INTO THE VOID

CHAPTER 14: KRATUSA

A starry night; what a beautiful thing to behold? To see this beautiful sight is a privilege. These burning wonders light years away...the possibilities that lie so far away. The fact that there could be civilization all this light years away is just a marvel. Each of these bright twinkling things have planets orbiting them. The possibility that they could be a population of self aware beings far away is really interesting to me.

Those were the good old days. When one could sit under the night sky freely and gaze upon the stars. Now the skies are filled with machines; instruments of death, the appliances of war. My world is falling apart and there is nothing I can do.

My planet was beautiful. It has not always been so dreadful; corpses lying in the street, hunger sweeping through the land, pollution everywhere; right now, it is an eyesore. She was a hub of scientific developments. My people built rockets and explored beyond the clouds, they went to the 6 moons that revolve around our planet, they even went to other planets. Everything was going fine until greed consumed the people.

The 12 kingdoms on the 12 continents began to fight for dominance. The ambitious Southerners planned to conquer the known world, uniting everything under one flag.

The four kingdoms of Kratusa; the planet of my birth were the greatest kingdoms in the history of my world. Our scientists; the thinkers we call them, have explored the nooks and crannies of our world. There is an extensive fauna and a variety of different species of creeping beings and rooted ones. Our planet is the only one known to sustain life; a miracle the thinkers call it. No one knows exactly how old our planet is; nor do they know how long we have thrived as a species in this world.

The history of our planet is laden with eras of war and death. Tribes grew and demands increased. Some tribes formed alliances, others conquered and enslaved. There were agglutinations of different tribes and these ones became mighty and feared. All across the four continents, great empires forged, braving the terrain and mastering the land. Each of four continents had a unique geography and a climate different from the others.

The continents included Hydros: The Mother of the flowing. The biggest water body of Kratusa was found here. This was the source of all water on the planet. There are many islands in this continent and the people that inhabit it make a livelihood from fishing. The greater part of the population stays underneath the water. There are great buildings and marvel architecture underneath the water. This is the Kingdom of Oceania. The inhabitants of this place have modified organs due to their constant exposure to the water. The Kingdom of Oceania is revered because they control the flow of water across the whole of Kratusa. Other Kingdoms have to pay them yearly to ensure constant water supply. If they fail to do so, their rivers will run dry, their crops will die and the people will starve. The thinkers believe that the continent was all on the surface but became submerged by water during The Great Defrosting.

The second continent is known as Cryos: The frozen one. It is believed that during the early age of the planet, all water was frozen in the region where Cryos now exist. The thinkers theorize that The One Ember; our sun suddenly grew hotter sending stokes of fire balls towards Kratusa, melting most of the ice. It is this water that submerged the land where the continent of Hydros stands. The people of Cryos have a characteristic icy coloration of their skin and the pupils of their eyes are light blue in color. The people, just like the weather are icy. They are stern and have stringent laws. The greatest Kingdom here is called The Frost. Their castle is high up in the frozen mountains of Cryos. Due to the theory about defrosting, the Cryosians do not revere The Kingdom of Oceania as other people. The king insists on producing his own water by melting the ice rocks but this water is not as refreshing as the fresh waters of Hydros. Only a few households are in trade with Oceania.

The Kingdom of Azubalam is the largest of all kingdoms. It is located on the continent of Ori. This kingdom trades heavily with Oceania. There are flowing rivers of clear water, rich rain forests with thick vegetation and a variety of species. The people of Azubalam are very religious. They believe that the abundance they receive is from a higher plane. They worship the water and reverence the people of Hydros as special beings kept on Kratusa to preserve existence. They build shrines in their honor and hold festivities for their sake. The wealthy believers even go on pilgrimage to the underwater kingdom of Oceania. They spend months on the mighty water channels just so they can behold the wonders of this place.

The people on this planet have leafy-green skin and thick black hair. Their women are said to be the most beautiful in the whole Kratusa. Some of the tribes are hunters who track and kill creeping creatures for food. Others are farmers, who tend to rooted species and eat of the proceeds. Whatever occupation the tribes engage in, they all have a common respect for life and a code of conduct on how other creatures should be treated. Some tribes are healers. They study the mysteries of the rooted species and understand the way they work. They make potions and medicines that are used to heal the sick. The Kingdom of Azubalam is one of content people who already have enough and do not strive for more.

