My mount landed roughly almost knocking me off in my weakened state right in front of Plainsong's entrance. My arrival seemed to have gotten the attention of the few residents still awake at this hour and hurried over to me just as I wobbly dropped from my mount.
"The outlander is here!"
"Carja! You've arrived!"
"What happened to you?"
"Goodness, she's injured!"
"Someone get the healer!"
Their voices of concern fell on ears hearing almost nothing but ringing noise. Their faces are getting obscured by big black spots plaguing my eye sight. Happy as I am with my miraculous survival, a simple fact still remains: I'm exhausted as fuck. And just like that, I fell to the floor amongst everybody's gasps.
"Feeling better?"
"Mmm…"
Ahmik was the first person I saw when I came to. When I fainted last night, they took me to a healer's tent to tend to me. My thigh was disinfected and wrapped up with the pesky piece of metal finally removed from it alongside some medication so there was no fear of infection or fever. I don't feel much pain anymore thanks to the pain killers I had earlier. Now I'm seated in bed currently taking slow sips from the herbal tea they gave me. My Carja armor was replaced with a lighter and simpler Utaru outfit - headgear removed and hair loose around my shoulders. Apparently I have been out for the remaining few hours of the night and woke up around dawn. And with my injury batched up, there's nothing else for me to worry about but rest until I have achieved full recovery. I can hardly wait to put this shitty as hell experience behind me and carry on with my life normally like nothing happened. The sooner I forget about it, the better. But not at the meantime. Everybody must know the truth.
"You know, you're quite different without your ponytail and headgear. You should rock that look more often!"
"…."
"…."
"Talanah - "
"They're real." I whispered finally finding my voice.
"Huh?"
"You were right, Ahmik. The jinn do exist." I declared circling my finger around the cup rim. "I went over to the Haunted Ground, then went inside their lair, they attacked me, they… they…"
"Whoa whoa, easy." Soothed Ahmik as he grabbed my shoulder. Guess talking about what happened proved to be more difficult than I thought. I must be quite shaken up if I can't speak of it without the risk of breaking down. "You can tell us later. Now rest."
"Everyone must know the truth, Ahmik. I have found out what's really happening. It was the jinn! You were right all along!"
"Talanah…"
"Shadow figures. They were everywhere. They - they were throwing stuff at me until it led to this!" I pointed to my patched up thigh. "They were trying to kill me. I wouldn't have been able to escape without my machine-"
"Talanah!" I raised my head at Ahmik's outburst. "All this can wait. Trust me, no one is going anywhere near that place. So take all the time you need to recover." And at that I took some really eager sips from my much-needed tea. "I'll leave you alone now to talk to the Chorus and let them know you're awake. Now finish your drink."
When he got out of the tent, I took in my surroundings. My safe, sweet surroundings. The rough cloth of the tent walls. The herb sac hanging from a wooden beam. The empty food plate and water jug next to me which I have downed the entirety of in a single gulp. Even right now, it still feels surreal that I'm not trapped with the jinn anymore. I literally got stuck with them for so long that I felt like I was going to be with them forever, dead or alive, never to make it back out again. I even had this not-so-funny bullshit thought that maybe I'm still unconscious and dreaming back there and when I wake up, I'd find myself back at the cauldron again. I rolled my eyes and took another sip. Yup, definitely bullshit.
It's been a couple weeks now and while my thigh hasn't fully healed yet, it's good enough for me to walk properly albeit limping a bit. Of course, every time I get out the tent to take a piss, I'd occasionally have to stumble upon that racist grumpy girl, Mian, who kept muttering shit like 'stupid outlanders' and 'why don't they leave us in peace'. In retrospect, she hates anyone who isn't an Utaru. At first, I used to argue with her a lot for her attitude. But when I got used to it, I'd just humor her or flatout ignore her. People with that mentality aren't worth anyone's time or effort. Now as I have finally left the tent when I felt ready to talk to the Chorus, I saw the bitch eyeing me like an angry Slitherfang.
"Ugh, I'm sick of seeing you come and go as if you own this place." I heard her whining from her usual spot next to the flowerbed she always tends to.
"Then look away, simple as that." I retorted.
"Save me your smart-aleck garbage." She snarled, thinking she can scare me like that.
