An assemblage of people wandered aimlessly through the swamps. It was a large group, a group that had survived hardship after hardship.
They continued walking only because their leader still walked—the one who saved them, the one who never gave up. A few months prior, they had been shunned at the Puffrid Central military camp where they had been staying.
The friend of their leader had slaughtered many soldiers in their escape.
They had to leave quickly to avoid getting involved.
So, they headed south, where the Kingdom's and Empire's control was slim to none and the swamp reigned supreme.
In the south, only villages remained, with very few towns. It was a place where primitive people survived day after day.
As the group passed Yoen once more, it felt like their journey had come full circle. They continued heading south, making camps in the swamps to rest, and continuing travel during the day.
The deeper they went, the more horrifying the swamp became. Attacks from all sorts of animals became common, and without their leader and a few other members, the whole group would have already perished.
Eventually, they came across a great expanse of swamp. However, it was different.
The majority of it consisted of murky water with isolated landmasses resembling islands. The ground was no longer muddy but comprised of thick water separated from hard soil.
It was like a huge lake with densely concentrated islands, and the water seemed to be no more than 7 feet deep.
Alex wasn't sure if they should continue, but she was their leader—their only light, their only hope.
So the group made rafts from wood from nearby trees and set them on the water, using thick branches to control the direction of these bundles of wood.
As they traveled, the islands seemed lifeless, with dried trees devoid of leaves or vines. The trees appeared decrepit, and green ooze dripped from their crevices. As they ventured deeper into the expanse, more and more of these trees concentrated in the center.
When they finally reached the center, there was a single large island. It was peculiar because it had none of the dead trees inhabiting it.
Upon landing on the island, they discovered the soil was fertile and joy spread amongst the group.
In the center of the island, there were ruins of a small village, with a big church-like structure at its heart.
Religion had never existed in Netherane...there were only ancient books from other lands speaking of it, or even older books from before Netherane came to the Landfill, but such texts were even vaguer.
Alex directed those who didn't know how to fight to the edge of the island while she took those who could fight to scout the inside.
The church was adorned with colorful glass, seemingly made from crystalline sap. Inside, there were no benches, only a long hall with roots running through the floor.
At the end of the hall was an altar—a shade of green that Alex only remembered seeing in paintings inside the Union's Headquarters. The altar was glowing.
Engraved on the altar, depicted a large tree Alex hadn't seen before, with a long and thick trunk and leaves growing above it like a bush. It seemed to emit a holy and natural radiance that called to her.
There was a bowl made from roots on the altar. Inside the bowl was a liquid that could only be described as golden sap. It glowed brightly. Staring at it, Alex couldn't keep herself from licking her lips.
She grabbed the bowl.
Evidently, the roots connected to the bowl released their hold and detached themselves. Alex raised the bowl to her mouth and began to drink all of its contents.
Her taste buds exploded with sweetness, but it was soon overshadowed.
Information flooded her mind—many things, many secrets were crawling into her mind.
She gained knowledge, knowledge about her ancestors, the true purpose of the landfill, what Numineer really was—everything related to Netherane entered her mind. All of its history, all of its secrets were laid bare as she screamed in pain.
Her team members tried to help, but the pain didn't subside.
For days, she screamed inside the church. The rations her people had slowly depleted, and Alex's soldiers left her alone in the church. They couldn't do anything to help her.
Instead, they started hunting nearby wildlife to try to satiate the hunger of their large collective.
After three days, the screaming stopped.
When someone entered the church to check on Alex, they found her encased in roots.
She looked peacefully asleep. The people acted immediately and managed to free her, but she didn't wake up.
It wasn't until later that night, while everyone was gathered around fires, eating, that they received a response from her. The church glowed a bright green, and everyone rushed inside.
They could see Alex standing still, looking at her body.
She turned to the group. She saw a flood of people who began crying, happy their leader, their light, was finally awake.
The group of soldiers appeared the happiest.
"Lord! You're okay!"
They all swarmed her, crying tears of joy.
Alex smiled and reassured everyone.
After calming everyone down and getting them to return, she held a meeting in the church with her confidants.
"What did that liquid do? Are you sure you're okay?"
Smiling, she replied, "Yes, I'm more than fine. I have seen the truth, and I know what we must do to become free."
Everyone looked at her with confusion, but Alex just smiled and stood up, walking out of the church.
She then announced to everyone in the camp, "We will build a city here. We will create a place of knowledge and truth, free from manipulation and lies. I now know that we are controlled everywhere, but this place will become a haven where no one has to worry about being controlled by their own rulers!"
At first, the response was confusion, but one by one, people began to clap and cheer.
...
A month had passed since that moment. Alex had begun construction on the beginnings of a city. She planned for it to be a haven where everyone was welcome.
She now knew things that no mortal should know. She was an enemy of anything that wanted order.
Alex learned truth was something that had to be restricted, it was restricted. With truth came chaos, and those in power manipulated the truth to create lies.
These lies sustained order but took away freedom.
What she planned to bring was truth and chaos to free the world from its chain of lies. But this would take time and commitment. She would need to spread the name of her city and build up a force to spread truth to the world.
Her first goal in establishing freedom was to destroy a specific entity that embodied control and hindered the path of truth.
City-wise, the church became the headquarters of an organization Alex created, "Truth Seekers," an organization that spread and sought out the truth of the world. Though still in the beginning stages, she knew this city and her organization would grow.
"My lady, what will the city be named?" A man holding a piece of old paper approached Alex. He was one of the people in charge of construction.
"We will call this place....Cardin."