As my eyes opened and the blurry world in front of me began to sharpen, I came face to face with human destiny: I beheld the sight of a throne room. The all-seeing moonlight shone on the grand throne as blood flowed from it mercilessly, endlessly, relentlessly. A dry, humourless laugh, high-pitched, only a few notes short of a complete cackle pervaded the room; it was mine. After all, immortal beings did not need to care much or fear the absolute truth of mortal existence. Death, to us immortals, was merely a word, just like any other.

Travelling back to memories or seeing visions always leaves one a little hazy, somewhat confused, especially if the memories and the visions are not theirs. I looked around myself, trying to piece together the events unfolding into some sort of a logical explanation. Many humans lay dead, blood coming out from their sides; ashen faces in a peaceful pallor, having embraced the ultimate tranquillity of death. And then, my eyes shut as I was rapidly transferred to another vision.

There was some conversation going on behind me, in the same throne room. Only, this time, the blood and the dead humans were missing. A deep voice said, "They must be compensated for their loss."

"There's no need." said an old human.

"But they might cause unrest in the Lands Beyond."

"They'll come looking for her before they do that." I could hear a youngling being passed around the humans gathered. It gurgled softly. "Then we'll take care of them."

"But what we've done is morally wrong!" The same deep voice said. "I've had enough of this discussion." The old human said angrily and left the room.

My eyes shut close again. Perhaps another one, I thought and grimaced. Why did he have to send me into all these visions? And then, my eyes opened in another vision. Looking around on the snow,in a clearing of a forest, surrounded by mighty pines, I saw a man lying on the snow on his back, a spear through his heart. Beside him, swaddled in warm clothes, seemingly unaffected by everything, was a human youngling, perhaps the same one I had seen before.

Some humans came running towards it, panting for their breaths as they stopped. A male and female, from what I could see. When the female picked up the youngling and took it in her arms, it picked up a charm from her neck and began to play with it. The youngling gurgled with glee, and so did the humans. My eyes closed again and transferred me to yet another vision before I could even fathom why I was seeing so many dead humans. Three more to go. Patience, my dear. It'll be over soon, his voice chuckled, and I sighed.

This time, I beheld a battlefield. A young female urged the huge mob of humans gathered there to attack a tower, perhaps, a fortress of some sort, surrounded by olive-orange flags, while a young male sat beside her, disliking the entire scene in his heart, but unable to convey the same. Just as I was observing the peace in his heart that reflected on his face, I was rudely transferred to another vision.

I opened my eyes this time to face a man walking somewhere when a sharp rock hit his head hard. The man gave a sharp cry of pain, and fell down, bleeding profusely. Then, a boy came there, crawling rapidly on all his fours. He looked closely at the man's body, examining it closely not to miss even one aspect of it. He searched the man and retrieved some scrolls from his robes. Civilisation flickered for a fleeting moment in his cerulean eyes, but hunger and the quest for survival quickly took over. And then, everything was black again.

The next one will be the last vision for a long while, don't fret, he said. We can wait for a little while if you're exhausted. I smiled at the prospect. That would be quite pleasant, I remarked. There was no conversation for a while as his form floated into sight. Why are we even doing this? Nothing makes any sense, let alone all those dead humans I'm seeing. I don't know the context of anything, I don't know what's happening. All I know is that I hate going into these visions.

He laughed. Well, I admit these visions won't make much sense to you right now, but, like I always say, patience, my dear! You're not even done with your training yet. I promise you everything will be clear after that. Now, let's get this done. You can take the rest of the day off after this.

Ha! I thought. Good riddance! I was glad to be done with this strenuous activity. Seeing dead humans all day wasn't making me any happier. I prepared myself. Blackness followed by blurry vision. I was accustomed to it by now.

A faint, distant sound of a painful wail. A jolt. Shuffling of bed covers beneath me. A ringing sound, followed by silence. I looked around, and as I came face to face with a mirror, I stood transfixed to my spot: it was me, but why was I looking like a human?

- - -

The cold wind seemed to cut his face as fifteen years' worth of memories flooded his mind ceaselessly. He desperately tried to push them away, considering the fact that he would leave these cold mountains soon. The mountains were the place that housed him since his birth, the only home he ever knew.

The next day, he would set out for the capital city of the Open Lands, where the winds were a little less inhospitable, food was available aplenty, and there would be other humans to keep him company in place of the solitude of the mountains. But are the Lands really as open as they're named? thought Alexander, the last surviving scientist.

