The Thousand Year Story: The Eternal Summer

Long ago, sand didn’t cover the vast land we now call Orati.

Long ago, water fell from the sky.

Long ago, the clouds cried, blanketing the world in white.

Long ago, the ground bloomed with new beginnings.

Long ago…

There were four gods.

Not rulers, but guardians.

Not judges, but witnesses.

Each god held a thread of the world’s balance.

Each is a keeper of change.

Each is a guardian of time.

The First:

Verian, God of Growth,

Spring.

Replenisher of all. Reaper of none.

His footsteps stirred buried roots. His breath coaxed flowers from stone.

He bore the gifts of healing, bloom, and the breath of becoming—the soul’s gentle push toward growth.

The Second:

Aestura, the Flame’s Voice,

Summer.

She did not burn with hatred. She burned with presence.

Her breath could boil oceans to steam, then scatter the steam to dust.

Her voice cracked stone. Her touch seared pride into the bones of those she chose.

She bore the gifts of triumph, force, and unyielding will.

The Third:

Autumna, the Golden God,

Autumn.

Where she walked, green turned to gold.

The wind hushed in her presence, and even the sky bowed low to weep.

She bore the gifts of swiftness, diligence, and the patience of rot—a slow decay that brings wisdom, not ruin.

The Fourth:

Hivernox, the White Silence,

Winter.

He moves slowly, like snow that followed with every step.

His presence was hollow and deep, like the silence between stars.

His hands were frost. But his stillness was not death.

It was possibility, pure, untouched.

He bore the gifts of perfect silence, amplification, and the space between choices.

The gods lived in harmony, their gifts balanced in what was called the Rule of Thirds.

Three gifts per god.

Three gifts to share with the world.

Those who pledged faith to a single god were blessed by that god’s touch marked, empowered, transformed.

But only one loyalty was allowed.

To pledge to more meant death.

Those who were blessed were only allowed to use their powers in the presence of their gods—

And so the world thrived for millennia.

Until one god reached beyond the Rule.

Aestura, ever radiant, ever burning, discovered something new.

A gift not shared.

Not born of change.

Not bound by time.

The gift of prolonging.

Eternity.

Power without decay.

Triumph without limit.

And she took it for herself.

The other gods warned her. Pleaded with her.

But she had seen the truth:

“Any soul that refuses the sun shall wither beneath it.

There is no place for doubt in my light.”

She scorched the sky.

She covered Orati in a breathless heat.

The clouds ceased their weeping.

The green and gold turned to ash.

The winds lost their voice.

The frost cracked and bled away.

And sand suffocated the world.

Only her believers endured.

The rest is forgotten.

The gifts of Verian, Autumna, and Hivernox vanished alongside their gods.

Their chosen, stripped of power.

Now, in a time when gods are myth and myths are warnings,

A boy named Juno awakens under a sun that never sets.

He has no memory of this war.

He knows nothing of gods, or gifts, or Orati.

But the threads of fate are pulling tight around his neck, around his heart.

He will have to choose:

A life of light without rest…

Or a path that may never promise anything at all.

Yawn.

“I just woke up from the best sleep—“

I shifted uncomfortably.

My hands and feet were tied.

“You gotta be kidding me—“

I looked up and I was met with the biker girl—Sylvaine if I remember correctly—sitting cross legged on a rock. Cloak, goggles and all.

The same girl I saved from an entanglement of ropes, is now put me into ropes.

She just sat there expectantly.

“Um do you want me to say something?” I asked

“I don’t know, do I?” She shrugged, tilting her head.

Man, I hate when girls do this, trying to find out why there mad is like—

It’s like trying to win but you don’t even know the game you’re playing, and then they start shit talking you the moment you mess up like bro.

“I guess I’ll be on my way.” I begin to walk away(wiggle).

“Wait!” She grabbed my leg.

“Hey let me go.” I began to struggle like my life depended on it.

Aka wiggle slightly harder.

She pulled out a paper with her off hand.

The wanted poster.

“Are you Exidus?”

I shifted my gaze downward, silent.

I looked back up at her, legs were no longer crossed legged,she was leaning forward.

