Nicholas's heart skipped a beat. A strange fear started lurking inside that almost unmanned him. His hand which was holding on to Morpheous's arm, a couple of seconds before, lost its grip and turned limp.
Taking deep long breaths, he tried to recompose himself before uttering another word. He remembered what Balthazaar had asked him to do, but he didn't expect to meet the man whom he was supposed to stall, right here in these woods.
"Who are you supposed to meet in Ambracia?" asked Morpheous. His tone was low this time as he asked with a heavy heart, as he was pretty sure that he might not be aware of the deadly fire that had engulfed more than half of his village. Even he wasn't sure whom he would be able to meet and who had said their adios yesterday.
'You.'
'I am supposed to meet you.'
'I am supposed to stop you from challenging Master Nubeous.'
Nicholas screamed inside his head but spoke after reframing the wildness of his thoughts,
"Erm... Erm... there was a fire in the village yesterday. So I have come to meet the Apothecary. Master Nubeous has specifically sent me to give some precious herbs. It will help to heal the burn wounds faster."
But, Morpheous couldn't digest what he heard.
Nubeous was the one who was after their cropland. He had threatened them to evacuate the village without even bothering about where and how all the people of Ambracia would go. Apparently, there was something under the croplands that he desired and that meant the destruction of all the crops.
The day before the fire, the ministers had come to give the last warning and when the villagers didn't abide, they had to face the wrath of the fire the very night. So how could he believe that the same man whose stone-cold heart had laid the deathbed for many, was now trying to be the saviour?
So he squeezed the reins of the horse backward and brought it to a screeching halt and asked,
"Do you speak the truth?"
Nicholas turned back to look at him and saw that the colour of his eyes was changing. A hint of blue was setting into his amber coloured eyes. He felt as if that faint hint of blue was trying to seek inside his soul. He could slowly feel his own eyes becoming all droopy. He jerked his head and said,
"Yes, I speak the truth. But who are you? What is wrong with your eyes?"
Morpheous immediately blinked his eyes and they were back being the colour of amber. He looked at Nicholas and said,
"I told you, I am Morpheous, from the village of Ambracia."
"Yes, I know that. But what do you do for a living?" asked Nicholas for he couldn't believe what Balthazaar had told him. This man couldn't be a mere pheasant because if he were then why was Balthazar so scared of this man getting angry.
"I am a pheasant," replied Morpheous and loosened the reins of the horse again, and ran his palm on its torso. This time the horse galloped at its usual speed. As Nicholas turned ahead, he recollected everything that Damianos had told him the night before. When he had woken up he couldn't believe if what he had heard from his Godfather was true, but slowly things were sinking in.
Earlier he felt that he had the ability, to communicate with animals because he was emotionally invested in them. The cows and sheep of his village listened to him because he thought he grew up with them. But today when he able to communicate with a horse whom he had seen for the first time, he couldn't help but ponder.
Taking a deep gasp of air, he tamed his thoughts because right now he had too much information to process. That man looked suspicious, but as long as he helped him reach the village and as long as the herbs helped his men, he had no qualms.
They both rode in silence, immersed in their own swarm of thoughts.
Soon they reached the fork road on the outskirts of the forest and taking a left, the horse galloped on its own towards Ambracia.
'How could my horse turn on its own.'
'Is he controlling my horse?'
'Is he a wizard or an angel, like Balthazaar?'
Wondered Nicholas as they traversed through the road laced with the blooms of plumeria. The fragrance of the blooms was slowly getting overpowered with the smell of ash. A faint cloud of smoke was visible from afar.
"How bad was it?" asked Nicholas looking at the smoke which was spiraling up and disappeared in the lap of the clouds.
"You will know when you get there," said Morpheous and took a deep breath for he himself didn't know how bad was it. As they reached the angel oak tree suddenly Morpheous started hearing voices. Some were cries for help, some were cursing, some were asking him to take revenge, but it was all incoherent.
He looked around but there was no one.
As they moved further ahead, the voices started becoming louder and louder, reverberating against his ears, defeating him with every passing second.
"Gaaahhh.... "
Screamed Morpheous and Nubeous got scared with the way he saw him wincing in pain.
"What happened?" asked Nicholas and pulled the reins of his horse.
Morpheous got down from the horseback and knelt on the ground holding his head between his palms. Panic surged through Nicholas, as he saw him shuddering in pain. He looked at his body but there was no burning wound like Balthazaar used to have. He was out of his wits and as he had no idea how to help the man in front of him.
"Are you not hearing anything?" asked Morpheous as he couldn't understand why Nicholas wasn't affected by those loud voices.
"Hear what? I don't hear anything !" replied Nicholas but he was spooked with his question and looked around.
"Breathe !!!"
"Remember to breathe Morpheous !!! Focus on the voices...."
Echoed a particular voice and Morpheous started taking deep breaths. Slowly the voices started becoming clear. The pain had started to reduce.
"Let the voices of the soul guide you !!!"
He heard it loud and clear. This voice was familiar, for this was the voice of his Godfather Damianos, the angel who had fallen.