14

"I'm sorry I forget about this, we should have washed it the moment we go here," He exclaimed and helped me out of the room.

The pain increased with every passing minute and I almost began to scream, who knew a rat's gut could be that dangerous?

"Wise one!" Allesio hollers as we walked towards the entrance where she sat before the fireplace with her legs folded and her hands in a praying position.

Without turning around, she said to us,

"There is a stream not so far from here, take your left and you'll find it, deep your feet into the lake and you will be free of the poison,"

I was glad to know there was a cure and I couldn't wait to leave but my heart sank to the bottom of my stomach when she mentioned,

"However, you would have to go alone, no one must see you put your feet in the stream else it becomes aimless."

How did she expect me to embark on that journey alone when my foot hurting so badly that I could barely walk?

"She can't walk properly wise one, nor can she make it to the stream alone, isn't there any other way, we could wash it off with water here and the poison would wear off with time?" Allesio asked her, he was worried about it as much as I was.

"There is no other way, the rat you see is no ordinary one, it's a protective spirit and you have killed it you bloodthirsty creature, it wouldn't hesitate to make the life of the young lady miserable. if you could lead her to the stream and walk away far enough to allow her to do the needful then she would be fine," She responded.

I found it quite strange that she addressed Allesio as a bloodthirsty creature, he did nothing much than kill a spirit rodent as she called it.

"Let's go,"

He turned to Agatha and said, "Princess, you stay behind," He spoke with a concerned tone, lifted me off the ground and carried me on his back like a child, I found it very uncomfortable but I had no choice since the pain was unbearable.

He walked as fast as he could even though I could tell that my weight slowed him down, I cried silently on his back and he did not to care that my tears dropped on his uniform.

"How are you doing back there?" He suddenly asked and I felt so touched," how could he care about me this much after what I have done to him?" I wondered.

"What you have done to me doesn't matter Sage, right now it's about your well-being."

I was astonished when he said those words, I wondered how he knew what I was thought of at that moment.

"What do you mean?" I asked and hoped to clear my doubt of the strange thoughts that ran across my head.

"Forget what I said, just hang in there, the stream is up ahead, once we are close enough I'll drop you and you'll continue the journey from there, it wouldn't be so far away so you'll manage," He replied.

I acknowledged his courage to walk through that forest, letting his leg brush through the grasses below without worrying about what sort of danger may await his feet that he couldn't see, he was so worried about me to think of such thing and for that reason, I felt safe with him which suppressed my discomfort.

"Alright, I think I see the stream, you would have to take it from here," He said and took me down from his back gently.

My fear of the dark kicked in, I couldn't believe that I was going to walk that far to get to the stream, it was a stone's throw but without a source of light, it felt like an everlasting journey to me.

" Look at me!" He commanded with a rather harsh tone and turned my face so that our eyes Interlocked. I felt something grip me and I was rendered paralyzed just staring into his eyes.

My pain eased up a bit and I felt relaxed, he let me go and I turned around as if being controlled by an unknown force, my fear of the forest had suddenly vanished and I couldn't believe the faith I had to walk towards the stream.

As I approached the water, I felt something leave me and my fear returned.

"You are close enough, just finish it up and you'll be fine," I heard his voice when he spoke from behind.

Taking a deep breath I moved my feet one step at a time and it was difficult since the pain was excruciating. Once I was close enough to the water, I freaked out.

I had never seen water that way before, it emitted blue light which constantly changed from a lighter to a darker shade, even with the tree branches spread above me like a carpet, I saw the reflection of the moon in the water.

Never had I thought I'll get such a magical experience, Aeradonians believed in so much magic but had never seen them play out until that night, the only thing to complete it was dipping my feet, knowing that if it got healed then I would become one of those Aeradonians who believes strongly in the extraordinary.

I turned around to make sure no one watched me and felt scared not seeing Allesio there but it was for the best, I held a little branch hanging from a tree to support myself and I lifted my left foot and dipped into the water.

The pleasure I felt was unimaginable, it felt like little fishes gathered up at my foot, it tickled but was quite enjoyable, the pain eased up a lot, and I felt a sudden pressure build up inside the swollen areas.

It felt like it was about to pop and I wondered how painful it would be, I contemplated whether to take my foot out or leave it in.

I ended up leaving my foot in the water since I didn't want the pleasure to end but as soon as those swollen areas popped, I took my feet out promptly, it wasn't hurtful but my reflex caused that sudden action while I stared at my foot.