11

                                                                  Fonare

                                                                32.11.3243

Below the sky, the burning clouds, the fire, the exploding air, the heat hit the surface suddenly. It was colorful but dangerous and scary. The blazing air with fire everywhere, everything was on fire in a moment.

“Uzei!” said Hara in fear. Her voice was shaking. “What is this?”

“No!” said Uzei almost screaming. “It can’t be!” He amplified the shield with his ultimate power, but it was no use. The fire kept coming down faster and faster, and in every step of its way as it got bigger and hotter.

“I can’t stop it!” said Hara. “It’s too much!”

“No one can!” said Uzei. “We need to go. Now!”

He quickly gazed around himself to see if there is anything he could do, but it was already too late.

“We can’t!” said Hara trying to amplify the shield with entire energy. Uzei tried one last time but it didn’t affect it at all.

“Hara,” he said suddenly. His voice was calm. “We won’t be able to stop it.” A moment ago, he had hope but then the air turned into orange and the storm hit the surface with fire and a moment later, all the plants were burning into ashes.

“But why?” She was in tears. They both let the tower unguarded and lowered their shield to a minimum volume to provide more energy for a less area. Doing this, they aimed to make a stronger barrier to the fire that was blazing now even in the tower. Everything that could burn was now on fire and the heat was getting denser.

“Because it is fire. Our shields don’t stop sun. And fire is a part of it. You know that. Look!” he showed the outside the shield. “Even with our optimum efforts, the fire penetrates inside. You feel the heat already.”

“But we can’t just go.” She said in a desperate voice. “We just can’t!” Her tears fell on the ground. Uzei felt a sudden sorrow over his anger.

“If we stay, we will die burning here.” Uzei looked at the orange colors in the clouds. The moving sky was literally a fire storm. And now that the windows of the tower were already melted, the fire was moving inside almost freely.

“But we can’t!” said Hara kneeling on the ground and crying even in more tears. “We can’t! We can’t! It will kill everything!”

“I know.” Uzei kneeled and hugged her for a moment. “We have to leave to help another day. Fonare is going to need us more than ever.” His voice trembled and his mercy for Hara hit him harder than the fire. He couldn’t let her get hurt now. Not ever.

She looked at him in her wet eyes. Uzei felt the fear and pain at the same time.

“I… I… I don’t know how.” She said. Hopelessly, she was already surrendered by her own desperation.

“Come with me.” Uzei stood up and held her hand quickly. “We have to hurry!”

They hurried to get out of the tower, running downstairs from one from to another one, the fire blazed, blurred their vision, hit their shield, and cramped their way. It was har and the fear itself was there all along. Uzei felt the fire inside his soul. He couldn’t think of what was going on anymore. All he could do was to find a way to their safety. The storm was going to hit them even harder. Everything was going to burn. Death by fire. The ultimate terror for every living being.

Together they left the tower. Even the air was almost burning now. It was already at its hottest that it had ever been, like they were facing a huge forest fire. While running, he thought about the Greatest Fire, the Day of Black Kwena back in 3011. Some called it the Day of Dark Kwena as well. But no matter what the names are, the fire was real and dangerous. Their history teacher told them about that day. How hard must has been that day back then? All those creatures died in fire. And now, at this very moment, their own people, animals, and plants were having the same horrible death.

His heart ached as the heat got even denser. The wind pushed their shield, but they kept running to the nearest shelter. It wasn’t far but it wasn’t near too. Because the heat was too high, and they might not get there in time.

The storm pushed and pulled them as they changed their directions every time. Uzei felt fire on his face. His eyes were burning with heat. The birds were in crowds and trying to escape, but all they could do was falling down or flow away with fire in their furies. Most of them was already dead while falling from the sky. He felt the pain and horror in every single bird’s heart. He felt like he was the one who was burning, falling, dying.

It was all sad and terrifying. So much sad that he barely found the courage and strength to run from it. That moment, as the sky was burning down and the birds with other animals were trying to find a way to run from the heat, Uzei felt the desperation of life. Was there really hope for them at this point? His heart was full of grief and fear. They all were going to die burning in fire.

The streets as they appeared in were empty. Almost dead. The burning birds started to hit the windows and break them to get in the houses. They were intelligent animals. But the heat was more intense now.

