Human lives fades faster than anything. A second to a traveller, an eternity for humans. Once the fire of life fades in them, they will fade, they will die.
No matter what you dream or what you want, in the end ones you die, you can never have a second chance but
I.
After the events of the Mirage Tower, Aishir went back to Uryu, where she lived for awhile as a normal girl.
"I'm going back to Eastice for awhile, I need to check up on something," th Stranger said to Aishir after he took her back to Uryu.
"When will I see you again?" Aishir asked.
"I will come back for you and I will," the Stranger said then he drew a griffin and he disappeared for years.
Ashir lived her life as it was, with her little brother, Samirah and her little brother. After three years, Aishir married to a royal guard of the current reigning king, Ur-Nungal, the son of the late king Gilgamesh. She was employed as the a handmaid to the current queen, Suabi.
She became a mother in the age of 23 to a boy and a girl which they called Amir and Aisha, from the siblings Aishir met in Mirage Tower. She told them of the Stranger and his magic, his intellect and the adventure they went to. She also told her husband of the Stranger, who dismissed the myth of the Stranger who went against of king Gilgamesh.
"Mother, where is the Stranger now?" Amir asked.
"He is somewhere far from us, a land where nobody has entered," Aishir would say.
"Will he come back?" Aisha would ask.
"Of course, then we will ask him to take us to places!" Aishir said with a wishful smile, a smile of convincing herself of that day would come.
She served the queen for 20 years at the most. Even after so many years, she still dreams of the day the Stranger would turn up, with his weathered traveling cloak, his phoenix quill and his childish acts. She held to the promise of the Stranger that he will return.
One day after returning from the palace, she saw that their house has been wrecked. She rushed inside their house, she saw her husband bleeding on the floor, she rushed to her husband, tears filling her eyes.
"Wh--what happened?!" she said to her half conscious husband.
"Th--they too---took---" then he faded from the realm of the living.
The children! Aishir thought as she rushed towards the room of the her children but nobody was inside, just a scene of someone taking her children away.
She rushed outside her house to ask for help but nobody was looking at her. They know, she thought but nobody told her.
She rushed towards the house of her brother but it too was rumaged and her brother laid there motionless, with his wife and son.
Aishir could only do was collapse on the floor and cried. Who could do this?! Why?! then someone tapped her shoulder. She turned and she saw them. Those youthful gray eyes inside an old wrinkly shell of a man.
"Hello? What happened?" the Stranger asked.
II.
After being told what happened by Aishir, the youthful, quirky gray eyes of the Stranger were filled with rage.
"Aishir, let's go," the Stranger said getting up beside Aishir.
"Wh--where?" Aishir asked in a broken voice.
"To the palace. I already heard of a kingdom trying to reach Eastice and with your story, I know who did," the Stranger said while he was drawing a dog with three heads.
"Wh--who?"
"The son of my student, Ur-Nungal," the Stranger dripped his blood on the paper and the giant three headed dog, with red eyes, rows of teeth on each head, black furred, fire spouting from center mouth, ice from the right and acid from the other. The smell of decay was prominent on the dog. It growled and snapped at each other but the Stranger blew into a silver whistle but no sound came but the three headed monster, sat on its hind legs.
The house of Yasir was destroyed when the dog appeared, while the surrounding houses got wrecked, so the people ran away from the three headed dog. Screams filled the air, chaos roared.
"Wh--what is that?!" Aishir said.
"This is Cerberus, well, a cerberus, its a demon from a pantheon but this is not the time to tell you," the Stranger said. He offered his hand to Aishir. "Let us go and save your children." Aishir took up the hand and got up.
The Stranger blew on the whistle and the three headed dog bowed to let them climb on it. "Is the big creature necessary?"
"Of course!" the Stranger said holding on the fur of the dog. The fur was soft like a fur of a real dog. "Hold on! Cerby here runs fast."
Aishir laughed, it felt weird for her to laugh even after what she experienced but she felt exilhariated because of the old man in front of her.
"Why are you laughing?" the Stranger asked looking at her questioningly.
"Because you still like having a massive entrance!" Aishir said, wrapping her arms to the waist of the Stranger.
