Chapter 14
The Dark Palace
Little by little the ex-slaves made their way through the still city behind the Sea of Amethyst. They were now calling it Ash City. Daily they would each assign a group of 8 to begin the cleaning and rebuilding process to certain parts of the blackened city. Cleaning buckets adorned the streets of Ash City as Ariyah, Sheevar, Orraco, Vanka, and Mr. Crowesh made their way up to the gray mountain paths. The children used the zebralings to carry them up the roads leading to the distant mountains. They had to cover their faces with cloths to avoid the toxic dust from entering their noses.
They made it to the first mountain where there was a very tall and wide building. The thick dust stung their eyes as they squinted to look over the building. As Mr. Crowesh was getting ready to try and barge through the main door, the sight of the other building on the slightly higher mountain caught Ariyah’s eye.
“No! Wait! Can we look at that building over there first?” She asked excitedly. Mr. Crowesh was still tired from the journey it took to get to this mountain. He didn’t want to travel another distance because a child asked him to.
“Ariyah, we just got here, honey. Let’s work on this building first and then next week we can, ok?” said Mr. Crowesh as he wiped the sweat and dust from his brow. He began ramming his big body into the door. Ariyah looked at the other building again. It looked like a castle or palace, and she was really intrigued by it. Her medallion began to vibrate. The warm sensation of her mother’s vibrating made her even more anxious.
“Please?” She whined.
“Ariyah, we said next week” Vanka said sternly. Ariyah was sad and continued to look at the palace longingly as she massaged her medallion. Vanka watched the expression on the child’s face and she began to feel bad for her. Watching the connection between Ariyah and locket made her think about the promise she had made to Crystaline before she died. The promise was to always be there for Ariyah and to care for her. She did not want the child to be sad.
Mr. Crowesh was forcefully barging into the locked door. “Can I get a little help over here, Vanka? Orraco, I need your help too.” Mr. Crowesh called out. Vanka tapped his shoulder and pointed at Ariyah, who was still watching the palace. Mr. Crowesh looked at Vanka in annoyance and he shook his head at her.
“What harm can it do? It’s only a few more miles. Maybe it’s something we should see.” Vanka persuaded. He gave another look at Ariyah and Vanka and chuckled heartedly.
“I can’t believe this. I am being ordered around by a woman and a child. The men will never let me live it down. Come on.” He picked up his bucket and they began to travel the road towards the palace. Ariyah was happy they listened to her wishes.
Actually the mountain wasn’t as far as it had appeared. They had arrived in front of the building after only 15 minutes traveling by zebraling. The building was destroyed. Throughout the damage of the whole city, this building got it the worst. The entire place was covered in tar and coats of black ash. The long oval windows were busted out, the pillars holding up the entrance were cracked and broken in pieces, the pool leading to the walkway had rubble laying in it, and the trees that were once there had all fallen over and withered. Gnats and locusts dominated the air surrounding the place. When they finally managed to get through to the entrance they found that unlike the other building, this door was easy to barge into. When Mr. Crowesh and Orraco rammed through the rotted wooden door, big thick clouds of smoke and small debris clouded their view. They all coughed. There was nothing inside except darkness and the occasional glimmers of light that shown through the cracked and broken windows. The smell of burnt sulfur and rotting fruit dominated the aroma. As they stepped inside, glass crushed under their sandals. Dead rodents lay in the shadows, ripped curtains coated in ash adorned the high windows, and the smell of mildewed carpets eroded their nostrils. This looked like the place where all the chaos began; there was so much damage.
Sheevar ran to get next to Ariyah and held her arm tightly. Vanka stumbled over a velvet stool and Orraco was caught in a thick cobweb. Mr. Crowesh dropped his bucket in defeat.
“This place needs more than a bucket of soap and water. This needs an army of cleaners and reconstruction.” The destruction everywhere did not seem to affect Ariyah at all. In fact, the more she saw, the more deeply she wanted to delve into it. The medallion was vibrating calmly and that made Ariyah feel safe there. She continued to walk the dark hallways through the direction of the beams of light let in.
Soon, Ariyah made her way to what looked like a throne room. The marble tile was terribly cracked and broken as well as covered in tar. There were tarnished chairs thrown all over the room and the purple carpet leading to the throne podium was scorched. Wow…this is a palace! Ariyah thought as she walked to the throne. She stepped on the podium and lifted the fallen throne. She caressed the velvet backrest, covering her palms in soot. She looked around the room as she wondered what king used to live here and what nation of people he overseen. As her eyes searched the room, she could see a small piece of paper caught in one of the window panes, fluttering in the wind. She could hear Sheevar calling her from another room, but she ignored her. Ariyah pulled one of the tarnished chairs up to the window and tried to un-jam the paper. As she pulled at it, it ripped, causing Ariyah to fall backwards onto the dirty floor.
Recovering from the fall, she looked at the paper and saw that it was a picture. It was a realistic painting of what looked like a king. The man in the painting was thin, very young, maybe the age of 21, and very handsome. He was dressed in a white suit with a gold sash across the jacket. The sash had five green and red army medallions pinned on it. His head had a gold ruby encrusted crown on it. His thick black hair was cut to his head perfectly. He looked to be of an Island ancestry. In the painting he looked like he was holding someone, but that’s where the photo was ripped. Ariyah was intrigued by this man. She wondered who he was and what happened to him. As she went to roam around more, Orraco and Sheevar came to the entrance.
“We’ve been looking all over for you; it’s time to go” Orraco said. Ariyah was disappointed. She wanted to stay and look for more clues as to who this person was. But she knew that if she didn’t leave, Vanka would have her hide. She put the picture down her shirt and ran out of the room. Ariyah knew this was a place that she had to explore again. What no one knew was that this place held a very dark yet special secret. A secret tied to the chaos that Ferocities now was.
Grandelyn Page 15