He opened his eyes, his breathing was rapid and shallow. The cold, almost freezing, air caressed his hair-matted cheeks.
He sat up, wiping away the hair and sweat from his face. It was dark but he could make out quite clearly the silhouette of the other thirty-nine students fast asleep in their bunks. He drew comfort from their fitful slumber and the low and constant rumbling of the far off volcanic fields.
The Lamechi realm of Pejora was always like this, cold, dark and never quite quiet.
He got up and left his bed behind. How long has it been since he had slept through the night? He could not recall but he knew lying there in bed was pointless.
His black shiny mane flowed pass his waist and his golden eyes stood out in the darkness. He stood almost seven feet tall, he was almost a full grown Lamech.
He walked now between the rows of beds, his black robe camouflaging him perfectly in the darkness.
Mighty Zohar. He whispered a prayer to the mighty Rai of creation.
Guidance; each sleepless night he prayed for it and each sleepless night he was led through the gloriously dark Lamechi city to the temple of Rai Zohar.
He walked now from his dormitory in silence, wondering why. He walked between titanic, black and severely decorated pillars, passing by dormitory after dormitory. Why?
He looked down at his perfect reflection in the tiles of the floor. Why could he not sleep through the night and why did the dark morning of Pejora always find him kneeling before Rai Zohar's monument?
He exited the building, passing by twenty-six dormitories in all. Twenty-six dormitories of the final year students of the house of Thawne. They were all sleeping, he was the only student awake.
The House of Thawne consisted of fourteen edifices, each edifice containing twenty six dormitories, with each dormitory housing forty students. Each of the fourteen edifices housed students of a single year, giving the House of Thawne membership well in excess of fourteen thousand students. That being said, the house of Thawne was the smallest of the ten houses of the pedagogy that was the Maesra Athema.
He stood in the courtyard of grey cobble stone, looking around at the massive dark buildings. Their roofs, towering above him, tapering to black points against a grey sky. The Maesra Athema, the alma mater of all Lamechs of the realm of Pejora, could not be called beautiful. It was a place of training, nothing more. The black mirror-like floors, the decorated ceilings and towering black pillars, more so the golden torches used to mark the Pejoran day, failed in their purpose.
It was a nightmare.
It had to be. What else could force him from the rest of slumber? Once awake he had no memory of such, so he was not sure--but a nightmare of what? What did he fear?
He made his way slowly through the mammoth heavy black metal gates. The chilly wind brought his cloak to life as he stepped onto the road of stone. From here he could see the entire lower city with its thousands of dark stone buildings stretching for miles below. A ghost town, that was how it seemed with the cold wind howling between the dark silent houses. He did not seem to notice. Fact is, at this moment, there was not much he noticed.
The ghost town stretched to the city walls. Maesrai Jeagan's Great wall it was called, and it was said to be over a thousand miles long. It is said that it was built, carved, by the hands of the Great Rai Zohar as a gift to the first of the Lamechs. An invulnerable perimeter within which to build their city; a symbol of his protection. Maybe that was it, he could not recall a night after he was told that he would have to leave its protection that he slept fitfully.
Beyond the great wall stretched a vast barren plain, rocky, dusty and lifeless. Almost a hundred miles of nothing. It was the first Lamechi battlefield, once long ago it was drenched in the blood of Rai Zohar's devoted--an expensive victory. Now it is home to the most holy of Lamechi holidays. For three days of the Pejoran year the lives of the first Lamechs are solemnly celebrated by over six hundred thousand Lamechs on their knees whispering the names of a million fallen Maesrais. Maesrai were Rai Zohar's first guardians of the balance, who, once enlightened, had rejected the title of lamech which had been bestowed upon them by their former slavemasters and had taken on a name of their own making. Now the rank of Maesrai was earned once one completed training at the Maesra Athema.
"You have been chosen..." He remembered the words, those ugly words that were the cause of his misery. "Chosen to be our hope for peace."
He was trained to be brave in the presence of the worst the dark realms had to offer. Those words could not or should not scare him. Then why was he afraid? He would fight anything he was ordered to fight without a second thought. Fighting did not frighten him, nothing did. At least nothing he would or could admit to, such as losing her, someone he was not allowed to have.
