Afaris: Shadows on Aora

by Ciubotaru, Tudor George

  Obviously, all this strategy had been discussed in theory, with no practice in order not to give away their plan. Even though they had not seen any minions for a couple of days, they knew they were out there.

  Afaris gave up his idea to go to the Lake of Mirrors. He knew he could not persuade Galus to leave his crib and that it would be selfish of him to leave the Aorians in those extremely difficult times. If his father was indeed there, he could wait for him for some time.

  On the third day, Afaris was sitting on the balcony edge, looking at the forest and the mountain behind it. The sun was about to set, and the night was swiftly approaching. The Nymphs took turns to sleep on the field next to the town as there was no more room within the rock walls. When one Nymph fell asleep, another one made sure that his sleep would not be disturbed.

  Afaris heard footsteps in the grass; somebody was approaching him from behind. He looked back and saw Ulmaf coming to him in a shy manner. When he reached Afaris, he sat down next to him.

  ‘I just wanted to tell you … I’m sorry. For what happened back then, in the forest.’

  ‘I’m still here. It’s not me whom you should apologize to.’

  ‘I know. Believe me, I would like to tell her, too …’

  He paused, taken over by emotions, and then resumed:

  ‘I haven’t even slept since that day, all I think about is her. I cannot explain what happened. I was supposed to stay there and protect her ... I should have died in her stead. I don’t think you can understand …’

  ‘Actually I do. Finaria was caught in the attack in Urfius-Menom. She died there because one night before I had sent her back home. Had I not sent her, she’d still be here. So I understand you perfectly. I blame myself day in day out. But these are past mistakes, which we are meant to relive in our memories for the rest of our days.’

  ‘This is what I wanted to talk to you. I cannot go on like this ...’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Afaris asked, surprised.

  ‘I want to be on the wall. When they come, I’ll take revenge over myself and those cursed monsters.’

  ‘You will die …’

  ‘I know, but trust me, I cannot live like this. I miss her, I want to see her again, I want to hold her again and tell her how much I love her …’

  ‘Listen to me. I know this is hard for you. We all need you. I promise you one thing. When everything is over and we win, I’ll take you to her. If not, you will get there anyway.’

  Ulmaf smiled forcedly. He failed to understand how his friend could be so strong and master his feelings like that. His mother was still sitting in front of Saraf’s body and he had taken over the rule over the Aorian and Nymph civilization with no hesitation. It was as if Afaris was feeling nothing.

  From afar, from over the forest, several Nymphs appeared heading to the town. They had left earlier on a mission to search the area. When they reached the field where their brothers were sleeping they made a sharp sound waking them all up.

  ‘What is the matter?’ Ulmaf asked Afaris.

  ‘That moment is closing.’

  One of the Nymphs separated from the flight and came to the tower, where Afaris was sitting. It was Falus, with an extremely concerned look.

  ‘Thousands, tens of thousands are heading this way!’

  Falus was hovering in front of Afaris, bursting with tension:

  ‘They will be here in 30 minutes. I’ve seen him, too. He’s there! Hathim is heading them!’

  Afaris was looking at Falus calm, reactionless. He turned his eyes from his friend and looked away, in the distance.

  ‘Afaris, order the men to prepare, do something!’

  ‘Falus, sit next to me.’

  ‘Are you out of your mind?’

  ‘Shut up and sit next to me.’

  Falus landed on the balcony. Afaris was as relaxed as he was tense. He continued to gape into the distance carelessly.

  ‘Do you intend to do anything or are you waiting for them to knock on the door?’

  ‘You said they’d be here in 30 minutes. Out of these 30 minutes, please shut up and remain silent for 5 minutes, because, if we fail tonight, they will be the last 5 minutes of peace in our lives.’

  But Afaris’s desired minutes of silence were impossible to get. The Nymphs started to be agitated and move around, making everybody nervous as they understood what was happening. Afaris sighed deeply and stood up:

  ‘Ulmaf, get your position on the wall. I hope I’ll see you again in the morning …’

  Ulmaf stood up hastily. He embraced Afaris strongly and jumped over the balcony edge hurrying to his place.

