The Horseman of Calamity

Chapter 17 - Go Big or Go Home

By now even the autumn was reaching its end as the golden brown leaves of the deciduous trees had mostly fallen down. From the horizon and past the jungle, the city of Illutia looks rather luxurious and vibrant, especially if one were to take it and compare it with most other cities and towns. Known by many as Pleasure Paradise, it is home to the largest brothels and casinos in the world, entertainment is its main source of income. The buildings are well maintained and some of them even span several stories. Unlike the more archaic architecture seen mostly worldwide, the architecture of Illutia looked a bit more akin to that of the European buildings during the Renaissance, they all held a very intricate feel to them. The buildings were expansive with beautifully designed sloped tile roofs, massive signs paved the walls of several buildings, and the citizens of the city wore a mixture of elegant and revealing clothing. However, it bore an equal amount of resentment from its hidden underclass. Unlike nearly every other city or town, Illutia did not belong to a single nation, but it was under the protection of one. It isn't necessarily a territory per se as it had its own government, but it wasn't seen as a nation either. Besides, everyone knew that it was a bad idea to try to steal, attack, or just try anything stupid with that place.

The remaining two days through the Rotted Forest had thankfully been uneventful, though that didn't keep most of their group from experiencing night terrors in their sleep or insomnia. They had encountered a few other spirits but they were much more minor and less malicious compared to Yazel who had sought to feed off of the group's anguish. Most of these minor spirits were easily warded off by Nacara's fire, which by now was so drained she could only afford to use a small ember. Luckily for Nacara, all she needed was a few days of no magic usage for her death energy to renew itself, a benefit bestowed only to mages.

Just like when Meo joined, Goray was caught up on what had happened thus far. But since having left, his mood had improved tremendously, it was astounding how quickly he was able to recover and almost a little weird. When Nacara told Goray that it had been three decades since the war he fought in was fought he didn't seem to react much, but perhaps that was his way of coping. His reaction to the fact that Hung was from another world was found rather comical by the others. He asked to know more and more about Earth, Hung himself, Hung's life, the culture, it kept going on and on. And when Hung showed Goray his cellphone, the group feared the old skeleton man was going to have a heart attack, despite the fact that he was missing his heart.

Since the day they had left the forest though, Hung had been experiencing strange symptoms. The bruise on his left arm had grown bigger, he felt fatigued more, and he felt as if his strength in his left arm was being sapped. Initially, he kept quiet as he figured it would have gone away but when it continued persisting he finally told his friends.

"I've never seen anything like that before." Delly inspected Hung's arm with tender gentleness.

"You're sure it doesn't hurt?" He asked.

"It doesn't hurt much but whatever it is, it's making me tired."

Meo and Mahmoud also looked at it but neither of them had any idea what it could have been.

"Don't die on us Hung!" Mahmoud jokingly got on his knees and begged.

"Gah!!! It looks so freaky! Don't come close, I don't wanna get infected too!" Meo jumped back and hid behind Mahmoud.

"Knock it off you two, this could actually be pretty bad. He might bloat up and explode on all of us. Who knows what it could be?" Nacara chuckled as she pushed them aside inspecting his bruise.

"Hm, yeah, I've got no idea what this could be, but we're nearing a city so we could find a healer there. You'll be fine in no time, Hung." She smiled, not seeming too worried about whatever the bruise could be.