Everflame: The Complete Series

by Dylan Lee Peters

  “How many?” mumbled Eveneye. “Can you tell how many?”

  Tenturo took a moment to continue his observation before he concluded, “All of them.”

  Goldenheart and Eveneye took an involuntary step backward and the many animals of Ephanlarea saw the fear that their action bespoke. Murmurs began to filter through the crowd, unsettling the spirit of bravery the animals had worked so hard to muster. Tenturo knew that he had to make up for that deficiency now or they might lose the battle before it started.

  “Birds,” he bellowed. “Fly over the kingdom and report back to me. Be careful. Do not fly too low.”

  At once, thousands of birds lifted off of the ground like a sheet of linen flowing in the breeze. The great flock rose high and higher until each bird was a speck of black upon a white and cloud-filled sky. The remainder of the army watched patiently and hoped for good news to return. As they watched the skies, many birds descended from their high altitude and floated above the kingdom, trying to see the streets of Nefas in greater detail.

  “Not too low,” cautioned Tenturo under his breath.

  One brave and foolish crane landed upon the angled roof of a tall building and began to survey the streets as the animals watching held their collective breath. Within seconds, a jet of flame burst from below and engulfed the crane, erasing the poor creature from the world.

  “No!” cried Tenturo.

  The thousands of birds that had taken to the sky sent up an aviary alarm and returned to the ground, outside of Nefas, like a falling blizzard. No report was needed of what the birds had seen. The crane’s fate had been seen beyond the wall, and Tenturo knew his suspicions had been right.

  “This kingdom has been taken by Farsiders,” Tenturo called so that all could hear. “These creatures cannot be killed, but that does not mean we are powerless against them, and that does not mean we give up. We came to this place to fight for peace and to take our land back from the Tyrant who pollutes it. These creatures are under his control and most likely here because of the Tyrant’s will.”

  “The Farsiders came to Gray Mountain just before the Tyrant destroyed it,” added Eveneye.

  “This kingdom of men will suffer the same fate if we do not help,” continued Tenturo. “No man is our enemy unless he makes himself thus, and an enemy of the Tyrant is our ally. If the Tyrant will destroy Nefas, let it be stone and wood that break and splinter, not the lives of the innocent. We do not know how many humans still live within these walls, but every life we steal from the Tyrant’s grasp is a step toward our goal.

  “Those of you who can dig, burrow or tunnel, do so. The Farsiders cannot be killed, but they can be trapped beneath the ground. For those of you who can fly, do so, and shower debris upon the Farsiders that may fluster, bury or distract them. Keep in your minds firmly the fate of brother crane. Keep your distance. These things breathe fire. For those of you who have speed, use it to help what humans we may find to escape. Carry these poor creatures away from this wreck and know that you have saved their lives and gained an ally. Those of you who have strength, use it to aid your fellow Ephanlareans, the same for those of you who have cunning, or those who can build, all of you. Every one of you has something you can do. Now is the time, now is the need. Be not afraid, you bastions of Earth, for this is the first day of our awakening. Rise! Rise against the Tyrant!!”

  With a collective roar that could shake the very crust of the earth, thousands of animals charged upon the walls of Nefas. Under, over and between, they came like a storm, ready to wash the stain of evil from their land. Once inside the walls, the animals found the Farsiders unprepared for the numbers that charged against them. Many were taken by fire, but the flames were not enough to stop the rush.

  The Farsiders were pushed over, trampled, buried, tethered, assaulted and unable to regain composure. Like a bear who stumbles upon a swarm of bees, the Farsiders who had not been trapped found their only option was to retreat, but there was no salvation within Nefas. The animals had brought the war to the Farsiders, and the enemy was losing ground.

  Three deer found a man, woman and child, cowering in the rubble of a small cottage. They used their antlers to move much of the debris and then, one of the deer did something he never imagined he would allow himself to.

  “We’re here to help you. Please, let me and my brothers carry your family out of the kingdom to safety.”

  “Y–You talk?” said the man in shock, his arms wrapped around his wife and child.

