Afaris: Shadows on Aora Read online

  Out of the blue, the three starting running to the forest in front of them. The very tall and thick trees with very dense domes, did not allow the light to reach into the forest. Thus, the inside of the forest was always dark and damp, with no soil vegetation, which allowed for the easy and pleasant movement. Very soon, they made it back home, in the town of Saraf-Menom, their place of birth.

  Rushing through the forest, Afaris felt Ulmaf and Debiana were anxious, too. This was the first murder they had ever encountered. Actually, except for the first Aorian–Nymphs conflicts, they had no knowledge of any other murders. However, everything had a solution.

  Soon after, they reached the forest edge. Getting out, they stopped to catch their breath and regain stamina. In front of them there was a long slightly inclined plain and to its left a never-ending ocean. In the middle of this charming scenery, on the spot where the ocean and land merged, rose the glorious town of Saraf-Menom.

  Chapter 2

  The crystal library

  A long time before, prior to the appearance of the Aorian civilization, the place where the mighty town of Saraf-Menom rose, there was just a pit through which one could descend to the planet core. Aora’s energy sprang from this pit. During the day, one could spot nothing spectacular, but once darkness fell, countless glittering energy beams and waves rising from the pit to the sky decorated the landscape.

  One day, out of the blue, carried upwards by the pit’s energy waves, the first two Aorians appeared, the parents of Aora’s civilization offspring, Saraf, the Father, and Calis, the Mother. Back then, they were mere children and seemed frail and sensitive, but the planet’s vital power ran through their veins. In time, they grew up, discovered the world and love and gave life to their first-born son.

  Then, the unexpected happened. As if summoned by the baby’s cry, other babies sprang from the pit, just as Saraf and Calis. Thus, the parents of civilization took responsibility to protect and teach all of Aora’s offspring.

  Saraf, aware of the existence of several energy pits bursting out to the planet surface, decided to search for all of them, presupposing that other Aora’s offspring had risen from the pits; it turned out he was right. He came across fifteen pits and more than one hundred babies he carried back to his loved one, Calis.

  Time passed and the Aorian civilization started blooming. A small town developed around the pit. Today, it bore the name of Saraf-Menom. In time, the civilization had extended on the planet, towns had been built at the edge of the pits, more precisely fourteen of them, each run by a son or daughter of Saraf and Calisa.

  One pit remained unpopulated, awaiting for the arrival of the last son. Even though the time when the last town was erected was uncertain, one thing was certain: it would bear the name Afaris-Menom.

  ***

  The three friends were standing at the forest edge admiring the landscape, trying to calm down after the shock. Afaris was looking to the town, to its centre where stood an enormous tower built around the energy pit. The pit continued flowing through the tower top and its energy could be seen from the distance with the naked eye as the sun no longer had the power to conceal its energy rays and beams. In all likelihood, they could find his father in that tower.

  He turned his gaze to his friends who were sitting down to his right. Ulmaf was lying on his back, looking at the sky while Debiana was fiddling with her powers and raising from the grass in front of her flower after flower, one more beautiful and more coloured than the previous one.

  ‘You do have a rich imagination’ Afaris complemented her. ‘Some of this flowers I’ve not encountered.’

  Debiana smiled back:

  ‘Thanks. These are just experiments, for a long time I haven’t created a flower I like enough to name.’

  ‘Aora herself has not created so many species of plants like in your garden or on your rooftop’ joked Ulmaf.

  ‘One of these days I will grow one for you. I’ll make sure it’s got spikes and grows in your mouth.’

  Afaris smiled. Poor Ulmaf, the girl would not miss a chance to humiliate her boyfriend.

  ‘Ready to go?’ asked Afaris.

  Ulmaf sprang to his feet, in a fit of energy:

  ‘Let’s go!’

  ‘One sec’ Debiana answered.

  She focused and in front of her a thin stem appeared and rose, adorned with small greenish leaves and purple buds.

  Ulmaf glazed at Afaris ironically and rolled his eyes, with a loud sigh.

  Debiana ignored him and continued her creation. The stem started to bend forming a small crown. She grabbed the plant at the base and broke it and the plant formed a perfect circle. No sooner had she placed it on her head slowly than the purple buds bloomed, turning into large flowers perfectly matching her hair.

  She then stood up, smiled to Ulmaf, did a fast and graceful pirouette and kissed the lips of her lover who felt like melting on the spot.

  ‘Alright, let’s go’ she spurred them and started running on the field to the town, the two following closely.

  Soon after, they reached the town’s outskirts where people spent time out. Some were out with their families, friends or lovers on the field next to the town and were chatting or having fun. Others were working in their house garden or experimenting various flowers or precious gems decorations they laid onto the walls of their wood, stone and clay houses.

  The three greeted everyone they passed by with a slight nod, a smile or a gesture while strolling on the cobbled pathways turning among the houses.

  Even though they were pressed for time and supposed to arrive as soon as possible to break the news to Saraf, they had no intention to worry their neighbours rushing among the houses.

