The outer settlement was a combination of one house built connected to the wall and another stacked over the other towards the sea with a small bridge about the length of an arm between, used for passage around the community and for the support of the house hanging over the sea.
Houses made of sticks and clay are then connected, going over several kilometers around the wall, but the sheer size of the shardspire is so big that it does not make up even one-third of the entire circumference.
Around the middle section of the community bridge, under a roof of straw and seaweed, walls made up of long crooked sticks tied together in an organized manner...
There sat a boy atop his makeshift bed, a few sticks about the size of him elevated from the floor, they were supported on four sides with a much smaller pole, to soften the surface, the boy lay over a sheet of melbor yak.
The skin of a great animal, which he had purchased with his savings a few months back.
There was a window right beside his bed that gave him a perfect view over the ever-calm waters.
The calm experience was one of the few merits of the outside life, compared to the buzzing interior which was busy through the day and seemed even more vibrant at night.
But the boy did not put on a calm expression; rather, it was a nervous yet unexpected feeling brewing within him.
He held a pocket watch which had no cover, and the glass protecting it had a crack running down the middle and to the side. The hands were pointing towards midnight; only a few minutes were left.
...
' I have never been so nervous for an upcoming birthday. I didn't really think much of it at first, but the stupid uncle of mine insisted that there is still a chance of being selected by the stars, and I mustn't lose hope, and such.
And although I could take it as one of his pranks, as he truly knows no bounds when it comes to jokes and mischief, he was too serious when he warned me about it, which gave me a bad feeling.'
Philly looked over once again at his silver rim pocket watch, and there were only thirty seconds before midnight struck.
He counted the seconds in his heart as the arms slowly ticked towards twelve.
*tick*
The hour hand and minute hand finally met at twelve, Philly was officially twenty years old.
He shut his eyes tightly bracing himself for whatever may come or happen to him.
A few seconds passed, and Philly still kept his eyes tightly shut, but after ten seconds of nothing but absolute silence, he slowly opened his eyes.
He was still not sure if the variable was truly gone and stared at the watch nervously until a minute or two had passed, but nothing happened; nevertheless, only warm wind that roamed the sea hit his still face.
When the watch struck twelve twelve, only then did he truly relax.
'*Haah* that damn geezer making me worked up for nothing, Maybe it's my fault to even take him seriously in the first place, there's no way I would be selected as a celestial plaything.'
Philly relaxed his tensed muscles and let out a sigh of relief. Now his new problem was to somehow manage with the soon-to-be lack of sleep and not let it affect his work tomorrow if he didn't want to be scolded again.
He got up, took off his tattered shirt, and prepared to sleep right.
*Gong*
Just then, a loud bell rang from the city, indicating that one of the royal courtroom monarchs had passed away a few days before. They should ring the city hall bell at midnight for seven nights since his passing to commemorate his legacy.
'Hmm, it's already a week since Sir Daffons passed, may he rest in peace.'
Philly thought to himself when a thought of realization hit him making him freeze in motion, his eyes widened as thoughts ran through his head.
He was even late today at work when he thought he got there right on time.
All along it was his pocket watch that was trailing off by a few minutes.
At that moment, he felt a surge of numbness growing from the end of his feet, followed by the same feeling from the tip of his fingers; the sensation crawled up his body, enveloping him at a rapid rate.
Then he felt his consciousness slowly slipping into a hazy and unclear state, quickly drifting into oblivion. In the last moment of his mental clarity, he helplessly stared at his silver pocket watch accusingly.
His body was then quickly encased by a black mist that sprawled from his raft's floor, covering his feet and completely engulfing his entire body...
Once the pitch-black miasma had dissipated, Philly's body was no longer to be seen, but a black sigil of a double star placed on top of one another was left on the spot where he was standing.
.
.
.
" THE GODS...HAS GIVEN US ANOTHER SACRIFICE!!!!,"
Over a vast expanse of golden-hued earth and towering rock pillars, a scorching beam of the unforgiving sun lay over the broad stretch.
Colossal layers of sand dunes were spread all over the expanse with not a single vegetation in sight.
On the center of all of it was a large city made of stones and wood going about a mile in length, the city was made up of mostly single-story buildings with a few two-stories, the house design was identical to one another, with the main structure like the walls was made of clay, the door was wood and for the roof, big sticks were used for infrastructure and dried out cactus skin for the cover.
In the core of the settlement was a circular open ground with an altar raised a few meters from the ground, placed at one side of the field.
All the town's residents were gathered at the field, wearing dusted loincloths draped around their shoulders.
They were cheering at the shaman, a man who was standing on top of the altar wearing a decorated poncho with a staff in his hand, a young boy manifested out of thin air, unconscious, lying before the shaman.
Amidst the constant cheering, the boy was slowly regaining consciousness.
'So bright,' Philly, who had just been teleported in his pants in the middle of a desert, was dumbfounded and blocked the sunlight with his hands so his eyes could adjust to the glaring light ' Where am...I?'
" TAKE HIM TO THE CAGE... HE WILL BE SACRIFICED AT THE NEXT FULL MOON,"
The shaman shouted once again, and before Philly could even get a look around his surroundings, he was forcefully yanked up and dragged off from the altar and across the heated soil.
He was pulled across the field and into a make-shift shed with four supporting pillars and a roof. There was a huge wooden cage under it with five people imprisoned in it...
Philly, who was just thrown in, looked around and analyzed every other person in the cage.
' Four of them seemed to be exhausted, probably due to lack of food and water and the other person seemed to be more energetic as compared to the others,'
Philly looked over the four men who had their heads hung low with a tired look on their faces; they didn't even react to Philly joining them.
He then looked over to the young man at the corner end of the cage, silently observing him.
'After further observation, that guy seems to be younger than the others as well. I would like to ask him what the situation is about, but I have too little information on him and this whole scenario overall...
For now, I'll observe to see what he is going to do,'
As he was planning out his next course of action the boy at the corner end opposite to him suddenly stood up,
At first he couldn't see with him sitting down, but Philly was now able to tell that the boy, who he thought was around his age, was about a foot taller than him, with a well-proportioned body and a lean build, and to top it all off, he was extremely handsome, completely fitting of his physique.
His composure was calm and collected; his luscious gray hair added to his presence. Just by looking at him, one could easily tell he was a high-profile person.
" Are you from Stargrave as well?" The handsome young man asked with a pleasant smile painted on his face.
Philly who was enchanted by his handsomeness stared blankly at him and only responded a few seconds later
" Huh ?"
"Ohh, sorry, you seemed to be around my age, so I just assumed you were also chosen."