by Vishal Ved
Hak switched the view on the screen from front to down, where the roof of a rather small building, not much bigger than Senempis, opened like a flower blooming.
Hak lowered the airship till it was swallowed into the building, which was utterly dark. Senempis touched the ground and jounced a little as though it had landed on a cushion.
‘We have reached, Omin,’ said Hak, shutting down all systems one by one on the control panel; the gears disengaged, the yellow disc stopped and the lights dimmed
‘Do we get down?’ asked the sato.
‘Yeah, unless you have other plans, of course,’ Hak said, grinning as he exited his cylindrical control cabin. The sato and kiro exchanged looks they found Hak pretty temperamental.
Cheerfully, Hak made a gesture and a door opened with a loud whoosh; the duo leapt from their seats picking up their dueso masks from the ground.
‘Leave ‘em, you won’t need them here,’ said Hak, and they reluctantly dropped them back on the table.
It was dark outside, gloomier than even the eerie corridors of Carcerem. Hak stepped out of the ship first and disappeared into the darkness; only his footsteps could be heard, receding from the ship. The sato went to the open door, and immediately felt the cool, refreshing, scented air outside.
‘Come here,’ said Ariet, his eyes closed in enjoyment.
Cenoy came close to the door and the scent held her spellbound as well; it was the most magnificent smell she had ever came across.
Ariet stepped out from the ship and stretched out his hand for Cenoy. She held his hand and felt a great relief wash over her. She was a free soul with no worries whatsoever. The days of torture at Carcerem were over. Whatever lay ahead could not possibly be any worse than what she had already gone through, and she was ready to face it with the sato.
Holding Ariet’s hand, Cenoy stepped out from the ship and the door closed behind them automatically.
‘Why is it so dark here?’ said Cenoy.
‘I think we should wait for Hak to return,’ replied the sato, gripping her hand tightly.
Then, they saw a blue lamp floating close to the roof. As its light intensified, darkness receded and the remarkable chamber was revealed, filled with breathtaking detailed sculptures of planets and airships.
‘Whoa, this is wonderful,’ gasped Cenoy, dumbstruck.
‘I’m glad you could make it, Cenoy.’ A thick voice familiar to the duo came from behind them, and they turned letting go of each other’s hands. Mesek wearing a gleaming black robe was standing in between Hak and a beautiful mid-aged kiro who wore a reddish bodysuit with a silver cloak. The wall behind them was flooded with pictures of Mesek with the kiro. The duo hadn’t expected Mesek here at all and wondered how he had reached before them; he must have multiple airships, thought the sato.
‘Yes haeres, and we’re thankful to you,’ replied Cenoy, wondering about the kiro with Mesek and in the pictures on the wall.
‘The journey must have been difficult, but I assume Hak took care of you well,’ said Mesek, with a smile at Cenoy.
‘Indeed, he saved our lives in the forest,’ said Ariet, but Mesek didn’t spare a glance at him and continued, ‘You must be hungry, your food has been arranged in your chamber. Hak will take you there. Take some rest and then he'll tell you what to do further.’
They followed Hak out of the chamber without further questions, the sato feeling awkward at having been ignored.
‘What’s that?’ he whispered, suddenly.
‘I don’t see anything,’ mumbled Cenoy, scanning the empty walls from top to bottom.
Hak stopped at once and knelt on the floor. He knelt at the center of a circular tile which had geometric patterns and unique symbols inscribed all over it. Ariet recognized the symbols at once; they were written in the Zill script, the official language on Tomarkus.
‘Come here and take a seat,’ said Hak, pointing at the octagonal geometry he was sitting in. The duo did as they were told, bewildered.
Hak took out a crystal orb from his back and placed it in the central groove of the tile, then he picked up his setek from the ground and tapped it on the ball. The whole tile started trembling as though it was going to shatter into pieces.
Petrified the sato looked down and saw the lettering ‘____14th part of Tomarkus’ written in the zill script.
