The Legend of Azhakkstadd

CHAPTER XXVII : OMEN, PROPHECY, AND FOREWARNING

-Nazif-

            "How are you?" I asked but she just answered me with a frown "What? aren't you feeling fine?" I asked again

            "No, I'm alright, let's go" she fastly composed herself and pulled me outside their house while the others followed right behind us

            "What really happened to you?" I asked her as I pushed myself closer to her and held her hand "You can tell me" I said while we were walking towards the school

            "Yea, I'll tell you, I don't understand either, I have to ask our principal about it first" she answered me calmly and faced down probably looking at our hands "What's wrong?" I mumbled

            "Nothing... what's with you?" she asked as she quickly raised her look to meet mine

            "What?" I asked her back with curiosity upon my tone... what does she mean? Why is she asking me that when she's the one who should be asked because she'd gone somewhere for days... right?

            "Nothing... I'm unsure, nevermind" she shook her head and looked away and took her hand back

            "What is it? tell me" I called her asking her to spill out her thoughts right now but she just ignored me and continued walking          "hey talk to me" I called her again, instead she looked at the others and called them

            "Guys" she lively went to them and raised her sword showing it to them, I was just left there standing facing them with still confusion and disappointment on my face

            "What is it?" I heard Kuzma asked as they stopped to listen to her

            "I don't know if I can still do it but...." she cut off what she was about to say as she walked a little away from us and motioned her sword into a circular shape

            "What are you doing?" Ashtan asked with amusement in his town as Aisha's sword glowed bright and suddenly a vibrant light blue something I didn't know appeared in front of us moving like a sea wave big enough to swallow us, oh wait! I think I know that...

            "What is that?" Kurezma asked with fascination upon her face... well probably that's a portal, I've seen that from history books, even from stories and folklores.... but I didn't expect that to be true

            "A portal" Aisha shortly answered with excitement written upon her face "Let's go" she invited us to enter, she lead us inside of it

            "Wow, this is amazing" Kurezma exclaimed as we went out of it and found ourselves in front of the principal's office... Well, that's fast... it bought us time though

            "What's the difference between Portals and Teleporter... or Transporters... whatever that is?" Kurezma asked us before we entered

            "You see, Transporter is only a technique were we Truenos and Lofts know, it's like a quicker ride towards wherever or whenever... but it's harder to use, it needs a lot of time and effort" Ashtan explained to Kurezma clearly "While Portal is a legendary skill, everyone can have the privilege to learn that... even from other tribes, but only the ones who are found worthy are gifted with that skill. Plus it's easier to use, you can use it to teleport yourself everywhere in Azhakkstadd, even into other dimension or galaxy, and into another timeline easier" he continued leaving an awe within Kurezma's face

            "So that's it" Kurezma uttered with so much fascination "So Aisha is a very special one to acquire it?" she asked, we all looked at Aisha to see a nervous look on her face

            "We'll... talk about that later... let's go?" she said as she knocked on the door and opened it. We all entered the office one by one and greeted the principal good morning. He signaled us to sit down and so we did.

            "We haven't seen you training these past few days, where were you?" our principal asked us with curiosity, so he noticed that we didn't go to school all at once. We forgot to tell him though ahahaha our bad

            "I was sent to the healing center and been there for two days to heal my wound and regain my strength" Kuzma answered telling his excuse

            "Yea, I heard about that surprising news," he said as he turned towards Kurezma, he must be proud at the same time surprised about her improvements to be the first one who wounded his brother ahahahaha "How about the others?" he asked again facing us

            "Something odd happened to Aisha last last day, you see, she didn't wake up from meditation, and she was like that for three days, we couldn't leave her because we thought we should stay there to look after her" I answered him that made him look at Aisha with a weird stare, it's a bit awkward... Why did he suddenly turn into like that?

            "Why?" he shortly asked "What happened to you? that's the longest one I've ever heard" he stated

            "But before she could explain we have something important to tell you" Ashtan interrupted right before Aisha could open her mouth "It's a bit important" he continued

            "What is it?" he turned to Ashtan waiting for him to talk about what happened

            "The day before Aisha went like that, when we were going home, something very strange came up" Ashtan initiated telling the story, he leaned forward as he continued speaking "Viggo showed up, and then things quickly happened, someone from the Fire Republic attacked us" he added

            "Wait, from the Fire Republic?" our principal asked out of shock and confusion "Is that true?"

            "Yes, it is" Kurezma answered "They just came out of nowhere, mocking us, then suddenly attacked. We told them to leave but they insisted and continued to attack us" she narrated shortly

            "Why? What's the reason?" our principal asked us again as he leaned to his chair caught in deep thinking

            "That's what we don't know, they were too hard-headed to tell us. They didn't even show us their faces.... those cowards!" I added which I received affirmation from the others

            "I didn't know that happened, why didn't you tell me?" Kuzma interrupted listening to what we just said

            "Are you sure they were from the Fire Republic?" The principal asked us for assurance if they were really Yanars

            "Yes, we're sure about that, they just attacked us with fire" I firmly answered him, I'm sure they were Yanars, I saw it with my own eyes, they used fire to attack us

            "But... " Ashtan mumbled which made us look at him "Nothing" he just said and shook his head

            "That's indeed strange, were you all hurt?" he asked us, but clearly we weren't

            "Kurezma did something that made them vanish into thin air" Ashtan brightly mentioned as he smiled to the principal

