the city that never existed

‘Wait Kylo…something doesn’t look right!’ said Aoife. ‘This part of the forest seems familiar and yet I know for sure that we haven’t taken any wrong turns…unless I am wrong?!’

‘Not according to the navigation system’ said Kylo.

Kylo and Aoife took out their frequency detectors. All seemed normal until they reached the waterfalls. They looked at each other as they knew that something didn’t quite add up. The detectors started to show abnormal frequencies, random numbers and nothing was making any sense.  

They got closer to the water. There it was: the symbol of the Phoenix that led to the portal of the city that never existed. Right there in front of them, at the very centre of the waterfall. Until then, this was considered an urban myth. This city was not supposed to be real and this portal was not supposed to exist. And why were they able to see it now? Or even see it at all? So many travellers have passed through but none ever saw it or at least nothing was recorded. They braced each other and went through.

The sky began to disappear and there was no ground underneath their feet. It was as if time has stopped, and they were falling into infinity. They landed abruptly and there it was: the great gate leading to the city. A giant door that looked like a mirror, yet had no reflection. It looked solid, yet could not be touched. As the gate opened, they couldn’t believe their eyes. The city was built upon tall trees, resembling weeping willows. Everything linked together with white bridges made of what looked like glass. There was one main tree and five others connected to it. A staircase of a thousand steps was leading to the main tree. Kylo and Aoife started to climb the stairs. Nobody was there and yet they could feel a presence around them. As they got to the top, the main square laid out in front of them with a statue of a Phoenix in the centre and a grand temple behind it. The floor looked like stained glass made out of colourful stones, forming little paths linking to the rest of the trees. The Phoenix had its wings spread out. It was holding the Moon with one wing and the Sun in the other. Around it on the ground the four elements were engraved – Earth, Air, Fire, Water – including a symbol that they had never seen before: a circle divided in four parts.

The temple was as beautiful as everything else. Intertwined branches formed this magical building into the shape of a pentagon. The doors were made of stone and had no lock or handle.

Kylo and Aoife were speechless…what was this that they were witnessing? Had they entered some kind of vision or nirvana? And although they had never seen anything quite like it, this place felt somehow warm and familiar. It felt like home!

Everything in the outside world was just so robotic. Metal and technology had now taken over a race that was once full of life and devoted to its traditions. After the war with the Avatars, all values they used to represent were gone. People were now being controlled with strict rules, enforced on them by the robots.

They decided to go into the temple. The doors opened as soon as they approached and then entered the building. Around them, branches with beautiful pastel flowers of every colour were decorating the walls and ceiling. The floor was made of pure earth. In the centre of the temple there was a wooden table shaped from the branches of trees and on it there were yellow, green, red, blue, white and black pillar candles. Next to them a carved wand with a stone on the top, a rusty iron cauldron and a copper bowl filled with various stones. There were different herbs spread out on the table and a very old dusty white book. In the five corners of the temple the four elements plus one were present. There were letters underneath each symbol. An unknown language they had never encountered before:

Earth: ⎷ ⏅ ⑁ ⍻ ⍦

Water: ☈ ⏅ ⍻ ⎷ ⑁

Fire: ⏁ ⎎ ⑁ ⎷

Air: ⏅ ⎎ ⑁

Plus, one more – a mystery to them: ⎕ ⍧ ⎎ ⑁ ⎎ ⍻

‘Can I help you?’ Kylo and Aoife jumped.

‘Who is this?’ said Kylo whilst looking around.

‘The question is…who are you?’

‘Show yourself!’ said Aoife.

Out of nowhere came a bright light. In front of them stood the most fascinating being they had ever laid eyes on. Half human, half machine, with hair as white as snow. She had one green eye and one blue eye. The human part of her body had skin as pale and smooth as silk. On the side of her neck she had the symbol of a tree. The robot part of her was made from white steel.

“What a peculiar creature”, thought Aoife.

Kylo’s jaw dropped! He was mesmerised and couldn’t look away. ‘Where are we? ... and who are you?’ asked Aoife.

‘You are in the city of Agafya or as it’s mostly known: the city that never existed. I am Artemisia. The lead Caster of the Habita race’.

‘The Habita race? But…we thought that this, you, everything was a myth! How did you manage to stay hidden all this time? And how come we are here now? Are there others who know about you? Were you following us before? And how do you speak our tongue?’ said Kylo in confusion.

‘You humans have a lot of questions it seems’ said Artemisia. ‘And all will be answered in time. For now, you need to rest. It is late and the moon will be upon us soon. Follow me!’

