The Illness

The night was cold and dark. The rain was loud and soothing. The people slept without a care in the world. In all, this was a perfect night. Or was it? A voice kept ringing in the head of the young boy, clenching to his blanket, with his eyes glowing reddish, as blood drew in. Engulfed in anxiety, as if something was out to get him. An unseen presence in the room. He kept shaking his head, desperately trying to ease his mind out of this state. He could not hold his thoughts any longer; the voice drew closer to him and he got swallowed in the sea of darkness. Filled with the emptiness of lands dried and the seas evaporated. The voice kept ringing in the ears of the young boy. Sweating under the cold breeze, he called out to the voice. He screamed and rose high to make himself as big as possible but the wind carried all his might away. Soon all became quiet and the voice turned to inaudible whispers. The young boy overcome with fear shuddered in the darkness and got consumed by the Spirit of the dark force. The lungs of the boy contracted and the diaphragm became flat which enabled the boy to release air into the environment. The heartbeat was at a faster pace the boy kept releasing more air than he could breathe. The rain kept pounding on the hard surfaces making everyone sleep without a thought of disturbance but inside the room, the boy's body became hot wetting the bed with his sweat. The young boy lay alone in his suffering and the world silently slept on.

The rain stopped and cock crowed to sound the morning alarm, the sun rose from the hiding place and a knock was tapped on the door. She entered the room and found the young boy lying on the floor covered in his blanket. She goes to carry the young boy and finds his body hot and panting heavily, she cries for help as a mother who finds a child lost and gone, and she carries the child to the gates of the house in search of help. The boy fumes with a dark vapor which makes the woman leave him on the ground, she begins to cough and start to suffocate under the heavy gas.

A man sitting in a lazy chair drinking wine heard the woman's cry for help, he only shook his head, dusted himself, and kept drinking his wine. He sees the dark aura spreading around the green grass field where the front gate of the house is located. he goes into the house and brings out some pendants, he places the first pendant around the neck of the wife and another around the child, throws some water on them, and starts reciting some words after a while the dark aura goes into the pendant; the boy's pendant breaks as he screams out in pain. The boy turned to stand and look at his father, the reddish eyes of the boy and the explosive dark wave that burst out of him, his neck stood straight and he moved swiftly to attack his father. The man in boxer shorts, jumps backward and raises the water, and throws it in a circular way that surrounds the boy. The boy fidgets in the circle as he eventually falls to the ground, the brown-skinned man enters the house and comes back with another pendant and places it around the boy.

“Terrin, is he going to be okay”, asked the woman standing behind the man. He does not say a word and watches the boy sleeping when he notices him shaking vigorously. The dark aura emerges from the boy and goes after Terrin, he starts reciting words and the birds appear in the sky with the bell, the bell rings trapping the darkness, and the boy keeps screaming when the darkness exploded. Burns is found on the boy's body which makes the father worried. he goes inside the house and gives the boy a potion that allows him to completely sleep. in a short time, the burns which appeared on the skin reduce, “let's take him to the hospital.” The lady said. Terrin who was in boxer shorts dashed into the house and placed on a silky blue top with black trousers, he takes a gourd containing water along. “All right then, I am ready let's get going.”

Aside from breathing to show the state of his health, the boy looked pale and had no sign of movement. the doctor placed him inside a warm room as she found him too cold. The child became stiff and hard like a being dried off his life force. the doctor holds him and gives him a potion that reduces the stiffness and makes the boy looks lively. in a short moment, a fire is seen burning around the boy which releases a dark aura, the woman known to be the doctor takes a certain enclosed metallic bowl and channels energy into the bowl drawing the fire with the dark aura into the bowl and closing it. The dark force trapped inside the bowl takes the shape of a worm and tries to escape, it multiplies as it could not break free from the case. the woman pours energy into the metal and the fire destroys the worms and the darkness.

"He will be fine now," the doctor said, " the dark energy has been absorbed and the worm that entered into him has also been destroyed. It is left with the boy being able to wake up." Terrin who did not really understand what was going on only nodded his head and went to sit beside the boy.

