Green Eyes

“Wha—” Selene blurted out loud, completely caught off guard. Instantly the fire ball fizzled out.

“Fear not,” the voice repeated. “We are not your enemy, but your kindred.”

Selene shook her head, trying to get the voice out of her mind. Was this some kind of sorcerer’s trick?

Meanwhile the cloud of dust rapidly drew closer, resolving itself into the form of three riders. They bore no weapons from what she could see, but neither did sorcerers.

Selene decided to hold her ground and slowed Spike to a halt. The predator sensed Selene’s aggressive mood and mirrored it, impatiently stamping his hooves and chomping his razor sharp teeth.

By now the riders were close enough that Selene could make them out. The lead rider was an old man wearing what looked like a pinned-together bed sheet with a scarlet cloth tied as a belt. His hair and beard were both long and snow white. Beside him rode two young companions: a woman with midnight black skin and long, braided black hair and a man with brown skin and long brunette hair pulled into a ponytail.

Expecting a fight, the young Navi relit her palm and prepared to launch at them. She just needed to wait a few more seconds.

“Selene, wait!” Selene heard Jared call just as she fired off her first volley at the lead rider but it was too late. The projectile was already scorching towards its target.

Just then the young man reached out his palm, capturing the fireball and harmlessly redirecting it to the heavens, stunning Selene.

“Selene, stop,” Jared repeated. “They’re not enemies.”

“Then who are they?” she demanded.

“We are your kin, Navi Selene,” the old man repeated in the same voice as he and his companions rode up. Selene turned to look them in the eye and her heart nearly stopped.

All three had emerald green eyes.

“Navi,” she whispered.

“Yes Selene,” the man smiled warmly. “To my right is Andrew of Malchi and to my left is Maria of Anory. I am Johann of Esther, the leader of the Navi.”

“I am Selene of Kalashon,” Selene returned. On impulse, she placed her palm perpendicular to her face and inclined her head.

“Well done,” the Esthorian Navi laughed and mirrored the gesture. “You’ve met some Esthorians in you travels I see.”

“A couple,” Selene allowed with a shrug before remembering her friends. “These are my companions, Senators Andre and Estella of Ammon.”

“Ammonite senators,” Johann greeted warmly. “We get too few visitors from our western neighbor.”

“Agreed,” Andre concurred. “Jerel is truly the wonder of the world but unfortunately we’ve had too many struggles to deal with to get away.”

“That is very true,” Johann somberly agreed. “Please remind your government that the Navi are willing to help you rebuild in any way we can.”

“We will,” the senators promised.

“And these,” Selene gestured to the twins, “are my guardians—”

“Jared and Mara,” finished Johann, regarding the twins closely. “Strange that you should come here, the center of the Kalashonian Empire.” Neither twin reacted, their faces the usual impassive wall.

“Um yes, I guess,” Selene awkwardly continued, unsure what that meant. “They’ve kept me alive on my escape from Kalashon.”

“For which we are grateful,” Johann’s expression softened. “Come, you will stay as our guests tonight. It is still a long ride to the temple.” The Esthorian Navi turned his horse and led them through the colonnade towards the city gate.

Selene’s emotions were going haywire. Part of her was ecstatic to meet other people like her: people with the strange colored eyes and superpowers and for once weren’t trying to kill her or whatever Brutus and his cronies wanted. The other part of her was terrified of not being good enough and of not fitting in. “What if they don’t like me?” was a question that was on continuous loop in her brain.

“Hey, it’s really cool you’ve got a unicorn,” a feminine voice spoke up from Selene’s right.

She turned to see the Anorian Navi riding beside her. The woman appeared to be about Selene’s age, her jet black hair done in dozens of tiny braids down to her shoulders, decorated with flowers and beads. Her green eyes were warm and friendly and she was flashing Selene a dazzling white smile.

“Yeah,” Selene answered, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. She must look like a mess, having been traveling for the last three and a half weeks.

“How long have you had him?” the Anorian, Maria if Selene’s memory served.

“About a month,” the Kalashonian mumbled in reply. “We were attacked by a herd of unicorns just outside the Harosheth and—”

“You’ve been to the Harosheth Hagoyim?” interrupted Maria excitedly.

