CHAPTER TWO: Mysteries of Zeclub

CHAPTER TWO

Mysteries of Zeclub

   Days grow old but never grow grey, seasons running into each other like athletes in a race. The days of our lives are like writings on the wall, but we are all blind to see these walls so we perish in the search of knowledge that needn’t be found and glory that we don’t deserve. If the intelligence of man was really at the same level with the gods, he would have seen that this life, nature and everything beautiful and ugly in it is nothing but a mirage. An Illusion designed to make our lives either easy or complex depending on the ignorance we mix it up with. Our lives could thus be written as caligraphs on the papyrus of happiness or the mouldering ruins of destruction but the stylus to write the tales of our existence is like fate in the hands of destiny under the auspices of time and space. The fool takes to his fate and suffers in its malignant hands but the wise transforms all disadvantage into achievements and with hope he climbs high to Sium to dine on tables made of aurum with the gods and Mighty Aisuz. People had always drawn a conclusion that I was special, different and that I had ultimate control of my destiny but little did they know that I am no different from them; I live each day with a hope to see tomorrow and not a fear of what it brings. Destiny can't be controlled, it's a channel directing the course of our lives but it can be modified to flow into paths we wish for it to go.

   Years went by like scenes of a boring farce and the son of the legend grew like every other child, perhaps every other Zeclubian Suzzac. He took classes in several matters and Suz Bdollium did not fall to get him the best teachers in all of Rheudinia. He was special and all his teachers were well pleased with him, he was so unique that they began to refer to him as the wise one. Though the King did well to conceal the mystery of his birth and who he really was, the ability of this young lad was beyond physical, drawing a suspicion among even his teachers. He learnt of all the gods of Rheudinia and all their history at a most tender age of four and had a natural likeness for the dream god, which made the Suz quite disturbed. The young boy would demand to be told stories of the great one only and that of Lord Tomedov once in a while; he was so obsessed with the Isuz that he demanded for paintings of the god only in his room. These unusual actions began to grow suspicion all over the land of Zeclub and surrounding kingdoms and it got so worse that the Suz had to cancel several of his classes especially those with renowned wizards and magicians.

   "Father, you are speaking in the passive, like you were told" Suzia Mozarrella interrupted the narration again with her smile which was always charming.

   "Do you expect me to remember things I did when I was four? I am not Gofer you know. Yes, I was told most of the tales of my childhood" the Suz replied quite frankly and continued his narration, he sounded like he was getting rather annoyed at his daughter's almost regular interruptions.

   One night when I was around five, I had a particularly weird occurence. As usual the Suz would carry me to my bedroom when the matters of the day were over but instead of retiring to his royal chamber on this particular day, he made himself comfortable on a rest chair in the room and narrated a story to me till my ears were too tired to listen anymore. And just as I closed my eyes to the weariness of sleep, I suddenly found myself standing alone in the royal court and there was so much sunshine in the room that I couldn't help but cover my eyes. Then I heard sounds like several flapping of wings descending ahead of me beyond the Zeclubian throne and soon I could see a full grown man standing among beautifully coloured birds just beside the Throne. This strange man emitted so much light that I could see only the outline of his amazing body. Precipitately, I began to retreat towards the doors of the royal court creating as much distance as possible between the stranger and I. All of a sudden one of the birds with the man flew towards me and in fright I took to my heels running to the door, screaming for help as I did. It was easy getting to the door but it became futile as it wouldn't open and it looked like nobody could hear me from the other side. The bird landed on my shoulder and though it felt so scary to have a bird bigger than my head perching on me but it just sat and blinked innocently. At that moment, I could hear the man laugh at my frustration as I turned around to face him and the sound of his voice shook the floor beneath my feet; I began to get really scared. Solemnly, the light around him reduced and behold standing before me was the one and only Isuz I had always wished to see in my dreams. Suddenly I felt excited and surprised at the same time and he smiled charmingly at the sight of whatever gesture sprinted across my face.

   "Isuz Sylverine!" I exclaimed, eyes widened in excitement, he smiled and came towards me.

   "Hello Nacalitus, did I scare you?" he asked in the kindest voice I have ever heard as he knelt infront of me, slowly I nodded my head in agreement but I was sure he was scaring me still.

   "Am sorry I did" he apologised as he lifted me in his strong arms; his smile persistent like it was carved eternally into his godly face. With me sitted comfortably in his arm, he moved towards the court doors and inscrutably they pulled open on their own accord as we got towards them. We floated through the corridors towards the main entrance of the palace and I noticed there weren’t anyone around, no soldiers or attendants, not even one of the palace boys or even the Suz and his royal council, the entire building seem totally deserted.

   “Hold on tight,” the Isuz said to me as we got to the porch of the main entrance to the palace and moments later we were ascending towards the bright blue altocumulus sky soaring out of Zeclub and the lands to the west of Bathesdi. We travelled a long distance over the waters east of Rheudinia until I began to feel sick at the speed of wind opposing us. Soon we were flying over the waters of Calitura towards the land of Astore and I noticed there was some strife going on in a fortress to the south of the Island.

   "Look! Over there! There’s an uproar" the five year old Naca said innocently as he pointed downward to the mayhem beneath. The Isuz took a quick glance at him and smiled.

   "Yes, and that's where we are going" he said tersely. Moments later, we were descending into the fortress on Astore, the fortress of Galliza. And the uproar going on in the fortress was the legend of Astore repeating itself. I could see a look alike of the man that carried me fighting against a woman, Eesuz Isshura. Suddenly, everything began to move quickly before my young eyes, the look alike struck the Eesuz in the back and she vaporised with a terrifying scream. Just as the Eesuz disappeared, everything around us paused for a moment. Then all of a sudden the events began to move like a rewind through time and space, quickly the Eesuz appeared again and her fight with the Isuz's looked like it was going backwards. Time and space rolled anticlockwise and I watched curiously the events that occured ahead of me. In about an hour, the legend of Astore re-occured before my eyes but it was quite difficult for a five year old like I to understand the importance of the details. I just stared like I was watching one of the court dramas, the only difference was the sight of real blood and use of lightning which were very horrifying sights to behold. I can't say I watched all the events because I closed my eyes in fright through most of the details.

   "Hey! Open your eyes son" I heard that gentle voice of the Isuz say to me and I obeyed. The Isuz was squatting before me with his hands upon my shoulder and I noticed we no longer were in the fortress at Astore. We were now standing on soft white sand that looked like the shores of Zeclub but there wasn't the great and mighty wall but a magnificent gold building with large gates and the aura surrounding the building was glorious.

   "Did you watch all I’ve shown you?" he asked me, his smile still persistent upon his godly integument and I shook my head in disagreement.

   "It was scary and father always warned me not to play with real swords but why did your brother kill that Eesuz?" I asked, my face dropping in a sad stare and the Isuz ran his fingers through my blonde hair with a charming smile.

   "Your Father is a very wise man, I guess you are too young to understand the complexity of existence, cheer up son, it's just a matter of time. Now look at that," he said pointing at the magneficient structure far ahead of us.

   "Do you know what that is?" he asked and I nodded quickly in agreement.

   "A palace?"

   "Smart boy, it’s not just a palace but mine and any time you want to see me, you now know where to come." he replied winking at me.

   "Really, I could come any time?" I asked in confirmation as excitement grew in me and the Isuz smiled charmingly in agreement. I was so excited that I leaped in joy and the Isuz laughed at my little gesture of euphoria.

   "Common, run ahead and take a tour of the place. I would be right on your heels" he said pushing me gently ahead and I ran excitedly towards the awesome structure. Just as I came into some distance of its magnificent doors, it pulled open inwardly and I was accosted by blinding white lights that made me scream, covering my eyes with my little hands.

   "It's okay son, you are safe now" another voice spoke to me and I could recognise it, it was King Bdollium. For a while, I was scared to open my eyes but later I grew the courage and did. I was back in my room in the palace of Zeclub and father was carrying me on his laps, holding me very close to his chest.

   "I saw Sylverine" I said looking up to his face lit by the flickering flames of the chamber’s torches, he nodded in agreement like he knew exactly what I saw and I could see the outline of a smile spreading across his face.

   "I know son, I know"

   "He showed..." I manage to say before I was interrupted; the King put a finger to my mouth.

   "Shhh! You have to sleep now Naca, you can tell me everything tomorrow" the Suz said smiling at me, I shook my head in agreement though I couldn't understand why I couldn't narrate my dream to father at that moment but I obeyed and placed my head gently against his chest. Solemnly, the events of my dream played randomly across my mind, the handsome face of the Isuz felt so real and I couldn’t help but smile at the thought. Deeply lost within my thoughts I could hear the throbbing of the King's heart as it became melody to my ears and it rocked me in his laps till sleep flew by and stole me away.

