Chapter 11: The Vision and the Warning

After a very long day of doing the usual routine, Tiara finally got to go home, after enduring so much during the day.

Not long after she jumped on her bed, she closed her eyes and patiently waited for sleep to engulf her.

And in no time.....

 "Scrub the floor...." She mumbled in her sleep, finally drifting off to the dreamland.

Slowly and meticulously, at about midnight, a dream hit Tiara like a tsunami.

She stood in the middle of a familiar training ground. The stench that filled her nostrils was that of blood.

"Where is this smell coming from?" Curiously raising her brows, she scrutinized her surroundings and just then, her eyes fell on the ground a few miles away from her.

She saw something rapidly flowing towards her, and as it did, the stench of blood became more defined and strong. 

As it moved closer, she observed that it continued to spread to every part of the ground where she stood, heavily soaking the ground like a waterlogged area during the rain.

Terrified, she quickly looked around, trying to call for help, but she could not do so as she saw wolves running helter skelter, some, leeching off of other wolves, whilst some laid on the ground in their human forms, battered, bruised and unconscious.

Squinting her eyes, she saw a boy no older than ten, lying in the pool of blood. His face appeared to be pale and lifeless. A few warriors that surrounded the boy, screamed and howled, with their voices piercing deeply into ears and through the arena.

Smoke filled the air, making the arena almost unconducive. A silver spear pierced the Alpha's crest lying in the dirt.

Before Tiara knew it, she was right in front of the boy, and she clearly saw his face.

The boy......he was no other person than the alpha's son.

Tiara jolted from her sleep, with sweat soaking all her clothes, sticking them to her body. Her chest heaved, and heart raced as she reminisced on what she had just seen. The vision had not been vague, it was exact, and she was so sure It was certain and bound to happen.

"What offense might a little boy have committed for him to have been killed in such a place and manner?" She wondered, hugging her legs, still in shock.

"I really need to tell the alpha or even the luna, and warn them about the impending doom," 

"I cannot keep this to myself and live with the guilt and regret of letting a little child die such a cruel death." She concluded, wanting to take every risk, against all odds.

---

True to her words, the next morning, Tiara made her way to the town's arena, a towering stone circle where the alpha, Alpha Zach held court.

People stared as she passed through the open gates. Dirty, unkempt and malnourished. An outsider.

She walked directly towards where the alpha sat, together with his guards, flanking him, overseeing training drills.

"Hello," she greeted the guard that was closest to her.

He looked at her with so much disdain in his eyes, sizing her up with his eyes before he finally murmured, "huhhuh." 

"I am so sorry to bother you but I really need to speak with the Alpha," she said, her voice remaining steady, yet loud, to her surprise.

"You all need to hear this," the guard said, beckoning to the other guards.

"Did you just say that you need to speak with the alpha?" He asked her, straining his ears, acting like he did not hear her the first time. This time, the other guards had moved closer to them.

The guards blocked her path, sneering. "I sometimes wonder where most of these outcasts and unworthy beings get their confidence from,"

" And who do you think you are for you to even want to show yourself before the alpha? Or do you think that you are worthy of addressing him?"

"I saw something," she said, still standing her grounds, regardless of the mockery and ridicule.

"I had a vision, and in it I saw your son die in this arena and I am so sure of it," she blurted out.

" It will happen before the next full moon, please you need to believe me so as to save his life," she pleaded, looking directly in the alpha's direction.

Gasps of horror rippled through the warriors that heard her.

Alpha Zach slowly stood, and strolled towards the guards and Tiara. She could not help but notice his broad shoulders and the scar that ran down his right cheek. Without so much observation, his appearance reflected the mage of a very ruthless alpha.

On reaching where the others stood, he stomped his left foot on the ground, "I allowed you dirty and filthy outcast in my pack, in my territory, my grounds, and you dare to stand before me to speak death over my son?"

"I am really grateful for your kind gesture, my lord but you see," she tried to defend herself.

"I am not a threat to you or your pack, but I swear to you, what I have told you is true," Tiara said. "It is a vision, a warning. You need to stop the..." 

She was still talking when Zach's tough and rough hand landed on her face.

"Ahh," she winced in pain, touching her red face.

"You dare to speak of doom over my family? Whether you are a seer or a madwoman, I put it to you today that you are nothing!" He yelled angrily.

"Throw this thing out of my sight and grounds, and see to it that she learns some humility along the way." he ordered his guards, turning away from Tiara.

"Please, please. You do not understand," Tiara yelled and pleaded as she watched Zach turn away. 

The guards, without much hesitations, dragged her by her arms, laughing as they shoved her through the arena's gates, into the mud outside. One of threw a rotten, half eaten apple at her head, while another poured water from a trough over her hair.

