The Sisters of Sakha [Fiction]

Your noble heritage is undeniable,
Ascend and take your seat;
Forfeit and know loss.
In the end, the Sisters of Sakha await.

Sari screamed awake from her nightmare. She groaned while sitting up gently, every bone in her petite body ached like a truck had run her over. Beads of sweat rolled down her chin despite the frost on the windows.

She made herself hot coffee and cocoa. She hugged the mug to her bosom as the heat seeped through her thick sweater to warm her up. Her mind flashed back to her mother's dying words, "You can't escape it, Sari. It's your destiny. Let them or they will take from you till you ascend."

She was twelve then and confused. Ascend?

Not until her twentieth birthday when her grandmother made a three-day journey across the winter ice road to reveal that their tradition required the first female of the al'asasia generation to take her seat among the Sisters of Sakha.

The Sisters of Sakha were priestesses to the gods. The appointed generation from the noble blood must give up their first female as a priestess.

Sari's life changed totally during her grandmother's visit. She was numb for the two days Nana spent with her in her mother's house. Sari had dreams of leaving the city of Yakutsk, a remote town with Adnan, her first and only love, to immigrate to Reykjavík, Iceland. All her plans came crashing to the ground.

She smiled sweetly at her grandmother and promised to travel down to Taiga for her ascension ceremony. Sari lied. She bawled out her eyes through the night and made up her mind to ignore the stupid, ancient tradition. It may all be a lie.

After a beautiful evening spent in Adnan's arms, she asked, "Adi? Are we truly leaving for Reykjavík in seven days?"

Adnan cupped her cheeks and stared into her eyes for a moment. "Truly. It's with you, my princess or no one else. Mhmm?"

Tears pooled in her eyes at the confession of love. She blinked and nodded. Adnan wiped the tears aside with his thumb. "My boss will pay me and we will leave by the night bus to arrive at Reykjavík in the morning. A new world where we will start a new home awaits us. Are you ready?" He asked.

Sari smiled. "Always. I'll go with you anywhere, you know that." Adnan placed his forehead on hers and the couple breathed each other in for a long moment.

As she packed her bags in preparation for the journey, her heart nagged at her. At night, she had a dream where the Sisters of Sakha came to her and issued a warning. Sari worried about whether to tell Adnan about her family tradition or not. It would mean they could not be together.

Tomorrow, she and Adnan will leave for Reykjavík. There was no point spoiling their plans with some stupid tradition that did not make sense.

The temperature dropped suddenly and drastically in the evening. Most people stayed indoors. The roads turned icy and dangerous. Sari waited for Adnan to come to pick her up. By nightfall, Sari knew something had happened. Adnan had never stood her up before.

Putting on her fur winter coat, she walked down to Adnan's workplace. There was a small crowd of workers looking forlorn outside. Sari could feel her heart pounding furiously as she drew close.

"Hey, Chad," she touched Adnan's colleague gently on the shoulder. "Where's Adnan? What happened here?"

Chad turned sorrowful eyes at her and shook his head. "I-I'm sorry Sari. I've never seen something like this before. Adnan had finished work and was heading to see the foreman when his ankle twisted mysteriously. He screamed, tripped and fell into the smelting furnace. There was nothing we could do."

Sari froze, staring into distant space as Chad recounted Adnan's unexpected death. Another colleague who did not know who Sari was whispered to Chad, "I don't think I will ever forget his screams. Horrifying."

"Sari?" Chad called but Sari turned, pocketed her hand in her winter coat and strolled home in silence.

Sari got into her house, locked the doors and curled on her bed. The words of the Sisters of Sakha resounded in her mind, "Forfeit and know loss…"

She remembered her mother saying on her deathbed, "It's your destiny. Let them or they will take from you till you ascend."

Grief-stricken, she slipped into a deep sleep where the Sisters of Sakha appeared to her. "Sister, your place by our side awaits," one of the solemn-looking sisters said, her voice soft like a breeze.

Sari nodded once. "I'll journey down to Taiga tomorrow to take my place."

The Sisters smiled and spoke at once and in unison, "We have known sorrow like you. The gods would have no competition. We are your comfort."

The scene changed in a blink. Sari found herself by the lakeside, Adnan stood at the far end of the lake. He smiled, blew her a kiss and waved.

I hope you enjoyed reading. This piece is simply fiction and has no bearing on any real situation, circumstance or person.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

^{Image: Kellepics via Unsplash}