The Pale War

by Max Jager

  Alerius's shock was indescribable! His bottom jaw dropped and he stood in disbelieve! Aurela looked at him and said, "Yeah?" Like she actually believed him!

  "Of course. You think people like him," He motioned towards Alerius. "Will understand creatures like us."

  Turning her head slightly, she looked back at Alerius and mouthed out to him: Say it.

  Standing motionless, Alerius staired on with these huge wide eyes. Flaming just laid it on thicker. "I love you. See, I said it twice. You didn't even have to beg me."

  One of Aurela's feet raised, walking towards Flaming, as if she was hypnotized. Alerius reached out towards her. "Stop Aurela!"

  Aurela did as she was told. She stood still like a beautiful statue, frozen in all her glory. She slowly turned her attention back to Alerius.

  Quickly, Alerius began to speak to her again. "Don't fall for such a lame trick. He doesn't love you. He's a liar!"

  Aurela mouthed it out again: Say it.

  Those war layered eyes of Alerius looked down at the rock floor. He wouldn't say it. He loved her so much that he wouldn't say it! Still possessed by those ridiculous ideas that he would turn out like Korzen. That Aurela would automatically die. That he would "jinx" her. He didn't want that for her.

  Aurela mouthed out another word: Please. She wanted him to say it. If he did, she would go with him and do whatever he wanted. She was already fully devoted to him forever. She loved him so much. She just wanted this one thing from him. She wanted him to confess his love for her.

  He wouldn't though. She knew that now. It hurt her to the core. More then any cold shoulder or heartless word ever spoken to her by him. She loved him and would confess it to him for the rest of his natural life and beyond. She would love him forever! She just wanted him to say that he loved her too. She knew now though he wouldn't. She couldn't live like that. Always getting the cold turn or the loveless reactions to her sensual being.

  Turning her attention away from Alerius, she began walking toward Flaming again. Alerius again shouted out, "Aurela! He's lying to you! Can't you see that? I…I…need you! He doesn't need you! He doesn't love you! He's lying! Liar!"

  Aurela stopped one final time. She turned her head and looked at him. Two trails of tears streaked her face. More began to flow from her. At the very sight of her crying he to began to tear up. His eyes got red and they became glossy with that watery look. It stung his eyeballs as he choked them back.

  Not even trying to hold back her tears, she let them flow. "So are you."

  She turned her head and began to walk back towards The Flaming Meteorite. Alerius was behind her, screaming; "Aurela! No! Come back! Come back to me. Don't go! Please! I need you!"

  She did keep walking though. Alerius thought about saying the words she wanted to hear and then telling her that he just said them to get her back but that would even be worse then what he was doing right now. He definitely didn't want to do that to her. He was already putting her through an emotional hell.

  He watched in terror as Aurela walked right up to The Flaming Meteorite. She was only about five feet away from the monster. Again, from Flaming's own mouth, "I love you Aurela."

  Tilting her head, Aurela just cocked her brow a little bit. "I need more from you."

  Flaming looked at her puzzled.

  "I need a promise."

  Flaming smiled.

  "Promise me all your power."

  Flaming now cocked his face. "What?"

  "Give me all your power. Make me like you."

  Shock, terror, immense fear, flabbergasted, none of it seemed to echo loud enough in Alerius's head to describe how he felt. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He again tried to utter those three words but he couldn't. He was afraid of what would happen. Of course, he was scared of what would happen if he didn't. He tried again to say them but he couldn't! His whole mind was wrapped around the tons of possibilities of what would happen if he said them. He did love her and that was the exact reason why he wouldn't say them.

  He was also thinking about what would happen if he didn't. He loved her so much that he didn't want to say those words and then turn right around and lie again. If he was going to say them he had to commit to them. He couldn't do that. The "what ifs" were plaguing his mind. They were so thick in his head he could hardly think about the present consequences of him not saying those words.

  Flaming's old snake like voice came out. "That would kill me."

  Aurela said to him, "If you don't you will die the last Oadin. The hellion forces will have no leadership and no guidance. With you gone, they will fall apart and they will lose this war. I will lead them, I will be the last Oadin."

  All Alerius felt like he could do was stand and stair, frozen with shock! It was like an excruciatingly bad nightmare that he couldn't wake up from! He tried several times though. It was real. It was happening. Aurela was turning sides. She was going to turn sides just like Korzen for her own selfish reasons.

  Alerius yelled out to her. "How is this different from Korzen?"

  Aurela turned to face him. "How are you different from him?"

  "What do you mean?" Alerius asked.

  "You just keep lying to me. You do love me Alerius, I can feel it. Yet still, you lie to me. Because you think that something bad will happen to me or you might turn into The Yellow Korzen. You don't care for yourself. You never have. It's always been about the mission. For once Alerius, be selfish. Yearn for something you want. Fight for something you need. Don't worry about the consequences. If you don't, you will fail the mission Alerius."

  "My original mission was to take you aboard the Osiris and be done with you! They would figure out what to do with you from there. My mission was a failure after the Osiris was destroyed by him!" Alerius said pointing at The Flaming Meteorite. "I just stayed with you because I was suppose to protect you. I was confused! It was all about the mission! The mission! It's all I've ever had! Ever!"

