THIRST IN HELL

CHAPTER 8

The rune stone was hidden somewhere. I knew that because Glutton's worker had not denied it when I asked him. I decided to sneak in the evening of the following day and try to find it.

Towards morning, I borrowed a torch from an officer guarding the gate, pretending that I wanted to search for something I lost in my cabin. He reluctantly gave it to me. I could see he only gave it to me because the dawn was about to break. The dawn there always came late and was darker than usual.

What he didn't know was that  my intention was to keep the torch to myself. I would then avoid meeting with him throughout the day. I knew I would need the torch in my evening mission.

I was going to my cabin carrying the torch in my pocket when the alarm was sounded suddenly. We were all assembled in a rush to an open field near the gate.

The king wanted to talk to us. As he passed through the gate his face was blank of any expression. I wondered what he had to say.

" This territory has been firm and strong for decades." He started not caring to greet us.

" Firm because the slaves here, have been loyal and obedient. Today, as I stand here before you, my very sharp ears have overheard that some of you, those who came recently, have been having some night witchcraft lessons."

My heart started pounding immediately, blood thrusting my veins like an oscillating tractor engine.
I realised that the king was talking about my secret classes.

How did he possibly know? It was very stupid to have thought that I could manage to keep the classes a secret, while surrounded by big mouthed beings.

"Now slaves, can you quickly produce the master wizard!"  The king commanded harshly.

From the corners of my eyes, I could see the other slaves' eyes searching and finally settling on me, one after the other like flies.

" Oh Mother Nature!" I exclaimed.

Just then, an idea struck me.

I shouted loudly while pointing at my own cabin which was a few metres away.

"Sir! He is inside there!"

Barely were the words out of my mouth when the officers sprout like hungry tigers towards the cabin, tearing its door like a toilet paper, but also giving me a chance to gear through the open gate.

In no way were they going to catch me. I ran, ran at my full speed. By the time they figured out what was happening, I was some metres ahead.

I heard the king shouting, "Shoot to kill!"

I could hear footsteps speeding behind me. I ran for my life, not knowning where to. Just a recently burnt child dreading the fire. I ran, wishing I had wings like a bat. My only chance being the rapidly thinning darkness.

The officers were faster and they knew the compound better.  After some minutes of the cat-rat chase, I stumbled on a huge protruding stone. I was set flying and landed on the ground, head first. Dust filled my lungs in an instance as I rolled over like a stone, finally resting on my knees with head touching the ground like a praying sheikh.

I waited for the worst, but luck strikes when least expected. I could hear the footsteps now jumping over me at high speed. They must have thought I am another stone. My guess is that the mixture of darkness and dust somehow camouflaged me.

What a narrow escape! With no time to waste, as the footstep sound faded, I stood up and sprinted while bending low towards another direction, keeping myself hidden by the rocks. I moved for several minutes before getting too exhausted. I could hear owls hooting threateningly.

I sought for a hiding place and found a cleft between two huge rocks. I squeezed myself deep into it. By then, the sky was quite bright, in terms of the land's brightness.

For how long will I hold in this exile? I knew that I was the most wanted criminal in the empire, probably a big bounty on my head. But still, I couldn't fathom the wrong I had done to deserve death.

I closed my eyes, desiring I could be left alone in peace for just a moment.

But on sleeping, a nightmare took over and gave me no such a moment.

                            ***********
In the dream, I find myself in a battle field. I am fighting holding a knife and a gun. I can hear my wife crying in pain nearby. I stop fighting and turn to help her.

When I turn, instead of her,  I see another woman wearing very white clothes. No, she is not a woman... she spreads her wings. I plead with her to help me, but she does not respond. She is dumb.

She just points to a certain path using  a pointer. The pointer is marked 'way home.'  The path is narrow, dark and frightening. I hesitate to go.

She notices my fear and gives me a small lamp. On the lamp is a sticker written, ' keep it lit, it will lighten your path.' The woman then waves her right hand, to dismiss me.

Just as i start to go, I hear sound of several footsteps behind me. I turn around. The woman is no longer there. Now, very ugly creatures are running towards me.  I run away fast along the path as I was directed.

The creatures run after me. They are faster, closing the space between us in seconds. I spin around suddenly. The light from the lamp illuminate them. They avoid the light and freeze at some distance.

A few creatures move around me through the darkness, I am now trapped between them. They try to knock the lamp from my hands to put it off. I fight back, cutting some creatures with the knife and then aim my gun at another. I refuse to let go off the lamp. The light from the lamp shines brightly into my face. I can feel its warmth.

The creatures approach me from all directions. I am knocked down in a swift sweep. I fall down. My leg knocks against the gun's boot. It bruises my left thigh and it aches badly. I scream like never before.
            
                        **************

I woke up suddenly, panting and sweating. I found the after noon light shining directly into my face. My left leg also aches. I had slept on the torch that I borrowed from the officer.

The difference between a threatening reality and a threatening nightmare is that, you can escape from a threatening nightmare by waking up, but how can you escape from a threatening reality?

I found myself still squeezed in the rock cleft.

It is quite hard to escape a dusturbing reality. However, one can still master a bad reality by handling its causes early enough. If it is too late for that, one can change the perception of the whole thing and choose to fight on.

The second choice was the only one that I had.