Chapter 7 - The Key to the Silent Kingdom

In the kingdom of Tamasi, life among the dominions was flourishing. Great brick ovens stood proudly, built of massive red stone, within which large hearths glowed warmly as they prepared their goods with fine, fresh flour, the aroma alone was enough to enchant any passerby. Along the cobbled streets, flower shops lined the way, filled with dominion women dressed in fantastical attire, delighting in the fragrance of blossoms as they spoke to one another with bright smiles and laughter. Groups of dominions strolled by, conversing cheerfully, while children could be seen flying overhead with their small wings, playing with one another and scattering parchment notices and news across the air.

"Thank you, sir, for choosing our shop," said a woman with a beaming smile. She wore a red scarf across her forehead, her brown hair tied into braids, and a white apron edged with yellow stripes at the sides.

"Mhm," grunted Igorus, his arms full of purchases for his son: a large basket, baby bottles, shirts, swaddling cloths, and wooden toys. His face was set in irritation, muttering under his breath, "This isn't my job. I'm far too manly for something like this." With that, he stepped out of the shop and back into the blossoming kingdom, alive with dominions from every corner.

"Let's hope I'm not kept waiting. But while I meet with Kaies... where am I supposed to put all this?" Igorus muttered to himself.

"General! Why, it's General Friola!" a woman's voice called out from Igorus' left.

"Oh, Riona," said Igorus, spotting his secretary seated on a bench nearby. She wore dark-framed glasses, her chestnut hair tied back, green eyes, like most dominions, and a green dress with a white hem. In her hand she held a small parasol matching the color of her attire.

"I see you've just begun your duties as a parent," she said with a smile.

"This was women's work, really. I don't know why Kaeda didn't ask her sisters to handle it. But then again, I'll never understand what goes on in that woman's head," Igorus replied.

"Hahaha! Are you on your way to see Master Kaies now?" Riona asked.

"Yes. How did you, oh, right. His shift ends about now, and the research center is only twenty meters ahead," Igorus said, pressing his hand to his face in frustration at his own thoughts.

"You can leave the baby things here with me. I'm waiting for my husband to finish work, and I suspect he'll be a while yet," Riona offered.

"I might be delayed with Kaies. He said he had something important to show me," Igorus admitted, sounding slightly uneasy.

"Even if your brother is delayed, I'll be close by. Besides, I'll see to it that all these baby supplies are delivered straight to your home, General. It's no trouble at all," Riona said with a smile, her eyes closing cheerfully as she spoke.

"Thank you so much, Riona," Igorus replied, setting down all the baby items on the bench where his secretary sat.

"Most likely, I'll see you tomorrow," Riona said.

"Yes. Until tomorrow," Igorus answered with a smile as he turned and began walking along the cobblestones, moving past the bench in search of his brother.

Nearby, an elderly dominion was playing the accordion beside a building, while others tossed copper coins at his feet, where he had set a cap for that very purpose. Igorus watched him, listening to the tune the old man coaxed from his worn instrument.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" said Kaies, who was also standing there, listening to the elder's music. He wore the same clothes he had on in his office.

"Kaies..." Igorus murmured under his breath.

"Hm!? Oh, big brother! I saw you stopped to chat with your secretary," Kaies said, before turning his attention back toward the old musician.

"And why didn't you tell me?" Igorus asked.

"I didn't want to interrupt that oh-so-'friendly' conversation," Kaies replied with a mischievous grin, raising his brows in teasing provocation.

"You do realize I'm married and have just had a child, don't you? Don't confuse my life with yours," Igorus said, stepping closer to his brother.

"Ouch! You never take my jokes," Kaies complained.

"Because you don't know how to make them. Anyway, why did you call me here today? What was that important thing you wanted to tell me?" Igorus' tone grew more serious.

"The important thing, hmm... I saw earlier a fea—... Hmm!?" Kaies suddenly faltered, breaking off mid-thought in confusion.

"What is it?" Igorus pressed.

"I—I can't remember. Damn it... hmm... Forget it, probably nothing of worth. But I did come across something unusual in some parchments. I think you should take a look too," Kaies said, reaching into his pocket. Igorus watched closely as Kaies drew something from the left pocket of his trousers.

