Dark Humanity

by Gwynn White

  A Warrior burst through the front door and dashed across to the bed on the far side of the room. A woman was lying there. She cradled a newborn, and there was another woman wiping the child clean. There was blood on the sheets from where she had just given birth. The tunic colours of the Warrior and woman were from his own tribe.

  “Please don’t let them take our baby!” the woman cried.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you,” the Warrior reassured her.

  He wiped her brow with a wet cloth from a bowl beside the bed.

  “Joshua? Joshua!” the man called out.

  A child came running into the hut from another room, and the man picked him up. The small boy looked to be about three years old.

  “I’ll take our son somewhere safe. Don’t worry, I’ll be back for you soon.”

  “No! Don’t, don’t leave me, please,” the woman pleaded.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be back as soon as I can. I have to get Joshua to safety first.”

  The man left with the boy in his arms and the woman carried on sobbing. The midwife scurried around in panic.

  The Warrior came back through the door but the boy was no longer with him. Another Warrior followed him but he belonged to another tribe. Joshua didn’t recognise the green and red tunic of the second Warrior.

  The two men fought fiercely with each other. They struggled and knocked the midwife to the floor, screaming, as they jostled about the small hut. They both had knives drawn and each was trying to reach the other’s throat.

  As the struggle ensued, they fell onto the bed and landed on the woman, who let out an almighty shriek of pain. Another Morelle Warrior came running through the door. He grabbed the intruder and lifted him from the bed.

  The two Morelle Warriors fought with the outsider and eventually managed to drag him out of the hut. Joshua looked back at the woman on the bed. She was holding the baby in her arms but it wasn’t moving or making any sound. She held the newborn tight to her chest and was crying inconsolably.

  “My baby,” the grief-stricken woman cried, “my sweet, little girl.”

  Joshua looked on with amazement and horror. The newborn little girl was lifeless.

  The woman’s husband came running back into the hut. He had bloodstained hands and went over to the side of the bed and got down on one knee. He looked at the little girl and then at the crying woman. Tears ran down his cheeks.

  “Our baby,” the woman cried, “they killed our little girl.”

  She held the baby close to her chest and rocked back and forth on the bed. The horrified woman’s heartbreaking tears tore at Joshua’s heart.

  The Warrior lowered his head, then looked up and let out bloodcurdling roar of grief.

  “They will pay for this. I swear they will pay.”

  He was weeping and holding the woman’s head to his shoulder. As Joshua looked on, the scene before him started fading.

  He felt something pushing at him.

  “Joshua? Joshua, snap out of it!”

  Sarah was kneeling in front of him shaking his shoulders.

  “Are you OK?” she asked.

  “What? Where am I?” Joshua asked, moving his head side to side and slowly coming back to his senses.

  “You’re OK, you’re safe. You just sort of froze for a while with that orb in your hand. I couldn’t wake you. It scared me.”

  Andrew and Galleon were both standing behind Sarah and looking down at him.

  “Are you OK?” Andrew asked.

  “What happened?” Galleon asked. “What did you see?”

  Joshua got up and looked at them each in turn. “I’m not really sure. I think I just saw my mother giving birth.”

  “I didn’t know your mother was pregnant.” Andrew asked.

  “No, you don’t understand. It was a long time ago. I think it was my sister she was giving birth to.”

  “I didn’t know you had a sister.” Andrew said, still looking puzzled.

  “I don’t,” Joshua said shaking his head. “I mean I didn’t think I had a sister either. It looked like she died in childbirth. There was a battle going on. I don’t think he intended to kill her. It just sort of happened. There was this Warrior from another tribe that was fighting my dad. It happened just after my mother gave birth but the baby didn’t survive.”

  Sarah held her hand to her mouth with a look of horror. “That’s awful,” she said, almost in tears.

  “Are you sure it was your parents?” Galleon asked.

  “I think so. It looked as though I was about three years old at the time.”