"Oh I'm trembling." I said with a monotone voice rolling eyes. "If you don't want to hear my smart-aleck garbage then stop talking shit."
"You expect me to keep quiet with Carja filth around?"
"You do realize I was injured, right? You can hate me all you want but at least show some consideration towards a patient." I said with an eyebrow raised in contempt.
"I'm not giving you my-"
"No, it's not because I need your pity nor do I want it. It's called manners and common sense. Like you'd know what they are anyway."
"Pffft, whatever. You Carja don't deserve to be treated with respect."
"Don't you feel that way towards anyone who is not an Utaru?"
"Especially your kind."
"I know. We suck. Carjas are the worst. yadda yadda yadda. Now go hump your plants." That was my final reply before I left her to her pitiful moping. If I stuck around and gave her the attention she thinks she deserves, I'll never see the end of it especially while I already have somewhere to be.
I slowly made my way through the pathway leading to the massive main Utaru building housing the Chorus. On the way there, I was passing through a handful of folk with sentences of 'good to see you well, Outlander.' 'Oh you've finally recovered' 'how are you holding up, Carja?' thrown my way at which I have replied accordingly. I reached the building amongst everyone's greetings and their wishes for a quick recovery. As I was handing out my words of gratitude, I was approached by Ahmik and Zohha who squeezed me in a hug. After all was said and done, I was seated in front of the Chorus with a warm herbal tea in hand ready to tell them my horror story.
"Tell us everything from the beginning, Outlander." Said the Chorus douchenuzzle, Fane, who looks like a Widemaw.
"Leave nothing out." said the other Chorus who is not a douchenuzzle, Shael. She's the only Chorus member I can actually stand. Fane on the other hand, just like Kel before her death, is so full of himself. He sticks to tradition more than logic and so is horrible at making decisions. Shael is more reasonable unlike her brick minded fellow Chorus member. Guy is extremely unreliable but whether I like it or not, the Chorus are still the leaders of this tribe and they have to learn of what happened just like everyone else. I just hope that when I warn Fane of the jinn at the forest and cauldron, he wouldn't fail to listen to reason like he usually does.
I took a long slow sip of my tea for the sake of suspense and almost smirked as I could sense everyone's tense silence as they eagerly awaited what I have to say. But I know the teasing has to stop when I have something serious to share. "There were no souls or evil spirits. They were creatures known as jinn." naturally, I was surrounded by confused noises.
"And what are those jinn, Outlander? And how did you know about them in the first place?" enquired Fane.
"I've first learnt about them from some documentaries from the Old Ones. I don't know much about them and didn't really believe they existed but from what I have experienced and read, they can manifest into a mass that can be even felt. I saw them. They form themselves into shadows and they can float and elevate objects to throw them around. What's worse they can possess people and take control of their bodies."
"But Talanah, how does that make the so-called jinn different from a spirit? How can you tell the difference between a spirit and jinn?" asked Shael.
"The jinn are entirely different beings and they seem to live in their own world. I'd even go so far as to say they're living beings not the souls of the deceased." I paused for a sip from the tea I forgot I had between my hands. "I found a document left by the Old Ones as well and that's where I got this info." I took another sip. "And I'm absolutely positive that what I have dealt with were the jinn."
"Whatever you have read in those books is yet to be confirmed. Meanwhile, we shall stick to our beliefs that what you have faced were the spirits of the deceased warriors whose ground you have disturbed." Announced the older Utaru leader which was fine by me. I'm not about to argue with them nor do I care what they want to believe as long as they listen and not do anything stupid.
"Believe what you want but you have to at least believe me when I tell you what those guys are capable of. Jinn or spirit, they're dangerous and their territories must be avoided." I asserted in a tone that would not take no for an answer.
"Then kindly enlighten us with what you have witnessed." And so I began the tale with the Tenakth outpost, what happened to the residents and the notes I found there. And that's when I remembered Tsulu as I told them about how his jinn possession had started but I decided I'll ask about him once I'm done. I informed them that I used a Tremortusk to take out the camp to make sure the threat in that area has been eliminated. After that, I moved on to the Haunted Forest part and that it really is as haunted as everyone believes it is. I didn't neglect to mention the totems and how I was getting teased by shadows here and there. At this point, everyone around me was beginning to feel creeped out.
