Tara stood quietly on the colonnade, letting the gentle breeze flow around her. It stood towards the end of the steep cliff, connecting across the streams, with one side of it looking down onto the valley and the other to the hills. Ornamental sconces lit up at each pillar, giving the setting a soft glow and peaceful touch. Downwards onto the valley, the city was light in many different colours.
Some moments after her aunt had gone, another woman, dressed in white came in rushing with some food which included naan-like bread, a deep red mutton curry and side dish of yogurt, served in ceramic dinnerware. Tara didn't understand how the food appeared quickly but relaxed for the time being, she relaxed eating and indulging in the hearty lunch.
By the time it was evening, she was allowed to take a shower in one of the bathroom stalls and was given a new set of clothes consisting of a long, well-fitted thick tunic that came down to her knees and a pair of trousers that was bounded at the ankles. The tunic had slits that reached her hips and allowing her easy movement in it.
As she walked back from the bathroom stall, she noticed how huge the place was. The hills surrounded the plateau, encircling in the back, allowing bystanders to get the magnificent view of the valley beneath on the colonnade at the end of the cliff. One side of the stream had the structure look like a town square, with a long oddly shaped clock-tower that seemed like it was stacked blocks by a child and array of large edifices. The other side of the stream stood another structure, simpler and smaller than the large ones on this side, yet dangerously closed to the edge.
Once, Tara walked back to her bed in the billet, the nurse, who Tara had assumed she should be because she was wearing white and nursing her, had brought an overcoat, one which was thicker than the tunic she had been wearing but a darker shade of red.
'Is it possible for me to check out the place?' she had asked the woman as she was putting on the coat for her.
The nurse raised an eyebrow, questioningly.
'I mean, explore the place?'
'I would assume so. Just don't go over to the Steward's office.'
'Sure.' She had replied.
As the sun settled down, Tara was met with gorgeous view of the town lighting in different colours and stars twinkling ever so brightly in the sky. The colours of the sky were brilliant midnight blue with streaks of purple, mixing gently. Tara spotted the haze of circle, the one which alarmed her aunt into scurrying off God knows where, as if the world she was standing in were under the shadows of another. Her thought immediately went to her friends and her school on Earth. Would they even notice that she was missing? Michelle would take a few days to check on her, she had too many things on her plate. What about David? Would he even bother to remember her?
'Quite a view, is it not?'
She jumped at the sound and turned around. Aaliyah's long dark brown hair was let loose around her and the loose layers of clothing that she was wearing did not hide the fact that she had a sturdy athletic figure. The streaks of white hair made her look stern, but there was warmth in her smile and her eyes.
Tara nodded lightly at her, scared of uttering another word.
'I must apologize dear, for the previous interaction we had.' Aaliyah spoke again, in a low calm voice, almost like a young grandmother. 'But when a girl suddenly opens up a portal from different dimension, I could be nothing but suspicious.'
'A girl from a different dimension.' Tara repeated hazelly.
Aaliyah's eyes glowed like a dark burning coal. Just like her mother's. Just like her own. Then it dimmed into black. She let out a sigh and then spoke. 'Yes, dear. Quite so. And this is your home dimension.'
'And yet, I do not remember any of it.' Tara whispered under her breath. 'What is it called?'
'Rahas.' Aaliyah answered. 'And right now, you are in an enclave of Golden Hills, Barrier Hills.'
'Rahas.' Tara whispered the name under her breathe, trying to grasp its essence in it. 'Golden Hills. Barrier Hills.'
'Why don't we move to my office and talk?' Aaliyah said.
Tara looked a bit surprised, knowing that everyone had asked her to avoid it. 'But they told me not to cross into your office.'
Aaliyah turned around, her head tilting with confusion and then shook her head. 'Oh, that's because there is a shield spell over it, it will cause you to burst you into flames.'
Tara paused. 'Wait, what?'
