Roaring Thunder

Chapter 3: A Shadow's Revelation (Part 4)

__________________________________Sub-chapter: Captured__________________________________________

Where am I? Sounds of water droplets dripping pierce through the silence. There is no light to see in. It's dark. However so, I still have my sense of touch. I can feel it. A soft touch from a fine unknown something. Wait a second...

I open my eyes. I find myself in the same dark realm I have been to for several times in the past. The bright-red threads hanging down from the unseen ceiling. Only, there's a slight difference this time. Those eyes that's used to glare at me are not here. Perhaps, those belong to the lion. Perhaps, the final words I heard from him indicate that it's no longer here in this world. Perhaps, just maybe.

'Hey! Wake up, you fool!' A voice shouts at me. It sounds familiar. As if I have heard them before but... who? A sudden pang of pain strikes me then and that arouses me from my unconsciousness.

I am lying down on the warm ground. Beside me, squinting my eyes due to the unanticipated exposure to the sunlight, I can make out the silver armor donned by someone. I try to look further up to identify the person but no can do. My arms ache when I try to push them against the ground to lift myself up. At my last attempt, before I fall back, the knight at my side extends out a pair of arms to cushion my fall and pull me up to a sitting position. I glance around me and discover that the knight is actually Raisha. Her face still bears some burnt marks here and there while the axes lie behind her. 'You beat the crap out of me for a while there.'

My head aches slightly, I reply ' Well, you did it first.' To be honest, for a minute there, I talk as though I am speaking to a friend; not an enemy. Besides, to enrage an enemy when I am in no condition to defend myself is but a foolish move to make. What she does next doesn't surprise me in the least. She gestures at the knights in the area to come to her side and boldly, she commands the man in armour to lock me up into one of those buildings in the village and...

'And do not report anything regarding our encounter to the Great Holy Knight.'

The knights simply salute to her, carry me to a wooden building and, throw me inside then bar the door with a sword. Good grief. Just when I thought that they will be treating an injured man with care... they toss me into here. A cramped space furnished with a table and several chairs surrounding it along with a few shelves and racks lined against the walls. I crawl towards the wall and slowly pull myself up, leaning against it.

'Ouch. I wonder why she didn't report about me and send me straight into the dungeon or prison...' I say to myself.

Unknown to me, Raisha is ordering her knights around the village, collecting fallen branches from oak trees and nearby trees, and proceed with carving out simple arrows and bows. Within a few hours, about a hundred arrows and eleven bows have been produced from the woods they had. Every knight arms themselves with a bow and ten arrows. The arrows dipped in fire beforehand, are now pointed towards a certain direction, the knights ready to release the bowstring each of them is pulling tightly at.

'Release!' At her mark, the holy knight unleashes a burning-tipped arrow into the air followed by the others. The arrows soaring up into the sky, before reaching zero velocity high above and fall back down. Fiery arrows raining down upon the building that encloses me.

Flames lick against the wooden structures of the house, burning every piece of wood into ashes. The roof begin to fall parts by parts after a few minutes being consumed by the fire. They, the knights and Raisha, think that I will die in here. They think that I will be burned down to my flesh then bones, leaving me an unrecognisable corpse or worst, nothing. They think that victory belongs to theirs and that I have claimed my defeat. I too have the same thoughts. The same feeling of hopelessness they think I will have. Unfortunately...

I am not allowed to give up.

Raisha and the knights are about to turn and walk away to their respective horses when suddenly one of the knight shouts something behind his helm. The others turn to look at him then to the burning building after following the direction of the knight's stare. Raisha turns and look too. She gasps.

'That's impossible.'

Between the cracks of the falling house, they can see a figure standing upright among the falling debris. A figure hidden beneath his cloak; A figure standing amidst volts of currents surrounding the area he's standing within. That's right. Enveloped by a electrifying cloak of lightning, I stand there, looking out to them. I sigh. I watch the wounds on my arm slowly closing up; I feel the pain in my other arm slowly fading away. Reminiscing about the lion that has passed on its abilities to me, I mumble. 'Looks like you have just given me a survival cheat, eh? To heal rapidly when the situation demands it.'

I turn my eyes back to those staring at me in surprise. My lips curling into a grin, not bothering whether they can hear me or not, I say...

'I shall take my leave then. ' With the flames growing in size every second, I gradually vanish from their sight. With that, Raisha immediately snaps out from her trance. She stomps the ground in fury and with brute force, she tosses her bow to the ground and steps on it, hence breaking it into two.

'He should have died in there. I should have won! I have disgraced the title of Holy Knight. How can I even face anyone, anymore?' Swiftly, she swings her arm out and orders the knights to retreat to the castle, warning them to keep the day's details as a secret.