“Yeah, we spent a month there with some, uh, friends,” Selene answered.

“That is so cool,” Maria squealed. “I’ve always wanted to go there. They say that you can find almost every kind of life there. Can you imagine the possibilities?”

“No, can’t say that I can,” Selene slowly answered.

“The living art that I could make,” Maria looked wistfully into the sky. “It would put this colonnade to shame. I would be able to tell the history of the world in living color. And the animals…”

“Yes, you would make the world’s largest petting zoo or something equally ridiculous,” the Malchian, Andrew, cut in.

Selene turned to face him and her heart did a little flip-flop. He might have been the handsomest man she had ever seen. Tall with broad shoulders and a powerful build, Andrew’s bronze skin seemed to glow. His green eyes had a mischievous glint to them that Selene suddenly found irresistible.

“Just because you have no imagination,” retorted Maria.

“Come on Maria,” Andrew chided gently. “You don’t want to bore the girl on her first day.”

“Oh that’s alright,” Selene interjected. “After all I’ve been through the last few months a little boredom would be welcomed.”

“Yeah, running from King Manasseh?” guessed Andrew.

“How did you know?” Selene demanded. “Can you read minds too?”

“No, it’s just that Kalashonians aren’t exactly friendly with Navi. Really haven’t been for over a thousand years, but in the last 150 or so, been even less neighborly,” Andrew scowled slightly. “Wait, what do you mean ‘too’?”

“I can sort of read minds,” Selene admitted sheepishly. “I’m not very good; I just get fuzzy images that usually make things more confusing.”

“More than I’ve got,” replied Andrew. “So what else do you have in your arsenal, besides a mean fireball.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Selene felt herself blush.

“Hey, no problem,” Andrew shrugged. “If I had spent the last three months running from Kalashonian soldiers and sorcerers, I’d be skittish too. But what else can you do?”

“I can freeze things, healing, both myself and others, control animals to a degree, telekinesis, and in rare occasions a mega-bomb,” Selene listed. “That last one is a bit a story.”

“I bet you’ve got lots of stories,” Andrew remarked.

“I suppose,” Selene nodded as she recalled the horrors she’d seen. “But they aren’t pleasant ones for the most part. In fact a lot of them I’d rather forget. Adventure isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.”

“Well you’re safe with us,” Maria assured.

“You have no idea how good that feels,” Selene looked gratefully at the Anorian. “Anyway, back to your original question, I don’t know all the powers I have. I found out what I am only about three months ago.”

“What?” both Navi exclaimed at once. “Didn’t your parents tell you?”

“My mom died when I was little and my dad kept it a secret from me,” Selene answered. “He felt he was keeping me safe, I guess. Maybe for a while he did, but in the end I ended up running for my life anyway.”

“Speaking of your dad, where is?” Andrew wondered.

“Dead,” Selene answered succinctly, eliciting raised eyebrows from the other two. “It’s another long story that I really don’t want to talk about.”

“Gotcha,” Andrew nodded.

“But what about you guys?” Selene inquired. “What can you guys do?”

“I’m an Anorian,” replied Maria. “So I have control over plants and animals. Also I’m a healer, like you. By the way, Spike is hungry.”

“He’s always hungry,” Selene rolled her eyes. “Sometimes I worry he’ll go after the other horses. What about you, Andrew?”

“I control the elements,” the Malchian answered. “Wind, fire, water, earth, that kind of stuff.”

“That’s how you controlled my fireball,” Selene exclaimed.

“Yep,” he nodded. “I guess because you’re a Kalashonian, you’ve got all of our powers.”

“Someone told me something like that once,” Selene recalled one of her conversations with Micaela. “That seems like a frightening amount of power.”

“It is,” Maria somberly agreed. “But as long as you remain aware of that, you’ll treat your power, and by extension others with respect.”

“Hey, we’re at the gate,” Andrew pointed ahead.

Selene looked up and was once again left speechless: directly in front of them was a massive black, granite gate complex buttressed by two huge towers.

“Wow,” she breathed.

“Creation’s Gate,” Andrew informed as Selene gaped. She wasn’t even inside the actual city yet and already she was overwhelmed with the enormity of it.

“What’s it made out of?” she inquired.

