Waking up in fright Ishmael was breathing heavily, the fear still present I his eyes, his chest heaved up and down and a small hand touched his shoulder to which he quickly grabbed the hand prepared to strike with his first but then a familiar voice drifted into his ears full of pain and fear
"Josh, Josh you're hurting me." Immediately recognizing the voice as Sarah's Ishmael let got and his eyes took in the familiar surroundings. He was still I his room in the manor, taking a deep breath he calmed his thoughts but the fear still lingered wondering if this is also not an illusion. Sarah held her left hand that Ishmael had almost yanked off, fear and confusion lingered in her gaze
"I believe it was a bad dream Josh, you are okay now, you are safe." Sarah spoke maintaining her distance, his eyes moved to her hand and he noticed that it had already bruised, guilt hit him hard and he slowly apologized.
"Forgive me Sarah I did not mean to hurt you, I thought-" Sarah stopped him with a huge hug catching him off guard, her small body was shivering, she was crying
"I'm sorry, I was just jealous of your bond with Augusta and I let it affect our friendship. I'm so sorry for being cold and acting like a child, I thought- I thought I would never feel anything for anyone since my husband died but here I am." She spoke in between sobs, her voice breaking.
Sadly ishmael's mind was far far away or else he would have been shocked by Sarah's sudden revelation, the door opened and Simon stepped into the room only to find Sarah embracing his best friend. A smile appeared on his face, Sarah saw him and she immediately let go, noticing the bruise on Sarah's left hand Simon raised his brow
"It was an accident, he seemed to be having a bad dream when he woke up and when I tried to tap his shoulders...well you can see for yourself but it waspp a mistake really." Sarah explained quickly, Simon nodded and moved to ishmael's side, In his hands was bowl which had a green herbs that had been crushed to paste with a strong smell.
Ishmael looked at him and smiled, "Thanks pal." Simon responded with a quiet nod and instructed him to consume the paste, Sarah left after a short while and left the two friends alone. Both of them were deep in though, eventually sighing Simon chuckled
"It is time to get rid of the two, I will see to it that they shall not see tomorrow's sun."seeing that Ishmael did not react, he turned his focus to Ishmael "Are you alright pal?" He asked with a slightly raised brow.
Ishmael turned to him and nodded "yeah, I think I just need a little rest that's all." Understanding what his friend was implying Simon quickly took the hint and left the room after making sure his friend was alright.
After Simon left, still feeling weak Ishmael went to lock the door and closed all the curtains, and after making sure that he was truly alone he lifted his mattress and retrieved a sealed envelope, setting the mattress back down he sat on the bed and stared at the envelope for a short while still thinking on whether to open the envelope or not but after steeling his resolve, he opened the envelope and he found a letter, [ A letter? How great I bet it contains information on where the key is hidden, I guess I have to pack my bags and get ready to leave] He silently thought, taking out the neatly folded paper. Unfurling the paper with a calm pace, he had hit the mark,it was a letter And it read.
Dear Unknown Heir
If you are reading this then it means that I have left the mortal plane, I wrote this letter not knowing who you are or what your interests are but I believe you are a good person above all else. I am compelled to share my thoughts, hopes and dreams to you since you will have already inherited the gifts I possess.
As I sit down to write, I'm filled with a mix of emotions - excitement , curiosity and a hint of trepidation. I wonder what your story is, what are your passions and how you will use the gifts that will soon be in you care.
I am trusting you with these three gifts, eye of past reflection, Toungue of creation and soul weave these three gifts once mastered form can be synchronized to form what is called the key of life. With the key of life you will be granted power akin to that of a god, yes god, with that power you can choose to eradicate the source of the blight and avoid our impending doom
Use these gifts wisely and try to keep a low profile, don't draw attention to yourself or else you will attract trouble, oh and I almost forgot you can search for other divine artifacts to increase your strength, I am writing this letter in kingdom Zeraki and I heard that the finger of an angel is buried deep within the tomb of Tenzo. Sadly I am almost out of time and therefore I can search for the finger myself but instead I am leaving this information with you, if you happen to be in Tenzo, look for the finger. Consuming it might grant you a new gift, I know you are curios of who I am but I hope that you can get stronger first before you start digging out truths about me but I will of course leave you a hint. Once you are strong enough look for Hezo.
By meditating every day you strengthen your spirit and your essence increases, sadly the human body's potential can never increase unless you gain a divine gift that strengthens one's body. Meditating midnight is the best and it brings amazing effects since the spirit essence of the world is at its peak midnight , oh and one more thing pay attention to your dreams, your dreams will no longer be just dreams and at times you will have reoccurring nightmares but I believe you will uncover the secrets of these dreams and nightmares. Stay vigilant and be wary of Queen Charlotte, I will be watching over you.
With love, hope and anticipation
Your predecessor
Ishmael stared at the letter for a while and he felt like laughing because the letter revealed many things but none of it made sense, he was now left with more questions than answers.Eye of past reflection, Toungue of creation , these must be the real names of the two divine gifts he had,vision of the past being eye of past reflection and whisper of life being tongue of creation. The third gift is named soul weave but he had no idea what it meant or what it does, sighing he shook his heard and decided to destroy the letter, since he would have no problem recalling it.
After burning the letter with a candle, he went to the balcony of his room and sat on the railing under the beautiful night sky. He now feared that the nightmare he just had would reoccur again, but some how he was also quite interested in discovering the secrets of the cocooned.
"I guess I can't drink my way out of this one huh?"
Under the veil of the night sky two women stood by river seemingly waiting, it was Selena and Brianna
"You also got the letter too?"Selena asked Brianna with a hint of suspicion, whenever their master wanted things done he would alert one of the two not both of yhem at the same time.
"Yes it said I should come here quickly, but why would master summon the both of us here at the same time?" Brianna answered also hinting at her suspicion, their master was strange but he would never act in such a way especially if he knew it could blow both of their covers. Now fear made it's way into their hearts and they quickly became alert, scanning their environment.
In their fear a calm voice came from behind them, it was so close that they could even feel the warm breath of the source of the voice
"Head cook Selena and head maid Brianna what are you doing here at this time?" Quickly turning around they had recognized the voice, it belonged to the new coachman, Simon. But what was Simon doing here,his face was flushed and it appeared as though he was drunk. The two were confused but they did not dare let their guard down, scrutinizing Simon, Selena spoke
"Simon please promise us you will not tell the lady or anyone else our secret, you see me and Brianna have been in love for a very long time and we sometimes come here to....you know." Her acting was good, almost believable, Simon chuckled and nodded
"Oh I see that is why you two are always together whispering in the corners of the manor huh? Uh *hic* Ishmael was right you two are gay.", Simon spoke loudly and the ladies believed that he was truly drunk, lowering their guard a bit Brianna asked
"Are you saying Ishmael thought we were gay? " She asked now realizing that they had poisoned the poor man for nothing, but they could not see the hidden fury in Simon's eyes
"Thinks, not thought, thinks-he thinks you are gay." Simon's tone suddenly took a U-turn and the two ladies had foreboding that something bad was about to happen