Oasis, the heaven on Thar, or as it was always called. The reason was simple. One that eluded all that resided in this strange landscape of barren sands, beast or human—Peace. It was the same old story of fighting on the land. Fighting to survive the beast tides. One was forced to hone their skills in the struggle for survival, irrespective of their wishes. People here have nothing to them, neither the shelter nor the warmth of their loved ones. Everything washes away when the tide comes. Death. The concept has lost its meaning long back. Father, mother, brother, sister or anyone in between, no one was further to death than others. Barbarity, the outsiders called it. Like the sands of the barren desert, these thoughts seemed to be buried deep in this land. Just a tiny effort away to dig it up back like an almost mirage-inducing illusion of normalcy within one’s reach. But those who try to dig soon find later that they have sunk deep into the sands, like the very thing they sought to unearth, peace.
And then, there were the tall walls of Oasis that had stood for much of the history of Thar. Towering over the onlookers who seek peace within its wall, they were the only ones who still remembered their purpose till now. Strong and patient since the first days of their inception, that perhaps one day, others would too remember what they seek from them- Peace. That one day, like the dark of night, the barbarism would be passed and bring in the new dawn to the people of Thar. And the days always passed on with this thought of theirs, in silence.
The first rays of dawn crashed into the snow-covered, towering walls of Oasis. It was just the start of the day for many inside the city, but the same couldn’t be said for those outside.
Hundreds of thousands of men and women stood with their backs straight. The last frost of the night still held onto their eyebrows and much of their clothes, but the fire in their eyes couldn’t be cooled at all. Rows upon rows of different formations stretched the white landscape. With large columns of centipedes flanking the human formations to the right, many were buried within deep layers of snow as well as all the tents and supplies that once dotted the place. Soon, the sky slowly brightened but the land below was still dark, not because of the clouds but due to the swarms of wasps that appeared atop them. Each wasp was as big as a grown man’s arm with two big red eyes, and black long antennas, the rest of the body being yellow with multiple shades of blue, red, and black. A symbol of their highly venomous nature that rests in their concealed stings. Their wings vibrated the very air with such force that the snow fell from the tens and even hundreds of meters of large centipedes down below. The falling snow revealed the rows of mountable seats covered with tight-fitted, brown leather enough for several dozens of people to sit on.
But no one got the time to look at the carrier on the sands, their focus instead went to the gates of their holy city. Their fierce eyes kept searching at the top of the walls and beyond to look for their goddess, the one whose call brought them here. Heavy snow beside them made her presence felt across ranks of people, and their blood boiled with excitement at her ordering them to the heart of their enemies. The thought of an upcoming opportunity made them look at the peak of the mountain with rapid breaths that revealed the glowing green veins below their necks. At the forefront of formation was the band division of the army. Dressed in a bright array of red, green and yellow coloured dresses with a blue feathered cap on their head. With arrays of drums, trumpets, flutes and clarinets, as their instruments as they prepare for the military band.
“Attention!” A shout brought many of them back as their bodies jerked with trained motion. A local field commander in the front issued a command. Dressed in a deep khaki military uniform, with the chest having a centipede badge which shined to the reflection of light. Soon, the military bands started to spring up with life. Only this time they didn’t roar like the marching band during daily parades, but something different. A song, the one written in Oasis. Unlike the blaring of trumpets that rally the masses, with drums that don’t drum up the urgency of war. No, they were just the beats of the background. Instead, it was the gentle stringing of violas, like the whispers in the air. The clarinets with their smooth tones along with the fluttering piccolo, much like a delicate bird soaring into the unknown. The gentle tones brought down the thumping hearts of the masses as their eyes regained focus. With the bold lyrics to stir their souls, their breath soon smoothes over the song. It was not an overly long song, as the final notes of the band ebbed away, the moment passed as swiftly as it came. It gave the people what they wished for in the Oasis, though only for a moment. For it left as soon as it appeared, just like the concept of peace, it too was gone. From the air as well as the souls of the masses.
“Move! Maintain the lines!” Field commanders’ shouts filled the air once again but for the last time. Every personnel moved on to their seats. With one last glance, the leader turned around and motioned the coachman to start moving. The lines of beasts turned their heads towards the east. The walls of east, Verdant Divides were not so far away for them.