  Anyway, the town was relatively small in comparison with the path they had taken there. Slightly more than four thousand Aorians lived there. The streets were very twisted, if you did not know the town very well and were not able to find your way after the sun and the tower, most certainly you would get lost several times before reaching the destination. Eight main streets departed from the town centre, from the tower, and then divided into smaller streets to the town exit, like the roots of a tree. In other words, the streets were the root, the tower the stem and the sky the dome and Aorians were the petty creatures inhabiting this enormous tree.

  Entering the small streets of the town on one of the main alleys, the three headed straight to the tower base. Several children were playing on the street. A very young girl was running and jumping joyously. Debiana caught a glimpse of her and recognized her immediately. She was her neighbour who was living in the house next to hers. She had known the little girl ever since her birth.

  ‘How are you, darling?’ Debiana asked her, strolling on with Ulmaf and Afaris.

  The girl noticed Debiana, smiled sweetly and rushed to her.

  ‘Playing. How are you all?’ she asked them.

  ‘Just came back from the mountain and we have some work to do’ Debiana replied.

  ‘From the mountain? Did you fetch me any snow?’

  Debiana smiled and put one kneel down in front of the girl, pinching her slightly on her left cheek.

  ‘Not today because we’re in a rush, but I promise next time I’ll fetch you a snowball and I will teach you how to create one yourself.’

  The little girl became slightly sad and answered:

  ‘Alright then …’

  Debiana smiled to her and hugged her swiftly, stood up and paced up to catch up with the boys.

  Silent, Afaris focused in order to trace his father’s energy mark. Soon after, he traced it in the underground, on one of the lower levels of the tower.

  ‘Father may be in the library’ he informed them.

  At the tower base there were several entrances you could reach by going up several dozens of stone stairs. The tower gates were always open and you could feel the energy flowing through them, flooding the entire town.

  Afaris, Ulmaf and Debiana rapidly climbed the stairs and entered the gate to
the main hall of the tower, where huge pillars adorned with marble, gems and gold sketches bore the entire building. In the centre of the room there was a huge hole leading to the centre of the earth. The energy beams coming out of the pit were flowing in the room and found rest on the bodies of the countless people sitting down and meditating in that room.

  The tower had two underground and five above-ground floors, with ceilings three or four times higher than that of normal houses. Each floor has its own purpose: there were meditation rooms on the ground and the first floors of the building; the philosophers’ hall was located on the second floor; here Aorians exchanged ideas and stories, an intellectual creation room, in other words; on the third floor there was the energy specialists’ hall, where Aorians suffering from poor energy feeding would go and request the support of specialists in order to have their energy field restored; the fourth floor was for the governing council, where Afaris’s father and his advisors debated matters which could occur in their society, the relations between Aorians and Nymphs, and the place for regular meetings with the heads of all towns; Afaris, his mother and father lived on the last floor, in a small house situated at the east edge of the tower, and the rest of the floor was there for all Aorians who wished to relax and contemplate the town from above from the balcony surrounding the tower which was all covered in flowers and grass. In the tower basement, the first underground level was a research laboratory, where those passionate with technology and creation would spend their time and on the last floor there was the town library, which stored the Aorians’ entire history and culture.

  Even though the huge building seemed very frail, it was supported by the power of the energy pit, which increased its resilience tenfold.

  Treading carefully so as not to disturb the meditating Aorians, the three headed to the energy pit. Stepping over the pit edge, entering its wave, the three youngsters felt how the strong energy kept them afloat. With a mere thought they requested the energy to carry them downwards gently, towards the deepest level of the tower.

  Having passed the research lab level, the three reached the last floor. They let themselves carried by the energy to the edge of the pit and stepped onto solid ground. Around them, as their eyes adapted to the low light, they could make out the enormous library. The ceiling was illuminated with phosphorescent stones, whose light descended softly onto those who were spending their time enjoying stories and history. The floor was covered in blue grass which glittered under the light of the stones and fed itself from the pit energy. Trees of the same height stood erect in lines and their stems and roots were processed so as to store the thousands of energy crystals, which, in their turn, stored millions of memories, histories and experiences. Every crystal produced its own light whose colour symbolized the nature of the story. Vivid colours, such as yellow, green, blue suggested joyous memories, white ones knowledge, and dark ones gloomy and dreary memories, most of them belonging to Saraf.

  Saraf was the only Aorian to have ever stepped outside this world and have had contact with other civilizations. On returning to Aora after his first trip, he decided that no one would ever be allowed to leave the planet, as the universe was a hazardous place, which could threat their peaceful way of living if curious Aorian were influenced by the mean aspirations of other species.

  After several moments of scanning the trees, they made out Saraf sitting in a small tree in the shape of a comfortable reading chair, eyes closed and several crystals floating in a circle around him.

  ‘Hello, Father!’ Afaris greeted him.

  Saraf opened his eyes and looked at his son. He greeted him back with a smile and a slight nod and then greeted his companions in the same manner.

  ‘What brings you here? Is it my impression or are you concerned indeed?’ he asked them leaving the crystals float back into the branch of their trees of origin.

  ‘We need to talk’ Afaris informed him in a firm voice.

  His father raised an eyebrow and stood up. The tree he had sat on started twirling and restored to its initial erect and perfect form.

