No one spoke as Mlezi’s body was buried a few meters away from the true centre of the summit of Mount Kupumzika. Atop the coffin stood a pedestal which held up his spear. Standing at the true centre of the mountain, with open arms, was a bronze statue of me, although I was depicted as wearing a flowing dress.

Ua stood in front of the grave and looked up into the pale morning sky, revealing her stiff expression and trembling eyes to me.

She then mouthed the words “May you find peace in our Lady’s embrace” before turning to Jua who hadn’t stopped crying since his father’s body was placed in the palace a few days prior.

Any attempts Heziyn made to console him failed so she simply held him with a lowered head as Ua turned to Thabiti who stood by the entrance of the summit. A small gate that was part of a short stone wall.

“Well?” She asked with a deep frown.

“The men are gathering as we speak,” Thabiti reported without meeting Ua’s eyes.

“Good. Go there and tell them to ensure that dirty swamp is completely devoid of life. Then have them erect a wooden wall that should be patrolled daily. Do it now or… just do it.” Ua whispered.

“And the Forest Afor itself?” Thabiti asked.

“Have the chieftains gather their people within the bounds of their village. Then sweep the forest and kill every man who isn’t one of your own.”

Thabiti nodded before taking the men he’d come with down the mountain via stone stairs that were built along its northern side.

Ua turned to her son and, for a moment, it seemed as though she wanted to reach out to him but she bit her teeth and made her way down the mountain and into the palace.

She then entered her room and although her hair began glowing brightly orange for a moment, the light faded and she fell to her knees where she began weeping.

Her cries then turned to wild screams and although concerned maids gathered at her door and called out to her, none of them entered as the air grew increasingly hotter.

Ua’s hair was glowing again as she wailed and sparks eventually began to fill the air.

She then looked up with eyes that glowed orange as well.

A moment passed and the flames eventually subsided.

“Is this also a part of your grand plan?” She whimpered as tears covered her face.

“Is this the cost of the new age?” She asked before suddenly pausing all of her movements.

Her eyes then narrowed and she weakly nodded.

“Fine.” She sighed as she crawled onto her feet.

She walked to the door and opened it to see the many frightened maids.

“Bring all of the Shangazi and that Fire Breaker here.”

The maids all scurried out of the palace and made their way to different parts of Hatua.

Ua, on the other hand, made her way into the living room where she sat in silence.

It wasn’t long before the first of the maids returned along with Pele.

The two bowed upon reaching Ua who pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Thank you for bringing my husband back, noble warrior.”

“It was the very least I could do, my lady,” Pele said but Ua dismissively waved her hand.

“You Fire Breakers know how my husband did things. You worked hard and should thusly be rewarded. So, tell me, what do you want?” Ua asked making Pele raise his head.

His eyes widened upon meeting hers which were half open and reddened.

“The only thing I ask for, my lady, is forgiveness,” Pele said while lowering his head again but this made Ua smile a little.

“But there is nothing to forgive. Our Lady taught us, all that time ago, that life and death… are bound eternal. You cannot have one without the other and they simultaneously feed off of each other. With life coming from death and the opposite also being true. My husband’s death will only serve to further the Perpetuation of Will. This… all of it, is as our Lady envisioned.” She said although the last words came more as a whisper.

“But I digress. Since you do not want anything I will give you something else instead. A purpose.”

Pele raised his head.

“I want you to protect my son and ensure he never leaves these walls.”

Pele’s brows furrowed.

He considered what was being asked of him for a moment before nodding.

“Yes, my lady.” He said with a bow.

“Good. Take him to Jua’s room.”

The maid bowed before leading Pele to their destination.

The two left just as the other maids returned with twenty Blessed Sisters who, after bowing, joined Ua in sitting. These women, however, were Shangazi, higher-ranking Blessed Sisters who wore white head wrappings instead of the more common black or brown ones. They had access to large amounts of Glass and knowledge which they used to aid Ua in her various endeavours. They also acted as a council of sorts which managed Hatua’s more bureaucratic affairs. They answered directly to Ua and consisted entirely of Umande women.

