Fear the Reaper

Chapter 9: Khestramore and the Archons

Nine

Pagkatapos maihanda ni Sauron ang lahat ng sangkap ay muli itong sumangguni sa akin.

"Shall I begin to rebuild the body, mistress?" tanong niya sa akin as I started to take off my clothes.

"Begin," utos ko sa kanya at hinahayang bumagsak sa aking paanan ang mga damit na binili ko sa mundo ng mga tao. These clothes are cheap to be precise but I can't wear my real clothes there and my real celestial form.

"Mistress, the body is ready," sabi niya sa akin.

Tumayo ako pagkatapos nakapaghanda at saka nilapitan ang nakahiga at nakapikit na katawan ni Zephyr.

"Prepare her clothes," utos ko sa kanya bago ako tumayo sa tabi ng higaang kinaroroonan niya.

Yumuko ng bahagya at saka inilapit ko ang aking mukha sa kanyang mukha. I slightly squeeze her mouth to open a bit and blow her life back to her own body. Red smoke came out from my mouth and entered Zephyr's. After that, one black snake slithers out of my skin and transfers to her naked body.

"She'll be awake before the sunset. We shall proceed to our destination," sabi ko kay Sauron habang binibihisan niya ito ng damit.

"I must warn you, Khestramore is a planet that is far from Earth. It's chaotic and the archons are always in constant war," paalala niya sa akin as we walk through the passage of space where we can cut the time short and get in there as I planned. The reapers I brought with me and those who resurrected are now constructing the damaged Domain.

"I already walked into a world that is the most chaotic I've been through, so far. Those pests won't scare me away and if only I am not through to my words. I wouldn't be here," sagot ko sa kanya.

Sauron followed me with his dwarf form. I rescued him back when I was checking the work of my people and found him being abused by his Achdemon master, Baal. I pitied him so I asked Baal to give him to me instead. He was sick and on the verge of death. I can smell the death scent from him. Sauron is the last of his kind. He's a necromancer celestial. And one of his expertise is to create a body that is stronger and sturdy than humans. Cerberus, Morphues and Zephyr are the three examples he created. And so I grant him a life of eternity. But that eternity will end if I take my snake out of his body. If he betrayed me, he would die and he's aware of that.

He chose to live here because this is the place he thought he fits although he visits me in Axis mundi.

"What tree are we looking for, master?" tanong niya sa akin.

"Zariya. It's the tree that I created to be the heart of the planet I created."

Narinig kong sagot ni babaeng tumulong sa akin.

"Zariya," sagot ko kay Sauron.

"Oh the heart of Khestramore," sagot niya. "This way, Master. I'll lead you to the way where we can find the tree," dagdag pa niya.

While walking, the souls of innocents are looking at me, begging me to take them as they know what I am. Their desire, anger, pain and plead are echoing.

"Please, help us. Take us to where we should be, Celestial reaper. Take us! Don't leave us. We're begging to you, oh Celestial reaper. Take us," tila iisang boses ang nagsalita. It's hard for me to ignore it. Since the destruction of my domain here, normal settlers like humans and do not belong to Celestials naturally die from war, sickness and natural death. Their souls are roaming around and it is my job to take them to the place where they can rest and wait for their final judgement. Zephyr is the one who's in-charge to this rarely heard planet and she's the one who manages to ship them to Axis Mundi.

"Master? What should we do? The domain is still under construction. We cannot accommodate them at once," sabi niya.

Bumuntong-hininga ako at saka pinitik ang aking mga daliri. The sound I create isn't that loud but enough for the Sea of Hades to hear where the ship of Charon docks. Isang malaking hiwa sa ere ang biglang lumitaw sa ibabaw mismo ng malaking ilog na kinaroroonan namin. Hindi nagtagal ay lumabas sa hiwa ang malaking barko na yari sa mga daliri ng mga taong pumanaw na.

"Boss!" sigaw ni Charon. "I heard you. Do you need anything?" tanong niya sa akin na dumukwang sa deck ng barko.

"Yes. Please bring these souls to Axis Mundi. Notify Grimm and tell him to start sorting or they will fade and will become goner," utos ko da kanya.

"Copy, boss," sagot niya at sa akin before instructing his fellow ferrymen. After restoring Axis Mundi partially, Charon's men started to do their job after being resurrected.

I left them to do the job together with Sauron.

"We will be there in a few minutes, mistress," sabi sa akin ni Sauron as he leads me to the way of the tree. Ilang sandali lang ay dinala niya ako sa isang paanan ng isang mabatong bundok.

The clouds are black and the rain is about to start.

"The weather here is unstable, mistress. But we need to hurry. We need to climb this mountain and if we reach the center, we will enter a small way that leads to the mountain's heart and there we can find the Zariya. It is the heart of this mountain. To be able to get this planet stand against the result of the constants warnof Archon, the tree must be protected at all cost," sabi pa niya. "Shall we begin to climb, mistress?"

There's no way that I will waste my strength in climbing. Hinawakan ko ang kanyang balikat at dinala agad sa b****a ng kweba na nasa gitna ng bundok.

Napahawak ito sa kanyang dibdib at bahagyang namutla.

"M-mistress, i-is that how you travel? I feel nauseous," aniya na bahagyang napahawak sa pintuan na bato.

Napangiti ako. Of course I smile only to my people.

