51: Fear

I stare below the mountain while partaking the comfort of the wind. Then I decided to get inside the house; before that happened, I saw myself standing, or more like blocking the door way.

I furrowed, "What is this gimmick, Poc?"

"Poc? What do you mean Poc?"

"You can't fool my sensitivity-"

"You cannot pass this door unless you defeat me! I am not Poc! I am Haris! I am you!" the way he speak is cheerful, and carefree. "You are me, and I am you!"

"What are you implying?"

"I remembered those good old days... playing and laughing with my friends. People in my hometown, or should I say the women in the our home kingdom loves to mingle with me because of my blessed smile. I love playing with them too since I was still a child... but theirs someone, a girl who made my smile less better then her's.

And her name is Ainsley. She's such a sweet and kind girl! Her hair wants me to cuddle it! And- ugh! That smile... her eyes... her lips and everything in her was so perfect!" I can see his emotion with his speech. The feeling of craziness for someone else. How a person act when they are in love.

"I remembered Jacofuz's face when I made him jealous! Hahaha! He likes the princess right? But the princess likes me! I mean no boasting but, that was really hilarious!... Until I felt the same..." his grin turned to grimace. "I felt that jealousy because of Ainsley showing her affection to Davih. Well that was such a love-tangled of childhood," he scrub his hair.

"The worst thing I did in childhood, I guess, is to cut and perfectly trim my sister's doll's hair for thinking it will grow." he laugh, and so did I. "I also love playing with my father, horseback riding on him and sliding on his stretched legs! He's tough so I didn't worry for fractures. And the best thing I love was... braiding my mother's hair while talking to her."

I listen to him, just like listening to me. "I always open the topic about how-to-get-this-girl. And the only thing she's telling me is smile. Actually I can't because she's the one who's making me smile. So what I did was calling her idiot," he chuckled. He's always smiling, making a curve art on his lips. That was me. That was me before. He's circling me.

"I love those days. Those days of laughter and smiling. But all those emotions are swallowed by fear, and regret. That's why I lost the smile on my face, I lost my affection. I lost Haris."

I was stunned. Awakened. And out of the blue, he swayed a kick and I was lucky enough to dodge it. "Wow! You're good in dodging everything huh? So why did you ran?" He strike a punch twice with both hands and I simply blocked it, I grasp his arms and boot him on the stomach. He was recoiled.

"That... that is one of Haris' attribute!"

"Because I am Haris!" I replied.

This time, I gave the kick and he dodged it too. He missed when he blow a fist and I caught his clench to kneed his stomach, slap his nose with my lower palm and clout on his face. He fell down to the ground. I stamp on his chest, "You're good with mimic, but not enough with someone else's skills," smiling.

He hit my leg and I lost my balance. I knelt down, he punch me while leaning one of his arm on the ground but I twitched my head backward to evade. But I have no escape when he kneed me on flank. I fell and he grip my throat but not overbearing.

"I saw the Haris I was talking about just now!" he said.

I lift my leg to hit his nape then I punch him away from me with my hardest blow. When he's knocked down he came back to his gnome form, rolling and weeping from pain.

"Uuuggh! I hate it! That was the hardest blow! You're such a hard hitter! I hate it! I hate you!"

I smiled at him while looking down, "Thanks Poc," I said.

"What? Thanks? No! I still hate you!"

I stood up and look at the floral foliage in the the garden. I know someone is watching us. A she. When she noticed that I saw her, she run away. I pick Poc like a stone and chase the girl.

"Hey! Where are you taking me?! You scumbag!"

I found blood spills on the spot where she spied us. So I pursue on chasing her down to the forest of this mountain. And Poc is still yelling at me; having no idea where I'll take him. I caught her in my sight and she's running and staggering, leaning on every tree she could reach on. When she stumbled, I got the chance to catch up to her.

I stand beside her, she's afraid, uncomfortable, her left thigh is bleeding. It has a deep cut.

"Poc, you can heal, right?"

"Heal? Me? I am not a healer! I'm not in the mood to heal!"

I knelt down and picked out the bandage hiding in my sleeves. This tool is helpful. I chose to read the book about helping casualties from Mr. Holland's book just to get this item. I wrapped her wound with this, and she's still facing down in coy.

