Picture 2
JB Lacaden’s Picture Choice: 2
Title: A Tale from Urcara - 2
To find out what happened prior to this. Check out the story I posted in my blog :) http://www.jblearnstowrite.com/visdare-bruised/
***
Naru woke up gasping for breath. Luca was by his side uttering words he couldn’t properly hear due to the loud ringing in his ears. Naru sat up. That’s when he felt the pain. An intense, sharp, burning sensation in his right hand. He looked down and saw his hand was as black as night. The blackness was up to his elbow and it seemed to glow. Naru screamed and held his right hand close to his chest.
“Naru! What’s happening?”
The voice broke through the ringing sound and through the pain. It reached Naru with perfect clarity. Naru looked up and he saw Aysha, sans the bruises and other marks of beating, on her feet looking at him with a worried face that’s reserved just for him.
“A—Aysha?” Naru said.
Aysha ran to Naru’s side, her eyes fixed on his blackened arm. Tear was fear in those eyes, Naru saw.
“What’s wrong, little brother?” Aysha asked.
“Your wounds…they’ve disappeared,” Naru said.
“I…I remember fragments. I was delivering the fruits to the guards when Mikael started calling me. I remember the strong smell of wine and him telling me to go with him. Kar was there as well. He was pulling Mikael away but Mikael just knocked him to the ground. Oh gods…” Aysha held her face in her hands.
“Mikael. He started getting more violent,” Aysha looked at Naru. “The next thing I remember was hearing your voice and Luca’s. Then I felt something being drawn out of me. That’s when I woke up.”
“I am not entirely sure what happened,” Luca started saying. “But from where I watched it looked to me that you healed her, boy.”
“Where’s Mikael?” Naru asked.
“In the barracks, probably, but…”
Naru stood up and rushed out of the door before Aysha or Luca could stop him.
***
Naru stood in front of the barracks. It was made up of eleven rectangular tents that stood in a single line. Each tent was capable of housing twenty guards and the one in the middle was for the sole use of the captain, Mikael. Behind the tents was the ten kilometer desert that separated the two sides of Urcara. On the far right of the barracks was the water silo, the only source of clean water in the entire Western Urcara. The barracks was silent and Naru saw no movements. Naru made his way to the captain’s tent.
Only a few had been inside the captain’s tent and Naru had heard tales whispered here and there on how young female slaves would sneak in and out of Mikael’s abode. Naru stepped inside.
The first thing that caught his eyes was the tent’s ceiling. He stared wide eyed at the purple ceiling that seemed to burn with many stars. His eyes wandered from the ceiling to the carpeted floor. He almost felt ashamed of dirtying it with his bare feet. Naru felt as if he was transported somewhere far from Western Urcara.
Is this how everything looks like in the East? Naru asked himself.
He realized that the tent was divided into sections. He approached the flap that led him to the next part of Mikael’s domain. “You do not belong here.”
The voice was like a stab at Naru’s heart. He turned to his right and saw Mikael standing in wait. The captain of the guards grabbed him by the neck and tossed him to the ground like a doll.
“You didn’t think you’d be able to sneak inside without me knowing?” Mikael drove his boot to Naru’s side. Breathing suddenly became a struggle for the slave boy.
“I know you,” Mikael said. “You’re Aysha’s little brother.” Mikael crouched down beside Naru and started laughing. “Did you come here because of what I did to Aysha?”
Naru spat at Mikael’s face and swung his fist to the captain’s jaw but Mikael just caught it with his hand. Mikael wiped his face with his sleeves.
“That’s not respectful,” Mikael said, his face distorted by a scowl. Mikael twisted Naru’s arm at an odd angle and the boy screamed in pain. “What’s wrong with your hand?” Mikael asked, noting Naru’s black arm.
Naru took Mikael’s distraction as an opportunity. He drove his fist to the captain’s temple and it sent Mikael reeling to the floor. Naru hurriedly got on his feet.
Mikael simply smiled and charged at him. Naru had no time to evade the attack. The captain was simply too fast. Naru fell on his back with the captain on top of him. The punches came one after the other.
After what seemed to be an eternity, the punches stopped. Mikael got off of him. Naru tasted blood and felt pain all throughout. Using the remaining ounce of strength he had left within, Naru reached out and touched Mikael with his black hand. The captain just looked at him and laughed.
“You’re tough, kid,” he said.
Naru didn’t know what happened next. He felt…energy leaving him. The next thing he knew Mikael was on his knees writhing in pain. Naru, confused and surprised, watched the captain of the guards scream in agony. He looked at his hand and he saw it had returned to its normal color.
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JB Lacaden dreams of someday being a published writer. He currently resides in Manila, Philippines. He's a lover of comic books, science fiction, and high fantasy. Check out some of his works at http://www.jblearnstowrite.com/ and follow him at @jblearnstowrite.
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