Oceanum Collis

•Chapter 1• The Stone Empire

Come and sail where our voices sound, deep below, underground.
Hear my voice beneath the sea, that is where we live oh so peacefully.
Waters dangerous as these will soon make you fall to your knees.
Listen to our song from the depths, as you slowly sail towards your deaths.

The luring rhyme of the sirens bounced on the waves of the sea. You could hear their verse from miles away. Andillar was no exception. Beyond the highest walls humanity has ever seen, lies a realm. A realm without magic. A realm where nothing special happened. The human realm. In one of the watchtowers, a young man listened to the verse of the sirens. He had no idea where it came from, but he found it intriguing. Every night, he would listen to the lyrics. He would wonder where the sound could be coming from. Tonight wasn't any different. He was sitting against the wall on the hard, wooden floor. One thing is for sure, the rhyme didn't come from inside the walls. It came from beyond the wall. 

As the sun came up the next morning, its bright sunlight shone through the window in the watchtower. Well, the glass had been destroyed, so it was just a hole in the wall. The bright sunlight shone through the hole onto the young man's face. He squeezed his eyes slightly, turning around. His eyes slowly fluttered open. He groaned as he sat up straight on the hard, wooden floor. He took a deep breath before getting up, pulling the sheets off his legs. Once a white sheet had become brown from dirt that had been dragged inside the tower. The young man got dressed in his 'cleaner' clothes. He checked his reflection on the little mirror that hung up the wall next to the window. He was wearing a, slightly ruffled, white tunic, a brown vest, and brown pants. He leaned closer to the mirror. He had some dirt smudges on his cheeks and his mop of brown hair was a mess. He tried to fix his hair and wipe away the smudges. He then walked up to the window hole. He climbed through the hole, slowly descending from the large watchtower. He carefully made his way down to the streets. When he got to the right height, he jumped down, landing on his feet. He looked around to see no one else nearby. He walked down the stone pathway into the center of the little village. As he walked through the small alleyways, he saw some of the other homeless people waking up. He gave them a slight smile as he walked by. They smiled back at him. He made his way onto the town center. He walked over to the fountain, cupping some water into his hands, and drinking it. He also used some of the water to clean his face. Suddenly, he felt something tug at his pants. He glanced down to see the little boy that lived nearby the watchtower, Elliot. "Hey." the young man smiled at him. "I'm thirsty," Elliot tells him. The young man picked him up and held him as he drank some of the water from the fountain. When he was put down again, Elliot smiled at the young man. "Thank you, Orlando." He said. The young man smiled at the little boy. "Of course, buddy." He replied. Elliot ran off towards his mother again, leaving Orlando by the fountain.

Another few people joined the young man by the fountain. Orlando saw the old man, Antonio, limping towards them. He rushed up to him, guiding him to the fountain. "Thank you, my boy." Antonio thanked him. Antonio was an old man. He was blind and had a limp leg. Orlando helped the man drink some water. As Antonio drank the water, Orlando held a cloth underwater. He gently lifted Antonio's bandage around his eyes. He carefully cleaned the blood from beneath his empty eye sockets. "We have to change your bandages soon," Orlando tells the man. He looked at the empty eye sockets, checking for infections. Yes, Antonio doesn't have eyes. Seems unreal. Everyone in the little village had heard the story. Antonio would tell it almost every night. He was the oldest man that lived here in the village. He was the last human alive to have seen the world when there were no walls to keep them from seeing it. Everyone would listen to the old man's stories. The outside world seemed to have so much beauty. But no one had seen it for themselves. The new emperor of this stone empire, Erix, son of the unknown, made sure of that. No one was allowed to go beyond the walls of Andillar. The walls were supposed to protect them from what was beyond. At least, that's what the people had been told by the first emperor, Basil Adelio. Antonio holds up his hand. "No need, my boy. Just give me some water." He tells the young man. Orlando nodded and helped the old man drink some more water. Elliot's mother made her way over to Orlando. The young man helped Antonio sit down before he turned to the woman. "Ma'am?" He said. "Could you take Elliot with you to the market? Please? I-I have the baby and I-" The woman started. Orlando holds up his hand and smiled at the woman. "I would happily take him to the market. And I will try to get you some fruit." He tells her. The woman grabs his hand. "You are an angel." She replied. Orlando planted a kiss on her knuckles. "Angels have wings, Ma'am. I clearly can't." He joked, making the woman laugh. The little boy, from earlier, ran up to Orlando. The young man smiled at him. "Hey, buddy. Do you wanna come to the market with me?" He asked him. Elliot nodded in response. He turned to his mother. "Mommy, can I?" He asked her. "Of course, Darling." She replied. Elliot's grin grew bigger. He turned to Orlando and grabbed his hand. 

Orlando walked towards the small marketplace. He walked up to the small bread stall. The baker glanced up to see the young man walking up to him. "Morning, Orlando." He spoke up. "Good morning, Sir," Orlando replied. "The usual, I suppose?" The baker questioned. Orlando nodded in response. The baker bend down to grab a crate filled with old bread and some vegetables. "This is all I could get for you. Not everything is fresh, but it's enough to feed the others." The baker tells him. "I speak on behalf of everyone when I say we're very grateful for all of this," Orlando replies. The baker smiled at him. "Always so polite." He said. Orlando's eyes glanced down at the crate with food again. "Sir, do you maybe have some fruits? Apples or something like that?" Orlando asked the baker, "The baby is sick." Orlando added. The baker let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, my boy. This is as much as I could get you." The man tells him. Orlando nodded in response. "I understand. Thank you, sir." Orlando responded. He grabbed the crate and started to walk off. Elliot looked up at him as he followed close behind. "Did you get the thing for the baby?" He asked him. Orlando looked down at the little boy. "Sadly not. But there are some good vegetables in here. They might help your little sister." He tells him. "I hope it does. She won't stop crying. Mommy was up all night." Elliot tells him. Orlando smiled at the little boy. "I'm sure she will be fine in a few days, buddy. Come on, we have to get this back to your mother." Orlando tells him.

A/n: yay! The first chapter is out! It may be short, and a little much to take in, but I hope you like it nonetheless!
-Jay25211💜💜