Ah~....
Everything was blurred as he came to his senses.
Rubbing his eyes he sat up.
His vision cleared. The blurred image became a room. It was a small room of a rural village house.
Clatter!~
Siri dropped the tray from his hands.
"Aaaah!"
She shrieked and ran to the next room.
"Brother! He's awake! He's awake!"
"What happened?"
Shink! Shink!
The chains on his body rubbed against each other. "These?"
"Where,.. am I? What is,.. this place? These, chains!" He forced them but they didn't come out.
"Stay right where you are!" Damo ordered Zinor firmly. "Don't think you can hurt us."
Zinor stared at him. "There are some guts you do have, to threaten a man double of your size. "
Siri was standing behind Damo. Both stood like statues for a moment.
"Look. I am not into child's play. I have something i need to get back. So move!"
Suddenly, a scent came. It was food. Maybe that was not that royal but Zinor moved to it.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Siri exclaimed as Zinor walked toward their ash-house. Damo held her.
"Is it what i am thinking of?"
The daylight was shining bright. A pink flower was about to bloom in the garden, and a white butterfly was loafing in the pleasant air.
Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!
Chew! Cough!
Gulp!
Zinor practically pounced on the food. While eating, he choked, drank some water, and started eating again.
Siri and Damo stared at him with speechless expressions.
In an instant, the fish, soup, and almost the total amount of rice were finished.
BWAAAH!~
Letting out a monumental burp, Zinor said, "I was starving for weeks."
Siri looked at the empty rice pot. There was barely a grain left.
HWAAH~
"The whole rice is finished."
HWWAAH~
"We have nothing left to eat."
"What will we eat now?"
She was about to rush on Zinor.
Damo pulled Siri."Don't go near him."
Zinor stood up and went to the door.
"Comeback you monster! What will we eat?"
"You are young. Go find some more for yourself."
"What is wrong with you? Did Grandpa carry you here for this?"
"Did I ask him? Tell that old man I owe him nothing except some food."
Slamming the door back Zinor stood a while.
"Monster huh.. You are right I guess."
* * * * *
There were not many people on the trail. It was pretty empty. Zinor was annoyed. He pulls the chains off with all his might.
"Aaaah!!! These metal recks!"
A bird, looked like a kingfisher, dove into the lake and flew off with a fish in its beak.
Zinor reached a huge lake.
"A lake? Maybe i need a refreshment."
He walked down to the bay.
As he came near, a big fish jumped out.
"Maybe tonight I will not end up starving too."
He put off his damaged armour. It was torn apart and also coloured with his blood.
He jumped in the lake.
His movements scared fishes away.
"Looks like deep there is dinner for me."
In deep water, he opened his eyes. No fish were near.
He searched for it.
Moments passed.
'What a waste of energy!' He thought and dove again.
'There!'
He found a fish. Not too big.
'Huh?'
He tried to catch it.
He tried again.
'What's happening? I can't grab it.'
After trying a few times. He observes it a little.
'Is it bigger than before?'
'It is!'
He swam up in a rush. As he understood. It was not any normal fish. It was a big one aiming him as a prey.
Gwaaaash!~
No sooner Zinor reached the surface a huge fish came out from water.
Blooooorm!
It was very big. About one and half elephants.
"Now it is, something worthy!" Zinor grinned.
Bloooooooorm!!~
As the fish strikes him head on he forcefully blocked that.
Gwwooosh!~
The fish dove into deep after getting deflected....
"Running from me, huh?"
Suddenly he felt he was getting drowned. The big fish was about to devour him.
Gwwaaaaash~
It came out again. Zinor was forcing his feet to stop it from closing its mouth. He was half in its grasp.
Zinor tightened his fist.
"Aaaaaaaah!!"
He threw a punch in its eye.
Bloooorm!!~
It threw him on land.
"Aaagh!"
The big fish dove into the water. Soon it disappeared.
"Aaah! I overdid it."
He used too much power without caring about his hunger.
"Ho ho!"
An old voice laughed.
Zinor saw an old man not much shorter than him, standing there laughing.
"You must be either foolish or brave to hunt a Lantenia in its house."
Zinor stood up.
"I was just careless there."
"I remember you. My granddaughter got saved by you in the river bank. I am grateful to you for that."
"You get me wrong. I don't remember doing anything like that."
"Oh. Right, right you were senseless that time. I took you home."
"It was you? I ate your food. Your granddaughter was upset with me."
"Food? Oh, maybe some heart full neighbour gave us. I wish him well."
"Aren't you angry? Your grandkids and home seemed suffering from hunger."