   At the first light of dawn the next day, I woke early and found myself back in my little bed; the King had left for his chambers. Quickly, I got off my bed, got into a silk robe and stole into the royal chambers to wake father with the tales of my dream the previous night. The Suz was up early as usual and he listened to my narration without interrupting, sieving every important piece of detail from it. I grew up to have no other friend and companion than my father and I actually didn't have a need for one but well I won't say I really had the opportunity to make friends since everywhere beyond the palace wall was marked off bounds to me. The relationship between us grew so intimate that the Royal attendants would call me the third Suzzac of Suz Onyx and father played his part as King, Father, Brother and friend perfectly well. Anytime he isn't at court attending to Kingdom matters, you'll find us by the warm spring in Onyx's vineyard either rolling upon the beautiful green lawn or sword practising with wooden swords. Suz Bdollium would always be remembered as a great King of Zeclub but above that, he was a wonderful father and friend. My childhood was so filled with happiness and love that I never had a cause to think of mother except on rare occasions where I had to stare at her sculpture in the garden of the Sus. At that tender age of five, I had been thought a lot of things, things children years older would never know and the art of imprinting or artistic expression was the skilled I grew favoritism for. I would sit on my little throne and table beside the Suz at court and draw or paint things from my mind and father would look astounded at my genius, sometimes I would even carve creatures and give them to guests at court. Each day I grew more intelligent and each day, I had the same dream over and over again for five more years until I could master every single action detail and when I turned ten the dreams stopped. The dreams had become a fundamental part of my night and I felt I had done something to instigate the wrath of the Isuz when it stopped occurring. During this period without the dreams, my mind drifted unexplainably to mother, Su Kus and although the Suz never made mention of what happened to her, I conceived the thought that she left Zeclub with the gods and for years I never had a reason to think about her but when the dreams disappeared, I thought of her again and wondered what charming virtue she possessed.

   "She must be an Eesuz" I kept telling myself each time the thought of her crept into my young mind. This sudden attachment to mother grew so strong that I became so curious to know who my mother actually was and the reason she left me to be cattered for by the Suz alone.

   One beautiful day, exactly two dawns before the day of the waters, which was then celebrated within the palace as the day of Sacrifice, the reason for that celebration I didn't know until years later when I became a man. I was being dressed by my cute red skinned quite humourous he-fairy, named Jafrad.

   "In this you'll look more silly than a purple pumpkin" he said in a voice that sounded more like creaks and flung a piece of my beautiful Ecclesian made diamond studded violet damask jacket to a corner of the room. He had been so engrossed in his little exercise almost all morning and I knew he wouldn't come up with something for me to wear, Jafrad like Gnome was very weak in making up his little fairy mind on anything, that's the virtue that made them both very loyal and hilarious.

   "You can use magic to make new ones for me" I said trying to persuade him from causing more havoc to my room but he just turned round towards me with raised eyebrows.

   "No Suzzac, you were taught the Magic code. Magic isn't meant to be used for personal gains but “he replied before I interrupted his little recitation.

   "...but for the greater good, I know but you haven't found me anything to wear still, you are tearing my room apart Jafrad" he stopped what he was doing suddenly and turned towards me.

   "Apologies Suzzac but it’s for the Greater good" he creaked again and resumed his task with invigorated awe. Jafrad wasn't the kind of fairy that listens until he is being screamed at and I wasn’t in the mood to scream at him at that moment. I sat idly in my bed and watched the creature satisfy itself to my detriment, solemnly the thought of mother filled my mind once again, it rolled like a hurricane and there was nothing I could do to fight the depression it brought along, it was a weird feeling of loneliness.

   "How I wish mother was here" I muttered mindlessly.

   "How I wish too, Su Kus the great Eesuz of Ecclesia. She was just perfect until..." Jafrad creaked startling me with his words and I moved my gaze quick enough to catch the gloom upon his handsome face before he turned it away from me.

   "Until what? What happened?" my voice rang high as my face flushed with eagerness.

   "What happened where?" Another voice sounded more deeply from the doorway and immediately I knew who it was as Jafrad turned and bowed. The Suz was standing at the doorway, looking surprised at the havoc the fairy had caused.

   “Jafrad, what exactly do you intend doing with this mess?” King Bdollium asked the fairy and he stood still scratching his head like he couldn’t understand a word of all the Suz said.

   “Father, what happened to Su Kus?” the words flew out of my mouth before I could think but I was glad I asked. I was expecting the Suz to look really shocked at my request but he just gave a sigh and moved towards my bed.

   “Jafrad, please give us a moment, I would be attending to the Suzzac now” he said relieving the fairy of his duties for the moment, without hesitation the cute creature gave a bow and left the room pulling the door to a close behind him.

   "Now we are alone, you can ask me anything you want to my little Suz" Father said as he sat beside me on the bed and at that instant, I lost my voice. I opened my mouth to speak but could hear nothing coming out because my thoughts went completely blank. Father smiled and held my shoulder like he knew exactly what was going on in my mind.

   "You want to know what happened to your mother Su Kus?" He asked softly and all I could do was nod resolutely, I couldn't find my tongue still.

   "Su Kus went on a journey, a very long voyage across the realms and you are too young to understand right now but you would someday. I want you to know that she loves you just as much as I do and someday where she is, we would be too" he said softly as his hands moved gently to the back of my neck and I could feel them trembling as he spoke. The Suz voice was mixed with so much passion that it sounded like it vibrated through his hands but his countenance displayed something completely different. Though at that age I couldn't understand what voyage would keep my mother from seeing her child but since I was going to see her someday, my curiosity was perfectly fed.

   "I love you Father." I said as I leaned forward to give the older man a hug, he smiled and ran his hands around my back, squeezing my frame tenderly.

   "I love you Son more than you could possibly imagine." he replied and at that moment nothing in the world else mattered. It felt like reality had vanished before my eyes and the festive rhythm playing in the Suz's chest was the only thing I could understand, this was one of the best memories I would always treasure of Suz Bdollium.

   "So what did you get to wear on that memorable day? I guess it’s the diamond studed damask jacket because you always look so adorable in them" Princess Mozzarella said as the Suz took a brief pause from his narration and sipped from the golden cup beside him.

   "I can't remember what exactly I wore that day but I'm pretty certain it must be the damask, Father loved them so much to an extend it was rumoured all over the Kingdom that it takes only a gift of white or golden damask apparels to get into the Suz's grace." He said and chuckled.

   "And that was just a rumour, wasn't it?" the Suzia asked again and the Older man motioned his head in agreement.

   "It was just a rumour but believe me child, rumours aren't all mendacious, there's always an iota of truth in them. Even at times rumour are more exposing that the truth itself, neither take them lightly or very serious my dear child" the Suz replied his daughter and without wasting time he continued with his narration.

   Days flew by like the breeze of the waters and each day I was being fashioned into the Man I am now, a good judge of character, a great swordsman and a well learned scholar of magic, the three points of a Warrior's triangle as Father used to call them. At the age of sixteen I was granted freedom to roam beyond the palace grounds in the company of two captains and though I wasn't all that pleased but I enjoyed my tours through mighty Zeclub. It was the perfect avenue to show the citizens the kind of Suz I would become, i made a routine of going into the marketplace and helping the elderly merchants sell their wares. And I was pretty good at that even though I felt that I sold that much because I was Suzzac, but even if I wasn't king I would have made good fortune from being a merchant. Then came one fateful day, I got back into the palace so weary after competing against my escorts and some of Zeclub's greatest swordsmen at the shore near the north entrance of the Kingdom, a tournament I founded and it took place weekly. This particular day, I lost in the final match against one of the captains which was becoming rather usual and got flung into the chill waters of flasras as punishment for my loss. We all had so much fun that day that I got back to the palace rather late and completely exhausted. It was my usual habit to go to the Suz's chambers and feast with him before retiring to my part of the palace but this particular day, I went straight to my chambers. I was so tired that I ignored the salutations of the palace attendants and soldiers which must have been completely unusual, I was so tired that I didn't know how I got into my room but I'm pretty sure I fell to sleep as soon as my body came into contact with the softness of my bed.

   Just as I closed my eyes, I heard sounds like calls of sea creatures and movement of waves against the water audibly through my ears; it felt strange because it was utterly impossible to hear sea tides from within the walls of the palace. After some hesitation my eyes pulled open lazily to find myself sitted on the shore some distance away from the north entrance of Zeclub. Solemnly I turned round to observe my terrain and there was no mortal in sight, even the guards at the North gate were not there and like a magic spell confusion floated into my mind. The clouds were already meant to be dark without sunlight and I was supposed to be on the soft bed of my room in the comfort of the palace, so I could not explain what I was doing on the cold white sand of the shore beneath the splendour of Haimen. Just as knowledge was invented by the creativity of Mortal man, so also was confusion and when Man suddenly doesn't find understanding for certain phenomenons that he once had knowledge of, he falls into the pit of confusion and I was the latest inhabitant.

   "What sort of magic is this" I asked myself in anger, I still felt tired and very weak.

   "Magic? Magic is Tomedov's play thing, the exact instrument that led to his doom. This is a dream, my play thing" a masculine voice said to me and I could recognise it instantly, I kept turning around to see where the voice came from but there was still no one in view.

   "I just hope you're looking for something else not me because I'm here within you. You know exactly what to do if you wish to see me" the voice sounded succintly again and I smiled, he had just given me the clue. Immediately, I closed my eyes and made my wish, instantly I felt a creature landing beside me.

   "Hello Nacalitus" the creature saluted me in the most kindly voice in all of Rheudinia and I opened my eyes to find the dream god sitted by my side with his usual charming smile. "Now am starting to get jealous of sharing the same face with you" he said humorously as he pulled my ear, I smiled and bowed in obesiance.

   "It's been seven years great One" I complained and he nodded quite carelessly in agreement.

   "Seven years and you have grown into a fine man worthy of admiration" he replied and floated up to stand above me, "Get up son, I would like to show you something important" immediately I jumped to my feet and noticed that my weariness had disappeared, I felt invigorated.

  

   “Where are we going this time great one? I’m rather of age now so it would be quite inconvenient to fly me all the way to Astore” I told him as we moved along the walls of Zeclub towards the forest North West of the Kingdom and the Isuz chuckled loudly to my words.

