Lania - Path to Light (Part 7)

“Lania…..”

    There was a voice calling her; a gentle voice; someone very familiar, yet Lania couldn’t put her finger on it. She swam aimlessly in a sea of darkness, trying to find an exit, trying to break out of the world of dreams.

“Lania…..wake up.”

“I can’t,” Lania wailed at the voice.

“Wake up….” The voice seemed fainter, and Lania was scared it was going away.

“I can’t!! Help!! Don’t go away!!”

“Wake up……”

      “I CAN’T!!” Lania shrieked as she shot out of bed, her blonde hair trailing behind her. Evan whirled around in shock, and Aran, who looked like she was snoozing on a rattan chair, suddenly stirred before falling back to sleep. Lania puffed in fear as her eyes darted across the room, examining everything; she was in the room, the only light source a small lamp in the corner. Other than herself, the only people occupying the room was Evan, who seemed to be looking through stuff in a cabinet, and Aran, who was snoozing her head off. White, faded curtains blocked out the view of outside, and the wooden door not far from her bed was slightly ajar.

      “Lania, whoa, you okay?” Evan said, placing what looked to her like a giant yellow yo-yo back into the cabinet before pushing it shut. He walked towards her bed and leaned over the mattress, squinting in the semi-darkness to inspect the terrified girl. Lania nodded, though she wasn’t fooling anyone. Evan could even SEE the girl shaking. “Yes, yes, I’m….I’m alright,” Lania said, and managed a brief smile.

     “You collapsed again,” Evan said, concern flooding his face. “Don’t tell me you sensed darkness again?” Lania considered lying, but she looked at Evan’s concerned face and sighed, nodding her head. Evan pulled a chair close to the bed and sat down, taking Lania’s hand in his. She didn’t know why, but she enjoyed the sensation of another hand cupping hers. “You’re cold,” Evan said, and reached for the covers of another bed beside her and yanked it off the mattress before draping it over Lania. It fluttered down gracefully like a swan descending from flight.              

      “I hope you don’t mind,” Evan said, sitting himself back down. Shadows danced across his face from the flickering lamplight. “But after you fainted, I told the others about your ‘six sense’. I thought….well, they needed to know.” Lania nodded. She was fine with them knowing it, especially after she suddenly fainted like that. She didn’t want them to think she was REALLY sick.

She cast a glance at the covered windows. “How long have I been out?”

“Two days.”

       “T-two days!?” Lania gasped, awe-struck. She had been unconscious for two days? Sure, the more powerful the darkness, the more time she’d spend in dreamland, but it must’ve been REALLY powerful if she had slept for forty-eight hours. She hugged the two sets of blankets to her chest and pulled them up to her chin before flopping back onto the bed. Even though she felt she ought to go after the burglar – yes, she STILL hadn’t changed her mind about that – all she wanted to do today was lie in bed because she felt so lousy.

A thought occurred to her. “Where’s Mercedes and Phantom?”

         “Well,” Evan said, sucking in his lower lip. “After I told them why you fainted, Mercedes became superstitious of the area, claiming that there was a Black Wing or something around, and therefore told Phantom to scout the area. Every single day. So Mercedes is downstairs working out some things, and Phantom’s scouting the forest.”

“The forest?” Lania asked, cocking an eyebrow.

         “Yeah,” Evan grinned and shook his head, his auburn hair falling into his eyes. “After scouting the whole day yesterday finding nothing, Mercedes still didn’t believe we were really safe; she’s the queen of elves, ye’ know? She has the habit of being too cautious; so now, Phantom’s scouting the forest.”

        Lania’s lips felt dry and her hands felt too weak to move. A vision suddenly flashed before her mind and quickened her heart beat. She flounced off the bed and threw the covers away, heading for the door. Evan cocked an eyebrow at her. “Where are you going?”

       “To inform Mercedes of something,” Lania said, her hands wrapping around the golden doorknob. “I’m afraid your friend is in danger.”

