My dreams were plagued with the dead of the underground city, lost to the ages. They were wasted figures of people with bullheads. Moving about as phantasmagoric beings existing within distorted ruins.
A black, oily rain poured over everything. It shaded and lacquered cracked and broken red-green liddicoatite tourmaline walls, so their texture became dark schorl. Magic was being absorbed into the stone. A maleficent energy that incited further disruptions within the already damaged atmosphere.
The black rain wasn’t relenting. It pounded like a heavy fist into the ground with a determination to overwrite the city’s former glory of bright gold, gentle greens, opulent silver, and reds into one shade of gloomy darkness.
Failure. A hopeless loss. A promise broken and beyond repair. The rain soaked up these sentiments and poured them over the mangled structure of a lotus pond. The brutal droplets caused small, explosive impacts on the viscous, dark waters.
Waist-deep within the irregular pond’s center was a figure. A woman with a sinewy white bull’s head, her color slowly changing to black from the rain. The gold, silver, and jade studs on her delicate round eyes had lost their luster. Cracks were being formed on their stones with each raindrop. A blood-red color was seeping into her ballish white eyes.
She was motionless like a statue, and her magic almost faded from her dull gray aura. It was her chi, almost gone.
My vision circled around the bull woman’s image and stopped before her face, so we stood before each other. I began to struggle and scream as I felt sharp pain stab at my chest, with threats of gorging my heart out of it.
I could barely breathe.
Water swelled and bubbled around the woman’s chest. Her arms were raised before me, and her hands were holding something.
When the black, oily water subsided from the object, I saw it was a weathered lotus blossom, or what was left of it. Two red-shaded white petals were clinging to a mishappened floral disc, which barely contained chi.
“Your hana is broken. Please save it for all our sakes,” a motherly voice whispered through my ears, filling my being with immense despair.
My vision was focused on the remaining lotus petals. Instinctively, I understood. This was the last stand.
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“Hey! Get up!”
I groaned and yelped as I felt brute force stir me awake. Something had hit my head, and it hurt.
“Ouch! Fine, I’m up.” I rubbed my head as I yawned and groggily pushed off my blanket.
“Get up. Get up.” Kalia kept repeating as she yanked me up.
She then commenced with our usual routine of her combing and fixing my hair. It was then onto the smooth down of our tunics with hot rocks, which Edde had warming in a pot of coal near the door. Wash our hands and faces at the water troughs outside our sleeping quarters. Then hurry and make it for breakfast just in time. Afterward, we paid our respects to Our Lady at the inner courtyard statue with a prayer and bow before getting stuck into our day. All within the first few hours after the crack of dawn.
I couldn’t help but blurt out the fragments of my weird dream to Kalia when she kept pushing for a reason for today’s tardiness. Especially after she had given me an earful about how soldiers would be flogged if they disobeyed the Military Code of Honor, Rules of a Good Soldier, Section 12. If a soldier wasn’t ready and at attention at the designated time, they would be flogged for each minute they were late.
“You’re lucky that Our Lady’s Code of Conduct grants us some leeway.” She seemed too smug about knowing this.
“Hang on. How much do yah know of this code of whatever?” I stopped and peered at her as we were walking along the servants’ hallway with our cleaning buckets and tools in hand.
Kalia’s eyes became animated when she explained she had one day asked Edde if she could read some of the code from the handbook she kept on her side table.
“As you know, all senior disciples must be knowledgeable of the code to pass it onto us.”
“And she let you?” I was impressed that Edde would allow this privilege.
“Of course!” Kalia’s body perked upright, and she puffed out her chest with pride for her small win.
She further explained that while I was being a lazy, good-for-nothing sleeper in the mornings, she would sit with Edde and learn more about Our Lady’s Code of Conduct and Anwar’s Law. As much as their senior was permitted to give and within her knowledge.
“I’ve memorized all 126 clauses over all the seven stanzas in the Sisters of Our Lady Handbook. A reflection notes from the Mantra of Our Maiden’s Soul, by the way.” She hummed.
“Right. Well, I’m glad it’s yah and not me knowing this stuff.” I slapped her shoulder.
She pouted and rubbed her shoulder better; her expression clouded with a frown when she began thinking about my dream.