   “Quite some humour you got son but we are not travelling that far this time” He replied still leading the way ahead of me. We walked a long distance along the Wall and got to a low grassland before the forest. This particular biome was such a spectacle to behold; extremely large trees stood from the end of the grassland and were thickly dispersed across the hill far ahead. There was a narrow macadam-road running from the beginning of the grassland through the forest as far as I could see.

   “Are we going through that?” I asked

   “Yes we are. Are you scared?” He replied turning round to take a look at me and I shook my head immediately, frowning vigorously as I did.

   “I have not seen a forest before except on paintings and from the shores, not really seen one this close” I replied him honestly and he gave me a weird stare.

   “Don’t get too excited son, you would be seeing larger forests than this in the years to come. Now come along” he said tersely and moved into the forest as I followed closely behind.

The terrain within the forest was dark devoid of Haimen’s splendour; the crowns of the trees battled for sunlight and didn’t leave some to fall to lower plants beneath. As a matter of fact, there wasn’t a single plant shorter than the massive trees, it looked like the forest trees were all cultivated at the same time. Our path was filled with heaps of dead leaves as far into the forest as my visibilities could reach. This biome seemed so cold and ghostly, the only sounds I could hear were my heartbeat and the rustling made by the reaction of my feet and the dead leaves, even the Isuz ahead of me made no sound. It was a longer walk than I expected into the forest as we continued moving uphill and after what seem to me as days we came to a large river which ran out of the forest and off a cliff into a waterfall.

   “So are we going down the waterfall?” I asked the great one when he approached the cliff.

   “No, we are going over there” he said without looking back at me, he was pointing ahead across the river and far beyond him was a dark large mass that stretched high towards the sky. In the sunlight, the mass seem to evolve reddish fumes from above it.

   “And what’s that?” I asked. As I came to stand beside the Isuz, I couldn’t help but notice and adore the beauty of his body, Sylverine was truly a god in all aspect.

   “Let’s find out” He said and immediately elbowed me; his attack caught me totally unaware so I fell off the cliff. I can’t really remember if I screamed or shouted as I fell but before I hit the water, the Isuz caught me strapping his hand across my chest and took into flight away from the waterfall and the river.

   “That was a grim joke, why did you do that” I screamed out of a mixture of both fright and anger as we flew across the river and I could hear the Isuz above chortle at my rampage.

   “I just wanted to teach you the most important lessons in life and you are making a big show of my lessons” the Isuz words confused me gravely.

   “And what lessons would being pushed off a cliff, teach me” I asked as my anger subsided solemnly within me, there was apparently nothing I could do about it anyway.

   “Be alert at all times son, that’s a major key to survival” the great one said and his words left me speechless. He had spoken a lot of wisdom in those diminutive words and I couldn’t help but nod in agreement to them, it was the first advice I heard from the dream god or any god in general and one that I would forever remember.

   “Fair enough, lesson well learnt” I replied. Now my anger had turned into smiles and the rest of our journey across the sky was travelled in serenity. Soon we were near the dark fiery mass that seems so far away and I could actually see that it was a very tall mountain and a volcanic one too as mixture of red and black fumes shot out of its opening.

   “Where are we?” I asked the Isuz as we got nearer the crater of the mountain and I noticed the terrain we soared into was quite preternatural.

   “Haven’t you ever heard of Mount Javr” the Isuz asked as we floated down into the crater but I couldn’t reply because there was so much noise in it. The heat emitted by the volcano was so unbearable and fumes kept rising but even with this I could see the red molten rock boiling down beneath us.

   “Mount Javr disappeared off the surface of this planet about ten thousand years ago when Mighty Aisuz punished me for the deaths at the fortress in Astore” he said after dropping me on a rock some distance above the boiling lava and landed beside me, although I couldn’t really understand why he got punished for the killings in the fortress at Astore but I wasn’t in the mood to ask. The rock on which we stood was almost glowing hot, it burnt painfully through my footwear making me very uncomfortable and the only thing I wanted to do was get out of the volcano. As I did some kind of dance to lessen the pain in my feet, I noticed something shinning in the fumes some distance below the rock we stood on; it glowed like golden caligraphs were inscribed all around it and it looked very weird. I stood petrified to the spot gazing at this mystical object; I was certain I had never seen anything like it before.

   “Well, well, well… I guess you have found exactly what we came here for” the Isuz spoke awaking me from my reverie. Startled, I turned to where the voice sounded from and found him staring at the mystical object too, precipitately I shifted my gaze back to the object below us and suddenly I felt connected to it, like it called me incessantly by name in voices that sounded more like the whispers of the night.

   “Do you hear that, its calling you” the Isuz said and at first I was stunned wondering how he knew but then I thought, he is a god isn’t he? He knew exactly what I was thinking and smiled.

   “What is that thing?” I asked casting a sideways glance at him

   “That is exactly what made Mount Javr disappear” he replied

   “So it’s magical” I spoke loudly to myself

   “Yes it is son and you are going to get it but not today” he said tersely and immediately my countenance changed, we were standing just some feet away from the mystical object and I couldn’t just stretch down and grab it. Honestly I wished never to come back into this inferno not even for anything more important than this magical object but I knew except the Isuz was kidding with me, I had no option.

   “Why can’t…” I could say before the Isuz grabbed me by the shoulder suddenly and dived off the rock towards the red hot fluid in the belly of the mountain. Everything happened so sudden but I remember screaming at the top of my vocals as we were just about coming into contact with the boiling rock, then in a wink of an eye everything became dark and serene. I was expecting to feel burning pains all over my body from the heat of the molten rock but preternaturally, I could only feel some pains in my left forelimb. Slowly, I opened my eyes to notice I was on the ground in my chambers back in the Zeclubian Palace and at that moment I realised I just had another dream after several years.

   “Great one please don’t do anything similar to that again, I’m sure my heart stopped for a moment,” I murmured to myself in a little prayer as I lurched off the ground to sit on the bed. I could still feel my heart throbbing loudly to the scare I got in the dream and this added to the pain circulating around my body from the tournament I had the previous day. As I stretched myself to stand from the softness of the bed, I could hear my bones creak and for the first time in forever I felt tired so early in the morning. Sluggishly I moved to a large wooden table beside the only window in the room which was constructed directly opposite the entrance and made myself comfortable on a stool beside it. I had several historical documents, and scrolls at the table, many of which were legendary containing ancient magic sorted by mortals and fairies all over Rheudinia, others were written in languages I couldn’t understand. I pulled one of the scrolls open and searched through it, quickly I pulled open another and went through it but even through several documents I couldn’t find what I was searching for, Mount Javr.

   “Whatever is making you study so young in the day must be far important than visiting the Royal chamber to greet your father as you are accustomed to” A voice startled me from the doorway and I turned to see the Suz standing before me in a purple outfit that made him look much like one of the court clowns.

   “His Majesty,” I said sprouting up to my feet and gave father a bow,

   “Hello Suzzac,” he replied as he moved from the doorway towards my side and took a look at the scrolls spread randomly across the table.

   “Kronii mentioned to me that your entourage got back to the palace rather late and you had a lot of fun at your Tournament.”

   “Father I had a dream again” I said and for a while it looked like the Suz froze, obviously he didn’t know I was going to have one this time. Quickly he turned his head sideways at me and the gesture I saw in his eyes was that of pure amazement.

   “The same dream?”

   “Another legend Father and it was here in Zeclub.” I replied. Now he turned completely at me, his eyebrows raised in a frown. I could always remember that look of curiosity in King Bdollium’s eyes, those dark brown eyeballs brightened with inquisitiveness as his face rose into a frown, he always looked legendary.

   “A legend here in Zeclub?” his voice fell low into a whisper, “Where?”

   “Mount Javr.”

   “Mount Javr? Nacalitus, that mountain only existed in myths” he replied putting a hand to my shoulder.

   “But how could that be when I actually stood in it” I stood pensive a while before suddenly I remembered the Isuz’s words, the mountain couldn’t be seen with mortal eyes because of the illuminating object I saw in it.

   “Father, When was the last time an appearance of the mountain was recorded in history?”

   “I can’t really say Son but I read of a myth dated over ten thousand years ago and it narrated that the first royal sword of Zeclub was forged from the matter within the mountain, then it also narrated further that Javr disappeared of the surface of Rheudinia over ten thousand years ago when Naymata a Suzzac of Zeclub hid the royal sword back in the mountain after slaughtering his brother Rommed in his sleep with it.” King Bdollium replied and moved back to sit majestically on my bed. For a while I couldn’t believe my ears, even with my vast knowlegde of the history of the people of Zeclub, I had never come across Suzzacs with the names, Rommed or Naymata.

   “Rommed? I guess Rommed was to be King? The Zeclubian curse was that ancient” I asked raising my brow and the Suz shook his head slowly in agreement.

   “Naymata killed Rommed on the eve of his coronation and the curse was believed to originate from that single act but the mystery of the whole fable is that no remains or physical records have been found for both Rommed and Naymata except this myth which was written by a man who was believed to be raving mad”

   “A myth by a mad man… and nothing else but mystery but I assure you father Mount Javr indeed exists” I said and rolled up the scrolls on my table. Suddenly the Suz stood off the bed and trudged towards the door yawning as he did.

   “If the mountain the dream god revealed to you was Javr, then it must be here somewhere and we’ll be counting on you to find it son.” He said after pulling the door open and leaned on the frame supporting it.

   “I can’t go anywhere near it until the Isuz mandates me father.” I replied clearing the last piece of document from the table, I had arranged the scrolls into neat bundles beside the table and moved away from it.