"Of course, what kind of Blood lord am I, if I don't have a grand entrance?" he said smiling and with a blew to the whistle, the dog stood on all fours, and bolted towards the palace of Ur-Nungal.
III.
"Your Highness! A demon is heading towards the palace!" a servant came running towards Ur-Nungal, who is a spitting image of his father, black hair, beard the covers half of his face, fierce yellow eyes, muscle bounded body.
"What?! Call the guards! Protect the palace!" Ur-Nungal roared but then the front door of the throne room exploded to millions of debris. As the dust settled, a cloaked figure was walking towards the king, behind the figure was the demon hound, three heads growling at the king. Eyes burning with rage. The breath of fire, ice and acid spewed from their mouths, making guards shiver, sweat and gag as the fumes filled their beings. The smell of decay filled the golden throne room.
"Wh--who are you?!" the king said pointing at the cloaked person. "Guards!" the king ordered and then a rush of twenty guards rushed towards the cloaked figure to attack but the dog slammed his right paw to shield the cloaked figure which sent a strong wind to send the guards on their bottoms, dropping their weapons and quivering in fear as the three heades dog snarled at them.
"Down, Cerby," the Stranger said then the dog calmed down. "Hello," the Stranger said as he walked towards the king, who was white as a sheet, still looking at the demon dog. The Stranger's face was masked with a smiling demeanor but inside his cloak were clenched fists.
"Wh---who a--are y-you?!" the king asked, sweat dripping all over the king. He tried to grab his sword, hanging from his belt but the Stranger gave him a look that made him think otherwise.
"Grabbing a weapon while the other is introducing is not a manner that a proper king should practise. You're father would be very disappointed," the Stranger said, calming his nerves.
"Ju--just wh--who or wh--what are you?!" the King said, eyes wild in fear.
"I am just a passerby. Just a stranger to you but an enemy to many," the Stranger said. "Would you sit down, your Majesty?" the Stranger asked, smiling. The King obeyed the cloaked stranger in front of him.
IV.
"Now, as I am an honorary ambassador here, why are you, a king of Ur, searching a way to find the mythological eighth continent?" the Stranger asked.
"Wh--why are you asking me?!" the King asked back.
"No no no. I'm the one ask the questions here. Answer me or I will let my pet dog lose in you palace. You are threatening my country, if you really want to go there, you'll do as I say," the Stranger said leaning towards the king. "Why?"
"Th---they wanted to!" the King bursted.
"Who?"
"We," a hissing collective voice came from behind the King then the king was wrapped with decaying hands of the Wraiths, ancient wraiths that possess human nightmares, making them dream of the worse of worse nightmares unless given what they want, they will haunt a person until that person dies in their sleep. Wisps has shifting forms, transluscent, claw like hands, ripped clothing, they were said to be escaped souls from various underworlds, claiming bodies as hosts or haunts the living. This Wisp has the long black waving hair, fanged teeth, forked tongue.
"Wraiths! I should have known," the Stranger said. "Actually, I didn't but why? Why target Eastice?"
"To have bodies! The bodies of you Bloodlords are to live for! Even gods envy you! If we posses all Bloodlord then we will reign supreme!" then a collective hissing cry of excitement came from everywhere.
The Stranger counted the Wraiths as a hundred, more or less. "You really think I will take you to Eastice? What gave you that idea?" the Stranger smiled confidently.
"Because we have what you care for or--" the Wraith pointed at Cerberus. "What she cares for!" they hissed.
Aishir sprang from the back of the dog and jumped to the floor. "My children! Give me back my children!" Aishir shouted, her eyes tear stained.
"Fine," the Stranger said looking from Aishir to the Wraith of the King. "I will give you a deal," the Stranger said.
"A deal? Stranger. You are in no right to strike a deal with us," the Wraith leader said.
"You want a Bloodlord, right? I'm here. You can possess me," the Stranger said.
Aishir ran towards the Stranger. "What are you saying!?"
"I am doing this for the sake of your children," the Stranger said with a straight face. "Please, Aishir let me do this. If I die, I'll just reincarnate again, inside a different body in another lifetime," the Stranger said trying to smile.