“I don’t know, am I?” HA! How about a taste of your own medicine you b—

“PLEASE.” She was bowing, arms and knees on the floor.

“TEACH ME!”

“Excuse me what?”

We’re back in the middle of the desert.

Gideon’s bike is ours now, the others are a pile of scrap somewhere back in that crumbling ruin. The structure’s still in view barely. Just a crooked silhouette against the horizon. Out here, there’s nothing for miles. Just jagged cliffs, tired-looking mountains, that giant planet hanging low in the sky like it’s eavesdropping on our conversation, and of course—

Sand.

Endless, sand.

“Why do you want me to like, tutor you anyway.”

“I’m unable to bear the power of the sun.” She made eye contact with me over her shoulder. “I want to learn to survive without it.”

I can assure you, after what I saw you do, you’ll be A OKAY.

“So, what’s my first lesson?” she asks, clasping her hands together looking at me expectantly.

I blink. Right. She still doesn’t know I’m that Exidus guy.

“Tell me…” I glance out over the dunes, buying time. “What does the desert mean to you?”

I have no idea what I’m doing.

She answers without missing a beat. “Problems.”

It hits harder than expected.

“Well uh—” I step forward, letting the silence sit a second too long. “Sometimes you need to look at things from a new perspective.”

I drop backward into the sand. Heat creeps up my spine like I just laid down on a stove, but I start moving my arms and legs anyway, carving out a shape.

She stares. “What are you doing?”

“This,” I say, mid-sweep, “is a snow angel,” Well more like a sand angel.

“A what?” She crosses her arms, clearly unimpressed.

“A snow angel,” I repeat proudly, pointing to the awkward imprint of my body in the sand like it’s a museum piece.

She just blinks. “What’s snow?”

My turn to blink. “Wait, really?”

“So,” she says flatly, “snow is… cold sand?”

“No,” I laugh, “it’s colder. Way colder. It melts in your hands. Sometimes it sticks together. You can throw it, build stuff with it.”

She tilts her head like she doesn’t believe a word of it. “And it falls from the sky?”

“Yeah.” I grin. “The whole sky just… opens up. You look up, and it’s all coming down. Quiet. White.”

She narrows her eyes. “That’s fake.”

“It’s real,” I say. “So is rain.”

“Rain?”

“Water. Just falling. From the sky. Not steam. Not blood. Just water.”

She looks up, skeptical. “You’re telling me water just… comes down.”

“Exactly.” I glance out at the dunes. “It’s drinkable too!” Well it was, but she doesn’t need to know that.

She doesn’t say anything.

I look at her. She’s not blinking.

I ask, “You okay?”

She looks at me slowly, like she’s waking up. “I think…” Her voice catches. “I think I like that idea.”

“What idea?”

“Drinkable water that’s free, and it falls out the sky.”

I can imagine how hard it is to get water judging by the climate.

“Alright it’s time to head out,” she started walking toward the V2, “I’m guessing you don’t have a place to stay since I found you in the middle of nowhere…”

“Haha yeah…” I laughed awkwardly

“It’s okay I have 70 Vells on me right now so that should be enough.” She put her goggles on and rev’d the engine, I said my last goodbyes to my sand angel and we were back on the road.

I watch the gas gauge so down slowly as we continued, we rode for what seemed like forever.

“The Desert is pretty lame, why is it so—“

“Empty?” She finished my sentence, “It’s one of Solaris’s unknown mysteries, all monsters hostile to humans don’t come near to Solaris in a 200 mile radius.”

“But don’t worry, just a little further” she said, I’m not sure how much time has passed, I watched the horizon ripple with the heat as we rode.

“Alright we’re here.” She said relieved, we did have a long day after all.

I squinted. “Where is here?”

There wasn’t a single building in sight. No signs. No markers. Just cliffs, canyons, and miles of sun-bleached sand. The kind of place people get lost in and never come back from.

Instead of answering, she parked the bike and cut the engine.

“Um… why are we stopping—?”

And then the ground shifted.

No warning. Just motion. The sand began to peel away beneath us in a slow spiral, revealing a hidden shaft. If the hoverbike wasn’t floating, we would’ve dropped like rocks, but instead, we drifted downward, like being lowered on invisible strings.