“My sisters… I know I said that we promised never to temper with that our Lady so meticulously crafted but… I feel as though if I do not at least try… I may very well lose my wits” Ua said. Her shaking voice was clear in the silence of the palace.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“I ask that you never speak about what we are about to do. Failure to do so will result in death.” She said making the faces of the women before her stiffen.

“Now, to begin with, what exactly do we know about the soul apart from knowing it exists?”

The Shangazi glanced at each other for a moment before returning their eyes to Ua.

“Nothing, Ma’am.” One of them answered.

“True. We know nothing… yet. I want all of you to meditate for the next days or weeks or even years if you have to until you uncover the secrets of the soul. I think it would be preferable if you all did that here before you slept so that you can spend the day with your families. Another task I have for you is to seek any signs or clues that may lead us closer to the answers I seek. I want to… speak to our Lady and ask for her guidance during these dark hours. So, go now. Spend the rest of the day with your families but as soon as you return, we will begin our investigation into the soul and the First Law, the Law of Uyil.”

The Shangazi all nodded before standing to leave.

As they did, some of them whispered about just how dangerous what they were about to do was but others were excited by the possibilities and the rest simply knew that they had no say in the matter.

I, on the other hand, was very interested.

I hadn’t banned or forbidden the humanoids from experimenting with the First Law, I simply didn’t know anything about it and so I didn’t spend much time talking about it.

However, regardless of how long it took, if they found even a fragment of an answer, it would go a long way in assisting me in my ultimate goal.

Ua was trying to speak to me, supposedly, and if she could contact my ethereal self then that would definitely be a step in the right direction.

.

..

“Thank you, our most gracious Lady,” Ua whispered while sitting cross-legged in front of a bronze statuette of me.

Sitting behind her were the twenty Shangazi she had tasked with helping her with her great ambition and they were all clad in white silk wrappings that covered only their waists.

They were all peering into their own souls and spent the past six months doing so to no avail.

What was there to be learned by looking at a bunch of white strings forever?

I didn’t know but there was always the possibility that they could eventually find something and so I didn’t stop them.

They had done countless experiments on small animals and had come to the same conclusions that I did.

Removing the soul from the body, for even a second, would result in death.

The soul knew exactly when it had been separated from its vessel and so, at least at this point in time, there was no way of storing it elsewhere.

The soul could be touched, pulled and tugged, as seen when I was in my doll or a Pāttiram vehicle but that required engineering or Glass Conversion that was so precise, I didn’t expect Ua and her companions to break any ground soon.

Night had fallen and Ua’s group usually mediated for about three hours before going to sleep.

I had watched them do this countless times and so I instead turned my attention to the border between Hatua and Afor.

A tall wall now stood along it and was routinely patrolled.

Mlezi’s policy that anyone could leave Hatua had also been retracted.

Anyone who lived and worked in Hatua was considered a citizen and fleeing to the north was seen as treasonous with the punishment for which was death.

The Chofumah were made to work even harder than before and more of them died per day since the copper mines started running deeper.

Logging had slowed down since most homes had been built and the population wasn’t increasing.

I glanced at a particular part of the wall on its far Eastern side and saw a handful of Chofumah crawling beneath a hole at the bottom of the wall.

I knew exactly where they were coming from and so I turned my gaze to a small house in the eastern farmlands.

Within were several frightened Chofumah

Some of them were injured and they were being healed by Jua who stood next to Pele.

“Please hurry, sir. Your mother should be concluding her ritual as we speak.” The Fire Breaker said but Jua clicked his tongue in response.

“I know.” The young man muttered as he healed a middle-aged man whose arm had been lost in a mining accident.

Usually, if a person got injured in Hatua, they would receive medical attention but since Ua assumed absolute authority, Chofumah were no longer allowed to have their limbs or other body parts returned. They were simply healed until their wounds closed and sent on their way.

