Heimisch Evil

The water current brought them all to a shore near the main lake of Pteulasia, somehow, none of them coughed any water, as if they hadn't lost their breath through the journey.

By the time Eleu came back to his senses, he found Ms. Bianca fully regenerated, sitting on a bed near his and using her healing to patch Sir Jonas. His dad was by the door of the white room organising people around, most probably healers and monks (easy to spot due to their clothing) to attend to those hurt in the palace, Mr. Lynneas was nowhere to be found, and his captive was not there, but he had no memory of what happened after he came back to life.

A healer saw him wake up and called Ryker to notify his son was awake. He could only look at Sir Jonas, who was passed out in front of him and even though he was old, maybe he was still alive and would be healthy after some time.

"Son", said a worried dad sitting by the bed to hold his hand.

-Dad, this is embarrassing, I'm ok, I'm… - As his dad touched his hand, a sudden flash brought him back to the cave, he saw himself, eyes filled with colours, no face, all dark around his factions. A gasp brought him back, shockingly reacted by not allowing his dad to hold his hand any further.

-Are you ok? -A warm female voice approached him, asking nicely.

Ms. Bianca was standing at the end of the bed, where she was looking as beautiful and awake as ever. 

-You, you saved my life- The sentence was hard to put together for Eleu, but he was able to express gratitude through his tone of voice.

-Well, actually you saved all of our lives - She answered with a smile.

Slowly, he incorporated and began walking away from the bed, confused about what happened. Two tiny jellyfish came by to check on him, playing in front of his face, as if they were dancing happily.

Eleu walked weirdly out of the room, he was in a place looking like an improvised hospital, there were tents outside, people were volunteering to cook and offer food to those affected and he was right in the centre of the main building, where the injured ones were being aided.

-As suggested, we will meet again at the Union's committee by the end of the week, I sent Mr. Lynneas and Dereo to inform the other capitals about what happened here.

-Thanks Ms Bianca. Please send word once Sir Jonas recovers. Let me know if there is anything I or the Union can do for you.

With a head nod as a goodbye, Ms Bianca went back to nursing the injured while Ryker approached Eleu to help him go to get some food.

-You have to try the cochollo cake, the healers made dozens of them to cheer people up.

-Dad, what happened?

-I don't know, to be honest… I wish I had an answer, I'm just sorry you had to go through all this.

-Did I die? -The pain in his dad's eyes replied to his question.

-Let's eat son, you deserve a proper meal.

The day and the night went by, and even though over two sun cycles had passed since the attack, the fear was palpable in people's eyes. They were trying to smile and bring their best attitudes in front of chaos, but still, it was the first time for them that they witnessed gunpowder. It was also their first time seeing the great Sir Jonas injured and the first time seeing their palace damaged. 

The city's morale was high due to their white lady walking among them, and rumours of Deanare's powers saving them, but, rumours also extended about Rufius's men attacking them, kidnapping a young guy and disturbing the spirits.

The duo decided to rest and recover one more day, get their supplies ready and calm their horses since the explosions happened near the stables. Once all their equipment was ready, they went to the south, to their hometown Linker where the Union would hold a committee to talk about what happened. 

Due to the dense forest, the most accessible road to Linker was a zig-zag path with multiple stops in small villages, it would take them two sun cycles to get home if they decided to sleep in any of those places. Ryker's mood changed; he wanted to spend more time with his son, teach him how to use the chain and explain more about the union, but Eleu was lost in thought and silent throughout the journey. His mind kept going back to the vision he had when his dad touched him.

It didn't happen again, and that mortified him to the point of losing his focus through the practice his dad was pushing him to do.

-You have to hold the chain with power! -Laughed his dad out loud.

-What's the point? Is it not best to learn how to control my powers? -As soon as Eleu said those words, the ambient changed completely. He didn't tell him anything about his vision to his dad, and Ryker had no courage to mention the frightening scene.

