It was a darkened room with a sole bulb hanging from the ceiling, the fire burning in a glass icosahedron, an orangish flutter. There were no windows, just the one door for both entrance and exit. Aaliyah sat in the middle, on a wooden chair, with folded arms. There was a hot beverage steaming in a cup on the desk, which she would warm with the touch of her finger every few minutes.
It had been quite some time since she had arrived and as much as she didn't mind waiting, time was of the essence at the moment. Especially since it was the matter regarding her sister and her niece.
After a few more moments of waiting and thinking, the door clicked open, revealing Sadabrasi, her beautiful silver hair stylized by defined waves that framed her face and silver purple ornament pinning into a tight bun at the back of her head. She was wearing her casual clothes, the flowy dress with a flowy long overcoat, the bell sleeves of which completely hid her dainty hands. Yet the fire seemed to make her more greyish than lively.
She looked sternly Aaliyah as she closed the door. 'We shouldn't be coming here right after the meeting, Aaliyah.'
'Really?' Aaliyah raised her eyes from the cup to Sadabrasi. 'You are teaching me about tracing?'
Sadabrasi rolled her eyes as she walked inside. 'What is this about?'
'We have two Openings.' Aaliyah replied. 'One from Earth and the other to Earth. Both manually created.'
Sadabrasi's eyes widened.
'To Earth was secretly authorised by someone.' Aaliyah said.
'How do you know?'
'Because it was only noticed after the one from Earth was opened. And as you know-'
'The authorised ones are already recorded and therefore when they come up, they don't raise the alarm.' Sadabrasi continued, nodding her head. 'I know the rules, I am not that new here, Aaliyah.'
'And not many of us knew about it.' Aaliyah took in a long breath, trying to wreck her brain to put the pieces together. 'There are too many things happening to put together at once.'
'Is this about your missing sister?'
Aaliyah pursed her lips but didn't answer.
'Who is that girl in your billets, Aaliyah?'
'My niece.' She answered.
'So, it is about your sister.'
Aaliyah simply shrugged.
'Why would they go after her now?' Sadabrasi asked. 'Justice, Revenge?'
'Those things don't matter now, Sadabrasi.' Aaliyah answered. 'My sister had run off the moment she realised she had nothing left here.' She crunched her fingers, feeling guilty. 'What we need right now is a solution, to this problem.'
'Erasing portal openings is not that difficult, we just need a few resources-,'
'Lajos knows.' Aaliyah cut her off.
Sadabrasi cursed under her breath. 'Working for you is now becoming a pain in my ass, Aaliyah.'
'But he sent Sevianth to meet me.'
Sadabrasi raised her eyebrows. 'He wants to work with you now?'
'Maybe proposing an alliance.' She replied. 'I cannot be sure, Sadabrasi.'
Sadabrasi crossed her arms. 'Why exactly did your sister leave town, Aaliyah?'
'I told you,' Aaliyah spoke as she looked into Sadabrasi's eyes, 'She has a knack of running away when she realises that she has left nothing.'
'She was formidable force during the war, it's out of character for her.' Sadabrasi pointed out. 'Whatever your reasons may be, Aaliyah, I hope one day you will trust me enough to tell me the truth.'
'We need to stop dwelling on the past.' Aaliyah sighed. 'We need a solution.'
Sadabrasi moved across the room and walked to the other side of the table. A chair materialized as she sat down, while Aaliyah crossed her arms and tapped gently onto the cup of hot beverage.
'We have a Na'ar in our hands. She is in our environment. You are her relative and you could provide a refuge.'
'I meant the issue about portal opening to Earth, someone inside the IDC has enough power to authorize a portal opening and has access to technology we have. What is it that they want?'
'I can answer that question if you will tell me why would someone go after your sister, Aaliyah.'
Aaliyah let out a sigh of frustration. 'Let's for Serephina's sake say its revenge. Even then, they are authorising people outside the IDC through portals and has enough power to open the interdimensional portals, Sadabrasi. They have access to the Realmtears.'
'Then that would mean, they would come to know about your niece here. Maybe not now, since you and Lajos are involved but at some point they will.'
Aaliyah licked her lips and got up from her chair as Sadabrasi sat in silence, watching her pace around the room. 'What should we do? I am asking as an Aurome to her Argentine.'
