The Angel's Humanhood

6. The Stories the Body Tells

Wahag waited till Dow was far enough before he began his search for a way to escape. The hut had no windows. The only source of air was the small cracks around the door. He tried to push the door, but in this flimsy body, nothing was happening.
This is a dumb idea. If we escape the hut, there is no escaping the hounds.
Wahag didn't care what the voice with the unknown source in his head said.
I am sure I will figure something out, Wahag said to himself.
Another ego maniac, but this one is going to kill me with him. The voice said and Wahag suddenly started to see images.
He wasn't inside the body anymore. He was observing it as if he was counting its sins. But he could hear the voice even when he was hanging over the body.
He could see the body now clearly, shoulder length ashy uneven hair, skin hanging on bones, dark eyes surrounded by redness, tensely sitting on the ground crossing his legs .
Get up. We are going to die. This is not right. The voice pleaded.
I am the only defender left. It's all up to ME! A different voice commanded with rage. Wahag figured it was the original owner of this body.
An eerie dangerous feeling engulfed everything. Something that made the trees and grass rustle was approaching.
The man closed his eyes. His stressed body relaxed in steady breathing. And Wahag felt the soul separate from the body with only a shriveled string keeping them connected. Wahag sensed the pain of the abandoned body trying to hold on to consciousness, while the spirit, aided by darkness and rage, was fighting the hounds. It was a war between a lost warrior and the darkness of the disbelievers. Wahag then knew that hounds served the devil himself.
The fight didn't last long and Wahag almost felt pitty for the overpowered lone soldier. The hounds were in every direction. They isolated him from the body, Wahag saw the man's fear and regret, but it was too late the shriveled bond severed and the body went cold.
Wahag blinked to himself back in the hut.
"I have only heard of lost souls, never actually seen one." Wahag was disturbed. Abandoning one's body is the greatest form of abuse and one of the gravest sins. A person goes through great deal of effort to completely disengage from their human form. Humans were never meant to take a full spiritual form, and when they do, they are punished for it by existing in limbo till the day they die along with their bodies. Wahag felt filthy; many of the dark beings sough after abandoned bodies. They use them to do heinous crimes.
He sat in the dark puzzled by everything. Did he latch on this body like a parasite or was he sent to it? Wahag wanted to shake off the idea quickly.
"Why did he fight the hounds?" Wahag asked absently.
He was part of a group of villagers who were believed to have a strong spiritual presence. They protected the village from other-worldly being for decades and for a while they were victorious. That's when the villagers started to worship them and darkness steadily began to creep into their hearts. Soon after, the hounds appeared and everything fell apart. One by one they all died.
"No one should be worshipped but God, but if they should worship another, it will be me and only me. So that God knows I fulfilled my promise upon humanity," Wahag recited the words of the devil. "A story as old as the devil himself. People who are given the promise of power and salvation rarely resist. It was a trap from the very beginning and they fell right into it. Fools." Wahag ran a hand through his hair without knowing why.
Wahag couldn't chase away the thought that since this body belonged to a lost soul, it meant that there was a time limitation on his existence in it. Because even though most humans believe they can birth, die or kill at will, nothing really changes there fated time of birth or death, even when the soul leaves its body artificially.
The morning came slowly. Wahag didn't realize when or how he fell asleep, but he learned that waking up was another unpleasant human experience.
When Wahag finally opened his eyes, Dow was leaning at the frame of the open door of the hut letting in the sunlight that pierced through his closed eyelids and woke him up.
"Let's go." Dow sounded more exhausted than him.
When he got up, he realized that he was now cuffed from the legs as well. Few steps out of the hut, Dow handed him food, "finish it before we get there."
They walked to a trap door which lead to tight tunnels. Dow carried a light and walked ahead dragging Wahag along.
On the other end, Wahag found himself in the woods again. Dow walked half a step ahead and paused few times to scan her surroundings. They were walking towards an area that was tightly packed with trees and plants. When they reached the center he saw few of the kids that he saw the day before.
They all greeted Dow one by one, but no one acknowledged Wahag, except for a young boy who had a large burn scar across his face.
"Hi, what's your name?" The boy smiled and Wahag was willing to answer anything this boy was going to ask.
Wahag kneeled to meet the boy's eyes,
"Wahag. What's yours?"
"I am Dodi!" The boy said with pride.
"Dodi, how are the beans doing?" Dow interjected in an obvious attempt to disengage them.
"I wasn't going to eat him." Wahag said defensively.
Dow ignored him, "You continue digging the well. It's a straight forward task. Dig down. In this world, down is this way." She pointed at the ground without any traces of humor in her tone.
She handed Wahag the shovel and he snatched it out of her hand with an unimpressed expression.
He started digging, but suddenly his heart picked up speed. The eerie feeling from the memory hit him.
"The hounds are coming," Wahag said monotonously at Dow, doubting that she will believe him.
Surprisingly she turned to him with a concerned look, "How do you know?"
"I just know," Wahag said and returned to digging.
Dow froze for a second and looked like she was about to cry, "you better not be lying," she murmered under her breath before pushing her shoulders back and talking in a voice that wasn't exactly loud, but loud enough for everyone to hear, "Everyone to the huts, NOW!"