Mountain, The Capital Shire of the Ruling Sphere of Phelia.
Twenty years ago
' You've been summoned.'
A confused looking Ira looked up at his mentor and from his desk, an ancient thing that had been carved out from a dark mahogany many years before his time. It was a family heirloom, a wooden piece from the dimension that had been passed on from generation to generation as reminder of what they had once been. In his hands, was yet another such heirloom. He held it possesively, too close to his chest as if it was the only thing keeping his Birr from going out and acting all berserk.
The 'thing' in his hands was a little leather bound copy. Its pages a piece of the life blood of the other realm, the same that he had been perusing all morning and just moments before Birit walked in. Unconsciously, his long manicured fingers stroked the pages shut and the glossy navy blue cover turned to reveal the book's title all gilded and in delicately embossed letters that read, 'The Queen's' diary'.
The old man gave him a look and almost instinctively, Ira gripped the book even closer. Holding it to his chest protectively as if he would keep it from harm even from the very man that had gifted it. The old man sighed, his neck moving his head a slow side to side. Just a boy, he remarked to himself as his mouth turned up into a little smile that tagged at the corners of his lips. All these, all of it, all for the benefit of his ward, the teenage boy that was now staring back at him guiltily as if wanting to connect with his past was such a terrible crime.
Another sigh and his chest depressed. It sagged beneath the shimmering blue fabric of his cloak, the garb of the Gathering of the Inner circle that had an emblem of golden sun with a roaring beast tearing out from within it on his right hand chest. The hemming was also golden, binding the edges with a golden strip that covered the lower circumference of the floor length garment before rising up to trim the edges of the high necked mandarin collar. They were quite flamboyant and even though there were no other decorations apart from the Golden thread used in embroidering and the golden strip that had been used as a binding, the lustre of the fabric made it too extravagant not to stand out.
'Tamakyi...' the old man began to say, but stilled not really sure how he was going to say it, for his ward was really just a boy, barely into his teenage years and because of that, there was really no way to accurately predict how this fourteen year old boy, mature as sometimes he proved to be, would react to the news he had to give him.
'The Priest is here.' the man finally said after an extended pause that had left Ira feeling more anxious than he had cared to show. Slowly, the young man rose up from his desk and stowed away his precious little book in one of his drawers before joining Birit on the other side near the entrance to his study.
Birit, that was his name. The old man with the white shoulder length mane on his head for hair and the blue robes. His complexion however was a lot like Ira's. Even bronzed out skin, almost orange as was characteristic of his people, all the people of the this Fourth dimension. No given amount of illusions could change that. It was their signature, their identity as a people and where hair and eye colour was normally subject to change, the tanned look remained no matter what products or Birr its host was able to use.
'It's time.'
Ira barely heard the Oldman say as they approached the corridor leading to the Council chambers and to the set of Council guards that were always standing guard by the main entrance of that Behemoth of a building. It was a stately building, a monolith hewned out from the very side of the mountain. Where the mountain stood camouflaged, hiding windows and series of tunnels that they called corridors, the council chambers stood out for the whole realm to see. It spoke of their unity, their beliefs and apart from the Solarium there was no other building to rival this, that was apart from the Muzyi, the Queen's palace that would appear and reappear at will.
'Is this it?' Ira thought to himself,his mind floating back to his book, the chronicles of the old queens and he found himself wondering even as his feet beneath him refused to move. It was not that he did not want to do, but he was young and his doubts were plaguing him pointing out the obviouses the things that he knew but would bring to light, not even to his own mentor. His fear of the unknown gripping his consciousness, the thought of his inadequacies paralyzing his motor functions such that he could not move even a single muscle. 'I cannot do this!' he whispered, an overwhelming sense of panic and of urgency gripping his voice to unveil the terror that was now surging within him.
The Oldman, sensing his hesitation, his doubts and his fears through the tone of his voice, turned to look at the boy with a look of concerned reflected on his eyes.
' Ira... ' he allayed his comfort with the tone of his voice moving closer to the boy who was now staring blankly ahead of him looking dazed as if had just slipped into a trance.
'We've talked about this,' he told him softly, 'and you know that it would not have been asked of you had it not been absolutely necessary.' the young man shook his head in agreement. His thoughts were far and divided but he could still hear him. He knew that what he saiying was true, had felt it when his Birr had threatened to go berserk. He was young but he still understood what it meant for him, for his people and more so for this realm if they were to continue living in the light. Everything that the old man was saying was true, but his feelings were refusing to cooperate. Deep down, he still didn't know if he was ready for it. Heck, he didn't feel ready for it, but Ira also knew that Birit was right. This, everything that had to happen, was necessary.
'I understand. With love comes sacrifice and with sacrifice comes honour.' he said as he turned to face his mentor.
'Come on, let's go.'
The Oldman encouraged, his words breaking the final chains of the stupor, the daze that had just gripped him and the doubts that had once again plagued him.