14th part of Tomarkus, what was that, he thought, confounded; the rest of the sentence was covered by Cenoy's feet and before he could read any further. Then, all thoughts of symbols and scripts fled his mind as the octagonal geometry separated from the tile and Cenoy clasped his arm screaming as the ground beneath her sank abruptly.
13.
The Polished Tunnel
‘Hang on,’ shouted Hak, as the platform descended at a speed close to free fall. Lying flat on the tile Cenoy grabbed Ariet’s gaban, while the sato in turn grasped Hak around the waist. Hak sat stiff on his knees like a statue, his eyes closed.
The fall lasted only for a short while and ended abruptly with the tile crashing into rock and flinging its occupants off. Hak jumped at the right moment and swiftly landed like a feather.
‘Don’t worry omin, It’s alright. I know that was a little harsh though,’ said Hak, dusting his blue guard suit which he hadn’t changed till now.
‘A little harsh,’ shrieked Ariet, his head spinning like he was still in Senempis.
‘You gotta change that thing, it’s not how it is supposed to work,’ muttered Cenoy, looking at the sato who was still on the ground.
‘Omin, you are supposed to be strong and flexible else you'll not last more than a day in Marcamaayu,’ said Hak, looking from Ariet to Cenoy. ‘your physical strength and flexibility are your strongest weapon against all odds, but you need not to bother much, we’ve an alternative for that too.’
‘What’s that?’ asked Ariet, getting to his feet.
‘It’s bone reinforcement. I’ll show you in a while, let’s go,’ said Hak, turning.
That’s when they noticed for the first time the gigantic tunnel that stretched behind them as far as their eyes could see.
‘This is the great wall of Marcamaayu, which protects our forces from all kinds of enemy attacks,’ Hak said, sighing.
‘A wall, or a tunnel?’ murmured the sato, confused, for he could only see a tunnel in front of him.
‘It’s this wall,’ snapped Hak, pointing towards the right-side wall of the tunnel. Hak strode forward, followed by the duo, into the spectacular tunnel which was completely polished just like the chamber above where Senempis had landed. Hanging from the ceilings were numerous cube lamps emitting emerald green light from their glowing cores.
Lost in their thoughts the group walked down the tunnel in silence. Hak was thinking about the amount of work he had to finish in Marcamaayu, while Cenoy couldn’t take her mind off the kiros she had seen in Fetoildaan. The sato thought about the puzzle of the 14th part of Tomarkus. He found himself shivering. There was no wind in the tunnel, but still, it was freezing down there. Ariet and Cenoy were moved closer to each other, comforted by the feel of their bodies touching.
All of a sudden, the emerald lamps were extinguished and they were plunged into complete darkness.
‘What happened?’ the sato shrieked in fear.
Hak didn’t reply but the sato heard him taking something out from his suit. A feeble chime sounded and they saw a crimson red glimmer coming from Hak’s hand. It was the setek, which Hak kept pointed down to keep its light from directly falling into duo’s eyes.
‘What is this stick which you always carry around?’ asked Ariet, staring at Hak’s hand.
‘It’s setek, the weapon of war,’ replied Hak, ‘made from the precious force-gems. It is very powerful, and also very flexible with its powers.’
‘Defeating monsters of the forest to shattering cells,’ added the sato, in awe.
Hak chuckled. ‘There’s more to it, which you’ll find out only during a real fight.’
The kiro was
not heeding the conversation. She was focussed on the humming sounds coming from the dark.
‘How many are there?’ asked Cenoy, point-blank.
For a moment, even Hak was speechless, but then he looked her in the eye and said, ‘Nearly three thousand.’
‘Three thousand what?’ asked Ariet, for he couldn’t relate the number to anything around him.
‘I don’t know what they’re called, but I’ve been to one of them, before they made my life miserable. I was too young at that time,’ said Cenoy, recollecting memories from her horrifying past.
‘They’re bone reinforcement devices,’ said Hak, ‘It’s where Marcamaayu keeps newcomers and increases the strength of their bones.’
‘Now I understood__’ gasped the kiro. The sato noticed a low tone of her voice and refrained from asking more questions.
