The entire tower shook under Akdarosif’s massive claws. Afaris dismounted him and spoke to his advisors who were waiting for him concerned:
‘Urfius will be attacked any minute now.’
‘We know. Falus and the other Nymph arrived before you and informed us. They left immediately after that, each carrying two Aorians to Urfius-Menom.’
‘Good, how many people are here?’ Afaris asked.
‘A little over one hundred, I reckon. But more should arrive.’
‘There’s no time.’
Afaris went past his advisors and addressed the crowd of Aorians:
‘We all know what is going on. We are going to battle again! Find a Nymph fast!’
Every Aorian raised a fist to the sky and shouted as one in solidarity to their brothers in Urfius-Menom. Afaris turned to Akdarosif and approached him. When he went past his advisors, he told them slightly ironically:
‘My brother is quite lucky …’
The Nymphs landed in turns on the tower balcony and several seconds later took off carrying one, two or several Aorians. Afaris, his advisors and several Aorians mounted Akdarosif and everybody took off for Urfius-Menom.
‘Why didn’t you return with more Nymphs?’ an advisor behind him asked.
‘I reckon Falus has not told you.’
‘No. Tell us what?’
‘Those creatures managed to reach there before us. The Nest no longer exists.’
The advisors and all those listening to the psychic conversation froze. Then an Aorian broke the silence:
‘If the Nest gave in, how can we defend against that army?’
Another restless Aorian asked Afaris:
‘How is it possible? How many attackers were there? Has anyone survived?’
Seeing Afaris overwhelmed with questions, Akdarosif supported him:
‘We can only tell you that they are strong, very strong. They have a strategy, an attack plan. They made us fight each other, they weakened our species, then hunted the strongest of us. And now they are razing town after town.’
Afaris was silent, yet desperately thinking, trying to figure out a way to turn the scales in the war. It was obvious they were always one step ahead of them. Their enemies were fast and accurate. Unless he found a solution fast, the war was lost.
The flight of Nymphs was flying fast over the trees at a high enough altitude so as to have a bird’s eye view. Nothing could be spotted. Afaris was scrutinizing the trees trying to find a trace left by those creatures, but there was nothing. No fallen tree, no fire trace.
He felt overwhelmed by the situation. Their number was obviously huge. An entire army had attacked the Nest, now another army was attacking Urfius-Menom. They seemed to have eyes all over the place, they knew their every move and communicated fast. Still, they seemed invisible. If he had not defeated that creature in the forest, the Aorians would have found out about their existence in their last seconds alive.
He then remembered his father’s words: ‘We must show strength.’
‘What do you say?’ Akdarosif asked.
Afaris did not realize he had uttered those words in his thoughts loudly enough to be heard by those around him.
‘During the war between the Nymphs and Aorians, Father said we must show strength. Frighten our enemy and make him understand we are superior and will not lose.’
‘Do you suggest we should do the same now?’
‘Exactly. We cannot win otherwise.’
‘Well, this is what our enemy is doing, destroying us through fear. He has already shown great strength.’
‘I know, but bear with me. We do not know their number, but we know they are very strong, fast and have a strategy. They are better prepared than us. And on top, they come from another world. They have no town we can attack, no families. We cannot defeat them unless we prove them that continuing the attack is pointless. Thus, they may withdraw.’
‘And when they do, we’ll shut the door behind them’ an advisor added.
‘It may sound crazy, but that’s not what I had in mind. If we shut the door, they will open it sooner or later when they are better prepared. I was thinking to chase them.’
‘You’ve lost your mind … chase them, through their portals, into their world, without knowing anything about them is mere suicide.’
‘We actually know something which is very important. We know who their leader is. Without him, their army will fall to pieces.’
‘Afaris is right’ Akdarosif took sides with him, ‘if we only defend from them they will attack until they win. We must strike back if we are to stand a chance.’