She led them out of the temple and towards one of the connecting trees. ‘Incredible!’ said Aoife and Kylo simultaneously.

‘Where are we going?’ said Kylo.

‘We are going towards the Habita race tree of Mother Nature. Tonight you will rest, and tomorrow you will be taken to the Coven of the five races to meet our Elders.’

Aoife and Kylo looked terrified.

‘Don’t worry! They just want to talk to you. After all, they have been waiting for you’ said Artemisia.

Aoife and Kylo didn’t know what to say. They had been expected? For what? What does this mean? The houses looked like tree houses. Aoife’s father built one for her and her brother when they were kids. One of the last things she could enjoy before the war. After that everything was gone…only darkness and fear remained. Kylo was just fascinated with the surroundings. Nothing seemed real and it was so hard to believe he was there. Both of them, however, had mixed feelings about their presence in the city. So many questions to be answered!

‘Here’ said Artemisia. They stopped in front of one of the houses. It looked small. At least on the outside. They opened the door and again were blown away by the size of the house. It had a large main room with a fire place to one side. An impressive table was placed in the middle, full of fresh, delicious vegetables; some baked and some raw. Further on were two rooms with the biggest wooden beds either of them had ever slept on.

‘I hope this is ok. We tried to make it look as close as possible to a human environment’ said Artemisia.

‘Oh, it’s perfect’ said Aoife. ‘Thank you very much!’

‘Rest well and tomorrow, one of our casters will come to pick you up and lead you to the Coven. May the Archangels protect you!’ said Artemisia and vanished into a strong blinding light.

‘We need to see if we can establish communication with the others. They must be worried!’ said Kylo and Aoife agreed with him. But it was impossible. Nothing was working! All indications from their equipment had frozen as they entered the gate. Has time stopped? Does this mean that they have entered some kind of void where time doesn’t exist? After several failed attempts of communication, they both put on the clothes given to them, ate and went to bed.

 

The next day there was a knock on the door. Aoife and Kylo were already awake and dressed in their own clothes. They were enjoying the fresh fruit that had been laid on the table for them. Kylo opened the door and saw a man with the same characteristics as Artemisia.

‘Good day!’ he said. ‘My name is Jaxon and I am here to escort you to the Coven. Are you ready?’

‘We are ready!’ said Kylo. Jaxon drew a circle on the floor with his wand and dropped some leaves into it. ‘What are these?’ asked Aoife. ‘It’s called Kava Kava. A travelling herb. It will take us exactly where we want to go.’ said Jaxon.

‘We are going to travel by herbs? ...’said Kylo. Jaxon smiled.

‘It’s perfectly safe. We will be there in the blink of an eye. Please step into the circle’

Aoife and Kylo did what Jaxon asked. Suddenly their surroundings were no more. They were standing in the middle of a great empty space. The walls were dark grey engraved with symbols and letters, just like the ones they saw at the temple.

‘Where are we? Is this a cave?’ asked Aoife.

‘This is the sacred home for the Elders of the Coven. A very important place for all our five races.’ said Jaxon ‘Five races?’ wondered Kylo.

‘Yes’ said Jaxon ‘This way please!’

They followed Jaxon through a labyrinth of passages and finally entered a white marble hall. Artemisia was there waiting for them.

‘Hello again!’ she said.

‘…Hello…’ replied Kylo and Aoife in surprise. There were five marble chairs, each one of them engraved with unknown writings and symbols.

A tree (like the one on Artemisia’s neck): ⍦ ⏅ ⎾ ⎎ ⍻ ⏅

A hand: ⏇ ⑁ ⎷ ⌭

An eye: ⌭ ⑁ ⏅ ⏇ ⍷

A cross: ⍦ ⎷ ⏅ ⎑ ⏅ ⑁ ⎎

A star: ⍹ ⏅ ⎑ ⏆ ⑁ ⏅

Jaxon placed a bag of herbs on each chair and then it happened. The bags began to levitate up into the air and burst wide open. Mini tornados of herbs swirled above each chair. Out of nowhere, five figures appeared, the Elders had arrived. Each one had a symbol in the middle of their foreheads matching the ones engraved on the chairs. Their eyes were bright white and the human part of their bodies had very pale skin. The first Elder had the same colourings as Artemisia. The second Elder had red hair. Her robot body formed out of red steel. The third Elder had pitch black hair. His robot body was formed out of black steel. The fourth Elder had black hair with white stripes and a robot body formed out of white steel. The fifth Elder had black hair with red stripes and her robot body was formed out of red steel.