"But---"
"Aishir. Trust me," the Stranger said, looking at Aishir who nodded. "What do you say?" the Stranger said looking back at the Wraith who is behind Ur-Nungal.
"One Bloodlord is not enough! We want all of the Bloodlord!" the Wraith screamed, her scream pierced through the eardrums of all inside the throne room, even Cerberus whined and scampered off somewhere, chaos returned outside because of the three headed demon dog. Ur-Nungal screamed in agony as he received the full force of the screech, making his ear bleed, and causing him to loose consciousness.
"You done?" the Stranger said, clearing his ear with his pinky. "I wasn't done. You should really not interrupt me when speaking. I maybe an old man, but I am really brilliant," he said winking at Aishir, who gasped and smiled. "Let me ask you, floating sheets. I can be yours, I am a Bloodlord, the immortal mortal creator, the immortal author, the gods tasked to creat creatures, objects, monuments for them! One is enough to rule, while whover takes over my body will have to create an army for the other Wraiths to take over, being the only one with a Bloodlord body will make you the greatest leader but if all have one, then who becomes the leader then?" the Stranger exhaled, he was smiling.
"What are you saying, Stranger?!" the Wraith hissed, still holding the shoulder of the King.
"I'm telling that, whoever takes my body will be a god," the Stranger said with an arrogant smile. "And who better to posses than me? Feared by many creatures, beings, even gods think twice before interrupting me. Now, I have a question for you."
"State your question," the Wraith said, with interest, the Stranger smiled in satisfaction. He has the Wraith.
"Who leads all these Wraiths inside the palace? Leading them would take some great leadership but who is the mastermind behind it but who is the leader?" the Stranger asked to no one in particular, he was pacing in front of the Wraith, like thinking.
What are you doing? Aishir thought while looking at the old but tall and thin man pacing around.
"Me!" the one holding the king hissed. "I am the leader of all these Wraiths!"
"Huh? You are? Who decided that?" the Stranger said, walking towards the Wraith. "I call upon all Wraiths in this palace!" he's voice booming all across the throne room
Within seconds, the throne room was illuminated by a bluish glow from the hundreds of Wraiths, male, female, old or young.. Aishir could only hold her breath, hundreds of spirits, souls of the dead were floating above her but the one really caught her attention were the guards holding her children, they too have that glow.
"Now! Everybody is here! I want to ask all of you! Who picked her or declared her as your leader?!" the Stranger asked smiling, his arms spread. "Who is your true leader!?" a hundred hissing whispers filled the air.
"I am your true leader! Do not be deceived by this Bloodlord!" the Wraith hissed.
"No! She claimed to be our leader!"
"Yes! She has claimed and nobody else!"
"Nobody elected her!"
Other protests has erupted inside the throne room, a heated argument between the group of Wraiths and their so-called leader.
Aishir was shivering because of the Wraiths but as they continued their argument, the temperature started to rise, then out of nowhere, something tug on the robe of Aishir, it was the Stranger, he motioned to stay quiet and to follow him, they ran while the Stranger has the two unconscious child on his shoulder.
V.
"Stranger, where are we going?" Aishir asked.
"To th Royal Tomb, I need to open a hole to the underworld to suck all these Wraiths back to Nergal," he said. "Even if some of those are from other underworlds but Osiris will just need to accomodate them all. I'll send him a present later if we can through this," he continued as they ran through a winding corridor.
"But why the Royal Tomb?"
"Have you ever thought why we bury our dead?" the Stranger asked. For an old man, he can ran fast even if two children were on his back.
"No."
"Well, because no matter the beliefs of people are, there is only one thing constant."
"What?"
"The underworld. No matter what, the underworld exists. We bury our dead because its easier for them to be taken by the Fetchers or the ones that delivers the dead to the gods of the underworld. If we hang our dead, the Fetchers can't take them because they can't exist above ground," the Stranger said stopping at the end of a forked hallway. He licked his index finger, felt the wind towards the left and yelled. "Right!"
"I thought it was left!"
"Whoever thought of a tomb with a window!" the Stranger yelled as they descended a set of stairs.
As they ran to a long corridor with murals depicting the last moment of heroism of the late kings of Uruk. The Stranger suddenly stopped in front of a mural, with a painting Gilgamesh fighting Enkidu and him building the Walls of Uruk. The Stranger smiled.