The Plain of Whispering extended to the Omnima, the great river of Aeonra; the mother of the world's oceans. Here in Pejora she was dark, as she was in the seven dark realms--Adrara, Abra-baxra, Abaddra, Ahura, Zepora, Zagara and Sitrira--one difference, here she still supported life. In the seven realms of light--Onra, Abura, Hyra, Oshunra, Oyara, Eden-kira and Azra--she was a beautiful green and home to the most wonderful of water life. Here in Pejora she was dangerous, her inhabitants were dangerous, one did not dare swim here.
He halted with the wind making play of his cloak and hair, and gazed out at the massive mountains of dark rock on the opposite bank of the great river. Everything in this forsaken realm was ugly and dangerous. That mountainous maze was no different. The truth was, most of Pejora was covered by mountains of black rock where nothing grew. The Lamechi city, the Omnima and the Plain of Whispering were the only places one could find soil that was not solid stone--the molten lava of the volcanic fields excluded. Pejora was thousands of miles of sharp mountains of rock, countless miles of narrow passes and passages, and huge underground caverns which were the homes of the most vile and dangerous creatures. Yes, Pejora was ugly. Why then would he fear leaving it behind?
It was simple really, again there was an exception. The females of the Lamechi race. The Creator; Rai Zohar, saw it fit to make of them, unbridled beauty. They were the treasure Rai Zohar entrusted to the Maesrais. He was about to lose his stake, maybe because he was a bit too greedy, he was entitled a sapphire, not a rare blue diamond.
He was compelled to continue towards the temple, he pulled his eyes from the distant yellow glow of the volcanic peaks. They were nothing special, just fire, ash and smoke--destruction being spewed from the tops of mountains. His relationship with her was a bit like the fire from those mountain tops. Dangerous.
He started up the countless stairs that led to the temple. It was the largest and, by Pejoran standards, the grandest of buildings in the city. Built in the early style of Lamechi architecture, it was supported by titanic black pillars with carvings depicting the history and origins of the Lamechi people. A dark and terrible history that rivalled those of the Hagarians. A dome served as a roof and carved within its stone was the supposed story of creation and the origins of the Rais.
He entered and walked below a ceiling of pure gold and upon a floor so reflective and flawless, it mirrored the ceiling perfectly, giving the illusion that the entire temple interior with the exception of the black pillars, were constructed of gold. He has been here so many times before however that its grandeur was lost to familiarity.
His slow even strides took him slowly towards Zohar's all seeing eyes. It was only a statue of the great Rai but in the presence of such artistry, one seemed to be gazed down on the Rai himself. It was titanic, carved from the black rocks of Pejora and decorated with gold. He was dressed in a simple golden robe, if a golden robe could be called simple. His hair and his beard were long, golden, and curly, giving the impression of an elderly man, ironic since Rais do not age. His eyes; dark and piercing yet somehow comforting, seemed to catch everything in their gaze but gave one all their attention, as they did now the lone insomniac kneeling by the reflective pool by his feet. Eyes of gold and eyes of black stone met in conversation, the eyes of gold looked away in disappointment.
Strange, it occurred to the insomniac. We Lamechs pray to a Rai that looks like a human.
"Aivar?"
He turned away from the pool to see who it was that had called his name. Dressed in the scarlet woolen cloak of the upper city--made from the carnivorous, small but dangerous bear-like creatures of the mountains--her slender body was accentuated by the light cast by the temple lamps. Her black mane, caught in a ponytail by silver ringlets at each end, brushed the flawless tiles. Her clear blue eyes were large and filled with concern.
"Aivar are you o.k.?"
He stood and for a moment observed her in silence. Fire was dangerous but darn it was beautiful.
"Yes," he replied at last. "I needed to seek his council."
She walked to his side while gazing up at the statue. "What did he say?"
Aivar looked to the face of the Rai then back to her. She was shorter and much smaller than he was. Typical of the females of the upper city. At least that was what he was told. He had never met another female from the upper city. It was Lamechi law, Nandurans; those like him that were possessed by the legendary flames of Rai Aiden, could not venture where the powerful of Pejora called home.
