“Waae up!”
He heard a muffled voice speaking words that were barely understandable, all the other senses in his body were numb. He attempted to move, but as if he was paralyzed, he failed to muster even the slightest of strength.
“Wake up!...”
The voice called again, this time he managed to hear the words clearly…and deemed the source to be a woman calling in a soft voice.
“Adhrit!..”
“[GASP!]...Huh?!” Suddenly his strength returned and he swiftly stood up. He slowly lifted his eyelids, causing a bright light to overwhelm his already blurry vision. He rapidly blinked in an attempt to get rid of the blur, but every blink was followed by a slight stinging sensation under his eyelids.
The moment his vision got clear, he saw a familiar yet surprising figure. A pair of eyes overflowing with maternal love with a face that wore a bright, warm smile. His foggy mind told him this was a dream, but his rapidly thumping heart longed to believe otherwise;
“Are you alright?!”
The sudden sensation of her placing her palms on his cheeks cleared his mind and established the heart as the winner.
“Mother?!” His shivering lips whispered words that felt unbelievable to him. He began praying inside his head for it to be real and not some dream;
“Yes…I’m here son…What happened to you?” Her brows got closer and eyes contracted. In a concerned tone, she spoke while moving her hand down his cheek and grabbing his shoulder.
Drops of tears streamed down his red cheeks, the shivering of his lips worsened even further.
“Son?!” The woman grabbed both of his shoulders and pulled him towards her, embracing him with a warth and care he missed for years in his life.
“Why…why did you leave me?...” He sobbed while tightly holding her close, with the intention of never letting go.
“Aww!..I am sorry son!..I was gone just for some important work.” She said with a warm smile while softly patting his back.
“Work?..I..I thought you wer-..” Adhrit lightly pushed her away and said in a confused tone;
“You should stop worrying about unnecessary things.” She raised both of her hands and wiped his tears with her thumb.
“Look at you!..These messy hair!.” She then moved her hands towards his head and began rearranging his silver hair in a more eye pleasing manner. Adhrit silently stared at her, still having a sense of shock and unbelievability in the situation.
“Get up!..Didn’t you promise to look around the paradise?” As Adhrit was still engulfed in thoughts, she grabbed his right arm and pulled him away from the bed. Without showing even the slightest of resistance, Adhrit got up and began following her. He felt the cold floor of the castle that made him look down, he saw a pair of silver nightwear slightly covering his tender palms that were untouched by battle and utterly unaware of struggle.
Suddenly, a storm of memories arose inside his head. He felt as if these memories were from a nightmarish life he never lived. Then, the very next moment, the memory of him entering the separate dimension surfaced.
“Wait!..” He snatched his hand away from her grasp, she turned towards him and revealed her utterly shocked face.
“Wh..what happened?” She brought both of her hands towards her chest while sitting down with a worried expression;
“Where…where is big brother?...Sir Yaksh?...Or master?..What happened to that dimension?” Adhrit asked while taking a step away from her, his forehead skin contracted with several drops of sweat covering it.
“Oh lord!..” She stretched her hand and grabbed Adhrit’s shoulder;
“What happened to my son?!” While speaking in worried tone, she placed the opposite side of her palm on his forehead;
“You don’t seem to have a fever!..Should we get you examined by the doctors?”
Her anxious and worried expression washed away any sense of doubt inside Adhrit’s mind. Upon deeming the memories as some nightmare, he lightly grabbed her hands.
“Uh..haha…it’s..it’s nothing mother!..” Adhrit said with a wide smile;
“Are you sure?” Still asked while still unconvinced by his words. Adhrit nodded his head several times while releasing her hand.
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“Haah…You and your mischievous jokes!..”
She continued walking while Adhrit silently followed her. His heart felt as light as the feather, making him have the urge to fly while immense and pure happiness filled his entire being.
They made their way outside the castle and entered the paradise. Adhrit gazed around the place with an amazed pair of eyes, trying to catch even the slightest hint of the dark dimension’s existence. But what he saw next, shattered his sense of safety;
Yaksh was sitting on a podium, in the center of the paradise with several other elf girls surrounding him. Without realizing, he sprinted towards him while leaving the woman standing while baffled by his actions.
