PHANTASM: CONTINENT OF TARANOS

Like every ordinary day Kellen came home early from school and rushed to his room to change. He lives with his mother in one hundred sq. meter apartment in Manila. His mother is a call center agent on one of the promising company in the country. Being a single parent for almost fourteen years’ she had been able to raise a reliable and astute son. It is difficult on the start but she manages to overcome the struggled for the past years.

Kellen is intelligent and competitive, always one of the top student in the class, he represents his school in various competitions and do some sports with his circle of friends. When he was at home his favorite pastime is reading books or novels that pique his interest and playing the guitar to lessen his boredom.

He loves and respects his mom the most, especially when he discovered that his father had run with another women and did not take the responsibility when his mother was pregnant on him. He try to asked his mother about this matter but she never gave him any more details about it. He lost the interest on it and never attempts to raise the question again. His mother raise him well alone, and she's enough already for him.

Since they only have each other, they make a schedule for everyday chores in the house, his mother is assign to cook and tidy his clothes for school during morning while he is assigned on cooking and cleaning during the evening. This routine starts for three years now. Occasionally his grandparents paid a visit to them and stay there for three to five days for catching up on them, during this time he can relax a bit.

Since it is still early to cook for their dinner and feel really tired today he decided to take a short nap, throwing himself in a soft bed he fell asleep in a second.

Not long after he dozes off , he discern something was off because he feels light and his like floating on something, when he opened his eyes it looks like his really floating while lying flat, all he can see is pitch black and he felt nervous somehow. ‘What the! Am i dreaming already?' Kellen thought to himself when his checking his surroundings.

He tried to move his legs but it seems that his lower body is not responding so instead he sway his arms and check it, but same thing happened.

Experiencing his body becoming stiff he sway his head back and forth. He look left and below him to check what is in there but it’s really dark down below to satisfy his curiosity he steep his head downward venting until his chest, suddenly he felt a chilling sensation on his head going through his chest when he look up while in a steep position his eyes budge wide open in fright.

He saw his physical body still lying there in flat, while he in his incorporeal form now is below of his body half attach to it.

‘Oh no, come on please I need to wake up’

Kellen thought at this moment that this dream is getting worst in fact he knows that it is a turning into a nightmare his trying to wake up but he cannot do it right now.

‘My soul is leaving my body but not completely, only my head and chest are getting cold and there is a numbing sensation. I need to move, and go to my body’

He’s trying to move his chest upward but it feels so heavy the only part of his body that can move is his head he can sense that his body is sliding slowly downward. A moment later a third of his soul has been out in his body and he felt numb and chill in his legs now his fingers in his hand and feet is crossing to each other and he feels it, his whole body is starting to tremble now. ‘Noooo….. what is happening to me, am I going to die? I need to go back. Please wake me Ma? ’ But whatever he do it is still futile he cannot raise his self to his body and also cannot resist it. A moment later he can feel the cold feeling in his whole body and his descending in a high-speed rate.

•••••

Kadim Forest which is known as Forest of Despair, it is considered as no man’s place because of the impending danger and unpredictable phenomenon inside of it. Even skilled Mercenary and hunter will never risk their lives to enter it. One of the famous incident that happened here is the annihilation of the entire expedition of Prince Crast that consist of 2500 elite member of the royal army only five had survived and told that they were attacked by the horde of demons that suddenly spawn in their group and starting to assault but when they figure out that there are no demons and they were killing each other it is already too late because a pack of beast starting to rush on their location because of the scent of bloodbath all over the place. From then on more stories emerge and all of them results in deaths of the people trying to enter the forest, time pass people still fearing this forest and started to call it Forest of Despair from then on it is consider as one of the dangerous place in the entire continent.

Kadim Forest is vast with a measure of 450 miles west to east and 380 miles from north to south, no one fully discover the inner part of the forest they can only explore one fifth of its area if you proceed further you can encounter dangerous terrain and strong beast that inhabited the entire forest.

No one know that In the heart of this forest there is an extinct volcano and in the mouth of it there is a small island that surrounded by a lake, right now there are two silhouettes that is hiding in a nearby tree.

????[Boss, look a spirit! It seems like a human]

????[Silence, let’s observe first don’t make any more sounds or he will hear us you know that spirit

has a good sight and hearing I want to know how he got here] he said while looking at the lying spirit not too far away.