"A flying dead fox? Seriously?"
"Man, this is terrifying."
"I'm getting the willies, right now."
"Now I'm never going to that forest."
"And to think I wanted to pay that place a visit."
"Yeah, man. Don't wanna get a rock to my fa-"
"Enough!" the spooked crowd went silent on the Chorus command. "You may proceed." Too bad. I was having too much fun with their reactions and had time to take a few more sips from the tea. At this point, I reached the part where I encountered the weird goat head peeking at me from behind a tree at the cauldron's entrance. Needless to say, people were gasping in terror when I described the demonic thing as it stared at me with red eyes.
"It was just the head. I couldn't see the body on the other side of the tree. And when I approached it, it was gone."
"How can anyone even be bold enough to get close to something like that?" I heard someone from the murmuring crowd comment at which multiple replies arose. Once the background noise had settled enough, I moved on to the tricky part. Gotta remember those guys don't know what a cauldron is, and frankly I didn't care to explain so I just described it as the metal building. So to make a long story short, I went through a retell of the mind fuckery cauldron chamber after chamber. I forced myself to remember the correct order in which I have progressed to make sure I don't miss an important detail. Though I didn't mention every little thing and just went for the jinn related parts. For instance, I didn't explain how the cauldrons' interior designs need lots of jumping and climbing in order to maneuver through them. I just focused on the freaks I had to put up with.
"I almost got caught by this one jinn but I managed to escape through the door at the final moment." I told my audience. "And in the next room, there was a dead goat whose head got replaced by a human's and the jinn was moving it around. It even smiled at me! it almost chased me to the next room but I shut the door behind me and-" and so I carried on to the next chambers, followed by the long twisted corridor that was practically a corpse museum, then the chamber that followed after and that's when I explained how I got the injury, the faceoff with the tall shadow figure and at last the final chamber with the absent core. I didn't feel the need to mention my mental breakdown and just disclosed my entrapment, my encounter with Maki or at least whoever looked like him, how I was looking for an exit until the once-in-a-lifetime rescue by my machine.
"- and that's how I ended up at the gate. Then you guys took me in, tended to my injuries and-"
"We know the rest, Carja!" exclaimed Fane before adjusting his position and taking a deep breath. I took one as well after my long ass tale that I hadn't even had time to finish my tea yet. I eyed the last amount of tea at the bottom of the cup which had gone lukewarm and I downed them all in a single gulp. I looked behind me to see that the villagers had sat down throughout my horror story. I wasn't sure how long I have been talking for but it took quite a while that everyone made themselves comfortable. And when I was done, they were chatting animatedly among themselves about my tale as if discussing a movie. Though it really does feel like I lived through one.
"Would you be scared if you saw a black shadow figure?" asked a guy his friend who's sitting next to him.
"Who? Me? Hell yeah I would! Imagine finding something like that in your own house!"
"That would be terrifying! They could toss a knife at my eye or something." Replied a woman.
"Or they could control you or possess you or whatever they do!" exclaimed another Utaru whilst I sat there listening to all the talk around me until I felt Zohha's shoulder on me.
"How are you feeling, Talanah?" she asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"Yeah. Still exhausted or anything?" added Ahmik who had been sitting by me alongside Zohha this whole time.
"I'm good." I mumbled. "Still not in tip top shape but definitely better than when I got here."
"Yeah you were impaled badly in your leg. So that was a jinn's doing, huh?" stated Zohha.
"Told you they exist." Boasted Ahmik.
"Wish I fucking listened…" I grumbled beneath my breath.
"What was that, T?" asked Ahmik and before I could answer, we were suddenly surrounded by silence as the Chorus gestured for everyone to settle down.
"Do you expect us to believe your story, Carja?"
"Pardon?" I raised an eyebrow at Fane's totally unexpected yet typical response.
"Moving corpses. Flying objects. Black ghosts. Fire erupting out of nowhere. I find all that a bit hard to digest."
"We told you what happened to the Tenakth outpost!" exclaimed Ahmik. "The people over there really were dead yet they were still moving and attacked us!"
"That's not fair!" yelled Zohha. "Talanah risked her life to protect us from them and she isn't the only one who witnessed those things. We saw what they did too!"