'Don't worry.' Aaliyah said with a reassuring smile. 'Its just a wall, it recognizes me immediately and anyone I want to enter.'
She signalled Tara to follow her. They walked across the bridge to the manor on the other side of the stream. 'Does it somehow deactivate?' Tara then paused, thinking that might not be a word they will understand here. 'You know, not work?'
'Hmm.' Aaliyah pondered. 'As long as my mind is strong and stable, the protection stays.'
As they climbed up stairs to manor, the doors swung open, own it's own, divulging in something that resembled a cosy hall. There was a long, elegantly built fainting couch, laid near the fire place. Opposite to the fireplace, nearer to the entrance, was a reception desk, built with a valve around it.
Tara paused at the entrance watching the chandelier made out of what looked like iron, carved into beautiful upturned flowers, burn with flames of warm orange. Aaliyah who had been walking ahead of her, paused and then turned. Tara looked at her, as Aaliyah pointed to the narrow passage way at the end of which was a huge mahogany door. Tara nodded back and followed her, walking towards what she assumed to be Aaliyah's office.
The office, on its own was impressive, with a large mahogany desk that had a number of drawers, wooden flooring and fireplace. Arabesque rugs adorned the floor while the walls had small conical sconces from which light flickered like a campfire. But what made it extraordinary was the view. Tara gasped as she looked at the huge picture window at the end of the room, overlooking into the valley.
'This is amazing.' Tara pointed out. 'Must be amazing to work every day, here.'
Aaliyah smiled. 'My work does not allow me to enjoy the view, dear.' She walked over to her desk and pulled out a framed photograph. 'I wanted you to see this.' She said, as she handed over the photograph to Tara.
Her mother's younger self stared back at her with bright eyes and a confident smile, while Aaliyah's younger self had her hands wrapped around her shoulders, with a much calmer smile. There were in identical clothing, with a vest around their tunic and trousers.
'We had been training for joining the Academe de Elementals and School of Spells and Materials.' Aaliyah answered. 'We both wanted to join the Interdimensional Committee. And we did, actually.'
Tara gave the photograph back to Aaliyah. 'Interdimensional Committee. Seems mouthful.'
'We call it the IDC.' Aaliyah answered with a small smile. 'It's the organization that monitors and administers all portals.'
'I though portals were created.' Tara said.
'Portals are created.' Aaliyah answered. 'But there are dimensions that are always interacting with each other. These dimensions when they interact and connect with the right elements, sometimes crossing over takes place.'
'These crossing overs, they cause harm to the worlds they are connected to?'
Aaliyah smiled at Tara, as if she was a child asking why the Sun rises in the east. 'Why don't you sit down?'
Tara walked over to the desk and pulled a chair.
'There is something called the Jiva Sphaera.' Aaliyah started. 'It is basically like a tree that branches out to different worlds and connects it. And because of it, different worlds connect to each other. And when the right connection is made, it often leads to intrusion.' She paused, then raised her hands and swirled it around. 'Think about it this way, if beings of a world were physical laws allowed them to do more in one world than the other, crossed over, it would lead to the submission and sometimes destruction of the other world.'
'Like an invasive species?'
Aaliyah nodded.
Tara nodded back, though not thoroughly satisfied with the answer. 'These worlds…how many such are there?'
'Thirteen.' Aaliyah replied. 'And we are the ones that is administrative to the rest. They just don't know it.'
'And the IDC, they are the ones that administers this?'
Aaliyah nodded.
Tara leaned back on to the chair and then sighed dissatisfied. 'I don't understand.'
'Is something confusing you?' Aaliyah asked, brows drawn together.
'If the crossing over to another world, is so dangerous, why did my mother run away with me to Earth. Clearly it will tamper with the balance of that world.'
Aaliyah blinked blankly. 'We don't prevent the crossing over into other worlds, we control it.
Tara sighed and got up. 'That is not the point.'
Aaliyah pursed her lips.
