Firewind

Chapter 9-Enialis/Althaea

I hadn't left just to get sunleech fruit. I had some unfinished business with a few... friends of mine. Althaea and I had stopped near some sand dunes that blocked the view of some ruins of an old civilization. As I walked on the crumbling cobblestone, the night grew ever darker, the light from the suns fading, being replaced by the faint glow of the moons.

I whistled as I walked, twirling my blade in between my fingers. I was in no rush. When they decided to show up, it was my turn to get mad at them. I heard rocks skitter and turned. No one was there. But the shadows seemed far darker and deeper there. I rolled my eyes. It was probably just Valor playing his little tricks. I wasn't at the exact meeting place yet so I didn't expect them to show up yet. I shrugged and kept walking towards the broken courtyard with half destroyed pillars circling what used to be a fountain.

Dead vines crawled up the pillars and crept through the cracks in the stone. They looked like they were reaching for something they could never have, stretching their crumbling limbs towards the sky. There was a little bit of the overhang left, held up by the vines. Through the opening in the middle, the light from the four moons shone. A single sunleech tree grew beyond the courtyard. I sped up, heading for the giant tree.

As I stood at it's base, I was amazed by the sheer size of the tree. They don't call it the dwarf tree for nothing. Its trunk was so big, I doubted anyone could put their arms around it. Although it was so wide around, it's lower branches were barely taller than me. I could easily reach up and pick the white fruit, gazing in awe as it turned pink, starting at the stem. The tree also had so many leaves, it completely blocked out the moons and the stars, leaving its base in complete darkness.

I turned and headed back into the deserted courtyard. One of the stones on the path was glowing blue. I hadn't noticed it there before. I picked it up and turned it over to find blue writing scrawling across the smooth stone. I was about to read it when I heard a scream in the distance. At first I thought it was a couple of abarifs fighting over a kill. Then my heart sank with dread when I realized the scream was almost definitely human. I shoved the glowing stone in my pocket.

I ran back to where I had left Althaea, panicking the whole time that I'd be too late. Valor would kill me if she wasn't alive for... their master. When I got to our little campsite, Althaea was standing with her back to me.

"Althaea!" I exclaimed. "Thank the spirits you're alright! I-"

She turned to face me and my heart stopped. She was sickly pale and her eyes had turned completely black, none of the cheerful green remained. Her body convulsed and she fell to her knees, tears streaming from her eyes. She was possessed by a wodasheus.

***

At first I couldn't see anything. It was dark. So dark I felt the darkness. And it was so dreadfully cold. It chilled me to the bone and I shivered. That's when the nightmares started and the night in the desert disappeared.

First it was Talkinn. He was whining about something and was chewing on a stick. I smiled and I shook my head. Then my father appeared behind him. He smiled too. But there was no happiness in it. He brought his arm back and in his hand he held a wip. He brought his arm back further and swung.

I screamed.

***

I remember the attack so well. I was in my little home when screams erupted from the town. Houses were suddenly lit up with fire as the wodasheuses overwhelmed the village. My heart was racing. I had seen people possessed by the evil beings before. Some joke that wodahs played on the sprites. All of the spirits decided to give a gift to the arian sprites. The only problem was that they all had different ideas of what a gift was. Erif created the abarifs. Htrae created the htraephim. And Wodahs created the wodasheus.

Those devilish shadow monsters preyed on bad memories, anger and sadness. They feasted on greed and hate. But worst of all, they possessed people with dark pasts and haunted them with bad visions and nightmares. They are the spawn of evil itself.

I remember it so well. They came into my life and left with it. The screams still haunt me in dreams. The girl with blond hair on her knees, flames reflected in her black eyes. Her reaching for the knife and-

And

I snapped back to attention and saw Althaea laying on her side, sobbing. She screamed and curled in on herself as if avoiding some invisible attacker. My heart broke. I wouldn't wish a wodasheus possession on anyone. I was panicking. What do I do? I clenched my fists in frustration. Why was I so useless when it really mattered?

Althaea stopped sobbing and stood up. Her eyes were still dark and tears kept running down her cheeks. She slowly drew her sword looking in my direction but not seeing me. This is the worst part about wodasheuses. They give such powerful hallucinations that you could kill your own friend without knowing. She started walking toward me raising her sword, a look of determination on her face. I had to do something to bring her back. And I had to do it fast.

***

The spirit was taunting me. I knew it was. I saw its headless body behind the vision of my father and brother. I stood up and drew my sword. I would not let it get away this time. Not without paying it back for all the pain it caused my family. To my right it tried showing me a vision of Kildrak. That wouldn't work this time. To my left it showed Leshanna. I knew she was safe with Diero. Further along it showed me Diero. None of this would work again. I only saw the shadow. I heard it's cackle ring in my head. I cringed.

I raised my sword advancing faster. It also drew a blade. I swung towards its side and metal hit metal. I kept beating it back with certainty. Its lunges and dodges were weak, as if it wasn't even trying. I saw a vision in my mind of a bodiless head with a grin of sharp teeth. I hesitated. It cut my thigh where I had let down my guard. I winced but didn't let up. I shook off the shock and kept swinging for the headless demon.

"Althaea," I heard someone whisper. At first I thought I hadn't heard it. Until it kept repeating it over and over and over. Getting stronger every time. Until it was a shout.

"ALTHAEA!"

***

Althaea kept swinging at me. I didn't want to hurt her so I started yelling her name, trying to get her attention. At first she kept going as if she didn't hear me. Then she stopped completely and looked around as if trying to find the source of the yelling. She looked away from me and collapsed to her knees screaming.

I tried calling her name again but she couldn't hear me over the sound of her own scream. So I did the only thing that I could think of.

***

The pain hurt so bad. The beast inside my head was telling me all of my failures. All of my regrets. All of the things I blame myself for. And I believed him. I deserve to suffer. I deserve to be here in this place with no one else but the wodasheus. I deserve this pain.

I hung my head down, hardly aware that I was screaming.

Everything was dark.

Everything was pain.

Everything was cold.

And I deserved it all.

I should just die right here and suffer in a sandy grave.

I deserved it.

I deserved to die.

I deserved to remember all of it.

I deserved it.

I DESERVED IT.

The cold overwhelmed me and I welcomed it like an old friend. I let it consume me. I let it feed on me. I let it tear me apart. I let it control me. I let it talk to me. I let it taunt me. I let it haunt me. I. Let. It.