                            ****

       Phantom kicked at a stray pebble on the floor crossly, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. The forest smelled sweet, like grass before rain, and he might have enjoyed the time if it didn’t look so dark and scary at night. Not like he was afraid, or anything. As a thief who prowled the world until late midnight, the last thing he was afraid of was darkness.

        The trees around him arched high into the night, their heads disappearing into the foggy darkness. Phantom shifted his gaze from the floor, his violet eyes darting across the forest; nope. Nothing suspicious ANYWHERE. When he got back, he was so going to STRANGLE Mercedes and that IDIOT Evan for saying that STUPID girl brought up by that PATHETIC Luminous had…ahem, ‘six sense’, if such thing even EXISTS.

“Phantom….”

      A ghostly voice drifted out from the darkness, startling Phantom but not exactly scaring him. He whipped around, his cape swirling behind him like a pair of snow-white wigs. His violet eyes flitted across the grassy landscape, alert and prepared for everything.

“Mmmm…you’ve weakened considerably since our last meeting….”

      “Who the heck is out there!?” Phantom barked into the dark night, his heart pounding hard against his chest. Somehow that voice was familiar. A maniacal laughter exploded from the murky darkness; it was a harsh, mocking, cruel sound, which made Phantom’s blood pump faster and made adrenalin flush into his veins.

      Suddenly, something dark and fast flashed across him, just barely missing him by CENTIMETERS. Phantom whipped out his cards and flicked multiple sharp-edged cards at the dark blur, which missed it by tons and got wedged into the bark of a nearby tree. He tightened his grip on his cane and moved a few steps back, considering running back to Evan’s house and informing Mercedes about this strange encounter, but he pushed that thought from his mind. He didn’t want ANYBODY knowing he had fled from this thing – whatever it was – like a big BABY. So he stood his ground, his eyes darting across the land, searching the darkness for the person – or the thing.

“Stubborn as usual, hmmm?”

        Suddenly, Phantom was knocked to the ground. He hit the earth hard, the air knocked out of him. He scrambled up to his feet and fired multiple attacks at the attacker, who just zipped away at top speed, which made Phantom’s attacks appear to crawl at a snail’s pace. The maniacal laughter continued to echo throughout the forest as Phantom was pushed and pulled and punched about like a punching bag before being knocked to the ground AGAIN, bruising his arm as it hit the ground. His breathing was ragged and he lost his hat from the wrestle, and his clothes were dark and smudged with dirt. He felt bruised and battered all over.

He felt a boot stomp down on his back, knocking the wind out of him.

“Pity. I thought this would be a real battle.”

       Phantom squirmed and turned around, facing his attacker with glaring violet eyes. He shifted to the other side to face his opponent.

And gazed into the single crimson eye of Luminous.

                                                                          ******

“I assure you, we have NOTHING to worry about.”

“But I’m telling you, the vision was REAL. Phantom’s in trouble!”

“Mercedes, maybe you should listen to Lania.”

       After having a sudden VISION that Phantom was going to get trampled over and beaten up by some strange black blur, Lania had tried to inform Mercedes about the danger of the situation. Mercedes didn’t seem particularly bothered, and had assured Lania she had nothing to worry about, seeing as Phantom was rather tough and quick-witted, he was not the type to be suddenly beaten by some ‘blur’.

      “I am very much certain that arrogant young fool still needs a lot of training; mostly on modesty,” Mercedes clicked her tongue in irritation and smiled back at the two children, who were quickly getting impatient with the elf. “But he is more than enough to finish off something from the forest; especially this one. Evan, you should know that the Henesys forest has NOTHING Phantom can’t handle.”

“I am aware of that. But-”

      “No, I have had enough of this conversation. I am sure that the vision you had Lania was just a dream, and that tomorrow Phantom will return, safe and sound, and brag about some exotic plant he found when all he found was a fern of some sort,” with that, Mercedes shook her head and sighed, then went back to flipping through some thick book about the world of today, ignoring the children behind her, who were fed up with this conversation.

