Chapter 189: The Trembling of the Earth
The morning that began with Aryan's bitter news was rapidly transforming into a literal hell that no one had anticipated. They had not yet moved many steps away from the wooden house when they felt the world beneath their feet beginning to shift. The first sign was a slight vibration, as if the earth were startling awake from a disturbing slumber, but this tremor was merely the beginning. Rina, who always felt the resonance of energies, stopped and placed her hand upon the damp soil. The white light that resided within her core seemed to dim, like a lamp running out of oil. She turned to Diyari and, with eyes wide with terror, said: "Diyari, the light... it is distancing itself from me. I feel something that is sucking all the radiance away."
Diyari shared the same sensation. The golden light that had always acted as a protector around him had now faded to a feeble yellow. Aryan looked sorrowfully toward a horizon that was changing color into a dark purple. He said: "Arkados has begun. From within the depths, he has started drawing the energy of the light into himself so that he can reconstruct his own body. The trembling of the earth is only a physical sign, but the true shaking is within the soul of the world." At that moment, a massive sound like an explosion came from beneath the ground. The earth shook terrifyingly, and a great fissure formed in the middle of the path leading toward the cave. From within that crack, a thick, black smoke rose—a smoke that the sunlight could not pierce.
This was not a temporary return of the shadows; this was a direct threat from the primordial darkness itself. The shadows that had previously appeared as warriors were now forming as vague and misty shapes within that smoke. They did not fight; they simply stood and watched Rina and Diyari, as if waiting for the opportune moment to swallow them whole. Rina tried to use her white light to drive those shadows away, but her light spread only for a few centimeters before flickering out. She said in despair: "What is happening to us? If our light vanishes, how can we reach the cave?" Diyari gripped his sword tightly, though its glow was not as it used to be. "We will go by our own strength, Rina. Even if the light leaves, our love will become the radiance."
Aryan walked in front; he seemed familiar with this darkness from his years of imprisonment. He said: "Do not let go of each other's hands under any circumstances. Arkados wants to separate you. He knows that only when the lights unite does he face a real threat." The earth shook violently again, this time with a force that threw Rina and Diyari to the ground. Trees around them were snapping and falling, as if nature itself were surrendering to that ancient power. In the terrifying silence following the tremor, a low voice like a whisper echoed through the air. The voice called Rina's name, as if coming from the depths of a thousand years, a sinister beckoning meant to pull her soul into the mist.
The shadows were drawing closer. They surrounded everything like a massive black stain. Rina felt an extreme cold entering her bones—a cold that no fire could warm. She looked at Diyari and saw that he, too, was turning pale and his lips were trembling. The white and golden lights were now only small, weak sparks within their hearts. Aryan shouted: "Do not fear! Fear is the food that makes Arkados grow. Your light hasn't faded; it's merely hidden beneath a veil of doubt. Return to your inner selves and find the truth of who you are!" Rina closed her eyes and tried to remember that peaceful night they had spent in their new home. She felt the warmth of Diyari's hand, and at that moment, the white spark in her heart brightened slightly, like a star in a pitch-black night.
But the trembling of the earth continued, growing stronger by the second. The fissures grew wider, looking like open mouths wanting to swallow all the beauties of the earth. Rina envisioned the garden she had planted with her own hands turning to ash and being consumed by the ground. She felt a great pain for the world that had just been rescued from the Grandmother. Diyari embraced her tightly as a large piece of rock fell from the mountain and shattered beside them. "Rina, look at me! Just look into my eyes! We will not die here. Arkados cannot extinguish the light we have created through love and sacrifice." Diyari's words acted like a steel shield against the threats appearing in the mist.
Aryan pointed toward the hilltop where the path to the cave lay, a place where the mist was even thicker. "We must run! The earth here is no longer stable and is about to collapse." They began running through those fissures and the unknown smoke, every step feeling like a massive battle against gravity. Every stride was a test of their will. The shadows descended from the sky like a black cloud, blocking their way and scratching at their bodies with long, cold hands. Every time a shadow touched Rina, she felt the pain of a thousand wounds within her soul, bringing back bitter memories and old sorrows. But Diyari defended with his dim sword, not with magic, but with physical strength and the iron will inherited from his father. The lights had diminished, but their faith remained as strong as a mountain.
As they reached the middle of the path, a tremor so powerful occurred that the mountain split before them, the sound of crashing rocks deafening. Aryan barely held his ground and, with a shaking hand, said: "Arkados wants to block our path to the cave; he knows that only there can he be sealed again and his power brought to an end." Rina looked at the sky; the sunlight had completely vanished. The world had returned to a darkness denser than the one the Grandmother had created. This was primordial darkness, a silence in which only the terrifying sound of the earth's trembling resonated. Rina felt her white energy escaping her body like steam, being taken by Arkados, but she did not allow it. She gathered all her will and concentrated her light around Diyari and Aryan as a sacrifice to protect them, even if she became weak herself.
The shadows that appeared as threats began to voice a collective scream—a scream that spoke of the end of everything and the demise of hope. Through those shadows, Arkados said: "You had only a short lifetime of light, a mere illusion of peace. Now it is time to return to the embrace of the true darkness from which everything was made." But Diyari, with a loud voice that rose above the sound of the tremor, said: "Darkness is only the absence of light, and we carry our light within the depths of our hearts—a place your hand cannot reach!" In that split second, Diyari's golden light and Rina's white light merged for a few moments, creating a small explosion that pushed the shadows away. This gave them a brief window to pass through the mist and reach the entrance of the sacred cave Aryan had spoken of.
