Beating (Book 1: Acts of the Hearth)

Chapter 14

The spirit possessed body of Damen marches forward to the Kingdom of Hearth. Travis persist in his attempts to prevent him from reaching the borders by pushing the man back. The two soon reach the border of the outer quarter as the shadows spread out and demolish the houses and buildings of that area.

     Travis looks back at the many piles of falling debris while his hands remain at Damen’s shoulders. “This isn’t working! Even with the Sure-Fire—here he is, pushing me through the kingdom, like a plow!” Travis thinks.

     Damen’s hand grabs onto Travis’s collar. The shadows wrap around this hand and reinforce his strength. With a quick tug, he pulls Travis to the dusty ground below. On his stomach, the young man lifts his head up as Damen suddenly steps on his back.

     “Stay down.” the echoed voice speaks to him. The spirit possessed body continues its speedy march to the kingdom. The young Prince rises to his feet and dust himself off. He then begins to sprint towards Damen.

     “Damn them for being right!” he curses. As Travis travels to catch up, he watches as the painted like shadows lay waste to the wall and many homes remaining in that part of the kingdom.

     The shadows shred through debris of the structural remains as they tumble to the ground. “The people will lose their kingdom and home in the coming days.” Travis repeats to himself as he thinks back to the vision that Logan and Damen warned of.

     Travis catches up to Damen’s body and stands before him. Without hesitation he wraps his arms around the possessed man’s torso, hugging him.

     “I’m a failure as a leader. All of the reasons that I shouldn’t be King are all too clear… Yet, you continued to have faith in your visions; visions of me. Please, Damen! I know you’re in there!” the young man expresses.

     Damen’s body continues to push onward. Behind Travis, the buildings all crumble, leaving the kingdom in rubble; save the castle, which remains standing. The shadowy like vines whip up to the heavens and survey the area.

     “So the people are hiding there now…” Derrick says as the voice of the body changes to his own. The castle vanishes before the man’s eyes, Travis’s body melts into the landscape and the world around him turns to pitch black darkness.

     He soon stops walking forward and looks around him. The many carpeted piles of debris have also disappeared.

     The man stretches out his hands to summon more shadows. Yet none appear as he commands them. He takes a moment to look at his hands. Signs of aging are visible on the pair of hands before him, unlike they were moments ago. “Did the power come at the cost of this body’s youth?” Derrick questions himself in the black void.

     Grumbles and snarls echo throughout the space. “What is that sound?” the man ask as he looks around himself.

     “Dammit…I'm hungry! Is it time to eat yet?” a deep voice speaks within the void. “It feels like someone is here in my Domain… And I am too hungry to be picky.”

     Derrick looks down at his feet. The man gasps vocally as he views the fangs beneath him. The mouth rises from the shadows and bites down on his leg. Derrick shrieks loudly, despite him feeling no pain.

     The voice doubles and laughs while chewing. “Truly this…is a foreign delicacy! I should savor it… But, I am awake and I’m certain I will feast again…” the two voices continues its monologue.

     The being of the void takes a second bite; consuming the rest of the man. It smacks and laughs in pleasure. Derrick lets out one final cry of terror as the fangs chew away at him.

     The spirit vanishes as the realm transforms into spatial plain of a cloud filled blue sky.

In another Realm…

 

     A nurse dressed in scrubs walks down a long hallway with many doors in the vast hospital. He stops by one of the rooms and opens the door. The patient’s monitor beeps continuously as he arrives.

     His patient lies unconscious in the hospital bed upon his arrival, just as they were during all of the previous visits.

     “Hopefully, I don’t make too much noise that it wakes you.” the nurse jokes with the patient. “Although, I would love that because I am tired of cleaning up after you!”

     “Why don’t you find someone nice and settle down; let them clean up after you for once.” the nurse continues. “I shouldn’t complain about you though. Unlike some of our other patients, you are very easy to deal with.”

     “No complaints, no fuss and no kids who think they know better than me.”

     He continues his usual duties. Emptying the patient’s catheter pouch, replacing the glucose for his I.V. fluids and a quick massage session to keep the patient’s muscles healthy.

     The man lifts up the patient’s arm and massages the biceps. Suddenly, the patient unexpectedly lets out a loud groan and then yells out, gasping rapidly. The nurse releases their arm and looks at the monitor.

     “Oh no…! His heart rate just shot up!” the nurse states with a loud gasp. The nurse presses the emergency button and begins to inject a solution into the I.V. to slow the heart rate.

     Others from the hospital staff suddenly arrive moments later. The staff enter the room with a loud ambiance of a long beep from the heart monitor. The team tries to resuscitate the patient to no success.

     Once more they attempt to help the patient regain a pulse, but none of their methods work. One of the staff records the time of death for the lost patient. Others begin to leave the room.

     “Alert his wife… Be very delicate about it as I know you would do. Let her know that her husband has passed.” a doctor directs the nurse that regularly assisted the patient.

     The name plate within the room reads: Derrick Colin.