Venland: A Dominion Beyond Worlds

Chapter 4: That Bastard in Milky Coat

I groaned.

"He's awake! Mom, Kuya is awake!"

A tiny voice swelled on the corner of my ears. It welcomed me in a rush as I tucked my eyes out slowly. My sight was still blurry, building up my sight as my head spun like a whirligig and it throbbed like a heart.

Light footfall came and I heard the door open abruptly.

"How are you feeling, Kraftlos?" A gentle woman's voice followed, it was of Ginang Mirari, running a touch of my forehead to check if my body was hot. It was hot.

I rose from my bed and dangled my feet over the bedside. Everything was still spinning and I almost lost balance as I situated myself and dipped over its softness. I massaged my temple and squeezed my eyes shut, comforting myself from the random pulsations of my brain nerves. It was excruciating, like a Katana was pierced atop my skull and it traversed through my jaw.

"I'm feeling a little out of sorts," I said.

I could not think straight. All I felt was my head seemingly cracked into half, but it was clear what happened: The Demonlord had sent a welcoming regards to me. It did not last long, it was only a matter of seconds as the void of nothingness enveloped me. However, even seconds were long enough to overwhelm my senses that I fainted and collapsed on the floor.

His voice was deep like a bottomless sinkhole. A trench you would not dare dive lest you would run out of breath. It was profound and firm, extreme to bits you would end up submitting. It was like an echo that does not fade as it bounces from wall to wall; instead, it lingers in your fearful ears until it's only you who can hear it. It was akin to a curse that left you no choice but to die, and even to death, it will haunt you up to the last acre of hell. His face emerged with his voice that time. He was young, but no trace of innocence clung to his long lashes. He was my age, yet matured like a moonlight. His brows curved in the dark and it was only the lightest it had been. His eye orbs were vivid red like marble blood. It was fierce up to its iris, intense like a night owl, and a reflection of destruction was all you would see. Yet despite the terror running up to the rosy softness of his lips, he was familiar as though a flower I once passed by during my stroll or a lost stranger that asked for direction or a snowflake that melted in a second when touched. At the back of my mind, I knew I saw him before; our eyes met before, maybe only in a glimpse, but a glimpse was not enough to unravel the twisted threads of my memory.

"Then rest more. Don't force it. I will have porridge delivered here so you can eat," Ginang Mirari insisted.

I rubbed my eyes to have a better view. As I folded it open again, it became clear. Beside the little table where the see-through vase stood, Little Shauna was worriedly standing still, while Ginang Mirari dipped herself on the bed next to me. She was caressing the broadness of my temple, calming the throbbing of my nerves.

"I think I can manage," I replied.

She nodded and rose. "If you say so. Just tell me if you need anything. We will be of great assistance."

I fell silent for a second, visualising how things went before I passed out, and in the whirlwind of memory flashes, I was caught up in the dawning of my own realisation.

"How long did I pass out?" I asked.

That time, it was only dawn. The sun was not completely out, yet enough beams scattered all over the kingdom to consider it a sunrise. The sunlight spilled in a warm colour and blasted its faint brightness inside my room. However, this moment no longer felt like a light morning. The curtains were drawn apart to both sides of the wooden rod, and daylight flashed in blinding whiteness. The sky was vibrant blue. The roof tiles of the residential zones almost appeared crimson under the heavy blow of the sun. Vendors in the capital market were dog tired due to heatwaves and sweats came rolling down their foreheads. It was a full-blown afternoon.