Afaris: Shadows on Aora

by Ciubotaru, Tudor George

  ‘Why didn’t you say anything!?’

  ‘Because it was more important for you to discuss what we need to do next. Had it seemed dangerous, I would have told you. Anyway, they are watching us. That’s for sure. If we left, either the two of us, or one hundred, to the Lake of Mirrors, they will most certainly do something about it.’

  ‘Yes, I see. Anyway, I will think about it when I return from the pit. It would be very good for me if I went there and talk to Father again … it would be good for Mother, as well.’

  ‘I believe you, Afaris. We’ll see how we can make this wish come true. But you’ve got other priorities now.’

  Afaris nodded. He turned around and waved his advisors to return.

  ‘I’ll leave you to talk. I hope I will not be back too soon.’

  ‘Best of luck, Afaris’ Akdarosif wished him, his look following him as he was heading to the energy pit.

  Reaching the energy flow, Afaris stepped inside it and let himself carried to the floor where Calis and his father were. Calis was still knelt and contemplating her beloved Saraf. Afaris left the energy wave, passing his father’s body and sat on his hams next to his mother.

  ‘Mother, I will be out of the town briefly. I will try to reach the other town as Father used to do. I must bring everybody here to be safe. I don’t want you to be concerned.’

  He kissed her teary cheek, stood up and took one step to the pit; her voice came from behind:

  ‘He will let you descend, you know.’

  Afaris looked at her surprised. It was the first time he had heard her speak since Akdarosif returned to the town.

  ‘I beg your pardon …?’

  ‘He will let you descend into his world, have no fear.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘You will meet him when you get down there.’

  Calis was talking to him without taking his eyes off his father’s face.

  ‘You have seen the stories inside your father’s crystals, haven’t you?’

  ‘Most of them yes.’

  Afaris joined his mother leaning to her and listening to her carefully.

  ‘You have seen those strange means of transport from other worlds, haven’t you?’

  ‘Yes, I have, but I don’t recall much. Which exactly do you mean?’

  ‘The ones they use to travel from one planet to another.’

  ‘Oh, the space ships. What about them?’

  ‘You will find one of those down there.’

  Afaris’s eyes grew bigger with atonement:

  ‘Is this how he travelled?’

  ‘No. He had more advanced means. The last time he came to Aora he rode on it and hid it in the core of Aora. I saw it, too. I asked him what he intended to do with it.’

  Calis looked away from Saraf and stared Afaris in the eyes. Her voice was trembling:

  ‘He told me that the ship would carry along everything left of us, when the Universe decided we should run extinct. His words shook me, I didn’t know what he meant back then, but now I see.’

  Calis grabbed Afaris’s hand and held it tightly, tears running down her face:

  ‘Afaris, please, get on board that ship and leave this place! It will take you to a safe place, far from these atrocities. You are the one to carry the Aorians’ name further.’

  His heart was pounding out of his chest. He had thought his mother had recovered, but then realized she had lost all hopes for their future. He hugged her, and she burst into tears:

  ‘I am not leaving you. Neither you nor the Aorians, nor the Nymphs.’

  ‘Your father knew this day would come. He knew … but did not tell me when it came. I did not expect it to be so soon. If you stay, you will die, too.’

  ‘We will stay together, no matter what, Mother.’

  Calis released herself from his arms and took his face in her palms smiling as tenderly as she could:

  ‘You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, Afaris. You carry all the qualities of an Aorian and not only. Through you, no matter what happens on Aora, Aorians will reborn.’

  ‘Aorians will never vanish, I promise you.’

  Chapter 33

  Aora’s heart

  Afaris was flowing down the pit’s energy wave; as he reached the crystal library, he felt slightly reluctant. He was about to do what he thought he would never do. He expected resistance when he asked the energy to carry him downwards, but it had not happened. He continued to descend without any problems, the tower remaining behind him as he was heading towards Aora’s core.

  His descent accelerated. Energy fascicles were passing him at great speed. He was descending faster and faster. He was apprehensive about the new experience. It seemed like he was falling into the void. He had no idea what to expect, whether he would fall on solid ground or the pit would slow down his fall. Seconds turned into minutes and he was still falling.

  After a while, he started to slow down. He could not see anything below his feet but energy. Then, the pit finished suddenly and he entered an immense room. His eyes grew with astonishment when he saw that incredible place. It was like a huge sphere, situated right at the core of the planet. There were lights all over the place, some were more intense, others were less and they came from the numerous crystals. Some were small, the size of a fist, some were as large as a house.

  He looked around, in curiosity. The crystals were growing all over the walls of that sphere, illuminating everything around. Despite the scenery, he felt strange. He felt as if his blood was flowing to his head. He headed to the exit of the energy wave and when he left it, he fell upwards, in the direction followed by the energy beams.

  In an instant he regain balance while falling and rolled in the air, landing with his feet between the energetic crystals. He straightened his back and realized what was actually happening. If outside the planet you were attracted to the ground, here, inside it, you were pushed to the outside. Gravity was reversed. The crystals around him were not growing downwards as he thought, but upwards, towards the centre of the sphere. And in its centre there a bright white light, like a sun. He could not stare directly to that light, it seemed that several energy waves were coming out of it and going to the sphere edge.

