2 Night Visitor (2)

The moment Fani stepped outside, the cold chill of the rainy night crawled through his skin. The rain soaked his low cropped afro and his shirt clung to his body like a second skin. Soon, Fani was at his workshop. He tried to open the wooden door but realised that it was slightly left open. A sinking feeling crept through his heart. Fani was sure he had locked the door that evening. It was like second nature to him; he never forgot these things.

Apart from him, no one ever came to the workshop. Even Wikka seldom came there, thus, the fact that the door was opened was baffling to him, to say the least. What could anyone possibly want from his workshop? Wood? Tools? He was far from rich. In fact, just like most people in Coast Town, he was just getting by. They were not living in abject poverty, yet they were not rich either. But they were happy. Most people in Coast Town were. Being far from all the craziness of the big cities, Coast Town was like paradise to them. So the fact that someone was probably in his workshop trying to steal from him made no sense to him at all.

In all of Coast Town, only two people had the power to dare pick a fight with him, but none of those two would actually want to steal from him. The thought of Mayor Danjo and Master Bufan stealing from him was too laughable. Then a thought struck him. What if whoever it was was not even from the town?

Fani clenched his sweaty palms while calming his mind. He was probably over-thinking the whole thing. With a final resolve to make sure everything was in order, he slowly entered his workshop. His entire body tensed with precaution, while trying to sense the presence of anyone in the room. However, he felt nothing.

"Is anyone here?" He said in a low, but yet audible voice. "If you're here for anything, I'm afraid you're in for disappointment."

Still there was nothing. I'm probably imagining it, he thought.

Glancing through the workshop once again with a focus akin to a hawk, he was finally convinced that he and Wikka had certainly imagined the whole thing. But that thought had barely formed in his mind when he heard a tiny sneeze. The sneeze was hardly audible, however, due to the powerful senses of the orange essence, he was able to hear it.

Suddenly, Fani's brown pupils flared into a magnificent deep orange and a streak of blinding orange light emanated from his body. Then the smooth brown skin of his arms began to transform into a silvery colour until it lost all its fleshiness. It shone with a silvery gleam, as though his arms had turned into some kind of metal. He had not used his soul armos in about five years. But tonight, the thought that his home was in danger was enough to make him reveal it.

In calculated steps, like a predator, he slowly made his way towards the direction where the sneeze had come from. The workshop was fairly large and spacious containing so many types of woods and furniture. It would be very easy for anyone to hide in this room. But Fani's sense of hearing was very sensitive, and in no time, he came before a massive unfinished wardrobe. There were supposed to be two doors on the wardrobe, however, one was still missing. This was actually Fani's latest work and he had still not completed it.

Fani believed this was where he had heard the sneeze coming from. He placed his hard silver palm on the door of wardrobe, then waited. His palm could feel three different types of vibrations. The first one was already familiar to him; it was the vibrations he could feel from the wood of the wardrobe. However, the other two felt quite strange, like nothing he had actually felt. They seemed to be coming from a living being, and yet the vibrations were far stronger than any vibration he had felt from any living being. Whoever was inside had an essence stronger than orange and yellow. Was this perhaps the blue light he had seen? No wonder he could not sense the person's presence. If that were the case, Fani was the one who was in danger. Even with a powerful orange essence, he could easily be killed by a yellow, how much more someone more powerful than that.

After debating within himself silently about whether to open the wardrobe or not, he finally decided to open it. He charged up his silver arms to the highest he could until it shone like a silver armor, then hastily pulled open the wooden door while simultaneously backing away from the wardrobe with a speed possible to anyone with the orange essence. Expecting an attack to come flying out of the wardrobe, Fani had already prepared himself by creating an invisible shield around him using his Vibration soul armos. At the same time, he could attack while still protected by his shield.

However, the attack never came. Instead, an unmoving body clasping in its bosom, a heap of folded fabrics, was sitting in the wardrobe, its face buried in the fabrics. Instantly, Fani relaxed his stance. Still, he did not lose his focus as he was still unsure of what he was dealing with. Soon, he was standing over the person.

