King Make Believe

Stranger things have happened - Chapter 27

Jae-wun

I watched the boy I swore I would protect with my life, lying bridal style in this stranger's arms. I didn't know why I hadn't stopped him yet, he was the reason Hiro's forearm was dripping red stains onto the grass below us. "Where did you come from?" I asked.

"The farm." He replied, not even turning around to look at me while he talked. "There were strangers on my property, so I took action—I didn't realise you were non-violent until I'd shot the arrow."

I frowned but sighed and followed him as he walked into the door of the larger farmhouse, the home. There was light and a fire. Warmth. "Thank you." I said, looking back at Miyoko.

She was looking around, frowning, confusion scrawled across her face. I turned around, my back facing the stranger and Hiro as I walked to Miyoko's side. "Are you okay?" I asked.

She smiled absently and looked over at Hiro behind me. Her mouth fell open and I spun around, my eyes popping as I saw what had occurred while I was distracted. I turned around and saw the stranger standing over Hiro's body. Hiro was alive because he was twitching, but the reason for this was because this stranger had somehow drawn the Mist from his body, watching it move hypnotically in a small bubble of cyan grey.

"What are you doing?!" I cried, running to Hiro side and feeling his pulse, it jumping and climbing. And irrelevant beat to his spastic twitches.

"I am finding out why you came here—what your purpose is and where you will go." The stranger said simply.

Miyoko was at my side instantly. Her gaze raced frantically from the stranger, to Hiro, to the Mist. "You do know that if you push the Mist harboured inside of him—Hiro will either die or his sickness will grow?" She looked over at the stranger who seemed to have ignored her.

Then, as soon as it started, the stranger pulled back and muttered a few words under his breath. I stared at him, frowning. "How can you even touch the Mist?" I asked, realising that Mist was like a rabid dog, unarmed by only the person who grew up beside it and gave it what it needed. Even then—just barely contained.

The boy shrugged. "My father could do it, and his father before him and so on." He looked down at Hiro's limp body. "I can't really explain it other than I just can."

I grimaced and sat down on the floor by the fire. Warming up my hands and gesturing for Miyoko to join me. She sat down but was still looking back over her shoulder as the stranger walked around the room, grabbing things from cupboards and drawers. "What's your name?" Miyoko asked, avoiding his sharp gaze as he looked over.

"Archer...Crawsley." He said, almost like he was deciding what he would say. I frowned and twisted around, the warmth of the fire stinging my spine.

"You don't know your last name?" I asked.

"No—I just...haven't used it in awhile..." He trailed off, turning around and placing certain roots and leaves into a pot. He crushed them up with a piece of polished rock.

"Oh, okay." I turned back around and watched the flames flicker and dance, casting shadows across the floor in front of me. I didn't really want to know what the stra—Archer was doing, but I really wanted to go over to Hiro. Unfortunately, before I could walk over and see how he was doing, with Archer running around pouring liquids together into strange blends with a unique smell staining the air, he asked both Miyoko and myself to find a certain flower that he hadn't had the privilege of collecting because of our arrival.

So I had to leave Hiro to go and save him, by finding a flower. I sighed and walked after Miyoko, wondering what would happen with our sore asses if we continued stuffing up like this.