Cacafonix stood in the center of the village, before all his friends and neighbors. He stood tall and happy, as he looked at their kind and loving faces.
He opened his mouth to sing...but nothing came out. Not a sound. Fear gripped his soul as a pain began to spread all over his body. And along with it came the all-to-familiar nightmare.
The sky began to glow blood red. Fire seemed to shoot out all around the village. Screams filled the air, as panic filled the Gauls. Cacafonix felt like the walls of the village were closing in on him, like a monster, threatening to engulf him. Again he tried to speak; call out; anything! But he couldn't utter a word.
The pain in his body increased as a shadow started to spread across the ground toward him. He wanted to run, but his legs felt weak and wouldn't obey him. The shadow came closer and closer, until suddenly he was plunged into complete and total darkness...
...
Cacafonix snapped back to consciousness with a gasp. He lay there panting, his skin coated in a glistening sheet of perspiration. His heart was beating at an incredible rate, to the point where each thump was a pounding pain that only added to every other hurt he was feeling. It was as if fire was coursing through his body, burning along every nerve and vain. His arms hurt. His legs hurt. His head and throat and abdomen and back hurt. By Toutatis, it even hurt to blink!
He lay there, waiting for the discomfort to pass. It was an intense stinging sensation, that increased in some places, but, as far as he could tell, covered every inch of him. After a minute or so it lessened, but it didn't disappear completely. It was a throbbing backdrop in the stage of his senses. Once the agony that was fogging his vision cleared, he carefully began to take in his surroundings. He lifted his head off the pillow just enough to discover that it was a bad idea. His vision spun, causing the room to tilt and turn in a sickening manner. After it finally stopped, he decided to carefully turn his head, rather then try lifting it again.
This is...Gatafix's hut, he thought to himself, his confusion growing. He recognized the room full of hanging herbs and remedies, drying from the rafters. On the hearth lay the great cauldron that Gatafix always brewed their magic potion in. The druid himself was no where to be seen. But what am I doing...
Suddenly, all the memories resurfaced in his mind. A flood of still images flashed through his mind's eye. The ball of fire. The pain. The fear. His brain raced to try and assimilate all the emotions that were all at once mercilessly coursing through him. His breathing increased in speed, as did his heart. It made the pain more acute, but at the moment he didn't care. All he cared about was whether these memories were real. Were they events that really had taken place, or where they the remains of some terrible dream? He fervently hoped they were the latter, but something inside of him insisted otherwise. And there was the pain...
Gritting his teeth, the bard threw off the covers and agonizingly raised himself up. Dizziness swept over him immediately; leaving him sitting with his hands grasping the covers as if it would make it all go away. After a moment, it passed, and Cacafonix eased his legs over the edge of the bed until he felt the cold wooden floor beneath his bare feet. This time he felt only a little lightheaded, but as soon as his right foot touched the ground he was presented with a new pain. It spread up his leg in the form of a sharp spasm. He would have fallen to the floor had not he grabbed the bedpost to hold his weight.
Bracing himself against the cot, the bard finally looked down at himself. He gasped slightly as he took in the various bandages and the cumbersome splint that immobilized the obviously broken ankle. He was covered in linen; some wrapped around his knees, one arm was mostly covered, and his chest and side weren't even visible under the layers of cream-colored gauze. It made Cacafonix' stomach churn just imagining what was under those dressings. From the amount he was covered and the pain he was feeling, he knew it couldn't be pretty.
Knowing he was most likely supposed to be in bed, but too curious and troubled to stay there, alone with so many unanswered questions, Cacafonix fisted both hands and forced himself up until he stood. His balance was off, and the pain increased tenfold, but he decided to ignore it. He had to know. He had to.
Each step was agonizing, one unsteady foot in front of the other, but the bard finally made it to the door.
It was morning, but the sun seemed dulled somehow. The sky was overcast, but not enough to cast such a depressive shadow. A sort of hazy fog was rolling over the gates from the world outside the village. For some reason, it felt threatening.
Cacafonix felt like the walls of the village were closing in on him, like a monster, threatening to engulf him. Again he tried to speak; call out; anything! But he couldn't utter a word.
A growing panic began to surface in the musician's heart as the horrors of his nightmares flooded back to him. It mixed with the images of...of...reality? Or tricks of a stressed and pained mind? He suddenly found himself rushing, at least to the best of his ability, toward his tree hut. A sinking dread was spreading through his mind, and he suddenly felt desperate to see his home, as if it held all the answers. And maybe it did.
The village was deserted, as it was obviously too early for anyone to be up and about. In fact, the first rays of light were just beginning to rise out from the horizon, but it would take time for it to pierce the thick, swirling fog.
Suddenly, the bard came to an abrupt halt. Oh, no...no...
His eyes roamed the blackened pit that gaped where his house had once stood. The tall, powerful trunk; the thin, spiraling stairs; the warm wooden platform, and the beautiful little cottage far above the village; it was all gone. Not a twig remained. Not a leaf. Not a board. All Cacafonix's belonging: his bed, his clothes, his music, and even his beloved lyre, no longer existed. Wiped from the face of the world in a fiery nightmare that was more real than the bard could ever have dreaded.
