***
Chapter 9: Lanak Tanor
I was flying.
No not inside the Sphere.
I was flying in the open. My body was not that of a human. My body was long and slender and I had great wings that I used to glide over the hills and the valleys and the plains and the forests.
But my heart was heavy. I was doing this out of compulsion. A great regret was there in my heart. Only if I had been a bit strong. I was a slave of the succubi. I was a loser.
Suddenly anger seized hold of me. I wanted to get out of this body. It was mine after all, wasn’t it? I would rather die free than be a slave for the rest of my life.
It took me great effort, and pain tore my body on all sides, but I forced myself to stop flapping my wings. I plummeted towards the ground. A cry escaped my mouth. Inside, I was happy that I was finally making a decision that was entirely my own.
In mere minutes, I fell on a river, splashing water in all directions. I thought I had died, but apparently a mere fall was not enough to kill a dragon. I opened my eyes slowly, feeling the presence of a living being nearby. I couldn’t believe that for the first time in a long while I could see the world without needing to see the green that covered my eyes all the time these days. I felt like I had regained control over my eyes.
It was one of those humans. They looked so much like the succubi, yet were so much better than them. Would this nice person help me?
Wait a minute, wasn’t the person myself?
“Please,” I said and I was not surprised that I sounded so weak. Yet, it uplifted my heart to hear my own voice after such a great while. The man seemed unsure but he looked like a good person.
“Please,” I said again. “Help me.”
Mere moments after I had said that however that the green once again took over my vision. I felt like a bolt of electricity had gone through my body. Damn it. Before I knew it I was flying away, bound for my destination, the volcano Mount Succubus.
***
I woke up with a start. I was still inside the sphere. Except the sphere was flying no more. I didn’t know when I had fallen asleep. The dream had been so vivid. Had it really been a dream? It had to be one, right? After all, I had seen myself in it. I looked down at my body again to make sure that it was that of a human. I had felt so powerless being the dragon, as though I was being compelled to fly. One thing however I knew now—the dragon was a slave of the succubi. Somewhere, deep inside I knew that it was the dragon who had put the dream in my head. Maybe he wanted me to go after him? I had a feeling that I might meet him again and soon.
I opened the lid and went out to take a breath of fresh air and also because I had an intense urge to pee. I was still in forest territory. Except the trees were different from that of the place where I had met Ranik and the dragon. I relieved myself over some bushes.
I re-entered the craft. I sat down on the soft seat and focused my mind so as to lift the craft into the air. Unlike the previous times, I failed. I was confused. I tried again.
A notification popped up in my vision.
The Sphere needs fuel to travel. You have run out of fuel. Without the fuel the Sphere will fail to make a proper connection with your mind.
Fuel? Now what was this?
More importantly what fuel did the Sphere require?
As if in response to my question, another message appeared.
The Sphere consumes magic as fuel. Bring anything magical inside the craft and it will be able to satisfy the fuel requirements.
I pulled at my hair. How on earth was I going to find anything magical in the middle of a forest?
On a second thought, I realised that I actually had higher chances of finding magical objects in a forest. I had been to countless forests during my years as a succubi tamer, and from the experience I knew. The creators of The Second World had strewn quite a few magical objects in the forests of the world.
Once again I opened the lid of the Sphere and I went out. It was early morning. I stood outside near the sphere and I scratched my chin.
Something magical, eh?
I heard the sound of movement to my right at that very moment. I whirled around but there was nobody. I was afraid and I made one of the swords of the bandits to materialise in my hand. I still had two of those, although one I had left lodged in Ranik’s shoulder.
The next moment a giant of a man burst into the scene. He was eight feet in height easily, and had a lean body. He was young and had a boyish face with some beard. He was dressed in rags and there were tears in his bloodshot eyes.
The man saw me. But then he shook his head, his face convulsing with high emotion. And then he went running again into the woods. I stood befuddled at the spot for a moment.
A giant man. My hunch told me that this man could lead me to something magical. He was eight feet after all! There had to be something magical about him. I had never ignored my hunch when I had been a succubi tamer. And the other day, when I had gone fishing with Zurk, I had made the folly of ignoring my hunch and as a result I had nearly paid for my mistake with my life.
I ran after the man.
“Hey, wait!” I cried, but the man continued to run. He had long legs and took giant strides. I struggled to keep up with him.
“Don’t follow me,” the man wailed. And he increased his pace. The man despite his size more or less felt harmless to me.
“I might be able to help you!” I said, panting.
The man slowed down. He finally came to a stop and he turned around to look at me. I reached him and caught my breath. I didn’t recall running so fast in a while.
I looked up at him.
“Why are you crying?” I asked him.
The man squatted down and burst into a fresh bout of sobs. Hell, this was a giant man-baby, wasn’t he?
“I- I,” the man said, struggling to control his emotions, “I suck.”
“At what?”
“At everything,” he said. “I am a total failure.”
