‘Do you know which stage of the tournament you are in?’ Afaris asked.
‘There are several more duels to fight all over Aora, but I believe in a couple of days there will be the finals.’
‘How have you done so far?’ Afaris asked them.
‘We both won, so we got out of the tournament’ Falus replied from under him, prideful.
‘How many duels in the last fight?’ Afaris continued.
‘That I really don’t know, most probably there will be eight or ten pairs. Anyway, rest assured, you two will be invited.’
When they were above the town, the curious inhabitants started to look at the two Nymphs flying over their heads, with Saraf and Afaris on their back.
Falus and Fasus carefully landed on the edge of the tower balcony, and Afaris and his father dismounted.
‘Thank you for the ride’, Afaris said. ‘It was quite a beautiful experience.’
‘I hope to see you again soon’, Falus said.
Saraf and Fasus also said good-bye, then the two Nymphs took off to the forest.
Watching them leave, Afaris asked:
‘So, what do we do now?’
‘You are free to do whatever you want to do for the rest of the day, I will go down to the library and search for some crystals I am going to leave in your room. Then I will come back here for the training, if you like, you can join me.’
‘I will’ Afaris agreed.
Chapter 11
The secret of the energy pit
Ulmaf and Debiana were training together on the meadow next to Saraf-Menom. It was mid-day, the sun covered by clouds and small rain drops were falling on the ground and on them. Not yet being strong enough to create energo-spirits or energo-forms, they were using their own bodies either in one-on-one wrestles or manipulating energy and attacking remotely.
They were not however alone. During the day, numerous Aorians would leave the town to train on the field. This is why Saraf felt bound that, every night, after the Aorians left, to take a walk about the field to fix the damages. Otherwise, in just a few days, the meadow would have been plagued with craters and burnt vegetation.
The two were raging a continuous battle, to see who was the stronger, who developed faster, which incentivized them. Everything they knew they had either learnt during Saraf’s training sessions on top of the tower or from other Aorians who had attended the training sessions they had skipped. Even Afaris helped them develop but to a much lower extent than the two would have liked as he was too busy helping his father train.
In a short break they took, they caught a glimpse at Afaris exiting the town and strolling towards them. He looked sad and depressed.
When he reached them, Ulmaf asked:
‘What’s the matter? You don’t look ok.’
‘I’m ok, it’s the training.’
‘It drains your powers more and more, I reckon’ Debiana said.
Afaris sat down in front of them on the wet grass.
‘Not really, it’s just that today I’ve made an information exchange with him, which is extremely painful if you’re not trained.’
‘What transfer?’ Ulmaf asked.
‘Through the hand grasp through which you can transfer energy, you can also transfer know-how. Well, this is much more complicated.’
‘And he does this so as not to waste time explaining or what?’
‘No, no. Firstly, you train the mind. By doing so, I enhance my mind’s capacity to handle energy. Both mine and that around me. Secondly, it’s a way to see the worlds he has visited.’
‘Oh, great’ Debiana claimed. ‘And which world did he show you this time?’
‘I’m not really allowed to talk about it, but he’s shown me a civilization which resembles ours very much, from a physical standpoint. Much more advanced technology-wise, but from the perspective of energy handling, they’re much inferior to us.’
‘That’s obvious, I know that. No other world is as strong as ours’ Ulmaf said full of pride.
‘Maybe not from an energy perspective, but the machines I’ve seen, the weapons …’
Afaris stopped narrating. His father had shown him what other species were capable of, their weapons and destruction power, as a source of inspiration. Afaris understood why Saraf was concerned by the possibility of a war waged against another civilization. They were much stronger than Saraf let the Aorians believe. The reason was obvious, he did not want to frighten them. He did not want to frighten his friends either.
‘What weapons?’ Debiana asked. ‘Can you show us?’
