The Hidden City

by Adrian Tanase

  “I feel so light and relaxed as if I am sleeping, but still I’m awake,” a passing thought came through her mind, just to live it clear the next moment. “Maybe it is because of this forest, or because I’m resting under these old trees,” she thought. “Or maybe because I have my amulet and I’m connecting with the earth, feeling its intelligence somehow….”

  With her eyes half shut, she felt like sleeping, but still awake, seeing the sky, and feeling the warm breeze that was occasionally blowing. Suddenly, she started feeling like she was in another place at the same time. She felt a room, a room with a simple bed, with white clean and perfumed sheets. She closed her eyes and let her feelings guide her.

  The room was smaller and the perfume of that room was clearly artificial. It was a lady’s perfume, she thought. She liked so much what she was feeling, that she decided to stop thinking of anything around her and let her be carried by the vision that she was having. She was now in the bed, but at the same time she felt she was someone else. She quieted more her senses, and she started to tune into that person. With her eyes closed, but still awake, she started to explore that person. It was a delicate presence, that felt taller than her, with thin body, and with a very feminine presence. She felt the lady’s longer hair on her own skin and that gave her a shiver through all her body. The lady’s eyes were wider and thinner, and she was reading a book. She felt the deepness of her mind’s state, and she started immerse in what it was the story of the book. She began to feel her relaxed breathing, and let her be transported by the atmosphere in that room, which made her feel totally out of her own world.

  Suddenly she heard a voice in her mind.

  “Airee, are you ready?”

  She felt like the lady quickly closed her book, and, in an instant, the vision she had disappeared. She was again here, feeling the mossy and grassy cold ground through her blanket. A short breeze of the wind, than again silence. The warm rays of the sun seemed a bit warmer now, through the tops of the trees, that were falling right on her chest, almost playing with her, and warming her up. She wondered how long she was dreaming. She still felt the delicate scent and the touching of that book with sheets of delicate paper, that somehow remained anchored in her momentary presence.

  “Would that have been a memory of someone? Or was it real?” she let herself though, while the effects of the vision were slowly fading. “We all wear our amulets, and maybe I felt a memory of one of the orange robe ladies here.”

  She continued to lay on her back and remembered her promise to herself, that today she will let the City welcome her in it, and guide her through its winding roads, so she could understand and see more of it. Her spiritual potential was growing and her amulet was still giving her slight tingles, after the vivid images that she just had.

  “Or was that a vision about myself? Would it be that I can see myself in the future, in a different time and place?” She let her present memories sink, while the memories of that beautiful scent were starting to fade away slower and slower, letting the scent of the forest replace it. After a while, she fell asleep, with her head on a side, having the most interesting dream: she was becoming an Elder, and in her Initiation, she had been given the most beautiful white robe that she has ever seen. She was alone in the Council Building, exploring it, and going from room to room, feeling like a person from another world, but still being herself.

  After a half an hour she woke up, just to realize that she’s been dreaming. The sun was up in the sky now, warming everything with his strong rays. She raised from her blanket and went join the others. She chose to humbly sit on the corner of a blanket, just seeing them playing cards and laughing, and smiling occasionally as some of them made jokes. In Margaret’s heart, an opening was growing, an opening that told her more about the City.

  That day she felt anew, and her heart started to guide her, for the very first time in her life. She started to feel as that was all she needed to be. Seeing Philip happy around her, and seeing how things are so simple in the City, made her go deeper and deeper, exploring more her feelings, through the generosity and kindness of everything that was around her.

  Upon returning home, that evening, they had a simple dinner, and they shared a glass of wine outside, below the starry sky of the quiet night. She cuddled with Philip and they fell asleep outside, one in the arms of each other, covered by warm blankets, and dreaming together. The City has started to welcome them in his simple and natural language, where love was everything it knew.