‘I see what you mean and think you’re right. But how are we going to defeat him? Not even Saraf could defeat his army, together with tens of Aorians.’
‘Their leader is not necessarily the strongest of them. I saw in my father’s memories, there are numerous civilizations who choose their leader judging by his qualities. Sometimes he’s the most vulnerable. If we manage to get to him, I think we can defeat him.’
Realizing Afaris was right, the advisor manned up:
‘We have more than 3000 Aorians ready for such a war and several thousands who can back them up. But we cannot gather them in one place without making the town vulnerable.’
‘If we knew where that Hathim was, we could. His troops will most certainly support him.’
‘I think I know where we can find him’ Afaris said.
‘Where?’ Akdarosif asked, surprised.
‘In the Nest. You could not see past the flames, but I did. His army was still there, concealed by the flames. He was there, too. I saw him.’
‘Why didn’t you say anything!? We could have attacked him and put an end to it’ Akdarosif snapped.
‘The only ending would have been yours. You did not see what I did. We stood no chance. Flames are like water to fish. It’s their environment. There were hundreds of them there, we had no chance. And beside that, those are not ordinary flames, they are energy-enchanted, making them a lot more deadly. ’
‘When we go back, I will send another Nymph to the Nest. If he is still there, we will all go after him. We’ll attack him from the distance. We’ll take along as many Aorians as possible and smash the bastard.’
‘Calm down, Akdarosif. We are not to act on impulse. We must consider every action carefully, otherwise …’
He could not finish his sentence as something drew his attention. Far away, in front of them a black smoke cloud was rising, and in the middle of that cloud there was an energy wave, straight as a pillar. It belonged to Urfius-Menom, and the cloud was rising from inside the town.
‘We arrived too late …’ one advisors thought.
Akdarosif forced his wings to the maximum, flying fast to the town. The other Nymphs remained behind as they could not keep up. On Akdarosif’s back, the Aorians quickly generated energy bows, ready to attack.
‘Do you see anything?’ Afaris asked Akdarosif.
‘No, not in the town, nor next to it. I think they’ve left.’
Afaris shivered. His heart started pounding. More than the fate of Aorians in the town, more than his brother’s life, he was afraid for Finaria’s life. His hands were shaking as he thought that something may have happened to her.
Visibility diminished as they entered the smoke cloud. Inside the town there were fires burning and hundreds of houses were destroyed.
When Akdarosif reached the town, Afaris started to look for survivors, but could only see piles of corpses, Aorians and creatures.
‘Falus!’ Akdarosif shouted, trying to find his son.’Falus!!!’
He landed amid the burnt-down houses.
‘Look everywhere for survivors. I will hover over the area. If anything happens, cry out.’
Afaris descended, followed by the Aorians. The stench of burnt flesh entered their nose making them sick. Afaris burst into tears when he look around. The same scene as in the battle between Aorians and Nymphs, streets full of lifeless bodies.
Even though they belonged to those monsters, the feeling was much more tragic. The battle had been lost, that was certain.
But still, maybe they had gotten away. They had abandoned the town and left. Even if, deep inside, he knew it was highly unlikely, he clung on to that thought. It was the only thing giving him hope for the future.
‘On Pandora’s garden!’ he heard an Aorian’s voice from behind. ‘They’ve destroyed them, there’s nothing left of them …’
Afaris left on the street, in search for any trace of life. As he advanced, he kept his cloak sleeves over his nose so as not to feel the smell of burnt flesh. All over the place there were the broken limbs of the fallen. Burnt Aorians with mouths opened from their last desperate cry.
The energy stones illuminated slightly beneath the thick layer of ashes and corpses. Inside a house, through a hole in the wall Afaris saw what seemed to be a mother whose body was still ablaze. She was on the ground and she was still holding her beloved baby to her chest in her blackened arms.
Seeing Afaris looking through the hole lost, an Aorian came next to him out of curiosity. When he made out the image through the smoke, his eyes filled with tears:
‘The mother and her baby in their own house … what does the future have in store for us?’
