The sound of earth crumbling and shifting has been my constant companion for the past two days. I was exhausted and tired, but I needed to keep working. In front of me was a forty foot tall earthen wall, it was also five meters thick and stretched for a distance of 400 meters to both the east and west direction from the point where I was standing, making the entire wall 800 meters long.

It might seem long, but this wall barely covers a quarter of a quarter of the pits size. But this wall needed to be raised, it was going to be the second line of defense should the Nagas ever get to this point.

Behind me however was a chasm whose depths and length I could not measure. But it was also five meters wide, almost as if the wall was dug out of it. But this chasm stretched far and deep into the multicolored gloom of the pit. I did not know how deep it was, but its edges were lined with weaves and runes I had previously set there,

The runes had different meanings and functions, however since I could not string runes into two word sentences or phrases, I could overlap two different runes over each other to simultaneously serve different functions and give different effects. Within this chasm, whose length I had spent every single moment of the last two days traversing and laying down runes, tiny pebbles could be seen.

If you were not looking for it, then you would most definitely miss its presence there. Each of those pebbles are about the size of a grown man’s small toe nail. And each of them were lined with either one of four different runes. The runes for[Burn] [freeze] [cut] and [crush] those four runes would be activated on contact with anything, from magical energy to very breath of a Naga’s nostrils. The best part is all their reactions were extreme but could only happen in a controlled environment. So if a pebble was not touched it would not be activated.

The edges of chasm had the runes for float and steady overlapping each other. It was what kept the pebbles alight without them dropping into the darkness below. But the sheer length of the chasm and the amount of pebbles needed to properly turn this place into a mine field would only face completion in a year of two if I chose to work hard everyday, But the toll on my soul and mental energy would not have enabled me to carry on for very long.

So for now, the walls being built and the areas of the chasm that the mines are being placed. Are the places most likely to be where the Nagas would need to pass through to make contact with us. But this was just speculation and rough planning. We had zero to no information on the Nagas that were coming, and I was not sure that the plans already set in place would work as I want it too.

As such I had to keep upgrading and renewing my plans, there was to many space to cover, even if we had to channel all of the vampires and dark elves to one place. The pit was too open, even with its numerous towers. If the Nagas could get through they would flank us and slaughter us at leisure. I was spread thin, and I was running out of ideas too.

We had no way of winning this fight. It could not even be considered a fight. Because when the Nagas come, and they will; it would be a slaughter, and it was definitely not going to be us doing the slaughter We were going to be the slaughtered. The only thing we needed was time, we have achieved much in such little time, if we had more, I was sure we could raise our chance of survival to about 30%.

But even then that was not a number that was favorable to us. I leaned my tired and weary body against the wall, I took deep breaths as I tried to mediate and concentrate. The world appeared to me in varying shades of colors and spectrums as I saw beyond the veil. I have always been fascinated about the theory of the veils, and layers that made up the very fabric of reality. Weavers could manipulate, tear and mend those fabrics, we were Gods, living breathing mortal gods. But I felt so helpless, so weak. But it was understandable, such power could not be granted so easily, it was why humans have always been the only race to have weavers within their ranks Due to how short lived they are and even then, the weavers don’t become all powerful until towards the Middle and end of their lives, and that was if they have been training right from their childhood.

I heard the sound of soft footfalls that distracted me from my thoughts. It was Soren. The divine lion had a habit of disappearing for hours on end, sometimes days. He gave no explanations for his absence and was even a whole lot more mysterious than Asare. But Soren was or is a peculiar lion. Celestial lions were rumored to be immortals, they live for as long as any elf or vampire, but the dead body if a celestial lion has never been found.

But what really set celestial lions apart from other animals, are apart from their intelligence, they are one of the races on Shearath with the strangest connection to nature. Not to mention they have the ability to make contracts with other living beings, enabling for an exchange of traits and abilities from both sides.

I have never noticed any traits, but that would most likely be attributed to the seal, but Soren and I are in more than just a contract. We share a well pool of energy. Which means we share Mana. Which was a source of energy completely different from mental energy or soul energy.

Also contracts with celestial lions or any other creatures magical or beast like for that matter, brings about an improvement in physical abilities and resilience. Again that is not much more noticeable due to the seal, but its true.

But so far, apart from the fact that Soren can send thoughts into my head, and we can communicate telepathically, there’s been no other manifestation of abilities to prove the claim of being contracted. And to make matters worse, Soren was a little to secretive for a lion(not that a lion is meant to have secrets in the first place)that was supposed to be my partner.

But since our reunion, I noticed my soul energy was increase exponentially. It was the reason why I was now firmly placed at the top of lumbar level. Being a weaver is not as easy as it seems, but everybody around all seem to have a secret of their own, and I could slowly feel my self being dragged under by the weight of their secrets and lies.

“what are you thinking about?” Soren asked.

I looked at him and was almost not bothered enough to answer him due to how exhausted I was.