'My mother, was part of a prestigious institution.' Tara replied back, angrily. 'Why on earth, would she go against its motto and run away to Earth?'
'Earth is one of the dimensions were the Jiva Sphaera has lesser influence.' Aaliyah asserted. 'Our powers are dimmed in that realm. She thought it would keep you safe.'
'That's not fair.' Tara stated, feeling her hearbeat rise in anger. 'She didn't give me much to work on except the fact that I was kidnapped and my father died in the process of rescuing me.'
'I think you need to calm down.' Aaliyah calmly stated.
'I am calm.' Tara replied back, almost shouting. 'Do you know how to feels, when on the cusp of some attack on you, your mother reveals that your father died to rescue you?'
Aaliyah sighed and hung her head. 'Your mother left for Earth because the people who were part of your abduction could have been very well the people she trusted.'
'So she left for Earth?'
'Yes.' Aaliyah replied. 'There is minimum surveillance and crossing over. She knew what she had to do.' She got up, walking towards Tara and stood in front of leaning against her desk. 'You still forgot to ask an important question.'
Tara looked up. 'Which is?'
'Why were you abducted?' Aaliyah stated.
Tara perked up, her eyebrows scrunched in a frown. 'Why was I abducted?'
Aaliyah sighed as she straightened herself. 'We don't have an answer yet.'
She walked towards the glass pane window and looked outside. 'I always catch myself looking at it, but I never feel like I truly see it.'
'But you have an indication towards it?'
Aaliyah turned around and nodded. 'Maybe, maybe not. But I want to be sure.'
'Is that why you are keeping me here?'
Aaliyah shook her head. 'Of course not.'
'Then what do you want me to do?'
'I want to legalize, your crossing over. And I believe we are already in the process of it.' Aaliyah stated. She started and walked over to the crockery shelf, pulling out a crystal glass bottle of what looked blue liquid almost metallic in nature. She poured it out into a crystal glass and walked back, with Tara waiting for her patiently.
'
'It will be better for you to control your fire.' Aaliyah explained. 'And you need proper training for that.'
'But I have you for that, don't you have fire powers as well?' Tara asked.
'Its not my forte.' Aaliyah stated. 'And I do not want you in civilian premises.'
'You have to clearly explain it to me, Aunt Aaliyah.' Tara replied. 'What is that supposed to mean?'
Aaliyah sat down and sighed. 'I need you to join the Academe de Elementals.'
***
As the sun slowly set down into the horizon the city of Barrier Hills woke up slowly. The echoes of portals swishing, the hollow thuds of shops opening and the clacking and cracking of potion bottles being arranged on the shelves was heard all through the busier streets. But towards the higher ends of the mountainous slopes, the sounds dimmed down. The major residences of these areas were that of the Silver Cadins and unlike their neighbours, the Golden Cadins, required their rest in the evening.
Arion had been sound asleep in his mother's childhood bedroom, drifting off on a book called 'The Dancing Art of Aerial Combat', when he was woken up by the loud knockings at the front door. It was maybe his mother's training, that Arion immediately shot up from his bed.
Peeking through the railings of the stairs, he saw the soft spark and the gradual illumination of the ground floor as then watched as his grandparents dragged themselves toward the door. But he was not able to make out who it was and begrudgingly pulled his night shirt around him and shambled down the stairs.
'She left for Baek Dosi, already?'
It was Aaliyah.
Arion sighed. Nothing of import, it was for his aunt Sadabrasi.
'Is there any way to contact her?' She sounded frantic.
He heard his grandparents reply in negative, pointing out the fact that it is already late and too far away for a portal travel.
'Aunt Aaliyah?'
Aaliyah's head popped into the room and spotted him, her eyes widening at some realisation.
In a few minutes, he came to understand her plight. Arion stood outside the door of his grandparent's house, fully dressed in the clothes and his wings, ready to span the Barrier Hills for a young Na'ar girl.
