In Anwar's Care: Reborn Legacy

More corridors. Unlike the ones we previously traversed, these were humanized with sackcloth doors and banners on cavern walls.  As I wasn’t having to focus too much on pending doom and being fixed to a line, I was able to observe my surroundings. Hopefully, figure out more of this world.

The red and black banners carried an emblem of a hook beak bird with fierce beady eyes on a heavy looking head and body with oversize wings. 

“Over compensating much?” I thought with a chuckle, especially when its stocky body was perched on the head of a lion with majestic airs. Its large talons were clawing into the feline’s mange. Both the bird and lion were bellowing a mighty roar.   

“Lord Exacles sitting on the head of Lord Dan,” Zak offhandedly whispered when he saw my eyes cast toward a banner.

He carefully explained that Lord Dan was the High Emperor’s god. However, Lord Exacles belonged to various merchant houses across the Realm of Leinard. To have their bird god perched on the head of the emperor’s deity was a subtle dig and boasting of their immeasurable power over the realm. To those in the Merchants’ Consortium, the High Emperor was nothing more than their puppet.

“Realm of Leinard.” I mumbled and frowned at the familiarity of the name.

“Oh dear. Is your memory loss so terrible that you don’t know the name of our realm?” Kalia huffed, flicking off strands of her hair with her typical highbrow attitude.

“Yah say something, princess?” My mouth twitched with a smug grin.

Kalia rolled her eyes. “Listen hear. Our realm is called the Realm of Leinard. In honor of our High Emperor’s house who had foundered our great lands...”

I listened to her geography lecture as we strolled through the corridors and through connecting antechambers, caverns and alcoves.

The Realm of Leinard was an island realm where the provinces were defined by the High Emperor’s ruling.  Under the House of Leinard were five provinces named Armia, Caldera, Gonade, Minoa and Tempra.

“Tempra.” I mused and rubbed my chin with thought. The name sounded keenly familiar to me.

Kalia nodded and added proudly, “That country is renowned for the best chickens.”  

Khes and Zak chuckled. And even some whispered laughter could be heard from our henchmen escorts.

“Chickens? Of all the things that desert country is renowned for, and you chose chickens.” Troy sighed.

“Well, you tell me smarty-pants. What’s Tempra famous for?” She huffed.

Troy took over with the geography lesson. Indeed, Tempra was famous for more than chickens. It was a northern desert country where farmers were revered. Especially, those who reared cow and sheep livestock. The bigger the farm, the more power a family had over their region’s governance. Their patron saint was Lord Zezen, who was naturally imaged as a mighty bull.

I glanced at one of our henchmen’s bull helmet heads and wondered if this area was within Tempra’s control. I kept my questions to myself as I continued to listen.

Minoa was a small island past the southern coast. Boats from Port Culcuth could take people to this island and back.

“One of the Regional Emperor’s lives there. It’s known for fishery.” Kalia interrupted when it was clear Troy had no clue about the area.

Troy frowned and jumped back in to tell me about Gonade and Caldera. Both were strong magic regions and densely enriched with mountains and forests.  Although, Gonade held more wild forests and uncharted areas. It was known for magis to disappear within and suspected to perish due to the many magical beasts that dwelled there.  Caldera was where the Imperial Magic Academy resided and where magis learned to master a practice and receive their license to use it.

The High Emperor’s house and capital resided in Armia, which was known as the city country with the most civilization and industry in the realm.

“I have no idea where we are,” Kalia whispered.

“You, my child, are in a neutral area called The Zone. Nestled within the underground of the Hellbore region. So any attempts to escape will most likely lead to your death.” A wise old man said behind us when we entered into a chamber.

Obviously, we began to panic and pray that our tongues would remain in our mouths.

However, he ignored our conversation and voices and dismissed the henchmen until only the five of us were standing before him. The chamber was simple and sparse of furniture. Another door was visible behind his back. As I looked at the man, I recognized the elderly magis who had saved us from the Shadow River beasts when we were entering the underground.