“You messed up in some way?” I asked him, trying to sound caring. I found it hard to feel his grief though.
He nodded.
“I got kicked out from my village,” the man said.
“Where is your village? Why did they ask you to leave?”
“About five kilometres from here,” the man replied. “About two kilometres away is a cave. It is guarded by a fairy. There is a magical soil inside the cave, and that soil is very important for the diet of my village.”
Magical.
I liked that word.
“And something happened to the magical soil?” I asked.
“It was my turn to get the magical soil from the cave yesterday. But you need to please the fairy guarding it to give the soil to you. The fairy is rude. I suck at pleasing rude people. The previous times my village sent me to get the soil, I failed. They told me this time that if I failed again then I needn’t return to the village. I have been roaming the forest since yesterday.”
“If you want I can help you,” I said. Of course, I wasn’t going to tell him the main motive behind that.
The giant looked at me. In his eyes there was much gratitude. He almost reminded me of a child despite his size.
“Help me?” he said. He looked like nobody had ever offered help to him. He suddenly lunged forward and he grabbed me in a bear hug. For a moment I was not sure if he was attacking me and resisted the urge to plunge my sword into his neck. But the man placed me safely on the ground. He sobbed again. But this time his tears seemed to be ones of happiness.
“I would be very thankful,” the giant said.
“I cannot guarantee that we will succeed,” I said, “but I will give my best.”
The giant led me towards the said cave. I was not sure whether I should simply leave the Sphere behind though without the fuel there wasn’t much that I could do. But the man assured me that he knew the forest well and he would be able to bring me to the exact spot where the craft was. The man further told me t
hat his name was Danor, as we strode fast.
“Do you give the fairy anything in return for giving you the magic soil?” I asked.
“Occasionally the elders of the village would come along in a sacred day bringing the tastiest foods,” Danor replied. “But other than that I don’t know of anything else that our people give her. As far as I have heard, a very long time ago the forefathers of our tribe helped the fairy and she gives us the magic soil to thank us. But over the years the rudeness of the fairy has increased. I reckon she feels that she had given us enough soil in repayment of the help that our forefathers gave her.”
It took us about half an hour to reach the said cave. It was basically a hole in the ground at the base of a large tree.
“I reckon a sly mouth goes a long way in pleasing her?” I asked Danor almost in whisper as we approached the cave of the fairy.
“Yes, sir,” Danor said sadly, “too bad I was not born with one.”
Danor and I stood at the mouth of the cave.
“O good fairy,” Danor said aloud in a tone of respect, but there was a slight shiver in his tone that clearly said that he had no true desire of meeting the fairy.
A ball of light appeared over the hole and hovered. In a few seconds the ball of light had assumed the shape of the head of a lady. An old lady. I reckoned the fairy had lived a long time. She had more wrinkles than even me.
“So you are back?” the fairy said, narrowing her eyes at Danor. “I told you to get lost, didn’t I? I am not giving you any soil.”
The fairy then turned her eyes towards me. Her expression softened incredibly. It was a great contrast to how she had looked towards Danor. And… was she blushing?
“It’s been a great while since I saw an older person,” the fairy said, “may I ask what brings you here?”
I wanted to speak, but my words stuck in my throat. I didn’t understand. Danor had said that occasionally the Elders of the village came to visit the fairy. How then had it been a great while since she had seen an older person?
I turned at Danor instead. He gave me a confused look.
“I don’t understand,” I said, turning to the fairy.
“Please tell,” the fairy said, “I would be a pleasure to settle any confusion you might have.”
“How can it be a great while since you saw an older person?” I blurted. “I mean, members of Danor’s tribe keep coming to you. Not all of them can be young, right?”
“They are,” Danor and the fairy queen said together, both matter-of-factly. The fairy glared at Danor.
“You keep quiet when I am speaking,” she said to him. Danor turned a shade of pink.
“But-but… how?” I asked, not getting either of them at all.
“The members of Danor’s tribe do not age past a certain age,” the fairy said. The fairy’s voice changed to one of sadness, “I on the other hand age.”
Danor had not said this to me. I reckoned Danor was not really a human, even though he looked like one. A moment of silence passed, in which the fairy kept looking at me like I was something very precious. The wind ruffled my hair. I felt uneasy. Finally it was Danor who broke the silence.
“Um, O good fairy, can you please give us some of the magic soil?”
I suddenly recalled the main purpose why we had come here and I bit my lip.
The fairy frowned at Danor but before she could say anything, I intervened.
“Please, we really need it,” I said. “Please give it to him.”
The fairy looked a bit torn now. Of course, she wasn’t going to respond rudely to me.
She smiled.
“I will give you all the magic soil that I have,” she said, “I will even leave this hole forever, and the members of Danor’s tribe can come here whenever they want and take the soil… but.”
“But?” I said.
“I need your help.”
My help? For what. First the dragon, then Danor and now the fairy. Why did they all require my help? I was not even in a position to help. The main reason I had come with Danor was a purely selfish one.