   “Good, so there’s just enough time to fill that hungry stomach of yours before the council queries me for starving you to death.” He humoured as I came towards the doorway and I smiled.

   “I might just tell the council exactly that.” I replied and he bursted into laughter.

   “You would do no such thing, save you have the stomach for a whole Egglorn and a basket of honeybread” He replied and our laughter vibrated through the walls as I followed him into the large corridor, closing the door behind me.

   I actually expected the dream to repeat itself like the first but it failed me, the dream god knew I wouldn't forget a single detail of it. After I had the dream my daily routine slightly altered as I spent more time searching for documents associated with Mount Javr and Zeclubian legends. Gradually I began to understand the curse mortal man suffered in the phalanges of knowledge, curiosity was the key to his thraldom. The curiosity to get more ideas drowns us deeper into the waters of knowledge and like an addiction it never gets enough, we keep taking it in both that which is good and evil. Slowly the pieces began to fit into place like a puzzle, giving a face to the mystery, the uncertainty that had survived over ten thousand years. Though several scholars of history would find my conclusions rather superficial but sometimes you have to look beyond reality to understand some mysteries in our world. I dissolved that the mysteries began with Zeclub, not the Kingdom but the man. Although legends have it that Isuz Harmid was sent by Mighty Aisuz to disperse the sands of Creation upon the waters of Rheudinia at the beginning but it was Zeclub the first mortal that performed the duty. How Zeclub came into contact with the Sands would forever remain a mystery though there have been several speculations but it’s believed that he single-handedly brought about the creation of the lands of Rheudinia. And according to the mad man’s myth, Zeclub was suppose to return to Sium after completing the Isuz’s task but he refrained, he stayed on Rheudinia and beautified the planet, planting gardens with special dusts he got from Eesuz Astore and designed several of the beautiful nature we adore today. Soon news of Zeclub’s creativity flooded the streets of Sium and all of the gods began descending to Rheudinia to see the paradise created by the works of the first of man and they marvelled at his genius. The Creator was also well pleased with the mortal and gave him the title Zeclub which meant ‘The Beloved’ and this became his name. He was so pleased that he created another mortal to be a companion to Zeclub and just as light and darkness is an extension of each other, so was this creature to Zeclub. The first of man accepted this being excitedly from the Creator and found her to be pleasing to his eyes; he gave her the name ‘Ecclesia’ which meant my companion and from this two humanity began. Zeclub and Ecclesia lived on Rheudinia amidst the gods and thousands of creatures reproducing sons and daughters, it was a time like no other upon this lands. Then just like every story, dark days came and it almost tore Rheudinia apart. Zeclub was a handsome being to behold and his creativity made him even more adored by the goddesses, they would come in groups to watch him work entertaining him at every opportunity they got. Although several of them wished to lay with him but it was against the laws of Sium so they refrained from fear of the creator’s wrath but one particular Eesuz didn’t just adore him, she was obsessed. The protector of the seven realms, Eesuz Nartia got obsessed with Zeclub and seduced him several times into laying with her but he refused each time and each time her obsession grew. Then it got to a point she couldn’t accept his denials anymore so she asked a messenger of Sium to make her a portion from a forbidden tree growing in the outskirt Sium, the tree of Concupiscence. With the powers of this abominable portion, Zeclub was totally vulnerable to her desires, he was hypnotised. Eesuz Nartia succeeded in seducing and sleeping with him.  Just after the Eesuz had her desire satisfied, the effect of the portion wore off her victim and he grew mad with rage. Zeclub went completely berserk and tried to strangle her to death but Eesuz Nartia was far powerful than he could ever be. She wrestled with him and conquered, quite an easy victory but that wasn’t enough for her. She decided to punish Zeclub for attacking her and as a warrior that she is; the only punishment she knew was death.

   “What? She killed him?” the Suzia gasped and King Naca shook his head in agreement. “What sort of creature kills what they love?”

   “Make no mistake my dear Suzia, whatever Eesuz Nartia felt for Zeclub was everything else but love. She killed Zeclub even when he pleaded for his life, rendering his children fatherless and I would believe her action incepted mortal man’s disrespect for the gods of Rheudinia.” The King replied.

   “And they blame man for breeding perversity in his heart when they planted it there,” Sud who had been very quiet said in a tone that sounded more like anger.

   “Be far from that thought son, if Mighty Aisuz really blamed man for his wicked nature, believe me he would have wiped Rheudinia clean of his kind. Just like not all men are evil so also isn’t all the gods and He that is above us all, both man and god knows this fact.

   At the time Zeclub breathe his last, a loud terrifying sound was heard in Sium and the entire universe shook to it. Immediately, a very large ball of elements the realms had never seen came down towards the Eesuz  from the sky at a speed faster than sunlight and as it hit her, it caused a very large earthquake that broke the land of Rheudinia into the fragments we have today. It was obvious the Creator was greatly displeased at the death of Zeclub for he imprisoned Eesuz Nartia alive in a large diamond deep within the core of Rheudinia denying her forgiveness for eternity. One would believe that story, legend, myth or whatever you would have it called ended there but it didn't, fate is such a slithering creature that has sly ways of twisting tales, even those of the gods. Thousands of years passed by and Eesuz Nartia remained confined to her diamond prison, and then Mighty Aisuz’s compassion showered on her for the sake of the children in her womb. The Eesuz was pregnant with Zeclub's Sons, twins and because of the love he had for the first of man, she was released from her prison and put in the care of Eesuz Diawana who kept her heavily guarded till the birth of her children. All these while, mortal man’s rebellion against the gods was blossoming and it happened that when the Eesuz had her children, one of Diawana’s maids poisoned her strengthening portions days after and she died instantly after consuming it but no harm was done to her twins. So the great protector of the realms died and was buried in the fortress of Diawana, in the land to the north of Zeclub and her children were brought up in accordance with Diawana’s customs. The boys both grew into fine men, tall and beautifully carved like Zeclub their father. They were great warriors too and were each others best friends, always doing everything together even in battle. Years later after Diawana’s ascension, they returned to settle among the inhabitants in the area that Zeclub lived before he was murdered, that area is now where this palace stands today. The children of Eesuz Nartia I believed were named Naymata and Rommed, there the connection between the legend and the mad man’s myth came to light. For centuries they lived in peace among the inhabitants of the land until a time came when armies from other lands attacked theirs and the Sons of Nartia had to defend their people and families. So they both journeyed to mount Javr and from a mixture of their fluids of life and the molten rock of the mount, they forged a Sword called the twins or Xamtry in the Diawanan tongue.

   “Twins?” princess mozzarella asked

   “Yes twins and it didn’t get its name because it was actually forged by twins but the Sword could be disintegrated into two equal halves and each used as a weapon. And if I must say, the Xamtry is a very powerful weapon.” The Suz replied after taking a sip of the content in his royal cup and continued his narration.

From nowhere came Fate to stick its ugly head in the affairs of the Twins and an accident occurred while they were in the mountain, the rock on which Naymata stood crumbled and he almost fell into the red fiery pond below him but Rommed stretched a hand out to grab him. His attempt saved his brother’s life but not his left heel which was already inside the red fiery pool. This accident left Naymata unable to battle totally against his wish and Rommed had to go against foes without his stronger half but being a demigod, he led the first army of Zeclub into their first battle and won. They conquered the adversary, sparing none of them and the inhabitants of the land were happy at his victory so in gratitude they agreed jointly to make him Ruler, Suzerain of Zeclub. Rommed knew it was a lot of responsibility taking the title of Ruler alone, he was scared for his brother but then he asked his opinion about taking this responsibility and Naymata agreed without hesitation though it didn’t go down well with him. Suddenly he hated himself for getting hurt and not able to fight when he was needed; he hated everything around him including his twin brother and underneath all this hatred sat that fat ugly beast called envy. This Jealousy drove Naymata to murder his brother in his sleep with the twins on the eve of his coronation. Though I didn’t really get to know if the twin returned to Javr to hide the sword or to commit suicide but the last document about him suggested that he returned to Mount Javr and never returned. In his absence the people of the land still held their gratitude to Rommed and crowned his first son, Aquiller as ruler of the land. Aquiller became the first Suz of Zeclub in the mad man’s myth but in Zeclubian legend Aquiller’s son Quitera was the first Suz and he built the Great walls of Zeclub.

So I began to wonder, if Naymata and Rommed walked the surface of Rheudinia, their bodies would be buried somewhere and then ‘the Twins’ would be hidden somewhere near mount Javr, perhaps maybe in it. Then my mind flickered around the illuminating object I saw in my dream, could it be the sword, I wondered and waited for the season when all these mysteries would be solved, a season when I would have the pleasure of solving Zeclub’s greatest riddle.

Over the months, I abandoned my research when the matters of the kingdom came calling urgently, as I became ambassador of Zeclub travelling through several lands and kingdom to the west. It didn’t take long before I became a hero among neighbouring Kingdoms. Over the period of three years after my dream; I fought several gangs, creatures and captured a lot of evil wizards restoring peace to the lands with the help of two Zeclubian captains and several other warriors. We would leave the walls of Zeclub on a quest either invited or summoned and we would return proud sons of Zeclub to the honour of the Suz and the entire Kingdom, Sium favoured us. Then suddenly the tale of my life changed on the eve of the day that marked my second decade on the surface of Rheudinia, destiny indeed is a manipulation by time and space to curl our lives into designs that satisfy only their selfish ambitions. On this fateful day, I returned to Zeclub with my cohorts from a trip to the mountainous outskirts of Ecclesia where we helped stop the raid by some mountain gangs of the villages and we got back to a royal feast as usual. The feast stretched into the middle of the night and I escorted father to his Chambers after it was over, we talked as usual about the events that occurred in my absence and laughed to almost everything he said. After putting the Suz to his bed and kissing him on the forehead, I left the royal chambers and made way to mine. Then just as I was about to push my door open, I heard a beautiful female voice call to me in a whisper.