  “We’re here to save you,” repeated the deer. “Please, climb atop our backs. We will speed you away from these evil, black beasts.”

  Slowly, the humans seated themselves upon the three large deer and held on tightly as the deer sped them off to the borders of Nefas. Many humans had come out of hiding once the fighting had begun. Some feared being trapped, some were just too curious to stay hidden, and some yet could see what the animals were doing and tried to help. There were many humans upon the streets of Nefas who saw the deer carrying that family to safety, and the man riding atop the deer saw the faces of his brothers and sisters staring at him as he escaped.

  “Remember Everflame!” yelled the man atop the deer, with a fist held up to the sky. “Remember Everflame!”

  “Everflame!” returned the humans that the deer sped past. “Everflame!” shouted the men and women of Nefas.

  Eveneye and Goldenheart looked to their left to see two women with their fists in the air, chanting, Everflame, Everflame, Everflame. As the two bears watched the women in amazement, a Farsider that walked upon two legs came stalking around the corner of a stone building and saw the two women. They screamed and turned to run, but stumbled upon a large plank of wood that had fallen upon the road. The Farsider saw the women fall and thick saliva dripped from its large mouth.

  “No,” yelled Goldenheart, and immediately she and Eveneye ran to the defense of the women.

  Just as the Farsider was about to strike, Eveneye barreled into the evil thing and Goldenheart followed behind, kicking at the creature’s head. The Farsider was thrown and took a moment to regain its composure.

  “Please,” said Goldenheart to the women. “Climb atop our backs. We can help you reach safety.”

  The poor women were in shock and could do nothing but tremble. Eveneye couldn’t wait for them to think rationally. He picked one woman up with his large paw and tossed her atop Goldenheart, and then picked the second woman up with his mouth, roughly flipping her onto his back.

  As Eveneye did so, the Farsider regained his footing and snarled at the two bears. The thing had glowing, red eyes and stood upon two legs, as a human would. It flexed the rippling muscles in its four arms and roared from a large mouth that was grotesquely placed in the middle of its chest.

  “Take the women,” Eveneye said to Goldenheart. “Quickly. Take them.”

  “No, Eveneye. You can’t defeat that thing.”

  “Goldie! Do it!” yelled Eveneye as the Farsider leapt at him, its slathering tongue hanging past its jagged teeth.

  But just before the Farsider reached him, large rocks fell from the sky, knocking the black beast down to the ground. Eveneye looked up and saw many large eagles, showering the Farsider from above.

  “Follow me, Goldie,” shouted Eveneye. “Quickly.”

  The two bears turned from the Farsider and ran with the women atop their backs, as fast as they could. They were not sure where in the kingdom they were, and didn’t know how to get back to the Northern Gate. They turned down a street to the left and found themselves facing the back of a gigantic Farsider that looked like a spider. Eveneye ducked into a small shop with shattered windows and a broken door, and Goldenheart quickly followed.

  “Be as quiet as you can,” whispered Eveneye to Goldenheart and the two humans. The four of them pressed themselves against the back of the small shop and tried to get low to the ground. They watched, holding their breath as the giant, spider-like creature turned, walked toward the shop and stopped. The thin
g was so tall that all they could see through the shattered openings of the shop were its legs. Eveneye thought that he could hear the thing sniffing at the air as it stood above the tiny shop where they hid.

  Then, after what seemed like forever, the Farsider began walking away. The women and bears waited longer, until they knew the creature would be long gone, and then they moved slowly back into the street. The street was empty and the sounds of fighting seemed to be far off.

  “You were chanting, Everflame,” said Eveneye to the women. “Why?”

  The women had regained some of their composure and had, at least, lost their fear of the bears. One woman spoke her answer.

  “Everflame is our rally cry.”

  “Where did you learn it?” asked Goldenheart.

  “A man came to Nefas some weeks ago. We did not know where he came from, but he was trying to free someone from Queen Faedra’s punishment. He was trying to free all of us from her tyranny. She killed him while we all watched. He kept telling us to fight her, to escape, to find the Everflame. Since the man’s death, Everflame has been the name of our battle against the oppression in Nefas. We had hoped that it was over when Faedra was executed, but it would seem that her successor is far worse. He let these things into the kingdom.”

