A Dance of Two Worlds

The Rain of Fire

Chapter Fifty-One

The Rain of Fire

Love has its own powers. It can create life but can also destroy a whole world.

Aden

6L 1/1/1/10

"This is the last warning. We request you all to retreat into your homes. The King has announced a curfew with immediate effect. If you don't follow the orders we will have to use force."

Michael was standing on the balcony above the gateway with a megaphone in his hand.

"To hell with your King. Let us out," shouted a man from the crowd.

"Open the gate."

"Don't drag our children in this war."

"Let us escape."

Michael knew that his warnings were useless.

He grabbed his mic and shouted, "Fire."

His voice shook despite his efforts to control his emotions. He was a ruthlessly ambitious man, but open-firing at thousands of innocents was too big, even for his dark soul.

A ghostly silence followed his command. Soldiers looked in his direction to ascertain whether he actually wanted them to fire at their people. Everyone in the crowd stopped in their tracks to gauge the seriousness of this command.

"Fire," Michael shouted again.

Now there was no doubt that Aden's soldiers had been given an order to kill the very people they had sworn to protect. There was a long, seemingly never-ending, pause, some sweaty palms, furrowed brows, flushed faces but then someone's finger slipped on the trigger. It had a rippling effect and others followed suit. In a moment of frenzy, the whole hell broke loose.

Adeners were confident that their own army will never shoot at them. But that first bullet shattered their trust, hopes, and dreams, and what followed after that took away their lives. Shrieks of clueless men, helpless women, and innocent children drowned the rumble of the thunderstorms. They tried to flee but there was no escape from the raining death. They cried for help but there was no savior to protect them. Every bullet that pierced flesh left a never-healing wound in the mind of this world. Every body that fell left a curse on its soul.

Michael never ordered his men to hold fire. His soldiers, stuck in a trance as if possessed by some invisible demons, just kept shooting. It was difficult to understand whether the downpour from the sky was heavier or the shower of bullets. Just like seven cycles ago, the blood of the fallen mixed with the rainwater to form Rivers of blood. But this time around, these streams were much darker and muckier. There was more blood than water. The history of one world had repeated itself in the other, in the most gruesome way.

Children have to pay for their father's sins, Adeners paid for it with their blood. To start a new era, all previous debts had to be cleared and the balance had to be restored. But that balance claimed a heavy price. And Aden was left on the brink of an endless abyss.

***

Jennifer was planning for the next morning's attack when Arnold brought the news to the Command tent.

"They are butchering people. We can't wait till tomorrow. There will be an ocean of blood and all that blood will be on us."

Jennifer paused for a moment. Her fingers started snapping. "There is no time for secret ambushes. We have to charge at them."

"You know that could be suicidal. They might be expecting us to do something like that." Jacob tried to rein her in.

"If you have a better idea, Jennifer is all ears. If we follow our plan and attack tomorrow, we might just be walking into a massive graveyard. Tell me, Jacob, do you want us to bide our time while that monster is on a killing spree. We promised those people a safe haven, so now we cannot abandon them at the time of their need."