   “Nacalitus,” the voice sounded and I turned my gaze towards where it came from quickly enough to see a shadow disappear around the corner at the end of the corridor. If I had too much wine that night I would have felt it was the effect of the alcohol playing tricks on me but I was neither drunk nor dreaming so I was sure someone called me. Precipitately I followed in the track of the shadow and as I got to the end of the corridor to my room, I saw this shadow turn round another corridor into the hallway and immediately I followed suit. The shadow kept turning from one corridor to the other until I found myself at the entrance to the palace, and then I saw a being perhaps a woman in white apparel floating into the garden of the Su. At first I couldn’t understand why someone would call me and run into the graveyard but then I thought it could be a messenger from the gods and followed the being into the garden. It was very cold in the graveyard and there was fog everywhere so I couldn’t see clearly but I kept moving with caution observing every movement around me.

   “Welcome Nacalitus Sylverine,” a voice startled me, it was the same voice I heard at my room and I turned round immediately to see a ghost hovering beside the statue of Su Kus. The ghost glowed ebulliently in the fog and smiled as I moved near it, her smile radiated with so much excitement that I began to feel warm.

   “Mother?” I muttered out of either surprise or bewilderment. All those years I had wished to see my mother just once and now her ghost stood before me I couldn’t find the words to say to her, quickly rivulets of tears gathered upon my lower eyelids.

   “Wipe your tears Naca, I have not come to make you cry but to tell you that I am very proud of you son.” She said, her face glowing in a smile and I smiled wiping my tears as I did.

   “Why did you leave, why didn’t you stay with me?”

   “I had no option but to leave son, I left so that you might live and Bdollium might have a Suzzac. And I see my sacrifice has not been in vain, Zeclub not only has a son but the son of the dream god, the son of the prophecy” she replied and descended in front of me. Now being called the son of the prophecy wasn’t new because the Queen mother at that time made it her duty to remind me anytime we are in private that I was born special and might be destined to do greater things than I can ever imagine.

   “But why have you come today after almost twenty years or perhaps the great one has sent you as a gift to encourage me” I said succinctly and where the idea came from I couldn’t understand, it felt like I was speaking without my mind but she gave me a nod of agreement.

   “You are not only brave but wise, the virtues of a great leader you’ll someday be. The time has come Naca; the time to face your destiny has finally come.”

   Suddenly the wait was over after almost three years of waiting for the dream god’s order and excitement flowed into my heart at an intensity that I felt it was going to explode at any moment. The Suz was right, it was my destiny to find Mount Javr and now I had been given the authority to solve the mystery, it was such wonderful news.

   “I have waited for this day for three years, now the time has come to prove my worth.” I sounded quite boastful but the ghost before me just smiled and raised her hands towards my face, her movement was so filled with grace. She placed her hands tenderly upon the sides of my face and I could feel the icy touch of her fingers, it was both scary and soothing at the same time.

   “Dear child, the path that lies before you is both precarious and full of surprises, you would only have to prove to yourself that you can fulfil this destiny. The spirit of Sylverine resides in you, listen to it, let it forge the way and you follow in that path. The Isuz wishes that you journey to mount Javr alone at the first rise of the sun.” she said in her tender voice and her words struck me in amazement. I always wondered why father and the priestess of Sylverine’s temple thought I was special, different to every other mortal including themselves because within me I believed nothing was special. I had the curiosity for a lot of things and never thought for once what being the son of the prophecy actually entailed and now Su Kus’s ghost explained everything in just a few words. Like a flood understanding flowed into me, the Suz and Queen mother were right; I truly was special for I was the first and only mortal to possess the soul of a god.

   “Alone? Can’t I bring along the captains, just two of them?” I questioned after standing pensive a while like I meditated thoroughly on her last words.

   “No son, if you bring anyone along, you might as well dig a knife into their throats yourself. You shall walk the path of death and only you can survive. Help has been appointed to you along the voyage and within you lies the greatest help you can ever get.” She said and her hands still as cold as the breath of the night upon my face.

   Though it was difficult to understand how destiny or fate worked but I assumed the writings on the walls of prophecy were different for every man and this was mine and mine alone. If the path before me was laid upon the breastplate of death, I would prefer to go alone rather than risked the lives of men who had sworn allegiance to Zeclub and its King. The captains of Zeclub were always very brave warriors, I could say without doubt they are the best swordsmen I have ever seen or fought beside but if the gods believed they had no chance of survival in my quest, then what I was destined to face was far more worse than I can imagine.

   “Mother, I need your blessings and those of the gods” I said after falling out of her touch to my knees, my inner being was in turmoil and suddenly I began to feel rigid.

   “The gods would not do for man what he is to do for himself; you need to believe in yourself and the unimaginable power you possess. Your wish is going to be your greatest weapon, make good use of it and I promise to be there whenever you need…” she said before she was interrupted by another voice sounding from the entrance to the garden.

   “Naca! Are you there son?” it was the Suz’s voice echoing through the darkness, I turned my head towards where the voice came from and could see the flicker of a torch accosting me.

   “Yes, I am here father.” I replied loudly enough for the older man to hear and turned my face back to Su Kus’s ghost but it was gone, the glowing had vanished into fog.

   “Quite a place to meditate,” the Suz said as he got near me and saw I was kneeling before the statue of his queen.

   “I just spoke with her father”

   “Spoke with who?” he asked casting me a scrutinising stare, like he didn’t want to believe the thought that came to his mind.

   “Mother, Su Kus,” I replied. “The great one sent her to inform me that my time had come.” But with the look on the Suz face I knew he found it hard to believe. Slowly he raised his eyes to the statue and tears appeared on his face glistening with reddish hue, he missed his queen far more than I missed my mother. Quickly I pulled myself up to comfort him with a tight embrace.

   “She misses you more father, she sacrificed herself to make us happy and her efforts were not in vain.” I said to comfort the older man and he smiled.

   “My tears are not for her, I mourned her for twenty years. I know you would be leaving on a very dangerous task tomorrow and I cry for fear that I might not behold my son again for the gods are sending you into the face of death itself, a place that terrifies even the gods.” He replied me amidst a mixture of fear and smile displayed on his royal face and I smiled as charmingly as I can to hide the effect his words had on me.

   “I don’t know what fate has in stock for me but I don’t have an option but to find out father, let his majesty cheer up for as the Sun still shines in the morning and moons at nightfall, I would return a fulfilled Suzzac of Zeclub” I encouraged him and at the same time did the same for myself. It is often said that optimism is a brother to hope and both are archenemies of fate because they give immeasurable powers to the mortal spirit. A man remains a man as long as he doubts the blessings in every occurrence in his life but the moment he wears hope and optimism like his very own skin, he transforms to something better, he becomes a god among men. We stood a long while in each others embrace before the statue of the queen and I am certain she watched us with a smile upon her face.

   “I love you son but if we don’t leave the garden now, we might add ourselves to the beautiful collection here” the Suz whispered into my ears and I chuckled. If there was anything I miss more than the Suz himself, it was his ability to humour even in bizarre conditions.

   “It would be quite abasing to parade ourselves as royal whores before these lovely ladies” he continued and I couldn’t help but ring out with laughter, father was such a gifted clown.

   “Common Suz lets get you into bed before you awake the ladies with your humour” I said after I was done laughing and together in each others arms we strolled out of the Garden. We enjoyed our little walk back to the royal chambers and this time the Suz relieved me at the doors.

   “You know, the queen mother told me when you had your first dream that Kus was going to appear to you a night before you start your journey and I looked forward to this day since then. You have always proven to me what a great son you are and I am very proud of you. The gods would find no other perfect enough to fulfil their bidding save you.” He said and embraced me.

   “I love you too father” I said before we broke free and I was heading back to my room after the Suz had entered his chambers. That night was perhaps the longest of my life, I just couldn’t sleep and for what looked like hours, my mind travelled through endless tunnels, questions that couldn’t be answered flew continuously through it and solemnly sorrow soared in. I was leaving Zeclub my home alone for an unknown destination, one that only existed in myths and stories and I have been warned thoroughly of the dangers of my voyage. Would I succeed or fail? Would I be travelling across the realms or go back through time and space? Who are these helpers I would get along the way?  I kept wondered, my mind jumping from one topic to the other until finally like a saviour sleep flew by and stole me away. Have you ever wondered what kind of magic brings about sleep, the creature that pokes its pretty head into our nights and steals our minds from desperation? No matter how great the trouble or pain we feel, it’s the only creature that would never fail to give peace to our bodies and souls at the same time, quite magical you must agree.

   “Awake you royal sleepy head.” I heard a voice bark at me after I was hit repeatedly on the back, then the light in my chambers brightened and I could feel the golden rays of Haimen’s splendour radiating into the room and smiled.

   “You didn’t have to scream my ears out like a wild cat, you mischievous goblin” I said with my eyes still closed and I heard Jafrad grunt in disgust.

   “You royal tyke, there’s a big difference between a fairy and a goblin.” He said in anger as he kept hitting me in the back and I sniggered to his little tantrum. Suddenly I turned round and opened my eyes but the fairy had vanished with a pop.

   “Wonder if I would ever meet a fairy with a brave heart.” I said as I sat upright in my bed and yawned.