“Hey, Neven. About your dream. Do you think it’s one?”
I sighed and resumed my walk.
“Sheeze, Kalia. What else could it be? Like, who has a nutty kind of memory like that?” I flippantly joked. “I’m sure it’s because of what Edde told us the other day.”
Our attention was soon distracted by an argument that was happening at the hallway’s end.
“Cough it up, Cora.”
Dyc was looming over a skinny and tiny girl with reddish pigtails and a round girlish face. This girl was younger than all of us, only just reaching double digits in age. This shivering girl had her back to the wall. Jen was smugly crunching her knuckles before the other girl next to the pigtails’ girl. This other girl was shorter and frumpier, with brown bowl cut hair. Like the pigtail girl, she was also showing an expression of fear.
“Looks like Prissy Push Lips and Bird Nest Hair Girl are up to no good again.” I sighed and shook my head at the obvious extortion happening before us.
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Being in the servants quarter, the sisters didn’t care if we beat each other up as long as they didn’t see or know about it.
The frumpy girl yelped when Jen pushed her back against the wall. Seeing this got my blood pumping and my body twitching for action.
“Oi, Cora. Sister Malia said to go clean the courtyard.”
“Wait, what, Neven?” Kalia whispered, looking confused.
I flashed her a wink. She sighed and shook her head in understanding.
“She’s got business. Bugger off!” Jen spat before me and pinned the frumpy girl to the wall with one hand.
“Yah got some guts to go against a sister. Yah wanna another scolding and all-night lavatory cleaning duty?” I coolly stepped before them.
Dyc glared at me. Her eyes darted to my hands, which were itching for a fight. I was unfazed by her approach.
“Neven. My revenge is coming. I’d like to see how conceited you can be then.” She stepped back and prompted Jen to release her hold on the frumpy girl.
“I’m looking forward to it.” I watched the bullies leave the hallway.
“Are you okay?” Kalia said as she checked on the girls’ condition.
“I’m fine, Kalia, Neven, thank you!” The pigtail girl gratefully bowed before us with her thanks.
“Aah, come’ on, Lil’ Cora, yah making me blush.” I jokingly brushed off her thanks.
It brought a chuckle and a smile to her face.
The pigtail girl was named Cora, and her paired partner was Leslie. They were Tonya’s charges. Their senior disciple was good friends with Edde, having once been paired with her when they were our age. As such, the four of us had established a working friendship. Although Cora was the youngest of all of us, being eleven years old, she had an observant mind and was smart enough to know her place. Unfortunately, she was also weak. Leslie was the contrast, being shorter and frumpy, but the girl’s heart was in the right place. When she wasn’t being frightened, she was lively and passionate about flowers. Of the two, I was more comfortable with Leslie. It was a given that Kalia would take Cora under her wing.
“So, what was Dyc trying to get off you?” Kalia politely asked Cora.
Cora sighed and pulled out a small sac of seeds. “I was asked to feed the canaries at the bell towers, like I always do.”
Kalia nodded.
The bell tower was a narrow and awkward climb, so only the slimmest and smallest girl could feed the birds nesting at the top near the crystal bell. Canaries were important creatures in The Zone. Having a school nestled within a temple was an auspicious blessing. So the person who fed the birds was given an extra serving of food upon carrying out the honorable duty. It was also a known fact that canaries also knew they were privileged creatures and made little effort to take the food themselves. They would rather be hand-fed a special type of grain only the sisters could prepare. The great honor was Tonya’s responsibility.
I groaned with understanding. Jen and Dyc had faced punishment from one of the sisters after their fight with us the other day. And it seemed they hadn’t been able to sleep and eat properly the whole time. So, now that their punishment was over, they were finding ways to recoup their losses. Even if it meant stealing food privileges from others.
“Bah! Like she can even slide her way up that snake tower.” I bellowed with hearty laughter.
“I know right. Dyc’s wide hips will get stuck mid-way.” Kalia chuckled.
“Oh! Imagine if Jen managed to get to the top and the birds mistook her hair for their nest.” I added.
“I doubt they’d want to step one claw on it. It’ll be too filthy for their standards.” Kalia added.
