The Dark Lord of North

Lord Yong and the other members of his bureau were huddled over a map at a tea stall. They all used to discuss serious matter at that place only.

They were contemplating on the matter of finding the location of the dark lord of the north — the only person who supposedly knows about the book that holds the key to break the curse.

The followers of Lord Yong tried their best to find him but all in vain. 

Lord Yong had been looking for THE DARK LORD for a very long time. The man was a really renowned personality in the world of black magic, besides practicing black magic, he could even see the dead. There was one thing that made him different and more respected from others who practised black magic, he only used his powers and knowledge for helping people.

It is said that when The Dark lord was in his late 40s, a group of black magicians did something awful to the noble man out of pure jealousy. After that incident he had vanished. Nobody even from his village knew where he was.

It seemed next to impossible for Lord Yong to find him until one day the Dark Lord's disciples came in and shared his whereabouts.

“I must apologize for eavesdropping on your private conversation. But I can help you,” said the young disciple.

“Who are you and how can you help us?” Lord Yong questioned. He was dubious about the young man who suddenly appeared in front of them claiming he heard their conversation. 

“I know about the Dark Lord. He is my master.” The boy replied with a dejected face. 

“Alright. Tell me everything about your master." Lord Yong saw his mournful eyes and decided to believe him, as eyes never lie. The young man's eyes were expressing the concern he had  for his Master. 

“The Dark Lord is hidden in the Zorus Kingdom right now.” The young man answered with utter distress. 

“Hidden?” Lord Yong asked.

 “Yes. A group of black magicians cast a powerful spell on him. They cast a deadly spell on him. The Dark Lord is a powerful wizard so it was not possible for them to kill him with their powers. So, they cast a spell of leprosy on him, as it was done through dark arts it was impossible to cure it.” He continued to narrate the whole mishap happened with his master.

“The spell made him look horrible, the blisters and scabs popping out from his body with a pungent odour. He never wanted people of his town who loved him and respected him so much, feel pathetic towards him, therefore, he walked out of there and now lives in a dense forest where no one can find him.”

It was something beyond the bound of possibility to everyone as they had familiar with the glory of Dark Lord.

“But he is a powerful wizard, couldn't he remove the spell?,” asked Lord Yong.

 “Indeed he is a powerful wizard but when a group of black magicians come together and sacrifice one of their body parts the spell becomes so strong that nobody can cure it,” the disciple explained.

When he said the sacrifice of a body part Lord Yong thought of Mi-sook as she didn't have her little finger in her left hand.

“Was Mi-sook involved in this sinister act?” asked Lord Yong.

“How do you know about that wicked shaman? She was the one who provoked the other wizards and afterwards, she killed them.”

“She wants to ruin the royal family of Noam. She even tricked our Queen and at present she is serving in the palace. Her bad deeds are the reason behind the curse. This is the reason why I have been searching for the Dark Lord for so long, only he can tell me the solution to break the curse,” Lord Yong disclosed.

“In that case you need to reach him as soon as possible. Master is on his deathbed. I had been taking care of him for so long. One day he told me to go back to my town. He said that he would always be grateful to me as I truly cared for him. I did not want to leave my master but he insisted that I go back. I left my poor master with teary eyes and a heavy heart,” said the disciple sadly.

Lord Yong decided to start their journey for Zorus the very next morning. He was silently praying to God for the wellbeing of Dark Lord as he was their last hope. If something happened to him, he wouldn't be able to save his beloved daughter. He wouldn't be able to free her child from the deadly curse. 

Lord Yong and one of his followers Nyang headed to the Zorus Kingdom to see the Dark Lord, next morning. They took some essential stuff as the journey was long. It takes them four nights to finally reach the Zorus Kingdom.

On their way, Lord Yong mind was clogged with thoughts of sin committed by Mi-Sook. It was her actions that resulted in the destruction of the royal family. 

Somewhere, Lord Yong was relieved that Si-ri was in asafe place and living her life in hidden. It was difficult for little Si-ri to live in that abandoned Mansion but soon she understood and became strong enough to live all alone in tha mansion. He didn't want Mi-sook to know learn the truth. 

Mi-sook's suspiscion on Lord Yong's frequent visit to the dark forest made him restrained to visit Si-ri. At times, the wave of sharp pangs jolted Lord Yong's heart whenever he thought, how would Si-ri sleep lonely at night. At that time, he used to curse Mi-Sook for the pain his daughter was enduring between his silent sobbing. That time was really ardous for both Lord Yong and Si-ri. A lot of things had been changed with the passing time. Si-ri became matured and brave to handle any situation. 

When the quilt of starry night covered the sky, Lord Yong decided to halt somehwere as he and Nyang both were feeling exhausted from the tiresome journey. 

Next morning, they again began their journey in search of Dark Lord.