Jasmine looks at me.
"I already told you I don't plan on going back."
"Yes, don't worry about that. I will be the one to cure your father."
"what? How will you do that?"
"Maybe you won't believe me, but the herencia I have from the Puño de Fuego Clan doesn't belong to me. I obtained it from Mukasa. I don't know why, but I think my mark can copy the Herencias of other people."
"what? Are you serious?"
"Yes, to do it, I need you to let me touch your mark, but you need to be willing to let me see your most painful memories."
"My most painful memories?" Jasmine looks at her bright green mark.
" It's okay if you don't want to. In the end, it's your decision whether to share it or not; no one has the right to force you. But I think this would be the best way."
Jasmine looks at me as if I had lost my mind, but as she sees my determined eyes, she opens her eyes and then sighs.
"Fine."
Jasmine extends her wrist, showing her bright green mark. I look at it for a few seconds. I know that as soon as I take it, I will see and feel her painful memories. I breathe and exhale. I can do this.
As soon as I grab her hand the same electric shock runs through my body. Images of her memories flash through my mind.
When I open my eyes, I find myself in the chamber of the Lengua Venenosa Clan. Etanor is playing with me outside our wooden house. His skin is this greenish-gray, and his light emerald eyes seem to shine with a smile as he carries me.
"Dears, the food is ready."
As soon as my father puts me on the ground, I run to my mother and hug her. I feel the soft texture of her white cotton clothes. She strokes my head.
"Is that necklace new, dear? It looks very good on you," says my father.
"Thank you, honey. They've been selling it lately. Since the treaty, they've been buying it from the Adamantita clan. It glows in the dark, so it also has its utility."
While we eat, someone vigorously knocks on the door of the house.
"Captain, we're in trouble! Several warriors have lost control; they're starting a revolt!"
"How can that be? What reason do they have to do that?"
"I don't know. Some of us tried to reason with them, but they won't listen."
"All right. I'll be there soon." My father turns to my mother. "Elena, I have to go. For now, stay inside the house and don't let anyone in unless it's me."
My mother and I stay in the house. To distract me she tells me stories of the first priestess sisters.
In the early days of our clan, when the Herencia had yet to develop, some sisters joined forces and decided to drink the nectar from the tree of a thousand faces. When they did, they discovered that their bodies were stronger, and therefore, they could traverse the tunnels without fear of tunnel gases. Thanks to them, maps could be drawn, and ways to navigate the tunnels more easily were created.
"What were those ways?" I ask excitedly as if I didn't ask the same question every time she tells the story.
"There are many, but among the most used is moss plantation to indicate if a tunnel is safe or not. Nowadays, the moss has been altered to make it glow using fireflies."
"How fun! I can't wait to grow up and explore the tunnels!"
A loud crash hits the door. My mother sharpens her gaze and asks me to hide. However, after a few seconds, we recognize a familiar voice.
My mother opens the door and behind it is my father However, the moment she opens the door, he lunges at her.
My father's light green irises glow red. My mother manages to break free from him and restrains him. Then she approaches his face and kisses him. When this happens, my father stops struggling and his eyes turn light green again.
"What happened? Why am I back home?"
"Don't you remember? You arrived slamming the door and attacked me. The irises of your eyes were red. You regained consciousness after I used my Herencia."
"Red eyes?" My father looks at my mother's necklace with the red stone. "It's the Cinnabar. It's the cause of all this."
"The red stone?"
"Yes, or more specifically, cinnabar dust. The fangs and the warriors have been using it after they discovered that it significantly increases our strength."
"What? I've heard the Adamanita say that cinnabar dust is enough to kill one of them.."
"Yes, I thought that too, but their strength was too much to handle so I decided to level the battle by consuming it. The last thing I remember before losing consciousness is consuming that dust to confront the affected fangs. But the important thing is that now we know the cause and also the cure. Dear, I'm going to need you to give me your potions with your heritage," my father says as he tries to stand up, but fails to do so.
"Dear, you're not in a condition to go again. I'll go," my mother says as she goes to the potion room.
My mother comes out wearing a wooden white armor from the Tree of a Thousand Faces and with bags containing the flasks with her potions.
"Jasmine, stay here with your father. Please take care of him for me," she says as she caresses my face.
"Yes, Mom, I'll take care of him," I say with teary eyes.
"Don't worry, my dear, I'll be back in a blink."
My mother leaves after placing my father on a bed. I stand beside him as time passes, and my father begins to recover and tries to stand up.
"What are you doing, Dad? Mom said you should stay here."
"Don't worry, my firefly. I already feel better. We'll go to a safer place."
We leave the house. As we walk through the grassland, I can hear sounds like stone clashing and screams. Eventually, we managed to reach a huge wooden mansion. The fangs at the door tense up when they see my father.
"Calm down, I'm not affected. I need to talk to Isabela."
The fangs don't let us in, but a woman comes out of the door. Her skin is greenish-gray, and her long curly blonde hair.
"Etanor? I had been informed that you were affected too."
" I've been cured thanks to Jasmine's heritage. The cause of all this is cinnabar dust.
"I told them not to play with something outside the nectar of the tree. What do you plan to do?"
"I'll go support Elena to apply her heritage to the fangs. I need you to do me the favor of taking care of Jasmine."
"All right. Don't worry; I'll care for her as if she were my daughter."
My father squats in front of me and grabs my shoulders.
"Jasmine, I need you to stay with Isabela. With her, you'll be safe."
"B-but I don't want to be alone," I say as tears stream down my face.
My father hugs me. "Don't worry, my little firefly. Your mom and I will be back soon. How about after this, I teach you how to navigate the tunnels?"
"Yes!" I say hugging him back.
I watch my father's back as he runs to the center of the village until he disappears.
Hours pass, and eventually, the affected fangs are stopped and moved to an area of the tunnels. My father returns safe and sound, but in his arms is my mother.
Time passes, but the marks remain on me and the other members who lost someone that day. My father marries the priestess Isabela, to effectively command upon the fangs. My father takes it upon himself to save and cure the corrupt, but one of those days, he doesn't come back. I end up alone doing the heavy work like one of the maids in the white mansion, and over time, days turn into weeks, then into months, and years.
The only thing that comforts me is when I come back to my original home, the wooden shack, where I practice my mother's healing techniques and read the books she left. Every day, I hope my father comes back.
Loneliness becomes so unbearable.
One day I take my mother's books and tools and flee through the tunnels toward the Cinnabar Chamber. The Fangs hunt me down, but in the Chamber’s city, a member of the Adamantita clan named Amator saves me and offers me to join the Red Wolfs.
I will help others, just like my mom always did.
Don't forget to add the story to your library!
❤️Follow me on Instagram for Illustrations.
❤️Read ahead, 4K illustrations, and support me on my Patreon.