"I wasted my breath telling you what I have been through only to imply I'm a liar!" I snapped. "Like it or not, it was all the doing of the JINN!" I emphasized feeling spit flying out of my mouth. "There's a shitton of proof they're real and just because you haven't seen them yourself doesn't mean they don't exist and you know what? I don't care if you think they're spirits or farts or whatever, all you need to know is that they're bad news and can't be missed with. Are you going to at least listen to me on this one?"
"We shall heed your warning, Talanah." Replied Shaela raising her hand trying to placate the situation. "If you know they're a threat then we will take your word for it."
"Tell it to my leg." I gestured towards my still wrapped up thigh. "If you don't want something worse than this happening to your people, make sure to stay off limits from the Haunted Forest and what goes beyond it. I didn't risk my neck trying to solve a mystery just to have my words disregarded like that."
"Duly noted. Sorry, Talanah." Confirmed the second Chorus leader and it would be for her damn good that she isn't just humoring me. Her fellow member, on the other hand, not sure about him. He was being silent with that constipated look on this face which told me he wasn't buying it. But let's be real, whether he believes me or not, I couldn't care less. I don't have the energy to convince him and even if I did, I'd rather spend it on doing something better than reasoning with a thickheaded zealot. As if surviving that shitty neardeath experience wasn't enough of a stress. It's finally over and I plan to keep it that way.
It was dusk when the gathering was wrapped up and everybody went about their business. I could still hear their conversations around ghosts and all that's paranormal. I smirked in amusement knowing that thanks to me that will be their topic of conversation for a good while to come.
"Sorry about Fane. You know how stern he is about his beliefs and tradition." Said Ahmik as he, Zohha and I stood near the edge of the high platform watching the darkening horizon giving me a brief déjà vu of the last time I was here.
"Doesn't mean he should act like the world revolves around him and what he finds believable or not." I grumbled. "He was quite rude for suspecting me like that like I'm some kid making up stories. Who the hell does he think he is? I almost got killed yet he has the audacity to think I'm pulling all this out of my ass!"
"We're sorry about that, Talanah." Said Ahmik rubbing his head while shifting his weight. "Forget about him. Don't let him get to you."
"Yeah. He's a jackass." Said Zohha offhandedly.
"I'm okay." I huffed trying to relax. "I just hate how he handled the situation so unprofessionally. He didn't even have the common courtesy to bother with a 'thank you for your efforts, Talanah!' 'hope you're okay, Talanah!' 'I'm such a jerk, Talanah!'" I drawled on sarcastically in the midst of my two companions' giggles. "Frankly I don't care what he does with the info I gave him as long as it's not something stupid."
"He'll come around eventually. And even if he didn't, he won't do anything to compromise the tribe." Ahmik's reassurance did nothing to assure me, let me tell you that much.
"I don't get what you see in that guy." Said Zohha. "I never respected him as a leader because of how closeminded he is. One time, I asked him what to do if I accidentally killed a rabbit and he said 'all things must come to an end' like stating the obvious answers my question. Talanah is right to dislike him."
Talking to him is like talking to a robot. I thought. I didn't bother voicing my idea since those guys never heard of the robot term. So I went for an alternative: "talking to him is like talking to a dead machine."
"Ha! You got that right!" giggled Zohha.
"He may not be the best leader but he's not that horrible." Said Ahmik amusedly. "He might let his ideologies get in the way of his judgements but he never imposed serious harm on the tribe. I know he means well."
"Yeah all fine and dandy until he gets someone hurt because of his logic." I deadpanned.
"Let's just hope it never happens otherwise I will let him really have it." growled Zohha shaking a fist. As much as it would piss me off if that failure of a leader really did get his tribe members in trouble just because he was too thickheaded to reason with, I don't want to deem myself responsible for everything that happens in other tribes. I have given them my warning and all the info they need on what I have faced against and I should be assured that Shaela may handle things better than her scrap brain partner. What happens next, good or bad, shouldn't be any of my concern.
However, I actually do have one last concern on mind:
"How's Tsulu?"
"Hehehehe." I wasn't surprised when I found him still in confinement seemingly out of his mind entirely. Whatever Jinn got ahold of him simply refuses to let go.
"Whoever you are." I barked at whoever is taking control of the victimized Utaru. "Release him immediately!"
