PART II: THE SEAL OF THE END
Finally, I had decided to take my father's advice and get some rest. But even in dreams, Zanfar was still making his moves. Within my mind, there was darkness for a while, and then I noticed a familiar figure approaching me, cloaked in darkness.
"You've finally returned once more" he said to me.
"You're the one that keeps haunting me! I have no interest in your ideals! Get out of my dreams already!" I confronted him.
The fact that I had my father, the King Of Nightmares on my side, gave me a bit of courage.
"You've grown quite bold since I last saw you. In fact, you appear to have grown up in general. But in many ways, your naivety remains just as static as it has always been. At least this time, I did not have to lower the waves of energy around myself for you to comprehend me. What monstrous training has made you this strong?" Zanfar asked me.
"Fool! Like I'm going to tell you anything! I know what you're after!" I yelled.
And I really did. I also finally understood what my dad was after when he stopped me from continuous training. I had already intensely prepared to face Zanfar on a physical level however, Zanfar was a spiritual being. I was too tense and that tension was not leaving me no matter how hard I trained and when you're on edge, it is very easy to be provoked by evil. My father sought to help me calm my spirit and focus it. You could think of random unfocused thoughts like shooting arrows without aiming for anything in particular or attempting to fight with a blunt sword. He also wanted me to accept the fact that there was nothing I could do to stop Zanfar's revival; but that didn't necessarily mean that there was no way to stop Zanfar himself. Once I accepted my own helplessness, I felt rather calm. There really was no point in worrying about what I couldn't change; but I could still try my utmost best, even if it was a venture doomed to failure…or at least, that was what the realm of common sense dictated in this matter. I only appeared stronger in Zanfar's eyes because my intentions were more focused; though I doubt even he would understand something as fundamental as that.
"Then you know that the key to Zanbӧngfar lies within your dreams. Zanbӧngfar can only be realised when Light and Darkness fuse; when Zanviel and I become one so Zanviel; it's about time you swore your allegiance to me like you did once before" Zanfar said as he stretched out his hand.
I stared at him as though he were being utterly ridiculous.
"Why hesitate? Everything about humans you once questioned; everything you detested about them…after a millennium of rapid development, you've seen them slink back into the dark ages. Once more Zanviel, I have proven to you how weak humanity is. A paradoxical creature that seeks peace in times of war; that was the battle their ancestors fought; and then seeks out war in times of peace; the ridiculous war they fight now. In the end, humanity desires neither peace nor war, they seek neither heaven nor hell. They align with neither your ideals nor with mine. They only align with the side that will grant them the greatest satisfaction; Zanbӧngfar; the dream every human wishes to dream…is a dream without God; a dream without anything to stifle them and you are wrong about the nature of Zanbӧngfar Zanviel; are you sure your Dagara translation of his name has been sufficiently done?" he asked me with a laugh.
"Your name Zan, means "To dream" making your name a verb instead of a noun. At the same time dear Zanviel; the Dagara word "Zan" also means "To learn" and "To think" making the name Zanbӧngfar a multifaceted name which is not merely an abstract noun but a verb, an action; "To dream the Deplorable Dream"; "To learn the Deplorable Dream" and "To think the Deplorable Dream". You see, in the end, even I understand your name better than you do. Zanbӧngfar will be unleashed because it is the dream; the thought and the education that all of humanity desires; a dream; a thought and an education without God!" Zanfar declared.
"You devil! After perverting natural truth since the beginning of time, and perverting even supernatural truth; would you even go so far as to attempt a perversion of the Identity Of God himself?! Of Truth?!" I roared.
"Yes, I very much will because you see, we are in the age where he allows it to happen. You should have noticed by now, that the one who holds back the Chaos smiting the world has stepped out of the way ushering time towards the period of a three and a half year reign of darkness! This is the time where God actually allows the perversion of his name and you know what follows after don't you…his wrath! In the beginning of time, he cursed me to become the enemy of mankind, to eat dust, to devour dust; the material from which man was made but he also gave mankind superiority over me; man would crush my head though I would bite his heel. In every historical time, your foolish ancestors misinterpreted my desires. To destroy the earth? To destroy the world? To destroy mankind? Foolishness! You utter fools! Your desire only to perceive those things that satisfy you will ruin you this time in a way you will never imagine! My desire was never to destroy mankind; it was to give God the drive to finish off the creatures he himself created! To provoke him to wrath and now, that time is come! A time that will test to what extent God can remain true to his covenant! Between his wrath and his mercy; which endures greater?!" Zanfar roared. "Swear your allegiance to me Zanviel or watch more of your brethren fall in battle!" Zanfar ordered.
"And if I do, the result will still be the same, you are the fool Zanfar. Many ideas you believe you've had. Many of those moments in history you wreaked true havoc came as a result of mankind's ingenuity. You cannot denounce the genius within man; regardless of whether that genius is driven towards light or darkness. If the merging of genius with evil can create an almost invincible evil, then in hindsight, the same principle should be applicable with good. I'm not the kid who was always trembling in the face of your evil anymore Zanfar. Your flames can be put out; the problem is, man keeps trying to fight you with your own flames and if you wish to quench a bushfire by setting more fires…well I suppose the result is what you see now in the world. Your hatred can be broken by forgiveness. One day I will laugh at you Zanfar and mock you. You will seek out all of history from beginning to end and come to realize that your plan was practically a perfect one; by all common sense, you should have won but you won't be able to discover the fault in your schemes because, there will be so many fundamental truths that toppled your scheme than you were willing to admit could influence your plans in any way" I said.
