Spear Of Retribution

"Alexjin, use my gift wisely as it's base on the mana you have on your body even though it increased the amount if you combine it with the mana's necklace. Don't abuse it as it might harm your body as well," She warned which Alexjin nodded in understanding.

"Yes, master I won't forget everything you said to me."

Their eyes connected as they both shared a moment under the moonlight.

***

*Neigh!*

The horses' huff as someone approached them in the middle of the night. The steps are light as if walking like a ghost. With a sharp knife at the side, it stabbed the horse to death without mercy and let it bleed on the floor, and walked away as if nothing happened.

The next morning came, Jesse was about to feed the horses with hay when he smelled something and hurriedly run to the stables when he saw that the horses are nowhere to be seen. It was when he reached the stables, he saw the two horses laying on the cold floor dead and bathing in it's own blood. 

The sight was shocking to him that his feet harden that caused him to fall when he was about to step back. Jesse wanted to scream but no sound came out of his mouth, he just sits there with her hands pointing at the horses in hopes that somebody saw it too.

"Jesse! Have you feed the horses, yet?" Maxwell peeks through the window to see what's Jesse is doing, "What the hell are you doing sitting on the dirty ground?"

Jesse could only turn around to look into Maxwell's eyes and continue pointing over the stables. It was a bit far so Maxwell couldn't really see or understand what he means and was about to go away when Jesse suddenly faint.

"Jesse!" Maxwell shouts and hurriedly went to the stables and that's when his nose was bombarded with an awful smell. Behind him follows Leo which stopped running when he also smells the foul stenched coming inside the stables.

"Leo, go and ask for master or brother Jin," Maxwell gestured for Leo to run back on the house which the little boy followed.

"MASTER! BROTHER JIN!" Leo screamed and run around the house in search of the two. The other kids were curious at the commotion and went outside but didn't dare go to the stables without Alexjin or Geraldine.

"Why are you shouting early in the morning Leo?" Alexjin came out of his mother's room and put the basin filled with water and a cloth on the sink.

"Brother Jin, something smelly is inside the stables and brother Jesse is dead!" Leo screamed and started crying which shocked Alexjin.

"De - dead!?" Alexjin didn't waste another minute before he lifts Leo and run towards the stables. He could see that Jesse is indeed laying on the ground while Maxwell is trying to peek inside the stables.

Alexjin immediately put Leo down and examine Jesse. A sigh of relief came out of his mouth when he heard Jesse's heartbeat.

"Little Leo, your brother Jesse is alive. So, don't worry," He ruffled Leo's hair and holds his nose when the stench is too unbearable for him to inhale.

Maxwell took a step back when Alexjin went inside the stables to check the origin of the smell and saw blood dripping from the dead horse. He pursed his lips on a thin line and get's out.

"Maxwell, tell the other kids to go back home and take care of my mother and Jesse. As for you, help me take away the horses," Alexjin said and tore his white tunic and made it into a mask and entered again.

Maxwell looks at the unconscious Jesse and drag him back to the house and let the other younger kids take care of him. He didn't tell the news to the others because he knew what they will react when they knew that their beloved horse has been killed by someone unknown.

They have loved the horses as treated it as a pet for four years so it would be hard for them to accept that someone would just take their lives brutally.

Maxwell was about to go when Geraldine appeared behind him, "WAH!" he screamed as he thought it was a ghost because there's no sign that someone is behind his back.

"What's going on?" Geraldine asked flatly. Her skin is pale and her eye bags are darkened and bulging under her eyes.

"Umm, something is going on the stables master. Brother Jin is already there," Maxwell said, he was a bit hesitant to let his master come with her and see the brutality that happened to the animals.

"I see, you must go back and help your brother Jin," she smiled and let Maxwell go.

"Yes, master."

Geraldine went outside and could only look from afar as Alexjin dragged a sack that contains the horses and their blood is dripping on the floor, creating a red canvas drawn on the stone-cold flooring.

The rest of the kids followed her and looked at what's happening on the stables and the foul stench even reach their noses at such a distance because it was carried by the wind.

"Is that Mari and Lari?" Daisha's void faltered as she mentioned the names of the black horses.

Their eyes went straight to look at Geraldine for confirmation and she could only nod her head as an answer.

"What happened to them, master? Are they sick?" Aaila asks while trying to be cheerful and holds Daisha's hand.

"We will see when your brothers get here," Geraldine replied and went back inside the house. Then she goes to the kitchen sink and washes her hands with water and soup while trying to get the red stain inside her fingernails.

About 30 minutes passed, Alexjin and Maxwell came to the house and delivered the sad news to them. When the kids heard it, they instantly cried at the loss of their favorite animals.

"Why would someone do that? It's too cruel!" Chase wipes about the snout that was falling from his nose as Leo runs to his side and hugs him.

"I don't know who's psycho would do that but it's actually weird---" Alexjin's eyebrows furrowed the longer he thought about what happened then his eyes went to Geraldine who is standing at the corner of the room and only observed them.

He went in front of her and whispered, "The horses have been stabbed to death. I saw many stab marks on the horse's body but I don't know what is the motive of the killer. He/She didn't steal anything and just kill the horse."

Geraldine nodded her head, "It's too bad, the horses have been with us for years." She tapped Alexjin's shoulders and went to the children and asked them to gather with her.

"Master! Lari and Mari are dead! Wahhhhh!" They cried, even more, when Geraldine comforted them especially the younger ones while the older kids remained standing with silent tears falling from their eyes.

"Birth, life, death is a cycle. And they are all beautiful, you celebrate all of them. Animals do grieve but they move on. That's the lesson behind animals. So, you don't need to be sad as death is part of our lives," Geraldine patted their head as comfort which makes them stopped cry and could only hear their sobs.

Geraldine's smile didn't vanish on her lips and even giggled at the kids which makes Alexjin dumbfounded by her weird actions but he didn't question it further as it helps the kids understand and stopped crying over the dead horses.

After two hours, the children go back to their chores and helped plan out the burial of the horses. Alexjin wanted to sell the meat at the market but the children insisted to make a burial in the forest so that their spirit will roam around freely.

With a sigh, Alexjin approved of their request, "Fine, go find a perfect place for the burial and dig a huge hole. I'll bring Mari and Lari there. Maxwell, come with me."

The children rejoice and excitedly find a better place near the forest and the girls prepared flowers. As for Geraldine, she's only looking at them through the window of her room and then to the clock on her bedside table.

"Only a few more hours left," She muttered and started to pack her things in the bag. She also prepared the money she used to hide in the basement and took it out. Then she writes the name of the children over the bag to indicate that it was their money to spend with a handwritten letter inside.

She also took out the dried flowers she stored and placed them carefully on a box. It was the flowers and fruits from the rare plants Alexjin gave and for the poisonous plants growing in her basement, she killed it. 

"It's much better like this than harming the children while we are gone," She whispered and used her power to suck the life out of the plants.