Amel, Arnaial and Eleas moved across the desert, the storms which followed them everywhere in the Red Dunes, left behind. Their road has led them towards the middle section of the desert, north west. They were going to ambush the carriages at the intersection between a road which led further up north, in the Branded Sanctuary, and the coming from north east, down to south west. At the sides of these two roads, large, mountainous gatherings of sand, called Sand Hills, stood as the perfect place where the three of them could lay in wait and ambush it. Arnaial wasn’t going to do much besides observing, while Eleas was to serve as a distraction. If they could, they wanted to deal with the whole thing without bloodshed or fighting.
They’ve been travelling for close to three days, the sun soon to go below the hills of sand, and let them catch some rest during the night. Exposed to the heat during the morning, was tormentable at best and gruesome at worst. Amel was having the hardest time of the group, as Eleas was able to drink the water supplies in the skin pockets he had, and Arnaial could manipulate water, a rare trait amongst humans. While there was next to no humidity at night, clouds formed at night. And, by reaching out with his hand and concentrating for a good while, he could pull in the moisture from high up in the sky. This took him some hours, so he had short nights, but kep him hydrated. While he would’ve liked to help Femel, the water could barely help him, and what remained, Femel could barely make use of it. While Arnaial respected him and wished him the best, he wasn’t willing to lay his life down for him.
Femel had managed to find and hunt some other creatures, but due to how his body developed and was, especially with his tall height, he needed a lot of water by comparison with other creatures and such. Eleas has offered him some of his water from under the skin, but after drinking a bit upon his offer, Femel found that his body didn’t like such water, the bacteria inside causing internal infections that threatened his life during the first two nights. Carrying a water pouch was also not something he could do, some creatures were hypersensitive to the sound and moisture water made and left behind. Some of those were the heat terrors. These are multi-legged creatures, around twenty on each side, with pointy sharp endings, to help them stay silent when they travel on the sand and cover their tracks. Their backs are covered by sand coloured pigments, reflecting a good portion of the sun, and smooth through rubbing it into sand. They’re predators, much like everything else living in the desert, and they use a special organ, with long tendrils coming from the front, in order to ‘smell’ the moisture out of the air. The breath, blinking, sweat and such, are all things the heat terrors could feel and find. To combat this, those living in the desert, like the sollims, used their sand wyrms to make them run away, same for most other creatures in the desert. When that wasn’t available, it was advised to travel by night, as the heat terrors had a hard time detecting moisture from other living beings in the cold night.
The only reason they travelled during day, was because they could pass by Esheon, and Eleas could go inside and trade for some water on the behalf of Femel. However, Femel had the interest to also find an enhanced set of clothes, that would retain his moisture better. He knew that those in Esheon, the Sunborn, were the best of the best, and something like that shouldn’t be outside their expertise. However, him being human, also meant that his access would be denied. Leaving it to Eleas would be fine, but he wanted to build connections, and he couldn’t do that behind the back of someone like Eleas, who was still a mystery to him and why wasn’t he travelling with the other sollims.
Another reason to stop in Esheon, was so Femel could safely use the light diamond he got. He didn’t want to use it before completing the task, but wanted to find a safe place, and he figured that may take time, which he wouldn’t have once they stole the gems from the carriage, as a pursuit would be sure to follow.
“There are no rocks around, this place has its own difficulties,” Femel said under a heavy brath. Eleas was ahead, Arnaial walking while watching vigilently. He wanted to be careful, while also playing a bit of his own mind game, whether or not he could spot something, and if so, if he could guess what it was. If he guessed right, he would note in a letter a vertical line to note his progress.
“You should not waste your breath, out of all of us, you should be most careful about that,” Arnaial said, then saw in the distance a small figure, which then went under the sand. Those were sandfishes. They’re a kind of amphibian that were in the Sedessi Desert before the Sunborn came and transformed it. While most life has died, these creatures proved resilient, growing small, thin and bifurcating legs, in pairs of three at each side, with which they would swim through the sand, thus the name. Their means of feeding is by going deep below the sand and finding, once organic, inorganic matter. The matter generally contained components that once made grass and plants, then turned into a new kind of mineral, called greneum. Greneum was the main source of food for creatures like the sandfishes. ‘That’s three now,’ he noted his discovery in the small notebook. Then, he extended the hand, waited until the sandfish was peeking through the sand, and stole some of its moisture through its scales. The sandfish could only feel losing mass, but wouldn’t be able to tell what was missing until some minutes after, leaving back under the sand once more. “Here, take a sip of this,” he held a few drops of water in his hand, “it should make up for the breath you just wasted.”.
Femel drank it, feeling the least bit rejuvenated. “We’ll sleep underground then,” Femel told Arnaial, Eleas learning a bit of the words Femel was speaking. “I’ll be the first shift.”.
“I think it’s best you let Eleas, he seems to be doing better than us two,” Arnaial proposed instead. “Besides, tomorrow we’ll be in Esheon, so you don’t have to push yourself any longer.”. Femel stopped a moment, looked at Arnaial with a tired look. “I get it, you want to prove yourself, get stronger. But you won’t be able to do any of that, and I won't be able to write it, not if you die before you achieve anything,” Arnaial patted him on the back, passing to the front. “We can take the lead while you rest.”.
Femel gritted his teeth, once again angry with his ineptitude. Night came after a few more hours. They have dug their way into the ground, a hole through which they could all fit, deeper inside, and a narrow exit. In order to be able to make it, they had to dig pretty deep, reaching the more solid portions of the underground. The entrance was ten metres in depth and one in width, only able to accommodate one person. The portion where they slept was large enough to accommodate all of them, while another kept watch of the outside. While caves weren’t as prominent as they were in the Red Dunes region, they were still in places, and the possibility of a cave dumpede there as well. Having one of those encroach upon them at night, wasn’t something they wanted.
Eleas took the first watch, as Arnaial convinced Femel to stand in the hole. Arnaial wanted to speak some more with Femel, see how his life has been for someone like him, without a light. But Femel proved to be a bit too tired, seemingly falling asleep fast. Arnaial let his light travel through his eyes, much like when he used it to write into the letters, but with the sole purpose of creating a small, dim light, helping him see what’s on the paper.