'Scout as much as possible. We need to find her.' Aaliyah said after she had explained the major parts of something which had been a very long story. Arion sighed as he whirled his arms around to increase the air pressure beneath him.
Although, he didn't actually blame her for running away, he realised as he took off into the skies and towards the town. Even to many within Rahas, the Academe was intimidating.
Aaliyah's narrative was that when she had initially proposed it to her, Tara, the young Na'ar girl seemed to be alright with the proposal and simply had asked time for it. Aaliyah, admittedly a bit naively, had given her time to contemplate on this till sundown and then left for her house to rest, as they were going to be ongoing sessions on the Beads of Seven Festival for the night as well.
'I am pretty sure, she is trying to get back home. Had Sadabrasi been here, I would have asked her to do this.' Aaliyah stated.
'You could have asked one of your subordinates to do this?' Arion pointed out.
'This is a bit of a sensitive matter, I can't have anyone knowing about this. 'Aaliyah had replied shaking her head. 'Bring her back. By persuasion and if necessary, by force.'
Arion had felt a bit hesitant. He was not very used to Aaliyah being anxious.
'And one more thing, Arion.' Aaliyah said. 'Not one word about this to anyone.'
Arion knew what that meant. When his mother had left for her missions, his whole family would be briefed about the secrecy of it. He understood the sensitivity of these missions. After all, to this day, he has no idea what happened to his mom on her last mission.
He spread the wooden wings wide and let the wind push him forward towards the mountain. Once he was near the table top, he shifted his wings and tilted it inwards, gliding around and turning away from Aaliyah's office. He went past the clock tower and the administrative buildings, towards the thicker groves.
At a distance, he spotted a small warm light, burning fervently and prancing around as if the flame itself were skipping. Arion pushed his wings backwards, narrowing his frame like a bullet, allowing his body to gain moment in the free fall. As he neared, the ground, he immediately twisted his body upwards and flapped the wings, causing dust and leaves to gyrate into the air.
The young, Na'ar girl, Tara, stood a few metres away, her arms around her eyes, trying to block the dust that the gust of wind brough. She put down her hands as the dust settled and her eyes widened with realization on seeing him. She immediately turned around and bolted.
'Hey!!' he shouted.
When she didn't stop then, he bellowed with whatever sound he could muster. 'HEY!!!'
She didn't stop.
Arion rolled his eyes. He immediately took off, crossing her withing a few seconds, slowly landing a few paces in front of her. She halted her steps, watching Arion cautiously.
'You really think you can outrun a Kaze?' He asked her.
'I can think whatever I want.' She immediately snapped back.
Arion blinked. He didn't know how to reply to that. 'That was not really the point of my rhetoric question.'
She pursed her lips, trying to stop the trembling. She looked like a complete mess, her hair dishevelled and heavy bags under her eyes. The red glow in her eyes, glowed dull.
'Tara…..may I call you Tara?' Arion asked.
She narrowed her eyes at him. 'Why do you know my name?'
'Aaliyah sent me.'
'Well, let her know, that I am leaving. I do not want any part of this.' She turned around to walk away.
'It's the other way.' Arion replied. Tara stopped in her tracks and then reluctantly turned around and walked towards him. 'I am still leaving.' She said as she near him and walked past him.
Arion suppressed a chuckle. He jogged towards her and started walking beside her. 'Mind if I walk with you?'
Tara paused. 'Didn't you attack me in that hospital room?'
Arion was confused about what hospital meant, but then he ignored it. He knew this was not the time for any kind of justifications. 'You mean the hospice. I am sorry. I didn't realise the state you were in.'
'And which state is that?' she asked back, trying to retort.
Arion closed his eyes and smiled lightly at her spirit to fight back. 'Listen, this is not how you get back to wherever your home is.'
'You don't know that. The portal might still be there.'
Arion shook his head. 'No, it's not. And also, you are going the wrong way, plus you won't be able to get inside because there is a barrier surrounding it.'
Tara stood there for a few moments, just staring at him and then she stomped her feet on the ground. 'Ughh….'
