Everflame: The Complete Series

by Dylan Lee Peters

  Chapter 37: Bahknar

  The Great Tyrant looked at the others as they trembled in fear. “So, it begins.”

  He raised his arm and a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, over the trees, beyond the field. The Great Tyrant rose into the air, and in a flash was gone. Almost immediately, the smell of burning wood came to the travelers and they knew that the Tyrant had set the village of Hammlin on fire.

  “He’s set Hammlin ablaze,” yelled Tenturo. “We must save as many villagers as we can.”

  Tenturo and Riverpaw flew the group into the center of Hammlin. The village was deserted and beginning to burn from being struck with lightning.

  “Where is everyone?” yelled Tomas.

  “Split up and look for any villagers,” said Evercloud. “Use caution and meet back here.”

  The group began to hunt through the village as the fires grew at a rapid pace. Riverpaw accompanied Evercloud as they searched.

  “Evercloud,” said Riverpaw, trying to get his attention. “You’re not Densa.”

  “I know that, Riverpaw. I saw everything that you did.”

  “No, I mean, you’re just Evercloud…no darkness.”

  “I might not be Densa, Riverpaw. But there’s still something there. Something in me that I have to figure out.”

  Suddenly, a giant jet of flame engulfed the home directly to the left of Evercloud and Riverpaw. They dived out of the way as the house exploded.

  “The Tyrant,” yelled Riverpaw.

  “No,” said Evercloud, pointing into the sky. “Look.”

  Flying in circles, high over the village, was a giant, red dragon. Fire came from its maw as it swooped back toward the village. It flew above the rooftops, and again, bathed the village with flame.

  “We have to find the others,” yelled Riverpaw.

  They ran quickly back to the center of Hammlin to find Tenturo, Iolana and the brothers waiting for them.

  “It’s him,” said Tenturo. “It’s Bahknar.”

  The great dragon came down and landed upon a burning building, crushing it into a million pieces. Bahknar emerged from the rubble of his own destruction and walked over to meet the group.

  “You’re fighting the wrong fight, Tenturo,” shouted Bahknar.

  “Why are you doing this?” asked Tenturo. “We are here to protect, not destroy.”

  “Tenturo, can’t you see that he has the power now. We can’t stop him. It’s time to get rid of our mistake.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Man.” Bahknar turned to another building and roasted it with his fiery breath. “Humanity was our great folly, Tenturo. Things were fine until Chera and Densa took human form, until they polluted themselves. We never should have thrown the Tyrant away. He deserved better. It’s time to make good on that mistake. It is time for men to die.”

  “No, Bahknar. He has you fooled. The Tyrant quests only for vengeance and suffering. It is not humanity that needs to pay the price, it is him.”

  “You’re the fool, Tenturo. You have let these disgusting, little creatures get at your heart.”

  No one could believe what was happening. The great Bahknar had allied himself with the Tyrant.

  “It was you who aided the Tyrant in opening the Farsider’s gate, wasn’t it, Bahknar?”

  “Whatever needs to be done to rid this world of men.”

  “I can’t let you do this, Bahknar.”

  “You can’t stop me.”

  The red lizard raised itself up and launched into the air and the great, white griffin accepted the challenge. The two ancient beings circled each other in the sky, and then, they raced toward each other, colliding with claw and talon. The impact sounded like thunder.

  “What can we do?” shouted Tomas.

  “We need to get out of the village before we burn,” yelled Ben.

  Tenturo and Bahknar continued to battle in the sky, snapping and scratching at each other as they tumbled through the air.

  “I’ll kill you if I must,” roared Bahknar.

  “Then you must. I will not allow you to ally with evil.”

  “I had no choice, Tenturo. It was torture in my prison. So far removed from my true self. I could bear it no longer.”

  “So it is true? The Tyrant had imprisoned you as a white mouse?”

  “It is. I searched all of Ephanlarea for the key that would release me from my prison. The Tyrant was the only one who could return me to my proper form.”

  “So you sold your heart?”

  “I cleared my eyes.”

