Ascendance (The Original Lands: Book 1)

Chapter 7

Folduin turned, and walked towards the ranks of the assembled soldiers. Captain Teluria stayed by his side. 

"Make way for your Emperor!" Folduin shouted so suddenly, causing me to take a step back. I heard a snicker behind me and heard it was one of the twins laughing. I could feel my face turn a light shade of red. I'll have to work on my reflexes, this won't do.

The men assembled acted as one large hive mind, and immediately formed a path for us to walk through. I had to admit, it was pretty impressive. I could get used to this.

I walked forward, after noticing Folduin and the Captain waiting on me. I heard footsteps behind me, telling me that my small entourage were instep and following. 

The rows of soldiers knelt as I passed by, causing my heart to jump slightly at the sudden and graceful movement.

Well, jumping back was a start. I did say I could get used to this, but I couldn't help but wonder if I really truly could. There looked to be hundreds of men in this hanger, assembled and awaiting my arrival.

I was definitely going to question Folduin on Galia later, and to be honest, I was excited. After minutes of walking, we finally made it through the walkway that the men made for us. These ships had to be manned by hundreds of people, it made me wonder what the population of Galia really was.

We passed through a door, which opened for us automatically, and we entered a white corridor, luckily it was one of those corridors that didn't hurt your eyes because of it being too bright, it was in fact more soothing to walk through this corridor, and even be in it.

There were several more people with uniforms like the Captain's in the hallways, though judging by the lack of medals and emblems on their uniform, added by the fact that they instantly moved to stand by the walls when we approached, told me all I needed to know about their rank.

Many of these people had unusual eye colors, which included--but not limited to-- forest green, tangerine orange, yellow, a crimson red that matched Folduin's, and even the amethyst purple like Zurlian's.

We passed by several barracks, armories, restrooms, mess halls, gyms, even a few bars. I made a silent promise to go in when I hit twenty one. I didn't know the law in Galia in regards to drinking, but where I came from, twenty one was the legal age to drink. Mom drilled it in my head, so I plan to see that small thing through atleast.

We ascended floors until we reached the top one, while using an elavator.  I was told that this is also the floor that the bridge sat on. I promised I'd take a look at it later after I got some food and shut eye. 

We walked through several more corridors, passing by more doors. The difference being these were VIP rooms, for higher ranks like the Captain, Folduin, and myself. We turned down a hallway and I found myself looking down a beautiful vanilla carpet with a sort of blue pattern engraved on it. It was the most beautiful carpet design I've ever seen.

The walls down this hallway were decorated with several paintings, ones of breathe taking scenery, hand drawn portraits with extraordinary detail, and others showed brutal wars with different types of weaponry.

At the end of the hall sat a double door, the hall ended with the set of doors itself. Our group walked towards the door, and I was surprised at how excited I was to get a few thoughts to myself.

Folduin easily opened the beautifully carved doors, and inside sat a piece of art that took my breath away. 

A beautiful white and green marble floor gave a sense of home, with a beautiful white wall to finish the touch. There was a small sitting area, with chairs, a coffee table, and a couch. On the side sat a side room with a single door. But at the end of the room is what caught my attention.