"HAHAHAHA!" that's all I was met with: more laughter. Typical.
"It's no use, Talanah…" sighed Zohha. "He's been like that since you left and I don't see him improving anytime soon."
"So it's not a disease?" asked one of the tribeswomen from behind me.
"No, it's not a disease. He's possessed by a jinn!" I confirmed furrowing my eyebrows keeping a grip on the confinement bars with both hands. "Get the fuck out of him! Leave him alone!"
"Talanah…" I heard Ahmik say from behind me. "I want him back as much as you do but I don't think he can be saved."
"It's not too late!" I turned my head towards him unconsciously making the mistake of keeping my hand on the bar. "We know what the problem is and now we just need a solution. We know a jinn is possessing him. We just need to find a way to expel it. Leave Tsulu confined a little bit longer and I'll find a way to-"
"He's not coming back!" I paused at the sound of a familiar voice. "Don't you get it? He's GONE!"
Oh boy… I grimaced at the sight of Yulia pushing her way through the few tribe members gathering at the quarantine prison. If the situation wasn't dramatic earlier, now it is. In her defense, I get that she's upset for her friends and how she lost them both in two different horrible ways. She has every right to cry over them for as long as she wants. But she's been handling everything really poorly so far and her presence isn't exactly helping. It's one thing to feel rage and depression over a fallen friend, it's an entirely different thing to start pointing fingers and misdirecting that anger on anyone remotely associated with the incident. And with the way she'd been acting, her attitude might get out of hand.
"Yulia. Get out of here. You don't need to see this." Asserted Ahmik without getting his eyes off of Tsulu. Clearly he had the same thoughts.
"Too bad cuz I already did." Retorted Yulia as she stood next to the prison door. "Just get over it. He's gone just like Maki. Might as well consider him dead as well."
"….." not sure what I was supposed to say. If I made any statement to disagree with her, it would be just a pointless waste of breath.
"Don't say that…" started Ahmik lamely, as if he too knows that his attempt to reason with her is futile.
"For real! Let's just open the cell door and rid him of his misery! What's the point of keeping him alive? This is just torture for us and for him!" yelled Yulia. Then I froze when I saw how serious she is. "I'll make it quick." She hissed as she pulled out her machete amongst everyone's gasps. And that's when the others had to make a move.
"Oh no you don't." growled Zohha as she grabbed Yulia from the waist and the arm holding the weapon.
"Yulia! Don't you see that you've gone too far?" yelled Ahmik sounding genuinely mad for the first time since I met him. "Just look at you! You are planning to kill your own friend?!"
"Can't you see his suffering? It's for the fucking best!" strained Yulia with her struggles against Zohha's grip. Others interfered to calm things down with the out-of-control Utaru. I stood there at a complete lose as to what to do. And in the midst of all these distractions, I never realized how staying this close to the prison door was a bad move.
"Easy there, girl." Said a middle aged man who has joined the others to retain Yulia, who has finally settled down enough to be released but remained surrounded by the other tribe members and their words of comfort.
"You're not thinking straight. Calm down."
"You don't have to take it this far."
"Don't do something you'll regret, sweetie."
"It's okay. The pressure is just getting to her."
"Your friend needs help, Yulia." This one came from me.
"I AM helpin-"
"NOT the type of help Tsulu should get." I interrupted her predictable answer. "What if there's another way? You can't just end his life like that."
"That's not Tsulu anymore…" mumbled Yulia.
"Perhaps not… But that doesn't mean we can't get him back. I know he's in here somewhere." I said forlornly eyeing the possessed prisoner, still not thinking about keeping my damn distance.
"Then tell me, Talanah…" she spat forcing herself out of the crowd to stomp my way. "What do you suggest we do?"
"Anything but kill him!"
"That doesn't answer my question!" she yelled followed by the voices of Ahmik and Zohha from behind her. "Tell me what we should do! TELL ME N-AAHH!"
I jumped as Tsulu's hand went through the bars and caught ahold of Yulia's wrist among everyone's alarmed yelps. I quickly grabbed Yulia to pull her back and was joined by her two remaining friends and the other tribe members to free her from the jinn infected Utaru's grip.
"Let go!" yelled Yulia.
"Dammit!" I strained between my teeth. How did I let my guard down so much?