"I see your speech is no longer governed by ignorance. I suppose it's time I played my final card. I had hoped to hold it back for a while. Your mother was just as adamant as you were. To this day, she still remains adamant, a light haunting my darkness, a scourge in my flesh. Though she plagued me for the past two decades, I saw fit to keep her alive for this moment; apparently, it was not an error in judgement. Now regardless of your will Zanviel, you will hand to me the seven elemental stones signifying the Seven Souls Of God's Virtue and unbind the Eternal Mirror Gate. I will give you till midnight today; and if you fail, I will unbind the gate myself but the life of the Princess Of Dreams will be forfeit!" Zanfar declared.
"You demon! What have you done to my mother?!" I roared.
"She remains alive; her light protecting her from being devoured by me however…she is not so indispensable I can't overlook devouring her. I don't mind losing her soul to the light to see God's wrath fall on the rest of mankind!" Zanfar declared. "This very midnight of this very day, you will behold my omen in the moon; at that time, you will realize that the time has come for my unsealing but for my revival to be made complete, I need you" Zanfar declared as he pointed to his forehead.
(And let me tell you Ghanaman time is not a point; it is a range!)
I noticed the omega symbol on his forehead as he faded into the darkness. And then, I woke up.
My father, the Nightmare king stretched his hand to me. From the way he was standing, he was watching me the whole time.
"That fool, he finally made his move didn't he?" my father said.
I nodded.
"Then it is finally time. Remember this Zan. In the past, I, King Sanziri Nightbane, defeated Ziri but a true king knows that evil is persistent and sly and will never give up. I defeated Ziri, the king of lies, but I lived as though he still prowled the earth, as though he were undefeated. During that time, I met many people and we put in place (maohuny) measures in anticipation of this day; The Battle of Black Water Bridge and the conversion of the Kirisawas; the alliance between and the allegiances of the Kenyahs and Arthurs; those were a few of those many measures. And the greatest of these measures was my marriage to your mother and your birth. Long before I had met your mother, I intended to create a Dreamweaver so that the strongest allies you needed when the time came for you to confront your destiny would gather around you. Zanfar underestimates God. Yes, God allowed all this evil to occur so that when his wrath finally broke out on the world, it would break out in full. But Zanfar also forgets that it is while God's wrath is still breaking out that He stretches out his hand to dry up the Great River Euphrates to pave the way for a Second Exodus! Just a little longer…we refuse to fight the Devil with His own tools! We won't fight war with more war! Forgiveness will break this endless cycle of hatred and all of you that have felt the stirring in your heart, I don't need to tell you that the time has come. The strongest souls within all realities; the time for your unison has come! The time to cry out with one voice; the time to sing that one song! If you hear me and understand me it is time to unite and do battle against Zanfar!" my father roared.
"What are you doing? How will anyone hear you? And how do we fight without war?" I asked my father.
"In the past, we fought with swords to expand the Kingdom Of Christendom. You could say, to a large extent that was what created this mess, even if a lot of good did come out of it. But in the last few years, Christianity has been undergoing a renewal; a revival. The trials we've been facing have taught us true helplessness and the fear of death but it has also worked to strengthen our resolve. Our confidence is in the fact that the power of life and death lies only in the hands of God; nothing happens unless he allows it to happen and he did say these things will happen but when they do, you will know that he told you of these things. This is a fight we will win but it is not a fight to be fought with swords; it is a fight to be fought with spirit. We won't pit swords against swords; we will pit truth against lies and what is the proof of our truth? We have nothing to profit from it; not materially anyways. Declaring it puts us at great risk but we will triumph!" the Nightmare King declared.
"Seven Souls Of Virtue you now hold in your hands. Zanfar wishes to teach the world the Deplorable Dream; then I too have done my utmost best to teach the world the essence of the Beautiful Dream. Courage; a strength that faces fear instead of denying it. Freedom; the power to choose with will instead of out of duty or instinct; Hope, the power to forge new paths that cannot be forged by conceit; Forgiveness; the soothing balm that binds rifts and closes the passageways to hell leading to true peace and balance; Conscience, the parental voice that corrects without condemning, a voice that guides; Goodness; the spirit of watchfulness that fights devilish conspiracies by acting in the face of evil, and in places in need of comfort and love; and finally Truth; God; Love who encompasses all the Souls Of Virtue and coordinates them in their confrontation of the Souls Of Evil. Seven Books hoping to explore these Souls Of Virtue. This is the final book written by Ayzan Nightbane, the Human Dreamweaver; and it will be a book, written with my life!" I declared as the Seals Of Identity appeared on my face. My eyes reassumed the mercury like nature they once possessed when I was accepted by my clan.
"Let's return dad! To Dream City!" I declared as we flew.
"Stupid Zanfar. You tend to assume that people that walk alone are alone and that will lead to your downfall. You've forgotten that I Ananse; the Weaver Of All Stories is on their side and there is one more person you've completely failed to factor into your calculations; the one also known as the Breaker, nicknamed Code Ageless" Ananse smirked as he watched us fly towards Dream City.