“Do you wonder, why are you doing what you’re doing?” Femel asked Arnaial, not asleep as Arnaial believed him to be. He turned to his side, his eyes dry, as was his skin. “I thought I knew what I wanted, and how I wished to be. But those were my brother’s wishes, and even now, I still feel like I follow his own wishes.”.
Arnaial blinked twice, the small hole going from light to dark, and then light again. “Is that a bad thing, following your brother’s wishes?”. His question made Femel ponder a bit. He didn't think if it was even bad or not. Arnaial closed his notebook, “I do what I find most interesting. I follow what my mind desires, while I let my body, and perhaps my soul, hunger. Maybe, while I travel with you and Eleas, I can find something to feed my soul too, as I don’t care for my body too much,” he adjusted himself better, massaging his eyes. “If following your brother’s wishes will bring fulfilment for either of those three, perhaps two or even all of them, then I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”.
“I see,” Femel’s thoughts were filled, but his body couldn’t hold any longer, so he slowly fell asleep, “just… keep going… then.”. Arnaial looked at him in wonder, then started to write in his notebook.
Eleas didn’t see much in the desert. The stars could only do so much, as their light reflected off the sand and let him see for a bit further around, but not enough to make him feel safe. During his time with other sollims, he had spent most of it in the midst of the group, rarely exposed to danger. And when there was danger, there would be dozens, if not hundreds of his kin ready to give their lives in order to protect the rest of the group. He wasn’t like them, he wanted to live without trying to do what’s best for the good of the whole group. So, after he left, he felt free from the ties and obligations he felt to the others. But with it, he also lost a sense of security, which he grew attached to. While Femel was a good warrior and Arnaial a capable individual, there were threats which the three of them alone couldn’t handle. His group was best against great threats and small alike, while the three of them would be lucky to escape from something as big as a skin snatcher, let alone a san lurker or sand wyrm. So far, they have only encountered sandfishes and cave dumpedes, the greater threats laying in wait somewhere else, or perhaps they could avoid them altogether. He didn’t know, and the uncertainty scared him.
Then, as he watched in the distance, he could see the vague shape of something, the starlight barely letting him see the smallest of clues. The shell or skin which the creature had, reflected some of the light. ‘Probably a heat terror,’ he thought. The creature stopped for a moment, then left with speed somewhere far away. Eleas didn’t even sigh, as the smallest sounds could make aware the largest of creatures. The night was still and silent, Eleas didn’t like it a whole lot. While the desert was silent, a sollim like him could tell the difference between the right and wrong ones. He couldn’t tell what made the silence bad, but was sure it was around. He kept his body tense and his short, but sharp blade, made of a sand wyrm tooth’s ready to stab at anything that would get in his reach. Moments turned into minutes, and soon a couple hours have passed by. His attention was maintained, but, when he expected it least, Aranail tapped his shoulder, making him jump a little, then look behind. The moment he did, from a few metres away, a sand lurker jumped out of the sand. Due to the darkness of the night, Eleas couldn’t see the thin, short tendrils poking from the ground. The sand lurker has dug itself into the ground, and made its way close to where he was. These creatures had a lot of patience, and has been waiting to snap at him since he felt the silence befall the desert in a dangerous manner. The creature was a large mammal, short, white-brown fur blending with the sand, large head with a large mouth and small eyes covered by a transparent, thick membrane, limbs with wide claws for digging and strong muscles. Its fangs protruded from the sides of the bottom portion and from within the top of its mouth. Aranail barely had any time to react, as the beast was upon Eleas, its fangs sinking into his arm which barely managed to block it, water and blood mixing in the sand, as it pushed itself into the narrow hole.
Femel woke up the next moment, seeing the large creature trying to get inside, while Aranail pulled out its moisture from the eyes and around the joints, to make it as hard for it to move as possible. Eleas struggled against it as well as he could, trying not to make any sound to not attract any other creature, while the sand lurker was biting harder on his hand. Eleas felt his bones giving in, soon his arm would be lost and the beast upon them. He stabbed at the creature, but the fur and thick skin made it hard for him to get a good hit, the narrow walls only allowing him only so much freedom, and the creature not going any deeper, trying to pull him out instead. While its joints were having issues to pull the body out with Eleas, it made slow progress. Femel pulled out his cold steel blade and approached, a dizziness in his step.
He almost fell over Aranail, the blade touching his cloth and taking the heat from his arm away through it. “Be careful with that!” he cried. Femel straightened himself, hitting the roof, then falling on his knees. “Get back to your senses, Femel! We’re going to die!” Aranail was trying to force him back to it, but Femel’s body was just about ready to give in. Aranail looked at Eleas, struggling against the beast, and then, for a moment, let go of his hold onto the creature, and used his ability to place all the water he gathered into Femel, fueling his body with the much needed water. His heart didn’t know how to make sense of the sudden surge of fluid, as it adapted to pump blood slower. But, once it understood that the normal levels were back, it started to pump the blood much faster, Femel’s brain barely holding consciousness with the sudden shift between the extremities.
With a firm stance, he pulled back to his feet, his body allowing for a sudden rush of adrenaline with the renewed source of blood in his body. He took a steady step forward, and using the strength gathered, he plunged himself forward with the blade, aimed for the beast’s head. Eleas saw him coming from behind, and used all his will to pull the arm away, his flesh ripped away, showing the pure white of the bone behind. The creature’s head went up, hit the wall, then down and was met by Femel’s blade. It took a few moments, with a bit of struggle, but soon was dead, its blood freezing where it stood and Femel hunching over it.
He was too tired to lift himself from the ground, Eleas dragging him into the hole to make space so they can clear the way. Aranail started to pull out all the moisture from the beast, as Eleas gently placed Femel back down. “He will be fine soon enough, there's plenty of fluids from this one,” Aranail told Eleas.
“I’m not worried,” Eleas responded simply, his hand bleeding for a few seconds, then ceasing. He looked at it, felt the unbearable pain, but thanks to his ability, he inhibited it for his mind and heart, so they wouldn't break and stop. “Can you heal wounds too?”.
“Unfortunately no, so you’ll have to wait until we get into contact with the Sunborns,” as he pulled out the fluids, he sent them inside Femel’s body. His ability allowed him to take away moisture and fluids from one body or far away, but he needed a steady target. If it moved too much or too fast, it would break his concentration, making him unable to perform. “We could’ve died, if we weren’t in the hole. And that sand lurker, it seemed even more aggressive than usual,” Aranail noticed.