Inside tom's head, he still drowning and the sea keeps pulling him to the bottom like a chain was holding him firmly by the leg. No matter how hard he tries to swim out of the ocean the shackles pull him backward. The water is gradually seeping through his nostrils making it difficult for him to breathe

In the hospital, a female doctor checking on the health of the patient suddenly called for Terrin "It is a grave situation for your child, it would be best if you look for this man in the picture." She hands over a picture to him and asks Terrin to bring him.

"How will I find him and who are you, doctor?"

"He is my husband," said the doctor, "and he got missing about five years ago on the eve of a new year"

"What, how do you expect me to find a dead man", "I mean he may be buried somewhere for only God knows. Are you trying to laugh at my circumstance Doctor?"

“Well, I did, Mr. Mayers. It led me to this city where I managed to consult a man, who unlocked this amulet and I was able to communicate with him.” She shows a dark amulet to Terrin which makes him to almost believe the woman’s story.

"What!", "then what" added Mayers.

"I do not have your strength, Mr. Mayers, like you said he is probably dead, it’s up to you now." She threw the amulet on him and asked him to think about the child.

The whole night Mr. Mayers kept staring at the stars and not thinking about anyone else. He can sacrifice his second child to keep the two children left, but the whole darkness becoming a plaque worries him, it may come for his family as it did with the Bruce family. The darkness affected the entire family and wiped everyone out. The idea of leaving his family to search for an unknown man left him in utter confusion.

He could not talk to anyone in his family as he feared they will all cry on him and prevent him from making rational decisions. He walks away from his house to go to the street filled with masquerades as people are in high spirits happily drinking and making merry. Terrin walks to a noisy area where people keep sending their friends inside the bar.

The bar, was filled with numerous people and everyone was either smoking or drinking, the place was noisy and more aggressive than in the daytime. The Henson bar was a large bar that hosted most of the town and country people after a heavy day. The bar owner was the one Terrin called, though he owns the bar, he barely drinks himself and therefore does not regularly come to the bar. His son, Michael is the one managing the bar. Henderson Wesley, a tall man with an aura of authority unlike his friend possesses an aggressive face. He is more masculine and heavily built. Like Terrin, he also came from a village on the riverside surrounded by mountains. One can say the village was in the mountains, for it was out of sight by the mountains for a person coming by sea.

Terrin told him the event of the incident, and in his narration kept repeating how crazy the woman is to Henderson. Mr. Henderson told him he knows the man and that he also comes from Samania. "It was believed he stumbled on a certain organization secret so could not stay any longer and had to run. He was the only person, who could heal the sick, and not long after he left the village fell to the darkness."

"How come I never knew about this"

"You were never the one to care about public gossip my friend, your wife knows more. I recently found out that darkness target specific people with specific abilities. Your son's ability to control nature. I mean people with nature tend to have vast energy than ordinary people. The darkness is a person searching for prey."

"What do I do", he said, "should I look for a dead man or should I wait to see the outcome?"

"I cannot tell you what to do my friend, for I have no idea who the doctor is. It can be a lie and it can be true. Who knows, you were never much of a traveler and I doubt you intend to become one at this age." Henderson continued by saying "I am a merchant and I have seen how the plaque is affecting people in various towns. I heard the king's son has also been infected with the darkness."

After drinking a few bottles Terrin takes his leave from the bar. He starts heading for his house but realizes he is being followed, drunk as he is the discomfort leaves him and he continues with his journey. A man approaches from the shadows and stabs him with a knife. Terrin feels the pain inside his ribs and soon start nauseating he falls to the ground. Life goes on as the masquerades continue to entertain the people, no one notices Terrin as the blood keep oozing from him.

In a hut a man is chanting words and mixing several potions together, A man with a lot of beards and a scar on his left arm is lying down on a mat burning with fever, and his cloth covered in blood is being changed by a young lady, while the doctor brings the potion for him to drink. Terrin is unable to drink and the man forces the portion into his throat. The man keeps chanting some words and the fever goes down.

