Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Simone’s Request 2

Powerful creatures release powerful aura. That aura is like an invisible force bearing down on him. Think of their aura as a powerful heat. The closer you get the hotter it is. It can also feel like being under a guillotine or a hydraulic press trying to crush you.

Lesnik releases that kind of aura.

Lesnik took them to his living space.

It’s a place where the fireflies gather into the shape of the lamp.

There is a heavenly scent around him.

The world twists and turns. A psychedelic sensation that Robert can barely hold on to. The seal he wrote on the back of his left hand starts withering.

Not to mention that Simone and Lesnik are speaking in words of power. At first he was speaking a Slavic language, but after entering this living space they spoke in old tongue.

Every word shook his head. Like giant speakers booming in his ears.

It is soundless yet loud.

Simone glances his way. He says something to Lesnik.

“Pardon. I’ve forgotten that my presence can be pressing. Hmm, I see why you would bring this officer of CASE with you, son of Wyllt”

The pressure bearing down on him is lifted.

They spoke in the common tongue.

“I made a promise to your ancestor. I shall keep that promise.”

“But.”

The being pauses.

“There is a price. As much as I like to keep the promise without asking for it.”

The being looks up.

“The millennium bug is coming.”

“Do you perhaps know what it will be?”

Robert sits down cross-legged and looks at them. He hasn’t really thought of listening closer. His mind is still ringing from the presence.

This is a bad idea, Robert sincerely thought. Hands are still shaking and my knees are still not working properly.

Like being stared at by a million insects. As if the bugs that he just ignores are looking at him. Robert holds his head while covering his ears.

He is seeing double.

His heart rate is speeding up and slowing down.

The pressure is gone.

But the anxiety of the eyes around made him worry. His fingers don't stop moving. His body is shaking unconsciously. Just like how someone would be creeped out by bugs.

Robert has always considered himself as mentally strong. He could endure seeing horrors of what humans can do. But nonetheless creatures that can’t be explained by what he knows puts an unexplainable fear on him.

Robert tries to control his anxiety and his fears. And yet the thousands of eyes that are pointing towards him are making him puke. Robert unbuttons his overcoat, reaches out to one of the pistols he is holstering inside  and holds it with his hand.

Simone looks at him.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, there’s something with this place.”

Simone turners toward Lesnik.

“Many creatures right now are interested in the appearance of two humans. Your friend here is probably experiencing the pressure of their stares. I can lift the burden on him, but I can’t control what these creatures are looking at.”

“You can leave.”

“No, I was promised something.”

Robert holds the pistol in his hand shaking.

“Let me keep my pistol. It comforts me.”

Simone turns to Lesnik with a questioning look.

“You have Emrys’s blood flowing in you. It is natural that you wouldn't be affected by their stares. Your friend here is enduring a lot already.”

“The stares. Why does it bother him?”

“It is fear. Hmm, do you want me to calm him down? What did you promise him, Emrys’s heir?”

“That coming here will be beneficial to him. This meeting.”

The pressure returned for a moment. Simone, who has been sitting fine, shuddered for a moment.

“Very well. It has been a long time since I’ve received humans. But I must get my prize as well, Emrys’s heir. I want me and my wife to get out of your kind's sight. Listen to my words and act on them. Are you willing?”

“I am willing.”

“I want your group to make us disappear. I tire of sending kids out of the forest. I tire of your devices that capture my image. Your technology is poison to us. It brings attention. The more of your people come. The more distort the area. You humans have a way to kill us. I have seen your weapons. I have seen how your guns could make even a little child deadly. I tire of them.”

Lesnik looks at the gun that Robert is holding.

The trees shook.

The living space trembled.

If fear could be felt like the wind.

Then Simone and Robert are now feeling the fear’s tempest.

Robert couldn’t hold it in and vomited on  the spot. Simone whispered something under his breath and a thin membrane of light protects him.

The tempest of fear subsided. Lesnik takes out a wooden pipe and lights it.

“But your Ancestor has told me once. That you humans might one day step on the moon without the aid of our magic. I had told him. ‘You are not speaking correctly, old friend.’ He laughed at me. ‘When the day comes, you will not laugh.”

Lesnik took a drag of his pipe.

“Then I saw it. Using a rocket. A complicated machine that surpasses all that we know. Made of minerals and so many items combine, fueled by explosions, sending a man to the moon. Walking on Luna before all of us creatures could ever do it. It is then we realize that we have lost. That the magic we hold dear is obsolete. One day you will kill all of us. Once every tree in the world is gone. When the lakes are dry. When the wind is poisonous. All shall return to Gaia’s embrace.”

Simone folds his arms. He looks like he wants to say something. But he knows that the progress of humanity within the thousands of years has undergone leaps and bounds.

Magic has been faltering.

Magic and Science simply cannot co-exist.

Those who tried only saw death.

But some persists on combining the as if the threat of death couldn't stop them.

There are some in the community that intend to fix this problem. To solve the distortion of Magic in the presence of technology.

