The Earth, 3016 – Month 10
Throughout human life, ever since birth, man runs and runs striving towards his goals, but behind this path he walks, he leaves an indelible mark, whether they were small or great mistakes.
But there are some mistakes that might be the cause of suffering or the destruction of others, despite the person achieving his goals.
On this Earth, sin began… and on it, it will end.
Wishes, hope, truth, justice, peace, equality, tolerance, integrity, morals… all are human values lost in the depths of history.
"Seventeen Years Ago"
A beam split the sky on a clear night, like a meteor stoning the devils of temptation.
The air was cold, and the sky silent except for the sound piercing the darkness.
Somewhere, a girl stood looking out from her room's window, gazing up at the sky.
Her features were unclear, only her eyes followed that light which was soaring in the sky.
Suddenly, and strangely, the light changed its path, a feeling of astonishment consumed her body.
The girl lifted her elbow from the window and retreated a step back after seeing the light heading towards her.
She ran towards the table, and picked up a sword with her right hand.
She didn't comprehend what was happening, as the light approached and then lunged toward her.
She swung her sword, but it easily dodged the strike and pierced her abdomen.
Everything happened quickly… The girl fell to the ground, unconscious.
Her heart beat slowly, as if on the verge of stopping.
Only minutes later, several people entered.
All present, including the girl lying on the ground, none of them were visible, only shadows moving.
"Sixteen Years Ago"
— Don't worry, this is a child. I will take good care of him, I promise you that. This child will be like my grandson, don't worry.
The person speaking was wearing a black robe, completely obscured, and in front of him were three people: a child, and two adults.
Their images were shadowy; no one's features could be seen.
— We depend on you… take good care of my child.
"Present Time"
A powerful scream splits the air, followed by ragged breaths.
A child, nine years old, screams with all his might.
A feeling of helplessness and fear permeates his body, his heart beats strongly, a child with white hair and black eyes shining with terror mixed with astonishment.
— Where are you? Where are you?!
His cries intensified and his moans rose, as he walked between destroyed houses and ruined roads.
Every step weighs his heart down with fear, and the smell of smoke fills his lungs.
Carrying in his hand a doll with a severed arm, white wool spills from its neck.
— Brother… where are you?
Tears fall from his wide eyes, and his white face has turned red from the intense heat, with some burns etched onto his face.
Fire is everywhere, the air is acrid, the smell of burnt flesh mixes with the rising smoke, and the flames pant in the alleys.
The intensity of the fires increased in the streets of this large city, smoke rising to the sky forming black clouds, as if a torment had befallen this city.
Its streets are empty… only corpses lying on the ground, not a single complete corpse.
Some are headless, some are handless, and others remain only as bodies without limbs or heads.
As for the child, he continued walking among the shattered houses, hearing no sound but his own and the sound of the houses consumed by the flames.
Suddenly, between the shadows of the demolished houses and the shattered walls, a black shadow appeared, observing the child.
It cannot be certain: Is it a man or a woman? Is it human or another entity?
It began to speak, but its speech was unclear; the language it spoke was incomprehensible.
— Even if you go to the ends of the Earth, boy, I will find you. You will not escape me… don't blame me, but this is the destiny that chose you.
The words crept into the boy's ear, but he understood nothing.
He turned left and right, but saw no one but fire and smoke.
The child trembled, he felt fear, and he stammered in his speech:
— Wh-… Who are you?
The mysterious shape appeared in front of the boy suddenly, but the boy saw only a black shadow standing before him.
The black shadow grabbed the child by the neck and then said with an arrogant voice:
— Today you will taste torment worse than death.
The boy's face turned redder, and his breathing was cut off.
As for the black entity, it smiled, and with a fleeting speed, it ascended to the sky with the boy, stopping between the black clouds.
The child was unable to utter any word, as his tongue came out from the intensity of the grip on his neck.
The black shadow looked at the city below them, which was being devoured by the flames, and with a slight movement of its hand, the intensity of the flames increased and the temperature rose.
The child began to sweat more than before, flames ignited his clothes, and his body began to melt.
Haaaaaaaa.
The child screamed after the shadow lessened its grip:
— Aaaaaaaah…!
The flames ignited the hair on his head, and an unnatural pain swept over him, so he let out a scream that anyone alive in the city would have heard.
— Aaaaaaaacccce!!!
A strange sound came out of the black shadow: — Wa'awa'awlo'awa'w…
As for the child, all his hair disappeared, and he looked bald.
The pain he was going through was unlike anything he had tasted in his life.