The entire forest was green with the tall tree shading the younger plants the forest was big as the man kept roaming through the maze of the forest. He reaches a waterfall and enters the cave. A very old man was inside the cave, he looked like a dragon clan member as he bears the tattoo of the clan on his shoulder. The man calls him by his name “Terrin, Terrin” he looks closer at the old man but sees no face, a tiger’s face pops is staring at him, he looks into the water and sees an old wrinkled man dying from age. The time is near Terrin remembers, to come back home and the old man hands over to him a dagger and asks him to continue with his work. The man covered in the shadow has a tiger-like face with a human body. He tells Terrin to go back for his time is not up and pushes Terrin into a door. Terrin wakes up to find the dagger and an orb lying beside him. His mind became fussy on seeing the dagger, he kept robbing his eyes to double check it was not a dream and tried to stand up on his feet but the pain was too great. As he lay on the bed he began to wonder if what he saw is what his son also witnessed. An overwhelming feeling of knowing the voice and nature he talked to get stacked in his mind.

“Terrin, you're awake,” said a young feminine voice. The room was dark as it was with only the moonlight penetrating the window of the doorway and throwing light on the female blonde woman carrying candlelight. She uses the candle fire to light the big lantern as she completed Terrin became at ease and stopped holding his hand while he made a slight cough. He gets the attention of the woman and he makes a sign indicating he is in need of water to drink. She ties her hair with a rope to look like a ponytail as she introduces herself to the man on the bed as Tiffney. He watched the young woman closely with her curvy and smallish face. She had a robe on but the puffy air inside the robe made him guess her slim physique. She had long hair for a young girl and she was more like someone in her twenties. She shut the door as she left to fetch the water, and after a while, she came back with not only water but an old man holding onto his stick. She helps Terrin to drink the water where he sees the blue pupil. He becomes surprised and looks at the old man as he drinks the water.

“Hello dad” Terrin greets the old man; the old man gets closer to the bed Terrin was lying on. He sits on the chair and waves the girl to also sit down. Your wife told me you had gone to see Henderson, on our way we saw you unconscious on the ground with the crowd gradually surrounding you, we took you away and brought you here. Your wound was infected with the same darkness that chasing your son. Did you see him”

“Who? I am confused at the moment old man what going on”

“The sorcerer behind the whole darkness.”

“You sound like you know him”

“Now is not the time junior, Tiffney takes of your brother I’m going to rest.”

“Well did not see the sorcerer, but I got the dagger and orb, and went on to narrate his dream to his old man.” The old man shakes his head and stands to look at the moonlight and he walks out of the door.

The air became thinner, as the water could be seen vaping from the sea. The trees and grasses withered as the water dried completely out from it. The broken walls and gates, a dragon drew on the floor and laid as a guide to the path of the city. A man was seen reading on the tablets lying across the floor as he watched closely the dragon and the areas surrounding it. He then goes to stand on the pinnacle of the tower and sees the dragon-like path structured to beautify the city. He jumps down and carries a gourd containing water and walks to what seemed like a big entrance, the walls have been carved in but the iron gate stood to show the great architectural work. The man beneath the sun took off his shirt and walked a great mile in search of water. He looked pale and deserted, his rugged clothing and uncombed hair, the flies around the animal carcass took a liking to him and moved swiftly in search he passed the pool of river laying on the floor and jumped over the water lying on the ground, the tip of his foot touched the water and it evaporated leaving the bare sand on the ground. The heat surrounding the atmosphere was circulating him. He kept walking until he came across a ravaging fire, that looked like a volcano ready to burst, the land gave an odor and a dark air circulated all over the field like a magnet for the heat being generated in the land seemed to be pulling towards this area. No single being was seen in the area and only the carcass and bones could be seen lying on the vast field. The old man in ragged clothing got close to the biggest fire and dropped himself inside the pool of fire to be swallowed by a burning flame.

Terrin wakes up from sleep, and finds Tiffney sleeping soundly on the chair, he carries her and places her on the bed. He moves outside and feels the sea breeze as the wind carries cold air to the earth’s surface, the cherry tree blows with the direction of the wind as the clouds gradually form in the sky. Slowly droplet of water splashes on his body of Terrin, he looks into the sky and the heavy droplet of water wets his entire body. A shadow paces at the gate of the house, the moonlight does not reflect the identity of the unknown being as the bamboo tree hides the true nature of the person. Terrin grows anxious as he keeps hearing the rustling sound in the trees. A dark mask appears from the branches when Terrin was running into the shelter to escape the torment of the rain. The small dense forest was far away from the cherry tree, making it difficult for Terrin to make out the intruders within the shadow amidst the rain. He finally gets into the house and felt the cold water dripping all over his body. The elderly man with a white beard and hair was standing in the light with a cane and a small bag while the girl was wearing a bag.

