Ghost of Dalmos by Omoruyi Uwuigiaren - HTML preview

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ghost of Dalmos

Copyright© 2019 by Omoruyi Uwuigiaren

All rights Reserved. Copy, redistribution, or resale either in print or

Electronically is strictly prohibited.

 

https://omoruyiu.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

           

                CHAPTER ONE

                          Alone in the Dark

The wind blew with vengeance and my heart sank. The ugly movement that wrapped itself around the warm hands of the darkness wrote frustration on the face of the old earth. I saw the dark. He was clumsy and taller than the pair of legs that carried me. As I stared at the huge fright whose head was like an avocado pea, it dawned on me that confronting him was equally extreme as the thought that a Carmel would walk through the eyes of a needle. I could imagine his blow. It was like a knife that pierced a chicken.

Moreover, causing any commotion would mean I had presented myself a meal out of which he would sniff life. So, I left a yawn in the air and took cover like a militia in the wood. Hiding behind the fence, saved my neck from the supposed devilish zap because when the monster raised his ugly head and looked about, he thought no eye was watching. Then he lowered his head again and continued to munch noisily. The man that was as dark as the midnight had a little nose, a strong square jaw and thin lips hidden under a heavy line of a mustache. Dressed in a coat that has seen its better days, he was a medieval statue in a desolate city. He was the highway to hell and the trouble that a good soul must avoid.

As I stared at him from the crack on the wall, the monster rose to his feet and let go a yawn that took some time to mix with the air. He seemed to have put what had kept him in the corner on the doorstep of the past and now it was time to move onto the next agenda on his would do list. He began to wander into the wild. My jaw dropped when I saw how much height the devil had to his advantage. His head almost reached the high heavens. The sky and the wandering clouds were within his reach. The night was already upon us. Have I become a victim of my own exaggeration?

As the man covered a huge distance on foot, suddenly he paused and shot his fiery eyes at my direction as if he suspected a meal was lurking. There was much to the balls that sat in the sockets of his skull. They were daring and red like crimson. Before I could blink, He pounced and his single blow shattered the walls that I thought was a fortress no soul could ruin.

Before the tormentor could emit destructive powers that could have left a trail of waste, I found my feet and made the best use of them to the old cottage on the farm. Frustration almost embraced me as I race across the cornfield. He could have snuff the life out of me, but the fireballs he threw could not humble my languishing soul for they fell around and ravaged the farm.

I ran very fast. My legs were almost touching the back of my head, and I could not count the number of times that they betrayed me as the monster chased. The building welcomed me to her unholy interiors, to be pummeled by the cruel hands of an unjust fate. Breathing like a terrified lizard, I had nothing better to do than secured the door, which I doubt would serve her purpose few months to come.  

After I had battled to stabilize my breath, I looked around the room whose beauty was a deafening silence. There were images on the walls, inscriptions that I could hardly decipher, furniture begging for renovation, rickety tables covered in dust and cobwebs spread over them like pastures clothed with flocks. Out of the belly of the cold night came a miserable rat, not comfortable with my presence, it squeaked and disappeared into a hole. 

There were six or more wooden doors before my large innocent eyes and on them were inscriptions that I could hardly decipher. As the monster advanced, I decided to hide in one of the rooms. But I did not know what would be my fate. I was only two or more steps away from the door before me when one of the doors at the extreme opened as if it was an invitation from a friendly creature to rescue me from the belly of hell. Then I paused and offered the opened door a harmless look. In the midst of the confusion, a thought flew into my head that I might be secured over there. In addition, hiding in such a place that was a huge distance away from the monster would mean freedom from a predator whose filthy blows have begun to torment the rickety wooden door.  Before he could find his way into the house, I changed direction and rode few steps to the extreme. And then I disappeared into the room and shut the door behind me. As soon as I secured the door, rivers of joy strolled into my heart, and I felt as if I had reached the promise land! I stood like a majestic mountain and heaved a sigh of relief.