Lamechs were divided into two groups, the Jeaganites--who were named after the first of their kind, and who ruled this city. They were not possessed by Nandura and typically had blue eyes. And the Nandurans, so called because they are possessed by Rai Aiden's flames. Their ancestors served as the sealed Rai's army. Both groups share similar physical attributes, the major difference being the colour of their eyes.
At the Maesra Athema all male Lamechs were trained together but then were separated at the time of graduating and earning the title of Maesrai. The female campus was miles away, male Nandurans rarely saw female Jeaganites.
She turned to face him, with her eyes searching his. He looked away.
"Nothing I wanted to hear."
She slipped her hands into his and pulled him closer to her. "Would you defy a Rai?"
Her eyes told him the words she wanted to hear, those large blue eyes, gazing into them he would do anything she wanted. History told him that that was dangerous. Wars were fought because of eyes like these, nations were destroyed. Yet in those eyes one found what people spend a lifetime searching for. He, only a nineteen year old, would not disappoint those eyes, less he loses the warmth that radiates from them.
"For you," he replied softly. "Only for you."
He embraced her, feeling the softness of her skin and the curvature of her back. For awhile they stood in silence in each others arms. Here under the gaze of the great Rai Zohar, Aivar could see nothing wrong with their union. Why were Nandurans and Jeaganites forbidden from marrying? They were of the same race, they were all Lamechs.
She released him slowly, as if doing so caused her pain. "I have to get back to the campus." She stepped backwards as she spoke.
"Why did you come here?" Aivar asked.
She smiled, revealing dimples. In his eyes she was perfect, perfect eyes, nose, mouth and perfect little pointy ears. Times when he held her he was afraid he might break her, she was so soft, so slender, her skin pale and unmarked. Here in a realm where everything smelt like ash and stone, she smelt like flowers, Lauriels to be exact. Hard to believe she was a warrior.
She gazed up at the Rai, "I think that he did not want you to be alone tonight." Her attention shifted to Aivar before she turned to walk away.
"Sarah." He called softly. "Why then are you leaving?" He paused as she stopped moving and stepped towards her. "If you leave I will be alone."
"I know." She replied softly with her head held down. "If you leave, Aivar, I will be alone. Do not leave and do not let me leave."
Aivar put his arms around her and squeezed tightly. He did not speak, for there was nothing he could say to comfort her. It was not in his hands, if he was sent away he could not disobey the order. He was a lowly Nanduran, a mere warrior, nothing else; he could never be anything more. Service without question, that was the Nanduran way, has always been. Who was he to ask why?
"Why?" Her voice broke the silence. "Why did you not say no, why do you never say no?"
What would happen if a Nanduran disobeyed a Council member's order? What would happen if the children of Rai Aiden disobeyed Rai Zohar's chosen.
"I do not know," Aivar whispered. "I do not know why we say yes."
A sigh, he felt her surrender in his arms. There was silence, safe for the rumble of the far off volcanic fields.
"Do you love me?"
She had never before asked and he never thought that she would. He thought that his actions had told her a million times over, more loudly than words ever could.
"I am sorry that I have given you cause to ask." His embrace got tighter. "I am sorry that I have not told you every day since we met, I love you. Long after the world has ended and our souls have returned to the hands of the great Rai, I will love you. Never doubt it, never ever doubt it."
"Then come back to me," she spoke so softly that it was barely audibly. She arched her neck to gaze into his eyes. "In three months I will be asked... I will only say yes to you, so please be here."
"Aivar," the face they looked up to see was not a happy one. He stepped towards them as Aivar moved away from the Jeaganite. "Sarah?"
She walked by him in silence. They had been caught, not for the first time by him. It was as if he could sense when they were together. One good thing though, he would not tell another, he knew what that would mean and he would not do that to Aivar. What he would have done to her was another matter entirely.
She paused some distance away without turning. "Goodnight Aivar... Maesrai Auron."
She walked away leaving the two Nandurans behind.
"What do you think you are doing?" Aivar did not respond, he watched as Sarah exited the temple and vanished into the darkness beyond. "Are you listening to me?"
Aivar sighed, met Auron's eyes then looked away. Why say anything, anything he said now was just going to prolong the argument.