“Tis sad to see only five of you remain.” He truly sounded remorseful by the loss as he stroked his silver-white long beard.

His rich indigo robes swayed about his ankles to reveal his dark blue sandals and feet in white socks.  The robes covered his entire wiry body; draping down over his wrists and covering his neck in a high collar. I frowned at the sight of silver symbols sewn on his cuffs and hems. They looked like magic words of some kind.

“Still, to see you alive is a blessed thing.” The laugh-lines at the corner of his gray eyes made his smile seem more amicable.

“As a reward. I’ll permit each of you to ask one question.”

We glanced at each other. A question? My mind was rolling with many, but one nagged at the forefront. I raised my hand.  

“Yes, child?” He prompted me to speak.

“This mark on my skin.” I showed him the patch beneath my elbow. “What does it mean?”

“Excellent question!” 

The elderly magis explained that the mark showed I belonged to the Temple of Anwar and the goddess’s order. He smiled at my expression filled with awe. It felt like a stroke of luck.

“However, you are still slaves to The Zone. So you must know your place at all times. But being devout servants of Our Lady comes with perks.”

We nodded.

He explained on Kalia’s question of who he was. We learned of his name being Master Asuras de Caldera. The ‘de Caldera’ signified his right to practice magic. When magis scholars were granted their license, they could forego their family names in honor of their dedication to the craft. Carrying the ’de Caldera’ title ensured they would be unaffiliated to a house ruling, so only required to obey the realm’s laws. Naturally, most master magis adopted this honorary title.  

“Thank you, Master Asuras.” Kalia gave him a cordial bow.

“Very good. Keep up these good manners, child, and you’ll be able to survive this place.” He extended this advice to all of us.

From Khes and Zak’s question, we learned that The Zone was a mining city, providing ore for the High Emperor’s military order called the Illuminate Group. This group would fashion all manner of weapons for their soldiers.

“Many of the free-voice henchmen are Illuminate soldiers.”

“Free-voice?” I mused aloud.

Master Asuras answered with a weak smile and gave his attention to Troy.

“How can we live down here?” Troy softly asked. I felt he was asking for the sake of it, then having a burning question.

“Not sure if you recall the red glowing veins along the obsidian rock. But these veins are vital to this place’s ecosystem. As they provide the surrounding chi, which allows the oxygen rich lichen species to thrive!” the master excitedly answered.

I sensed a deep passion to his words. It seemed Troy had triggered the master’s topic of interest.

We were doing our best not to fall asleep to the old magis’s droning about the many wonders of lichen from giant to yellow-toad spotted variants and the water lily kind, which grew on the surface of the many rivers The Zone supported.

Fortunately, he noticed our best to not wander off in our heads.

“For another time.”  

He turned to the henchmen and gave orders for our continuation into an area called the Central Hold. Then left the chamber via the other door.

The henchmen turned us around to retrace our steps up a corridor and take a new path, which descended into a shadowy depth.  The way seemed uneventful and uninteresting, until we passed through a set of cloth doors and wandered out to a generous ledge. 

“Holy Minos!” I gasped with wide-eye wonder at the vast landscape before me and below. So this is what the rock’s chi could bring into existence.

The ledge overlooked a labyrinth of shimmering paths, moss covered rock and crystal caverns that weaved squarish patterns toward a zigzagging bridge. This bridge connected paths to a port and an island of columned buildings, grand monuments and glistening paths. In the far background, I spied the top of a gemstone ring sparkling with light from the glorious sky above. 

“Is that tourmaline? I’ve never seen anything like it, and so vast. It’s like the crystal has a life and energy of its own to be the sky,” Kalia whispered with wonder.

Indeed, the tourmaline sky cast a bright light and vibrant color to resemble the shade and texture of various cumulus. Judging by the rich orange, yellow and dark blue tones, we had arrived at the Central Hold during evening time.  A golden glow was cast around the area to add to this effect.

Sounds of running water drew my attention to the gemstone ring. I spied the vague edge of a waterfall tumbling into sparkling jade waters. Beyond the waterfall was an impression of a black castle set against a cliff-face, and a set of caverns and buildings situated on the cliff above.