I looked in every direction. However, I was not impressed after my large innocent eyes had travelled the length and breadth of the room. It was a creepy kind of place, and dreadful as the fortress of a dangerous man whose belch could kill a dove. There was a clay pot at the extreme and it was oozing out smoke. As the smoke went up to the high heaven, it formed into a human that was as slim as a beanpole. The ugly creature floating on the air flashed a menacing smile at me and disappeared through a little opening on the window. The truckload of misfortune was gone. As a gentle breeze sat on the wings of the evening, the creature that I thought was gone, emerged from the evening shadows and landed a blow on my head and mixed with thin air. My head was swollen and a great deal of darkness wrapped itself around me. I yelled as if I had mistakenly crushed my thumb against the anvil.

As I fell on my knees, languishing with my hands on my head, someone coughed a bit and cleared his throat. My heart jumped into my mouth and then I hurried to my feet as if I had never fallen. I faced the direction that the disturbance had come and was angry that the commotion was caused by a mere face on the wall. Sodus was his name.

“What are you doing here?” the cold creature thundered. Before I could respond, he came out of the wall and buried a slap on my face. I lost my balance and nearly landed awkwardly on the floor. By the time I regained my footing, he stood over me with clenched fists. I began to back step, going back the way I had come. The atmosphere was not friendly. But just as it was eager to take my life, I had the luxury of looking straight into the devil’s eyes. They could set a hundred legs on the run. Apart from his long tail that had enchanted spikes that were six inches long or more, he was horribly dressed and four arms stood out of his scaly body. Dressed in a dark garment and his head like an egg, his shoulders were almost reaching the head that sat on his neck. Shivering as I fought back tears, I fell to my knees and begged for my life, “Please, don’t kill me. Someone was after me!”

“That is not my business. Is that why you disturbed me?” He thundered again, revealing his dark side. He crossed his arms over his body and threw out a question, “Who is the fellow?” His raised eyebrow gave birth to furrow on his forehead.

“I don’t know him,” I stammered and shook my head. “I think he’s a giant troll. He’s a man mountain!”

He breathed deeply and chewed his lower lip.

“Please don’t kill me,” I fell on my knees, stretched out my hands with palms up.

He fixed his gaze on me, perhaps pondering what to do with my unfortunate soul.

Disturbing footsteps began to approach us. He flung a glance at the door. And then he turned to me. “Whatever the case may be, my home is not a hideout for sycophants.” As he raised his hand to strike me, the creature on my trail burst in. “Don’t touch him! He’s mine, Sodus!” The giant yelled as he entered the room.  

Red with rage, Sodus waved one of his hands at me. A wicked force carried me to one end of the room where I fell on a heap of bones. Sodus swallowed hard and rode two or more steps closer to the frightening interloper. “Sam, how many times have I warned you never to break into my home?” Sodus fumed. He glared his eyes at him.  

Sam let out a long sigh. He replied, “Almost a million times, Sodus. But you know I always have a reason to wander here.”

“It makes no difference. Even a fool also has a reason to smile. Let this be the last time you will disturb me.”

“All right! I won’t disturb you again, Sodus,” Sam assured. He pointed at me, “I chased that meal in here and I can’t wait to have him,” Sam disclosed. His face broke into a gap toothed smile.

Sodus clenched his fist. He looked at me and turned to his fresh enemy. “Sam, I know fortune smiles on the brave. But there is something unique about our world. As great as we are, we cannot make things turn out the same way every day. Leave this meal for me as a compensation for invading my privacy.”

Sam wore a frown. “NO! An opportunity like this does not present itself every time. They come like the dutiful season that wrapped itself around the quiet hands of the earth.”

“You are right. I know how painful it is to lose a good thing. But you have to accept your fate and leave my house,” Sodus responded.

