Yaan smiled. He struck the wooden log from the top, and it split into two pieces. As he was doing the work, he spotted an old man passing in front of him. He paused and started doing work again, but for a split second the old man stopped and fell on ground.

  Yaan rushed towards him to pick him up. As he lifted him from the ground, he found him unconscious. “Uncle!!!” Yaan shouted

  “What happened, don’t you ask for a break…” said Earon while coming out of the house, but he didn’t find Yaan near the wooden logs. He glanced all around and found Yaan sitting outside the house holding an old man in his hands. Earon rushed toward Yaan.

  “What happened?” asked Earon, “Who is this old man?”

  “I don’t know, he was passing by and suddenly became unconscious,”

  “Okay, let’s get him inside the house,” said Earon, and both of them supported the old man from the shoulder at each side.

  They put him into the bed. They tried to wake him, but he wasn’t responding; his whole body was sweating. Earon put his hand on his forehead.

  “He has a high fever,” said Earon, “we have to bring the medic to help him.”

  “But the medic is out of the village this evening,” said Yaan, “he will return tomorrow morning.”

  “I don’t know, Yaan,” he said, “His fever is too high, I don’t know if it will be okay to wait till the morning.”

  “But it is not possible for the medic to reach here before tomorrow morning,” said Yaan

  “I think we have to look for someone in town who can cure him,” said Earon

  “That will be perfect.”

  “Okay, you look after him,” said Earon, “before I bring someone who can help him.”

  Maybe the grimoire will have a cure for him. I should check.

  “Just wait here, I’m coming,” said Yaan, and went out of the room.

  “Yaan!!” Earon shouted, “Where are you going?”

  Yaan took out the grimoire from below the mattress and started turning pages to find the cure he wanted. He stopped at a page,

  Here it is, I knew that I will find it in this. The herbs stated in this cure can be found in the nearby forest, but no one would allow me to go, or if I told uncle about this, then he will ask me how did I know and he will eventually know that I have a grimoire.

  He put the grimoire in the same place from where he took it and came back into the room where his uncle and the old man were staying.

  “Where did you go?” asked Earon

  “Uhh, nowhere,” said Yaan, “I just wanted to say that I know someone who can help in this, but he lives at the end of the village, so I think I should go to him.”

  “Great, let’s go together,” said Earon, and started to walk

  “That can’t happen,”

  “And why is that?”

  “Well, we both know how little time he has,” said Yaan, “Also, I’m not sure that the person I am talking about will have a cure for this or not. It will be better if I go to that person and you check in town whether someone has a cure, I think it will save us time.”

  “Damn Yaan, you are thinking smarter than your uncle,” said Earon, “let’s do this”.

  Earon went out to check in the town, and Yaan ran to the nearby forest.

  Yaan started searching the forest, but he wasn’t being able to find the herbs he wanted for the cure. After some time of searching, he found all three of them, and then he rushed towards the village.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  When he reached home, he found Earon.

  “Where did you go?” asked Earon, “Certainly not the end of the village.”

  shit…I have to make up something.

  “Sorry uncle, it was a little out of the village, so I lied to you,” said Yaan, “otherwise, you wouldn’t have let me go all alone.”

  “Anyways,” said Earon, “did you get the cure?”

  “I did get the herbs to prepare the cure,” said Yaan

  “Ok then,” said Earon

  Yaan mixed and mashed all three herbs together and fed that to the old man. After sometime, the old man’s body temperature got normal, and he stopped sweating.

  “Will he be okay now?”

  “I think we will know by tomorrow morning after consulting the Medicus,” said Earon, “but for now, the good thing is, his temperature got normal, so I think everything will be okay.”

  “I’m happy that the cure worked,”

  “Can you come out for a second?”

  “Yeah, sure,” said Yaan, and both came out of the house.

  “Now tell me who gave you the cure,” asked Earon, “as far as I know, none of your friends in the village have any knowledge about the medication, and we have been keeping you away from the older people of the village, so who’s the one who gave you the cure, the person who appeared out of nowhere.”

  “As I told you before, uncle,” said Yaan, “he lives in the forest. I’ve been hiding him from our family because he doesn’t like meeting other people.”

  “Now you are scaring me, Yaan,” said Earon, “first you said that he lives in the forest and now you are saying he doesn’t like speaking to other people except you, who is he, a monk?”