“Hey!...You are here?!” Adhrit asked upon reaching Yaksh’s front;
“Hein?...Who the hell are you?” Yaksh turned towards him, Adhrit was surprised by the unfamiliar pair of eyes, which looked at him with an indifferent gaze;
“Wh..what?..Don’t you know me?..I am Adhrit!..” Adhrit said with a baffled expression, while he stepped closer to Yaksh;
“What?..Adhrit?..Who?” Yaksh slightly leaned back and asked with a confused expression;
“WHAT?!....Do you really don’t know me?..You know, I am me!..Adhrit!..” Adhrit grabbed Arav’s collar and began shaking him violently;
“Hey!..What are you doing to my brother!” Someone said in an angry tone from Adhrit’s back. He turned and found an elf girl standing with an angry expression on her face. Her serene green eyes weren’t in symphony with her expression, her beautiful white skin and long green hair made Adhrit’s heart skip a beat. He stood staring at her with wide eyes;
“Hey!..What are you staring at you piece of shit?!” Yaksh shrugged Adhrit’s arms off his collars and said angrily while standing up;
Adhrit snapped back to reality, he swiftly turned towards Yaksh;
“Do you really not recognise me?..We entered the dark dimension together with big brother!...” Adhrit said in an anxious tone while desperately trying to remind Yaksh;
“URGH!! WHAT ARE YOU ON ABOUT? WHAT BIG BROTHER?! WHAT DIMENSION?!” Yaksh grabbed Adhrit’s shirt and lifted him above the ground;
Adhrit grabbed Arav’s hand and attempted to move it away, but he failed to move an inch, as if all strength was drained out of his body. A sudden but dark realization suddenly struck his head,
“N..no…no…please…no..” He turned his head towards his left, while his heart screamed for him not to do so. But the determination to know the truth gave him enough courage to move, he found his mother standing at a distance from him. She stared at him with teary eyes while stretching her hand forward in a gesture of calling him.
“Why the hell are you crying?!” Yaksh released him while speaking in a confused tone,
“You bullied a kid!..” The elf girl he called her sister sprinted forward and provided him an outstanding slap;
The sound around Adhrit became muffled, his eyes were filled with tears and heart began sinking in a river of sadness. He momentarily gazed at his mother and found her still standing in the same manner, Adhrit tightly closed his eyes and forced his head to turn away from her.
His heart immensely resisted his decision, but this teenager wasn’t ready to lose yet.
[SMACK!]
Adhrit jumped towards Arav and punched him in the jaw, causing both of them to fall on the ground.
“Yaksh…this…this is an illusion…” Adhrit said in a heavy voice,
Yaksh angrily stood up grabbed Adhrit’s neck,
[SMACK!..SMACK!..SMACK!]
He began rapidly hitting him with all of his might, Adhrit noticed that Yaksh’s eyes were disturbed by his words;
“Arav…the man you so proudly followed….”
“SHUT UP!!!!!”
[SMACK,SMACK,SMACK!]
Yaksh greatly increased the strength and the pace of his punches, dealing agonizing damage to Adhrit.
“You…..UGH!...need to wake..up…the elves…are in danger…”
“SHUT UP!! YOU FUCKER!! NO ONE IS IN DANGER!! THEY ARE HERE!! MY SISTER IS ALIVE!! NO-ONE DIED!! STOP TALKING YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!” Yaksh’s voice got heavier with every word he spoke. At that time, his punches were not the only thing falling on Adhrit…as he felt various drops of tears wetting his shirt along with the blood flowing out of his mind.
“STOP!!...LEAVE MY SON ALONE!!” His mother came sprinting towards him with a concerned expression, Adhrit turned towards her;
“YOU ARE NOT REAL!!! MY MOTHER IS DEAD!!!” His voice was filled with his cry of pain, it took an unimaginable amount of strength from him to deny the reality.
The woman stared at him with a blank expression, Adhrit’s face darkened as he saw a smile covering her face..But that smile lacked the same love and warmth he was so used to. Yaksh felt some disturbance behind him, as he slowly turned his head. He saw the nightmarish reality he tried his best to deny.
Drishti’s face was deforming in the same manner as Adhrit’s mother, his punches…slowly lost the weight of anger behind them and finally came to a halt. Adhrit wiped his tears and the blood covering his face while standing up.
“..G..good job…you piece of shit..”
[HUM!]
Intense green energy erupted out of Yaksh, his clothes began changing along with tears appearing in the reality around them.
[BOOM!]
A huge explosion of dark energy shattered the reality around them. Adhrit felt his former strength returning inside his body…along with a cold and metallic sensation of his sword’s hilt;
“URGH!!!”
They both heard someone’s painful scream, followed by the sound of something heavy falling on the ground.
[SHING!]
Adhrit unsheathed his sword along with Yaksh nocking an arrow on his bow. The very next moment, the dark image of the paradise was revealed.
There wasn’t a sign of the podium they previously stood at. They were standing near the very edge of the paradise. The blue houses, that previously used to glow with a brilliant blue light, appeared black with not a single sense of structure remaining in them. The ground had completely turned dark with a strange heat radiating off them.
“Ho ho…This is quite amusing…” Adhrit and Yaksh’s spine froze, as some incredibly close said from their back. Yaksh tried to turn his head, but someone’s singer stopped him.
The next sensation equally surprised and disgusted Yaksh, as the person behind him began licking his left cheek.
Adhrit raised his sword to attack the person,
[BOOM!]
A gust of dark energy blew him away from both Yaksh and the person.
“Let’s play sweet boy..” Someone other than that person said from behind Adhrit, who was slowly getting up.
[SNIFF!]
“OOHH!!...This scent of innocence…this aroma of purity…” A woman suddenly appeared in front of Adhrit and placed her nose right inches away from his face.....
[Chapter 29: END]