‘He is the strongest Aorian. How could we help him? Maybe encourage him from behind if he’s in trouble. He can handle it on his own, I’m sure.’
‘What you’re saying is true’ said one of the guards. ‘Go back to your homes. We’ve not seen anything’ he winked to Afaris. ‘You decide what you’ll tell Saraf, but don’t get us involved in it.’
Afaris thanked the two with a bow and the three paced up to their homes.
Chapter 7
A new alliance
They all went fast into the house, without caring whether anybody heard them.
Reaching the tower, Afaris entered his home carefully so as not to wake up Calis. Unable to sleep, he spent time walking to and fro in his bedroom, meditating or going out on the tower balcony and looking towards the forest and the mountain, trying to make things out, but could not see anything. It looked like the entire scene had frozen.
He waited patiently for his father’s return and asked himself all kinds of questions. What happened with the Nymphs on the mountain? Where did his father go? And above all, was everything alright?
The sun started to rise behind him, illuminating the town gradually, then the field and eventually the forest and mountain.
In the distance, from the mountain he could see a large silhouette flying to the town. As it drew close, Afaris could see it was accompanied by several smaller silhouettes. It was Akdarosif, together with several Nymphs.
When he reached the tower, Afaris saw Saraf on Akdarosif’s back. He landed carefully on the tower edge and the other Nymphs either landed or continued to fly around the tower.
Saraf jumped off Akdarosif’s back and thanked him for the journey. Then he saw Afaris looking at him from a distance, reluctantly.
‘Up so early?’ Saraf asked him, and Afaris nodded.
Then Afaris’s father turned to Akdarosif:
‘You know what you need to do’ he told him.
‘I think we all do, at least, we, Nymphs. The rest is up to you.’
‘I have given you the coordinates, have I not?’
‘You have.’
‘Alright, go now, I will see you later.’
Akdarosif cast a look at Afaris, but conveyed him no thought, then took off, together with the other Nymphs, each flying in different directions.
‘What’s going on?’ Afaris asked.
Saraf came closer.
‘Much is happening, Akdarosif was kind enough to go after your siblings who have not arrived and fly them here as soon as possible.’
‘So we’re waiting for everyone to arrive, them we’re getting started.’
‘Yes.’
Saraf, hands on hips, looked to the east and left his head down sighing:
‘I did wrong and I apologize.’
‘What for?’
‘I jeopardized your life. Yours and your friends’.’
Afaris said nothing. It was obvious he knew where they had been the other night, but why was he apologizing?
‘I thought I could contain your curiosity if I just forbade you to help me or go there. But I overlooked the fact that you are my son and just like me, it is not your nature to wait and do nothing when you know you can help me.’
‘How do you know?’ Afaris asked him.
‘How do I know you wanted to go on the mountain?’ Saraf asked him laughing. ‘Well, first and foremost, I went past you in the forest. When I saw you return I let you leave without uncovering my presence.’
Afaris quickly analysed all the events from the forest and tried to figure out when his father could have gone past them. Maybe when they were running back to the town?
‘When?’ Afaris asked him, realising he could not figure it out on his own.
‘When the three of you were hiding behind a tree, scared to death. That is when I caught up with you, but decided not to scare you even more with my presence.’
‘You knew where we were? And followed us from the town?’
‘Somehow.’
Saraf stretched his arm towards Afaris right shoulder and touched it with his index. A small, slightly illuminated insect crawled out of his cloak’s folds. It was an energy bug!
‘That is what I call an energy-form micro. A small spy to know you are safe.’
The small energy bug turned to dust at Saraf’s command.
Afaris felt awkward. He had done so many foolish things recently he was embarrassed to even look at his father.
‘I apologize ...’
‘No need to, I am guilty. From my stupid wish to protect you at all cost, I jeopardized you all. From now on I will take you along everywhere. You will be my assistant.’
Afaris smiled shyly, not knowing what to say.
‘Let us sit down on the grass’ Saraf urged him ‘I have much to tell you.’
The two sat down facing one another.
‘Actually, I will summon you mother, too. I do not want to tell the same story several times.’
In thought, Saraf woke up his beloved Calis and invited her to join them. She came out of the house, hair dishevelled and eyes barely open. She was slightly irritated for being waken up so violently, but also curious so she headed towards them rapidly.
As she advanced towards them, passing past de energy pit, a wave of energy threw itself onto her, turning around her, straightening her hair, refreshing her clothes and restoring her to her normal beauty.
‘What’s going on?’ she asked on reaching the two.
Saraf looked at Afaris and winked at him so that she could not see it.
‘Sit down.’
Calis sat down next to them, resting on one arm and feet towards Afaris. Saraf drew closer to her and embraced her kissing her lovingly on the forehead.
‘Last night’ Saraf started his story clearing his voice ‘I decided to just visit the energy pit on the mountain again. I just wanted to watch it; it was as if my interest for it had gone up. I was not the only one though.’