“Truly amazing.” Khes nodded.

A loud clap brought our attention back to the henchmen. We followed them down marble steps and along a red jasper path. Naturally, we gave plenty of room for other henchmen and people to pass us unhindered. We didn’t dare whisper in the presence of so many others wandering about.

We veered off the path and entered a cavern with a cloth door bearing The Zone’s red and black emblem.  The henchmen grouped us in the center of the entrance foyer, making sure we weren’t in the way of others coming and going from the black sackcloth doors around the walls.

Shadows covered our faces. I felt an energy seep out of the walls. Dark specs like small debris and ash flowed about the floor edges and began forming words for me to see.

“Change is now.” I saw the specs say before it dissembled and came to rest. I noticed I had been the only one to see it.

The five henchmen enclosed us. One signed an order for the boys to be separate from the girls. My heart raced when they began to forcefully push us apart.

“Get off me!” I yelped at the strong man-handling from one henchman.

I was tossed to one side when I had tried to grab on to Troy’s arm.

“No use, Neven. This is where we part. Take care of yourself,” Troy whispered his sad goodbye and followed Zak and Khes through a sackcloth door.

I wobbled to my feet and nodded at Kalia as she hugged my left arm.   We were pushed toward a door. Troy was right. There was no point in fighting a useless battle. So I supported Kalia as we followed two henchmen into a small anti-chamber. Before us was the start of a stairway. We were given a nudge toward the right sackcloth door at one side of the landing.

“Oh,” Kalia whispered as she pushed the cloth to one side and stepped inside.

I followed her into a small fissure. We both shared pensive glances when we saw two folded green cloth bundles on a small shelf.

“A change room?” I scratched my head.

“Seems to be.” Kalia sighed as she grabbed a bundle and unfolded it to reveal a jade green tunic, pants, flax sandals and sackcloth towel.

I unraveled my bundle and saw the same items.

“Do we change into them now?” I frowned.

“Let’s see what’s next. We’ve been given towels, so maybe we have to bathe first.” Kalia deduced from the items in her hands.

I nodded, as her conclusion sounded logical.

“By the way, Kalia, where are yah from exactly?” I asked, since it was the perfect opportunity.

She huffed. I glimpsed sadness from her blue eyes.

“Okay. At least, do yah have another part to yah name.”

She peered at me with suspicion for sometime before saying, “Dwemer de Aueralius.”

Her voice held a sober and firm tone, almost like she was testing for my reaction. 

“No clue what that family name even means. Is Aueralius important?” My expression was genuine.

She blinked with surprise. “Important?! Only throughout all of Armia.”

With a groan, she explained that the Aueralius family were renowned as scholars and administrators for civil and domestic law within the province. They ensured the citizens abide by the High Emperor’s rule. The Dwemer part of her name belonged to her mother, who was a Tayuandre from a wealthy and respected family of a merchant house. As such, children from influential families on both sides would carry their parents’ name in this manner.

“Wow, yah know this much of yah families. I guess it explains why yah knew about civilian acts.”  I frowned. “What’s this tayu?”

She further explained that women within the court were distinguished in status by their titles, which determined how much importance they were to the imperial family.  There were three title classes for court women. All court females were referred to as Kamurandre unless on a higher title. Most were heirs who underwent extensive training in etiquette, arts, diplomacy, world affairs and history from the time they were five.

“This was my title.” She sighed and reluctantly continued.

The other two titles referred to women who were granted the duties and respects equivalent to officer titles. Oirandre held influence over the affairs of her family’s business in favor of the empire. Whereas a Tayuandre co-managed her family’s estate and was granted a seat in the Imperial Consortium. This was the highest awarded title.

“Woah, so yah mother was a bigshot?”

Kalia’s eyes became teary. I gulped, feeling bad I had her talk about something painful.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay Neven. This life is all distant to me now. But you were right when you said knowing too much could get me killed or in trouble. So please don’t spread this fact.” She wiped away her tears.

