No Matter How Far

4. A Student of The Great University

Many weeks later, the ship docked at the piers of Kalanduguba. He has grown quite fond of the crew and their captain, but the task was incomplete. Although the vessel might present a few challenges untested, the sight of Kalanduguba only cemented the worthiness of the University in his mind. The city was beyond the limits of his new vocabulary to describe. He had once thought that Bahar was the limit to how many people could exist in such a close quarter, but this place made that city a forger's camp in comparison. How could he have possibly fathomed this many people even existed, let alone lived crammed together in this one place?

The captain and a few crew escorted him along the stone-paved streets teeming with people. After losing sight of land for the first time and the crew's wry laughs when he gawked, Tafari had decided not to openly gape like a child. Though he kept his face smooth, inside, he was in awe.

Near the docks, the city was crowded with low square buildings of tan brick. Each building seemed to have a purpose, from selling fish to making tables. But beyond that was the noise. From the sellers crying their wares to horses neighing, chickens and other birds squawking, children screeching, men shouting, the creak of wagon wheels, and the swish of sails coming from ships entering the harbor. The din overwhelmed the senses. Tafari wanted to shut the noise out, but as they traveled further into the city, it was a minor nuisance compared to the splendor.

Buildings, the size of which he had never seen, loomed over him. With their dome-shaped roofs and sprawling towers, these edifices could fit his entire village under their ceilings. One round construction lacked a roof but encircled a long oval field, to what purpose Tafari could not fathom. Structures made of the whitest marble soared over him. Towers of pale gray stone stretched towards the heavens like the fingers of giants. They traveled under bridges with masterfully carved balustrades spanning hundreds of paces and extending from one marble-paved pathway to the next.

Tafari was surprised to find green spaces nestled amongst the buildings in this city so densely populated with stone structures. Trees grew here, perfectly spaced with red brick lanes, with verdant bushes and colorful flowers growing along the sides. In the center, with a wide promenade circling, a large fountain inlaid with blue and white tile, the stone rim carved with reliefs of books and quills. Children played in the spring, laughing and splashing each other. On a marvel plinth in the center stood a statue of a solemn-faced man, one hand clutching a pair of tables, the other outstretched in front of him. Water spouted from the quill he grasped in his outstretched hand, spraying the laughing children frolicking in the pool. His stone eyes radiated knowledge as he looked over the city.

While he marveled at the city, he did spare a few glances for its inhabitants. The people here were no less resplendent than the city in which they lived. Some were dressed like the people of Bahar with the same honey brown skin. Others were darker than Tafari, dressed in flowing robes of rich cloth. Stranger still were people with pale skin and long pale hair. Some of those pale-skinned men's hair hung limply down past their shoulders. Many different people spoke a multitude of languages, all coexisting in the same place.

The captain led him to a large compound surrounded by a tall sandstone wall. Over the top of the wall, he could just make out tall towers and large buildings. They stopped in front of a tall gate in a thick sandstone brick wall. Leaves worked in iron bordered either side and the top of the open gateway. A wide footpath of light brick led inside towards a long, low, slung square building with a colonnade of pale white columns adorning its facade. At the gate, the others stopped and bid him farewell. He walked through alone and strode confidently down the pathway towards the most prominent building before him.

Movement from the corner of his eye caught Tafari's attention. At speed matching his purposeful pace, floating next to him was a kibiri. The kibiri. He was confident that this was the same he had encountered before. Tafari halted. It halted. The little mask-like face turned towards him. Perplexed, Tafari spoke.