The humming grew louder with every step they took. Ariet looked in puzzlement at the wall to their right, which had changed to a massive stack of uncountable cylinders piled one over the other.
‘What are they?’ he asked finally.
‘They are... bone reinforcement devices,’ sighed Cenoy.
How can one be treated inside a cylinder, wondered the sato and asked,‘Can I see, how it’s done?’ But he didn't look directly in the eyes of his companions.
‘Why not? You will have to lie in one soon, if not Cenoy as it seems she already has,’ replied Hak, smirking.
‘But do not open the lid... it will kill the subject,’ cautioned the kiro, in a serious tone.
What happened inside those canisters and for how long did one have to stay in there? But before Ariet could work himself into a panic, Hak was already pulling out a cylinder from the wall. Ariet saw a fugit, almost his age, lying immovable inside the vessel with his eyes closed as though he was dead. Two metal struts pierced his chest nearly a foot apart, and a layer of dark violet blood had clotted around them; these struts were connected with separate tubes to a vessel above.
The sato could feel the vibrations of the vessel and his own body trembled in fear.
He asked to the kiro, ‘How old were you back then?’
‘Just five. I don't remember much more than that,’ replied Cenoy, staring at the sato in the vessel.
How hard it must have been for Cenoy to undergo this at such a tender age, thought Ariet. He had no idea why MOX treated kiros so terribly, but whatever be their reason he had lost every last bit of respect for MOX. He looked at her with sympathy as Hak replaced the cylinder.
‘Let’s continue omin, we’re already late and you’re tired,’ said Hak and the group regained its path in the crimson glow of the setek. But they had only moved a few paces when Hak suddenly slowed down.
‘What? What’s the matter?’ asked Cenoy, in surprise.
‘We’ve reached our destination.’ Hak was looking down at his setek which was slowly changing its color from crimson red to yellow.
‘Where?’ asked Cenoy, for she couldn’t see anything other than the noisy vessels that lined the right wall.
Hak turned to face them, and Ariet gulped down a sense of dread when he saw yellow light reflecting from Hak’s chin and making his eyes glow like a devil’s.
Hak pointed to their right towards the wall and said, ‘Search for the one which is quiet. That’ll be our gate to Marcamaayu.’
Without wasting another moment the duo hurried to the containers and the search began. They moved quickly from one container to the next, listening at each for the familiar humming
‘I found one,’ Ariet shouted, throwing his hands into the air.
Cenoy came up to him and flattened her head against the vessel he was pointing at ‘Yes, we’ve found it,’ she exclaimed, enthusiastically.
Hak came over and automatically the yellow glimmer of his setek reduced. He tucked the setek behind his back and knocked out the container with a kick. It fell to the other side with a loud splash as though it had fallen in water, and light rays came inside the tunnel through the opening it had left.
‘Did you just kill somebody?’ Ariet asked, startled.
‘Of course not,’ replied Hak, ‘these containers are way stronger than you can imagine, that’s why I said earlier they protect Marcamaayu.’
‘But how come even you don’t remember where exactly the gate is,’ asked Cenoy. After all, Hak must have been here dozens of times.
‘The entrance is altered every evening, and only Mesek can send the location to a particular setek. Without that clue, there’s no way to enter Marcamaayu,’ replied Hak.
Cenoy bent to look into the passage from which a dull light emerged. She was dumbstruck at what she saw. For a moment she felt as though she had returned to Hydus.
14.
Warriors of Marcamaayu
‘Is everything okay?’ asked the sato, when Cenoy kept looking through the hole without saying anything.
There were dueso reservoirs on the other side, just like on every floor of Hydus.
‘I’m going first,’ she replied, quickly entering the narrow passage and stepping out on the other side.
‘You go next, Ariet,’ said Hak and the sato entered into the passage. He couldn’t see anything because Cenoy was blocking his vision, but when he stepped out he felt refreshed, all of his tiredness washed away with the cold water running over his feet. Lamps hanging from the ceiling illuminated big dueso reservoirs standing beside the water. Ariet saw that he was standing in a pool where a small fleet of soldiers wearing black bodysuits were sprinting over floating drums that rotated like a treadmill belt, sending geysers of water feet high around them.