****
Celestia, Terralea.
Isabella rubbed her eyes for the last time, or so she thought as she looked at the letter in front of her once again. It was written in all the cheeky lines that felt like a cake with extra sugar-filled layers that would cause one to die of diabetes. The sender was none other than her husband, Edward, who was too lonely at home and couldn’t wait to express the same when given the chance. But it was not the cause of the problem for her. No, the main problem was not the letter, but the purpose itself. She had asked him earlier to report something about the movement of knights and mages under him. She wanted to see if the Alliance was moving the troops soon or not. A simple enough question but in the end, she had to go through his rattling for two pages on and on about his loneliness there with her before she found what she wanted at one last para. She then picked an empty paper. Thinking about the time she wasted reading the letter, she wrote a big ‘NO’ in the first line as the reply to his suggestion for arriving here too and spending time with them. It finally made her snort when imagining his face and calmed her mind. That’s the only word she wrote before packing it neatly to be sent back. As for his letter, she placed it in the drawer among the rows of similarly packed ones. She stretched her hands and looked outside the window and the sun was still up in the sky. She remembered her daughters were still out on a visit and couldn’t help but think ‘Wonder what they are doing now.’
***
Celestia was a city divided neatly into parts, one can see the Celestial Palace at the centre with roads stretching outwards in radical directions. The world was geographically cut to maintain the exact centre of the city and the peripherals were staunchly limited to maintain the unique hexagonal shape of the city. A giant hexagon of white surrounded by brown. Even the rivers got an unnatural bend to them almost making a right angle, and few even outright diverted to underground canals beneath the cities with enough space that let the whole of their ships pass through. But regardless of all paths the water might choose to traverse, the moment it enters the borders of the city, it must follow its rules. No filth was allowed in the city. All turbidity of water stops near the city’s ends and only the clear water brimming with life flows into it.
Atop one such canal, a whole district was built to the city’s east. It was special, for despite not being a commercial or tourist one, the rows of people still flocked the four-lane roads here. Rightfully so, for it was none other than the education district of Celestia. With many institutions that taught everything from history to current affairs, geography to astronomy, magical or non-magical. All things have a place to be studied, whether private or alliance-owned. But most of all, it was their libraries that made this district special. For all of them were open to the public, no matter who comes, human or otherwise, any institution or university couldn’t deny him access to their libraries. Needless to say, it made the district a unique attraction to lovers who thirst for knowledge. Anyone could enter, but not before they were greeted with a line of text at the gate of every such institute, “One shall see the end of Stars when they block your path to knowledge.”
Among many of these buildings, there was one place which boasted being the second largest library in the world, called ‘One Page Bookstore’. Filled with an unusual amount of white marble statues of men and women to both sides of the footpath that led into the campus, stood a fifteen-story tall building which was shaped like a palm holding the open book with a‘V’ shape towards the sky. Strangely, it was not white like most other buildings out in the city but more of a yellowish-creamy colour. Inside, one could see a flock of books flying across the open balcony and into the different floors in complete silence. In fact, not even the sound of the crowd could be heard inside the library despite their lips being seen moving. Despite the wide area spell maintaining the silence, people inside couldn’t avoid being scolded for talking loudly by the attendants. But it failed to deter people from talking in whispers.
“Sis! Sis! I found a secret this morning.” On the fifth floor, deep inside the maze of bookshelves, Elaina put another picture book with cute animals on the table and whispered to Eloise beside her. “ I saw Mom taking a squirrel for a walk!”
Eloise nodded her head at her ever so slightly but didn’t look up from the book she was intently reading.
“Do you think she named it already?” Elaina asked as she kept dangling her small legs while she pushed her picture right next to her sister. “Look, there’s many in here.”
It was this time Eloise raised her head and looked at the picture book pushed in her face. Her eyes twitched as she found a black girl with two cat ears on her head, wearing a white, almost see-through lingerie and posing on the sofa with her legs crossed beside the fireplace in a dimly lit room. ‘Caisy’s favourite whisky…’ read the top line suspiciously near her breasts. Eloise took the book from Elaina’s hand and closed it with a bang. “ Why are you reading this?” she asked with a red blush around her cheeks. “ How did you even find this out of all those books you could have picked from?”
