power humming through my veins with renewed vigor as my hair lifts in an invisible wind that I seem to be generating.

My lips lift in a manic grin as I raise my hands. She pleads with me as her face fills with panic before I throw my hands in front of me, sending her body flying as she turns to dust against the cave wall, her scream echoing for a second before it disappears, and I’m left alone with the sound of the babbling brook in the back.

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