Mars Underneath The Sceptre of Eternity

The Encounter

Ergonn, Amerik and D'eimeonn checked almost all the cave tunnels and possible passageways; but all of them led them to a big depression; where a well-organised city of Oggadians' was located. It was a strange city; Amerik had never seen such a beautiful underground city full of stone houses of various shapes and sizes; most of them were two storeyed and only one big building in the midst of the stone houses had three storeyed, dome-shaped building. It was the only building made up of blue and green stones. Other buildings were red, yellow, maroon, orange and pink in colour. The roads were like ridges and embankments separated from each other by small channels of magma. Oggadians did not use animals or vehicles for transportation; they mainly walk and carry heavy loads by themselves.

"They are extremely powerful." D'eimeonn said; "They run faster than any known animals in the world and never depend on anything, not even vehicles."

"Do they drink magma instead of water?" Ergonn asked.

"No; they drink blue smelly liquid, not water." D'eimeonn replied.

While standing in a cave gallery, they were looking downwards. Ergonn asked, "How can we get out of the place?"

"Only few old books keep the records of this place." D'eimeonn replied.

"The old book? You have gifted me a book written in my language." Amerik said.

Ergonn nodded his head, "Yes, the palace library had a book written in some unknown language; so I thought you can decipher it." He paused and again said, "If you are carrying it, please consult." Ergonn requested in an exhausted voice.

Amerik knelt down on the ground and put down his sack from his shoulder; he was carrying that book all across the journey but did not get a chance to read it. The book was in paperback. Long ago, his ancestors, published books in paper format. Amerik saw some old books in his father's collection and also in college libraries; but paper books required immense care to keep them insect free. The book was old enough, pages were yellowish and he got a strong smell of a potion.

"It is one of the rarest books on our planet. Many people think it never exists and those who love to solve mystery, they are still looking for it." Amerik said and with a smile he opened up the book.

"What is its name?"

"Unexplored Mystery of Ogganesia." Amerik replied.

Amerik looked down at the yellow pages and to his surprise, he discovered that the book was written in some unknown language, which had similarities with Roman alphabets but not decipherable.

"I....I cannot read this; which language it is?" Amerik screamed.

"Oh; our destiny!" Ergonn impatiently kicked a pebble and it fell down in the depression below.

"Ergonn." D'eimeonn screamed and he forced Ergonn to hide behind cave pillar. Amerik also noticed the incident; the pebble fell on a roof top and broke a tub like structure of the main building. He too tried to gather his things and bent down his head to find rock-shelter. However, the cave gallery was open enough to see anyone hiding there. Amerik did not dare to move behind a pillar; a skeleton like figure had already appeared on the rooftop; the creature was screaming in a shrilled voice. Few other figures appeared below the building. He could not understand their conversation, but was sure, the person above was scolding his or her guards for allowing intruders to break her things. He noticed that none of the figures had covered their bodies with clothes; but they had red, yellow and orange scales all over their bodies to protect them from heat and fire. The creature on the rooftop, had long, colourful garland in its neck; its arms and legs also had various colourful ornaments of stones. None of the creature had a single hair on their skin. Amerik could not see, which one was male and which one was female, but he was trying hard to keep his brain empty from any kind of thought; but it appeared to be the toughest job in the universe.