A called out war between two worlds… the visible synchronizing with the invisible; a combination of humans, demons and mystical lethal weapons… A battle between Darkness & Light, Fate & Faith… In a world beyond human understanding that determines the destiny of mankind. Can hope transform a destiny? Can faith overrule fate? ...or will mankind be ever blinded to its own destruction? ...

Chapter 1- Blazing Encounter:

Scene 1-

A hazy flip of scenes run along like a rolling film--- a man and woman fighting, people calling unto demons, men fighting with swords and arrows while the surroundings are on fire and women with small children crying and running for help… a man raises a sword to strike…

He jumped up on the bed, with sweat rolling down his face and forehead. He was breathing heavily.

“Getting affected by nightmares again ha?” a deep voice came from his side.

The young man looked that way. “Rusero. You aren’t asleep yet?” he spoke in a low voice to the shorter guy who was his roommate.

“I told you before. We are at war Yujo.” Rusero replied.

“I don’t understand what you say sometimes. I just dreamt of a war.” Yujo whispered the last words though, but didn’t go unheard by Rusero.

“It’s more than just a dream.” Rusero told him boldly.

“You know what? Sometimes you talk like we are a part of Mortal Combat or Final Fantasy 7!” Yujo exclaimed.

“What?”

“Of course man! They’re always at war! Sudden attacks from hidden places!... You know, last day I was playing this war game called Call of Duty, and it was so full of action! I gotta get its full series.”

“Don’t spend too much time on useless stuffs.”

“Rusero! They are cool!”

“Yujo, this war is beyond our sight or thoughts. I’m not talking about freaky games here.”

“I don’t understand…”

“Someday you will.”

“But …”

“Go to sleep Yujo. Don’t waste my time.”

Yujo sighed, knowing that it’s useless to counter Rusero as he always has an answer to everything. Rusero resumed his work on his laptop and put on his headphones. Yujo lied down turning the other side and pulling the spread to cover himself, trying to get some sleep again.

Scene 2-

Yujo is sitting on his bed and tying up his canvas shoe laces while Rusero packed up his laptop in his bag and fished out the cellphone from his pocket as it ‘beeped’.

“Gotta leave Yujo.” Rusero said as he opened the door and walked out.

“Whoa! Wait! I’m almost done!” Yujo replied as he finished tying up his shoes.

Then he fixed his glasses before pulling on his backpack and rushing out of the room shutting close the door behind him.

“Hey Rusero, sometimes you are too fast man!”

“It’ll get late Yujo.”

“How? You’re always on time.” Yujo checked his watch. “And you aren’t late today either.”

Rusero kept walking quietly looking front. Yujo followed close beside him. They walked quietly for some time.

“Rusero, what is this war you always talk about? You can’t possibly know what I was dreaming of…” Yujo asked him curiously.

“Don’t have time to talk about that now.” Rusero replied coldly.

By this time they reached a diverging part of the road where Rusero turned left.

“See you at evening Yujo.” Rusero walked off.

“Time to part ways ha…” Yujo whispered to himself. “Sure dude. See you.”

He walked left. Thinking deeply within himself, he walked down the road towards his institute. He looked up at the hoarding, and with a sigh walked accross the gate not bothering to attend his class. Then he walked down to the side of a stream that flowed through the small neighbouring woods. He dropped down his bag on the green grass and sat down with his legs stretched out and sighed. He kept his eyes fixed on the flowing waters of the sparkling shallow stream.

‘We are at war Yujo… It’s more than just a dream.’

Rusero’s words crossed his mind. At that moment, there was a strong wind with a rustle of leaves and some birds flying out of the branches within the woods.

“What’s going on there?” Curiosity got the best of him as Yujo stood up taking his back pack and walked into the woods.

As he walked inside, and closer to the origin area of the frequent rustling sound, his eyes narrowed as he realized that the place was getting quite dark which was unnatural at such a time of the day.

But that didn’t stop him. Instead that increased his curiosity, although he could barely hear his own heart beat. The sudden sound of clashes of blades stopped Yujo dead on his tracks. A sweat drop trailed down his face as he sneaked from behind the bushes to see what was actually going on.

The next thing he knew was flames all around and a tall man dressed as a warrior, standing in the middle of it with his unsheathed sword held out like he is about to attack. Sudddenly, something clashes on his sword and he moves his sword to defend himself against it, and that seemed like something in a dark human form, clad in a dark cloak, holding a dark sharp chain, which was fixed with big screws, and he held it in his hand which he was using as a whip against the warrior with the sword. Finally, the warrior put the tip of his two edged sword in a ring of the huge chain and tore it apart. The dark man in the cloak fell, as the warrior raised his sword and as he swung the sword over that black cloaked man, fire went out of its edge and consumed him. The man disappeared like a dark fume of smoke.

Yujo was spellbound. Before he realized, his own eyes were boring into golden orbs of the warrior as Yujo felt a chill run along his spine amidst of the fiery surroundings.
“Yujo Mizu.” Called the deep voice of the warrior as he turned towards him.

Yujo’s eyes widened as he felt his breath hitch in his throat. He scampered back a few paces before turning around and rushing out of the area, breathing heavily and sweating as if he just escaped the knaws of death. He stopped for a moment and turned back to see, but there was no one.

“What was that? Did he just disappear?... How in the world does he know my name?” Yujo spoke to himself as he turned back and rushed outside the woods.

He stopped and looked around. Everything looked normal. The sun was out and the weather seemed fine.