"Don't worry about that I borrowed"
Zinor fell on his knees. 'My head is spinning.'
The old man offered him a hand. "Maybe it was for hunger. I have enough food with me.Home is not too far from here."
A caterpillar was climbing on a plant.
"Why did you bring him back grandpa? He just ate all the food, the lady Mari gave." Damo asked the old man anxiously.
"Look kid! I had no wish to see your faces again."
"Then why did you come?"
"Ok ok. This rice and curry is plenty. Just wait a while until I prepare these."
Moments passed and everyone sat around a small table. They sat on the ground. Siri and Damo sat near the old man.
The old man offered Zinor a bowl of rice. Zinor accepted that without a word.
"So who are you by the way?"
....
"Oh. I am Dante. In this village some people know us. These are my grandkids and the rest you can see."
...
"Don't wanna talk while eating?"
.....
After finishing his food, Zinor put the bowl down on the table.
"I am just thinking why are you so generous?"
"Did you find any answer?"
"No. If i get it I would not talk."
"Is it wrong to show humanity?"
"I have never seen that thing unused."
"What do you mean?"
"Humanity, Loyalty, Kindness. From where I came I didn't see them unused. There humanity is an agreement of getting help, back in future. Loyalty can be sold by the weight of gold. Kindness is the way of betraying. So tell me which one is this?"
"None, i guess." The old man refilled the glass of water and offered it to him.
"Interesting. I would like to share some talks. But i am in hurry. I have something to get back."
"If you don't have a problem can I ask what is it?"
"Ethorox. My kingdom."
"Ooh. So you really were a king? Then your perspective is acceptable."
"What do you mean?" Zinor's voice became heavy.
"Hmm?"
"Were? What you mean by that? I am a King!"
"My my. I am sorry. So where is you kingdom?"
Damo and Siri were getting a little afraid of the direction of this conversation.
"From the top of Ethorium palace! As far the sun reaches over land, the land sorrounded by Panthasiya Sea, is my kingdom Ethorox!"
"So where is this Panthasiya?"
"What!"
"Look. I never heard of that kingdom. Not even the sea you mentioned. Those chains attached your body we call Shakles of Abzala."
Zinor didn't reply he was hearing the old man's words.
"The person who had commited a sin is shakled with them. A man who commited more than one are shakled with two. But those shakles came after facing the Death. He himself shakles the sinful ones with them. But there is no explanation for the third one you have."
"Just stop making tales. These are the remaining craps they used at my pretty public execution ceremony."
"Really? Then do you like them?"
"What?"
"A man who can fight a Lantenia that big in its own habitat can also free himself from that metal racks. Right?"
"Yaaaaaa!!"
Zinor popped a nerve. He used two hands to break those chains.
But that didn't work. He tried again. And again.
After several tries he ended up panting.
"Look. I—
"Shut up! You just don't know my condition. What i am suffering from inside you don't know! Don't try too! The inner feeling of killing those two faced devils scratches my mind every moment."
"I fantasize how i will carve their skin, flesh and bones to present them before the grave of my beloved one. I need revenge of what they did with my life! They did with my Desdi! Tell me old man do you now have from what I am going on? "
Zinor throws the fist on the table out if rage.
It shatters.
Although Damo and Siri put up their bowles in hand so they didn't fall.
"Yes. I can't put myself in your place. But everything starts to end one day. Even a death can't stop it when would it?"
"Never! Until I am there. It will never!"
"How long do you wish to bear that burden?"
"Burden? Did you just said my beloved ones gift a burden?"
"Gift? Did that person asked you?"
"Wh—
Zinor's words stopped.
"Look. It is just a waste of effort to give a present to that person which he or she never asked in the first place."
"The scars on your skin and face tells the effort you used for that present."
"So tell me what did you get? No. What would you feel when you present those carved corpses to that person?"
"You—
Zinor stood up and went to the door.
"If you can't make any answer. Came back here. This house is too old to be ran by an old man only. It can be a better life for you that way."
Zinor heard then shut the door and went away.
Eventually...
The afternoon ended with a twilight and a night fell to rest everything.
Next morning...
Damo woke up rubbing his eyes.
"Haauhaa!~ hey grandpa. Do you see the axe? I need that for collecting wood."
"Axe? O a man borrowed that this morning."
"A man? Did he came back?"
"Who? The king? No."
"Oh."
He was about to go back inside.
"But at dawn a person came while he get no answer of an question."
Damo stilled at the door.
A pleasant wind blew and the sky cleared. In the pleasant light of sun that pink flower bloomed cherishing the nature.
Stungh!~
An axe struck at the trunk of a huge tree.