Saraf glimpsed at Afaris and resumed his story:
‘On my way to the mountain I notice great agitation among the Nymphs. I realised immediately they were searching for their missing akin. Before finding out more, I decided to hide from them. Given the circumstances, my presence would cause new suspicions, which we clearly do not want. Still I continued my way to the mountain, then to its peak. As I was climbing, all the Nymphs changed course, flying in the same direction as I was. Something obviously had happened. On top, next to the pit, the three missing Nymphs were found. One was dead on my arrival and the other two were fighting, while the others were trying to separate them. They finally succeeded, when the two were too hurt to continue their fight. I stood and watched the scene from behind a rock, camouflaged in snow. I could not realize what started it, but one thing was certain. The pit had played a role in this story and still is. Some other Nymphs started fighting, for mostly ludicrous reasons. Then, Akdarosif showed up and put an end to the fights. They discussed and I learnt the three Nymphs had run away from their own to see the pit everybody’s been talking about, but its power took their minds away and they started killing each other just like that. I reckon the death would not have stopped had it not been for their king’s intervention. Anyway, I decided to step out of my hiding place. They were all stoned when they saw me, even Akdarosif was surprised, but despite what I was expecting to happen, none blamed me. They looked at me pensive. Then I understood what I had tried to say for years. They understood what the future held in store, they understood that carelessness jeopardizes our existence. Eventually, one of them broke the silence and asked me, all of a sudden, what I could do to remove this evil. Then my soul filled with joy. I finally saw hope for our civilizations.
‘Are we going to work together from now on? Aorians and Nymphs?’ Afaris asked.
‘Yes. The peace which has ruled between us and which was jeopardized turned into an alliance. As soon as the Nymphs manage to find your siblings and fetch them we can start the council. I reckon we will not need too much persua
sion power to get everybody going to fight this force.’
‘Why are the Nymphs going to find them?’ Calis interrupted him.
‘You were sleeping when I came back, my love, and missed the scene. Akdarosif flew me here and now he and his kin left for our children to rush them here.’
‘Aorians riding Nymphs? Come one, this is unbelievable! Congratulations!’ Calis told him joyfully and stretched towards him and kissed him on the lips, as Afaris looked away.
‘Afaris’ Saraf said ‘you shall continue your training. I hope that, as of tomorrow, other Aorians will join us. You, in your turn, will teach others what I have taught you.’
‘Why must we continue training? Isn’t the situation solved? Do you still fear a war?’
‘Firstly, we all need to develop our psychic skills to fight this virus. If you had seen what I saw the other night, Nymphs lusting to shed each other’s blood, you would understand the danger we are in. What if, tomorrow, a friend of yours tries to slay you out of the blue? We must all be ready. Some will say no, and those are most likely to fall prey to this bloody impulse.’
‘So, eventually, the change is a must.’
Saraf nodded.
‘One way or another, our lifestyle will change, whether we want it or not. Yet, we can now decide which way to go. And maybe, after we win, we can resume our peaceful way of living together.’
Calis continued to look at Saraf full of happiness. He was casting his hope over her. Saraf stood up and breathed deeply then smiled. Finally, things were going the natural way.
‘I am going to the library to insert last night’s story into some crystals. Together with your crystal, Afaris, I think that all leaders will be unanimously convinced.
Saraf helped Calis up. She thanked him and asked:
‘Afaris’s crystal?’
“Follow me into the library and I will tell you everything there. In the meantime, Afaris, I will ask you to clear your thoughts for the council, you may have many things on your mind. Meditate a little, if you feel like it.’
Afaris stood up and nodded.
‘I will let you know when you will start, Saraf told him and left together with Calis to the tower pit, while Afaris stayed behind.
After his parents followed the energy wave downwards, Afaris sat down in the grass, facing the sun. He could not but wonder: what if he, Debiana and Ulmaf reached the pit first? Would that malevolent energy have intoxicated them and they ended up killing each other? Had they been lucky the other night!
***
Afaris did not leave the balcony after seeing his father and mother. He sat, thought and meditated, then thought again about himself, then about the recent events. His mind was flooded with questions. What did the future hold in store for him? What was Aora’s fate? Would the war break out as Saraf saw in his visions?.
As he was sitting and waiting, the Nymphs arrived, his elder brothers and sisters, leaders of Menoms, were on their backs. Each would step down from the Nymph with a different facial expression. Some were apprehensive, as the flight on a Nymph’s back had been unheard of that far, others were joyful, delighted with this new experience. Others were serious, worried for the same reasons as Afaris, probably.
Finally, Akdarosif arrived with two of the delayed brothers. His presence was noted, especially through the tower shake, rather than any other communication means. Saraf announced everybody telepathically that soon the council would start.
In order for Akdarosif to be able to attend they decided, despite the custom to have the reunion inside the tower, sitting down at a table privately, to have it on the balcony. Saraf also decided to allow anyone who wished to attend the council in silence. Thus, the news spread fast in the town and numerous Aorians made it to the tower top.
To the west, at the middle of the balcony, from the grass, small trees and shrubs started to grow fast. They took the shape of a big round table, around which shrubs turned into chairs just like in the tower library. Saraf sat down joined by Afaris and Calis, together with all Afaris’s siblings. Saraf’s advisors stood down behind him. Akdarosif was sitting near the table, wings folded so as to leave as much room as possible. The other Nymphs and Aorians were sitting as they could. Some Nymphs even allowed Aorians to climb on their backs to see better, an image which filled everybody with joy and hope.