The four of us burst into laughter at the thought. Any apprehension the girls had felt was eased by our conversation.
“Let’s get back to work, eh?” I grinned.
“Yep!” Leslie matched my grin and added.
“Oh, um, about the courtyard…” Cora started to say.
“A lie, of course.” I confirmed for her.
She looked worried. “You won’t get in trouble for it?”
I lightly bonked her head. “I was lying to the rats, not to the sisters. It’ll be fine.”
Leslie cheerfully added. “Then you can have my mashed potatoes today. It’s the least I can do to thank you, Neven.”
“Mine too for Kalia.” Cora bowed to her.
“Get out of here.” I lightly waved off their thanks.
The four of us pleasantly parted ways to complete our duties. A pleasant silence was between Kalia and me for some time as we passed through the hallways to reach the mothers’ kitchen, which we had been tasked to clean. As no one was in the kitchen, we bravely used our voices while keeping watch at the same time.
“We won’t get in trouble, won’t we?” Kalia frowned.
“If we do, we have the master to back us, right? Be good as any time to test that old magis’s promise.” I nonchalantly answered.
“Pfft. Sometimes it annoys me that you seemed to have it all planned. Well, whatever, you’ve got a good heart, where it counts.” Kalia stated.
“A complaint within a compliment. Guess it’s something. Yah heart’s in the right place too, even if yah a bit of a legal book freak.” I joked.
She huffed and sighed. “Well, believe it or not, the word of law can save someone. Maybe even us.”
My mind touched on the term Sacred Words at this comment. I felt a dull ache and pressure on my right rib cage and pressed a hand to the arrow wound scar I had up until now forgotten.
“Are you okay?” Kalia began to fret when she saw my face go pale.
The vision of that bull woman’s face surfaced in my mind. It stirred a nasty headache in my temples. My headache and rib cage pain eased when the vision did.
“I’m okay. Not sure what had happened.” I huffed and felt around my wound area.
I smiled, hoping to ease her concerns. "Heartburn from breakfast."
Kalia sighed. “If you say so. I mean, you do eat gluttonous, like some skirrat we know.”
My mind went back to that black and white fur ball. I couldn’t help but feel like I wanted to mess up that creature a little, but in a playful way. Not to hurt it. Unlike the prim and proper girl next to me, whose eyes were sparkling, no doubt with thoughts of petting the pest.
“Wonder what roast skirrat would taste like?” I joked.
“Humph. Like you could. It’s illegal to hunt them, if you recall.” She huffed as she flicked her hair off her shoulders with lofty airs.
“Fine. No roasting. When I see it next, I’ll just send it on a wild goose chase until it conks.”
“You’ll do no such thing! And besides, you have no authority to do that anyway.” She scolded me with her hands on her hips. “That creature likely outranks both of us. It probably could send us running around on a goose chase until we conk.”
“Whatever. It’s clear this creature is more important than us. So, it’s safe from me.”
Kalia lifted her little finger towards me and said, “Pinkie, promise, no hurting the cutie.”
I hooked my little finger on hers and gave it a quick shake. “Fine.”
We continued our duty in comfortable silence and headed off to meet up with Edde on one of the stone benches before Anwar’s image in the inner courtyard. Kalia and I waited at a bench. I occupied my mind with the statue of Anwar. Up close, she was the height of five men. Her long, flowing skirt was ringed with thick Dutch Box shrubs and Blue Beauties. Light danced on the goddess’s delicate features. If I tilted my head to a certain angle, it looked she was winking at me. I whispered this to Kalia who lopped her head to one side and whispered, “Oh yeah.”
Our heads and bodies straightened when we saw Edde walking along the cobblestone path to reach us. We stood at attention before her.
“Let’s go.” She turned around.
We silently followed her down hallways and corridors that went deep into the worship areas of the temple. Our feet touched the rough slated floors of the mothers’ quarters and the outside jasper paths, which connected the outside walls of the Sisterhood.
Edde led us through a back door entrance into the temple’s library tower. We entered a small and private flat stone room with mats on the floors. They were paired with low tables. Standing near them were four henchmen in all-black soft leather armor with heads hidden within iron bull helmets.