Balance of the 12

by Ania Bo

  “It signifies that we are all members of different tribes, and each tribe has different abilities. For example, my clothes have the sun figure on them because I am from the Anes tribe, stemming from the word sun. The ivy also indicates that I am a teacher. Han is from the Dark Reader tribe, Onoles. That’s why his robe is black.”

  “And what is a Dark Reader? Does that mean he’s bad or something?” Violen choked on the water she was drinking as she laughed at Dwade’s ridiculous statement while Han glared at him briefly.

  “No, none of the Readers can ever be bad,” Shasta replied hastily.

  Han held up his hand and took over answering. “The Dark Readers are initially born into one of the other three tribes,” he tried to explain calmly, though his voice held a sense of superiority. “But if we fail to increase our energy and ability through positive energy, meditation, and training, we are given special training and become Dark Readers. This is because we have a greater command over negative energy. We feed off it. Being negatively charged is not the same as being evil. In everything, the universe contains both positive and negative elements. Don’t think of it as a measure of morality. We are just a source of masculine energy and other Readers who are in white are a source of feminine energy.”

  That’s debatable, Dwade thought. Violen seemed more masculine than Han to him. But he didn’t comment on a subject he had no knowledge of. Shasta whipped her head around and glared at him. He cringed knowing she must have read his mind. Sorry, he replied, trying to diminish her anger.

  Violen continued where Han left off. “In Atlantis, the concept of bad, like Julana for example, does not exist. All our actions are motivated by the security of the Balance.”

  Not wishing to say—or think—anything else wrong, Dwade let the conversation end there.

  After the meal, it was time to introduce Dwade to life in Atlantis. As they walked, Violen lagged behind and didn’t join in the conversations. Dwade frequently looked back to see if she was still with them. He was trying to understand this elegant woman who had taken him from his home. She was different from Shasta. While Shasta wasn’t one to hide her feelings, Violen was a mystery to Dwade. Her cold demeanor seemed to be a cloak she hid behind. What is she hiding?

  Feeling his eyes on her, Violen looked up at Dwade and scowled. “I’m not sure if you were aware, Protector, but it’s rude to stare.”

  He quickly turned around, embarrassed she had caught him. “What’s up with her?” he whispered to Shasta.

  She rolled her eyes. “It’s just Violen. She’s always like this, just loves being alone.”

  Shasta, on the other hand, seemed radiant, and Dwade didn’t need to be a mind reader to understand why. She’d been latched to Han’s side ever since they left the mess hall.

  Not that Shasta could truly help it. Han’s presence made her completely lose focus. It wasn’t enough for her anymore to see him quietly going about his business, to receive satisfaction from an occasional smile. They had not spent any time alone for years. They had not even truly spoken to one another, save for when they ran into each other by accident. Nevertheless, Shasta always felt a deep longing for him as though it was her very soul that needed him. She knew she wanted Han to be the father of her child, but how was she supposed to tell him that, and would he refuse her? The thought of rejection brought a cloud of doubt over her. She could wait till she was called for pregnancy year. She shook her head to get rid of the ideas of having a baby with Han. She was getting too far ahead of herself. Their mission should’ve been at the forefront of her mind. Who was to say they would even make it back to Atlantis alive?

  Soon after, they walked down the Great Stairs which led down to another section of the city. Near the bottom of the steps was a garden of orange-colored lilies that filled the air with a sweet perfume. Dwade bent over to pick one of the vibrant flowers.

  “Don’t,” Violen said with a calm voice as she grasped his wrist. “We don’t pluck life out of the ground for our own selfish desires.”

  “Sorry,” Dwade apologized, but Violen had already turned her back on him and was walking to catch up with Shasta and Han.

  He sighed. These Readers are way too complicated.

  The garden ended in front of an iron gate that opened of its own accord, and the four of them entered the city center. The Reader neighborhoods consisted of pretty houses made of stone, each surrounded by its own personal garden, perfectly landscaped. These Readers sure like their plants, Dwade thought with a chuckle.