      Lania stomped up the stairs, clearly making it obvious she was ANNOYED TO THE DEATH with Mercedes. Evan tried to be a bit more flexible, trying to see from Mercedes’s point of view, but he couldn’t see why Mercedes couldn’t even take a short TRIP to the forest to see if Phantom was okay. Sure, he didn’t really like him that much, but he was still a comrade, and why couldn’t she even make sure he was alright?

    Lania reached the top of the stairs and flung open the room door with a bang. Evan winced, and Lania flounced onto the bed, the thoughts of the crazy day flooding her mind. She buried her head in the blankets and screamed until her voice was hoarse. Evan peered into the room to see Lania full out sprawled on the bed, her hands clutching the side of her head. Evan was afraid the darkness was back and she was having that going-to-collapse-migraine, but from the look on her face, he could tell it was something else.

     When she sensed darkness, her face scrunched up into one of intense pain, but all she was doing was biting her lip. She caught sight of Evan peering down at her and let go of her head, letting her hands drop limply to her sides. Evan asked her calmly what was wrong, and Lania sighed, flumping back onto the bed.

“The visions are back,” Lania said with a wince. “And they’re clouding my thoughts.”

      “Oh,” Evan said sympathetically. He sat next to Lania and looked down at her, their blue eyes greeting each other. Lania blinked and looked away, another vision of Phantom getting jostled about, bruised and battered, by the mysterious black blur filled her mind and she tried her best to shake it off, but it wasn’t easy. She winced as another one rammed its way into her already-crowded-brain and she turned in bed, pulling the covers above her head, trying to silence the millions of voices that filled her mind.

      Evan grinned as Lania fell asleep in the bundles of blankets; she was out that quickly. She must’ve had a hard day. Evan draped a blanket over Lania’s shoulders, tucking her gently in before climbing back into bed, pulling the covers over himself. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was aware of how sleepy he was. He snuggled deep into the folds of the blankets, falling asleep without giving Phantom a second thought.

                              ******

       Evan awoke to Lania screaming her head off, clutching her head and tossing and turning in her bed. Evan scrambled out of bed and leaned over Lania’s mattress, wincing as her high-pitched screams nearly ruptured his eardrums. Aran was already awake, shaking Lania and trying to get her to wake up. Soon enough, Mercedes busted through the door as well, her hair still a bit messed up from sleeping. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know! She was like that when I woke up!” Aran replied, shaking Lania more.

      “Lania, wake up!!” Evan said, pushing Aran aside and grabbing hold of Lania, shaking her unstoppably. Lania’s eyes snapped open and she yanked her arm away in fear, shivering uncontrollably. Aran leaned over the girl, asking if she was alright. Lania clutched her head in fear and stuttered: “We….we….” he voice cracked and she swallowed, then started over. “Mercedes, please, we HAVE to see if Phantom is alright!!”

Mercedes pursed her lips tightly. “Is this another vision?”

     Lania nodded her head, tears streaming from her eyes. “In my latest vision….I saw….I saw him dead,” Lania looked about the room, wondering what kind of effect this would bring. Answer; not much. Lania pleaded with them, and in the end, Mercedes gave in and they set off into the fading night, the sun slowly climbing up the hills, painting pink streaks in the powder-blue sky. Mercedes had complained that the Henesys forest was large, and Phantom could be ANYWHERE. But it seemed that the vision made Lania KNOW where Phantom was, and she led them through a dizzying number of twists and turns. Finally they emerged into clearing.

Aran’s eyes widened in shock. “Oh, god.”   

       A huge crater was busted into the earth, and the trees surrounding it were incinerated into bits of ash and dust. Pigs and other animals that were even just PARTIALLY in the vicinity of the crater lay, motionless on the ground. One unfortunate pig had its lower torso burnt away, and it just lay bleeding at the edge of the crater, its blood soaking the ground crimson. Even some birds were found dead in the crater. But the thing that caught their attention above everything else was the person lying in the middle of the crater.

