This night was destined to be a restless one for Karim. Pacing back and forth in his room, he tried to make sense of everything he’d been told by his grandfather.

However, sometimes facts could truly be stranger than fiction as believing was proving to be quite the challenge. The concept of spirit beasts as livestock and of the Hayawani being a race in hiding was a pill that was quite difficult to swallow all at once.

And if this wasn’t enough, add in the strange behavior of the force inside him and you have yourself a rather confusing cocktail of thoughts.

However, regardless of what he thought of the story he’d just been told, Karim had no choice but to acknowledge it. For one, why would his grandfather lie. Not to mention the strength he displayed really did seem enough to overwhelm and devour everything.

Freezing his steps before his bedroom window, Karim looked up at the starry sky above but the usual feelings he would normally have, of feeling small in the grand scheme of things were not there.

And then it occurred to him, why he was having a hard time believing and acknowledging his grandfather’s words as reality.

‘It all seems so small now.’ He thought to himself. This world that he thought was so big, his frustrations, ambitions, and desires, suddenly became even tinier.

Once he realized that, Karim’s doubts washed away and, in its place, came acceptance. He could now accept his new reality and even try to understand it more with help from his grandfather however, one thing he was still clueless about was the force within him.

“At that moment were you afraid for me? Is that why you warned me of the danger? Or were you just afraid?” Karim asked, thinking out loud.

He placed his hand over his heart and a thought he once dismissed years ago, creeped up once again to the forefront of his mind.

“A parasite?” He wondered. The only problem with that theory was that it didn’t seem to want anything from him, at least not that he knew of. Or maybe he did not have what it needed, at least not yet.

Unfortunately, that was as far as that train of thought could go as there were simply too little clues but fortunately there were ways of finding some hints.

“I need to breakthrough.” Karim said, resolving himself to work even harder. He was anxious to find out whether the force would react as it did last time, would it reward him with something? Or was it all a mistake.

If it wasn’t a mistake and the force was giving him something in return for his growth then that could only mean one thing, it wanted something back. Something he could not provide now but his growth could facilitate.

Answers were finally showing themselves. Although not definitive, it was a step forward on a lightless path where knowing which direction forward even is, was something to be happy about.

Thus, Karim stayed up past midnight alone with his thoughts, but eventually he tired out, falling asleep on the bedside sofa.

…………..

8 years ago

“It’s so big.” Said Karim, his eyes widening in wonderment.

He was staring at a map of Binguni that Lark was projecting on the wall of the room using a spirit tool.

“It’s also diverse. There are deserts, thriving rain forests, wild plains, mountain ranges that stretch to the heavens, winding rivers and gigantic oceans. There is the beautiful, the scary and the boring. This is our home and it’s also home to countless life forms.” Said Lark.

“Wow.” Exclaimed a young Karim.

Lark smiled, ruffling Karim’s hair. “You’ll get to see it, one day.”

“Really?” asked Karim, disbelievingly.

“Why would I lie?” replied Lark.

“Will you be there uncle?” He asked, catching Lark off guard.

“Maybe.” He replied, smiling. “Anyway, back to the lesson.”

Lark then pointed to the map that depicted, a large land mass surrounded by water on all sides.

“There is only one continent on Binguni called Inchi, everything else is water. Having said that, as you can see Inchi is enormous.” Lark then pressed a button on the projection spirit tool and the image changed.

This one was more zoomed in, focusing on the continent and diving it into two.

“Originally, Inchi had two territories, the Western half belonging to the Royal Hikari House of the light element and the other half divided amongst the Nobles.” He said, before pressing the button again.

This time, the image changed and the half belonging to the Nobles was further divided into four parts.

“House Moto of the fire element controls the desert and its oases, House Maji of the water element controls the areas primarily surrounded by water, the mountain ranges are the domain of House Upepo of the air element and the plains are where House Aarthi of the earth element laid their roots.” Lark explained.

He pressed the button again and the map once again altered. The Western territory of the Royal House was suddenly divided into three parts, one being the largest, the other being smaller in comparison yet still noticeably bigger than any of the Nobles territories and the last part was the smallest yet was still slightly bigger than the other Noble’s Houses mostly because it was eating into one of the Noble’s territory.