"You know that if you got caught by anyone else you would be..."
"What is Onra like?" Aivar interrupted, he knew Auron would not have the slightest idea having never left the realm but he had to ask someone and Auron just happened to be here now. "What is it like to walk in the radiance of Daidra and Ekron?"
"I guess... We will find out soon enough," in Auron's voice, was it worry, anxiety? Aivar had never before heard it in the voice of the Maesrai. It was strange and disconcerting.
"We are having trouble sleeping?" Their eyes met, Auron looked away, turning his attention to Rai Zohar. "He will not help, Uz the Rai of Light has dominion in Onra, once we enter the realm our fates will be in his hands. Rai Zohar will not interfere, he never does."
Aurons brows furrowed, Aivar spoke the truth but that did not mean that he wanted to hear it. "Even so, we leaving for Onra will keep you away from the Jeaganite."
"She wants me to return in three months," Aivar watched Auron's frustration. Of course his mentor knew that this meant trouble. Auron was just looking out for him, he always has, and as far back as Aivar could remember it as always been he and Auron.
"Aivar," Auron rubbed his brows as if massaging away a headache. "Why are you so fixated on her? There are plenty of Nandurans that are willing to be your life companion. You just need to remove your blinders to see them."
"I know, but I..."
Female Nandurans, even male Jeaganites preferred them to their female counterparts. They were tall, curvaceous and ultra cunning, with fierce golden eyes matched in colour by their hair. Their beauty was surpassed only by how dangerous they were. Why indeed was he so obsessed with Sarah? Nandurans relished danger, maybe that was it.
Aivar sighed, "I cannot help myself..."
He looked down at his black gloved hands. "Do you think if she knew, she would still...?"
Auron looked down at Aivar's hands, fingers spread wide and slightly trembling, he met Aivar's eyes then looked away. In silence, he observed the reflections in the pool for a few moments. "It does not matter what she feels...Or what we feel." He glared up at Rai Zohar, failing in his effort to mask all his anger. "It does not matter how long and for how many generations we serve, we will never be his chosen... Just their pawns."
"Auron," Aivar gazed at him, mouth slightly opened, surprised at his mentor's words. "What are you, why are you saying this?"
Auron sighed, as he often did when he thought that his underling was being naive. "Though we might train together, we have been separated since birth. Different dormitories, different food, and different social strata." He turned his back on the Rai and held his head down, almost as if in shame. "Lamechs," he scoffed. "We share a name, nothing else. They are the scorned children of Rai Uz, chosen by Rai Zohar to protect his precious balance. We are the children of Rai Aiden, the disgraced Rai and as such are treated as a disgraced race, looked down on, talked down to, treated like nothing. Our eyes, beautiful and golden, a mark of Rai Aiden's glory, is nothing more than a mark of shame."
"Stop this blasphemy." Aivar caught his breath as Auron turned to face him. He looked away, not brave enough to maintain his angry glare with the eyes of his mentor on him. "Rai Aiden has no glory, he almost destroyed the world with the help of our ancestors. Yet Rai Zohar was kind enough to spare us his fate, so what if we are not yet totally forgiven, do we deserve anything more?"
"You think he is merciful?" Auron laughed, strange it seemed more like sobbing. "Continue to pursue the Jeaganite and you will find out just how merciful he is."
"I am disappointed Auron," Aivar turned away from him. "And I am sure all Nandurans would be disappointed if they had heard the words you had just spoken."
Another laugh, this one even louder and more scornful. "You are young, you have yet to experience life beyond the gates of the Maesra Athema, and so we will forgive your naivety. However, you will find out soon enough that the Rai Zohar is for the Jeaganites and we Nandurans await the return of our Rai."
"The return?"
Auron eyes narrowed, weighing his comrade, "You should go get some sleep." He started towards the exit, he paused. "You look exhausted... You are not yet ready for this journey."
Auron walked away, the light of the lamps playing on his black robe. Aivar watched as he left, wondering why he had spoken the words he had spoken. Auron had always believed in the unification, the ideal of one Lamechi race. That definitely had changed, but why? There was some truth to the words he spoke, but only some and at that a very minute amount. There was a division, there was a clearly defined line but under the Great Rai Zohar there was unity. Why speak of the return of Rai Aiden, why speak of their dark side?
