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SCREAMS FILL MY EARS as I feel my body plummeting fast. I instinctively claw at anything I can get my hands on to stop my fall, but everything is sand that slips right through my fingers, until I realize... I’m not falling anymore.
My breath catches in my throat as I shakily open my eyes and look up towards the clear blue sky. It takes a moment for my mind to catch up with my body enough to realize that the ground is supporting my back and nothing is crushing me. I gingerly touch over my limbs to see if anything is broken or gone.
Everything’s still here... I’m alive!
I swallow hard and slowly get up to my feet as my traveling companions slowly cease their own screaming and do the same. Some people are still so terrified that others have to shake them to open their eyes so they can see that they’re okay.
I look up and around at the tall walls made of sandy red clay and rock. It appears as if we’ve fallen into a giant chasm of some sort that suddenly materialized in the earth. But no one is hurt or dying, and there’s no rubble to show as evidence for the incident. Even the wagons are still in tack.
What happened?
“I see you’ve found your way to us. Welcome brothers and sisters.” I whip around to the new voice and take notice of a group of people in loose cream garbs patiently waiting for us by an opening in the chasm to get our bearings.
How long have they been standing there?
A young woman in a long brown tunic decorated with organic beads and stones steps forward. The one who spoke.
“Where are we?” A woman gasps, clutching her young son tight to her chest.
“What happened? What is this place?!” More of our traveling companions demand.
The young woman holds her hands up in a calming gesture.
“I know you all have traveled far and must be frightened, but please do not be alarmed. You are in the city of Veah, where magic users dwell and can live in peace without harm or ridicule.”
My companions gasp.
“Veah?”
“We’ve made it to Veah!”
“It’s real. I knew it! I knew it!”
The woman continues.
“You’re all safe here. One of our own detected your magic as soon as you were in the area, you have some powerful signatures amongst you. Two more of our watchers let you through the magical barrier safely so you could join us here. I apologize for the startling entrance, but I assure you that you were never in any real danger. You’re all perfectly safe.”
More gasps and whispers come from my group.
“A magical barrier?”
“Wow, this place really is magical.”
The woman gestures toward the opening in the canyon.
“Please follow me this way. We’ll get you some food and accommodations so you can rest from your journey.”
The watcher let us through the magical barrier?
I look back up towards the sky and my eyes go wide in shock as a camel walks right over the mouth of the cavern, as if we were under a large sheet of glass.
Oh my goodness! This is some powerful magic!
“See, I told you we would make it! I told you!” Raymond shouts. Probably relieved that he doesn’t have to face the wrath of all of these magic users who trusted him with their lives.
Rowan looks around to make sure all of the Lost Souls are together and nods.
“Let’s go.”
We follow the woman and her set of guards through a path carved into the cavern. We make it through the passage roughly three at a time, and emerge into the airy desert to a bright city in the distance below. Shops, inns and homes, sit clustered together as people mill about a bustling market.
“Wow,” I breathe. All of the buildings are made with a deep red clay from the earth, and formed with pristine sandy colored stones to break up the palate. It looks remarkable.
“Right this way please,” the woman says. “We aren’t far from the Gradation Inn.”
We follow her down the long winding path towards the heart of the lost city of Veah and I’m amazed at how normal everything seems. Magic users openly use their magic for mundane tasks like lighting fires to grill food outside their homes. A woman conjures up a wind to dry the clothes on her clothes line. Children even toss around balls of water as they run around under the Veah sun. Everyone looks so...relaxed.
“This is amazing!” Sirocco gasps with tears in her eyes, and many of the others in our group whisper in agreement as they gape at the normalcy of it all.
We arrive at a giant building with tall, wide steps. Upon entering the building, an immediate relief from the outside heat washes over me.
“Welcome, Doyenne Ina!” A man and woman call from behind a large desk in the center of the room. They come out from behind the desk and greet the woman who led us here with a bow. “How can we be of assistance, Doyenne Ina?”
“Ah, Dolly and Peter, we have more guests that have just arrived. Please get them situated with food and accommodations and anything else they might need to get them acclimated from their journey.”
“Of course Doyenne.” They bow again. She turns back to the group.
