Age of Heroes (Age of Heroes Chronicles)

Chapter 580: Dreams of lake and a boathouse

Aegir then sighed

Because he was reminded of one prophecy. It is part of the prophecy related to Asrana and the Land of Strife and the people of the Three Tribes.

"It is a mercy given to them. It is a chance given to them. But when the Savior comes and they disbelieve, and take up arms against him, then We would punish them in such a way that no other beings had been punished in the world before"

That is the prophecy. 

That the Three Great Tribes would rise up again and when Asrana came, if they believe, if they aided the Great Savior Asrana in his fight against the Great Darkness Vasir, then the grace of the Creator would remain toward them

The goodness would spread and all that was promised to them would be maintained. 

But if they disbelieve, if they take up arms against Asrana, fought him, trying to take his destiny, then it is promised to them a great punishment would be given to them that no other creatures of the worlds had ever experienced before.

The heaviness of it could not be endured and one could only imagine what kind of punishment that would be

He reorganized his thoughts and as he thought about all of this heavy matter, his eyes grow heavy, and he fell asleep.

In that sleep, he dreamt of a spear. 

The spear seems to be forged by light and the stars split apart when the spear passes through

Like most dreams, everything is hard to determine. 

He saw a man wielding a claymore. The claymore crack and then an axe appear. This axe is small before it turns into a great axe and wielding by that person.

Then he opens his eyes. It is already evening and it is approaching the night. Aegir got up. The wind blew again, this time bringing a breezy wind that calm his beating heart

Aegir did not understand what he had saw. But he knew he saw something. He looks toward the Wall and then he nodded to himself.

'It is time' he said to himself. 

He then walks toward the Wall. 

The other tribespeople notice. Axum also notices it. He frowned for a second before he reminded himself

'The Chief is being guided' Remembering this, he calls the people. 

Follow the Chief' he said. 

Right now on the road, there is now a decrease of people coming inside the gate.

The path did not seem that endless now. 

Maybe, in the area of the New World, there is still many tribes that is coming toward the gate

But for today, the batch of people that is about to come in to the Land of Strife, most of them have passed through

Aegir woke up at the most appropriate moment. The people are not many, and it is not rushing. 

He walks toward the Wall, as he did not even hear the voice of Axum urging the people of the tribe to follow him

In his eyes, there is only the gate and the desire for him to go inside it. 

Behind him, the tribespeople pack up their bags and their sacks and stored the fruits of the tree and quickly leave the shelter of the tree.

They follow behind Aegir. All of them is now full of energy after that rest. Fully rested and determined, they walk with strength.

The moment they were far enough from the tree; people could see them. 

Such scene would probably scare people, to see a group suddenly appears out of nowhere.

Yet, when they were out from the invisibility seal that the Goddess had cast upon them, the wind blew harshly toward the area of the road of the people coming to the gate

Like there is a mountain wind that come crashing down toward them. 

These people avert their gaze, and they miss the exact moment when the tribespeople suddenly appear

Because of the harsh and strong wind some of the caravans were overturned, people inside it fallen out. 

'By the Gods!' Someone shouted in shock. 

Some horses and tamed beast run off bringing their riders with them. While some even dismount their riders away from them as they run away 

Chaos suddenly erupted in the road.

Dark winds cover their eyes as Aegir and his tribespeople who were on the other side of the road walk on the main road leading toward the gate.

The wind did not bar them and did not harass them. It almost seems like the wind parted away for them

When the wind settles and the dark wind dissipated, none of the people that is on the road and in the surrounding area notice that there is a group of people that suddenly appears. 

Some of them did not even have the energy to care as they lift up their carriages which was overturned, chases their horses and get themselves back up

Those who came from the same tribe held out their hand for each other and helping each other out

Dust fills the area, the eyes are hard to see and the wind mask any sound

Aegir did not notice all of this as he seems to be in a state of a semi trance, like his every move is guided by the Divine

But the people behind him do. And they understood this is another one of the miracles that is revealed to them

Some of them clench their fist, feeling anxious. They know the stories and they know the lore. The Land of Strife is a land where their Gods are blind and incapacitated.

The journey here is easy. But that was because they were blessed. Inside the Land of the Strife, they could not expect things to be the same.

They look at the back of Aegir and nodded to themselves.

After last night, they were convinced that Aegir, like the prophecy that their Seers had foretold, that he is the child that would lead the Arakian to a great future. 

This is the child prophesized by the Seer that will have a great destiny, to be honored above all Arakians. 

Many of the older ones believe now that the old prophecy is coming to life, that the sentence of great honor that is mentioned in the destiny of Aegir would mean that he would serve under Asrana.

The Darkness descend and Asrana would appear! 

The Great Conqueror of Darkness and the Great Vanquisher of Light will duel each other for the fate of the world

Aegir did not know the feeling that his tribespeople felt toward him as he walks toward the gate

Behind him, like some kind of congregation his people follow behind 

He looks at that gigantic wall, a feat that no tribe of the land could have achieved with their hands in one day.

He looks at it and felt how small he is compared to the gate. 

The Wall itself is even higher than the gate. 

It emits faint blue light and there is no longer black miasma around the area like it was in the past. 

A place full of desolation and death in the past now become a place with the most life.

Trees and flowers, and streams of water further north. 

The trees are tall and strong, the flowers are colorful and lively and the water is clean and clear.

It almost felt like a slice of Blessed Land were thrown onto the world and it landed near the Godstree.

There is only life, like the darkness could not enter. 

And there is darkness coming out from the gate airing out the miasma of darkness from the Three Kingdoms to prepare it for the strife of the century, to decide the ownership of the Sword in the Stone. 

Though it is in low quantity and one could not even see it if one did not observe carefully, Aegir could see it.

Aegir knows that this is the Darkness from the inside slowly being forced out from the Three Kingdoms

Once the most dangerous place in all of the Thirteen Tribes, now, the area around the Godstree is the safest place.

Then he looks at the Crystal gate. This too is a remarkable structure. A gate that could not be closed unless the formation magic in the Center of the Wall is activated.

And he is at the area of the center. There is three points of entry toward the Three Kingdoms. The North, the South and in the Center.

In a not so straight line, it divided the land between those which is outside it and those who is inside it.

Aegir could not help but feel amazed. The gate and the Wall is a promise that all of the Thirteen tribe has been waiting for.

To close the Gate, blood magic must be used. And that is as impossible as for the sun to rise in the west. 

To activate the Closing Formation Magic, it needs thirteen drops of blood from one man from each of the tribe. 

And the drop of blood must be given willingly. 

If not the crystal gate would then shatter and the chance to halt the darkness from spreading would disappear.

Aegir then is only a few step away from entering inside. 

He stops just before the line that divide in and out of the Wall. Then he looks back at the tree and he smiles to himself.

It would not be long before it turns to night. And in that one brief moment, he saw Amara and he was awestruck by her beauty that he become speechless.

The wind blows and a voice enter his ears.

'Go, my child' that is the voice of the Goddess 

The reason why he felt it was the voice of the Goddess is because the voice had brought calmness into his heart, it broke him from his state of speechlessness and his mind quickly become clear.

He smiles and then he finally notices all the people following him from behind and a knowledge enter his mind.

And he smiles. And sighed and laughed. 

He then said to his people

'It is time for us to enter the Land of Strife. What lies before us is a godless land. Here, our Gods have no power. They are too far away from us and they could listen no more to our prayers. If you believe in me, follow me. I believe that Asrana would reveal Himself to me as Amara had guide me' His people all nodded.

With this trust, Aegir then step inside the Wall and the voice dissipated and he could feel the blessing of the Goddess seems to evaporated from him.

But while there is no longer the blessing of the Goddess, the knowledge is still there. Smiling, Aegir begin his journey to find Asrana.

