The Breach in the Fog

 

The beast of the Land Of The New Moon surrounded by fog

The Hundred Years Curse

There was this land that had been living under a curse for a hundred years now. In this land, people had to be indoors before the clock hit 6 p.m. Anyone who was out by that time would be killed by the fog. The land was perpetually surrounded by fog, and as soon as the clock hit 6 p.m., the fog slowly started entering the town. No one from the outside world had seen this town or its location, and no one from the town had seen the outside world. The people lived a simple life by farming, hunting, and making use of the large deposits of iron in the mountains surrounding the town for tools. Many people had given up hope of seeing the outside world; many of them just took the day as it came and stuck to the rules of getting indoors before 6 p.m.

Selena Grinch 

Selena Grinch had never been satisfied with the situation in the town. She had dreams of the outside world, and she wanted to explore. She wanted to see the world before she got old. If others had given up on the situation in the town, she hadn't. She kept pestering her grandmother about how the fog came about, but she never had a good answer.

"How would I know?" her grandmother would say anytime she asked. "I got to see the fog the same way you did."

"But this is not ordinary, Grandmother."

"Of course it's not ordinary, but what would I do?"

"How about we find out how to get out of here?"

"And go where?"

"Anywhere but here," she said, pouting. "One day I will defy the fog and see what it will do."

At this, her grandmother looked up with a nasty look. "You dare not. Don't even think of it. How can you say such a thing? Don't you hear about Daniel and what happened to him when he tried what you just planned to do?"

"Yeah, no one has seen him. What if he did survive and made it out of the town?"

"You fool," her grandmother said. "He never survived. His body was found by old man Larry the hunter, and it was agreed to hide it from the village. It was gruesome, and no one wanted to look at it. It was nastily destroyed."

That was three weeks ago when she had had that talk with her grandmother. Now she sat in the dark in her room, trying to find a crack to look outside. Everyone had said you could look at the fog, but it must not pass five minutes or you would go blind. She shuddered at the rules in this small village and wondered who could have offended the gods—or whatever had cursed them—to suffer like this. But she knew it was not her, and she couldn't be living upon the sins of generations past.

The Knock

Suddenly there was banging on their door. At first she thought she had misheard it, but it came again, and she stood up with a shaky breath. She went to investigate and was shocked to see her grandmother had come out too. The woman slept like the dead, she thought, unless she was making sure I never went out, and that must have kept her awake.

"Who's there?" she called as her grandmother silenced her with a look.

"Please open the door," the voice from the other side said. "I've been going from door to door, and no one will answer me."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Alex Griffin, and I got separated from my group. I just found myself here, surrounded by fog. I was lucky to find my way through a lamp lit from a house near here."

At this, her grandmother hissed. "Must be Mrs. Tinny," she said. "That woman can't sleep in the dark."

"Please open the door," Alex Griffin said again, jolting her from her thoughts.

"Sure," she said as she went to the door and opened it a crack but kept her eyes down, not to look at the fog.

Alex Griffin hurried inside and practically fell on the floor with relief. "Thank you very much," he said with wild eyes. "Please, do you have anything strong I can drink? What I saw out there—damn, it can't be described. It was like my own soul was after me. I even saw my own shadow coming at me with a knife."

"That's horrible," Selena said, going to her grandmother's room to get her drink. She knew her grandmother had a stash she sipped at night, and she could even smell it on her.

She brought the drink to Alex Griffin and handed it over to him, and he wasted no time in gulping it. Then he smacked his lips. "Ha... this really helps."

"What happened?" Selena asked. "My name is Selena Grinch, but you can call me just Selena, and this is my grandmother Mary."

"Please call me Alex," he said, taking a gulp again. "As to what happened, I have no idea, because one moment me and my group were together, and the next I found myself out in that damn fog. And did I tell you how my own shadow wanted to knife me?"

"Yeah, you did. But how did you survive? The fog kills anyone, and I can see you're not from here."