“Black granite,” Jared spoke up from behind. “It’s a rare and unique stone found in Malchian that is incredibly hard. Because the gate is the weakest point in any defensive structure, the designers made the gate complexes out of it.”

“If it’s so strong, why haven’t I seen it before?” Selene queried.

“Because you’re looking at half of the entire world’s supply,” Mara told her. “The other half is in the other gate.”

“Whoa,” Selene blinked.

“That’s actually not completely true,” Andrew pointed out.

“Yes, well, no one knows where that is, so it doesn’t really count,” Jared countered.

“Where what is?” Selene questioned.

“Nothing,” Mara sharply tried to shut down.

“Nothing?” Andrew exploded. “You call the single deadliest weapon ever created nothing?”

“What’s this now?” Selene asked again.

“It’s just an old legend,” Jared evaded.

“It’s much more than a legend,” Andrew refuted and turned to Selene. “After Jerel was completed, there was a small amount of black granite left over. In honor of the Kalashonian Emperor and the building of Jerel, a Malchian Navi named Pericles forged the black granite into a sword, called the Herevi’Kalashon, or sword of Kalashon. It became the symbol of the Kalashonian Emperors until the fall of the Empire.”

“As Andrew said,” Jared added reluctantly, “it was the single deadliest weapon in history. The strength of the black granite made it nigh indestructible and Pericles’s forged it in such a way it never lost its edge. The sword literally cut through anything, except black granite. Whoever used it in battle would be invincible.”

“Except Pericles made it so that only the Emperors and their heirs could wield it,” Mara picked up the strain. “That way no one else could use its power.”

“What happened to it?” Selene wondered. “Oh no. Please don’t tell me Manasseh has it.”

“Thank the Creator, no,” Jared shook his head. “During the collapse of the Empire, it vanished.”

“According to some legends,” Andrew told her, “it was hidden by the Navi to take down the Emperors.”

“But the location has been lost to time,” added Maria. “Not even the Navi know where it is anymore.”

“If it ever existed in the first place,” Jared snorted derisively, indicating what he thought of the legend.

“There is more to the legend than just the weapon’s power,” Johann spoke from the head of the group. “When the sword was taken from the Emperors, the Navi declared that the Empire was doomed to fall but also that it was destined to rise again when the time was right. The Navi then hid the sword, prophesying that one day it would be found again by the Kalashonian who is to rebuild the Empire. Interesting, isn’t it my young Kalashonian friends?”

Selene saw that Johann wasn’t looking at her, but at Jared and Mara. “Young?” she questioned. “They’re 40.”

“What?” both Andrew and Maria snapped their heads around to look at the twins.

“And I am over 200,” Johann replied with wry smile.

“Eh, figured,” Selene shrugged.

“Seriously?” Maria asked.

“I’ve been travelling with two people who look half their age,” Selene explained. “I spent a month with an Amazon who looked the same. When it comes to ages, I assume everyone looks at least twice their age. Like I’m guessing you two are in your 40s.”

“No,” Andrew scowled. “I’m 27.”

“And I’m 23,” added Maria.

“Finally, people my age,” Selene exhaled. “Being stuck with these two old fogies has been tiring.”

“Just be sure to get us our prune juice before bed,” Jared sardonically retorted, eliciting a laugh from the younger Navi.

They rode through the outer gate over a drawbridge that spanned the 50 yard moat leading into the inner gate which was almost twice the size of the outer gate, replete with six inner chambers and three massive doors. Huge chandeliers lit the interior of the gatehouse, the crystal dancing light off the murals painted onto the wall. Selene’s eyes drank in the images telling the story of the world’s creation. She realized that she didn’t really know the story of creation and made a mental note to ask Johann about it sometime.

Breaking through into the interior of the city, Selene was in for another shock. The outside of the city was so massive, so impressive that she wasn’t prepared for the rundown state of the city. Basically all she could see were ruins except for the towering ziggurat a little over two miles distant.

“What happened here?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” Andrew cocked his head.

“From the outside, it looks so imposing but this…” she trailed off, gesturing around to the ruined houses, shops, and whatever else the ramshackle buildings might have been.

