Farnath: The Frozen Heart Read online

  General Tulius ran back with his soldiers and organised the second defensive line. The wizard informed him that the ice was coming faster and that he couldn’t stop it, recommending that they should run to the surface. But the General couldn’t believe that the real danger was coming from beneath them and decided to hold their positions.

  “Are you mad? The ice will freeze everything in less than half hour, there is nothing for you here! We should go the tunnels now!” Farnath shouted at him.

  “I‘m the one who gives orders here, not you. Run for your life if you want, but we are going to stay and hold our positions with our last breath,” he yelled and started giving orders to his officers.

  “This man’s stubbornness will kill them all!” Farnath said to himself. “I’m not willing to die for him, not now that I’ve broken the curse!” He ran towards the tunnels.

  Arthas was being fired on by Jake’s robot continuously but he kept firing back, until he ran out of ammunition. Jake called him through the radio.

  “Arthas, why are you flying around me like a fat fly? Don’t you know that a fly cannot beat a flapper? Last time you almost killed me, but now I will dance over your dead body!” he said and he shot at the fighter with his 50mm guns, causing heavy damages. Arthas realised that he wouldn’t be able to destroy his enemy if he landed, so he turned his fighter towards the robot’s face, where the pilot sat, intending to crash into it. Jake saw Arthas’s fighter coming directly onto him and he could do nothing to stop it. The fighter plunged into the robot’s face and exploded inside destroying the face completely. The colossal robot didn’t fall, yet the head just got detached from the body and dropped on the ground, leaving the rest of the body completely useless. Arthas had pulled the parachute lever just at the last moment and he slowly landed next to the burning robot head. He walked closer, found Jake’s dead body and, next to him, the small magic device with the phoenix drawing on it, which he kept as a trophy. A group of five robot-soldiers fired at him, but Arthas ran away and turned into a narrow street only to find himself behind enemy lines where the robots were charging at the humans. One cyber-robot suddenly landed just in front of him, facing the opposite direction and its pilot didn’t notice Arthas behind him and continued shooting, covered behind the corner or the street. In a moment of craziness, Arthas attacked the cyber-robot and tried to shoot the pilot with his pistol , but the glass that protected the pilot was bullet proof and the bullets just bounced off without harming the pilot. Then the three meter cyber pointed at Arthas with one of its guns. Without any other option left for him, Arthas tried Farnath’s device, pressing all the crystals on the phoenix drawing. A sudden fireball launched from its beak at the pilot , destroying the bullet proof glass totally. The pilot, a short boy with glasses and pimples, wasn’t hurt, but when he realised that the next hit would kill him he raised his hands.

  “Dude, don’t shoot, I surrender! I didn't sign for that.” he shouted and Arthas gestured at him and he got out the cyber robot and ran away.

  Then the prince took control of the cyber and after a few failed attempts, he managed to take off and escape from the battlefield towards the Forbidden Forest.

  Farnath found the entrance to the tunnel by following the line of abandoned cars and buses that the people left behind. The evacuation had been completed, but there was still the danger that the entrance could be used by the enemy to chase the refugees up to the surface. He faced a dilemma—the entrance should be destroyed, but he wasn’t sure from which side. He entered and saw the last buses driving slowly up the hill towards the surface and, at the same time, he could hear people shouting and crying, machines breaking, shots and explosions, from further down below! So many helpless men would been trapped there to die either by the robots or by the cold.

  Andria, in the meantime, was driving back from the surface to the entrance of the tunnel hoping that she would see Farnath and the rest of the survivors following the convoy. The citizens looked at her strangely as she was going to the opposite direction, towards the chaos that they escaped from. When she approached the entrance, she saw a single man standing just in front of the entrance and she recognised his red, bald head and her heart started beating faster. “It’s Farnath, he made it,” she thought.

  He was just standing there, looking from one side to the other. He thought about Arthas and the General, but also there was something else back in the city that was distracting him. A mysterious call from his past, a last personal battle that he couldn’t ignore or avoid. He saw a car coming down the motorcade and realised it was his lover, Andria. He looked again towards the city and saw men running panicked or driving towards the tunnel, abandoning their positions and from the south he watched nine flying robot-soldiers firing at a few human soldiers and killing them before they turned towards the entrance. He realised that if they entered the tunnel, nobody would be able to stop them from exterminating the refugees. He looked at Andria, who just stopped the car a bit further away as there were abandoned cars blocking her way and she was running to meet him.

  “Goodbye my lover, I’m sorry,” he thought and cast a spell, moving his hands around his body creating a circle of fire on the ground around his feet and at the last moment, before the robot-soldiers and Taurus could reach him, he completed the spell causing an explosion that destroyed the entrance completely, taking out some of the nearer robots with it. Then he fell to his knees, exhausted.

  When the soldiers saw their hopes ruined along with the entrance, they desperately turned their guns to theirs pursuers and fought with fearful determination, repelling the robot-soldiers.

