"My
god..." Vikkar gasped. Gaunt, pale and psychologically altered, Vida was barely
recognizable but there were no other females on board, it had to be her. He hadn't expected her
to look great, but had expected her to recognize home,
wasn’t she excited? Her hair, once a crown of ebony ringlets no longer framed
her beautiful face. Filthy and unkempt she was returning to Lemuria a mere fragment of
the radiant goddess she once was. He knew she wouldn't have been a guest
of the Hotel Medel, nonetheless he expected a little more respect given his
status. "Vida!" He hollered as the ship docked but it was
as if she was deaf too. Stiffening, he fought off feelings of rage as she
was led down the ramp. Taking a deep breath he opened his arms to embrace
her, but she hardly responded in kind, it was as if he had a rag doll in his arms,
detached and lifeless, her body odor so bad it took all the strength he
had to control his rage. "Orius, what the hell did they do to her?"
"She went where she wasn't supposed to go and got beat
up by an expiree" Orius relayed the Official Line. "Seton had to
sedate her for the transfer because she wouldn't come out of her room. Says
she'll be fine by suppertime."
Vikkar took another deep breath, he couldn't let his anger
show. "Come..." he took Vida's hand and led her to the
trail-head where Ku and Ra-Ku, two of his most trustworthy Foremen
stood by, waiting to carry her back up the trail to Kergal.
Vikkar's stifled emotions didn't go unnoticed. Halios
watched his brother's expectations deflate, his sensitivities would be a fatal
flaw some day. Young, rebellious and free, Vikkar was the secret envy of the
Anunnaki gods, his possession of the sword and position in Lemuria granted him
powers he did not use to his advantage. That hadn't gone unnoticed,
either. Halios had little faith in the future of Kergal, Vikkar had lots to
learn as a leader. "You should feel lucky that Seton managed to save her
from those savages" he hollered.
Vikkar tried to ignore the scorn but it was just the first jeer.
"She'll probably clean up fine!"
Again Vikkar tried his best to ignore him and turned toward
his love. "I want you to go with Ku" He kissed the back of her hand,
touched her face and looked into her eyes. For a moment it felt like a spark reignited, a
glimmer of hope sparkled through the fog, did she recognize him? "Ku will take you up to Kergal, I will be back
tomorrow."
Orius and Halki wasted no time
heading for the lower trail. "Vikkar! Let's
go!" Halios reminded as he mounted his horse. "No time for a
romance scene, I hear we have a full day's ride ahead!"
"Be careful..." Vikkar
passed Vida's hand to Ku, and watched her slip away up the trail with a heavy heart, even though she was
finally home it broke his heart to see her go again. "Tell Flora I'll
take her to Anur when I get back!"
"VIKKAR! LET'S GO!"
The herbal gardens and mushroom fields of the ancient
medicine doctors in Anur were as magical as the medicinal arts
themselves. Aromatic, abundant and exotic, the gardens were arrayed with rare
and ancient strains of potent organics, carefully cultivated for centuries,
long before the Atlan Empire existed, long before the Origians had come to
settle there. Powerfully aligned to the ley lines and the stars that guided the
seasons of growth and harvest, the village of Anur was an ancient Solarian
farming town on the banks of the river An, nestled in the valley between the
southern slopes of Kergal, Crystal Mountain and the northern ranges of Lemuria.
Here the folk lore was rich with magic and mystery. Soils were naturally
fertile with vital nutrients and minerals, the glades of the valley were
perfectly treed and the elevation just right to grow an abundant harvest each
year.
As Vikkar led the gods up the final stretch of road to the
village they were met with the sounds of music and tempting smells. For Orius,
the aromatic stimulation generated waves of nostalgia, stirring his soul.
Caught off guard by the emotional tide triggered by these sensations, he
shifted in the saddle, hiding from the pangs of desire for an authentic Lemurian meal that had never
gone away, buried and forgotten they were awakening now, grumpy from their
slumber.
Trailing behind the group, Halki, god of Intelligence
counted horse clops as he scanned and sketched out their travels along the way
on scrolls of scribbles in a maniacal scrawl. Visually and mathematically
gifted, Halki was the youngest of the original twelve Anunnaki siblings. He was
tasked with documenting the Empire, he kept the libraries up to date, ran the
tabloid companies, gathered the Knowledge and most importantly, plotted the
maps for the New Empire.
Anur wasn't an easy town to sketch out, the streets had
never been properly planned, higgledy piggledy stone houses and wooden farming
huts stood amidst random gardens, fences and clothes hung on lines, nothing was
color coordinated, nothing was on a grid. Chickens, goats and children ran
wild, everywhere they looked the town was in disarray.
"Mighty Medel what a mess!" Halios couldn't
believe the disorder, it was worse than he remembered. A bizarre mix of
Origians and refugees filled the streets, the dregs of the Atlan civilization
lived here. "Ha!" He chuckled, spotting a few expirees running
away, clearly still afraid of the empirical powers. "There's our missing
aribu!" He turned to Vikkar. "I suppose you have no idea how they got
here?"
"And how would that even be possible?" Vikkar
replied. "Maybe Aquilla feels pity for them?"
"Perhaps Aquilla is using this place as a farm? Maybe
there's a reason he's dumping them here." Halios didn't like it one bit.
"Ugh!" He pulled his scarf up over his nose, to Halios the aromas
weren't nostalgic at all. "What is that intoxicating smell?"
Ignoring Halki's negativity as best he could, Vikkar led the
gods through the village toward the Crystal Temple, a brilliant white pyramid
marking the center of town. "Hello" he waved to Nulu, an elderly silver haired
goddess standing in the doorway, watching them ride in. He felt terrible
bringing the gods here but surely Mina would understand. Being spotted by Nulu
didn't make his awkward arrival any easier.
"Mina's at the school" Nulu pointed down the
street. "She's expecting you."
The town of Anur had been
demolished and rebuilt several times over and there were plenty of ruins
scattered amongst the dwellings that told the story. Vikkar led the gods down
the street to the school, it was one of these rebuilt ancient structures.
Mina, the goddess of Anur was the leader of the Lunar tribe.
Crowned with a stunning head of silvered fiery red hair, she was beautiful in
every way, a wise, enlightened, intuitive and an old soul. She knew the gods
from Atlan better than most, she could read their energies and feel their
thoughts. An eternal student of the esoteric arts, she was wealthy with ancient
Solarian knowledge, she understood the energies of the earth, the movement of
the tides and the alignments of the stars above. She had devoted her life to
restoring the ancient traditions and was highly respected by the local
tribes.
Mina trusted Vikkar, but not his friends. The sound of shod
hooves approaching told her they had arrived, she had indeed anticipated their
arrival, since the sun rose that day. Guarded, she placed the book down and hurried
out the classroom to greet them.
No comments:
Post a Comment