Shadowed History

War between “Mirage” and “Astral”, the vampire and demon clans, had begun since time long-forgotten. Generations had fought, but the reason for war had been lost; both clans only knew they had to fight for their clan, themselves. Some had tried to create peace between the clans, but were ignored and still, the war continued. 1

“Mother! Are you all right?” a young girl asked anxiously.2

The lady nodded and smiled, “I’m fine. Go, join the others.”3

The girl glanced at her mother’s wounded arm and said uneasily, “But the wound is still fresh! What if it starts bleeding again?”4

“It won’t. I’m a vampire, or have you forgotten?” her mother told her. “Go, Jaklyna, don’t worry about me.”5

Jaklyna proceeded towards a cluster of vampires. They were discussing fervently and did not notice her.6

“Um…Excuse me?” she said softly. Swiftly, they turned, poised to attack. However when they saw that it was Jaklyna, they relaxed. 7

“What is it?” one of them asked. 8

“Mother wants to be alone and I’m worried. Can…uh…one of you keep an eye on her…?” Jaklyna trailed off.9

“Don’t worry. We will look after Emelite. Rest, for there may be another battle,” they told her.10

Relieved, Jaklyna thanked them profusely and excused herself. She turned and left, her hair swaying in the breeze.11

“As pretty as her mother…”one of them remarked as they gazed at her retreating back.12

The lush and green forest was undaunted by the never-ending war, though it stood at the borders marking the start of the settlements of both clans. Vampires or demons never came here, so Jaklyna was positive of total privacy. 13

“Father, why must we fight?” Llavyie asked.14

“Ask our ancestors. Don’t be so inquisitive. Go and practise! We may fight again tomorrow.” With that, his father left.15

“Battle day after day. Aren’t they sick of it? What is so fun about being at war!?” Llavyie muttered. He went to his refuge, the forest. He hated wars and tried to escape from them. He always went to the forest, where it was calm and peaceful.16

Jaklyna flew up to a tree and gazed across. Here, she was one with nature. She loved the forest; the tranquility relaxed her. Her sharp ears picked up a sound from the other end of the forest. Jaklyna relaxed, it was a demon then but he would not come here. She leapt towards a branch a few metres away and balanced on it less than a second later. She wandered further away from her clan. A butterfly flitted past just as Jaklyna was landing, distracting her. She nearly crashed but was saved at the last moment. She looked up at her saviour, a young boy about her age.17

Immediately, she sprang away from him, a demon! Llavyie stood motionless, too shocked to react. Jaklyna found him a mirror image of herself. Both stood and stared at each other. 18

“Um…Thank you and all, but I have to go,” Jaklyna managed to say after an awkward silence. She turned and almost left when he called her.19

“Jaklyna…” he said quietly.20

“Llavyie…?” she answered.21

“How do you know my name?!” both exclaimed.22

“You don’t like wars too? Same here; I don’t even know how it started! You would have thought that they would have bothered to record how this started! Since it had dragged on long enough,” Jaklyna said. They were sitting together on a branch in the middle of the forest. They had become fast friends after the initial shock. Jaklyna found that they were alike in many ways. Both of them hated the war and their parents were the leaders of their respective clans. A question occurred to Llavyie and he asked,23

“How come I have never seen you before?”24

“Where? On the battlefield or here? If it’s here, it’s because I usually stay near my clan. If on the battlefield, I have no idea why,” Jaklyna answered.25

“Oh… It’s dark already, I have to go now. Bye for now but let’s meet here tomorrow, at noon. What do you say?” Llavyie said.26

“That’s fine with me. Goodbye Llavyie. It’s been great meeting you.”27

Both leapt down from the branch but in mid-air, for some reason unbeknownst to them, they crashed into each other. Suddenly, they were transported to an unfamiliar place.28

“Where are we?” Jaklyna had managed to break her fall seconds before she crashed, as Llavyie had done. Now, they were on the ground, dazed and bruised but unhurt. A light shone before them, bright against the dark.29

“You are in another dimension.” A lady materialised in front of them, beside her, there was a man looking exactly like her. Immediately, Jaklyna and Llavyie knew that they were “hybrids”: their parents were a demon and a vampire. They gasped in disbelief.30