“20 vells for entry…” I watched her take out 2 coins and toss them, you heard me, just tossed them off the bike. After a few moments they disappeared in a bright light.

A tunnel opened up below us, carved from smooth stone and lit with a soft yellow glow. The air grew cooler as we descended. For the first time in hours, I didn’t feel like I was melting.

She glanced back at me, a hint of pride on her face.

“This,” she said, “is the underground city of Solaris.”

We drifted through the tunnel’s mouth—and then I saw it.

Whoa.

Wide enough to hold mountains. Lights danced across hanging bridges and towers carved into canyon walls. Buildings glowed like lanterns, stacked on top of each other, stitched into the stone like a living tapestry. Vents puffed steam, and down below, streets wound through the cavern floor, full of people, color, sound.

A whole city under the desert.

I leaned forward on the bike, jaw halfway open.

“There’s nothing for us in the desert, so we went under. Nobody leaves.” She explained, and she began to drive. We were actually in a flying motorcycle.

We passed the biggest terraced field I’ve ever seen, and the first I’ve ever seen. Scattered everywhere were little balls of light, like fireflies.

“Since most can harness the power of the sun, they utilize their power to grow plants and livestock without it.” She nodded towards the floating orbs of light.

“If there’s one thing you have to know about this place.”

She pointed, and I saw a huge hole, houses, and lights carved into its walls.

“The Deeper you go, the scarcer the neighborhood. It’s separated into different sectors: S and A, through E. We’re at layer B right now.”

We continued further into what looked like a Main Street, music played, people shouted, and it was bustling. “Further down the road is the train station, getting from city to city is easier underground than by bike.”

“I’m sure you had guilds from where you come from, this is where our guild is located.” She pointed, at the end of the street, a building stood tall, next to it was undoubtedly a weapons and armor stand.

“Uh— oh yeah totally, I know all about guilds.” Where I come from we didn’t even have terraced fields let alone actual guilds. Close to those things I can think of is like— I don’t even know, eco gardens with the UV lights and stuff?

After a couple more minutes of riding, my ass was getting numb, so we stopped at a building that read—

I stared at the hanging sign.

I still can’t read this fucking language.

“Come on already.” She ushered me through the door, revealing a small tavern with a bar with stairs leading to the second floor.

She rested her arm on the bars long table in front of one of the bartenders, a well dressed middle-age guy, “2 rooms please.”

He looked up at us and sighed, “Lovers quarrel i see, such a same.”

Excuse me what?

“Excuse me what.” She blurted out as if reading my mind.

“2 separate rooms would amount to at least 80 vells each just for a single night.” She froze, dumbfounded, the words cutting deeper than any knife.

“I—i—,“ She couldn’t even get any words out.

“However…” the bartender smiled, “single bed is only 20~,” as if enjoying this moment.

“HELL NO,” she and I both yelled simultaneously.

We settled for a 2-bed. Costing 40 vells if I remember correctly. I lay on my bed, it felt nice, Sylvaine’s bed was parallel to mine. This is way better than the couch at my house, my brother usually gets the bed…

My brother.

“You mother fucking bitch.” Her voice sent split through the silence, I turned to face her. She didn’t have her goggles or cloak on, just a loose undershirt.

“You.” With nothing covering her face, the murderous intent was in full display.

“Made me spend ALL OF MY MONEY.” She slammed her fist on her bed.

“Erm, actually—“ I lifted a finger, “I didn’t make you do it, you felt obligated to buy two rooms.”

She buried her face in her pillow, “I had 70, then the entry was 20, then this damn room was 40.” She lifted her body from the bed with a jolt.

“THAT LEAVES ME WITH—“

“With…”

“uh—“

“Are you seriously using your fingers to count right now?” I cover my face with my hands.

“NO? That leaves me with 10 vells to my name.”

I shrugged, “I don’t know what to tell you, good job?” I tucked myself in bed and turned, facing away from her, “If it makes you feel better, I’d be fine with a one bed—“

“You can sleep on the floor,” I said smugly.