Sadabrasi clicked her heels for some time as she thought. 'Keeping her in Barrier Hills would be dangerous. We need to send her somewhere.'
'Why would keeping her here be not safe? I am her aunt. And you know that Golden Hills is part of her homeland, right?'
'I am not questioning her heredity, Aaliyah.' Sadabrasi scowled. 'She is an anomaly, that came through a portal that was opened on Earth of all places. She will be monitored and watched. Which means you will be watched. And you are a f***ing Aurome.'
Aaliyah leaned back into her chair. Sadabrasi was right, in the name of monitoring her niece, she will also be monitored, and that is definitely not something she wants.
Aaliyah paused and turned towards Sadabrasi. 'I think I got a plan.'
'Well, that's good, because I am kind of stumped.'
'We would need to involve the higher-ups though. From the Academe. You have a few connections there, yes?'
Sadabrasi pursed her lips. 'Oh great.' She replied, with a roll of her eyes.
***
Tara stood quietly on the colonnade, letting the gentle breeze calm her mind. 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.
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 ceramics. Tara didn't understand how the food appeared quickly but relaxed for the time being, 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 allowed her to have easy movement in it.
As she walked back from the bathroom stall, she noticed how big the whole 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 explore the place?' she had asked the woman as she was putting on the coat for her.
'I would assume so. Just don't go over to the Head's office.'
'Sure.' She had replied.
The colonnade was built of stone and at each pillar, there stood a ornamental sconce, shaped like an inverted cone. 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.
She felt lost, like she was in a hike but stumbled upon one of the most beautiful sights she had ever set her eyes on. Her mind became a bit too hazy, so much that she didn't notice the presence of her aunt treading softly to 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 the smile line at the corner of her eyes.
Tara nodded lightly at her, scared of uttering another word.
'I must apologize dear, for the early 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 different dimension?' Tara asked.
Her eyes glowed like a dark burning coal. Just like her mother's. Just like her own. '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.
Tara whispered the name under her breathe, trying to grasp its essence in it.
'Why don't we move to my office and talk?'
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.
'Must be amazing, to sit here and work.' Tara pointed out.
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 had 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 tests for joining the Academe de Elementals and School of Spells and Materials.' Aaliyah answered. 'We both wanted to join the Interdimensional Committee.'
Tara gave the photograph back to Aaliyah. 'What is that?'
'The IDC monitors the portals that cause interlapping of the dimensions.' Aaliyah answered. 'Like the one you came through.'
'Why do you have to monitor it?'
Aaliyah looked at Tara as if she had asked her why the sun rises in the east. 'Why don't you sit down?'
Tara walked over to the desk and pulled a chair.
'Most of the spirits belong to the four basic elements of water, air, fire and earth. And because of the same, most people usually are called the Na'ars that is the ones who can manifest fire, Kazes, who manifest air and Udongs those who manifest earth.'
'What about the ones who manifest water spirits?'
'They are called Vitas if they are from the Islands of Varyns and Neroes if they are from Kylma, way up north.'
'Is there any difference between them?'
Aaliyah shrugged. 'Not much, they liked to be called as such.'
'Right.' Tara replied. 'But still doesn't answer the question of why there is interlapping of the dimensions.'
'I am coming to that.' Aaliyah paused for a second. 'Well, we are able to do this because of the Spirit Realm, the Jiva Sphaera.'
'The what?'
'It's a plane, an element of the dimension, just like length, breadth and depth is.'
Looking at Tara's immensely confused face, Aaliyah sighed again. 'I am not really good at explaining that part. But I will try again.'
'Sure.' Tara nodded reluctantly. 'Go ahead.'
'You must know about multiverses, right?' Aaliyah asked and after getting a nod from Tara, she continued. 'Well, it's not as complicated as that. Some universes are connected, through the Jiva Sphaera, which is like a bridge to them and Rahas is at the centre of it. Therefore, everyone in Rahas manifests a spirit.'
Tara sat quiet for a minute and pondered, while Aaliyah watched her. 'Kind of like the Yggdrasill?'
'The what?'
'A culture on Earth speculates that nine worlds are connected through the Yggdrasil, an ash tree.'