Ira pulled himself together, his features hardening as he placed a cap on the flow of thoughts that he now knew would do no good to him. Not if he continued with what he was doing. To keep on dwelling on them for too long, that would only serve to destabilise him, to subvert his course and only he knew how hard he had worked to get that part of him under control. That part that was always threatening to break out. The deep energy simmering just beneath the illusion, a rampant force, strong and ominous.
It was heavy, yes. A very heavy burden to bear, but Birit had somehow reassured him that this move, this step that they were now taking, that required so much courage from him, would somehow make it all easier. That is, if the Evina worked as it was expected to and he hoped that it would.
As they walked on past the last two guards in dark blue armour representative of the council guard and into the Chambers beyond, the two soldiers like all the rest before them gave a salute and bowed down deeply for the young man and for Birit who now held the position of Head council and regent in the absence of the King the Myuneen. The man himself, focused as he was on what lay ahead of them was already a few paces of Ira and as he moved on to cross the second threshold into the Inner circle, Ira increased the length of his stride and hence his pace and caught up with him so that the two walked together into the chamber and into the Gathering that had congregated within it.
Blue eyes the colour of the ocean a lot like blue sky above it scanned the room and it's inhabitants. Despite having been born in his position, Ira had never been to this chamber before, not even in his capacity as Birit's ward. This room was reserved for a select few in the Ruling Sphere of Phelia and even he was yet to make it into the Inner Circle.
The Gathering of the Inner Circle, the Council of Phelia all garbed in that same blue shimmering fabric for their cloaks stood up in one accord and gave the two of them a low bow. A far cry from Ira's own black cloak with a golden roaring beast insignia emblazoned on his right side chest, they wore various emblems, insignias of their own territories and Shires. They were mostly golden, with a few silver here and there, for even though the fourth realm was largly aristocratic, election to the council was usually democratic. Majority wins and thus, the few elites that existed could never monopolize the power or oppress the majority, the vast numbers that made up the lower territories.
All these Ira knew from his classes with Birit. Somehow despite his busy schedule he found time for him. Time to ingrain their history, their values and any piece of information that he felt would one day be relevant to him. The territories, he was told were related to one's present state of Birr. It was either, gold, silver, bronze or tin depending on one's mastery of the crafts, their service to society and to be considered a golden or silver was pretty high by any standard.
His eyes continued to take the room, studying it, mastering it like he had been taught to do. 'Know your surroundings.' it had been hammered into him, but even so, he had another motive to his perusal. History. It was all there. The connection to his bloodline, with every carve, every marking that was engraved upon the walls and the pillars as part of the chambers decor. His eyes took it all in. The golden glow emanating from the yellow crystalline lamps mounted on the walls, the natural lighting flooding in from a crystal clear glass ceiling in the form of blazing sun insignia and the blue, the council garb that contributed to the room's architecture. He saw it all and his eyes appreciated it.
The mentor and his ward ascended the tripple stairscase to the platform, the train of Ira's fitting black cloak more glamorous than the rest trailing behind them as they ascended the three blocks. Gathering all his wits about him, Ira directed his gaze ahead of him and at the menacing man that had come to meet them. He came to a stop before the set of thrones that graced the podium, his eyes blind to them and focused on the other man, the Priest who he was surprised to see was much younger than he had expected.
Garbed in Grey robe with a yellow sun insignia on his chest, the Priest held in his hand a golden challace with a crystal embedded stem. On his other hand a larger crystal, milky Grey in colour and dull lacking lustre Ira recognized the Evina. He didn't show it but he was surprised, surprised to see the artefact he had only read about, the crystal that would forever change his life.
With that thought in mind, the young man's confidence faltered as he cowered in the presence of such power. The Evina both scared and awed him. He would never admit it to anyone, no, but given a choice, he would probably reconsider his options right now. However, it was already too late and he had no choice but to drink from the challace.
The diamonds embedded in the stem winked at him, glinting in the midday sun as it streamed in through the glassy ceiling. The strong aroma of mixed berries and flowers assaulted his senses and his eyes closed, the cup tipped over to pour the drink into his mouth.
It was sweet at first, then salty and tangy and bitter at the same time. For a moment he registered his senses come alive as he felt everything, knew everything, the age old wisdom that had been locked up within every cell of his body. He could sense every molecule, every atom and the very life blood of this realm. Somehow he understood everything, it all made sense to him now and he knew he would do everything in his power to protect this.
'It is done.'
As his senses dulled and a drowsiness overtook him, the Seer spoke and the Tamakyi opened his eyes to find the Evina glowing. Somehow his essence had seeped into the core of the once whitish Grey orb and lit it from within with that same Birr, that blue energy that roared hard, raging beneath his skin. A sudden dizziness accosted him and Ira blinked as he tried hard to keep his eyes open not to lose himself in the darkness that was beginning to shroud his vision.
"May the light guide the path to a true heart",
The words were spoken and with them, went all the fight that had been left in him. Ira could not hold on any longer and as his eyes finally sealed over, the first vision took over and he began his journey in the first of many that were yet to come.