Life in a new Kingdom

On horseback, we continued our journey at a steady pace. In critical condition, we had no way of transporting Lukia comfortably. Her groans of pain dampened on morale. My own illness, born from the storm, was taking its toll on my health rapidly, too. My reflexes were dulled, and my attention was easily taken from conversations. Despite the rest I gained last night, it wasn't enough to recover from the exhaustion of staying up for Lukia's sake. It would stay this way until we reached the village.

A couple of days ride, taking an unorthodox path toward the village seemingly to reduce the travel by a day. Dead set on getting us treatment, Gale didn't waver in his goal. While resting, he would watch over us closely before having the need to rest himself. I admired his dedication and responsibility to the party. Ivian, Herk, and Yann all helped as well.

My head was burning up, my focus was hazy, and my body shivered constantly. I held on tight to the reins as we approached the fourth day. The grassy plains we traversed were peaceful, and no threat of attacks or ambushes occurred. For once, luck was helping us reach our destination without issue. Riding down a slope to a long path that bridges over a large river, we spot the village to the south. Looking at the map, Gale determines that we have indeed skipped an extra day's worth of travel.

"Let's take a short rest." Gale holds his hand up, and everyone listens. Feeding the horse what little food we have, we each have a ration. Gale lets us know that we have officially ran out of supplies. If we cannot reach the village by tomorrow, Lukia's chances of recovery drastically lowers. It would mean I would also be in danger of falling gravely ill. The water we also collected was nearing its end. The river nearby would provide us with the refill we needed.

With that night, the moon shined across the group. The mark on my neck given by Vyctor continued to burn hot. It had been fighting back any creatures that approached us. It made sleeping uncomfortable, but knowing that we would be safe from little things by that eased some of that anxiety.

However, disaster struck that night.

"Lukia! Wake up! Lukia!" Herk screams in the middle of the night. Waking up everyone instantly. I stare at the cleric holding his hands to her chest, her face pale and breathless. Gale rushes to her side and tries to hear her breath.

"She's not breathing!" Frantic, Gale does chest compressions. Herk attempts to cast healing spells to aid her, but they all dissipate without being completed. There isn't a focus for the problem to be healed. I drag myself over and grab onto Gale's shoulder. On the verge of tears, he hopelessly tries to revive her. "Come on! Wake up!" His pleas are spoken to nothing.

My chest grew heavy. The clutching pain around my heart was strangling my ability to breathe. Lukia's heart had stopped. She was no longer alive. Deep down, I felt a surge of emotions that I didn't know I had—my time with her brought me back to when I lost my mother. I couldn't do anything for her as my father took me away as she passed in that street. The feeling right now was no different.

My hands clenched hard; I didn't want to accept it. I couldn't. Not again will I lose someone who didn't deserve to die. A swelling pain rose from within. Sweat poured down my face. My lips were dry, and my body was overwhelmingly hot. Blood trickled down my neck and chest. I was bleeding. No, the mark on my neck had been burning for deeply for the last few days. I figured it was a warning that creatures were near, but I thought it would stop after some time. It had been reacting to something very close all this time. Something that could feel the marks presence but couldn't escape or leave. Until I caught a glimpse of it.

It was quick and blurry, but I saw it for the split second it showed its face. My memory glossed over a monster manual that I read back in Heistorm. In the portion about mystical creatures is home to a lot of devious and pure evil entities that feed on the emotions and negativity produced by humanoids. One such creature invades your dreams and causes you to live through your greatest trauma or fear endlessly so that it feels almost real. If the nightmare is far too strong for your mind and body to handle, it will eventually kill you unless you can remove the creature. What I just saw confirmed everything.

"Gale, Herk, hold her down!" I shout, placing my hand on her shoulder. The two men look at me, confused. Their eyes look for hope in mine. Only a mirror of desperation and despair reflects, but a glimmer of hope also reaches their hearts. The trust they feel from my gaze absolute. With nothing left to try, they hold Lukia, and I quickly lean over to her face.

The moment I drew closer, the mark on my neck began to burn hotter, like a torch was pressed against the mark. Blood escaped the pours of my neck and dripped across my shirt. If the mark works as intended, I must push as hard as I can to force this creature to flee.

"G-Grrahh!" Painful cries escape my lips. The moment I drew closer, Lukia's head shifted. It wasn't her body moving, but something had done it. Herk and Gale look at Lukia, confused. Ivian and Yann stare without realizing what is going on. "Come on, you little bastard! If it upsets you so much, you'll let her go!" My voice cracks under the pain. It rings through my ears, but the burning sensation exceeds my tolerance, and my body instinctively pushes me away. I grab my knife and bite onto the handle, hard to divert any attention from the pain. Cursing under my breath, a tiny blurry creature lets out a horrid cry. The sounds pierce our ears as they roll out from underneath her head.

"IT HURTS! IT HURTS!" The tiny creature flails its little arms and legs as it can't move underneath the pain. Crawling on all fours, it attempts to escape. Without a moment of hesitation, the knife leaves my mouth, and with the full force of my grip, I slam the blade directly onto the creature. The blade slams into its tiny body, and the rest of the blade drives further down, which the creature explodes soon after—the dark pink hue of its blood pools next to Lukia. I fall over to my side as the burning pain in my neck ceases. Foaming at the mouth, a mild seizure causes my body to curl up. Ivian rushes to my side and holds my head still.

Particles escape the dark creature and filter back into Lukia. With each second, warmth and color slowly return to her. Gale and Herk wait a moment. My condition had stabilized in the meantime. After several seconds, Lukia's chest rises gradually—a sigh of relief waves through the party. I held onto Ivian as my body was still weak from my efforts.

"It was a dark Pixie. Nasty creatures that latch themselves to people who are filled with negative emotions, which they exploit to gather energy from their victims... With how painful her dreams were, that Pixie influenced them to become nightmares that she couldn't handle. However, killing it released the undigested energy back into her." I had explained the nature of the situation. My eyes closed with exhaustion.

"You saved her, Caleb!" Gale hugs me in his arms. My body was still small, like a child to him; I pushed him back a bit and pointed at Lukia. Motioning to take care of her. The Pixie had done a severe amount of damage to her health. Taking care of her was our first priority.

"How did you know it was a Pixie? What did you do to make it go mad?" Ivian questions. I grab my bleeding neck and slowly let my composure return.

"I shared my own emotions that were welling inside me and forced the Pixie to overfeed. Causing it to try to flee, but it was too much, and it gave me the chance to kill it." It was a blatant lie. They didn't need to know about the mark on my neck, which seemed to be not visible other than the blood pouring from my neck. After that explanation, they refused to ask for any more answers and tended to her.

With some bandages, I wrapped my neck and laid down, hoping not to be woken up to such a terrifying scare. Sleep didn't take long before it claimed me. The final day of travel before reaching the village was still crucial in treating Lukia and myself. As the sun had shined, Gale gathered us to ride forward to town. With Lukia now free of the Pixie, her condition was at least stable, but she struggled. The path forward was clear, and we weren't stopping until we reached the village...