About a hundred years ago, there was a great war between the common folk and the scientists; the leaders of the former were a group of twelve of their wisest people they revered as the Elders. Through strategy and cunning, the Elders had won the war and had subsequently taken control of the people, and renamed their lands as the Open Lands. They also banished the remaining scientists to live in the inhuman conditions of the cold mountains where food was scarce and survival was merely a question of probability. Many of the scientists lost their sanity due to the cold and met their end in a terrible chill - all for the name of science. However, the few who did manage to survive gave way to further generations, who were more resistant and stronger than their predecessors. Alexander's parents, Luke and Mary Forester were born, brought up and wed in the cold. Needless to say, they were accustomed to it. Being their child and the fifth generation of the scientists, Alexander was used to it too, one could even perhaps say that he loved it.

The Elders had kept the option of letting the scientists enter the city open, but they placed a condition. A scientist, in order to be considered repentant for the sins his or her kind inflicted upon the world ages ago, had to let go of all thoughts of revenge against the Elders and the common folk. But that, alone, did not suffice. They also had to forgo their knowledge of science; after all, there was no need for it in the Open Lands. If they would ever be caught practising science, they would be hanged outside the city gates for everyone to see what happened if the vow was broken. A few of the scientists were broken into accepting these conditions, for, anything was better to them than meeting a horrible death in the mountains where their corpses would lie nameless for ages, awaiting their liberation.

The other scientists, the more honourable ones, refused to accept a life without science and lived with whatever little they had or could find in the mountains or the forests beyond them. The furthest the Elders allowed them to venture was to the end of the forests where the city gates began, a ten day non-stop trek from the mountains. Alexander, his parents, and the other old scientists often went to the forests in the winters when the cold was much too unbearable. His mother and his father had often stared at the city gates and the supposedly hallowed hill that stood just beyond them. He could sense, in those moments, that his mother had tears in her eyes. He never, however, dared to ask her why. He had assumed the tears were recollections of all the tortures the Elders had so kindly bestowed upon them. And then, one day, when he was ten years of age, and there was still a long time for winter to arrive, his parents had collected all their belonging and set out unexpectedly without even saying goodbye.

As soon as Alexander returned home, he found a note telling him to stay in the mountains for ten more years and then go to the city, where he could give up his scientific knowledge and enter the gates to be reunited with his family. Till then, he was told to learn all the secrets science had to offer, further beyond what his parents had taught him. He was terribly confused.

Being a curious little boy, he secretly set out to find his parents and ask them why they decided to leave. And as he reached the city gates ten days later after an arduous journey, he saw his father's severed head being mounted on a tall spike behind the gates, and his mother's bloody corpse being dragged across the snow, leaving behind a red trail that haunted his dreams for years since.

From that day, Alexander had taken personal enmity with the Elders. He vowed to return ten years later as his parents told him, for the sake of revenge and devoted himself to learning as much as he could from the old scientists, learning all that they could teach him. Over the course of ten years, as the notches on his cave wall grew, all of the others died. Even survival became more difficult as he had to fend for himself. He resorted to things he never thought he could do; he even let the wildness of the mountains dominate the majority of the decisions he made. But the spark in his heart, the desperate yearning for revenge, made absolutely sure that he would never forget his ultimate goal.

The hopes and dreams of all true scientists rested solely on his shoulders. The rebellion that his father and mother had been planning now depended on him for its execution. Science, the only true Light of the world depended on Alexander to be given back to the people as a gift, as the promise of a new life, a new beginning. Justice had to be done against all the hate crimes the Elders had committed against the scientists and also for their denial of the right to scientific education to their own people. Justice had to be done, he thought, and justice would be done.

And on the day when he would bring the Light back to the world, all the crimes he had previously committed would be forgiven. And so, he smiled to himself as he cut the final notch on the mossy wall of the cave, huddled by the small fire he had made. That day was the final day he would spend there.

The next day, he would begin his journey to the city gates, his long journey towards his ultimate destination.

He would bring science back to the world.

- - -

The girl awoke before the crack of dawn as the Elders had taught her to, perhaps before anyone else in the city woke up. She looked out of the window, staring at the city that stood beside her hill; the city that had been named after the only father she ever knew, Jana the Elder. Another normal day, she mused and sat there silently for a while, until the sun rose. She then walked to her bath chambers. By that time, Nila, a servant of the Light, would have woken up and heated water for her. The girl would bathe in scalding hot water in the summers and freezing cold water in the winters. The temperature of the water never seemed to hurt her. People considered this to be something truly divine about her, but she never herself admitted it. In her view, she was only human, just like any other.

