Hi! It's me, Ngebe. Many weird things have happened since last night. First, Alab woke me up in the middle of the night with a scream. He toned it down by saying it was just a bad dream, but I knew it was more than that because I never heard him screamed that loud before. He tried covering the fear in his eyes by teasing me. I almost did not notice this because of that embarrassing request, which irritated me.

Then when I woke up this morning, Alab is already done with harvesting the barley without me. What was more surprising is that he somehow became powerful. Something is really wrong with him, like he changed.

While we are listening to this old storyteller, suddenly Alab is sweating, and his face is flushed. I touched his hand, and he is burning hot. When I saw that there is really something wrong with him, I drowned out all sounds around me, my mind started to think fast. Alab is clutching his chest, and he is breathing heavily. I can see he is steaming due to his sweat drying up. I needed to do something!.

Nobody noticed what was happening because they are listening intently to the story.

I pulled out the gloves I recently bought from my pack, put it on, and pulled Alab towards a pile of snow on the roadside. "Took off your tunic!" I shouted to Alab, but it seems he can't hear me. So I took it off for him and shoved him in the snow. I can hear hissing sounds as Alab sank inside the melting snow. Removing my right glove and touch his forehead, which slightly cooled off. I scoop more snow and rub it on his body. Alab's breathing stabilizes, and he passed out.

I need someone to carry him because I'm not strong enough, so I went to John's tavern to ask for help. When he saw me, he knew right away something wrong happened. I'm not sure what gave it away, maybe the way I looked. I told him what happen, he followed me, and he carried Alab to his place.

"I have a spare room; let's bring him there to rest." We went up the attic, and he put down Alab on the bed. "You stay and take care of him. I'll go call Herb, the village healer." I thanked him, and he went out. I continued performing a cold compress on his body to keep it cool. After twenty minutes, John and Herb came. Herb examined Alab but found nothing wrong with his body. "It's my first time seeing someone with this high fever. But I think he will be okay since his breathing seems fine. Just make sure you keep him cool and hydrated. He is sweating too much, so tea could help. This is a recipe for a good tea to help treat the fever." Herb handed me a piece of paper.

(Elderflowers, catnip, yarrow, white willow bark, Echinacea, and lemon balm. Lemon juice and raw honey can be added to the tea.)

I handed a few coins to Herb and send him away. John helped me prepare the tea; thankfully, John has all the ingredients. After preparing the tea, I let it cool down till it's not too hot to drink. "Thank you, John, I don't want to trouble you further. I'll take it from here; you can rest." John nodded and went out of the room.

I was seated beside my brother. After long hours of keeping my brothers' temperature down and helping him drink the tea I made, which is really hard since he is unconscious, I began to doze off.

Clamorous conversations between the merchants and guests were happening in John's tavern. Then suddenly, somebody shook me awake. As I open my eyes, I saw Alab in front of me looking a bit miserable. "Thank goodness you're awake! How do you feel?" I immediately consulted."I'm fine, my temperature returned to normal. Thanks, Ngebe," he replied solemnly. "Anyway, I woke you up because I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" Alab was about to talk when the commotion downstairs intensified. "What's happening down there? Let's go and see. I think something wrong is going on." I can see the reluctance in Alab's eyes, but he nodded. So we went down the attic to find John, to know what is happening. When we arrived, we found two men in a sorry state, surrounded by people.

John is serving food for the two men when he saw us. After serving, he moves toward our direction. "It's good that you're awake," patting Alab on the back with his massive hands. Alab only forced a smile. "What happened here? Who are those two?" I inquired. "They are merchants who were traveling out of our village yesterday morning. According to them, they were attacked on the way last night. Only the two of them survived from the entire caravan."

"That's horrible; who attacked them?" While we were talking, I noticed that Alab is silent the whole time. "I don't quite understand what it was because they were quite shaken up. The other one with a big gash on his face keeps on babbling: monsters. While the other said it was a wolf, and it seemed like it was looking for something." Alab almost collapses when he heard this. Fortunately, John supported him.

Something is not right; it appears that Alab knows something about this. I looked directly at Alab's eyes, and he nodded, which means he knows what's in my mind. "Let's go back up the room," I commanded Alab; I turned to John and smiled. "We will excuse ourselves; Alab needs to rest." John nodded in response, and he went to the kitchen.

"Tell me everything." I got to the point as soon as we were back at the attic. "Remember the wooden chest I told you about, which I sold? Inside was a statue with many engravings. I felt it was calling to me, so I kept it in my pack. That night I was attacked by a large wolf-like creature" He talked for about thirty minutes. I was silent the whole time and listened to him without any interruptions. "I woke up in the morning as nothing happened. I thought everything was a dream, so I did not think about it too much." He finished.

I looked down and closed my eyes, thinking. After a few minutes, I looked up. "So this is the reason why you had a nightmare, and I think this has something to do with why you had a very high fever last night." Alab did not confirm or denied. "Lastly, I believed that the creature you described was looking for either the chest or the statue it contained. The trader you sold the chest to might be with the caravan that was attacked. We need to confirm this from the survivors. And about the statue, are you sure it is not with you?"

"I'm sure, as I told you, there was a hole in my pack when I woke up, and the statue was missing. I don't remember anything after I was attacked and passed out." Something seems off in his story. "If you were attacked by such a beast, it's impossible for you to survive. Fortunately, here you are alive and well, but I think the statue has everything to do with this. After we talk to the survivors, we will look for the old storyteller."

"Why do we need to find that old man?" Alab said, confused, then he palmed his forehead. "Of course! Because he might know something! How stupid of me." I don't know if I should laugh or cry. How stupid can he be? I said to myself.

It took us an hour to wait for the survivors to totally calm down so we could talk to them. We found out that my conjecture was correct. The furniture merchant was with them during the attack, but they were unsure if he survived because they escaped in different directions to survive.

We were lucky because the bards and storytellers are still In Kasa village. We asked around where to find the old storyteller. We found a small tent farthest from the other tents."What do you want?" Ngebe was about to call for him when that question rasped from inside the tent. "We want to ask you some questions," I answered politely.