    Phantom was lying, motionless in the middle of the crater, his eyes gummed shut. He was bruised and bleeding all over and his clothes were ripped and torn in places. His hat lay at the edge of the crater, fine other than a bit of ash on top of it. His cape was torn in half; one half of it still hanging from his shoulders, the other twisted and tied around his neck, a bind tied to the end of it that was tightened to the point where an average Mapler couldn’t survive.

    “Phantom!!” Evan gasped, and Lania clasped her hands to her face, looking anywhere but where Phantom lay, motionless, most-likely dead. Aran stumbled back a few steps and tripped on a rock and was sent sprawling backwards, falling butt-first onto the earth. Mercedes gritted her teeth and walked towards the unconscious Phantom before kneeling down and doing what she could to heal him.

     “Aran! Evan! Lania! Get over here! I need your help,” Mercedes called out, her shout startling a flock of birds. They squawked noisily but didn’t take off from their perch, instead watching the weird group with interest as they ruffled their feathers. Aran knelt down beside the elfin woman and gently untied the noose, pushing and pulling until it finally came loose in her hand, a soiled piece of fabric from his cape. Mercedes then took over, doing whatever she could even though she wasn’t a magician.

     The two children just stood and watched, feeling utterly pathetic and helpless. There was nothing they could do. Soon enough, they heard the familiar cough as Phantom came back to life. He coughed and hacked, then finally opened his weary eyes and inspected his surroundings. Lania gulped; she had never seen him in this shape before. His hair was tangled and messed up, bits of dirt sticking to it. His skin was pale, almost white, and his neck was entirely red. He opened his mouth to say something, but got as far as a “Mer-” before her started coughing badly. Mercedes patted him on the back and smiled briefly, and Aran let out a sigh of relief. Evan almost fell to the ground with relief but forced himself to stand up straight.

    “Don’t speak,” Mercedes said, and helped him off the floor. Phantom was so wobbly he managed two steps before collapsing to the ground. Aran flung him over her shoulder and began walking back towards the house, Mercedes following, the two other’s following meekly behind. As soon as they reached Evan’s house and Aran set him on the couch, he was out. Lania, who was responsible for carrying his hat as Mercedes said: “We can’t leave that behind. Means the world to him” and set it on his head, over his eyes, so if you looked over the scars and the bruises, he would just look like he was lying there sleeping, and that made Lania feel better.

     Mercedes apologized to the two for not believing them, and Aran apologized for SLEEPING TOO LONG, though she only did because Mercedes gave her the evil eye and elbowed her painfully in the ribs. The two forgave Mercedes and the four quickly discussed about what could have hurt Phantom – and the earth, the animals and whatnot – so much. Aran suggested a HUGE, BULKING GIANT, and then got wacked on the head by Mercedes for wishful thinking.

      After awhile of GETTING NO-WHERE in their discussion, Phantom stirred and woke up, groaning as he sat up straight. His voice was still a bit hoarse, but other than that, his other injuries were simple, nothing major. Mercedes inspected him a bit more and said that the bind wasn’t tied as tight as they thought, like the attacker wasn’t planning on killing him today, and that it would be healed in a few days of bed rest. Even though the heroes had told him he was pushing himself too hard, Phantom INSISTED on telling them the name of his attacker, and he seemed pretty grumpy at that. His expression seemed to flash back to the old Phantom, and Lania was grateful for that.

     “The person who attacked me…..is a traitor,” Phantom spat, shifting his weight and groaning slightly as he did so. “He is a DISGRACE to the world of Maple.”

   “C’mon, Phantom,” Aran said, anxious to hear who managed to hurt Phantom so much. “Don’t beat about the bush.”  

    Phantom had instructed that Lania leave the room, but after throwing a hissy fit right in front of him that could only be calmed by Evan, Phantom agreed – rather grudgingly – that she could stay and hear what he had to say. Phantom swallowed to freshen up his voice a bit, then said: “The person who attacked me….was Luminous.”

Silence filled the room as Phantom’s words sunk in.