Eliude Santana |
|
science fiction
THE KNIGHT
OF THE CLOUDS
O CAVALEIRO DAS
NUVENS
trad. Laura Bertoli
|
| |
Eliude Santana |
ANTECEDENT
FACT
Year 2500: humanity
struggles with chaos, evil
spreads everywhere and even
the course of seasons is
completely deranged; science
has made important steps and
new innovations have
revolutionized the life of
human beings, but the world
is in the hands of a
dictator who owns a terrible
weapon able to destroy the
whole mankind in little less
than a minute; ONU
demonstrates by this time to
be incapable to grant peace
and numerous wars bathe in
blood Africa and Middle East.
One day, one of the
scientists who work for the
dictator makes a dreadful
discovery: at the centre of
the Earth, where he as
succeeded in penetrating
with his team on board of a
special shuttle, there’s a
big fire that emits shining
sparks assuming the form of
sniggering and
sulphur-stinking devils.
Suddenly, a thundering
voice, which makes the
shuttle tremble, announces
that the giant fire is
Apoliom, god of evil, and
that the human wickedness is
feeding its flame more and
more, till when the Earth
will be phagocytized and the
human beings will perish,
suffocated by sulphur. The
shining sparks are hosheks,
his faithful servants, that
have the task to instigate
man to evil. Unexpectedly,
Apoliom emits a burst of
flame that shrouds the
shuttle and reduces it to a
heap of cinders. The
researches of the scientist
will be vane, and nobody
will ever know of the
terrible monster that burns
in the bowels of the Earth.
And if Earth were really on
the point to be completely
destroyed?
In the meanwhile, in a
well-off family of a rich
American city, a baby with
white and rosy complexion
has just born. His birth is
accompanied by an
inexplicable solar eclipse;
the little boy will be named
Therion and his mother is
convinced that one day he
will be a mighty man.
In the middle of a night, a
hoshek, sent by Apoliom,
takes possession of
Therion’s mind: the next
day, while being breast-fed,
the child hurts badly his
mother’s nipple and after
some days he destroys all
his toys shouting like a
madman. The mother,
frightened, addresses to a
religious who lives
underground, since religion
is already decayed and
unpopular with the
authorities; the man has no
doubt: wile two centuries
before, Christ had come on
Earth to save mankind, now
Therion has come to make
evil triumph on Earth.
Therion is 25; he is a
fascinating boy, gifted with
great intelligence and
mysterious faculties. One
night, in one of those pubs
suspended on air, reachable
by flying cars, he meets a
girl and invites her for a
drink; using his ability of
reading the thoughts, he
discovers that she is the
dictator’s daughter, he
seduces her and succeeds in
making her invite him in his
father’s house for a party
to which all the masters of
the Earth will take part.
Taking advantage of the
joyful atmosphere, Therion
escapes the control of the
guards, gets into the room
where there’s the case with
the computer that activates
the devices of the super
bomb, thanks to which the
dictator exercise his
control all over the world,
and seizes it: now Therion’s
path towards absolute power
is unstoppable.
While televisions broadcast
the images of Terion
marrying the dictator’s
daughter in the city called
Forteza, inhabited bi Amnis,
the people of God, who
Therion has reduced to
slavery since from this
people the Saviour of
mankind was born, Abdi, a
man of forty, descendant of
a family of Amnis, and his
wife Batsy, commentate with
dismay the incredible
ascension of Therion to the
power After a while, Abdi
goes to the library an
casually opens a book and
reads some paragraphs in
which a disastrous battle on
Earth is described. Around
midnight, Abdi, plunged in
reading, is caught by a
strange feeling, as if
somebody at his shoulder
were following him; suddenly,
all becomes dark and
immediately after, a
blinding lightning
illuminates the room
floodlit. Batsy has
disappeared and at the phone
their daughter Taines tries
desperately to advise her
father that somebody has
kidnapped her child;
televisions broadcast scenes
of panic, some mysterious
disappearances are causing
airplane accidents and
everywhere in the world
disasters happens. Something
horrific and mysterious is
happening… and if were it
all work of wicked Apoliom,
who is going to accomplish
his evil scheme of
definitely subduing human
beings?
Abdi, taken by
discouragement, suddenly
hears a voice calling him:
behind him, a gigantic
figure with a terrifying
aspect, takes him away from
planet Earth, as far as a
place full of light,
inhabited by strange beings,
leading him to the presence
of a men sitting on a trunk,
surrounded by some elderly
men. He has a big book in
his hands. A man with a kind
and good aspect approaches
Abdi and announces him that
he is in the presence of the
Great Admiral and that the
book is closed at the edges
by seven Seals that, one by
one, will be loosened and
will consent the complete
reading of the great
testament of universal
heritage.