He felt anger. The rage in his chest jumped to the highest. It was definitely Zuana behind this. But he didn’t know how. He was sure but he couldn’t come up with an idea. First of all, he was in no position to think.

Suddenly he realized Hara was pulling him. Then he started to run again. An intense wave of heat hit his body and he felt as if he was burning alive. His eyes dried suddenly, and he closed them for a moment.

“Run!” screamed Hara. “Run!” she said again in despair.

They ended up near the cliffs. The sea was like boiling water. The surface of the water was full of dead birds. The waves hit the shore in anger. The waves made sounds as if the sea was screaming to stop the disaster. The sea was angry. The planet was burning alive.

The shelter was so close. They were almost there. As they saw the bridge they ran faster. Once again, there was hope. But then it was too late. A fire ball hit the bridge and cut it into two pieces as an explosion covered the area. There was no way to cross the cliff now. The stones feel down to the mad sea.

“Jump!” he said and pulled Hara with himself as the exploding heat wave got closer. The next moment, they were flying in the burning air. He felt his skin almost crawled to react the heat like a burning paper. Then they were in the sea. Seleneya was like a boiling water. It was moving all around madly. The waves were too strong to stay in. But it wasn’t all bad. The power of heat was less in the water. At least, this gave him some strength and hope.

“To the caves!” she shouted pushing out the salty water from his mouth. A huge lightening brightened the sky. The caves weren’t far. If they could find a chance to swim there, they might just save their lives.

They both swam with their all strengths. But there was something in Hara's movements that prevented her to swim faster. He could see that, but there was no time to say even a word. The waves pushed and pulled them deep into the sea with the mad motioned surface. It was almost impossible to find their right direction. But fortunately, the cliffs were high, and they could see it from there.

Another lightening hit the surface of Seleneya, and a deafening sound pressed their ears. He felt the trembling in his entire body. The sea was almost electric. A close strike could just burn them into pieces. They had to hurry.

As they approached the cliffs, Uzei realized something else. The waves were big, and the crashing water would hit them to the walls faster than he thought. As he thought of that, he felt an ascending big wave. “The shield, now!” He screamed.

They both opened their shields immediately and then the wave hit them to the cliffs. The momentum was intense, and he felt the dizziness in his stomach. Hara staggered and baffled away as the collusion pulled them back into the water this time. He caught Hara and swam to the vertical wall of the shore. It was all rocky, wet, slippery but he had to try to find a way to get out of the mad waters no matter how hard the situations were.

He decreased his shield energy and found a cavity in the cliff. He pulled himself while also carrying Hara. Her confused body was heavier than ever now. Another wave hit them and then they both were in the water again. He suddenly felt the soft waters all around himself. Hara was falling away from him. A lightening hit the surface and the deep dark waters gave him another sight to catch her. A chance from nature. He swam deeper and caught her in the deep darkness. He needed to breathe but there was no way for that. He had to try his best to swim to the surface. With all his breath that left.

In his weakest moment, he realized something else. The tried to push himself with this shield. If he could give a thrust, his shield could hit him to the surface faster than he could. He immediately tried. A huge wave hit both of them and then they both were on the surface again. Another huge wave hit them to the cliffs. The non-stopping waves made the surface like boiling soup. The only difference was that the heat was above them. The sound of the mad waves filled his ears as they drifted dangerously. How could he save both himself and Hara? Why all these things were happening at the same time?

He tried to make another shield. And just in time, his shield was made, and they hit the cliff with the frantic waves. This time, they both were on a horizontal rocky area. Another wave hit them and pushed them to the vertical rocks. With the collected water and the new empty ground, the gravity and fluidness of the water dragged them back to the sea. But now it wasn’t that much dangerous as previous. He made another shield, and this helped them make a friction. But their bubble of the shield was still dragging them. He took Hara into his arms and carried her to the nearest cave while in the meantime he was making his way safer with the shield. At least now that their clothes were wet, the heat wasn’t that much bad. This gave him a more reliable moving.

Finally, when he carried Hara, his beloved friend into the cave, he quickly felt his energy back. Another turn and then they both would be safe.

But Hara was still unconscious. He was worried about her. Yet, he was happier now. He had no idea that they could survive.