"Stranger?"
"Oh, right! Let's go!" They ran again until they found the end of the corridor, the doors of the tomb were being guarded by two royal guards.
"Who are you? Who gave you permission to go here?!" the guard with a thick built asked pointing his spear at the Stranger. "Who are those children?"
The Stranger cleared his throat. "How dare you point your weapon at the Royal Children?!" he shouted then he turned towards Aishir. "How many children does the king have?"
"Two," Aishir whispered.
"Brilliant!" the Stranger whispered back.
"Th--the royal children?! How can we be sure?" the thinner guard asked.
"I am the Royal Advisor of this Palace and I was tasked by the queen to take the children to the tomb to be safe!" the Stranger said in his high authoritative voice. "Here is her hand maid to be able to take care of her children!" he said motioning to Aishir who bowed.
"But---"
"Are you questioning the orders of the queen?!"
"No, sir!"
"Now go check upon the King at the throne room because enemies has invaded the palace!"
"Wh--what?! But we didn't hear any---"
"It was an inside attacking! Now go! The King is in need of your assistance and help!" the Stranger yelled then the two guards saluted and went away.
"That was brilliant!" Aishir said. "How did you know that that would work?"
"I didn't that is why its more brilliant!" the Stranger said. "Aishir, try pushing the tomb's doors to get us in."
Aishir tried to push but it was no good. The doors were made of thick sandstones, and moving it with the arm of a hand maiden was impossible.
The Stranger set the children down, then Aishir asked. "Stranger, why hasn't my children woken up yet? Is something wrong with them?" fear creeping into her voice.
"I don't know yet but I'm guessing the Wraiths did something to them and I promise you," he said as he pulled a parchment and started drawing, he dripped a drop of blood onto the drawing and it glowed, then a thud of a four horned bison appeared. "That I will save them and you," he said smiling.
"What's that?!"
"The Heavenly Bull that Gilgamesh killed," the Stranger smiled. "Now! Push that door open!" the Stranger ordered and the bull mooed and pushed the doors, which easily opened.
"Good girl!" the Stranger patted the bull. Aishir stood beside it, admiring the beauty of it. The horns were made of gold, its fur was glistening with, its eyes were red and shimmering with thousand years of wisdom, it was sad that a king killed this brilliant creature.
"Stranger, if King Gilgamesh killed this, how com you summoned it?"
"Oh, whatever I draw I can summon them, dead or alive but I need to meet them first and be able to form a contract with them to be able to summon them again," the Stranger explained.
"Can't you just create a creature? Like those bubble fish?"
"I can but it drains too much energy to me, making me weak and it depends on the size or number of the creature," the Stranger said as they walked towards the tomb. "Those bubble fishes were real creatures, by the way. Now. Welcome to the Royal Tomb of Uruk," the Stranger said spreading his arms like he was beginning a show.
VI.
Inside the tomb, gold was prominent, everywhere but the weirdest thing inside the tomb was, "A shovel?! An ax? A spear? This is brilliant! The burial exercises of the Mesopotamians!" the Stranger exclaimed.
The coffins of the late kings are placed on graves on the floors, the bodies were placed in golden coffins with tools or weapons.
"This is brilliant, you folks believes in the after-life, reincarnation! You believe that if you place a tool or something that the dead has used in life, he will be able to use it again in the after-life or if he is reincarnated! Brilliant but reincarnation is not true," the Stranger said while studying a fully decomposed body.
"Says the old man who has been reincarnated to an old man!" Aishir spat back.
"Oi! Blood lords has a ritual of reincarnations! This body has been near death when the spell took full effect! It was longer that it should be because it was my first time doing it. My memories came back when this body is dying!" the Stranger explained.
"If that body was dying, how come you're here?" Aishir asked.
"Well, brilliant story, but later. I'll tell you later. Right now, help get these bodies off their graves!" the Stranger said while heaving bones and flesh off a hole in the ground.
"To do what?! Desecrate a grave?! A grave of a king?!" Aishir said, taken aback by what was ordered for her to do.