   “There are a lot of brave fairies in the land of the ghosts, that’s where bravery leads every man” Jafrad replied as he appeared sitting on my wardrobe.

   “The path of every man leads to the land of the ghosts and the journey is swifter for cowards like you” I replied and stood wearily off my bed. It was a very beautiful morning I awoke to and the excitement that I was going on a quest, perhaps the greatest I have ever been on made the day even more glorious.

   “The Suz ordered me to awake and get you prepared for the day,” Jafrad said still seated on my wardrobe.

   “Father sent you to get me prepared for the day? Now why would he do that?” I asked raising my brows in curiosity and the fairy shrugged his shoulder.

   “How would I ever know the reason why you humans do most things you do but at least I get the chance to be the first to tell you…”

   “Happy Anniversary Suzzac” another voice interrupted Jafrad from the doorway and quickly we both turned round to see the Suz coming into the room. “Now you get to be second Jaf, hurry before someone else steals it from you again.”  He had not made an end of his speech when one after the other, the captains of Zeclub walked into the room, each saluting me as he came in. After the captains followed court musicians and in a moment, my chambers had been transformed into a festival as rants of ‘Happy Anniversary’ filled the air. Now I knew father sent Jafrad to stall me as he kept sniggering at me but I was happy he did and though the celebration was short-lived, it was the best birthday I would ever remember. We embraced, we danced and it was quite amazing how we let our souls soar to the beauty of both the morning and the music. Then after what seemed ageless, the music stopped and everyone left my chamber save Jafrad and the Suz.

   “I could also be the last to wish you happy Anniversary Nacalitus” Jafrad said and gave me fairy hug; I smiled and threw my arms around him too. If there was anyone I was going to miss after the Suz, it was definitely this cute little red looking he-fairy and I was sure he was going to miss me too since there wasn’t anyone else to play pranks on.

   “Thank you Jaf” I said as he pulled away and floated towards my wardrobe, and then he pulled out something from among my jackets. It was a golden piece of fabric with several stones designing it just like my damask jackets but it was different and must have been a lot of fortune.

   “This is for you Suzzac, made by the finest weavers in all of Goblinus.” He said presenting the beautiful fabric to me, my eyes widened and I was completely marvelled, it was the fairy’s first gift and an excellent one too.

   “This is just too beautiful, must have cost you a whole fortune Jaf,” I complimented and the fairy smiled. The fabric was sewn into a jacket just as I expected and it was a fabulous piece of cloth, I raised it to father and he smiled in appreciation too.

   “Am happy you loved it,” he said as I gave him an embrace, “Be safe my prince,” he whispered to my ear and pulled away with tears in his fairy eyes; afterwards he bowed to the Suz and exited the room, his head lowered in sorrow.

   “You told him I was leaving?” I asked the Suz and he nodded in agreement

   “The little fairy needed to see why it was so important for you to leave on your anniversary and I couldn’t give him any other reasons so I told him you had to find something for the gods alone and it was the same thing I told the captains too” he replied and raised his brow in an expression of sarcasm, “Or was it the wrong thing to do?”

   “Common father, you know it was the right thing to do” I replied him and he laughed hitting me gently on the back.

   “Let me leave you to get ready for the journey son before the great Isuz tears Zeclub apart in search of you and I got you some things which you would have to pick up on the way out” the Suz said as he made way for the doorway. “Once again, Happy Anniversary Son” he said and left the room.

Now the splendour of Haimen was already shining ebulliently in the altocumulus clouds as I made way out of the palace dressed in Jafrad’s beautiful jacket and black trousers, I had a bag given to me by the Suz strapped to my shoulder running down to my left side and my sword strapped to my waist at the right. As I approached the porch, I noticed there were people in the garden in front of the palace and the captains stood in two rows along the macadam towards the gates. There were loud incessant cheers and screams as I came into view, the captains wiped out their swords and raised them high, each sword touched the one opposite making an archway along which I passed through. I felt so excited and loved as I walked down towards the gates of the palace amidst several citizens of Zeclub, everywhere I looked, I was accosted by smiling faces of both men and fairies. It was so sad to leave my beautiful home surrounded by so much love, my certainty for the precarious uncertainty that tainted my journey but somehow I had the desire to leave, it felt like wanderlust.

   The journey along the walls of Zeclub to the grassland before the forest was quite distant than I imagined, perhaps it felt so since there wasn't anyone to accompany me this time. The sounds of the waves and birds twittering as they came to land at the shore were the only melody I could hear all the way to the grassland. Now the grassland had metamorphosized into a large garden with several colourful flowers illuminating in the brightness of day, a beautiful sight to behold. As I walked on the narrow macadam through the garden towards the mighty forest at its end, I could hear low chuckles around me. Solemnly, I stopped in my tracks and observed my terrain, there wasn't a creature in sight but even with that, the chuckles grew louder and I could distinguish the voices I heard, they sounded very feminine. Precipitately, I leaned forward to take a look into the flowers beside me but before I could see anything, the flowers folded mysteriously into a bud and in the wink of an eye, all the flowers in the garden had disappeared leaving behind thousands of greenish buds. It was strange and I had not seen anything like that before but I just continued moving uphill along the macadam towards the darkness within the forest. The journey into the hilly forest was quite intricate than it felt in my dream, the stones of the macadam were slippery and I had to be careful with each step I took. Now the forest was less interesting than the grassland, it was dark, the air was filled with moisture and there wasn't a single sound but that made by the dried up leaves at my feet, it was more ghostly than it was in my dream. Though it was quite difficult to see into the distance ahead, but I kept moving along the macadam completely aware of everything surrounding me. I had not gone more than an hour into the forest when I heard sounds like flapping of large wings and a loud terrifying cry in the distance, without hestitating I wiped out my sword, a fine golden piece of weaponery and stood alert. For a moment it was silent again, and then suddenly, I saw a large winged creature diving towards me. Just as I noticed the outline of the creature, it shot streams of fire towards me but I was quick enough to roll sideways, dodging the stream and when I stood to strike back, the creature had vanished leaving flickering flames of burning leaves behind me.

   "That's quite strange" I muttered to myself as I strained my auditories to listen to movements but heard nothing.

I kept moving along the macadam, turning round in circles as I did, I was quite conversant with sorcery to know that the creature that attacked me was no ordinary one. Its movement was defiling the authorities of time, space and even the unavoidable force of gravity, like it bent them to its very own advantage. After going round in circles, I began to feel a little dizziness and closed my eyes, to my uttermost surprise, I could see the forest against the lids of my eyes and it had transformed. With my eyes closed, I saw through the forest clearly, as far as my eyes could accommodate and each tree glowed with greenish hue giving light to the path ahead of me.

   "Quite amazing," I said to myself just before I noticed two objects shimmering brighter than the glow of the trees high among the branches above me and instantly, the creature appeared. It was a dark coloured dragon, though I couldn’t really distinguish its colour but it wasn’t so large with two pairs of forelimbs and several tiny horns on its forehead. Again it shot streams of fire down at me from its nose but this time, I took refuge behind one of the large trees of the forest and when I came out of my hiding, the dragon had disappeared again.

   "Why not stay and fight coward?" I shouted very loudly, challenging the dragon and my voice echoed incessantly through the forest. I once read in one of my scrolls back at the palace that dragons are very egocentric creatures which hate being confronted or challenged and this dragon wasn't any different. Just like I expected, it appeared on the macadam before me roaring fiercely as it did. Suddenly it shot its tail at me, I was quick to notice that there was a large sting at its tail and I rolled quickly away from its reach. The creature roared again and sent another stream of fire at me; quickly I jumped at a tree and flipped away from the stream. Just as I landed on my feet I saw the creature’s sting darting at me again and without thinking I bent backwards to evade it. Then just when I didn’t expect fate to throw luck across my way, the sting got caught in one of the tree's trunk. The dragon made efforts to pull its sting out of the tree but it was utterly futile, this brought a charming smile to my face.

   "Now let's finish this"

   I ran towards the creature and at that same moment, it breathe another stream of fire at me but I was quicker and slid beneath the creature before I was hit by the fiery stream. Then I stepped off a trunk and sprung up, catapulting myself high towards the dragon. The creature had turned round towards me but before it could shoot streams of fire at me again, I wiped out my sword and waved it infront of me, slashing off the head of the creature. As my sword severed the creature’s head from its body, it exploded violently flinging me away towards one of the trees in the forest and I fainted.

   “You can’t die, Naca”, a tiny voice sounded in my ears and I opened my eyes to see that the darkness around me had disappeared; the day looked very young and fresh and sounds of creatures flew across my auditory though I couldn’t see any in sight. It was such a wonderful view before my eyes and at first I thought it was another dream but it wasn’t.

   “He’s Alive!” several voices startled me and quickly I rolled to my side to find floods of fairies around me, each hid its face from me as I rolled my gaze around at them.

   “You saved us great one” a very bold voice rang loudly near my left ear and the sound of it seem to sting me, precipitately I turned towards it to find a bald he-fairy with greenish beards floating beside me.

   I suddenly came to realise that I was lying at the foot of a tree, then solemnly the memories of my victory over the dragon came to mind and I smiled within myself, the forest had transformed because of that victory.

   “Ouch!” I screamed painfully as I tried to lift myself to sit properly against the tree, I felt so much pain at the back of my head and raised a hand to it expecting it to be soiled with blood but it wasn’t.

   “Rest son, let me take care of that for you” the bald fairy said as he pushed my head gently to rest against the tree and I obliged

   “What happened here? How long was I knocked out?”

