by W. C. Jasper
Waiting outside, Prince Jared handed one tiny golden bowl each to Akini and Thaymas. Inspecting the golden bowls, the size of a small coin, Akini inquired, “What are these?”
Prince Jared: “Remember when General Thayman said that he had the perfect idea for the identification for the Blue Lily?”
Akini: “A golden bowl? Wow! He really is like you, isn’t he? It’s always just food on both your minds! Even while working on something as important as this?”
As Prince Jared chuckled, he also noticed that Thaymas had realised the reasoning behind the golden bowls and gestured for him to explain.
Thaymas obliged and spoke, “Golden bowls are typically reserved for consuming the ‘Five-lily soup’. Apart from being one of Appa— General Thayman’s favourite dishes because of what a complex dish it is and how much he can always work on it and improve the recipe; it is also a dish that—” as Akini cut him off, “That is consumed during the celebration of the Rebirth of Sazau.”
General Hana and Thaymas’ eyebrows jumped high expressing how impressed they were with Akini knowing that.
Justifiably, Akini screamed in anger, “HEY! I TOO, LIVE IN THE SAME LAND AND FOLLOW THE SAME RELIGION AS YOU ALL! HOW INSULTING!”
As all three of them laughed at her, as on a rare occasion, General Hana’s human side was momentarily visible.
Having only one son and no daughters, Lord Mansoor Likhan did not have to worry about a long event. Soon enough, the King, Queen, and General Thayman were seen exiting the house.
General Thayman: “You two seem to be quite excited.”
Akini: “Of course! In all these years, they’ve never taken me to the hot-springs on Mount Erphu! I mean… Prince Jared himself has told me that those hot-springs are far better than any other in all the Earth. It is unfair that I have never had the opportunity to witness it after being with Prince Jared for such a long time, and this fool gets to witness it so soon!”
In a rare event of human-like behaviour, General Hana put her hand on Akini’s shoulder, “Don’t take it personally, young girl. I am King Jeraash’s protege. He loves me as his own. He even told me that when he performs his Final Blessings, I will receive the blessings of his firstborn. And despite all of that, even I have not been allowed to behold the springs yet.”
King Jeraash smiled silently.
Thaymas: “That would be a terrible violation of the traditions, wouldn’t it?”
Prince Jared: “Traditions are certainly important, Thaymas. But nothing in this world is perfect. We were always taught that traditions can be improved upon. ‘There is nothing greater than love’ - that’s what Appa and Amma taught us. And if nothing is greater than love, I am sure that traditions are certainly not above love.”
Queen Maomi: “Okay! That’s enough talk for now! You all seem to be forgetting that even the Queen of Jerudia herself has not yet witnessed these springs!” Queen Maomi was seldom seen so overcome with excitement, “I cannot wait! Let us go!!!”
Thaymas: “Even the Queen herself has not seen the hot-spring of Mount Erphu, and here we have the great hero of ages - Akini Swaasam complaining about unfairness.”
Thaymas’ head was now once again in a daze, courtesy of Akini’s non-existent restraint. Akini’s slap to the back of his head sent him stumbling forward and just as he was about to fall, he caught himself and gained his footing. Holding his head, trying to make the world stop spinning, Thaymas managed to yell, “What is wrong with you, you— mindless beast!”
Akini scoffed, “A mindless beast is certainly better than a weak one like you!”
General Thayman put his hand on Prince Jared’s shoulder and sighed, “Lady Hesaai will slay me if anything happened to him. As much as we all love and adore this wild beast, kindly get her under control before she causes any permanent damage.” Prince Jared’s eyes bounced like a kid caught in the midst of a shameful act and responded with choppy, vibrating nods.
Kaveri, Ribon, Yuroichi, and Yaakub arrived right on schedule with the wolves and the lions as their official escort. Kaveri and Ribon were expectedly more at home with the lions and rode on them, while the ever-cheerful Yuroichi and steely Yaakub were more at home with the wolves.
“Why are we still standing here?! Let’s go! Awoooo!!!” shouted Yuroichi, Prince Jared’s jolly younger sister in more ways than one. She had his free spirit, his mischief, and a cheerfulness that affected the air all around her, not to mention his natural talent as a warrior and fighter.