  Shasta answered him aloud, and he wondered if they were going to have to set some sort of ground rule for her not always being inside his head.

  “Each garden is required to have twice as many trees as there are Readers within its corresponding building, which means that for every Reader, there are at least four trees—two trees each at their home and their place of work. This keeps the balance between population and nature.”

  He shook his head in amazement. Complicated indeed. Off in the distance, Dwade noticed a plume of steam rising from a pair of cylindrical structures.

  “Those are our nuclear power plants,” Shasta explained. “They’re what power all of Atlantis.”

  “Nuclear power plants?” Dwade didn’t even understand what those were until he remembered a story his father told about big buildings that produced high amounts of energy. Unsafe energy. “Isn’t that dangerous?” Although he’d come from a simple village, the elders still taught the basics of math and science. Knowledge was passed down from generation to generation that was originally acquired from those humans who had visited and were taught in Atlantis thousands of years ago before the Founding Agreement. He knew the basics of nuclear fission and the dangers of radiation.

  “No,” Shasta replied confidently. “The process has been perfected over thousands of years. We even have a system to prevent the occurrence of earthquakes. We’ve developed the technology and the machines to halt the movement of the tectonic plates, creating a completely stable landmass,” she lectured, the teacher in her coming out.

  Dwade looked at Atlantis with an even greater sense of admiration and fear. There was no doubt in his mind that a race with the ability to control the movements of the earth itself was a race with far too much power.

  After passing through a few streets and leaving the nuclear power plants behind, Dwade’s attention was captured by the sound of water. There was a small waterfall atop a hill where a crowd of Readers sat near the pool’s edge in quiet meditation.

  “The sun is almost at its highest point,” Han observed.

  “Everyone comes here to enjoy the best of the sunshine,” Shasta added to Dwade.

  “Can we sit with them?” Dwade asked as he looked at the cool water. A good swim sounded nice at the moment.

  “Unfortunately, we must continue. The Chancellor wishes for us to see the military base before the evening meal. We’re running a bit behind as it is,” Han informed him.

  Dwade looked at the pool a bit exasperated. It irritated him how obedient Readers were. They never seemed to be spontaneous, and every action was based on rules. He couldn’t imagine living such a restrictive lifestyle, no matter how good the Readers seemed to have it. And they ate too much, but after second thought he decided it was just because of the lack of meat in their meals.

  Turning their backs on the Glass Pyramid, they walked toward the other side of the city. A few streets later, they ended up in a plaza where four sloping streets of cobblestone met in the center. On one side, Dwade noticed a strange stone tower with windows so small he wasn’t sure he could fit his head through one of them. On the top of the building, several strange pipes pointed toward the sky in different directions. Dwade was intrigued by this tower and stopped to examine it.

  “There’s a tower in my village which is similar to this,” he said to the others. “Every night, one of us keeps watch in case there’s a threat to the village.” He paused for a second and squinted. The tower was still far enough away that he cou
ldn’t clearly make out the details of the building. “Although we don’t have those long pipes sticking out of it. What are those?”

  “Those are telescopes. They let us observe objects in the heavens. Our scientists observe the stars and planets during the night. Such information can be beneficial to the races. It was also once used to predict the weather, but that is unnecessary now that we control the weather ourselves. You will probably get to witness our weather system tonight.”

  “That’s right,” Violen added. “Tonight is the full moon, so we will have our fertilization winds. Another reason why we should hurry on to the base.”

  “Telescopes.” Dwade looked back up at the tower in awe. He was so intrigued by the observatory he didn’t bother to ask Violen what a “fertilization wind” was. Watching the stars was something Dwade had done almost on a nightly basis. It relaxed him, and he couldn’t imagine what those small dots of light looked like up close.

