LIGHTS OF THE OTHER WORLD

Chapter 9: Bellendis

I slowly opened my eyes and the first thing I felt was the bright sunlight hurting my sensitive skin. I put one hand over my eyes and tried to get up. I looked to my right and saw Evanthia, trying to block the sunlight falling on her face. "Are we dreaming?" She yawned.

"No. Looks like this is Bellendis." I said as I stretched myself as I got up. "How long has it been since we passed out?" She asked me.

"My watch and phone aren't working here." I replied. "Oh no. How will we ever find out the time in this place?" She enquired. "We'll figure that out later. Just look at this place, it's lovely."

We looked around as we walked ahead. We could see the whole city from where we stood. We were on a mountain. We could see so many things below us. There were trees, shrubs and gardens of flowers everywhere. In some places we could see little houses and in some we could see small streams and rivers carrying clean water. The whole place looked so beautiful. "Now I get why this place is called Bellendis. Elle est tres belle!" I said in French.

"You're right Cal! Elle est tres belle!" And our voices echoed.

"Eccchhhhhooooo" Eva shouted and it echoed her voice once more. She looked so happy. Cool breeze gushed past us. Suddenly a gush of strong wind brushed past our face, carrying a bunch of lovely feathers past us. Eva and I ran after it towards the other edge of the mountain top. I picked up the feathers.

"Eva..."

"Cal, look at that!!" She sounded terrified. As I looked at what she had seen, I was terrified too. At the far end of the city, I saw heavy rains, darkness and lightning. Trees had fallen, houses were broken and only bats and wolves seemed to roam around that place. Amidst them I saw a big dark castle. "Alaric's castle." Eva said, looking at me. The darkness seemed to come closer every minute. Our happiness of being here disappeared at once.

"We shouldn't waste time. We should find our way to the ministry." I said, looking at the map.

As Evanthia and I walked through the streets of Bellendis, we saw people staring at us. They looked really sad and regretful. Some wore ragged and torn clothes and most of them ran into their houses just as the darkness and the black clouds started shadowing the streets. "Run! The king has arrived!" A little girl screamed (she looked as though she was six years) and hid behind a light pole. Eva and I quickly hid behind a big banyan tree. We could hear huge sounds of trumpets and trotting of horses. Suddenly, we heard a grave, heavy voice. "Looks like everyone have hidden themselves in their dens again. Well done. All except for one."

Eva and I peeped through the aerial roots of the tree. A tall, fair complexioned, mid aged man with long hair walked towards the pole where the little girl had managed to hide. He pulled her out. "Well. You have some courage to not hide from me. Well I found you. Hahaha. Now it's time for my reward!" He pulled out his sword and just then a woman came running to him. "Please, your highness, have mercy on her. She's still a child. She's my only daughter. Please spare her! Take my life instead!" She knelt down in front of him, crying. He king started laughing loudly. "Okay okay. I won't kill her but that doesn't mean that she doesn't get any punishment." He swung a wand around the little girl. At once there was a spark around her and there....she turned into a bat. "No!" Her mother shouted in vain. "No..." I said and started walking ahead. I suddenly felt Eva's tight grip on my shoulder.

"We have to have patience. If you confront him now, the game will be over even before it starts." Eva warned me. I realized my mistake and nodded. The king announced "I have come to know that the magical pendents are somewhere here. If any one of you happen to find it , give it to me at once or else there will be undesirable consequences. The person who shall find it and return it will get a hundred gold coins as a present. You have a weeks time. If no one finds it, darkness will dawn upon the whole city of Bellendis forever!" The king went away. The black clouds, bats, owls and wolves seemed to follow him away.

Eva and I followed the map and continued walking. "This is crazy! How the hell did he get to know that our pendents are here?" Eva asked. "More than that, how can he be so cruel to his people? I mean, he literally turned the little girl into a bat!" I replied. "We have to find the ministry as soon as we can." She said. We kept walking for hours altogether and finally spotted the place just as it was there on the map. "I don't understand. It's supposed to be right here as it says on the map. All I see is a wall in front." Eva said, puzzled. "That's weird, do you think the ministry shifted somewhere else?" I asked. "Maybe. But I'm really tired. I don't think I can walk further. Can we rest here for a while?" Eva asked. "Yes, definitely! I can't feel my legs anymore." I replied.

Eva and I sat against the wall and closed our eyes. After a while, I felt someone's hand on my head. I opened my eyes in a start. "Don't worry child. Christella informed me that you'd come. You must be Callidora and Evanthia." she said. Her white hair was tied in a bun and she wore a white gown with a black cape. She was old, though a little younger than my grandmother but looked really elegant and smart. "Yes. I'm Callidora and this is Evanthia." I pointed to Eva, who was fast asleep. I quietly woke her up.

"Are you a part of the ministry?" Eva asked.

"Yes dear. I am. I'm here to take you inside." She replied.

"But there's a wall in front of us."

"The secret lies in front of us, child. The door opens only with the right password."

"Where's the door and what's the password?"

"CIRALA TAEFED" she chanted and out of nowhere a big blue circle came in front of us.

"Let's go." The woman said as she led us inside. "What's the meaning of CIRALA TAEFED?" I asked curiously.

"It's DEFEAT ALARIC spelt backwards. But be careful. Don't ever tell the password aloud to someone who's not a member of the ministry." She warned us.

"Okay. We won't give you any chance of listening to complaints." I said.

"What's your name?" Eva asked the woman.

"My name is Rhiannon."

"That's a nice name." Eva complemented.

"Thanks" Rhiannon replied.

"This place is wonderful!" Eva said. Rhiannon showed us the whole place. It was beautiful. It was a really magnificent house which had several rooms, each for a different purpose. There were a few meeting rooms, a few dining rooms, a few classrooms, a few rooms to sleep in and many others which were as large as own house. The ceiling had good designs, the doors were big and golden, the corridors were lit up brightly by the lamps and heavy chandeliers. I wished I could just keep staring at this forever. "I'll show you your room children." She took us to a gigantic room which was furnished probably to its greatest extent. It had two huge beds, a window and two wardrobes as well.

"Woah! It's like a dream come true!" Eva exclaimed.

"Well you are getting one of our best treatments because Christella was the head of the Pura Councillium ." Rhiannon replied.

"What! My grandma was the head of the ministry?" I asked.

"Yes. She was one of the finest heads of the ministry before she sacrificed her position in order to keep the pendents safe. I suggest that both of you keep your pendents safely in your wardrobes instead of wearing them. And anyways, it's not like you'll be needing it in the initial stages of your training."

"Okay. We'll do that." I replied.

"Okay children, have supper and take rest tonight. Your training will begin tomorrow at six. I'll be expecting you at the stadium. Please don't be late."

"Okay. Thank you so much Rhiannon. Good night." Eva said.

"Good night." Rhiannon replied and left the room in a hurry.