The wind blew through the village, rustling his hair, slamming cold against his unprotected skin. But the bard barely noticed. He stood, frozen to the spot, gazing with wide eyes at the pile of ash that had once been his home. His mind wandered numbly through all the happy memories he had had there, high in the air where each sunrise and sunset was his to watch. It was something he had always treasured...and now it was gone. His home was nothing more than a smoldering heap of charred wood, if even that.
"Cacafonix?" Someone had awakened. "Cacafonix!" His mind was so jumbled Cacafonix couldn't be sure, but it sounded like Fullautomatix's voice.
The bard didn't turn. Instead he continued to stare weakly at the spot where his cottage had once stood tall and proud above all the others.
Fullautomatix had always been an early riser. It, in his mind, had always given him an edge in the market. He would always catch the very first customers, something that he gladly rubbed in Unhygenix' face. This morning, however, he had had a different motive. The troubles from the day before had followed the blacksmith to bed, making it impossible to sleep. He had tossed and turned all night long, his mind wandering over the thoroughly unpleasant situation. A sense of growing anxiety intertwined with fear. One day. One whole day had gone by. They had found no answers. No way to save Panacea. No way to escape the Romans. Nothing. It weighed heavily on the smith's heart, as it did with all the other Gauls.
Figuring that he was keeping his wife awake with all his fidgiting, and hoping some inspiration might come to him, Fullautomatix had gotten up and dressed to take a stroll within the quiet village. He hadn't been going long when he spotted a figure, standing perfectly still. Squinting against the glare of the fog and the rising sun, the blacksmith realized with surprise, and a bit of horror, that it was Cacafonix. He called out, but the bard didn't even seem to hear him.
Jogging over, Fullautomatix came to stand beside his dazed friend. The look of total shock and disbelief written on the bard's face was painful to see. It was as if someone had taken Cacafonix' soul and beat it to a pulp, throwing it back into the world, trampled and wounded, much like the thin musician's frail-looking body.
Fullautomatix hesitantly raised a hand and gently laid it on Cacafonix' shoulder. The blacksmith didn't want to disturb him, but he was truly worried. Cacafonix was leaning unsteadily, and shivering, as though at any moment be might just collapse. The morning air was chilly, and the bard still had no shirt, as it had been ruined in the fire. Fullautomatix shuddered at the memory of Gatafix working the charred material from the musician's scorched side. Cacafonix was covered in bandages, but that did little to protect him from the cool breeze.
Fullautomatix knew the bard had to be in pain. His mind subconsciously went through the list of his friend's injuries. Burns, cuts, bruises, and something about a broken ankle... The blacksmith looked down and discovered that Cacafonix was indeed favoring one limb over the other.
Cacafonix didn't react to the smith's touch. In fact, there wasn't any sign that the bard knew he was even there at all. He just continued staring into space, standing weakly with shoulders slumped. And that frightened Fullautomatix more than anything else.
Realizing he'd have to help his friend a little more forcefully, Fullautomatix gently took hold of both Cacafonix' shoulders and carefully started steering him back toward Gatafix' hut. After about five steps Cacafonix did exactly what he'd expected from the moment he'd seen the bard swaying on his feet: Cacafonix collapsed.
Fullautomatix gave a light grunt as the bard's full weight was suddenly against him. Cacafonix wasn't very heavy, but it was a surprise nonetheless.
Shifting the musician in his arms, Fullautomatix carried him bridal style the rest of the soon as they crossed the hut's threshold Fullautomatix began yelling for for Gatafix.
The druid emerged from a room far in the back of the cottage, a look of surprise and anxiety painted on his bearded face. When he saw the bard he rushed forward to assist the blacksmith in placing Cacafonix back on the cot in the corner.
"What happened?"
"He made it outside somehow," Fullautomatix answered , voice strained with worry. "He was looking at where his tree used to be." The blacksmith looked down and was surprised to find Cacafonix looking up at him. He had suspected, when the bard had collapsed, that he had passed out. Apparently, that wasn't the case, as Cacafonix was definitely conscious. His legs must has simply given out.
Cacafonix seemed distressed, which wasn't a surprise, but it seemed to be more than that. He appeared to be trying to say something. As Fullautomatix watched, a feeling of apprehension grew within him.
Gatafix shook his head sadly, unaware that the bard was awake, as he had his back turned as he fetched some extra bandages. "He must have been starting to remember what happened yesterday morning." Things just kept getting worse. The village was surrounded by the enemy. Cacafonix was badly injured and possibly suffering mild trauma for all he knew. They had little to no potions whatsoever. Panacea was in the hands of a madman, and-
The druid's thoughts were suddenly broken when someone tightly gripped the back of his wrist. Turning and looking down, Gatafix found it was Cacafonix, who had somehow managed to sit up and now had a death hold on his arm. The bard's face was filled with a combination of fear, horror, pain and confusion.
Gatafix sighed sadly as the mixed emotions in Cacafonix' features slowly melted into panic. Cacafonix was trying to say something, but couldn't.
The druid knew two things for sure at that moment:
That Cacafonix had indeed lost his voice...
...and that Cacafonix knew it.
Again he tried to speak; call out; anything! But he couldn't utter a word.
...
Whew! That one took a while! A little longer than the other ones for once. :)