"His return," Aivar whispered to himself. "Impossible."
He looked up at Rai Zohar; the Creator, he would not do this to the world. He would not do this to us. Not to us, not to his chosen.
They looked like them, they behaved like them, they wanted to be them, but they carried the mark of Rai Aiden. Nandura could not be hidden and could not be denied. No matter what they did, who they prayed to or chose to believe, they belonged to Rai Aiden not Rai Zohar. They would never be his chosen.
Aivar looked away from the face of the Great Rai, he knew this, all Nandurans did, and they felt it in their cores. They belonged to Rai Aiden and if he returned... When he returned, they would return to him. Then the feeling of waiting would be gone.
Aivar started for the exit. The Jeaganites were smart, why mix the bloodlines when it was obvious to them that the Nandurans were waiting, and were born waiting. Waiting for the day they became whole again. And no matter who they prayed to or who they obeyed, only one being could make this so and that was Rai Aiden.
He started his trek back to the Athema. Why can I not sleep through the night? He knew the answer but would not admit it to himself.
..
The bells of the temple of Zohar rang with the arrival of Pejora's dark dawn. Their loud echoing rings could be heard for miles, through miles and miles of darkness. The suns; Daidra and Ekron, never shine here, had never once smiled down on the Lamechs. What did the suns look like, that much light?
Pejora was always dark, always cold and always cruel. Only a few could cross the divide, only a few could cross the divide and live, Lamechs alone could live within the bounds of the divide.
The golden torches and the lamps were lit, huge torches, hundreds of thousands of torches marking the Pejoran day. The city came alive with the once sleeping Lamechs now awake.
Aivar, already dressed in his uniform; close-fitting black shirt and pants covered by the black hooded cloak of the lower city, sat at the foot of his bed watching the other students in their morning preparations.
We have been separated since birth... We Nandurans await the return of our Rai.
He looked away from his joking and laughing comrades as he remembered Auron's words. Do we await the return to evil? Not even the Rai of darkness; Rai Hagar was as feared as Rai Aiden. Is our fate to return to the darkness?
"Why are you always the first one up?" Aivar escaped the wanderings of his mind to gaze into a pair of slightly filmed blue eyes.
He stood, now standing shoulder to shoulder with the odd Nanduran he smiled, "that is because you snore, Adonis."
Adonis scoffed, and then returned the smile. Together they headed towards the exit.
"Are you nervous?" Adonis asked.
Aivar looked across at his fellow Nanduran while searching for an answer. Why did he ask, he already knew what Aivar was feeling. Everyone knew it was extremely difficult to hide anything from Adonis with the unique bond of the Quorae and then there were those eyes.
Those eyes...
He was the only Nanduran Aivar had ever met with eyes that were not golden. Aivar was not sure if his comrade's eyes saw the future or the past or both, but he had an uncanny knack of knowing things that there should be no way of him knowing. At first Aivar had thought that he was blind but that notion has long since been dispelled. In fact it was clear that Adonis's eyes saw a world that was hidden from most.
Adonis could almost pass for a Jeaganite, safe for the size of his ears and the paleness of his skin. Nandurans ears are bigger and the skin paler, which is said to mean that they possess more Hagarian blood than the Jeaganites. He was not born in Pejora like the other Lamechs here but was found wandering the mountainous maze of the Pejoran Mountains. He was saved from being destroyed as a spy by a Nanduran who claimed him to be his son that was born to him of a Daidran. A highly unlikely scenario but accepted, though Daidrans can not bear male offsprings. However, why lie when admitting to such meant shame to that nanduran's family and Quorae.
"I do not know," Aivar replied.
"You are a little nervous but worried about something else."
Maesrais: Lamechs trained here at the Athema for fourteen long hard years of their lives to be tough, strong and unfeeling to all except those who are a part of their Quorae. Nothing worried them, nothing made them nervous, Adonis was wrong, yet he was almost never wrong.
Aivar sighed, "Do not ask me what I am worried about." They fell silent. The question was there, he had just delayed Adonis voicing it.
