10 Danger? (1)

That evening at home, Savyrran could not contain her excitement at having witnessed the matches. She was especially intrigued by the special ability of the Blood King. Of course, she had heard several times from her parents and her brother the usefulness of the soul armos. However, this was the first time seeing the soul armos of others other than her parents. She could not wait to be five years old to manifest her essence and neither could she wait to be fifteen years old to awaken her soul armos.

"Ovan, when we are old enough, we should join the tournament." Savyrran said to her brother who was busily reading a book. For the first time that evening, Ovandarrak lifted his eyes and looked up at his sister.

"I'm not interested in fighting." He said in his small and yet sure voice.

Savyrran knew exactly what this tone meant. Her brother truly meant what he had just said. She was not surprised anyway, after all, she had never seen her brother get all excited about things like tournaments and physical strengths. "What are you interested in?"

"Soul recovery."

"Soul recovery? What is that?" Savyrran's curious eyes bore into his brother's. Ovandarrak was always saying things she did not understand. This time, what was he even talking about? She had never heard of the term soul recovery.

"I saw it in one of my books. It's a branch of medicine that deals with healing one's damaged soul."

"A damaged soul? But that is not possible." Savyrran said.

"Oh, it is very possible, my dear." Fani said suddenly. The two children were startled by his voice since they had not expected him to come into their room. Wikka was standing right next to him, smiling lovingly at her two children. They had come into the children's room to tuck them in bed.

"The soul can be damaged and only doctors skilled in soul recovery can help them. Damage to one's soul makes it difficult or even impossible to use one's essence or soul armos. Soul recovery doctors are some of the most coveted people in existence since there are only a few of them. Ovan, do you really want to become a soul recovery doctor?"

Ovandarrak nodded resolutely. He had always known that he was not like his sister. Savyrran was stronger and more fearless than most people. Many times he he had seen Savyrran spar against some of the older children who had already manifested their essence. Every time she was beaten to the ground, she would just get back up with a smile on her face ready to fight again. This would go on for several hours until her opponents gave up from her stubborn will. This was something Ovandarrak admired about her sister; she was too stubborn to give up. It was like she had no fear.

He was not like that, at least not in physical strength. What he was good at was learning. And that was exactly what he was going to do. Ovandarrak believed that his sister was going to be even stronger as they got older. He would support her by becoming the best doctor in the world.

"If that is the case then you will have to begin your mental training. Soul recovery requires the use of a lot of mental energy. If this is what you want then you have to begin as soon as possible. I can tell Doctor Avor to help you with that." Fani said.

A rare smile bloomed on Ovandarrak's face like spring had suddenly appeared. He was always so stoic and serious and rarely smiled. Savyrran smiled instantly upon seeing the smile bloom on her brother's face.

"Doctor Avor practices soul recovery?" He asked.

Fani chuckled at how excited his son was. He had never seen him so overwhelmed with emotion. Ovan must really be interested in soul recovery. "Well, no. But he is a master in mental training techniques. He can help you with that. As for the soul recovery, you can learn it in the best academy in the Kingdom once you awaken your soul armos. Well, that is if you're still interested in it by then."

"I'm sure our baby will still want to learn it." Wikka said. Almost immediately, Wikka felt a surge of energy drained from her body. Then she yawned widely, her eyes were laced with exhaustion. She ran her hand through her dark curly hair, thoroughly confused by why she was feeling so tired suddenly.

"You seem tired, my love." Fani said approaching his wife who was by now struggling to stand upright. "Here let me help you." But just as he was about to carry his wife, he found himself suddenly drained of all energy. It was as though he had not slept in ages. His eyes felt heavy and could barely open up.

Savyrran and Ovandarrak looked at each other in shock. What was happening? One minute their parents looked so full of life and vigour and the next minute, they looked like they would collapse from exhaustion any second. The two children rushed to their parents before they could fall to the ground.

"Ma. Pa." Ovandarrak tugged at his parents impatiently. "What's wrong with them?" His parents looked so peaceful as though they were lost in a deep endless sleep. Then he placed a gentle finger below his mother's nostrils and then did the same for her father. "They are still breathing. Savy, what's happening?"

"I think they are just sleeping." She said to her bewildered brother.