-Ok, let's talk. -Said his wise dad, offering him a seat near a broken tree. -There are 5 Itharblends. -He started…

-Dad, I know that freaking story! I've spent my whole life listening to it over and over!- Eleu was showing his impatience and kicking the floor around, avoiding sitting down near his dad. Clearly, he had been through a traumatic experience, and nobody stopped to help him deal with it.

-Son, please, this is a different story. There is something you must know.- He said, trying to calm him down and offering the seat again.

-When I visited Taentrum a year ago, I noticed something different I never experienced before, I think Sira is not their Itharblend, I think he is a pawn to something bigger. -Eleu's attention quickly came back to the conversation. He sat down without blinking. -The man you saw the other day can't see or connect with either spirits or dead people.

-Dad, but he is the leader of the Medium Capital. Why would the superior spirit choose a non-gifted to carry his skills?

-Well, that is the point. I never thought a medium would carry a war. In fact, all the other Itharblends have strict rules coming from their superiors, their personality has been shaped by them, and there are certain things they can't even consider doing. Their life is ruled by the superior.

A silent break helped Ryker order the thoughts in his mind.

-A person with such personality and ego, bringing war, attacking others and using illegal Heimisch weapons in this realm, I couldn't realise a year ago, but he is not the chosen one, in fact… Taentrum doesn't have an Itharblend for generations…

-Wait, what? -Exclaimed Eleu, standing up again.

-Let me explain: A spirit found some texts stating something that happened hundreds of years ago. The Union was formed for a different reason than we may believe. 

When people started crossing into this realm, we also opened the door for our people to go to theirs. The leader of the Mediums would usually cross the portal to practice his skills there, since in the spirit realm, people live way longer, making certain talents less useful.

The text stated that at some point in time, their leader died while being outside of this realm, locking the Ithar out of the Spiritual world.

-But he is the Ithar that connected the world of the dead with the living. He can freely cross to this realm without the portal… right? -Asked Eleu, doubting his studies.

-Yes, but he is the only Ithar capable of that. Let me formulate it differently. We have five capitals, or five nations as people call it these days. We developed each of them upon the gift from each superior spirit, but what if there were more than five?

-Dad, that is impossible.

-Someone's coming. Change the subject! -The sound of a broken branch gave a small kid away.

"I'm sorry." -Said the spirit telepathically to both. "I was passing by and heard a conversation that sounded interesting." Both Ryker and Eleu studied the spirit. He looked like a small kid, with half a coconut at the top of his head and tribal clothing covering some parts of his body. He carried a stick with him and would use it to pretend to walk with it. "You can continue, don't let me disturb you"

As the kid walked away, making noise with his sandals while walking over the brunches, chills went through both their spines, making them look at each other with their eyes wide open.

Ryker pointed at the horses resting near them, tied to a tree and signalled his son to walk slowly without making a noise.

Fear invaded them, still, they both moved quietly, and even though they couldn't share their thoughts, they knew they had to run away from there. The knot was easy to untie, but getting on the horses would be more complex.

"Humans, what gave me away?" Asked a deep voice from behind them.

-Run!

Eleu jumped into his horse and gave it a small kick to start running. His dad, following him a few meters behind, looked as terrified as his son did.

Trees started crumbling down, something massive pursuing them. The noise, the smell, the sounds of it were astonishing and waiting to find out about it wasn't an option.

From a young age, in any of the cities and villages around the spirit realm, the parents would tell the kids stories about impostor spirits, demons from the Heimisch world who would come at night to hunt you down when they were not behaving. 

The tales were just that, fantasy creatures to haunt your kids at night and make them behave. One of Eleu's favourite tales was a famous story where a girl and her brother meet a young cow who talked with them telepathically but could be touched and made noises while stepping on the ground. Sadly, the story ends with the demon eating both of them at night. No human can use telepathy (except for Ms. Bianca, apparently) and no spirit makes any sound walking. It was the most common rule in the spiritual realm.

-What gave me away humans? Hopefully, you'll be as yummy as those two kids -Laughed the demon while destroying the forest in his path.

