Sitting by the tree, Abner felt something weird, something he couldn’t quite explain, but something that wasn’t right. He could feel it in the atmosphere around him: how the sunlight seemed so dull as if the sun itself had stopped its ignition; how the wind that caressed his skin felt ferociously chilly as if it brought with it a message as grim as a night’s sky with no stars; how the wildflowers that decorated the forest bed no longer danced with the gleeful song of the sparrows; and how the blood-red tree behind him relinquished its delicate yet magnificent leaves on the ground as if it were shedding its tears sorrowfully. It had been 2 weeks since that abhorrent night; the night he detested, but he could still feel its essence in everything he touched and everything he saw.
His father and mother had started to worry for him as they couldn’t understand what had gone wrong. He couldn’t make swords anymore. His brother, who was just 14 years old, had to be burdened by problems that weren’t even his. All because of him. Everything around him was crumbling into little bits and pieces while he just sat idly, watching it all come to pass.
He did see Gilbert after that, Gilbert he still couldn’t get out of his mind, Gilbert, who had ruined his life without even knowing. Every time he saw him, though, he would quickly change his path or just hide; but even Abner knew he couldn’t carry this up forever.
His brain was instantly alert as soon as Abner heard the dried leaves behind him crunch. The air was suddenly filled with the same musky scent he knew very well about. He glanced at the back, as his breath hitched, to find Gilbert walking, walking towards the tree, walking towards him.
“Hey”, he said as he approached, “Abner! How are you doing?”.
“Hi”, Abner replied, “I’m fine. What about you?”.
“I’m fine as well, thanks for asking. Do you come here quite often? I’ve seen you a couple of times, since my arrival, walking towards these trees”, Gilbert asked as he sat down beside him.
“Yeah, I come here….. whenever I want to refresh my mind”, he said, ‘Which is pretty often’.
“Yeah, peaceful places like these really help”.
The was a silence after that, which felt almost deafening. Deafening enough that Abner knew he had to break it, “SO, Ugh….. When are you guys going back”, ‘Ugh, that felt rude’, “I mean how long are you guys staying”, ‘and that felt even more rude’. Abner almost cried internally.
“You don’t want me to stay?”, Gilbert replied with a light chuckle, “I should definitely go back to the palace like, right now”.
“No, Ugh…. You know I didn’t mean it like that”.
“I know, I’m kidding”, Gilbert affirmed, “Me and the other three, got a month off, so we could go back to our families and rest a bit”. Gilbert leaned in closer, with a smirk that curved his lips, and Abner felt like his heart was about to burst into a million little pieces, “You know, the truth is that, I don’t even wanna go back now. This always happens to me, whenever I get some days off, I just…. don’t feel like going back to the same old routine”.
Abner felt his throat constrict as he gulped painfully. Having Gilbert’s face that close, restricted him from breaking eye contact, and he had to keep staring into the deepest eyes he knew, which felt like absolute torture. Abner felt his forehead being painted with sweat as Gilbert moved back. “Well”, Abner cleared his throat, quickly diverting his eyes to the farthest tree he could get his eyes on, “That must be very painful”.
“Yeah, it sure is”.
“Um… I should probably go back”, Abner said as he got up, dusting his linen trousers, “My parents must be waiting for me”, ‘That is definitely the most standard of all excuses’.
“Too bad”, Gilbert said while stretching his back a bit, “I was actually enjoying our conversation”.
“Me too”, he replied as he started walking back towards the small village.
The moon was strangely dim, like its life force had been sucked out. The night felt deeper and darker than ever. Not just Abner but every person in the village felt something sinister was in the making. The villagers turned to their houses early that night, trying to sleep the night away as fast as possible. Abner felt a heavy pressure built up in his chest, and he felt utterly breathless inside his bedroom. He hurried outside, trying to fill his lungs with every bit of fresh air he could get. With a little walk, Abner found himself among those familiar trees again. But he still felt as anxious as he had been. Even the fresh and woodsy fragrances didn’t help soothe him. And then he felt a strange tingle behind his back as his hair stood up as if warning him. He darted his eyes back as soon as he could, and that’s when his vision was lost, and he fell to the ground with a terrible sting in his head. All his consciousness was lost as soon as he touched the ground.
His temporal arteries were throbbing as he felt extreme pain blanketing his head. He grunted as he turned his head around. Confusion filled his half-awoken mind as a peculiar burning scent entered his nostrils. He forced himself to consciousness as he slowly lifted himself to his feet. He found himself in more incertitude when he noticed how everything around him shinned as if it were the brightest of the days, even when the only thing that could be seen in the sky was the dimly lit moon. He looked around confused, trying to understand what was happening, when suddenly the village came into his view……… with every little house engulfed in the mightiest of the flames.