“Like I could or would. We’re not allowed to speak in the presence of those who matter, remember? I’m sure this includes gossip.”

Kalia looked relieved and lapsed into a warm smile.

“Well, yah know my issue. So, I guess I’m Neven. And by the feel of this body, I’m maybe 14, 15 or even 16 summer’s years old.”

“Feel?! Of your body?!” Kalia sounded horrified by the thought of how I had reached this conclusion.

“Sheeze. I can’t tell if yah little miss innocent or has a promiscuous hidden nature,” I wryly responded, raising one eyebrow.

She looked about to faint at the thought of someone seeing her as anything but wholesome.

“Fine. Well, I’m definitely 16 years old,” she eventually said.

“We can be twins!” I joked and heartily slapped her back to make her yelp.

“I’m glad we’re not.” She grumbled.

Our conversation was interrupted with an insistent thump on the wall. Our cue to leave. We stepped out, carrying our cloth bundles. Then followed the henchmen down the stairs.

Moisture and a heady scent of musk wafted past our noses as we stepped onto the top landing of a vast cavern. Rows of benches occupied the top half of the cavern’s space, and coiled their way down towards a rock pool where milky water steamed, sparkled and reflected light from the moonstone stalagmites that stood as a ring at the pool’s center. A wall of deep, rich turquoise acted as a backdrop.

We carefully picked our way down between benches and stopped at the pool’s edge.

A henchman gave us a hand signal to disrobe and enter the water. They left the area, but I could hear them shuffling behind a side wall.

We placed our fresh clothes and towel on a nearby bench, slipped out of our old dresses and shoes. Then dived in head first. The water was delicious and soothing. I felt new energy flow through me with each stroke.

“Woah! Hey.” I gasped as I saw my body glowing with a reddish hue from the chi that was empowering my aura.

“Look!” Kalia drew my attention to the pretty arrangement of pink and yellowish lichen floating around the warm, dark waters.

Steam and bubbles hissed near my face. Heat flushed my cheeks, rose-red. I noticed Kalia’s supple pale skin was more obvious than ever. Worrying thoughts circled my mind.

“Hey Kalia, I’ll watch yah back if yah watch mine from now on,” I whispered between bubbles.

She gave no visual response, but her fingers brushed mine under the water to say, “Okay”.

We swam away from each other. I doggy-paddled to a shimmering edge and squinted madly as steal glinted into my eyes. I stared up and saw a henchman looking down on me with my towel spread wide. I gulped, counted to three and heaved my body out of the water and swiftly wrapped the towel around me. I saw Kalia shivering at my side, with her modesty protected by her towel. We were dripping water like drowned rats.

The henchmen signed some spellwords that caused warm air to swirl about our bodies like a tornado. Within minutes, we had been air-dried.

They turned their backs as they allowed us to dress in our new clothes. I found my long sleeved half body tunic and pants a welcome relief to my skin. The material was light yet sturdy of refined sackcloth, which wasn’t itchy to my skin.

“I guess this is one of the perks of being a slave to Anwar.” I thought as I slipped into the matching flax sandals, which were a nice fit.

Kalia seemed impressed and grateful for the clothes, which more than kept her modest. She even had a matching strip of cloth to tie up her long blond hair in a tidy ponytail. As slaves to Anwar, it seemed we were expected to reflect Our Lady’s image. Kalia definitely did. A couple of bull helmet heads nodded with something of an approval to her look.

The nods stopped when they saw me. I felt I looked decent enough. At least my clothes fit well and hadn’t given away my curves.

“Don’t I get a nod of approval?” I bravely whispered and gasped when a sword was aimed at my throat.

“Yah can just shake yah head.” I gulped as I stared at the sword’s tip.

Kalia sighed and pulled me into a bow of apology with her. The sword was sheathed. We were prompted forward.

They led us out of the cavern and down a dank corridor. It ended in a spacious, circular, room. It was bare of furniture save for a large desk and an enormous intricately carved chair behind it. Red and black banners fluttered around the walls.

We stood before the desk. I flinched when a familiar voice said, “Henchmen leave the room.”