A hidden door covered in eroded past-ups and ancient spray-paint gave way, opening a portal to a world Thaqib didn’t know existed. Judah held it open and ushered Halima and Thaqib inside before closing it and sealing them somewhere in the space between the city streets. As the door closed, Thaqib felt a cool chill in the air.

“This is the entrance to your hideout?” Thaqib asked.

“One of them, we have many,” Judah replied leading them to an opening where a metal plate lay beneath a scattering of old trash. He bent down and lifted it, revealing an opening in the ground, a long ladder descended down into the deep. Halima called for Sol to light the way down, but Judah placed a hand on her shoulder. “No, best we don’t reveal him just yet. Although the Order is hidden, we cannot be sure all eyes can be trusted. Let’s keep your identity to ourselves for now.”

“OK,” Halima nodded. “Sol, return,” she commanded. Sol chirped and reinserted himself back into her chest-piece. They descended down the ladder, as they reached the bottom of the tunnel, the darkness gave way to small spots of light. Thaqib realized that they were fairy lights, leading a pathway into a dark underground passage. Judah hurried them through and they came to a large metal door with a round handle, he turned it and they stepped into some kind of antechamber.

The door swung shut behind them, controlled by an unseen force. They found themselves walled in between two opposing doors. A slit on the far door opened.

“Judah?” a voice called out.

“Yeah, open up,” Judah replied.

“Who’s that you got with you?” the voice asked.

“It’s all good, they’re under my watch,” Judah said.

“OK,” the voice answered and soon there was the sound of a wheel being cranked and the door slowly slid open.

Judah led Halima and Thaqib through and they were surprised to find a chamber open out before them, some kind of underground dwelling. Many people adorned in faded robes milled about, some nodded as Judah led them through.

“What is this place?” Thaqib asked.

“It’s where we live. Come, the temple is up ahead.”

The people they passed didn’t seem to pay them much attention, Thaqib thought that was probably a good thing after the way he’d seen Judah react when he’d learned where Halima had come from. Judah seemed to have a wisdom about him and he wondered how someone without his disposition might act if they learned about her. He was having a hard time enough grasping it himself, and he didn’t have any idea what was going on.

They were lead through a series of tunnels and found themselves walking along a water canal. Thaqib noticed the supply stores stacked up against the walls. “This some kind of an outpost? Seems like you guys are prepping to fight or something.”

“Of course, we’ve been biding our time down here for a long while, training, preparing for the battle to take on Babylon. Now that Halima’s here it will be time to put it all to use.”

“But how did you end up down here?” Thaqib asked,

“This isn’t the first of our hideouts, we’ve had to move many times. We’ve been in this one for only a short while. After our last one was discovered.”

They came to an opening where the canal disappeared into the wall. Flames lit the interior of a chamber. Thaqib made out old stone blocks in the wall that looked older than anything he’d ever seen. He put a hand to one, running his fingers along its surface. It was cold and smooth. “What are these blocks?” he asked.

“They’re the remnants of the old Zionese temple that used to exist here,” Judah replied.

“Here, underground? How old is this place?” Thaqib asked.

“Thousands of years old,” Halima said. Judah smiled.

“Thousands!?” Thaqib asked in shock.

“Babylon city is built on top of the old Zionese settlement that occupied this island. There are ruins of the old world everywhere if you know where to look,” Judah replied.

“But what happened to Zion?” Thaqib asked.

“It still exists, but unfortunately it is locked away from us behind the Veil,” Judah said.

“That’s where you’re from?” Thaqib asked Halima.

“Yes,” Halima replied.

Thaqib’s head flooded with questions, “But what’s it like through there? Is it like here?”

“No. It’s nothing like here,” Halima said turning to him, an expression of anger on her face. “This place, Babylon, it’s worse than I had ever imagined. We were told what lay beyond the Veil, why the Zionese erected it—to prevent Babylon’s spread across Aotea—but this place is far worse than anything we were told. I can only think that things have become far worse than even Zion remembers.”

“Yes,” Judah added. “For too long Aotea has been split in half, awaiting the time it can be unified. Until then the planet will cry out in pain and Babylon’s darkness will only increase.”

“The planet—Aotea, it’s split in half?” Thaqib asked.

“Yes. The veil was erected to prevent Babylon’s expansion. It rings the planet all the way into space. The upper half is ruled by the Babylonian Empire, and the lower half remains under the control of Zion.”

Thaqib turned to Halima “Why did you come here?” he asked. Halima seemed reluctant to speak.

Judah turned to him. “For many centuries, since the war ended with the creation of the Veil, it has been prophesied that there would be a savior from Zion, a prophet that would show us how to pass through the Veil and return to the promised land we’ve been parted from for so long,” he said before looking to Halima, “Halima is that prophet, the one known as the Czepta.”

“The Czepta?” Thaqib asked, spinning in disbelief. Halima seemed troubled, she was about to speak when a group of people wearing golden robes descended from the chamber ahead.

Thaqib was shocked to see so many people with bald heads. He noticed that each of them wore a long necklace with jade stones that glittered in the dim light of the cave. “What’s up with these dudes? They’re all bald.”

“They’re monks,” Judah said, amused by Thaqib’s reaction. The monks approached them.

“Elder Sensar,” Judah said bowing to the lead monk who had a long dreaded beard and bushy white eyebrows contrasting the lack of hair atop his head.

