The Kingdom

Learning About The Past

Five months since they've lost the Overseer. No one could do anything to take back the Arche. They had no foolproof plan that was effective enough with only ten Vitae, one Homin, and one Hyabum. They've lost sight of their army, and were leaderless. They were like grazing sheep without their sheppard.

Rain sat at the edge of the island that they were resting on. She let out a deep sigh as she looked at the major defeat that they suffered. The Civs hidden in each of the islands were still stuck in there, crowded and cramped. Their Arche was gone. Out of grasp, considering their state. Zoe saw what was going on and sat next to her. "What's wrong?" she asked.

The fan of feathers at the top of her head closed and pulled back. "We've lost, Zoe. There's no way that we can get back our your Arche, let alone, ours."

"Oh come on, don't say that!"

The hawk's wings went limp. "I'm sorry, Zoe. I know how much your family means to you. But, without Parka, we don't stand a chance."

"Why do you say that?"

"She's the only one who can deal with Whisper without paralysing her. If we go in, we'd be dead already before we reach the five minute mark." It was silent. Zoe had nothing to say after that. She tried thinking of ways to get back Judicium and Ludere, but not a single idea came into mind. Soon, after a few moments, Rain broke the ice and said, "Come. Let me show you something."

Instead of flying, they took the brigdes that connected islands together. They were worn down, the wood rotting, but it was somehow sturdy. "Just keep walking. We're almost there."

There it was. An old tree that still had its colour. At the base of the trunk were marks that were carved into it. Eleven various marks on one side, and one more on the other. "These are what we call Morcams," explained Rain. "These are special marks that were given to us."

Zoe pointed towards a feather with two lines on the lower rachis. "Is this one yours?"

Rain nodded.

Zoe then pointed towards three marks that looked like an eyepatch, an upside down triangle without its base, and the bottom of a cloak. They all had three lines going through them. "This one's the trio."

She guessed them all correctly. Out of all of them, the triplets' were the easiest. Their marks resembled their stems and Peaches's fan of leaves. They all had three lines. Safari's were two rectangles and they had two lines. The twins' were in the shape of a letter 'M'. Mikel had two lines on the left and Myles had two lines on the right of the 'M'.

Parka's, however, was sincerely different. It was a circle with a long zig-zag. Outside the ring were four arrows facing in the main directions: North, South, East, and West. Two lines on the right, two lines on the bottom, three lines on the left, and three lines at the top.

"Why's Parka's like that? She doesn't have four arrows on her body, right?" asked Zoe. "The only characteristic I can see about her is that crack in her horn."

"We don't know either, Zoe. We asked her if she was certain it was the right one. But her only response was: 'You'll see.' And we haven't figured it out since."

Zoe made her way around the tree. On it, was one single mark. It was scribbled out, though, so Zoe couldn't guess what it was. It was made high up on the tree that Zoe couldn't see through the scratches. Unless the scratches were the mark.

"This was our hangout," started Rain. "Back when we were younger, after school, we'd always hangout by this special tree. Do you know why?"

"Why?" Zoe asked.

"Because it's a tree that would never rot," answered Rain. "Even when we die, our marks would be there so that we would be connected to Judicium."

Zoe looked back at the Morcams. In the ground, below the eleven Morcams, was a small hole. It was small enough to fit a small object. That reminded of the compass that Rain had found. She took it out quickly and kneeled down to fit it in. It was a perfect fit.