  He shook his head as he tried to remember back to his childhood.

  “I don’t remember this happening or my mother even being pregnant. Mum and Dad never said anything to me about having a sister who died at birth.”

  “What does it mean?” Sarah asked.

  Joshua stared straight ahead and continued to shake his head.

  “I don’t know,” he whispered.

  It was an intense experience, and he was still processing it in his own mind. He started walking but wobbled on his feet. Andrew caught him and guided him to a nearby tree stump.

  “Here,” he said, helping him sit, “best you rest and collect your thoughts first.”

  Sarah sat next to him and held his hand with both of hers.

  “I’m so sorry, Joshua, about your sister, I mean. It must have been terrible for you to witness that when you were young.”

  “That’s OK,” Joshua murmured. “I don’t remember any of it, anyway. And besides, my dad took me away somewhere when it happened.”

  He looked down at the ground and heaved a big sigh.

  “I just wish they had told me I had a sister.”

  Sarah caressed his hand.

  “Well, maybe they thought you were too young and didn’t want to burden you with it all?”

  She squeezed his hand tightly. Joshua inhaled and forced a smile.

  “Yes,” he said turning to her, “maybe you’re right.”

  “Did you recognise who the attacking tribe was?” Sarah asked.

  “No, I didn’t recognise the colours. It could have been from any tribe in Forestium,” he said, trying hard to remember the details.

  “There were certainly a lot more tribal wars back in those days.”

  Joshua picked up the orb again and looked at it. Sarah was talking to him and comforting him. He heard her voice fade away and saw the same swirling cloud forming inside the orb again.

  There was another flash and Joshua found himself once again floating in mid-air, disconnected from reality. He was once more viewing a situation that took place long ago.

  There was another tribal Warrior. Joshua didn’t recognise the man but he did recognise the same green and red tunic from the earlier encounter with the orb. Whoever this was, he was from that same tribe that had attacked Morelle all those years ago when Joshua was a young child.

  The man had deep blue eyes and blond hair. Joshua thought his face seemed familiar but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. As the scene cleared, Joshua could see more detail. He squinted to try to make out the features in the man’s face.

  He was there with a young woman and a little girl. They were playing and laughing together. It looked like a young family. As they played, another man with the same colours came bursting into the room.

  “Marauders! In the village! Screechers report maybe a dozen men or more,” the second man cried.

  The first man stood up and spoke to the young woman.

  “Here, take Sarah and hide! Quickly!”

  The two men left the room. The woman picked up the little girl, cradled her head and left.

  Joshua’s mind was racing. Were these Sarah’s parents he was seeing? He could hear the thumping of his own heartbeat. It echoed in his mind.

  There was another flash and this time he was outside and the man he had just seen was fighting fiercely. He had a striking resemblance to Sarah, so he presumed it to be her father.


  The man was fighting with one of the marauding Warriors. Joshua looked on with horror as he realised the marauders were wearing colours from his own Morelle tribe.

  Sarah’s father and the Morelle Warrior continued fighting fiercely with pandemonium going on all around them. Joshua tried to get a look at who the Morelle Warrior was but he could only see him from behind.

  “Take Sarah and get out of here!” the fighting Warrior screamed.

  Joshua could see Sarah’s mother still cradling her and staring around in confusion. She had panic written all over her face as she tried to find a path out of harm’s way.

  As she scurried between the fighters, the man duelling with Sarah’s father lunged with his knife. Sarah’s father sidestepped the knife, but it continued straight into Sarah’s mother as she tried to pass. She dropped the crying child to the ground and fell to her knees, clutching at her abdomen. She contorted in pain and keeled over with the baby, screaming.

  “NO!” Sarah’s father howled.

  The man who had accidentally stabbed Sarah’s mother froze, as did all the other fighters around him. He looked shocked at his own action. He threw his knife onto the ground, turned and ran.

  As he turned, Joshua got a good look at the fleeing man’s face. To his sheer horror, he saw it was his own father.

