Loud, sudden knocking on the door made Ethan jump from the unfamiliar bed. It wasn't ordinary knocking, but a sharp, urgent sound that broke the silence.
"Maybe it's Ainliss!" Ethan muttered to himself, but the knocking grew sharper and more insistent with every passing second, increasing his confusion.
Ethan began his descent down the winding staircase, characterized by its antique wooden treads and intricate railing carvings. Every step was pure agony.
Muffled groans escaped him with every pressure on his fresh wounds and the wolf scratches on his chest.
Ethan had to cling to the railing with a white-knuckled grip, descending very slowly, step by step, ignoring the sharp pulse throbbing in his exhausted legs. He finally reached the lower floor, slightly panting, trying to gather his strength.
"Alright, I'll open the door..."
Ethan opened the door to find a girl so beautiful she immediately caught his eye.
Her eyes were green like spring grass, and her long black hair, like ink, danced with the light breeze. She wore an elegant, immaculately clean white uniform.
Her white shirt bore an intricate embroidered symbol: a snake coiled around a golden tree.
She carried a leather bag on her shoulder that bore the same symbol, and her short skirt revealed graceful lower legs.
She lowered her head slightly, then spoke in a voice as soft as silk, which conveyed reassurance:
"I am a nurse. Mr. Ainliss sent me."
Her captivating voice charmed Ethan, who gestured with his hand and said in a calm voice:
"Please, come in..."
The nurse entered with quiet steps and stopped in front of Ethan, who closed the door and was simply smiling at her. She quietly advanced and placed her bag on a wooden table.
She spoke softly, taking bandages out of her bag:
"Could you show me where you are wounded?"
Ethan moved in front of her toward the clothes rack and began unbuttoning the loose white shirt he was wearing.
He slowly revealed his injuries: the harsh scratch on his chest from the wolf's claw, and the other scrapes covering his shoulders and back.
He turned to hang up the shirt, and at that moment, the nurse's eyes fell upon the giant black tattoo that covered his entire back.
In a brief moment of silence, the nurse's features froze, but she regained her composure with dazzling skill, and her green eyes shifted from shock to calm focus. She spoke with a strained calmness:
"Were you just lost in the forest?"
Ethan turned and sat down on the brown leather sofa beside her, saying, pointing to his scratches:
"Yes, a pack of huge wolves attacked me..."
The nurse took a small, inscribed bottle with strange liquid symbols from her bag.
She splashed a little of the liquid into her hand and began gently rubbing it. After that, she took out an old lighter and said with a strangely comforting calmness:
"Lean back and do not be afraid."
Ethan did as she said, slowly leaning back with a groan of pain.
Then, in a quick and surprising movement, the nurse ignited the liquid in her hand, and the fire blazed with a strange, emerald green color Ethan had never seen before.
She transferred the green flame to her other hand, and the light danced in the room.
Ethan instantly jumped up, signs of terror and physical fear evident on his features.
He cried out loudly:
"What are you doing?!"
The nurse smiled, her smile as reassuring as it was unsettling. She said quietly, cutting through Ethan's tension:
"Don't worry, it's the Fire of Healing."
Ethan returned to his place, confusion and fear etched on his face, and said hesitantly:
"How can fire heal me...?"
The nurse, Cecilia, began to laugh softly, her gentle voice calming Ethan's distress.
"Just relax..."
Ethan leaned back again, and Cecilia began passing her hand over his wound. Ethan felt a comfortable warmth spread through his chest, and he watched in amazement as the scratch slightly closed. The small wounds on the rest of his body disappeared completely, as if they had never been there.
Ethan said with a deep astonishment he could not hide:
"How can I be healed by fire, Nurse?"
She continued passing her hand over the remainder of his chest, then said with an instructional calmness:
"When it rains in Elonia, every drop that falls onto the Aieltheris sacred Tree becomes blessed and effective for healing. There are many ways to use this solution, the most prominent being through fire or drinking."
Ethan raised his eyebrows, and a barrage of questions poured into his mind at once. He asked:
"What is the name of the solution? And is it effective against everything?"
She withdrew her hand, extinguished the green fire, and said in a soft voice:
"It is called "Euribedea". It is a limited cure; there are serious illnesses against which it is ineffective. Even your current wound won't heal completely. You must rest."
