DIVINE CHAMPIONS 6: A FINAL CONFLICT

SUN: CITY WITH A FILMY NAME

As the plane descended, Ishaan looked out of the window of a city under them. This was the stop for their next layover. Nine hours of sleep separated the two stops. From the very start of the Arab world to the near end of it, Rick's Lejet had covered nearly ten countries under it in less than half a day. Once again, the Lejet would stop for two hours. The next leap was long, and Lejet needed to be ready. And once again, the guys would step out. Ishaan only hoped that things wouldn't go as bad as the last time in Dubai.

Ishaan remembered his mother making them watch a 1942 classic romantic movie, the first they had watched after his father had passed, nearly a year before. Funnily enough, the city under shared the name with that movie. Or, maybe the reverse.

In about fifteen minutes, they landed on the soil of Casablanca, the most populous and developed city of Morocco.

Night time in Casablanca was something to watch. With the sky painted in the darkest shade of purple, the city seemed as if someone had lit a thousand lamps in darkness. Rick checked his watch and said, "Midnight there. That means it is seven-thirty here."

"So, we slept all evening?" Mikael asked.

"Yeah." Rick answered.

"We've done worse." Ishaan said, as they laughed. Rick sighed as the laugh ended. "Worried about those two?" Ishaan asked him.

"A little." Rick replied, getting up as the two hour layover announcement was made. "A little. I've never not seen them during a quest. Ever since we've been going out into the other worlds, I've been there. So, I'm a little worried. But also, those two, together, are a magical duo. They gel in life, they gel in the supernatural."

"Rishi and Aitri make each other much more powerful than they normally are." Mikael said, as he picked his bag up. The door opened, and the three got out.

Getting out of the airport was uneventful. However, Mikael still wanted to do something. "Come on. Morocco can be fun too."

"You wanna eat the local food, don't you?" Ishaan asked with a mischievous look.

After Rick was done calling Meghna, they sat on a bench by a street soon after, munching couscous, when Ishaan took out a letter from inside his bag. "Guys, this arrived yesterday."

"Woah!" Rick exclaimed, "Eir?"

"Healing Hill, Giant-Land." Ishaan replied, reading the address. For some reason, Mikael's face dried up. Why did that happen? Ishaan wondered. Mik was his best friend, there was no doubt, but something was up with him. Everytime Eir would come up in conversation, Mik would become sad or something. Maybe that he felt bad for either Ishaan for not being together with his love, or himself not having someone too. Technically, he was the only single one in their group.

"Read it. Come on."

Ishaan opened it and started reading:

"Hey Flame Boy

I can't stay calm anymore. As the days pass, with this impending doom, and me knowing that you are supposed to battle the doom and I might never see you again, my heart runs restless. I hope you are on your quest, with your friends, and are safe. I pray to every single god I know that you are safe, and I pray that when I leave for your world, there is still a world to go to. My eyes look for answers around me, but all I see is white snow. There is a slight unrest in Jotunheim, but we are fine. The unrest has never reached Lyfjaberg, under the mountains. Oh, and Menglod and Svipdagr say hi. So do the rest.

The way you are making progress, I have nothing but pride in my heart for you, my love.

Please, stay safe. Don't die. And you better follow that, doctor's orders.

With love

Dr. Beauty"

"How cute!" Mikael said, a little unenthusiastically. 

"Is anything troubling you, buddy?"

"No, not at all." Mik said, finishing his couscous, "I'm just wondering how this letter was delivered."

"Rishi and I got to know once." Rick said, "It is so complicated that you don't wanna know."

Ishaan started to feel heavy. The words of the letter were so beautifully written that he couldn't help tears roll down his eyes. He felt immense pressure, and now, he felt sad. He wanted things to go right. He had to survive, for Eir needed him. She was leaving her settled life for an unknown world, only and only for him. She needed him when she arrived there. He had to live, without any doubt. He looked up, and prayed to Sol to keep his world safe. And then, he tried to cope with the heavy heart in his own way, the only way he knew.

Ishaan's eyes closed, and his voice found words. He found a fairly recent Hindi song, as its lines, verses, and tune flowed through his voice. It was an Ustaad Rashid Khan classic. It couldn't fit his state of mind better. He sang of the lover waiting for his beloved to come to him. He expected that when she would arrive, his garden would be filled with newly blossomed flowers. Then, rains would arrive, dancing during the monsoon, when their hearts would meet. 

He looked at his friends to find the next words, with Mikael listening eyes closed, immersed into the song. He understood very little, but he still got the abstract. Rick, however, was near teary eyed. Ishaan went on. He sang how the lover said that he lost his heart to his beloved kohled eyes, that, unknowingly, had made many promises. His heartbeats would slow down as he would say that when she would arrive, the rains would arrive too.

Ishaan opened the letter again, as he ran through the lines again. The music inside his voice never stopped. He sang of the lover staring at the moon during night time, and that he had handed his life to her. He said that he had twinkling stars on his eyelashes, despite the heavy rains that his eyes were experiencing. He said that his dream world would be blooming with her arrival. Ishaan finished his song with a sargam, allowing Rick to applaud this once again. "I awaited your first song ever since we started, little bro."

"Ishy, what is in that voice?" Mik asked.

"Not much. Just a soundeth yond shall stand ho anon." A female voice spoke from the corner of the road. Ah, here they go again. Ishaan got up to see a goth lady standing, knives out. She had black hair, that formed bangs on her forehead. She wore a full-sleeved black top, and black jeans. Her dark blue eyes were covered by thick kohl. And behind her, a cow tail hung and waved in air. "A Hulder." Rick said, as he stepped forward, his mind, perhaps, looking for a rune.

"Karena." Mikael said, his eyes frowning as much as they could.

"You know her?"

"She enchanted me and led me to Surtr's revival altar. If not for that cow tail, I would have never gotten free of her enchantment."

Soon, she was joined by another hulder, very similar to her, except for the short hair. "Oh Lords almighty." Mikael said, irritated, "Both of these were there. I thought they died."

"What is that accent?" Rick asked, "Why is she speaking Shakespeare?"

"She does that. It is irritating, despite my love for the man." Mikael said, "Beware of the other one. That one is a feline at war."

"Good." Ishaan said, conjuring fireballs, "I was looking for a hunt anyway." He wasn't. He said it because it sounded cool. But he prepared himself, as the two hulders hissed and attacked.