"Oh yes! If we don't I can't perform the ritual! Don't worry, they're dead, they won't mind," the Stranger said while heaving another corpse.
Suddenly, a loud screech filled the whole palace, it sent a cold chill down Aishir's spine. "Stranger?"
"We need to hurry," the Stranger said as they both moved all the corpses of dead kings to the wall. After doing this, after Aishir vomitted a bunch of times, the Stranger pulled his parchment and placed it on the ground. He drew an intricate circle on it, symbols of the gods, demons and spirits were written surrounding a lone star at the center of the circle.
The Stranger then muttered under his breath something that even with the help of the Hummingbird at Aishir's ear, she can't understand. When the Stranger was finally done, he grabbed his phoenix quill, that Aishir thought was getting paler, and was about to prick his finger but suddenly, the Stranger opened his eyes and said. "Get back!" then in a blink of a second, Aishir was sent back, outside the tomb and the door closed behind her.
"Stranger! Stranger!" she yelled banging her fists on the sandstone door. "Let me in!"
Inside the tomb, the Stranger stood face to face with the grotesque face of Wraith. "Hello, Bloodlord. Hello to my new body," the Wraith hissed as it dived inside the body of the Bloodlord.
VII.
After of couple of minutes, the doors to the tomb opened, revealing the Stranger. Aishir got up from where she was sitting, beside her sleeping children.
"Stranger!" she said in joy but then she saw the eyes of the Stranger. "You're not him."
"Smart girl. Well, stay put here and my Wraiths will get you and possess you. As if you'll be able to do anything," the Wraith Stranger said, grinning in an evil way then walked away from Aishir.
Aishir stood there shocked but she slapped herself. "I need to find a way to get the Stranger back," she said. She went inside the tomb and looked all over to find anything that might help when she turned towards the parchment torn apart, she something moving under a part of the parchment, she turned it over and saw a bird, a small bird, the size of a coin, it was blue and it fluttered on the palm of Aishir.
"Hello?" Aishir said then the bird spoke.
"So, you finally picked a leader, huh?" the Stranger's voice became audible through the bird.
"You're diversion may bought you time but your time has ended," the Wraith leader hissed. "I will take over your body and I will rule over the Wraiths as their queen!"
"If you'll take over my body then be careful of the amulet inside my pocket," the Stranger said, his voice got louder at the part of an amulet.
"Amulet?! What amulet?!"
"The Eye of Hades. Metaphorically the eye, Hades won't give up anything but that amulet is made of pure Styx iron. It will dispel your from my body!"
"You are bluffing!"
"Am I?!" then the voice of the Stranger started screaming. He was in pain.
"Stranger!" Aishir shouted at the bird, hoping it will do something but it didn't but then the pained voice of the Stranger spoke through the bird.
"Aishir, look for the amulet. She will throw it I know but find it," he said with labored breathing and then the labored breathing stopped. "A Bloodlord body. The overflowing magic! I can feel it through my body! Now where is that amulet?" the sound of ruffling cloth, a hissing sound and a solid object hits the floor. The bird disappeared in a puddle of ink when the voices stopped.
"I need to find that amulet before anything happens!" Aishir started looking around the tomb to find the Hades's eye.
At the throne room, the Queen of the Wraith was yelling in anger to the rest of the Wraiths. "Where is that King?! I left you for a second and you let that king go away?!"
"But we didn't see where he went," a male wraith hissed.
"Search for him across the palace and if you find a vessle, possess them! We will go to war to the other kingdoms then go for the continent of Eastice!" the Queen roared with proud voice of the plan she has deviced. The other wraiths hissed in agreement. "See, Bloodlord? We will conquer this world," the Wraith Queen muttered to the consciousness of the Stranger still lingering inside the body.
"You will not win, Queen Wraith. I will find a way to get my body back," the Stranger spat back getting hold of his body.
"Why fight, Bloodlord? You will rule this kingdom!"
"I'm just passerby and I don't rule," the Stranger said.
"No but you desire power. That is why you do this feats! You desire the attention and power!" the Queen said.
"No. I don't," the Stranger said in a more reserved tone.
"Queen! We have found several guards and soldiers," a male wraith presented a group of ten guards and five soldiers stood in front of the Queen, possessed.
