Chapter 6

Chapter 6

            Out of the corner of her eye, Presti watched Otti pouring some Elka sap into a bowl of crystallized water. Presti’s breath grew shallower as she watched Otti mix strange elements. With every new addition, the old man’s nerves grew. Perspiration collected at his brow, and he had gained a twitch. He kept scratching his left eyebrow and murmuring to himself. The beast paced the floor, and the animal’s hot breath made the room warmer. His thick grey hindquarters kicked dirt into the air.

            “This is taking longer than before. Are you stalling?” The beast glowered over Otti’s shoulder.

            “I am nervous.” Otti showed the beast his trembling hands. “I might kill her. Olbi Juster was on his deathbed. He had no chance at life. This situation is vastly different.”

            Presti gasped. Olbi Juster? What did Oryan say about him? He was the man with the green symbol below his ear. The man found dead in the Elka fields who wasn’t given a proper burial. The Elders confiscated his body. Ry’s suspicions about Esis’s and Emiline’s death were heightened because of Olbi Juster’s unexplained death.

            The green symbol must be to blame for all this chaos. Presti’s fingers crept just below her ear. Feeling for an anomaly, she felt nothing but flat skin. She must see for herself. Her eyes canvassed the healing room, looking for a mirror. A broken mirror rested against a shelf full of empty jars. Lifting her leg out of the sling didn’t disturb Otti or the beast, but when the cast thumped on the floor, the beast whipped his head around.

            “Where do you think you are going?” the beast asked.

            “I just wanted to get that mirror.”

            “Why?” Otti set down his preparations.

            Presti promised she would never lie. The best way to tell the truth is not to answer.

            “Why!” The beast impatiently growled.

            If you have to answer, leave out the incriminating part.

            “I wanted to look at my facial features. I wanted to see if my skin looks strange or different. I am afraid of this deception too.”

            “Your facial features look the same,” Otti said.

            “I still want to see for myself.”

            Otti asked permission to retrieve the mirror. Before granting the request, the beast circled Presti’s cot. His large nostril sniffed at her, and his yellow eyes blazed. Presti protected her right ear from study by pretending to scratch it.

            “You may give her the mirror.” The beast finally said. “But, no more delays!”

            Otti carried the broken mirror with both hands, avoiding the serrated side that could easily slice his fingers. After handing the mirror to Presti, he rushed to his mixing desk. The beast’s demeanor grew increasingly violent, and Otti had no choice but to quicken his pace.

            All the upheaval caused by the mirror, produced no results. Presti couldn’t see any green symbol below her ear or anywhere on her face. Her blue eyes remained as blue as Westin Creek’s water, and her pale skin as white as her mother’s skin. Nothing abnormal. She vainly used the mirror to straighten her hair, which look grotesquely disheveled from the day’s events. Such a vain action amused her, and she needed some amusement. Her straight black hair laid flat against her face and rested pleasingly on her shoulders. She thought she was beautiful.

            “You look beautiful,” the voice said.

            Presti almost dropped the mirror to the floor. As she expected, the beast and Otti didn’t flinch. They hadn’t heard anything. The voice only spoke to her.

            “I just heard…”

            “It’s ready.” Otti lifted a tube of green liquid from his mixing desk.

            “Administer the test!” Otti recoiled at the beast’s order, causing some of the liquid to slosh onto the floor. Presti heard a hissing sound and saw a plume of smoke ascend from where the green droplet had fallen. Otti, wearing thick gloves, cautiously carried the tube toward Presti’s cot.

            “Drink this.” Otti closed his eyes as he handed the tube to Presti.

            Presti wrapped her thin fingers around the tube. The liquid smelled similar to Elka sap, only with stronger smells, not as pleasant. Glossy particulates moved inside the watery -like substance. She wasn’t sure she heard Otti correctly.

            “Drink it?” Presti asked.

            “Yes, but not all at once. Take small sips and tell me the affects.”

            “This liquid will tell me if I am deceived?” Presti asked with hope.

            “Drink it!” the beast shouted so loud the jars on the shelf shook.

            Presti raised the tube to her lips and allowed one sip to reach her tongue. She didn’t even swallow. She tasted blood as the liquid sliced at her tongue.

            “Swallow, Presti!” Otti directed.

            She quickly downed the liquid, tasting blood as well. Her throat didn’t sting; it only pulsated. Then burst of cool air broke out within her chest.

            “It hurt before I swallowed it. However, once I swallowed it, it stopped hurting.  It almost feels magical.”

            “That is normal for the first sip.”

            Otti held the tube for Presti to take the second sip. She didn’t hesitate to swallow this time. She even took in more liquid, hoping a quicker test would produce a quicker result.

