Chapter Four: The Burning Village

chap 4 :D

Chapter Four: The Burning Village

The grip instantly tightened, cutting off my air and making my eyes bulge out of my sockets. I tumbled to the ground, a heavy body on my chest, and flung my arms uselessly at my captor.

“You little rat,” I heard the person on top of me say.

I wanted to yell out something insulting, but couldn’t, only managed a low moan.

“Well while Ignatus is getting his punishment, we’ll be sure to give you yours.”

My vision began to blur and darken and my arms hung limply at my sides. My lungs screamed, begged for air, air that it they couldn’t receive. I’m going to die now aren’t I? I thought.

Suddenly I heard a low dog-like growl…a wolf. I felt, my captors grip loosen and managed a small breath.

The wolf growled again, and in my distorted vision, I saw it move forward, ever so slightly.

“What the-”, My captor said, letting go of me fully and backing away.

The wolf lunged, and they all turned tail and ran. I sat there rubbing my throat taking small breaths that wouldn’t hurt. I turned to the wolf. He stood there staring at me, and I got the distinct feeling he was judging me.

“Thanks,” I croaked out.

The wolf twitched its ear, in response.

“You’re not going to kill me are you?” I said. 

It probably sounded stupid, a boy talking to a wolf as if it understood. But I felt that it’s amber eyes where hiding more than the average dogs intelligence. Its ash colored pelt revealing a more human like nature.

I reached out to touch its head, but it began to growl, stopping me in my tracks.

“Okay then no petting,” I mumbled.

The wolf glared and then walked away, leaving me to return to the village on my own.

“Fine, thanks for everything,” I said half to myself.

It took some time to get back to the hut because, it still hurt to breath, so I had to take requent stops to try and lower my discomfort. Finally, though, I reached Crystantum’s hut and guess who was conscious, the one person in the world I would have preferred be in an eternal sleep Ignatus.

I stopped in my tracks trying to decide whether or not I should just turn around and sleep out in the forest or not. Unfortunetly, that idea was quickly destroyed when Crystantum walked in, binding me to this location.

“What took you so long? Are those choke marks?” He asked, looking at me as if I was one of his patients.

“No, I ran into a tree, and one of the branches smacked my throat,” I croaked out. 

That wasn’t a total lie, I had run into a tree, just gotten choked right after.

“Wow, I knew you were a clutz, but I never knew u were this clumsy,” Ignatus said with the his usual annoying voice.

I glared at him, “If you can talk then get out of here, you‘re obviously better.”

“Whoa, a little harsh there don’t you think?”

“Really now? And just who got you in this situation?”

“Ivan..”Crystantum but a warning hand on my shoulder.

I stopped talking and sat as a rigid as possible, silently fuming, I would like nothing more than to just watch him disappear. I stared at the ground, my anger seeping out in waves. A crack appeared in the floor, and I gasped.

Calm down, calm down I told myself, while taking deep breaths. This was not the time to show just how badly I could control my powers. My anger subsided and I turned to face Crystantum.

“What now?”

“For you nothing, just go to sleep.”

I started to object, but the blanket of sleep seemed suddenly very inviting.

“Ok,” I said, curling up in a ball.

No sooner had I closed my eyes that I fell asleep.

                              …

The smell of death hung in the air and fire burned around me. Every step I took revealed a sickeningly horrific sound. It was enough to make anyone gag. In the distance I saw the Man from my other dream, the same strange blue orbs circling him. I wanted to scream, I wanted to tell him to stop, but my voice wouldn’t work. 

The Man turned, surveying his demonic work, and began to walk away. I struggled forward, running after him. My foot snagged and I fell looking at what had caught me. A…hand. My eyes wandered upward making contact with soulless black holes.

“Where am I! Where am I! Where am I!” The creature yelled at me, its rotting fingers climbing their way to my throat.

“Where am I! Where am I! Where am I!” It screamed, lifting me up into the air, it’s hands cutting off my air.

My heart pounded, I clawed and kicked at my captor, but it gave no sign that it felt me.

“L-l-let me go,” I gasped, black spots appearing in my vision, “Let…me..go.”

The remainder of my conciousness slipped away and I was enveloped in a never ending darkness.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

…

I woke with a start, again drenched in sweat. What was that thing? I could still feel that creatures rotting fingers wrapping around my neck. I rubbed my throat, the feeling so real that I almost expected to have seen that thing in front of me. But no. That couldn’t happen. It was just a dream, a simple figment of my imagination, caused by my earlier encounter with Ignatus’s lackies. 

Unfortunately no matter how many times I told myself this, deep down I didn’t believe it. I knew these dreams held some greater purpose, but what that was I had yet to discover. 

I looked around and found that for once, Crystantum was actually still in the hut, asleep and not out on some herb expedition. I looked at Ignatus, his pitiful form in front of me, and found myself thinking about how fragile life is. No matter how much I hated the way he treated me, it was a far better outcome then that of the poor village, wherever it may have been. 

I sighed and laid back down, staring up at the ceiling, no matter how dreadful this life may be, there is always something worse and at least, for now, it wasn’t here.

Author's Note

okay this is the end to what ive written so far if u likey u tell me and i write more

Reviews

[Evelyn Storm]

This chapter was great! I can feel Ivan's dislike for Ignatus and the banter between them was hilarious. Who is the man that keeps appearing to Ivan and what was the demonic creature that grabbed him in the dream? I can't wait to see where you going with this. I meant to ask you is this a anime story or graphic novel? Either one would be great.