“They can smell it, death in the air, on the ground. It was following him,” Eleas rested his back against one of the walls. “More might be upon us, we have to move out of here.”. Aranail looked at Femel, when he touched his body, it felt as if it was ready to die. Eleas wasn’t good either, his army was heavily injured, and inhibiting the pain meant a great deal of focus, he could tell by his eyes not moving in the slightest, his arm bulging with veins.
“I think I can make something out of the sand lurker to move him,” Aranail got to it, cutting pieces of the flesh and bone with the cold steel blade. “This short sword, it must’ve cost a fortune. A gift perhaps,” he was trying to talk so he wouldn’t panic. “When Leneel told me I should go with you two, I wasn’t thinking straight, if I’m to be honest,” he got the bones he wanted, then started to cut at the skin, to take the fur. “I’m not willing to die, not here or anywhere in this desert. I must reach the place of knowledge, I must-” he stopped, seeing Eleas going unconscious as well.
Aranail started going in circles, trying to figure something out. The two men, lying unconscious, were the only ones capable of actual fighting. Even if he was to run away, he would be dead by the time it was noon in the desert. He was knowledgeable and resourceful, but not like Femel or Eleas. Aranail spent an hour thinking, scribbling frantically and then crashing in places. He looked at the sand, time seemed to move slower, not having a purpose or will to continue. He felt as if it was all doomed and done. Then, he looked at his hand, saw the light within, further away from it, a man who didn’t have it. “He made it here without it, and for the first time too. I’m not able to go even a bit beyond him? While being blessed with the light?” he spoke to himself. “What an insult!” he said as he spat towards Femel, growing resentful while forsaking all survival reason.
Aranail fell asleep, his mind choosing not to deal with the reality presented before him. In his sleep, not even the joy of his own imagination would allow him to get a peaceful moment. He was in a void, not a single speck of light nor matter. He floated endlessly, and when he finally awakened, the sun was getting inside the hole. He felt his mouth dry, and the two of them were still alive, breathing. Femel seemed to have recovered some, but Eleas’ wound had a pale colour around the wound, his fingers a sickening blue. ‘What am I doing, crying and struggling in this place,’ Aranail thought, lifting his body from the ground. “I told you to be careful not to die, so I could write about you, you stupid bastard,” he cursed him, but couldn’t do much more than that. ‘I figure there is no point, in doing any of this. And if there is none, than perhaps that’s all the more reason to do it, so it can gain exactly that, purpose,’ he thought as he approached the sand lurker once more, starting to cut off his skin with fur. “I will take the both of us out of here, so that I can write about your ventures some more, and see the world for what is meant to be,” Aranail promised Femel, who couldn’t as much as lift a finger.
The walls of the city rose high above the ground. The second largest walls at the time, measuring twenty five metres in height. This was their means of protection against the sand wyrms. While the Sunborn could deal with them, and even make them extinct for all they cared, their role was of a higher value to them, than a small inconvenience like building a wall. The walls weren’t much more than sandstone with steel or metal present in them as the Sunborn, due to how much forging they were doing and their high temperature which made some of the metal or steel stick to their hands, were the ones to raise those walls. So, while they were looking rather plain at first, upon closer inspection, one could see the metal within, which further reinforced it. From outside, one could see a giant dome-like structure which rose from the middle of the city, the greatest forge to have ever been built on Erta.
“We’re here, Femel” Aranail was dragging a luge made of the sand lurker’s body. “Took us a bit longer, but once we’re inside, we should be able to find the help necessary,” he looked at the looming walls, and the Sunborn which went inside the city, those on the walls watching the outside. Their height was around six to seven metres, their figures looking like statues in flames.
“Good, my arm was barely holding,” Eleas added, coming from his left side, dragging his shoulder along, hir arm looking colder than the rest of his body. “Terrifying ability, that which you can do,” he said looking at Aranail.
“You’re scary yourself, I don’t know many people who can ignore the numbness and pain in their arm like you do,” Aranail reciprocated the feelings of respect shown to him. “I understand that your kind can do that, but I saw sollims in more pain for less injuries.”.
“I have experience with pain, and being alone,” his face looked saddened for a moment, then he reverted to the neutral emotion it was portraying earlier. “Are you sure this plan of yours will work?”.
“I am, all you have to do is get inside, which you said you shouldn’t have an issue, right?”. Arnaial analysed the walls which stood some hundreds of metres away, it was almost night as it took them more than a day to get there.
“There won’t be any,” Eleas started to walk, Aranail hiding behind a mound of sand. “If you don’t see me by sundown, assume I’m either dead or captive,” his resolution to die for Femel, strengthened by his thoughts of death surrounding his arm. ‘I’m going to die either way if my arm isn’t healed, I may as well give my life for good,’ he thought, walking across the sands and not leaving a print behind even while clinging to life.
Eleas forced his body beyond its limits, only able to move forward as his kind’s anatomy allowed to exert one beyond the normal limits. With the arm devoid of warmth, as Aranail has drawn out the heat from his blood through a difficult skill which he learned while in the desert, he was able to move onwards, the arm not bleeding, nor dying, as it stood in the stage between life and death. If he was to lose a limb, the desert wouldn’t prove forgiving to him. For the sollims, getting disabled in any way meant death, so those gravely injured were more often than not left behind. The Sunborn were the only ones possessing the much needed healing capabilities, but as the sollims often travelled far away from the cities and between them, it was often hard to find a Sunborn. And while Esheon was welcoming sollims, it usually let in those which had a status outside of the group of which they were part of, or they were coming with the rest of the group. Since Eleas had none, he had to bet it on the mercy of those guarding the city and inside of it.
As he got closer, he came to realise just how tall the walls were. All his life has travelled the desert and even saw two of the three cities, but Esheon was something which only once in a generation a group of sollims would visit. To be there alone, possessed the risk of being killed by the Sunborns, as it was known that no sollim should run away from the group, and those which had status outside of the group, was usually achieved through a series of achievements. The sollims wore tattoos on their bodies, each one told a story of their accomplishments. Eleas only had four tattoos, two of which he made himself while travelling alone, killing a skin snatcher by himself, and riding a sand wyrm for the first time. While his achievements were good, they wouldn’t allow him to pass as someone of higher status. His only hope would be that the Sunborn can take pity on him and help him, or at least allow him entrance.