Ethan began scratching his head, smiling a silly smile in an attempt to win her favor:
"My leg is injured too..."
A fleeting moment of anger and annoyance crossed her calm features before she composed herself and smiled professionally:
"You should have told me. I won't waste 'Euribedea' on your minor foot wounds; it is expensive. I will only bandage the scratch on your chest and disinfect the wound on your leg."
Ethan nodded, and the nurse carefully wrapped bandages around his chest. Each time she paused to observe the black tattoo, the fear in her heart silently increased. Afterward, she moved to his legs, lifted his loose trousers, and skillfully disinfected and bandaged the wounds.
Cecilia spoke with noticeable hesitation:
"I have finished my work."
Ethan watched her face intently, sensing something unfamiliar beneath her calmness. He said quietly:
"Thank you, Nurse, but before you leave, may I know your name?"
A charming, warm smile appeared as she moved to leave:
"My name is Cecilia, and I am a nurse here in the district of Bostgast."
Just as Ethan was about to speak to bid her farewell, Cecilia interrupted him with a tender smile that carried a cold warning:
"Don't show your tattoo to anyone, Ethan..."
Her words struck his eardrums like an iron hammer. Ethan remained lost in his thoughts, whispering to himself in astonishment:
"How did she know my name?"
Ethan jumped up on his injured feet, ignoring the pain, and tried to catch up with her. But when he rushed outside, the town was empty. Only the night lights and the whistling cold were wandering the streets. Cecilia had completely vanished.
Ethan spoke with difficulty due to the pain in his foot:
"Where did she disappear to...?"
Ethan quickly closed the door behind him, instinctively pushing himself away from the empty street that had swallowed Cecilia. He headed to the leather sofa, buried himself in it, and began to connect the threads of the knot growing in his mind.
"I think Mr. Ainliss told her my name... but there's really something strange."
His eyes wandered around the luxurious room, then he whispered to himself:
"Why do their expressions change when they see the tattoo? I barely saw Ainliss's shock, and here is Cecilia hiding terror."
"Is there a link between the tattoo and my mysterious transference here... and why should no one know that I am from another world?"
Meanwhile, Cecilia was not far. She quickly entered a dark council chamber, where she stood before eight people, including Ainliss. The light in the room was dim, illuminating only their stone-faced expressions.
Sweat was pouring from Cecilia, and fear was evident on her beautiful face. She said with a hesitant, broken voice:
"I saw it... The tattoo belonged to the Vyrnax Tree."
As soon as the name was heard, a loud sound erupted in the room. A massive, bald man wearing a heavy gold necklace slammed the table with his thick fist and said in a sharp, fierce tone:
"Impossible! We must get rid of him before his Trunk acts!"
A girl sitting opposite him, with long black hair and snow-white skin, whose black eyes shone with arrogance from beneath her elegant Gothic dress, spoke:
"I will skin his back and decorate my room with it!"
The elderly woman, who was seated at the head, shouted, silencing the entire room with her power:
"Homan and Nava, be silent! As long as he is in our custody, he poses no danger to the world."
The old woman gave a cold and sarcastic smile, contradicting the wrinkles on her face:
"The Azrylum scoundrels will search for him. It would be a good idea to use this young man as bait to catch them."
Everyone nodded, agreeing to the devilish plan, except for a short young man with medium-length white hair, childlike features, and white eyes, Marcus. He raised his hand nervously.
The old woman slowly raised her eyebrow and said in astonishment:
"What, Marcus?"
Marcus stammered with obvious fear and hesitation:
"B... B... But... A... Are... Are we going to fight them?"
The old woman replied in a reassuring but utterly malicious tone:
"Yes... But first, I must meet this boy myself to see the quality of his Trunk."
A look of deep anxiety settled on Ainliss's face, who stood silent. He said in a low voice full of worry:
"Your orders, Eldweyn. I will bring him tomorrow."
On the other side, Ethan was fast asleep, a sleep he hadn't experienced since setting foot on this new land.
He didn't know that the greatest danger lay not in the monsters he left behind, but in his surroundings.
Even more, he didn't know that dawn was approaching, and the
time remaining for him before he transformed from a victim into bait was only a few hours.