All the people in the residential district looked at the pride and pack in marvel and amazement. As the glorious beasts behaved like house pets and their powerful presence still produced a fearsome air, the people murmured various rumours about how the Royal Family was bestowed with magical powers by Sathyam himself which enabled them to create such magnificent beasts and make them obey their commands. Some even spouted stories about how the Royal Family used magic to transform ancient dragons into wolves and lions and control them, while others said that there were originally several more than seven ocean lords and the Royal Family tamed the ocean lords and transformed them into land beasts with magic. There were no boundaries to the imaginary tales that were cooked up.
Kaveri: “You've certainly got everyone stirred up. I hope these springs are all you’ve drummed them up to be, My Prince.”
King Jeraash responded on his brother’s behalf, “I assure you that not one of you shall be let down.”
General Thayman: “Alright then, let us start moving before Yuroichi loses control and goes on a rampage.”
Queen Maomi asked in a loud voice, “Are the food preparations taken care of?”
Kaveri; “Yes, My Queen. All the wolves and lions apart from the ones required for us to travel, and Hogosha, who is at the castle with Miss Kareema, were sent ahead with the food. The food was packed extremely securely and they were sent away at the beginning of the eighth hour of the day so that they could move slowly enough to avoid any possible harm to the food.” As General Thayman raised his index finger and opened his mouth to ask a question, she added, “And yes, all the food prepared were ones that are suitable to be enjoyed on a delayed timeline. And your recipes were followed to perfection.”
General Thayman flashed a closed lip smile, conveying his pleasure and gestured with his hands for everyone to round up. Quickly, the lions and wolves rounded up and took positions for the party to climb on.
Kaveri’s companion was a fearsome lioness, Mikasa, standing at 7 feet 4 inches tall. Her olive eyes with seaweed-green pupils and single pickle-green rings around the pupils spoke of ferocity and a placid composure simultaneously. Ribon’s companion, Jane, was a handsome 7-foot lion built broadly with a wavy mane. His light grey eyes and single white rings outside the pupils declared supreme wisdom. Yuroichi’s companion was a young wolf standing at 6 feet tall with fully black fur and shining emerald eyes. She was almost identical to Jiraai, for she did take after her father. Jiraai’s eldest daughter, Rachel took after her father in both image and character and was the most feared and respected in the pack after him. For even before reaching adulthood, Rachel was already the second most powerful fighter in the pack after her father. Yaakub’s wolf, J’on boasted fully grey fur and silver eyes with thin black rings and an extraordinarily muscular build as if he never missed a day at the gym. Unlike his mother, Hogosha, J’on was the shortest adult of the pack at 6 feet 1 inch.
As the party rode off towards the Andreas mountain range, they passed numerous beautiful visual treats of the spring. The mountain they were headed to was the one located to the east of Peak Pakkam, Mount Erphu.
Having set off for their trip at 20 minutes into the twelfth hour of the day, they reached the end of Peak Pakkam and the starting point of Mount Erphu at ten minutes past noon. Mount Erphu was more than twice as tall as Peak Pakkam at 4710 metres tall. As they laid their eyes on the great mountain, the grandeur and magnificence of nature’s glory overwhelmed their faculties. Its body was decorated with trees o
f numerous magical shades of green. Trees of various shapes, sizes, and colours covered almost the entirety of the mountain and only a few patches of brown were visible on the surface. The assortment of the various luxurious and lush greens below the beautifully designed patterns of fog seemed unnaturally splendid even for the days of SHAR. At a height of 2750 feet, the mountain had a sudden narrowing as if it had been shaved and narrowed by 250 feet. The narrower section above 2750 feet flaunted a beautiful spiral-shaped pathway reaching the top of the peak. The top of the mountain was covered with a blanket of clouds and the topmost section of the peak wore a snow-cap.
Most of them had visited the foot of the mountain before, but no one was allowed to climb Mount Erphu as it was declared to be a restricted area by King Jahous. After his passing, when King Jeraash took the throne at the age of 19, he made it accessible only to himself and his brother.