Afaris regarded them both in the eyes and picked up curiosity. He nodded and stood up. He stretched his arms towards them and focused his energy between his hands. An energy spirit caught form in his hands, two swords with blades facing outside. The handle Afaris was holding was fixed perpendicular to the sword blade stretching from his elbow, where it was attached with a strap to half a meter beyond his hand.
He waved the swords blades fast under the amazed looks of his friends.
‘Impressive’ Ulmaf stated regarding Afaris’s energy swords. What can you do with them?’
‘It depends how much energy you channel into them and under which form. If they’re loaded sufficiently you can strike somebody’s energy or even gut him.’
Afaris took two steps back and hit the blade in his right hand against the ground, throwing off soil and plants.
‘You can even fuel them with more energy for a more powerful effect.’
Afaris broke the energy link with his blades which vanished into thin air and their energy went back to Afaris’s palms.
‘I will show you more on another occasion, I’m now drained of powers.’
‘And we hoped we would take advantage of your presence to learn more’ Ulmaf said laughing ironically.
‘Look, until next time you can practise energo-spirit control. I’m sure you won’t get bored for days.’
‘At our pace, days will pass until we learn energo-spirit control. Anyway, how are you handling energo-forms?’
Afaris sat down on the grass in front of his friends:
‘Pretty well, I should say. I cannot do what Saraf did on the field back then, but I’m getting there.’
‘I’m sure he’s proud of you. From my point of view, you are advancing incredibly fast. No matter what the future holds, you father will have one very powerful ally.’
Afaris blushed.
‘Thank you, I hope you’re right.’
‘Anyway’ Ulmaf said ‘I hear you went up the mountain a few days ago. What happened?’
‘Nothing special, it’s just that the pit’s getting stronger and stronger.’
‘What does this mean?’
‘That means the weakest of us pose a threat for the rest. They are most likely to lose it.’
Debiana swallowed and said:
‘Well, but why is it such a great hazard for the rest of us? That is, they are the weakest, they won’t have enough strength to harm others, unless they surprise them.’
‘It’s more complex than that’ Afaris answered ‘when their mind fails in front of that energy, they are fuelled by it, with much more force than you think. Thus, they become a real threat. That’s why Father is urging everyone, down to the last Aorian, to train. We must always be a step ahead of it.’
‘Until when?’ Ulmaf asked, irritated by this issue.
Afaris did not know what to answer.
‘As long as it takes. We’ll eventually figure out a solution.’
The three remained quiet, assimilating the information that depressed them.
‘Let’s not think about it now’ Afaris said and stood up. ‘I’m curious to see much you’ve evolved.’
Ulmaf and Debiana stood up, too.
‘Didn’t you say you were too tired to train?’ Debiana asked smiling enthusiastically.
‘I’m indeed too tired to fight, but not tired enough to defend.’
Afaris took a couple of steps back and gen
erated to his left and right two second degree energy spirits, perfect copies of his body. Ulmaf and Debiana got ready to charge. They clenched their fists and fuelled them with energy.
Ulmaf charged first, dashing at the energy-spirit to Afaris’s right and tried to hit it, but it blocked the blow with an energy shield on his right arm. Before Ulmaf could charge again it hit him with his left fist which was full of electricity and this made Ulmaf grunt and fall to the ground.
Simultaneously the second energo-spirit cast several fire balls at Debiana trying to hit her, but she managed to duck them all and stroke back with a lightning shot from her hand. The lightning hit the energo-spirit’s shield, but the load was too big. Afaris’s connection to his energo-spirit broke off.
Afaris sighed from the energy depletion, but kept focus on the remaining energy-spirit.
Ulmaf rose from the ground and went two steps back. Choosing to use a new technique, he bowed and put his palms on the grass, channelling his energy into the soil under the energo-spirit. The ground started to crack. Two chunks detached from near the energo-spirit, rose into the air and tried to crush it, but Afaris was on his toes and withdrew his energo-spirit in the nick of time.