“Please excuse me and my sudden departure. I have other business to tend to. But you are in good hands. Dolly and Peter are phenomenal hosts and will take good care of you. I’ll rejoin you all later to see how you’re adjusting for dinner.” A couple of the people from our group bow to her like the two hosts did. Clearly recognizing that she’s a woman of some sort of status amongst these people.
“Thank you, thank you so much!” A man and his wife bow.
“Of course. We are family now. If there is anything any of you need, please don’t hesitate to ask. Welcome home.” She walks away and Peter claps to get our attention.
“Welcome to the Gradation Inn ladies and gentlemen. This is where we’ll get you acclimated to your stay here in Veah. I will take you in groups to show you where your rooms are.”
Peter and Dolly begin to work diligently behind the counter to organize who’s sleeping where, and then takes a few at a time to their rooms, starting with the children, their parents, and the elderly.
The group that we traveled with slowly begins to dwindle in size as people are broken off to go to their rooms until it’s just the Lost Souls and a few stragglers.
“Please, this way.” Peter smiles, and we follow him down the long halls past room after room.
“This place is huge.” Pierre comments.
“It must be. And even so, it’s still not enough room. We have many magic users that find their way to us all the time. So if you have someone with you who’d like to share a room, or you don't mind sharing a room with someone, please let me know.”
Scirocco and I decide to share one of the rooms to consolidate on space, and many of the others do as well. Since we’re all so familiar with each other, it would be better for the people who actually need the extra space to have it.
Scirocco and I enter our room and sit on the simple clean beds with a relieved sigh. The room is small, with brown chests at the foot of the beds for storage and a matching wooden dresser to share. Neither of those will be getting much use out of us since we ran away from Sono in such a hurry. All of our stuff we brought was left at the inn we were staying at there.
“I can’t believe we’re here.” Scirocco says incredulously as she gazes around the room with wide eyes. Then she looks at me. “We made it to Veah, Zemi. It’s real. It’s really...Do you know how many magic users are walking around living aimlessly after being shunned from their homes and society. A place like this could change everything.” I nod in agreement smiling at my friend. Her fire that burns bright for the salvation of magic users is contagious and has never faded for as long as I’ve known her.
“It could. I can’t believe how well they’ve hidden themselves. The development of the city is so advanced for a place that’s been supposedly cut off from the rest of the world. There’s something special about this place.”
As much as I want to explore and learn more about how the fabled lost city of Veah has been able to stay undetected for so long, I’m exhausted and ready to pass out on the bed and sleep off the past couple of days. But the sweat and sand that’s gathered in many uncomfortable crevices across my body makes it hard to want to crawl into bed.
“I need a bath.” I sigh, rubbing sand out of my ear. I recall Dolly telling us that there are bath rooms built around natural hot springs located in the inn. We go on the search for them and meet up with Sol, Veronica, and Jubilee in the halls.
“You’re just in time! This way! We found it!” Veronica squeals as she grabs my arm and pulls me towards a set of concrete steps down a narrow and dark passage. We emerge at the bottom into a large warm room with beautiful blue water reflecting off of the stone walls. You can see the steam curling up from the spring and condensing on your skin.
“It’s amazing!” Sol squeals. Excitedly undressing to get in. The rest of us were right behind her, joining a couple of other women already relaxing in the pool. One of the women looks at us and smiles.
“It’s good on the muscles,” she informs conversationally.
I sink deeper into the water, completely embracing the truth of her statement.
“Do you think this is actually a natural spring from the desert?” Veronica asks. Scirocco dunks her head in the water before re-emerging.
“You know, Veah wasn’t always known to be a desert. It’s quite possible that it has pockets of natural springs hidden within the earth.”
“It must have taken some serious magic to uncover them.” Jubilee says as she washes her hair. Scirocco agrees.
“Yeah, it seems like a lot of things here must have taken some serious magic.” It goes quiet for a moment.
“I hope other magic users were able to make it out of Sono.” Sol rasps.
“Yeah.” We agreed solemnly. I try to give her a comforting smile. Judging by how bad it was when we left, I don’t think anyone really wants to affirm what happened. I can’t believe the Sono monarchy would go so far as to allow this to happen. Everyone in that ballroom saw the queen in her ill state just keel over. No one touched her. No magic user was even near her. I can’t believe they’d be so heartless as to just blame all magic users and use this opportunity to justify their genocide.