  ‘Aorians!!!’ Afaris’s voice thundered over the entire Saraf-Menom, drawing everybody’s attention. ‘Nymphs!!! This is the moment we’ve prepared for! This is when each of us must prove the others how much we wish to live, how much we wish to continue our existence in this world! In front of us, there is an army of creatures of the dark closing in, searching for our blood! In a couple of minutes, the sun will set over Saraf-Menom and along it, death is visiting us!’

  He generated his two energo-form swords, loaded with so much energy that they were glowing strong. He raised his right-hand sword as everybody there was following, prepared to face their destiny.

  ‘I want to see the sun rise tomorrow! Do you?’

  The air was filled with hails coming from all the Aorians and Nymphs in Saraf-Menom. They had just had the most important lesson in their lives. They had learnt to appreciate even the pettiest thing. If, until then, the sunrise had been something trivial for them, that evening it represented their most ardent wish. See the sun rise above their heads.

  The entire town was full of Aorians running to their positions. The Nymphs took off and went behind the town, above the ocean. There were at least five Aorians on every rooftop, prepared with energy bows. The tower balcony was packed with Aorians headed by Afaris. On the town walls, everybody was prepared looking forward to the enemy’s arrival, and in front of the walls hundreds of second-degree energo-forms were waiting patiently, swords ready, perfect replicas of their creators. Three were Afaris’s creations.

  From over the field, from the forest, sounds of cracking branches and trees were heard as they were broken by the dark creature army. The smoke was coming from behind the trees, from the fires they were generating and hundreds of dark silhouettes could be made out through the smoke, flying towards Saraf-Menom over the army they were accompanying.

  A few minutes before they emerged from the forest, Afaris shouted:

  ‘Do not fall prey to intimidation! Do not lose heart! They are here for our lives, town, and planet! If you give in, the war finishes now! And even if we lose, even if this is the end of Aora’s history, let’s give them a fight to remember till the end of time!’

  Once more, the Aorians’ hails thundered up.

  The sun had almost set. It was as if the creatures intended to attack when the last sun ray disappeared.

  That was the time they emerged; tens, hundreds, thousands … they formed a line surrounding the town. The four-legged beasts and the fire-spitting monsters were patiently waiting for the right time to strike. Above them, the winged creatures look ready to set the valley ablaze. From among them, another creature was advancing. He came out and took a couple of steps towards Saraf-Menom. It was Hathim, holding a sword the size of his body. He raised it forward pointing to the tower in the middle of the town and waited.

  Seconds were passing and the sky was becoming darker and darker until the last sunray finally disappeared leaving Saraf-Menom in darkness. Hathim twirled his sword to one side and shouted so strongly and terrifyingly that Aorians’ hair stood on end.

  But, despite what the Aorians expected, the minions did not attack. Behind them, on the Mountain of the First Light, a strange event took place. A reddish energy wave appeared out of nowhere and headed to the sky wherefrom it started spreading all-over like a cloud. All over the place around them, several similar energy pits rose to t
he sky, covering it with their reddish cloud. It was as if the world from where the creatures were coming was flowing into their world, onto the small Aora. Inside the clouds, there were numerous lightings, illuminating the air and then the thunders poured onto the town.

  Soon, the cloud reached above the town and the rain started. Drop were falling in fast. Afaris wiped his brow and looked at his palm. It was not water, it was blood. It was raining blood. He then heard an Aorian shout behind him:

  ‘This was it! They will destroy us, kill us all …’

  Afaris knew how important it was to keep morale up so he shouted:

  ‘They have killed our friends, families, burnt our homes, towns! Now they want to take the last thing we’ve got! Our lives!’

  From below, from the town, somebody shouted:

  ‘Steel through their neck, let’s give them that!!!’

  ‘Hooray!’ the crowd shouted.

