Bloodlines of Archaea I. Afira
A Friend of the Flame

“Afi, Afi wake up.” Someone said, shaking my shoulders. “Help me haul this bucket without anyone noticing.”

“Wait, you want to steal from the warrior island, who may be risking every one of their soldiers’ lives to help us?” I asked in tired disbelief. It was Akuma.

“Well they have a lake, and we don’t.”

I thought about this for a moment, then groaned. “Fine,” I said, sitting up. I walked over to Akuma, who was attempting to carry the giant bucket on his back. “It’s early enough so only a few people are probably awake,” I said, helping Akuma lift the bucket. We walked slowly out the door and onto the sand. We made it all the way to the dock before someone noticed.

“Halt!” Tao yelled. She stomped, angrily up to us, picking up the bucket swiftly with one hand and lying it squarely on her shoulders. Expecting her to talk about our lack of courtesy, we were quite surprised when, instead, she said, “which of these is yours?” We pointed to our little boat out of fear. She walked over to it and landed the bucket of water on our little boat. “Hm,” she said to herself. “Your little boat won’t hold all this weight,” she said, once again, picking up the bucket, and walking off the dock. “You’ll need to empty it out, a little until it’ll fit,” she said, pointing to the bucket. “You seem to have a surplus of food, and not enough water, while we have a surplus of water and not enough food. I’d be happy to trade.” I glanced at Akuma, he walked towards our little boat, taking out as much food as we could spare, taking our pile, and handing it to Tao, she nodded, saying, “that’ll do,” and once again walked up to our boat, and put the water in the storage.

Before I boarded the boat, she pulled me aside by my arm, holding firmly. “I have discussed your request for an army with our generals. We would be happy to assist you in battle.” She handed me the seashell. “Now you listen very, very closely.” She said, looking me in the eyes. I nodded, “you continue on your journey, but when you arrive at the island, you kill the shadows where they stand, never allow them to escape, as they will betray you, time and time again.” There seemed to be a glint of pain behind her stone features. She paused before continuing more quietly, tightening her grip on my arm, digging her sharp nails deep into my skin. I kept a straight face, focusing on what she had to say, ignoring the pulsing pain in my arm. She continued, “even if we had an army of millions, we would still never be able to defeat the shadows, therefore, we need some help. A crystal, it can’t be destroyed, just passed down. It holds the last dying breath of Udea, Goddess of fire. One of just a few weapons known on our planet which is said to hold the power to destroy entire stars. Sombra knows this and will keep it close. You must retrieve it, then you will return to your home, where we will have days before our world explodes as the shadows search for their crystal.” She loosened her grip on my arm, allowing me to leave freely.

I tried to speak, but couldn’t seem to form the words.

“Hush child, save your strength.” She said, patting my shoulders. I nodded, turning my head towards Akuma, boarding our little boat.

Akuma dug around and pulled out two oars. He handed one to me and began to paddle, saying, “well that worked out better than I thought.” I chuckled in agreement, as I pulled out our map. I glanced over at Akuma, who was happily whistling as he paddled along, gracefully cutting his oar through the water.

“You seem to be in a good mood today,” I said, wishing I didn’t have to discuss what I had to with him, as it would surely wither his mood.

He smiled, then said, “for the first time in quite a while, I feel hopeful and optimistic about our future, I feel that we have a good chance of coming home after this.”

I winced, nodding. “Yes,” I said, “we may have a good chance.” I looked out into the ocean, listening to the endless waves as they battled the cheerful whistle of Akuma. Birds chirped overhead, as dolphins and whales frequently jumped from the deep blue below us. The world was peaceful and quiet. My hands fell into a rhythm, hour after hour of paddling our small boat. I thought of the world I was leaving behind, remembering a story Grandma Lilly had told me when I was young. It was of a girl, who spent her entire life on an island, which became devoured in lava. She loved it so much, and would never leave, her family begged her to leave with them in a boat, they planned to replace a new home. But they couldn’t get her to leave as she loved her island too much. They were forced to leave her behind. When Grandma Lilly first told me this story, I thought the girl was crazy, why wouldn’t you leave your home if it were on fire? I understand now. I realized I would most likely never have left if it weren’t for Akuma. I would have done everything in my power to stay.

I glanced over at Akuma who was studying the map. He looked up, and smiled deviously at me, causing me to giggle. I began to explain hesitantly what he had missed, wishing our lives could be simple once more.

When I was finished explaining, he looked over at me, his eyes once more filled with terror. A feeling of sorrow washed over me, as I awaited his response.