The Ballard of Nightmares

The world is a cruel place.

My sleep has long since admitted defeat to the incessant sound of whips striking my Mothers back. Swish. Crack. Yet the woman doesn’t utter a sound. It is a miracle how I forced my sister to sleep through this. Swish. Crack. Still no sound as the night slowly puts on the cloak of dawn amidst the blare from their nocturnal ceremony.

“Wealth, Fame, Power - What is it that you desire?”

“All of them. All of them.”

“Then it is a ‘Hero’ that you must strive to become. Cede thy ego and devote thyself to thy nation. For only a ‘Hero’ shall obtain them all.”

The thunderous words of the feeble old king echo in my ears. Contrary to his outlook, the king possessed a strong voice and always managed to capture the hearts of the fickle masses from atop that stage in the city square. As a brat looking on amidst an audience of nearly 100,000 people, all I could remember was thinking about how stupid it all was because in truth all the royalty wanted was a dog to shove their responsibility on, and if the times got worse, their shame and punishment.

There are no heroes anymore. The first hero, Gladeon, was perhaps the only true hero in the history of mankind and that was only possible because he took the throne to himself in order to give himself the power necessary to bring any substantial change. Everyone after him, however, fell into the void of greed and lost their way. That is why I believe that someone can be a hero only if they take control of this kingdom yet everyone that rules this kingdom can’t be one. At least that is what I think.

The sounds come to a halt and I see the man leaving the house through the small window in our room. Another day in this same endless cycle has arrived. Or at least that's how it always goes but this time the night had brought along a merciless rainstorm in tow. I scurried back home from the days' work outside the kingdoms' borders and in front of the door I spot Meryl, my sister, standing her teeth biting down on her lips. She wore an anxious look and as soon as she saw me, her hands that clawed her apron flung themselves to the air as she ran towards me.

"MOM! BELL, MOM IS -", screamed Meryl unable to even structure her sentence.

I rush inside our small, dimly lit house and go straight to her bedroom leaving a trail of water dripping off of my clothes onto the floor. I fall to my knees by her bedside and all of a sudden I have trouble seeing her face. My eyes grow blurry and my cheeks feel strangely warm. My heart is beating faster and I can't seem to understand why. I wipe my face with my sleeves and look into her eyes as she looks into mine.

"You need to dry yourself quickly, Bell. We can't have you catching a cold. "

Words don't escape my mouth. What is happening to you, mom? How did this happen? I didn't need to ask anything because I knew the answers already.

I stare blankly at her as the tears decided to take a break.

"We both knew this was about to happen anytime now. Don't worry I will last till the morning at the very least. Dry yourself up and prepare to leave the house in the morning. Take all of the money from the flask in the kitchen and drive west to Ikiros. You are a very capable person, Bell. I know that. You will be able to provide for your sis- "

I don't listen. I can't listen. I won't listen. I grab half of the money from the flask and go to Meryl who was standing by the door leading to Mother's bedroom, staring at me with her cheeks drenched in tears.

"I will go bring a doctor. Stay by her side and give her anything she wants. You know where food and water are right?"

She nods as she holds back her urge to cry. A 10-year-old girl tries her best to not cry while her mother is on her deathbed, which was a result of neglect from everyone in her life.

Absurd.

I gently put my hand on her head, ruffle her hair and head out. The doctor lives 20 mins away as a result of our house being in the outskirts of the kingdom. The roads were empty thanks to the pelting rain and I arrived at the doctor's doorstep in about 10 minutes by sprinting with my whole being.

His house was hidden amongst all the other brick houses on the border of the country. All of them looked the same and if I didn't have insider information on him, then it would be nigh impossible to locate his house. I knocked at his door one too many times and as soon as he opened the door, I waltzed in. He stared at me like I was a devil and I may as well have been.

"My mother is on her deathbed. I have a 10-year-old sister who is alone in our home by the side of our dying mother. Here is all the money you will need. Let's go."

The doctor wore a puzzled expression but after looking into the seriousness in my eyes, the doctor agreed and we scurried our way back home. When we reached, I saw that Meryl's eyes had sunk in and her face drew a tired expression from all the stress. I made her sit beside the bed and wrapped a blanket around her.