  Confusion raced through Alerius's body and brain right now about his love for her and the shock of what she was about to do, it was all formulating into one emotion, anger. He had let it go. His emotional turmoil through the past several weeks had built up inside of him. It was now being unleashed at a very wrong time. He just couldn't stand it anymore! He was tired of being confused about the mission and his love for her. Never feeling love, through his entire life, he had been faithful to the mission. He had sacrificed so much in order to get a successful mission. He had been brainwashed into this way of thinking. The mission came before anything else. He had sacrificed many things important to him in the past and now, he was about to make the greatest and final sacrifice of his life. He was going to let Aurela go, to not get emotionally involved with her. He was so confused right now, he let his anger finally release. His confusion, his love, his anger, it all had hit its peak!

  Alerius started screaming at her, "I never loved you! I hate you! I just want another mission! It's all I've ever had! You were my mission! I failed! I failed!" Repeating it over and over knowing that it was true. His eyes were filled with tears. He didn't believe a word of anything he was saying. He wouldn't be truthful with himself. He was tearing himself apart and he knew it but the mission came first. Only after the terrible events of what would occur next would he finally realize that Korzen and Liar were right about one thing. Choosing the mission over love would doom the both of them.

  "I…I hate you?" He didn't even know what he was saying anymore. He had become so confused that now he hardly realized what was happening right in front of him. Alerius fell to his knees. He had turned himself into a destroyed state of his former self. He used to know exactly what was going on in his life. The lines were so clearly cut. Now, love had gotten involved and he had no idea how to handle it. His instincts were telling him, to tell her, he loved her as they always had been. This was the first time ever he had ignored his instincts. This was the first "mission" he had outright abandoned them. "The mission. Sad choice agent." The words that woul
d haunt him for eternity!

  Suddenly, Aurela floated up in the air. Her skin was lit up and her eyes were glowing. These bolts came out of her eyes. They struck Alerius and threw him back about ten feet. He landed hard on the ground and skidded about an extra five feet. Aurela quickly turned to face Flaming. "Give me your power, now!"

  Flaming's face suddenly disappeared from the rock wall and this magma replaced it. It flowed out of the rock wall like blood from a wound. It ran under Aurela making a huge puddle.

  Alerius got up to his feet. He reached out to Aurela, "No! God no! Aurela, don't do it!"

  It was too late! These huge red bolts of power exploded from the lava puddle and surrounded her. It was like back in the pyramid only this was evil. Aurela began to surge with power. Evil energy swarmed around her as the last of Flaming's power filled her. Powerless to stop it, Alerius had to watch on in horror as Aurela was changing sides right in front of him. The last Leyline was becoming the last Oadin. Alerius could literality feel the last of her innocence drainning out of her and being replaced by demonic power. That luminescent glow faded from her and was replaced by this blackness. It was a slippery blackness like a beetle's shell. Her golden hair lost its glow, smothered by this dark purple. Her eyes of golden were faded out and took on this purple glow. Her fingernails grew in size becoming claws rather then nails. Her whole being was changing, from an illustrious physical angel, to a Hell-on-Earth causing demon.

  The magma floated upwards toward her and encased her like a fiery cocoon. Alerius began to run towards her not knowing what to do when he got there. He got two feet from her when the fire cocoon shattered and what was born was nothing even close of what Aurela use to be. Her body twisted towards him like an injured and hungry animal. This long flowing black mist extended all down her body flowing from her like a long, black nightgown. It went all the way down to the ground and floated on the ground like a dark fog. Her eyes glowed a pure dark purple just like black light. Her hair was bright with that black light like her eyes and it flowed out from her head like every stranded had a life. Each hair seemed to wave in unison like ten-thousand angry snakes ready to strike. Her skin was a pure dark black that seemed to reflect the red light of the rock walls around them.

  Alerius took a few steps closer and said, "Aurela?"

  Aurela looked down at him and suddenly widen her eyes in anger. These bolts of black light blasted out of her finger tips and blasted Alerius out of the volcano and out onto the ground outside. He landed hard and bounced three times while rolling. Any human would have been killed by such a fall. Alerius was barely conscious. He stood up barely able to see. He looked back up to the top of the volcano to the hole he had fallen out of. Alerius saw this evil Aurela floating right to the hole and pointed right at him. He suddenly heard this horrible scream come out of her and he closed his ears. The high pitch screaming made his head feel like it was going to explode. Blood started to pour from his ears as he held onto them tightly. It then stopped and he uncovered his ears. It was silent on the ground for about two seconds.

  A voice came into his head. It was Aurela's but it had changed. It now sounded melded with a snake's hiss. As if Flaming was still alive and well inside of her. This new voice cracked with sorrow and hissed with evil. He heard it say one word. "RUN!"

  Alerius did just that. He started to run away from the volcano as he heard this commotion from behind him. He wanted to look back behind himself to see what it was but he trusted his instincts and just kept running.