  The scene faded. The echoes of screaming subsided, and the vision became indistinct.

  “Joshua? JOSHUA!” Sarah shouted. “Wake up!”

  Joshua opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. Tears were streaming down his face.

  “It was him! I saw it. It was my father! He’s the one. He’s the one who did it.”

  He was breathing so heavily his head spun. Looking around frantically, he locked his eyes on Sarah.

  She gazed at him with deep concern. “Joshua, calm down! Take slow, deep breaths!”

  Joshua looked into her eyes, shook his head and started crying.

  “I’m sorry,” he said with tears streaming down his face. “It was an accident. He didn’t mean to do it.” Joshua was utterly distraught. He began to shake his head and cry inconsolably.

  “He didn’t mean to do it,” he cried over and over. “He didn’t mean to kill her. It was an accident.”

  Sarah threw her arms around him and held him tightly.

  “Shhhhh,” she reassured him. “It’s OK. It’ll all be OK, Joshua. I’m here. You’re safe now.”

  Joshua held onto Sarah and continued to cry as the scenes he just witnessed swirled around in his head.

  Andrew and Galleon looked on, unable to help. Galleon picked up the orb that was sitting on the ground. He wrapped it in the cloth and put it away into Joshua’s keeper bag.

  It took several minutes before Joshua calmed down to the point he could talk sense again. When he was ready he let go of Sarah, who was still comforting him. He wiped his eyes and took several deep breaths.

  “I think he wanted vengeance for the death of my sister,” Joshua said after several minutes of sitting there in silent thought. “They raided your village, a dozen or so Morelle Warriors.”

  Sarah held onto his hand.

  “You were just a baby.”

  Joshua’s eyes filled with tears and his voice began to shake.

  “Your mother was carrying you and trying to find a way out of the battle.”

  Joshua took a few more deep breaths. Everyone waited for him to describe the vision further. He found comfort gazing into Sarah’s eyes.

  Sarah looked concerned but she said nothing and allowed Joshua to take his time. All the while, she clung to his hand.

  “Your father and mine were fighting,” Joshua went on, “he…he…”

  Joshua found it difficult to get the words out, “he didn’t mean to stab her. I could see my father didn’t mean it. She just dropped right there onto the ground. You fell. You were crying.”

  Tears formed and rolled down both Joshua’s and Sarah’s cheeks.

  Joshua tried to make sense of how he had a sister that died at birth and that Sarah’s mother had been killed at the hands of his father. Through some ironic twist of fate, the two of them had been brought together and now they had fallen in love. Was this fate’s way of reconciling the past? Was it a way to make amends for past deeds? All Joshua knew was that he was here at this moment, in this place and in love with this beautiful young woman.

  Joshua and Sarah, both crying again, embraced each other and held on tightly. Andrew and Galleon looked at each other with disbelief. They, too, were welling up but were trying not to show it.

  “We, um,” Galleon hesitate, “we should…make a move. We’ll, um, yes, we’ll start packing up, I think.”

  He looked at Andrew and nodded. Andrew nodded back and the two of them started clearing everything away and stamping out the fire. Joshua and Sarah stood up after a few minutes. They continued to hold hands as they walked off into the forest.

  Not long after they left the clearing, a Blood-bat, hanging upside down in the treetop above where they sat, unfurled its wings.

  The Goat was pacing up and down in His dark room, furious. He snorted and His hooves clicked as He strode back and forth. As He leaned forward, His menacing eyes pierced through His fierce eyebrows. He shook His head violently and let out an ear-splitting roar. Melachor whimpered in the corner. He trembled as the Goat roared with rage.

  “The boy has the Orb of Time,” the Goat mumbled to himself. “He must not find the Orb of Suffering.”

  He stopped and looked at Melachor. The cowering man turned his head and held one hand to his face. He was petrified the Goat was going to torture him further.

