The End of War

 
The drowsy morning sun rose quietly to draw back the curtain of the long winter night, lighting the sky with its faint, cold glow, which was soon covered by dense rain clouds. In that slow, quiet hour, the voice of a man rose that woke the birds from their slumber and broke the calm of that restful place with his sharp words. And though the man was speaking to him, Leith, the First King, was examining apples within reach of his hand, without any thought of answering Hiroshi's talk, full of values and ideals. He began pruning them and inspecting their quality. And although an hour had passed since then, Hiroshi felt no boredom or fatigue. He talked to the King with no hope of being heard.

"That's why I'm telling you to stop ignoring what they do to the hostages. Don't you realise the amount of disgrace they swallow, and how many are killed over things like this?"

With a sideways glance, followed by Leith turning to look him in the face, he said, "Don't you get tired of repeating this conversation all the time? You know I'm not interested in any of this, don't you?"

Hiroshi calmed himself, and answered with quiet confidence. "I won't stop until you help me with it. I can't."

"You know I won't do that. And yet you still come every day to bother me."

Hiroshi smiled with a sly face and answered him. "Then what about the head of the White Crow?"

At the sound of that name, even Leith, who was far from caring about anything around him, froze a little. Then he looked at him, confusion plain on his face. "What are you talking about..."

"The White Crow. Don't you want to catch him and kill him? I will..."

Seeing the confident look on Hiroshi's face and that arrogant smile, Leith returned to his calm with a cold look on his face. Then he turned his gaze back to the apple in his hand and said, "Why are you this desperate to end this war? And let's say you caught that person and handed him to me. Do you really think you can..."

Hiroshi cut him off, saying, "Don't you want to see your daughter and your son?"

Leith sighed before he muttered words Hiroshi didn't hear. Then he returned the apple to the ground and carried on his talk. "You want the end of this war, then it's yours. I'll show you how foolish and absurd those ideas you delude yourself with are. There's no need to do anything in return. Instead, I'll leave the decision entirely to you."

The angry tone of his voice made Hiroshi regret using that method to persuade him. And from the corner of his eye, filled with anger, terror crept into Hiroshi's heart and left him unable to add another word to that conversation. "But whatever decision you make, never think of talking to me about it. Whatever hell you fall into, it'll have nothing to do with me anymore. Understood?"

Hiroshi nodded his head without looking into his eyes, and remained standing where he was, waiting for Leith's next move. Leith raised his left hand and began grasping at the air, as though he had taken hold of a sheet of newspaper, leaving those creases showing in the void. He pulled his hand back quickly, tearing that part of the world and leaving behind it a golden light whose brilliance nearly blinded Hiroshi, who was in a state of amazement at what he saw. Leith reached his hand towards that light, grasping something from its middle and pulling it hard, shattering that invisible membrane and bringing that light out powerfully to illuminate the King's palace with its majestic golden colour.

Hiroshi drew his arms away from his face and began opening his eyes slowly. And within that membrane of light, that red cloak fluttered before him, screening him from that dazzling light. The first thing that appeared before his eyes was that Greek sword with the golden hilt and the entirely crystalline blade. Then he turned his gaze towards Leith, whose clothes had changed a little, and above his head floated a crown of black agate. Leith whispered a faint word, so that light began to gather before him and soon started taking the shape of some animal.

"Before that, I want to make something clear. From now on, I'll do what I see fit to grant you your wish. So if you try to prevent or stop me..."

The tension was clear on Hiroshi's face, and he chose not to argue about it. Then Leith set his hand on the horse that had formed before him and looked towards Hiroshi as he said, "No, you aren't that foolish. In any case, climb up. Let's go and pay Tora a visit."

The horse's size and length were close to that of an elephant, with a cloak covering it entirely. Its head was covered under a ragged, torn cloth that gave off awe and terror, with those horns that resembled the branches of trees. They both climbed onto its back, and Leith began stroking its head, so the horse leapt into the air, leap after leap, soaring through the sky of the capital.

At exactly eleven o'clock, above the sky of the city of York, the largest city after the capital and the centre of the Jinn army's power, Leith and Hiroshi were before the walls of that city. The King's horse descended inside the walls, and the instant he got down from it the horse vanished, leaving both Leith and Hiroshi before that city. One of the guards at the gate noticed their sudden appearance and said, "Is that the First King? That's impossible."

That Jinn set off a strong alarm siren calling for the utmost emergency. Soon the city's main street was filled with hundreds of Jinn soldiers on full alert, waiting for a signal to attack. Leith laughed when he saw that scene, and raised his sword to his side. "Just as I expected, there'll be no time for talk."

With a fierce charge the soldiers attacked at the same time. Though they were few, there were some among them who used strange abilities to attack. It wasn't anything odd, for this was the function of the Third Wing among the Jinn, after all. Before any of them could reach the King, Leith drove his sword into the ground with force, followed by a strong tremor that halted the soldiers' reckless charge. And in that moment of fear, enormous thorns emerged from the belly of the earth in a single second, turning the one hundred and fourteen Jinn into a heap of corpses suspended in the sky.

The path along which the thorns emerged headed towards the two sides, leaving a narrow passage in the middle. Leith pulled his sword from the ground and carried on his way with steady steps. Then Hiroshi followed him, stunned by that terrifying sight. The sounds of weeping and screaming filled the place, and the cascade of blood and pieces of flesh on either side made each step he took forward fill him with greater fear of what would happen later.