"Who are you? Are you alright?" Fani said. The person's head was full of black hair braided in complex intricate patterns. The person lifted the head slowly, and a pair of the blackest eyes Fani had seen stared back at him.

Fani felt his throat tighten at the mere sight of the woman. He did not know why he thought about this suddenly, but this woman was certainly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Fani immediately chastised himself for thinking that way, however, he could not help it. If anyone said this person was the most beautiful woman in Dream Kingdom, no one would doubt it. Looking into her deep black eyes was like gazing into a pool of shimmering black stars. Fani found himself lost within those eyes.

"Help her... please..", the woman said in a low weak voice. Fani assumed the woman was talking about herself since from the way she spoke and her shallow breathing, it felt like she was dying.

"I'll take you to the doctor at once." Fani said, while trying to lift the woman from the wardrobe. But the weak woman gripped Fani with a strength he had never known was possible to someone who was at the verge of death.

"No. Help her... Help my... Savyrran. Help... her..."

Fani was confused, to say the least. Savyrran? Who was this woman talking about? No, first of all, who was this woman and where had she come from? Just as Fani was thinking about who this Savyrran was, the woman gently pushed the heap of fabrics in her hands into Fani's. That was when Fani actually realised that those were not only fabrics he had seen, but instead, there was a baby in there; a tiny baby with big bright eyes full of life and a calm expression. The baby's eyes were the exact replica of the woman. This baby could not be more than a day old.

The sneeze must have come from this precious little one, Fani thought.

"Savyrran... Protect my Savyrran." Then she took a ring from her right middle finger and put it in the baby's clothes. Her small delicate hands caressed her baby's face as she looked at the infant with longing. A small bitter smile grew on her face, relieved that her baby was safe now.

"I will go get you some help immediately." Fani said. But then the woman's hand fell to the ground with a thud. He eyes were still wide open, yet they had no life in them. It was the the light in those black eyes had been turned off. Fani tried to feel the woman's pulse. There was nothing. Then he shut her eyes gently.

"Poor child," Fani whispered to the baby. But the baby only looked at him with calm innocent eyes oblivious to fact that her mother had just passed away.

By the time Fani made his way out of the workshop, the rain had already stopped. However, the night was still very cold, and the smell of rain permeated the air. From a distance, Fani could hear the crashing waves of the sea. When he got back to the house, Wikka was sitting in the large sleeping chair, wide awake.

She had been feeling too worried to even sleep. She instantly got up as soon as she saw Fani walk into the room.

"I was so worried about you. You were gone for a while." She said as she got closer to her husband. "Was everything alright there?"

Fani said nothing, and only stared at the bundle in his hands. Wikka's attention was suddenly drawn to the bundle. "What is that?"

She drew closer to her husband. Wikka instinctively smiled when a pair of the most beautiful black eyes looked back at her with curiosity. "Oh my..." Wikka looked back at Fani as though she was expecting an explanation.

"Her mother... She died in the workshop. I have no idea where they come from."

Wikka took the baby in her arms and rocked her gently. "You're safe now, little one. Soon, you will have a new brother or sister, and you'll never be alone." Wikka's voice was so soothing and her smile so contagious that Fani smiled. Then an adorable cackle filled their ears. The baby's eyes shone with happiness.

Wikka laughed, "I've never seen a baby so calm and happy. Maybe you should be the bearer of happiness. Don't you think so, Fani?"

"Her mother called her Savyrran and she spoke Gaonan just like us. Perhaps, she was from Southern Cape Province."

"Savyrran? That's an excellent name. My little Savyrran. Oh Fani, it seems we have been blessed with twins."

"Why don't you go put her in the cradle and then go have some sleep. I'll call Saah. He will know what to do with the dead body." Fani could tell from how sweetly his wife watched the baby that Wikka wanted to keep it. But if the baby had come from their province, perhaps, they needed to tell someone.

Wikka nodded and said no more.