  Hathim pointed his sword to the town again and screamed, urging his troops to attack. Their line broke and they dashed to the town. The winged creatures flew in, preparing their fire jets. The Aorians on the wall and inside the town shot their first wave of missiles taking down one creature after another. Those on the ground proved more resistant, but even like that, an arrow in their chest was no good for them.

  The energo-forms in front of the wall started running to the enemy army, but kept a perfect line of attack. When the creatures were close to them, they stopped and forced their swords into the ground. The enemy wave crashed into an invisible force field created by this move, losing balance and treading one on another. Then the energo-forms dissipated the energy field and swords ahead, slashed limbs, throats and heads. Next, the arrows of the Aorians on the wall went past, hitting the creatures that were still moving.

  In a couple of seconds, in front of them there was a second, smaller wall made up of the enemies’ corpses.

  The winged creatures came to the pedestrians’ help, spiting fire onto the energo-forms who were forced to break their defence line in order to duck the attack. One of Afaris’s energy forms was caught under the fire. He felt his skin burning, but managed to put out the fire, just in time to notice a four-legged creature jump over the pile of bodies to attack him. Before he could duck, it jumped on his chest, knocking him down. With a flash hit he stuck his left sword in its chest slaying it. Other creatures popped up next to him. One of them, a big stout one, hit his head with its claws, breaking the skull. His energo-form died.

  The other two were busy slashing creatures. All energo-forms on the field were fighting two or three creatures each. The Aorians on the walls were trying to support them, but they were too numerous. They had to back down and were pushed towards the wall.

  Afaris signalled the Nymphs, who were hovering above the ocean, ready to join the fight. They flew over the town, avoiding the dark creatures flying around them and smashing some with their claws as they were heading to the field. The Aorians riding them kept shooting arrows or missiles. As they reached above the field, some Nymphs dived onto their enemies, slashing creatures and flying high again. Some would catch a minion in their claws and rise to the sky, tearing it apart with their claws.

  Akdarosif was stalling larger groups of enemies and diving onto them with his claws and rising before being overwhelmed.

  The sky was illuminated by energy arrows searching for their target or the creatures’ fires. In spite of the strong defence the town was engulfed in flames. Several Aorians abandoned posts to put out the fire. Nevertheless, they seemed to be winning the battle. Afaris’s two energo-forms were still fighting, slashing one enemy after another.

  ‘Afaris, something is happening on the other side of the forest, there’s much noise, but I don’t know what it is’ Falus shouted.

  ‘Have a look, if you can. Maybe there are Aorians or Nymphs who have survived the attacks and are coming to our aid.’

  Some moments later, Falus called him again:

  ‘You will not believe this …’

  Before Afaris could come to terms with what was happening, through the reddish clouds a huge creature showed up on the battlefield. It landed in the middle of the enemy forces, slashing tens of them with just one blow.

  ‘It’s Galus! He’s here!’ Akdarosif shouted. ‘How the hell did you summon him?’

  ‘I didn’t …’

  Afaris’s heart was pounding. He realized the odds were favourable.

  ‘And he’s not alone. You won’t believe this, either, but there is an army of skeletons fighting the minions on the other side of the forest.’

  ‘It’s the Nymphs from the Lake of Mirrors. He has brought them’ Akdarosif illuminated them.

  ‘Unbelievable …’ Afaris sighed.

  All the Aorians soon learnt about the arrival of the totally-unexpected support. Those on the wall jumped onto the battlefield to help the energo-forms. The minions were backing down. The Aorians were too strong and too well organized. They could not break through their defence line.

  The sky became less suffocated as most flying creatures had been killed and their corpses were pouring down.

  From behind the enemy lines, Hathim’s cry filled the air again. But they were no longer intimidated by it. For the Aorians and Nymphs it was a scream of fear.

  But soon they found out he was actually calling for back-up. From the air, dark clouds gathered from all sides. They were more winged creatures, carrying their mates in their claws ready to cast them in the middle of the town.

  ‘They are coming from the west!’ an Aorian shouted.