Once he was at the front gates, the perspective of the city came as a shock to him. The large, metal structures, tubes of metal running from each towards the collossal structure at the centre, and the black marble streets, golden models running like veins below the shiny surface. What’s more, the Sunborn which walked around in the black armours and red clothing on top of them. The way Sunborns showed their status, was through how well they could forge a variety of things. The best smiths and tool and weapon makers wore belts with a variety of one or more of them. Most of the worn tools and weapons were purely artistic, for looks, as their strength alone could suffice against most threats. In front of Eleas were two sollims that allowed passage in and out of the city. Sunborns were generally too wealthy or appreciated to be placed in such positions. Those on top the walls were due to the low acceptance for sollims to fill positions inside their city. For a sollim, even serving as a guard to a city, was considered a high honor. The two at the gate which Eleas wanted to pass through, each had six tattoos each, already higher in status than him, and they were only in the lowest position a Sunborn would allow them to be.
“You, state your business and tribe affiliation,” the sollim with the sword asked him through signs. It wasn’t imposed by the Sunborn, but sollims talked through signs with each other. They thought of their language as lesser than that of the Sunborn, their creators, thus this was a sign of respect. Eleas looked at the two, at his arm, and then back at them. “We do not allow exiles, scramble into the desert and let it eat you, as it is meant to be.”.
“I beg of you, let me inside, I’m still young, if I can heal my arm, I can still serve my tribe,” Eleas pleaded to them, throwing aside his dignity in order to save himself, and through him Femel. The guards looked at each other, then the one with the spear talked.
“I can give you some water if you want, but no more than that” the man extended his arm, filled with water in his skin pockets. “From a brother to another,” his eyes were gentle and Eleas could tell he was the one to go for.
“I promise not to linger and sully the grounds of our creators. I just need to heal my arm some, and I will be out of the city, back into the desert as I’m supposed to be,” he continued his plea, the man with the spear budging a little. But, he looked at the man with the sword, giving a shake of his head.
The man wanted to apologise before sending him his way, “Let him in, he deserves another chance for coming so far,” a Sunborn from within the city spoke. “What is your name Child of Us.”. The question was followed by a bit of silence, and before Eleas had time to respond, “Eleas, son of Aleas,” the round, orange and bright flames that served as eyes for the Sunborn, peered into the knowledge shared through the Sunborn’s light. “Come inside, no need to hesitate now,” Eleas listened to the Sunborn’s words, going inside the city, dropping stealthily a gold coin . Approaching him, he could see the Sunborn which stood at eight metres of height better. There were a few tools on his belt, but they were so finely crafted that they might’ve as well been worth thousands. His armour was also peculiar, a large, draconic mouth coming from his chest and stomach, protruding for some forty centimetres, while the rest of the armour had fine, sharp and circular protrusions of metal. His shoes were made of metal, dragon heads towards the tips of them. Once the Sunborn turned, he could see a kind of whip at his back. Something about it pulled his body and eyes in, a smouldering heat emanated by the whip, which was split into three parts and had round heads at the end, looking like small maces attached to steel ropes. The handle was looking as if its been used a few times, the marks of burns on them. “For what purpose are you in my beloved city, Eleas?”.
Eleas thought the Sunborn was talking of the city as his, because it has been built by all the Sunborns. Even so, it was a bit presumptuous for anyone, besides the king of the desert Lemeleem, to call the city theirs. “To heal my-” he couldn’t continue, as he was stopped in place. Not by some unknown force or fear, but pure instinct. The Sunborn before him had to simply turn his head with the intent to harm him, to know that lying to him would only prove fatal. “I want to help my friend,” his words got a nod of approval from the Sunborn.
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“You should never be ashamed to say the truth, son of Aleas,” the Sunborn led him a bit inside. Most Sunborn were spending their nights researching methods to improve their crafts, rarely asking others for advice so that when they discover something new, it could be attributed to them alone. This led to a slow process of learning and development, but it created a powerful sense of individuality, so that when one is in need, they could procure it by themselves. “Especially when you’re a guest inside my city,” Eleas felt a bit of expectations from his words, as if the Sunborn expected him to either recognise his claim of the city being his, or that he should know who the Sunborn man before him was. He was sure he wasn’t Lemeleem, as the king was known to be taller by some measure from all the other, and the one before him was only taller than most, but not all, some measuring him in height and had more tools and weapons on their belts.
“I am not ashamed, your grace, I just do not wish to trouble anyone, not more than I have to,” his words stayed true and the Sunborn accepted them. “I wish to heal my arm, so I can help my friend, and then be on my way,” once the Sunborn took away his glance from him, he started to look all around. He wanted to find a suitable wall for what he and Aranail had planned.
The Sunborn looked at him again after thinking, “Let us go then, find someone to heal you,” the Sunborn proposed. Eleas didn’t want anyone to follow him or such, but given his current position, he didn’t have much of a choice.
“Just a moment, I seem to have lost some of my money,” he said looking around, seeming clueless about it. “There it is,” the Sunborn watched his movements as he went back to retrieve it. The guards looked back a bit, and he showed them the coin he lost. From the mound where Amel and Aranail were hidden, Aranail kept watch of the gates, saw the shine of the gold, and knew that was Eleas. Eleas looked straight at the mound for a few moments, during which Aranail used his light to attach his light into his eye. While it wasn’t perfect, this allowed Aranail to gain information from around Eleas in small pieces. This was the first time he used something like this, only having the day they travelled to test it. The sollims and humans were generally the same, but some anatomical differences made it so the light could act in ways different than it did to humans. Upon receiving the light for the first time, Eleas felt a sensation of ease and power, which then faded fast, as the light didn’t seem to want to grow attached to his body. During his practice, Aranail managed to attach his light to Eleas for a couple of hours. This would extend further, since he could focus all his attention on Eleas alone. While threats were still around, the only known active ones were the sand wyrms, and they weren’t night hunters.
“Still caring for money when your life, and perhaps that of your friend, is still in danger?” the Sunborn was reading through his intentions, Eleas only barely managing to get away with his lie.