"Hey you! Why are did you observed us?! Are you a spy? An enemy? One of that King's subordinates?! Are you hypnotized?"

"Obviously she's not," I said.

"Then who are you?! Why are you here?! Where do you came from?!"

"One at a time, Poc."

Her tears begun to fall one by one.

"Please... please help my people!" she said with her voice cracked.

"Answer my question!"

She pointed somewhere across a hill. That is still outside the Landline. "I don't know the name of the place. But please... they're being tortured! I can't help them!"

"Tortured? You mean bloodshed and gores?!"

"Poc, take her inside."

"We-we-we-wait! Where are you going, you scumbag?!" he's pulling my pants.

"I'm going there."

"What?! Are you crazy?! Yes you are! You're a weakling! That place is full of dead! You can't even save yourself from fear!"

"I appreciate your concern, Poc. I'll be back, I just want to investigate the place."

"Concern? Investigate? You really are a scumbag! Then just go and die! I hate you! I will tell this everything to Giant Melons! That I hate you!"

"Thanks!" I said before I left them.

I'm going to the place where that girl pointed. I run to refrain wasting too much time. I was watching the Landline during my steps. I remembered how Ashti broke the barrier, sadly those Callions invaded the nation, even the King.

When I found the whereabouts of the location that girl said, I came down the hill to infiltrate.

It's an abandoned Circus.

How could this amusement be built on the secluded area like this? Or maybe this place changed because of the tragedy or other issues. Tents are torn. Some rides and trapeze are scattered around the ground.

I don't feel a single soul, not even someone observing me in the dark. Maybe I found the wrong place, or they're hiding somewhere under these soles. I turned my gaze to the right and I saw a dark tunnel with a rail.

Too mysterious.

So I step in to that tunnel. There are torches on every side of the wall which provided a little light.

This place is painted of vandalisms. Words showing anger and protest. And some are solicits for help. Onward is darker since the torches are limited for that place. In other words, it's total darkness.

I decided to retreat when I felt a scream of a lad. He's running, coming closer to me from the dark. I stay on my foot until he reached me.

He's bewildered with inexplicable tremor. I was agitated when I saw that he doesn't have a right eye.

"Sir please help me! She's coming! She's coming to kill me!"

"She?" I held his arms, "Leave this tunnel, this Circus. There is a house on top of the mountain. One of your neighbors is there."

He run immediately to leave this tunnel and now my curiosity is pulling me into the dark onward. The sudden scream of the lad outside this tunnel caught my attention. With no doubt I came back outside and found the lad—dead.

An ax sunk on his head. I was startled, until I felt someone behind me. She. She swayed a hammer, a heavy medieval hammer to hit me but I dodged it just like my battle with Poc.

I beheld her image. An old hag. She's grinning even if she's toothless. And I can't understand why, her presence is enough to make me tremble too much. She's terrifying! The way she wield her hammer against me, she's too desperate to kill me! She's fast! I lost my focus when she bashed my toe.

And she lifted the hammer to hit my chin. This pain! I'm not used with such pain! Ms. Tough was right. I depend too much on my rigid body. And when she gave me another strike on my head, I lost consciousness.

※ ※ ※ ORC ※ ※ ※

My head aches, my palms and lower leg. I woke up in a dark room, not just dark, a slaughter room. I found the silent weeping kids on the corner and one of them is tied on the chair. Crying the same. My right leg was gripped by shackle and a chain was nailed on the floor. What made my leg painful is the nail pierced through my lower leg to lock the shackle.

Both of my palms are spiked to the walls behind me. And my head is crying blood. I found the old woman again. She's holding a knife to point against the kid tied on the chair. But before that happen, I shout to steal her gaze at me.

"Hey!"

Her stare is scaring me!

I can't predict what power she have, her grin, demeanor even her shadow raises my fear towards her! I can't stop my heavy breathing when she's coming at me with excitement on her face. She touch both of my cheeks while looking straight to my eyes.