  “We knew that man you speak of,” said Eveneye. “His name was Steven Everheart. He lived with us in our kingdom. He had come here to try and save you.”

  “He lived with you?” asked the woman in shock.

  “Yes,” concurred Goldenheart. “We are here to continue his work. We are here to save you from oppression. If you wish to be saved.”

  “Yes!” said both the women without hesitation.

  “Then tell us how to get back to the Northern Gate, and we will leave this place.”

  The women pointed down the street, past Eveneye and Goldenheart, and as they turned to look in that direction, they saw the Farsider with the four arms. He had returned and was running toward them. The women screamed and the Farsider ran faster.

  “NO!” came a cry from the other end of the street, and Eveneye and Goldenheart turned to see Tenturo running toward them from the other direction.

  “What can we do, Even?” asked Goldenheart in panic.

  But before Eveneye could answer, Tenturo’s body began to glow with red energy and he came flying past the bears as fast and bright as lightning. Tenturo dazzled their eyes as he sped past, and he ripped the air around them so it felt like they were in the winds of a storm. Screaming past the bears, Tenturo flew on and collided, full force, with the Farsider. Instantaneously, the fell thing burst into dust and disappeared from the earth forever. The bears raced toward Tenturo, the women following behind.

  “How did you kill it?” asked Eveneye, panting as he reached the Ancient.

  Tenturo looked at his body in amazement, turning his glowing, red paw over as if he had never seen it before.

  “Thank you, Desher,” uttered the Ancient being, finally realizing where the power had come from.

  “Who is Desher?” asked Goldenheart.

  “The Red One,” answered Tenturo. “He sits, dead, beyond the stars. That is where I went after the Tyrant attacked me. Desher is like Earth, but the Tyrant stole his power and left him dying. His last wish was for me to take the remainder of his power and use it against the Tyrant. You now see what it can do, and I have but a fraction of what the Tyrant took from him. This is the Tyrant’s plan. This is why we must stop him. He wishes to take power from Earth as he took it from Desher. It will be the end of all should he succeed.”

  The gravity of the situation was overwhelming for Eveneye and Goldenheart and the women couldn’t even understand what they were in the midst of.

  “We must reach the Tyrant,” said Eveneye.

  “No,” said Tenturo. “We must continue on our current path. Until Evercloud arrives, I am the only one who can kill the Farsiders. Now that I know I have this power, this is what I must do. Get these women to safety, and then get yourselves to safety. Everyone must get away from Nefas. It’s likely the Tyrant means to do here what he did to Gray Mountain. Everyone must get far away.”

  Eveneye nodded his head and looked to his wife. “This is our second chance, Goldie, except we don’t have to convince anyone, we just need to help them.”

  “Climb aboard,” said Goldenheart as she turned to the women. They obeyed this time, without hesitation.

  At the far end of the street, giant, rumbling footsteps came and everyone turned to see the return of the massive, spider-like Farsider. It sent a jet of flame toward the group and shrieked into the air.

  “RUN!!” yelled Tenturo at the bears and they sped off in the other direction. Tenturo turned back to the Farsider as it bore down upon him. “I’ve waited a very long time to end your kind. Your creator may be Densa, but now you will learn the name of your destroyer.” The Ancient began to glow again with the power of Desher and he shot up from the street like a meteor on a reverse path to the sky. “I AM TENTURO!!!!” he cried as he plowed through the giant monster as if it were nothing but ether.

  The great beast moaned and fell to the ground, shaking the kingdom. Tenturo looked back upon the body of the beast as it disintegrated and then he scanned the rest of the kingdom from the sky, looking for his next target. Tenturo found it almost immediately and sped toward where a pack of one hundred wild dogs were relentlessly attacking a large and bulky, four-legged Farsider. With a beam of red light from his mouth, Tenturo bathed the evil thing in its death. The dogs remained unharmed by the light, but the Farsider fell to the street as a pile of dust.