Sam groaned hard. Our eyes met. He coughed a bit and spat on the floor. “Sodus, I see you want to deny me my spoil. I have nothing against you. You are a man of peace. Don’t stand in my way. Let me have my meal. I cannot leave here without him.”

“I have every reason to deny you!” Sodus charged him. He pounced and unleashed a blow that swept Sam off his feet. Before the big man could regain his footing, Sodus grabbed hold of him by the neck and suspended Sam in the mid-air. As the big man battled to free himself from the devilish grip, Sodus smashed him against the walls, so much that part of the building collapsed and Sam was lost in the rubbles. I was there. My knees knocked ferociously together.

As Sam battled with the cruel hands of fate in the rubbles, Sodus roared, beating his chest vehemently. He mounted on the collapsed structure to fetch Sam and unleash his terror. He had barely removed four stones or more when a devastating blow landed on his jaw. He elicited an agonized cry and fell like packs of cards. But the blow he dispensed was not enough to make Sodus crack. Standing before him was Sam. Before Sam could snatch a breath from the wings of the evening, Sodus turned to the clay pot on the extreme and made some incantations. The smoke emanating from the pot began to form into vile creatures. Devils that were about nine inches tall or more began to pour out of the pot. Chanting warfare songs and brandishing their weapons like swords, spears and short-handled battle-axes, and then the little devils attacked Sam.

As they punished the giant with their weapons, the big man smashed a number of the creatures with his feet. Running out of patience, he drew a wood from part of the collapsed house and began to use it on the little devils. As soon as the little men fell stone dead, they would form into smoke and disappeared back into the pot. Sodus, not satisfied with the turn of events, pounced and transformed into four giant wing creatures. As I watched from my corner, Sam could not stomach the onslaught of the birds. They tormented his flesh with their talons, and their evil beaks wrote frustration on his face. The giant was overwhelmed. Sensing that he could be silenced and made Sodus’s slave forever, Sam began to retreat and soon was in full flight with his legs almost touching the back of his head. As he ran very fast, his legs betrayed him, because he stumbled on some furniture and was received by the waiting hands of the old earth. He picked himself up immediately and faced the exit with the speed of lightning, as voices of triumph that almost brought down the apartment chased.

Immediately they disappeared into the darkness, I crawled into the next room and slammed the door behind me. Not knowing what would be my fate; I threw myself on my feet and looked about. I plucked up a spirit and threw two or more steps forward. The house and all her miseries disappeared, and I found myself in the middle of a graveyard. The sky was gloomy and the stars had rested on the bosom of sudden death. The graveyard was bitterly cold and its beauty was a trail of waste. I saw the darkness standing taller than the pair of legs that carried me.

Before I could snatch a breath from the cruel hands of the night, a fiendish owl on a gravestone called my name with a kindly brogue and disappeared into an almond tree. The nightingales were there. Fruit bats were in the world of their own as if they had no business with me. I saw shadows lurking. But each time I focus on them, they would mix with the air. I thought it was the presence of the trees that caused the shadows. So I threw the confusion behind and sneaked on silent feet forward. I was yet to come to terms with the realities around me when a mysterious hand emerged from the ground and grabbed hold of my right leg. Initially, I thought it was a crawling grass and tried to shake it off. But my effort hit a brick wall. The dreadful grip became stronger as if a rope was fastened to my ankle.

When I looked closely and discovered it was a hand, my heart sank. The dreadful creature seemed to be happy I was lost. As I battled to free my poor soul from the evil grip, I lost my balance and found myself struggling to stay alive. The enemy began to pull me into the ground. While he pulled me away, my hands found a club that was not a burden to maneuver. I did not spare him a breath. I laid the club five times or more on the cruel hand. The bones cracked and my freedom came like a rushing wind. I jumped to my feet and raced as if my survival depended upon how I could maneuver my legs.