“Our time has passed.”

Lesnik says with regret. He stands up from his seat and touches Robert’s head.

“Use all of your senses at once, boy. It shall help you adjust to my presence.”

Robert, who is struggling on all four, did just that. He uses all of his senses at once, removing the colors of the world, only highlighting the things he finds important.

The world became black and white for him.

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And in this world there is only a few things that has color on it.

“You are attuned. No wonder you only vomited. This shall be my gift to you, Endurer.”

Robert blinks at Lesnik and then faints.

Simone focuses his mind and upon feeling the tempest subside.

He lowers his guard.

“Is he fine?”

“He will be. I have given him what you promise. I only ask that you do the same for me.”

Simone looks down.

“Will learning even make a difference?”

“That is not for me to answer. Magic will be limited. But there are things that can still be used. We are free from distortion out of the gaze of technology. Your kind tends to find ways to make use of what little magic you have left. Not even animals don’t gut their fellow animals to take their hearts and use it on others. Your kind is creative. It will be of use to you.”

Lesnik moves his fingers.

“Your ancestor raised a king by the knowledge he got from us. He created a legend that will remain as long as humans remain. You bring the horn to me and for that I shall allow you to go through the test that your Ancestor went through.”

Lesnik took something out from nowhere. It is a bronze chalice.

He squeezes a strange bark above it and touched the liquid it produced with his aged finger.

The liquid boils and turns golden.

“Add your blood and drink it.”

Simone takes a dagger out and bleeds his palm.

“Your blood shall be your guide. This shall take you to a mental realm where you will undergo a tribulation. Your soul shall be tested. Your will shall be tempered. Do you accept this, Emrys’s blood?”

“I do. I am ready.”

Simone drinks the liquid mixed with his own blood.

“The mental realm will have our teachings.  Your ancestor will be there to guide and teach you his ways. I shall be your shelter until you come out of this, heir of Emrys, the one who returned the Horn.”

Simone’s eyes turned white. All veins in his body produced a blue light. He sits cross-legged and starts floating up. Lesnik snaps his aged hand. A bubble surrounds Simone.

Lesnik stares at the floating form of Simone for a moment.

“The same appearance as he did when he came to us. It looks like there is a change happening to all of us.”

His aged eyes shows melancholy. All the humans who studied under him.

All the druids that arrived and passed by.

From hopeful young men to old wise men whose skin becomes wrinkled with time.

Humans never tend to live long. And there are only a few that Lesnik could remember and welcome.

He looks away from Simone as he hears a groan. 

The man from the Commission holds his head and looks at Simone who is floating inside a bubble and then to Lesnik.

“You are awake, human.”

He trembles.

“Hmm, you’ve endured well. You will not die here, human. It will bring displeasure to Emrys blood if you do.”

Lesnik sits down and stares at him. Robert exhales loudly and holds his pistol as if comforting himself.

“Is he okay?”

“He is fine. Emrys’s heir is undergoing a trial. It is all on him to return.”

Robert nods quietly.

“You are not curious?”

“Sir?”

“About his trial?”

“I don’t have the talent.”

Lesnik gazes at him deeply.

“Indeed, you do not have the talents for magical arts. But your sealing methods are okay. Hmm, tell me human, do you not know? What may happen if you come to my domicile? Or did Emrys Blood forgot to tell you?”

“I had no idea.”

“I see. You are not on this side of the world. It bothers me. Or perhaps my senses have grown dull as years passed?”

“Excuse me?”

“Think nothing of it.

Lesnik turns his attention to Simone. His interest went away. Robert feels somewhat relieved that he isn’t looking at him. He looks around him and uses all his senses at once.

How can I use this to such an extent already? Robert finds it odd that he can control his senses like this already. Then again if this being of power can create and isolate space with its magic. Who is he to know what else he can do?

Time passes.

Simone floats for hours before a reaction happens.

He drops from his bubble and pants heavily. Robert notices that there is a change in Simone’s eyes.

“As expected of Emrys’s heir. Have you engraved the methods in your head?”

Simone calms his breathing and looks up to Lesnik.

“My name Simone Wyllt! Don’t forget that!”

Robert raises a brow at him. What the hell is this guy saying suddenly?

Lesnik, the being, grew silent before laughing so loudly that the grass and the flowers grew.

“Indeed, the blood really does speak wonders. Very well, I shall not remember you as Simone Wyllt. You have my blessing.”

Simone smiles.

“Thank you Master Lesnik! Let’s go home, Oswald. I need to make sense of this knowledge in my head! Can you drive for me?”

“Sure, I guess.”

Robert tilts his head before shrugging. He’d guess that while in that state, Simone learned everything he needed to learn from here. He’s just glad that they didn’t have to stay here for days. His sanity would wither. He follows him out of the living space when Lesnik speaks. Simone took a step out first.

“Farewell Simone, and to you as well, Deadman.”

The knowing look on the old being’s face made Robert’s souls tremble.

He walks out of the living space and reminds himself to never approach Lesnik ever again.

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