Miko:

I awoke the following day as Maleki cleaned the room and repacked our bags. The same steps I performed every morning were the first thoughts in my mind: What is wrong with my body today?

Legs. Check!

Eyes. Check!

Arms…

So, the cycle continues. At least Maleki doesn’t have to drag me around in a cart like the farm animals we already look like.

We left the cart and reserved our room again so that we could leave it behind. Maleki tightened my pack for me, using the hook and circlular metal pieces hanging off the bag’s upper and lower sides. This was specially retrofitted for me before the journey, as a pack is pretty hard to keep ahold of when your hands and arms can’t adjust it occasionally.

We walked out of the tavern and took in the light from the sun as it peaked over the Eastern Sea.

Kallen adjusted his boots and looked over to me, “Where are we starting, genius?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be the guide, Kal?” I asked, putting emphasis on his name.

“Sure, I guided you here. And you better use my full name, you little rat!”

I looked around me in a circle. “We could’ve made it this far on our own! Isn’t it your job to take people around to places, Kallen Phortix?”

“Well, they usually have a destination in mind,” Kallen said sarcastically. “And you knew what I meant; just call me Kallen.”

“Fine, ‘Kal-Len,’” I gave each syllable of his name some extra emphasis. "Take us to the oldest part of the city. Anything hidden for a long time would have been built when the Quavoris was much younger.”

“That’s easy enough. The further south you go, the buildings are taller and more intricate.” Kallen replied.

“Well, you have the compass,” Maleki said to me.

I stared back with a blank face. He knew I couldn’t grab it out of my pockets.

Kallen picked up on our silence, pointing with his hand, “South is this way.”

We followed Kallen to the city’s southern district, which was filled with more grandiose buildings, shining with a silver glimmer and marble texture that isn’t noticeable in any other section of the kingdom thus far. Temples, government buildings, and even fountains and trees played a more integral role in the architecture and structure of the landscape against the mountain.

I followed at the back of the group, taking in as much information from the buildings as possible.

“What’s the oldest building you know of?” I asked to the front of the group, led by Kallen.

“I don’t live here. You know that, right?” It was rhetorical, as he quickly followed up with, “If I had to guess though, The Temple of the Last Gods. It’s a huge building on the very southern wall. It serves as a museum at this point, but the tour guides always say it’s the first place of worship on the continent.”

“Let’s start there.” I thought aloud.

We walked to the southern section, and the buildings were taller and even more intricate than the previous. Cracks filled certain sections of the stones, and the statues had been worn by time and fierce weather. Despite this, the area still had beauty to it. Where the manufactured look of a shined stone building would impress most, the moss, leaves, and grass that filled the blanks in the lost stone and fallen pieces from the structures and solid ground created a more mystical atmosphere around the several blocks that this part of the city took up. The people of the city started to change as well. Clothes became less colorful but more distinct, with symbols and folded edges that were sown together around the edges to create a more intricate design. We were clearly in a wealthier district of the city, and by the looks of the three of us, we were standing out tremendously.

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We took a left down the street, and the building Kallen spoke of became clear in our eyes. It was multiple tall stories with transparent windows on the front. Black lines filled the edges of each stone that fitted together during its creation. This effect protected it from looking like the rough vine and grassy-filled buildings all around it. The temple was so noticeably different and maintained compared to anything we passed by during our path through the city. There were around thirty steps leading to the bottom floor, each crafted with the same black lines filled between each stone. People were walking in and out of the temple, but there weren’t lines to wait outside that you would expect for such a grand and important-looking building.

We arrived at the bottom of the steps, and our gracious guide begrudgingly said, “Well, this is the Temple of the Last Gods. Is this what you’re looking for?”

“We don’t know what we are looking for, but it’s not going to be on the outside of the building,” I responded sourly.

Kallen folded his arms. “You are so needy. I brought you here; it’s not like I work here. If you want a guide inside, I am the wrong person. Couldn’t care less about old artifacts and buildings.”

