Chapter 126

Chapter 126

Ralph

"Tonight's story is all about Victor and his wicked uncle." My mother said, Rieka clapped and Dave was also listening enthusiastically.

"Victor was a talented boy with a pure heart that just wanted love and to be loved in return. Victor loves nature and always wants to roam freely and make friends but his wicked uncle is always preventing him from doing that." My Mom paused and looked around and noticed that everyone was paying attention then she continued.

"Victor will always sneak out to play with his friends and roam free in the field but each time he comes home, his uncle would punish him severely."

"He would surely stop coming out." Rieka sadly said.

"No, Victor had something his uncle would never take away from him."

"What is that?" Dave asked a little too quickly.

"His pure soul, no matter how bad his uncle treated him, his soul always remains pure."

"Will he be able to remain pure?" Dave asked again.

"Of course, he made good friends that always makes sure his light never dies out." Dave smiled and turned to me and smiled as well. For some unknown reason, I felt like he is related to the story.

"Victor's friends started noticing what Victor was going through and decided to help him out." Mom sighed indicating the climax of the story.

"They came to Victor's house and saw him imprisoned by his wicked uncle. The uncle was scary, his mouth filled with teeth and his fingers longer than an eagle's talons. His uncle was so scared and the friends wanted to run away and save their lives. They were so scared and at a point, they couldn't move but their love for Victor was greater than their fears. They united their hearts and found courage greater than the monster before them. They worked together and defeated the monster and freed their friend Victor."

"How was the monster defeated?" I asked.

"After uniting their hearts, a light so bright came and devoured the monster." Mom replied, I scoffed and Rieka looked so pleased with the story.

"Victor was happy, right?" Dave asked and my Mom nodded.

"It is just a beautiful story,"Dave said.

"I am glad you like it." She replied and went ahead and told us two more stories and Dave found all of them interesting.

After the story, we said goodbye and he left. He didn't forget to thank my parents with a smile and thanked me for the cloth. My parents commended his behavior and said we made a nice friend. My mother knew he was a heretic and a powerful one.

"Can anything be sweeter than seeing you tomorrow?" My sister recalled the words Dave said before he left last night and I rolled my eyes as we all made our way to our bedrooms.

Contrary to my sister's belief, we didn't see Dave tomorrow or even the next day. Every time we came out of the forest, he was nowhere to be seen and our days in the West were already numbered. My sister was sad thinking she won't get to see him before going back.

"Why would he say such a word if he never planned on coming out?"

My sister angrily left and I made it a point of duty to find Dave and make my sister happy again. It is a very difficult task since he always masks his scent with a spell. I knew Rieka would want to follow me so I kept quiet about it and only snuck out later in the night.

I hope it is one of the nights my Dad is completely off guard. Luckily, I was able to escape the house and used every Khan in me to track his smell. I have been trying to get his smell for a long time and this time around, I succeeded. He smells like the forest and the only distinction is the smell of iron mixed in his forest smell.

I followed the smell until I arrived at a cottage, it looked abandoned but I know without a doubt that Dave is inside. Dave has said multiple times how I am able to hide my presence so I am confident he would not notice me coming. I tiptoed the cottage to take a peek, it reeked and I wondered how he survived in there. I peeked through a hole and with my night vision I was able to see Dave being tied to a table.

"Aaahhhh."

I gasped then clasped my palm over my mouth. His breathing is shallow and he appeared to be weak. I couldn't sense any other person but I can't be too sure since heretics are good at hiding their presence.

I remembered my Mom's story about Victor and gathered my courage and went inside to free Dave, breaking the lock was easy because of my super strength. Dave was surprised to see me losing his binds.

"What are you doing here?" He asked and he was weak and bloody. He must have been tortured for days.

"Rescuing you."

I helped him stand up and supported his weight with my shoulder.

"You need to leave, he will soon be back." He tried to push me away but I am not letting him.

"You didn't show up and it made my sister cry, there is no way I am leaving without you." Mentioning my sister made him calm down.

"I guess, I am the Victor in your Mom's story." He murmured.

Now I know why I was feeling the way I felt when my Mom was telling the story and why Dave loved it so much.

"And just like Victor, you would be free."

"We better leave before he comes back." I went ahead and carried him on my back. I wish I had had my first transformation, I would have ran all through till I got home.

"Dave?" My Mom was surprised to see the sorry state he was in. She did her best to heal him and gave him some food to eat.

After Dave regained his strength, she went ahead to ask him what happened. Rieka wept when she saw Dave in such a condition, my Dad tried his best to calm her down. Everyone settled down to hear what Dave had to say, I felt more proud when my Dad patted me on the back and nodded in acknowledgement.

"He calls himself god, I can't remember where I came from but the ones I met told me that we were all kidnapped from the North." Dave started his story.

"He would experiment on us and it has always been a very painful punishment. He would make us drink some bitter potion and even cut open our skin and apply some herbs to it. He continually introduced us to more pain every day, everyone died except me because they couldn't stand the punishment. He said I should be glad for I am the chosen one that would do god's work.

"What work was that?" My Mom asked.

"I don't know, he just gave me a strict rule to never be outside the house once it is sunset." He looked over to Rieka and I understood why he always ran back home and turned down our offer.

"He is no god." Rieka said angrily.

"Yes." Dave scoffed.

"Before the last boy died, he was among the oldest boys, he has always been the one giving us hope and he said the same thing that you just said now that he is no god. He also told us that our abductor's name is Dickson."

"You are safe now, we will soon be going back to the South, you will come with us."

Rieka made the statement without caring what our parents' opinion would be. Dave looked at my Mom and she smiled. His eyes were wet and he blinked them away, he has trained himself to always be strong.

"I fear some other innocent child would be forced to take my place if I run away. I endured all these and made him promise never to kidnap any more children. So running away now would make someone else take my place. It turns out that I am the Victor in your story, Ma'am." For a boy as young as him to still have this beautiful soul after what he has been through is a clear testament to his character.

"You are a strong boy, go to sleep now." At the words of my Mom, Dave fell asleep and I wondered how many times she must have done that to me.

"Phoenix, he has been through a lot. Never have I seen anyone attuned with nature like he is. I felt he is the greatest heretics to have walked the face of the earth. We need to find Dickson and punish him for his crimes."

My Mom said and Dad looked at us and Rieka was already begging with her eyes. I don't know who would enjoy it more if Dave came back to Anu Ukwu with us. I don't have friends, unlike Rieka who is everyone's favorite, everyone avoids me. So, having Dave around would be very good for me.

"Oh, mighty ruler of the world, with your strong hands let justice be delivered." I said as I remembered how my uncles used to address him whenever he was on the throne.

"Would you look at that?" He smiled at my Mom.

"Sure, my powerful hands shall bring justice." I was happy to hear that but my Dad got serious instantly.

"He is here." My Dad said.

I felt the burning desire to go out and rip his head out. When I went to the cottage, I admit that I was a bit scared and needed to take Dave and leave but now, all I feel is anger towards him.

"Easy boy, you should learn how to control your emotions. In that way, your enemies will never see you coming."

At my Dad's words, I tried my best to calm my nerves and waited for the man to come in.

"Boy, you think you can run away from me?" I heard the voice of the person called Dickson and Dave instantly woke up.

"He is here." He started to panic.

"My Dad is a hero, no matter how strong Dickson is, my Dad is a thousand times stronger." Rieka held Dave's hand and that happened to calm him down.