Age of Heroes (Age of Heroes Chronicles)

Chapter 568: A revelation

Elkar was not afraid of Amara. He knew that Amara would not be able to do much as she is now trapped around the Godstree.

She could do some stuff but she clearly would not be able to harm him. So, he was not that fearful.

However, he does feel wary. 

Why would Amara contact him? Even though Astiel and Jurgan had chained Amara, Elkar himself had never met with the Goddess of Love.

So, he is curious why would the Goddess of Love would try to meet with him

'Is this an attempt so that I would help you?' He asks Amara. He was quite straightforward.

This is the only possible reason, he thought to himself.

From what he knows, Amara is probably trying to use him so that he would release her from her bondage

Astiel and Jurgan would surely not fall for any bewitchment of the Goddess of Love. However, he is different.

Maybe that is why, she targeted him. 

And he could not help even if he wants to. 

It is not like he knows how to break the chains on Amara and even if he knows, why should he side with Amara?

Elkar might appear like he supported the Demonkind but that is just in the surface. 

The real reason he supported Astiel and Jurgan is simply because they wanted to destroy the humans.

Their interest aligned with each other

And the Demonkind being the dominant race is simply a bonus for him. 

But today, seeing the result of his action up close and personal, there is a storm in his heart that he could not calm down.

He could forget about it when he thinks of other things and other matters but when silence envelops him, when he is doing nothing and trying not to think of anything, that is when the memories come and his heart is stirred again

One of the Royal guard of Arakath once said to him that it is only when you are face to face and kill your enemy that you could relay feel the weight of life.

Elkar did not understand that at that time. 

It is worth noting that the guard was drunk when he said it. 

But, today?

Today, Elkar understood what that guard was trying to say.

Today, as he kills people, kills children who wanted to protect their parents, heard the cries of mothers pitifully screaming to their children to run, the sorrow and anger suffused in the roar of the father, the sad and fearful cries of the child, that Elkar finally knows the weight of life 

He had never seen it, up close and personal. 

He was so blinded by hate that he forgot that the very same humans that he wanted to eradicate, also has father and mothers. They also have children, and people they love. They too feel emotions as he did.

And in his hatred he forgot that as no demon are all the same, the same could be said for humans.

Love could blind people. But hate is also the same.

He had killed. 

But it wasn't until all of it is done, not after he is seeing the destruction that he had wrought upon the tribe of these people that he felt the wrongness of it all. 

He finally realized what he had done and the feeling of wrongness seems to trump even his hatred

But, for a man who have live because of this hatred, who had based every action upon this hate, how could he accept it?

How could he accept that he was wrong? If he acknowledges it, if he accepts that he was wrong, that would deny all of his existence before.

And if he begins thinking like that...then what would happen to him? 

To turn back, he needs a courage unlike any other. 

And so he could only keep moving forward, deeper toward the Darkness. But even he knows, deep inside his heart, that moving forward is a path of no return.

He looks back at Amara.

Amara was a few feet away from him and she is floating up in the air. She was beautiful in a way that Elkar himself did not know how to describe her.

It is hard to describe her in an objective way since Love would distort the image he has of her.

Elkar would be lying if he said he was not attracted

It would be difficult not to be attracted to the personification of love itself. Just by seeing her eyes one would feel at peace and happy.

If Amara wanted to, this good feeling would then be able to turn into infatuation and even obsession.

This is why it is hard to give an objective view of Amara appearance. 

There are no words enough to express her beauty because of the fact that her appearance itself gives those who see her appearance the urge to fall in love.

But there are some seraphic runes that has been inscribed on his body that enables him to resist such bewitchment

Amara look at Elkar and there is a pitiful expression on her face. 

She then sighed

'I am not coming here to persuade you to release me. Using love to manipulate mortals is not what I do. But I don't deny people sometimes uses love to do unscrupulous things. I am sad for such people.'

'Then why come?' Elkar ask

Smiling Amara reply

'Didn't you pray for guidance?' She said. There is a proud smile on her face, like seeing her own son doing something good.