  As he ran, his eyes filled with tears. To see Aurela like that was too much for him. He suddenly dropped to the ground on his knees and just knelt there. He had driven her to that end because of his own foolishness. It was all his fault! He finally understood that his love could have saved her. He started to remember Lire's words: "You must give into your heart! You must be reasonable! It is the only hope for the universe left! You must be reasonable!"

  "Only then will the war finally come to an end! Only then will every creature throughout the universe know peace once again! I can linger no longer! You must give in to your heart! Because no weapon or mission will win this war! Not for us! Remember all that you have heard and seen. Take it to your grave!"

  Alerius could also remember a prophesy. Lire hadn't specified what it was but he knew he himself had destroyed it! He remembered all of his dream. Lire was right and he hadn't listened. He should have but he didn't. He listened to all the wrong people. He should have trusted Lire. He should have trusted Aurela. The mistake had been done now. He had listen to all the wrong things. He had lost Aurela and what was worse; he had lost her to the hellion forces. Alerius knew that that was worse then death. He wished he had some happy time he could remember back to. Every time though Aurela tried to get close to him, he refused her love. The only thing he could remember back to was The Viseus Pyramid. He remembered how there he had confessed his love for her to himself. He had come to terms with his love for her. He couldn't confess it to her though. It tore him apart inside.

  He stayed on the ground, crying to himself. He heard that commotion getting louder. He knew what it was now. The hellion forces of the planet hunting him down. He was just going to sit there and let them take him down. What point was there to life now? Another mission?

  'No! Get up!' His mind screamed out. He did too. It was like another side of him had come out. It had happen on Scalobore. It was like this stronger side. The right side of him. The side of him that knew everything that was right for him. More then instinct, more then reaction, more then the will to survive. It was his pride, what he had left. He had let himself down for the last time. He had lost Aurela but he had to have hope that he could get her back. She was still alive and maybe there was away to turn her back. Maybe if he could get a chance to tell her those words now he could get her back.

  He knew now that he could tell her. He had to because otherwise, she would probably tear the universe apart! He hadn't thought of that before. He was so preoccupied with what might happen that he never did focus on what was happening. She was the new Oadin and she would pick up where the last one left off. She would carry out the destructive wishes of the last. She would lead the last of the hellion troops into a counter-assault on the galaxies.

  The war was still on. He turned his head and saw the hellion forces heading towards him. He had to get off the planet. He had to find a way to turn Aurela back! It was the only choice he had left. It was like for the first time in a long time he was thinking clearly. He had ignored his heart for the last time. He wouldn't disregarded his instincts no more! He was ready to do what was good for him! He should have listened to her and he was a fool not to. He understood this now. He had made a huge mistake and it had cost the universe!

  He had to have hope though. He wanted to rectify his wrong. He really couldn't believe how stupid he had been. Seeing Aurela as an Oadin had opened his eyes to everything! He couldn't figure out why he had been so stupid before! Next time, he would be smarter. Next time, he would do what was right for him and her! Next time, he would tell her that he loved her. He still did and that's why he still had hope. He wasn't ready to give up on her. He still had to protect her even if it was from herself and that's exactly what he was going to do!

  Suddenly, he saw Aurela above the hoard that was marching his way. He could hear her new maniacal voice shouting out orders to them. "THAT'S HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM, NOW!"

  Alerius felt that it was too dangerous right now to tell her those words. He had to wait for the right time. If he lived passed this.

  He turned away and began to run away. He didn't know where he was going to hide on a hellion base planet. They were practically native inhabitants and the whole planet was a fort loaded with hellion troops.

  He would soon run out of planet to run on. He had to get off the planet but how? As he ran he began to think. He then thought back to The Yellow Korzen. He had to have a ship around somewhere. It was his only way off the planet. Alerius figured it was righ
t next to the volcano. That meant though he would have to turn around and head into the evil army behind him. That was totally out of the question.

  He was still running and thinking when he suddenly heard this loud sound in the sky. He stopped and looked upward. He saw the sky fill with fire and the clouds began to twist and contort. He figured that Aurela was using her new evil powers to stop him. His instincts though were telling him another story. He turned his ear to the sky and could hear a familiar roar. Like the sound of when ships enter in through an atmosphere. In fact, that's exactly what it was.

  He suddenly saw a battleship blast through the red cloud cover. It was a magnificent sight. It reminded him of the convoy of ships that came to Reign. He saw at least five large ships plow through the cloud cover. Hundreds of smaller ships came in with them. Smaller battleships came in like a hoard of locusts onto the army of darkness. Their guns blasting up the ground and bigger battle cruisers getting closer to the ground.

  It was an all out war! Troggles, those laser blasting eyeball demons, came flying in to counter attack the smaller ships. Deneks started firing up at the ships also. A huge air battle had been launched as four of the five bigger ships landed. They opened up in front and platoons of humans came rushing out. They were firing at the deneks and the zealot volcanis as now a ground war was started. Aurela hovered over the hellion forces, urging them to assault the incoming forces. Suddenly, these smaller demons started to crawl out of the ground as the last big ship landed. These smaller demons were only about six inches tall and they carried little, tiny spears and knives.