“How can I help you?” I managed to say.
“Can you help me be young again?” the fairy said. “You are the first old person that I have seen in these parts in a millennium. I don’t know how many aeons would pass before I see an old person again. I cannot move from here as long as the soil is my responsibility. And only an old person can help me to be young again.”
“But how can I help you be young again?” I asked.
“You can leave that part to me, good sir,” the fairy said, “but all I need is your consent.”
I pursed my lips and thought hard.
“Yes,” I finally said.
The fairy seemed to be at the top of the world.
“Thank you!” she cried.
The fairy then asked me to enter the hole. She said she would then close the entrance to the hole so that I would be alone in the cave for a few moments. The magic soil that was present in the cave would then allow her to use a spell which would give back youth to her again.
With much hesitation, I entered the hole. I had a bad feeling about this, even though my hunch also said that this would end up well and might even have some unexpected positive outcomes. I descended down the hole. From a point below the cave was quite vertical. And it was alit.
It was the soil itself that illuminated the cave. The soil glowed a golden hue.
“I will be closing the entrance for a while now, good sir,” the fairy said.
“Okay,” I replied to her. A ceiling of soil appeared over the entrance magically. I touched some of the magic soil, marvelling at its ability to glow.
And then, all of a sudden the lights went out as the soil stopped glowing.
I felt a wind rushing all about me. I tried to hold onto the wall of the cave, but I couldn’t feel the wall of the cave at all. It was as if I was in empty space. I seemed to be floating. The wind blew strong around me.
“Um, what’s happening?” I said, hoping the fairy would response. A sense of claustrophobia was closing its arms fast around me.
“Do not worry, sir, it is just the process,” the fairy replied.
And then something even more mind-blowing happened. All around me I began to see glimpses of myself from the past, ever since the time when I had first created my character in the Second World. It was almost like seeing a reel of film, which was going round and round me. I saw as I grew old and became my current self. And then the reel began to move in a backward direction, so that it ended with the face of me as I had been right after creating my character.
There was a sound and abruptly all this disappeared. The lights came back and I saw that I was in the cave again. The entrance reappeared too. I hurried up and out.
“No!” I heard the voice of the fairy cry.
I turned to see the head of a young woman floating beside Danor, who was looking at me with much awe. I instantly knew that it was the same old fairy. Her spell had worked.
“I am so sorry!” the fairy cried.
I didn’t get it. Her spell had worked.
“You cannot give us the magic soil?” I asked her.
“I didn’t realise you would turn young in this process,” the fairy said, much guilt in her voice.
“Turn young?” I said. I looked at my arms. They had become like those of someone in their early twenties! I touched my face and could feel none of the wrinkles either. I couldn’t believe it. It felt surreal.
“I am sorry,” the fairy said again. I began to laugh.
“Sorry?” I said, breaking into a bout of laughter. I was young again and the fairy was sorry for that? “Thank you! Thank you!”
The fairy ultimately realised that I had never wished to stay old. She thanked me for the last time for allowing her to perform the spell and then she left the cave. All the magic soil in it was now ours. I patted Danor’s shoulder.
“It’s all yours, my friend,” I said to him. “Just give me a handful an
d I’ll be good to go.”
But Danor had gone quiet. He was looking at the hole, lost in thoughts.
“What’s the problem?” I asked him.
“I don’t want to return to my village,” he said to me. “They have always laughed at everything I ever did. Even if I take all the magic soil to them then they would still laugh at me. I know them well.”
He fell onto his knees beside the hole. It was clear the Danor hated his village. Could I take him with me? He was large but there should be enough space for him in the Sphere. Plus, having someone of his size would be a plus point.
“I am on a quest,” I said to him, “would you like to accompany me?”
Danor looked at me, his eyes shining. He readily agreed. So it happened that Danor and I took a huge amount of the magic soil and made for the craft. We still left a considerable amount for Danor’s tribesmen. He hated them, yet he didn’t want to deprive them of the magic soil as they were depended on it for their survival.
Danor had a hard time getting inside the Sphere through the entry hole of the craft. He was way too big. After a minute of struggle he was finally able to squeeze his body inside. Most of the magic soil I had absorbed into my mind. I saw that I was nearing the limits of my mental carrying capacity. But the magic soil worked, even as a notification appeared in my vision that the craft had received its fuel. Once again I could make the craft hover, and off we went.
***
I felt sad.
It was a devastated town.
Some of the buildings in the town were still on fire. It was the first glowing spot that I had reached as per the indication of the map given to me by the wizard. Had this all been done by the Succubi? I felt a chill run down my spine.
I made the Sphere move over the devastated town. In the far distance there were many hill ranges. Had there been any survivors or had everybody been taken by the Succubi? I was also acutely aware that only an entire army of succubi could have wrecked such a big devastation. During my tamer days I had thought that succubi operated alone, apparently they were capable of grouping together.
Succubi's Curse Online Page 7