Afaris looked around him; the place was swarming with creatures. The Aorians were annihilated. Even though many were still fighting, they stood no chance. The flames had engulfed the town. The sky was now controlled by the monsters. He could see no Nymph alive.
‘Kill me …’
‘Kill you? Why would you die? There are so many things you must live for. Don’t you want us to sit together and watch the flames? It seems so relaxing to watch your people burn, don’t you think?’
‘Kill me now!’ Afaris urged him, drained of the energy to speak.
Hathim dropped him into the blood pool under him. Afaris looked up and saw Hathim holding his sword above his head, ready to deliver his blow.
‘Your curiosity is over …’
***
On the tower steps, several Aorians were fighting their best to prevent the creatures from entering the tower. They had reached the limit of their power, but were determined to fight until their last breath. On the balcony, other Aorians were busy trying to cope with the air-borne creatures. The situation seemed hopeless. It seemed that the Nymphs skeletons would not reach them in time. On the sky there were only enemies and no sign of Nymphs.
In the tower, where the children were sheltered, fear cries were rising. The end was near and they all knew it.
Calis was in the same spot, holding her face, crying. She knew what was happening around her, in the town. She knew that within seconds her youngest son would lose his life in that war. She knew Afaris was seconds away from death, but still could not budge. It seemed pointless. One thought gave her relief though. She would soon head for her beloved Saraf.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and a warm voice told her:
‘Do not cry, I am here.’
Chapter 35
The long slumber
Afaris was watching Hathim readying himself to slay him. He knew he could not fight it. His powers were over and no matter how much he strove to feed himself on the energy pit behind him, he felt it was impossible.
But, at that moment as time seemed to have frozen, in which there was no way out, when all his friends were either dead or about to die, he felt relief. He would soon join them in leaving this world. And maybe Pandora would be kind enough to allow them to leave together and start all over. Rebuild what had been taken from them.
When Hathim leaned over to strike him with his sword above his head, an energy missile particularly powerful hit him in his chest, throwing him away. He then saw above him several enormous energo-spirits passing the town and spitting a foul liquid. He failed to understand what was going on. He thought his mind was playing tricks. Somebody bowed over him and smiled. He then realized. He was dead. There was no other explanation. How else could he see his father again?
‘Come on, get up!’ Saraf urged him.
He raised his head and could not believe his eyes: it was him! Safe and sound. He stood up and Saraf grabbed his wrist flowing abundant energy into his son’s body.
‘Father? Is it really you?’
‘You didn’t think I’d leave you to die like that, did you?’
Afaris looked around. The creatures had all been slain by what seemed to be white fire, cast by those winged spiritual creatures. He found it difficult to describe them because of the strong light they gave, but he remembered seeing something similar in the crystals. Huge flying creatures with fangs, claws and skin covered in scales. Saraf called them dragons. And now they were flying on Aora’s dark sky, destroying everything. No enemy could withstand them.
‘Do you like them? They’re magnificent, aren’t they?’
‘What is going on?’ Afaris replied panting.
‘I am taking Aora back.’
He could not believe it. He thought everything was over. He could not imagine anything like that, not even in his most beautiful dreams.
‘Where did you get tis power? You were dead a couple of minutes ago.’
‘That should be a lesson, never underestimate me again.’
In front of them, Hathim stood up, visibly deranged by the energy missile. He had a big hole in his chest and blood was pouring out, but, in a matter of seconds, the hole healed.
‘You are one big trouble, has anyone ever told you this, Saraf?’ Hathim asked.
‘Oh, you are about to learn my scale.’
Minutes later, the town was completely free of creatures. Aorians regrouped and resumed their attack, more motivated than ever. Hathim’s army was shattered. They were trying to fall back into the forest, but were caught between Saraf’s energo-spirits and Galus’s army.
On the sky the Nymphs reappeared, together with Galus, Akdarosif and Falus, who left the battle to formulate a new attack strategy. They had obviously won the battle.
Saraf turned to Afaris and said:
‘It’s time you leave.’
‘Go where?’
‘Your mother will see you to the core of Aora, to that ship. An old friend of mine told me you know what I am talking about.’
‘You’re not serious, are you?’
‘I am. Regardless of what happens on Aora, you must leave. I want you to be safe. Remember what Pandora told me, you are my main priority.’
Afaris was regarding him stoned. He could not understand his father’s intentions with him.
Hathim sighed, looking up:
‘These family matters are indeed complicated. I hate to interrupt you, but one of us must die today and I don’t have all day.’
Saraf smiled ironically:
‘We’ll finish immediately. Be patient. Afaris, please, do as I say.’
‘I won’t leave! I’ll stay here with you! Let’s finish this together and rebuild Aora.’
‘Leave this to me and please stop fighting …’
‘But …’
‘No but!’
Saraf embraced his son and Afaris hugged him back more strongly than ever before.
‘I don’t want to lose you. Not again …’
‘I will always be with you, no matter what, no matter where you are.’
‘Will I ever return?’
Saraf looked him in the eyes and said:
‘Yes. You have my word. Go now.’
Saraf released him, Afaris turned around and went to the tower where Calis was sitting on the stairs waiting for him. The two looked at each other tenderly for some seconds. Neither knew how long it would be until they met again.
Then, behind Saraf, Hathim seemed to explode with energy. Pure dark energy waves were leaving his body, turning into energo-forms. They looked like Saraf’s dragons. They rushed to the Aorians and Nymphs continuing the battle.
‘Let’s put an end to all this’ Hathim said and generated a new energy sword in his right hand, similar to the one he had lost before.
Saraf looked away from Afaris and regarded Hathim carelessly. Afaris reached the tower stairs and watched the scene with his mother. He saw a sword he had never seen before appear in his father’s right hand. It seemed made of crystals and full of energy. It may have been made of the energy crystal inside Aora.
