As dawn broke, the sand grew harsher. His feet, bare from years without shoes, were covered in wounds. The desert could have already killed someone not raised in the mountains. Arsen knew how to live like a nomad in the middle of nowhere if needed. His training as a Skywalker demanded it. He had no water, but a suitable amount of his own urine, as disgusting as it sounded, could give him the energy he needed to reach the slope of Thavon, and from there... there, he didn't even need to keep his eyes open to reach the cave where he grew up.

He slept for four days in the middle of the desert. At night, he wrapped his cloak tightly around his body, and during the day, he wore it like a turban over his head. His shoulders were filled with burns, but he had no other choice. He had to avoid fainting during the day. The desert could swallow him like bird droppings falling from the sky. As soon as the mountain appeared hazy, he felt his body filled with energy, as if he were a child again.

The Cave Pits of Thavon were of unknown origin. Their tunnels housed tens of thousands of people and stretched deep into the earth. Many legends followed the caves. No one knew what was real and what was not. The fossils washed up by the desert showed that creatures humans never knew once inhabited the earth. Some legends say that the mythical creatures exterminated each other, while others claim that something happened in the cosmos and that they disappeared. When and how humans appeared, no one knows. The faithful people say they emerged through those caves on the earth's surface.

As I mentioned before, nobody knows precisely what happened. There were still tribes that kept well-hidden secrets within the forests, the seas, and the skies. The Scythians were one of the tribes that harboured secrets. The people of Kaan believed they were not human. They probably belonged to some prehistoric species. The reason humanity believed this was because they spoke to nature. Trees swayed their trunks, and the water flow changed direction whenever they spoke their language, an ancient dialect that no one could understand. Also, they didn't have crystal swords and houses built of glass, but steel swords and stone structures buried under thick vegetation that protected them.

Kingdoms had tried many times to conquer them long before they became one. All attempts failed. No army could withstand battles in the mountains, the rugged trails, and the dense vegetation. Those who managed to penetrate the interior searching for natural resources and loot never returned. All except one, Azariah, who entered as a daredevil seeking wealth and power and, one day, returned naked before his astonished compatriots, proclaiming the word of the gods. He lived for four hundred years in the caves until one day, he walked into the desert and disappeared into it.

The birds of the earth had approached humans and had built a special relationship with them. This probably happened because humans once gave them shelter in the caves to safely hatch their eggs. Since then, they allowed humans to travel on their backs. Thus, humans could map the world, even if there were places they still needed to set foot on or birds avoided approaching.

Garuda hailed from Sogdiana. Arsen knew this because of his orange fur. The birds of Kaan had black fur and sharper beaks, which helped them more easily find mice in the desert and impale them for food. Garuda, however, didn't eat mice—only fruits and leaves. That's why, during times of great drought in the land of Kaan, he would disappear for days, searching for food in distant forests. Then, he would return to Arsen.

He had met Garuda by chance. They were both children. At the peak of Thavon, where he learned the art of war with makeshift glass swords, hoping that one day he would also become a Skywalker, Garuda sat on his shoulder. He simply chose him without any other process. Since then, he had always been by his side, like the day they killed his brother.

The Skywalkers had organized the largest campaign in their history to find the queen in the skies. On that same day, after their departure, the knights of the Crystal Kingdom attacked the rebellion, killing dozens of workers and their families. The palace was concerned because the Skywalker army was becoming stronger with the help of those who had deserted and joined the rebellion. Also, the workers now controlled most of the earth's mineral wealth, leaving little room for the kingdom to retain its people.

That day, however, the knights made a fatal mistake. They also attacked the caves of Thavon, wanting to send a message that they would show no mercy to those who tried to kill their queen or challenge the lands of the now-unified kingdom. Thousands of innocent people lost their lives. Among them was Aitan. Garuda had a bad feeling as they flew towards the clouds with Arsen on his back. He began to flap his wings, calling on the other birds to return. Some listened to him, and some continued their journey for their own reasons. Eventually, they thwarted the palace's attacks but couldn't save Aitan.