As the party moved along the foot of the mountain, savouring the beauty of the glorious mountain, Queen Maomi spoke with a hint of displeasure, “It really is extremely unfair that you two have hijacked all this magnificence all to yourselves, and have never let anyone else enjoy its beauty! For two of the noblest people on the planet, this is an extremely selfish deed!” The brothers shared a look and a smile among themselves and King Jeraash proceeded to respond, “Forgive my rudeness in all these years, My Queen. But soon enough, you shall see the reasoning behind my actions.”
The party travelled at a great speed and tried to reach their destination as quickly as possible. Climbing the mountain and traversing through the endless tentacles of greenery as the sunlight broke from above in various patterns through the assortment of a variety of trees was an enchanting experience. Many monkeys, squirrels, and other small animals seemed to be excited and curious at the sight of these foreign visitors. Several birds seemed to follow them for certain intervals. But one extremely beautiful blue bird seemed to be particularly taken with Ribon. It was quite small, with a wingspan of about 6 inches. Its body of sea-blue with wings lined with dark blue and white feathers in a wavy pattern displayed superb beauty in simplicity. Mother nature had painted above its humble eyes with a royal-navy blue stroke and another white stroke above it. Its neck was ornate with a royal blue necklace followed by a white one.
Ribon noticed the blue bird following her and slowed down. She extended her index finger and it quickly joined her as if it had been waiting for an invitation. Ribon smiled sweetly as her eyes almost closed to a blink. She gently convinced the bird to sit inside her pockets and quickly sped to catch up with the rest of the party.
King Jeraash suddenly signalled to Queen Maomi that he’d be taking leave for a while and quickly broke away from the pack. Being led by Jiraai and Prince Jared, the party arrived at the point of narrowing at 15 minutes into the fourteenth hour. As they arrived at the narrowing, they were surprised. The narrowing was not the surface of the mountain moving in forming a horizontal plain to stand on as they had expected. It was instead a huge trench spanning a breadth of 200 feet with a roof of creepers and other small bushes. The roof was clearly built by humans, and its incredible beauty was unquestionable evidence that the designer was no one other than King Jeraash. Queen Maomi right away looked to Prince Jared, expecting an explanation as he nodded and pointed at the doorway to climb down the roof.
As everyone climbed down the roof and treated their eyes to the sanctuary that the King and Prince had created, their minds almost started spinning in amazement. It was as if the 200-foot-wide trench-like area which was roofed with artisan-woodwork, topped with creepers and tiny bushes had teleported them to an entirely different planet. The walls were blessed with the same greenery as the rest of the mountain. Standing on the southwestern end, the ground where they had landed was fairly covered with grass-beds and flowers. A little way away to the east they could see the unbelievably beautiful springs that they had heard so much about from the King and Prince. With only about 11 feet in height, the creepers hanging gently from the roof felt comfortingly cozy. Adding to the coziness was the sunlight breaking through the artisan roof and the wind drafts from the east carrying the heat of the hotsprings to them that countered the cold of the high altitude. The springs ranging from tiny to large and born of all shapes, set out in visually pleasing patterns, seemed to be intentionally and intelligently designed by nature.
To the west, they noticed that the brothers had built an entire settlement for a big family. They had built sophisticated, spacious huts with small kitchens; patios with artisan-decorations made from creepers, climbers, and other plants; strange-looking beds (courtesy of the combined creativity of the brothers); and sleep-swings. Yuroichi served as a great replacement for Princess Jeniah’s role in the group. She set off at once and stormed through the place and started investigating every little corner and was enjoying life to the fullest.
Queen Maomi inquired of Prince Jared in visible confusion, “Why exactly would you two have prepared all this? So elaborate! What exactly do you two do here!?” Prince Jared laughed softly, “None of this existed until two months ago. I mean, except for the roof. All of this was made only for you all. Before that, only the roof existed. Everything you see apart from the roof, was made only for you all. And as can be seen from Yuroichi’s ecstasy, our efforts have borne tremendous fruit.”
Queen Maomi chuckled, “Yeah… Her energy and cheerfulness is only second to Jeniah’s. Anyway,” she shook her head, “I still want to know why exactly you two would hide this beautiful place from us!”
