章 29: Arrived

The remote island where the Mal'it Clan resides was surrounded by mountain ranges. Only one opening was available to go inside the island by sea and that was occupied by the Dag'at Port.

The Dag'at Port was the only civilization nearest the sea in this island, therefore, the place was not only for trading between island clans and central clans but also for visiting families from the other islands and for vacation if the islanders wanted to have a change of atmosphere. The 'haze' in this port was less compared to the other parts of the island because the water current and winds in the sea was believed to have scattered these away. This was the main reason why it was a tradition to send the corpse of a dead clan member to the sea.

After weeks of travel, the trading group of five clans arrived at the port. They started to set up their stalls for trade to start early since there were already several clans that arrived from the other islands.

Unfortunately for our little boy, after he woke up from his tired sleep, he was forced to eat to have energy, then was scolded by his master. Once the Mal'it Clan reached the port, Ling was told to stay in one of the boats to reflect on his actions while continuing his meditation as training.

Inside one of the rooms below deck, a small child was sitting in the bed, concentrating to maintain his 'mist' stable while an old man with white hair and long beard looking at him with arms crossed.

"That's enough for now. You have to eat again to replenish your energy."

Following that command, Ling sighed and exerted only enough 'mist' to shield himself. He looked at the prepared food on the table like it was an enemy to be conquered before moving to sit on a chair to eat.

Ling wanted to cry once the scolding started again. "I've already told you before that it's dangerous to absorb too much harmful 'haze' especially with you healers who are more sensitive to these emotions. Even the experienced healers do not heal for that much in a day because they can't take it all in.

"If you can't gauge how much harmful 'haze' you can take in, sooner, it will affect your own mind and body, influencing your own emotions. There some instances when the 'haze' changes one's personality or worse, making one be controlled by these harmful emotions.

"I want you to understand these not because you can't heal other people now but because you have to know what you are capable of. Do you have any questions?"

He was able to finish eating his meal once the old man stopped lecturing. "Um, Master, what happened to the children I've healed?"

Hearing the question surprised a smile out of the old man but he thought he should have expected it. "They were fine now. Thanks to you but I still don't want you doing that again. I also plan to take back those who are willing to live in our village since it looked like the clans in Tub'ig Clan can not support them all."

Before the child was able to express his feelings due to this turn of events on these homeless people, the door to the room was hastily pushed open and Bobo entered with a big smile on his face. "Ling, you look great now. Should we tour this place next?"

A cough was heard from the other side of the room. "Bobo, I personally told you myself that Ling is not allowed to explore haphazardly because of his previous behavior."

"Oh, sorry, Elder." The big man bowed his head, looking sad, which the action was later imitated by his son.

Seeing these sad faces, the shaman sighed, "Ok, since Ling looked like he learned his lesson, I will let him visit the theater but I will also be joining you two to watch over."

The father and son showed happy faces once they heard the decision. It may become a little boring for Ling if the old man was there but it was still better than staying with him alone in his room. The three set out after.

The Dag'at Port had a lot of entertainments, raging from street shows, tournaments, races and others but the most watched was the acts in the theater. Travelling theater caravans from the center islands were even willing to put up a show here.

"We're lucky, Ling. The Sikat Troupe was doing a show now and it's their last day in the island. This group was the best from what I've seen so far," bragged Ling's father.

Shaman Matnaad nodded beside him, "I think so too," which made the boy more excited. He was not very much distracted by the other sights on the way because of the promise of what he would see in the theater.

"Faster, father, faster!" Ling said while pulling the hand that was holding his.

Later, they could see in front of them a large stone structure, the dome used by the theater troupes. The structure was shielded so any sound from outside would not enter and the sounds inside would also not be heard outside.

There was already a dense crowd entering the theater. Some people were rushing to get inside so they could get a better seat.

Once the three got inside the theater, it was dark and most of the seats were already occupied. The chattering from the audience was still ongoing even when the three found their seats until a loud boom was heard from the center.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!"

The announcer started talking which made the audience stop their chatter with excited looks on their faces. The voice was heard all over the large space of this big dome, another effect used by these kind of shows that was controlled by their 'mist'.

"We are the Sikat Troupe and we hope you enjoy the show! To start, please welcome, the Sayaw Dancers!"

A soft piano note started the performance.

The stage was still dark until the dancers entered. With the only light coming directly from them, the dancers were like fairies, glowing and flitting on the stage. The 'mist' they exude were their wings once they moved to the soft sound of the instruments.

As they move, their laughter became part of the music with the symphony of woodwind instruments producing the sounds of the nature's blowing breeze, splashing water and rustling leaves. Even the audience could feel a soft breeze and smell the life of the forest.

Suddenly, a horn blowed a loud, long melody, disturbing the peaceful atmosphere. The beat from the percussion instruments matched the fast running of the dancers. The chaos that followed was a choreographed act of the fairies' panic.

Once the movements became faster with the increasing beat, a dense forest appeared, surrounding the dancers and making the scene of chaos more vivid.

Ling was surprised with the effects and illusions. This was even better than the street show he saw at the market in Tub'ig Village!

Even though he was not taking his eyes off the ongoing performance, Ling was still surprised when the number of dancers suddenly increased. He was not sure what was illusion or real anymore until one dancer jumped on one figure as if in a couple dance but then the light scattered and one dancer disappeared.

A figure also moved to jump on one of the trees and it also vanished with sparks, making the tree lit up more. Then, all the fairies twirled to the other trees until the flash of light blinded the audience. The beat of the drums, heavy and unsettling added to the scary atmosphere.

When the audience finally opened their eyes, a stunning star was descending from the top, her voice causing another din in the theater.