Chapter 1: The beginning
"Blood is red,
The sky is blue,
You thought me dead,
But I had my eye on you"
The nhemanhu chortled and turned its orange gaze on Siddes. It was a tall, muscular human-like male and at that moment, as it gazed at her, it flicked its brown hair out of its eyes and grinned at her.
Heart thumping, Siddes trembled and stepped back, "What do you want?"
The nhemanhu cocked its head and chortled again, "What do you think I want?"
"You've been following me for three days, you never spoke to me until now, and you expect me to know!" screamed back Siddes, uneasiness creeping like a snake in her belly and tears of fright springing into her eyes.
The nhemanhu scowled, "How could we talk when you kept running away?"
Siddes grabbed the sides of her head and began pacing back and forth on the wharf, mumbling repetitively, "This can't be happening."
The nhemanhu set off in blood-curdling cackles of laughter. When it sobered briefly, it sighed dramatically, "Oh, Sid. If you'd just accept that you and I are the same, you wouldn't be having this mental meltdown."
Siddes paused mid-stride and spun to face the nhemanhu, her face aghast. "What do you mean we are the same?"
The nhemanhu's eyes seemed to burn more fiercely. It lifted the corner of its lips in a half smile, "You're Maru, Sid. It's incredible that after only eleven years, you've already forgotten. And it looks like you've also forgotten me, your mate."
Siddes stumbled back, shaking her head as though trying to clear it. "You're lying. I'm nothing like you! And what do you mean by calling me mate?"
The nhemanhu rolled its eyes and shrugged, "Marox did say you'd react this way. What a bummer, that moron of a snot was right."
"Who is Marox?"
"Oh wow, you really have amnesia. Marox is your brother. He's Maru too," the nhemanhu growled, shifting its muscular body to roll its shoulders as though releasing tension.
Siddes felt like she was hyperventilating. She dragged trembling hands through her hair before fisting her hands at her sides. "Leave me alone. Go back from wherever you came from. You aren't welcome here," she hissed through gritted teeth.
The nhemanhu regarded her, expressionless, for a beat, then, "You can't even call me, Radhagu, anymore?"
Siddes felt as though she had been punched in the solar plexus as the name registered. This could not be Radhagu.