'You do realise that these are separate universes and not alien worlds in one world right?'
Tara nodded.
'Earth is on the edges of the Spirit Realm. One of the reasons why your mother decided to run away there. Very hard to get there, very hard to come back.'
Tara suddenly asked. 'Why did my mother run away? Is it because of the people who attacked me?'
Aaliyah pursed her lips. 'It's not safe to speak about it here. Once we get to my home, we will talk about it.'
Owing to the experience that she had been having in the recent times, she nodded in agreement. Aaliyah smiled back.
She stood up and walked towards the wooden walls and knocked on it twice. Maybe it was her eyes playing tricks on her, but something shimmered next Aaliyah's hand and immediately a set of keys appeared, hanging on to an intricately designed key holder.
Aaliyah grabbed the keys and turned towards Tara. 'Lets go home, shall we?'
The journey from Aaliyah's office to her house had been peculiar, to say the least. They had walked out of the office, crossed the stream walked over to one of the bigger buildings, behind the healing billets. Though the outside of the building was made of ceramics, much of the inside was of wood. Long wooden pillars that seemed to be made of teak, stood next to each other in a circular arcade around a huge room who's outside seemed to be designed with intricate language. Upon closer examination, Tara realised it was a language she could read but didn't understand.
'Those are Cadin spells.' Aaliyah had said suddenly. 'For protection, nothing can penetrate through these walls.'
'What is behind them?'
'Assembly Hall.' Aaliyah's voice bellowed.
'A what?'
She paused and turned around. 'It's an assembly hall, you know for elected representatives.'
Tara eyes widened with surprise. 'You have democracy here?'
'Umm, I wouldn't call it democracy.' She answered, as they entered a narrow hallway, at the end of which Tara could see spiral staircases. On either side, there were numbered doors with something written underneath that Tara didn't bother to read. Once they reached at the end, Aaliyah stopped and swayed around. 'More like a theocratic democracy.'
'You have a religious leader as a head?'
'A Supreme High Priestess, to be specific. Bestowed with all the seven gifts.'
They walked down the stairs and as they reached the landing, Tara asked. 'You and my mother, you are not naars, are you?'
'Na-ars, not naars.' Aaliyah explained. 'We are what people call Cadins. Something like a spell caster.'
There were huge wooden doors on either side of the landing, lined on the ends with iron studs that looked like something out of a medieval castle. There was a huge iron shaft in the middle of it blocking. Aaliyah waved her hands and this time something shimmered, Tara noticed the golden specks that left her hands, and wondered through the air, finally settling on the iron shaft pushing it upwards.
'How is that different?'
'Well.' Aaliyah started. 'There are several planes to the body, the physical body, the mind, the spirit and the soul.' The wooden door slowly creaked open, revealing nothing due to the extreme darkness inside. 'When the soul connects to the spirit inside, we become the elementals, we are able to use one of the four elements. And as I have said before, being born in Rahas, essentially allows all of us to connect to our spirits to our souls.'
'But you guys are different.'
'Yes, a Na-ar will have mostly pure heredity. Or any other elemental for that matter. We Cadins, have mixed heritage. And this allows us to comprehend energies that are similar to our element.' Aaliyah replied. 'Its not particularly impossible to learn the spells and cast it, but Cadins have an affinity towards it. But, of course, we have to learn it, practice it, to become better in it.'
Aaliyah entered through the door and suddenly disappeared into the overwhelming darkness. Tara then heard two claps that seemed to echo as if they were in hollowed tunnel. The darkness was immediately dissipated as warm yellow-orange glow filled passage.
She followed Aaliyah slowly down the staircase. The yellow light caused the narrow marbled stairs to glow in its warmth, enhancing the light in the passageway as Tara felt the rough ridges on the walls where she placed her hands, trying to steady herself.
'I thought this whole thing was magic.'
Aaliyah laughed. 'Magic is like a force. Except that it is also sentient in some levels. Some people are better at using and some are born with it. Some train in it and get it.'
As they walked downstairs, Tara glimpsed the edges of concentric circular design, embedded on to a flattened wall on the landing. Aaliyah stopped near it and looked at her, motioning her to go through it. Sceptical, Tara first placed her hand, but it fell through as if the wall felt like water.
