A Story of Forever

Part 18

Meanwhile Aldo and Sakava grieved the loss of another parent. They hurt even more than they were hurting before. And they grew into strong, broken, radiant, tortured, kind young adults. And they continued serving the Uzras, for that was what they had to do.

One day Aldo and Sakava were on a voyage with Thrash and his household. They were far out at sea, with land not being anywhere in sight. They were full of rage and pain, and felt as if they were a part of the sea itself, with all its unpredictability and its terrible awesomeness.

Suddenly, Thrash's ship was set upon by a band of pirates. The pirates were all Yemars, and the pirates were all women. The pirates were a group of runaway Yemars who had vowed to be a scourge upon the Uzras and set as many people free as they could.

They fought so magnificently and so well, all moving together in perfect synch as a team, that Thrash and the other Uzras stood no chance against them. The pirates stole all the treasures from Thrash's ship, and they took Aldo and Sakava upon their own ship.

And so thus, Aldo and Sakava were set free. Where they went, the Uzras never found out. All the Uzras knew was that the two were not theirs anymore.

Aldo and Sakava lived long, fulfilling lives. Aldo became a hero, setting many people free on his many journeys. And Sakava became a spy, secreting forbidden information to all the Yemars, in preparation for the final battle to come. They had rage and hatred in their hearts. And they also had love. The type of love that could liberate the whole world.

Meanwhile, Wolver and Saviligg's children grew into strong youths. They were determined to make the world a better place, a kinder place, a fairer place. And so they planned to escape their destinies one day.

And by that point the resistance and its power had grown so strong that all four of them could escape the holds of the Uzras and do in their lives what they wished.

They looked at the sun and the moon, and they saw that the celestial bodies were trapped and fettered, tied to chariots just as the charioteers were trapped themselves. They knew that the sun and the moon had to be free, deserved to be free, and Karkion's fetters must be broken.

So they chased the sun and the moon, meaning to wrest apart all the shackles and fetters confinining the two celestial bodies. The wolf-being of the morning chased the sun in the morning. The wolf-being of the day chased the sun in the day. The wolf-being of the evening chased the moon in the evening. And the wolf-being of the night chased the moon in the night.

But as fast as they ran, they could not catch up to the chariots. They wondered if perhaps it was hopeless, if they could never free the sun and the moon. But they did not give up. They kept running, and running, and running through the celestial arcs in the sky.

Meanwhile, Harimon grew larger and larger, and Wolver grew stronger and stronger. Meanwhile, the armies of Oellon trained and planned.

Meanwhile Naia strengthened her in binding magic. She practiced and practiced, day and night, feeling all the bonds and shackles of the world and all the ties and magics that held them. She felt the very magic of binding itself. And she worked out how to counter it, in all the very many forms that it came in.

Now, Thrash had begotten a daughter named Feyna, and Feyna had grown into a beautiful and shining teenager. She was the pride and joy of Thrash and Tovara, inheriting Thrash's strength as well as Tovera's beauty.

But Feyna had fallen in love with a Yemar girl named Dramari. They kept their affair a secret from everyone, for they knew that what they were doing was very dangerous. But still, they taught each other how to love and how to give and how to be kind.

Dramari got it into her head one day that if she could just explain herself to Feya's father, if she could just explain her heart and her intentions and her love, then Thrash would understand. And Thrash would allow her to be with his daughter.

So she went to Thrash. And she asked him if she could court his daughter.

Thrash of course was very enraged and very put off by the boldness and the gall of this young Yemar. And he resolved to teach her her lesson once and for all.

Thrash mixed a drink for the young Yemar and in it he secretly put a poison that only Yemars were susceptible to. He handed the drink to Damari who took it in an eager attempt to please her girlfriend's father.

The two of them drank and they talked. They talked of many things. Mostly, Thrash asked Damari about all she knew of the universe and its nature and its origins. Thrash was surprised at how much Damari knew, for he thought that the Yemars were all stupid.

Thrash kept filling up Damari's cup, until eventually, Damari died. In her final moments she realized how foolish he has been and how she should never have asked for the approval of such a powerful Uzra. She felt betrayed, and she felt as if she had let her true love down.

When Feya heard the news of her death, she hid her tears.

Damari went across the river to Oellon and trained for the final battle there.

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