“Greetings Judah, I was told you’d returned with guests. This must be the boy Rast has told us about,” Elder Sensar said, holding out a hand to Thaqib. Thaqib shook it apprehensively. “Glad to meet you Thaqib.” He looked to Halima, “And who is this?”

Elder Sensar seemed to study her a moment, then a strange look came upon his face.

“Master Sensar, this is Halima. Thaqib found her in the harbour,” Judah replied.

“In the harbour?” Elder Sensar said. He suddenly took a step back when he saw Sol’s disk attached to her chest. “This is—!”

“It is,” Judah replied. “Halima is the prophet from Zion.” Elder Sensar stared at her, frozen in the realization.

“Yes,” Halima replied. “I crashed into the harbour. Thankfully I met Thaqib who has helped me get here.”

Elder Sensar was speechless, he fell to his knees, then prostrated on the ground. Thaqib felt awkward, confused as to what was happening, Halima seemed even more so. The other monks followed Elder Sensar’s lead, prostrating before her.

“What’s going on?” Thaqib asked. But before he could get a reply, Elder Sensar raised his head and called out.

“By the grace of Zion! The Prophet has arrived!” His voice boomed through the stone chambers, and was heard by the others who suddenly came toward them, slowly at first, as though they were trying to register the meaning of the words. As the came closer, they saw the monks prostrated, they too did the same.

“No, please,” Halima protested, seeming distressed by the situation.

“Thought we were gonna keep it quiet?” Thaqib asked.

Judah looked uncomfortable too, “Yeah, that was the plan,” he said as he went down on one knee.

“What’s going on?” Thaqib asked Halima, she looked at him with concern. She and Thaqib were the only ones still standing of the hundred or so people that had streamed into the hall. Halima put her hand on Thaqib’s shoulder, trying to find support. She smiled at him, as though him standing next to her, treating her like an equal and not some deity made her feel less alone.

“Please—” she began, “I thank you for welcoming me, but please—stand.” One by one the people rose their heads off the ground in confusion looking around. “Please, rise,” she said again. Judah looked up and then stood. Others followed, after a few moments, everyone had risen except Elder Sensar. Halima knelt down, put her hands on his shoulders, and helped him up. When she saw his face he had tears in this eyes.

“It’s just been so long,” he said. “We almost gave up hope.”

This made Halima feel more concerned. She smiled but Thaqib could tell that she was uncomfortable with the way they were treating her. “Come, Halima,” Elder Sensar said, we must prepare you to enter the grand temple. Halima looked to Judah.

“They’ll get you freshened up, you can probably use it after the rough time you’ve had.”

“What? You can’t let her go,” Thaqib said.

Judah put his hands on Thaqib’s shoulder. “They’ll take good care of her.”

Halima saw Thaqib’s concern, he’d been the only one keeping her safe since he’d found her on the barge. “Its OK Thaqib, I’ll be fine,” she said trying to reassure him.

Thaqib took a breath. “You sure?” Halima nodded and smiled. He hung his head, suddenly feeling out of place. “OK.”

“Don’t worry,” she replied, “I’ll see you again soon,” and walked with the monks into the next chamber.

“You sure she’ll be alright?” Thaqib asked Judah.

“Yes,” Judah said. “You did well Thaqib. I don’t know what might have happened if you hadn’t found her, with the Babylonians looking for her and the Shayateen, we feared the worst. What you’ve done is incredible.”

Thaqib felt a strange sense of pride but it was tempered with self-doubt, he didn’t believe that he’d done anything special, he’d just been reacting, doing what he needed to get them out of there. “It was nothing,” Thaqib said.

“It was far from nothing Thaqib. You may have just saved everyone here, given us a new fighting chance. Today everything changes. Our battle can begin again.”

Thaqib didn’t know what to say, he was overwhelmed by it all. Judah noticed. “Say, it’s going to be a while waiting on Halima, why don’t I show you around? I think you’ll be interested to see what we do here.”

“Yeah, OK,” he replied taking a final glance at the chamber Halima had left through, before following Judah away to another.

***

On a ledge overlooking the chamber, a figure stood cloaked in shadow, watching Thaqib disappear into the tunnel. He watched through cold, vacant eyes.

The sound of footsteps scuffled up the set of stairs leading to the ledge and a chubby man who’s bald head reflected the warm lights of the chamber appeared.

“Master Shifun!” Pomo called, huffing to catch his breath. “I’ve been looking all over for you, where have you been? I haven’t seen you since last night.”

Shifun stood in the dark, unmoving.

“Master? Is everything OK?” Pomo asked. “You’ve heard the incredible news? The one from the Veil has arrived! Our fears have been put to rest, somehow with that boy’s help she made it out of the harbour. When I saw that ship plunge into it after falling from the Veil—I’ve got to tell you Master, I was afraid the prophecy was wrong. Like you said, that wasn’t how it was supposed to happen.” Shifun ignored him completely, as though Pomo was not even there. “Master?”

“Get out of my sight,” Shifun uttered suddenly with a cold indifference that sent an icy wave of shock across Pomo’s body. In all his years training with Shifun, he’d never heard him speak in such a manner. Something about it struck him to the bone, crushing his spirit. It was a voice of utter contempt, as though Pomo was but filth to be wiped off one’s shoe. He backed away, a feeling of shame and guilt gripping him. Had he done something to offend Shifun? Had his poor efforts the night before been the cause such disdain?

Pomo retreated from the ledge as Shifun disappeared into the shadows.