I swallow my tears and continue my bath, the conversation switching to something more light hearted. I think the traumatic events of the past couple of days are still too overwhelming to process. Many of us are just shocked we’re still alive.
“I’m starving.” Veronica grumbles. Jubilee nods.
“Same.”
My stomach suddenly erupts in a symphony of gurgles at the mention of food. I didn’t even realize how hungry I was until she said it. We finish our bath and get dressed in some clean simple clothes provided to us by the inn and go on the search for a meal.
We find the cafeteria, a big open room with many tables spread throughout it. I spot the others already sitting at a couple tables pushed together and guide our way over.
“Have you guys visited the hot springs yet?” Sol gushes as we slide into a couple of seats to join them.
“Of course,” Emitt scoffs around a mouth full of bread and cheese. “Do you not smell the scent of roses coming off of me.”
“No, unfortunately, since the stench of horse is engrained in your skin. I don't think any amount of roses can fix that for you.” Jubilee teases. I smile and listen to them bicker as I fill up a plate with food from the platter in the center. I pull out an emergency vial of royal jelly and have it with some bread. The food is decent and is a relief on my stomach. I can tell that Emitt must have used his magic on this food too before we sat down.
Jabari looks around the cafeteria, taking in the sight of magic users roaming freely and unbothered.
“Since Ina has the title of Doyenne, do you guys think that she’s a descendant of the fabled ruler of Veah?” he asks.
“I am.” We turn to the voice to see Doyenne Ina approaching our table.
Rowan stands and bows.
“I want to personally thank you again Doyenne Ina for all of your kindness in taking us in.”
“Of course, of course. All magic users in need are my people. We are one.” She says as she grabs a chair and joins us. Sol turns to her.
“I hope you don’t mind me asking Ms. Ina, but how did you all get here? How were you able to rebuild such a city in the Veah desert of all places?” She looks away uncomfortably then turns back.
“In truth...many of us never left. The world believes Veah was completely destroyed long ago. But the truth is, some of us were hidden away along with the city, so we can have a chance to recoup and rebuild. And now we’re fortunate enough to be a safe haven for magic users everywhere.” Pierre strokes his beard.
“Doyenne Ina, why have you kept this place a secret for so long? There are so many magic users who would love to move here and start a new life if they were aware that a place like this existed for them.” Ina’s expression slightly darkens.
“As much as we would have loved to advertise our presence to magic users everywhere, our history with the rest of the world has not been a favored one.” One of the workers comes by and places a steaming mug in front of her and she accepts it with a smile. “There have been many people, rulers, and nations who’ve tried to destroy and bury us. There’s even some to this day who still come to the desert to rummage through any remains for valuables. But we’ve persevered and hid to protect the history we have left. We would love to have open arms and shout from the rooftops to the magic users around the world that they have a home with us, but we can’t do that without putting Veah at risk again from the people who’ve hated us for centuries. We’ve built Veah back up to be a safe haven. Not a war zone.” The table goes quiet.
“Can you tell us what happened?” Scirocco asks. “We’ve heard many stories throughout the years of what happened to Veah, but what actually happened here all those years ago that led to Veahs downfall?”
Ina smiles a sad smile.
“We were once a peaceful place. But, as I learned from my mother, who learned from her father and so on, there were a lot of internal problems that broke us as a people.” She takes a sip from her mug.
“There was a prophecy passed down in my family for centuries, to watch out for the one they called, the Conductor, and the one of his blood. It was said that he would be the harbinger for the end of an era. But my great great great ancestor didn’t see the threat until it was too late.” She takes another sip.
“The Conductor was once a boy raised in our land. He came across a group of wealthy passersby’s who spread hatred amongst the subjects about magic wielders being a poisoned and unnatural people to anyone who would listen. They claimed our mere existence was destroying the very fabric of humanity. Somehow they were able to poison the boy's mind with their teachings and, despite being a magic wielder himself, he grew to believe them, and hate the gifts he was born with. He instead worked with this group, and used his powers to kill and exterminate other magic users to help them “cleanse” this land.” She looks off into space. My fingers fidget with the food on my plate. This story sounds familiar.