Jaxon and Artemisia bowed to them. Aoife and Kylo looked at each other and copied them.

‘May I present the elders of the Coven representing the five caster races devoted to Mother Earth. Elders, these are…’ said Artemisia.

‘Aoife and Kylo, the humans from planet Earth. We have been expecting you’ said the second Elder.

‘It is an honour to meet you all!’ said Aoife ‘We have so many questions’

‘Of course you do’ said the first Elder ‘Shall we begin?’

Two chairs appeared in front of Aoife and Kylo.

‘Please be seated’ said the first Elder ‘Jaxon, thank you for your service. You may go and resume your duties’ Jaxon bowed once more and left the room.

‘Artemisia, you know what to do’ said the first Elder.

Artemisia put her hands in the air and a white light came down to the center of the Hall. Suddenly, four more beings appeared in the room. All different from one another but all similar to the Elders except the colour of their eyes. Each one had different combinations of colour.

‘Since everyone is now present, we can begin. Welcome to Agafya. We are the five Elders representing the caster races of Mother Earth. I am Thanja, Elder of the Habita race, this is Navell, Elder of the Creo race, Easton, Elder of the Oracu race, Levi, Elder of the Healari race and Lua, Elder of the Galdra race’ said the first Elder. And she continued: ‘And here in front of you are our lead casters. Caleb of the Creo race, Ilargia from the Oracu race, Chioma from the Healari race, Dakari from the Galdra race and I believe you already met Artemisia from the Habita race’

Aoife and Kylo both forced a smile and raised their hand to wave. They wanted to pinch themselves. What this all real? Easton, the Oracu Elder, opened his arms and a vision displayed itself in front of Aoife and Kylo like a movie.

‘Since the beginning of time, us five races have been protecting this secret dimension as well as planet Earth. We ensure that Mother Earth is always in balance and in good health. For millions of years all beings have lived in harmony with each other. Until some decades ago, humans became greedy and started hurting Mother Earth and her children through wars, fires and vast cities. That is when the first crack appeared. At first, we thought that it was an issue that we could heal. But every day a new crack appears. Our dimension has become unstable and our powers have weakened. Mother Earth is our source of life and is suffering, as we speak, in the hands of your so-called evolution’

‘With all due respect Elders, we don’t understand! How can we help you? We have no government connections. We are mere fugitives of the system because we refuse to follow the rules’ said Aoife.

‘But that is exactly why you are perfect!’ said Easton. ‘You see, far in the heart of the Pacific Ocean there is the cave of our Ancestors. This cave is not visible to the human eye but what’s inside it can only be retrieved by a human with a pure heart. And that is where you two come in. You were chosen by our Ancestors to retrieve the Amulet of Chi (⏇⍦⎎) so we may restore balance before it’s too late’

‘But how are we going to get there from here?’ said Kylo.

‘Artemisia and the rest of our lead casters will create the portal for you. As soon as you are in the cave you need to find the Amulet and bring it to us. There is a protective field around it, but you won’t have any issue passing through it. The field will read your hearts’ desires and let you in. Come now! We must begin’ said Easton.

The casters formed a circle and chanted. The elements appeared on the wall with the fifth symbol on top. A line of light travelled through each symbol and when all of them were connected the portal was ready. Aoife and Kylo felt trapped. The Elders hadn’t asked them if they would do it. They had simply assumed they would venture into the cave through the portal with no questions asked. They were afraid and yet something was pulling them forwards. In their hearts they knew they were supposed to find the Amulet. They looked at each other, nodded and held hands. Then jumped though the portal. Everything started to spin faster and faster. They felt sick to their stomachs. Suddenly they hit the ground!

 

Aoife woke up in sweat and out of breath. She looked around her. She was in her apartment with Kylo sleeping next to her. The dream was very much alive in her head.

‘Kylo! Kylo! Wake up! You won’t believe the dream I just had! Wake up!’ she said.

‘What is it?’ said Kylo whilst rubbing his eyes. He looked at the clock. ‘It’s 5am Aoife! Sleep and you can tell me everything in the morning’.

Aoife jumped up in excitement. How could she sleep?! Something fell on the floor…a round Amulet on a silver chain, with the five elements carved on the outside circle, the symbols of the five races carved on the inside circle and in the center, the Phoenix. Just like the one she saw in her dream. Is this the amulet she was sent to find? She picked it up and as she lifted her gaze, there was Artemisia… standing right in front of her...