“This is how things are now.” Said Karim. “Certain events took place long ago that led to the Royal House splitting into two and the creation and rise of our House. The largest territory in Binguni now belongs to the Royal House Taa, followed by the Royal House Hikari and then it’s us, House Night.”

“Taa? That’s Kufu’s family.” Karim exclaimed in realization. “What happened uncle Lark?” Karim asked, amazed and curious.

“Well, it’s all connected so I’ll start with how our House came to be.” Lark said.

“Our founder was a man of much debate. Depending on who you ask you can get vastly different responses on who he was or what kind of person he was. However, since it’s me teaching I’ll tell you what I think. He was an outlaw, a visionary and a someone unafraid to fight for what he believed in.”

“What he believed in?” Karim asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“The founder was a commoner born with no element, yet he was a genius who had the rare ability to digest large amounts of energy in a short amount of time. However, resources on Inchi are in the control of the Nobles, strictly monitored. Our founder did not like this arrangement, he was not resigned to a fate of being at the beck and call of Nobles yet the path to power was right in front of him. So, he broke the law and began stealing resources in abundance to grow stronger.” Lark narrated, admiration in his eyes.

“And grow stronger he did. So strong that he started amassing followers who shared his line of thinking and thus he began going directly against the Nobles. And as you can already guess, they were not too happy with what was happening so, they hunted him and his people. They were mostly unsuccessful as the founder was a cautious man, but they did cause him great losses and so the grudges grew.”

“His attacks escalated in ferocity and as a result the hunting parties became stronger with even some House Head’s getting involved. Finding him and stopping the chaos he was causing became such a popular campaign that the greatest genius of that time and eventually in history, a member of a branch of House Hikari also took notice, perhaps seeing it as a chance to grow his prestige and standing in the family.” Lark said.

“What happened next?” Karim asked, completely absorbed into the story.

“The two eventually crossed paths and a great battle ensued. The books say it was close with both parties getting heavily injured, but the Hikari genius emerged victorious. However, instead of finishing his mortal enemy, the genius, Taa of House Hikari, spared our founder.” Lark paused at this point, slightly furrowing his brows.

“And then?” Karim urged.

“And then something strange happened. The two bonded and they went on to define an era. The founder became Taa’s most loyal comrade and because of them the Royal House Hikari was split into two. Taa, took his people and using unstoppable strength they snatched territory they could call home.” Lark said.

“I thought the founder didn’t like Nobles.” Karim pointed out.

“I thought so too.” Said Lark. “Perhaps he was given an offer he couldn’t refuse.”

“Offer, what offer?” wondered Karim.

“Just a theory of mine. Not too long after the Royal House Taa was formed, the pair apparently found a secret realm where a treasure that could give someone the talent of having an element, the darkness element, could be found. Taa gifted this treasure to the founder and later helped him form House Night, his own Noble House.”

“That’s unbelievable.” Said Karim, uncharacteristically excited.

“Is it?” mused Lark, his thoughts hidden.

“Why did Taa split House Hikari?” Karim inquired.

“The books say Taa was unsatisfied with his and his branch family’s treatment by the main Hikari family. He was being suppressed by those jealous and envious of his talent, his awakening was sabotaged, his family threatened with death unless he submitted to the main family’s control along with a host of other things. Yet, Taa overcame them all and eventually suppressed the Hikari family, but once again he spared his enemy allowing them to retain their Royal status. Though this time, he kept his distance from them.”

“What happened next after that?” An enthralled Karim asked.

“The two stayed on Binguni for a time, building their respective Houses up, but their lifespans shortened and having accomplished everything they wanted here, the two set out together, leaving Binguni. And that is all the books say. In fact, most of what I tell you about our history is from books, aside from my theories of course. And you will come to learn one day that not everything that is written or spoken should be completely believed, especially when Noble’s are the source. They tend to keep a lot of secrets and speak mostly in riddles, bending the truth when they can.”

“Aren’t you also a Noble uncle?” asked Karim.

“I suppose I am.,” Laughed Lark. “But not all Nobles are created equal. As Taa learned, and so too will you, one day.”