  “Our telescopes are quite advanced,” Han said with pride. “They are used to observe the planets that are kept in balance by the twelve races, search for planets that can be visited through astral travel, and so on. The Anemfeves tribe takes care of such things.”

  After all he’d witnessed since coming here, Dwade began to question his own life. He realized how much his people didn’t understand. The lives of his kin were filled with struggle as they attempted to harvest their little fields and protect their village against outsiders. The only happiness they enjoyed was through marriage, the birth of a child, a nice meal, simple things. He couldn’t decide which one was better, being like Readers or humans. He knew some struggle in life was part of being alive. Having a so organized life, no surprises, no ups or downs would be so boring for a human.

  But then strong anger took over Dwade. “Such knowledge should be shared with all the races. You speak of transparency, yet you keep such knowledge from us humans isolating us in the dark. It’s not right.”

  The Readers tensed, not wishing to confront him on this issue. They knew they couldn’t persuade him that the world was the way it should be.

  “That’s the problem with you humans,” Han finally responded. “You think too much with your hearts. Fairness is only an idea. The Balance is the only measure of fairness.”

  “Easy to say for someone on the other side of the fence,” Dwade retorted. “Spend a month near the brink of starvation and tell me if you feel the same way.”

  Shasta felt their energies heightening, and she was afraid the two men were about to come to blows. “That’s enough, you two.” She quickly stood between them. “Now is not the time to fight over the structure of our existence. We could all possibly be spending months together on this mission. We must learn to put away our differing opinions for the good of the Balance.”

  The two men glared at each other for a moment longer until Han backed down. “Let’s continue then.” Dwade swiftly turned in the direction they had been heading, and Shasta ran to catch up with him.

  Dwade’s feelings about Han were already complicated since it had now become clear Shasta was in love with him. But now Dwade had a clear reason to dislike him even more. Han’s pompous attitude made his blood boil, and he regretted the Chancellor’s decision to make him part of their little party even more.

  CHAPTER NINE

  They continued in silence after the altercation between Han and Dwade, and finally reached the limits of the city where the crop fields began. Once there, they walked to the stables. Han was ahead of the others. As he entered the stables, he talked with a stable boy. Then Violen, Shasta, and Dwade entered. Dwade was impressed with how clean it appeared, and he didn’t smell the familiar odor of hay and horse manure; it smelled strangely like honey. He remembered the strong smell of the small stable in his village was always potent and made those not used to it gag at times. They had only three cows and few chickens in it, but the smell was like they had an animal army in there. This stable, on the other hand, was so huge he couldn’t even see its end or even begin to count the number of horses and other animals they had there. Yet there was only the smell of flowers and trees and honey tickling his nose.

  Soon, the stable boy came back with three horses. They were just as massive as the ones that had galloped into Dwade’s village.

  “We’ll need to take horses from here,” Violen told Dwade.

  Although he hated being on those giant horses, he didn’t say anything, just gave a disgruntled look.

  Violen felt like she needed to make an explanation all the same. “It’s a bit of a walk otherwise, and we can never arrive there before nightfall.”

  “It’s fine, really,” Dwade said even as he eyed the horse warily. “Don’t mind at all.”

  Shasta, Violen, and Han mounted up easily. The Readers rode bareback and were slightly taller than humans. All three of them were able to mount the horses with ease. The stable boys didn’t even bring a horse for Dwade. That would have tarnished his honor if he hadn’t known how to ride a Reader horse, but he was in no situation to think from that point of view. Now he had to make a hard choice; he would either sit behind Han or Violen. Shasta didn’t seem a good rider to him, so she wasn’t worth adding to his dilemma. He would either hug emotionless Violen or annoying Han. They were all looking at him.

  “Need some help?” Han asked with a knowing smile and extended his hand.

  Dwade gave him a hateful look. “No thanks,” he spat. No way he was going to have Han boost him onto a horse with Shasta and Violen watching. Then Violen it is, he thought, and he stepped to Violen’s horse. Just as he was about to try and climb up, two stable boys put him on the horse’s back, and she rode out of the stables at a gallop.

