Castaway

CURSED MARK

Devanna saw her brother Amaron and Calyx doing training outside her window. Amaron challenged Calyx to fight him using his fist, and Calyx didn’t turn it down. It was almost dark, yet there they are, feeling the energy of youth. He saw Calyx threw a punch at Amaron, and Amaron immediately shoved himself left. Calyx made a wrong foot backward, and Amaron took the chance and blew Calyx off.

“What the hell Amaron. Are you trying to kill me?” Calyx shouted.

She saw Amaron laughed hard while Calyx had his hand touched his jaw. She smiled.

“Ah!” she whimpered.

She looked at her wrist and saw the cursed mark. It looked like it was engraved beyond his skin with a black tint that almost looked like a tattoo. She saw the swirls glowed a little.

“Everyone!” she heard Baron called their attention below.

“He’s awake,” she whispered and immediately ran towards his room.

She saw him slowly trying to sit on his bed. She heard her brothers running and stopped when they reached his room. Limo looked at them, confused. He saw Devanna and immediately recognized her as the brown-eyed girl, just like what he saw during the time he spent on Niveus memories.

The moonlight went through Limo’s window and struck his eyes. It looks so precious, like a stone underneath clear water.

“The eyes of gold,” Calyx mumbled.

His eyes glowed as the darkness swallowed their place, just like how the moon shines above the night sky. They were mesmerized by his eyes when Baron turned on the switch, and their attention shifted on him.

“What? It’s so dark, and the mosquitos are flying around biting me,” he said with so much innocence.

Amaron pulled his brothers downstairs and left Devanna with Limo. Limo saw the mark around Devanna’s wrist, and he knew what that was right away.

“Are you okay?” Devanna asked him.

“Much better. How long I have been unconscious?” he asked.

“A week after the doctor thought you died,” she replied.

Limo couldn’t believe he was unconscious for that long. He thought he only spent a few hours in that forest, and to think he really died just like what Niveus told him before the rifuscis drowned him. A series of memories flashed back to him when Devanna went closer. He knew about how Niveus got the curse and what happened to him after, but some things are not clear with the girl’s curse, why it always ended up with that bloodbath, and what she’s planning to do to end all this. He wanted to ask, but he barely even knew her and might step into a landmine if he walked across carelessly.

He looked around and saw everything was made out of wood, but the window is made out of glass. The floor was prettily furnished and maintained. The smell of wood didn’t escape his nose and the cold night crawled beneath his skin.

“Are we in the woods?” he asked her.

“Yep, and this is our cabin,” she replied.

“Before we brought you home two days ago, a nurse went in and handed us this.” She gave him a brown envelope.

“We already settled your bills. We heard your family was buried in a cemetery in that address,” she said when Limo took out a small piece of paper. She saw how his grip tightened and decided to put it back inside.

Limo found some papers inside. He saw the key to their old house, his cellphone, and three more phones inside a zipped lock plastic. He didn’t look at it further and decided to close the envelope and put it aside.

“You’ll stay here with us. That would work better when we are on a mission,” she said.

“Mission?” he asked.

“Yeah, exterminate those dark forces. This is not just about the curse. We have a job as the northern huntsmen,” Devanna replied.

“When you’re feeling better and can move freely, we’ll start your training,” she continued.

They wanted to last their conversation, but it ended so quickly. Now everything felt awkward when they couldn’t think of what to say anymore.

“Dinner’s ready!” Baron shouted.

Devanna stood up from her chair and was about to say goodbye when Limo caught her hand and stopped her. She felt the electricity ran down through her spine and her heart beat unusually.

“Uhh, can you help me stand up?” he asked her.

-0-0-0-

Her brothers saw her walking down the stairs while helping Limo get down. Amaron and Calyx looked at each other and immediately went to help, only if they truly wanted to help him. Baron confusingly watched his brothers as he put the dishes on the table.