"What are you worried about?" Aivar turned to see that the twins, Echelon and Ethos, members three and four of his Quorae had fallen in behind them.
"Nothing," Aivar sighed. Just one more who would ask him of his troubles, member number five and leader of his Quorae; Aldien.
"Is it not a little silly to be worried about nothing?" Ethos and Echelon chuckled.
Aivar frowned but then smiled. "I guess it is a little silly." He paused in thought, then changing the subject. "I saw Auron last night."
"Auron, is here?" Echelon exclaimed. He was easily excited and had this strange quality of always being happy to see someone or anyone, for that matter, he had met even once before.
"Yeah," Aivar answered in a somber voice. "He was in the temple."
He looked across at Adonis and as he expected those filmed blue eyes were reading him. He wished just once he would not do that.
They made their way slowly along with the other hundreds of Nandurans heading for the cafeteria down the enormous bleak grey hallway. The cafeteria of the house of Thawne was located underground, beneath the center of an enormous circle formed by its fourteen edifices. To outsiders this might seem strange, but in Pejora it was the norm. Matter of fact, the majority of the Maesra Athema, which was like a city onto itself, was located underground. In this way the Athema was like an iceberg, the campus on the surface covered a vast area but the subterranean campus was still ninety percent larger.
"The temple," Adonis asked, as his eyes narrowed. "You were in the temple, alone?"
Silence then sideway glances exchanged by Ethos, Echelon and Adonis.
"Why are you...?"
"How many times has it been now?" Ethos asked. "I mean, you and her getting caught by Auron?"
"How do you...?"
"Did you really think that you could hide something like that from us?" Adonis frowned but then his expression changed to concern. "She is a Jeaganite."
"I know but."
"They will destroy you," Echelon cut in.
"Could we not talk about this please," Aivar pleaded.
They halted, Aivar took a few steps without them then turned and sighed, they were not just going to let it go.
He met each of their eyes in turn; his Quorae. Very soon after the birth of the Lamechi society it was realized that the typical family of parents and children, though it had its place, could not be its foundation. This was mainly because, at that time, most lamechi children became orphans by the age of ten and secondly even if alive parents rarely had time to spend with their children. So it was decided that every child, once they achieved the age of six years old, would be placed in the custody of the Maesra Athema. When enrolled, the children were placed in groups of five with a senior Maesrai appointed to each group to serve as their Mentor. This six was called a Quorum or minus the Mentor a Quorae, its function slightly different but very similar to that of a parental family.
"There is no need to worry," Aivar replied, silence from his Quorae, only the footsteps of the others and their noisy chatter. He looked down at his gloved hands then up at Adonis. "We leave for Onra tomorrow that will be the end of me and her."
"It better be," Ethos cried as he walked away. "For all our sakes."
They all continued along the massive hallway with Aivar walking a little behind the others. Sarah--he looked around at the other Nandurans all walking in groups of five, then to his own Quorae. Was she worth the honour of his family?
That was what they were; his family. He had never before met his parents or a blood related sibling. Before his Quorae he was alone, a two year old or maybe even younger and yet a ward of the Maesra Athema.
How large and how scary these halls once seemed. Then came Auron, he was not yet old enough to be appointed as a Mentor, but a Mentor he became. He took the odd little Nanduran under his wings, providing as Mentors do--guidance and love, also imparting the ideal of the unification--one Lamechi race.
Three years later, though Aivar was not yet old enough to join a Quorae, their group was extended to five with the arrival of the twins and Aldien. Echelon, Ethos and Aldien then six years olds were left over after the other Nandurans were grouped together and with no other alternative they were placed under the still very young but very smart and capable Auron. Five: Not a Quorae but a family. Auron: not a mentor but a Father, until the arrival of Adonis two years later to make it six.
"Auron said something last night," Aivar whispered. "It troubled me, still does."
"What, did he say?" Echelon asked
"He said that we... we Nandurans await," Aivar paused, it was troubling him but should he have brought it up. "The return of Rai Aiden."
Silence and stillness, everyone stopped and turned to stare at him. Even those who could not have possibly heard him whisper the name of the Rai. He had not anticipated this response, was the name of the Rai that powerful?
"Why, would he have said something like that?" Aivar asked.
