Entry 5- Tallyden's Troubles

            I remember standing out in front of that house. My staff on my back. The cold air beginning to threaten winter’s bite. In the distance something splashed in water and the house standing cold, dark, and alone, near the outskirts of the town. It’s remains were withered grey and unused for a few seasons now. Even the plant life had started to retake the steps. As I walked up them, the top one groaned under the stress of my weight.

            When I entered the house, the cold draft was the fist thing that I noticed. I look around remembering the layout of the single floor of this house. The common room was to the right of the entry hall. There were two bedrooms in the back. The kitchen and dining area are between the bedrooms and common areas. I take a breath and a being forms in front of me. I see its pale face move in mock speak, “Get Out!”

            I steady my nerves against it’s influence and say, “No sir. I am here to help.” My village, I add in my mind. It hovers above the ground and looks at me, it’s face slowly decomposing.

            “Help me?!” It says in a question, or demand. I couldn’t tell.

            The apparition moved closer to me then blinked away from sight. I smelled death and decay, then heard a whisper in my ear, “Murdered. Cold blood. Vow to find my body. Lay me to rest.”

            I felt my iron ring grow cold, like an ice crystal from a grave site. Then I touched it. “I vow to find your body.”

            The cold iron ring warmed up again, then the ghost reappeared in front of me. “Good.”

            I asked, “Who were you in life?”

            “I was a performer. Murdered in this house.”

            “Do you know where your body is?”

            “No…”

            “Who killed you?”

            “Don’t know. Except. They didn’t have a right hand.”

            I thought about this as the Haunt disappeared. I looked around the house for any family memorabilia but all that the house had was cobwebs and spoiled food. Nothing too significant. The bedrooms looked ransacked. Their cold air, the cobbed corners suggested a long dead family or a family who had left. I sighed and turned out. At the door I looked back into the house, “You’ll be put to rest sir ghost.”

            I left the building behind and went back into the town proper. I needed to find the man without a right hand. There wasn’t anyone in the community, that I knew of, that would have that type of wound. But Racha would know. So, I headed back to the healing hut.

It had become a hive of activity. People were coming and going. I noticed that there were spots of blood on the way into the hut. I felt my heart race and then I walked into the room. The smell of copper laced the air. A pungent odor permeated the air. Death lingered in the corners of the hut, and I felt a cloud come over my sight. The blood and battle wounds were worse than I had ever seen. I swallowed my uneasiness and felt a renewal within myself. I quickly rushed over to Racha.

“What happened?”

“Basilisk, near town, get herbs from the worktable.”

I did as I was told and went over to the sturdy worktable and began picking up herbs, known for healing and potions. Some of these potions smell like antidote. Racha was over a bleeding villager. He was groaning in pain. She took one of the potions and forced him to drink. His jugular moved and the puss coming of his bleeding wound stopped. Racha shook her head.

“Venom is deadly…We need to work quickly.” She pointed to one clutch of potions. “Antidote. Use only if you know their poisoned.” Then she pointed to herbs. “Throw in pot for a healing tea…it’ll tide over until we can heal properly.”

“Where’s Ithella?” I ask.

“In the back room.” A man answered. I walked over. And began assessing the man who spoke. I threw herbs into the warm cup next to him. I blinked and the rooms color leeched away. The man in front of me had a subtle red aura. I look at the one on the cot next to him and the man has a green aura. I give him the antidote and he began to seize. He coughs up the liquid and his breathing shallows. Racha comes over and pushes me out of the way. She quickly gave the soldier the healing tea and then looked at me.

“He’s too far hurt. Hurt cannot take antidote, even if they’re poisoned.” Racha explained. “Keep going.”

I move on to someone else who looked green in my sight. I do another antidote and pour it down their throat. The villager closed her eyes and stopped breathing. I watched as they took their last moments and then died. The green aura died and I blinked. My sight turned from the green, red, and grey scale back into the normal world views. This person was no more. I didn’t even know their name. But I didn’t have time. I get up and move onto the next person.

This person was laying with blood and wounds all over their body. I put the healing herbs into the hot cup of water beside the bed. I blow on the water a bit and say, “You’ll be good. I know! You’re going to live well! Just drink this healing tea.”

I tilt their head back and let the liquid roll down their throat. They take the liquid easily and I wait. Hoping for a good reaction. The person wakes up, their emerald eyes showing worry. Their wounds healing miraculously and then they grab my hand. “Tallyden? Of course.”