People quickly gathered around Tiara and the guards, curious to know what had transpired between them.

"Ahh!" One of the guards happily exclaimed, seeing that they had drawn an audience.

"I am sure you all are dying to know what her offense is," he started.

"Well, you see, she had the guts and nerves to come before the alpha to pronounce doom over his family," 

"What a joke!" One of the people laughed and mocked.

"She must think that she is a seer!" one woman laughed from the sidelines, pointing her finger at Tiara. "But maybe next time, she will be able to predict her own bath!"

So many comments were passed. The children jeered while the adults spat at her feet.

But not everyone laughed.

A tall, older woman in a deep green shawl murmured to a friend, "My niece heard her speak three days ago. The baker's child nearly drowned, just like she had said."

A few murmured in agreement. Some of the people had started to believe Tiara's visions.

"She is either cursed," someone else said, "or touched truly by the Moon goddess.

"What difference will it make if her words come to pass?" An elderly man muttered.

" Cursed or truly touched by the moon goddess herself, if the alpha's son dies, we will all be in great danger." He added before sluggishly walking away.

By evening, the market was seriously buzzing with murmurs and whispers and sneers.

"Did you hear what that outcast girl did today?" 

"Have you heard of what happened at the alpha's grounds today?"

"Apparently, she happened to have told the alpha to his face that his son would die."

"Ahhh!" 

"Who does she even think that she is?" 

"She must be insane."

"She is truly gifted. I have heard of some of her visions and how they all came to pass."

"She is dangerous. I do not think that she should be allowed to stay in here any further."

"What do we do if she is really the Moon's vessel..."

Amidst all this, Tiara had quietly gone back to her old and lonely cabin. 

She sat alone in a corner, shivering as she touched her cheeks that had now become swollen due to the effect of the slap that had been landed there.

"I was only trying to save him from so much trouble," she quietly sobbed.

"It is just sad that after all this pain and ridicule, the innocent boy would eventually lose his life." She sniffed, shaking her head.

"Whatever happens to those who refuse to yield to your warning and instruction is not your fault, Tiara," a soft voice whispered to her.

"What do you mean it is not my fault?" She replied.

"I should be able to find another solution to matters like this, matters involving the innocent and young,"

"Your job is to see and inform them of the looming danger, they are the ones who can prevent calamities from befalling them." The voice answered again.

"Continue to relay your visions to them, and let those who have ears hear and those who do not, should dance to the tune they play." The voice echoed.

Tiara rubbed her eyes before running her hand through her dishelved hair. She took to her feet and took a step forward before pausing.

"Was that a dream?" She thought to herself.

"Probably I was daydreaming or something," she rubbed her eyes again before dismissing the dream she had.

---------

A few days later, loud cries were heard in the hot afternoon.

"What is going on?" People asked each other as the ran and marched towards where the cries and screams came from.

"Ahh!" Both women and men gasped at the sight before them, covering their mouths with their hands, shaking with fear.

"What is this?" A woman shivered as she pointed at the lifeless body on the ground.

"What happened here?" 

"Who did this?" Thousands and thousands of questions began to roll out of people's mouth.

"They were both training when it happened, it was not intentional, it was a mistake." A guard finally said, dropping to his knees.

"Ahhh, my son!" Alpha Zach howled loudly.

" You cannot do that, my lord," a guard quickly said, trying to shut him up.

"You will only give our enemies the chance to launch an attack on us if they find out about this so soon," he added.

" This would be the perfect time for them to attack because we are vulnerable and emotionally weak, and our people will be in great danger."

In no time, members of the pack had started to break into circles, discussing about what had happened.

"Who would have thought that such a vibrant and promising boy like him would suffer such a fate?" 

" I am only interested in how the spear managed to pierce through his heart. Even a toddler would know that it was done by a very skilled and well trained person." 

" I told you that that outcast was a witch and that she needed to be thrown out of here but you all refused to listen to me."

"How is it here fault that the boy suffered such a fate?" Someone sneered.

"It appears that ever since she walked in here, it has been from one misfortune to another," 

"Says the man who did not get swept away by rogues after going out of town, all thanks to the so-called witch." 

" Pls, gentlemen," a woman said, trying to stop the shades and argument.

"We all know that it is not the outcast's fault that something like this happened, and I think we have urgent matters at hand to deal with than argue and throw shades at each other."

"What urgent matters do we have at hand?" A teenager asked.

" We need to check and double our defense before our enemies latch onto us like ticks stick on dogs!" An hot tempered man yelled at the poor boy.

"Eveyrone should get to work, we do not have so much time," one of the guards close to the alpha ordered.