Arion took a few steps back.
'I don't want to do this.' She yelled. 'I just want to go back home. I don't want to join some fighting institution.' Tears were streaming out of her eyes uncontrollably as she collapsed onto the ground. 'I don't know what to do.'
Arion pursed his lips. It was not his place, but the least he could was just give her some strength. He walked towards folded figure and placed his arm on her shoulder. 'Tara?'
She looked up, her eyes brimmed with tears and her nose red. She looked cute.
'The Academe is not as scary as you think it is.' He said. 'I don't think, Aaliyah communicated that well to you.'
She shook her head and wiped the snot off her face.
'Almost everyone there will be around your age.' He continued and sat down beside her. 'And a majority of them, do not know how to fight. They will all be untrained like you.'
'How do you know all of this?' she asked, her voice shaking.
'Well, I will be joining the Academe as well.' He paused and then added. 'But mind you, I have had training.'
'She told me, that if I have to find my mother, I will have to become a weapon myself.' Tara said.
'You know how adults are.' He answered with a sigh.
Tara looked at him confused. 'Aren't we both adults?'
'I meant that they have been adults for far longer than we have.' He replied. 'They tend to see things more seriously. What she probably meant was for you to control the fire, to help you.'
'But isn't this a serious situation?' Tara asked doubtfully. 'I was attacked by some people, my mother saved me and sacrificed herself so that I escaped whatever they were. I don't know who they were, what they wanted and somehow I ended up where my aunt could easily find me.'
'Your mother must have made a portal to here so that Aaliyah could find you easily.' Arion replied.
'Even then, why I am so sure that she could have my best interests at heart?' Tara asked.
Arion turned his head and looked at her. He sighed. 'What choice do you have?'
'I could try going back to Earth.'
Arion shook his. 'Let's just say, you do find a portal. Which you won't, but lets just say you do find one and then what?'
'Find my ma and get back to my life.'
'What if your ma is looking for you here?' Arion asked. 'And what about these fire powers of yours, what will you do about them?'
Tara was shocked into silence. Finally, a few moments later, she spoke again. 'Are you suggesting that I go to this Academe?'
'All I am saying is that, like it or not, your life changed.' Arion said with shrug. 'But, even then, I cannot decide for you. All I am saying is that, it may not be as scary as it may seem to you, nor it may be as serious as Aaliyah puts it across to you. Besides, it will help you harness your fire.' He paused and then added. 'They are out of control.'
Tara shrugged. 'I didn't even know I could harness it.'
'Fire is easy to harness, it's controlling it that takes strength.' Arion replied.
'What is your element then?'
'Wind.' He answered. 'I thought you would have come to that conclusion that by now. You know, with the flying.'
'I had a feeling.' She replied with a small smile.
Arion stood up and put out his hand to help her up. She looked at it for a second and slowly placed her hand on it and pulled herself up. 'I think you are made up of stronger stuff, than you deem yourself to be.' Arion said.
'Really?' Tara scoffed. 'What makes you think that?'
'You adapt to situations.' He replied. 'And I think you will do well in the Academe.'
'You have known me for twenty minutes.' Tara pointed out.
'I see people for what they are.'
Tara frowned. 'Is that another one of your powers?'
'What?' He was a bit confused but then, shook his head with a laugh. 'No.'
'I mean, Aaliyah made me sleep.' Tara answered.
Arion chuckled. 'I will ask Aaliyah to give you few sessions on the natural order of Rahas.'
'Thank you.' She said, with a roll of her eyes. Then she shook her as if reprimanding herself for that. 'I mean, thank you. That would be helpful.' Tara reiterated with a small smile.
They looked towards the valley, the sky slowly changing its hues from dark black midnight to an early blue dawn.
'I think we should start back home.' He suggested.
Tara nodded back at him.
Arion looked across the horizon. He let out a breath and started walking with Tara in the direction of the valley.