Chapter Forty-Nine: Path to the Obsidian City
Back at the Catacombs Rayan paced back and forth looking back to the now sealed stairs, "Do you think he's safe Percy?"
"I'm sure the rumor about the Chamber of Fate being dangerous is just a rumor, Your Majesty," Percy reassured just as a beam of light formed on the sealed-up stairway and Zain appeared.
"Zain!" Rayan gasped rushing over, "akh, are you okay?"
Seeing Zain's face Rayan gasped taking a step back, "It's true."
"What do you mean akh?" Zain asked seeing Percy climb up Rayan's back to see what Rayan saw.
"Your eyes," Percy gasped.
"His eyes?! Akh your face has changed too!" Rayan spoke removing his phone and holding it out in selfie mode to show Zain his transformation.
Seeing his face for the first time Zain gasped upon seeing the Will markings that decorated the sides of his face and his now blue eyes.
"Just like Logan," Percy spoke seeing so much of Logan in the young man before him, "he's a hero."
"Come with me, there something abii wanted me to give to you for this moment," Rayan spoke leading Zain out of the catacombs.
Reentering the palace with the sunsetting palace guards and servants would stare in shock upon seeing their beloved young prince's new state and words spread quickly in the palace, both the princesses Eria and Farah were in the palace library when gossiping maids walked past the entrance.
"It's true! The prince has transformed, he has 'the eyes' now," a maid spoke.
Dropping her book Eria turned back to the entrance before looking at her sister both quickly getting up and rushing out of the library.
"Ukht, what's wrong?" Farah asked having been too young to remember what happened when Zain was born all those years ago.
"I have to see for myself," Eria spoke rushing to the Emperor's study where she pushed open the doors to see Zain standing behind a desk and turned to face her showing his new eye colors and Will Markings.
Seeing the change Farah gasped covering her mouth with her hands "akh! What happened?!"
Slowly stepping forward Eria touched Zain's cheek rubbing her thumb on the Will marks on the side of his face to test if it would come off, seeing that it was indeed real and his eyes now possessed a magic aura she smiled.
"I guess the cat out of the bag huh akh?" Eria smiled.
"Glad you two are here, I wanted you to be present when I gave him this," Rayan spoke placing his hand on a chest before opening it and removing a large box, "Before abii passed, he had this made specially for you."
Placing the box on the desk Zain approached and opened the clothes box gasping when he pulled out a black and gold long-sleeve top.
"He had this made for me?" Zain asked seeing Tan Sirwal in the box with black boots.
Approaching the chest again Rayan removed a large black box one that made Eria gasp in recognition of what was inside this box.
"However, of all his possessions, this he left for you specifically," Rayan spoke placing the box next to the other.
Hesitating Zain slowly opened the second box seeing a large red kaffiyeh carefully folded in the box recognizing it as the one his father wore, "No I can't accept this! This was abii."
"It was his wish akh, it would make him proud if a hero wore his kaffiyeh into battle," Rayan spoke pushing the box forward to Zain.
"We will give you some privacy to try on the new clothes," Rayan spoke escorting his sisters from the office and closing the door behind them.
"Akh, did you have something to do with this?!" Eria glared.
"He discovered the truth himself, we can't keep him in the palace any longer, he is a target, you know that," Rayan sighed crossing his arms.
"We would force him to leave his home?! Akh, that's cruel! Surely, we can continue to mask his presence from the internet," Eria spoke the three siblings turned their heads when Malik appeared in a beam of light.
"That won't work, I sensed his awakening from the Grand Library, if I sensed it, the enemies across the sea would detect his awakening too, though I suspect they will prioritize the other awakening," Malik spoke his last statement getting a raised brow from Rayan.
"What do you mean by the 'other' Malik?" Rayan asked.
"At the same time the prince Hero's blood was awakened another across the sea also awoke," Malik spoke watching one of the princesses turn to her brother.