"I survived by the luck of my old man, but it wasn't easy. I saw things I never want to see again. Oh no, I don't want to think about it."

"Things like what?"

"The dead, and the fog had a form in the shape of a beast from the underworld with lots of sharp teeth and fangs." Here he said, showing them a large chunk of flesh missing from his stomach. "It did this," he groaned as he saw the wound fresh.

"We need to stitch it and treat it before it gets bad," her grandmother said, going about to set water on the fire.

"You said you survive by the luck of your dad?" Selena prodded him as her grandmother came back, shushing her away. "Let me treat him before you kill him with questions."

"It's okay," Alex said. "We were just trying to have a vacation trip. This stretch of woods is empty—like virgin land—and my dad guessed it would be the best spot for camping."

"But no one can see this place," her grandmother said. "It has been hidden for generations. I mean, no outsider can enter, and no one from here can leave."

"I don't know," he said. Just before we separated, my dad pointed two fingers at me and muttered, 'Above the foggy mountain and below the earth, the blood is one.'"

"Strange words. What does that mean?" Selena asked him.

"Beats me if I know. I was just stunned, and then I felt this weird feeling—like my spirit was leaving my body, like I was just a specter."

"And the beast you mentioned?" Mary asked him.

"Yeah," he shuddered. "Some nasty, mean beast that is the fog and not the fog. It was about to have another go at me, but when it touched my blood, it recoiled and let out a nasty howl. I didn't wait to find out, so I ran."

He hissed suddenly as she dabbed his wound with hot water. "That hurts," he complained.

"Shut it and be a man," she said as she rubbed ointment on his wound. She could feel him vibrating, and she nodded in satisfaction. "That's better," she said, bandaging him.

"Why?" asked Selena.

"I was worried physical treatment couldn't help, but seeing as he could feel the ointment, I guess that shows it can be treated."

Alex soon fell asleep, and the two women stood up. "This is strange—a stranger in town for the first time in our history."

"Maybe it's a sign," Selena said, eyes dreamy.

"I know that look, and I disapprove of it. Don't think you're going anywhere."

"You can't stop me, Grandma. If Alex could come in, then I could go out the same way."

"Yeah, you could go out," said a voice, and they turned to see Alex speaking—but the voice wasn't his. They could see he was still fast asleep.

"Who are you?" Mary asked the voice.

"Who am I? Or what am I? Even I can't tell. It has been eons since I heard the voice of humans. It has been since the beginning of time that I could feel humans. I know what happened, and I know how the fog can be defeated," the voice said with a cackling laughter.

"How?" Selena asked.

"There is always a price to pay for answers," the voice said.

"What price?"

"If I tell you, you will never go back on your words. That is the deal, and that is how it has been for eons."

Before she could agree, her grandmother interrupted. "You said she could leave?"

"Yes," the voice said with a somber tone.

"How could she leave? The rules have been there—no one leaves and no one enters."

"But someone has entered," the voice said, "and the rules have been broken. A breach in the fog has let me enter and possess this one's voice."

"So how does she leave?"

"She just walks out. Pick any direction and walk out—simple as that."

"That is not encouraging," her grandmother said.

"Let me make it simple," the voice said. "This Alex here has breached the fog, and he has protection. It would be like an exchange. The number of the townspeople is 5,000, and now that Alex is here, it is 5,001. So if she leaves, the curse—whatever has kept the land so—wouldn't notice, as long as Alex stays. For now, the fog is restless because it can feel something is not right, and this is because the number is 5,001."

"And the solution to end the fog and the curse?" Mary asked.

"Choose: to end the curse, or for your granddaughter to leave. But then it comes with a price, and I hope you can pay it—because if you can't, then the chain would be more than you and the people could bear. The time would be reduced to 11 a.m., when everyone would have to be indoors."

"What!" they both exclaimed.