  “YOU!” the Goat roared, striding over to where Melachor was quivering on the floor. He stood over His petrified captive and stared down at the frail figure. With a swift flick of his foot, He kicked Melachor in the side of the head. This sent the tortured soul rolling across the floor. When he landed, blood was oozing down the side of his head.

  “Please don’t kill me,” Melachor pleaded, raising both hands to protect his bloodstained face. He was shaking and his voice was trembling.

  “You will stop the boy from finding the Orb of Suffering!”

  Melachor peered through his fingers to look at the Goat. He could barely see Him through his trembling hands and the blood dripping over his eyes.

  “M-m-me?” he whimpered.

  “I will send you back to stop the boy. Fail me, worthless wretch, and I will kill your family.” His tone was malevolent.

  “And when I’m done with them, I will kill you, slowly.”

  He peered at Melachor and a hideous grin spread across the Goat’s face. The Goat’s dark eyes were terrifying. Melachor had no doubt the vicious creature was able and willing to make good on His threat. He nodded meekly, as if to accept this task, albeit against his will. The Goat sneered. His influence over the tortured Melachor was absolute.

  He picked up the Mirror of Prophecy and thrust it at Melachor’s face. Melachor squinted at it through his fingers. As he watched, his own battered reflection gave way to a swirling image. The frightened man recoiled. The swirling cleared to reveal his hut in the forest. As he peered deeper into the mirror, the image sharpened and Melachor’s eyes widened.

  Suddenly, he found himself on the floor. He closed his eyes and shielded his face, still shaking with fear. He curled into a ball, terrified at what might happen next.

  As he slowly opened his eyes, he found he was once again back in his own hut in the middle of the forest. Wherever the mirror had taken him, he was now back in a familiar place.

  On the floor beside him was the Mirror of Prophecy. Still gripped with fear, he looked at it and wondered. Had it all been a dream? He felt his face. It still ached from where the Goat had kicked him. It couldn’t have been a dream if he still felt the pain, he thought. This realisation terrified him further. Nervously, he reached for the mirror and cautiously turned it to face him. There, staring back at him was the image of the Goat.

  �
��Remember, sniffling scum,” the Goat’s voice sounded through the mirror, “fail me and your family will die, slowly.”

  With that, the Goat’s outline faded, leaving his own bloodstained image reflecting back at him. Still shaking with fear, he got to his feet. He knew what he had to do. Thinking of his wife and children, he collected his things and left the hut.

  19

  The Metamorph

  Joshua and the others continued to travel northwest towards Jemarrah. They had quickened their pace since learning the Goat was also seeking the orbs.

  They hadn’t come across any villages or settlements yet and decided it would be best to continue avoiding others as much as possible. They were on the lookout at all times.

  Joshua was still shaken by his experience with the Orb of Time. He kept wondering why the orb had chosen to take him back to see those particular events in history. What purpose did it serve?

  Andrew and Sarah had not had much luck catching Chirvels or any other forest animals for the past couple of days. This annoyed Andrew in particular, as he complained he was growing tired of boiled Shrooms again. When they stumbled into a Yucust in the middle of a glade, Andrew was the first to notice a swarm of Yucust-bees humming around half way up the tree.

  “Hey, Yucust honey!”

  “Where?” Sarah asked.

  Andrew pointed to the third horizontal branch about half way up the tree. The hive was nestled between the branch and the main trunk.

  “Hmmm,” Sarah said peering up at the nest, “doesn’t look like a big crop yet. I’d say the nest is still less than a year old.”

  “There could be more inside that we can’t see. What I wouldn’t give for a fist-full of Yucust honey right now,” he said, licking his lips.

  “You’re not going to be able to dislodge any of the capsules with your slingshot,” Sarah said shaking her head and staring at the nest. “They look like they’re stuck to the top of the branch.”

  “Looks like an easy enough climb. There’s plenty of vines. Shouldn’t be too difficult. Anyway, I do this all the time back in Morelle.”