  The princess couldn’t believe in her eyes when she lost her lover behind the ruins of the entrance. She sped back to the surface with tears in her eyes and fear in her heart, a feeling not so common for her. The dry land was full of people, cars and buses while everyone was worshiping the sun, the fresh air, the blue, endless sky and the clouds. Andria noticed a bird circling high in the sky. “It is Felix!” she thought and drove away from the crown towards the Forbidden Forest where Felix was flying. When the phoenix saw the car he recognised Andria thanks to his excellent sight and swooped closer, flying just next to her, looking for his master. When Andria stopped, the bird landed next to her car only to find Farnath wasn’t there.

  “I know that you worry. There is something we should do for him, something dangerous! What do you think?” she asked and the bird nodded its beak affirmatively. “Then we have to go on a long trip. Let’s bring some of your ‘friends’ to the battle.” She climbed on his back and they flew away.

  Part 10:

  Fire, Ice and Love

  T he military vehicles stopped in front of Farnath who was on his knees trying to get his energy back from his last spell. Every time he destroyed or burnt something he felt weaker or guilty. He was starting to feel sensitive and develop feelings of empathy and remorse that were reducing his ability to cast destructive spells. The soldiers gathered around him and chatted to each other about their new situation. The entrance to the tunnel that would lead them to the surface was blocked, a whole army of robots was marching towards them and would be there in less than twenty minutes and the cold coming from the Big Well of Wishes could freeze them all in about thirty minutes. General Tulius had died in battle and most of the officers had no idea what they should do. So Farnath was their only hope.

  “What should we do, wizard, now that we have lost our last hope to survive?” asked one scared captain.

  “We are doomed!” cried another. “The titans will exterminate us in seconds after they arrive! We can’t hide!”

  Farnath listened to them all complaining and bemoaning their situation.

  “We move to the forest,” he said simply and started walking alone.

  The soldiers looked at each other puzzled, then followed him in their vehicles, stopping to pick him up on the way. The trip wasn’t easy for the eighty vehicles that remained as they had been chased by cybers and fighters on the way there a
nd been bombed by robotic artillery and the colossal-robots. Some of the vehicles stood unlucky and been destroyed but most of them managed to enter the international highway outside the capital that led them to the national tunnel towards the forest. Behind them, the whole robotic army was marching to finish them led by a 20 meter high colossal-robot piloted by Ivorin. One soldier had the idea to throw a smoke grenade behind them which created a thick cloud of smoke into the national tunnel that forced the robots to go slower as they expected an ambush or traps. More soldiers then threw their smoke grenades and Farnath also created a fire with thick, black smoke making the pursuit even more difficult for Ivorin’s army.

  The soldiers arrived at the Forbidden Forest and set a defensive line between the trees that provided natural cover when Arthas appeared suddenly from behind, piloting his cyber-robot between the trees. Initially they took him to be the enemy and pointed their guns at him, but Farnath stopped them when he recognised Arthas in the pilot’s seat.

  “Arthas, you devilish nerd, we almost killed you! Where did you get this?” Farnath said with a sincere and unexpected relief.

  “It’s good to see you too, my friend!” Arthas replied. “I borrowed this from our mutual friend Jake! I also found this device that he had stolen from your room.”

  “Keep it! It’s a lamp, you may need to burn something.”

  “Thank you! How is Andria, did they make it?”

  “She is alive. They reached the surface and we destroyed the entrance before the robots entered.”

  “Lucky you were there!”

  “Arthas, the enemy is coming. Soon the whole area will be full of machines that have only one purpose, to exterminate us! This is our last stand and I might burn the whole forest to stop them. Survive Arthas, fly this thing and go find Andria and take care of her. Tell her that I thank her for coming to my life and I will always owe her! Tell her that I lo …” He couldn’t finish the sentence as the word was too meaningful for him to say.

  “I don’t need to say anything to her, Farnath. You will tell her by yourself because I’m not going anywhere! I’m going to watch the gate of the forest and wait for the enemy. Then I intend to return, fight by your side and either win or give my last breath with pride. It was an honour to meet you, Farnath!” Arthas said and moved near the gates to wait for the enemy.

  “Stupid boy!” Farnath felt touched by Arthas’s words and once more acknowledged that there were still good people in the world. There was still hope for humanity.

  The soldiers were waiting anxiously on the low grass, behind trees and rocks, aiming towards the gates. Time passed really slowly and every second was years of thoughts and memories in their minds. Their last thoughts belonged to those they loved, their families, friends and lovers, thoughts about their own childhoods and the years of insouciance and innocence when everyone seemed to be player in the same game called life. Despite their low morale, all of them seemed to be grateful that they had had the opportunity to see nature once more before they died. They had never seen so many trees, so much grass and flowers, the sky up at the top of the big hole, as it had only been a privilege for the kings until then! It was a luxury, one that in the past had been taken for granted by humanity, but at that moment it was worth living and dying for. Farnath noticed their curious reactions of awe, their overwhelming emotions, their tears of happiness that they had the fortune to meet Mother Nature and connect with her energy. They wanted to protect this jewel with their lives and he felt guilty that he deprived them of it all those years for his own selfish reasons. When he saw them looking warily at his flaming hands he realised that they didn’t want him to destroy the whole forest to burn a few machines. They didn’t want to see such a disaster, the murder of Mother Nature, so he decided make the flames disappear to make them understand that he wasn’t their enemy.