“Can’t you read my mind? What’s with the unnecessary questions?” I asked back.

He chuckled in reply, but I could not see what he found funny. It was irritating really, I did not really have that much of a deep connection with Soren, even though our souls were supposed to be connected. Till today he was still very much a stranger to me.

“That secrets I keep are for your own good Kael. Contrary to what all this vampires and dark elves tell you. Your past was filled with more darkness than you can imagine. You have a chance to start over, which is a lot more than a lot of us ever had. So cherish this privileged for what it is and forget about the past.”

I wondered if there was anything wrong with his brain. Aren’t Celestial lions supposed to be intelligent. How could it be that easy, an entire life. A life that was once filled with love, ambitions, hopes, dreams and family.

Now it was just an empty, and completely blank slate and he has the audacity to tell me to forget about it. How the hell was I supposed to do so?, what’s even worse was that the situation and reputation I now find myself with, came mainly due to the actions and decisions I made in my past and who I have always been treated based on those actions, based in who I was before. I did not know anything about myself, I depended on stories from others, I had to form imageries of my past based on what all this prisoners had heard. I don’t even know what I look like(mirrors are forbidden in the pit).

To make matters worse, all this people know off me, they learnt to love and be inspired by me based on the stories of my efforts and struggles to get equal rights for them, equal to what any other species in the council of light was now enjoying. They knew of me, but they didn’t know me. But the two people that did, were both quite convinced in their stance and decisions that my past was nothing more than a ticking time bomb for me, and were adamant that I should forget about it. Why?

“I understand how you feel Kael, after all we are both connected. I can still feel you. But your past is better left the way it is……as the past. Look to the future, helping you forget your past was a promise I made to someone incredibly important to me. I intend to keep that promise even if you hate me for it.”

I was a little surprised, had he met Asare, or was he talking about someone else. This was my past, my memories, my truest sense of self. And Soren and whoever this douche bag that thinks he can confidently control my life and use my however fucked up past to determine my present and future are sorely mistaking if they think I am just going to roll over and let them decide for me about gaining knowledge of my past.

“Who is he? Who did you make such a promise to and why?!!”

I had already raised my voice and let my anger bleed into it. My loud outburst had caught the attention of the gnomes and few prisoners that have been working with me on the walls.

Soren stretched lazily as he slowly began to walk away on padded footsteps. But before he could completely disappear from my sight he turned and looked at me, then he gave me an answer that shocked me to my core.

“The person I made the promise to is you. You told me just before they took your memories away, to help you find a way, any way for you to live a normal life. And no matter what, I should never ever reveal details of our past to you.

And the reason why I made that promise……well what could I do. There was not much you asked me for during our time together. But I had to do this for you, because In the end you’re my little brother, just because I’m in a different body does not change that. I will always take care of you.”

I watched him leave with my jaws hanging all the way to the floor in shock and surprise. Little…..little brother. Now I had even more questions, to many more questions. But the predominant question in my mind that I could not answer and could not help but scream out was.

“What the fuck!!! Just happened?!!!”

************************************************

They were close. Kal could almost feel their breaths on the other side of the wall of rocks. Mining out this cave has been the most annoying thing he ever had the pleasure of doing in his almost six hundred years of life. Kal could not say for sure how things would turn out once they got through this tunnel, but he knew that his employers would not be happy if he did not make an example out of someone, or in this case a lot of people. He was weird, even among the Nagas, he had always stood out from the rest. As a kid he was found to have an intense affinity for healing magic, and a minor affinity for darkness.

Initially this would have been a matter of great pride, every living being in Shearath had an affinity to a particular element, even weavers. But it was extremely rare for someone to have multiple affinities, but his father had seen healing magic as something unworthy of a Naga.

Kal’s people loved war, they lived for chaos, for destruction and pain. Healing magic stood against everything his people believed in, he was forced to focus all of his attention on his dark magic. And while he has made significant, some might say astonishing achievement in that school of magic. He knew it was never enough or strong enough to match up to what he could achieve as a healer.

He was left with no choice but to be what his people needed him to be, and as much as he had dreams and wanted to help people. The blood of the Naga’s still flowed in his veins, and much like his people he had learnt to love war, to love pain, to love destruction. And even though it still feels like two sides of him have been flighting for dominance his whole life, he still knew who he was. He was Kal Moro, prince of the Nagas and one of the greatest generals of his people.

It was why he hated the fact that he had to answer to this two pompous fools of the council of light. Weavers were a disease as far as Kal was concerned, they were unnatural, blasphemers. You could say Kal hated them to the point of obsession, and you would be right. They unsettled the natural order of things, and they rule with such disregard for life and the earth that it surprised him why they were not already cursed.

“So Mr. Kal is it? Tell me how goes this excavating operation. How long do we have to wait until we can put those filthy beasts born of the darkness back into their place.” A voice asked.