            Nothing physical changed. She barely even felt the liquid go down her throat. She waited for a few moments.

            “Nothing. I feel nothing.” Presti said.

            “Do you see anything different? What is your perception like?” Otti asked.

            Presti looked at Otti. She looked at Elder Nolan, who still looked as beastly as ever. She glanced around the room; everything was in its place.

            “Everything is the same.”

            Otti laughed a deep, cheerful laugh. He patted Presti’s shoulder.

            “You see, Elder Nolan. I told you! She didn’t enter the path. We don’t need to run the entire test. She passed the second level.”

            “Do I still look like a beast to you?” The beast asked.

            “Yes,” Presti said with some hesitancy.

            “There is still something wrong. She needs to drink until I no longer look like a beast!”

            “I don’t understand why she is hallucinating. It may not be connected to the path at all! If she drinks the entire liquid, it will kill her. No! I refuse to participate in this! She passed the second level. You should be satisfied with that.” Otti took the tube from Presti.

            “I am an Elder! You must obey me!’

            “I am not going to kill Presti because you are superstitious! Get the other Elders in here. They will undoubtedly agree with me.”

            “Do you understand what is happening? Our Purity Stone is in danger. We must do everything we can to protect it. The outerlands must not infiltrate our world, ever. ” the beast said. “She must be returned to normal.”

            Presti drew in a deep breath.

            “He’s right. We must protect the Purity Stone. We should continue.” Presti said.

            “Even at the risk of killing you?” Otti asked.

            “Without the Purity Stone, I am already dead, along with everyone in our village.”

            Otti ruffled his hair and released an unpleasant sigh.

            “All right!” he said. “Tell me the moment you no longer see a beast.”

            “I will.” Presti said.

            “He wants to kill you,” the voice came with concern and urgency. “Elder Nolan is wicked. Don’t drink it!”

            The voice sounded so real this time she was sure Otti and the beast must have heard it. They didn’t. Otti reluctantly nodded his head, signally for Presti to take her next sip. She lifted the tube to her lips. Before she drank, the voice shouted in her ears.

            “He’s trying to kill you. You are not deceived! You didn’t enter the path! Why are you deceiving yourself? You are trying to convince yourself that you walked a path that you never walked. This is insanity!” The voice railed at Presti like never before. The voice sounded like it feared she was about to die.

            Presti swallowed the green liquid and instantly her body went rigid. White foam collected around her mouth and yellow puss seeped out of her eyes.

            “I knew this would happen!” Otti ran to one of his shelves and grabbed some leaves.

            “Give her the rest of the liquid!” the beast demanded.

            Busy collecting a remedy, Otti ignored the beast’s demands.

            “You see. Elder Nolan is a murderer. He doesn’t care about the truth.” The voice spoke again.

            Otti crushed the leaves and mixed them into mud. Carrying the blend in his hand, he forced the mud and leaves into her mouth. He used plain water to help her swallow it. Presti felt her body slowly relax. Her head fell to the side, and she saw Elder Nolan as Elder Nolan. The vision was not constant. The image of a beast and the image of Elder Nolan oscillated before her. She swallowed again, tasting mud and blood. Finally, the image settled, and Elder Nolan was the ghostly figure she had grown to respect and follow.

            “I see Elder Nolan,” she said weakly.

            Elder Nolan grimaced.

            “Give her the rest of the liquid!” Elder Nolan said.

            Otti looked dumbfounded.

            “Didn’t you hear her? She said she saw you,”

            “She is only trying to avoid the pain. We can’t trust her.” Elder Nolan said.

            Something was behind Elder Nolan. An image not solid. A maroon robe with golden lining. A man? He appeared translucent, as if not truly there.

            “Presti, you can’t trust him. He will kill you. Please, you must escape.” This image spoke with the voice.

            Something otherworldly rose up within Presti. The negative effects of the liquid left as soon as she saw the apparition. She hurled the rest of the green liquid onto Elder Nolan, and grabbed the broken mirror as a weapon. What was she thinking? She was in a hole in the ground, surrounded by Elders who had numerous guards at their disposal. She had a huge cast on her leg. Not to mention, she was listening to an apparition.

            Elder Nolan sunk to the floor, writhing in pain. Otti looked as if all his dreams had come true, and now he regretted all his dreams. Presti hobbled over to Otti and pulled him to the ground.

            “Any secret tunnels out of here?” Presti asked.

            “Well, it isn’t a secret. It’s a loading tunnel. The Elders know about it.”

            “Let’s go!”

            The apparition with the maroon robe had disappeared. Presti wondered if he would reappear and help her find her way. Otti led her to the loading tunnel. Not only was she handicapped, Otti was an old man. How were they going to escape? Where would they go?