“What point is there to save ourselves, if we can’t afford a place to sleep and eat after?” Eleas’ response brought a small smile from the Sunborn. He went by the Sunborn’s side and they started to walk along the dark marble streets. He couldn’t notice it due to his immense struggle to handle the pain of his arm, but the streets had a feel to them. If one was to step in for the first time, they would think there was nothing underneath them, their steps seemingly being carried by the floor itself. The Sunborn was walking with grace in front of him, saluting some other Sunborn here and there. Eleas knew that there were only so many sollims that were accepted in the walls of Esheon, but he only saw the two guards and another one as they went deeper. Looking above, he could see the steel pipes, some noise coming from within them.
“Those carry molten steel and metals from all around,” the Sunborn informed him, showing with his finger how the metal travelled. “Those pipes are made of layered steel, a heat conductive one for the inside, two insulating ones towards the outside, and a heat resistant one for the outside one,” he continued his explanation. Eleas found himself fascinated, but hard to retain the information, as the pain became even stronger since the heat all around him made his blood reach higher temperatures. The Sunborn looked at him, “My apologies, I find myself lost talking about such things. It’s not often we have visitors,” the Sunborn seemed eager to talk some more about the city. Eleas didn’t want to deny any sort of information, as it could help, but he just couldn’t focus. “Here we are,” they arrived at a white marble building, a visible difference from the rest of the either steel built structures or dark marble streets.
The Sunborn went first inside, Eleas behind him. Once inside, Eleas couldn’t see anyone, besides a Sunborn, that was a metre or so shorter than the one who was helping him. The Sunborn, by the name of Maheera, bowed before the one with Eleas. “Your grace,” she said. Eleas felt a cold shiver running down his spine in the overbearingly hot place. “How may I assist you?”.
The Sunborn, by the name of Lemeem, only son of Lemeleem, gestured to the woman to raise her head, which she complied with. “I want you to heal this sollim, he’s part of my company, so ensure you treat him really well,” Lemeem’s tone seemed to change. Eleas could tell it was because he got recognised, having to put up an image. He only wondered why all the other Sunborn from around the city didn’t do the same as the Sunborn before them. “I’ll be inside the Core, come for me once you’re healed and rested,” Lemeem almost ordered him, to which Eleas bowed his head in agreement.
“Take a seat,” she spoke with Eleas with a plain tone once Lemeem was away. Around the room in which they were, large tables, made of steel, stood three at each side of the side walls. There were those meant for Sunborns and those for the sollims. Eleas took a seat on one purpose for his kin, and waited until the Sunborn, dressed with a practical armour, meant more for movement than defence, and accentuated by the small indentations in which tools were placed. She pulled out a small instrument, relative to her body, looking much like a hook. “Where have you met the prince?” her question surprised him a little, then he thought that ‘They might be responsible to report to the king.’.
“I just met His Majesty, outside the city at the gates. His Grace took pity upon me, and brought me here,” his sincerity wasn’t enough, he could tell. Maheera took a good look at his wound, her flaming hair feeling like a raging fire, ready to drag him into the flames.
The red-orange colour of her fire changed slightly, to a more red one. “No one just meets His Majesty, not us, not the sollims,” she was getting angry, and a sense of jealousy was palpable by Eleas.
“I don’t mean any harm to His Grace, nor do I wish to trouble anyone. It just happened for us to meet,” he explained himself. The Sunborn pulled at a muscle, inflicting a sudden burning pain into his arm.
“Harm? Don’t be so foolish as to believe that His Majesty could be harmed by anyone, no beast could touch Him, so much less those which tame them,” she seemed spiteful. Despite him being a creation of theirs, some were willing to cast them aside if they had broken the rules imposed by them. And since he was seen as nothing more than a casualty that didn’t happen, he couldn’t blame her for acting that way.
“Once I’m healed, I promise to leave the city and not return,” his promise made the flames return to their original colour. Once she took a careful look at his wound, she placed one of her hands above, and, from within her palm, a twisting flame went inside the wound. Turning and climbing through this arm, the fire was destroying all that was dead, and replaced the missing tissue with living flames, the kind which didn’t burn, and would lead his body to properly heal itself. Before he knew it, his arm was warm once more, the wound closed and strength started to return. He could clench his first, but didn’t feel like he could do much more than that. “Just like I remember it to be,” he said aloud, Maheera gave a look of pride for her work.
“As His Majesty has said also, you will have to rest before leaving,” she went in another room, separated by folds of steel, thin and light, acting like a veil of sorts for the door, her touch softening it just enough so it would bend and she could pass through. She spent a few moments inside, then came out with her fist filled. “Here, you don’t look like the rich kind,” she placed a few pieces of steel in his hand, the currency in the city. The more valuable and rare the steel, the higher its monetary value. The one she gave him was a most common steel, usually traded for small services like renting rooms, reparations and such. The Sunborns which worked on those, did so they could hope to use it to make tools and weapons out of them, so their status may one day rise.
“If I may, just one question,” Eleas looked around the room, seeking some medicine of sorts, “where can I perhaps buy water?.”.
Aranail was able to catch the glimpses his light allowed him to see. Eleas left the building, and started to walk around the city. Through him, Aranail could catch glimpses which were most forbidden to humans. Some tall, some small, the buildings were none the same, all they shared, was the network of steel pipes. The streets, once night enveloped the place, started to light up, the Core heating up during the night and expelling large flames into the air. The Sunborns were using the night as a method of cooling some of the outside. The moulding point of the steel that made up the structure of the Core, was only a few degrees off from melting during the night. It was so specific, that only a specific amount of Sunborn were allowed at any one time inside the Core. In the places where the light of the Core couldn’t reach, below, the gold which served as veins for the black marble, heated up during the night, some of the Core’s heat dissipated through them. The black marble has a higher melting point than even some of the steel. From both inside and outside, the city looked almost alive, the light produced by the molten gold and the Core, playing off of the smooth surface of the black marble.
