Chapter 4: Rehabilitation

"C'mon Aciel, You can do it. Give it a few more steps" The woman cheered. Aciel, The man who survived, Was now going through physical therapy. Although he had a few bandages on his forehead covering his horns, He was recovering rather well. In a few more days, he would be allowed to get out of the hospital and live life in Ravens Path. It would be a fresh start for him. But at the cost of losing everyone he knew and seeing beasts for the first time. And that voice. That dark voice…

Although the legions of doctors and nurses said he had a panic or stress induced hallucination, That there was no sign of some sort of monster, He refused to believe it. A mere hallucination couldn't do that. How was that possible? No. He knew something was off. He saw those things carry off people he knew his entire life. He saw all of it. He kept trying to tell them his story, but he was simply powerless at the moment.

The plan for him now was to finish physical therapy and return home to investigate. Maybe he'd find evidence and prove that he wasn't hallucinating. At least he hoped. For now, He just continued on with his Gait training. He was doing rather well but was still struggling a bit with standing. He could only hope that he would be better soon enough.

"Alright… I made it." Aciel just made it through one of his last sessions of gait training. The nurse who previously cheered him on gave him his cane. It was a wooden cane with silver accents. Aciel gripped it firmly and walked with the nurse to his room. While he walked on, he thought about what he was really going to do. Live the rest of his days in Ravens Path? Go and discover why he was attacked?

He could only ponder as he reached his room and laid on his bed. He had a mix of vegetables and chicken at his bedside. He ate it despite the bitterness of the vegetables and the bland chicken because he had been through much worse than this now. This was tolerable compared to being burned alive. He could still feel the discomfort of what once was his burnt and charred skin. It was like it seared into his mind what it felt like.

"When am I getting discharged?" Aciel said, Nervous of the possibility he'll never leave this place and worried at the possibility of his horns growing back again. He knew the result of someone seeing them would become a swift execution for himself. He refused to let himself die after he was too stubborn to allow himself death during the fire. "Three days til' you're discharged Aciel." the woman said.

"Can I get an update on the conditions at my home?" Aciel asked. "Oh! I forgot to tell you…" She picked up some papers and read from it for, what Aciel assumed was, double checking her report "We did some investigating and we've chalked it up to a group of Teras." The woman gave her papers to Aciel. "Teras? What are those?" Aciel questioned. He was confused to what those creatures he saw were but were those what they were?

"There are believers of the primal theory as you may have heard of. But these guys treat it like religion." She answered Aciel. "They evolve themselves with whatever the people in the front lines use to do it. I hear they're usually messed up compared to them. They go on attacking villages for some reason. We haven't found out why." She finished. "So I was just a casualty of some guys on some sort of cult power trip…?"

The woman looked displeased at the fact she just made her patient feel even more horrible. Not even helping the situation by explaining it but making it worse for him. She quickly apologized before walking away. Aciel was left to his devices. He'd wish someone would talk to him. The voice that saved him. He'd even take the nurse who left him from the disappointment in herself. Aciel was there only having himself, the sound of embers from candles, a group of papers, and a half eaten plate of bland chicken, peas, and carrots.

The horns that existed on his body cost him his freedom, the fire had taken the feeling of both happiness and pleasure from him, and now, a group of cultists took his home. It felt like life wasn't getting any better for him. Only unfortunate, horrible events that got him here. If one could see him now, The only words that could describe his experience were simple.

"Such a monstrous fate."

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If you wonder why I haven't uploaded the new chapter of this book, It's cause I got my finals and a swarm of stuff I'm prepping for and doing. It'll take time for me to upload more. So give me some time, Ok?