The doctor carefully made his way to my mother and gently placed his equipment on the floor. He sat on the floor beside the bed, opposite to where I asked Meryl to rest, and after about a minute of examining her, his head suddenly sank.

He looked at me hesitantly and it was evident from his hesitancy to speak that he was struggling to find the best way to break it to me. I knew why this was the case but that wasn't why I had called for him.

"Your name was Ballard, wasn't it? Look here kid, this is going to be hard to take but -"

"The Curse of Ziek. I know. What is the cure and where do I find it?".

The doctor looked at me with a shocked look as if he was unable to believe his ears.

"You are asking me for answers despite knowing what she is suffering from? There is no cure for the Curse of Ziek, kid. You know that."

"I know there is one. The first hero, Gladeon, had saved the queen's life even though she suffered from the same curse. Thus, it must be possible. So tell me about it."

"That is exactly the point. He was a Hero. A gift from the gods. We can't dream of things like that. "

Don't push your luck. I didn't call you for you to answer me with that.

"I know you were with the imperial apothecary. Then you got excommunicated by the imperial court for some reason and now you hide yourself amongst us borderers. You must know something. So, I'll ask you one more time. Where is the cure?"

I stare into his soul. His stout figure crumbles under the pressure of my knuckles cracking and he finally spills it.

"It isn't that I won't tell you but after seeing the state that your mother is in -"

He looks at my mother, my sister, and our tiny house as if prompting me to take a look myself and rethink.

"Do you think it is a wise idea to leave it all behind to go find a cure that is nearly unobtainable? Mind you that Gladeon only obtained it because -"

"Where is it, doctor? I don't have much time and you are not helping me by talking so much.."

Gladeon was just another human. He was not some 'Gift of the Gods'. I know that much. If he was able to obtain it then I should be able to too.

"In the 'Forest of the Banished'. From what I have heard, there is a tree, much too white in color and in stark contrast with the outlook of the dark forest. At the base of this tree, you will find the Heavenly Wisteria. You will know that it is the Heavenly Wisteria when you see them. Bring as many as you can with you, IF you manage to even find the tree, that is. Even if you find the tree by some miracle, you will still need to find your way back home. A feat that hasn't been done by anyone but Gladeon. Are you still sure that you want to leave your dying mother and little sister behind?".

"Thank you for the information. Can you stay here till I get back?"

The doctor shows a dissatisfied look and once again his head sinks. He puts his hand on his knees and slowly gets up. He turns around, now facing the wall. The light from the steel lamp beside Mother's bed casts a shadow so large that it would make anyone think that he was a behemoth. As if he had now steeled himself, he turns around partially and looks at Ballard with a determined gaze.

"I won't let you die for nothing. You will not be leaving this house."

"That is not for you to decide, sir. I sincerely thank you for thinking about my family. I shall leave them in your care till I am back."

As I almost turned around towards the bedroom door, from the corner of my eye I see the monstrous shadow of the doctor grow even larger. He turned around with such ferocity that I instinctively jumped 2 yards to the front and just then I felt the steel lamp brushing against my hair as it narrowly missed the back of my skull.

"How?!"

"Nice try."

The doctor still unable to believe that he had missed, finally resigned and placed the lamp back onto the table.

Words finally break out of him in a despondent voice as if he knew whatever he said would not reach Ballard.

"Think about it again, kid. You will go chase those flowers which may not even exist for all we know. The chances of you finding that flower and bringing it back home from THAT forest before dawn is ZERO. Not even the Royal Investigation Force made it back from that forest. Think about your sister. Do you want to leave her like this? "

I look at my sister. She was frightened because of what had just transpired. One look at her is enough for me to understand the gravity of the consequences.

He was right. Everything he said made perfect sense. The chances of me coming back from that forest, with the flowers no less, were truly negligible, but there is something that no one knows. It was never about the odds. If it were about something as cold and unmoving as the 'odds of me returning', then I would have never been this fixated on something so stupid. There is a reason why I must go. It was about something far more fundamental and to some extent even sinister. Something I cannot ignore, and if I did ignore it, then I might as well have died today. That is why, I had to go.

"I will be back. My mother will be safe, and tomorrow I shall be known as the Hero ."