We continued to follow the master’s lead along laid paths and steps, holding to our silence and straying in and out of our thoughts, but never enough to be wandering off track.

Eventually, we reached an enclosure of sorts, which made me think of the time I had stepped out of the old man’s boat to enter a bustling seaport.

“Oh, the fresh smell of sea air,” Cora whispered and beamed with delight; closing her eyes to savor water droplets to her lids.

“It’s not the sea, though.” Leslie hid her words and chuckle behind a small and pudgy hand.

I glanced at the youngest girls in our group. Both had grown so much in a short span of time because of the trials we had undergone together. I chuckled when Cora stumbled into Leslie. She was the youngest of all of us, being only 11 years old: a tiny and lithe girl with cute reddish pigtails and round, amber-green, eyes.

A slight contrast to Leslie, who was shorter and frumpier, with roundish brown eyes and brown bowl-cut hair. Most of her tufts were held back in a single ponytail over her round shoulders, which were beginning to show muscle tone. She was a couple of years older than Cora.

I sighed, not liking the fact that they both had to grow up too fast. Despite being a slave, I was going to do my damnedest to ensure they could experience something of a carefree life. Freedom was a human’s right: I felt it was my purpose to see it was so.

“Cora. Stop closing your eyes,” Leslie grumpily whispered when she kept getting knocked into by the girl.

Quicksilver smiled, then assumed a serious frown when be bonked the heads of both girls and pointed to the way a head. The girls nodded and walked with sober steps and stayed close to Kalia and Edde’s backs. He then quickened his pace to be next to Tonya, who was a few paces behind the master.

My eyes widened with enthusiasm when I saw a closer view of the Jade River. Indeed, it glistened with a dark green hue to promote a serene feel from its illusion of still waters. But I suspected dangers lurked within its deeps. The master’s warning about the Maul Gropers nesting in The Zone’s waters still rang clearly in my head. I shivered at the thought of those slimy fish with snappy tiny teeth wanting to shred the meat off my bones.

I distracted my thoughts by taking in more of the river. It was vast and long, running the entire Central Hold base to curve around a bend and disappear into tunnels set within cliff faces. Taking advantage of the river’s flow was a mighty water wheel on the other side, near the mouth of the waterfall behind the gem ring that was the Six Star Array.

The water wheel groaned as it sluggishly churn water into what looked like rows of iron mill water troughs. The troughs’ water was fed into tanks and pipes that hissed with steam and made humming sounds to indicate stockpiled energy.

Many minecars were parked on nearby tracks, which connected to a main one running the length of the riverbanks. Toward the far side of the river, almost beyond the reach of the eye, was a structure of majestic columns and small huts surrounding a pantheon building on a small island at the river’s center. The island was the only land mass connected to the Six Star Array via a zigzagging moonstone bridge, which was framed by naturally formed moonstone stalagmite spikes that seemed to grow out of the river.

I noticed that various jasper paths created zigzagged patterns between caves, buildings and courtyards. Making the entire lower tier one big maze throughout all the four quadrants.

“The gemstone ring is gigantic from this perspective,” Kalia couldn’t hide her awe with her whisper as she tilted her head to regard the monoliths from our position.

From our perspective we could see more of the tiger eye and jade monoliths, which seemed less natural with a smooth surface and fine gold veins that seemed to form sigil patterns. I wondered if that was the masters’ doing to ensure the stones’ chi could maintain this ecosystem.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Quicksilver gave us a look of warning.

We dropped our smiles, voices and heads when white robed patrons strolled past us like we didn’t exist; and didn't pause with our walk, weaving around other slaves and workers. Some were gathering fish from the river, others working on metal works and mining equipment or selling wares at market stalls. The stench of raw iron, metal and fish was heady. My stomach let out a fierce growl that had everyone stare at me.

Master Asuras glanced about and nodded when it seemed there was a safe spot we could rest out of range from people. “It doesn't hurt to take a break, as we’re not too far.”

