ELIXA

CHAPTER 6

It was the constant beeping that finally woke him up. His vision was blurry and keeping his world from spinning was rather difficult, especially in the presence of the white lights that were threatening to pull his eyes out of his socket. Somewhere at the back of his head, he could feel a little lump, pulsing like a second heart and sending waves of pain throughout his body. Maybe he had hit his head on something, it was hard to tell, all he knew was that his head was aching badly.

Blinking, Damian tried to turn, but the restriction on his right made him stop. There were different tubes, going in and out of his body. It was as if he had been spiked with a metal tube and the sight sent a nauseous feel down his esophagus. 

What had happened? Why was he lying in this bed and where in the world was Fred?

The thought of his brother made him jerk, however, he screamed when a sudden pain shoved into his bones from the tube that was on his hands. He remembered now. The Bounty hunters, the capture, and the...the wind. What had happened?

Damian blinked again and tears came running down the side of his face. He must have blacked out or something. Whatever be the case, he needed to get away from here. He needs to find his brother, to make sure he is alright.

"Where did you pick him, from the dust or dung?"

The feminine voice made Damian sit up from the bed. That was when he noticed the two people sitting at the far end of the room, smoking pipes and eating from the doughnut cans. At the right were a man with, clean shave and dark skin. The woman on the left was rather different. She had boots and eyeshadows with long eyelashes, contrasting the dark coat she wore. She must be some prostitute disguised as a nurse.

What is this place? Damian wanted to ask but swallowed when the man started speaking again.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." The man muttered and took a long draw from his pipe. He let out the smoke and squinted his eyes, watching with satisfaction as the white smoke dwindled in the air. "That kid reduced, Cuper to nothing. Good, I wasn't there. I could have died too."

"Cuper is dead?"

"Without a trace. Was reduced to nothing. We only saw his boot in the ash. Must have been caught in an inferno"

The nurse or woman turned her attention to Damian, weighing and judging. She met his white eyes and held them for a time. Her expression was blank. It could have kept some level of compassion or something, but the white face just stared wildly at Damian, holding him as if they knew his story.

"He is still a kid," She said regrettably and looked away, "I could use someone strong at the moment. Someone to fetch enough money. Not some weaklings that need their mama's milk."

"Soothe yourself, Catherine," the man said and picked the jug to his right. "We need to round up the others. Night wind and Sun heat. I don't want to be caught up in that battle. Messed me up last month. Those blood-sucking bastards," he spat and took a long drink directly from the jug.

Silence returned to the room as Damian shifted his attention from one person to the next. They were treating him as an abstract object, as a space that needed filling. While he was uninterested in their gibberish, he needed to find a way to get his freedom. He needed to get away from this place.

"Try not to struggle," Catherine said and crossed her booted legs. Her dark clothes were transparent, revealing the gray vest that was underneath. "The airbag is yet to get filled. Perhaps a few more minutes or so."

Airbag? Damian hissed but paused when the woman shifted her weight to the side. There, attached firmly to both sides of her chest was some plastic bag, taking the shape of a lung. It had extended to her back, leaving a pipe running from the bottom to somewhere under her armpit. Damian has never seen or heard anything like it before. What was the function of the airbag?

"My brother," Damian said, "where is he? I need to see him, please"

The man smoking the pipe looked at him from the corner of his eyes. Like the woman, his expression was blank, his lips were also dry, suggesting days of travel without water and food. He shook his head as if he was disappointed and dusted his piped on the ceramics.

"Brother? You should be grateful you are alive and that we found you. You would have died had I and Aaron not picked you from that ashes."

"Ashes" Damian sat up, "what are you talking about? Where is my brother? What is this place? And who in the Nine Rings are you people?"

"Here we go," Catherin muttered and looked away from them, seeming uninterested.

"We are in the borders of Bel Haven. But our destination is Arthesia, home of nothingness."

Arthesia? The words lingered in Damian's thoughts for a while as he tried to process the possibility. But for Bel Haven and Freetown, he has never heard of another town let alone travel away from home. Those kinds of luxuries were reserved for the rich who could afford to send their children to school. The little learning he had received was from his grandmother. She was the one that had gone through nails to make sure she teaches Fred and him how to read. But proper Education? That was a luxury his low background could not afford.

"Yes, boy. The home of nobody and no one. And if you must survive there are just a few things you need to do. One is to keep your mouth shut. The other is to keep your mouth shut."

"Stephen. That's one thing you are repeating. Try something else will you?" Catherine pointed out but Stephen seemed too distracted to care about the woman's thoughts.

"it will be best for you too if you don't go about looking for trouble. We learned that you are a thief and the best in Bel Haven. Well, that was the propelling factor that had attracted us. There are people in Arthesia that are willing to pay a huge price for the likes of you. But on second thought, please take this as a piece of advice, keep your hands to yourself, unless you are really good with picking stuff, then I suggest you keep the thoughts of stealing from your mind. Just saying."

"Thanks for the advice" Damian said, "but where is my brother?"

"Brother" Stephen laughed and dropped the jug. "Do you see anyone else in this room apart from use"

There was an EKG machine standing somewhere on his bedside and beeping steadily. There was also an infusion bag, some pair of scissors, and some other objects on which Damian could not place a name. There were just three people, even the window did not give out their location. If Fred was not here, then he must be in Bel Haven, with granny, safe.

He should be consoled by the thought, but uneasiness huddled on his shoulders as they dwelled on him. He was not convinced, if, for anything, he was afraid that his brother might be in some dark hole, left to suffer under the cruel hands of these life-money exchangers. 

"Struggling will only delay our time," Catherine said again when Damian tried to remove the infusion. "It is getting dark, and we need to get into the wild before that. So, save us the trouble by remaining still."

"What is this?" Damian asked. 

The spikes on his side were identical to those of Catherine but were made of metals, instead of silicon tubes.

"Have you paid attention to anything we've said so far?" Stephen rubbed his nose and stood. 

His jacket bulged over as his oversized stomach jutted out, almost dropping his pants had his hands not held them. For a man his size, he was tall and fine, with a clean haircut and complexion. However, the urine odor from his body left Damian with a churning stomach.

"That's a bloody Airbag, mate. Your lifeline in Arthesia. Secure it like you would secure your own life, or else, you might end this little journey of yours, even before they began."

Damian wanted to argue with the man. To tell him that he had no right to abduct him out of his will and attach metals on his body without his consent. But the voice of another man, made him pause.

"The ships are ready," the man was saying over the door that cracked open.

"About time. What took you so long?"

The man, whom Damian presumed to be Aaron took the jug beside Stephen and gulped the content. He wiped away his sweaty brow with his arm and took another long drink.

"Saw some Garrison heading this way,"

That seemed to activate the adrenaline on Damian as he looked over the window, trying to make sure he could catch the attention of whoever came asking. His enthusiasm died however when Aaron announced that he had settled the garrisons and that they were off back into the city. Catherine congratulated Aaron and turned to Damian, she clicked her fingers and smiled mischievously.

"You have a new life now. Try not to struggle with it. For you are going to enjoy it as much as I enjoyed buy you off Stephen"

"Buying me of?"

"Yes, you've been sold for fifteen Cent"

This is not happening. Damian closed his eyes, wishing the earth would open up and swallow him. How had he gotten into this? How badly has he fallen and who was responsible for this?