They were all trapped in a staged play, the actors have no freedom but to carry out the roles forced to be portrayed by the them even without them realizing it. There's no other way out. It's been exhausting. Much more when they realized the truth, it was a terrifying as if you were left breathless after diving deep into the ocean and you couldn't move a single in your body. The strong pressure from the ocean is dragging you deeper down below. The moment you gasp for air water will drown your system.
Being the star of the play made it worse. As if the most important deed is to be done with her own hands. Aira's hands trembled as she held the necklace. Everything was just so ironic. After all the pain and the hardships. It took her a lot to prepare herself for the role specially made for her to play. Her sister was beside her playing as her comrade in every battle, providing all the support she could give but in the it was Aira who becomes her greatest foe.
The battle has once again started to fire up but this time it has only been in between Janus and the royalties. The guards has been ordered to return to their kingdoms to tend them from the blow they have taken from the fatal smoke that have entered their system. The royalties managed to endure and continue but they too were exhausted.
Habang patuloy ang pilit na pakikipaglaban ay nanatiling nakatayo mula sa malayo ang prinsesa. Bakas sa mukha nito ang mga natuyong luha at mapait na ngiti.
"Shit Aira!" halos sabay-sabay na napamura ang mga kasamahan nito nang bigla na lamang umatake sa direksiyon nito si Janus. It was too late for her to think of a defense or a counterattack.
Pabulusok ang pagsugod ni Janus mula sataas nakabukas ang mga palad nito kung nasaan ngayon ang umiikot ang kulay bulang tila baga. Ibinato nito iyon sa kaniya ilang metro bago ito bumagsak ngunit mabilis ang kilos ng itim na dragon. Sa kabila nang natamo nitong pinsala ay nagawa pa nitong madaluhan ang nakatulalang prinsesa. Siya ang sumalo sa nagbabagang bola nang apoy na siyang naging dahilan nang pagkakaroon nito ng malaking sugat sa dibdib.
Napatiim bagang si Aira at mas hinigpitan ang pagkakakuyumos sa kaniyang kamao kung nasaan ang thelysus. Halos magdugo iyon ngunit hindi niya inalintana ang sakit na dulot noon.
Nakaharang pa rin sa kaniyang harap ang itim na dragon.
Her expression turned blank. Right there she made her decision.
"Puff. Move aside." she commanded but the dragon seemed to not want to follow her order. It was so determined to protect her from any harm. It growled and opened its burned wings wide as if trying to shield her. Nagsimula nang tumakbo patungo sa kanila ang iba pa nilang kasama. Nagsimula itong bumato ng mga atake ngunit isa-isa ring napaluhod ang mga ito nang muling kumalat ang itim na usok.
Nagsimulang magbuga nang apoy ang dragon ngunit balewala lamang iyong dinaanan ni Janus. Nagtamo ito nang sunog ngunit mabilis din iyong naghilom. Ibinukas niya ang kaniyang palad at mula doon ay nagpakita ang kaniyang espada. Halos mapamura si Aira nang makita iyon sa siwang nang nasirang pakpak ng dragon.
Sinubukan niyang magtungo sa unahan ngunit hinaharangan siya ni Puff.
"Damn it!" mabilis siyang nagpalabas ng kaniyang kapangyarihan at saka pinagapang iyon sa lupa dahil sa nakaharang pa ring si Puff. Her attack didn't made any impact, it bounced back towards them just right after Janus took another step. It was Puff who received the attack.
Napatumba ito kaya nagawa niyang makapunta sa tabi ng dragon. She turned the thelysus into a sword.
Sinalubong niya ito nang atake at agad na nagtama ang kanilang espada. Their swords clashed against each other. Aira gritted her teeth as she took the strong force from the blow.
When their contact broke she immediately twisted her hands inward to position the sword for a thrust but he was able to dodge it swiftly. It left Aira's body open in a close fatal distance to her opponent. Janus immediately smirked and swing his sword. Aira ducked into the ground almost kissing it. Janus changed his stance and shifted his sword before thrusting to it to Aira who immediately rolled to the ground. She somersaulted and when just when she was able to stand Janus sword is already waiting for her. She already predicted that so she was able to prepare her sword in the same thrusting stance and twisted it against the demon's sword before forcefully pushing it away.