Prince Jared smiled, “It seems Brother is right on time. Listen.” Queen Maomi’s senses suddenly noticed something that only natural-born hunters like herself, General Hana, and the Prince could have picked up on. She felt vibrations in the land as if a family of giants were stomping their way towards them, treading the surface of the mountain they were standing on. While only the three of them could notice it right then, given the pace at which they were headed towards them; in a minute or so, the others would also pick up on it. Queen Maomi realised that a meeting had been set up for her and headed to the roof. Prince Jared said to her as she headed up, “Sit on the inner side of the mountain, Ma; don’t sit on the roof. It’s strong enough, but we still prefer to avoid sitting on it.” She flashed a quick nod and climbed up and away.
Soon enough, Prince Jared escorted the rest of them to join Queen Maomi above the roof. They arrived to see Queen Maomi lost in wonder. Following the gaze of her eyes, they noticed her peering at a large herd of woolly mammoths approaching them from far away on the spiral paths on the mountain. Even from a great distance, the tremors of their footsteps could still be felt by them. Even from such a great distance, they could see that the mammoths were truly as gigantic as they were marvellous. With the average male mammoth being about 26 feet in height, they were the largest mammals on the planet.
As they continued drawing near, they noticed King Jeraash riding atop the largest mammoth on the front.
Given that this was the very first time any of them had witnessed woolly mammoths, Akini understandably asked with a gasp of unbelief, “Are… those… mammoths?”
Prince Jared chuckled faintly, “Yes. Now you all know why we had to keep the mountain forbidden.”
Akini: “So… you were so selfish that you wanted no one else to enjoy these wonderful creatures?”
Queen Maomi shook her head and replied, without moving her gaze from the magnificent mammoths, “Akini, my dear. Learn to recognise the limits of your understanding.”
Upon reaching within 40 feet of them, the mammoths refused to move any further. As the party stood stunned in absolute wonder and marvelled at these humongous giants, Prince Jared rushed to them. Prince Jared crashed into and embraced the trunk of a calf that was about 6 feet 3 inches tall and kissed and caressed it. The mammoth calf started dancing, crouching and hopping like a wolf cub; asking Prince Jared to play with her. Prince Jared caught her again, kissed her, and said, “Not right now.” He kissed her once again and ru
shed to an adult male mammoth standing at 27.5 feet tall. He patted his trunk two times as the mammoth extended his trunk and he stood upon it. Standing straight as a nail on his trunk, the mammoth swiftly and smoothly raised its trunk and allowed him to step onto his head. Prince Jared sat on his head, kissed him, and caressed him vigorously.
Ribon noticed that the blue bird in her pocket was getting antsy and released it. The blue bird proceeded to quickly take a seat on her shoulder and looked on curiously. There was a total of 22 mammoths in the herd, including one calf. As the party stood in awe of the grandeur of these magnificent beasts, the mammoths were visibly uneasy and uncomfortable near them. They clearly did not trust anyone who was not King Jeraash or Prince Jared.
King Jeraash and Prince Jared tried to convince the mammoths to stay, but they already knew that they would not succeed. After about a whole minute of trying to convince them, they let the mammoths get going on their way. As the mammoths walked away, they could see the trees tremble by their footsteps. The artisan roof built by the King and Prince, shook violently and the creepers and tiny bushes on them rattled and trilled. The party could see that the mammoths were more than relieved to be departing from their presence. As they watched the mammoths leave, King Jeraash spoke, “Now you all see why we had to ‘hijack’ this place. *Gentle smile* This is the only known herd of mammoths in Jerudia. In effect, apart from the mammoths in Paang - which no one outside of Paang knows is how many; these are the very last mammoths on Earth. These creatures have been persecuted for far too long. They are far wiser than they appear. But they are also incredibly kind and gentle creatures who resort to using their gargantuan and monstrous strength only as a last resort. Over the years, they have learned that humans are not the most trustworthy creatures. So they did what they needed to in order to ensure their survival. They isolated themselves from the humans and refused to trust them. How we came about to gain their trust is a story for another time. For now, let us head to the springs.”