"Yes. It has a price for everything, and that would even be worse than the 6 p.m. you people have now. How would you feel if your day ended just by 11 a.m.? How would you cope when it came to farming the land or hunting for meat?"

"This is beyond us," Mary said. "We would have to consult the elders of the village."

"That's not my problem. I don't have all day here. I'll soon be kicked out of this vessel that I've possessed. Like I said, he has protection, and it's fighting my hold on him," the voice said.

Mary beckoned her granddaughter toward her. "Selena, what do you think?"

"This is strange, and we have no choice. It's either we choose one or lose the opportunity."

"What should we choose?"

"I want to see the outside world," Selena said.

"Quiet. This isn't about your selfishness. This would free our people, and you could go out anytime—forever, not just for a moment."

"But at what price?" Selena asked. "A deal with no way out, no safety, and just a 'yes' isn't a deal. It's one-sided—only one side benefits."

"Lifting the curse will benefit us too," her grandmother said patiently.

"Okay, then we choose to lift the curse." They returned to where Alex was lying down, and the grandmother said, "We choose to free the land of the curse."

"Excellent choice," the voice said. "That's great. It has been eons since I felt this happy. Mind you, you'll have to thank this kid I'm possessing for bringing this opportunity. But first, let us hear how it all started—what cursed the land and why the people can't leave. Let us dabble into the mystery of the Land of the New Moon."

The Voice Speak

The voice was sombre for a moment, and then it spoke: "The Land of the New Moon was paradise on earth. It was a land that was blessed with everything, and the people lived a happy and prosperous life. There were apples made of gold in the orchard, and it was said that if you bit one and chewed the core, you would have immortality—but the trick was that the apple only chose who it appeared to. There were fishes in the Great River that were as transparent as the sun; it was said that if you ate one of those, you would never have any sickness.

The land was blessed and rich, and the people were happy. Yet, one would wonder: how can such a land be what it is now? A land of fog and beasts; a fog that kills and refuses to let the people go or let others visit it. One would wonder what destroyed the Land of the New Moon. Is it greed? Is it betrayal? Is it love? What would destroy the work of a god?"

The voice was silent for a moment, and they thought they could hear it reflecting on its own life.

"Eons ago, I was full of life—a promising young man that had numerous suitors as brides. Eons ago, I was a prince, and now I am cursed."

"Eh, can we get to the story of the Land of the New Moon?" Selena asked nervously, not wanting to interrupt the voice that possessed Alex Griffin.

Her grandmother laid a hand on her hand, motioning her to keep silent. After an audible sigh, the voice continued.

The Beast Of The Fog 

The beasts of the fog weren't evil like they are now; they were the protectors of the land, and back then, you could see them roaming and walking among the people. They were the strongest beasts the gods had to create, since He wanted His kingdom to be well-protected. Now they are evil because the curse affected them; it changed them and gave them that form of smoke. They couldn't leave because they are bound to the land, and as the land was cursed, it became a double-edged sword to them.

My father was the King of the Land of the New Moon. He wasn't a full-blooded king because he took his directives from the gods, yet he was content. I was just getting into my adult life when the problem started.

How the Problem Started

There were rules in the land. The gods created the rules so the people couldn't spoil what He had created; He created the rules so the people would understand a single mistake would be the end of their peace, love, and prosperity.

It was just a simple rule—it wasn't even hard to obey. It was just a rule that kept the land bountiful. The god created a pool with his lifeblood, and he called the pool "The Pool of Resurrection." And he told the people the pool can bring the dead to life, but if they are to use it, they should seek his permission. If he granted it, the life would return. He admonished them: on no occasion should anyone use the pool, or it would bring destruction to the land, because the pool is linked to his life force. If used without his knowledge, it would breach the land of the demons, and they would destroy all that he had done.

It was simple, and everyone could understand that, but—at this, the voice cracked. It stopped, and they thought he had left the body of Alex Griffin.