  Looking at the energy wave on which he had descended he realized that the other beams were heading to the rest of the Menoms. He then looked around at the unbelievable setting made up of tens of thousands of crystals. He reached out for one of them, fascinated, with a wish to touch it. When he placed his palm on it, he felt the energy load, more energy than he ever believed could exist in one place. His hair stood on end and he felt pinches all over his body.

  He took his hand off the crystal and looked at his palm carefully. He was feeling more charged with energy than ever before. Right then, a question popped into his mind, which he whispered:

  ‘How many such unbelievable places is Aora still hiding?’

  Realizing there was no time to waste, he mastered his emotions and curiosity and stepped among the energy crystals heading to the closest energy wave. He then halted and looked behind. Everything seemed the same. He had to figure out a way to find which energy wave would take him back to Saraf-Menom. As he was looking pensively behind he felt something descending from above. He looked up and distinguished a light point descending onto him from the sphere centre.

  As it was approaching him, it was growing in size. It then took another shape. It was becoming oblong and deformed. By the time it reached him, two meters in front of him, that strange thing reached the shape it desired. A body very similar to that of Aorians, but faceless. It was an oblong body with two arms, two legs and a head, completely made up of light.

  ‘I regret to meet you under these unfortunate circumstances.’

  The echo of that strange voice spread in the entire sphere. Afaris gaped his eyes, amazed. That creature consisting of light and energy had just spoken to him, even though it had no mouth.

  ‘Have no fear’ the creature continued, stretching out his righ
t arm. ‘I am your friend.’

  Afaris reached for the creature’s hand, placing his palm over its open palm. An extremely tight bond was created between them. That creature was more than light, more than energy. It was much more than Afaris could describe in words.

  He withdrew his hand, shocked by the feeling he had just experienced, rubbing his palm and staring at the creature open-mouthed. The light being let its arm slide past its body and said:

  ‘I know what is happening up there. I can feel it. I felt it when your father took his last breath. I am extremely sorry …’

  ‘Who are you? What are you?’

  ‘Me? I am everything existing around you. I am the air you breathe. I am the grass you tread on. I am the trees you climb. I am the waves of the ocean in which you bathe. And if Pandora is your mother, I am your father. I am the spirit of Aora.’

  ‘You are the father?’

  ‘Exactly. Somebody has told you about me. I wonder who …’

  ‘Father … Saraf.’

  ‘Absolutely. Who else?’

  ‘What is this place? Is this your garden?’

  ‘That is a very nice name to call it. But, honestly speaking, it is my tomb.’

  ‘Your tomb?’

  ‘Yes. What else can you call a place where all the dead dance together?’

  ‘But I see nobody. What do you mean?’

  ‘Of course you do not. How could you see the dead? You just feel the dead. Look again around you and you shall feel them …’

  Afaris glanced around. He could see no one but felt he was being watched. And not by a single pair of eyes, but by numerous, from all over the place. Then, when he stopped using his eyes and used his mind to see, he saw the energies around him catch form; they had the shape of Aorians. There were tens around him. Step by step, their outline became more and more visible and he was then able to make out their faces. They were men and women altogether. They were all the Aorians who had passed away. He was speechless with amazement … one of them stepped forward. It was Tiftorius:

  ‘Afaris ...’

  Even if he could not understand how, he perceived his voice as a sad song. He had no body, but somehow the ghosts could speak to him:

  ‘I am sorry … I regret profusely. I was not myself, I could not help it. What I wanted to do …’

  Another spirit came next to him and hugged him with its transparent arms, telling him:

  ‘It’s alright, everything is find. There was nothing you could do.’

  ‘Had I been stronger, I could have helped Saraf. Maybe all these mishaps would not have happened …’

  ‘I did not blame you for a second, Tiftorius’ Afaris replied. ‘I know what happened.’

  ‘I wish I could help you somehow’ Tiftorius said.

  ‘We all want this, this is why you are here, Afaris’ the spirit of Aora told him. ‘Gather all Aorians. I will allow the living to cross my garden. At least I can do that for you, my children.’

  ‘The power I feel here, the power I feel in you … can’t you help us otherwise?’ Afaris asked, full of hope.

  ‘All I can do is seal the pits in the other towns and direct it to you, to Saraf-Menom for you to benefit from all my energy. Moreover … I am a being that cannot be harmed, but which cannot harm either. I fear your destiny is in your own hands.’

  It led Afaris to the closest energy pit, at the end of which was one of the still intact towns. It told him other towns had been razed, as he already knew. Before stepping into the energy wave flowing to his feet, in front of him Afaris asked him:

  ‘My father, do you know where he is?’

  ‘Unfortunately, I don’t. He is probably with Pandora.’

  ‘Probably? Can’t you ask her?’

  The spirit hesitated to answer for some seconds and then added:

  ‘I will. Now you have more important business to attend to.’

  ‘Yes, certainly. It’s just that … I wish to see him once more …’

  ‘You will, I know this for sure.’

  Afaris stepped inside the energy and let himself carried along to the planet core.

