How should you react when you come to know that your biggest enemy is your own father? I had no idea. My jaws had almost reached the floor. Anyone else would have been alright but King Jalaar…
"You and I have come from the past." Rock Flames declared. What did he mean by I? Rock Flames wasn't from the past, was he? Now I thought that the headache was better than hearing the truth. "Let me begin from the start." He stated and started narrating the tale.
"When King Jalaar arrived at Darknor after his merciless conquest of capturing all other planets, his wife, my sister was pregnant with a baby. I was the King's brother-in-law. My sister Sophia was his wife. She had you in her stomach, child." Rock Flames narrated. I tried to imagine what the time would have been like and something about the past sparkled in me. It was as if I could really see myself inside my mother's stomach.
"King Jalaar kept capturing places in Darknor. I wasn't a supporter of his idea though. I felt that each planet should have its freedom but Jalaar never listened. During that time, you were born. Jalaar rushed to see you. I have to admit, you were one cute baby." Rock Flames said. "The King had high hopes from you, Blaze. He will be my successor, Jalaar had announced. He named you Zakostroph. Every Xorain has the starting letter of his/her name imprinted on the back magically once he/she is named. That can prove why Raptor was shocked when he saw the Z sign on your back. The King even went to the future teller of his kingdom to foresee your bright future."
Rock Flames's smile died off. "But then the prediction the future teller had declared changed the King's mind. It was predicted that only King Jalaar's son had the strength to kill the King. The Slightest Hope, the man had announced. This made Jalaar furious. He couldn't bear the thought of his own son killing him and destroying his greed to capture every planet."
From there, my father continued, "King Jalaar prepared to kill the baby. Sophia, your mother, pleaded to him end number of times to spare the child but the King killed her as well. What a cruel and stone-hearted guy he was!" I was in trance hearing the story. It was as if I was reliving every moment though I was just a baby.
Rock Flames proceeded, "King Jalaar entered the Abandoned Palace, his main abode in Darknor. He held a huge sword as he searched through each and every room to find you. But he couldn't. I had taken you from there. I couldn't stand my sister's death and the injustice happening. I grabbed you from your room a day before and went off into the wild on midnight. Not stopping even for a moment, I walked. Just when I thought I would die of exhaustion, I found a village. It was the Magic Master's village."
Rock Flames carried on, "Nakuta, the village was. The villagers had been suspicious about my presence as I was a Xorain. But it subsided once I told the reason of my arrival. They decided to help me. The Magic Master himself helped me. He took you and me to a cave near Nakuta. There, we lied down on the sides and using his magic, the Magic Master forced us to sleep. But it wasn't normal, we wouldn't age at all. Then, after keeping us in the cave, he went to fight King Jalaar and we all know how that ended up." Dad continued, "You both slept for centuries without aging. You were still the small baby and Rock Flames was still the young man. Rock Flames woke up about twenty-five years before you did. He explored the new Darknor and understood the rules. He took a warrior life and no one doubted that he was a Xorain. He had a happy married life with Kathy, his wife from the present."
It was awkward hearing that Rock Flames was more than two thousand years older than his wife. Wait a minute! Did that mean that Amanda….
Rock Flames almost read my mind and said, "This means that Amanda is your sister, Blaze. You are two thousand years older than her, though. She was born around sometime when you woke up." My father carried on the story, "Yes. I had a wife who died due to illness. We didn't have a child. That's when I found you in middle of the cave. Thinking you are an orphan, I decided to raise you. My mom, your grandma was happy about the initiative I had taken. But little did we know who you really were. The day you won your first battle in the Warrior Battle Fest, Rock Flames had called me up to tell your true identity. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Then Rock Flames felt the time had finally come."
Rock Flames explained from his perspective, "I thought you would go nuts if I told you who you really are immediately." Well I was going nuts even now. "So I decided to introduce you to the DELTA Organization. We travelled together in search of warriors. But then, Raptor was able to free himself. He can sense a Xorain close to him and following the scent, he arrived at Foster Plaza. It was my misfortune that I opened the pathway of the two realms at that exact time."
Dad said, "I knew your truth and could inform you. Raptor was afraid it would raise a new strength in you. So he even killed me. But luckily, mom escaped. She should be safely out of Raptor's reach. She is the only person alive to know your truth. Find her, Blaze. She is waiting for you."
Rock Flames then changed the topic. "That is your past. As you now know, you were the only hope of King Jalaar's defeat. If you die, the chapter closes on its own. You are way precious than you treat yourself."
I agreed to that. I never thought of being famous. Fame was good up to a certain extent but then people start expecting better. And better is something I am bad at. Even after knowing the truth, I didn't feel too important.
Dad spoke up, "You are dead. But this cannot be. Darknor mustn't end like this. You need to go back." I thought after dying he had gone crazy. How was I supposed to become alive again? "The Slightest Hope." He repeated the prediction.
Before I could ask when the Night of Xorains was, something happened. Rock Flames raised his hands. "This will take our spirits but for the good. We need you alive, Blaze. You need to win." He and my father then did some crazy moves with their hands, almost like the ones in the Variaries Clan. Then together, they showed off their right hand towards me. The hand was filled with golden aura which then penetrated into me.
I didn't exactly feel pain but it was intense, as if life source was making its way in me. I felt more powerful than before I was even alive. "Promise to fight till the end!" My father said smiling as he and Rock Flames faded into the clouds. For a moment, I was silent. Not knowing how to react.
Then it struck me that Rock Flames and dad had combined their strength to lend me a new life source. They knew the importance more than I did.
I was alive again!