I was facing the wall, so I couldn’t see her face, but I could imagine the look on her face.

“How old are you again?” I asked, probably something you ask before you share a room with a stranger.

“I’m 19, thank you very much.” I followed with a hmph.

I sighed, “You’re already an adult, can’t you make the money back yourself, Auntie?”

Then I felt the breath graze my neck.

I turned back around to face her, and her face was inches from mine.

We stayed like that for a moment.

“It’s ok if you don’t know what to say.” She gave a scary smile,

“Because I do.”

She got even closer.

“YOU. GUILD. TOMORROW.” She whispered threateningly.

“MAKE MY MONEY BACK.” Then she pulled out her knife, “OR ELSE ILL FOKIN KILL YA.”

“Yes, ma'am.” A single tear went down my cheek.

“Okay…”

It was a new day, I was standing in front of the “quest board” in the guild building, figuring out how the hell do I make 70 bucks.

The place was nice, people drank at round tables while others returned from completing quests, turning in their labor for their rewards, a single chandelier hung from the roof illuminating the place

But nothing on this board exceeded even 10 vells…

I think.

Bear with me now, I can’t read the words, but I know a 7 when I see one. This is completely preposterous. Nonetheless, the board was filled to the brim with papers, some of even being pinned to the wall next to it.

“Which board are you looking at, quests or bounties?”

A random guy walked up next to me, I didn’t even turn to look at him.

“Whichever one speaks to me— wait, bounties?” I finally turned to look at him, of course, he had a cloak and goggles of his own. He shifted his gaze to the board and pointed upward.

I looked at the quest board, then looked above it.

Lo and behold, there was another board right above it.

But this one was different.

It was empty, except for 3 posters.

“Only 3?” I look back at the masked man.

He shrugged, “It’s always been like that.” He walked to the quest board, pulling a paper off the wall, and walked off.

I studied the bounty board; they all looked like the wanted poster Sylvia was carrying around.

One poster had a picture of some crazy looking dude, while the other was just someone with a cloak and goggles; both of their papers had a couple of zeros, aka a lot of money. Of course, the wanted poster is in the center.

Had no picture at all.

More zeros than I can count.

I might have to start using my fingers like someone…

It’s the one and only Exidus. I’m just glad I don’t have my own wanted poster.

Then I heard the doors fly open from behind me, the guild went completely silent, staring at the dude that walked in, dragging 2 people.

He looks like he’s seen better days…

Wait…

“EVERYONE,” He shouted.

“Is that the blade prince?” “What happened to him?” I heard whispers throughout the place.

“I AM THE FIRST TO GO FACE TO FACE WITH EXIDUS AND TELL THE TALE.”

Holy shit.

It’s Gideon.

Many audibly gasped, others were skeptical.

“Impossible!” I heard someone shout.

He just scoffed, “Look what he did to my friends.” He stopped dragging the bodies he brought with him, one of them I could instantly identify—

Edward.

The guy I tried to choke out with an old window curtain, but I ended up shooting. And the guy that Sylvaine killed with her knife— wait, I didn’t do that? What the hell?

It didn’t matter; he had everyone’s attention now, and the brutality in the deaths was evident.

“I was the sole survivor, if not the only survivor, of encountering the desert killer.”

“And today…” he fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a paper, “I make history, for all bounty hunters.”

“You see, I was traveling with my fiancé and HE KIDNAPPED HER.” He collapsed on his knees, burying his face in his hands.

My god—

His acting might be better than mine.

Just kidding.

But kidnapped her? What kind of story is that?

“And now…” he walked towards the quest board, “As the only survivor of Exidus…”

“I PRESENT TO YOU—“With the paper in hand, he reached for the board.

But not the quest board.

He unraveled the paper and put it on top of the photo-less wanted poster.

“The first witness of Exidus.”

The original poster was replaced by his, and in the center was a photo of someone who looked awfully familiar. It was a doodle at best—

However, it was applicable. a mask of cloth that covered his full face, no holes for his eyes because he’s wearing a hoodie backwards, a scarf around his neck that could be confused with a curtain around his neck.

Why do I know that you ask?

Because that’s me.