Age of Azmoq: The Valantian Imperium

by Rajamayyoor Sharma

  But I had a problem. The journey was going to be difficult because of my friend’s state. He hadn’t regained consciousness for an entire day. The previous time he had used his two-handed strike, he had recovered a little in a couple of hours and completely within a day. But now, no matter how much I shook him or hit him he didn’t get up. His body was still as cold as it was, right after our confrontation with the soldiers in Nuevida. I tried to heat his body up with a fire, but to no avail. I wondered if I could travel back to the village to seek the local physician. But it was too dangerous. There would be at least a company if not two of Morgenian troops stationed in the village for some time, searching for me and investigating the disappearance of over 70 soldiers. The village was used to this, so no one would crack, but if I turned up again, I would be caught and executed on the spot for sure.

  I could have travelled west towards the Anantyas, but I didn’t know the towns and villages there well. Plus the closest one I knew was at least three hundred kilometers away. It would take me a while to reach a good physician. And, they weren’t small settlements, so it would be difficult not to attract attention. I would have to travel fast towards Welehölla, hoping to reach the outskirts in the next few days, and take him to a physician there.

  So I pressed Arion and Dyaus to travel fast. I covered about 50 kilometers in the first day, and after taking the decision, almost 100 kilometers the second day. I was truly in the middle of the plains now. There was no soul in sight. Every couple of hours, I stopped, checked on my friend, tried to heat his body with a fire, tried to heat some water and give it to him. I even parted with one of my prized possessions, a bottle of 300-year-old Gree Whisky. I gave him almost a third of the bottle. Nothing worked. His body remained cold. As the evening of third day approached, I saw a group of nomads hosting a large fire. I approached them, as was the norm in the plains.

  They were a group of Elliaichi nomads. They could be recognized easily with their clothing, which consisted of a single piece of clothing which draped them from top to bottom. They were a rare group to find on these plains. Elliaichi had a history stretching far before the time of the seven great kings, even before the Age of the First Metal, which was over 5000 years ago. They all looked at Dev and asked me, using sign language, as to what happened to him. I figured I could ask them for some help. They held wisdom of the ancient times. Maybe they could tell me what to do. I spoke a little of Deusorthok, which was something Elliaichi understood. It was one of the few times I appreciated my upbringing.

  “Abheevan! Asha gritam yat uttha bhanu tvan akhman prapurase evam pathith bhanu tvan akhmanan ashura bhashase.”

  “Greetings! Hope the rising sun enriches your soul and the setting sun takes the soul’s demons away with it.”

  They seemed happy that I spoke Deusorthok. The man, who seemed to be the oldest in the group replied to my greeting in the same language:

  “Kann yat mhanu tvan akhman api ashirvadishase! Ekum kharamadwasan Deusorthok shtrot ahan bahu sukham amubhavane!”

  “May the sun bless your soul too. It is pleasant to hear the ancient language being spoken by a prison dweller.”

  They referred to people living in cities as prison dwellers, prison being the villages or cities. It was funny to think of the pillars of civilization as prisons. I replied in Deusorthok:

  “I am glad I bring you joy with my use of the ancient language. I come to your tribe in time of great need. My friend here has a body that has grown cold from overuse of a weapon made of Ojas mukh. I am unable to revive him.”

  Ojas mukh was the ancient name for Azmoq, which meant the source of brilliance or energy.

  The old man was silent. He walked over and felt Dev’s head, hands and feet. He then opened Dev’s eyes and checked his pupils. Lastly, he checked my friend’s heart rate. He continued his inspection for a while. Then he thought for some time and whispered to others in his group. Then he turned to me, and said in Deusorthok:

  “This is a situation not seen commonly, even in our history. Your friend is on the edge of life and death. The overuse of an absorber of energy, like pure Ojas mukh enabled by a powerful Urjaneev, drains a body’s energy to a point where your heart and mind do not have enough to function, and so soul departs.

