The silence that followed after the old lady's prophesies was deafening as Tristian began to wonder if she had mistaken him for another person, so he didn't see any reason why he had to mind what she said.
But on the other hand, Who was that Lady, and why did she refer to him as Satharus? And the most intriguing question was where was he? and who were those people dressed like an ancient Egyptian army? Tristian looked around the dungeon for a clean spot and took his seat since all these thoughts as well as the recurrent visions of flashbacks, made his head spin with confusing thoughts.
Despite his predicaments, Tristian began to have visions of a long-haired warrior who was fighting fiercely before a serpent-like creature...slashing and killing them with his sword while he tried to save his young soldiers.
The images continued but this time around, familiar voices replaced them along the visions.
"Gather the women and children into the tomb...Hurry! we have no time to waste."
"Soldiers! A fierce war is upon us...A war none of us may survive. But we need to protect our friends, our families, our lineage, and above all our Kingdom! No enemy should ever think of ever surviving in our land. If we are to die, we are to die fighting...I am sure I am not going to make it through this war, but I won't die until I rid this land of all its threats...." The voice paused for a while and stared at the army before him. "And you, My Soldiers! are my strength. The survivors after the war should free the women and children in the tomb or else they wouldn't be any to survive from our clan after their food run out. Be brave and fight fearlessly...To the Dragonbreath Kingdom!" He roared finally
To the Dragonbreath Kingdom!!!" The soldiers screamed after their leader and the expression on their faces was of bravery and fearlessness, anger, and an extreme desire to eliminate all threats.
Tristian realized that no man who faced this army would have made it out alive to tell the tale, but it seemed from his visions, it wasn't a war for men but of bloodthirsty beasts.
"They are coming...Release the fireballs!"
These continuous pieces of flashbacks and strange memories it seemed, kept appearing before Tristian eyes, as if it were a reality before him. It made his head spin and a strong headache overtook him and he collapsed inside his dungeon.
A few moments later, the loud sound of a heavy thunder rumbled and shook Tristian into consciousness and he looked around strangely at his environment before his mind was brought to reality. The clouds began to form into a heavy rain.
Meanwhile, Tristian thought all the visions or hallucinations he kept having were due to hunger or maybe that old lady must have done something to him after she held firmly unto his hand a while ago.
"What's happening to me? What did she do to me?!" Tristian wondered aloud.
Even though the dungeon he was locked inside looked like a shit hole, the food was edible at least. Tristian finished his meal to his satisfaction. Like the guard warned, it might be his last meal.
A few miles ahead, beyond the tall tower below which Tristian was being held, were the two competitive cousins who were racing on their fastest horses with Sabreena taking the lead with smiles and excitement as she stared behind her to see how far ahead she was, until Regan soon overtook her and her smiles turned into a fierceness which gave birth to a newfound determination to win back her leading spot. However, it became impossible for her.
This trick had been how Regan had always won against Sabreena all this time. He would allow her to think she was winning as she got ahead of him, then she would let her guard down instinctively. At that moment weakness was what Regan normally took advantage of and won over her in every race. Regan had always known about the human mind and how it worked. This wouldn't be a surprise since he took after his Father who was the wisest in the entire kingdom.
"I won!" Regan whistled in excitement as Sabreena fumed in regret when her high hope to win got crushed the instant she let down her guard.
"That's because I didn't give my best...If only I..." Sabreena couldn't end her words before Regan interrupted humorously.
"Always with the excuses...If you had won then it would have been fair, but if it was otherwise, then comes the many many excuses. For once Sabreena, learn to accept defeat. That's the only way you could realize your mistakes and learn from them."
"Since when did you suddenly become so wise? What's with all these words of wisdom..." Sabreena scoffed and barely landed her speech when she heard a strange sound.
"Shhh!...." Regan hushed Sabreena when he looked far ahead and spotted Commander Modred on his horse on the path toward the Kingdom.
Sabreena's concentration was drawn to Regan's sudden tensed reaction and she followed Regan's gaze far ahead to have a view of what the Prince saw to get so tensed and nervous about, then her eyes widened in realization.
How was it possible? Commander Modred! He had never left his post ever since he was positioned as the guardian to guard the Kingdom's most sacred existence...The TUTUS! How was it possible that they were seeing him outside the boundary and he seems to be heading towards the Palace.