'Its alright.' Aaliyah answered. 'We create different kinds of portals, it would take to different corners in the hill.'
'We are inside the hill?' Tara asked incredulously.
Aaliyah shrugged. 'I thought you already knew that.' She said, a tad bit condescendingly.
Tara pursed her lips and pushed herself through it. It felt like water, she could feel the portals boundaries on her face and body as she pushed through it and suddenly, she was at another landing. It was brighter than before and the staircases downwards lead to door similar to the one in the building, huge and made of wooden panels, and iron nailings. Soon enough, Aaliyah emerged through the portal, her dress almost flowing behind her, as she gracefully exited. She walked downstairs and dragged the door open.
Outside, Tara could see the rolling hills of green on either side of a pathway tiled with intricately designed tiles, slightly cascading up and down the landscape, at the far end of which, she could see the sloping rooftops of various buildings.
'Are we going to walk all the way?' She asked, worriedly.
'Tara, at least by now you must have understood how we Cadins travel.' Aaliyah replied. 'We don't use any kind of vehicle for transportation within the state. It's always portals.'
'But-' Tara started off, rather doubtfully. '-how do you know which portal to take? You could get to the wrong place, right?'
Aaliyah laughed. 'We have the places written at the portals, of course. Sometimes we have to take two to three portals to get to the place we want. Do not worry, I will show you.'
They walked down the pathway until they reached the first portal, which was huge concentric circles gouged on to the pretty tiles. Between the circle, something was written, Tara realised.
Aaliyah held out her hand and as she placed her hand, pulled Tara to the centre. As they stood, holding their hands together, Tara saw the golden light emanate from Aaliyah's hand, causing the spell below them to light up each circle, one by one from the outermost to the innermost. The innermost circle lit up, Tara saw her surroundings dissolve in her vision, the slopes of lush green and the trunks of the trees was being replaced by stacked edifices.
The streets were abutted on either side with buildings that about three to four storeys tall. The main road, which had tiled surfaces, branched into narrower streets with long iron lamp posts flickering a different coloured light in front of each open storefront. Tara realised there were no sidewalks for these roads, instead entryways lead up to the doors of each store. There was bustling in front of most of the stores, with women and men wearing similar knee-length tunics with skirts and loose-fitting trouser that was tapered to the ankles. Some of them had wide belts, regardless of gender, holding the clothing fitted at the waist, and almost all of them wore long hanging jackets.
As they walked towards one of the narrower streets, Tara noticed how the street lights where flickering like warm fire in a fireplace.
'Those are not lights?' She asked pointing to the lamp posts.
'Lights?'
'I mean bulbs.'
'If you mean electricity, no. That's fire.' Aaliyah explained. 'We yet haven't felt the need for electricity. Most of the machines are powered with steam or mechanical movement.'
They walked across the street and into a narrower lane. Tara noticed how most buildings stood next to each other like terraced houses and yet their shapes and their structures made it impossible that they should be standing upright. Some of the buildings consisted of narrower lower levels with really wide upper levels and with every building, the wider upper levels would be connected to each other. Tara was almost sure that the insides of these buildings were just as oddly placed as the outsides.
'The spells are holding them upright, right?' She asked.
Aaliyah looked back at her confused, but then realised what she was talking about. 'Ah, well, its only in Golden Hills you will find houses like these.'
They stopped over another portal, lined in the middle of the pavement and Tara waited as the innermost circle glowed, this time dissolving into a much wider pavement, and to her pleasant surprise, a posher area.
The houses in this area were huge and imposing, with much more space surrounding each of it, yet they retained the same architectural style of the houses from before, with oddly shaped storeys sometimes located to the side, with no gates or walls surrounding them. But unlike the previous location, there not many people around and there was slight haughty peacefulness about it. As they walked on the pavement, Tara noticed that many of them had wide spaced gardens, with a few trees and well-organized patches of flowers and herbs. Some of the houses expelled an aroma of rich medicinal herbs while others had scents of sweet flowery tones.
They walked over to relatively smaller house, a bit farther away. Tara could spot the trees branching out from behind the house, almost protectively and the smoke coming out of the chimney. The house had dark sloping roofs, contrasting starkly against its white walls, while its lower levels extended towards one side and its upper level to the other.
