"Steel Dreams Chapter 38-41" by Charles Davis

The old man closed his eyes and breathed in deep. He remembered everything that he had
experienced and seen in his many years. His heart felt every emotion he had ever felt. It
was as if every wound he had ever had suddenly appeared on his body all at once. He
opened his and looked at Raluna.

“This planet is run by spirits,” he began.

“Yes,” Raluna butt in. “Yes we know. We were told of the Dark Ones and the Light Ones.
And we were also told that Das is the one who will bring the darkness to this planet.”

“No. He will not bring darkness to this planet. The one who told you this tale told the truth.
Das is the Demon and he is destiny is to kill the Savior.”

“No,” said Raluna. “I don’t believe it. I can’t believe it.”

“It is true. But it’s not as you think it is. Das will not be the one who will bring darkness to
this planet. He will in fact bring it light.”

“What?”

“The dark ones are not the workers of evil. It is those that come from the sky,” he pointed
upwards. “It is the savior who will destroy all life on this planet not the demon.”

“But,” thought Raluna. “How can a demon work for good.”

“Do not be fooled by names,” stated the old man. “Names can be deceiving. The dark ones
are named such because they come from beneath the ground. From the very heart of this
planet. The heart of this planet is a dark place, but not because it is cruel. It’s dark because
sight is not needed there. The spirits of this planet do not go by sight or sound or even touch.
The only go by emotions, and feelings. They need no light there. So they are known as the
dark ones. They care about this planet. They work for the good of love and life.

“It’s the Light ones that are the workers of evil. They came from beyond the sky. They
know nothing about the cares or needs of this planet, nor care about it. They were driven
from their original planet. The one they were born from. Driven away by other spirits and
men of magic, for what they had done to their own home.”

“What had they done?” asked Raluna.

“Destroyed it,” said the old man. “Broke it down. Almost all life on it had been drained out
and sucked into the spirit, to give it more power. Power that it didn’t even need. And so it
traveled through the cosmos looking for another planet to take over. Then it found Staraunat.
And just at the right time. The Tur had only just recently died, and the planet was up for grabs.”
Raluna rubbed Das’s head and looked down at him.

“So why don’t the Dark ones come back and fight the Light ones themselves?” she asked.

“They can’t. They have been imprisoned, by the Tur. Imprisoned for several hundred years.
Imprisoned underneath the very ground their trying to protect.”

“Hundreds of years?” asked Raluna.

“Yes. You must understand. Spirits live to be very old. Decades to them, are equivalent to
hours to us. Everything they do takes time. It builds up slowly, until a point when everything
breaks loose. A point like we have reached now. Everything is breaking loose. Everything is
happening. This is the time when the fate of everything will be decided.” The man looked as Das.
He then looked around their cage. “I know things look grim now. But do not give up hope.
There’s still a chance. There’s always a chance. We just cannot fear to take it.”

“If he’s here to save the world why would they name him Demon,” she thought out loud.

“They named him after an elf that had been imprisoned with them,” the man said.

“An elf?” Raluna asked.

“Yes. There was an elf who aided the dark ones when the light ones first attacked. He had the
nickname Demon given to him as a young child by his peers. He was imprisoned along with the dark
ones. The Dark ones named Das after that elf, in hopes that his spirit and will would be as strong.
The elf gave to Das the only knowledge that he could give that the Dark Ones could not…”

“The Elven language,” said Raluna coming to a realization.

“Yes,” he said. She looked at him.

“What is your name?” she asked.

“My name is Tulfon.” He pulled his hair back to reveal pointed ears that had been hidden. “But
everyone calls me Destar.”

She continued to rub Das’s head unsure what to say or do next.

“He’ll be ok, wont he?” she asked.

“Yes,” he reassured her. “This was the first time he used his power. The power of love and
understanding. The greatest power given to him by the Dark ones.”

“He stopped hearing from them,” she said.

“What?” aksed Destar.

“He used to have dreams of the Dark ones. In the form of a dead man’s face.”

“Yes. You must realize. They are imprisoned in one of the most death filled area’s this planet has.
When choosing what form to take when presenting your self, it’s hard to get certain things out of your
thoughts, especially when you live by your emotions.”

“I understand,” nodded Raluna. “But the stopped coming to him recently. They just stopped.”
Destar got a worried look over his face.

“Hmm,” he thought. “Something must have happened. I don’t know what. But whatever it is. They
must not be in the prison anymore. Whether that means that they have been destroyed or escaped I do
not know. But we need to find out.”

“But how. How can we… how can he destroy the Savior?” she asked.

“With the Eagles Claw,” stated Destar.

“Eagles Claw?” asked Raluna.