“ I found many people in armour picking it up and reading in groups with painted smiles while praising it for the poses, so I picked it up. It does have some nice poses, right Sis?” Elaina lowered her head and said with a low voice near her ear. “ I remember something similar in mom’s closet too. I once heard Dad asking Mom to wear it one time with a different pose so I was trying to find the names I heard that time.”
“ Why the hell were you listening to adults talk? She will pull your ears when she finds out.” By the time Eloise finished, the red smeared the whole of her face, which didn’t escape her little sister’s eyes at all, and a smile crept onto her lips.
“Na, sis. Do you want to try them too?” Eliana said as she found her chance and slammed her hands next to Eloise.
“W-why would I? Never!!” Eloise shook her head like a broken doll and tried to move away from her sister but she was held by the arm around her neck.
“ What if someone special asks you with his puppy eyes?”
“ I don’t!”
“Like a prince char-wu wuwu swrry…” Elaina’s words morphed into apologies as Eloise started to pull both of her cheeks with force.
“ Still want to tease me? Let me see where you get the courage from,” Eloise said with her face recovering to her original colour much to the contrast of her sister, who had tears in her eyes.
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"Bwut you wooked happy!"
“ Say that again?”
“ Swrry…”
It was only after a few minutes that Eloise took back her hands and grabbed the magazine from her sister who was rubbing her cheeks. She pushed her book on the history of human migrations into her hands instead and said. “ Stop reading junk and read this instead. I will go and grab a new book in the meantime and also return this one.” Seeing Elaina nod with fervour at her, she jumped from her chair and started to move into what were essentially the alleys of bookshelves. With a bright yellow and red carpet below her feet that had multiple floral designs with black outlines. It took her some time to walk around in her soft, light-green gown, crafted from satin with layered tulle at the skirt that hid her small feet. She found the shelf where the magazines were placed. But before she could place the book back into the self, a voice called out to her.
“ It should go on the upper shelf, not the lower one.” It was an old voice. Eloise turned around and found an old woman with long grey hair set into a bun. A high purple collar around her neck with the same colour going below for the rest of her tight-fitting cuirassed bodice. She was tall with a straight back and sharp black eyes. The woman took the book from Eloise’s hand and looked at the cover. “ I never got the appeal of these things, but young people seemed to like it as always.”
“I didn’t read it, my little sister did,” Eloise said with haste to clarify to the old woman. It was good that she still had the self-restraint to not raise her hands in panic and was able to form cohesive words.
“ Why not? Do you not like them? You don’t seem to hate it, do you? Perhaps a different taste? hm..” The old woman raised her eyebrows at her, hinting to continue the words. “ I know quite a lot of books that were placed in this library over the years, maybe I can recommend one or two for the young mind of yours. Of course, if the young lady here would give me the chance to.”
“ Is anything fine? I want to read more about wizards and their history.” Eloina asked with some thought. She had this in mind since coming back from the meeting days earlier. It left her with a deep fascination with stars that everyone seemed to bow to, but even this library lacks a book that mentions wizards.
“ Oh, that’s unexpected from your age. Normally, one only asks about them when they are much older.” Her question pulled a wide smile across the old white face of the woman, as she brought her white glove-covered hands closer to her lips.
“ I just want to know them better.”
“ Everyone says the same, sadly all fail at last. You won’t find out about them from books.” She shook her head and raised her head. Soon, a red-coloured book flew from somewhere into her hands. “ To know them you have to know the only truth of the world.”
When Eloise took the book into her hands, she found the cover to be made of some leather. Her eyes were drawn to the title written in golden colours, ‘Stars of Our World’.
“ It won’t teach you about the wizards in general, but you can always start with the Five Ancient families under which they eventually fall.” The old woman's words reached her ears. She seemed to think about something and added at the end.
