The rise of the saviour 13 In search of Morpheous - 2

Balthazaar had made him do so many odd tasks before, but he had never pleaded to him like this. Nicholas was shocked to see the look in the old man's eyes, so inching closer towards him, he asked,

"Are you ok Balthazaar?"

Balthazaar took a deep breath and looked at Nicholas. He didn't want to burden the poor mortal with the problems of his own world. So he said,

"I am fine. Just that the toll was heavy this time. But let us not waste our time discussing it. There is something even more paramount than this and you shall help me with it no matter what."

A hesitant Nicholas finally gave in to the old man and said,

"Tell me what I need to do."

Relieved by his words, Balthazaar said,

"Take out your best horse and sprint to the village of Ambracia. You need to reach there before the men from the kingdom."

"But why? Why I need to go to that village?", interrupted Nicholas.

Balthazaar was slowly losing his breath. He could feel that his thoughts were getting incoherent. So he quickly pressed the index and ring finger of his right hand on Nicholas's temple for a few seconds. As the seconds passed, the eyes of Nicholas widened with surprise.

Moments later when he was done radiating his thoughts, Balthazaar slumped on the bed again, taking deep breaths. Every bit of energy from his body had been drained out today. Nicholas bent down immediately and gave a glass filled with water to him. Seeing him in such a pathetic state, he wanted to stay back. He wanted to take him back to his room at the palace which was far more comfortable that his stable.

But as if he could read his mind, Balthazaar said,

"Do not worry about me. You need to hurry. The sun is riding up in the sky and in no time the men of Nubeous will start their march. We have no time to lose Nicholas."

"Hurry !!!"

Nicholas nodded and then dashed towards his stable. He was a young man in his late-twenties but because of the hard work under the sun, he looked a bit aged. Even though he had a normal face, because of his weirdly curly hair and stout stance, he was deemed as an unsuitable suitor. So at an age when he should have settled with a family, he had settled with loneliness in the company of his horses.

He wore his robes and covered his mouth and nose with a layer of cloth to prevent getting identified by anyone. He got his best racing horse out for he had miles to cover, but before starting for Ambracia, he went back to his room where Balthazaar was resting and kept the bowl containing the hose saliva.

Then he looked at him and said,

"Just in case."

"I will be fine Nicholas. I should have been there with you but I have no strength left. So you need to take care of my promise. Do not fail me at any cost."

Nicholas nodded and turned to leave, but Balthazaar held his hand with his one good arm and then said,

"You must find him before he finds out anything. He must be angry. God forbid if something has happened to his family. You must stop him from challenging the master. You need to change the course of time."

Nicholas looked at Balthazaar unable to understand why his promise to save the master was so important that he was ready to shed every once of his blood for it. He couldn't understand this loyalty which triumphed the hatred. All he knew was that Balthazaar needed help. So he nodded and set out for Ambracia from the backside of the stable, away from eyes of the guards of the palace.

Sitting on the cot, Balthazaar pinched the space between his brows for he had made the mere mortal go on a journey that could probably even prove fatal for him. But he had no other choice. He was the only man in Nubia that he had trusted with his life, with his deepest secrets.

He had met Nicholas at the outskirts of Eresos village a couple of years back when he was at the weakest point of his life. He had just arrived there, after his first jump in the time frame. He was in acute pain. A gut-wrenching pain, which was so bad that he was howling in pain holding his arm. His father who was supposed to be there along with him was nowhere to be seen. There was no one there who could guide him.

He had no idea how to reduce the pain and suddenly a young Nicholas arrived in front of him, from the deepest folds of the woods. He was holding the reins of his horse which became agitated after seeing Balthazaar howling.

"Help me !!!" Begged Balthazaar looking at the young man.

But instead of coming close, Balthazaar saw that the young man was taking a few steps back. It was then that he realized that he had taken the divine form which was scaring the young man away. The halo around him was scintillating the whole space around him.

Nicholas had been passing through the woods when he saw the strange light coming afar and a faint howling sound. So he followed the direction from which the light was coming from and saw a weird man emitting light.

Balthazaar grunted and managed to turn off the halo around him and said,

"Can you bring an apothecary? I need immediate help. I shall do no harm."

Nicholas looked at him for a while and then asked,

"First tell me who are you? Are you a wizard? What are you doing here? Let me go away, I shall not tell anyone about what I saw or what I heard." Nicholas said and patted the skin around the neck of his horse hard, trying to make him sane.

"Help me !!!" Balthazaar pleaded again and again.

Even though Nicholas was dead scared of him, he somehow couldn't ignore his plight. The hand of the man was burning in a weird manner. It looked like there was molten lava that was flowing through his veins.

So gathering a bit of courage Nicholas asked,

"I shall take only truth for an answer. In the name of God tell me who are you?"

Balthazaar paused for a while and then said,

"A fallen angel."

Chapter end