“Yes, we are ‘hybrids’. Our mother was a vampire, our father a demon, just like you,” the man said. “The clans declared us outcasts and threw us out; we belonged to neither for we are a different breed. We formed a new clan, “Illusion”. Our parents returned to their clans after we left, where they had to face the bullying and teasing targeted at them.”31

“The leaders were so outraged when they found out that about us, that they declared war. That was years ago but they are still battling. Please resolve this war for us. You are ‘hybrids’ like us. They warred because of us; let this end the same way. Please help us, we beg you. Tell them we are not angry at them. We don’t want them to fight. Tell them…we, Lavi… and Jeclyna…don’t hate them…” The twins faded away. Llavyie and Jaklyna found themselves back in the forest.32

“What just happened?” Llavyie asked.33

“I don’t know, but I think you are my brother! We have to stop the war! It started because of ‘hybrids’, our ancestors Lavi and Jeclyna who were just like us, and we have to help complete their last wish!” Jaklyna told him.34

“Wait! Slow down! Let me digest what they told us first, then we decide what to do. Lavi and Jeclyna are the first ‘hybrids’ in history, which we are too. The war started because of marriage between the two clans. Now, we have to end this ridiculous war once and for all, is that right?” Llavyie continued, “Tell your clan to meet here tomorrow at noon and I’ll tell mine. We will explain what had happened in the past and try to make them understand that continuing this war is useless. What do you think of that?”35

“That’s settled then! We’ll meet again, at noon tomorrow with both of our clans!” Jaklyna agreed.36

Once he reached home, Llavyie gathered all his fellow clan demons and told them that the vampires would be meeting them in the forest the next day at noon. They waited for that time to come soon with anticipation.37

The forest was full of so many vampires and demons that there could have been a great battle, the biggest bloodbath ever. However, both clans were disciplined and will not fight unless a signal was given from their leader. Jaklyna and Llavyie stood at the centre where both clans stood at either side.38

“Years ago, this war started because of two ‘hybrids’. They were declared outcasts and thrown out. Now, years later, there are another two ‘hybrids’: us.”39

“Jaklyna and I have a vampire for a mother, a demon for a father. Ask your leader, whether we are their children. All of you know that Jaklyna’s mother is Emelite, the leader of ‘Mirage’, my father Aubriet is the leader of ‘Astral’. Ask them, are we their children or not?”40

The vampires and demons assembled murmured among themselves, none daring to ask their leader that critical question: “Is that true?” Emelite and Aubriet came forward, silencing both clans.41

“Yes, it is true.” There was a collective gasp from both clans. “Nobody said that we could not love each other and marry. Jaklyna and Llavyie are our children. We have tried to stop this war many times but none of you listened. Many died, why? Just because there were and are ‘hybrids’ like these two children standing before you! Tell us, don’t you find this a ridiculous excuse to have a war?” Emelite asked.42

The clans muttered amongst themselves and they came to a conclusion: This was a ridiculous cause for a war and for now, both clans would come to a truce. Jaklyna and Llavyie looked at each other, delighted; the war was finally going to end! Even if there would be a war in the future of a different cause.43

“Everybody!” Llavyie shouted. There was silence at once. “Thank you for understanding, but you should know that Lavi and Jeclyna visited us yesterday. They told us about the war and begged us to end it. They died long ago but let us build a monument to commemorate them, the first ‘hybrids’! The first children of the result of the union between the ‘Mirage’ and ‘Astral’ clans!”44

This suggestion was greeted with shouts of agreement. The members of the clans mingled chatted with one another. Nobody noticed their leaders slipping away to have a quiet moment with their children. 45

“Father!” Jaklyna rushed forward, hugging Aubriet.46

“Mother!” Llavyie hugged Emelite.47

“My goodness! You have grown!” both parents exclaimed. “Tell us about yourself!” Emelite and Aubriet said. “You don’t know how much we missed having both of you with us!”48

“We love you, Mother and Father!” Jaklyna and Llavyie said in unison. “We love you! We want to be together with you forever! Never to be separated again!”49

Lavi and Jeclyna gazed at the family from afar. They knew that war would never occur again, not now, not ever. Both faded away slowly, leaving behind the words “Shadowed History”.50