Suddenly he lost consciousness, because he could not bear the pain.
When the black ghost saw the child lose consciousness, it waved its hand once more towards the city, and the intensity of the flames subsided, then it motioned with its hand towards the child, and the hair on his head returned as it was, as did his body and clothes.
The boy groaned and then woke up.
— And with black eyes, he glared at the shadow as he suffered, his hand muscles tightened, and his breaths came out sharp, the healing did not extinguish the pain.
— Aaaaaaaaaa!!!
Then the torment began again… and again.
His clothes melted, his body burned, his hair disappeared, bones appeared from his hands and legs.
He lost consciousness again… then he healed.
And the torment began a third time.
Yes, the entity was torturing the child.
As for the reason, only the black shadow knew it.
The torment was repeated countless times.
And after a day, despite the boy's healing, he did not wake up.
He looked like a lifeless corpse.
The shadow spoke: — It seems his soul is fading.
Torturing a child in that manner was not for the sake of pleasure or a feeling of intoxication; the reason was an objective that the shadow wanted to achieve.
After saying that, he threw the child into the flames.
His body began to melt, and at that moment something came out of his body.
— Finally… this torment is over.
This is what the thing that came out of the boy uttered.
The city disappeared, as if it were merely a mirage.
The air cracked, the image of the place shattered, only darkness remained.
And in that darkness, some words were heard:
— Yusafer… Yusafer… Yusafer…
A person opened his eyes, he was sweating profusely and the sound of his breathing was fast.
He groaned saying:
— Ugh… my head…
— Is it the same nightmares again?
— Yes… I feel like my head is going to split in half.
— These nightmares have become annoying lately, I wonder, what is the reason for them?
— I wish I knew myself…
The person lying down was Yusafer, with hair like dense fur, very thick, and black as pitch darkness, like a moonless night, and eyes no less black than his hair, or even darker.
His nose was sharp, and his clothes were black interspersed with purple lines.
The other person was Yurai, with white hair reaching his shoulders, his eyes closed, his skin pure white, slightly thin, his clothes white mixed with silver.
— Tomorrow we will begin our journey, let's hope we find the reason for these nightmares.
Yusafer nodded: — But we must not forget the purpose of our journey.
Yurai smiled: — I know, I know… the relics of war, as the old man said.
When the old man was mentioned, a flash of sadness appeared on Yusafer's face.
— Do you think we will find them? Yurai asked.
— We will try, and we will do our best.
Then after that, Yusafer took out an old book from under his pillow and began staring at it.
— The relics of war… I wonder, what are these relics?
Yusafer replied: — We were young then, that's why the old man said: "You will know everything in the future." He forbade me from traveling until I turned seventeen.
Tomorrow is the nineteenth day of the tenth month… tomorrow I will enter a new year.
— And we also hope to find a cure for your nightmares. And let's not forget that we are stuck at the first level; if we don't leave this island, we won't know the way forward.
— You're right. We have to find a way to raise our levels quickly, and I also have to search for that bastard from my nightmares.
If he is real… I will tear him apart.
Yusafer sat up and began flipping through the old book, then he smiled:
— I have a goal I must achieve no matter the cost.
Yurai smiled: — Do you mean that world you saw in your first nightmare? I am eager to see it, but can you make this world like it?
— We will try… even if we have to destroy this world.
Yusafer fell silent for a moment.
Then he continued his words: — That's why we have to find the relics of war… everything is connected to them.
Knock knock knock.
— Brother Yusafer! Brother Yurai! Are you here?
— Come in, Yurai said.
A small boy opened the door, with bright eyes looking at them:
— The village chief is waiting for you at the beach.
— It seems they finished the boat, Yusafer said.
Yurai nodded: — Just in time.
Yusafer and Yurai left the hut, they were greeted by the warmth of the sun's rays, while strong winds carrying the scent of the sea hit them.
Yusafer raised his eyes toward the village stretching before him.
Rows of wooden huts were scattered on the slope, topped with piles of yellowed straw, while a path was surrounded by neatly arranged stone bricks, as if a handwriting was tracing a passage through the place.
In front of every hut was a small garden surrounded by a simple fence.
Medium-sized trees stood there, their branches swaying slowly with the wind, and their yellow leaves falling onto the straw roofs, adding beauty and tranquility.
Every house and every garden was full of life, the sunlight casting warm shadows on their faces.
In the small fields, he saw men bending over the dirt, skillfully plowing the land, a skill their bodies had grown accustomed to over the years.
And among the gardens, children were running nonstop, screaming and laughing, chasing each other over the dew-covered grass.
