Janet Norton - On the Other Side. The Fall

“Thank you!” Farai waved goodbye and ran into the house, but the woman remained standing.

“Thank you from me, too,” the woman said putting her hand on her heart.

James nodded, and then pulled out a notebook from his pocket, quickly wrote his name and some phone numbers before handing the paper to the woman.

“If you ever need any help, or if Farai gets into another fight, let me know. And don’t let him beg. I’m afraid it might end worse next time. The second number is a social service, maybe they will be interested in helping the orphanage and…”

The mistress of the orphanage smiled exhaustedly. James saw that she was grateful, although she did not want to say aloud that all hopes were in vain for social security amidst the war and the ill-will of citizens towards refugees and anyone who was not like the majority of the population. Realizing without any words what the mistress of the orphanage was smiling at, James looked down, gathered his courage and smiled goodbye. Then he sat down behind the wheel and drove on to return to his duty.

***

Upon taking the road, Raniero wondered why he had been called to the capital. There was not a word in the order about the reason, there was no hint of the possible fate that awaited him in the royal castle. Alistar was right, believing that someone could have written to both the General and King Raanan about his tough management style at the Thunder Fort. Raniero was not afraid to accept responsibility for his deeds and decisions as commander, but he feared that the possible stigma of shame would hurt his sister Lucia. Lucia lived an easy life as Queen Zaria’s first servant. And in no way possible did Raniero want to inflict trouble on her upon arriving home.

The Heart of Basileya had been his home for many years, until his military service began in the kingdom’s frontier forts. After Raniero left the capital, he realized that he was tied not to the city at all, but only to the Ena who had been awaiting his return. Lucia often flew to see her elder brother, asking the Queen for permission, and in so doing she had brightened up the troubled war days. But during the past few years, they had connected only by letters. Raniero forbade Lucia to fly to the southern border, not knowing what the future might bring given the rough situation with the warlike Arya. Therefore, thinking about the upcoming meeting with Lucia, he was in a hurry to reach the Heart of Basileya as soon as possible, despite the gathering twilight and his gathering anxiety.

The city lights soon appeared ahead, and Raniero stopped in the air, gently flapping his wings to study the landscape. It seemed like the Heart of Basileya consisted of bright twinkling stars, outshining those that glowed in the sky. The spyros shone all around, the light poured from the windows of houses and the magic charms lit up the Rainbow Garden nearest to the city gates. The gates reaching the clouds also sparkled, though not with gold like the city behind it, but with the silver of the protective charms cast by the first Rulers of Basileya hundreds of years ago. None of the Enas could penetrate into the Heart of Basileya through the city guard, guarding four high passages to the capital, as well as the sky above the city walls and the lower tiers of flying islands near the barrier.

Upon approaching the southern gate, Raniero landed by the guards and showed the royal order. The guards did not know who the traveller in dark camp clothes was, and only after they read through the letter did they glance at each other in surprise and stand at rigid attention, respectfully opening the passage to Raniero. Spreading his wings, Raniero moved on, flying close to the ground to admire the ever-beautiful capital. He remembered the city, but after such a long absence and his service at the Thunder Fort, everything along the way fascinated him anew. Like gold lace, spyros-paved roads sped away from the city gate to the cliffs, lost in the cloudy haze. Ena houses and streets were situated on hundreds of islands flying high and low in the air. Like flocks of birds, Enas were running their errands. One went from the huge, castle-like Central Square to the main indoor Emporium Market, another to the outskirts by the farms and pastures, and another went to rest just before falling asleep in the blossoming parks, connected by rivers that fell from step to step in dozens of sparkling waterfalls. The tall trees were dotted with golden autumn leaves, and some were overgrown in impenetrable forests where sometimes strange, and usually dangerous animals and birds could be seen.

Most of the islands were connected by hanging bridges and stone bridges, while others continually hung and changed their position in the sky, succumbing to the power of the magical wind or the attraction of the castle, to which all the lands around the fortress gravitated. Then a clear lake, which was once called the Crystal Lake, shone under Raniero, and somewhere in the distance flashed the golden dome of the Observatory, the place where the studies of the sky and distant stars began. Looking at the Observatory, Raniero saw the nearby Light Temple, which had crystal walls that seemed to shine even in bad weather.

But, despite the beauty of the Heart of Basileya that rose into his view, Raniero could not even for a moment forget about those places outside the capital where he spent most of his long life. His gaze went even further to the west, beyond the clouds, where the Dark Lands began. The borderlands had long turned into battlefields, and the dark force was often far behind, forcing the Enas to defend the borders that had become shaky. The Mist had always been there, as long as Raniero could himself remember, but never before was it so strong. Merchants from the Heart of Basileya who arrived at the Thunder Fort had said that even General Vitelius himself had to go to the Sunset Fort in the west to sort out the situation with the black beasts.

Perhaps, Lucia exhorted in her numerous letters for a good reason. Raniero knew that most of the time in the service he spent on the dangerous edge between life and death, often voluntarily in order to win a hard battle or to find out some necessary information. He was lucky. His experience accumulated over the years, but not every soldier who went to the kingdom’s border to battle the Mist and the Aryas could ever tell about it. Too many Enas disappeared outside the fortifications. And too many horrors emerged in the Mist’s trail of wreckage and debris through the marshes, which used to be blossoming forests and lakes no less beautiful than the Rainbow Garden or Crystal Lake protected by magic in the Heart of Basileya. There, outside, where the Light waned and melted, Enas often died in terrible agony, and the survivors reluctantly lost hope… That is why many soldiers like Raniero strongly doubted that after the last shining, their crystals became part of the Light, and not the dark that drove them gradually into a vice. It was hard to maintain an impeccable faith when the Mist was frozen in front of them all the time.

Thinking about how close the Mist had approached their settlements, Raniero was almost surprised by the light that lit up the airy-like walls of the royal castle. Landing in front of the fortress’s tall and heavy gate, Raniero again showed the order to the sentries.

“Welcome home, radiant one!” one of the guards greeted Raniero, returning the order to him. Waving at the guards on the other side of the gate, he led Raniero into the castle’s courtyard. “Nobody knew when you would arrive, so the radiant Lucia asked me to tell you that she would wait for you either in the garden or in her chambers.”

“Thank you,” Raniero smiled briefly with unexpected excitement as he stepped into the magically lit garden. There were often celebrations in the royal garden during the day, and in the evenings the castle inhabitants could walk, sing and dance here. By night, it was a rare Ena who stayed in the castle courtyard to gaze at the stars, so Raniero expected that his only company would be the bright fireflies. Raniero walked forward, admiring the well-groomed garden’s beauty, when he suddenly heard his sister’s voice. Lucia loved to rest among the flower beds and the tamed animals and birds. But this time she was not alone, and Raniero could not help but listen to the conversation.