Lord of the Wicked [✔ COMPLETE]

Chapter 4: The Cursed Realm

After following Dr. Fisnik to his office, Valek found himself laying down on a narrow, long-stretched table, the wood felt hard and lumpy against his spine and the lingering smell was a bittersweet that made him nauseous.

Along the wall stood stacked shelves with books and jars containing things he'd rather not know, and yellowed bones. The bright light made the doctor's golden eye shadow shimmer as he hovered above a sleepy Valek. The wise looking sloth handed the doctor an iron mouth cap with a long wire attached, which Dr. Fisnik pressed on his mouth.

Valek made mumbling sounds, and after the doctor lifted the cap he said, "What's that, narcosis?"

"No," said Dr. Fisnik, and pressed it back on his mouth. "It's helium." When Valek began to shake his head and attempt to scream, the doctor laughed. "It won't sedate any pain, but it'll make your screams funny."

A hissing sound came out of the mouth cap which made Valek struggle harder, jerking his body left and right. The doctor rolled his eyes and threw the sloth a look, who shook his head in disappointment and handed him a syringe. Valek's eyes popped wide open. It was the biggest syringe he'd ever seen, and once more he screamed, however, as Dr. Fisnik lifted the mouth cap with the biggest grin, he noticed his screams came out as loud high-pitched squeaks.

"He sounds like a mouse," Dr. Fisnik said with a laugh. Then, as his laughter grew louder at Valek's continued squeaky screams, the large needle disappeared slowly but surely inside the boy's veins. "Stop moving, unless you want to lose your arm."

This made Valek lay still and silent. It was a perfect time to reflect, he figured, and finally allowed himself to mull over the entire day. It'd had started so normal, and now he was at a crazy doc's office being drained of his blood. A thousand thoughts rushed up at him, images of the talking and walking flowers and flashes of the Fae and all those he'd met.

Then, an unfamiliar image flashed in his mind, clear as day, it showed the image of a man with curly brown hair like his own wearing a crown and sitting on a tall, golden throne padded with red velvet and embedded with colorful jewels. Valek focused hard on the stranger's face. On his prominent jawline, his blue eyes, his thin lips, and on the slight bump on his nose, and he gasped as he realized that it had to be his father.

"Something wrong, my Lord?" Dr. Fisnik asked him, and after he shook his head the doctor gave him a reassuring smile and added, "Don't worry, almost done now."

The moment the syringe was withdrawn from his skin Valek sat upright. A black vision hit him, along with dizziness, and he felt his body collapse.

"Easy, soldier." Dr. Fisnik handed the sloth his equipment and looked down into the bucket filled with Valek's blood. "You need some rest. Here..." The doctor reached into a cabinet and handed him a bottle containing thick, solid yellow liquid. "Orange juice, take it. It'll make you feel better." After Valek took the bottle, he gave him a smile. "You did well."

"Why..." Valek coughed, his voice still sounded a bit squeaky. "Why can't we break the curse in the entire realm at the same time?"

Dr. Fisnik shrugged. "Same reason you can't shave both your armpits at the same time."

Valek frowned. That made no sense. But then again, as he stared at the doctor who wore makeup and had an intelligent, pipe-smoking sloth as his pet, he realized that it was the least ludicrous thing he'd heard since he'd arrived here as none of this made sense at all.

After a long silence of Valek sipping on his orange juice, he said, "I probably could if I tried."

"Hm?" Dr. Fisnik asked as he looked up from his desk in the far corner. Beneath him in an open glass jar lay yellow and red flowers and dried plants, which the doctor stirred while occasionally adding an ingredient. "You could what?"