  Bahknar’s claw ripped at Tenturo’s side, tearing his flesh, and the dragon bit into Tenturo’s throat.

  “Nooo!” cried Iolana as the travelers watched from outside of the burning village.

  “We have to stop Bahknar,” yelled Tomas.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” said Evercloud as he turned to Riverpaw.

  “Get on,” said Riverpaw.

  Evercloud climbed on top of Riverpaw as the bear launched himself into the sky. The Sons of Gray Mountain soared up to meet the battling Ancients. Evercloud rose to his feet and steadied himself on Riverpaw’s back as the bear rode the wind.

  “Get me close,” yelled Evercloud. “When I jump, knock Tenturo out of Bahknar’s grasp.”

  Riverpaw was a streak as he flew toward the fray. As he approached the two massive beasts, Evercloud jumped from Riverpaw and landed upon the dragon’s back, digging his golden claw deep beneath the Ancient’s scaly hide. Bahknar roared and loosed his grip upon the griffin. Riverpaw barreled into Tenturo, freeing him from the dragon’s grasp completely.

  “You’ll die for that sting, you little insect,” roared Bahknar.

  Evercloud jumped as the red Ancient spun in the air, swiping at Evercloud with its massive claws. Evercloud narrowly missed his death and landed back onto Bahknar’s chest.

  “Not before I’ve ended you.”

  Evercloud plunged his golden claw into the dragon’s chest, falling upon it with all his weight. The great dragon cried out in anguish and fell, bloody from the fiery, evening sky. Bahknar plummeted to the earth with Evercloud on top of him. The impact shook the earth beneath the travelers’ feet and they raced toward the dragon as Evercloud rolled off the beast and fell to the ground.

  “How?” moaned Bahknar. “How is this possible?”

  “I am Evercloud, son of Gray Mountain. I bring with me the strength of many.”

  Evercloud had struck a fatal blow to the ancient being. Bahknar could feel himself fading away.

  “You don’t know what it was like in my prison…as a mouse. Everything that I was…was gone. Anyone would have done the same thing that I did.”

  “No, Bahknar.” Evercloud kneeled before the dragon’s head and looked into his eyes. “Do you remember Charles Nesbitt?” The dragon’s eyes flashed in recognition and understanding.

  “I have been weak…” said Bahknar. “I am sorry. I deserve this end.”

  “You can still make good, Bahknar,” said Evercloud. “You can still help us defeat the Tyrant.”

  “You have ended me, human. My moments are fleeting.”

  “Give to me the power of fire, Bahknar. Give to me, so that I may destroy the Tyrant.”

  “As you wish.”

  A ball of fire came forth from the mouth of the ancient being, and as it left his body, so did his life. After thousands of years upon the earth, the ancient dragon called Bahknar was no more.

  Chapter 38: Home

  The ball of fire floated toward Evercloud and grew in size until it consumed his entire body.

  “No,” shouted Tomas and tried to move forward, but his brother held him back.

  “It’s okay, Tomas.”

  The group watched as the ball of flame surrounded Evercloud and slowly shrunk down around his body. The energy flowed through him and he looked down at his hands that had turned completely white. The energy had made Evercloud’s entire body so white that it was luminescent and diff
icult to look at. It was as if the surface of his skin were the surface of the sun. The energy raised him up into the air, and then, grew in intensity. Everyone shielded their eyes, and suddenly, the energy exploded and dissipated all around them. They looked back to where Evercloud had been to see him on the ground, upon one knee. He slowly rose to his feet. He looked unchanged, as if nothing had happened, and he turned to look at his companions.

  “Do you feel different?” asked Riverpaw.

  “Yes,” he said. “I’m…warm.”

  Evercloud looked down at his hand and opened his palm. A tiny flame sprung from the palm of his hand and sat there, flickering. He concentrated upon it and found that he could change its size, make it disappear and make it reappear as he wished. He raised a single arm to the sky, palm upward, and shot a stream of flame into the heavens.

  “Amazing,” said Tomas.