"Tadaaah!" Kaies exclaimed, pulling out the mysterious key he had found in his parchments.

"What the hell?! A key?" Igorus asked, astonished by what he was seeing.

"And not just any key. It must serve some special purpose, no doubt about it. What intrigues me most is this stone engraved into it, the one glowing with that crimson light," Kaies said, fully absorbed in showing his discovery to his brother.

"It does resemble a diamond," Igorus remarked, studying it carefully.

"It doesn't seem to have the hardness of diamond. It's more likely pure topaz. And the cut, the precision of its shape, suggests it was designed specifically for this key. But what strikes me even more are these strange numbers," Kaies said, pointing to the ridges of the key, where faint markings could be seen. One number, eleven, was etched deeper than the rest.

"Very strange... How could something like this end up in your office? Do you have any idea how it might have found its way into your hands?" Igorus asked, his mind brimming with curiosity.

"Not the faintest idea. I think the numbers might belong to the language of dragons," Kaies replied.

"The language of dragons? Aside from the royal family, no other dominion is supposed to have access to it. It's considered a criminal act. And besides, if someone wishes to speak or read the dragon tongue, they'd need an immense reserve of Fernia, since Draken is literally, or once was, the most powerful form of energy ever to exist," said Igorus.

"You're right about all of that. Still, I keep wondering why the number eleven is engraved deeper than the rest. What could it symbolize?" Kaies asked, caught in his own doubts.

"Let me see it for a moment," Igorus said, his curiosity pressing hard.

Kaies hesitated to hand the key to his brother, uncertainty clouding his decision. He kept it close, holding it near the pocket of his trousers, glancing at Igorus with unease.

"What's wrong? I only want to take a closer look at the deeper marking," Igorus said.

"I understand, but the problem is, I'm not sure what reaction this artifact might have in foreign hands. With me, it only gives off a faint glow from the topaz, strangely enough. But I can't say what might happen if it were in yours," Kaies admitted, a touch of nervousness in his voice.

Igorus studied Kaies, the logic clear and deliberate in his eyes. He also watched the key, the reddish topaz glowing faintly in the palm of his brother's hand.

"I see. In any case, I—"

"Hey, Mirlo! Where are you, Mirlo? Mirlo!!" a child's voice rang out nearby. The boy wore a green beret, a white shirt, short brown trousers, and chestnut sandals so filthy they were nearly black, as he shouted a name near the two brothers.

"So, as I was saying, I—"

"MIRLOOO!!"

"SHUT UP, YOU LITTLE BRAT! WHAT IS IT?!" Igorus barked, clearly irritated by the child.

"My Niltri is missing. I last saw him here," the boy said miserably.

"Pffff... Go bother someone else, kid. We're discussing something important here," Igorus said, though he quickly noticed the child's gaze was locked intensely on Kaies' feet.

"Hm? What is it?" Kaies asked the boy, but when he glanced downward, he saw the creature, the Niltri.

It resembled a household cat, yet bore four jet-black eyes, long white whiskers, a coat of bright orange fur, and dark paws. From the ground, the creature peered up at Kaies out of the corner of its eyes.

"Mirlo! There you are!" the child exclaimed in delight, dashing toward his Niltr.

But Mirlo, tangled in his own claws between Kaies' legs, tripped him in a rather comical way, sending Kaies sprawling onto the cobblestones.

"Yay, Mirlo!" the child cried joyfully as he finally caught his Niltr.

"These kids... when will they ever learn?" Igorus muttered as he approached his fallen brother. Yet Kaies gave no response, no sound, no movement. It was beyond strange.

"What is it, Kaies? Hm!?" Igorus froze when his eyes caught the key lying on the cobblestones, now glowing with a faint purple sheen.

"It's reacting again... but why?" Kaies wondered aloud.

And with every passing millisecond, the number 11 etched upon the key sank deeper into its engraving.

"What the hell? Wha—"

Then it struck.

