The Adventure of the Light-Bearer

CH. 22 - The Life of a Strawberry

That afternoon felt very short for the two young men. They walked with sweat drenching their foreheads. They had gone through the swamp and saw a rocky mountain before them. They walked towards the mountain.

There was a large, dark cave in front of them. High mountains and trees blocked the sunlight making the place a pitch-black place. The two men looked to the left. Levin looked up at the cave that looked like land, there was nothing there, though he believed it should be used as a guard post for trolls. The two of them then entered the cave which they believed to be the troll's hiding place.

They did not expect that the cave was brighter than the outside. There were candles lined up on the walls, there were also large barbed logs leaning there, perhaps the woods were the weapons of the trolls, he said, and it looks like those trolls aren't completely empty-headed creatures.

Their steps came to a halt when they saw a huge shadow coming from the other side. The shadow was getting closer and bigger. Then came a troll, his body was large and bloated, his teeth were protruding out, the smell was piercing from a distance. The troll looked towards the two young men calmly.

Levin carries Clea's bow on his back. He took a swing to shoot the troll. But the troll remained silent, he bent his body towards the two of them and pointed in the direction where he had come.

Levin knew it as a gesture. He bent his body back, returned his bow to his place and smiled at the troll. He whispered to Arnold.

"I think something strange is going on here. We have to be careful." whispered Levin, Arnold nodded.

Levin and Arnold followed the troll down a large hallway. Seen many trolls there looking at the two of them, none of them attacked, some of them even bowed their bodies.

They were then in a large room, the room was filled with trolls lined up to make way for the two of them. Some of the trolls let out loud cheers, the trolls then let out sounds in unison.

Then a larger troll came across a higher plain. Its neck is decorated with necklaces made of foliage and large fangs. He held his hands up, the cheers of the trolls became louder. The head of the troll lowered his hands, and the trolls stopped cheering.

"Welcome, Sagmorat! Welcome to our humble home! It is an honor for us these despicable creatures to see with our own eyes, a god in our home!" shouted the troll chief. The sound of other trolls was back rowdy, they screamed like a bunch of monkeys who were watching a human fall slipping. The head of the troll raised his hand, and the voices stopped.

"We know what you're looking for, young people. Even though your race says that we trolls are despicable creatures, we are bestowed by the gods for sacred duties. We were even given miracles by the gods to know the past and the future, praise them!" shouted the head of the troll continued other trolls. He lowered his hand back. Levin answered his words.

"I apologize for the treatment of other human beings towards your people, your majesty. Some of them do misunderstand your race, but you know, there are plenty of people out there who still respect other creatures, including your race." levin said with a voice echoing in the cave after bowing his body. Arnold then stepped forward, and knelt down.

"I beg you, your majesty! Someone I love so much needs your help right now. He doesn't have much time. He was exposed to a disease that only troll fangs would cure. I beg you with my life, please give us those fangs! I'll repay him with anything... Whatever you want! Even though it is my own life!" arnold shouted while kneeling. He has a very sensitive heart. She would easily cry when something sad happened. But now she was different, pain and fear wandered in her chest, but strength and love overcame those feelings, so she remained serious and hopeful. The trolls then cheered in a louder voice when they saw Arnold kneeling, but their chief held him back and brandished his hand.

"Ahh, very touching. A weak, timid and crybaby boy, now acted as if he was a soldier. But we will only accept honest words, we want something in return. Say, lads. Are you going to sacrifice your life for that person, like you said?" asked the troll leader while smilingly raising his eyebrows. Arnold then raised his face, he looked at the troll chief sharply and firmly.

"My life is not worth his life. I am nothing but a weakling who should not even have been born. Yeah, of course I'll do it. I will sacrifice my life for her" Arnold said, closing her eyes. She tries to look at the figure of Alisa, she tries to recall her sweet charming smile on her head. He then felt relieved and smiled, tears welled up his cheeks, his throat was sore and stuck because of his bated breath. The troll leader then laughed.

"What a pathetic, so sad. But I'm gonna tell you something. Something that escaped your head. Something's.... Which will make you swallow your saliva back. You, can't save him, Arnold" said the troll's chairman as he walked down to Arnold. He then continued.

Arnold's face turned pale, he couldn't believe what the troll chief said. His eyes widened open, he gritted his teeth holding back the words that echoed in his head. She knew she didn't have much time to save Alisa, she got up, pulled a fang on the troll leader's necklace and ran away. The trolls cheered again, some of them taking a swing to attack and come forward to ambush Arnold, but the head of the troll warmed his hands as a gesture to let him go. Levin stared, he just went silent to observe what was happening around him.

Arnold ran outside without caring about the trolls around him. He clasped the fangs tightly, running towards the dense, dark swamp. The hard twigs in the swamp swiped Arnold's hand to make him bleed, he ignored him and kept running as fast as lightning.

"Alisa's... Why did you do it? Why did you... do that stupid thing to save me?" arnold said to heart.

Tears blocked his vision. But her fixated mind to Alisa made her keep running regardless of anything that was in her way. He splashed into the swamp, his legs sprained and twigs scratched his hands many times. He kept running and wished wholeheartedly that he could arrive at his destination in time.

The spatter rain made the ground there become muddy. The light in the sky began to dim, the sun was still visible hanging in front of Arnold's face. He ran with a breath that was breathless and heavy.

Arnold then came out of the swamp and ran towards the wooden house in front of him quickly. He slammed the door in front of him and fell to the floor because his sprained leg was not strong enough to hold the slam.

Arnold saw the woman lying on the floor. The white cloths that bound him opened without tearing at all. The woman's slender body was visible due to the sweat that soaked her clothes, her hair was disheveled, her eyes wet and red tightly shut.

The place became silent for a moment, Arnold's eyes fixed in disbelief at the miserable sight he saw. Arnold then knelt down, he shook the woman's body limply. Tears flowed down his cheeks, he did not stop saying his name and shook it. The woman died.

Black liquid soaked the floor there, it came out of a small bottle lying on the side of the corpse. He then saw a quill pen near the liquid, and a paper that had black spots doused in liquid ink. Arnold carried it with trembling hands, he raised his scratched hands and observed it with his blurry eyes. There is a written text with neat writing, it seems that the writing was written earlier by Alisa in the previous day.

 

'Arnold, I know you're not gonna like this. But I have to do it. Do you remember when I asked you not to see me for a whole day last week? I told you to do that and you did it. You didn't see me, didn't talk to me and you didn't see me for a day. You're wondering\me why you should do that with that adorable face of yours aren't you? Arnold, my sweet rat, you've managed to live without me for a whole day. Now, do it forever.'

 

There was a picture of a heart symbol on her edge, it was drawn with trembling hands and forced, perhaps Alisa added her writing before she died with the pen and ink. Next to the picture was written P.S with disheveled, the additional writing reads:

'Bury me with your little shoes you lost in the lake when we were kids. I want to hold you there forever.'

end of Chapter :)