Chapter 27

In an arid and seemingly abandoned stretch of land, a hoarse and dry sound rustled as the wind blew by, tumbleweeds rolled about on the dry and creviced ground as it accompanied the wind on its merry journey.

Different small yet odd creatures left the tiny and numerous holes scattered on the ground as they looked up in a bid to welcome the rays of the morning sun.

A tiny jade colored, lizard like creature shifted its gaze towards the morning sun, it flashed its four violet eyes at the vast ground of dry and nothingness as it fully emerged from the hole it called its humble abode.

The vast stretch of land had nothing in the likes of greenery growing on it, the ground looked so dry one might actually catch the sight of small pebbles crushing into fine silt colored sand before joining the parched ground.

The lizard made its way peacefully through the dry and desert like lands accompanied by the rustling winds and the occasional tumbleweeds. The intensity of the wind would sometimes vary causing the nearby dust to be lifted into the air causing a veil like phenomenon to cover a distance not more than a hundred meters.

Inside the veil of dust apart from the hymn of wind, small almost silent footsteps could be heard making their way through. From the steady on beat sound of the steps one could tell they had a purpose, perhaps a set destination in mind and nothing in the likes of a little dust cloud could stop that.

The tiny lizard emerged from the dust cloud, dust of the dirt and cast its gaze towards the distant north, it stood in place almost hesitant to continue on its journey. It raised its head to ascertain its senses were indeed in order. After a brief yet thorough moment of inquiry a slight frown manifested on the lizard's clear jade colored face.

Mixed in the earlier symphony of rustling winds and traveling tumbleweeds was a distinct and hard to miss sound. The echo like sound sounded like it came from further ahead, in the lizard’s intended traveling destination.

Although the echo was barely audible, it was clear enough to send chills down the lizard’s back, it lifted its head once again and stared ahead, obviously at the possible origin of the sound.

About one km ahead of the hesitant lizard lay a beautiful and lush pierce of land, the majestic greenery was characterized by giant yet healthy trees, large seemingly docile butterflies flapped their multicolored wings as they flew from trunk to trunk sucking on the different and numerous flowers aligned along the trunks of massively imposing yet beautiful trees.

In the middle of the trees lay a small spring with water as beautiful as sapphire. The gentle spring was so calm and lull that not even a slight ripple could be observed even with the gentle breeze that occasionally blew by.

In this lush paradise that seemed way out of place compared to its general surrounding a variety of sounds echoed in the air, some of it was the dry and hoarse winds that blew from the desert like exterior of the paradise piece, others were the gentle flapping of wings by the beautiful butterflies and lastly... lastly there was the intense and gut-wrenching wails of pain and agony coming from deeper within the paradise piece.

Wave after wave of wails covered every inch of the vast paradise piece before breaking through and setting their sights on the bigger and barren landscape further beyond. At the center of the wails lay a young man barely in his early adulthood writhing in pain. He had on a large cloak made entirely of large soft feathers, it was a controversial look but it served its purpose.

Patches of blood could be seen all over the cloak, indications that a grave injury had been suffered in the not-so-distant past. With a closer look one might notice the dense stretch of black veins all over the youth's body. The veins squirmed and moved about almost like they were living vipers slithering themselves on the man’s skin.

The man was Lwanda. After ingesting the juices of the vines, a sudden yet expected reaction began to take place. He knew there was a possibility of suffering such backlash from ingesting the vine sup but he’d never thought it would be this bad.

He lay on the ground writhing in pain, letting out wave after wave of loud chill inducing moans to vent his agony and frustration. The pain he was going through was maddening, every inch of his body felt like it was dipped in intense acid, a wild burning sensation came from all over. Every cell, every organ, even from his hair, he really was burning from head to toe.

Not too far from the wailing Lwanda stood a majestic beast, its bloody red eyes were fixed on the former not even daring to look away. A trace of confusion yet satisfaction was vividly displayed on its face as it watched Lwanda writhing in agony.

It maintained the sadistic look for the better part of an hour seeming to enjoy every bit of it as it stared in awe. It indulged in the gut wrenching wails almost like it was listening to the best of orchestras presented to it. After another hour of bliss and delight its face shined a trace of uncertainty and a deeper sense of confusion.

It stared keenly at the body before it, the more it stared the deeper the frown on its face got, this continued until large bulging veins manifested on its head and neck. A chill spread through the close vicinity of the beast as its face distorted in rage. It stared closer at Lwanda and let out an intense roar that seemed to shake the ground itself.

It marched up and down, sometimes even launching attacks on the vines trying to get to Lwanda as soon as possible but those attempts were foiled by the ever-regenerating vines. The jaguar was seething in rage, its blood-colored eyes were now bloodier than ever indicating just how pissed off it was. It stared at Lwanda with a pissed yet helpless face, it was obvious all it could do now was sit and watch helplessly at the scene that was unfolding before it.

The intensity of the wails reduced after every passing minute; the once chilling screams of agony were finally dying down after hours of terrorizing the paradise piece. After the screams had come to a halt and all that was left were grunts of pain, Lwanda sat up to look at his body, the shock plastered on his face was so apparent one could not miss it even if they were trying to.

Lwanda revealed a confused and perplexed expression as he stared at himself. Of all the things he expected to happen after eating the vines this was not it. He stared in disbelief as the black veins in his body that had caused him endless worry seemed to be engulfed by an unknown energy from within him. The black veins put up a struggle seemingly trying to resist this new energy before being overwhelmed and submitting, clearing from the skin like they were never there.

At a speed that could be seen with the naked eyes, more and more of the black veins turned into normal bulging veins before shrinking and disappearing into the flesh like normal veins.

Lwanda stared in disbelief but not at the disappearing dark veins but rather at his right hand. His eyes were wide with shock, if he had not been here to see it with his own eyes, he would have never believed something like this was possible. Heck he was staring at it yet he still found it hard to believe.

On his right hand, bones, muscle, flesh, veins and everything else regenerated at a speed that could be seen in real time. If things continued on like this his once severed right hand would be completely regenerated within the hour.

Lwanda stared at the growling jaguar then at the vines all around him, the confusion and perplex face only intensified.

“What the fuck is going on!!!!”