I put a hand over theirs. “Yes. I’m helping.”

They cough. “I came back…because of my son…he needs help…He’s in the basement…trapped.”

Tallyden tilted his head, “You’re going to be fine. I am here, Racha will take care of you.”

The person closed their eyes and Tallyden shook his head. The person needed sleep and was probably gravely wounded but tallyden noticed a drawing in their shirt pocket. He took it out and it was a crude charcoal drawing on a piece of parchment. It detailed the person, labeled as “Mommy.” The thing that caught my eye was that each of the people had hands…except the one labeled “me.” The figure labeled me was missing his right hand. I held on to that paper. The hunter would believe they had lost it in the fight. I decided to move to the head of the room and look around.

I looked at everyone and notice there are only four people left to be treated. We only have two antidotes left so Racha is quickly working on figuring out who is poisoned. I close my eyes and try to use the sight I figured out from earlier. My sight kicked back in and the four began to glow. I walked over to one and gave him the healing draft, he began to cough up the healing and his aura turned from red to green as he healed from his wounds. I uncorked an antidote and Racha put her hand on my shoulder.

 “We have three envenomed and two antidotes left…” She said.

I looked around and saw the three green aura’s and one red. I handed it to her.

“I don’t think I can decide.” I responded.

She sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know… They’re all friends. I was there to birth everyone here…they’re all so young.”

I go over to the wounded one and I begin to heal his wounds using the tea. He heals but the others begin to seize. I sighed and looked at Racha who’s mouth fell ajar. She turned away. I stood and watched.

“I am with you all. May the iron pillars be your guides into death…” I bowed my head and said a small prayer to the four people who had died. The air grew cold and I saw the first guy who I had tried to treat. The one who spoke about Ithella being in the back. He collapsed and fell into death as well. I sighed and felt shaken by the sudden death of a man who I had intended to treat. I remember never actually handing him the cup and having the cup taken by Racha. She put her hand on my shoulder, “I’m sorry…Tallyden. I’m so sorry.”

“I forgive you Racha. You did your best to fix my mistake.” I say.

I feel tired and I look at the room of people. I leave walk into the back room where Ithella is sitting, in the darkness. Her eyes closed as she meditates. I sit with her. The silence oppresses the both of us. I cannot talk and she is obviously lost on her own journey. So I close my eyes and join in the meditation.

            A few hours went by and Racha had joined us sometime in the meditation. I felt relaxed and ready to continue my mission. There were some interesting images about my mission that my mind divined. During the rest. I dreamed of the usual pillar but this time instead of crumbling it glowed brightly. I then followed the light and saw a house inside of Steadfast with the person, “mommy” that was in the picture, taking care of her garden. And a loud clash coming from inside.

            I knew this was my memories telling me where to go through the relaxing meditation. It took a few hours and twilight was falling. Parkik was returning to the healers hut as I was leaving. In fact, he entered just as I was about to go out the door. His face paled to see these people laying on their cots.

            “I’m going to hunt that beast.” He said.

            I shook my head, “You’ll do no such thing. We’ll handle the beast as a village, if it comes near us. Basilisks are deadly! If I must, I’ll go handle it.”

            He looked at me. Then to the people. “Fine but we’ll, you and I, will handle this. No more villagers killed by this thing. If you can’t pacify it. We’ll kill it!”

            I nod. “You got yourself a deal!”

            I left the hut and then went over to the house. It wasn’t far from the hut. The house was dark. There usually wasn’t basements but this house was built in the center of the town, which rested on top of a hill. So, if any house had a basement it would be this one. I looked around the land of the house, peaking into the house and investigating the area around it. The house was lived in and the fireplace had soft glowing embers, probably from “mommy.” I also noticed a layer of salt lining the foundation, which wasn’t entirely unexpected. Some people did it as a precaution against horrors. The house remained locked.

            The front door had a heavy iron lock and the steps to the cellar were shut and unopenable from the outside. The windows were all smaller than I could get in. I sighed and then closed my eyes. I was going to have to break into this house. I looked around and the village was oddly silent, probably in preparation to receive the notes from the healer’s hut at dawn. It was twilight and I was going to break into this house. So I resolved to use my spear to bust into the basement.

            I stood on the solid wooden door. It creaked and groaned under my weight but ultimately held me up. The wind was quiet tonight. I heard some crickets chirping nearby and something splash in the distant water. The eerie silence would be broken by the wood. I closed my eyes and envisioned my destroying the wood.

(To be continued…)