"Very good. See, Bloodlord? In several moments, you will have an army," the Queen said but the Stranger stayed silent. "Staying quiet, I see. No matter, a several more moments, I will own your body."
Running in a corridor was Aishir, dangling on her neck was the Eye of Hades. The black Stygian iron framing the hardened jewel of Phlegethon.
When she found it, a couple of wraith found her jumping around in celebration. When they tried to possess her, she showed them the amulet and they hissed at her and disappeared.
Before going to the throne room, she hid her children inside the tomb, with a light peck on their foreheads, she whispered, "I will do everything to save you, Amir, Aisha."
As she ran towards the throne room, she dispelled several wraiths on the way but before she reached the door of the throne room, she was grabbed by the arm by Ur-Nungal, who was inside a hidden room.
"You! Your the handmaid of my wife! Why are you?!" the King said.
"King Ur-Nungal! I'm with the Stranger, the man you met with the---"
"The Demon Dog! You! Did you want to overthrow me?! That's why you brought that demonic dog?!" the King accused.
"No! The only reason why we brought the demon dog is because you took my son and daughter! And killed my brother and his family! You even killed my husband! a royal guard under your service!" Aishir said, angrily to her king.
"I-- I did it because they took my family," the king said, guiltily.
"I am sorry to hear that, your Majesty," Aishir said.
"I know what I did was wrong and my father won't approve but I did it so my family won't be possessed! I saw those take over the body of my guards and I saw how they can do things, they invaded my dreams before everything and if I don't do what they ask, they will kill my family in their sleeps," the King said, his eyes were clouded in fear.
"Where is your queen and children, Your Majesty?"
"At the royal chamber, they have been asleep before everything happened. My best healers tried everything to wake them up but they couldn't," the King said.
"Asleep?" then Aishir remembered her son and daughter. "They can kill them in their sleep? The Stranger told me about that, they can manipulate their dreams into nightmares," Aishir said.
"The Stranger? Is that the man who you were with?"
"Yes, he is. He can help us," Aishir said.
"He was the one who saved my father, he told me that he hated the Stranger but before he died, if I get into a trouble, the Stranger will come to correct it," the King said. "Can he really help us?"
"Yes," Aishir said, she looked at the amulet. "We need to save him first."
VIII.
Inside the throne room, the Wraith Queen as the Stranger was sitting on the king's throne. "Progress of the search for the king?!" she hissed.
"Queen of Wraiths! I have come to take back my wife and children!" the King appeared from the room adjecent to the throne.
"Ur-Nungal! You have come my friend!" the Queen hissed.
"Address me as 'King', you begotten spirit!" the King roared in confidence.
"Ah! You still have the confidence of your father," the Wraith Queen smiled in amusement.
"Why do you want me to be captured? Why do you want me?" the King said, hoping Aishir was doing the part she said she will play.
"Ah. To use you of course! Nobody will follow the Bloodlord, he is just a stranger but you! The King! Every soldier, guard and citizen will follow you!" the Queen said.
As the King distracted the Queen of Wraiths, Aishir was at the back of the throne, creeping behind it. The King saw this and hid his relief at the handmaid's approach.
"They will know that something is afoot!" the King kept on.
"These are people who trusts you! Nobody will disobey you," the Queen replied.
As Aishir got behind the Queen, a wraith seized Aishir by her arm and dragged her in the open.
"Aishir!" the King yelled as wraiths grabbed the King by his arms.
Aishir saw that the hand of the Stranger grasped the handles of the throne tighter.
"STRANGER! FIGHT THAT WRAITH! IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN?! A WRAITH POSSESSING THE BODY OF THE PROUD STRANGER!" Aishir shouted to the top of her lungs, wishing it will snap the Stranger back.
"Pitiful. Once I possessed this body there is nothing that will get it back," the Queen smiled.
Aishir saw it, the hand of the Stranger egging her on. This made her smile and uttered the one word that will turn the tides, "Catch." She then threw the amulet to the opened palm of the Stranger who caught it before the Queen could even react.
A blast of energy came from the body of the Stranger and the Wraith Queen got kicked out of the body of the Bloodlord.