"Wait does that mean there two? Just like-" Eria began but stopped when the doors to the office opened and Zain stepped out clad in his new outfit and was fixing the kaffiyeh around his neck.
"How do I look?" Zain asked seeing Malik approach to study the prince's new appearance.
"Yeah, there is no doubt about it, he has unmatched power waiting to grow, he can't stay in the palace, even under my teaching the enemies that have taken over Albion will come for him," Malik spoke turning to Rayan.
"He right, you must leave the safety of our palace now akh, you must go out and grow stronger, build your power," Rayan spoke all turning when another beam of light appeared and Gabriel appeared.
"They are right, you will no longer be safe here, the Darkness that has taken over Albion is aware of your presence now, you must go to the Obsidian City, go find the ally who can aid you on your quest," Gabriel spoke making a Fate Card appear and float over to Zain who caught it.
Flipping it over Zain saw the illustration of sand falling from a person's hand with a desert background, "The Sand Weaver?"
"The Obsidian City? Why there?" Rayan asked.
"Zain must build his power as well as his renown here in Samarkand, to become the Hero of Samarkand he must aid the people who need him, the first being in the Obsidian City of Lemuria," Gabriel spoke holding out his hand, "are you ready Zain?"
"Wait," Rayan spoke looking to Percy on his shoulder, "I release you from your duties in the palace Percival, please take care of Zain."
"It would be an honor, your majesty," Percy spoke jumping from Rayan's shoulder and landed on Zain's shoulder.
"What if there is an attack, Percy won't be here to protect you," Zain spoke seeing Rayan hold up a hand.
"We have Malik, right now you are in need of Percy's protection the most until the time comes when you will no longer need him," Rayan smiled.
"Be careful akh, don't you dare forget to check in," Eria scolded.
"I will," Zain spoke approaching Gabriel and taking his hand, the two teleported out of the room and were transported to the Sanctuary.
"Ugh!" Zain groaned having teleported a long distance upsetting his stomach.
"You'll get used to that," Gabriel explained approaching the map table, "welcome to the Sanctuary, a gift left to the descendants of the Hero of Bower Lake."
"Really?" Zain spoke looking around to see all the cobwebs and dust, "this place has seen better days."
"I'll have it cleaned up," Gabriel spoke pointing to the map table, "this is the reason why I brought you here."
Approaching the magic map Zain watched in amazement clouds and mini people moving on the map, "is this in real-time?"
"Indeed it is," Gabriel spoke waving his hand to shift the map towards Samarkand, "but here is where we will start your journey."
"Lemuria," Zain spoke seeing the hidden entrance to the city, "what happening there?"
"An agent of Albion has learned of this city, they seek to steal the technology in the city to power Lord Tirich's armies, you must stop them," Gabriel spoke.
"How do I get there?" Zain asked.
"Touch the map where you wanna go and it will transport you there," Gabriel explained.
"So, I just touch it?" Zain asked touching the entrance to Lemuria where he was teleported out of the room and Ginjer entered the room carrying a box.
"Were you just talking to yourself you old loon?" Ginjer asked.
"Huh say something Ginjer?" Gabriel replied faking innocence.
"Weirdo," Ginjer muttered setting the box down to resume cleaning.
Teleporting from the Sanctuary Zain appeared before two Obsidian monuments standing before a cave entrance.
Turning to the road leading into the desert behind him Zain looked to the entrance of the cave, "I guess this is it."
"Been a while since we visited Lemuria," Percy spoke hopping down from Zain's shoulder turning into a white wolf.
"What do you think is happening? No one sent reports to Rayan about any ongoing issues," Zain spoke entering the cave where they began to descend the stairs.
"If there are truly agents trying to steal the technology of the city we must stop them," Percy spoke.
Walking down the steps Zain entered a large cavern with many ruins, this is a façade, to keep the city safe some precautions were created to protect the city from threats, the first being creating what looks like a dead end.
The second safeguard was the assuming piles of stone, the Great Stone Guardians waiting for the sign of danger to act.