  Chapter 9 – An eventful day

  Today was the day when Margaret decided to go to the Council Building and see an Elder. Outside, the weather was mild and there was an eerie silence in her neighborhood. From time to time you could feel the wind blowing softly, and every time that happened, the chimes hanging on the house’s porch were singing their occasional chant. The birds were playing in the redberry bushes that were planted in the garden, and the blue skies displayed white clouds at that morning hour.

  “Are you up Maggie?” Philip asked with a sleepy voice. “I had a strange dream and you were into it as well,” he said, trying to get up out of the bed.

  Today, Margaret woke up earlier and took advantage of the silence of the morning to meditate a little on a cushion that she made up and set in one of the corners of their living room. She looked at him, with a soft gaze, and said silently.

  “Yes, Phil, I am up. What did you dream about?”

  Philip raised up on his pillow, and tried to concentrate.

  “It was a quite wild dream, as I remember. We were together, but we weren’t in the City: we were on our spaceship, traveling at high velocity. We both had orange robes and our green amulets. We were on a mission, sent by the Elders to receive some strange artifacts … but … this … this is all I can remember, because the moment I woke up, I forgot most of my dream,” he said, with a funny face.

  Margaret looked at him with contentment.

  “I woke up earlier today, and I did a short meditation, so I can clear up my head a bit. What do you say we have our little breakfast and then we head towards the City Council? I want to see an Elder, maybe there is something for us to do today, in the City.”

  “Ah, you told me yesterday something about this. If you want to, why not,” he said and quickly got out of the bed. Dressed in his pijama, he asked for two full breakfasts, that he gently put on the table. Margaret joined him and they began eating in silence. She was rather quiet this morning, and she had a calm and serious, face ever since Philip has woken up.

  “Are you upset in any way, Maggie?” Philip asked after a while, taking another bite from his breakfast.

  She looked at him and then continued to eat.

  “Ah, no, I’m not. It’s funny … it’s just that … I meditated for a while in the silence of the morning, before you woke up, and at some point I remembered about us … ”

  Philip was indulging in his omelette, while occasionally looking up at Margaret.

  “Yes … ?” said Philip.

  “Well, I saw in my mind like on a screen a vision with me, from the back, while making up calculations onboard our ship before we were … transported here, by that Cube.”

  Philip stopped for a second, threw her a serious look, and continued indulging again in his breakfast.

  “Ah really? You did? Well, I tell you, it’s these amulets for sure. That’s why I’m having these strange dreams too, I am totally certain of it.”

  Margaret was eating slowly, making almost a ritual out of her moves. After a while, she remained with the fork in her right hand, and looked again at Philip, as if she was looking through him.

  “It might be, Phil, who knows. You may be right. Or it may be this whole place as far as we are concerned. The whole vibe of the City makes me go into these moods sometimes, for no particular reason.”

  She put her fork down and wiped her mouth with a table cloth.

  “I can’t eat it all this morning, it seems. You have to excuse my appetite. If yo
u ask my current oppinion about the amulets, I think that while they do have the property to clean our minds, which feels rather magical to me, they also bring certain memories up when we need to understand more. They act somehow in connection to our hearts, and it’s just that they trigger things in us … ”

  “Ah, yes. I think similarly. They are pretty much magical to me as well, and I love wearing my amulet,” Philip said and put his breakfast on the side too, looking at her. “Well, let’s get dressed then, I’m not hungry either, I’d rather be walking through the City right now.”

  They quietly dressed and left the house, closing the door behind them. Outside there was no apparent activity in the neighborhood of their house. On the small cobbled street that led to the City’s main Market Square, there was barely anyone, probably because of this early hour. They met the occasional morning people that saluted them, with a kind reverence, and they warmly saluted them back. Margaret was thinking about what she should say or how she could approach the Elder in this matter, as she seemed to have thought a lot about this for the past days.

  When they reached the central Market Square, they noticed it was quite empty at this hour. There were just a few vendors that showed up earlier, opening up their mobile shops. They quietly traversed the square, nodding and greeting the few people that were there, and continued heading for the Council Building.