Movement again at last, the others walked away continuing towards the cafeteria.
"I wonder where Aldien is," Adonis cried as he turned away from Aivar's question.
The return of Rai Aiden, the rise of the Nandurans; the end of Aeonra. It was written somewhere, rumour had it, for it has only been seen by a few, that such a prophecy existed. Rejected and suppressed by the Lamechs, its existence has almost passed from knowledge, almost. The reaction of the Nandurans was proof that it was not yet forgotten.
They continued along the hallways, going downwards, around and around, down thousands of stairs. Passing by what seemed miles and miles of grey walls and dormitory after dormitory. All the while the hallways got more and more crowded as the students poured out into them. Nandurans from age six to their twentieth year of existence, all heading for the cafeteria, all talking and laughing, being what they were meant to be. Not a dark army but Lamechs.
Aivar looked down on the six year old walking just in front of him. This young Quorae not yet a year old mixed in with his Quorae of fourteen years. They were tiny, nowhere close to his nearly seven feet. He smiled as he recalled his days of walking between black cloaked towers.
He reached down and held his tiny hand. "Seems to me that you are not yet fully awake, Dalion."
The child looked up at Aivar and returned the smile. "You noticed," he sighed. "Our Mentor had us studying into the wee hours of the night, apparently we have been falling behind."
"You, falling behind, no!" Aivar remarked sarcastically. "With the hours you put into playing, I can not believe you are not at the head of your class."
Dalion laughed, he knew Aivar spoke the truth, but when you are a recognized genius why waste your time studying?
"Would you mind if we eat with you today?"
Aivar looked around, he was surrounded by first year students. He did not know why, for he was not the most jovial of persons in the mornings, but each day when it was time for the first meal they would flock to him.
"I guess since I will be leaving tomorrow you may all eat at the same table as me today." He answered. He turned to see Ethos looking up to the ceiling and mouthing the word, 'why.' He smiled.
They finally entered the gigantic room which served as the house of Thawne's cafeteria. It was gloomy and dim, with hundreds of long, shabby, colourless wooden tables arranged in rows and columns. A dome served as the ceiling, the dome itself was unadorned and grey. All in all it was an ugly dreary place, as dreary as the meals served here.
As usual the Lamechs entered and joined a lengthy line with bowl and spoon in hand. The wait would be long. Aivar looked around the large dull room and as he half expected he saw Aldien already seated around their usual table with several books around him, it looked more like a library than a place designated for eating. The Quorae leader, second in command after their Mentor, attention was drawn from his books as the first year students began crowding the table at which he sat. Even from this far away Aivar could see his growing annoyance.
"Aivar, why are you always doing this?" Aldien asked as Aivar approached.
"What are you talking about?" Aivar asked, trying without much success to look blameless. "I am doing nothing, our little friends here thought that since it was our last day here they would join us."
"Please, Aldien," Echelon cried. "Let them join us, it will be the last time they can."
Aldien gave a surrendering sigh, two against one was unfair. "Ok but no playing." He shot a side way glance at Dalion who was seated between Adonis and Ethos.
"What are you reading?" Aivar asked drawing his attention away from the first yearling.
"Just doing research on Onra," Aldien answered, he began closing the books. "However the only thing I am finding here is what I already know."
"One thing is for sure the food can not be any worst than it is here," Dalion whispered, he was using his spoon to lift the odourless, tasteless, whitish grey goo from his bowl and letting it fall back in, quite uninterested in it.
Aivar looked down into his plate, wondering if the Jeaganites ate the same thing. What else would they eat, it was not as if they had lots of choices, this moss was the only thing that grew in Pejora.
"What do you think they eat in Onra?" Echelon asked. "I guess in a realm of light the choices would be endless."
"Who cares?" Adonis asked, he let his spoon fall into his bowl and looked up at Aldien, a bit of anger and maybe fear on his face. "I do not think that we should be carelessly waltzing into Onra, invited or not."
"What do you want me to do," Aldien asked. "We cannot disobey a direct order from the High council, we have no choice."
"I say if the Jeaganites want to make peace, they should send Jeaganites into Onra." Adonis replied. "Of the hundred Lamechs travelling to Onra tomorrow, there is not one, not one solitary Jeaganite. Does that not strike you as odd? Why should we be the sacrificial pieces?"