Aaliyah stopped at the end of the foot path to the door and raised her hand, seemingly to touch the air, but in a moment, a something bright and yellow flashed in front of Tara's eyes, disappearing immediately as it appeared. She then walked towards the door and Tara followed suit and once they reached the door she waited, as Aaliyah unlocked the door by scribbling her hands on the door.
'Won't your family have a problem if I stay here with you?' Tara asked, suddenly realising it at that moment.
A shadow fell across Aaliyah's face as she mustered up a smile. 'I live alone, dear.'
Tara nodded and decided she did not want to pry. Whatever it was, Aaliyah didn't want to talk about it.
She followed Aaliyah, as she walked away from the foyer to the spacious living room. It was filled with sofas of wooden furnishings with colourful cushions laid on top of it, arranged in a pentagon shape. Across the living room, the dining room was laid out with tables and seven chairs surrounding it and long crockery almirahs against the walls.
Aaliyah sat down on one of the sofas and motioned Tara to also sit down. 'Do you want to rest, dear?'
Tara shook her head. Aaliyah nodded and looked away, rubbing her hands together as if contemplating on something. Finally she let out a sigh and looked up.
'Tara, listen, what I am about to say, take it with the utmost seriousness, alright?'
It was as if the air around them listened to them, the atmosphere had serious tone to it. Tara became aptly aware of the clock ticking and the blazing fire in the fireplace.
'Five years ago, there had been a war in Rohyn.' Aaliyah started. 'Me, your mother and several of our friends and family had been a part of it. Your mother had been a captain, who had led units in the war.'
Tara nodded slowly, surprised at how her homely mother had a completely different persona.
'Unlike before, this war had escalated to such a level that it started posing a threat to the stability of the dimension itself. There had been so much destruction, and Twilight Village, a country up north was completely destroyed in the war. It now remains as just a shadow, with very little inhabitants in the country.'
'Now because of this threat, the Interdimensional Committee had to be involved. They had started the peace efforts and somehow able to mediate between Solariasis and Lunicasus, the two federations of countries. But by the end of it, something else happened.'
Tara perked up, listening more carefully to each and every word.
'Children between the ages of ten to seventeen, the age at which they begin to manifest, started missing, from Twilight Village.' 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. 'We had sent out missions to find them, but most returned unsuccessful.'
Aaliyah sat down and sighed. 'In fact, all of them returned unsuccessful.'
'Where are you going with all of this?' Tara asked, irritated.
'I coming to that.' She took another sip of her drink and then proceeded. 'Before, running away to earth, your family, your mother, father and brother, all stayed in Twilight Village.'
Tara looked up at Aaliyah shocked. 'I had a brother?'
She nodded, her face grave. 'An elder one, still missing.'
An intense wave of disbelief washed over her and she suddenly realised she lost the ability to breathe. 'Why?-' she tried to speak, in between the gasps. 'Why did my mother not tell me?'
Aaliyah was immediately beside her, clutching her arm. 'Are you alright, dear?'
'No.' She shook her head with tears in her eyes. 'Nothing is alright about any of this.'
Aaliyah started patting on her back, firmly, allowing her to feel the anger burning up inside her. 'Why didn't my mother tell me anything? What did I do?'
'Tara…'
'No, I don't get it.' She sobbed. 'Why were there so many secrets? Was I not reliable?'
Aaliyah shook her head, her eyes looking at her with sadness. 'No, no, dear. None of this was your fault. Your mother did what she had to because of what had happened to you.'
'What happened to me?' She demanded angrily, tears streaming violently down her cheeks. 'Why don't I remember anything from before my life on earth?'
Aaliyah looked away, biting her lips. 'May it's best if you take your time on this. I will give you time to process all this.'
'I need to know.' Tara pressed, stressing on each word.
'Tara…' her voice drifted. 'I don't think this is a good idea. May be not now.'
'I don't even have the right questions for all of this.' Tara firmly grasped Aaliyah's palms. 'Please, I need to know.'
Aaliyah took a long breath. 'You were one of the missing children, Tara. You had been kidnapped and taken, and we still do not know why.'