Soko dropped everything she was carrying. Her lips quivered as shock and fear overtook her thoughts. “Wh-what did you say?”
“Your sister, Mili, she’s been taken by the curse.”
Soko immediately pushed aside the people, running back into the house.
Alex stepped up, stunned as well. This was the last thing he had expected to hear upon returning. ‘What is this curse exactly?’ he thought.
He had to figure it out.
Alex pushed aside the people and walked up to the house as well. Tara and Soko’s husbands stayed outside at the moment, keeping people away.
Alex tried to enter, but Tara quickly stopped him. “I’m sorry, only family goes beyond this point.”
“Tara, I need to go in and see what’s happening. I should be able to help her.”
Tara felt conflicted at that moment, but he didn’t budge. “I’m sorry. Once a person is cursed, only death awaits them. At this point, we can only allow the family a chance to say their farewell.”
“You’re not listening,” Alex spoke in frustration. “I need to check her. I may be able to heal her.”
“Heal her?” Tara looked in confusion. “She’s not sick. It’s a curse.”
“Then I will find a way to break the curse. Let me in.”
“No one steps in,” Soko’s husband spoke with a stricter tone. He was much larger than Alex, so he simply stepped forward and stood in his way.
Alex looked at the man, taking a deep breath to keep himself from getting angry. At the same time, many others in the crowd were beginning to ask him to step back as well, claiming that what he was doing was disrespectful.
Alex tried to check inside with his spiritual sense since he wasn’t being let in. But merely three meters away from him, the spiritual sense dissipated entirely. Even if he forced it further beyond, it merely stretched a little further before it disappeared.
That wasn’t enough to see what was going on inside.
Annoyed, Alex decided to barge in anyway.
He casually pushed aside the larger man, who couldn’t do anything to stop Alex at all. Soko’s husband stumbled to the side, falling on the sand.
Tara tried to do something, but a single glance from Alex was enough to stop him. The man knew from the start that there was nothing he could do to stop Alex.
He knew Alex’s strength, after all.
Alex arrived at the door, but the chief arrived to stop him.
The chief looked at his two sons-in-law, whom Alex had gone past to get to the door. The chief looked down at Alex with a frown. “Please keep away. This time is for the family to say—”
“Do you want your daughter to die?” Alex asked.
The man’s body stiffened, anger flashing in his face for a moment. “Please, I am not in the mood to be courteous. Step back and—”
“Your daughter is dying, and all you’re doing is letting it happen,” Alex said. “Do you not want to help her?”
“Of course I want to help her. But there is nothing to be done. The curse comes without warning, and it kills without mercy. What am I supposed to do?” the chief shouted.
Alex looked at the man, who was barely holding everything in, and sighed. “I have told you this before, and I will tell you this now. I am a healer. Let me look at your daughter, and I may find a way to heal her.”
The man shook ever so slightly at the words. “But she’s not ill. She’s been cursed. You cannot heal a curse.”
“How do you know that? Perhaps you believe it’s a curse because you’ve never been able to find a way to heal what plagues them. But I might have a way. Let me look at her. If I can’t, I will leave right away.”
Soko’s husband got back up at that moment and strode right up to Alex to try and throw him away. But a single gesture from the chief stopped him.
“Are you confident?” he asked.
Alex nodded. “I am.”
The man took a deep breath and moved aside. Alex immediately walked in.
His presence caused a stir in the room where only the other women were gathered. Mumu and Soko were crying in each other’s shoulders in the room, while a young girl of four or five was in Soko’s embrace, crying as well.
In the corner, the old woman who had taught Alex the language silently cried.
Mili was in the bed, her face pale with sweat. Her eyes were closed, her breathing shallow. She was unconscious.
The mother dabbed her forehead with a white rag and turned around as she heard footsteps. Her eyes widened at the sight of Alex in the room.
“You’re not allowed here. Leave!” she shouted, but Alex ignored her.
The chief entered the room as well and quickly explained the situation to her and his daughters before they acted against Alex and hampered what he was about to do.
“I will help your daughter however I can,” Alex told the mother. “I promise.”
Upon his promise and the chief’s urging, the mother moved away from the bed, allowing Alex to look at the girl.
He touched her forehead and sent his senses across her entire body. She was burning hot with a fever that seemed to be draining all of her energy. Judging from her color, he could tell that she was also becoming dehydrated.
“Water. Have you been feeding her water?” Alex quickly asked.
“She can’t eat anything. She’s unconscious and can’t swallow.”
Alex frowned for a moment. The lack of water was certainly what was going to kill her here, so he needed a way to fix that. “Can you bring some water? Let me try something.”
The chief immediately ran to the kitchen and brought a small bowl full of water. Alex took the bowl and looked at the girl who was unconscious.
Now came the next issue. How was he going to make her drink that?