The Deadman

Powerful creatures release a powerful aura. That aura was like an invisible force bearing down on him. Think of their aura as a powerful heat. The closer you get the hotter it was. It can also feel like being under a guillotine or a hydraulic press trying to crush you.

Lesnik releases that kind of aura.

Lesnik took them to his living space.

It’s a place where the fireflies gather in the shape of a lamp.

There was a tree-like scent around him.

The world twists and turns. A psychedelic sensation that Robert can barely hold on to. The seal he wrote on the back of his left-hand started withering.

Not to mention that Simone and Lesnik were speaking in words of power. At first, he was speaking a Slavic language, but after entering this living space they spoke in an old tongue.

Every word shook his head. Like giant speakers booming in his ears. 

It was soundless yet loud.

Simone glanced his way. He said something to Lesnik.

“Pardon. I’ve forgotten that my presence can be pressing. Hmm, I see why you would bring this officer of CASE with you, son of Wyllt”

The pressure bearing down on him was lifted.

They spoke in the common tongue.

“I made a promise to your ancestor. I shall keep that promise.”

“But.”

The being paused.

“There was a price. As much as I like to keep the promise without asking for it.”

The being looked up.

“The millennium bug is coming.”

“Do you perhaps know what it will be?”

Robert sat down cross-legged and looked at them. He hasn’t really thought of listening closer. His mind was still ringing from the pressure that crashed on him.

This was a bad idea, Robert sincerely thought. My hands are still shaking and my knees are still not working properly.

Like being stared at by a million insects. As if the bugs that he just ignores are looking at him. Robert holds his head while covering his ears.

He was seeing double.

His heart rate was speeding up and slowing down.

The pressure was gone, but the anxiety of the eyes around made him worry. His fingers don't stop moving. His body was shaking unconsciously. Just like how someone would be creeped out by bugs.

Robert had always considered himself mentally strong. He could endure seeing the horrors of what humans can do. But nonetheless, creatures that can’t be explained by what he knows puts an unexplainable fear in him.

Robert tried to control his anxiety and his fears. And yet the thousands of eyes that are pointing towards him were making him puke. Robert unbuttons his overcoat, reached out to one of the pistols he was holstering inside, and held it with his hand.

Simone looked at him.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, there’s something with this place.”

Simone turned toward Lesnik.

“Many creatures right now are interested in the appearance of two humans. Your friend here was probably experiencing the pressure of their stares. I can lift the burden on him, but I can’t control what these creatures are looking at.”

“You can leave.”

“No, I was promised something.”

Robert held the pistol in his hand shaking.

“Let me keep my pistol. It comforts me.”

Simone turned to Lesnik with a questioning look.

“You have Emrys’s blood flowing in you. It was natural that you wouldn't be affected by their stares. Your friend here was enduring a lot already.”

“The stares. Why does it bother him?”

“It was fear. Hmm, do you want me to calm him down? What did you promise him, Emrys’s heir?”

“That coming here will be beneficial to him. This meeting.”

The pressure returned for a moment. Simone, who had been sitting fine, shuddered for a moment.

“Very well. It had been a long time since I’ve received humans. But I must get my prize as well, Emrys’s heir. I want me and my wife to get out of your kind's sight. Listen to my words and act on them. Are you willing?”

“I am willing.”

“I want your group to make us disappear. I tire of sending kids out of the forest. I tire of your devices that capture my image. Your technology was poison to us. It brings attention. The more of your people come. The more distorted the area. You, humans, have a way to kill us. I have seen your weapons. I have seen how your guns could make even a little child deadly. I tire of them.”

Lesnik looked at the gun that Robert was holding.

The trees shook.

The living space trembled.

If fear could be felt like the wind.

Then Simone and Robert are now feeling the fear’s tempest.

Robert couldn’t hold it in and vomited on the spot. Simone whispered something under his breath and a thin membrane of light protects him.

The tempest of fear subsided. Lesnik takes out a wooden pipe and lights it.

“But your Ancestor had told me once. That you humans might one day step on the moon without the aid of our magic. I had told him. ‘You are not speaking correctly, old friend.’ He laughed at me. ‘When the day comes, you will not laugh.”

Lesnik took a drag of his pipe.

“Then I saw it. Using a rocket. A complicated machine that surpasses all that we know. Made of minerals and so many items combine, fueled by explosions, sending a man to the moon. Walking on Luna before all of us creatures could ever do it. It was then we realize that we have lost. That the magic we hold dear was obsolete. One day you will kill all of us. Once every tree in the world was gone. When the lakes are dry. When the wind was poisonous. All shall return to Gaia’s embrace.”

Simone folded his arms. He looked like he wanted to say something. But he knew that the progress of humanity over the thousands of years had undergone leaps and bounds.

Magic had been faltering.

Magic and Science simply cannot co-exist.

Those who tried only saw death.

But some persist in combining them as if the threat of death wouldn't stop them from finding a way.

There were some in the community that intended to fix this problem.

To solve the distortion of Magic in the presence of technology.

