Kapitel 16: Trapped with the Cocooned
The meeting with Drew was great, but in the back of Sarah's mind was Ishmael. She was worried about him a lot. She even regretted avoiding him, because if it happens that he dies, she would never forgive herself for not telling him earlier that she—
"I must say I am impressed by your ability to catch up and keep a calm head. I know it must have not been easy to digest the situation, but you seem to have done so exceedingly well. I will come to see you again on formal business. Today was just a visit to see an old friend. I will be taking my leave now." Drew got up and bowed. Sarah accompanied him out, followed by Antonio, who had Drew's hat in hand.
"Oh and one last thing, please tell Farris that her majesty said he should hurry up. There's not much time left." Drew notified before getting into his coach. Farris was the chief miner who used to report straight to her father, but the question now was: "What business would her majesty have with Farris?" The question would remain unanswered for now.
Running back into the manor and straight to Ishmael's room, standing at the door, she was a bit scared of finding out what his current situation was like. But then the door opened from inside, and Simon, who was about to head out, bumped into her.
"My apologies, I did not expect anyone to be at the door." Simon apologized, bowing slightly. Sarah waved her hand, dismissing his apology.
"No need to apologize, Sy. Tell me, how is his condition?" She tried to control her tone to make it seem calm, but she failed as anxiety leaked in her voice.
Simon noticed and smiled before answering, "Luckily, it wasn't too potent, otherwise it would have killed him." Simon spoke in a low tone, since Sarah knew what he was talking about. Ishmael had been poisoned, and Simon had an idea who did it.
Sarah was firstly confused, then realization hit her, and she smiled, releasing a heavy sigh. "That's a relief to hear. Tell me, is he awake?" She asked hesitantly. Simon shook his head.
"Not yet. Can you please send someone to watch him while I go get him some healing herbs and ointments from the market?" Sarah nodded and added, "You may go, but I will be the one watching him."
Simon nodded and left. Entering the room, her eyes went straight to the bed, and Ishmael's half-naked figure caught her eyes. She slowly moved to the side of the bed and sat down, looking at him.
"Ish— uhm, Josh, it seems like I would never be brave enough to tell you this while you are awake. I have been..." Sarah began speaking her heart out, but sadly, Ishmael would never know what she had said.
...
"Damnit, is this how I am going to die? Poison? Oh well, at least I can now rest... wait, is there beer in the afterlife?" This was his last thought before he fell to the ground on the manor's entrance, and his nightmare began.
Opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was darkness, vast and empty. Trying to move, he discovered that his whole body seemed to be bound, with his neck being the only part of his body that he could move.
Sighing, he spoke with a heavy heart, "A beer would have been nice." His ability to stay calm was shocking. He began thinking of a logical explanation for what was happening. He had long dismissed the whole afterlife thing, and right now, he tried to figure out the cause of this.
"I have a feeling this is somehow linked to the divine gifts. If that is true, then that means that my suspicions were correct; there are many more gifts/abilities out there." He thought. But then the darkness rumbled, countless cracks appeared all over, and a crimson light passed through the cracks and illuminated everything.
"What the f***?!" What he saw shook him, and for the first time in a while, he felt fear. Because deep in the darkness all around him were thousands of lifeless bodies wrapped around in cocoons. Looking at his own body, he realized that he too was wrapped in the same cocoon. Below him were dark waters that reached half of the cocoon. Under the crimson light, the water seemed to pulse. A few cracks resounded out, and when he lifted his head to look around, he saw that many cocoons were starting to break, even his own cocoon was breaking.
"This does not seem good at all." Thinking to himself, he looked above him. The darkness that surrounded him was now dispersed; only a crimson moon hung high above the sky, and all around him there was nothing but cocoons. While he was still observing, the cracking sounds around him multiplied, and soon the cocoons had all broken. Completely, he could feel his heart beating fast. Half his body was submerged in the dark waters; all of the lifeless bodies had fallen into the water, which was still pulsating. Bubbles appeared all over the surface of the dark water. After a while, the bubbles and the pulse stopped; the water returned to its normal, still state. But then the bodies that had fallen into the water rose up, all in an eerie fashion. Their eyes were a crimson shade, and for a moment, they all stared at Ishmael. He too could feel that he was an anomaly in this place. But then, the bodies all began moving towards the position of the moon, as if it was the one calling out to them. Some of the bodies were well-dressed, and some seemed poorer. Some were old, and some were young. The body of a young girl about ten years of age bumped into him and fell down before getting up and resuming its journey. Ishmael stared at this great phenomenon with a cold light in his eye.
"This is not something I should be seeing... how do I even get out?" Wondering if he should follow the "cocooned people," a term he had decided to call them, Ishmael decided to follow the moon, thinking, "Well, I've got nothing to lose."
The cocooned people seemed to follow the moon aimlessly, and being surrounded by them, he could not see anything else.
"Hello there." Getting tired of walking for what seemed like an eternity, he decided to try speaking with the cocooned. But all of them seemed to not notice or even hear him. Tapping an elderly cocooned who seemed like a farmer, everything seemed to stop as all of the cocooned stopped moving, and their lifeless gazes fell on him. Their gazes felt wrong; his soul shuddered in fear. Then, in unison, they all spoke, "The living have no place in the land of the dead, the living have no place in the land of the dead! The living have no..." They repeatedly spoke those eleven words, and their voices got louder and louder before they finally stopped. Ishmael's heart rate had picked up heavily. Clutching his now bleeding ears, he shut his eyes, cursing himself for trying out something so foolish, "That's it, Josh, no more bright ideas." He thought amidst his anguish. But like nothing had happened, the cocooned resumed their lifeless walk.
After an eternity of walking, the cocooned all stopped, and they all turned to him again. But this time, the crimson light seemed to have dimmed in their eyes. On their faces were different kinds of emotions: fear, anger, hatred, remorse. But one emotion stood out, and it was sadness. The farmer cocooned stepped forward, and that's when he noticed that the world around them was going dark again. Looking into the water, he could feel an invisible veil wrapping around him from his feet, moving slowly upwards.
"Son, free us, please free... use... the k-key." By the time he finished talking, he was already cocooned. Staring at the farmer cocooned, his mind replayed his words, "Use the key?"
"Could it be the key I have? Could it be the reason why..." His cocoonification was now finished, even though it was slower than the rest. The vast darkness had returned, and with it, his eyes closed in slumber. If he possessed the ability to look through the darkness, he would have noticed the silent screams of the cocooned all around him. Their eyes were burning with pain, but no sound could be made. Even if it was so, the question was: what was happening to the cocooned during the vast darkness?
"A living soul? It has been long since I have had a living soul trespass into my domain." An ancient voice resounded throughout the vast darkness. The darkness around Ishmael swirled, and a pair of crimson eyes appeared in front of his cocoon.
"Three divine gifts? Who is this mortal?" The ancient voice asked, but no answer came. The eyes disappeared, but a lingering voice remained, "I will keep watch over you, Josh Belling." The ancient voice spoke, and it seemed it had even discovered Ishmael's real name. A crescent-shaped mark appeared on his neck, glowing with a crimson light. The entity seemed to have marked him.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein