Undying

As Haji grabbed one of Lurkia's head, he looked at the terrifying castle from a far. He must find Kradus immediately. The Aeonis were giving their all to fight. The umbra hunters were highly equipped and so with the Aeonis. Even if the hunters were two times bigger than the aeonis, they still advanced in numbers. It took two or three aeonis against a single hunter to bring him down. Painful screams and voices could be heard everywhere as the blood and sweat covered Haji's slightly wounded body.

"Come on!" Haji ordered Lurkia, veins popping out from his neck. Lurkia was about to flock his wings, ready to fly higher towards the castle when a sudden arrow hit his left wing.

Lurkia roared like a broken thunder and Haji failed to grab tightly and fell on the ground. Both the warriors and the hunters were frightened by the monster's roar but it never made them stop the fighting.

"Lurkia!!" Haji shouted as Lurkia struggled on the ground and wiggled its tail carelessly. The rampaging egori might hurt other aeonis if he would gone berserk. Haji immediately held his whistle and tried to summon Lurkia but a hunter attacked him from behind. Haji used the swords as shields and fell on his back.

"How dare you, human!!" the fierce hunter shouted Haji in the face, his saliva dripping on the janix's armor. Haji used his head to hit the hunter's own which made the hunter frowned in annoyance.

"Why don't you just go home!!" the enemy shouted and striked Haji using his fine sword with full of strength. Their swords clanked as Haji tried to cover himself, helping his own body to stand. Haji kept kicking on the ground to widen the distance between him and that overhyped hunter. But, the hunter was too strong that he never let any chance to slip and kept attacking Haji. Haji finally got the chance to escape from the trap and rolled towards his left before the enemy's sword could hit him. As the hunter tried to use his full force while attacking Haji, he lost his balance. The enemy's knees hit the ground but he immediately turned his body to face Haji. Haji wielded his swords with full strength as the enemy used his to defend himself.

"YOU!..." Haji striked the hunters sword and it broke, "...SHOULDN'T!.." Haji shouted. The janix could feel his viens popping out from his head and his bloody neck, still striking his swords wildly "...HAVE KILLED THE BABIES!!" Haji shouted as he realized the hunter below him was already dead. Lurkia was attacking the hunters from a distance and he looked at Haji.

"Hey Pal! Over here!" Haji shouted but Lurkia ignored him. Lurkia continued attacking the hunters using his tails.

"Janix! The leader is dead!!" A warrior shouted and Haji felt a sudden pain somewhere in his chest.

"You should know by now!!" a hoarse and manly voice shouted and Haji felt a stinging pain on his waist. Someone attacked him from the back without him noticing it.

"Your friend is dead!! Hahaha what will you do now?! Human?!" the enemy said while making a demonic laugh. Haji shouted in his mind, "NO!! HE CAN'T BE DEAD!"!

"NO!!!" Haji shouted, attacking the enemy using his sword. Haji felt out of control as he remembered everything about Jhavu. The way the aeoni supervised and guided him.

"Janix! you must wear this!"

"Janix! you must do this!"

"I trust you, Janix"

"Janix!"

"He is not dead!!" Haji shouted and gritted his teeth. Haji attacked all the hunters recklessly and wildly. Every hunters were killed mercilessly.

"Jhavu is not dead!!" Haji attacked every hunter on the field, his eyes burned with rage and wrath.

"Janix! remember this..." A hunter attacked Haji from behind but he felt numb.

"...you should fight with all your heart. Don't fight with anger. Control your feelings, Don't let your feelings control you." Haji shed a tear as he tried to compose himself. Getting his senses back and observed the surroundings around him.

"...But my name is, Jhavu"

Haji closed his eyes and he felt a sharp blade was coming towards him, luckily it didn't hit him. Haji immediately opened his eyes and saw Lurkia in front of him. The egori's transparent wing was covering him and the sword hit it.

"What the-" Lurkia collapsed in front of Haji.

