The Future's Call

Chapter 4-The Revelation, Part 1

The next few days passed quickly. Esther had a lot of fun, racing the stable boys across plains and moors, teasing Makas and Tina as their friendship grew, and running through the trees as she tried to escape the ten guards–which she'd thought was an excessive amount, but she had no say in the matter–that had been assigned to keep an eye on her. She kept herself busy during the day, but at night her mind returned to her dreams. She saw the boy falling over and over again, a look of longing and pain and contentment on his face as he looked at her. She kept wanting to know his name, but whenever she caught herself with it, she would shake herself. Esther, you have to find Dinanatha and warn her, she would tell herself, and her determination to protect this strange woman would spike again. Esther knew that she was probably perfectly capable of protecting herself, but she couldn't help it. It was her older sister instinct.

"You seem occupied," Hoshea commented one day as their journey drew to a close.

Esther jumped. "Oh, yeah. Just thinking..." she trailed off. She'd been trying to figure out how she could find Dinanatha. From what she knew, Dinanatha had been lost for years. No one could find her, not even the most skilled hunters. There had to be something the hunters had missed. Some clue that'd been overlooked...

"Well I can think of one thing for you to think about," Hoshea said, breaking into her thoughts once more. "Just over this hill is Artha, the capital city of Aarav."

An Hour Later

An hour later, they were approaching a pair of deadly looking gates, made of polished silver. The wall that surrounded the city, which was the same height as a three-story tall house, twisted around and out of sight. It was made of white marble with gold veins flowing through it, and looked to be more than five feet thick, making it impossible to break through if you were unfortunate enough to not be welcome. The city itself seemed to glow with wealth and power. It was built around a grassy hill, providing protection for the magnificent palace that sat on top of the hill. The palace was huge, and shone with a light of its own that could be seen for miles in every direction. The radiance somehow pushed through the walls from the very heart of the castle, and even from afar, Esther could tell it was a place of safety, even for the common people of Artha.

When they entered through the gates, Esther saw that even the houses and store-fronts were carefully crafted out of precious jewels. She saw emerald door frames, sapphire roofs, ruby windows, and so much more. Some of the shops even shone as if they themselves were a single crystal in this chandelier of a city. Hoshea explained that they were made of a metal even more precious than gold. It lit up because of some kind of chemical that mixed inside it, like a glowstick, except much more powerful. The mettle was almost impossible to break or bend, which was what made it so precious. It was called lumièr, and apparently they had mixed it with the gold in the city walls so that nothing would be able to get through it without being let through the gate. It was also what made the city shine, literally.

They walked through the cobblestone streets, people turning to stare at them. Esther shifted uncomfortably under the weight of so many eyes boring into her. Hoshea had gone off on some great adventure. Maybe they hadn't expected him to return, and now here he was, a strange girl riding along beside him. Naturally, people stopped what they were doing to get a good look at her.

The city quickly became background sights and sounds when the palace came back into view. Up close it was even more impressive. There were at least fifty towers and turrets sticking out the top, reaching for the sky which was just beginning to turn pink with sunset. The walls were maybe half as high as the city walls, but they were made of diamond and fortified with lumièr. Guards dressed in creamy white tunics and gold leggings with high-top, black leather boots stood at hundred meter intervals all around the outside of the wall, which was miles and miles long–the palace grounds were enormous. The guards wore blood red capes that fell to the back of their knees, and each held a solid lumièr, wickedly sharp spear with a barb at the tip. Esther shuddered to think what it would feel like to have those horrible things rip through her body.