  “But there are a lucky few who have the power to resist. The mind and heart of such, can persevere, powered by the will of the soul and a unique ability only they possess, and they manage to conserve some energy in the depths of their mind, barricading it in, as the rest is drained by Ojas mukh.

  “This state will continue until someone from outside can break these barriers and convince the mind that Ojas mukh and Urjaneev have stopped draining energy and so it is time to return to normality. If not done fast enough, the little energy that the mind and heart have saved will end, and then, the soul will depart.”

  I managed to understand most of it, but for the term “Urjaneev.” I asked the tribe leader, “Oh, respected one, this is difficult for me to absorb. What is Urjaneev?”

  The old man smiled. “Fetch me the Ojas mukh weapon.”

  I picked up the sword and took it to him. The old man took the sword and bowed to it. He examined the jewel. “This is Urjaneev. The father of Ojas mukh. The generator of the power of life.”

  So I had guessed correctly. The jewel was Maktsten, or Urjaneev in Deusorthok. It was a source of tremendous power, and even more difficult to wield than Azmoq. But I still did not know how to help Dev.

  “Your words of wisdom enlighten my mind. Thank you for your explanation, oh wise one. Could you also tell me, how I can help my friend?”

  The old man said pointed to the south. “Follow the line of Naxanatten trees, starting from the one you see,” he pointed to the closest one of the trees. These trees stored large amounts of water in their trunk, and grew throughout the plains, providing a reliable source of fresh water in these vast plains.

  “Then ride from sun rise to sunset. How many trees would he need to cover to reach the cave of enlightened souls?” he asked to another member.

  “About 58 south and 20 east,” was the reply.

  “Right. So ride 58 trees to the south and 20 trees to the east, and you will see an ancient banyan tree. Under this tree’s tenth hanging root, you will find the cave. Enter the cave with your friend. The way to reach him in his mind is through yours.

  The cave helps man to communicate with the living without words, just through his mind. It will help your mind establish harmony with the mind of your friend, so that you can seek out the barriers he has erected in his mind, break them, and bring him into the light.”

  It seemed like a lot of hocus pocus, I thought. I seemed to have wasted my time here. Although his wisdom did help me diagnose the issue, all this talk of minds was useless as far as the cure was concerned.

  “It is not hocus pocus.” The old man’s eyes twinkled as he murmured in the common tongue.

  I was astounded. Could this man read my mind? How did he know the common tongue?

  “There are many minds I have communicated with. I learned the common tongue through their knowledge.”

  I stepped back in fear. “How is it possible?” I said aloud. “How can you do this?”

  The old man smiled. “I am old. When I was young, I thought like you did. Like all young people do. Then when I was ready, I experienced the cave with my tribesmen. And my mind was awakened. You are of age. You are ready for this experience too. Although your task is much… much more difficult.”

  I was starting to believe the old man. It was difficult not to believe, when a man who can read your mind, tells you that one can read minds. “Why do you say that?” I asked anxiously.

  “We share thoughts with other willing tribe members, who are of the same blood. You have to penetrate the mind of someone who is not of the same blood, and who has shut himself off completely.”

  “Is there no other way?”

  “No my son. The only other way, is that he breaks out of the barrier himself
. But it is a prison that he doesn’t know he is in. The only way to break out is for someone to tell him he is in a prison. And the only way to do that is from the outside, by breaking down the barrier that walls him in. Which defeats the point of trying to reach him inside, as that is precisely your task to begin with.”

  That was complicated for me to comprehend. But what I did get was that he couldn’t break out because he didn’t know he had to.

  “Thank you, oh wise one. I will set out immediately to this cave to try and save my friend.”

  The man shook his head. “No young man. You will only get lost in the darkness. Only in light can one find his destination. Spend the night here and ride out at first light. Your friend still has a few days of fight left in him. He is strong.”

  It was heartening to hear this. I sat with the tribesmen and shared their food.