Post her bath, she dressed in a simple robe and went to her personal ritual chamber, where she would sit for five hours every day in the midst of the seven elements, the gift of the Light and Darkness - water, fire, earth, incense to signify air, sandalwood to signify the plant, tigerskin to signify the animal, and a special mineral poison to signify inorganic material - meditating, with nothing but her skin and a simple, rough cloth between the elements and her soul.

After her meditation, she adorned herself and put on her usual olive robes and went around the Temple to check on its activities. When she was done with that, she would retreat to her chambers where she would remain for the rest of the day lest there were other matters to attend to. She would spend the rest of the day reading books and ancient scrolls. She felt it was her duty to do so; after all, she was the basis for the survival of the one true Way, the Way of the Light that Outshone the Darkness and the Darkness that Consumed the Light. But today was a little different.

The servant girl, Nila, who seldom ever talked to her, told her that in the midst of her meditation - two and a half hours into it, judging by the number of twigs she had burnt - her eyes had flown open, irises missing, and a sound, very unlike her voice, deep and hoarse, had come out of her lips.

"Let him in, the man." She had said.

The Mother of the Open Lands, as people referred to the girl, had a keen and observant eye. She noticed how Nila's voice tried and failed to mask the worry and the fright in her heart. The Mother laid her hand on Nila's shoulders.

"Things like these do happen during meditation sometimes. Now, we must make sure to prepare for a guest. A man is coming soon, I believe." She said smilingly and left.

- - -

Nila was a little confused by the events of the day. She had never seen anything like that happening before; she hadn't even expected it. Even the mentally strong and usually gutsy servant of the Light was shaken by the incident when she saw the Mother behave as if she were possessed by some entity belonging to the Darkness. 

The Mother's explanation calmed her down a bit, but it was, visibly, not enough. She had to go to the Temple of Light and meet her own mother there before she could begin to function normally again. 

"Mother!" She called out as she reached the Temple. The white marble structure and its glass dome shone brilliantly in the sunlight as if it were made of a thousand sparkling diamonds. The steps of the Temple were white-hot from the blazing sun but it was no difficult task for Nila to climb them. She had often played there as a little girl when her mother, another servant of the Light, would perform her duties during the day. She had later taken up the orange robes herself when she grew up and realised their sanctity. 

"I've heard about what happened, Nila. Don't worry. Things like this happen from time to time."

"Did you ever see such a thing happening to Arya the Elder when you served her?" Nila asked her. If her mother would confirm the fact, then her worries would all be set to rest. Her mother's face turned contemplative as she tried to remember. "I don't remember." She said, after a while. 

Nila's face turned pale. "Mother, I fear that the Darkness might overcome the Light." 

Her mother smiled. "If it is so, my child, I don't think we would be able to do much about it. Come, pray to the Light, it is all we can do for now. Or pray to the Darkness and beg it not to harm the Light." Nila nodded. Admittedly, the meeting did not help her get rid of her fears, but she did feel a lot more relieved that she had related her fears to her mother. Now, all of Nila's worries were her mother's. She paid her respects to the Light and left.

She then went to the gates of the Temple to inform the guards about the visitor who was to be expected. Dusting her robes, she went up to the formidable guards with their huge moustaches rolled up onto their cheeks, which themselves were barely visible. 

"Sir? I have a message from the Mother." She coughed out to one of the guards in a voice that was barely audible. 

"Speak up, girl, I can't hear you." The guard said. "Sir, I have a message... from... the Mother." She said, trying to be louder. The faces of these guards are enough to keep anyone from entering the Temple, she thought. 

"Ah, a message from the Mother." He said, bowing. He removed his helmet and laid it on the ground beside him reverently. "What does Her Holiness command us to do?" He asked, his voice surprisingly softer. 

"She believes there's a man to arrive at the Temple today. You are to permit him inside the Temple."

"Without asking the questions of the Spirit?" 

"She did not say anything about that." 

"I will send the man inside, then. The Mother's judgement is unquestionable. She is a gift of the Light and Darkness."

"Yes, sir. She is a gift of the Light and Darkness."

Nila looked out of the gates of the Temple to the city, bustling with activity. The scent of firosas filled her noses. It was a snack prepared by drying the fleshy flower of the same name with some salt, beautiful to look at, and extremely sweet in taste. Sweet, sour, salty and even somewhat bitter, it was a perfect explanation to every taste. When powdered and mixed with water, it made a refreshing drink to help beat the harsh summers of the Open Lands. 