He led us along a minecar track, which ran straight rows along the river edge and disappeared into a tunnel and cave at the base of a cliff. Toward our left was a quieter path that ran slightly upward and across some of the cliff, where the Temple of Anwar stood majestically on top. I sighed and gazed away to stare more at the path, which curved around to the other side of the river.

“Here will do,” Master Asuras said as he led us to a small clearing between minecars. His purple robes billowed as he sat down on the edge of a car to rest and appreciate the view of the river.

“Oh.” Cora sighed blissfully as she eased onto some large chunks of ore and stretched out her legs.

We all found spots on the moss covered ground or large rocks here and there to stretch out and rest.

I frowned when I saw Leslie stifling a giggle behind her hand and turned to see why.

“Oi, don't yah think yah too close?” I eyed Troy suspiciously when he got cozy next to me.

“I want to make sure you’re not going to go swimming with the fishes again.” he smugly signed and flashed me a chirpy grin.

“Bro, haven’t yah heard of three meter social distancing?”

He flashed me a weird look. “Why would I do that? What happens if you get unconscious again, and I’m too far away to give you mouth-to-mouth?”

“That’s…” I groaned and smacked my forehead, shaking my head with nothing good to say on the matter.

“Whatever, just don’t go spreading it about.” I grumbled.

Troy’s smugness increased when he casually and unconvincingly signed, “Spread what about? Like the time I saved you from drowning and brought you back from the brink of death with my kisses?”

“Now, yah gone and down it!” I growled as I leaped for his chest, and we began scuffling about the moss ground in a play fight.

“Honestly, Neven. If you don’t want people getting the wrong impression between you and Troy, get off him.” Kalia shook her head with a sigh and a palm pressed to her forehead.

The men chuckled, then stopped and gulped when they copped a fierce look from Edde and Tonya. Edde got up and grabbed me by the collar to drag me away from the milk boy or milk man as he was filling out to be.

I mean, he was still bony and lean in places, but I could tell he was filling out with lots of muscle. His short and spiky silver hair gave him a stylish image, and somehow made his green eyes sparkle with a smile. Troy was definitely training hard and doing his best not to be weak, and I respected that.

All of them were. Khes was shorter than Troy, but with a lot more muscle to make his body stockier. His squarish jaw was showing signs of a brown beard to match the color of his hair, which had almost been shaved off his scalp. Since he barely had hair, his left gray and right blue eyes stood out more.

Zak, on the other hand, was shooting upward and looking manlier than Khes and Troy, like always. His sea-green eyes seemed narrower and his red hair was short but a tidier cut, with his fine fringe dangling over his bushy eyebrows like they were teasing the edges. Like Khes, he also had a squarish jawline with symmetrical cheekbones, making his broad and flat nose more of a feature. I frowned when I noticed a crude scar line on the right side of his face. It looked like it had been there for a long time.

“Hey, Zak, did you always have that scar?” I pointed at it without thinking and scratched my head at the grumpy looks the others were giving me.

Zak didn’t seem bothered when he coolly nodded, and signed that he didn’t mind me taking a better look at it. This response had Troy frown and snap crude words at him with his fingers. Zak turned away from our view, no doubt to hide his silent chuckle.

Quicksilver shook his head with a sigh. By now, he saw his squad’s tease as nothing more than that. I faced the burly man, with smooth and gorgeous dark skin tones and lots of muscle to the point that his neck was becoming thick like a tree trunk. His reddish brown hair was cut like Troy’s but to be mostly off his face, making his brown almond shaped eyes a stark feature on his face.

“Hey, thank you for taking care of them.” I formally thanked him with a bow as I pointed to Troy and the other men. “And for us when we were entering The Zone. I didn’t want yah to think I haven’t been grateful for all yah help.”

He smiled and bonked my head then nodded to Edde with approval, or maybe something of a senior’s acknowledgement.

We finished our rest with silence and were soon up to continue our journey. The master led us across the cliff face path.