"This can't be good! Let's move Sabreena...I think something serious has happened." Regan patted his horse as he took the saddle to ride toward the commander. He was curious to know what disturbing news the commander had in store to deliver to his father.
Even Sabreena was conscious of the same curiosity as Regan, but she got nervous and quite worried for reasons known only to herself. She raced to catch up with Regan and soon they were at the entrance of the Palace as Commander descended on his horse to seek audience with the King, with a horrendous expression on his face.
Regan got down from his horse and signaled a guard to take care of it as he followed the footsteps of the commander to his father's throne room.
"Your Majesty...It's commander Modred!" The Royal guard announced as soon as he saw the commander approaching.
King Zach stood to his feet in alarm at the mention of the commander's presence. News within the territory of the TUTUS had always alarmed him. He had once thought of cutting down the tree after the war, but its remedy was essential and kept all the people in the kingdom from all diseases outbreak which seemed to wipe out most of the people in the neighboring Kingdoms.
It also became a source of income for the Royal treasury from exporting these remedies. These events made their Kingdom strong against its enemies and the number one Kingdom to rule above half of the continent.
The TUTUS's power was truly immense and King Zach didn't want anyone to ever know more of its secrets, hence, he had locked every piece of data about the discovery of that knowledge underneath the Castle, where no soul ever visited or come across it.
So the only knowledge of awareness about the TUTUS to the people of the kingdom was only the remedy of its flowers and the dangers within the thorns...no more no less. And king Zach loved to keep it that way, for everyone's protection.!
However, for the first time since the eradication of all this knowledge of the TUTUS, it seems bad news was upon them just from Commander Modred's visit to the palace. It could only mean that someone had discovered the knowledge he had tried to hide all these years.
Anyone seeking the TUTUS could only mean that the person had more knowledge of its power than what reports suggested.
"But how?!" King Zach murmured to himself. "Send him in at once!" He ordered impatiently.
Commander Modred appeared later before the tensed King with the most unfavorable news of the intruder.
"Your Majesty...Like you feared, It seemed an intruder had finally appeared before the TUTUS and he doesn't appear to be an ordinary man!" The commander's announcement shocked King Zach which showed its expressions on his face and features. He stumbled to seat on the throne as he digested what the commander just reported to him.
Not far from the throne room was the curious prince who hid behind a wall and heard what the commander reported, as well as the expressions of horror on his father's face. Which was a more shocking news to him...In all his life, he had never seen a hint of fear or tension in his father's features despite all the worse incidents in the past. But it seemed this particular news just shook the roots of his father's worse fears, which brought him to the question of how powerful the TUTUS really was, to invoke this fear in his fearless father.
"I have to find out more about the TUTUS somehow. And it had to be soon!" Regan's curiosity was now poked as he grew a new determination to get to the root of knowing everything about the TUTUS, and why that territory became the only territory in this entire Kingdom he was forbidden to approach or ever go near it...The tall tower!.
Regan turned to spot the approaching Sabreena who appeared later. He moved to meet her along the way and dragged her by her hand toward the stairs heading below the castle.
"Where are we going, Regan!" Sabreena asked after a distance into their walk.
"Underneath the castle...to the library!" Regan proceeded to drag Sabreena who became unwilling to move after she heard what Regan uttered.
"What?! Do you want to get me in trouble along with you...That's a forbidden territory. I am way over doing the forbidden stuff...I am still suffering from the other sacred bridge I crossed..." Sabreena suddenly held her hand to her mouth after blabbering the secret she had told none so far...about crossing the point of separation and touching the forbidden palm tree back at the stream.
Regan paused in his movements upon listening to what Sabreena almost confessed to, and turned to her in inquiry.
"What did you do Sabreena?" Regan asked seriously.
Sabreena was taken aback by Regan's sudden question and stammered her answer. But before she could think twice about her situation, she found herself revealing her secret for the first time since she committed that awful crime.
"It was on the same day you were born, I gave into my childish instinct and touch the forbidden tree of Separation at the stream, and I have been having strange nightmares ever since..." Sabreena let out a relieved sigh after spitting everything out to Regan. But she failed to relate to the other matter, about the warning the old lady prophesied on that very day which had been ringing inside her mind, word for word, like she was just told a while ago.