The city was filled with the sounds of alarms and warnings against staying near the square. In the midst of that chaos, Hiroshi and Leith took their way towards the centre of the city, slowly and calmly, as though each of them were out on a sightseeing trip. Hiroshi's worried eyes watched the people around them as they fled, while Leith's eyes were fixed on their target, the warm smile never leaving his face.

When they reached the public square, Hiroshi was at once on alert when he saw the commanders of the Jinn army standing there, gathered, waiting for the King's arrival. Then Leith gestured with his hand to Hiroshi and advanced towards them alone. Without a word, the First Commander drew his spear and it lit up with a dark blue colour. Each of his three wings began giving off a blue light that grew brighter little by little. Then he charged at a tremendous speed that nearly broke the speed of sound, brandishing his spear to cut the King's neck. And before the spear could touch his skin, a giant golden hand appeared out of nothing and grabbed the spear's blade. Then each of them looked at the other, and Leith smiled. He kicked the ground with force enough to shatter it beneath him and throw off the balance of his feet. "You're a little strong, aren't you?"

As he spoke those words, Leith was aiming a back kick at his head. And with him shielding his head with his hands and his unstable stance, the immense momentum of the kick sent the body of Commander Arneid flying far from the square, crashing into some houses and coming to rest outside the outskirts of the city.

"Let's end this matter quickly before I really get bored."

Leith advanced towards both the Second Commander and the Third Commander, who had both been seized by fear. Soon the Third Commander, Akihiro, spoke and said, "Wait a moment. There's no need to engage in a duel that might lead to the destruction of the city. We'll summon Commander Tora at once to solve this problem. Isn't that what you came for?"

Leith stopped where he was and thought for a little while, then answered him. "You're quite right. You have a point in this matter. You'd make a fine technical adviser, Akihiro."

Both commanders felt a little safe, until Leith carried on his talk as he said, "So bring us Tora within ten seconds. If Tora doesn't come within that time, I'll blow up this city. No, I'll wipe it off the map."

The most stunned of them was Hiroshi, who lost his words. And while the others realised he was completely serious, the Second Commander headed quickly towards the centre of the city. Meanwhile Akihiro's Third Wing appeared and confined both Leith and Hiroshi in a transparent green square that emerged from beneath their feet.

Four. Three. Two. One...

When Leith finished counting, he opened his eyes to see the barrier he'd been imprisoned in. "I can't let you do as you please in this place. Sorry, but you'll have to wait quietly."

Akihiro showed no worry or panic, as though he were confident in the solidity of the barrier he'd made. Leith answered him as he looked towards the ceiling of the barrier, raising his head. "It's a truly well-made barrier. No! It's more like armour than a barrier. It looks strong from the inside, but what about the outside... Tell me, Hiroshi, in your opinion, what's the quickest way to drop a meteor onto the earth?"

Hiroshi's face went pale, worry plain upon it, and he answered him while clenching his fist hard. "What kind of question is that all of a sudden?"

"It's simple. If you can't drop a meteor, then just make one."

After hearing those words, both Hiroshi and Akihiro turned their eyes towards the sky. Soon that golden light gleamed in the sky. And though they realised it was too late to do anything, they couldn't turn their gazes away from that arrow of light that pierced the atmosphere and fell at a speed close to that of light.

And in that moment, lasting no more than fractions of a second, each of them was able to see the arrow strike the earth and cause it to cave in with force. That light burst out of the ground, tearing apart its structure and the features it had held. Everyone on that ground found no time to feel what was happening. Before they could realise it, their houses were evaporating under the weight of that light. As for the bodies, they lost their weight before they lost their lives. They rose into the air for a moment, fleeing the gravity that the light had crushed, and the instant the ray touched them they faded like shadows from which the darkness has lifted, without even leaving behind ashes to bear witness to their existence.

The moment the energy settled, that light exploded from the depths of the earth towards the outside, tearing the earth's crust in a terrifying geological scene. Tongues of light surged out like veins of molten gold cutting their way across the continents. And when the glow finally cleared, there was no city, no rubble, not even a trace of life. What remained there was more like a volcanic crater of enormous size. And in the middle of that place, Leith stood atop his horse, holding Hiroshi by the collar of his neck.

Leith leapt from his horse and got down to the ground, throwing Hiroshi to his side, then said, "I meant to get rid of any trace of this resistance, but I didn't expect the barrier you make to be this strong. As expected of my playmate, Akihiro."

Those words counted as praise and a showing of respect. And far from them, there was something that hadn't burned under the weight of that attack. It was a large green square, somewhat transparent. What was inside it was the Third Commander of the Jinn army, Akihiro, and the Second Commander, who was stopping the bleeding of his severed hand. And beside them was the person who had started this war ten years ago. With his short grey hair and his white eyes, marks of irritation and anger formed on his face the instant he saw Leith's smiling, calm face.

When Hiroshi stood on his feet and looked around him, he was on the verge of losing his mind.

I didn't want this to happen. Things aren't supposed to end this way. Wasn't there another solution?

And while those thoughts came to him, Leith set his hand on his back and said to him, "You wanted to stop the war, and I paved the way for you to do it. The matter is left to you from now on. I did what seemed right to me. And now, prove to me that the ideals you were spouting aren't just childish chatter."

Then he pushed him forward and returned to his horse, patting its back, leaving Hiroshi before the last chance he had. He gathered his resolve and advanced forward, heading towards the end of this

 war.