The cave appeared like a massive, sacred mouth within the mountain, emitting a faint bluish light that was different from any other radiance. Aryan said breathlessly: "Hurry! Only inside that cave can our lights regain their original strength and be protected from Arkados's absorption." Rina and Diyari leaped over the cracks that were dividing the earth into two. When they reached the cave entrance, they took a sorrowful look back. All those green plains and beautiful gardens they had seen happily yesterday had now become a black, scorched field full of the smoke of death. The trembling of the earth seemed to stop at that point because it had no power over the interior of the cave, but the shadows stood around the entrance like guardians of death, unable to enter yet completely blocking the way back.
Rina took a deep breath, and her white light brightened slightly in that environment, the color returning to her face. She understood that this was their final stop as warriors. Arkados's threat was not just a tremor, but an attempt to change all the laws of life and nature. They were now in a place where time and space had no meaning—a place beyond human comprehension. Aryan placed his hand on the cold wall of the cave and said in a low voice: "This is the heart of the light. Everything began here thousands of years ago, and here the conflict of this era must end." Diyari looked at Rina; in his eyes was an eternal and unconditional promise. They knew they could no longer easily return to the simple life they dreamed of in the wooden house, but they were ready for the greatest sacrifice so that someone else, another child, could live that life in the future.
Inside the depths of the cave, the trembling took another form; it was no longer terrifying but became a low, deep, and mournful music coming from the walls. Rina felt her light beginning to harmonize with that music and change its resonance. The shadows outside were increasing, like a black, bottomless sea wanting to swallow the entire mountain and the cave. But the cave entrance was protected by an ancient and sacred light that allowed no piece of darkness to enter. Aryan said: "Now is the time to go into the depths, toward the heart of the earth. Arkados is waiting there in his cracked prison, and we have only one chance and one decisive resolution before he is completely free."
Rina and Diyari, hand in hand, tighter than ever, stepped into the darkness of the cave which was filled with blue light and ancient seals. The trembling of the earth continued outside, and the sound of the world collapsing echoed, but inside, there was a kind of sacred and strange silence that spoke of sacrifice, courage, and an endless love. The return of the shadows was like an eternal threat, but their will was stronger than that threat because it relied on truth. Their journey toward the heart of the earth officially began, while the entire world outside awaited an impossible and historic decision that determined the fate of all beings on earth.
With every passing second, Rina understood more that true light is not just an energy within the body, but resides in those brave decisions a person makes when all horizons turn black. Diyari, likewise, felt the power surging from within him like a golden stream—a power that neither the shadows nor the destructive trembling of the earth could stop or discourage. Aryan walked ahead, lighting the way with what little light remained in his soul as an ancient warrior. The journey toward the depths of the Cave of Nineveh was a journey toward the unknown and full of danger, but toward the only hope that remained to save the human world from that ancient threat that had just awakened.
When they reached an exceptionally large and vast hall in the heart of the cave, they saw how the lights shone within the walls like stars. It was an unparalleled and magical sight that amazed the human mind, but right in the center of that hall was a massive, black, bottomless hole from which a thick, cold, and terrifying darkness came out like the breath of a demon. Aryan stood on the edge of the hole and pointed mournfully toward it. "That is the gateway to the prison of Arkados, the first shadow. From here, all the tremors originate and shake the world." Rina and Diyari looked at each other; in that luminous silence, they were ready to face the greatest and oldest danger that humanity had ever seen in history. The trembling of the earth at this point was so strong that even their voices vibrated, but their hearts were steady and fearless.
The shadows were gathered outside the hall behind the luminous veils, waiting for Arkados's final command for the ultimate attack. Rina felt her white light returning to her completely, but in a different way than before; this time the light was not just for fighting and destruction, but for an eternal protection and sealing. She understood at that moment what she had to do and how she must sacrifice. Diyari, similarly, wrapped his golden light around himself and Rina like a cord of radiance and hope, so they would be together until the end. The return of the shadows and the dimming of the lights initially had been a test to see if they were worthy of the peace and freedom they had won with the blood of their friends. Here, in the dark and luminous depths of the earth, the true story of the conflict between light and shadow was reaching its climax.
Everything stopped for a brief moment, as if time itself stood still. The trembling ceased for a while, the shadows fell silent, and the lights in the hall stabilized as if honoring that moment. Arkados was about to emerge from that black hole and assert his existence. Rina and Diyari, hand in hand and with an iron will, stepped toward that black hole, ready to write a new and final page in the long history of the world—a page where sacrifice becomes the highest level of light and love becomes the eternal seal against all forms of darkness.
This was their final test, a battle not just for survival, but to prove that light never dies if there is a heart that believes in it. The air inside the cave was full of ancient energy, and Aryan watched them with eyes full of tears, knowing that history was being rewritten in this moment. The world outside was under the threat of collapse, but here, in the heart of the light, two young souls were ready for the greatest danger. Rina took a deep breath, and her white light shone like a crown around her head—a sign that she was ready to face Arkados, no matter how high the price.
Written by: Dlin_myth