From Light to Darkness

3 - Remedium

Elric met us at the edge of the woods, his face full of grief and torment. I remembered what it had been like when my mother was sick - not knowing how long you have left with the person you love the most. Even though thinking about my mother's last days gave me an agonising sensation in my stomach, it also encouraged me to find this cure for Eda so that Elric wouldn't have to go through the same as I did.

As the boy got closer, I realised that I'd barely ever spoken to him before. He looked to be around the age of eighteen years old, was quite tall and had a fairly muscular build. He somewhat resembled my eldest brother, Edmund, with his sandy-coloured hair and jade-green eyes.

As soon as he had reached us, both Edyth and I gave him a short and reassuring smile. I doubted that it would comfort him in any way, but he still responded politely with a weak nod of the head. Up close, I noticed that he had dark shadows under his eyes and his skin was so pale that it was almost transparent; he clearly hadn't been sleeping. Again, I remembered when it had been me in his situation. 'Only, this time,' I thought, 'the result will be positive. I'll make sure of it'.

For a while, the three of us walked in silence, searching for anything that could be a cure. Mrs. Abbot's words were still running around my mind but I couldn't make sense of them. "You'll know if you find it". But how? There were so many different plants and herbs in these woods that it would be impossible to count them all - so how was one of these going to stand out amongst the rest? I couldn't understand. All I could do was hope that Edyth had a better idea of what her mother meant.

After a while, we begun to lose hope. Even Edyth, who was usually calm and collected, began to furrow her eyebrows in what was either confusion or frustration. Elric still hadn't said anything and wasn't making any extra efforts to find the mysterious medicine. He just casually observed his surroundings as he was walking besides Edyth. I'd begun to drop behind them, slowing to my own pace. Suddenly overwhelmed by annoyance at the situation, I gave out a deep sigh. 

The 'adventure' continued for what seemed like forever. Edyth kept making casual conversation with Elric to vaguely distract him from the issues we faced, though I could tell she was struggling. He had replied with only simple one-word answers and, eventually, the conversation died out.

As we got deeper and deeper into the woods, the sun got lower rapidly. Before long, the silver full moon shone brightly in the sky. Being in the setting for my most recent nightmares made me feel extremely uncomfortable. Even the quietest sound made me momentarily freeze with fear - even though I was fully aware of the fact that it was only a rabbit or a squirrel or another harmless creature which scurried around the woods.

I was becoming more tired every second and I began to long for my thin, straw bed. It had been a long day and what didn't make it any better was that no result was to come out of it. Just regret. Regret that I'd let myself into this dark, endless pit of eeriness. Just as I thought that, something caught the corner of my eye. I stopped walking and looked to see what had caught my attention. But I couldn't see anything. There really was no hope now. I'd become so desperate to find the Remedium that I was deluding myself into thinking that I had saw it.

The other two had now stopped as well, and were gawping at me expectantly.

"Bree? Have you found something?"

Edyth's anxious voice seemed to echo conspicuously off each of the many trees.

"No."

We began walking again but, since I had imagined the Remedium, the atmosphere had seemed different. The silent trees had become almost too silent; no longer were they gently swaying in the calm breeze. The air was still.  I could have sworn that I had heard the faint whisper of a voice, the words evident but much too quiet to acknowledge. It had been when I had suddenly realised how much the scene had resembled my nightmares, and I had stopped in my tracks - barely able to breathe in the icy air - when I had become aware that I was alone. Edyth and Elric was nowhere to be seen.