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Arsen turned and looked at the palace from afar as he climbed the cliffs. The sun was scorching the glass walls, and the palace sparkled like a well-built star in the desert. The walls, the palace, and the knights' swords were made of more resilient crystal. The people's houses and weapons were made of thick glass. Sand and fire have built their empire. Sand and fire would bring it down.

The birds of Sogdiana lived for about two hundred fifty years, unlike their human counterparts, who lived up to one hundred twenty. Arsen was sure that Geruda had seen from afar the slave revolt against the kingdoms when he hadn't even been born. Somewhere, he had seen his parents fighting with the hammers and bats they used to build their glass houses.

When he reached the cave where he grew up, the passage they called home with his brother, he found a family living there. He told them his name and asked for water and a little space to sleep. They offered him both, looking at him with something that seemed like fear and respect at the same time.

When he woke up, a crowd had gathered outside the cave, murmuring and wanting to know if it was true that the legendary Skywalker had returned after so many years when everyone thought he was dead. Arsen avoided looking at them. He took two buckets of water and washed his wounded body, tended to his wounds, and shaved his long beard with a sharp piece of glass. His big brown eyes looked so big after that.

When he reappeared in the cave, amidst a crowd that was growing even larger and wanted to touch him or speak to him, the family living there packed up their belongings to leave.

'Where are you going?' Arsen asked as he saw the two little girls gathering their few clothes in a straw basket. They lowered their heads in shame and looked at their father.

'We're leaving your house,' he said, looking at his partner.

'We're sorry. They told us we could stay here as soon as the girls were born.. they said no one would return,' she added.

Arsen looked them in the eyes and let out a sigh.

'You don't need to leave. It's your home now. Tomorrow, I'll leave. Thank you for giving me shelter and food. My brother would be proud of what our home has become.'

Outside the cave, protests were heard, and a figure with a crystal sword hanging from his leather belt emerged in front of him, looking at him with shock.

'Arsen?' he wondered.

'Hello, Jaisol,' he replied.

The crowd began to disperse as Jaisol and Arsen emerged from the caves and began to walk along the mountain's edges. Jaisol was Arsen's most faithful soldier and friend. The first day he parted with his brother to be trained as a Skywalker, he gained a second brother. He duelled with him, flew with him in the sky, and learned the secrets of the winds together. He swore to be his Sidler when he took over as the head of the fourth order.

He told him everything, how he had been trapped in the glass cage for so many years, how he had managed to survive, and what he had planned.

'Arsen... alone, even as great a warrior as you are, you won't make it on this journey.'

'I have no other choice, Jaisol. Everyone who attacked our caves that day will die. I will kill them one by one, except for my brother's murderer. I will torture him first and then throw his carcass into the desert for the mice to eat.'

'No one has ever been able to reach the land of the Scythians alone. If the queen is in their land, maybe even the palace has made some agreement with them... it's a suicide mission, Arsen.'

'I don't care about death.'

'Come with me to the sebets, Arsen. I swear to you, all the Skywalkers will be by your side. Together, we will devise a plan to bring down the kingdom.'

'You don't understand, Jaisol..' Arsen said, staring at the sand dunes and the small oases on the horizon. '..I no longer care about bringing down the kingdom. I don't care who will prevail in this war. All I care about is getting revenge for my brother. If that can shatter the palace, that will be the best end to my death.'

Jaisol closed his eyes and let the sand penetrate his skin as the wind blew it. He thought of all the battles they had won with Arsen. They had exchanged oaths to be there for each other. Jaisol hadn't helped Arsen protect his brother, which was a burden for him.

'What happened to my brother's body, Jaisol?'

'Whatever happens every time a Skywalker or a member of his family is murdered by the enemy, Arsen. He was buried with honours as a hero of the revolution. Cut some herbs from those your brother used to heal our people, and then I'll take you to his grave to visit him.'

Arsen clenched his teeth. He had carried the burden for ten years. He could breathe normally now, without the constriction in his chest. His brother had received the burial he deserved.