"You seem pretty determined but I won't let you get what you want." kumento ni Janus habang nakangisi.
Aira didn't mind. She engaged for another attack. It was another battle of strength as their swords clashed against each other. Janus is stronger. Aira's leg is already trembling when their swords broke contact. Umatras ako ng ilang hakbang dito.
"I just found this vessel and it seems to be pretty resistant. Don't you think this girl's body is perfect? You're allies have fallen already. If you give up now who knows, I might spare your life or you can be another vessel"
--
Agad na naigting ang panga ko sa sinabi nito. I tried to keep my calm but the inside of my body is already rampaging for blood lust. My hands are itching to slice him into pieces but every time I stare at him for longer than a second I see my twin. Despite the physical changing of his form I could still tell that its my sister's body.
I already made my decision. I never wanted any of this to happen. Never will I ever think of getting my own sisters blood in my hands as she breathe her last breath. There's no other way but to kill Janus while he is inside a vessel and taking physical form.
We came to life together, we cried together when we had our first breathe of air the moment we set our eyes to the world, then well die together with the same sword as we breathe our last breathe and close our eyes with last sight of each other.
This life is already been made cruel for us the moment we were born. I wish we can have a better one if we are given a chance to live a longer or maybe to live a new one. I smiled bitterly. I can't imagine how Alexis felt. She knew from the very beginning. How can she smile at me like there's always a tomorrow were going to face together.
My breathing hitched when the black smoke entered my system. I started to taste blood in my mouth. Naramdaman ko din ang pagtulo nito mula sa aking ilong. Muli kong naramdaman ang panginginig ng aking kalamnan. Tila tinutusok ng libo-libong karayon ang aking lamang loob. I know my body has already reach its limit, but no I can't die, not yet.
Napahigpit ang hawak ko sa aking espada. Nakita ko ang agad na pagngisi nito sa naging reaksiyon ko. Pinaglaruan nito ang kaniyang espada at pinaikot ikot iyon habang lumalapit sa akin.
"You're too weak for an opponent. I've seen you fight your good but I am invincible. I'm no longer giving you a choice here."
Isa pang ikot mula sa kaniyang espada at hinagis niya iyon para ilipat sa kabilang kamay. Damn it no! I clenched my teeth harder when I saw how he sliced his sword and how it cute through Puff's wings adding up to the injury it has been suffering. It's weakly leaning to the ground. This is bad. If it won't get treatment anytime sooner I'm afraid something worse might happen.
"I was just testing if it's sharp enough to slit your throat. I think its good enough for one blow."Tumawa ito nang malakas at pinadaan pa ang dalawang daliri nito sa talim ng kaniyang espada.
"Why not try on your own throat? Oh right! You don't have a physical form, your flesh must've rotten by now. You need vessels because you are too weak to take on any physical form." I countered. He just laughed sarcastically. He was fast enough to make it in front of me, he just stood there and smirked. I'm holding the thelysus in front of me with both my hands.
"You just gave me an idea. Brilliant!Since I don't have my body, do you want me to try it in this vessel?" halos magdugo ang labi ko sa panggigil. If he inflict any harm to himself it will just heal but I can't help seeing him doing that to Alexis' body. I'm not letting him do that. He knows how to piss me off.
Bago pa man ito makagawa ng hakbang ay ako na mismo ang umatake. I made a fast move and then our swords clashed loudly. I broke the engagement and by trying to put all my weight to my upper body and doing a flip. I made it to his back. I took a deep breathe. We are almost near my colleagues. The royalties were all kneeling to the ground while watching us, blood is coming out from their nose and I can see how the vein in their neck grew visible and dark. I caught Maia's eyes, she look weak and I saw a strange glint of emotion in her eyes I couldn't tell what was it. I immediately broke our contact and focused on Janus. I shifted my weight and then focused the force in my legs and gave him a kick. It wasn't enough to make him tumble but he made himself roll in the ground before somersaulting to stand up a few inches away.