Journeying to the unknown is as evil as a sorcerers spell. As misfortune stared at me in the face, I had nothing to worry other than the safety of my poor soul. An opened gate was ahead of me and I was few poles away from the gate when it shut and a grievous whirlwind emerged from the ground and began to ruin the yard. The boisterous wind blew as if the world would perish under its feet. I would have walked into silence and be happy with the comfort in demise if not for one of the trees that I held for it prevented the wind from tearing my world apart. The whirlwind left a trail of waste, trees were uprooted and gravestones were turned, which of course, I expected would happen.

Now the air was still, and Lady Tranquility paraded itself in the creepy place. Before I could blink, the ground began to crack as if an earthquake was underway. I was yet to figure out what was going on when the ground began to vomit horrible looking creatures. Zombies formed out of the ground, carrying weapons like swords, long spears and short-handled battle-axes with heads as big as the head of a four-fisted wrecking bull. I was dazed, not knowing what to do, the creatures stood like an army of enlightened pastors in a sanctuary praying fervently as if they were next to God. They began to approach me.

As I looked at every direction, pondering how to be freed from these monsters, they brandished their weapons and made strange noises as if they wanted to emit destructive powers. My knees knocked ferociously together. As they approached me, I began to back step. Dazed, I stumbled on a tree and was trapped by monstrous hands that emerged from the tree. I tried to fight myself out of the devilish grip but could not prevail. The tree opened its mouth as a drudge makes a short work of a slap up meal on a cold night, and it swallowed me!   

 

 

 

 

        

                     CHAPTER TWO

  Tales of Sorrow

Inside of the tree was the strangest place that I had ever been. I crashed through the roof of a compartment deep in the abyss, groaning in pains and gnashing my teeth as I rolled on the floor. Then I held myself to check for fractures, for my body seemed to hurt everywhere. Catching a breath, I lifted my head and looked around to see where I was. It was a little room and I could barely see beyond my nose. There was a little opening on the wall to the left. I limped to the place to see if there could be a way out of the bloody mess. But there was none, and the light from the little opening almost blindfolded me. Immediately I touched the wall, a door opened and I went in. There were cobwebs everywhere. They seemed to have been there for ages. After going through the passage that led to nowhere, I began to hear strange sounds and movements all around. I was panting and my heartbeat hitting the roof of my chest.

It was dreadful. My feet carried me to the end of the passage where I ran into some wolves feasting noisily on a meal. I withdrew before they could smell my presence.  My death would have come like a rushing wind. By the time I had turned toward the way that I was coming, things had changed. It was no more a passage. There were six paths staring at me. None was befitting for a man’s legs to maneuver. Confusion strolled in, and my breath came in short gasps. When I flung a glance to the direction of the wolves to make sure they were not coming for my neck, the wild creatures had disappeared. The environment had transformed into a river littered with deadly crocodiles and monkeys swooped from tree to another. Confusion made watching the monkey sports difficult.

Then I returned my gaze to the swampy old paths. Only one seemed appropriate to tread upon. I was lost. I tasted frustration as my meal for that day. As the old sun rampaged, the earth felt her cruelty. The earth wore a frown, because she could not deliver her people from the sun’s old path. After covering a huge distance under the watchful eyes of the scorching sun, the path seemed to lead to nowhere. I was frustrated. It appeared that I had been walking in a circle all day.

Going back and forth was evil enough. Were it not for the markings that I decided to leave on some of the trees and bush paths when I discovered that something was not right about the journey, I would have thought that I was making progress. And that I was only some distance away from liberation. Life is tough!

Realizing that I was heading to nowhere in particular, I felt like a man who carried the world alone on his shoulders and was drowning very fast. My shoulders sagged and my pair of legs betrayed me. I could not count the number of times that I staggered like a steam engine going through a deplorable road. I was occasionally assisted to vertical by trees. When the sun was now retiring from its old path, my stomach began to make its demand. So I pondered the idea of feasting on some mango fruits. I reached for one. The bite was good because the fruit was like a party in my mouth. As I chewed noisily, strange movement in my stomach interrupted my pleasure. And, a terrible pain down there hit me with a dreadful sting! I fell, writhing in agony beneath the tree as my bowels walked through the wheels of fire. The mango fruit slipped from my hand before my eyes closed upon the light of the world.