"Fuck!!!" Haji stood on his feet and picked up the swords.

"Pal wake up!!" Haji shouted as he tried defending himself and fighting against the hunters.

"Lurkia wake up! I need you buddy!!" Haji shouted and attacked every hunter who dared to come near him and his panting egori.

"Thank you for saving me pal, please stay with me!" Haji shouted. Lurkia's wing was bleeding badly and he has gotten weaker.

"A flaming stone was made from an egori"

Haji remembered Zakir said. Haji thought, "It could heal him!"

Haji started looking for a flaming stone around but he couldn't find anything.

"Hey!! I want you to make a stone for me okay!!" I

Haji said while he tried not to panic.

"Try hitting that big stone with your flame!!" Haji said to Lurkia and pointed the big stone from a distance. Lurkia followed what his partner said and he made a silver fire and breathed it srtongly towards the stone. The big stone broke and it turned into ashes. Haji hurriedly ran towards the ashes and gathered a handful of it and put it inside a cloth. He hurriedly tied it up and kept it under his armor. Hunters came to attack Haji while he counterattacked them with his swords. Blood spilling on the ground as Haji hurriedly made his way back to his poor egori. Lurkia returned into its cat form and looked at Haji with sorrowful eyes.

"You're gonna be okay huh! We're gonna be fine!" Haji said and looked directly into the egori's eyes. Haji immediately took the ashes out from the cloth and poured in unto Lurkia's wounded wing. The egori didn't flinched but he looked hurt. Haji rubbed it firmly and Lurkia finally was able to stand.

"Can you fight?" Haji asked and Lurkia gave him that I-can-be-the-best attitude again. Haji blowed his whistle and Lurkia immediately turned into a monster again. Attacking every hunter that comes near them, they parted directions and fought nonstop.

"We're losing!!" another aeoni shouted and suddenly a hunter attacked him from behind and slitted his throat.

"No!!" haha was too late to protect him and he attacked the hunter who killed his ally.

"What made you think you're stronger than us?! fool!" the enemy said and then he spit on Haji's face. A slimy and hot liquid landed on Haji's face and it traveled through his eyes. It was painful and itchy. Haji made a horrifying noise as he tried to get rid of the stinging pain in his eyes. It felt like acid.

Am I going to lose?

Am I gonna die here?

Haji could see the hunter towered over him and was about to cut him with a sword. Haji saw Lurkia from a distance trying so hard to come towards him and then...

"AAAARRRGGG!!!" the hunter roared and then he fell down. his body was set into fire and turned into ashes. Haji looked at the monster behind it and he was horrified. His mind sank as he thought, "How did he happened to be here?!"

"Agya?!" Haji shouted. It was the real thing. The monster standing right in front of Haji was Zakir's egori. Haji was about to ask a lot of things. How Agya left Antos to Aeonria? Where is Zakir?

But before Haji could say anything, Agya started breathing fire, attacking any hunter who dares to come near him. Lurkia stood beside Haji  and bended his knees. Agya spitted Haji's face and his turned back to normal. Haji climbed on top of Lurkia an rid him. Lurkia's wings spreaded finely and the moment he flapped both his wings down, Haji saw a miracle.

Hundreds?

Thousands?

Too many of them. There was a harmonious sensation deep inside Haji as he saw a familiar figure. It was Zakir. Behind him was his all in all tamed Egoris. Haji roared like a thunder in the sky as he saw Zakir's egoris approching towards the enemies.

"FREEDOM FOR AEONRIA!!" Haji hailed and the warriors finally regained their moral strengths. In flash seconds, the egoris attacked the hunters aggresively. Biting their heads off and tearing their flesh apart. The sound of the enemies' defeat was approaching. Egoris devouring every hunter as the hunters tried to fight back for the king. Clanging sounds of broken swords, splashing colors of green on the ground and the dying soar of the battlefield. The kingdom fighting and killing its own city was very lonely. More umbra hunters were coming towards Zakir and he avoided their attacks, protecting himself from harm as he drew his sword. He fought the hunters like they were just dummy bodies and swayed the sword playfully. Haji could hear beneath his ears the sound of victory. The pleasant screams of his army, the blissful blood and the rain showered upon him.