“What’s going on? What’s wrong with me?” Yujo brushed off the spiked up hairs from over his forehead. “Am I thinking too much? May be Rusero is right. I shouldn’t play too much of video games.”

He walked over to the place where he was previously sitting.

‘Never seen or heard of something like this before. Do others have this experience? Was Rusero talking about this? Who was that man in the warrior suit? What is that power he has? Is he an assassin? How could he possibly know my name?’ “Aggh! That’s too much to think!” Yujo shook his head vigorously.

He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed, but immediately stiffened as a glimpse of the golden eyed warrior flashed in his mind. His eyes opened wide in sudden surprise.

“NO WAY!” He whispered to himself. “That guy! He is the one I saw in my dreams !... IMPOSSIBLE!”

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he gained composure, and decided to go back and confirm if it wasn’t a hallucination. But, he could still feel his heart beating loud enough for him to hear and he felt his feet still frozen on the ground. Was he dreaming again? But that’s too real to be a dream! With several thoughts going across his mind, although in a confused state, his determination gave him the thrust of courage to go back and find the resolution of the silent mystery.

Dropping his bag to where he was standing, he took a deep breath and made his way back inside the woods, and as he approached the arena, he felt time freeze around him. Then he creeped behind the trees, trying to predict if there were any kind of unfamiliar sounds as he crawled to the same place where he saw the fight occur. The darkness was gone and every seemed normal. His guts persuaded him and he peeped out from behind the tree and as everything was normal he rushed into the arena searching for something.

“Damn it!” Yujo murmured, kicking hard on the ground.

At that moment, his eyes caught the sight of a tree at the corner of the arena where the warrior was standing. With narrowed eyes, he walked towards it, studying carefully. There were flaming sword scars on the tree and its lower branch was on fire, but it wasn’t burning. Yujo fixed up his glasses to get a better view.

“The fire from the flaming sword!” Yujo whispered, before hesitatingly reaching out his hand close to it to feel the heat.

But it wasn’t warm at all. He brought his hand close enough to touch it, and then he put his hand through it. His eyes widened.

‘No Way! Didn’t this fire just consume the man with the huge chain?’ He thought to himself.

Yujo slowly swiped his hands over the flaming scars of the tree, as that quenched the fire and the scars disappeared.

“A fire that kills…”, Yujo removed his hands, “… and a fire that heals!”

‘Its more than just a dream…’ Rusero’s words once again went across his mind.

“Rusero!... Does that mean…”, Yujo fished out the cellphone from his pocket and dialled Rusero’s number.

He held it over his ear for sometime, “He’s not responding.”

Putting back the phone in his pocket, he walked out of the woods. He picked up his bag from where he had left it and hurried out of that place.

“I don’t think this is a good time to stay here.” Yujo took a look around again and walked on the road into the crowded streets.

He walked across the road side shops taking a glimpse at the stalls. He stopped at a burger stall for a moment an ordered for one and paid for it. That moment, he felt something. He stiffened. He shot back his head to the approaching crowd and gasped as he saw the face of the warrior, golden eyes scanning over him.

“What in the world!” Yujo rushed out of the shop as the shop keeper called out. “Sir, you didn’t take your burger!”

Putting back his wallet in his pocket, he turned back to look, but didn’t see him. He stopped and looked around with searching eyes.

‘Am I hallucinating?’ Yujo thought to himself. He turned and walked in a slower pace.

After walking a few yards, suddenly, he froze again as he felt the same chill running down his spine. He hesitatingly turned back his head and his eyes widened to see the similar tanned face of the warrior.

He instantly turned and started to run.

“No way. It’s not a hallucination. He’s following me.” Without skipping a step Yujo ran through the crowd accidentally bumping into some of them, but ignoring the certain complaints of the passer bys.

Taking frequent looks at the back, this time he surely did not miss to see the golden pair of orbs each time, that were getting closer. Not knowing to where he would rather go, he took whichever turn he got thinking of losing to the sight of the golden eyed assassin.

Yujo was almost breathless, but all he knew that he was running for his life. This time he ran along the streets without turning back. He skidded into an isolated lane at the left that marked the way through tall buildings with trash cans around. The smell and chunks of trash didn’t really bother him as long as he knew he was escaping his unwanted entrance to dark fate. But unfortunately, he mis-stepped on a chunk of fruit skin and slipped. He fell headlong on the ground.

“Ouch!” Yujo shrieked. “I wasn’t expecting that!” he dusted himself and got up. Then he turned around to see no one.

“Finally, I lost him.” He sighed.

That moment a gust of strong wind blew and Yujo closed his eyes and put his arms over his face to protect himself from the dust around. Then he removed his arms and opened his eyes, and to his utter amazement, the warrior with the unsheathed flaming sword was standing right in front of him, his emotionless face glowing and his golden eyes glittering in the flame.

Yujo’s eyes widened as he scampered back a few paces. He turned to run, only to be stopped by a giant wall. It was a blind lane and had only one entrance and exit.

He could hear his own heart beat getting faster and adrenaline rushing through his veins. At the same time, he was breathless. The only option he has now, is to stand against his own fate.

Yujo gained composure and turned to look at the warrior. His feet were held firm over the ground as he tightened his fists preparing for the next move of his opponent.

“W… who are you? What do you want from me?” He spoke barely in a whisper as he felt his vocal tract drying up.

“Yujo Mizu.” Called the deep voice of the warrior. “I’ve been waiting for this time.”

.............................to be continued................................