“ Madam, can I ask you about something? Since there are only four ancient families left in the alliance, why do people still call them five?” Eloise asked with a sudden urge. She remembered what her mother once told her but she never really understood the meaning behind her words. It was then in the Celestial palace where the worlds seemed to have revealed the reality of times, the unquestionable voice of the four families and the absolute silence of the people kept repeating in her mind. It felt strange, to see the empty dust-covered chairs placed in the hall, as if the time stayed still in the meeting hall.
“ Do you know what differentiates an adult and a child?” Her eyes looked at Eloise up and down. For she found the little girl in front trying to chew more than she could. “It is the ability to convince themselves about the truth that was not.”
Eloise tumbled for words, barely stopping herself from screeching the head. She thought some but couldn’t open her mouth again to avoid making a fool of herself.
“ You should smile more and read more stuff like the magazines that you just put back, young lady. That’s what children of your age do.” The old woman didn’t have time for Eloise anymore and started to tug her hands to go back.
The little girl had no choice but to give a small salute to the woman and left more confused than earlier. Looking at her leaving, the old woman muttered in a low voice. “ The Sterling family sure produced some good seedlings this generation. Perhaps we could soon have someone promising in the alliance.”
“ Does the esteemed Judge want her to be in the judiciary?” At her words, another middle-aged man with short yellow hair and the same purple-coloured dress, but with a tight-fitting shirt and pants appeared from behind the shelves. He had the four stars on his shoulders with a badge with a cross of sword and wand to the left chest.
“ I do. But it's a tough competition going ahead. Griffinguard already had their eyes on her and wanted her to be in the Central Council. If we Wolfblade also put our hand on it, they might start to breathe fire at us. I remember that guy crying to me for not having capable people and delaying his vacation many times.” She said with a shake of her head. “ In either case, we still need them to lift the emergency first to get courts back on track. That’s the highest priority right now.”
“ I understand. Also, there’s some news from the alliance.” The man nodded and then spoke with a stern face. “ It seems the Ashenmoons are finally moving with the plan. There shouldn’t be any more delays.”
“ At last.” The woman said with relief. “ Because of their troubles, the courts are being put in limbo for such a long time. They better clear the mess this time. By the way, I heard they got someone new in the family there, no? Someone said he was very special, did you get some info about him?”
“ I don’t know, they are very tight-lipped about him. But I heard that the Great Elder there especially liked him for some odd reason.”
“ Leave it then. It's none of our business anyway. ”
“Understood.”
***
Some three hundred kilometres south of Oasis, there was a strange mountain range. But not because of its narrow but deep valleys and short but sharp peaks. Filled with unnatural black-coloured rocks, the temperature plummets at night to negative twenty Celsius. The sharp winds that flow from the narrow paths cut anything living in their path as if they were the sharpened blades of a butcher himself. The still air was highly poisonous due to the presence of a colourless and odourless miasma surrounding the outer ring of the valley with a distinctive heaviness to it. It was called, ‘The Valley of Damned’. Similar to its name, it was nothing more than a prison for those who were deemed to suffer the remaining part of their lives. Be it criminal or political, each prisoner here has their own story to tell. The distinctive background of their intertwining lives, all condensed into a singular experience after entering the valley, miserable.
From the centre of the valley, covered under the shadow of high peaks, inconspicuous stairs spiralled deep down. Different from outside wherever the winds roared throughout the passes between mountains, it was quiet, eerily so. As if it was without a single existence of life. Dark and dry, chilly with layers of dust and debris everywhere as if to tell the days it was neglected. Only the rune-covered metal gates of prison cells released a soft red light which was the only source of visibility across this place. At this time, under the static, monotone hallways, the sound of steps echoed through the entrance. Soon, a figure walked into the place with unhurried, steady steps. The red light soon revealed the entity, with a long white gown, and bright, blue lines moving around like calm waves of ocean. Her half sleeves ended a little after her shoulders, and meshed-like long gloves extended to the end of her arms. Despite the gown being dragged across the dirty floor, not a single dust got stuck to her dress as if some force kept them at bay. Her ice-blue eyes gazed over the cells and frowned. Inside those softly glowing doors were those who were deemed beneath the pride of Thar by her.