"Tsulu, stop!" pegged Ahmik as he held on to Yulia. It is surprising how strong he is against all of us. I started to panic as his grip didn't get any lighter despite our efforts combined. His strength felt kind of… supernatural. Then all of a sudden we were all thrown back to the ground in a tumbled heap. When I raised my head from my position on the ground amongst the pile of Utarus, the first thing I saw was Yulia's blood covered machete and, right beneath it, was a severed hand.
"Oh dear…" my eyes went wide as I processed what just happened.
"YULIA! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" hollered Ahmik as he got up alongside us.
"I'm sorry! It was an impulse!"
"Impulse my ass! So you just HACK his arm off?!" reprimanded Zohha as we stood up.
"He wouldn't let go and - and I got scared he might hurt me… so I… I…"
"Alright, that's it." said Zohha as she forcibly yanked the weapon out of Yulia's hand. "Should have done this from the start. Now leave before you do more damage!"
"But Zohha… I… didn't mean it… I just…" struggled Yulia to find the right words to excuse her stunt while on the verge of tears. Naturally, she failed.
"Perhaps you should really let us handle this, Yulia." Said Ahmik with furrowed eyebrows. "It's just too much for you. We don't need you to handle more stress than…" of course I was only paying half of my attention to the ruckus. For the other half is focused on the bleeding prisoner behind the bars who, despite his horribly crippled state, exploded in laughter instantly becoming the center of everybody's focus.
"Hehehehehe!"
"Wow…" said Zohha. "It's like losing his hand doesn't bother him at all."
"That's the effect of the jinn!" exclaimed Ahmik among the other tribe members' unnerved gasps and exclamation, which turned into outright horrified yelps and screams at the sight of what happened next.
Crack
Tsulu's neck turned a complete 360 degrees tearing up the neck skin in the process and, of course, smashing the vertebrae bones.
"AAHHHH!"
"NO NO NO NO NO NO!"
"TSULU!"
Yulia, Zohha and Ahmik's screams rung in my ears as they understood what this meant. It's officially too late to save the guy with nothing keeping him on his legs simply but the power of the jinn getting hold of him. Even if he was freed, would it even matter?
"…" I was just consumed at this point by the feeling of being this ignorant and helpless. If this was a machine or a repel case, I would have taken care of everything with a playful smirk and my blood soaked spear over my shoulder. But I'm afraid there's nothing my spear can do this time. No weapon can.
I turned around putting a hand to my forehead not bearing to handle this situation anymore. I took a few steps away in an attempt to block out the horrified screams and disturbed exclamations of the Utaru tribe folk from behind me. And at this moment, I can't help but make a quick reciting of everything that had transpired so far, starting from how this all started to this very situation which had escalated badly beyond repair. Imagine having this whole thing begin with me helping out against a bunch of stupid Grimhorns, and ends with one of the Utarus I've been helping become possessed by some otherworldly freak.
How did I let it go this far? I know it was beyond my control but I couldn't help but wonder.
All I wanted was to help with the machines. I thought in dismay. What started as a normal assist quest ended in a total paranormal disaster. Among the shouts of the Utarus that feel like they surround me, I imagined myself having a quick breakfast with the guys before going my merry way, scratching objectives off of my list of upgrades and machine targets. Which would have been the most likely scenario if I wasn't forced to chase after Ahmik and…
Wait…
Ahmik. I raised my head at the thought of the wayward Utaru. If it wasn't for his little stunt, the rest of us wouldn't have been dragged after him leading to this horrible loss. I felt my anger spike at the thought of how this all could have been avoided if he had just fucking listened. If only I could just punch him in the face to drill it into that thick as shit head of his that actions have consequences that could hurt him and those around him. Maybe a kick to the balls would force that info into his brain faster. Or I could use my spear to-
"HE'S TALKING!" I snapped back to action at the words I heard from one of the people now crowding at the prison yet keeping a bit of a distance for an obvious reason. I carefully weaved my way through the dozen folk with Zohha, Yulia and Ahmik upfront gawking at their former friend who was giggling and speaking in the weirdest voice I have ever heard come out from a human.