Across the entire kingdom, a colossal wave of sound roared forth, so deep, so crushing, that it battered the ears without warning. Every corner of the buildings, every street, every stone seemed drenched in a hollow, misty emptiness. Not a single Dominion remained, nothing but the two brothers. The kingdom had become a suffocating void, barren of life, stripped of all things. Nothing could be heard anymore. The loudest noise left behind... was silence.

Igorus and Kaies rose slowly to their feet, utterly bewildered by what had just unfolded. Their eyes searched frantically for the slightest sign of life, but there was none.

"What just happened? Where are the Dominions?" Igorus asked, utterly lost in confusion.

"I can't hear anything," Kaies replied as he experimentally brushed his hand through the mist that drifted across the kingdom, moving it as though he were playing with the waves of the sea.

"It must be the key's doing... but what's going to happen to us now?" Igorus continued to question.

Then, in his right hand, Kaies noticed an unusual glow, coming from somewhere behind him. He turned his head, and in astonishment, his eyes widened even further.

"Igorus, look," he said, pointing in the direction he was staring.

"What?" Igorus turned his head, and through the dense fog, he saw it: a colossal gate, at least fifteen meters high and eight wide. Its details were blurred and half-lost in the haze that cloaked it.

"What the hell is that?" Igorus muttered, bewildered by the sight.

"I think... we're meant to go there. That must be the key's purpose to open that gate," Kaies said, his gaze fixed on the key. The topaz embedded within it pulsed with a dim, flickering purple light, as if in response, or warning, to the presence of the gate.

"Do you really think it's safe to go there? After all, we have no idea what might be inside," Igorus said.

"We don't have any other choice but to find out. Besides, you're strong enough. Why worry so much about it?" Kaies answered with a faint smile. He picked up the key, rose to his feet, and began walking toward the gate.

"All right then," Igorus replied, following close behind his brother.

The two advanced slowly through the emptiness. The buildings were lifeless shells, the sky void of even a single cloud. Neither sun nor moons could be seen, only a dead kingdom and that mysterious gate. Now just a few meters away, its form became clear before their eyes.

It was massive, constructed from an ancient, darkened wood. Across both of its towering doors ran jagged green veins, and within them were carved two colossal dragons, locked in eternal battle. They were titanic in scale, with countless horns, too many eyes, claws like scythes, murderous wings, monstrous tails thirsting for destruction, and fangs that seemed sharp enough to rend not only flesh, but spirit itself.

At the very center of the doors rested the eleventh symbol of the key, expanded into the shape of a great lock.

"This looks like a gate of great importance. And old, ancient beyond measure," Kaies murmured, leaning in closer, curious enough to draw in the gate's scent

"It reeks of death," Igorus said coldly.

"Hmm!?" Kaies reacted, noticing that the key was now glowing far more intensely than before.

"It's searching for its place," Igorus observed, while Kaies studied the artifact with sharp focus.

Slowly, with deliberate suspense, Kaies lifted the key toward the heart of the gate. At last, he pressed it in, and the lock began to register each number in sequence. With every advancing mark, a brilliant green light flared stronger and stronger. Then the eleventh number was reached.

The dragons' eyes ignited with a crimson glow. The flames they spewed turned into their true hue, and the green streaks across the gate faded away. The massive doors began to part, inhaling all the fog that had swallowed the kingdom in its emptiness, as if the gate itself were a vast vacuum.

When it had fully opened, an all-consuming white radiance lay beyond. Kaies swallowed hard, then turned toward Igorus, silently asking with his eyes whether they should enter. Igorus gave a single nod of approval, and together they stepped through.

The moment they crossed, the gate closed heavily behind them. And at once, they were thrust into a mental abyss more terrifying and unnatural than anything they had ever known.

Information. Equations. Fragments of memory. False recollections. Explosions. Wars. Black holes and meteors. Planets tearing themselves apart. Pages of books unfolding at the speed of light, all of it forced into their minds in an overwhelming torrent.

They clutched their heads, pressing tightly, as unbearable pain tore through their skulls.