  ‘I am all ears.’

  The three briefed Safaris about the events. Starting from how they had come across the dead Nymph, to the mutilations it had undergone. As they related, Saraf grew ever-more concerned, scratching his white beard more and more insistently.

  ‘Are you sure that in you race you’ve not triggered an avalanche which could have caused it?’ he asked them in a threating voice.

  ‘Positive!’ claimed Debiana.

  ‘Hmmm. There is no time to waste then. Afaris, take me to the place where you found the Nymph. The rest of you had better go back to your homes. Say nothing to anyone until we figure out what happened.’

  Saraf looked around for uninvited ears. His gaze crossed that of two of his advisors who, indeed, had paid attention to the conversation. Setting their eyes on Saraf, they nodded slightly, showing that they grasped what the wise man wanted to convey, keep silent, for the time being.

  Getting out of the tower through the gate, Debiana and Ulmaf bided Afaris and his father goodbye, heading for their homes.

  Saraf asked one of his advisors, who accompanied them on their way out to inform his beloved Calis that he was off on a short escapade with her son and she should not wait for them. The advisor left immediately towards the last floor of the tower, where, most probably, would find the mother arranging her flowers or watching the town.

  Outside, the sky was dark and night fell over Saraf-Menom like a dark blanket, and in this landscape, the true beauty of the town came to life. The cobblestones, which at day seemed worn-out and insignificant, became colourful. The energy of the pit spread through each of them, gradually changing shades. This phenomenon was known as the Song of Aora, and every night there was a dance of colours which spread all over the town. Some evenings, as a heartbeat, the stones would change their colour starting from the tower base to the town exit from blue to yellow, from yellow to green and so on. Some other evenings, the stones seemed to follow the people, illuminating more brightly when they were stepped on. That evening, the Song was irregular, random. Still, the landscape was spectacular. The sky in the most cloud-free and starry night could not match the little Saraf-Menom town in beauty.

  ‘I need to tell you something else’ Afaris informed his father. ‘When we were on the mountain racing down, something strange happened.’

  ‘What is that?’

  ‘I find it hard to describe it, I lagged behind them a lot. I don’t mean I was running slowly or they fast, rather they finished the race too far ahead from me. It was as if I was stuck in time for a while.’

  The news troubled Saraf even more that the news about the Nymph. His face read concern and fright. Afaris had no knowledge of the reason why his father was so affected by the news.

  ‘If what you say is true, then we have less time than I thought’ mumbled Saraf.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘My vision, my prophecies, they are closing in. There is no time to waste! Come!’

  Afaris regarded his father concerned as he was rushing to the town gate heading to the mountain. With no further ado, he rushed behind him. He had no idea why his father was so concerned, but one thing was certain: he had never in his life seen his father as concerned and agitated as that night.

  Chapter 3

  Clandestine energy

  The forest was very silent and dark, they could not make out much. Thus, Saraf and Afaris used their senses to run. Afaris found it hard to keep up with his father and focus on perceiving the surroundings. Suddenly, he stumbled over a branch lying on the ground, lost balance and focus, unable to see or perceive a tree in his way. The impact was so hard that the tree snapped into two. Afaris fell to the ground, rolling in the forest and the tree collapsed behind him loudly. His father, hearing what had happened, stopped and returned for him.

  ‘Are you alright?’ he asked.

  Afaris mumbled something incomprehensible, hands on the head, lying on
his back on the cold soil.

  ‘Give me your hand’ Saraf urged him.

  Afaris lifted his right hand to his father, his other hand still on his head. He was shaken and dizzy. He could not say how many spots on his body hurt.

  His father grabbed his hand, his thumb and middle finger under Afaris’s wrist and Afaris stretched his fingers over his father’s wrist. Thus the two became connected through an energy bridge.

  Afaris used the energy received from his father to accelerate the healing of the wounds from the incident. Soon after, he stood up, completely restored.

  ‘Thanks’ he told his father.

  Saraf nodded approval.

  ‘We will soon be on the mountain. Which way should be head from there?’

  ‘Won’t you leave me ahead?’

  ‘Alright, we will run more slowly, but we still need to make haste.’

  ‘What’s with the rush?’ Afaris became annoyed. ‘Why can’t we stop and you tell me how serious the matter is?’

  Afaris’s father crossed his arms agitated and exhaled loudly. He was right. He was exposing Afaris to his stress and agitation without telling him why.

  ‘I’ll tell you on the way. We need to hurry.’

  Afaris understood that the option of staying put and talking like two normal people was out of the question, so he started running shoulder to shoulder with his father, fortunately at a significantly lower speed.

  ‘You may have heard rumours, gossip. I have tried to keep this prophecy for me, the other leaders of Menoms and our advisors, but my words have spread among Aorians before we reached an agreement.’

  ‘I heard about your vision a long time ago. A vision which troubled you so hard you negated it for several solar cycles. But nobody has told me what you saw. Some claimed you either saw the ending of us, or a war or the defamation of our culture. I would’ve asked you myself, but I understood you had no wish to talk about it, so I remained silent.’

  Saraf frowned and his face became that of a sad man in pain for a couple of seconds.