Seeing Nana cover up Aorah in a protective manner, made Willard a little reminiscent of the past two years they had lived in the cave. Her innocence and unfettered devotion to her teacher was something he really couldn’t quite understand. “Nana quick go back into the cave.” Aorah said with a little difficulty.
“No, I refuse.” Nana said as her tears kept pouring. “No more deaths please. No more.”
Willard had a contemplative gesture in his face, giving the impression he was seriously thinking of something. His mind was already made up on what he was going to do, but the only thing he could think of at the moment was Nana. Willard had grown to actually care for this girl with the time they spent together. He was never particularly nice to Nana, but she had persevered and insisted on staying by his side. Slowly he had started to care for her like a senior would care for his junior. Willard dropped the dagger in his hands and walked closer to Nana.
“Nana get up.” Willard said as he reached down to help her up.
“I beg of you, please don’t kill teacher. Show mercy”
Willard thought about the phrase “show mercy.” When had he ever contemplated such a thing as mercy? In his world that word never existed. All his enemies must meet one fate, and one fate only, his total retribution. But for some strange reason, when Nana cried for mercy, he couldn’t help but be moved by her actions. He certainly did not like the sight of Nana crying for reasons he couldn’t quite figure out.
“I will show mercy.” Willard said as he walked Nana towards the cave. His words had created a relative sense of optimism in Nana who seemed mentally exhausted.
When suddenly, dark clouds once more gathered around Aorah. Heavy torrential fall of lightning poured down on Aorah. Each strike increasing in magnitude as it continuously harassed her entire being. “No!” Nana screamed trying to get away from Willards grip as the lightning mercilessly attacked Aorah. Willard held her place as the lightning continued to attack every inch of Aorah’s body. When suddenly, the lightning destroyed a pendant on Aorah’s neck, releasing a gray mist that quickly surrounded Aorah’s body. Willard was shocked when he noticed that gray mist suddenly appear. Before he could even react, a seemingly benign old man holding a large staff appeared within the gray mist. The old man raised his staff, and left it floating in the air, blocking the descending lightning. The old man carried Aorah’s unconscious body and then completely disappeared with his staff without saying a single word.
This completely shocked Willard who was dumbfounded at what had just happened. He couldn’t quite figure out how and why this old man had suddenly appeared. Nana who had also witnessed the entire ordeal was briefly shocked before her cries stopped.
“Who was that?” Willard asked Nana noticing the changes in her actions.
Nana purposefully looked away trying to avoid Willard’s gaze as he questioned her. “Nana, who was that?” Willard asked again in an obviously agitated manner.
“That was teachers senior.” She simply responded avoiding prolonged conversation with WIllard.
“How did he know to rescue her?” Willard asked Nana, who tried walking away from him again.
“Nana!” Willard yelled again.
“I don’t know.” Nana responded as she fell to the floor and resumed her cries.
Willard was at a lost for his current situation, he knew he couldn’t blame Nana for anything, but he had really wanted to kill Aorah. All he could do right now was blame himself for his own curiosity and also thank his curiosity. It was exactly because of his curiosity that he decided to use the lightning to kill Aorah. On the other hand, he wouldn’t be able to tell what the old man would have done if he had met an already dead Aorah, especially since he wasn’t in a condition to fight a new opponent.
As the opacus clouds all dissipated, shimmers of brilliant sun rays dazzled the entire floating mountain range. Willard looked to the very heavily destroyed mountain sights. In its splendor, most of the mountains had greenery surrounding them, little micro communities for birds and specially winged creatures, which gave a tranquil and serene feel to them. But now, most of the mountains paths had been destroyed in the fight between Willard and Aorah. Broken up pieces of earth from the mountains were falling nonstop.
“Nana, what do you want to do now?” Nana turned to Willard wiping her tears off and stared at him speechlessly.
Willard looked to Nana deciding what to do with her. Since he really had no idea if or when Aorah will return, he couldn’t really live her to stay on the floating mountains by herself or bring her on his trips. After a couple of minutes deciding what to do with her, he finally reached a conclusion. “Do you want to take a trip with me back to the Amber Kingdom?” Nana nodded her head agreeing to Willard’s suggestion.
********************
Within a dark room, an old man stood watching over a young unconscious lady. “Little Aorah, why did you not call for my help earlier?” The man asked in a sad manner.
“I told you to never use two of those orbs. Now the damage to your core will be severe. It will take you a long while to repair if at all possible.”
“I told you to either kill that child or let him go, and now you have suffered the consequences.”
“Etimoah, I have failed in my promise to protect the little princess. Please forgive me.” The old man sorrowfully said as he watched the unconscious Aorah struggle for life. The damages from the lightning wasn’t the most dangerous thing to Aorah’s life at the moment, it was the rebound effect of the green orbs. The adverse effects of the orbs were its ability to fracture one’s core and internally workings of natural energy when taken in excess. The natural energy within one’s body were the basic entities for life. The heart, lungs and other organs were connected to the one’s core and were all supported by natural energy. Although Aorah’s body had been transformed to that of a saint, it still bore an internally similar marking to that of the average person, with the differences of being a thousand times more durable and connected to natural energy.
********************
It had been a whole month since the fight between Willard and Aorah. Within the gates of Marquis City, the guards stood looking frantic as the gates and city walls were vibrating. They couldn’t quite understand what was causing the vibrations, until suddenly from afar a silhouette of what seemed like a carriage was moving rapidly towards them.
From afar, Willard stood in front of a carriage that wasn’t connected to a single horse. Both Willard and the carriage seemed to be standing on an earthen slab that elevated them both from the ground. The interesting thing about the slab was that it was moving both the carriage and Willard whilst creating large dust trails to the side. Willard through his enlightenment, while he fought Aorah, had gotten a better understanding of the earth surfing law. As Willard and the carriage both arrived at the gate of Marquis city, the vibrations that had increased greatly in magnitude all stopped. Willard opened the door to the carriage and helped Nana of the carriage. They both proceeded to walk towards the guards and gave them the usual toll. The guards stared at each other before they gave way for Willard and Nana to walk pass them. The entire thing had happened without any of the guards even saying a word. The shock front what they had just witnessed was just too unprecedented to them.
- N/a