Maleki stepped in to ease the playful jesting, “We appreciate your help thus far. You are still more than welcome to come with, of course, but we will take the lead from here.”

Kallen seemed happier with this statement. “I don’t have anywhere better to be, and I’m also curious where this leads, so I’ll stick around.”

I took the hint and ascended the steps so we could start to get a better look at what was inside. The bottom of the building appeared in view as we crossed the final step. Stark-white pillars with black engravings supported the structure. The inside of the building was masked in shadow and still a few hundred feet away from our position, but the door, or lack thereof, was around thirty feet tall and twenty feet wide.

We continued walking to the entrance, but the mountain and the top of the temple became of interest to me from this angle. The mountain was steep, almost indescribably huge from our point of reference, which was already well above sea level. The mountain’s peak was not visible from our frame of reference and was obscured by a light blue and gray set of clouds. I wondered if Kallen knew how tall it was, so I swiveled my head and asked aloud, “Kallen, how tall is th-”

“Miko, watch your-” my brother yelped.

Before I could react, I had closed in on a taller figure waiting in front of the enormous empty doorway and collided into their back. My arms were useless and restricted by the pack, so I had no choice but to fall shoulder-first after sliding off from the impact. I rolled over to my back and sat up to where I could push off my heels back to a standing position. The figure was armour-clad with white chainmail and a gray cloak that mixed well with a more travel-worn gray leather to protect the bendy parts of their body.

The figure was a boy, a few years older than Maleki. He slowly turned around, clearly less impacted by the bump in. His eyes traced over me quickly, and then a violent expression grew.

In my excitement getting to the building, I had created a decent gap between Maleki and me, preventing him from reaching me before I callously crashed into another person. Maleki jogged forward to apologize for my mistake. “My apologies, sir. We didn’t intend-”

The armoured figure was clearly out of place like us, compared to other citizens we had seen entering the temple, but he didn’t look like any guard for the kingdom or the temple. His tone was layered with disgust, “You know what the crime is for assaulting a noble, ri-?”

“I..I…I’m terribly sorry, sir.” I lowered my head to show my acknowledgment of my mistake.

“What filth. You violate my presence and interrupt me.” He swung his hand backward at my face. I was in no place to block and not nearly fast enough to turn.

I could feel the air separate from my skull as the back of his hand nearly met its’ destination. Maleki interrupted his swing before its impact by meeting the man’s wrist with his hand. Maleki’s tone changed, and his voice flattened. “Please forgive our interruption, but we meant no disrespect.”

“You have already disrespected me. You prevent my deserved justice, and another one of you filth lays their hands upon me? Unhand me so I can deal out my punishment, lest I become less merciful.”

Maleki’s grip tightened, but due to the older boy’s armoured gauntlets, it evened the difference in their power. The boy resisted and tried to raise his arm higher, causing the sleeve on Maleki’s arm that was holding the man’s wrist to fall closer to his shoulder, revealing most of his forearm. “Mercy? My brother and I apologize. It was a simple bump in.”

The boy’s eyes tightened with even further disgust after he saw Maleki’s unsleeved arm. “How unfortunate am I? A peasant dares to challenge my lawful authority, and at that, a majikless one? You and your brother are less than Lowmaj’s. At least their blood allows them to serve their Kingdom. Yours is hardly worth spilling.” The air retreated around us as the older boy swung around with his other hand, and what looked like a condensed blast of air shot right through his palm as a grayish-white energy filled to each of his fingers.

Maleki was launched several feet away, and I was still left surprised, standing, and unaffected by the blast.

Before I could settle with what was happening, the man’s eyes found me, and deja vu overwhelmed my brain as I found myself in the same position as a few moments ago. His hand pushed through the air even lighter than the previous time, but the edge of his hand was pulled from behind his opposite shoulder. The air manifested again, with his palm as the origin point, and quickly found the target as it pushed to my face at dangerous speeds.

Maleki lurched forward with an underhanded pull, and his scythe dissipated the energy, turning its blur into non-existence.