“There was also a prophecy that there would be someone of his blood that was supposed to destroy him, but that didn’t happen. The one of his blood was never revealed. The Conductor planned a coup with this extremist group, letting them know the ends and outs of Veah so they could destroy it in the dead of night from within. My ancestor died that night, but our bloodline lived on and has been secretly rebuilding and protecting Veah ever since.”
“Wow,” Veronica breathes. The rest of the table echoes her sentiments. I’ve never heard the story of Veah in its entirety before, but that group that hates magic wielders sounds oddly familiar. I wonder if what happened in Sono is a reflection of what happened in Veah all those centuries ago. Has the hatred of magic users bubbled up so much that the nobles’ beliefs have spilled over into reckless and rash behavior.
A man off to the side clears his throat and motions for Ina. She takes one last sip from her mug and stands.
“Thank you for letting me sit with you all, but if you’d please excuse me. You’re welcome to stay at the Gradation Inn as long as you need to until you get back on your feet. There's plenty of work and trade in the city, and if you’re looking for places to have some fun there are wonderful pubs and restaurants in the social district where the people of Veah love to gather.”
I watch her leave and her companions immediately engulf her with important conversations regarding happenings within the city.
She must have so much on her shoulders, caring for displaced magic users and rebuilding a safe nation for them to live. She’s more busy than a dwarf queen.
After such a long day, and feeling safe and relaxed from the bath and a nice dinner, Scirocco and I head back to our room and fall into our beds exhausted. Scirocco turns over in her bed and smiles at me from across the room.
“What?” I giggle.
“I can’t believe we’re here. This gives me so much hope for our future. For the future of magic users everywhere. There’s finally a safe place where magic users can fully be themselves, and we found it.” I smile at her, agreeing wholeheartedly. I feel warm amongst the people of Veah, and more at home then I’ve ever felt. Although I’m not a magic user, I’m still a product of it. And despite what happened in Sono, it led us here, where we can help rebuild and commune with magic users.
For the first time since we left the Cyan Forest, I feel more grounded than I’ve ever been, and have a better direction of how I can be of help to magic users everywhere.
The next morning, our group is invited to go on a tour to learn more about the history of Veah by the innkeepers, Dolly and Peter. The Gradation Inn seems to be much more than just an inn, but a transitional place for new magic users to get adjusted to the city and how life works here. There's an area of the building where many subjects go to find resources and get information, and there’s a small museum housing old artifacts and more of the history of Veah.
“Magic users were categorized into three groups, and those three groups determined the role that many magic users would have within the society.” Gasps ripple throughout the small tour group.
Three categories?
“What are those three categories?” Sol asks, raising her hand.
“Ah, I’m glad that you asked.” The innkeeper Peter smiles. “There were those who are born with magical abilities, those who develop magic abilities over time, and those who can harness it through other magical entities and properties.”
“What’s the difference?” A man asks from the crowd.
“Well,” Peter starts. “Those who are born with magical abilities, or with access to pure raw magic, they can tap into it directly and essentially use it to create at will. Take a fire eater for example, there are some that can create flames from the palms of their hands–” I look at Jabari and Jubilee out of the corner of my eye. “And there are some who can only utilize a flame if it’s already started.” Dolly nods her head and steps forward.
“Those who develop magic abilities over time may not be born with much power, but through consistent effort and practice they’re able to gain access to magic over time. Although it’s rarely as much as someone who’s naturally born with access to magic.”
“And those who can harness it through other magical properties can only gain access to it at will by using objects or elements that also contain magic.”
“Like a witch?” Pierre offers. Peter nods.
“Exactly. They don’t have direct access to magic, but they’re able to manipulate it through other means.”
I gape at the artifacts, texts, and conversation surrounding the origins of magic. I didn’t know it was so complex and that there were so many different kinds of magic users. I just thought you either had it or you didn’t. If there are people who can gain access to magic through practice, I wonder if I’ll ever be able to access magic of my own one day.
After the tour, we all head back to Rowan and Jabari’s room and lounge on their floor and beds.