Those that survived in the end, on the day she crowned herself as the ruler of Thar, thousands of influential people across Thar’s political elite class were suddenly found dead, hanged silently in their rooms. Then came the less savvy ones who lived under the grey zones, the cowards who don’t fight with the valiance of their tradition. Then the one who doesn’t toe her lines, the list goes on and much like the years, one by one the cells kept getting filled but also remained empty. Inside, the new inmate would have to share his room with the deceased, rotting husks of their seniors as the many insects slowly chew on their meat layer by layer. Inside the cells was nothing but dark, not a drop of water, much less food. Only the echoes of their beating hearts and their breathing bring in the air of death mixed with the smell of decayed bodies. The walls of these cells once were so full of screams of their new inmates, that many of the guards lost their minds guarding it before they abandoned it altogether. Before the silence of today sat in. Such was the end for those who dared to go against her.
But their plight was not the reason for her frown.‘They are dying too fast.’ She thought as many of the cells had become completely dark. With a thought, mana flowed from the tips of her nails and drilled into the still glowing runes and the dimming light became strong again. Her frown eased as she healed all those inside to their peak condition and with a self-humming sound, she strode forward. The sealed door held back the roars of fear, as the inmates got to find that their nightmare had come to visit them and extended their terms. Bella was still humming to herself till she reached the deepest level of the prison, and a rather big door greeted her eyes. She smiled seeing the door still glowing as strong as ever. As she moved forward, the door opened as if it had a mind of its own. With the clunking sounds of metal and grinding of gears, it slowly creaked open. A strong gust of air blew past her hair along with the strong smell of blood mixed with decayed flesh as well as that of sulfur.
The moment she entered, the whole cell appeared in front of her eyes. It was red, not the light but everything else, the walls and ceilings, for they were not made of stones. No, they were made of something more alive but also dead. Bodies of humans, both male and female, young as much as teenagers to old, almost weathered white hairs. Each has its share as the bricks of this cell. Held together with many swords that pierced each of their four limbs as well as the hearts and dyed their otherwise azure cloths completely dark. Their faces were strained with wide open eyes and all turned towards the deeper parts of the cell. Bella kept humming without a hint of change as she crushed the bodies beneath with her continuous steps.
It was called a cell, but felt more like a hallway, for the bodies kept on going. Tens turned into hundreds, then into thousands, with the only change being the fullness of the bodies. As the distance increased, so did the freshness of the bodies, some not only had soft skin but also warmth, even though all of these were dead for an unknown time. But not everything was dead here. At the centremost part, where the trails of leaking blood all converged into what looked like a small lake, a man sat with his eyes closed. He had old, long hair and loose skin with inner lines of bones visible to the naked eye. His robes were drenched with blood and hid the deep green striped silk loose robes underneath. Without a single wound on his body, other than his missing left hand. On his chest a word was itched with golden threads that read, Heavenly Sword Immortal, Lin Shu.
Hearing the sound of steps, the oval-shaped face coupled with narrow razer-shaped eyes slowly opened. His dry lips rubbed against each other as he revealed his deep set of green eyes which contrasted with the deep dark circles on otherwise fair skin. His eyes became sharp the moment it fell on Bella, as with his fastened breath. But only for a while as he soon returned to normal. “ Your eyes…” His voice sounded dry and coarse. He licked his dry lips and continued, “I remember them brimming with the arrogance that disdains the world itself. Wonder why it's not there today. They look much pleasing to see now.”
“ About a thousand years since I put you here with your whole clan, no?” Bella just chuckled, and just as her voice sounded, layers of ice started to spread with her as the centre. The room’s temperature dropped at an astonishing rate and in no time, all the dead bodies got covered under the ice. “ But even so, you subhumans never fail to pretend, do you?” She said, and the mana morphed the very space around the cell. Lin Shu couldn’t even utter a word as he was crushed into a munched block of meat which then started to violently suck everything around him. With the sounds of crunching bones and splitting blocks of frozen blood, everything moved towards him and kept getting crushed. Soon, only a ball of a very dense sphere of frozen meat remained suspended in the air. She extended her left arm and held onto it. She looked around for the last time, the hidden black stone walls with deep scars of swords that once beneath the bodies were all that was left, without a single drop of blood. She turned back and left the way she came from.
***