Through the dense smoke they saw a silhouette behind the two burning bodies. It was moving and coming towards them. The Aorian armed his energo-spirit bow and aimed at it. Afaris generated an energo-form sword.
It got to a few steps behind the two burning bodies and stopped. It fell to its knees and embraced the Aorian woman and her baby. Afaris realized it was the woman’s husband who was now embracing the bodies engulfed by the flames and shouting like mad, but they could not tell whether it was the pain inflicted by the flames or the sufferance caused by the woman and their baby’s death.
Afaris ran inside the house and grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him out of the flames, but his cloak was already on fire, burning his flesh. Then, the man started to shout furiously:
‘I WILL KILL YOU BEHEMOTH!!!’
He generated his own energo-form sword and tried to hit Afaris, but he blocked the hit with his sword.
Two other Aorians jumped on him, causing him to drop his sword and then they immobilized him.
‘Settle down, it’s us, we’re here to help you.’
Understanding that they were actually Aorians, the man relaxed his muscles and they let him go. He went back to his family and knelt next to their flames.
‘Help us … there’s nobody left to help … they are all dead … nobody got away …’
Right then, they heard an Aorian shout:
‘I’ve found someone! Two women are still alive!’
The man looked up, then back down.
‘They tore us to pieces, shredded us. They destroyed our defense with minimum efforts … we stood no chance.’
Afaris bowed down to him and placed his hand on his shoulder:
‘I know it is hard, you must get up. We need you. It must not end like this.’
‘Get up for what!? Fight those cursed creatures again? No, thank you, I’d rather die here with my family.’
‘Not die. Take revenge.’
‘Take revenge … take revenge … revenge won’t bring my baby back to life,
‘Maybe not, but it’ll protect the other babies on Aora.’
The Aorian stood up and grabbed Afaris’s cloak, fixing him onto the wall behind him and raising him off the ground:
‘Can’t you see this is all pointless!? We stand no chance! We will all die! Aora was our home and now she’s our grave!’
He let go of him. Even though he was shocked, Afaris said:
‘If this is your last wish, we respect that.’
He left the Aorian’s house without looking behind and headed downtown.
Along his way he came across several survivors, who were not that wasted. They were wounded, had lost family members, but most were calm and, in their turn, started to look for survivors. Afaris thought that maybe their state of shock annihilated any feelings, for the time being.
When he entered the central square he heard somebody crying. Following the sound, he realized it was coming from Urfius’s house. He ran to his brother’s house and as he reached it, a massive figure came out the door. It was his brother, completely burnt, tears running down his face. Seeing Afaris, he embraced him continuing to sob.
‘Urfius, where is Vilinda? Where is Finaria?’
He received no answer. Urfius continued to cry on his shoulder. Afaris pushed him aside and attempted to dash to his house, but Urfius caught his hand:
‘No … please, don’t go there …’
Afaris tore himself away, but could not escape.
‘I want you to remember them … as they were … when they were still alive. Beautiful … cheerful ...’
Afaris was bogged down by his brother’s words. His eyes bathed in tears and his mouth went dry.
‘I’m so sorry … I tried to protect them … I tried to protect them all …’
Urfius fell to his knees face in palms, bursting into cry.
A Nymph landed next to them – Falus:
‘Afaris, we have to go, now! They are coming back!’
Afaris remained still. Feelings were overwhelming him. He swallowed and nodded. He knew there was no time for grieving. He had to act.
He leaned over Urfius, embracing him and tried to lift him off the ground, but he refused.
‘Urfius, we must go!’
‘NO!’ his brother shouted. ‘I belong here, in my Menom, with my people, my family!’
‘This will be your grave unless we leave now!’
‘So be it!’
Urfius stood up and headed to the energy pit in the middle of the square treading firmly. Several Aorians came into the square; they were those who had come from Saraf-Menom and those still alive among the ruins of the town.