Saraf stood up, stretched his right arm to the centre of the table, his palm facing the sky. The other leaders stood up, making the same gesture. Afaris and Calis, not being members of the councils, stood still.
In the palms, energy started accumulating, forming a white sphere which illuminated strongly.
‘May our energies unite’ Saraf said.
The energy spheres floated from their creators’ hands to the centre of the table where they merged into a much bigger sphere. As every council member raised their arm to the sky, the sphere started to elevate slowly, above their heads. Then it stopped and Saraf spoke:
‘Like our energy, may our minds come one. May our decisions be unanimous and fair, guided by the light of our soul and the wisdom of our mind.’
The light sphere floating above them burst into an energy dust cloud which fell on the table and them just like snow. All the council members put down their hands at the same time and sat down.
Saraf spoke again:
‘Firstly, I would like to welcome all my sons and daughters coming from afar. I am glad to see you again. Unfortunately, we have gathered at the council table to solve the most difficult problems since the beginning of our existence. Many of you have heard stories which you have not believed, others have seen it. You refuse to believe that energy I have been talking about for years will inflict a war on Aora.’
Saraf reached under his cloak and pulled out two crystals.
‘These two crystals will show you the truth.’ He passed them, one to his left and the other one to his right, to circulate so that every brother could see the information and memories they contained.
As the crystals were passed around – one with Afaris’s story at the tower top, the other one with the events which had taken place at the Mountain of the First Light the other night – their faces changed instantaneously. Some looked at the Nymphs and Akdarosif, unable to believe what the crystals had shown them.
The Aorians and Nymphs watching the entire scene were whispering curious whether anybody knew what this was about.
The crystals returned to Saraf who passed them to the advisors behind him.
‘I will ask my advisors to form a psychic veil so that everybody can see what we saw in the crystals.’
An advisor grabbed a crystal and started reading its energy. The Aorians behind him laid a hand on his shoulder and those behind them put their hand on the shoulders of those in front. Thus, the energy circulated to everybody’s minds. He then took the other crystal and read its energy, passing it on to the rest of the Aorians.
Whispers and sighs flooded the tower after the information was received.
‘I will copy the crystals and ask you to take them to your Menoms’ Saraf said and his children nodded firmly.
Lint, one of Saraf’s sons, raised his hand to take the floor.
'Yes, please’ Saraf told him.
‘It now goes without saying that your vision, dark and unlikely as it seemed when I first heard of it, is our certain future. What can we do to change it?’
Saraf crossed his arms above the table and answered in a serious voice:
‘First of all, we must all train hard to as to become immune to the influence of this energy. I have already started to train Afaris, and the results are promising.
‘So practically we need to build up psychic energy, a shield’ Urfius added.
‘Yes, but it is not that simple. The shield must always be on, which takes much energy and concentration power. And there is another issue, the intensity of the energy is growing every day and it is extremely cunning. I fear it can take us by surprise. You see, last night, the Nymphs were attracted by
the energy pit. As they got close to it, the energy corrupted their mind and made them murder one another.’
‘Should we send Aorians to form a barrier around the pits?’ Lint asked. ‘I think it is better to block it at the source than when it reaches us.’
‘That makes sense, but I do not know what to answer. I fear that, as I said, if we get closer to the pit, the energy could corrupt anyone more easily.’
‘Well, let’s send many Aorians to take turns, so as not to come into contact with the energy for too long and be strong enough together to stop it.’
One of the attendees asked Saraf a question, interrupting Lint.
‘Can’t we just seal the pit for good? Shut it down?’
‘If you were more interested and paid attention’ Lint scolded him ‘you’d know our father has kept us posted, those who wanted to listen to him, that this energy cannot be stopped like that. It is like a river. Set an obstacle in its way and it will go past it.’
‘My dear, let us not fight now’ Saraf tried to calm them. ‘Lint is right, though. The only chance I see now is to stop the pit at its source, but I do not know where it is. It is coming from somewhere in the universe, from afar, like a cloud carried by the wind and which pours out here, onto Aora.’
‘Then, you agree we should try to block this energy directly at the spring point?’ Lint asked.
‘We do not know how many pits there are on Aora; so far, we have discovered two, but I think there are more. If you insist, you are free to test your theory. I advise you to look for a pit as close to your town as possible, for laziness reasons.’
‘If not, I will try’ Urfius said. ‘I think there might be a pit quite close to my Menom because from time to time I could feel something different with the energy around. If true, I could try Lint’s theory.’
Saraf nodded, allowing Urfius to proceed. Lint became slightly irritated:
‘I will search for one myself. Eventually, each of us has his own method. Maybe one of us will succeed.’
Urfius pointed to Lint symbolizing ‘be my guest’.
‘Good, but the plan to teach everybody how to protect themselves from the energy stays on. If you fail, we need to have a contingency plan.’
Afaris: Shadows on Aora Page 7