Kellen have landed on a grass he doesn’t feel pain but his body cannot still move, he check the surrounding by rolling his eyes and notice that there are trees everywhere. He don’t know if his eyes are deceiving him but everything that surround him has a radiance in them he thought that this is natural because his eyes are adjusting to light since he is previously in a dark place.

He smells the mixture of fresh air and grass, his hearing is somewhat off, there is a ringing sound like his been slap in the ear, he can also discern the sound of crickets so he made a conclusion that it is night already.

‘What place is this, recently I am just falling and now this, lying here in grass surrounded by trees’, with a curious expression he tried to stand up, this time he can somehow able to move his body.

He tried to walk and feels like a baby that learning its first step, feeling that his body weighing a tons he move slowly.

In his sight there is a nearby body of water so he wants to check it, there is a faint white brilliance in all of the things that he saw tree, stone, grass, insect and even the water has that luminosity it is refreshing to his sight and look surreal this place pique his curiosity.

When he is near the lake he heard a faint conversation in his back his not sure what they were talking, he glance on the direction of the conversation when he saw no one in the open space he continue walking through the lake.

Moments later he heard the conversation resume and this time he is sure that he is not alone and there are other people here he check the surrounding for the possible hiding spot and he saw the nearest group of trees fifty meter on where his standing.

He walk to that direction to check if there are people hiding, his not even half on the location when he saw two silhouettes that came out behind the tree he was startled and move a few step back he cannot see their whole figure but the brilliance they emitting was different instead of white like any other thing he saw they were radiating a faint red and orange brilliance.

The two silhouettes are starting to walk in his direction and the one in front are speaking but he cannot understand what his talking about, though he is sure that the person is talking to him.

‘What is this feeling? What are they going to do? I think I need to get out of here’ his starting to panic and don’t know what to do if his going to run or stay. Bit by bit he can see the two silhouettes appearance.

“H…hheloo..o I….jus” with his shaky voice and trembling knees he tried to utter some words but did not finish his sentence when he was been sucked upward by some unknown force.

“Kellen ….. Kellen ….. wake up!” Danica shaking Kellen’s body frantically with worried expression.

Kellen’s body is stiff and looks like his been electrocuted shaking his head left and right while sweating profusely. “Ma thank you” he mumbles while gasping for breath.

“You’re having a nightmare, look at you ….. did you eat before sleeping? I told you not to eat before sleeping because there’s a possibility that you having a nightmare” Danica reproach in one breath.

“No I only sleep because I feel tired, Ma can I have a glass of water I think I run in a marathon for being this thirsty” He asked in a charming voice.

“Wait me here I bring you water” She left the room and go downstairs to grab some glass and pitcher.

Kellen’s checking taking of his cloths to change he wipe his sweat all over he can still feel the cold from his head to toe when he look his face in the mirror he is somewhat pale and his lips has lost some color on it.

“If Mama did not wake me up I don’t know what would happen to me” he exclaimed this while his changing when his mother enter the room and give him a glass of water he gulp it in a second and ask for another glass.

“Ma, thanks for waking me up I’ve really had an odd dream. By the way why you’re early today?” Kellen asked his mother while taking a glass of water on his mother’s hand.

“What early you talking about its already pass 8 p.m. and we don’t have anything for dinner yet, so I came to check you, who have thought that your sleeping and having a nightmare” he frowned after his mother said that it’s already pass eight in the evening.

‘4 hours did I really slept that long’ he thought with a confuse expression

“Sorry Ma but I only take a nap because I really feel tired I did not expect that I would slept that long. Anyway I will cook real quickly, just give me a minute” Kellen take the pitcher on his mother’s hand and going to rush to the kitchen.

“No Need” he heard his mother stopping him

“Ma?” Kellen blurted out

“I said no need I already order a pizza so you don’t need to cook and it’s getting late already I think it will arrive within twenty minutes”

“Just come down when you’re done here” he nodded and smiles meekly to his mother whose exiting his room.

‘Weird and scary dream, I don’t want to experience that again but that place is beautiful too bad I did not able to check the lake. I wonder what that guy are saying, is that a place somewhere on earth’ his mind was pondering about the incident that happens on his dream.

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Thank you for reading the first chapter of my first fiction feel free to comment and please rate if you like it.

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