"Sleeping? But… But it's not even that late. Ma and Pa don't go to sleep this early."

"I know. They looked so tired. I don't know what's wrong with them."

"We should call Doctor Avor. He will know what to do."

"Okay." Savyrran nodded in agreement. She had not even thought of that. But then just as she was sure there would be a solution soon, she was faced with yet another problem. How was she supposed to call Doctor Avor? She would have to go to the Doctor's home and bring him here personally. That meant that her brother would have to stay behind and take care of their parents.

"Ovan, you have to wait here and look after them. I'm going to call Doctor Avor. I'll be back soon, okay?"

"Savy, wait." Ovandarrak grabbed her sister's arm and looked into her eyes, sadness spreading over his face like a dark cloud. They may be different in so many ways however, they were hardly ever apart from each other. Wherever Savyrran was, one was sure to see Ovandarrak and vice versa. Hence, the fact that his sister was leaving him here all alone was unnerving to him.

Ovandarrak might never show it nor even say it, but the truth was that he enjoyed his sister's company a lot. Her confidence, kindness and protectiveness towards him made him feel secure as though nothing could ever happen to him. And now, here she was leaving him all alone. He wished he could go with her. But he was also quite logical. He knew they could not leave their parents unattended in such vulnerable state. All he could do was hope her sister came back as quickly as possible.

"Be safe, okay." His voice was barely audible. This was one of the rare times Ovandarrak actually acted his age. A small child frightful at the thought of his twin sister leaving him all alone. Savyrran smiled sweetly at her little brother. She was the only one who knew how sensitive Ovandarrak really was. "I'll be back soon. I promise."

Ovandarrak nodded. There was never a time Savyrran had made him a promise and broken it. Just as Savyrran was about to leave, the sadness in Ovandarrak's eyes left instantly and was replaced by something else. Savyrran recognised that look immediately. It was caution. With how little Ovandarrak showed his emotions, it was quite easy for Savyrran to tell when something was wrong the moment he a made the slightest facial expression.

"What is it?" She asked holding on to her brother's hand.

"Can you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"That. That music. It's so…" But before Ovandarrak could complete his sentence, the words choked in his mouth and he remained silent unable to speak a word.

"Ovan. What music? Ovandarrak." Savyrran shook her brother by the shoulder to gain his attention, however, Ovandarrak simply continued to look right ahead like there was no one standing in front of him. "What is this?" Savyrran whispered to herself.

The pupils of Ovandarrak's eyes began to be covered by a gray film until his entire eyes were left in nothing but a gray mist. "Ovan." Savyrran called out to his brother again even though by then, she was sure her brother could no longer hear her. Whatever it was, Ovandarrak was too far gone in a trance to hear anything she was saying. She had no idea what was happening to her family. She felt a foreign emotion overtaking her, an emotion she had never experienced before. For someone like her who was always happy, this new feeling clawed at her heart and threatened to explode from within.

Her fingers were shaking uncontrollably so she clenched one of her fists to control this trembling while her other hand held on to her brother. What was wrong with her? All she kept thinking about was how much she wanted to tear apart whatever was threatening to destroy her family. Who or what was doing this to her family? She would kill every last one of them.

Suddenly, Ovandarrak pulled his hand out of Savyrran's and then stormed out of the room. He was walking in a daze, his eyes looking at nothing in particular. It was like a force outside of his own body was pushing him to do something he didn't want. Savyrran shouted after her brother hoping he would come back. But he just kept on walking, completely ignoring her.

Taking one last look at her parents who were resting peacefully on the floor, Savyrran ran after her brother. She had to protect him at all cost.

Luckily for her, Ovandarrak was not far away. He was walking at a normal pace like a wondering ghost. Savyrran caught up to him and then tried to get him to stop by holding on to him with all her strength. "Ovan, snap out of it." But Ovandarrak could not hear anything. Instead, he was crazily moving his hands in all directions in an attempt to get away from the obstacle blocking his path. "I'm sorry little brother." Savyrran whispered into his brother's ears. She felt a little sad about what she was about to do. It was however very important that she did it. If not, something worse was sure to happen to her brother, and she would not have that.

avataravatar
Next chapter