Eleas was searching for a good wall to climb Aranail and Femel over. Some water was also available, as the furnaces ran extremely hot, the Core especially, as the toughest and most impressive metals and minerals were being gathered from all around the world, from as far as Drakil, in order to be smelted and turned into useful tools, weapons, armours and other utilities. While water could only do so much, it was needed for a special fluid, made with the digestive acids of the sand wyrms. While an acid proved highly corrosive, especially that of the sand wyrms which ate mostly anything they could, diluted with water and sprayed on the metals, most of the acid would suffer from a chemical reaction, resulting in a new compound that acted as a heat dispersing solution. His issue was taking enough water for all of them. While he could take enough to fill himself, the problem would come to whether or not he could take some for Femel and Arnail, since everyone around knew how little water one such as himself needed. Before he could think of stealing water though, he had to find a way to bring the other two inside.
Sunborns were most active at night, when their forges ran the coldest, so they could bring about the most intense temperatures. It was a good time to wander, but sometimes Sunborn were going from place to place to get materials or exchange goods with others. Sollims had no reason to be out on the streets, especially one without the status like Eleas. Eleas made his way carefully to the edges of the city, Aranail watching, but losing some of his focus, as some time had passed. Eleas looked up the left wall, there were some Sunborn patrolling, but they seemed to retreat for the night. Soon, a few sollims took their place instead, as they went to do some forging of their own. If it was his own kin, he could maybe make it work. He observed them for a bit, then saw a third going up. Soon, they each took a different section of the way, which went along for four hundred metres. Eleas took the opportunity, and headed for the one going towards the left back corner. The flames of the forges were casting his shadow on the wall behind, his steps were quick and silent, and soon, he was next to the stairs leading up the wall. He could see the guard coming from his left, so he stood low. Once the guard was close enough, he jumped from below, his hands taking his neck in a chokehold. The sollim tried to fight back, but Eleas surrounded him with his limbs, and soon let him fall limp on the ground. The other guard was too far away to have noticed, so Eleas changed gear fast, wearing the armour instead.
Aranail saw what happened, and once Eleas started to run for the way, he too started approaching it. It took him a while, and Eleas has been pacing a few times along the wall, stopping at times briefly to check upon the area, see if he was any closer. After some time, he was below Eleas. He pulled a
“Where to now?” Aranais whispered, they were close to the walls and the guards have just found the unconscious body of the other. Eleas looked around, until he saw what Maheera told him about, large, spherical structures, inside of them water. There were some small buildings by the side, meant for sending water in different pipes when it was needed. Those once were meant as a rest point for sollims, from where they could refill their bodies with water, but those became pointless once the pipe network was implemented.
Eleas led the way, the two of them holding Femel between them. They didn’t have many issues getting there, even though some Sunborn moving around threatened to give up their guise under the bright city. Once they arrived, in the east central portion of the city, they went inside one of the buildings without hesitation. The room was a pleasant warm, different from the one outside, a portion of one of the structures which held the water was inside the room as well, the water being heated. They placed Femel by the water, his body in a deep slumber as it was recovering from the grueling journey.
“How long do you humans take to rest?” Eleas thought he would be awake by then. He took his arm, sensed his pulse, it was going slow and steady. Aranail looked through the window of the door for any movement outside. Besides the occasional Sunborn, there wouldn’t be much activity.
“He’s only fifteen, if my information is correct,” Aranail’s words prompted a sudden look from Eleas. For someone to be this young, and from the outside, yet be able to endure so much, was nothing short of remarkable in his eyes. Even in his tribe, only once you were sixteen, would you be allowed to venture at some distance from the rest. He was a bit of an exception, since he would venture outside the edges of the group since he was nine, but he knew how early one should be able to travel alone. So for Femel to be that far away from home, and to such an estranged place, while looking like a fully developed human, made him wonder what made Femel so strong. “Curious isn’t it?” Aranail started to pour some water out of the basin, then pour it into Femel’s body. “Him and his brother, they don’t seem to come from any reputable family, nor does their past suggest that they should possess any sort of power. And yet, they might be the two strongest humans of our time. His brother is already a match for the First Six, our human leaders, considered the strongest amongst our kin.”. Eleas felt a sudden surge inside his body. Never before had he felt such admiration for another being. While his kin was capable and had their social structure built around the number of achievements and how great they were, he had never heard or seen someone who could accomplish so much with just one other person.
“And his brother, where is he?” Eleas wanted to know more about the brothers. His mind wondered what his brother was capable of, if Femel was already this strong.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure he’s on his way to do something great. I’ve read all about his constructs and they way they influenced the war,” Aranail started to speak about Aml and his achievements. Eleas was thinking more deeply about Femel, whom he understood from Aranail that he didn’t have his light, which through comparison, would be like him not having his skin to deposit water. An essential part which allowed humans to survive, and Femel had to make due without. He couldn’t know about his abnormal strength and resilience since birth, so his image was morphed into one of a great human, which through deep struggle, managed to attain higher points, the kind which most would only dream, or not even imagine.
As the night went by, Femel finally woke up. He caught up with the other two, and understood what happened. He thanked the two of them for saving him, while feeling defeated inside, for not being able to take care of himself. Eleas tried to make him understand that what he did so far was nothing short of incredible, but he couldn’t accept it. If he was going to grow into someone whom his brother could rely upon, this wouldn’t do it. In his mind, he could see a lot of ways his brother would have conquered the desert without letting it consume one bit of him. While he, he had almost died at its merciless hands.
Moving forward, Eleas had to meet with Lemeem at the Core, so he wouldn’t raise suspicion of him. Femel and Aranail were concerned about the last night, since a guard was taken down, and they would probably look at him as the main culprit, being new in the city and without clear purpose. Eleas assured them it would be fine, Femel not liking the idea of letting him in the nest of the enemies, basically. But he had no choice, if they started a search for him in the city, then their chance of escape wouldn’t come. They also needed someone to make Femel his sweatproof armour, so that he could endure the heats of the desert better. The only one capable of finding such a person was Eleas again. Femel thought of doing it himself.
“If I don’t return by the time the sun is close to the middle, you should leave,” Eleas told them, Aranail translating for Femel. “Also, I would like for you to give this back to my tribe, if you can find them somehow,” he handed Femel a necklace made of a few shortened sand wyrm tooth, “just in case.”. Femel took the necklace and placed it on his neck.
“We’ll be waiting for you, so make sure you return,” Femel told Eleas, Aranail translating for him. Eleas nodded, then headed outside.