Other tales said some demons were able to read your mind, a mystery that seemed to be true since Eleu remembered all of the stories he heard as a kid while trying to find a solution. 

One thing was clear, you have to run for your life. Demons were Soul-Eater beasts created from the greed of men, greed that was mostly shown in the Heimisch world, but since Sira's attack, there was a chance Demons were growing around the realm of the spirit as well.

"Stop", said something in Eleu's mind. "I'll teach you how to deal with it."

Eleu had no time to think, but an instinct inside him pulled the laces from the horse, making him ease the pace and turn around. His dad, perplexed by this reaction screamed at him, but he was already gone. His eyes were shining again, lost in the voice inside his head.

-Eleu? - Asked his dad, frightened by his son's eyes.

Upon looking back, they both saw what was coming to them, a gigantic mouth devouring the forest, filled with rows of teeth and serving destruction upon his path, like an enormous worm who could eat the world without being satisfied.

Eleu jumped off his horse, pale as ever, his face didn't change, only eyes shining, as if he was listening to the knowledge a voice in him was sharing but still present, unlike Ms. Bianca when she was in a trance.

"Hac at me..." He started reciting while drawing a line, a dot and a second line with his finger on the floor.

"Et ego, Eloko", he raised his arm as a stop sign for the giant creature heading his way.

His confidence was transcendental. His small line dot line on the floor was just a drawing anybody could do, his dad understood it was the only true way they could escape after remembering his experience from the past days.

The demon was a few feet away. His thousands of sharp triangular teeth were beyond compare, his hunger was unimaginable, a trail of destruction behind the worm, eating mud, rocks and trees alike and the imminent death of his prey was there. He even laughed before devouring them with a deep resonant voice. Ryker closed his eyes, driven by fear but holding both the horses in place.

A giant crystalline wall of energy erected from the floor to the sky, making the giant worm collapse against it, crashing his whole body against its teeth, with most of them breaking while his large body kept arriving at the wall due to his speed, it was an impenetrable wall. One second was not there, the next one was dividing half the forest.

Both saw the concentric energy circles created from the collision, expanding over the vast wall as if it was absorbing the impact.

The demon screamed in pain, and anger surged through his cracked voice, now sounding all over the forest. Eleu raised his arms, and a crystal box materialised in between. As he began to compress it, pressing the creature into an invisible cube, his arms trembled. Ryker could see the sweat from his forehead as these actions were taking a toll on him.

-What's your name, demon? -Asked the deep voice from within Eleu.

The demon kept screaming in languages nobody could understand.

-So be it -Said Eleu while shrinking his hands to a closed punch.

The demon collapsed in agony and shrieked to its minimum capacity, as if trapped in a small invisible box, floating a few feet from the floor and waiting to be picked. Below him, a path of chaos as miles of the place were crushed into nothingness.

Eleu's eyes returned to normal, his voice warmer, his body relaxed again. Ryker tied the horses, knowing everything was safe and approached the floating box. He had never seen a power like the events witnessed now just a few days apart.

-Don't touch it - Said Eleu, grabbing a big leaf from nearby and using it to wrap the box.

He put the box into one of his pockets and mounted the horse again, ready to keep the way as if nothing had happened. Ryker, wise as ever, chose to ride with him without asking questions, letting him express whatever was happening when he was ready to do so.

"Thanks, whoever you are." Thought Eleu to himself, trying to tap the person or spirit saving his life. Exhausted, but feeling a certain serenity within his mind, he mounted the horse and continued the journey.

It took no longer than one day to reach the farms surrounding Linker, the fields filled with rice and the tall city walls able to be seen from afar. Near the main road, a group of horsemen in white, silver and blue armour were waiting for them.

-Commander, how was the trip? -Said one of them, taking the lead to accompany the duo further.

-It was... interesting. Please ask the reindeer spirit to visit me in the central tower immediately. -Replied Ryker, nodding at one of the horsemen in the back. The young man left without a doubt, splitting from the group to one side of the city.

Linker, their hometown, was finally in front of them. So much has happened since the last time they were there.