She rushed to the small shop outside and bought some firosas. She knew the Mother loved them. It was one of the things she took a pleasure in, one of the only things she would ever ask for. The Mother, much unlike the Elders, lived a simple lifestyle - one might mistake her for another normal human being if she ever came out of the Temple wearing something besides her standard olive robes. 

A stray thought crossed Nila's mind. Did the scientists ever need firosas? She quickly pushed it away. Asking about the scientists might get her into trouble. The Mother was merciful, but her soldiers weren't. 

As she returned to the Temple, she noticed a palanquin waiting outside. By the looks of it, it seemed like it was the royal family. Nila hurried inside. She would be required to make the arrangements for them. 

"Girl!" The guard called out as she was entering the Temple. "Is this the man?" He asked, pointing to a tall, lanky man with long hair and yellow-grey eyes. 

"No, sir, this is not the man." Nila confirmed. "The Mother specifically said that he would come alone." She then turned to the man and flashed a bright smile. "Welcome to the Temple, prince Izumi. Please come inside." She led the prince inside and the palanquin followed them. She then turned to another servant of the Light and asked him to lead the royals to the Meeting Chamber while she went and informed the Mother of their visit.

- - - 

The princess sneered as they were told to wait for a little more while to meet the Mother as she was occupied with something. "I've always told you, Izumi. You never listen." She said. "I swear the Mother does this just to humiliate us. I can't seem to think of a single occasion when we visited the Temple and were immediately granted an audience with her."

"But, Enya, I'm sure the Mother isn't doing this on purpose. She must have some work! After all, having so much authority doesn't leave you with free time. You must know that."

Princess Enya rolled her eyes. "You and your mother, you're incorrigible. You wouldn't listen to sound advice, only your faith in the Mother. I can't seem to think of a single mountain a sixteen-year-old can move."

"It's not like that, Enya -"

"Welcome to the Temple, Prince and Princess." A sweet, gentle voice sounded from behind them. They turned to face the Mother. Prince Izumi bowed in respect when he faced her. "You look very lovely today, Princess Enya." the Mother commented. "I know." she replied, raising an eyebrow. 

"I met your mother on the way here, my Prince. The Queen expresses her concern regarding your state of mind these days. I think we need to talk about that." the Mother said. "She left after that. She was not feeling well."

"I'd rather we talk in private, Your Holiness. There are matters I need to discuss with you which must not be made known to anyone else under all circumstances." He said, looking back for a split second to face his wife, but the Mother did not notice him doing so. 

"Definitely." she smiled. "My Princess, I'll see to it that you are entertained. Nila will come with some food in a short while. You're also free to roam around the Temple and meet your old friends if you want to." 

The Princess nodded nonchalantly and crossed her legs while the Mother and the Prince went to the Temple of the Darkness. A while later, a short blonde girl wearing orange robes entered carrying some food and drinks. Enya took a single look at them and dismissed them. "Really, girl? Firosa water? Do you take me for a peasant? Is that how you treat your princess?"

The blonde girl bowed to the Princess and then spoke. "My Princess, with all due respect, this is the kind of food we have at the Temple. Her Holiness does not really indulge in all the pleasures of life, I'm sure you know that from your past experience at the Temple. Moreover, the realm has the royals for that very purpose." She kept the tray there and left. Enya was a shocked, but a smile quickly replaced her expression as she heard footsteps. 

"Enya!" squealed the three young women in servants' orange as they saw their beloved friend. "How have you been?" they asked her. 

Enya plastered a fake smile on her face and nodded silently to everything the excited girls told her. All their gossip and tales from all corners of the Open Lands couldn't interest her even if she wanted to. Truth be told, she despised the Temple and everyone in it. She had herself been a servant of the Light before, but she had been lured out of that life when the royal family had once visited the Temple. 

Izumi had instantly taken a liking to her looks - Enya was beautiful beyond measure, with her green eyes, hair red as fire and face as luminant as the Light itself. But what made her Princess of the Open Lands was the fact that Izumi's father took more interest in her than the Prince himself - he realised the potential his future daughter-in-law had that could prove its worth when time came, to restore the royal family to all its ancient power and glory. 

And Enya, too, in due course of time, had come to realise her father-in-law's ambition and develop a passion for it herself. 

- - -