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He thought, ‘Shadow Leopard, a magic beast.’

The leopard locked his eyes with the child, it did not display any hostility, but confusion. Opening its mouth the Leopard make some low roars.

‘What are you?’

Valerian opened his mouth and let out a growling sound too, ‘I am Valerian. Umm, a human.’

The leopard again made a sound, ‘A human. I have heard of your kind, but first time seeing one. I was told that your kind is very cunning and has no morals. Some said, that your kind has many strong people as well. Why do you seem so weak?’

Valerian chuckled and said, ‘I do not know, but yes, there are very cunning. Mother Diligentia told me to be wary of fellow humans, and my mother also told me to be the same.’, using the growls as the medium of their communication.

.....

The leopard yawned and growled, ‘Humans surely are weird. Why are you here, should you not be with your kind, living inside those weird dens.’

Valerian chuckled and replied, ‘Those are called houses. I am an orphan, grew up in an orphanage, it is a place where they provide you shelter till you are big enough to out and make something out of your life. I am big enough to leave that place, so...’

‘You will make something of your life in the woods? Humans do not live long in here.’, said the leopard.

Valerian nodded and replied, ‘I am here to collect some supplies before I head out to a big human city.’

‘What supplies?’ asked the Leopard.

Valerian told him the names of the herbs but the Leopard said, ‘Tell me the characteristics of the herbs, I do not know the names your kind use.’

This made sense, after all the names of the same thing in a different language will be different. Valerian met the demand and told the leopard about what he needed. In the end, he asked, ‘Can you tell me your name?’

The Leopard gazed at the child for a minute before he made a growling sound, ‘Mathiyus’

Valerian nodded and asked, ‘Can you help me Mathiyus?’

‘Follow me.’, said the leopard and led the boy deep into the woods.

...

As Valerian was collecting the herbs pointed out by the Leopard, the latter froze up. He gazed back in the direction of the stream. Valerian did not think it was something out of the ordinary, he was not an expert in magical beast behavior.

The two kept collecting the herbs when suddenly, Valerian heard a wailing sound. His heart began to rush, the wail was so painful, that he was instantly covered in goosebumps. He asked, ‘Mathiyus, is that some magical beast?’

Mathiyus shook his head and said, ‘A human, you have the blessing of Magus on you, try to focus and you will be able to sense it. Think about the runes in your mind.’

Valerian was confused as he did not know what could it be that Mathiyus wanted him to sense, but he focused anyway. When he opened his eyes, he could see an amber hue in the direction of the stream. He said, ‘It is like a cloud of amber color.’

Mathiyus replied, ‘Amber is the color of fire. That cloud you see is caused by the use of fire magic. From the wails, it seemed to be very torturous of the person.’

Valerian nodded as he felt very fearful in his heart. Those wails shook his heart. He recalled the pain from the time when Gloria used to beat him, when suddenly, Mathiyus said, ‘The person left.’

Looking back in the direction of the stream, Valerian could not shake off the bad feeling in his gut. Mathiyus could discern what the boy was thinking at a glance, he said, ‘If you want to check on that person, go ahead.’

Valerian nodded and rushed in the direction of the stream, as he got closer, he could hear someone sobbing and begging. Accidentally, he stepped on a twig and the person turned back to cast a gaze at him.

They both exchanged a glance and Valerian froze, he never expected to see Gloria here. She was nothing like her arrogant and perm self. He walked closer slowly when the lady did not rebuke his presence.

However, as he moved close, he spotted the figure on the ground, burned beyond recognition. The scarred self of the person scared Valerian, he wanted to look away when his gaze fell on the rosary around the neck of the person and his body froze.

At this moment, Valerian found his whole world crumbling down. This rosary, he will never forget it. It was something Diligentia wore on her person always, he asked her once what was special about this rosary and the lady told him that it was a gift from her younger brother, Rectus.

Shivering and shocked, Valerian moved forward, he could not speak, so he turned his gaze to Gloria, and mustering all his courage he weaved signs, ‘Who is this person?’, he asked.

Gloria shivered when she saw the signs, she said, “I did not want this to happen to her. Why did she come over to look for you, it is not my fault but yours. You are responsible for this, you jinx!!!”

Her words confirmed his suspicion, and he turned his head to look at the person on the ground. She was hurt so badly because she had come to look for him. Valerian raised his hands and thought, ‘Sanatio Lucis.’

The glow covered Diligentia and seemed to have given her some relief, but it was far from healing her completely in a few moments. Valerian, unfortunately, was not strong enough yet. He kept on casting the spell until the Diligentia turned her head to look at him.

His spell had restored her sight to some extent and also repaired her vocal cords. Diligentia used the last of her energy and spoke in a hoarse voice, “I can see you before I depart, Mother Vita is merciful.”

Valerian knelt beside her and kept shaking his head. He wanted to speak but he could not, despite the helplessness, the pain, the agony of emotions, he was unable to shed a tear. He wanted to wail and apologize to Diligentia.

Diligentia said, “Come closer, my child let me have a good look at you.”

Valerian leaned in close to her face as Diligentia gazed at his face. Her eyes were not completely recovered but she could see him clearly from such a close distance. She said, “Your eyes are like the silver lining on the dark clouds, always giving others hope. I do not have much time left, so let me tell you a few things.

You must go to the capital, find my younger brother, Rectus. He will help you. Take my rosary for him, he will recognize it.

Also, let me say something that I should have said more often in the past, I love you. I may not be your real mother, but you are no less than my own to me. I am sorry for all those times I could not protect you from the bad people. I am sorry, I have to leave you.”

At this moment, Valerian was able to cry for the first time in his life. His eyes were brimming with tears. Tears of blood were flowing down his eyes, painting his vision red. Diligentia could hear him make sobbing sounds as he leaned over her.

Diligentia said, “Goodbye, my child. Mother loves you.”

This was the second time Valerian had come across these words. First was his mother, Flos, saying the same in the letter, and now, the person who gave him some warmth, leaving him with similar words.

Valerian watched as Diligentia’s eyes gradually turned blurry. The child felt a gush of warmth on his face as Diligentia breathed her last.

Valerian sat there silently as blood tears fell down his eyes. Gloria was getting antsy with every moment passing. She did not expect such an ending, and now the cursed child was bleeding from his eyes, an ominous vibe overtook control of her as the lady decided to leave the place.

She stood up feebly but her movements alerted Valerian, as he slowly turned to look at her. His eyes were devoid of any spark, they were dull and dim as if a body without a soul. Gloria was scared and while she tried to run, she tripped and fell to the ground covered with pebbles.

Valerian stood up and turned to face Gloria, then he raised his right hand and a spell flashed in his mind. This spell was used to bind criminals, a vine that will suck off their life slowly, it was called Death Vine.

The vine was created from earth magic runes, but only when negative emotions were channeled inside the spell incantation will it work. So, the caster will need strong negative imagery in his mind. Valerian was lacking anything but negativity at this moment.

He imagined the meaning of the spell in his mind and then, a dark green vine glowing like emerald sprouted from the ground, and clutched to Gloria’s ankle.

Mathiyus was watching all this from the sides, and he thought, ‘Mors Vitis.’

The shore echoed with the weeping and begging cries of Gloria, however, Valerian stood there, watching her body turn into a dry ugly husk. Inside his heart, the seed of hatred had finally taken roots it has sprouted.