Leaving the anxiety-triggering land behind, to a more stable place, Vikaya yawned and stretched looking around expecting the usual, Land of No existence
"What?" her stomach twists and she stood there rooted and frozen
It wasn't the strange land Vikaya had been expecting. It felt like a village but somehow very old, almost ancient
"Zar!" she yelled and looked around "Zar!" she called him
But to her anguish, there was silence surrounding her instead of his familiar raspy voice
Vikaya's knees gave away and she knelt down
"There's no escape" she whispered to herself tearing up
Footsteps crunched the dry leaves on the ground and came closer to Vikaya. Still sniffling she looked up. A couple was walking by, holding hands
"Are you sure this will work?" asked the woman
"Don't worry dear. Many people have sung praises for him. His prayers and methods are always fruitful" said the man
"But if he's a priest why does he live deep in the forest? Why not near the village temple?" asked the wife
This stumped the husband too
"Excuse me" called Vikaya but they kept walking ahead
"Excuse me!" she yelled and ran after them. She lifted her arm to grab them but her fingers passed right through them!
"Am I..?" she thought of the worst. More tears escaped her eyes rolling down her plump cheeks
"What is his name?" asked the wife
"Alekon Do" said the husband
Did this ring a bell for Vikaya? No. It rang a dozen church bells!
"Wait!" she said but they ignored her like every normal human being ignoring things they can't see, hear or feel
She ran after them and kept close and in a few minutes they reached a house in the middle of the dark forest where the worst waited for them
"Alekon Do!" she grinded her teeth
Without even thinking twice Vikaya dashed at him and attacked him! But only if her attack was useful, this would have been a good fight. Her fiery hands passed right through him! Now, Vikaya was even more pissed
"We are desperately trying to have a child but we are still waiting after 7 years. Please help us" said the man
Alekon Do sighed but with pleasure "Not to worry" he told them in an assuring tone
"I will prepare a prayer bag for you. Carry this with you at all times and pray every night for forty days. The fortieth day will fall on a Full Moon. That day you will find out that you are bearing children" said the "Priest"
"However, before I do this you must promise me one thing" said Alekon
"What, please tell us" said the couple
"Your children will become my disciples. I will teach them all great things, arts, literature, science and more" said Alekon
The couple looked at each other, confused but nodded and agreed anyway, their desperation was too much to avoid this
Time flashed before Vikaya's eyes and she saw that the couple was blessed with twin boys
"What should we name them?" asked the wife
"How about Zar and Ren?" asked the husband
The wife smiled and nodded
Goosebumps filled Vikaya's body as she stared at the baby who will turn into a Hhital. This tiny, innocent thing turned into that undead creature? She thought to herself, shrugging with shock
The boys were soon grown up and started visiting the "priest" for regular lessons. Zar was taught everything from complex mathematics to astronomy, astrology and even the magic of herbs and where to find them while Ren was given just the basic knowledge.
"That's weird" thought Vikaya but something disturbing triggered her
While Zar was given all the knowledge worldly and beyond, the priest treated him awfully while Ren got the bare minimum knowledge and he was treated wonderfully. Vikaya clutched her fists upon seeing this
The evening took away the daylight and the kids walked home but Vikaya stayed behind to check Alekon
"Just a few more days" he rubbed his hands with sinister delight. He cracked his neck and flipped the pages of a heavy, ancient book
"Soon Zar will be all-knowing being of this planet and I will be immortal and the ruler of every domain!" his demented laugh echoed around the forest
"Immortal? Ruler? How?" wondered Vikaya
Quickly shuffling through his notes, she found papers written in blood red
"What language is this?" she thought in frustration but she understood one word which was similar to her native language which her mother had taught her
"Sacrifice?!" she blurted
"I must do something!" she tried to grab the papers but alas no use
Running through the forest straight to Zar's house she tried to tell him but no one could see her and Vik knew that but she was desperate
The next morning, the twins ventured to their teacher's house again but to their surprise the house was empty
"Let's sit and wait for him to come" Zar said to Ren, both of them waited in the study room
Thanks to Zar's continuous curiosity he sneaked into Alekon's room and to Vik's relief found the notes!
"A ritual?" blurted Zar, his insides in a knot
Alekon Do was planning to sacrifice Zar to a dark, evil unnatural force in order to become immortal and rule this world
"You are a sneaky one, aren't you?" Alekon's sharp voice startled Zar and the little boy jumped
"You shouldn't be here!" he grinded his teeth and grabbed the boy's neck
"Why?" Zar tried to squeeze out his words "Why me?"
"You are an all-knowing being of this world, ALL-KNOWING! Do you know how much power that holds in the spirit realm? Do you know all your chakras are open and aligned?" said Alekon smiling ominously
"Aren't you already all-knowing?" said Zar
"Yeah but you still have an innocent heart and soul, and chakras filled with the light of the sun" he said, shaking with the thought of unimaginable power. He loosened his grip and let him go
"What will happen to Ren?" asked Zar
"Oh he will go back to your parents because I promised them a child and he is that child, while you are my reward" said Alekon
"I will not be a part of your scheme" said Zar and left his room
He went straight to Ren
"Let's go home" he said "You go ahead I am right behind you, don't stop till you see mom and dad, alright?" he said
Ren nodded and ran ahead
"Well, have your way" said Alekon coming from behind "But you will not have a family the moment you walk out that door" warned Alekon in a disturbing tone
Zar snorted "I knew you were going to say that. Evil people only have cowardice schemes to back them" said Zar and turned to face Alekon
"You will lose, ALWAYS" said Zar and fished out a large knife which he had picked up earlier from Alekon's desk
"It ends here" said the little boy and stabbed himself not once but multiple times in different places
Alekon yelled with rage and grabbed Zar trying to save him
"ZAR!" yelled Vikaya tearing up trying to grab him but her grief and shock was increased by feeling helpless and useless
In his last moments, his voice turned into a whisper
"Do you know why I sent Ren away?" smiled Zar cheekily
"Soon all the villagers will come searching for the monster who murdered a child" said Zar "They are coming for you Alekon"
"YOU!" yelled Alekon and got up
He grabbed a few items from his house and fled leaving the boy
"Zar!" said Vikaya kneeling beside him but sadly he couldn't hear her
Zar, Zar she kept mumbling, until tears drowned her, her vision gave away and she collapsed