“Our time had passed.”

Lesnik said with regret. He stood up from his seat and touched Robert’s head.

“Use all of your senses at once, boy. It shall help you adjust to my presence.”

Robert, who was struggling on all four, did just that. He used all of his senses at once, removing the colors of the world, only highlighting the things he found important. 

The world became black and white for him.

And in this world, there were only a few things that had color on it.

“You are attuned. No wonder you only vomited. This shall be my gift to you, Endurer.”

Robert blinked at Lesnik and then fainted. 

Simone focused his mind and upon feeling the tempest subside. 

He lowered his guard.

“Is he fine?”

“He will be. I have given him what you promise. I only ask that you do the same for me.”

Simone looked down.

“Will learning even make a difference?”

“That was not for me to answer. Magic will be limited. But some things can still be used. We are free from distortion by the gaze of technology. Your kind will always be able to find ways to make use of what little magic you have left.  You are all creative. Not even animals gut their fellow animals to take their hearts and use them on others. What I revealed will be of use to you.”

Lesnik moved his fingers.

“Your ancestor raised a king by the knowledge he got from us. He created a legend that will remain as long as humans remain. You bring the horn to me and for that, I shall allow you to go through the test that your Ancestor went through.”

Lesnik took something out from nowhere. It was a bronze chalice. 

He squeezed a strange bark above it and touched the liquid it produced with his aged finger. 

The liquid boils and turns golden.

“Add your blood and drink it.”

Simone takes a dagger out and bleeds his palm.

“Your blood shall be your guide. This shall take you to a mental realm where you will undergo a tribulation. Your soul shall be tested. Your will shall be tempered. Do you accept this, Emrys’s blood?”

“I do. I am ready.”

Simone drank the liquid mixed with his own blood.

“The mental realm will have our teachings. Your ancestor will be there to guide and teach you his ways. I shall be your shelter until you come out of this, heir of Emrys, the one who returned the Horn.”

Simone’s eyes turned white. All veins in his body produced a blue light. He sits cross-legged and starts floating up. Lesnik snapped his aged hand.

A bubble surrounded Simone.

Lesnik stared at the floating form of Simone for a moment.

“The same appearance as he did when he came to us. It looks like there was a change happening to all of us.”

His aged eyes showed melancholy. All the humans who studied under him. 

All the druids that arrived and passed by. 

From hopeful young men to old wise men whose skin becomes wrinkled with time.

Humans never tend to live long. And there were only a few that Lesnik could remember and welcome.

He looked away from Simone as he heard a groan. 

The man from the Commission holds his head and looked at Simone who was floating inside a bubble and then at Lesnik.

“You are awake, human.”

He trembled.

“Hmm, you’ve endured well. You will not die here, human. It will bring displeasure to Emry's blood if you do.”

Lesnik sat down and stared at him. Robert exhaled loudly and held his pistol as if comforting himself.

“Is he okay?”

“He was fine. Emrys’s heir was undergoing a trial. It was all on him to return.”

Robert nodded quietly.

“You are not curious?”

“Sir?”

“About his trial?”

“I don’t have the talent.”

Lesnik gazed at him deeply.

“Indeed, you do not have the talents for magical arts. But your sealing methods are okay. Hmm, tell me human, do you not know? What may happen if you come to my domicile? Or did Emrys Blood forget to tell you?”

“I had no idea.”

“I see. You are not on this side of the world. It bothers me. Or perhaps my senses have grown dull as years passed?”

“Excuse me?”

“Think nothing of it.

Lesnik turned his attention to Simone. His interest went away. Robert felt somewhat relieved that he was no longer looking at him. He looked around him and used all his senses at once.

How can I use this to such an extent already? Robert finds it odd that he can control his senses like this already. Then again if this being of power can create and isolate space with its magic. Who was he to know what else he can do?

Time passed.

Simone floated for hours before something happened.

He dropped from his bubble and panted heavily. Robert noticed that there was a change in Simone’s eyes.

“As expected of Emrys’s heir. Have you engraved the methods in your head?”

Simone calmed his breathing and looked up to Lesnik.

“My name is Simone Wyllt! Don’t forget that!”

Robert raised a brow at him. What the hell was this guy saying suddenly?

Lesnik, the being, grew silent before laughing so loudly that the grass and the flowers grew.

“Indeed, the blood really does speak wonders. Very well, I shall not remember you as Simone Wyllt. You have my blessing.”

Simone smiled.

“Thank you, Master Lesnik! Let’s go home, Oswald. I need to make sense of this knowledge in my head! Can you drive for me?”

“Sure, I guess.”

Robert tilted his head before shrugging. He’d guess that while in that state, Simone learned everything he needed to learn from here. He’s just glad that they didn’t have to stay here for days. His sanity would wither. He follows him out of the living space when Lesnik speaks. Simone took a step out first.

“Farewell Simone, and to you as well, Deadman.”

The knowing look on the old being’s face made Robert’s soul tremble. 

He walked out of the living space and reminds himself to never approach Lesnik ever again.