Kareivis: Warrior

CHAPTER 2: WELCOME TO THYATIRA

ALL STUDENTS REPORT TO THE HALL OF TRYST… ALL STUDENTS REPORT TO THE HALL TRYST… These were the words that woke the students of Thyatira, the training facility for budding warriors as well as the Inthian pure bloods. Pure bloods were the nobles of Inthia who were responsible for its governance. The young ones of Thyatira who would one day take over from their parents as the leaders governing alongside the throne. Thyatira was one of three moons that orbited the planet Inthia. The nobles and the commoners trained separately. Mostly because nobles saw themselves as being better, being pure. And they did not want to sully themselves by mingling too much with commoners. But the ceremony of Maanda was the only event in the training cycle where the nobles and the commoners interacted. The training cycle was almost completed, and the students had spent it with a new face, her name was Princess Vesma. The King and The Queen had two daughters, the one was their flesh and blood and the other was adopted from one of the Inthian colony planets. Everyone knew how protective the King was of his daughters. And allowing one of them to join Thyatira was shocking to say the least. “Silence!!!” the strong authoritative voice of the chancellor boomed across the confines of the hall. And at that very moment the room went eerily quiet as if on mute. The chancellor was a short stout woman. She had stern brown eyes with crinkles around them, an indication that she narrowed them often to intimidate the students. She had flawless black skin with thin lips that were always painted black. But make no mistake-even with her short stature, she was a force. It was no walk in the park for a commoner with no rank, title, or family name backing her up to run a training facility full of over pampered nobles. But she had worked hard, fought biases and being ridiculed. Eventually she had earned the trust and favour of the previous King, subsequently being awarded with the responsibility of managing Thyatira as the Chancellor. “In the next fair moon it will be the coronation of the crowned Princess as well as the introduction of her intended. Her Royal Highness Muhali is already en-route with the carrier escorts that will be leaving with some of you back to Inthia. Princess Muhali will also be part of the ceremony of Maanda as a proctor. And the one who stands victorious as custom demands will take part in the royal coronation. In this coming coronation the victor will carry the crown and place it on the head of our Princess. Those of you that will not attend the ceremony will be able to view it in this hall of Tryst. That is all.” The Chancellor narrowed her eyes at the students with a stern glare as if she were speaking a silent language. They stood up in carefully measured rows and marched to the arena where the ceremony of Maanda was to take place, and not one of them made a sound apart from the sound of their marching feet. The ceremony of Maanda was a traditional battle that took place every training cycle to determine the best of the best in strength, agility, speed, tracking, strategy and knowledge. And the arena was a dome with the largest simulator on Thyatira.

Just as it is with all societies there are those known as the elite and in the Thyatira training facility that was Lady Lietus the daughter of Commander & Lady Vadas, advisor to the King as well as commander of the royal armies. Lietus was a proud, feisty, arrogant, outspoken and passionate red head. She was as tall as she was intimidating, with legs that went on for days. She had alluring milky skin and blood red lips. She commanded attention with her presence alone. She was often referred to as ‘the flower of Inthia’, which was quite ironic because she was anything but delicate. Even though her beauty was undeniable, it was overshadowed by her arrogance and domineering attitude. There was also Masters Kilnus and Varens the sons to Commander Kilnus who was also advisor to the king as well as the commander of the king’s personal guard. The twins were something of an anomaly because they were unheard of among the Keeper territories. Standing at 6’5, they were the same height as King Kareivis and Prince Skydas. They were quite the specimens with their unique forest green eyes, angular jaws, pink pouty lips, and low skin-fade hair with curls. Everyone knew that Lietus cared nothing for Muhali because of her foreign name. It would follow that as soon as the students got to the arena Lietus snarled at the idea of being escorted by Muhali to the palace. “It is not possible that The King would send a crowned princess to run errands or to serve a commoner. Further proof that Vesma is the real princess of Inthia is that her name is our dialect and Muhali is not in any transcript I have ever seen. It is not even in the archives of the past kings and queens. I mean even her eyes give her away. Any Inthian child will tell you that Inthian nobles have blue eyes. Shaylayan nobles have silver or grey eyes. And Chanidae nobles have red eyes. Whereas commoners across the colonies have brown eyes. That imposter will never be more than just a servant…” Vesma was deeply grieved by Lietus’ words as she continued to stretch in preparation for the ceremony of Maanda. Vesma was an unassuming petite little blue eyed, pixie haired brunet. She had freckles all over her face and the most adorable dimples. She was ever smiling which was one of the things her sister loved most about her. She had an innocence about her and a childlike naivety. 