Announced by the blare of
trumpets, the loosening of
the first seal will
determine de definite
conquest of the power by
Therion, who will make the
persecution to Amnis, the
elect people, even crueller.
With the loosening of the
second seal, a red knight
goes towards the Earth with
the task of causing a new
world war and Abdi suddenly
finds himself in a place
where the collapse of
economy has reduced the
population to starvation,
compelling them to swap
anything for a piece of
bread. Abdi’s companion says
him that the third seal has
already been opened and will
cause exhaustion of victuals
on Earth. One by one, the
other seals are opened: wild
beasts invade the towns and
devours a quarter of
population, and an infinite
series of ecological
disasters definitely upsets
the planet, shrouded by a
great darkness. In the
meanwhile Abdi, miraculously
survived the cataclysms,
sets out among debris and
corpses and assists to
harrowing scenes: a woman,
trying to save her little
boy buried under the rubbles,
takes him an arm off, the
army faithful to Therion is
disoriented and all people
wait that the Earth, at any
moment, will be
disintegrated. In his big
palace situated on the top
of the mountain which
dominates the city of
Forteza, Therion watches on
big screens the images of
destructions everywhere on
Earth and sends messages of
help to great Apoliom, who
stirs up a great multitude
of hosheks, ready to face
the coming on Earth of Gran
Rei, son of the Great
Admiral. After the loosening
of the last seal, that
causes an atmosphere of
great terror on Earth, the
Great Admiral opens the book
of Universal Judgement: a
strong wind begins to blow
on Earth and a third of the
planet is destroyed by a
heavy and thick hailstorm;
suddenly a swarm of
voracious locusts devours
anything they encounter on
their way and in the end a
lightning sets on fire to
Therion’s abode. Therion
miraculously survives but
sees in front of him his
beautiful wife and their
baby dying in the fire
destroying everything. Taken
by fury he sets his hosheks
army on exterminating the
poor Amnis, already tried by
the terrible plagues that
follows one upon the other
without truce; a thick army
has already gathered near
the fortress, ready to fight
against the Gran Rei, who
arrives on a big white horse
with his retinue; a great
light tears the sky, and
nothing Therion’s army can
do, their weapons being
useless to face Gran Rei’s
invasion…
At that sight, men begins to
acclaim him ant the evil
forces retreat, powerless in
front of him. In a desperate
defiance act, Therion runs
up to him trying to wound
him with sharp sword, but he
dies in the duel. Abdi
assists unbelieving to the
upsetting event and among
the crowd hastened to honour
the winner, he discerns
people he believed to be
definitely disappeared and
goes towards a woman he
mistakes for Batsy. Actually,
where is his wife? Maybe she
was Apoliom’s hostage, or
perhaps dead. Even the
master that has accompanied
him in his trip has
disappeared.
Earth finds a little peace,
begins again to revolve
round the Sun and the
seasons resume their natural
course. Gran Rei establishes
a kingdom of peace and the
human beings survived to
Apocalypse dedicate
themselves to reconstruction
of their towns.
In the meanwhile, Abdi
wanders in the city of
Forteza looking for Batsy,
without success, and
downcast goes back to his
town, but he finds his house
empty.
Inexplicably it happens that
temperature on Earth becomes
very hot and a great drought
hits the planet; populations
are at the end of their
strengths, but Abdi’s doubts
are dissolved by the
apparition of the master who
announces him the final
battle between Gran Rei and
Apoliom. Actually, the big
fire burning at the centre
of the Earth is reaching its
surface and once again Abdi
will be witness of
extraordinary things that
are going to happen; with
his faithful companion he
makes a trip to hells, where
he knows Death, who is
executed with Gran Rei’s
sharp and bright sword.
Together with the cortege
that accompanies him, Abdi
goes back to the abode of
Great Admiral, who is
preparing for the final
battle against Apoliom: how
will it be possible to
destroy the big fire? Will
all the water of the oceans
be enough for extinguish the
flames of evil that licks
the people of the just?
Great Admiral, laughing with
amusement at the doubts
arising from the assembly,
orders to all oceans to
extinguish the fire, until
when it is enchained, in the
form of a Dragon, and hurled
in a profound pit, where it
will remain for eternity.
Abdi, who has assisted to
the scene of the final fight
between good and evil forces,
is terribly sweaty for the
incredible heath given off
by Apoliom; taken by
convulsions, tosses around
shouting Batsy’s name, and
she runs towards him and
finds him sleeping on a
book: stunned, he finds
himself in the library of
his house with the book of
Apocalypse open. He embraces
his Batsy and he realizes
that it has been just a
dream, maybe revealing!!
|
|