   “You defeated Nod, a wizard that transformed himself into a dragon and couldn’t undo the spell. I think his death brought about an explosion which you were caught in and flung away. You’ve been out for just a few time son,” he narrated to me in a low voice and it still stung my ear, “You can raise your head now.” He said and immediately, I moved my head up slowly but miraculously the pain had vanished. I sat up and wriggled my head but felt not the slightest pain, it had completely disappeared and then I bowed to the bald fairy in gratitude.

   “Thank me not great one, this is just my little quota to your great mission”

   “My mission? How do you know such things?” I asked completely taken aback by the fairy’s words but he just smiled.

   “Fear not great one, I am Nartz, king of the fairies of the forest of Rommed and we know a great deal about you and your mission. Prophecies have been written centuries before you were born about this day, prophecies hidden in this forest for several years about a day when the son of the dream god shall walk among us and even that evil wizard Nod couldn’t find it.” He explained to me and for a moment I felt famous.

   I wondered how many more prophecies have been written about me; perhaps this was the help the dream god promised me. Slowly I stood to my feet and dusted the dirt off my jacket; I looked round for my bag and couldn’t find it, also couldn’t find my sword too.

   “Your sword and bag would not be of much use to the journey ahead of you, they would slow you down” King Nartz said like he could read my mind. Solemnly, he waved his silver mace through the air and out of vanity a wand as tall as he was appeared before him. He took the hovering wand and handed it to me.

   “This is the most powerful wand in this magical forest and it possesses magic we both can not imagine. My humble gift to you” He said with a bow and without hesitation I bowed back in appreciation. Just as my integument touched it, the magical stick seems to glow with greenish hue. The wand was quite strange; it was smooth and perfectly straight with markings like hieroglyphics in three rings around it but I couldn’t understand what was written on it.

   I took the wand and made it vanish, then I bowed to the fairies and without wasting anymore time in the forest of Rommed, I continued my journey towards mount Javr leaving them in jaunty celebrations.

  “So the wand of the great one was handed to you by the fairies? How did it get into their possession?” the Suzia interrupted again but this time her father just smiled and sipped from the content of his royal cup.

   “Patience Mozzarella, be patient.” He said and continued with his narration.

    The journey from the little fairy town of the forest of Rommed to the waterfall was quite distant than it seemed in the dream but I got there just before nightfall and at that time it was quite dark to find my way to the mountain so I opted to make camp among the forest trees near the river that flowed into the waterfall. In a couple of moments my tent was made magically by weaving several branches of nearby trees into one another and I had a fire burning in front of it. Then quite unexplainably I felt the urge to sit by the waterfall and inhale of the nightly grace of nature rising out of it and fortunately for me, I found a large cave within it. It was quite a wonderful thing to do, sitting on wet grounds and watching the moons in horizontal alignment through the veil of the waterfall and even the sound of it made beautiful melody to my ears.

   “And who dares to sit at my door?” a deep voice sounded behind me in something that sounded more like a leonine roar and immediately, I sprung to my feet in a mixture of fear and surprise.

   “I am a prince of Zeclub and I come in peace,” I replied in the deepest voice I could muster but even I could sense fear in it.

   “Come in Naca” the voice replied and this time, the harshness in it had softened. At this same moment, an opening was revealed in the wall at the opposite end of the cave and flickering orange beams like that of a fiery torch glowed from within it. At first I was reluctant to go into the deeper cave and though I couldn’t explain how I got into it, I felt glad I did as I was accosted by the warmth within the cave.

   “Welcome to my domicile” the voice roared again from a corner behind me in the rather large room at the same moment the opening in the cave disappeared and I was startled, quickly I turned to where the roar sounded but inscrutably it was dark, like an invisible wall shielded the beam of the torch from that part of the cave. Precipitately I wiped out the only weapon on me, the wand from the forest fairies and pointed it towards the darkness.

   “It would be easy for us to communicate if you could only show your face” I replied whatever was speaking to me out of the darkness and it obeyed. Solemnly a large creature came into visibility; it had the perfect structure of a lion and had mighty wings like an eagle but there was something quite preternatural about this creature apart from its ability to speak and understand mortal man’s tongue, it had white beams as bright as that in the dream god’s trance shooting out of its eyes. I didn’t need a seer to tell me that I stood before another creature of magic and one higher in hierarchy than the dragon I fought against in the forest. But suddenly out of nowhere, my mind recognised this creature which looked so much like a griffin.

   “Sar, what are you doing here?” I said without actually thinking. When I was younger, it use to baffle me with the knowlegde I could amass out of vanity and words I would speak without wanting to but later I realised that as the Trance or spirit walk existed, so also there is a spirit talk. My mind was older, stronger and more experienced than my knowlegde since I shared the mind of the dream god, so there were things my mind knew that I didn’t and it was powerful enough to defeat my self-will and consciousness, so several times I was controlled by it but as I aged and grew experienced, I got my dominion back.

   “After my master had been petrified as a punishment from Mighty Aisuz, I left the threshold and came to Zeclub to await the birth of the one true Naca of dreams” it replied while I still wondered how I suddenly came to know the creature before me.

   “Naca of dreams? That’s obviously a new one” I said with a raised brow as I withdrew my wand.

   “All thanks to the great one and the Mightiness of Sium, the years I waited patiently weren’t all in vain. Here before me you stand in flesh and the fluid of life”

   “So you waited here for hundreds of centuries? Though that’s a whole lot of time but I hear you possess the power of a god and bring to pass the wishes of those faithful to the dream god.”

   “I possess only the power wished to me by the great one himself and I help these mortals to remember he still exists.” the creature replied and I gave him an acknowledging grin. It was quite an arduous task to carry so much care and love for centuries and though I wished to ask the Sar more questions, I couldn’t overcome the sudden weariness in my body.

   “You look tired Naca,” it said and I nodded sluggishly in agreement and leaned on the wall of the cave nearest to me. “help yourself over there, the place is now yours my prince for you are superior to me” it continued and as it spoke, another torch gulfed up in flames at the opposite end of the cave to reveal a little bed made of large feathers, apparently the Sar’s. Without hesitation, I trod towards the feathery bed and sunk myself in it and surprisingly, it was as good as my bed in the palace within the walls of Zeclub.

   “But how has these parts of Zeclub been out of the reach of normal mortals” I asked as I rolled to my side to face the creature which still stood at the opposite side of the bed. It was quite incredible to believe that after all this ages, mortal man hadn’t a cause to adventure into the forest north of Zeclub and even several didn’t know that part of the land existed.

   “There are several places in Rheudinia which has been magical since the beginning of time and knowlegde of how they came by their abilities an uncertainty, only the gods of Rheudinia can understand these mysteries” the Sar replied me in diminutive words and though it was just a creature, a messenger of the dream god, its words were wise and filled with knowledge.

   “You should be famished by now” it roared as it turned away from me for the first time since I came into the cave.

   “I never thought of it until now, but I should…” I said before I went speechless by the event that occurred before my eyes while I spoke. Just as the Sar turned away from me, it transformed into human form, it took the likeness of a naked male.

   “Don’t be surprised, the great one gave me the ability to change into human form whenever I please” he said and moved into the darkness at the opposite end of the cave without turning round to take a look at my stunned stare

   “How interesting.” I complimented sounding quite amazed.

   Moments later, the Sar appeared out of the darkness with fine linen wrapped around its loins and came towards me with a wooden tray which it placed before me. There was Honeybread, roasted honeyed meat and a couple of fruits in the tray and for a moment I couldn’t believe I was about to have a king’s meal in a mysterious cave.

   “Happy anniversary Naca” the Sar said as it sat on the cold floor before me, immediately I sat up and I bowed in appreciation smiling as I did.

   “Eat and gain the strength for tomorrow’s quest” it said handing me a roasted steak of juiced meat and we both ate. The meal was indeed worthy of Kings and one of the best I’ll ever have, it was so delicious that I didn’t know when sleep stole me away afterwards.

   Suddenly I opened my eyes and to my surprise, there was bright light reflecting into the cave from the opening in which I came in, the light of day and the orange beam of the fiery torches had gone extinct. Quickly I sat up to get a clearer picture of my terrain but to my surprise the Sar wasn’t in the cave. Instantly, I made way out of the Sar’s cave to the larger one behind the waterfall and climbed back up to the river, just as I expected I found the Sar in its griffin-like form at the cliff of the waterfall.

   “Beautiful day” I said and the creature before me bowed.

   “Am sure you know the way to mount Javr?” it asked in a roar and I smiled. I raised my eyes to where mount Javr was suppose to be and to my bewilderment, there was nothing there but the greenish hue of nature stretching like the ocean before my mortal eyes.

   “It is suppose to be there but I guess it’s invisible to mortal eyes,” I said pointing my hand in the direction I saw the mountain in my dream across the river. All of a sudden, I remembered how I saw clearly through the forest of Rommed with my eyes shut and closed my eyes wishing the same would occur again. And just as I expected, it worked. I could see the land glowing with verdurous hue as far as I could see, the river and waterfall glistened like bright silver, lo and behold stood mount Javr in the distance with reddish smoke rising out of it just like it did in the dream.

   “I can see it now” I said out of excitement

   “Good, so we can get going then” the Sar roared.

   “You are going to mount Javr with me?” I asked, eyes widening.