  Dwade tried to watch the view and enjoy, but Violen rode so fast that he constantly felt like he was about to fall. Soon they reached the countryside, and this time they dashed past a series of vineyards. Dwade reached down as they passed the vines and picked some of the grapes, popping them into his mouth. He had tasted some of the berries that grew in the forest near his valley, but nothing compared to these. This fruit burst with flavor and seemed unnaturally sweet. Every chance he got he picked the grapes and ate them.

  How many of those are you going to eat? Shasta said in his head.

  You Readers have been eating these for centuries. I think I can indulge a little.

  Shasta sighed. Just make sure Violen doesn’t see you. It is forbidden to pick fruits without permission. They belong to the commonwealth of Atlantis.

  Dwade said nothing in response. He hated this mind reading thing. It had benefits, certainly, but he wasn’t used to being so transparent. He continued to toss the little purple grapes into his mouth.

  In front of him, Violen sensed what Dwade was up to as he didn’t hold her tight anymore, but she didn’t want to embarrass the Protector, so ignored him, gritting her teeth the whole time.

  Within a half hour, Dwade was sore and wished the trip would come to an end. In the distance, he spotted a structure.

  “Is that it?” Dwade called out to Violen. She lifted her hand with her palm facing outward. Dwade could only assume that meant yes. They rode faster, arriving at a large castle at the end of the fields. When they were close enough, the steel doors with the sigil of Atlantis on them opened inward, and they rode inside. Dwade noticed the guards standing by the door as they entered. They were dressed differently than those in the city. They wore maroon uniforms with black embroidery and strange capes.

  Violen stopped her horse once they reached a small plaza, and a group of men ran toward them to help them dismount. Violen lent her hand to one of them, and the man took it respectfully. Both closed their eyes.

  Dwade watched in bewilderment as the two Readers touched. “What’s happening?” he whispered to Han since he was closer to him than Shasta.

  “He’s the captain of this garrison, Kelleph Anes. He’s reading the permit issued by the Chancellor allowing you and Shasta to enter.”

  For the first time, Shasta
was also in the dark as she had never been inside a military base before. Although the administration was transparent in Atlantis, this did not apply to military affairs. Anyone who so desired could have a meeting with the Chancellor, but no one could just turn up at a military base. She looked around curiously at the people who lived here. It was clear they focused intently on their duties, but they kept throwing looks their way. They were clean and sharply dressed, looking more like rich merchants than soldiers. An ordinary person would probably not realize they were in a military zone if they had not been told.

  Letting go of Violen’s hand, Kelleph greeted Dwade respectfully. “Welcome, Protector. It’s an honor to see you among us in Betame Goribak.”

  Dwade responded, trying to sound as formal as possible, “Really, the honor is mine.”

  Kelleph waited for them to dismount then motioned for them to follow. “This way. The Chancellor wishes for me to give you a tour of the base and introduce you to the soldiers who are at your service.” They fell in line behind him and walked up the stairs to the main castle.

  The castle was made of stone and had fewer ivies and flowers than the city, but it was still one of the most magnificent structures Dwade had ever seen. The Readers really know how to build, he thought. The doors were made of stone. There were carvings on the walls and doors. The soldiers passing by didn’t even look at them. Dwade felt like they were ghosts roaming around the base, but he was excited. In a strange way, it was like these soldiers had even more knowledge than the Chancellor. The way they walked, the way they behaved was awe-inspiring; Dwade respected them more than any other Reader. That strong emotion gave him enough courage to catch up with Kelleph and ask the captain some of the questions on his mind. Maybe he can better explain the relationship between humans and Readers.

  “I’d imagine you have detailed information about humans, Captain,” he said.

  “Yes, I’ve traveled to many human villages as a commander,” Kelleph answered and gave Dwade a sidelong glance, trying to figure out the motive for the Protector’s question.