            "What did you do?" asked the principal shifting his glance from Ashtan to Kurezma

            "Nothing, I just sent them back to where they came from" Kurezma answered shyly as she chuckled softly

            "Oh that's nice, it seems that you're getting used to your power" the principal praised her improvements "Anyway, I'll send someone to investigate that incident, ok?" the principal told us "This is a bad vision of the future" he continued talking as he almost whispered

            "I have something to say" Aisha uttered that made us all stare at her, she seemed nervous, confused and at the same time excited

            "Yes, about what happened to you, tell us" the principal leaned towards the table waiting for Aisha to speak

            "Ok..." she initiated clearing her throat "I decided to meditate the night after we were taught by Ashtan to use thunder with our swords. I just thought that it'll help me to learn it quickly but I happen to stumble at a different energy source" she said

            "Happen to stumble? everything happens for a reason, dear" principal interrupted Aishe while she's narrating what happened

            "I don't know, it's what Viggo told me" she reasoned out that made us more confused "Listen to me first" she added

            "Go on," our principal said nodding telling her to continue

            "And then I was brought somewhere, I think it's the Spirit Paradise. I read about Spirit Paradise after I woke up, and it matched with what I felt and saw when I was in there. And then after that, I was again brought to Spirit Prison, the same thing with how I knew where it was with the Paradise" she continued talking with seriousness on her face, she's really telling the truth, I know when she does "After that, I noticed that each time I'm sent to different places, I noticed that my blade staff glows and creates portals, that's how I knew I could do it. After that, I was sent to the land of the Sorcerers, I knew it was the land of the Sorcerers because I saw their signboard plastered in an arc in front of their village. I even saw three people falling from mid-air" she stopped as she stumbled upon her thoughts "Wait, those three people are the same as those who attacked us!" she exclaimed "I'm very sure"

            "Are you sure? They were sent back to the Fire Republic where they belong, how did they end up inside your dream?" Kurezma asked

            "No, they were not in my dream, I tried talking and touching them, but they were not even there, it seemed like they were just a projection as if telling me something" she explained and gave Kurezma her look "The question is, why did you send them to the land of Sorcerers"

            "I didn't, I just made them go back to where they came from, I didn't mention specifically where they should be sent" Kurezma defended herself

            "Well that explains it, did you notice their fire was like red-purple-black in color? it's because they're not Yanars at all, they were Sahirs" Ashtan interrupted with his comment

            "Oh yea, I noticed that too" I agreed with him

            "Ok, let's proceed with her story, we'll have to investigate about that first to know the truth," our principal told us

            "Then after the land of Sorcerers, I was sent to the land of the Shadows and Unknowns, I saw their eerie place, and it looked creepy" Aisha continued her story "I saw their signboard somewhere that place so I'm sure I was there" she snapped

            "After going there, I was sent right to my room, but that wasn't the end. I saw myself meditating when I felt someone behind me, I looked at them then I saw Lux and Viggo" she said that made me frown again... who is Lux

            "Lux is the Guardian of Azhakkstadd, she's so beautiful, and she can read my mind," Aisha said in between her chuckle             

            "They explained what happened to me, and that's when Viggo told me that I accidentally accessed this skill. He said they didn't give it to me, the Gods doesn't even know I acquired this, but they said this is a need in the future so might as well keep it" she said as she looked at her sword "That's when I woke up... three days after" she ended her story and put emphasis on her last three words

            "That's weird... " the principal uttered softly

            "Yes it is, what's weirder is that I was sent, wherein using the portal, I should have control over it" Aisha added... well she's right when someone uses the portal, they should have control over it since it is easy to use. There's no way she could be forced to go somewhere she doesn't even know where.

            "I don't know what it says. These are like a mix of omen, prophecy, and forewarning" our principal softly whispered but it's enough for us to hear

            "I'm sorry, what was that?" Kuzma asked again to clarify what the principal wanted to say

            "Nothing" our principal refused to repeat himself without looking at us

            "I heard you said something about forewarning... and prophecy... and o-omen?" Kurezma repeated what she heard "What does that mean?" she asked herself out, I can sense curiosity within her

            "From your encounter with three strangers, to what Aisha saw.... " our principal started explaining "it has something to tell us, I just don't know what" he added, silence suddenly grew within the room. We all sank into deep thinking about what was this all about

            "What are prophecies, omens, and forewarnings? what makes them different from each other?" Ashtan asked our principal

            "Prophecy is basically a prediction, especially one made by our Shamans or counselors, even by chieftains while omen is something which portends or is perceived to portend a good or evil event or circumstance in the future, an augury or foreboding. In other words, it's a sign. And forewarning is an advance warning" our principal explained

            "So how does that connect to what happened?" Kuzma asked again as he leaned forward with his eyebrows almost meet each other

            "All those things that happened to you had something to tell you, you might as well be prepared" he started explaining again            "First those three strangers which happened to be someone else, who even appeared in Aisha's dream. Then those places she had visited, the paradise and prison surely meant something, then the Sahirs, Umbras, and Periits... I have a bad feeling about this..." he continued as his voice slowed down

            We all sat there and thought about what was happening.

            "Ok next time we'll be more careful, the principal" Ashtan stood up with determination and courage on his face "Let's go"

            "Thank you for telling us about this," Kuzma said as he stood up and followed by the others and me. We walked straight to the door and went outside.