As they retreat, I am walking among the trees once again in the woods. Today is definitely a close call with Raisha overwhelming me in terms of battle skills and strength. It seems that there are still warriors within the castle that is formidable enough to serve the kingdom. However so, that is not to my liking for the stronger they are, the easier I will fall into their hands. Stronger. Yes, I have to train myself harder than before. Even with the abilities I have, my physical and mental status will still play a part in determining my fate in a battle.

I am lost in thoughts, thinking of the ways I can strenghten myself by when a sharp blade flies across the bushes and stabs my right arm. Momentarily, I flinch. Knowing that my stab wound can recover fast, the blade stucked into it is removed. I survey my surrounding immediately, looking for any sign of the attacker but, sadly, I cannot make out anyone from it. With the attacker concealing himself, it seems to me that the only option I am left with is to be on the defensive side until he strikes again. Minutes have passed and nothing happens except for the fact that my limbs are becoming numb. Probably from the battle earlier or a side-effect from the rapid healing ability. It is then when a sudden rattling of the bushes a metre away from where I am standing catches my attention and out comes a man dressed in a religious robe. His hair black with some fringes dangling on the front. For a religious guy being out in the woods alone and for him to be coincidentally being here when he was attacked has undoubtedly pointed him out as the attacker. Knowingly, I attempt to dash forward and apprehend the man, when a realisation comes to me. I cannot motion my body.

'You are coming with me, lightning guy.' He says as I struggle to move. He shakes his head and with a swift thrust, he stabs another small blade into my arm, missing the healed wound by only a few millimetres. I stagger backwards before falling to the ground on my back. Looking up at him, I realise that the blades' surface have been covered by some sort of solution to render the victim harmed by it paralysed partially. I realise that I have been had.

'Can't move?'

'What do you want from me?'

'Nothing but a bit of your conscience.' He says in an unpleasant tone, with his eyes glimmering slightly in the less-light invaded part of the woods. In his eyes, I notice something wild to them. Something that looks inhumane. Instead of the circular pupils, I see a pair of slit-like pupils returning my gaze. 'Nothing but your conscience...' He crouches down before me, his index and middle fingers are placed on my forehead as he repeats his initial line. From below, black smoke begins to rise, steadily exceeding my neck-level.

I shiver at the sight of the smoke slowly towering over me. His words echo in my head, bouncing on and off. 'Your conscience...' He applies pressure to his fingers and simultaneously, the smoke swirls into a dense pack of black cloud floating above ground. It then forces its way into my mouth and resides in my body, causing me to cough in the process. His eyes' still locked at me, he takes a few steps back and with a snap of his fingers...

I blink my eyes as though I have just been freed from an illusion. An illusion that has stolen my reality away. Where is him, I question myself. His presence disappears but his voice remains. ' You shall seek me under my command.'

What about the black smoke that entered my body? I stand up, realising that nothing can be done now that I have been 'possessed' or so it seems. Those eyes he had, it reminds me of those of the wolves. Are they related to one another? Could he be their master, the mastermind behind the recent attacks? Only one way available to find the truth. I have to meet him. This time, facing the real, physical body if the one who met him is a fake.

But, first, I have to know about his whereabouts. A nearby village perhaps? I walk to a nearby tree and with my right, I throw a punch at it. Damn it!

'You look troubled, young man.' A passing old man halts his walk, looking at me. I look back at him quietly, thinking as to whether I share my concern with the guy who dresses up in an old, white tunic and wears a straw hat on his head, exposing his grey hair on the side. A few seconds passed without me uttering a single word. 'Must be confidential then. Well, how about a cup of tea instead to relieve yourself? '

Hesitantly, I nod.

The four walls that make up the house are painted in green. A table stands in the middle of the cottage with a basket of colorful fruits decorating its surface. From the kitchen at the back of his house, he returns with two cups of freshly brewed tea. The aroma fills the room, turning my attention to a cup of tea being served on the small table before us. He takes a sip from his and so do I. Stealing glances every now and then with my lips on the cup's edge, the man notices my cautious behaviour.

'Henry Taylor. That is my name.' He says.

'Oh. My name's Rex. The cup of tea is urm... refreshing.'

'Nice to meet you, Rex. Well, I pick the tea leaves by myself in the woods. Only the best will be served to a guest'

From the conversation that follows through, I learn about his job being a herbs' collector. And how he comes to live in the middle of the woods without any company. His wife's dead, he solitudes himself. Having no children and friends has apparently contributed to his cause. Nonetheless, as the conversation carries on, he tell me that he has been noticing a speck of fear in my eyes which I literally deny by shrugging his words off. Until he mentions this.

'The shadow. You saw it, didn't you?'

I look at him seriously. He nods at my response and chuckles for a bit before stopping. His expression shifts from calm to sad. He faces the floor in between his feet, his eyes teary. You know him, I conclude.

'O-Of course, I know him.' He raises his palms to his face. 'He's my son!'

My eyes widen at his confession. 'Enlighten me.' I say.

And thus, he reveals to me the tale from his past. The truth which he so desired to hide from me when he told me that he had no children. The tale of the shadow.