The Kingdom of Xeran which is located on the continent of Lithos: The Dry Place is home to thinkers. This is the only kingdom that refuses to trade with Oceania. As a result of this, the lands are deserts with very little fauna and dangerous creatures. The people live underground shielded away from the scorching heat of the surface. The only water sources are heavily contested oasis built around lakes, the bi-annual rainfall and the smugglers. Water is the most essential commodity here and many wars have broken out because of this resource. Xeran is a place associated with dryness but it was not always like this.

A long time ago, there was a dispute between the kings of Xeran and Oceania. It resulted in a bloody conflict that left many dead on both sides. To end the war, the King of Xeran at the time retreated cutting off all trade with Oceania. After a few centuries, the rivers dried up, the seas disappeared and in their place, sand appeared; dead, dry, unproductive sand. It was not long after this that the kingdom fell to chaos. People hoarded the little water they had. The royal families bought a lot and built reservoirs to store them. The people found out and a civil war began. This disrupted the kingdom, leaving the continents in disarray. Numerous factions now exist.

The Xeranians had to turn to unconventional means to stay alive. They hunt the wild beasts of the dry fields for food. They are very skilled builders and made a lot of implements. In their many excavations in search of water, they discovered Okuta; a shiny crystalline mineral. At first, it was used as ornament and worn as jewelry. Later on, it was discovered to be a good source of fuel. Since then many tribes started mining the Okuta. The main buyers of Okuta are the people of Ori. The Xeran have dark skin due to their exposure to the Ember’s rays.

Since the mining of Okuta began, many scientific breakthroughs followed. The invention of vehicles that move faster than the creepers formally used for transport, the invention of machines that can fly, the invention of devices that one can use to see beyond the stars and many more. This was my planet. My beautiful planet of four kingdoms on four continents.

Five hundred years after the Okuta mining began, the next big thing was exploration of the stars. The thinkers became radical, creating many things. Within those five hundred years, technology has advance a lot. This made the continent of Lithos very sort after and the influence of the Oceania was reduced. Many thinkers inscribed knowledge into sandslates and kept them in big buildings. People from all over Kratusa came to learn at the feet of the thinkers of Xeran. The Xeran also devised a means of creating artificial clouds hence increasing their water supply. They were also able to grow rooted species underground, improving their food output. The Xeranians and the people of Ori developed trade and both continents continued to flourish. The once dry lands were now a sort after location. Everything was going well until The Kingdom of Oceania attacked.

At first, it started off with water poisoning. The water sources that flowed into Xeran were contaminated intentionally by the order of the ruler of Oceania. They intended to invade the rapidly developing nation. Then they threatened to cut off the water supply to Ori if they did not stop trading with the Xeranians. The people of Ori succumbed. Even with all this, the Xeran Kingdom persisted. They continued to advance. The Oceanian king then sent spies into Xeran lands to learn about their mechanical contraption. For two hundred years, the spies learnt deep information from the sandslates and reported back to their king.

After years of plotting, the Oceanian rulers finally declared all out war on the Xeranians. That was the war that broke my planet. The Xeranians made powerful, mechanical, sailing contraptions for the purpose of war. They attempted an invasion of the Oceanian waters. After years of fighting, they were bested by the skilled watermen of Oceania. The Oceanian military retaliated by sending troops to invaded the Xeran Kingdom. With the weapons they developed from Xeran knowledge, they led formidable attacks that hit Xeran forces critically. The Xerans held for years before finally liberating their lands of the invaders.

These wars will go on for decades until the Oceanian thinkers developed their ultimate weapon. With the advent of space exploration, many artificial satellites orbited Kratusa and its moons. The Oceanian king conquered the biggest moon and claimed it as the property of the Oceanian Kingdom. It was with this moon that they created the unthinkable.

They drilled into the core of the moon for years implanting a big device in its magnetic center. Uses magnetic forces, they were able to creating an asteroid belt around the moon. They turned this celestial body to a weapon; The Faller of Stars. With this moon, the Oceanians were able to cast asteroids at whatever part of the planet they chose.

First, it began with Xeran. They utterly destroyed their lands, casting masses of rocks into the cities on the continent. It was g******e. They did not stop there. They continued their attack on The Frost, destroying the frozen mountains of Cryos. By the time the rampage was over, Kratusa was a shell of its former self.

I have watched a planet die once, I have seen the stars die out; I have witnessed A Light Out. I will not let it happen again.