The Chofumah in the house had no unifying name but they all flocked to this little farmhouse in search of help and Jua usually gave them two choices after healing them: return to Hatua and continue to suffer or run.

It was he who had created the hole in the wall and Pele had convinced a few guards to overlook its existence.

All parties knew that they would have to face Ua’s wrath if they were ever caught but some of the Chofumah thought that it was all worth it for freedom.

As for Afor, it had become a bustling city of its own.

It wasn’t as big or as developed as Hatua but both the ground and trees were filled with huts that housed both Chofumah and Umande alike.

And although the food wasn’t as plentiful as in Hatua, Afor was often described as a paradise by the Chofumah in Hatua.

They dreamt of walking along lush green grassy paths while listening to the chirping of birds. They envision a life where people only worked for what they needed instead of endlessly pursuing more efficient ways of harvesting resources until their muscles tore and their bones shattered.

Jua eventually finished healing the last of the injured and so he left the little house along with Pele and they made their way towards the palace all the way in the north.

Pele looked at Jua with concerned eyes as they walked.

He had expressed his concerns about what they were doing as soon as they started but Jua threatened to do so on his own if Pele didn’t want to and so the Fire Breaker was forced to accompany his master to that little farmhouse once every week.

The two eventually returned to the palace but, where usually Heziyn would welcome them home, Ua stood in the hallway, with a fur jacket covering her chest and a white silk cloth still wrapped around her waist.

Her glare was focused on Jua who glared back at her in return.

“Go to your room.”

Jua did so without saying a word but just as Pele walked to follow him, Ua raised her hand, stopping him in his tracks.

She then made her to her room and Pele followed her in silence.

She entered it and Pele did the same only he walked up to a strange wooden contraption which he knelt in front of. It was shaped like a table only it was on its side and had a slot which Pele’s body perfectly fit into.

He removed his jacket, revealing his myriad scars, before placing his arms onto the two upper legs and Ua promptly bound them with leather belts.

Ua then grabbed a leather belt before taking a deep breath.

“How many times…?” She breathed.

“HOW MANY TIMES MUST I BEG BEFORE YOU TWO LISTEN TO ME?” She screamed while using all the strength in her body to hit Pele who bit his teeth as the belt struck his back.

“ANSWER ME!” Ua barked.

“I’m… sorry, Ma’am- mmh!” Pele recoiled as Ua struck the back of his head but this resulted in a part of the belt striking his face.

“I don’t want your apologies! I just want you to keep my baby safe as we agreed all that time ago but no. That’s far too great a task for a great big Fire Breaker.” She yelled but Pele remained silent.

Ua’s legs trembled and she eventually fell to the floor as tears welled in her eyes.

“What am I going to do if he…” Ua whimpered.

She then took a deep breath, wiped her tears and crawled up to Pele.

She then gently placed her hand on his cheek.

“Tell me. What should I do?” She asked but Pele remained silent.

Ua’s face twisted in agony but she eventually untied Pele, allowing him to leave and she made her way onto her bed where she wept.

As for Pele, he bumped into a flustered Blessed Sister.

She knew what Pele’s presence meant and so turned around to leave.

“Wait. What is it?” Pele softly asked.

“Oh- it’s just that I heard a rumour that the Great Tree of the Mbegu possesses mystical properties so I wanted to share this with our lady but that will have to wait.”

Pele nodded before accompanying the Blessed Sister to the sleeping quarters which she shared with the other sisters.

He then made his way to his own and while he laid down to sleep, I glanced at Jua to find him resting his head on Heziyn’s lap as she hummed a sweet song.

His room was littered with all kinds of contraptions which were designed to help the Chofumah in their pursuit of freedom, all of them were failures.

Flying machines, boots which could supposedly make a person run as fast as a gazelle and more.

They all sat in a pile that stopped only at his bed and atop the pile was a scale model of a ship.