“Oh that,” Maria laughed. “That’s just because no one really lives in the outer circle of the city.”

“Remember that Jerel was built to be the center of the world, something that it no longer is,” Andrew explained. “In its prime, it housed more than 15 million people.”

“What’s the population now?” Selene wondered.

“Roughly 14,000, almost all of whom live right around the temple,” Maria responded. “This city used to be the capital of the world but the world is so divided that it no longer fills that function. Now Jerel is the city of the Navi and we use it as our base but it is unfortunately little more than that. Because of that, fewer people live here which means a lot of the city is left uninhabited and hence it has fallen into ruin.”

“I suppose we could make an effort to keep up the city, but it is so huge that it wouldn’t be worth the insane amount of work it would take,” Andrew added.

“Bummer,” remarked Selene.

Silently they rode down the main road that led directly to the Navi Temple while Selene continued to drink in the sights. Derelict as most of the city was, the sheer size of it was still impressive. As they got closer to the Temple, Selene began to see people and more of the buildings were inhabited and in good condition.

Half an hour later, they reached the Navi Temple complex. A 15 foot stone wall ran around the outside of the complex. They passed through the gate and Selene got her first good look at the Temple that would become, she hoped her home.

From the gate, the towering ziggurat was imposing enough; up close, it was downright intimidating. Its seven stacked levels rose nearly a thousand feet into the sky, almost touching the clouds. Wrapping around the outside of the Temple wound an enormous staircase that stopped at the top of the sixth level, just below the seventh. Each level contained ten to twelve stories each.

“How many Navi are there?” Selene asked in awe.

“47, 25 of whom are here,” Johann informed her. “Much of the Temple is dedicated to training facilities, which with some of our people’s talents,” he gave a nod to both Maria and Andrew, “can take up a lot of space. We have 3000 years’ worth of records archived, in addition to our extensive library. The sixth level is dedicated to meditation. And of course there are residential apartments, one of which will be yours.”

“You said only 25 of the Navi are here,” Selene noted. “What are the others doing?”

“They are on various missions around the world, except Kalashon and Malchi,” Johann answered. “A couple are mediating some disputes in the Southern Confederacy. Currently ten are in the Coastal Empire doing relief work after a tidal wave hit Ander’s Point a month ago. Others are sprinkled about the various nations of the world, keeping an eye on things and ready to intervene when needed. But all of them call here home.”

“Wow!” Selene beamed. “It’s incredible.”

“If you’d like, I can give you a grand tour,” Andrew offered with a wink.

“I’d like that,” Selene smiled back.

“Oh lord,” Mara rolled her eyes with a groan. “Where’re the stables?”

“I’ll show you,” Maria offered. “Follow me.”

“Andrew, if you could go with them,” Johann told his young associate. “Selene, if you’ll come with me, I’ll show you to your room.”

Johann led Selene into the Temple past a couple of older Navi, both of whom greeted Selene warmly. Unlike the Kalashonian castles she’d been in (mostly as a captive), it was open, airy, and well lit. They climbed up the stairs to the eighth floor before walking out into a long corridor. Selene followed Johann until he stopped in front of a door.

“Go on in,” he instructed with a gentle smile.

Selene opened the door and stepped inside. It was an apartment, small but efficient; typically Kalashonian in other words. There was a sitting room situated between a kitchen and a bedroom with a balcony overlooking the lake Selene hadn’t known was there. Built into the far wall of the room was a bookshelf already stocked. Walking up to it, Selene examined the titles and nearly started crying. They were all of her favorite books; books she had lost when her father was killed.

“How did you know?” she choked out.

“One of an Esthorian Navi’s powers is foresight and understanding,” Johann answered. “I have known that there was a Kalashonian Navi almost since before you were born. Although I had to wait until the time was right, I have kept an eye on you. Not that that was hard the last few months; your adventures have caused quite a stir.”

Selene nodded mutely as she again replayed everything that had happened to her in the last three months. All the fighting and killing; her father, Jael, and countless others that had fallen around her. The cold nights sleeping outside in the snow, wondering if she would freeze to death. The fear of soldiers and sorcerers dogging her every step. And the running, the constant, exhausting running.

“You don’t have to run anymore,” Johann said. “Welcome home, Selene.”