  “Not exactly,” said Yaan, “he knows a… a lot.”

  “I don’t know Yaan,” said Earon, “I’ve been to many places, and such types of people are usually not safe.”

  “He is safe,” said Yaan, “he’s, my friend.”

  “The friend you never mentioned before,” said Earon, “but as now you have mentioned him, we are going to his place right now.”

  “No, we can’t,” said Yaan, “he doesn’t like meeting other people.”

  “I’m going to meet him,” said Earon, “and we are going right now.”

  “He’s my friend, I’m not taking you to him,”

  “Do you think you have a choice?”

  “Yes, I have,”

  “No, you don’t,” said Earon, “you know nothing about this world, and you are under my protection, so you will do as I say.”

  “Or what?”

  “Or what?????” said Earon with disbelief, “I’m your uncle, I’ve always protected you, and I even sacrificed my life for you…wasn’t that enough, and for whom??? A friend who appeared out of thin air and doesn’t like to talk to other people.”

  “I’ve always respected and loved you, uncle, for protecting me, but I’m a man now, and I know what is right and wrong.” Said Yaan, “I’m not going to break my promise to my friend.”

  “You are choosing your friend over your uncle. I gave my whole life for you,” said Earon

  “yes Uncle, you did,” said Yaan, “and I will gladly give my life for you, I’m not choosing anyone, I’m doing what is right to do.”

  “I promised your mother to protect you. The right thing for you to do is take me with you to the friend of yours.”

  “But wouldn’t it be breaking a promise with my friend?” said Yaan, “he’s safe, trust me, uncle.”

  “Trust you,” said Earon, “when you aren’t ready to let me see him.”

  “yes” said Yaan, “Sometimes we have to trust our loved ones without knowing anything.”

  “You are asking me to do an impossible thing.”

  “Trusting me is an impossible thing for you,”

  “It is not about trusting you; it is about not knowing what is happening in your life.”

  “It is because you don’t trust that I will be able to handle it on my own,” said Yaan, “it’s the same thing.”

  “You’re not ready yet.”

  “It’s very late, I’m going to sleep,” said Yaan. He walked off and enter in his room.

  He sat on a chair placed in front of the table facing the window. The moon was shining bright in the night sky,

  What will I get by living such a life, where I can’t do anything, I want to do and my choices aren’t mine to make? It will be better to get killed by the hands of any villager; at least there will be peace after it.

  Lord of Krimisha hit the whip covered with the nails on the back of a man hanging upside down by the chains, which tore a chunk of his skin, followed by his scream.

  “Stop screaming,” the lord shouted, “the more you scream, the more you bleed, and I want this to last, so please stop screaming.”

  “Forgive me!!! Sire!!!” said the man pleading, “Forgive me, please!!”

  The lord grabbed his hair and pulled it tightly. “Who am I?” asked the lord.

  “Master!!” said the man, weeping.

  “Yes, I’m your master,” said the lord, “and you don’t want to upset your master, right?”

  He nodded while hanging in the chains.

  “good” said the lord, “now let me have fun.”

  He was readying himself to hit the man again, but he got interrupted by a voice.

  “Sire, your spy has returned,” said the guard, “and he urgently wants to talk to you.”

  “You all have to watch yourselves,” said the lord, “you all have interrupting me a lot lately.”

  “I’m sorry, sire,” said the guard, “but the spy said it’s urgent”.

  Lord of Krimisha quickly went out of the cell, and the guard rushed towards the man hanging upside down and unchained him.

  “Brother!!!” said the guard, weeping after finding that his back was bleeding, “what he has done to you!”

  The man cried in his arm, “I went to fetch him some water, but the jug got accidently slipped from my hands, so he decided to punish me for it.”

  “Oh god,” said the guard, and he hugged him tightly.

  “I don’t want to stay here, brother,” said the man, but the guard instantly backed off.

  “This cannot happen, brother,” said the guard, “he will leave you after some times, just don’t upset him.” A tear fell from his eye.

  “he’ll torture me again,” he said, “please take me away from here.”

  “Persist a little longer, brother,” said the guard, “I’ll try to persuade him to forgive you.”

  “Please don’t leave me here…brother,” said the man, “please…take me with you”. The guard went outside the cell and it got locked from the outside.