Through the storm, Igorus glimpsed a vision: his own son, shifting in form, child, boy, youth, adolescent. Alongside the torrent of endless images, his shadow gradually took shape, morphing into a dark armor that radiated dreadful darkness. Its wings, black and edged with crimson crystals, unfurled as it stared at Igorus with a blood-soaked hunger.

Igorus' eyes flew wide with horror, until the vision of his son vanished.

And then, silence. The storm of thoughts ceased. Both brothers gasped for breath, unable to speak, unable to think, unable even to shape a question. Their minds were blank, stripped by the hurricane that had raged through them.

Within moments, they found themselves standing inside a chamber. Everywhere around them were green walls, walls that collided and overlapped, as though striving to consume one another. It was a labyrinth, endless and disorienting, where every path led only back to the place from which they had started.

"K-Kaies..." Igorus muttered with difficulty, his eyes shut tight as he pressed his forehead in agony.

"Y-Yeah... I see it... Damn it... my head hurts so much... What was all that...?" Kaies groaned, clutching the bridge of his nose between his brows, stricken with frustration and migraine.

"Voidanos... my son..." Igorus gasped, breathing heavily.

"And I thought the confusion would finally end... What is this place?" Kaies muttered as he wandered aimlessly, studying the endless green walls that stretched without boundary.

Then—

"Ozabiki erigutn."

A woman's voice echoed from beyond the walls. Yet it resonated through all of them, making it impossible to tell where it originated, impossible to trace the source of that haunting reverberation.

"Who's there?" Kaies called out.

Igorus lifted his head, scanning the shifting maze with weary eyes, searching desperately for the origin of the voice.

"Akoyiki'rë imiruru."

"It sounds like the language of dragons," Kaies murmured.

"The language of dragons?" Igorus questioned.

"Yria mabe, zrangul trha khrambes tirgh..." the voice continued to echo.

Where the hell are you? Show yourself now!" Igorus shouted, his tone laced with authority.

Kaies stood waiting, bracing himself for whoever, or whatever, was about to appear. Then, within the green walls, eyes began to form. Gigantic eyes, glowing with crimson irises, each with vertical, slit pupils like those of a reptile.

Both brothers froze as countless eyes stared back at them in a terrifying, unblinking gaze. But then Kaies turned his head, and he saw her.

A woman.

She sat upon a throne forged from the very same material as the labyrinthine walls around them. She wore a gown of violet, her long emerald curls cascading in elegant waves. Her skin was pale as snow, her frame frail yet graceful, her lips painted a perfect black. Her eyes, burning red like those that had filled the walls, fixed themselves upon the brothers with piercing focus.

Kaies and Igorus stood speechless, paralyzed by her presence. As they did, the countless wall-eyes vanished, leaving only her gaze to hold them captive.

"I trow thou comprehendest me now. Yet, I trow thou knowest not the cause for which thou art brought hither."

Kaies and Igorus could only stare at her in astonishment, too overwhelmed to speak or act. All they could do was watch the woman, shrouded in the unfathomable mystery that seemed to radiate from her very soul.

"It was I who summoned thee, none other, and most especially thee, Kaies." the woman said.

"M-Me? For what purpose? And... who exactly are you?" Kaies asked, his tone wavering with a hint of fear.

"In sooth, I ought first to have declared myself. I am Izidra, Eleventh of the Kindu, mistress of the psychic arts." she said, her voice calm yet commanding.

"Kindu? F-Forgive us for our lack of respect," Kaies stammered, dropping to one knee at once the moment she revealed her identity. Igorus looked at his brother in confusion, unsure how to react.

"Idiot, kneel!" Kaies hissed under his breath, tense from the weight of the situation.

"Yet, there is no true need." Izidra replied softly. In that moment, her unsettling crimson gaze fell directly upon Igorus.

"Lord Izidra, it is an honor to stand in your presence. But may I ask, why have you summoned us? What is the purpose of this meeting?" Igorus asked, swallowing hard.

"Uanamangura... Aye, it is so. I discerned it through the key." Izidra said.

Kaies and Igorus both stiffened at her words, shocked by her declaration.

"But mark me well:" she continued, tracing her fingers idly along the armrest of her throne, "this is but the faintest glimmer of the vastness yet concealed beneath."