“Terrin change your outfit into a different dress we need, to leave”

“I felt the presence of the blade army inside the compound,” said Terrin

“Yeah, they are here for your son, take this book everything you need to know is inside” he places the book on the table as Terrin takes off his shirt, and wears the blue shirt Terrall gives to him. Terrall goes to stand at the back of the room, touches the ground, and holds a locker on the ground. He pulls the lock and a doorway beneath the ground opens up. It was when they were running that Terrin recognizes the peacock picture which hung on the wall in the room, his mother had brought him to the house when he was young before, he left to go and live with his father. They entered the secret passage and moved slowly into an underground channel. They descend a staircase once they got to the bottom of the staircase, he jumped and started swimming across, Terrin stood idle as the surface of the water was dark, very dark to know where you heading in the water, Tiffney who was behind pushes Terrin into the water and jumps along with him. The inside was glowing with a red flame beneath the water, the flow of the flame lightened the water as they swam, after a while, the family rose to the surface of the water, and a crystal was enabled to shine through the cave they entered.

“I think we have swum for almost 10 meters, what kind of place is this”. Said Terrin, the old man blinks his eyes and raises his eyebrows. He looks high above the ground, “we should be above the street of magma, a little further and we will be able to exit the cave,” said the old man.

The masked men stood in the compound while one of them cut his hand drops the blood slowly along the whitish substance on the floor which surrounded the house. The whitish substance falls on the ground and the barrier surrounding the house lifts up, they quickly dash into the house as meet the entire house empty, walking on the carpeted floor, a step on the floor and the walls make a loud noise as the roofing rumbles to the ground. Outside the rumbled house, two men are seen holding onto their hands and looking around the house, a man standing unscathed moves closer to the two injured men as he carries them on his shoulder, one of them whispers a word in his ear, a smoke flows from his lips into the dark clear skies forming an arrow in the skies boldly. The men then wait when a green and red heavy animal flies to their side. The commander then places his two men on the animal and they depart while he goes into the rumbled house. “Leas van der wa” footprint appears in front of the house and a projected view of what transpired in the house is reviewed in front of the man. He captures everything on a ring and leaves the place.

In the meantime, the Mayers family were on their way out of the crystal cave, as they could hear the sound of market men and women screaming in their voices for people to buy their items. The sound of the bells and the bumping of carriages on the ground could be heard, as they moved closer to the light, Terrall pointed to an open path that was darker than the path they were walking on “heard towards this direction and you will be closer to your house than using the street.” He wrinkles and frowns the face as he kept staring at the old man, the old man’s hands were still hanging in the air as Terrin had not noticed his hand movement. “Terrin takes this piece of crystal, place your energy inside and it will light your path for you”. Terrin unconsciously stretches his hands and takes the ball from the old man’s hands; he moves a bit closer to the dark area and the ball glows brightly he turns and sees the girl following him. He holds unto the girl’s hands and leaps forward with speed.

The old man moves to the entrance of the cave and stands there without mingling with the crowd, a few minutes later and a dark aura surrounds him, his eyes darken as he tries to struggle to take in a breath, a knife pierces through his heart. He looks behind him and sees a masked man standing there holding the tip of the knife. “You finally got your wish, my friend.” Says Terrall.

“Not the one I expected, do you think your son can make it?” “Not sure, but faith and destiny will tell” he laughs hard as he coughs out blood, exhales a large breath, and falls into the hands of the masked man. The crowd all act busy as they were and a carriage comes forth to the place the two men are isolating. “Seven, a thin female voice speaks from the carriage, “Is he dead”, Yes ma’am” seven responds. He carries the dead body into the carriage and sat down opposite facing a veiled woman.