“Yes,” said a voice from outside the cell. They looked to the side. A tall thin Yuntok walked out of the
shadows and approached the cell. He wore a black leather suit. He had long blonde hair that outlined his
feminine looking face. He held Das’s sword in his hand. “Do you mean this?” he asked in a menacing voice.

“Who are you?” demanded Raluna.

“Be careful with your tonen of voice elf,” he snapped back. “You’re in the presence of your Savior.”

Das groaned a little and moved around.

“I assume he’s discovered his power now hasn’t he?” asked the Savior.

“What are you going to do?” asked Raluna?

“Kill you,” he said. “And kill everything else on this planet. Kill everything and replace it the way I see fit.
The way it’s supposed to be.”

“You’re crazy,” Raluna turned to Destar. “Tell me he isn’t the Savior.”

“It is true,” said Destar. “He is the embodiment of the Light ones.”

“I am the Light Ones,” shot out the Savior. “I am all of the them. A sight to be seen for sure. The very
essence of all of my beauty and power.”

“But not invulnerable,” said Destar. “You have a weakness. And it will be your downfall.” The Savior looked
at the sword in his hands.

“The Dark spirits were foolish. To put all of their hope into one Yuntok. And then only making one weapon
with the power to destroy their enemy.” He ran his hand down the blade of the sword. “Yes,” he said answering
Raluna’s unasked question. “This is the eagle’s claw. The only thing that can kill me. My only weakness. It’s too
bad though.” He put the tip of the blade on the ground and raised his foot. “Swords are so easily broken.” He
smashed his foot down on the blade as hard as he could. The blade bent with the force of the hit, but then quickly
returned to it’s original shape pushing the Savior’s foot back. He looked at the weapon that had just denied his power.

“You can not destroy the blade,” said Destar. “You have not the power.” The Savior walked to the edge of the cage
and thrust the sword deep into Destar's heart. He moaned and flopped to the floor.

"NO!" Raluna screamed reaching out for him. Destar grabbed her and pulled her close.

"Do not give up," he said. "Never let him have his satisfaction." He let go and fell to the floor. Raluna looked up at
the Savior with tears in her eyes. "You have no power you fool," she said.

“Do not tell me of my powers!” he yelled back. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.” He walked over to an
area on the floor. He made a fist and brought it down as hard as he could on the floor. A hold
smashed into the floor and light from the outside shined into the dark room. He looked down through
the hole as the land flew past them. He waited until they reached a point when they were over water.
“There are no limitations to what I can do to you or anyone,” he said quietly. He then dropped the sword
through the hole. He watched as the sword fell and splashed into the ocean below. “Now my weakness is
hidden at the bottom of the sea. You’ll be dead before you have a chance to find it in time.” He turned and
started to walk out of the room. He stopped. “You will die in a matter of hours. I am bringing you back to
the point where this all began. That is where it will end.” He walked out of the room.

Flunoria bundled up the seaweed by her hands and rested her head on it. She closed her eyes and flicked her
tail a little bit. She had at least another three hours of swimming ahead of her, she could rest for a bit. She
breathed the water in through her gills and blew it back out through her nose. Sleep would come.

She wondered what had happened in her city in the few days since she had been gone. Probably nothing, but she
always wondered. She never could know while she was gone on diplomatic business. Maybe the whole city
would be gone. Reduced to rubble by some unknown force, and she had managed to escape it by being away.
Maybe it was a small change. Perhaps a new building had been put up, or a new baby had been born. She
sighed and took another deep breath.

Suddenly she heard a splash from far above water. She ignored it, probably just a bird or something grabbing a
fish. Suddenly she felt a swoosh of water push past her face and heard something stick into the dirt beside her.

She opened her eyes to see a hunk of metal sticking out of the ground right in front of her face. She
picked her head up and looked at it. It was sword sticking out of the ground. She looked up at the
surface and saw the ripples run across the ocean surface. She looked back at the sword. It was a rapier and it
had an odd design running down the blade. She grabbed it and pulled it out of the ground. She looked it over.
A very peculiar finding indeed. She tucked it under her arm and swam toward the city. Maybe one of her elders
would know where it was from.

“Das.” He heard it from a distance. His head hurt and he was still seeing black all around him. “Das,
wake up.” He shook his head as the voice slowly came more clearly and louder. He opened his eyes
and saw blurriness. He closed them again and shook his head.

“Das, wake up!” Raluna yelled again. Das’s eyes shot open and he looked around. He let out a gasp.
He looked down and saw land moving past him hundreds of feet downward. A pole hung from the
bottom of the ship, at the bottom of pole was a small circular platform. Raluna and Das were tied to
the pole.

“Raluna, what happened?” yelled Das over the wind as it blew passed them.