"Those eyes! I love it! I love those eyes!" her vocalization reminds me of Poc. "Let me have those! Give it to me!" slowly she's sinking her fingers to my eyes and that freaking hurts! I pulled my right hand and freed it from the spike, swiftly I blow onto her face. She was wroth. I don't have time to pity my wounds so I pulled out the spike in my left hand.

I punched her again and pushed her away. I can't release the nail in my flesh but I removed the chain from the nail that locks.

This is technically a torture! How could this place, and this person exist?

I stood up when she get the hammer beside the chair. I avoided her attack. I just kept on cringing and jerking away from her sways since if I blocked it, I'll be dead.

I found the knife on the ground. It feels like fate is on my side. I stoop once again to refrain her attack and tossed the knife up with my feet; I caught it and right away, I slice the skin of her fingers for her to let off the hammer. She's now bewailing from pain, I have the right to do the same than her! I kneed her stomach and grasp her whole face to push her down to the ground.

I penetrated the blade on her clothe to pierce it to the ground and lock her down. I stood up while she can't.

"I'm done with you. I did my purpose."

She looked around and figured out that all the kids escaped while I was buying them time. Now time for my own escape. I left the room, she's screaming in great indignation.

"I'll kill you! We're not done yet! I'll kill you!" she exclaimed. Absolutely sounds like Poc.

Unfortunately, outside this room is a dark and narrow tunnel. I can't run, just a wobble gait. I'm leaning my arms on the wall to support my stance. And I got here on the point where I have to choose whether left, right or straight.

The old woman finally got the advantage to chase me, and she's holding the hammer. I explore the eyes around my front.

I press my bleeding palms in the air like pressing on a mirror. When she thought she could, she tried to pummel me again but failed. I don't have the cane either the rigid body, even Elaiyh. All I can do is simple magics just like that. I made an unseen mirror to preclude her chase. I chose straight to run away.

The path is getting darker and darker until the only thing I could depend on is my sense of touch.

I made a wrong choice! This path is fake!

The walls are slimy cause by blood and I found a heap of corpses that hinders the path. I failed to stop my tremor and I can't move too much from fear.

She's behind me, I parried the sway of her hammer to my head but I was bumped to the wall.

She wage another bash and I stoop a little to dodge the hammer; it impinge to the wall. I knelt down and she took the great advantage to hit me to my head again.

I laid down, the world seems spinning around me. I felt a grasp on my feet; dragging me back to the room before.

Slowly my vision is returning to soberness, but that happens when I saw her raised a knife against me!

She's leaning above me, I defended myself with my both arms from her knife and she kept on stabbing me that knife! I almost lost my left eye when she made a slice on my cheek. I just twitched my head side ward. My arms incurred drawn of slices!

When the knife stuck between my contacted arms, I got the chance to steal it from her; I wring the knife and pulled it away from her to throw somewhere beyond her reach.

I pushed her and escaped from her clenches. She have the hammer just beside her—to think that I don't have much power to move—this incident will be the way for my grave. But no.

When she waved the hammer, Asnoed came and blocked it for me. He's using a spear just like Nello, he lift the hammer and it tossed away. Then he bashed the old lady's face with his weapon.

He knelt down in front of me without facing. "Hop on," he said. I responded immediately and cling on behind him. He carried me and left this room, the right path is really the right; according to the word itself! And he's running faster like a pro racer.

When we finally left the tunnel, I found the kids here and Ms. Tough waiting for me outside. Asnoed drifted his soles to break the speed and right away I sat on the ground.

I caught Ms. Tough's glare at me and those kids are dying to run.

"Let's go before she catch us!" said one of them, a boy. All of the victims are kids. Maybe because they're defenseless. I felt the presence of the old lady around, behind that boy. Asnoed defended the boy. For a sudden moment, those kids recovered from fear. A lost of desire to run away.

"What? What is happening?!" the old lady panics.

Ms. Tough came closer to her, "It's nice to meet you. Who am I, you ask? None of your fusses."

She begun touching the air until down to the ground. She lost her vision? Now she's like an old blind beggar, ranting and wailing.

"Where am I?! What have you done to me?!Where-"

"Let's leave."

I cling on Asnoed again and we left the old lady. Those kids, they didn't just forsaken the fear, they have no emotions at all.