"Bakit? Hindi ka pa ba sanay?" natatawa kong tanong sa kanya.

"I will never get used to the way you travel, mistress," sagot niya.

"Or would you prefer riding on my snake form instead?"

"No thanks," sagot niya agad na mas lalo kong ikinatawa.b

He clearly hates it when I mentioned my snake form to him. When he first ride on my back, sabi niya ay nag mukha daw siyang kuto sa laki ko. At halos ay mahulog siya dahil sa wala siyang makapitan.

Pumasok kami sa loob ng bundok.

Malayo pa lang ay nakikita ko na ang mga halamang may iba't-ibang kulay raging from pink, magenta to violet. All of them are glowing na nagmumukhang tanglaw sa madilim na kabuuan ng bundok. Ang mga paru-paro ay may iba't-ibang kulay na tulad ng mga halaman ay naggo-glow rin sila habang palipat-lipat ng dadapuan na bulaklak.

"This is a breathtaking view, Sauron," manghang-manghang sabi ko sa kanya.

"Yes," nakangiting sagot ni Sauron. "Everything here was like pulled directly in fairytales from a human's imagination," sagot niya. "The Archon who made this planet is gentle and loves beautiful things," sagot niya.

Lihim akong tumingin kay Sauron. He never appreciate any beauty since I met him at nakakapagtaka kung bakit nakapagsalita siya ng ganoon. So it means he likes this planet.

"Tell me more about it. Maybe the one who freed me from the dimension was the Archon who created this planet," sabi ko sa kanya.

"Her name is Ellemore. According to Zephyr, Ellemore is an Archon that loves peace, tranquility and nature although she is the weakest archon ever existed. Archons are labelled as Gods in this part of unknown place to the humans where Axis mundi is located. Archons are prideful so they are always at war. To avoid this conflict, Ellemore fled from their home and went to find a place where she can create a world that is full of peace," sabi niya sa akin.

"This world wasn't created as I remember," sagot ko sa kanya.

"Mistress, that's because you were locked up in a dimension for so long that everything you used to know has been changed. Archons have been created by the Chief himself ," sabi niya.

"I'm aware, Sauron. But I thought they were the weakest creature that my Lord has created," sagot ko sa kanya.

"No, mistress," aniya. "I witnessed everything. Those creatures tend to evolve. As the time passed, their abilities and powers grew and they are no longer weak. Unlike humans, Archons are much stronger than them. Humans are created because of the Chief's love and Archons are created to guide the creatures that the Chief created there. Only Ellemore, out of countless Archons fulfilled the Chief's wish, is it to create a world for them," sabi niya ng marating namin ang punong sinasabi niya.

I was speechless. The tree is the most beautiful tree I have ever seen. The leaves and some parts of it are colored pink violet and it is glowing. Base sa laki at mga malalagong dahon nito at masasabi kong napakatanda na ng punong ito.

Nilapitan ko ito at saka hinawakan.

I heard it crying.

"Help..help.." narinig kong sabi nito.

Nakita kong kumikinang ang maliit na bilog na nasa lumabas mula sa bulsa ng aking damit.

"Thank you," bulong nito sa akin. "Thank you for fulfilling my wish," aniya pa bago ito lumutang at pumasok sa loob ng puno.

The tree suddenly glows in full blast that lasts for a few seconds until that glow fades away and returns to the normal glow it had a few seconds ago.

"I don't have to ask why you did that, mistress. I can clearly see that the ball you were holding was Ellemore's soul, I believe," aniya.

"Indeed. She's the one who found me in the dimension I was locked up in. Although she sacrifice her legs for freeing me, I have all my respect and gratitude to her," sagot ko sa kanya na muling hinawakan ang katawan ng puno.

Nakita ko napaluha si Sauron.

"I take that you and her knew each other for you to shed tears for her," sabi ko sa kanya.

"Yeah," sagot niya sa akin. "And I was the one who told her about you, of how kind you are despite being feared by everyone," aniya pa.

"You know I'm not that kind," sagot ko sa kanya.

"At least for a wrecked creature like me," sagot nito sa kanya.

Ngumiti ako sa kanya.

"Why is that?" I chucked. "Maybe because you're like a brother to me. Don't you like to see what I see from the beginning and no ending?" tanong ko sa kanya.

"It's always an honor for me, mistress," sagot niya sa akin. "And may I know what gift you have bestowed to Ellemore?"

"That is for you to see one day when her time comes," makahulugang sagot ko sa kanya.

"Well then, shall I tour you around?"

"Lead the way."

Sauron and I left the mountain and left it at peace.

"You see, mistress, Khisfire consists of six nations. It was actually seven nations but the last one is considered as wasted land. No living creature is able to live there as it was cursed," sabi niya sa akin.

"Is there any place that is more cursed than Abyss?" tanong ko sa kanya.

"Well, the other healthy nations are Alfar, Hrothgar,Gaea, Aquar, Celestia and Rixvex. The last and most wasted one is the Door of Mortala."

"Related to death huh?"

"Would you like to see every nation, mistress?" aniya pa.

"Sinabi ko ng lead the way, Sauron," sagot ko sa kanya.

"Of course mistress but we need to change our clothes and of course our appearance. We don't need that attention from those Archons," sabi niya.

"Okay. Let's go. I can spare a day or two for this tour before I go back to Axis mundi," sagot ko sa kanya.