Haji thought, "No other man could be tougher and more independent than Zakir. He's the coolest person I've ever met."

Zakir took four hunters at a time. His egoris backed him up as the other hunters tried to attack him from behind. Even without looking, Zakir could manage to stab his enemies from the back using his hidden fifty daggers underneath his cape. Agya roared a thunderlike sound as Lurkia and the other egoris roared in unison. The kingdom might have detected what has been happening on the battlefield. Soon, another batallion of hunters arrived.

And another endless war started again.

"DONT LET YOU FEARS INTERFERE! THINK ABOUT YOUR CHILDREN! THINK ABOUT YOUR WIVES! THINK ABOUT THE CITY!!" Haji shouted as he saw the panicking faces of the warriors. Zakir took a big horn from his back. The horn was composed of his thousand whistles and he raised it on the sky. He blew the horn and the thousand whistles began to create a harmonious sound.

The sound of Unity.

Different types of sounds blended in one melody. Like that the sound of a phoenix summoning a dragon.

All together, the egoris spreaded their wings, stomped their feet like hungry predators. Creating smoke from their noses and revealing the different colors of their eyes. Power, wrath, peace and courage. Without signal, the hunters screamed as they ran in the middle of the battlefield. The egoris greeted them with colorful yet hellish fires. The view was hell. Haji saw Lurkia flying towards his spot. Haji raised his hand to grab one of Lurkia's foot. Lurkia catched his hand before Haji could touch him. The egori swung Haji above him and the janix landed on Lurkia's back.

"Nice catch buddy!" Haji said while tapping their heads. The seven rebellious heads sneered and the other one, obviously became Haji's bias rubbed his head gently againts the janix's palm. Haji thought, "I should cut these seven heads off if I have time, just kidding!"

"Now take me to the castle" Haji ordered Lurkia and grabbed the egori's neck tightly. Lurkia traveled the air like a bird going along with the wind. The view below was like an image of an inferno. Haji could still see Zakir fighting the hunters bravely and managed to deal with them still unscratched.

Haji prayed, "Please survive, Zakir. Jhavu's death was so painful -that I may give up this war if you'll die too."

If Haji would win the war, he could have his ship back. And then, he would go back to Earth.

"But if I happen to lose this battle, I will die happy. Because I know I tried. They may hate me. they'll get lonely and miserable. But at least I tried. And I am sorry for that." Haji said to himself.

Haji wanted to let king Kradus know what the city really feels. Let Stalwa know what the egoris feel. And let the city feels what is war, what is peace, what is a must and what is freedom.

Haji said to himself, "In a kingdom, there can only be a king who deserves the throne. A king who will fight for its people. A king who has trust and love towards his kingdom. King Kradus can't be one. The unrightful ones should be stopped. He must wake up!" 

"Let us wake him up" Haji said and tapped Lurkia's back. They darted towards the castle and made a disastrous landing on one of the towers. Lurkia's claws strongly held the bricks to prevent them from falling. Haji hurriedly climbed up and rolled on the sandy floor. Haji stood on his feet and raised his head as someone called his 'name'.

"Impressive, Janix!" the voice said calmly. Haji felt his pores opened and goosebumps corrupted his whole body. The owner of the voice was wearing a cape similar to Zakir's, yet a fancy one. He was wearing a mask which Haji assumed was a wooden mask. It was a face of an aeoni carved in a wood.

"You made it here..." the king paused and a sudden creature appeared behind him.   Lurkia growled like he knew the creature behind the man.

"...and you got to bring my old friend here too" the masked king continued and averted his head towards Lurkia's direction.

It was the real thing.

He is the king.

"Kradus" Haji said underneath his heavy breaths.

"Indeed" the masked king replied.