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The Disciple of Aoide - Chapter 26

Published at 20th of January 2019 07:44:30 PM


Chapter 26

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The door that they were leaning on was the kind used in traditional townhouses that had a window on it so the occupants, normally the wife working in the kitchen could look out into the backyard without needing to open the door.

That day, this unique feature worked to Felicia and Arthur's advantage because it meant that they could look out without being spotted. Convinced that they had not been seen, Felicia and Arthur slowly raised their heads up to the window. From their vantage point, they could see clearly into the back garden but from the outside, their bodies would be hidden behind the door and only the tops of their heads could be seen.

From the disconsolate state that characterized the rest of the manor, one would expect the back garden to be overgrown and taken over by nature, but in contrary, the place was lively, vibrant and tidy. There were rows of fresh vegetables and even a flower patch.

Someone must have taken serious care of the garden and incidentally, Felicia as well as Arthur were given a glimpse of the little farmers and gardeners at work.

There were about 10 kids of varying age working in the garden. They ranged from small toddlers to those on the verge of growing into young adults. Most of them wore tattered clothes and they were busy working the field. The boys took care of the heavy labour like watering the plants, tilling the plots while the girls helped with lighter chores like picking the fresh produce and weeding.

The first thought that came into Arthur's mind was child abuse for forcing children these young into manual labour but upon closer inspector, Arthur realized these kids were happy in their work. There were smiles on their faces and they seemed to be having tons of fun while in the middle of working. At the very least, this bunch of kids looked much happier than the children that Felicia and Arthur had encountered along the way in the nearby villages who were forced by their parents to work the fields.

Arthur did not know how to make of this situation and when he turned and saw the confusion in Felicia's eyes, he understood she too was feeling the same way. In any case, this was not something that they needed to worry about because this was not within the scope of their quest.

Arthur turned his head back to the window because there was someone else in the back garden that needed a closer inspection, someone who was probably related to their quest at hand.

There was a woman standing on the back porch. She had long flowing locks and she was turned towards the kids, meaning Arthur and Felicia could only capture her in profile. Even so, Arthur thought the woman look beautiful and there was an elevated grace about her beauty, like she had the bearing of a well-off baroness or baroness' daughter. She was wearing a simple yet elegant blouse and the thing that tipped Arthur and Felicia off to her possible identity was the fact that she was wearing a long dress that was bright red in colour. The dress was blood red and as it fluttered in the wind, it looked like a gushing of blood.

The woman did not look like she belonged there, in an abandoned manor, she should be in some luxurious mansion with help waiting on her every need.

However, the thing that caught Arthur and Felicia's attention the most was the musical instrument on her lips. She was holding a flute-like instrument to her lips and that was where the pipe music came from.

The pipe itself was about several inches long and it looked like it was carved out from wood. The quality wasn't particularly exquisite but that added to its handmade, rustic charm.

While they were watching the woman, trying to make sense of what she was doing, playing music to a group of children, instead of going into the field to help them, suddenly, the woman changed the tune of the song. The key was raised by several degree.

Arthur could sense the magic in the tune intensifying. However, he did not feel any changes to his body or mental state. He turned to look at Felicia and the shift in the tune did not seem to affect her in any way either.

He saw Felicia gasp and Arthur quickly turned back to the window. Then, he understood why. When the tune changed, all the kids in the back garden stopped working. They dropped the equipment they were holding and converged at the porch.

The kids were playing and working so freely earlier but now they lined up and moved in such simultaneous movement and gait that it suggested some sort of a hypnosis. Adding to this speculation was the fact that their smiles had disappeared and they were replaced by a rather expressionless face.

They lined up in a row on the porch and now that they were standing side by side, there was a feature about them that stood out to Arthur. Each of the children was wearing an article of clothing that had a pop of red in them, be it a ribbon in the hair, a bracelet or a belt. The red was of the same hue as the red in the woman's skirt, as fresh as blood.

The children stood there as if transfixed, they were not talking with each other or even moving.

Felicia then whispered to Arthur, "Do you think the magic in the pipe is only applicable on children?"

Arthur thought about it and he nodded. That was probably the case, it would have explained everything that they had seen and heard about so far.

The woman kept her lips on the pipe as she turned slowly around to face the row of children. At this point, Arthur and Felicia were given a clearer view and they saw that the woman was holding a small bundle in her other arm while her other arm was holding the pipe.

The bundle was about the size of a large book and it sat immobile in the woman's arm, giving the impression that it was something inanimate. The bundle also matched the color of the woman's dress.

"What do you think that is?" Felicia asked. Arthur had no idea so he shook his head. There was one good thing about the pipe music because it covered up their whispering quite nicely. Felicia and Arthur could converse without the worry of being overheard.

The woman took a step forward towards the row of children and the two in hiding kept their attention closely on her, wondering what she was going to do. The woman bent down slightly to tip the bundle in her arm towards the boy who stood at the front of the row.

The boy did not react, in fact, he stood there like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. The thing that gave a response though was the bundle in the woman's arm. As it tipped closer to the top of the boy's head, the bundle started to move like a baby chick trying to poke through the egg shell.

The bundle of cloth rustled and eventually a tiny appendage broke through the folds of fabric. It looked like a very thin baby's arm.

The arm reached towards the boy's head and it twitched violently. A stream of light could be seen flowing from the boy's body into the bundle through the arm. It looked like the thing was sucking the boy's essence as the boy's face turned paler but the red in the bracelet that he was wearing grew brighter in comparison.

The boy himself did not show any other reaction. He just stood there and allowed the process to continue. Eventually, the woman stood upright and the channeling stopped. The boy teetered on his feet before standing back in his original position.

"The woman is allowing that thing in her arms to suck the life essence from these kids!" hissed Felicia. "We have to stop her before the kids get seriously injured!"

By then, the woman had stepped to the second child in the row, which was a young girl. She had a red ribbon in her hair. Similar to the boy, she too did not react in any way as the woman stepped forward before her and tipped the bundle in her arm towards her.

The arm of the thing inside the bundle twitched, and the whole process began anew. However, this time the process did not have the chance to complete successfully because the wooden door that led into the house was kicked down and several arrows flew right at the woman.




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