Vesma was greatly conflicted because she loved both Lietus and Muhali but at that moment she could do nothing because Muhali had given her a very stern warning. “…I know you love me and when people speak ill of me you would want to defend me. But do not for any reason stand up for me because you will unknowingly give us away. No one is to ever know which one of us is the crowned princess until the day of the coronation.” A few hours later and the opening event for the ceremony of Maanda started. It was basically just an introduction of the Chancellor and the proctors, two proctors actually. It was also a rundown of the rules and regulations. The objective was straight-forward destroy your opponent’s fortress and securely takeover their territories. The first group of students were divided into seven companies. Each company consisted of not less than eleven students. There were about five hundred students in Thyatira which meant that the students had been divided into forty-five companies. Lietus was leader of her own, Masters Varens and Kilnus were co-leaders of another and Princess Vesma was leader of another group. In Vesma's group was a young man by the name of Yona of the house of Zhinda, his father was head of the council of elders of the clans of all the colonies. And Rytas son of Commander Rokas was leader of another group with his younger sister Deya as his subordinate. Muhali and the other proctor Skydas had chosen the leaders, but the leaders chose the students who would form part of their groups. And even though the students were divided into groups they were still being measured individually. The battles were fierce and brutal as everyone strived to be victorious. As expected the young Masters’ worked seamlessly well together as they read each other’s thoughts, anticipated one another’s movements and finished each other’s sentences. They were lightning fast. Sometimes they moved so fast that the other students could not even see them. They made good leaders but lacked in one quality-listening to their team members. The same was the case of Lady Lietus. She was a bona fide warrior. She was fearless, strong and precise. She moved like a hurricane leaving nothing standing in the wake of her devastation. But she only listened to the sound of her own voice. She treated the other students like they were dispensable play things, and this disgusted Muhali. Vesma and Rytas lacked in the physical acumen but made up for it with their compassion, humility, wit and leadership. After two days of battling with no rest or sleep for the students and the proctors, names were put up in the victor’s column. Lietus was on top, second was Varens and Kilnus, third was Vesma and a surprise fourth was Yona. In the history of the ceremony of Maanda there had never been a fourth position before. After the names were displayed in the victor’s column Muhali, Skydas, and The Chancellor stood up and left. Vesma disheartened by the loss decided to take a walk to clear her head. On her way out she heard her name being called. When she turned around she saw Varens jogging up to her. “Are you alright? Do you need me to escort you to Sibadel(the clinic)?” He looked so worried she could’ve swooned at the sight if it had been Kilnus. “I am quite alright Master Varens. I am only acclimating myself to the sting of defeat.” After that statement there was really nothing left to say for the both of them. Vesma had never been much of a combatant; she was more of a lethally skilled strategist. There was no battle strategy she ever planned for or manoeuvred through and did not gain victory with Muhali by her side. And for the first time she participated in the latter not only without her sister by her side, but she lost as well. These were all new experiences and emotions for her and she had to work through them. She released a defeated sigh and then smiled at Varens, “...take a walk with me?”

Varens obliged her request and he walked in comfortable silence with her. They had no destination in mind. Truth be told Vesma was glad it had been Varens who had seen her little attempt at a pouty, self-pity tantrum and not Kilnus. She always wanted to maintain a graceful decorum with Kilnus. She was after all in-love with him. They had just rounded a corner that would lead them to the Nedrag(garden) when a royal guard headed straight for them. He bowed and said, “My princess, Master Varens. Please excuse me but your sister is asking for you. If you would please follow me.” as soon as the words left the mouth of the guard all her previous tension and self pity dissipated. ” …lead the way.” She beamed like the radiant rays of the Rammenu sun. Vesma knew that her sister was cold to most people and stoic to others, but not to her. Muhali often overindulged Vesma much to Sky’s chagrin. She also knew that Muhali would let her get away with almost anything. ‘So, if say I just happen to show up with Varens who happens to like my sister, she wouldn’t mind it much.’ She mused inwardly and mischievously. The guard took them as far as the chancellors’ office then he left the room and stood guard at the entrance. The Chancellor then stood up and faced the wall to her left. A bright and large blue ring scanned her from head to toe and an opening then appeared on the same wall. The opening led them to the control tower of a combat training room different to the ones they had been accustomed to train in. From the control tower the room seemed to take the shape of a sphere. From where they were standing it seemed the simulator was training them in the rocky mountains of Mabida, one of the Inthian colonies. Varens looked at the spec monitor and noticed that it was self-adjusting. This meant that there were no set parameters or rather the parameters were evolving according to the skill of the combatants. He could believe his eyes, there was in theory, no way to beat such as simulation. And yet here they were, here she was beating said simulation-her and Wraith. Muhali and Wraith were up against twenty-five or more adversaries; they stood back to back and moved swiftly, accurately and in unison. It seemed as if they had been reading one another’s minds. The only time he had witnessed such synchronicity was during the reviews of his training with his brother. This combat style was gentle yet powerful, and fluid yet effective; their opponents could not land an attack and they could not even get close to them. Muhali and Wraith seemed to have the upper hand, they were wearing peculiar battle suits that were midnight blue just like Wraith’s hair and had strange bracelets on their wrists that could produce any weapon of choice.

“What is that? I have never seen such a weapon, even in our lessons…” asked Varens.

“You have not seen it because it is one of Muhali’s creations, that child has a great mind." The Chancellor answered. During the simulation, Muhali seemed to wander away in thought as her eyes began to glow a dim shade of blue. “We have an audience mano-perlas (my gem) …” Wraith tried to say to Muhali repeatedly. But Muhali could not hear him as her mind had wondered far away.