Calis put a hand of his shoulder and urged him:
‘Come in. There’s no time to waste.’
‘What if the needs our help?’
‘Your father is not back from the dead to seek our help, that’s for sure. He will be alright.’
His mother grabbed his hand and dragged him inside the tower. The sounds of the war were muffled. Then an energy thud nearly broke their eardrums. Afaris halted and looked behind. Through the open door of the tower he saw that Saraf and Hathim had started fighting.
‘Come on, come on’ Calis urged him, pulling him by the hand.
Afaris followed his mother leading him to the energy wave. Reaching it, they entered the pit and let themselves be carried by the energy downwards. After they went past the library level, their descent accelerated towards Aora’s core.
When the descent slowed and they reached the destination, they left the energy pit and ran among the cr
ystals to the place where the space ship was waiting. Calis urged him to enter it and showed him how to sit on the left seat. She then strapped him in.
‘Come with me, please! There’s one more seat.’
Calis caressed his face and told him:
‘I cannot, you know I must stay with your father.’
Eyes in tears, Afaris asked her:
‘When will I be back?’
‘Soon, my son, soon.’
The spirit of Aora appeared to his right. She was holding a crystal the size of a fist, collected from the garden. He placed it next to Afaris and said:
‘Just in case.’
He had no idea what she meant, he was more concerned to talk to his mother:
‘Where am I going? How long will the journey be?’
‘Do not worry, you will be among friends and will get there fast.’
Calis made a sign and the ship’s transparent hatch closed blocking Afaris inside. With another gesture, the dashboard in front of him illuminated and from behind he heard the sound of engines, which seemed extremely odd.
‘Farewell, Afaris. I already miss you’ Calis told him smiling, eyes in tears.
The ship took off, accelerating so fast that Afaris got stuck in his seat. In a matter of seconds, the ship left the planet and the sky was in front. A light to his right drew his attention. It was the sun rising behind the horizon. He watched the scene. Some hours before, it was the thing he most wanted to see, but now he saw it for the last time.
The ship left the planet carrying Afaris along to a new world. He looked behind until Aora remained a small sparkling dot. He then looked ahead, to the stars. He did not know where he was going, how long it would take to reach the destination, but there was nothing to do but wait. The ship engine stopped but he knew it was moving through the universe at a constant speed.
He soon lost knowledge of time. He was wondering whether hours or days had passed, then whether ten or one hundred days had passed. He felt his energy drain drop by drop and fell asleep. His body entered a state of pause, but his mind was still working. He could contemplate the beauty of the universe, he could admire the planets and suns in his mind, but was unable to watch them with his eyes.
Then he felt a slight shake. He was scared, but persuaded himself it was perfectly normal. What he did not know was that the shake had been caused by a small asteroid hitting his ship and deflecting its course slightly, but enough to change its destination.
For a long time, the space remained unchanged. He did not know how long it had been since he left or when he would arrive. He could just see a planet approaching. Was it his destination?
The ship dived to the planet, then collapsed on its surface, rolling several times before coming to a stop. Afaris was still strapped in his seat. He opened his eyes and looked around: the inside of the ship was intact. He looked up at the sky: there were numerous stars. He then regarded the object illuminating strongly in his lap. It was the energy crystal which had landed there subsequent to the impact. It was glowing and he felt how it was powering him. But he was too weak to keep his eyes open. He fell back asleep along with his senses. One sense was still active: hearing and silence reigned around him.
Time passed and nobody came after him. Cosmic dust was covering the ship until it disappeared entirely. Silence bestowed upon the place.
Then, after a while which could only be called a god’s life, he heard the first noise. It was a clatter to his left. His mind did not have the strength to think. The sound was growing in intensity and then a bang was heard. Something had hit the ship. Several noises came from that direction and he could hear voices, too. Finally, somebody had come for him.
With a tremendous effort, he activated his other senses. His mind was leaving its coma. With its help he could look around. His ship was now placed under powerful lights and around it there were creatures whose bodies resembled Aorians very well; they were wearing thick costumes and helmets made of a material his mind could not penetrate, hiding their faces. He could not move, he could not open his eyes. He could only sit and sense around him.
His thoughts aimed the mind of the creature closest to him. He could not communicate with him, but could detect the frequency of his thoughts. Thus, he could understand what he was saying:
‘How come he did not disintegrate, in all this time?’
Another creature mumbled something, then spoke again:
‘I know it’s ours, but it’s an old model. Obsolete, antique.’
‘Call Cafnel. He must know better than us.’
They then left, leaving him alone. They would drop by from time to time, but nobody seemed to mind him. They just sat and looked. Then, several beings entered the ship, of which one was new. Afaris managed to enter his mind. He bowed over the ship hatch, looking at him carefully. He pressed a button on his helmet and unveiled his face. Even if it was still masked by a transparent cloth, it was as open as the ship hatch, easy to pass through. His face was similar to Afaris’s: two eyes, a nose and a mouth. Maybe the only difference between them was, except for the creature’s more rigid features, the colour of the eyes. His eyes were green, not blue. He straightened up and spoke:
‘This cannot be true. … this is impossible.’
The other creatures around the ship were asking questions and he replied:
‘I may be wrong, it is not possible. I cannot make any other comparison. He’s an Aorian. It may sound crazy, but I don’t see which other species in the universe to compare him with.’
With the little power he still had, Afaris opened his eyes and then fell back asleep, his senses off. The last thing he heard was the voice of Cafnel saying:
‘He’s alive! He’s alive! Most definitely, he’s an Aorian!’
Afaris: Shadows on Aora Page 32