“This place has been like a dream.” Pierre sighs, flopping down onto one of the beds. Rowan chuckles.
“Yeah well don’t get too comfortable. I haven’t updated the Ringmaster on what’s happened yet. He’ll want to see that we're all okay and well.” I sit up from Jabari’s bed.
“Are you saying we have to head back to the Cyan Forest as soon as possible?” He gives me a lopsided grin.
“I’m not entirely sure, but we’ll check in with the Ringmaster first.”
Rowan creates a space by the door, moving a small dresser out of the way, and closes his eyes to take some deep breaths. When he does, I can feel a vibration tickle across my skin and up my spine, just as a surge comes from him and a portal opens by the door.
I get to my feet and stare into it amazed. I knew Rowan's magic was able to create portals, but I was only able to see it in action briefly when we were trying to escape from Sono. And occasionally when we perform. I’ve never got to examine it so closely before.
The portal leads straight into a familiar room where the Ringmaster is sitting at his desk bent over some papers.
“Ringmaster.” The Ringmaster lifts his head and faces the portal.
“Rowan, I was beginning to get worried. You were supposed to have checked in with me sooner.”
“I know Ringmaster, I’m sorry. But something has happened.” He gives him the rundown of what happened at Sono and how we’ve found the city of Veah and its inhabitants.
The Ringmasters' eyebrows lift in surprise and astonishment at this information before falling into a relieved and almost euphoric expression.
“So it lives.” He breathes. “I’m relieved to see that you’re all okay...but it seems like it’s escalated.”Jabari sits up.
“What does that mean?”
The Ringmaster just sighs.
“Stay safe, and try to get back to the Cyan Forest as soon as you’re able. If this is what it’s come to, it won’t be safe for any Lost Soul to be out on the roads or for any wandering magic wielder to be out by themselves.”
Veronica gets up from her spot on the floor.
“Well, you’re right there within arms reach. Wouldn’t it be faster if we could transport everyone in an instant. Why can’t we just–” Without warning, she tries to walk through Rowan's portal.
“No!” He shouts, shutting it instantly as Jabari pulls her back into his chest before she can go through it.
We look at eachother stunned and startled by the outburst. Rowan looks at us terrified and embarrassed.
“I’m-I’m sorry. But I don’t transport people. No one can go through my portals. Okay?”
Veronica apologizes softly as he storms out into the hall and shuts the door behind him. I turn to Scirocco in the silence.
“Should we go after him?”
“No.” Jabari says, shaking his head.
“Yeah, let’s give him some space.” Jubilee adds. Veronica looks very apologetic as we sit there for a moment in silence.
“Why can’t anyone go through his portals? Isn’t his magic pretty strong?” I ask to no one in particular. Scirocco places her hand on top of mine.
“Rowan, like many magic users, has always had a love-hate relationship with his magic. When he was younger, he lost his little sister through a portal he made.” She says softly. Jabari lets go of Veronica and stares off into space.
“He couldn’t control them well back then. And he didn’t know how to open a portal back to the same place. He doesn’t know where he lost her, but when he couldn’t get her back his parents disowned him and ran him off.”
Veronica looks at us horrified.
“I-I had no idea! I didn’t mean to–”
“It’s okay.” Jabari comforts her by putting a hand on her shoulder. “Not a lot of people know his story. He looked for her for years...and sometimes, at night, I suspect he still is, although I don’t know how he thinks he’ll recognize her after so many years. He’s been afraid to transport anyone through his portals ever since out of fear of losing them. It takes a lot to make a portal and make it stable.”
I nod my head and look towards the door where Rowan disappeared to. My heart feels heavy for him. That must be painful to live with.
We sit in silence for a moment.
“I know what will cheer him up!” Jubilee offers. “Dolly and Peter said there were nice pubs in the social district right? Let's go have some fun. A nice ale always seems to cheer him up.” The others nod in unison.
“It’s worth a try.” Pierre says. Within an hour, after giving him some time to himself, we collect Rowan and all head down the roads towards the social district of Veah. He seems to be in a much chipper mood, but I've come to recognize that being outwardly happy is more of a defense mechanism than it is genuine for him.