There is a weird feeling in Elkar heart when he heard Amara answers.

There is silence between them. 

The wind keeps blowing and the sound of the leaves swaying left and right seems to calm his heart down.

He wanted to ask what scheme she is plotting but what come out of his mouth was a different question

'Do I still have hope?'

Smiling Amara answered

'As long as you did not give up on seeking it'

Elkar closes his eyes and he was reminded of all the killings that he had done and there is a tear that he controls himself from letting own

He remembers the toy he saw before and he felt pain in his heart. That child...also has his parent.

Empathy. Pity. Compassion. These feelings that he did not know he had suddenly about to burst in his heart.

'I am alone in this world' he said.

Amara then said

'Do you want guidance?'

Elkar did not answer but Amara already knows the answer. If he did not want guidance, he would not have prayed.

So, Amara simply said

'You are not alone. You have a sister'

'What?' Then Amara smiles widely. She looks at Elkar and she spoke, the words were like a whisper of temptation that flew to his ears

'Find me' she said and then she disappeared. 

Like a mist receding after being blown by a powerful gust of wind, Amara, the lake, the green grass, the flowers all were swept away and Elkar was back on that road.

The cold wind once again envelops him and it was like being thrown out from Light to darkness.

He is standing alone, around him the mist of darkness ebbs and flow like a wave. 

Not far away from him, he could see Darkspawn slowly returns back to the Void as morning is about to come

The Day belongs to Light. 

That is one of the verse in the Gospels. 

The Darkness also receded. Elkar was shocked after seeing all of this

It is not because the Darkness is receding or the fact that the Darkspawn is returning back to the Void

That is normal for him and this is not the first time he saw such a thing

What shocked him was the difference of time. 

He was sure that he was talking with Amara only in a few second inside that illusion

But now, it seems hours had passed. The Sun is about to rise, dawn is coming and the reign of Darkness has also receded

'Astiel. Jurgan' he thought to himself. 

He then rushes toward the abyss and as he arrived there, there is no signs that Astiel and Jurgan is here.

He felt relieved that Astiel and Jurgan is not yet coming out from the abyss and then he himself feeling guilty for feeling relieved. 

The reason is because he fears that Astiel and Jurgan would have known about his mystical rendezvous with Amara, the one that Astiel views as his enemy

The word that Amara had to him, ignite some desire in his heart. And once that fire has been lit, it is now growing with the speed of a bushfire

The feeling is very complicated and because of that he did not know what he should do now.

he looks below, looking toward that deep dark abyss.

It seems Astiel and Jurgan is not yet finished with finding the Liquid of Reality, he thought to himself.

His heart is still beating wildly. He rubs his left chest

He calms his heart down. Then he remembers the word of Amara again, like some kind of chant that he could not really rid of.

He has a sister? He thought to himself. Is this a trap?

Amara had disappeared. Was it intentional on her part or was she under some restriction of the chains that binds her?

Find her. That is her message. Will he go? He asks himself but this is a pointless question. Elkar had already decided the moment he heard what Amara was saying.

He looks at the sky. 

In the distance, the sun is about to show it face. And he could not help but keep hearing the words of temptation of Amara.

He had made his decision. 

After this, he would try to rendezvous with Amara. He doesn't even care if it is a trap. There is a chance that it is true.

Like a lost man finding a map to his destination, Elkar is no longer feeling so lost.

He had a purpose. Maybe that is what settles his heart. Or maybe it is the revelation that he is not alone after all.

Who knows? 

The heart after all is a very mysterious thing. 

He sat down on the edge of that abyss, looking own at the darkness below that is slowly being illuminated by the shining glow of the morning sun.

Elkar could now see the pillars of a ruin of a great empire inside the abyss. 

He could see outlines of castles and palaces, buildings and houses, a trace of a civilization that must have been mighty and prosperous.

He looks and he waited, feeling alive, all of a sudden. 

He did not think what he would do if he really meets this sister or whether this story is true or not. He is just feeling lighter in his heart.

He closes his eyes and let the sun shines over his body.