Kal had no idea what these weavers were doing in the tunnel, their classy and beautifully embroidered robes left trails of light on the ground, giving them an even more stupid look than the refined appearance they both seem to think they have. Seriously who wears a rob that glows. They might be greatly respected by a lot of people but as far as Kal was concerned the air in here had rapidly turned foul.

“we should be through in a week.” He answered curtly

“That wouldn’t do, wouldn’t you say M?” another voice pitched in.

“indeed S, Mr. Kal here is quite slow. We expect you to be done in two days. The air here stinks, and I need to get back to my tower in time for a proper day long soak to get the vestibules of darkness tainted creatures off me.”

S and M were not really considered important among the ranks of low level weavers. But they were most certainly capable of causing a lot of damage. Kal however thought they were insane, apart from the fact that they call themselves S and M. They had a contingent of exotic slaves from different races attending to their every needs, and they worry about their skin and appearance even more than a noble lady of high repute.

This guys were disgusting, and even without the abilities of weavers they were truly first class scums.

“Even for you rune masters with all of your abilities, it is impossible to get through this tunnel in two days. So please you can go back to doing what you were doing before you suddenly decided to polute the air with your obstinacy.”

Kal was sure he had pushed a button, as both S and M got so red in the face with anger that he felt like using the hair as a paint brush to see if he could paint the tunnel's walls red. Kal had an Inkling that this guys were brothers, they did not look similar, but they had matching mannerisms and characteristics. They even got angry the same way.

“How dare you serpent!!!! You ate not fit to lick my boots but yet you use such disrespectful words and tones to address me. You are begging for death.” M admonished with his saliva flying every where.

Kal was not really afraid of this guys, they were weavers, yes. But he was more important to the council of light than this pair of self entitled children in the body of full grown men. Provoking each other to a certain degree could be overlooked, even more so when you consider the fact that this two idiots had alighted royalty. Humans loved to put a lot if emphasis in the hierarchy, so nobles of any race are respected.

And even though their intelligence has been called into question numerous times, S and M knew their value to the council was below that of Kal. As such they could not do anything. The council of light was powerful, but they could not afford a war with the Nagas at any point in time. Though two thousand years has passed, the last war with the vampires and dark elves had left the council seriously fractured and weakened. The world has improved and evolved since them, but a lot of things were still lost. The Nagas were a welcome ally, or maybe the right word was guard dogs.

The Nagas were subservient to the human race, right along side the werewolves and orcs. In other words they were also tools for the council of light. Kal was a diplomatic figure, a prince and someone who could very well be the next ruler of the Nagas, it was imperative that the council of light keep up appearances for the people under their command and treat the Nagas with as much respect as they could afford but still keeping a tight leash in them. This two weaver’s stupidity thankfully had a limit.

“Get out!!”

Kal had to also exercise caution. The Nagas found it repulsive to be called serpent, and the last person to call Kal that to his face was still suffering a waking nightmare. But S and M were weavers, much as They couldn’t do anything to Kal without causing a diplomatic incident, Kal could not do anything to them either.

They hurriedly scurried out of the tunnel with robes dragging behind them like the dress of a woman. They looked even more pathetic as they left.

Kal turned his eyes back to the slowly crumbling wall in front if him. The cause of the cave in had not been identified up till now. It was also not plausible that the gnomes helped, neither was it easy to believe that prisoners were responsible for this. The pit was big, really big and Kal knew for a fact that both dark races were to suppressed to have the capabilities to collapsed this tunnel. There was more at work here, and Kal could not help the simple feeling that somewhere out there, there was a third party in this little dance he now finds himself moving too.

Kal was really apprehensive about it. The vampires and dark elves could be planned against and prepared for. They were limited and with the seals on them, they were predictable. But if there truly was a third party, then things would most probably not end well. With to many angles to cover, Kal was sure he would incur some losses. But one other thing that bothered him though was the possibility of vampires and dark elves fighting back. Thus people have been oppressed for a long time, the past half a year has afforded them a freedom the likes which they have bit enjoyed in two thousand years, they were going to fight back.

If they take such an action they will definitely loose. But it was to be expected no sane person will voluntarily let themselves become shackled again. Kal was well known for his strategies too, but there was to many inconsistencies with this crusade of his.

There’s a while lot of different angles to be considered. The Ionite used to poison them and suppress their physical abilities and powers would have most definitely been out of their system by now, they were sure to come up with different plans if their own to combat Kal and his soldiers. Not to mention they were millions if them in there, the hidden third party did not provide as much a threat as the sheer size and volume if the people he now had to go and fight.

His hundred man…..err Naga legion and two hundred human and werewolves were not enough to deal with them if they all decide to fight. Kal knew he had a 70% chance if wining this fight. But the remaining 30% raised all manner of red flags for him and his people. Regardless of how this venture ends, Kal was sure of one thing. A lot of people will die, and when the smoke clears and the dust settles he might be the only Naga left standing.