"Seriously, you should never interrupt me while I'm talking, Queen Wraith, that really blows my temper," said the smiling Stranger who was straightening his traveling cloak.
He approached Aishir who was smiling at him. "You were brilliant, Aishir. Truly brilliant!"
IX.
"Now, I have my body back, who will try to take it again?" the Stranger said as he walked to the center of the room, under hundreds of wraiths while writing on his arm.
"Get him!" the Queen hissed and the hundred of wraiths became a hissing tornado and the Stranger was at the center.
Aishir was now hiding behind the golden throne and could have swore that the Stranger was smiling.
"This is just too brilliant!" the Stranger shouted and a pillar of light appeared at the center of the tornado of wraiths.
When the light faded from the creature the Stranger summoned, a bird with glistening golden feathers surrounding it's body, wings that arched reaching the high ceiling and floor, an intricate tail and a glistening golden beak has descended, it radiated like a sun on earth, it gave the heat of a sun, Aishir feared that the throne will melt away but it didn't. It screeched at the floating wraiths around it. "Wraith Queen, you asked for darkness across this land but I have given it light! Marvel at the brilliance of the bird of pure light! The Phoenix!" the Stranger shouted.
The wraiths hissed as they evaporated from the brilliance of the phoenix. The Queen escaped with a final hissed to the bird and the Stranger. She flew to the top of the building and disappear.
"That's a good girl!" the Stranger said as he hugged the leg of the giant bird. "That was brilliant!" the bird rubbed her beak to the neck of the Stranger. "Yes, yes, I love you too!"
Aishir went out behind the throne with the king. "That was... brilliant!" Aishir shouted.
"You-- you are that man," Ur-Nangul stuttered as he approached the Stranger. "You are the Stranger that my father has talked about."
"Oh? You are Gilgamesh's son?" the Stranger asked and the king nodded. "I don't approved of your methods but I know you have your reasons."
"Can you save my wife and children?" the King asked.
"They are asleep? We just need to get and seal the queen and the other wraiths and it will wake up those who are asleep unless--" the Stranger hesitated. "Come on! Let's go!" he shrugged and ran towards the tomb of the Royal.
"What? What was it that you will say back there?" Aishir asked the Stranger as she caught up to the running man.
"Nothing. I didn't say anything," the Stranger said.
"Yes you said something."
"No, I didn't."
"Yes! You are always upfront with everything! Why are hiding something?!"
The Stranger stopped running, "Because the alternative is that I won't be able to look brilliant! And I don't want that, do I?" the Stranger said with a smile that Aishir bought and started running again.
X.
The King, the Stranger and Aishir were now at the Royal Tomb of Ur. The Stranger was rewriting the magic arc that he drew awhile ago.
"How did you find out about this tomb? I just knew this when my father died," Ur-Nungal asked.
"Oh, your father was a very lively child. He brought me here to see what the tomb was like," the Stranger said. "Now, don't interrupt me." He started to mutter under his breath and the air became thick with magic.
"This is---" the King uttered.
"Brilliant. I know," Aishir said with a smile.
After the Stranger stopped muttering under his breath. "Now! I need to show you how brilliant I am!" the Stranger said smiling at his two human audience.
He was about to prick his thumb to draw blood but suddenly a hissing sound came from the walls of the tomb, the skeletons on the floor started to chatter.
"You will not seal us! You will just delay the rule of the dead!" the Wraith Queen's voice hissed.
"Don't worry, when you resurface, you will still answer to me!" the Stranger declared as he stabbed his quill onto his finger, it draw blood.
"Bloodlord, if you do this," the Wraith Queen appeared in front of them with two spirits tugged behind her. They were a boy and a girl, the girl looked like Aishir and the other looked like a ruffled Yasir. "They will join me."
"Amir! Aisha!" Aishir shouted at her children.
"Mama? Is that you?" the little girl asked.
"Why are we cold, Mama?" the boy asked.
"Do--don't worry. Mama is he--here. I w-- We-- we will save the both of you," Aishir said looking at the Stranger. "Right? St---Stranger?!" her eyes were like waterfalls, tears fell, non stop. It tucked at the heartstrings of the Stranger.