  The Earth shook, a repeating loud metallic noise of a marching army frightened Arthas, who was waiting at the broken gates. They appeared, marching perfectly synchronised and disciplined in square formations, one behind the other, towards the gates. Taurus-robots, tanks and a few cyber robots were following the big army of robot-soldiers. The prince decided that it was time to inform Farnath of the size and the distance of the enemy, but, just then, he saw three colossal robot-soldiers which appeared to be moving on wheels of their knees and elbows as they were too tall to walk inside the tunnels. When they reached the empty space in front of the gates they unfolded and stood up, pointing their guns at Arthas who tried to move out of their sight. Ivorin moved a bit faster and launched two rockets from his robot’s shoulders at him. He veered away and avoided them at the last moment by jumping and flying back to Farnath.

  After the entire army passed through the gates, they reformed into a four line battle formation facing the enemy. The right flag was led by a fifteen meter robot piloted by Roy, on the left was another similar robot piloted by the long haired, heavy metal guy and in the middle there was an indestructible, twenty meter robot controlled by Ivorin,. The human soldiers couldn’t see the whole army from where they were, but they could see the upper bodies of the three huge robots that were leading them. Ivorin made sure that everyone was ready and gave the signal to move forward. As they moved forward, the gates behind them froze suddenly.

  “Soldiers, this is our last stance!” Farnath shouted. “Fire when they come into sight and retreat. Stop again, fire and retreat! This will be our strategy. Don’t waste ammo on the big ones, their armour is too thick for your weapons!”

  After a few minutes the human soldiers started to fire on the advancing army of robots and the battle begun. The Taurus-robots came in first, programmed for close combat with the humans, and destroyed several parked vehicles on their way, while the robot-soldiers were firing continuously. When the huge robots behind them came closer the humans retreated and they reorganized a new line of defence deeper in the forest where the trees gave thicker protection. They held their positions a bit longer, but they were running out of ammo so they retreated deeper into the forest in an effort to survive. They felt the weight of loss, but they couldn’t do any more as they didn’t have the means to fight back. They were running away, firing their last bullets when a familiar screeching came from above. Farnath looked up and saw Felix with Andria on his neck flying down and behind them five fire-dragons were chasing them and she guided them towards the colossal-robots! The robotic army stopped chasing the humans and turned back to face the new unexpected enemy. Felix grabbed a Taurus and launch it at a tank, destroying them both, and when Roy noticed Andria on the bird, fired several times at them as they flew around his robot. The dragons, confused by so many enemies firing at them, just attacked everything on their sight, burning and destroying. It was a hell of fire and melted metal in the last forest of Earth! Meanwhile, the ice spread even closer to the back side of the robotic army. Ivorin was firing at a dragon that was flying around him, and it destroyed lots of robots before he succeeded in hitting it. The cyber-robots flew up to attack the dragons. They were more effective in dealing with them as they could get closer to shoot them. Andria and Felix landed next to Farnath and she hugged him because even if the whole world was collapsing she wanted to live her last moments in his arms! They kissed passionately and caressed each other with tenderness, but he burnt her again with his heat. His heart beat even stronger and smashed the last parts of the ice around it. Now he could feel the love filling his heart completely and she felt the same. When he touched his chest he cried, it was the first time in his life he felt his heart truly beating.

  “I can feel Andria, I have feelings! My heart is beating, touch it!” He put her hand on his chest and cried from happiness.

  “You always had feelings, but they were repressed, imprisoned inside the ice. I’m happy for you Farnath and I love you,” she said and looked inside his yellow eyes that didn’t seem angry anymore.

  They both cried on each other’s shoulder, hugging again. While the battle raged on, Ivorin saw them in his moni
tor and turned his cannons against them and at the same time it so happened that Roy noticed it all. The hugging couple brought back memories of hugging Erica, and he felt his heart beating louder. He recalled all the feelings he had and remembered how much they hurt each other and even if his mind justified his actions, he still felt bad about it. He remembered when he killed Andria’s father before her very eyes while the robots didn’t even let her grieve properly. He remembered when Erica chose to stay with Andria over him and even as he was running away through the secret tunnels he looked back, hoping to see his lover once more. Inside his pocket, he found the treasure map that he kept as a reminder of his misjudging Erica in the Forbidden Forest. A tear escaped his eye, but he took back the control of his emotions, came back to his senses and calculated the situation. He targeted Ivorin’s robot-hand and launched a rocket at him making him miss when he shot at Andria and Farnath. Ivorin looked at his attacker, surprised and outraged.