Once outside the city, Eleas saw that everything was as normal. The few sollims allowed inside moving around the city, while the Sunborn were out selling tools and other goods to other Sunborn. Some transport units, for goods and such, were coming from outside the city. This happened once every three days, as the desert was extremely dangerous to travel alone or in small groups. These units were comprised of metal wagons dragged by phanmelies, large creatures with a large hump on their backs, a trunk which served as a way to smell for water, and small ears. Three for each metal wagon, which carried between two to three tons of materials with them. Eleas had seen some of them during his travels with his tribe, but never so close. The phanmelies were larger than the Sunborn, at around twelve metres in height, and another seven in length. When they walked, the ground shook a little with their weight. He was more surprised on how the marble could sustain their weight, than anything else. The units were all heading for the Core, where the materials and more expensive trades took place during the day.
He followed the phanmelies and their masters, which were sollims. The sollims gave him strange looks, seeing his cheap clothes and seemingly low status. Once they were outside the Core, Eleas was able to appreciate its true magnitude. Going high above, at around one hundred and twenty metres, the giant sphere was one of the world’s wonders, being the largest furnace to have existed on Erta. There were no flames coming out of it, as the forging could only be done during the night. The pipes which went and came inside the Core, were mainly towards the top section. Around the Core, Sunborn guards were stationed day and night, only exchanging shifts every once in a while.
The units went inside without issue, but then Eleas was stopped by the guards. He told them that he was there at the request of the prince, the guards not believing him. He didn’t want to cause a scene, but time was of the essence, so either they got out of his way, or he was going to start a fight. Before his thoughts got the better of him, Lemeem showed from inside the Core, ordering the guards to let him through. Reluctantly, the guards made way for him. Lemeem went inside, and Eleas came shortly after.
Once in there, the heat was what hit him, it was hotter than the outside, the Sunborns inside making it that much hotter, and the air was getting harder to breathe the deeper he went inside. The floor was made of cold steel, so much that it would be thought impossible for one country to possess, let alone use it in such a manner. There were three large cavities in the Core, each serving as a smaller forge. The main, large forge consisted of all the structure. Above, at the middle point, a magnetic material served as a platform, which went from the middle point of the Core. There, steel and metals would be placed on top, the magnet holding them higher above it. When a metal or steel needed to be molten and shaped, six tubes, which went down in the three cavities, could be fueled with fire. Once they started to shoot their flames, some would go above, while most would be concentrated upon the metal or steel. When the material would start to melt, and fall towards the magnet, a Sunborn at the centre, infusing their own flames into the pole which had the platform above, controlled their flames in such a manner, that they would touch upon the molten material and start shaping it while still in the air. As the material cools, the magnet does its effect once again and holds the piece that is made high above, allowing for adjustments by blasting some more flames at it.
For that time though, it served as a point where the Sunborn and sollim seeling their materials were standing. Tables made of black, white and green marble were set. There were a few Sunborn selling, but mostly Sollims who had the materials from all around the country and outside of it. Lemeem looked through those which his father told him were needed, and Eleas followed him around a bit. There were no guards protecting Lemeem, as he preferred to be left alone.
“I notice your arm has healed, is that correct?” Lemeem asked Eleas, picking up metals, melting them inside his hand, then putting them back as they were.
“That is correct, your Majesty,” the Lemeem he met at first was somewhat in there, but still constrained by his royal personna. “May I ask for the reasons you have summoned me here?”. Eleas kept looking around, seeing the intricate metal patterns engraved onto the Core.
“There was this incident last night, you might have heard of it,” Lemeem turned his head towards Eleas a moment, “you wouldn’t happen to know anything about it, would you?”. Eleas knew that the prince could tell he was lying, he wasn’t sure how, so he had to tell the truth, just in such a way that it wouldn’t raise any suspicion.
“I do not know of any incidents,” it was just the way he spoke, a different letter to make the difference. It was slight, but just enough for the prince to return to his shopping.
“As for your question, Eleas, I wished to see you before you left,” the prince sounded a bit upset. Eleas looked to his left and right, trying to see if there was any sort of trap. He knew that if the prince wanted to, he could end his life, what he was afraid was of being captured. If he was to be looked inside, they might find a way to pull out the truth of Femel and Aranail being in the hiding. “Also,” he stopped for a moment, then turned to look at Eleas from high up above, “since you’ve been a guest of mine, I suppose it is fitting that I gave you a gift. So, how about this, would you accept an item which I forge?”.
Eleas couldn’t think for a few moments. To a sollim, and most beings on the planet, having a gift bestowed by one of the Ascended Beings, and one of such high rank, could be said to be nothing less than a blessing. He dropped to a knee, and bent his head forward. “I do not deserve such blessing,” this was his most honest self talking. Since he broke the rule of his tribe, and ran away, he thought he deserved nothing more than a cruel death inside the desert. Instead, he was getting the gift of his prince. He truly felt as if he didn’t deserve such a blessing.
“Get up son of Aleas, it’s not about what you deserve, it’s about me offering you a gift. If you don’t accept it, I’ll take it as a great offence,” the prince was firm in his talk. He couldn’t tell if it was his duty as a royal figure to do as such, or if this was Lemeem speaking to him, trying to forge some sort of friendship. Since he didn’t feel like he deserved it, and the prince wasn’t going to budge in his decision, Eleas thought this would be the perfect opportunity, a smith of the highest degree.
“The, if Your Majesty doesn’t mind my impertience,” Eleas stood up, then looked Lemeem in the eyes, his face serious, which made Lemeem happy, seeing as he was his honest self. “I would like to ask for a special kind of armour.”.
Noon was upon the city, and Felem and Aranail were arguing. Aranail old Femel that the time was past what Eleas told them. Femel told him that he would be back, holding on the necklace. And as Femel has said, Eleas made his way inside the abandoned building. He told them of what was about to happen and that the prince himself would make Femel’s armour. He only needed his measures, and would have the sweatproof armour for him. They would have to wait that night too, so that Lemeem could gather the materials and make it, then the following morning it should be done.