Under the Godstree, Amara look at Aegir taking that first step and she smiles. She looks at her ravens, the white and the black. 

Her gaze seems to convey a thousand words toward her ravens. 

The two pair of raven squawk and then flew up high toward the sky and disappeared using teleportation.

They were tasked with bringing the spear to Aegir when the time is right. 

Now, that Aegir has been put on the right path, Amara is waiting for that other child, that pitiful child to come to see her to know the truth about his family.

Amara did not distinguish between demons and humans. Of course, the demons she refers here is not heavenly demons but the normal demons that inhabits the world.

To them, all of it is her children. Her love is big enough for everyone. 

'At least, Aegir would lessen a bit of Arial burden' she thought to herself. Then she looks at her chains. On her right wrist in a chain swirling with fire. 

This is Everflame, a divine flame.

Compared to the beginning, the flame is even more powerful and even more subtle. 

As time passes, her strength would be sapped away from her and she would not even be able to provide any assistance to Arial

But she had never intended to help Arial in all matters. After all, what use is trial if the trial has no difficulties? Some things had to be done by yourself.

Only then could one find meaning in their adversity. In adversity, characters are formed. She had seen it all before. 

Sometimes, it breaks a man. Other times, it builds them. She hopes that it would be latter for Arial

It is quite the sight to see people overcoming the obstacles that put in front of them

On her left wrist, clasping it tight is the chain breathed by the Mighty Winter. 

It brings chills and degradation of magical power.

Of course, this chain did not affect the mortal world as it only affects divine beings. 

If not, the entire world would have been divided between two sides, one which is flaming and another which breathed in cold wind that would freeze seas and the air.

On her right ankle, there is a shackle that force her to be here under the tree. 

This chain gives of arcs of lightning. The one of the most destructive element, lightning shackles her feet.

On the other ankle, on his left, is the mud like shackles, drawing upon the power of the Earth.

The Chain of Ice and Fire, Shackles of Thunder and Earth is used against her so that she could not escape. 

The Elements restrict her hand, the force of Heaven and Earth force her to be trapped. In the end, it is also drawing the source of its power from the Godstree.

When the Godstree wither, she would also be released from her chains. 

But at that time, the Great Darkness would also have come out and Amara could do nothing other than watch the battle between Asrana and Vasir.

Feeling nostalgic, she looks at the stars. She closed her eyes and it was like she was back in that lake, tens of thousands of years ago.

Each time she is in this mood, she would be reminded of him

That man was smiling, looking at the star, his eyes are shining brightly like the sun. He plays the musical instrument and recite poetry to her.

And his smile is wide and it affected her heart as warmth enter her heart

The words he said are all remembered by her, like it is some kind of word of love.

Once in a while, when he would come to visit her, he would stay on the edge of the lake and listen to the insect in the forest. 

At times, they would watch the dawn together and waiting for the wind to rise, to stay on the lake with his boathouse

Even after all of these years, Amara could not forget that mortal. Love it seems for deities like her, last for a long time

Why would it be surprising? 

Gods sometimes in the eyes of humans is very childish. 

They hold their grudges for a long time. In the past, when a God holds a grudge, it would take several generation or even until that bloodline fades out before the deity finally manage to resolve the grudge

Why would it be surprising that it would be the same case for love?

Amara had grief and while it took her a long time before she manages to come out from that grief, even after all of that, she still loves that mortal

Deities have great power and ability. Everything is heightened with them. Even emotions. Especially emotions.

Then she opens her eyes and she was back in her current present. Then leaning her head on the trunk of the tree, she closes her eyes and went to sleep

She hopes she would dream a good dream. 

A dream of a lake and a boathouse.

There, underneath the Godstree, there is a woman of unsurpassable beauty sleeping and a White Hart lying near her feet

The sight itself is heart rendering beautiful. And like every beautiful thing, it would not last. Ethereal things, things that end, is always beautiful after all.

She sleeps underneath that tree, waiting for a demon child to come to fulfill a destiny

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