Jagger [English version]

Chapter 27: The ancient tomb

Voltar and Árides had not visited Mabet and Ebet for several decades, which was not strange for them. After all, what is half a century for ancient and immortal beings?

Precisely for this reason, Árides had decided to take her impatient husband there. He was behaving like a mere anxious mortal, like a child who can't wait for his dessert. She understood him, up to a point, but he kept bugging her. Besides that, she was afraid that Voltar was going to do something stupid now that they were so close.

Voltar had walked in silence the entire way, even though it had taken them several hours to get there. They were many miles from Marfra now, in a cave whose location was unknown to all the creatures of Gefordah and the Surface except the two of them.

Inside, there were two small altars surrounded by firios, fluorescent flowers which displayed thousands of colors that were used in Gefordah to accompany the dead, since they lasted seemingly forever and never left a tomb in the dark. Among the flowers, there were two urns made of a strange type of ancient pottery and covered with designs that, although time had erased a large part of them, greatly embellished both objects.

The one containing Mabet's ashes was on the left side and was predominantly red in color, although the petals drawn on it were white. In Ebet's case, his urn had a beautiful sky-blue color and the design had drawings of different animals done in various darker shades of blue and green.

Voltar approached the altars, and with each step, he felt a deep sadness mixed with anger take hold of his heart. The feeling hadn't diminished even a bit despite the immense amount of time and death that separated him from his children.

In fact, both he and Árides were certain that even if they lived thousands of years longer, the pain they felt would never go away and would continue to haunt them forever.

"Do you at least remember how long we lived with them?" Árides asked, her voice almost breaking, but maintaining her proud and cool posture.

"Yes, I remember every day, down to the last detail," Voltar answered. He knelt in front of Ebet's grave and felt involuntary tears run down his cheeks. "The time was too short, almost a blink."

"How much would you give for one more memory with them?"

"Everything."

"Why don't you have it?"

"Because humans believe they are the rulers of this world and can do as they please."

"Have they changed since then?"

"No."

"And you, my love, have you changed?"

"Yes."

Árides walked over to Voltar and placed her hands on his cheeks as she looked him steadily in the eye. There was not an iota of doubt in her blue eyes and Voltar felt that the unbreakable will of his wife possessed him.

"Then prove it." she said. "Prove that you have the strength and wisdom to rule the humans once and for all. May your hatred for the Fallen One fill you, but not blind you, only then will we be able to destroy him."

Voltar nodded and looked back at the urns of his deceased children. Images of the last time he saw them alive flashed through his head and they finished the work that Árides had started.

Ebet was twenty-three years old when he was found by the Iluvars of Marinor with a large army of humans who had awakened their Lenorbak. The soldiers wore fur coats and light clothing to fight and defend against the cold, as well as swords, axes and hammers that they brandished menacingly from side to side. In front of them were three Iluvars, leading the battalion.

Two were stocky men with long black hair. One wore a thick bearskin that he had used to protect himself from the cold while the other had a bare chest and fox fur pants. In their midst was a fairly tall woman with an aggressive expression and war paint on her face. She was also dressed in animal skins, but the quality of these was much better than the rest.

Ebet hugged her sister and tried to calm her down while her parents stood between them and the attackers.

"Cursed ice demon," said the woman, who seemed to be the highest ranking, addressing Árides. "Thirty of my men died before reaching this place. I will make sure that they are the last bastards to be annihilated by this wretched family."

"Your men had no right to enter our territory, human!" Voltar said furiously. "And you still have the nerve to threaten us in our own home."

"Your home?" the woman said, and there were cries of protest behind her. "Don't monsters live in nests and burrows?" Another roar from the humans accompanied her. "You are nothing but abominations of nature! You exist to kill and cause misfortune! We are here to prevent you from raising your hand against Marinor again, you or those denizens you conceived! Monsters have no right to reproduce!"

"Look who's talking!" Árides exclaimed. "Will you pretend that the citizens of Marinor have done nothing to earn our hatred? Is your town full of saints? Are you ignoring the damage they did to my children when they were just infants?"

"Children?" the woman repeated sarcastically, and the soldiers laughed. "They are beasts! They weren't hurt enough if they decided to go back to their evil parents anyway! They had the opportunity to rectify this and they missed that chance. Now we will be the ones to dispense justice."

"Do humans now believe they have the right to 'dispense justice'?" Voltar scoffed. "So come on then, you pathetic creature. I will defend my children until the last breath."

He hadn't finished speaking when a chain appeared out of nowhere on the woman's hand and it was thrown towards him. As Ebet and Mabet were behind him, Voltar was unable to dodge it, instead he blocked it with his arms and was thrown away many feet into the air, crashing into the roof of the house.

"Get in!" Árides yelled at her son and daughter and they obeyed. Árides created four gigantic walls of ice around the house.

Marinor's Iluvars lunged at her, but were repelled by a powerful ball of fire that sent them flying into the trees.

Voltar was completely surrounded by fire, and his green eyes had turned red with anger and flames. He jumped with speed towards the powerful army in front of him, ready to fight to the death.

Árides followed him with the intention of dying by his side if necessary.