Too focused to notice Debiana’s moves, he lost sight that she too was an enemy in the game. She took advantage and immediately after the impact of the two chunks jumped over Ulmaf projecting countless fire balls at Afaris’s energo-spirit.
The energo-spirit raised its shield, trying to fend off the blows, but they were too strong and numerous. Some went past the shield, fully striking the energo-spirit. Afaris started to lose his connection with it. Focusing, he managed to restore the strength of the link, refuelling it with energy, but before he could regain the perfect link, something on the sky drew his attention. It was a Nymph approaching him at great speed.
Full of adrenaline, his senses sharpened, his powers replenished immediately. He ordered his energo-spirit to come to his help. It jumped onto the ground directly, away from its former adversaries; Ulmaf and Debiana, who had not noticed the Nymph, one second before the impact. The energo-spirit’s fist was bursting with energy, and with a precise blow to the right side of the Nymph’s chest, it released all the energy.
The Nymph changed direction and crashed to Afaris’s left. Ulmaf and Debiana were stoned with amazement, failing to understand what had happened and how come Afaris could react so fast and strongly.
‘Damn it, if this is a fight with you, then I don’t want to upset Saraf.’
Afaris immediately recognized the Nymph’s psychic voice. It was Falus.
‘That’s what happens when you try to sneak up on me.’
Falus stood up, safe and sound, but from up in the sky a second psychic voice was heard, laughing:
‘You’re so silly’ Fasus said, continuing to float above them, at high altitude.
‘I thought to give his friends a hand … you know what they say, any of Afaris’s enemies is a reason of joy for me’, Falus apologized.
‘Today’s not your day’ Afaris replied smiling.
Falus shook his head and joined Afaris.
Ulmaf and Debiana, amused with his words, smiled to him and introduced themselves.
‘I’m glad to meet you, I’m Falus, and this never-do-well above is Fasus, my slower brother.’
‘Yeah, yeah, whatever, I’m going to break the news to Sarah, I’ll see you later.’
Fasus took off towards the town and Afaris watched him land on the tower.
‘What’s going on?’ he asked.
‘The opponents for the final duels in the tournament have been established. It’ll take place in 22 days. You are going, aren’t you?’
‘Obviously’ Afaris replied. ‘It’ll be an honor.’
Falus turned to Afaris’s two friends:
‘And you?’
‘Yes, sure!’ Ulmaf replied enthusiastically, but Debiana frowned slightly.
‘I really don’t know what to say, I’m not keen on the idea of see Nymphs slaughter each another.’
‘It’s not a slaughter, just one Nymph will perish. And it is a beautiful event full of positive energies, you’ll see. You don’t think that passing on to a new era is an ugly experience, do you?’
‘I don’t know what to say now; I promise I’ll think it over’ Debiana said, but her expression read the answer would stay the same.
‘I’ll talk her into it, rest assured’ Ulmaf said and embraced Debiana with a broad smile, while she threw him a razor look.
‘How many duels will there be?’ Afaris asked.
‘Well, there are eight finalists, so four, then two, then the final battle. The event will last three days.’
‘Wow, that’s long!’ Ulmaf exclaimed. ‘Where are we going to sleep?’
‘Akdarosif said he was not expecting sleep should be an obstacle for you, but if you can’t do without it, we’ll tuck you in our Nest.’
‘In the Nest?! Where the tournament will take place?’
Falus nodded, balancing his big beak, and Afaris remained surprised. The Nest, the Nymphs’ sacred city, a unique place on Aora, forbidden to Aorians. Nobody had ever set foot inside. Actually, few had been those who got close enough to see it. But their stories described it as a stunning place.
‘It’ll be quite difficult for us to get there’ Debiana told Falus. ‘After all, it is situated right in the middle of the ocean, we cannot walk over on water. Maybe Saraf and a few could.’
‘Worry not, we’ll help you.’
