The Elder Seekers
Book one: Alequa
Chapter one: Tolani of Rank three
There in the middle of a bright rocky and rough cavern I stood over a pool of crystal clear aqua blue water. It was so bright compared to the only river I ever saw. There were sparkly blue white stones embedded in the wall, a tunnel larger than the school hallway was lit with a chilly illumination. In the pool of water I saw my reflection, but it was different; dark hair cascaded over my shoulder in a braid, my skin was glowing with a flawless glow and I looked like the people in old magazines, people who held an unattainable air of perfect. My slight build was complimented by a light brown robe ending just above my knees, a deep blue cord tied at my waist. My feet were bare but cleaner than they had ever been, even on evaluation days. Slowly I walked over to the hallway until I reached a wall, there were about twelve dim gems and as my hand reached out one lit up with a bluish grey glow. Echoing from somewhere inside was mournful singing from behind the wall. Hauntingly old and in a language from before the Astramances took over our home planet and eliminated the problem of not understanding others by teaching us their language.
“Awoken of the Elder Seekers lost yet and finally found, Alequa woken of grace, and of sound…”
A hand landed on my shoulder snapping me from my dream. Bewildered my eyes flashed around at the dull grey room until they landed on the tired and worn down face of Arcan, he was only fifteen years older than me but he was the only person who would take me in when the Astramance Diverter brought my three year old self here when the nursery deemed me healthy enough to be sent to a rank. The ranks were assigned by how you acted in the nursery as a child. How you acted when you were getting examined, when they infected you with a disease to strengthen your immunity to getting sick, how you behave towards others and how you sleep. Rank one was usually the kindest of all of the ranks; they shared the limited toys and were always smiling no matter what they were doing. Rank two were usually nice when they wanted to be. Sometimes they could be mischievous but everyone liked them. Four was usually full with stubborn and intelligent people, a dangerous combination. Five were always the rough and viper-like children, they enjoyed the pain and misery they caused people and usually were sly sneaky and underhanded.
Three on the other hand was known for the patience and quiet behaviors, but we also didn't stand for being too lenient with rules. We didn’t like standing out in a group but when we didn’t like something we would voice our concerns. Most of our rank was assigned jobs like nursery assistant or Child Company. Jobs that could require a strong hand to discipline misbehaving children. They were the kind of jobs where patience was required but every once and a while they would assign a transfer to another location and they never were seen again.
“Tolani, wake up, it is morning.” Arcan had a voice of a wise old man, a sound that didn’t quite belong to someone less than the half age. His brow was creased in frustration and his sandy curls stuck up every which way. He handed me a tin cup and two tiny silvery pills. They were Epcenal-Ispis and I felt like I was the only one who had to take them. Sitting up I downed them as quickly as usual. “The Astramance have called all of the students of The Honor Way Academy and their families to the square. Go scrub your face and put on your tunica and sandals. We have to go.”
I rolled up my bed roll and grabbed the off-white tunica from the hook next to my name plaque. And went behind the screen to scrub my face and change out of the white sleep gown. Lastly I ran the wooden brush through my short black tendrils of hair. My feet slid into the hard plastic sandals. Stepping in line behind Terrence, a boy with sandy curls, I followed with my class to the square. We all stood still in a single line shoulder to shoulder as our teachers and headmaster stood in front of us, in front of Astramance Omnizine, the Astramance responsible of education and assignment.
"Good morning Rank Three." the voice was thin, cold, and dead. All of us lifted our heads to acknowledge we were being spoken to; the rule of not speaking to our betters was fresh in our minds. "As you know you are all at the age to leave behind your tunics and tunica’s of your school days for the ones of apprenticeship. Today though, we will detain some to be escorted to an academy for closer determination. When and if I call out your name please step forward. Arist." A girl with red hair stepped forward and I remembered the glimpse of her ranking I saw, she was near the bottom. These were students who slacked off. Sure enough, Cerrin, Ebner, Lyren and Siena were called. All of them stepped forward. Then Omnizene said one last name.
"Tolani. Those are the names of the children who are needed. Arist, Cerrin, Ebner, Lyren, Siena and Tolani." His eyes connected with mine, pure black met deep blue. My limbs were frozen to the spot. Those students were at the bottom of the rankings, I was third from the top, had there been a mistake? With a nudge in the back from Arcan, I walked forward into the line. One of the soldiers from five in front of the line, one right behind me. All six of us walked in dead silence to the transport, a millitary black vehicle about the size of a residence unit. They sat us down and put the safe restraints on. Overhead a light Flicked on as they left us, a safety camera whizzed to life in the corner. We started moving down the rough roads on our way to our new location. I could only wonder how Arcan was taking this. Just yesterday he had confided to me how he saw my name on the list of the students whose apprenticeship would be in the child development sector of the nursery.
"Why us? What's wrong with you five, I'm not a freak like the rest of you!" Cerrin was shouting, straining against his restraints to get a good looks at all of us, Ebner flinched as his ear was being yelled into."
"Listen," I leaned forward and the pressure restraints applied made me lean back from the need to breath."None of us know what's going on or why we were picked, we just need to prove to them nothing's wrong. We'll be home in no time." Closing my eyes I took a nap, trying to recall the dream.
Back down the tunnel Tolani, up to the stone wall...I reached my hand out and the stone glowed even brighter this time, five other stones flickered in the glow, their own glow was dim compared to the stronger one.
"Wake up." the order was hard and mechanical. Blinking my eyes open I realized was the only one left in the transport. Two soldiers in front of me. The restraints were removed and I stood. I was pushed out of the vehicle and into a large hanger. I was led to a white room with a plain bed in one corner, there was a door cracked open leading into a bathroom and at the foot of the bed there was a desk.
"Welcome to your temporary home Tolani. We will come back and get you later." Closing the door I sat at the desk, the plastic of the chair dug into my legs and back. Tapping the top of the desk a screen came up with activities. I clicked crossword and began.