  The group stood outside of the village, watching as the fire continued to consume all that was there. No part of the village would be spared. Hammlin would be no more.

  “My mother’s dreams were true,” said Riverpaw. “I can’t believe it.”

  “It would seem so,” said Tenturo. “But as Evercloud said before, we do not know who gave her those dreams or for what purpose.”

  Riverpaw nodded. “There were no villagers here…why?”

  “They have abandoned the villages for the kingdoms,” said Iolana. “Word has spread throughout Ephanlarea that someone or something was burning villages to the ground. The people are taking refuge, fearing the worst. Ed–, I mean Densa and I saw a few villages like this during our travel.”

  “You didn’t know, did you?” said Ben.

  “No, I didn’t know. He didn’t either. He thought Densa was something evil, something he had to stop. The Tyrant’s spells worked well. He has become very powerful.”

  “So, you remember…everything now?” asked Evercloud.

  “I do,” said Iolana. “I owe all of you so much.” Iolana turned to the brothers. “Especially the two of you. I am eternally grateful to you and your family. I hope you will always think of me as a part of your family. I will always consider the two of you my brothers.”

  “It will be the greatest honor we have ever known,” said Ben. Tomas nodded in agreement.

  “I suppose we will have to get used to calling you Chera,” said Tomas.

  “Please don’t. I haven’t been Chera for a very long time and I don’t want to be again. I am Iolana. It is as it should be.”

  Evercloud had been listening to the conversation but couldn’t help himself from being distracted and staring off into the blaze that was the village of Hammlin. Tenturo noticed his distance and walked over to his side.

  “There are many things that have changed for us on this day, Evercloud. We can help each other to understand them.”

  “I’m confused, Tenturo. I was so sure that I was Densa. The Farsider…it called me Densa.”

  “I have been thinking of that myself, Evercloud. It is possible that it only reacted to something that you did.”

  “I did nothing. I was only speaking to it, trying to find out if it was my father.”

  “Did you say the word father in its presence?”

  Evercloud turned to Tenturo, now understanding what had happened. “I did.”

  “The creature responded to you by uttering the name of its own father.”

  “I feel so stupid,” said Evercloud, shaking his head.

  “Don’t be. You have no idea how relieved I am to know that you are Evercloud… just Evercloud.”

  “But it’s still there, Tenturo. There’s something inside of me. I can still feel it.”

  “Evercloud, look at me.” Evercloud turned his head and looked into Tenturo’s eyes. “Everyone has darkness inside of them. Every being on this earth has the potential for great good and great evil. We all must fight to keep the darkness from consuming us, keep it from burning inside. The Tyrant has succumbed to that fire, Bahknar succumbed to that fire. You don’t have to.”

  “Has Densa succumbed to that fire?”

  “I hope for the sake of the world that he has not.”

  The others had listened to the conversation and now felt comfortable joining in.

  “Do you remember Saquu’s words?” asked Riverpaw. “The children cannot see themselves in the dark. All Saquu was saying is that if someone allows themselves to be surrounded by darkness, they will ultimately lose sight of even themselves and become part of that darkness. We need to save Densa from the darkness.”

  “Yes,” said Tenturo. “It is imperative.”

  “So, we search for Densa,” said Evercloud.

  “No,” replied Tenturo. “Evercloud, you now posses the power of fire and of the wind, and you hold in your possession a weapon with the power to destroy what we had thought was an immortal being. From all I can see, you are man… and the earth’s greatest hope.”

  Evercloud nodded his head. “My feelings have not changed since we first met, Tenturo. I want to end the Tyrant.”

  “I want all of you to go to Gray Mountain,” continued Tenturo. “I want you to learn everything you can about that claw. We need to know about its power. It is important. And Evercloud–”

  “Yes, Tenturo.”

  “Find your reason.”

  “My reason?”

  “Find your reason for being, Evercloud. It will help keep you from the darkness. Everyone needs a reason to protect that which is good in the world. Without it, the darkness can convince you that the world isn’t worth your efforts. I have belief that you will find your reason among family and kingdom. You have seen much since leaving there. Returning should bring you great perspective.”

