Enduring Through Time

Mom always used to tell me stories of how the sea between our homeland and our neighbouring invaders was haunted by vengeful souls that could not rest. No one ever dared to set sail at night, for that was the time everyone believed the souls would rise to sink ships and drag any living being to the unseen depths. Even our invaders believed it and only sent in their legions during the day.

If the legends were true, like Mom and so many others believed, I wished there was a way to raise the spirits from the abyss and set them loose on our enemies, for this was not a war—it was a genocide. They sought to destroy us entirely, and we had not the numbers or resources to hold them off for long. It would only be a matter of time before the worst came to pass…

No help came from many of our powerful neighbours; only those who faced similar situations like us backed us in our fight for survival. But even they were running low on resources and had their own battles to fight; it was a situation that was fire for many of us who faced the fires of tyranny that sought to consume us. This led me to seek whatever information I could find that would aid in our fight—anything that would ensure that our existence would not be erased from history and knowledge. It made me wonder just how many civilisations were wiped out by avaricious and wrathful politicians.

The situation grew worse in the half a year that followed, and I became more and more desperate to find a solution. I had spent so much time looking for answers; I couldn’t stop at that moment. It would have all been for nothing. The situation was hopeless—our homeland was devastated—but I was not ready to yield yet. I owed it to the people risking their lives to hold back the invaders; I had to try until my last breath for the countless children who were being slaughtered each day. I wished Mom were still around…

Another month passed before I finally found a lead: I learned from an archaeologist that there was a hidden temple deep underground that was said to have a tablet engraved with the knowledge of their history. She said her team found it only three months ago, and that the text was to be fully deciphered within a week. And so, I waited anxiously, marking down my calendar as the deadline neared. And then I received the call I longed for; it was finally time to unravel the lost knowledge I sought. I hoped the answers to my questions were present in that text.

The story of the vengeful souls was similar to our own… It seems history was repeating itself almost exactly the same way as it did many millennia ago. These people had been slowly and methodically slaughtered by their neighbours until their numbers dwindled to insignificance and their stories lost in the abyss of time. This was the one record of them that was left behind, carved by what little energy was left within a single individual. It was heartbreaking to read.

It seemed my efforts were not in vain, for there was indeed a way to conjure the restless spirits. A spell had been engraved into the same tablet, speaking of how the spirits would not allow the same sins to be repeated while they remained tethered to this world—that they would not allow any further atrocities to befall the land and its people that they loved so dearly. But the spell would come at a cost: the energy required would cost the caster their life. I accepted the consequences and took that spell without any hesitation; my homeland and its people had to live on. It was their right, and no one should have had the power to take it away from them. I would ensure it.

That evening, I cast the spell at the closest coast and watched as the waves rose to heights I had never seen before as a choir of restless spirits rained down upon the invaders with unrelenting fury. The skies darkened in the veil of waves, and I soon began to feel the warmth drain from my body. Before I knew it, the final wave crashed in the distance, unveiling the sunlight sizzling on the distant horizon as the last glimmers of the day quickly sank into the ocean. It was indeed a beautiful, final sight to behold as I found my mission fulfilled.