Novels2Search

15.Praying

Ezra jolted awake. His first surprise was the fact that no part of his body was now in pain, or bringing him complete exhaustion. He turned upward and looked to his arms. Bandages were wrapped around them, however a white paste was felt underneath them, it was soothing his skin and healing his arms. His second surprise was the man sitting next to him. The man’s hair was in the shape of a large bell. Ezra was both confused and slightly scared.

“So you’re awake.” The man said. Ezra was unsure how to respond, the man sat with a cane and both of his hands on top of it. He glared at Ezra with his eyes completely in an angry tone.

“Uh, yeah. Where am I?” The swordsman asked.

“I’ll be doing the answering of questions here and you ask them.” The man came back with.

“Then answer my question!” Ezra yelled back angry at the mans response.

“Why this is Sarabell. Home of the Bells.” The man revealed before standing up and going to the nearby counter. He grabbed a glass and poured Ezra a cup of milk.

“That explains the hair.” Ezra thought to himself. He tried to remember anything from before he passed out. Before he could begin, a glass of milk was put before him, along with a tray of meat and vegetables.

“Thanks for asking. I cook it myself. Hope you like it.” The man said going back to his chair.

“I didn’t ask for this!......but thanks anyway.” Ezra began eating the platter. He was in awe of the texture of the meat, and the vegetables were cooked to perfection. He told himself that Nicholai and to try this. If he could get back to him.

“You gave our farmers quite the surprise when you appeared. Noone knows how you ended up in the forest. Just what were you doing that landed you here?” He asked. Ezra returned to thinking about his moments in the cave, and his mind began to hurt just as his body did.

“I don’t know.” He pushed the tray aside and stood up. His fist clenched in test of any pain or struggle.

“What’s under your bandages is whitesea medicine. It's a simple healing remedy.” The man spoke up about the white paste. Ezra started to unwrap the bandages, beyond the paste his arms reverted back to their standard coloring.

“Thanks for the treatment pops.” Ezra said grabbing a towel and wiping off the remaining paste. He pushed his arms back and forth for just one last test of feel. “So who are you?”

“I am Bellvin, chief of Sarabell.”

“Bellvin, eh. Alright Bellvin, what’s the fastest way out of the village. I got places to be.” A loud crash came from outside of the village. Ezra flinched immediately in it’s direction. He ran out the inns door. He followed the sounds of a roar through the village and found it’s source, outside the village's main gate stood a tall hairy beast. It’s fur was dark blue, it’s eyes were completely pitch black, and it had claws that reached down to the ground. Ezra slowly reached for his sword. He stopped when he looked back to indicate the villagers to give him room for battle. Yet they all had crouched down on their knees and went into a praying position. “What the hell?”

“Ancestors, thank you for sending us our giver.” One villager cried out.

“They shall help us reach you in the beyond!” The villagers one by one put their foreheads to the ground and showed their backs. Ezra was disoriented by these actions.

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“What the hell are you doing? Get away, it's gonna kill you!” Ezra yelled to them. The beast roared once again. He quickly turned back, his hand raised to draw his weapon. The monster was looking him dead in the eyes. “I could just do a quick draw attack. One simple slash can cut something like this down.”

“NO!” A voice from behind him called out. Bellvin had cried out to Ezra. Making the swordsman lose concentration. The monster roared once again. It started charging at Ezra. He regained his standing for a quick second and readied his attack.

"White Dragon-" Before his attack could go off the beast stopped in its rampage. It then fell over to its side. Behind stood a man, his sword was drawn and eyes closed. The man was dressed more akin to Ezra. All he was missing was a robe. His sleeveless shirt revealed wounds over his left arm., and hus pants had been stained with the blood of more beast. Furthermore, the monster was dead. And the village was safe.

"ARNIS!" Bellvin yelled out to the man. He started to approach him angrily. Both Arnis and Ezra put their weapons away. “What have you done? How many times am I going to have to tell you about this?

