what is death?
"EVERYONE, FLY AS FAST AS YOU CAN UP TOP, EARTHLY STRIDERS RUN TO THE OCEAN, NOW. I WILL BE GRABBING SEEDS TO PRESERVE THE GROUNDLY STRIDER CONTINUITY, DO NOT WAIT FOR ME, GO!!!," she screamed in an attempt to save the islanders.
Five,
Chaos filled the area along with a heavy sense of doom.
Four,
Tyl rushed to grab a bag of seeds so that if Groundly striders get annihilated they'd be able to rebuild.
Three,
Only three earthly striders made it to the ocean on time.
Two,
Lyt took Alan and swam with him to the depths, then wrapped himself around him for protection, Alan clung onto him like a child, buried his head into his chest, and then proceeded to cast a spell in the midst of the chaos
One,
The countdown ended, the beams launched.
...
"The end of the island, the inevitable
The material destroyed the mystical
May ten of each survive
May ten of each strive"
All of the Guenara rocks on the island lit up: two guenara rocks stood in a bidirectional sense relative to a strider and created an unbreakable protective shield. This happened to ten random striders of each group.
When the beams reached the ground, they created blinding lights and never-ending explosions, destroying everything on CosmicNeris, except for the ten of each the Guenara rocks secured. The protective rocks in active use got destroyed after they finished their job, however the other Guenara rocks did not get affected whatsoever.
A good number of cosmic striders survived, thanks to their swift flight, but only ten of the other two striders were lucky enough to make it.
A few minutes felt like days, as the explosions ended, everyone went back to the island to scout the damages.
Lyt went back up with Alan; the gruesome sight shattered his soul: ash that was once a beautiful vibrant body, all grey, lifeless and dead. Sticks of charcoal that were once trees, black, dry and empty, and a silent place that was once filled with trumpets, miserable, heavy weighing and dejecting.
Alan's knees failed to hold him, he kneeled and put his head down, there were three Guenara rocks around him, they started shaking, then lighting up, then levitating, then the light they generated went from white to dark green; Alan started levitating, he's no longer kneeling, he stared dead at the water between CosmicNeris and BarterNeris where barterschepos were making their escape, he and the three Guenara rocks teleported there, in the middle of the boats, just as barterschzepos were ready to fire, the Guenara rocks got into the ocean forming a triangle, linking each other with energy then extending the energy lines up making energy walls trapping all of the barterschzepos in. Alan's eyes started glowing in the colour of the guenara rocks, he looked at all of the disgusting ugly creatures as they looked at him stunned by what was happening, without realising it, they just fell into it,
TIER has been activated.
Alan gently whispered "one thousand" while tilting his head ever so slowly; all of them immediately fainted, for one thousand days to come, they will be there in that ocean, for wind currents and riptide to take them wherever.
Alan turned to BarterNeris, then teleported there along with the rocks, in one synchronised motion, the four of them heavily dropped to the ground, causing a ground shake.
"One half, three rocks
Summon walls, block
Make the secular stop
Annihilate it, shock
For too long, their hearts have been locked
Time for the new era to unleash, unlock"
The rocks formed a giant blocking dome around BarterNeris, and everything man-made within that dome started withering, the rocks will only be leaving nature's products.
Alan teleported to CosmicNeris, he finally returned to his normal state.
Cosmic and earthly striders came back to the island.
They surrounded him, then they kneeled simultaneously, thanking him for his immense efforts. They then got up and Tyl gave him a soft smile.
"I appreciate it, but, this is not over yet, could you get me some more guenara rocks, there's still one thing I need to do, and I will be doing it next night " said Alan, he knew he spent enough time in Neris now that he learned Tier and made an impact on the islanders, it felt right to start preparing for the next island and wrapping up his journey in the current one.
Striders spend the rest of the day and the one after it planting seeds and watering them, thankfully CosmicTrees, or the newly named Groundly Striders, grow relatively fast, in about three months they reach their full height.
While planting, Alan went to Tyl
"Tyl
-yes dear,
-I have a question, concerning the next island, and its people
-the Nyangotrama island, the Logachtiges, what about them?
-yeah...those, can you tell me what I should be expecting? Or things I should and especially shouldn't do
-sadly, my knowledge of Nyangotrama is extremely limited, I know a little bit about them, by that mean their figure, curse and guenara abilities, but other than that I'm pretty much clueless
-oh, it's okay, honestly, the best part about going to a new island is that incredible shock I get when they first tell me about their history, curse and especially magic, I'll discover that with them, don't spoil it for me, I now at least know the names, Logachtiges, and the Nyangotrama island.
-that's a good idea, I wish you a safe journey with them, and a mastery of their magic, you became family so fast and now you're leaving just as fast, it hurts a bit.
-it does, but remember Tyl; when you become too attached to someone it will be extremely hard for you to cope when they leave
-but when you detach yourself from them to protect yourself, you will never be able to feel the true depths of love.
...
Glued up, sometimes it's too much, messed up, lost, clueless, stuck in a vortex, what if the relationship becomes toxic and you find yourself too immersed to get out? Or what if it ends and you are not able to move on and heal?
Glueless, life would be boring, empty with no true feelings, you would never experience the grace of love, the love that seeps of the pores, the love that cures broken hearts and reconstructs withering souls.
Both are right in their own way, Alan thought about this, and he linked it to personal experience and stories he heard before, what is the right amount of glue one needs?
...
-true, true.. either way Tyl, you will be missed trust me, all of what I learned and experienced because of you and your people, and how it helped me grow and mature. I hope I linger in your minds as nothing but a sweet memory. For now, I need the guenara rocks that still exist, to finish what I want to do"
The time finally came, Alan went to the cosmic graveyard accompanied by Tyl and Lyt only, he turned to them and asked
"A dead body can vanish into thin air in a day or ten years in Neris, is that random? Are the babies summoning random, too? Death is a really mysterious event, or should I say, what's after it is. Have you ever wondered, what is death?"
To be continued...