We join the streams of people on the streets, many of them having the same idea to let loose and have some fun like we did.
The music and rambunctious laughter of the patrons drifts to us from down the road before we even set foot in the district. It was made up of a maze of specialty pubs, restaurants, activities and people performing on the streets with their magic.
We squeeze through the crowds to enter the most popular pub Dolly told us about, The White Starlet. It’s easily identifiable by its stark white sign amongst the red clay buildings. It turns out it also doubles as a popular inn that the locals like to gather and have dinner at.
We make our way through the front door and head towards the bar area, finding some tables big enough for our group.
“Why don’t you pop a squat right here buddy. We’ll grab the first round.” Pierre bolsters as he and Jabari push Rowan down into a seat.
“And we’ll get some food.” Scirocco and Veronica offer. I smile, seeing Rowan relax back into his usual state.
“While you guys do that I’m going to head to the bathroom.” I get up from the table and excuse my way through the crowd until I see the signs for the restrooms all the way in the corner. I shoulder my way past a couple of older gentlemen having an ale after a hard day's work when an unfamiliar voice talks to me from behind.
“My my my, you’re a long way from home aren’t you Dwarf Queen?”
I freeze in my tracks.
No.
My entire body goes cold as I try to decide on if I should turn and face this stranger who clearly knows who I am, or run.
Who could possibly recognize me all the way out here?! Who sent them? Are they planning to drag me back to Hivena kicking and screaming?!
I mentally kick myself, disrupting my anxious thoughts.
Stop it. Enough Zemira. I’m not going to continue to live in fear. I’m not alone. My friends are here, and this isn’t Hivena. Whatever they have to say, you can face them.
I slowly turn towards the older woman sitting at a nearby table between two men that are also staring in my direction. Her cinnamon skin looks flawless and well pampered, although a bit tired, and she sits with an elegant posture only found in high ranking nobles.
I swallow as she pierces me with her brown eyes.
“Do I know you?” I ask hesitantly. She smiles slightly.
“No, I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure. But I know you well, Dwarf Queen Zemira. And I’ve had a close relationship with your Queen Mother, and the Queen before her...and up until recently, your sister, Queen Malala.” I gasp at the mention of my sister's name.
I look around uneasily, then back at her.
This is dangerous. No one else in the world knows my secret. And this isn’t only dangerous for me, it's dangerous for Malala! Even if I never go back, if this woman is really from Hivena I can’t let her return and expose to the subjects that I’m alive. They’d put my sister through hell.
“Who are you?” I rasp. She sips her tea and sets it back down onto her saucer.
“I am Madame Rosely, it’s a pleasure to officially meet you in person, Your Highness. Especially since I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to after the Thinning Ceremony of your brood.” She says pointedly with a curious look in her eye. “Please, enlighten me on what a Dwarf Queen such as yourself is doing in a place like this? Amongst people like these?”
I look from her to her two male companions. She carries herself like someone of status, maybe a noble who has weight in Hivena? One of the men is sitting very close to her, maybe a husband or lover, and the other carries himself like a servant. I clear my throat.
“I’m just here with some friends.”
“Friends hunh?” Her eyebrow ticks upward, then she narrows her eyes, intrigued. “Come to think of it, I heard about you. If I’m not mistaken, you’re the sister with incredible talent. The one who was a big fan of groups like... the Lost Souls.”
I don’t say anything, and a small smile blooms on her lips. If she’s here in a place like this she must be a magic user too... right?! Unless she’s like me and is only here with other magic users, which means she can’t take any high ground either. If she tries to expose me I could use it against her.
“How did someone from Hivena find themselves all the way out here?” I ask boldly to show that I'm not afraid, no matter what she thinks she knows about me. Madame Rosely sniffs sardonically and something like a snarl comes to her lips.
“Well, if this is where you’ve been this whole time Dwar–”
“It’s Zemira.” I quickly correct her, looking over my shoulder for anyone who might be eavesdropping.
“My apologies...Zemira. As I was saying, since you’ve been here this whole time, you must not know what has happened in Hivena.” Alarm bells go off in my head and a panic builds in my chest at the thought of something happening with my sister.
“What’s happened in Hivena?”