The village was larger than expected, single-story houses stretched as far as the horizon swallowed, and the smell of moist soil mixed with the smell of wood and straw to give the place a life unlike any other.
As they walked, a child appeared before them on a high pole wearing a deer mask, and in his hand was a violin that seemed to be his own invention, because it looked very bad, but despite that it emitted some melodies.
On the ground, some girls were lying as if unconscious, and beside them were some beautiful flowers, and in front of them were small dolls.
— Hahaha! I have taken your sons, and I will take them far away!
While another child was standing in front of them and laughing, he was holding a small toy resembling an insect.
Yusafer stood looking at the playing children and smiled after remembering the beautiful days he spent here, they were truly beautiful days.
As soon as the children saw Yusafer and Yurai, the child jumped from the pole, the girls woke up, and the laughing child fell silent, then they ran towards them:
— Brother Yusafer! Brother Yurai! Why don't you watch our show? It's wonderful!
Yurai opened his mouth: — We are busy, the village chief called us.
He apologized to the children, then one of them said: — When you are done, you must come and watch our show.
— Okay, Yusafer said, raising his thumb to the children.
Then he and Yurai continued their way with the child accompanying them.
Whenever they passed someone, they would either smile at them or wave their hand.
The two were very much loved, especially Yusafer, whose first steps were on this island.
The villagers saw him grow up in front of them, even though he had no parents, only an old man who raised him.
The two passed through a path between dense trees that were shedding their pale yellow and orange leaves, and soon they reached the beach.
The beach was empty, calmness pervaded the place and the smell of the sea mixed with the cool morning breeze, only a small boat on the sand, and in front of it an old man with a straw hat resembling half an orange, wearing green clothes.
He was advanced in age so that his face was full of wrinkles, and in his hand was a small cane he leaned on.
Next to him stood two middle-aged men, they smiled as soon as they saw Yusafer and Yurai.
— Your boat is ready, boys.
Yusafer smiled: — Thank you, Grandfather, we troubled you. And Yusafer bowed slightly.
— Tsk! What are you saying, boy? You are one of us, no need for this formality. The important thing is, did you like the boat?
Yusafer looked, and so did Yurai, even though his eyes were closed.
— It looks good. The important thing is that it takes us out of this island towards the other side.
— Don't worry, it will suffice. The distance is not far, only forty kilometers west.
The island they lived on was slightly large, its length was four kilometers and its width was 1.5 kilometers.
— Have you decided? Will you leave tomorrow? The old man asked.
Yusafer replied: — Yes, tomorrow will be the end of our journey on this island.
The old man stared at them, while a wave of memories appeared before his eyes about Yusafer and Yurai when they were very young.
And despite the sadness that appeared on his face, he quickly hid it and said:
— Come on, you must go back and prepare yourselves, you have a long journey ahead of you.
The old man walked forward, and everyone followed him.
Yusafer and Yurai looked at the old man's back, and nostalgia enveloped their hearts.
This old man had great favor over them.
Inside the hut, Yusafer stood in front of a table, and Yurai was opposite him.
On the table was a map.
— Are you sure about this map? Yurai asked.
— No, but the important thing is that we know a continent is to the west. We will go towards it. One should not trust this world, this is what the old man confirmed.
While they were talking, they heard a cry from outside:
— Brother Yusafer! Brother Yurai!
The two went out, and it was the same boy who came a moment ago, panting.
— What is it?
— There is a ship coming towards us!
— Is it the Army's? Yurai asked.
— No! The flag above it is different from the flag of the Church of the Union of Nations. They are revolutionaries! It's the same revolutionary who came three months ago and was hit by my brother!
Yusafer smiled: — What? Did he come for revenge?
Yurai replied with a smile: — It seems so.
— The End.
An enemy… or an ally?
ـــــــــ
Hello, my friends,
This is the first work I write, and I am pleased and honored to have you here. I hope for your moral support, which is to give this novel a chance and leave some encouraging comments for me. I assure you that you will not regret reading it, and even if you leave it, I am confident that you will return to it one day—either because you will hear about it from a friend, or because you will come across it on some social media platform.
I trust what I have written, for there is something you have never seen before coming, God willing.
I know that this novel is bigger than me, but I will do my best to present it in the best way possible. The novel is extremely large and is built slowly, and all I want from you is patience—and I promise you that you will not regret it.
All the works you love, I assure you that you will find a touch of them in this novel, and I am confident of that.
And in the end, I confirm to you that your comments are the most important thing to me… Thank you from
the heart.