  “It must be that the members of the Council are barely gathering at this morning hour,” Margaret said as they were walking.

  “I hope so,” Philip said, “I would not want to disturb them from an important meeting that they might have.”

  “Well, we’re just gonna go and ask anyone at the entrance to see an Elder. If they are not available at this hour, we can roam around the market or the City streets for another hour,” Margaret said, keeping the pace.

  When they finally reached the building, they saw that the massive wooden door was slightly open. Inside, near the door, one of the Council members was posted at the entrance. Philip was not expecting to meet an Elder so soon, and tried to ask him politely.

  “Umm … hi … excuse us, Elder ...”

  The white-bearded man started to smile.

  “Well, good morning to you too, Philip! I was actually waiting for you two, I knew you were coming this morning. You haven’t get used to the amulet yet, it seems … ”

  Philip nodded with respect, not knowing why the Elder was saying that. It must have been that Margaret let them know somehow the other days.

  “Well, that’s how we know why you are here. You both wanted to ask us if you can do something around here, besides sitting in your garden and enjoying your most delicate flower scents, right?”

  A thought raced through Philip’s mind.

  “Of course, the amulets!” If one had an emotion that was strong enough, it was propagated through the community with ease, and the Elders were the first to sense it.

  The Elder was still looking at them, smiling. After a few moments of silence, he looked at Margaret and said.

  “I think we just have the thing for you, Margaret. A few Council members suggested what you could do today, knowing that you are coming to offer your help and that you are still so fresh in town. They also mentioned that they appreciate your intention and that you will be rewarded at the end of the day for anything that you will do,” said the Elder, waiting to see Margaret’s reaction.

  Margaret was silent so far, and she was holding Philip’s hand, who seemed to have done all the talking so far. The white-bearded man came closer to them and spoke quietly, near their ears.

  “If you want to participate in our City’s activities, we have found something happening for you today, giving that you actually don’t have your own business set up here yet. There’s a new water tower that’s being upgraded today. We already have the basement and the first floor done, and now we’re installing the green and orange crystals for the first level where we begin the water cleansing process. Would you be interested in participating? This would be your first assignment here, and if all goes well … ”

  Philip became very curious at hearing the Elder, and Margaret grasped his hand tightly.

  “Of course! We will take it!” she said in a second.

  “Then, it’s settled! I will go look for someone to lead you two to that location. Just wait for me one second,” the Elder said and disappeared swiftly on one of the corridors inside the Council building.

  Margaret was already anticipating her new day, with excitement. She thought for the past few days a lot about how she would be asking the Elder so she could get anything to do here, without being refused, and now that it had been so easy, it was as if a whole weight was taken off her shoulders. The person that was to accompany them to the working site appeared in less than a minute. He was quite tall and dressed in an orange robe

  “I am Tal’jin. I am to accompany you to the construction yard and watch for you, today. Are you ready? The work site is approximately 4 miles away from our current location, on the North-West axis,” he said quickly.

  “4 miles? Well, that’s a lot of walking,” Philip said.

  “Ah, do not worry. We will get there in no time,” Tal’jin said. “Just follow me.”

  The two look curiously at each other and followed Tal’jin. He took them on the side road that led in the back of the Council building, where they found a green yard, where the green grass was cut very precisely. Round bushes with violet berries abounded, planted in perfect symmetry, and a lot of animals that looked a lot like dragons were there, playing around and grooming.

  “Please, do not be afraid. They are very obedient and tamed creatures. Just hop on these two here, gently, in the saddle, put your feet in these two sockets here, and I will show you how to bind the ties. Do not worry, they are trained well, and they will follow every one of my moves.”

  Margaret noticed that the small blue-skin dragons had their green amulets over their chests as well, hold with some sort of colorful textile bonds. They had strong resilient skin, with smooth scales, of the most interesting silver-blue color. The saddle mounted on their back was not too heavy and it was firmly gripped with what appeared to be leather strips.