"Sacrificial pieces, what do you mean?" Ethos asked. "We travel to Onra to serve as ambassadors, there will be no fighting and definitely no sacrificing."
"Adonis!" Aldien cried as his Quorae mate opened his mouth again. "No more, just be quiet."
"Aldien, wait," Aivar interrupted. "Why use the word sacrificial, what have your eyes seen Adonis?"
Adonis gaze fell to his plate, his long flowing black mane fell across and concealed his face. "I saw, I saw nothing. It frightens me. I see nothing, nothing at all."
Aivar looked across at him in silence, there was silence, unnatural and unexplained. There should be noises; the chatter of the other students, the slurping of the tasteless but nourishing goo, and definitely the rumbling of the volcanic fields.
"What," Aivar halted, his single word had broken the silence, the noise returned like glass crashing to the ground, he winced. "What do you mean you see nothing?"
"Just what I said," Adonis sighed. "I never see nothing."
"Aldien?" Echelon looked to his Quorae leader for an answer.
Aldien stood and gathered his books. "Because he sees nothing does not mean there is something wrong."
"Do you really believe that Aldien?" Aivar asked. Aldien met his eyes then turned and walked away.
Adonis still had is head down, shaking it slowly from side to side. He rose and without a word followed Aldien. The rest of the Quorae watched as they exited the cafeteria then reluctantly and slowly left their meals behind to follow.
Is he putting his personal feeling about Adonis before the welfare of the Quorae?
They walked in a single file, a few paces behind each other, along the empty hallway that led to the library. Dark; it was always dark in Pejora, the dancing light from the torches made of them eerie shadows. Aldien, Adonis then came Aivar and the twins, their footsteps echoed in the emptiness of the hallway.
They were accustomed to the absence of light. With catlike eyes they could spot an ant ten feet away in the darkness, but now robbed of Adonis's sight they stumbled blindly into the unknown.
Aldien stopped as he got to the library's door, allowing the others to catch up with him.
"What would you have me do, brother?" He asked as he turned to face Adonis.
His Quorae stood in a circle around him, their silence seemed unbreakable. What could they do and who would voice their hopelessness?
"We can do nothing," Aivar cried, they all glared at him, the youngest of the Quorae, only he would be naïve enough to speak the words. "Service without question, that is the Nanduran way."
Anger, then resignation, he spoke the truth, he always spoke the truth, it was an annoying attribute. Aldien turned away but the others still gave Aivar their attention, a bit annoyed with him. He walked by them, following his Quorae leader into the library.
It was massive, what in Pejora was not? Massive and dark, as if size meant beauty. They followed Aldien through the maze of towering shelves packed tightly with huge black leather covered books.
I see nothing at all, I never see nothing.
I guess we will find out soon enough.
The worried faces of Adonis and Auron flashed in Aivar's mind. Apparently he was not the only one the move to Onra was troubling. What was it about the realm that bothered his Quorae? It was the dream of all Lamechs to one day see the suns, they were getting the opportunity and for some reason it terrified them. However was it the opportunity that terrified them or was it the fact, as Adonis had pointed out, that not one Jeaganite had opted to take what was even more precious to a Lamech than gold.
"Why do you think only Nandurans were chosen for this mission?" Aivar asked as Aldien returned the last book to the shelf.
Aldien met his gaze, clear were the horrors of his thoughts. He shook his head, refusing to give voice to them and denying them credence.
"It was at the behest of the Daidrans," the Quorae turned, almost in unison, to see Auron standing behind them.
"The Daidrans?" Aivar asked. Without thought his eyes shifted for a moment to Adonis then back to Auron. "Why would the Daidrans want only Nandurans to enter the realm?"
Their Mentor observed them for a moment in silence, his eyes weighing them as if to ask--Were they ready, were they mature enough to be trusted?
The teachings of the Jeaganites had thought them to turn away from Nandura and to deny her twilight, were they ready to learn her truth?
"We are the children of Nandura's twilight," Auron walked by them and continued further into the maze of shelves. "If you want to know what I mean, if you want to know who you really are then follow me."