Then the fruit formed into a giant wing creature. It snatched him from the bare chest of the earth. The creature flew all night across mountains and rivers until they got to the abandoned building that had no roof. The big bird landed on the floor inside of the building while he was still under the spell of sleep. As it placed him in a corner, the bird transformed back to the mango fruit and rolled into his palm. At daybreak, the morning walked briskly into brightness and he opened his eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER THREE

The Fruit

By the time I stormed out of sleep, I was shocked to find myself in an abandoned building that had no roof, but there was a door at the extreme. The mango fruit that I ate a while ago was beside me, and footprints like that of a giant wing creature were on the sand. I sat up and my eyes travelled round the room. “How did I get here?” I asked myself. “I am supposed to be in a swamp. Yes, that was where I ate this fruit. Ah! I remember. There was a movement in my stomach, and I felt severe pains. I landed awkwardly on the floor and a huge darkness wrapped me. Now I am here. What happened to me?” I just could not figure out how I got there.

Then I looked carefully to every side again. The footprints on the floor suggested a giant wing creature must have been here with me. “Maybe the giant bird brought me here!” I thought. I picked up the fruit and examined it. “What do I do with this evil meal? I better dispose of it before it robs me of my place in the congregation of men.” As I contemplated about disposing the fruit, another thought flew into my head. “No need to let the fruit go! That’s not a good idea. If I could find myself here after eating the fruit, then the fruit could be all that I need to find my way home!” This appeared to have settled well with me. Then I placed the fruit in my pocket, rose to my feet and made for the door.   

By the time I got out of the abandoned building, I was shocked. I stumbled on a market where men and women were trading all kinds of items from fruits to meat. It was like a very busy market in the heart of a desert. I scratched my head, sighed and walked to the market. My plan was to get someone who could show me the way to the city where I can find my way home.

I was the only soul that wore a long face. All the other people were happily doing their business. Then I was taken aback when I noticed that all the faces in the market had a striking resemblance, and their heads were like an avocado pea! Since I had more important issue hanging from my neck like an Olympic medal, I brushed that aside. Let me get out of here first before worrying about the look on their faces.

As I wanted to confront one of the traders, the sound of a trumpet blown by a Town Crier that is bound by circumstance to be brevity drew our attention. As everyone turned to the man, he mounted a platform in the heart of the market. There was deafening silence as everyone dropped what they were doing and turned their attention to the man with a streak of meanness.

Satisfied that everyone had focused on him, he nodded gently. After stabilizing his breath, the young man spoke in his dialect and pointed toward a direction and then he disappeared into the thin air. Once he was out of sight, the traders began to park their wares. Before I could blink, they had cleared their tables and locked up their shops. Everyone began to run, facing a direction. Not knowing what was chasing the people, I joined the party. We faced the mountains and made the best use of our legs to yonder place.

As we raced very fast, I began to hear the snarling of wolves. We were being chased by wolves. It appeared that was the news the Town Crier came to break. But what seemed like a race for survival took a new turn. The traders began to reduce. This prompted me to fling a glance behind at intervals. My heart sank when I observed that the traders who were running with me dropped and formed into sand. What would wolves do with mere sand? This activity continued until I became the only man chased by pack of wolves. Then it dawned on me that I was the person that the wolves were actually after. The people were just one of such distractions in a small world. Without discerning spirit who will survive? I was the problem. I was the reason the wolves had come out of their lair. I was foolish to think that we were all in the same boat. This predicament was my cross and I never knew until it was almost too late.

