Chapter 18: Black Shield
1040 Words
Yayis sighed and sat down. “MAN! IT’S BEEN YEARS! THIS BRIDGE WON’T END!”
Shams was smiling happily the entire time and giggling. Yayis glared at him. “The hell you’re smiling about? Creepy kid.”
“I have a father now!” Shams jumped, excited. “And he’s waiting for me!”
“He never said he was waiting.”
“I don’t care!”
Yayis raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know why you’re so excited about having a father. Look at mine. The worst father one can have.”
“Hm?” Shams glanced at him. “Who’s your father? You never told me.”
Yayis blinked. “Ah… True.” He looked away. “Never mind. Maybe later.”
Shams sat down and smiled again, daydreaming. Yayis sighed. “How about I teach you how to summon that dunderhead jinn of yours?”
“Oh? You know how?” Shams became excited. “Yes! Teach me!”
Yayis nodded. “Just focus on him in your head and he will show up. The more you summon him, the easier the summoning becomes. Eventually, jinns will start showing up on their own without you summoning them. This happens especially when you establish a friendship with your jinn rather than a master-slave contract.”
Shams closed his eyes. “Come out, Cherry! I need you.”
“Ah!” Cherry then peeked from behind Shams’s back and looked around shyly. “Mastah! Mastah needs Chewwy!” He smiled happily and covered his face with his hair. “Chewwy twies his best! Chewwy is happy! Chewwy is needed!”
Shams picked up Cherry to hug him. Cherry blushed and looked at him, confused. “Mastah? Chewwy… here for cuddle?”
He hugged Shams back. “Chewwy loves cuddle… but Chewwy… Chewwy can fight too!”
Shams patted his fluffy hair. “I just want you to stay with me. I love your energy!”
Chewwy smiled brightly and giggled. “Mastah!” He buried his face in Shams’s shoulder and purred. Yayis smiled nervously, hearing him. “Are you a cat?!”
“Chewwy… Chewwy studied hoomans!” Cherry glanced at Yayis, determined. “Chewwy knows that hoomans love meow!”
Shams laughed and stood up. “All right! Let’s go!”
Cherry grinned and walked next to them. Within a few hours, Shams got tired and sat down again. “Why am I suddenly feeling so tired?!”
“Because you can’t keep a summoning indefinitely at your level.” Yayis explained. “Cherry needs to go back.”
Cherry looked down sadly. “Chewwy… Chewwy doesn’t want… sick mastah…” He ran away crying before disappearing in an orange flash.
Shams had already fallen asleep by then. Yayis sighed and sat next to him. He blinked as the crow landed on his shoulder. “You’re here… Does that mean we’re close to the water kingdom border?”
The crow didn’t answer and gazed ahead in silence. Yayis smiled and laid down. “I’ll sleep too. You watch over us. Thanks in advance.”
They woke up within a few hours and walked for three more days before reaching the water kingdom border. There was nothing there. A giant ice wall extended along the rift. As soon as they stepped onto the ice, the bridge behind them disappeared. Shams gasped and chased after the fading purple light. Yayis stopped him. “Remember what Ihdaachar said. No looking back.”
Shams felt his eyes watering, but he looked away from the light and turned his back to it.
The crow cawed then flew in front of them. They walked behind the bird. They found a giant blue gate after walking for an hour. Shams’s shoulders sank. “Ihdaachar… didn’t say anything about the gate.”
Yayis glanced at the ice wasteland around him. “There doesn’t seem to be another way. The gate is our only choice.”
The crow then opened its beak, and a pink circle appeared into front of it. It cawed faintly before its voice disappeared entirely. Yayis and Shams exchanged confused glances. The gate collapsed within a few seconds, and they both screamed and ran back a few metres. The crow flew in circles above their heads and cawed.
They frowned as nothing happened next. They walked past the gate and gasped, seeing a paradise of waterfalls and floating gardens along with strange birds flying around. They stared at the wonderland surrounding them in awe and surprise.
Yayis shook his head. “This is isn’t how I remember it. It changed… It became so much better.”
They followed the crow while wandering and gazing at the otherworldly beauty of the second half of the Earth.
Ihdaachar smiled faintly, watching Yayis and Shams through the eyes of his crow.
“You will grow up.”
The floating blades around him slashed the beasts that came his way.
“You will make friends.”
He stepped on the dead grass.
“You will learn magic.”
Tears rolled down his cheeks.
“You will grow stronger.”
He stood in front of the iron and bronze wall separating the grey and black zones from the other zones.
“But you will also know weakness.”
He rested a hand on the wall.
“You will see so many different places.”
He caressed its coldness.
“You will fall in love.”
He climbed to the top of the wall and stared at the green forest extending before his eyes.
“You might have your heart broken.”
His hand reached out for it, but he pulled it back.
“You might lose some people, loved ones.”
He turned his back to the forest and turned to the black and grey zones that were entirely dead and arid because of his powers.
“You will go through difficulties.”
He smiled, the veins retreating from his skin.
“But you will also have cherished memories.”
The crest on his chest appeared again after he deactivated his powers.
“You will love and hate.”
His powers re-activated, and the metal bent and swallowed him inside.
“You will laugh and cry.”
A black substance leaked out of the crest and drifted mid-air as he fell into the abyss underneath the wall.
“You will live and survive.”
Tears and blood mixed, and his empty eyes gazed at the darkness surrounding him.
“But I won’t be there for you.”
He fell underwater and felt it freezing his veins.
“I won’t be the father you always wanted.”
His blood condensed into a small droplet and started shaking.
“And you will forget me.”
The droplet burst.
“You will not need me anymore.”
A thick layer of darkness burst out of the ground to surround the forest and form a barrier around it.
“Even though… I’m in desperate need for you…”
Un frowned, seeing a flash of darkness in the sky before everything returned to normal. Telata stood next to her and raised an eyebrow.
“Even though… Loneliness is eating me away every second.”
The grey eyes gazed at the blackness.
“Even though… I let you go.”
He shut his eyelids.
“Take care of yourself.”
Rain.
“My son.”
- Writer