  After a while, I asked them, “With the wisdom you have, why don’t you try to impart it to others, say in cities? I am sure you will find many willing to try your methods, and when they see the results, your knowledge will reach many more. It can help a lot of people.”

  The old man smiled and shook his head. “The prison dwellers have their minds in a prison too, much like your friend, where it will remain as their souls slowly leave their bodies. But unlike you, we don’t have the drive nor the skill to penetrate their minds and free them. I hope souls like you, once enlightened, can help others. Something for you to think about as you prepare for your journey tomorrow. May the thought of the rising sun brighten your soul in the darkness of night!”

  The Elliaichi had a really long way of saying good night.

  Again, a complicated thought. But as I thought about what he said, I realized there was a lot of truth in his words. Reality was finally, a convergence of infinite perceptions. Our perceptions were being increasingly bound by the information we possessed, which was being molded and controlled by the rulers of our land. There was no avenue available to anyone to shake the shackles placed on their mind by the Valantian Imperium. This made it easy for the Imperium to hold onto power, while we languished and suffered without even realizing it.

  The night passed with me getting little sleep, wondering about the day that lay ahead, and what the old man said.

  As the sun dawned upon us, I woke up to find the tribe already up. They offered me breakfast and food for my journey. As I set off on Arion, the old man blessed me. “May the sun guide you and give you the strength to save your friend!”

  Bowing to him and the tribe, I set upon my journey. The trees were quite irregularly spaced, so I had to be careful of the count. The beauty of the plains didn’t even register as I carefully counted the number of trees I passed, while maintaining the highest speed I could and balancing the body of my friend. I reached the tree which the Elliaichi elder spoke of, faster than anticipated. It was difficult to miss, once your direction was correct. I was there by late afternoon. This banyan tree was a colossal one, spreading its hanging roots for hundreds of meters. Each of the hanging roots, as they reached the ground, sprouted a new tree. But I could still recognize the original tree. It was the largest of them all. It was probably hundreds of years old.

  As I searched for the cave, I had a bit of a scare as there were hundreds of hanging roots of the tree, in all directions. Then, I figured it was near the tenth root starting from eastern root closest to the tree. And sure enough, there was a small opening in the ground that could fit three or four people at once. Barely a cave. But somehow, I felt the dimensions of the cave were extremely symmetrical.

  I entered the cave, carrying Dev on my shoulder. It was almost completely dark, so it was difficult to figure out the dimensions of the cave. But it was a large room, with the height of maybe a really tall man and area enough to fit maybe twenty people. I moved a little inside, placed Dev down and sat beside him. I waited for something to happen. For some time, nothing did. I started feeling like a fool, having trusted a random old man in the desert. I might have jeopardized Dev’s life based on my gut instinct. Maybe the old man made up the whole thing for some laughs.

  Suddenly, I began to feel something. It was a slight tingling in my body. It was slowly increasing. I felt the room was getting brighter, even though the sun had started to set. And then, out of nowhere, I was basked in white light. I looked around and saw nothing, but white light. I looked up and down, and it was the same white light. It was as if I was floating in an infinite space of white. I had a random thought. It would have been great if I had a boat to navigate this infinite ocean of whiteness.

  And the space around me changed immediately. I was on a white liquid which stretched out everywhere, in a boat. But above me it was blue, like the sky. It was as if I was on an ocean made of white, in a boat, with the blue sky above me. I had another thought—how weird, oceans are meant to be blue and navigated in a ship.

  The surrounding changed again in an instant, with the ocean turning blue and I was on a ship. It looked like I had imagined an ideal ship. Colossal, with large numerous sails. I began to realize that I was experiencing, somehow, my own mind as my surrounding.