I caught Jay's eyes, the same guilt was painted there, his face is blank. I can't tell him this but I hope he understand from the short second our eyes met. Its not his fault or anyone else's.
I gulped and breathed deeply. I heaved a sigh but just then I felt the lump in my throat. I bit my lips. I feel like a coward right now but there's no time to back out now. I saw how Janus started to take forward steps towards me but it feels like everything started to move in slow motion. I stared at Alexis' face and just then I remembered every single moment I spent with her and with the others. Those little moment were all the memories we had after all. Those fleeting hours we spent. She's just a few steps away but it felt like were miles away.
Sinimulan kong maglakad para salubungin ito. My steps were heavy I feel like I'm trying to walk against the waves of the ocean. Nakatutok ang espada nito sa akin. But no I'm not letting her hands be tainted with my blood. I wan't the fault to be one mine. I came closer and closer. I tilted to the side and reached for her hand holding the sword. I pulled her closer until our body clashed against each other. Our faces were side to side.
"We're going to live a better life after this. Let's try our best to live in our next lives. I curse it to all the gods and goddesses of enchantra." I whispered right in her ears. I smiled bitterly as I stare straight just then I caught a sight of Rhyan. He's frozen in his position, a tear fell from my eyes. Just when I taught I've got no tears left to cry.
I positioned my arm holding the sword to her back. I swear this is not goodbye. I'm going to find everyone in the next lives I'm going to live. We'll find each other when life is no longer cruel to us. He stiffened and that was the moment I had to do it. He wasn't moving even though my body is open for an attack.
I started thrusting my sword with all the strength I have. I felt the warm liquid flowing from the blades of my sword to my hands. I burst into sobs and my tears fell like a waterfall. I thrusted deeper and deeper. I can already feel the tip of the sword in my stomach. I thrusted deeper until I felt the cold metal penetrating my flesh.
"Stop it!"
I smiled at Rhyan. No I can't stop, not yet. I saw how he started calling for everyone but then the surrounding started to turn into a blur and their voices were all muted. I suddenly felt heavy I'm not sure if it's because of Alexis' body leaning of me or I'm running out of strength. I collected all the strength I had and thrust it deep. Naramdaman ko ang patagos noon sa likod. I started panting heavily. "Aira... l-let's do that." And for the last time I heard her voice. It was soothing even after stuttering and breaking. "P-please... try your best... to l-live."
My knees started wobbling I lost all the strength I have. I feel exhausted. We both fell to the ground. My vision was already blurry but I caught the sight of the moon. It's full and bright. The darkness covering enchantra from earlier is now gone. The battle has been going on all day and now is the end.
Just then I realized how the moon symbolized the unity of light of darkness. It's always been half covered in darkness but we call it full when the bright side is facing us. Sometimes, crescent and then sometimes we can only see the whole of its dark side. It's all about how we see things. There's no gloom of luminescence after all. This short lived life might have been all the cruel darkness but at least for a fleeting moment it was filled with light and that's enough.
For the last time I breathed my last breath, caught the last vague sight of my blood, felt the last feeling and it wasn't just pain there but content.
Until I fell to the depths of darkness
--
n o t e :
So first off, I want to thank all of you for making it this far. (I mean I'm a very boring author and I'm still bad at writing. Thank you for putting up with that. )
This is last chapter and the Epilogue will be posted next.(i'm not sure when though) Thank you for everyone who joined Aira and the royalties in this journey.
Life is short-lived indeed so let's try to appreciate every little detail. Let's help ourselves escape the harsh ocean pulling us to it's depths. Above the surface there's air to breathe, a beautiful sky to see and wonderful life to live.
I am extremely grateful to everyone. This is the second time I finished the story after rewriting it and this is my first novel so this journey is indeed a significant part of the whole path I will be taking. I won't stop here. I have plans on the next novels to publish.
Gloom of Luminescence is the first book in the Enchantra Series. The second one will be titled "Into the Fallen Ruins". It's going to be Welton's story and it's going to take place mostly in Astarynth the fallen ruins of the old Khizia where the demon Janus lead years ago.
So yup that's all! Again, thank you everyone!!!
-athena_enchantra