Approaching a wall Zain touched stone carving before pushing in a switch opening a hidden door that slowly spread apart leading to stairs leading deeper down into the mountain.
Entering the door sealed behind him leading down a lit stairway where Percy ran ahead when they reached a light ahead.
Reaching the exit Zain shielded his eyes from what was not a sun but a massive metal contraption emitted a bright light that hung high above the massive cavern lighting the city down below.
Down below was Stone City much like Understone but with much more advanced technology one being a monorail that exited from a tunnel and halted at the high viewpoint before Zain.
With its doors opening Zain stepped in and took a seat looking out the window to see the city below with massive mushrooms growing across the city like trees.
With a massive waterfall at the far edge of the city, the monorail began to move into a tunnel circling the city and moving down till it came to a halt before a large gate that had been blocked off by a pile of boulders.
Exiting the monorail Zain and Percy approached the gate where a Samarkand Guard a man clad in tan and gold robes holding a staff stood at his post.
"Halt! Please identify your - wait, please forgive me, your majesty! I didn't recognize you!" the guard apologized.
"It's alright soldier," Zain nodded seeing behind the gate many people going about their days.
During his journey Sand recruited many followers all of which he brought back to Lemuria, all walks of life live in this city.
Among the people were the Sand Weavers, select individuals who train for many years to take on one of three roles in their community the first being the Guards, the first line of defense who control the Stone Guardians.
The second was the Priests, and healers in the Temples who acted as both the community doctors and leaders in the Lemuria faith.
The third and final role was the artificer, those who used the sand to build their buildings and structures but also used the amazing technology to better their city.
Tapping his staff on the ground the guard turned to the pile of stone that began to roll and combine turning into a large Stone Guardian that towered over them and blinked blue eyes before stepping to the side to allow the guard to push open the gates.
"Welcome to Lemuria my prince," the guard smiled.
Stepping through the gate Zain jumped back when he heard the dings of a transit that drove past him with people in the vehicle all gasping seeing the prince who waved to the people who drove by.
Seeing a handle Zain grabbed on and road on the back with Percy turning into a ferret holding onto his back and climbing to his shoulder.
"Lemuria has grown graciously for many years thanks to Sand's dedication and teachings, now with Samarkand protection the city has become a thriving community, go the Temple of Spirit, and the Head Priestess will know the path to search for the agent who infiltrated the city," Gabriel spoke from the Seal.
Looking around the transit Zain looked to the distance where a large staircase led to a massive table that looked down onto the city.
Waiting for his stop Zain jumped off the transit standing at the gates leading to the temple. Looking around Zain noticed pink gems attached to the entrance of the gates, these gems were also another defense mechanism.
The gems were filled with Wisps that when released create Hollow Men, Skeleton Hobbes, or Wolves that like the Stone Guardians attack the enemy the city deems a threat.
Pushing open the gates Zain began to ascend up the stairs, to those unfamiliar with the city the massive stairs have seven thousand steps, it is believed that ascending is the path to true enlightenment.
For others who didn't grow up making the journey up the steps every day like those in training to be a Sand Weaver, it is a very tedious hike up.
"If the agents are gonna try to steal any technology it has to be the staffs crafted for the Sand Weavers, if Tirich is able to get his hands on that tech he could create an army of Stone Guardians," Zain spoke.
"Things were never supposed to end up like, Adam and Logan's hard work, they wanted peace among our kingdoms, war, poverty, corruption, they would be so heartbroken," Percy spoke looking up to the temple at the top of the stairs.
Reaching the top of the stairs Zain let out a soft gasp when a wave of many emotions hit him, "Whoa."
"What's wrong?" Percy asked watching inside seeing inside the large temple many robed men and women sitting in chairs like a graduation of some sort.
"Oh!" Zain spoke when it clicked what was happening, "This must be the initiation day!"
"Huh?" Percy replied confused about what was going on.