"What are you waiting for, Bloodlord? I thought you'll seal us away," the Wraith Queen hissed, mockingly.
"What have you done?" the Stranger muttered almost unaudible.
"Oh, I just borrowed these two children from their bodies. I thought of using the family of the king but I saw how you care for the human so I used her children as leverage," the Wraith Queen hissed while smiling grotesquely. "Now, what will you do?"
"Stranger! Please do something to save my children! You said you can save them! Show us how brilliant you are!" Aishir cried as she tugged at the cloak of the Stranger.
"Aishir, I ca---" the Stranger stopped himself.
"You--- You lied to me?!" Aishir walked away from the Stranger.
k"I -- I didn't---" the Stranger said as his hand was out stretched to reach for Aishir.
"No! You lied to me! Like you lied you will take me back! Like you said we'll travel again! But no! You lied!" Aishie shouted at the Stranger.
"Aishir..." the Stranger's mind was empty, no words to say, no actions to do. It made him felt, useless.
The Wrait Queen took the opportunity of confusion to possess the body of Aishir. "Aishir!" the Stranger yelled in shock as he saw the body of his companion to be possessed by an evil spirit.
"Wow! This is easier than taking over your body! She's so filled with despair, she just gave in!" the Wraith Queen laughed, using the voice, the face and the body of the Stranger's friend.
The Stranger stood there, face contorted with anger, with hatred, his eyes from the joyful eyes of childish youth to the eyes of an angry god. He clenched his fists, his wound still not closing, he ignored the pain but he made it bigger. "You have angered the wrong Bloodlord! The Creator for the Gods! You have made the ultimate enemy and you will regret it. You will feel my wrath rained down upon you and you know how small this world can be. Now begone and be sealed away to the realm of the dead and forever be prisoner!" he declared, his voice boomed all over the palace.
The Wraith Queen shivered in her new body, the first ever she felt the feeling of fear. True and pure fear, the feeling of helplessness.
"You made the wrong move, wraith. You made an enemy of me. I tried to be reasonable, to be fair but you pushed my hand. Now, be sealed! Ave Duhva!" the Stranger said. A bright purplish pillar of light appeared from the parchment as soon as the drop of blood touched it.
"What have you done?! You will never see your human again?!" the Wraith Queen pleaded.
"Once you possessed her and she gave in. She was doomed from the start but I don't want her to be part of you forever as a puppet," the Stranger said, his head cocked up, looking down at the wraith, like a god looking disappointed at a creation. "Goodbye, Aishir. I am sorry," he said and in a glimpse, he saw the smiling face of Aishir when he first saw her before the pillar of light disappeared and a tornado of energy started sucking all of the wraiths back to the underworld. Along the ride was the children of Aishir and the Wraith Queen.
"Goodbye, my friend," the Stranger muttered as the last of the wraiths hissed, the seal closed and the air became still again.
A final whisper, "Goodbye, Stranger. You did the right thing."
The Stranger clenched his fists harder, a tear escaped his eyes and dropped to the sandy tomb.
X.
The next day, the events last night was just brushed away by the palace as a failed attempt of assassination to the king. The demon dog was just passed as a stunt of the king to celebrate the return of a friend. The King's wife and children woke up like nothing happened.
The body of Aishir, Aisha, Amir and their father, and Yasir's family were buried at the courtyard of the palace. The Stranger didn't attend the funeral.
He was at the top of the city walls when Ur-Nangul found him. He was looking at the horizon as the setting sun was being eaten by the sand.
"Your father did an brilliant job with these wall," the Stranger said.
"Yes, yes he did," the King said. "Where are you going now?"
"Far from here. As far as possible," the Stranger said as he drew a griffin on a parchment and dripped his blood on it, the griffin appeared and squaked at the Stranger. "Yes, I know. It will be cold to travel at night."
"You can understand that thing?" the King said then the griffin squaked angrily to the king.
"She's a 'she', don't say 'thing' it offends her," the Stranger said as he climbed the griffin. "Rule well, King Ur-Nungal. Don't be cruel."
"Yes, Yes I won't and Stranger," the king said when the Stranger looked. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me. I'm just a passerby who passes by these lands," the Stranger said and he was off somewhere, where the next adventure awaits him.