  Maggie and Phil did exactly what Tal’jin said. They went up to their saddles gently and waited so he would show them how to fix their feet in the saddle sockets. Then Tal’jin flew first. He raised above to about 15 feet height in the sky, waiting for them. The two other blue dragons followed him exactly in that same pattern. Then, Tal’jin pushed his blue dragon to fly a bit higher, which made the other two dragons follow gently. Tal’Jin was maintaining a 45 feet height in the sky, which was not too high for a dragon flight, but since Margaret and Philip were flying for their first time with no previous training, he needed to guide them to a lower altitude first. Being up in the sky for the first time gave them both butterflies in their stomachs, but after 1 minute they got used to the sensation.

  They flew for about 4 minutes, in a tight formation, mostly over the roads of the city, and these cutest creatures were indeed very well tamed, and they did everything so Maggie and Philip feel safe while flying. They were seeing the city for the first time from above, and the view was absolutely amazing, especially while flying so low over the ground: most of the buildings that were built in stone and wood, had many different vibrant colors added on top of the roofs, and that generated a dream-like landscape. Flying low above the ground, through the trees and the houses, gave them the sensation of freedom that they never felt before. When they arrived at the construction yard, the two dragons flew down, slowly, in a straight move, following Tal’jin’s dragon. There were at least 12 people working on-site, and they all saluted Margaret and Philip with a deep bow, knowing that they were here to see them work and maybe even giving a helping hand.

  “Margaret and Philip, welcome to our construction yard! We hope you will have a beautiful day with us here. The lunch comes around 3 o'clock and we usually finish at around 7. We’re actually not working
, we’re all waiting for lunchtime,” joked one of the workers, probably one of the coordinators of the site, who was dressed in an orange robe. Margaret and Philip nodded and smiled, standing still near their blue dragons, that were now sitting low on the ground, playing with each other.

  The tower was being built in an opening of the forest and was close to a really quiet neighborhood of one-story stone houses, that were built one next to each other, leaving sometimes a narrow space where one could sneak to get to the next adjacent street. They were noq in one of the oldest areas of the city, as Tal’jin told them, that was constructed in the beginning of the times when the City was barely forming. The houses were not respecting the straight lines that Margaret and Philip saw in the City, following a rather winding plot, where the streets were curved to accommodate them.

  Margaret could easily see the peak of the round tower built in large and polished square chunks of blue stones coming out of the tall trees, and the sight was spectacular.

  “As the tower construction is complete, we’re now installing the cleaning stones for the first layer of the water cleaning. Do you want to see them?” asked one of the workers.

  Margaret acknowledged, with a radiant face. They entered the tower by going down in the basement. Inside, the coolness of the stones was being felt strongly, as the temperature lowered drastically compared to the warmness of the outside. They started climbing the rounded stairs, and stopped at the first level. The workers there were preparing at least two dozen perfectly-cut cubic green emeralds, at about 5 inches on one side, that were being placed in a round fashion in special sockets, on the sides of the water pipe, exactly where the water was passing by. An orange translucent stone, cut in a cylindrical fashion, was also placed inside the water tube, right in the middle, leaving a bit of space between the big orange stone and the emeralds, so just a little amount of water would pass through, with enough pressure so it could climb through the whole tower.

  “The emeralds help with the energetic cleansing of the water,” explained a rather tall and fit man, dressed in an orange robe, “so the water passing by them is cleansed by the emerald’s energy, that blends with all the other emeralds in the City, and that cleans the water deep, at the etheric level. The orange stone helps with the physical cleaning and energizing the molecules of the water, which, by the way, is actually very clean, as it is coming from a spring up there, in the mountains,” he said, pointing with his fingers upwards, south, towards the mountains peaks. “But the Council decided that we should try and do this, as an improvement and also as an experiment, to our whole water system, so our water will be purified more,” he said and gently resumed his work.