"I'm sorry, please!! Don't come near me!!
Please, Piss off!! No Ahhhhhhhhh!!!"
The words from a lonely villager

Chapter 4

Truth or Lies

I reached, in pain, for my wooden crutches leaning on the side of the bed. I placed them under my arms and slowly limped to the door of my room, then out to the town square and finally to a pile of rubble. I limped slowly to Rytner who was shovelling bits of broken glass, wood and stone into piles. You see we recycle all debris, glass can be melted down into new panels, wood can be re-trimmed into weapons and tools and stone can be used for new buildings. Rytner turned to face me…

"Damn you’re a heavy sleeper," he said in a surprised tone, "you should have seen it, fire and thunder everywhere, by a sure miracle no one was hurt."

This couldn't have been a coincident, it was when Rytner described the fiend responsible that made everything a little clearer.

"I couldn't really see it, but what stood out was the giant bat's wings," he explained. Those three words caused a sharp pain in my gut.

"Shit." I mumbled, the word slipping out.

"What?" enquired Rytner.

"Nothing," I replied. "Listen Rytner, what can I do to help?"

"Go back to bed, you’re not much use on crutches," he told me.

So I limped back to the house and sat on my bed. I kept thinking how it was all connected, my dream and the destruction of the temple. I picked up my pad of paper and looked for the fiend I drew yesterday, I tore it out, folded it up and left in on the bedside table. All I could do now was wait. The morning went by slowly and so did the afternoon, I flicked stale pieces of tear candy against the wall. I was scared to fall asleep, and I didn't want to be possessed again while drawing.

The sun had set, the rubble had cleared and Rytner went straight to bed. My chance had come, Rytner wouldn't have let me out of bed so I needed to wait till he was asleep, I grabbed the folded picture on the bedside table, limped slowly past his room and outside to a large pavilion where the temple used to be. It was kind of an emergency temple where villages could still pray, it was also a library where villagers could study about Valeva's history. No one was inside, so I took search in peace. Some of the scrolls, books, diaries and journals were lost in the blast, so it was a stab in the dark to find what I was looking for. Luckily no one was in the tent so I could find out about the demon. The scrolls were sorted into piles, Nature, Heroes, Weapons and Armour were only the minority of topics.

After a few seconds of searching, I finally found the topic needed. Fiends, Foes and Beasts, I whispered to myself as I reached for the pile. I picked up the first scroll and started reading it as I sat on the ground.

I wasn't really sure what I was looking for, all I had to help me was the picture. I looked through scroll after scroll, diary after diary, book after book. I gazed at notes and drawings of creatures with horns, tails, weapons for arms and sharp teeth, but that was not what I was looking for. I was nearing the end of the pile and I nearly gave up hope till, for some reason, one book caught my eye right at the bottom of the pile. The cover was leather with some engraving, I had been searching in the dark so I wasn't caught by Rytner, but a gut feeling told me this book was important, and it was.

Next to the pile was an unlocked wooden chest, inside was a bunch of candles so I found the smallest one and lit it with two pieces of flint that were also in the chest. The candle flame filled the pavilion with a dim light, enough to read. The engraving, I recognized in a split second. I unfolded the drawing, the picture was now just a blank piece of paper. I placed it near the book and, like it arose from the paper, it appeared. I compared it to the engraving; it was a dead ringer. The book was thin so the author must not have written much, I opened it and realized it was a diary of some sort. This was when I realized the truth. It stated:

'I talk you now as this may be the last time I can, I feel a stabbing pain in my heart, like it bleeds. I feel scraping through my veins like I swallowed poison. My eyes are bloodshot, skin clammy and pale, I can smell the stale vomit from my mouth. Every day I live with something inside me, this cancer. I hear voices, chanting and laughing. I can tell the time by the events, the morning I vomit, midday I scream in agony and the evening I cannot move, I stand still for hours till I drop to the ground. I dream of me becoming it. Killing, slaughtering and butchering. I wake up in different places. The villagers are now hunting me down like an animal, for I am responsible. My dreams are from the eyes of my spirit looking down at my body, I watch it in agony. I'm now tired and I feel this night will be my execution. I had a life with friends and food, now I have torn clothes and cuts around my body. All this from a piece of silver on a string'.

All that only took up one page of the book. The rest of the pages were blank and either torn out, ripped or stained with mud and dirt. That book must have been his only possession. I now knew what was going on, and I knew my fate. I closed the book and burst into tears, I wanted to believe I wouldn't hurt anyone. A burden was laid down on my shoulders. I blew out the candle and ran back to the house, I didn't care about my leg. I picked up my rucksack from the corner of the sitting room and headed to the kitchen, I opened the pantry and took as much food as I could fit into the bag. I picked up my sword sitting on the table and went into Rytner’s room. He was fast asleep so I went to his bedside table and picked up two stones, one orange and one yellow. As I placed them in my pocket, the chanting began in my head again. I was powerless as I picked up a dagger from the table and aimed it at his neck.

"No!!" I screamed. I dropped the dagger, my eyes filled with tears again. I picked up Rytner's hand and held it both of mine.

"Goodbye Brother." I whispered. I let go and limped outside heading to the town barrier. I turned around and gazed at the houses, no light came from a single one so no one could see me leave. I would never forgive myself if I killed someone, so I had to leave for their protection. I never thought for a second where I was to go, I just limped straight into the darkness of the forest.

Back to Top