‘Mount the Nymphs’ Afaris shouted to them. ’We must go now. Falus, how long do we have?’
‘Not long … I saw them coming to the town. They are close. They know you are here, too.’
The Nymphs descended in turns to the centre of the town to pick up the Aorians who mounted them as fast as they could. Akdarosif landed picking up a large number of Aorians. He then looked at Afaris:
‘Come on!’
‘I’ll ride with Falus. Go!’
Akdarosif fluttered his wings strongly and took off through the thick cloud of smoke covering the town. Afaris saw his brother next to the pit’s energy wave, fuelling himself. Having accumulated enough energy, he generated two glowing swords, full of tremendous energy. He turned his back to the pit and went to Afaris. Behind him the pit’s energy drained and disappeared, it was all gone.
‘Look!’ Afaris shouted to him. ‘Aora too understood the town is a lost cause. It cannot not be protected in any way. Join me, please!’
‘I may die today, but I will take along everything that stands in my way.’
‘Brother, please …’ Afaris begged him.
From Afaris’s left roars and noises came. They were by the hundreds.
‘They’ve entered the town’ Falus informed them, concerned.
Urfius looked in the direction of the noises and then turned around and told him:
‘Farewell, my beloved brother.’
Afaris looked around to make sure nobody was left behind, then mounted Falus and while taking off look at Urfius’s home. He could not make anything out with his bare eye, but could sense. In the middle of house, Vilinda was lying lifeless, and in the back of the house, leaning against a wall was his dear Finaria. Her beautiful face was still intact, and the eyes were closed, lifeless. Afaris’s heart seemed to crack. Instead of pain, sadness or sorrow, he felt nothing. He had no feelings. Everything was gone.
Falus rose to the sky and flew together with Afaris through the smoke until they exited into the light again. In front of them, the rest of the Nymphs were flying fast to
Saraf-Menom.
Afaris looked back for the last time to see what beforehand had been the most beautiful Menom on Aora. A strong cry was heard from inside the smoke could, but it was not any creature’s. It was his brother’s.
He turned his head and looked into the distance. From beneath he heard Falus’s thoughts:
‘I must tell you something …’
Chapter 31
The foolish move
‘What is it?’ Afaris asked.
‘I found out how they attacked the Nest. Some of those creatures have wings!’
‘They can fly!?’
‘Yes! When they attacked Urfius-Menom, a large part of their army attacked on the ground, but the rest flew in. They were also black creatures, but with large wings. And they were carrying their kind in claws and dropped them inside the town, going past the defence line Urfius had formed. They attacked them from two sides. The Aorians panicked, most broke the defence line to help their families and those undefended.’
‘So this is how the town gave in …’
‘Exactly. Those creatures must not be underestimated. They are intelligent, fast and accurate.’
‘How big was the army eventually?’
‘I cannot tell you. But what I saw before the attack was nothing compared to what followed. They were like a wave flowing into the town.’
‘Such an army must have attacked the Nest. Who knows where on Aora they are present now. I am afraid we are outnumbered.’
Falus caught up with the other Nymphs. Akdarosif was flying fast in front of the flight, leading everybody back to Saraf-Menom. While flying, the Aorians were helping survivors from Urfius-Menom, trying to save their lives. But their gaze was void and nothing seemed to fill it. For them, life had a different meaning, a smaller and pettier meaning than before.
‘Take me closer to Akdarosif, please’ Afaris asked Falus.
Falus flew under the flight, reaching Akdarosif, then rose to his level, flying to his right. Feeling their presence, Akdarosif turned his head to them, with a look that spelt awe:
‘It was a slaughter …’
‘Yes, but we must continue the fight. We cannot be discouraged!’
‘The Nest is on fire, Urfius-Menom is blood and ruins, Saraf is dead. This is no war, this is extermination.’
Afaris: Shadows on Aora Page 28