Amaron coughed, and that made Devanna looked at him. He even saw Calyx crossing his arms.

“What are you doing? Move, and we’re going down,” she said.

“Leave this to us,” Calyx snatched Limo’s right arm wrapped on Devanna’s shoulder and put it on him. Amaron did the same to Limo’s left arm. Devanna stepped back and watched his brothers back as they helped Limo get down the stairs and lead him to the dining table.

Limo sat on a chair across an empty one while Devanna sat beside him and Calyx is on his other side. Amaron sat beside Devanna and Baron sat across Amaron beside Calyx. He was about to ask them who sat on that empty chair when Baron talked.

“Our father went on a business trip and might come back a month later,” Baron said.

“How about your mom?” Limo asked.

Everyone stopped and went quiet. No one shared eye contact, and their head stayed low, looking at their plates. He realized he stepped on the first landmine he wasn’t supposed to.

“She died,” Amaron told him.

“When I was born,” Devanna added.

Limo remembered the young lady’s curse. He blamed himself for forgetting that one. He promised to stay quiet and wait until one of them started to share.

They ate dinner as quiet as the woods. No one talked, and the only thing you could hear is the spoon moving against their plates.

“I’m Amaron Feidon, by the way. The eldest among them and currently standing the head of our family when dad is not around,” Amaron introduced himself.

“Well, probably the strongest,” he smirked.

“I’m the strongest,” Calyx interrupted.

“I’m Baron, Amaron’s twin. Three minutes younger than him. I can fight, but honestly, I’m not that good, unlike them,” Baron told him. They can’t deny they had almost similar features except that Amaron got a mole under his right eye and Baron got his under his left eye.

“I also got the curse, the lingering curse of the Feidon Clan. Though we consider it as a gift, hands of healing,” he added, showing his left hand.

“That’s why he decided to focus on experimenting with medicines. I’m Calyx, the most handsome among us. Specialized at throwing knives and other sharp objects,” Calyx introduced himself.

They stared at him.

“What? Dad told me that I am,” he said, so proud and full of himself.

“Hey Limo,” Amaron called him.

“Are you ready to go on a mission?” Amaron asked.

Everyone looked at Limo, waiting for his answer. He didn’t know what to say. He agreed to receive Primo’s curse and gift, but he had no idea what he was supposed to do next.

“Well, I was told you’re hunting demons,” he said.

“But I don’t have any idea how to fight one,” Limo smiled.

The four siblings stared at him and stopped chewing their food. They shared the same face. They looked like they received something terrible at their doorstep.

The awkward silence broke when Amaron laughed. Limo lowered his head, but he could feel the others are staring at him.

“Have you seen a demon, Limo?” Baron asked him.

“Yeah,” he nodded his head.

“Which one?” Calyx asked him.

“Well, Devanna fought something called Kabal,” he answered.

Amaron, Baron, and Calyx’s eyes went bigger, and they looked at Devanna at the same time. Limo looked at her and saw her realized something, but it was too late when Limo told them about the demon who tried to kill him at the hospital.

“What the f*ck, Devy. A Kabal?” Amaron couldn’t believe what he just heard.

“I told you we should have followed her that night when she ran away,” Calyx told them.

“Did you kill it?” Amaron asked her.

“You should have called us, Dev,” Baron told her.

“I called her quite a lot of times, but she ignored me,” Calyx said.

“Escaped at first, but I killed it the next day,” she answered.

“Are you sure it was the same one?” Calyx asked her.

She didn’t reply. Limo looked at them, waiting for someone to ask.

“Do you know how dangerous it is to fight one?” Amaron asked Devanna.

“I know,” she said.

“We should be thankful nothing happened,” Baron told them to end the argument.

They went back to eating when Amaron turned his head and faced Limo.

“We should train him right away. His gifts are badly needed now that a Kabal is lurking around,” Amaron told them.

“Yeah,” Calyx stared at Limo and nodded his head.