  On and on, Tenturo searched, destroying every Farsider he could find. Cheers followed every time he stripped the world of one more nightmare. A blast of light destroyed a Farsider that had been trapped in a pit, Tenturo collided fatally with another that had been wrapped in a thousand chains by the speed and sharp minds of a thousand rodents. He brought death to yet another Farsider, cornered and constantly assaulted by wild cats. Tenturo flew, on and on, and he continued his barrage until the Farsiders were gone. Not a single one remained.

  Cheers erupted on the streets and in the skies. Human and animal alike celebrated together as if they had always been friends. Nefas had been reclaimed from the Farsiders, and every creature that came from Elderton had had a hand in the battle. Tenturo landed among a group of thousands, standing in the largest courtyard in Nefas, and he was immediately showered with the love and admiration of a unified kingdom.

  He laughed and cheered with everyone, far below the Royal Palace of Nefas, its shadow could not dim the spirits of victory on this day. But just as the fear and dread began to ebb away from every single being in the streets, a giant explosion ripped the air and everyone gasped as they looked into the sky.

  The roof had been blown off of the top of the great tower, and it fell in large pieces. Animals and humans screamed and ran for shelter, but Tenturo stood strong and looked past the falling pieces of the palace. He moved his gaze high, to the top of the tower and there he saw him.

  The glowing energy of his greatest enemy burned in the evening sky like the blazing sun. The bringer of fear, the destroyer of worlds, the Great Tyrant had arrived. Tenturo leapt into the air and flew toward the tower of Nefas.

  Chapter 31: In the Tower

  Densa leapt from where he stood and dove straight at the giant, humming frame of the Great Tyrant, knocking him back into the wall.

  “This ends now,” he growled.

  The Tyrant writhed and struggled to get his arms around Densa.

  “You’ve become more powerful since I’ve last seen you,” gasped the Tyrant.

  “No. I’ve just woken up.”

  The Great Tyrant managed to lift his legs up between himself and Densa and kicked out, sending Densa sprawling across the floor. But before the Tyrant could charge himself for an attack, he found Ben pummeling him from the side. The Tyrant stumbled and fell to his right, looking up in shock.

  “I’m goin
g to drain the blood from your bones,” he sneered at the man.

  Ben stood, wide-eyed, unable to believe that he had just used the Evermight to knock over the Great Tyrant. The Tyrant got to his feet quickly and rose high above Ben, crackling with electric charge. Ben was too shocked to move and the Tyrant swung down at him with his massive arm. Just before impact, Densa flew forward, having recovered, and wrenched the Tyrant’s arm away.

  “You won’t find me so easy to defeat this time.”

  Across the room, Callderwallder sent a bolt of energy screaming past Evercloud’s head and right through a window. He and Riverpaw spun to see the crippled man in his metal suit, preparing for another blast.

  “I never miss twice,” said the little man, seething.

  “I’ll take your word for it,” said Riverpaw and flew, crashing, into the giant, metal suit before Callderwallder’s arm could charge again.

  Evercloud followed and pounced onto Callderwallder’s chest as he fell to the floor. The man from Gray Mountain began throttling the suit, trying to bust it open. Across the room, Densa continued his duel with the Tyrant. Back and forth, the two exchanging blows, neither backing down, yet neither gaining any advantage. Ben would intermittently try to throw himself into the fray, yet each time the Tyrant was ready for him, swatting him away like a gnat.

  “Help the others,” Densa yelled at Ben. “I have this one.”

  “You have nothing,” spat the Tyrant. “I have waited far too long to destroy you. Far too long.”

  Densa and the Tyrant continued back and forth, around the room, entwined in their dance of fury. The Tyrant sending bolts of energy at Densa who would block them deftly, only to have his own furious attacks turned away with electric force. It seemed as if they would go on forever.

  Ben turned to find Evercloud, just as Callderwallder reached his arm up and smashed it into Evercloud’s head. The man flew against the wall with a thud and dropped to the floor. Riverpaw launched himself at the metal giant, but Callderwallder was fast enough to smash the bear, mid flight, with the side of his gauntlet.