As the forest cleared and the majestic peak of Crystal Mountain
soared into view the road from Kergal to Anur met up the river An, the sparkling river that Zara had seen from the tunnel opening. As the road neared the banks it intersected a second road.
"That's the road to Mu" Vikkar pointed to the west. "Moonwine country! You will have an opportunity to try some of the very best Moonwine in Anur, it isn't far from here, we are almost there."
The road meandered north, up a gentle slope following the green
and lush banks of the river. It was only a few miles farther when Zara first noticed signs
of tribal life appearing in the scenery, attractive
signs. Sparkling crystals strung from trees, shimmering with reflected light of
the sun as they spun in the gentle breeze, reminding her of the magical Green
Serpent. The first glimpse of buildings appeared soon after, captivating Zara
in breathless surprise. The architecture in Anur was as unique as Kergal, however there were no tents or impressive cave openings here. These were real
buildings, built with river rocks and grassy rooftops, she had no reference to describe what she saw, this was a form
of architecture they never studied in school.
The
buildings looked like cozy dwellings too, they were cute and decorative, each home was surrounded by a wild and colorful garden. And like Kergal's mysterious cave rock dwellings,
Anur showed signs of a mysterious past too. Amidst the sparkling crystals and
river rock bricks there were remains of a battered past, evidence of struggle
and disaster from days gone by. It was apparent when studying the stonework,
there was old hobbled together with new. It was the most organic and
eclectic house building she had ever seen, why had they skipped this chapter in
school? The history had to be incredible!
Anur
continued to steal Zara’s heart the farther they rode into the village. Tempting
aromas of freshly cooked food wafted by, sweet music that soothed her soul,
lulled her fears away, it gave her tingling sensations, new sensations,
sensations that were so strange to feel for the very first time. Once again,
she had to remind herself of the cold hard Truth. This place was nothing like
the Hellias she had been told to believe it was. Why would anyone condemn all this?
She
studied the locals with strong reservation as they rode into the village. They
seemed friendly enough, once again they didn't fit the description of savages
or savage beasts, however. Once again there were a mix of Gen classifications; Origians, Products
without Prefects, transformed Gens and Nefilim here, too. Zara tried not to stare,
like the Dogons, the Origians in Anur were very
attractive, there were some very exotic gens here that didn't fit any of the classifications. Some of them had brilliant
red hair and some were even blonder than the blondest blondes in the Atlan
Empire! Their hair was almost white! What was
this place? Was it simply undiscovered wild land?
Some
of them waved, most of them stared at her as she rode behind Vikkar into the
village. She smiled, nervously, feeling self conscious of how awful she had to
look without her nice blonde wig. Then, just as the road turned into the heart
of the village, it was as if she had landed right inside one of her mythology
books. There, right before her eyes was the legendary Crystal Temple! It was
the most beautiful pyramid she had ever seen, it’s brilliant white walls
sparkled like a luminescent beacon in the sun, it was real! Zara stiffened as she reminded herself of the truth; they had
learned these Unicorns and Crystal Pyramids were myths for a reason. If they were magical, if they
were supernatural, then like everything else in Lemuria, these things were Evil
in disguise.
Vikkar
rode straight to the entrance of the temple, helped her off the horse and led
her inside. Terrified now, Zara was surprised to encounter a peaceful calm when
they walked through the doorway. The hall inside was aromatic, warmed by a
crackling fire, blazing in an oversized
fireplace, lit by ambient light streaming through a tall narrow window above an enormous stone egg
resting on a block!
"Vikkar!
We've been expecting you!" Once again, Zara found herself encountering
stunning beauty. The red headed goddess that stood up to greet them was so beautiful, her mere presence was
hypnotic. Her porcelain face had perfect features, her magnificent crown of
silvery red hair was so long and flaxen it draped like a fine silk shawl,
cascading over her beaded pale blue dress.
"Zara,
I'd like you to meet Mina, goddess of Anur, Mina is the great, great granddaughter of the original Moon goddess,
Sin. She’s the leader of the Lunar tribe."
"Sin?" It only confirmed what she
already knew; Vikkar was leading her into a trap. She eyed Mina's outstretched hand with great skepticism, she wasn’t
going to be fooled by her illusory façade, she was learning fast.
"Hello"
she replied coldly, refusing her hand. "I'm from Infrastructure."
Vikkar
put his hand on Zara’s shoulder, reassuring. "Zara arrived last
night."
Zara
was feeling faint, she didn’t feel well enough to solve this riddle of reality,
now she was trying to figure out how they all seemed to know each other so
well. They spoke as if the ties ran deep. Vikkar? God of Lightning? With secret
Lemurian friends? She was growing more and more distrustful of her TLS Program
theory and leaning more towards the illusion of paradise that Lemuria was, and
how it made a sane Gen go crazy, hence the 'Hellias' moniker.
Mina
knew where Zara was from already. "Welcome to Anur!"
Zara
tried to act gracious. There was nothing but kindness, generosity and good
feelings pouring from Mina. If Mina was a witch, she was very good at her
Serpent Sorcery, if she was genuinely kind, she didn't want to reject her
kindness, either.
Mina
noticed her wounds needed urgent care. "You look like you have a
headache?"
"Oh...
Yes...." Zara nodded, remembering now why she was here, relieved by some expressed concern now.
"We
specialize in fixing headaches" Mina smiled, kindly. "We have a
special spa where you can take a nice warm bath and get some clean clothes,
would you like to go there?"
A warm
bath and clean clothed sounded too good to be true, she wasn't going to turn it
down.
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