On the 9th day, both of dune’s grandparents were infected with the curse. Dune and I were shocked.

Dune remained thunderstruck. “Thi-this isn’t happening….” It was morning and yet neither of us had any sleep in our eyes. We were both tired from all the night crawling. But I never thought something like this would wait for us when we got home.

The smell was terrible. I couldn’t breathe. It was like I was back in the forest.

Dune was shivering. And yet, I couldn’t say a word. I couldn’t say anything to console him.

“Grampa, gramma!!” Sheila was crying by their side. However, neither of them could move their bodies. If they did, the flesh would start to fall off. It was a sight I wished to never experience. And yet I couldn’t look away.

It was also the first time I saw Dune cry. The all cheerful powerhouse crying. I felt powerless. There was nothing I could do. My trembling hands only reminded me, you are worthless, Daarc.

Milai was busy tending all the infected being one of the few priestesses here. I could see the pain in her eyes when she left her own house and grandparents in favor of the villagers. I could never do that. I respected her. But her powers couldn’t cure them: she could only ease their passing. And there was another reason she left the house. She couldn’t bear this either. After all, her grandparents were already beyond saving.

The smell of this house would forever haunt me. The air reminded me of that dreadful night in the sacred forest. Truth to be told the entire village felt the same. Almost every house had one or two grieving souls. If this is how this world controls the population problem, then I believe God and I need a good talk…

During noon I was looking for fish in the pond. The blazing sun was my courage and its rays glittered infinitely in the water. My day time was free. Usually those of us who guarded the walls had the day off, to rest but not me. I preferred resting till noon and then staying active all day, at least that’s what I told myself, if I couldn’t fall asleep. Maybe that was the cause behind the large black spots under my eyes. They were a tad small to be called eye bags though. My reason for fishing was simple. Be useful to the people around me, as I had nothing else to do. And yet what good could I have possibly expected that to do? After all, even in such a crisis I couldn’t do basically anything. I guess I’ll keep guarding the wall for a little while longer.

A pull! I received a force on my rod. I reeled it in. It did took some effort but worth it.

I caught a large fish and thought about Sheila. “Yahoo!” This was probably the largest I ever caught.

It was a mild shout. My mood was still pretty horrible due to the circumstances but even so this was a good break. At least I could secure their food.

It was probably as big as the one Sheila caught the first time we went fishing together. It was also quite funny that I was somewhat attached to the brat. She reminded me of my own sister. I hated kids, yet I found somehow liking this brat.

I bet this would cheer her up a little. She’d been very sad ever since her grandparents had been infected. Her time with her grandparents was limited but I wanted her to be at least a little happier, if only a little. I knew she wouldn’t jump around at the sight of the fish, but at least she’ll feel better. I hoped that she would.

In the distance, someone shouted my name. It was Milai. She came rushing, breathing rapidly. With sweat overflowing all over her face, she appeared extremely troubled. And I had a bad idea about this.

“What happened? Why do you look like that?”

She was on her knees. She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t breathe. Something was wrong. “Da…dar…”

“Catch your breath first!” I ordered.

“Hur-hurry! She went into the forest!

“Who? Sheila!” That was the first name that came to my mind. Sheila might have been a child, but she was definitely attached to her grandparents. Whenever you factored in love into any equation, things were bound to get rough. And that kid was a little too active for her age and maybe for her own good.

“Ye-yes!”

She went into the forest? My blood went cold and a shiver went down my spine. I expected to hear that, but didn’t want to and definitely wasn’t prepared to.

There was a rumor in the village that the cause was definitely the sacred forest and it’s fumes that traveled by air. But there was no such evidence. Why would a 13 year old head into the forest only on speculation? And how was she planning on stopping something like that? I couldn’t think it through.

It wasn’t good news. I experienced firsthand how cruel that forest was. There was no way a 13 year old could survive. “When did this happen?”

“Samel saw her sneaking out of the gate. When he tried to stop her, she ran too quickly for him to catch up.” Miliai was devastated and rightfully so.

A child out matched an adult? He was injured, so that was understandable. I don’t think I would have done any better either. “How do we know that she went to the forest?” We still didn’t know if Sheila really went into the forest. After all it was still ways off from the village.

“Where else do you think she went!” She cried. Milai was agitated. She was irritated. She was a sister.

I didn’t have time to be doubtful. And this was my chance to repay my debt. “I see. I’ll head out right away. Does dune know?”

“He already went after her.” She broke into tears.

In that case there shouldn’t be much to worry about. Dune is probably the best this village has to offer. “Stay here. I’ll go immediately,” I said.

That’s how I consoled her. But honestly, even so, I didn’t want to go into that forest. It wasn’t a place I ever wanted to revisit. Just once was enough for me. But I had a sinking feeling that something was wrong. The onslaught, the curse, and now this, all of this seemed too coordinated to be a natural occurrence. Could it be that something-

“Take me with you. Having a priestess would help greatly in that forest,” Milai pleaded. If something happened, she’d lose both of her siblings. She couldn’t afford that.

But taking her was too dangerous. “The villagers here need you. I give you my word, I will bring her back. In the meantime take care of everything here.” Of course, I knew it was dangerous and I didn’t want to go there, but taking Milai was a plain bad idea and even I could feel it in my bones.

She didn’t seem convinced but there was no other way. And she knew that. Things moved too fast. I only consoled her in the heat of the moment. But I had to go out anyway. They’d done a lot for me, to ignore their pleas. They’d saved my life, they’d given me food, and they’d given me shelter. So I didn’t want to ignore them.. Of course, they had their own reasons, but that didn’t give me the excuse to just ignore their cry for help.