Una's Song of Peace

The rain fell hard, pelting the cracks in the tile roof and making the dirt floor muddy.

The little girl was sick. Her body racked with fever and her stomach twisted into knots. The house creaked in the wind. Dust blew through the tiny holes in the wooden walls, landing on her parched lips and wispy hair.

The old man watched his adopted daughter shiver beneath a thin blanket. She coughed wetly, then whimpered as her lungs struggled for air.

"I can't watch this anymore," he said to his wife as he stood up from his chair. "We have to try something."

Sighing, she nodded and handed him a basin of cold water from the stove. He went to Una's side and placed the bowl beside her head on a pile of ragged blankets. Poking at her shoulder, he prodded her awake and slid one arm beneath her back while picking up the bowl with his other hand.

"Una, sweetheart, I need you to sit up," he said softly. "I have something for you."

She awoke slowly, blinking away the sleep and coughing once more before speaking. "Why are you here? Where is mother?" Her words were slurred by exhaustion.

He smiled down at her as he lifted her into a seated position by placing one arm behind her back, supporting her as she sat in his lap with one knee tucked under the other leg. Holding onto Una's thin shoulders with both hands, he poured a small cup of tea into the bowl and held it out towards her face so she could see it clearly. "I want you to drink this, Una."

She leaned forward into the bowl but stopped suddenly when she spied the yellowish liquid inside that swirled with bubbles from the hot tea underneath it. All of a sudden, she felt nauseous again and pulled away from it, shaking her head no and feeling dizzy as she did so. "What is it? It looks disgusting..." she said faintly as her eyes fluttered closed again.

He frowned at this but didn't argue with her about whether or not it was disgusting; instead he simply said: "It is medicine." Setting down the bowl, he helped Una lean back against him so that she was sitting upright with her legs folded in front of them again like they had been before. Folding his arms around her waist tightly, he began chanting softly in an ancient language while swaying gently back and forth with his eyes closed: slowly at first until their movements became more animated, and then they were rocking back and forth violently in time with his words until finally...

Una opened her eyes to the sound of Alvand and Avielle's voices chanting nearby. Everything around her looked blurry, and even after blinking several times to clear her vision, she still couldn't quite understand what was happening. She noticed Alvand and Avielle standing over her, appearing both old and young simultaneously. Their voices sounded familiar, yet their clothing was different.

Confused and struggling to breathe, Una wondered why nobody was helping her understand what was going on. As her surroundings shifted and changed abruptly, she panicked, feeling lost and abandoned. People dressed in strange green outfits appeared, surrounding something bright that made everything appear blue-ish purple. Una worried for Alvand and Avielle, fearing they might have been harmed.

As the scene transformed once more, two older versions of Alvand appeared, wearing robes made completely of green leaves. One held a sword above his head, while the other tried to stop him. Frustration filled Una as she wished they could simply agree on something, and she couldn't help but wonder whether adults ever managed to agree on anything for longer than five minutes.

Exhausted and desperate for answers, Una hoped that the men in her vision would learn the importance of true love and companionship – a force stronger than steel, giants, mountains, gods, or fate. Maybe then they would find peace, happiness, and togetherness, neverending and united until death.

Forever together... till death do us part.