   “Not really, I cannot step into the domain of the mountain. I can just fly you very near” It replied and went couchant for me to climb on its back. It was my first ride on a flying creature but it wasn’t quite different from riding a stallion, I positioned myself on the back of the Sar like I would have done on a stallion and in a moment it rose into flight with a powerful lunge swinging its wings as it went. Riding on a griffin was quite interesting and I couldn’t help but marvel at the strength of its wings as it kept rising through the sky. I raised my hands sideways to feel the winds racing against us and the air I felt was abundantly fresh and pleasant. I laughed and screamed incessantly for I felt so happy with life at that moment, it felt ageless and I knew the Sar was feeling the same too as it soared gracefully towards mount Javr. Just when I wished the moment would never end, the Sar glided downwards towards the trees beneath us and quickly I closed my eyes and to my utter surprise, we were very near the mountain.

   “I can’t go any further Naca,” it roared as it landed on the ground and I jumped off its back. “Its all you now, tread carefully for those are precarious grounds.” It advised me and I nodded resolutely though I was beginning to believe my quest wasn’t that dangerous.

   “Thank you Sar” I said and the creature bowed, then quickly it took into flight with a mighty roar and I watched it disappear among the trees of the forest around the mountain. I was indeed alone once again, I heaved a sigh and turned towards where mount Javr was suppose to be standing but to my bewilderment, there was nothing there but tall mean looking trees exactly like those at the forest of Rommed.

   “Mysteries laving on mysteries” I said and closed my eyes and like I expected, the trees had disappeared but there was a large shimmering silver barricade ahead which stretched high and wide into infinity. Carefully I stretched my hand forward to feel the silver substance before me but amazingly, my fingers went through it and I smiled. The gods of Rheudinia were incredibly wise; I now knew why mount Javr wasn’t found for hundreds of centuries, only I could find it and break the mysterious barricade around it. I went through the Silver boundary and found mount Javr standing majestically before me with thick dark reddish smoke rising out of its crater, immediately happiness filled me up and I smiled with fulfilment, I had just unravelled a legend that had laid hidden for hundreds of centuries. Mindlessly I opened my eyes and the mountain still stood before me with its pitch black smoky crown.

   “Now the mystery is unveiled” I said to myself as I still stood petrified by the discovery of the Mountain. After a moment later, I was climbing up the mountain towards its large scary crater.

    After some difficult climbing, I got to the mouth of the mountain and slid unto the nearest rock I could see in it. The inner part of the mountain was burning hot as molten iron and as smoky as it was in the dream but I could clearly see the red substance boiling at its belly. Just as I glared into the darkness to search for the illuminating scroll, something large hit me off the rock I stood on and I almost fell into the magma below but quickly I held on to a piece of rock and when I gained my balance, swung to another rock beneath me. Instantly I turned round to face whatever attacked me but saw nothing; I looked like I was the only creature in the crater.

   “Another mystery evolves” I said beneath my breathe and closed my eyes. Beyond my eyelids, I wasn’t the only being in the mountain like it seem to mortal eyes, there were two large serpentine creatures before me and just as I noticed them, one was about to hit me with its head. As fast as I can, I wiped out the fairy wand and I jumped on its head then catapulted himself towards the other side of the crater.

   “Tacola Migali” I said in a low voice as I swung the sword across the two creatures, it was a slicing spell and though I could hear the impact of the spell on the other side of the mountain, it had no effect on the creatures before me, it looked like my spell went through them without cutting a string. Apart from the fact that my spell was futile it seem to infuriate the two creatures as they both moved to attack me but before I could think, I fell into another Spirit Talk.

   “Stop! I am Nacalitus Sylverine, Suzzac of Zeclub and you shall obey me.” I screamed mindlessly raising the wand towards them and surprisingly they stopped moving. Then slowly, they moved towards each other and became one creature glowing with blinding light as it did. Afterwards the only creature now present rose into the air from the rock on which it attacked and as it did, it shrunk in size. The light it radiated suddenly became too bright for my mortal eyes so I had to hide it away.

   “Welcome Nacalitus Sylverine,” deep frail masculine voices spoke to me and solemnly I raised my head from where it hid to behold a golden sword with red imprints around it hovering in the air ahead. Suddenly, I could see two aged spirits at each sides of the weapon. The spirits bowed to me as I turned to behold them and instantly I seem to recognise them.

   “Rommed and Naymata, sons of Zeclub.” I said and they bowed again. It was quite a legendary moment, the twins of the mystery were before me both man and sword, and it was so painful I was witnessing it all alone, though I couldn’t help but wish King Bdollium was present to see it too.

   “But Legends have it that….” I tried to say before one of the spirits interrupted

   “Forget the legends son; we don’t have much time to deliver the message of the gods.” It said before the other one continued, “Your destiny is larger than you can possibly imagine and all this is to get you prepared for the days or rather years to come.” I was completely taken back by their words, for a moment I was lost.

   “Years to come?” I asked raising a brow in the process but my words fell to deaf ears.

   “The spirit of the great one within you will guide you, may the gods be with you.” They both chorused and vanished into thin air even before I could blink but the sword still floated before me. It was strange and I couldn’t understand the reason they wouldn’t speak with me but later I came to realise that I didn’t really have that much time truthfully. Quickly I looked round for the illuminating object I saw in my dream and still found it lying on a rock just some distance above the molten lava. Now I had solved another mystery, the Twin weren’t the reason for the disappearance of the Mountain but what the illuminating object was still remained a mystery, the last one. Without wasting time, I took a hold of the Xamtry and has I did there was a terrible quake within the crater, the volcano was erupting.

   “Now that is scary” I said to myself and made way for the illuminating object, jumping from one rock to the other amidst hot clouds which rose incessantly from the volcano below and just as I picked the mystical object, the volcano erupted. The pressure and heat within the mountain got so intense that just before I could think the rock on which I stood shot straight towards the opening of the mountain. Quickly, I made the sword and the illuminating scroll vanish out of sight and steadied myself on the rock as it rose out of the crater into the sky. Mindlessly I looked down beneath my feet and saw streams of fiery rocks pouring out of the mountain and a stream of relief seem to wash over me. But whatever happiness I felt didn’t last for long before I realised the rock I stood on was descending back into the volcano. At that moment, my brain went completely out of function and just when I tried to think of the next line of action something grabbed me by the hand and pulled me higher away from the fiery stones flying out of the crater. Quickly I raised my head to behold the creature that rescued me and found the Sar soaring into the sky above.

   “Jabaste ma miobi, thanks for saving my life” I said with a half heaved smile and wiped the sweat off my brows with my other hand, what a relief finally.

   We flew a long way over the forest, very far away from the volcano and when the Sar soared over the shore, it dived and dropped me on the fine white sand. As I landed I felt the ground beneath me quake, the effect of the volcano was vibrating through the foundation of Zeclub.

   “What’s happening?” I asked the Sar as he came to land beside me on the shore.

   “It’s just a tremor,”

   “Just a tremor?” I exclaimed and for the first time in two days, I remembered Zeclub, “Zeclub would be in danger.” I complained and it shook its head in some kind of disagreement.

   “Zeclub is safe, even safer than the rest of Rheudinia.” It roared and its words were pleasing to my ears, afterward the griffin took to human form.

   “And what did you get from mount Javr?” The Sar asked in a gently masculine voice and immediately, I made all the items with me appear before us. And of all the items before me, the illuminating object was more important to the messenger of the dream god than any other; he took it and pulled it slightly open like a scroll.

   “He who gets the scroll from Mount Javr, will be the one to have the wand of the great one” he read of the glowing inscriptions on the illuminating scroll and I couldn’t just believe my ears.

   “The wand of Sylverine?” I said in bewilderment, my eyes widened with disbelief. The Sar didn’t respond to my remarks but just pulled the illuminating scroll longer and out of it an object engulfed completely by bright lights dropped to the sand, the radiance of this object was brighter than the brilliance of Haimen’s splendour. Immediately the Sar fell to its knees and bowed to the bright glowing object before us but I just stood petrified, more like I didn’t know what to do.

   “Only the Nacalitus Sylverine can touch the wand.” He said raising his gaze to me and slowly I bent down to touch the object, and immediately it transformed into a golden rod with inscriptions around it and two diamonds at each end of the stick. Precipitately I picked up the rod and raised it high towards the altocumulus cloud above which had suddenly grown dark and laden with rain, instantly there was an inscrutable thunderstorm, large blue lightings struck out of both diamonds on the wand and my integument began to glow with bluish hue.

This went on for a while and later stopped, then I stuck the wand into the belt at my waist and turned towards the Sar, who had the Xamtry’s hilt pointed at me.

   “You would need this too” it said and I took the ancient weapon from it with a slight nod.

Afterwards the Sar walked solemnly towards the waters of Ponchrious, then took a very deep breathe and blew at the water. His breathe was so strong that it made the waters rise high above us both but as it rose, magically it paused in midair and transformed into a Ship, the Sar performed Transfiguration at its excellence. The vessel that appeared was a very large ship and was designed like the Zeclubian warships with large flame-like inscription at both of its sides.

   “Oh Mine!” I whispered out in amazement with eyes widened. In all my early years and perhaps till now, I never saw anything as amazing as that magic the Sar performed at the shore of Zeclub.

   “You have to go now or that ship would set sail with or without you” it said sharply and tapped me on the shoulder, waking me from my little reverie and like a command I took to my heel running wantonly like an mad athlete racing for a prize and climbed into the ship. At last I was leaving Zeclub, though it wasn’t my first journey out of this land but it was my first alone and it was also a quest of the gods and for no reason I felt excited. The worries and phobia I felt days earlier had vanished like the oblivious years of history and all I felt within me was unexplainable calmness, peace.

   “Aurexe tam” I shouted back at the Sar waving with so much appreciation for his help as the ship sailed away from shore on its own accord and it responded my gesture gracefully until it and the white shore was completely out of sight.