  In turns, he went to all the towns left on Aora gathering all Aorians. After they descended to the planet core and waited for them to finish admiring the view hidden inside Aora, he showed them the pit leading to Saraf-Menom, to the surprise and joy of his advisors whom they met as they came out.

  After one town emptied, the Spirit of Aora sealed the energy pit covering the hole to the town until two more were left open, one leading to Saraf-Menom and one more.

  ‘It seems there is still one town’ Afaris said.

  ‘There are none left’ the Spirit replied.

  ‘What about that pit? Why is still open?’

  ‘Let me show you.’

  The Spirit walked him to the pit in question. There, on top of it, suspended on metal pillars was the ship Calis had mentioned. It had a pointed nose facing the pit opening and two seats, behind a large windshield and the propulsion system was in the back. Afaris analysed the ship with curiosity, from all angles. He had never seen anything like it and was fascinated by it.

  ‘When you are ready to, she’s all yours.’

  ‘I have no intention to leave’ Afaris’s firm answer came.

  ‘As you wish. She’ll be here waiting for you.’

  ***

  As Afaris was gathering all the Aorians left on the planet in Saraf-Menom, the water of the Lake of Mirrors shivered and made waves as Galus emerged. He stepped outside the water on the rocky shore surrounding the lake. He looked up through the hole of the crater above him and contemplated the stars glittering far away. Silence was reigning around him. Only the water dripping from his feathers could be heard. The silence was broken by a warm woman’s voice coming from behind him.

  ‘What bothers you, my dear protector?’

  He turned around; Pandora’s statue was approaching him with small steps, treading on the water surface as if it were solid. Her cloak was waving behind her, even though made of stone, and her eyes, like the universe were watching him concerned.

  ‘I can feel … I can feel everyone … every soul gone from Aora stings my heart.’

  ‘You wish to help them.’

  ‘I cannot… I cannot sit cross-armed while my brothers, my friends are passing away.’

  ‘You belong next to me, you know that.

  ‘I know, Pandora. But why are you asking me to go through this torment?’

  ‘Without you, this sanctuary will disappear. You may not realize, but, in time, it will have a devastating effect. You have no idea how important this place is.’

  ‘Trust me I do … but I must try, I must try to protect them.’

  ‘If this is your wish I will not stop you.’

  Galus turned around, shaking the mountain with his movements. His eyes were in tears. He knew he was about to make a decision which would affect him for the rest of his days, either many or few. He had to choose between Pandora and his brothers.

  ‘Do not be sad, my dear. This is entirely your decision. In my eyes you will always stay the same.’

  ‘You have given me this power in order to protect you, to protect your sanctuary, and I am about to leave you.’

  ‘There are greater things you can do with your life than guard me and a cemetery. Go, save your friends. When you are back, my arms will open for you.’

  ‘Thank you, Pandora …’

  The statue slowly sank into the lake water until it was all gone, inside the mountain, and silence was bestowed upon the place.

  Galus looked across the water, under which thousands of Nymphs were drowned in their eternal slumber. He raised his head and spoke, his psychic voice was so strong that the mountain itself shook:

  ‘Rise! Walk with me once more. Walk with me for your brothers and sisters …’

  For a couple of seconds, nothing happened, but then, from the lake the Nymphs skeletons started to rise. Galus’s energy was slowly flowing through their bones, enabl
ing them. They had no flesh, no soul, but they had a master, and their master was summoning them to war.

  The silence of the cave was quickly disturbed by the sound of bones cracking, the beaks of skeletons clinging. Maybe those bodies lacked the dexterity they once had had, or the ability to fly, but the claws and beak of a Nymph were awesome weapons forever.

  ‘RISE!!!’ Galus’s psychic voice thundered again.

  Chapter 34

  The battle for Saraf-Menom

  For three days after all Aorians had gathered, in Saraf-Menom silence was reigning. No creature was seen around the town, but Afaris knew somebody was watching them. His plan was working, they did not dare attack since all Aorians and Nymphs on Aora were in the same place, better prepared than ever.

  In all those days of silence, Afaris spent much time in the tower library studying his father’s memories stored in crystals. He had fought in several wars in other worlds, and his memories were extremely valuable. He thus managed to formulate the perfect defence strategy in case of an attack.

  Around the town, with the help of all Aorians and a tremendous volume of energy from Aora, Afaris raised a tall defence wall in order to make it difficult for the minions to enter the town. Then, every Aorian received a task in case the creatures attacked. The first line of defence would consist of energo-forms controlled by the least advanced Aorians who would sit inside the tower feeding themselves with energy directly from the pit. The energo-forms would stand outside the walls to fight the minions directly. On the walls, there would be a second line of defence to support them remotely via energy bows and missiles. The Aorians on the walls were supposed to be the strongest of them all so that, if the battle outcome was not positive, they could keep the monsters at bay. As for the winged creatures, all the houses in the town and the tower balcony would be crammed with Aorians with one task only: protect the sky. Any winged creatures would try to get close to the town would be severed immediately.

  Some other Aorians were given the task to fight from behind the Nymphs, either with the flying creatures or support the energo-forms. Meanwhile, Afaris would lead from the tower balcony.