  “And what of you, Tenturo?” asked Iolana. “You won’t be coming with us?”

  “No, Iolana. I will find Densa.”

  “How?” asked Tomas.

  Tenturo looked high, above the burning houses of Hammlin, into the pale face of a full moon.

  “I already know where he is.”

  •••

  They came forth from the gate at the core of the moon. They, who are the crawling things and the scratching things. They slithered and plodded their way up the cold, dark steps, into the main chamber of the palace. They snapped and they swiped, they bumped and they pushed until they had tracked their way onto the desolate, black surface of the moon. Their grotesque necks stretched high into the vacuum of space and they howled into the nothing with pleasure and violent celebration. Their tortured bodies and crippled minds pulled them ever closer to the massive crater where they would wait at the edge of the darkness. He had arrived. They could feel him.

  Hundreds of unfathomable visions gathered at the border where the light of the moon ceased and the cold darkness began. They waited, ever vigilant, until they saw him walking toward them on the horizon. A thousand nightmares called out to Densa. They reveled in the rage that they could feel burning his insides, seething from every crack in his soul.

  Their creator had returned to them. His name dripped off their tongues like decaying flesh from their jagged teeth. The Creator, The Destroyer, The Dark Heart, Densa. He walked from the light into the darkness and as its cold and empty absence burned its venom into his veins, he knew.

  I’m home.

  BOOK THREE

  WAR CRY

  Chapter 1: The Wind

  In the years following the rise of the Great Tyrant and the subsequent demise of the ancient beings known as Tenturo, Bahknar, Chera and Densa, a small group of four individuals created an alliance to fight for the salvation of truth and the pursuit of virtue. The alliance was created to maintain the old ways, with the hope that the Ancients would one day return and vanquish the Tyrant. These deeply spiritual beings, sworn to the Ancients, referred to themselves as the “Wind.” This ambiguous name was chosen to maintain anonymity and to protect the alliance from those who would seek to disband them, or far worse, destroy them.

  The Wind continued the teachings
of the old ways in secret. They were the protectors and the professors of the Ancients’ philosophy of peace and harmony among all creatures of the world. They imparted all they knew of the Ancients’ history to those who would hear it, doing everything that they could to detract from the spreading lies perpetrated by the supporters of the Tyrant. They worked fastidiously to maintain the gifts of elemental control bestowed to men and teach the possessors how to properly use them. They were pillars in a crumbling land. They were wisdom among the ignorant. They were eyes among the blind.

  Ephanlarea had hope in the days of the Wind. Many creatures of the earth spoke with passion and determination of how the Wind blew strong. To speak of the Wind in such a way was to confirm an allegiance to the Ancients, and to exhibit contempt for the Tyrant. It was a risk to speak openly, but many were brave and bold, believing that salvation was but a breath away. For a small time, it seemed as though virtue would ultimately prevail, but even in the days when the Wind blew its strongest, the Tyrant’s poison worked deep in the veins of men.

  Over time, supporters of the Wind were routed out of hiding and punished severely. The Tyrant was without mercy and his minions delivered his cruelty with a malicious pleasure. Beheadings, hangings, torture and crucifixions became common public spectacle. It was not long before the alliance of four that called themselves the Wind were cut off from all those who would seek to help them. They were left with no recourse and nowhere to turn; the Tyrant had taken complete control.

  It was in the last, desperate hours before the alliance would agree to dissolve and separate, that they prayed to the Skyfather for help. They prayed in the ruins of an old temple, far from the shores of Ephanlarea, in a place that men had long forgotten. The four individuals unburdened their souls of the atrocities they had seen and of the sufferings they had known. Together, they decried the evil of the Tyrant. They tore at the vines that clutched at the temple walls and they pounded the floors with their limbs in frustration. They bellowed until their voices cracked from rage and exhaustion, and until their bodies fell limp upon the altar from hours of petition. They begged, they pleaded and they implored the Skyfather for the earth’s salvation.