Flies on the Wall

Without hesitation, Blake followed him. The old man obviously knew what was going on and the only way that Blake would be able to figure out what was happening would be to follow him.

In less than ten minutes of as-the-crow flight, the old man had taken them to the Holy City of Champa. He made a motion for Blake to follow him up into one of the brick ruins.

With a tiny mutter, he threw an illusory veil of mist over them, rendering both Blake and himself invisible to both human and non-human eyes.

Blake raised an eyebrow. For this man to be concerned with being seen was alarming. The ones around that bonfire had to have immense power.

He felt as if they were flies on the wall, watching as something major was unfolding before their eyes.

From the vantage point of the towers, he could see a group of dark hooded figures chanting some weird incantations of ancient powers that sought to awaken what had long been desiccated and bereft of life.

As they chanted, the hooded figures circled the bonfire and threw various powders into the flames causing the fire to jump and burn with bright colors. The smell was something awful, as if a dog had vomited into the fire.

The bonfire roared and hissed, its tongues of blue and orange and green flames cast deep black shadows that leaped and danced along the charred walls.

The drum beats pummeled into the night, attracting the wolves toward the perimeter of the forest which encircled the ruins. They prowled beyond the reaches of the firelight, growling and howling from being disturbed.

Above them, hidden deep within the gnarled trees, hoot owls cried out their song, adding to the cacophony of strange and otherworldly noises.

Beside the bonfire was the Overlord and Jasmine, alongside an old man with white eyes that could see perfectly well. The old man stared out into the mountain ranges, beyond the relic towers and uttered a few chants before turning back to the Overlord.

At the distance he was standing, Blake could not hear what the man said, but then, the old blind man threw off his cloak, revealing his wizened aged body wearing nothing but a sarong. Around his neck was a long canine tooth of some wild beast. From the shape and size, it seemed to be that of a tiger.

He vaulted up the platform with the strength and agility of a young man, dancing and doing cartwheels around the perimeter of the platform as if he was not an old blind man.

As he danced, he chanted and sang in some foreign language that was so filled with hisses and pops and clicks, it didn't even seem as if it could originate on Earth.

For the first time, Blake noticed the seated figure on the platform. He was dressed in a royal outfit and looked to have been drugged out of his mind.

The old blind man lowered himself until he was sitting cross-legged in front of the man.

In one swift motion, he pulled an arrow from his waist and pierced it through the man's jaw, pulling it halfway out through the other side of his cheek.

It was a strangely bloodless movement. No blood flowed. It was as if the old man was an effigy or a soft clay sculpture.

The old blind man turned to the Overlord and said something which Blake could not hear.

The Overlord responded in a loud voice which carried clearly across the courtyard, all the way to the alcove where Blake hid.

"Where are her crowned jewels and the golden scepter of the King?"

The old blind man turned to the seated figure in the royal robes who began to jerked around as if he had just been electrocuted.

The seated figure mumbled something at the old blind man. He nodded a few times and then jumped on his feet and began dancing and waving his arms about.

The group of hooded figures around the fire pit continued their chanting and banging on their small drums, merging their voices with his.

It was a short dance. The old man made a sign heavenward and then leaped back down to the ground.

At the moment he stood back up, his body once again resumed that sagged weary look of a blind old man.

He turned unseeing eyes towards the direction where the Overlord stood.

"So, High Priest." The Overlord said in a booming voice. "Have you received my answers?"

The old blind man muttered unintelligible words to the Overlord. They carried on a conversation for a bit longer and then the old man turned to Jasmine.

The change in his demeanor was palpable. He spoke with her for a few moments and Jasmine responded. Blake stared at her as she continued a conversation that he could not follow.

Suddenly, two of the robed figures came to her side and lifted her up onto the platform.

Blake made a move to intercept but Dai Tien Hoang gripped onto his arm and held him back.

"Relax. They are not going to hurt her."

"You can touch me?" Blake turned back to stare at him with shock in his eyes.

"In the same way you can touch those still living, yes."

"How are you able to do this?"

Dai Tien Hoang gave him a mysterious smile.

"Patience, endurance, and the single-minded pursuit of beating the Demon System."

"Oh my God. You're in the Demon System too!"

Dai Tien Hoang shook his head.

"No. I am no longer part of the Demon System. I have beaten that system and are now part of another system which you will eventually be given the chance to enter. For now, focus on the Demon System goals."

Blake nodded and turned back to Jasmine.

The old blind man bade her to sit, cross-legged, facing him. She squared her shoulders and bravely looked into his eyes, her small beautiful heart shape face, wan and tragic.

On her left sat the man with the arrow in his cheeks. His eyes were closed, his body unmoving. On her right was the bonfire and the circle of seated hooded men.

The Overlord was the only one standing amidst the hooded men. He stared at Jasmine with a worried frown, his arms crossed over his chest, watching everything with hawk eyes.

As she sat staring at the old blind man, he continued chanting. Then he placed a hand on her forehead, muttering more incantations.

As Jasmine's eyes closed, the old man pulled his hand back. All around him, the sounds of the drumbeats and the droning chanting from the hooded figures continued unabated.

This went on for what seemed like forever.

"What are they doing?" Blake whispered to Dai Tien Hoang.

"They are sending her soul backward in time to relive the events of one of her past lives."

"Is it dangerous?"

"It is only dangerous if they don't know what they are doing. Old Tong Li is a very old soul. He will be able to guide her safely out of the past and back into the present." Dai Tien Hoang nodded.

"What do we do now?" Blake turned back to watch Jasmine as she sat there, unresponsive.

"We wait."