  Using my thoughts, I began to move forward. I soon got bored of the boat and started travelling on a winged, fire breathing cow, just for fun. As I did, I slowly started to see islands, floating, that I had not created at that point. These islands felt familiar. As some of them came into focus, I was startled with what I saw. There were images, three dimensional images, of my parents, the time I spent in the High Seat, and various other instances of my past on these islands. Then I realized what was happening. These were my memories. I was seeing them from an external perspective. As I realized what I was seeing, I started to get angry. These were memories from times I didn’t want to remember. But as I resisted, more and more of these islands started to form.

  There was the time when I was selected as a high potential, which for a time I thought was the happiest moment of my life. Now, as I looked back, I knew that it was my life’s saddest moment. I wanted to avoid these memories. But as I was getting more and more agitated, these memories kept coming closer and blocking my path. They forced me to travel through them, experiencing each memory again, from an external perspective.

  Continued resistance seemed futile. I decided to let go, get through this experience. Maybe once I had seen them all, they wouldn’t bother me as much. But as soon as I let go, and started accepting them, despite my revulsion, the islands moved away. The more I fought the tragedies of my past, the more they stayed with me. The moment I accepted them, I could move on.

  Time passed. It seemed like months had gone by. I felt like I was lost in my own mind. I created castles that made the halls of Welehölla look like a mud hut, I lead armies of billions of men to victory over dark decaying beasts. I flew in the air like a bird, held the sun on the palm of my hand. I could do and be everything. It felt like a never-ending dream that always became real. It was heaven.

  But I slowly felt something was calling out to me. I got a nagging feeling that I should do something different. I heard a voice call out to me. It was faint at first, but then it got progressively stronger. It was saying, “Save your friend.” I initially did not want to listen, and continued to win my battles over all known foes. The voice continued. Slowly, it grew stronger. Slowly over time, my purpose dawned upon me.

  I had to save my friend. That was my purpose in this place. But I still didn’t know what I had to do. I remembered old man’s words. I had to harmonize my mind with Dev’s. For that, I had to locate his mind. How would I do that? I started to think of him, and almost prayed that somehow I could figure out what to do. Then almost as if to give me an answer, I saw dense clouds forming at a distance.

  As I moved closer to those clouds, they seemed to get denser and darker. These clouds again stretched till my eyes could see. Then I saw bolts of lightning emerge, followed by thunder. It was as if two barriers were clashing, creating lightning and thunder as they collided. I summoned a mighty thunderbol
t myself, and feeling like an ancient god, an unstoppable force. I launched myself against the barrier. It seemed like I was going up against an immovable object. I was trying to repeatedly attack it with the lightning bolts I was creating, but to no effect.

  This battle of minds continued, as I used all my willpower and focus to increase the frequency of attack and the strength of my weapon to create a break in the barrier. The voice saying, “Save your friend,” maintained my focus and sharpened my weapon. It feels silly to think back that a grown man was using thunderbolts and imagining himself to be a god, but every man’s base dreams were the same as those of a child.

  The time moved on, but my concentration did not break. I kept going at it. Nothing changed. The barrier had the same dark cloud, swirling around, filled with lightning. And then suddenly, I felt the barrier give way, as if it had reached the limit of its ability. With that, I was able to enter the mind of Dev, to rescue the man from himself.

  His mind seemed different from mine. It was a lot darker, duller than mine. It seemed lifeless, like a place which had not seen light or any movement in years. It was like a large desert, covered with dark clouds. Not a grain of sand nor the smallest cloud moved from its place. There were humungous buildings, larger than many of my recent mental creations, which lay in ruins. I first landed in his mind on foot. As I walked around, I figured I could never travel on foot across this vast expanse. But I wasn’t sure if I could conjure up what I want in his mind. I tried to think of a flying chariot. But nothing materialized. I concentrated really hard and I could see a ghostly apparition of a horse appear.

  So it was possible, only extremely difficult. I sat down, closed my eyes and tried again to summon a horse. But then mid thought I changed my mind. As I didn’t have endless options, as in my mind, I had to summon something that could travel on land, over water and in air, and had ability to attack and defend. I figured as I had entered a foreign mind, without permission, there might be ways in which he could attack me.