“It’s the Savior, he’s here,” she yelled back.

“What?”

“The savior, they resurrected him. He’s alive. Das, he’s not good. You’re the good one. He’s evil.
He’s going to destroy this planet.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I can’t explain it to you right now, just trust me. If you get the chance, stop him, hurt him, kill him!”

“I don’t think that will happening,” said the Savior. A door from the side of the ship had opened up
and the savior had stepped out on a platform which led down to the area that Das and Raluna were.
“You’re in no position to make plans.”

“Why are you doing this?” yelled Raluna. “Why this planet, why did you have to come here?”

“You shouldn’t ask so many questions,” the Savior shot back. A loud booming groan was heard from
behind the ship.

“What was that?” asked Das, clueless to what was going on. The Savior looked back. It was Dox.
The Savior opened its mouth out loud and let out groan equivalent to that the monster had just let out.
Dox turned left and started to walk in the direction it was facing.

“That’s my creature,” smiled the savior. “He’s going to the Dark Islands, to awaken my other minions.”

“The people of this planet will never let you win,” shot back Raluna.

“The people of this planet? The people of this planet? The people of this planet are dormant and weak.
They won’t do anything.”

“Where are you taking us?” asked Das.

“To the place where this all happened. Remember that beach. That place you woke up. That’s where
we are going.”

“And what will you do once we’re there?” asked Raluna. The Savior looked at them and let out a smirk.

“Then I will drop you. And you will smash to the ground below. Ending your life, and my nuisance.”
The Savior walked over to Das and grabbed him by his face. “I’m going to enjoy watching you drop.
To see you’re brains splattered about the sands. And then, after I have taken over this world, you, or
what’s left of you, will eventually disintegrate, and blow away with the wind. And it will be like you were
never even here. Never even created. Then I will be forever rid of you.” Das looked back at him.

“You’ll never be rid of me.” With that Das kicked the Savior between his legs. He then put his foot on
his chest and pushed. The Savior recoiled back and fell off the platform. He fell and plummeted towards
the ground. The Savior grabbed his shirt and tore it off. He then unfolded his wings and spread them.
He flapped them and flew upwards back towards the ship.

“Sorry Demon, I’m not rid of that easily.”

“Why are you killing us at the beach? Why does it have to be there?” asked Das.

“Call me a symbolist. I want to show the Dark Ones that they might as well have not created you for all
the good you did. It gives me satisfaction.” The Savior flapped over to where Raluna was. “Recognize
these elf? Probably not, seeing as how you never saw them flying.” He stretched her wings out to their
full length.

“I don’t need them anymore.” She looked down. They were over Redum now. She had managed to
wrap her hand around a piece of rope, and had been burning through it. “I can fly on my own now!”
The rope snapped and she pulled it off she then grabbed Das and flung both of them off the platform.

They plummeted towards the top of the city. Raluna grabbed Das and pulled him close to her body as
they fell unstoppable towards the stone streets of Redum.

“I love you Das,” she said. He held her tight back. They fell as a single unit.

Suddenly wheels started turning and cranks where pulled. A giant tarp started to stretch from one
end of Redum’s walls to the other. It quickly flew across as the wheels controlling it heated and
smoke flew from the burning ropes as they flew past as the tarp reached the other side of the city
walls at top speed.

Raluna and Das fell directly into the center of the tarp. It bowed down and then flung them back up into
the air like a giant trampoline. They landed again in the tarp, and then laid there holding each other.

Everything had stopped and all was still now. Raluna looked up at Das.

“We’re still alive,” she said.

“We could have died. Why did you make us fall?”

“Because I would be damned before I let that bastard have any satisfaction on our part.” Das kissed her.
Suddenly a hand reached up from under the side of the tarp. Kal pulled him self up and crawled over to
where they were.

“Kal!” yelled Das. They all crawled over to eachother.

“You guys are alive, thank god,” Kal said.

“What happened?” asked Raluna.

“I saw the ship coming this was so I flew over to this town, hoping maybe I could get some assistance from the
city.” He looked down at the tarp they were on. He started laughing. “It’s the storm tarp,” he said between laughs.
“I was standing near the guard tower where they keep the controls. I saw you guys fall out, so I hit the storm tarp
lever and cranked up the speed. I can’t believe it worked.” Das looked at him. Then he started laughing. Then
Raluna started laughing. They were all laughing. Another hand, this one furry reached up and crawled onto the tarp.

“Well,” said Satuk, “are you guys coming?”

The Savior looked down at what happened. He grunted and flew back into the ship. It was no matter. The Eagles
Claw was gone. They couldn’t stop him. No once could stop him. He turned the ship towards the Dark Islands.
He had no more time to play with them. He had important things to do. Desperately important things to do.