"Heehee. Tasty!" drawled the entity in a deep surreal voice from inside his victim as he was lapping at the blood streaming from the arm stump down the forearm. I was eyeing the scene through the bars stunned beyond help as the Utarus displayed terrified reactions behind me. We all watched as the person who's not Tsulu anymore was licking at his own bare flesh and even nipping at it. I couldn't suppress a groan when he literally bit off a piece before swallowing it with a sickening gulp.
"He's eating himself!"
"Someone stop him!"
"He lost his mind!"
"He's hurting himself!"
I disregarded the Utarus' yells knowing full well that the guy is too far gone to be helped anymore. This man standing before us became officially dead the moment his head made that lethal turn. It's only because of the evil jinn inside him that he looks like he's still alive. But not for long…
He slowly raised his eyes in my direction with a blood covered grin and, in that subnatural voice, spoke the next words that I will never forget for the rest of my existence:
"Better watch who you mess with, Carja." Everything went silent at that. And before anyone could react, he raised two fingers to impale both his eyes deep in the socket squirting a stream of blood before promptly falling to the ground never to get back up again.
And that's how a second grave came to join the first one. As the tribe members were departing after paying their attributes, me and the remaining Utaru squad members stood beneath the tree on the hill where Maki and Tsulu were laid to rest together. It would be stating the obvious to say that those three are utterly devastated, especially Yulia, who seemed to be on the verge of jumping off the cliff. As she was shaking with sobs, Ahmik and Zohha stood solemnly over the gravestones, cheeks wet with a line of tears. I stood keeping a bit of a distance behind letting them grieve for their fallen friends. Even though I haven't shed a tear myself, my heart still goes out for those guys. But my sympathy is limited for as much as my mental health allows. In my line of job, I tend to witness lots of casualties like these. If I cry over every loss especially when it involves people I barely even know, I'd be an emotional scrap pile. I turned my back away and walked a few more steps trying to collect my thoughts again feeling the wind blowing through my loose hair.
It's over. I thought as I eyed the slowly darkening sky above me with solemn eyes. But at what cost?
Still kind of hard to imagine how a seemingly normal mission ended so tragically. And it's not even the doing of your typical enemies this time. It ended in the most bizarre way imaginable. I blinked and ran my hand through my hair still finding it hard to digest that creatures such as the jinn actually do exist. Throughout my whole life, I have never seen anyone make complaints about those guys or any reports or sightings involving weird beings haunting certain areas. Until the day that changed everything…
"Talanah…" I snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of Ahmik's weak voice. I turned to him and was disheartened to see his puffy eyes and tear streaked face. The same can be said for his two companions.
"…." I opened my mouth before shutting it preferring to simply stay quiet waiting for what he has to say. I could have gone with a 'sorry for your lose' or 'you have my condolences' but I doubt it would make them feel better.
"Look, you've done a lot for us so, um… your job here is done I presume?" he finally said after wiping his face.
"Yeah…" I mumbled. "We finally know the cause behind this mess." even if it cost us dearly. "So there's really nothing for me to do here anymore but give you my condolences." Might as well just say it out of common courtesy.
"Thanks, Talanah. Those two are in a better place now. May they watch over us."
"…." I stayed quiet at that. That would be a super bad timing to express my disbelief in this stuff. Not that I would go around opposing other people's beliefs, just simply discussing them. Not to mention that all the feelings of anger and rage I felt towards Ahmik have vanished at this point. In retrospect, he isn't completely in the wrong. True that sneaking off to the outpost alone wasn't a smart move but what can be done about that? How was he supposed to know what that outpost contained? I can't even believe myself for getting this mad at him in the first place. I blame the stress.
"I shall get going. I'll leave you three to properly mourn." I said running my hand through my hair.
"Will we see you again, soon?" approached Zohha with her grieve stricken face.
"Definitely. Once things have settled down for a while, I'll see what else I can do around here."
"See you soon, Talanah." Said Ahmik as we gave each other a goodbye hug.
"Yeah, take care." Said Zohha doing the same with me. Yulia however made no move to see me off which was fine by me to avoid any awkwardness, not to mention she seemed like in a poor state of mind to bother with anything.
"Time for me to hit the road. Later, guys." I declared as I walked away waving at which they returned the gesture. As the distance between me and them grew, the weight on my shoulders felt smaller and smaller until it has vanished entirely.