Painfully, my pair of legs did not betray me. But no matter how fast I run, the creatures seemed to be catching up with me. One of the wolves bared its fang and pounced to rob me of my place in the scheme of things, but I ducked and the creature landed at the other side. Suddenly, I remembered the fruit in my pocket. Expecting a miracle as it was the case in the swamp; I went for it and sank my teeth into the fruit and I ran into the mountain.

I was lost in the dark as I hid behind a rock in a dimly lighted room inside the mountain. Now the wolves had also found their way into the mountain and were hunting for me. Not long after, my stomach began to complain. While I languished in pain in my corner, the wolves finally emerged, baring their fangs and snarling at me. But before they charged at me, darkness descended.      

By the time I regained consciousness, I was in the little room that I fell into when I was swallowed by the mysterious tree. Then I took a deep breath and leaned on the wall like a mogul that has lost his place in the scheme of things.

For a while, I was lost and could not figure out how to get myself out of the misery. The atmosphere was tense as if an adversary was underway. As tears gathered in my eyes, I lowered my head like a man that had succumbed to the onslaught of a poverty-stricken life. I was lost in the pool of nothingness and fear stood like a pillar of inquiry in my heart. Suddenly, there was a movement behind me and the walls cracked and I fell into a huge darkness. I crashed through the roof of one compartment to another repeatedly. Groaning in pains and yelling as the misery landed me on a steep cliff where I rolled down and finally regained my footing at the foot of the slope.

The air was still. When I rose to my feet and looked around, I was troubled to see myself in a forest. The deafening silence wrote frustration on my face and my heart skipped almost a million times.

After wandering aimlessly in the doom, and our mutual friend, the sun, came alive to her responsibilities and paraded the bare chest of the beautiful earth. Three birds or more appeared from the quiet hands of the forest. They perched on a tree and began to thrill me with beautiful renditions. I thought they were singing a medieval ballad. The boughs of trees danced quietly and bowed carefully to the sweet movement of the morning breeze. Spiders were in a world of their own, hanging about on the warm hands of the beautiful bushes. Their fine nets of thin threads spanned far and near in their fortress, waiting for fortune to smile on their bravery. A fulfilled day will emerge after minutes of assault with wandering insects. On the other hand, swallows dropped from the trees like stones to snatch a bit of breakfast from the restaurant of the morning.

Finally, I stumbled on a bush path, which was narrow like the way to eternal life. Then I mounted on it, hoping the path would lead to a better life or possibly my home. After covering a huge distance with my pair of legs that were not at their best and in time like this was my greatest asset, I began to faint. My shoulders sagged as much as my legs that were already too difficult for me to maneuver. The sun was up there, raging in vengeance but soon retired from the busy torment of the world that she was ordered to serve since creation.

  When a man is under a spell, it is difficult for him to tell the machination against his soul. A man is not born to see everything. However, it is wise for him to give attention to what is before him because he can never tell which will bring him fortune.

All along a python was on my trail. I would have ended in the belly of the leviathan if a man on the tree had not intervened. I was at a junction in the heart of the jungle and it was a perfect place for the monstrous snake to strike me down. As the python tried to strike the first blow, which would have been enough to send me to the silent world, the man on the tree pounced on the ugly beast and did not spare the snake a breath. The snake started to wind its long body around the little man to crush him to the ground. While the man fought to find his feet, the leviathan struck with its tail. The tail almost cut through the left hand of the man. The figure barely had time to get out of the way and prepare for a new defense when a fierce new battle for survival erupted between them, and they shared blows that had both of them falling in turn like packs of cards. Just as the python seemed it would make good on its bid to crush the man to death, the little man dressed in an animal skin coat transformed into a green boa and landed a devastating blow that cracked the bones near the head of the python and it elicited an agonized cry. The python fought back and wrestled the boa to the ground as the boa tried to push his advantage and inflict more injuries.

They battled into the bush corners with rasping breaths, rolling on the ground and lashing hard. All of a sudden, they fell into a pit. As they disappeared into the abyss, I rushed to the place to see wh