Falus turned his look to Afaris:
‘My brother has informed me that Saraf’s summoning you. Why isn’t he contacting you directly?’
‘Because of my mental shield. It’s blocking communication if we’re not warned upfront to set-up a channel.’
‘Meaning? You can hear me.’
‘Yes, but I know I am supposed to receive your thoughts, so I can control the shield so as to be able to receive your messages. I didn’t know Father wanted to talk to me, so his psychic waves strike against my shield without me noticing them.’
‘Doesn’t it make you feel uncomfortable?’
‘They’re too weak to sense. If he sent me his thoughts at higher intensity I would feel them, but considering that this would cause an effect similar to the strength of the energy pit on the mountain, then I wouldn’t lower my shield to see who’s calling me.’
‘Hmmm’ Falus went pensive. ‘I really don’t understand how these psychic powers of Aorians work, but I’ve understood in broad lines what you’ve said, Afaris."
‘Will you be so kind as to fly me to the tower?’ Afaris asked with a smile.
‘Sure.’
Afaris turned to Ulmaf and Debiana.
‘I’ll see you later. You should know I’m impressed with your strength.’
The two smiled and thanked him, then waved him goodbye.
Afaris jumped on Falus’s back, hanging on to his lively-coloured feathers.
Falus started beating his wings and flew high heading to the tower. In a couple of seconds he overflew the town and landed on the brim of the tower balcony, where Saraf and Fasus were engaged in a discussion.
Afaris quickly jumped off his back and thanked him for the ride.
‘You were fast, indeed’ Saraf said.
‘Well, Falus has helped as you can see and I finished training with Ulmaf and Debiana anyway.’
‘Perfect. Falus has told you about the tournament, has he not?’
‘He has.’
‘We will need to spread the word to all Aorians, but since we cannot communicate psychically any longer, we will have to break the news to every Menom.’
‘Alright, what do you want me to do?’
‘I will ask you to go to Urfius and announce him. He wanted you to visit him, anyway. I will deal with the rest.’
‘Are you going alone to all the towns?’
Saraf nodded.
‘With all due respect, Saraf, I don’t think you have the time for such a trip. W
e can handle the invites ourselves’ Fasus said.
‘Thank you, no need though, I am going to finish in one day. I have my methods …’
Afaris and the two Nymphs regarded him puzzled, but did not ask him what he was planning.
‘Well, if that is all, I am going back to finish my business before I depart’ Saraf said.
‘Sure, we’re going, too’ Fasus said.
‘Afaris, shall we take you? I’ve got nothing better to do anyway.’
Fasus frowned slightly, but said nothing.
‘If you don’t find it too difficult, sure’ Afaris said excited with the idea.
‘It’ll be difficult. If I get tired, I’ll pass you on to my brother.’
‘Yeah right’ Fasus answered grumpily.
‘Well, we’ll be around, when you’re ready call us.’
The two Nymphs took off the balcony and flew towards the field. In the meantime Afaris and his father headed together for their little house on the tower balcony.
‘Do you need any more help?’ Afaris asked.
‘No need, thank you.’
Even though he did not want to press his father, Afaris asked:
‘Still, how will you manage to visit all the towns in one day?’
Saraf looked Afaris in the eye and smiled:
‘One day I will show you; until then you need to take my word for it. All Aora’s energy pits are connected to the planet core. Thus, I can descend here and emerge in any town I want.’
‘Really? Why do I find out this now?’
‘Because you do not need to know. Few people know it.’
‘Then, why are we not allowed to descend? This would make the trip much faster.’
‘There are things I cannot share with you right now; I promised, though, that gradually I will show you more than you could ever imagine.’
Chapter 12
A charming girl
Afaris was with his father watching him pack crystals in a rod-woven backpack.
‘What do you need them for?’ Afaris asked.
‘I want to store in them all the memories of the following days. This event will impact the relationship between Aorians and Nymphs tremendously.’
Afaris: Shadows on Aora Page 11