“Why don’t you pray to the gods to kill you some other way?” Arnis said before walking away. The villagers behind Ezra started to rise from their knees.

“There he goes again.”

“Just what is that boy thinking. He should know how it is here.”

“Well. It can’t be helped. Guess we’ll have to wait for the next opportunity.”

Ezra stayed frozen in place listening to their statements. All of them went back to their daily activities. Arnis walked towards his own home and locked the door behind him. Ezra wondered about the mindset of this village. He turned around and finally got a full view of the place. He saw the large rocks in the sea beyond, the massive trees outside the village gates. And above them the incredibly sized Mount Culion.

“Thanks for asking for another glass.” Bellvin had appeared before Ezra with another glass of milk.

“I didn’t ask for this old man! Anyway forget that. What the hell was that? Why did you stop me from killing that monsters. It obviously was about to tear through this village like nothing had not that other guy stepped in.” Ezra questioned. He didn't even take the milk. Bellvin walked past him and into the village. Ezra followed behind. They came to a bench sitting before the large bell at the center of the village. It was stationed above a fountain, filled with small coins. Ezra took a closer look, and noticed that each coin had a different face on it.

“Thanks for asking. Those coins represent those who have chosen to reach the gods in the beyond.” Bellvin explained.

“What?” Ezra replied, still confused. “So all of these people are dead. Got it.”

“They all have had the pleasure of meeting with our ancestors. Hopefully one day we will too.” Bellvin kept going on. “Anyway. You had a question before this fiasco?”

“Yeah. I would like to know more, but where’s the exit. I need to get back to my friends.” Ezra asked.

“There’s no way out.” Bellvin calmly responded.

“What? Come on there has to be one?”

“If there was one you think that fool Arnis would have left us by now.” Ezra had enough of the old man's words. But due to him mentioning Arnis, he felt that person may be the only one he could get a sensible answer out of. Ezra turned to where he saw Arnis enter. He left the old man to sit on his bench and followed to the home.

“Hmm. This reminds me of Fayspell. However these guys aren’t dressed the same. And none of them seem to be using magic. The bellhead is much less of a figure head than Irene was I’ll tell you that.” Ezra spoke to himself about how he saw the village. It had a few perks about it. This place was cut off from the rest of the freelands. He thought maybe the old man was right, nothing could get in, and nothing could get out. But how did he come if that’s the case? He stopped before Arnis’ door and knocked. He received a quick response.

Arnis was before him, However he had removed his shirt, and his hair was now visible. It was long, yellow with black tips, and his sword was nowhere on him.

“Who are you?”

“New guy in town. Look, I'll make this simple. You seem like the only one here with a shred of sense. How do I get out of this place?” Ezra asked bluntly. Arnis returned with a hearty laugh.

“Hah, good luck. You wanna leave. Take the woods right outside the village gates.” Arnis’ point to the large grove. Ezra turned to see it, and felt something was off about it. “I warn you though. That place has a pressure not many can get through.”

“I’ll be fine. What’s up with you? Or better yet this whole place. Seems everyone is mad at you for saving their lives.” Arnis didn’t respond to the question at first. He just first noticed the young man before him. He saw the large sword, and guess that he too was planning on taking out the beast.

“Yeah that happens. You get used to it. As long as i’m here no monsters will harm anyone.” Arnis stated.

“That’s some good resolve. Everyone else here doesn't seem to think that way.” Ezra came back with. “Well, there is no time to waste. I don’t care what’s in the forest. Thanks for the info.

“You’re really going to do it. Well it’s your funeral?” Arnis said as he walked away about to close the door.

“You’ve tried it haven’t you? The old man told me you would have left by now if there was an exit. Since you know about it, I'm sure you tried. Ahh. You remind me of a certain sorcerer I know.” Arnis stopped and listened to Ezra’s words. “You do want to leave right?”

“Yeah.” Arnis spoke softly, and slower. This one person could read him so quickly. “Hey. Before you go. Let’s get a drink.”