“Apparently the difficulty of making such armour is seen as simple by the prince,” Eleas told them, his respect for the Sunborn even greater than it already was. Aranail was telling everything to Femel, who started to think of their next steps. While they could wait outside the city for the armour to be finished, Femel felt like this would be the perfect place for him to grow stronger. He felt the diamond in the small back, thought about doing then and there. What stopped him was the thought of the diamond reacting in a bad way, one such that it would at best make his body die, or at worst, cause a commotion large enough to alarm the Sunborn and sollims alike.
He decided that he would have to wait until consuming the diamond, in a place where the danger wasn’t as high. And while the desert was a cruel dangerous place, such a medium where he could consume the diamond in safety, had to exist somewhere.
The day went by fast, and Eleas was invited at a dinner with some sollims. As some saw him with the prince, they wanted to enter in contact with him. He knew that it was all in order to get on his good side, but that didn’t matter, all he wanted was some of the food, so the three of them could have something to eat. For sollims, in order to show their wealth, they would hold large feasts, bringing a variety of foods, some of which were being imported from other places. What made these feasts special, was the fact that only so much food would be eaten. Besides the fact that the sollims were used to eating only so much, they also held pride in how tough they were. So, eating a lot, to them, showed that they’re either not wealthy enough to satiate their hunger before coming to the feast, or that they were weak, and needed more food than others. Eleas had no issue in showing no regard for the consumption of food, so he planned to take as much as he could from the feast under his clothes.
He went for one of the large houses, near the Core. It was the house of a sollim that was one of the main suppliers of water inside of Sedessi. His estimated value was in the millions of gold coins, one of the richest men in east Amesion, only some other suppliers, merchants and generally leaders of the countries and kingdoms wealthier than him. There were a lot of sollims, relative to their numbers inside the city, gathering at the dinner. Some Sunborns were also gathering. It was a good place to talk business and even relate to others when it came to the struggles of business.
Eleas felt completely out of place, he would’ve liked for nothing more than to go in, steal some food, and leave as fast as possible. But he knew he would be a hot topic in the room, since he had spent time with the prince, and word may have gotten out that the prince was making him an armour. There would be jealous people, greedy people and all sorts of other kinds. He had to watch out for the jealous kind especially, since they were willing to go at any length, if it meant for a low status sollim like him to not get his hands what wasn’t rightfully his, and for them to get what he had.
He approached the entrance, two experienced and tall sollims guarding it. When they have asked for the invitation, he told them that he was invited under his name. The guards made way for him, as they were instructed. Eleas entered the house. In the entrance hall, there were marble stairs leading to an upper floor, a room to the front, and the dining room to this left. The house was solely made of marble, a different kind each of them. He was then welcomed by the organiser, a sollim by the name of Feredes. He was a plump, not so experienced sollim from his tattoos. Eleas wondered how one such as him managed to get where he was, but then again, he also was someone other people could look with envy upon, as he had the favour of the prince himself.
Feredes took him around the house, showed him his wealth, as sollims such as Feredes often liked to do, especially to someone like him who never was inside a city like Esheon. Eleas wasn’t too interested in the man’s house, except for some scrolls which he caught a glimpse inside one of his bedrooms. The symbols on them read ‘To Drakil’. Esheon was known to have business with the dragons, since they provided one of the more rare and special materials of the world, carbonium. This material, made through the burning of wood by dragon flames, when fueling the fire of a steel in the making, would give the steel special properties. These properties couldn’t be controlled, but each of them had their advantages. One could conduct heat better, while another could make the metal more resistant to heat. The process of separating them wasn’t too hard, so expenses were allowed in that regard.
What made Eleas think, was the fact that Feredes was a water provider, so he shouldn’t have any words with the dragons. There was something at the middle of it all, but since Feredes didn’t seem concerned to hide it in the least, he let it go past his mind.
The two of them, after seeing the house, descended into the dining room. There, dozens of sollims of high influence and status were present. Some were dressed more formally, while some like they were ready to go out in the desert and ride some sand wyrms. Those were the suppliers, while the others were the farmers. One would provide the city with a certain necessary ore, metal or fuel, while another would provide with substances only obtained in sand wyrms. They each had their purpose and reasons for being there.
Amongst them were some Sunborn. These Sunborn, keeping in mind that they gave up a night’s forging to be there, weren’t any Sunborn either. There were three of them, and one of them, was there to ensure Femel wouldn’t say anything in bad faith of the prince, as he was the main attraction of that night.
Feredes held a short toast, announcing the beginning of that night’s dinner. Food plates were brought in by the dozens, filling up the tables fast. There were foods from all over Sedessi, as well as Domaire, West Amesion and even Ilianor. Feredes seemed like a really well connected man, to be able to have connections even in Ilianor in order to procure such foods. The guests all took decent portions of food, not letting themselves seem as if they were hungry or anything. The Sunborn didn’t need any food, so they opted to talk with each other until some of the other guests got comfortable and could speak properly.
Eleas looked at all the people at the tables, trying to see if anyone was looking at him. He was standing next to Feredes, who was talking with one of the Sunborn about the water supplies and how he was going to give that Sunborn a larger amount of water in exchange for some steel goods. There weren’t any people attracting his eye, or perhaps those eyes were hiding from his to not be spotted. So he let himself be watched, if that’s how it would bring out some of those that want something from him.
“How do you enjoy the food?” Feredes asked Eleas. Eleas looked at the half empty plate, his pockets and small gaps he had in his clothes filled with food.
“Very good, especially this,” Eleas picked a piece of food he found interesting, which was a rather detested food amongst the people in Esheon. The only reason it was present there was to see who would dare eat it. Eleas ate it whole, trying to hide his repulse by not moving an eyebrow. “Excellent indeed,” Feredes gave him a respectful look for eating it.
“Now, look, I’m not there to beat around the bush. And while I would’ve liked to do it in a more private way, it doesn’t hurt to have people around, just in case an ‘accident’ may happen. Don’t you agree?”. The man took hold of the conversation, and Eleas didn’t know how to respond but with a nod. “Good, so here’s the thing, Eleas,” the man got closer to him, “I know what stands next to my water.”. Feredes then passed to his hand the necklace he gave Femel. Eleas was ready to pull out his weapon and draw blood, but Feredes stopped him with his hand, showing that despite his lack of tattoos, the man still lived his share in the desert. “I’m not looking for trouble, merely business which I believe is in both our benefits.”.