Yocantes Online [Hiatus/Discontinued?)

Chapter 7 - A Lady's Name

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬۞۞۞▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

LadyV was dead silent most of the way. It was as if breathing was her vernacular. A few words would sometimes escape her mouth but she never uttered long sentences. Felt more like walking with a shadow than a fellow human.

The only source of sound was our little party kitty cat that kept meowing every now and then. It seemed to like me better than LadyV for it would often rub my feet affectionately with its soft small head. Since there was no objection from my partner, I had christened her Gabriella because her color resembled that of an angel. Oh, such a cute lil’ thing.

Around early afternoon, we arrived at a fork on the sandy road. A few cirrus clouds dotted the pale azure sky. A sign post stood firmly on the side of the middle road. It said ‘Bethlehem-Right, Thorntick Forest-Middle, Norning-Left.’

Eagerly, I marched onwards to the road that leads to Bethlehem when LadyV suddenly whacked my head with her wicked staff. Ouch! Immediately, I caressed my head and felt a small soft lump forming at the back part. “What was that for?”

“We’re going this way.” She replied, pointing the staff to a colony of huge towering trees. Gabriella hid meekly behind me, as if afraid of the place itself.

“You really didn’t have to hit me.”

“Like I care.”

“Duh. Anyway, why the forest? Bethlehem’s this way!”

“We need money.”

“I’ve got at least two hundred plus yours.”

“Not enough.”

“But we still got─.”

“What?”

“Don’t you remember? You said that you have a hundred thousand in the bank!”

Silence reigned for a second. “That was a lie.” She averted her eyes elsewhere to avoid my gaze. It took me awhile to respond.

“You should have told me in the first place! Then I could just have paid you and we shouldn’t have created this stupid party. I wouldn’t have to be fed up and go with a stone-hearted, boring person like you, goddamit!” The words forcefully made their way out of my larynx. I didn’t mean to sound too harsh but I guess my anger went overboard.

Black flames suddenly erupted around us. Gabriella hurriedly scampered to my shoulders, whimpering. The heat was tremendous yet dim, like a dark inferno. I cried in dire agony as I fell on my knees.

LadyV stood there completely ignoring the heat of the flames. The black pyre did not seem to affect her. Instead, it seemed like it was coming from her. Her eyes had change from gray to pure black, like coal. She scowled at me with intense hate and malice.

It was obvious the she was causing all of this. Perhaps what I said earlier was really bad; worse than I had expected. The extreme heat was eating me slowly but surely.

Like LadyV, Gabriella did not seem to be hurt by the fire. Strange as it may seem, I was the only one was being devoured. All the anger must have been directed at me. Even worse, the flames felt as if it were alive, hissing spitefully at me. Blisters slowly emerged in my face, in my hands, and most parts of my body as the flames engulfed me.

There’s nothing I could do, I was dying. Burned to death for no sensible reason. I gave in, sealing my consciousness with the inevitable thought of myself in ashes. I waited for my hp to drain to zero but it didn’t.

Just when the stinging pain became unbearable, the flames disappeared all of a sudden. My body eased a little because the heat had subsided. Letting out one last long groan, I slammed to the ground and curled myself to lessen the pain.