‘Whoa, how are they even doing it?’ gasped the sato.
‘It takes a lot of time and patience to learn,’ said Hak, coming up behind them. ‘But these recruits are good. They came only few months ago.’
Ariet looked back and saw that the open passage was closed behind them.
‘How did they learn so fast then?’ snapped the kiro. During these past years she had realized that fighting was what she was good at, and she was determined to be the best she could.
‘They’re in the setek force as they're among the top warriors Marcamaayu has. I recruited them myself from Carcerem.’
‘What do you mean by ‘setek force’? Don’t everybody have a setek here?’ questioned the kiro.
‘No, seteks are very limited on Tomarkus. We’ve twenty-one times fewer number of seteks than Calamus.’ replied Hak. He paused, anticipating the follow-up question from Cenoy, but it was Ariet who asked first, ‘Who is this Calamus now? Didn’t you say earlier that MOX is our enemy?’
‘Calamus is the fort protecting the officials of MOX and their forces,’ Hak said, shortly. ‘Now, let’s go, I’m getting late.’
Ariet felt he detected a strange nervousness in Hak’s voice. They continued walking in the pool, parallel to the great wall of Marcamaayu, and the sounds of the training receded. Ariet looked up and saw that the natural ceiling of mud and jagged rocks was getting lower and lower as they moved towards the dark end.
‘How far is it Hak?’ Ariet murmured in a tired voice. He was starving. He had had nothing to eat since the past two days.
‘Almost there,’ Hak said.
The water at their feet was getting shallower, but nothing was visible in the distance. Hak walked on ahead and all of a sudden, they saw him climbing up onto a pavement, which on closer inspection turned out to be a corridor covered in darkness, the only light reflecting off the shallow water. On one side of this corridor were chambers, while the other side was water.
‘You’ll stay here, omin. Your food has also been arranged inside,’ said Hak, opening a heavy metal door leading to one of the chambers. At the mention of food, their tiredness vanished and they felt an intense craving in their stomachs.
‘I'm going. I've some important jobs to finish. Try to help yourselves, and don't bother me or Mesek. Our chambers are on the opposite side of the pool; you can use the pool or the corridor in case of an emergency
.’
Hak was in a great hurry. Before the sato could even ask how they would see anything in such a dark room, he had disappeared into the dark.
'How are we supposed to find anything in the dark?’ murmured the sato.
'Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Should we wait till the morning?’ said the kiro, nervously, clutching Ariet's hand; she was more afraid of the dark than fighting with monsters.
‘It’s not night here. We're underground. Who knows how long it will remain dark here? come inside, at least we won’t be starving,’ said Ariet, putting a hand on his stomach.
He felt the kiro’s nervousness by the way she was clutching his hand, but this was his only chance to show that he was not so much of a coward. Without wasting another moment in thinking Ariet stepped first inside the room while Cenoy lingered uncertainly outside. However, the darkness vanished as soon as he stepped in. The kiro sighed in relief, while Ariet tried to act cool as though he had expected it.
There was no lamp inside, but the ceiling glowed with a pleasant, mild, green light. Cenoy stepped inside, but she had no words to describe the beauty of this chamber. Its floor was vividly colored while the glowing ceiling was covered with artistic carvings. Two beautiful sleeping pods were placed on either side of a traditional flower table resting on one leg.
‘I haven’t seen anything like this before,’ said the sato. ‘Let’s eat. I’m so hungry.’
‘But where's the food?’ replied the kiro, looking around.
‘Come, I’ll show you.’ Ariet went to the table and rotated its upper disc which opened like a flower and an inner section emerged, bearing a bunch of fresh purple leaves along with some small black fruits.
‘What’s this?’ asked the kiro, looking at the leaves.
‘That's our food, but it's not treated,’ replied Ariet, sadly. He hadn’t seen it coming that the food in Marcamaayu could be worse than Carcerem.
