Read The Flower and the Warlock- A Dark Fantasy Novella :: Chapter 14: Fragments

On a bright afternoon, the group decides to pause their journey for a rest. Mr. Thornbush and Izzimar scout ahead, while Frigg remains with the wagon. Birger sets a fire, despite the daylight, and brings Arjana close to its warmth. He tends to a wound on the back of her neck and questions her about the time she spent unconscious.

"Arjana... do you know what month it is?"

"Are we still in May?"

"No, you've been ill since mid-May. It's almost the first full week of July."

"What!?" she exclaims. "But Mrs. Thornbush said I was only asleep for a few days!"

"I misled her. I told her it had been a few days since we performed the cleansing ritual. You opened your eyes then, but you weren't responsive."

Arjana is no longer surprised by this, as she sighs and slumps in frustration. She despises these fainting spells; each time she awakens, the news of her extended sleep devastates her spirit. As she gazes into the grass, Birger speaks again.

"Wait, you don't remember being loaded into the wagon? Or Izzimar holding you?" he asks, lifting her head to examine her eyes with a metal tool. He recalls that on the day of the ritual, her eyes were open, but she was unresponsive. Stowing the tool, he concludes she was catatonic post-ritual.

"No... why?" she replies.

"Because your eyes were open after the ritual..." Birger murmurs, more to himself than to her.

"My eyes were open?" she inquires, tilting her head. "If my eyes were open, I'd remember waking up. What happened during the ritual?" Arjana asks.

As they sit by the fire, Birger begins to update Arjana on the events that transpired during her unconscious state. He recounts how she narrowly escaped death twice, the first instance being when she collapsed and the second time. The emergence of the creature signified the start of the tribulation. Arjana realized that she had been in a state of unconsciousness for almost a month.

"So, you're saying I nearly perished?"

"Exactly, young one."

"What's causing my illness? Birger, do you know?" Arjana inquired, leaning in. Birger reached for his notes, then hesitated. His complexion paled, and he seemed uneasy about providing an answer.

"It seems you were envenomated by a particularly persistent venom, one that remains for months," he disclosed.

Persistent venom? Arjana, though not well-versed in venom, knew that animal venom, like that of snakes, often resulted in death within hours. None of this added up.

"What venom is this? I couldn't have been bitten by a snake; I don't think venom stays for months," she mused aloud.

"This is no ordinary venom. It's far more potent and difficult to eliminate," he said, averting his gaze and prodding the campfire.

His explanations did little to clarify her confusion. Arjana recalled being in perfect health in the Brymshire Empire before her separation. She couldn't recall anything from the time Birger found her, to her abduction from the Brymshire Empire. Was it poison and abduction? But would that result in such a prolonged coma? And why couldn't she remember anything? What venom was coursing through her? Was this part of a sinister scheme to end her life?

Then, a detail from his account of her comatose state struck her.

"You mentioned seeing something that might be connected to my sickness, right?” Arjana inquired,

Birger became hesitant, seemingly reluctant to delve into the details of what he witnessed.

"Please, Mister Birger, I need to know. If you tell me what you saw, it might help restore some of my memories," she implored.

Birger hesitated significantly before heaving a deep sigh.

"Alright, Arjana, I saw... I saw a tall shadow with piercing red eyes."

Suddenly, Arjana tensed as though struck by lightning. She became mute and seemed lost in thought.

"Red eyes?"

"A shadow?"

"Is that the goddess from my dreams?" she wondered. But no, gods don't interact with mortals in such a way... besides, the goddess wasn't tall; she was of average stature. Moreover, she encountered her effortlessly in dreams, which suggests that the goddess was not the cause of her illness, but a result of her fainting spells. None of these seemed familiar, yet her body reacted strangely. Arjana began to panic internally as a sense of dread overwhelmed her. She felt she should be fearful of something, but she didn't know what.

What could be the significance of the tall shadow with piercing red eyes?

Birger tensed as he realized Arjana hadn't spoken since he had vaguely described his sighting. They were both trapped in a moment where an enigmatic shadow haunted their thoughts.

The tension was abruptly shattered when Izzimar burst through the bushes, clutching something in his robe.

"Damn it, boy! What are you doing?" Birger exclaimed as Izzimar gasped for air. As he gets a good look at Izzimar, his heart catches in his throat when Izzimar's face is covered in bruises and scrapes.