  ‘And from across the Ocean!’ another one added.

  ‘Hold it! They are desperate, they know they will lose! Kill them all!’

  A great thud came from the battlefield. It was an energy blast. Afaris immediately lost his link with his two energy forms, failing to understand what was happening. The creatures regain ground, advancing to the town walls, gutting the energo-forms and the Aorians they encountered. In the middle of them was Hathim.

  One of the biggest creatures set itself on fire and furiously dashed into the wall. On the impact, the wall gave way and the creature, together with his fellows rushed into the town.

  The sky became covered in flames when the flights of winged creatures flew past the town. Everything was soon on fire.

  ‘Fight till your last breath!!!’ Afaris shouted and generated two energo-forms he then sent into the town the support the Aorians.

  Galus, who was crushing hundreds of creatures, picked up Hathim advancing to the town. He understood he was leading the attack, so he dashed onto him, but failed to notice the events occurring behind him. Through the clouds of blood, several winged minions headed to him; they were like nothing seen before. They were much larger and had claws, fans and horns all over their bodies, including at the end of their tails. They had two hind legs and three pairs of arms with menacing claws. They jumped onto his back and knocked him to the ground.

  ‘Akdarosif, Galus is in trouble!’

  ‘I’m going!’

  Akdarosif took several Nymphs to help Galus.

  Hathim, noticing the scene, burst into laughter and continued strolling to the town. An energo-form appeared next to him and charged, trying to slash him with its sword, but with no real efforts, Hathim hit it from one side, slicing it as if it were a blade of grass.

  When he reached the wall he raised his right arm to the town and a colossal blast occurred in front of him. The wall shattered alongside everybody in its range, Aorians and minions alike. The field surrounding the town was lost and so was the defence wall. It was raining creatures into the town. The Aorians did not know whom to focus on, the creatures attacking from above or those destroying the town. They were screaming in awe. The situation was obviously extremely difficult. Nevertheless they continued to fight.

  Among the hundreds of cries, Afaris heard Hathim’s thoughts:

  ‘Afaris … are you not curious to see how well your father trained you for this moment?’
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br />   ‘I must end this now’ Afaris told the Aorians next to him and jumped over the balcony edge into the town.

  All-over the streets, Aorians and Nymphs were fighting their enemies. From the sky they received the only good news: the army of skeletons was pushing forward. But, as seconds passed, more and more Aorians died. They just hoped they would reach them before it was too late.

  Afaris reached a broad street leading outside the town and Hathim was there. He squeezed the handles of his swords and headed to him. He had nothing to lose. If he defeated him, they would win the war.

  Hathim rotated his enormous sword over his head and shot an energy wave, but it hit Afaris’s shield. Afaris, tried to stick his swords in his chest, but the monster ducked the attack. With his free hand he punched Afaris in the face, knocking him down.

  ‘You are way too slow!’ he mocked Afaris.

  Afaris stood up immediately and jumped on his opponent again. Their swords crossed with sparks. Hathim blocked every single blow until Afaris recharged his swords hitting him with both of them at once. Hathim’s sword broke. With a scream of fury, Afaris attacked again, swords over his head trying to deliver a full blow, but right before the impact, Hathim caught his swords with his bare hands as if they were two harmless tree branches. He raised a leg and hit Afaris in the chest throwing him away and causing him to lose his swords.

  ‘Let’s see what you’re made of’ Hathim said.

  Afaris felt his mind invaded. Hathim was attacking him mentally. He was trying to enter his mind and control him. He fell to the ground, screaming in pain and trying to fight it.

  ‘Interesting …’

  Hathim continued to invade his mind, while advancing towards him. But despite his force, he could not take over Afaris’s mind. When he reached him, he grabbed him by the hair and lifted him off ground. Afaris was looking at him powerless, his forces torn by Hathim’s psychic attack, which seemed a child’s play.

  ‘You’re stronger than I expected. I didn’t think there was anybody who could oppose me but your father. But it doesn’t matter now, does it? Look around, it’s over.’