15 Ancient Legends.

The elevated sector was empty besides a wide hexagon carved at the center of the floor. A hollow hexagon of the same size was above on the ceiling, from which a black chandelier illuminated. Was there another room above? It reminded William of the balcony of a church or a theater.

Stairs ascended on the wall ahead. On the left and right walls, long clay tablets hung like paintings at an art exposition, each carved with the same geometrical characters as the pedestals on the statues. They were three on each side.

"This is the main lobby," spoke Zho. "It has changed so much after all these years. This section in particular has been rebuilt twice. Many relics were lost, but the most important ones, like the statues of Akko and Seir, or the Seven Writings of the Arriving Destiny, have survived."

William looked at the decaying clay blocks, various parts of their edges and corners destroyed and full of cracks. Were those what Zho meant? A number was missing. He wondered what meaning could hide in such ancient inscriptions.

"As you can see, there are only six here. They were originally seven. No one knows what happened to the seventh one. We've tried to locate it before with no success."

He moved next to the furthest tablet at the right wall, everyone behind. The geometrical characters on it that were still discernible were nonsensical; ordered in strange ways or overlapping one another, for not saying that erosion had them faded out.

"We don't know who these tablets were written by. They are in the ancient Yikkh language, written in their cuneiform. Probably no one but experienced scholars would be able of reading their content here in modern Sukhuul. And much less understanding their meaning."

"Yikkh?" asked William. "You mentioned them before. Some people who Okkos Zeimey guided here to Reniram, Sukhuul, as you call it. Who are they?"

"That's why we want to read the tablets to you, William. We want to share with you a little bit of our history. But to put it in simple terms, the Yikkhs were an ancient group of tribes who emigrated to Reniram more than 1000 years ago. They are the ancestors of all current Reniramians; Oksidi, Uchimi, Katosi, you name it. All of them are descendants from the Yikkhs."

"Yeah," said Artur. "Even the Katosi. I know how weird they look compared to normal humans but wait 'till you learn what made them end up like that, Will. It's always the weirdest things that happen in those swampy jungles of Katos."

"That's a lesson for another day," said Zho. "Miris, would you? please read the first inscription."

"Oh, yes, Master Zho. I've studied them before," she took a step ahead and analyzed the pictograms for a few seconds.

"Number 1: Genesis. From their struggle and stagnation, Okkos Zeimey was called one day by Lord Sekera, the father of day and night. Through his epiphany, the night light was revealed: he and his people ought to sail forwards an isolated place not seen by human eyes."

For the number of characters engraved on the two-meter-long tablet, that description was shorter than William expected.

Zho spoke. "That is where it all started, where the liches and Yikkhs, led by Okkos would see the beginning of their story on Reniram. Time has erased lots of the details, but the main events always prevail. Let's continue to the next one."

They moved to the next tablet on the right. Miris' fine voice spoke. William found it impressive how she could read such an ancient language and then translate it with ease. He always had trouble understanding various Sunian dialects.

"Number 2: Arrival. Efforts were put in, and lives were lost, but Okkos and his people managed to reach the so-desired land that Lord Sekera promised them. The struggle was not over. Sukhuul —as they named the land— was plagued by creatures that mirrored Okkos and Sekera's liches; magically powerful cannibals who called themselves vampires. The name of their leader was Ludovik Aurorikus, who enslaved his own people and used them as livestock. Their differences with the immigrant Yikkhs and liches had no solution, and a conflict was born."

Magical cannibals? William felt as if he only knew the tip of the iceberg of all dangers that Reniram held.

"The Yikkhs weren't the first to inhabit Sukhuul, William," said Zho. "This land was already occupied by other humans, enslaved by ruthless dominants. Goiki was their name. Their masters were Ludovik Aurorikus and his vampire clan. They massacred a Yikkh settlement one night where 3000 people were killed. Okkos and his people decided that it was the time for justice."

Some things never changed through history. Although William had been lucky to avoid the crudest situation in the Sunian civil war, similar atrocities were not unheard of as the conflict progressed back there. Maybe he was lucky to be there and not back in his homeland.

"Sukhuul. What does that mean? Why is it called Reniram now?"

Zho looked at Miris, the one who used that name instead of its translation when narrating the inscription.

"It's… complicated. 'Sukhuul' doesn't have a direct translation. It's like a single word trying to convey some meaning. I could guess it's something like 'New Blessing of the Night Light', though in other contexts it would mean something like 'The Cradle of our New Genesis'. The ancient Yikkh language was very reliant on contexts and double meanings, which makes it hard translating these tablets."

"Good job, Miris," said Zho. "Reniram represented positive things for the Yikkhs and liches, but no reward is without its struggle. They struggled to be rewarded so today we have modern Sukhuul, or Reniram, as its westernized name, but that's for later. Let's continue. Miris, You know what to do."

Miris glimpsed the next tablet for a few seconds before revealing its content.

"Number 3: Blood and Bones. A conflict of blood and fire began a crude battle extending for two years all over Sukhuul. The war got stale, populations decimated, and morale was over the soil. Okkos and Ludovik reached a two-sided ultimatum; to fight each other and put an end to their war once and for all."

"The next part is my favorite," whispered Artur. "Wait 'till you hear it, Will, it's like those epic fairy tails they told us at school."

"Except that it was real," Zho heard him. They moved to the wall behind them, its tablets their next objective.

William wondered. What could make the battle of two men —powerful magicians, but still only two individuals— be so significant that it could turn the tides of war? If what had happened to him wasn't already too fantastical, he would have believed all those inscriptions were just lies.

Miris read the next tablet, her slanted eyes of long eyelashes fixated on the carvings.

"Number 4: Lacerations. One full moon night, both warriors reunited on Mount Duskdawn, making their gods and demons witnesses of their incoming battle. The black sky was stained by electrifying lights all night long, and the eardrums of those in kilometers around the area were obliterated by the never-ending thunders, electrifying flashes, and raining meteors. Mount Duskdawn was destroyed, and a crack extending kilometers down to the southern sea divided Sukhuul in two, but the battle was over by the dawn: Okkos was the victor. Yikkh flags rose all over Sukhuul in celebration."

She stepped back, looking at Zho as if she wasn't secure with her translated words. He gave her a relieving nod. Artur was like a little kid impressed by a story.

"The details of how that battle went are unknown," said Zho. "But the destroyed landmarks would make the world remember their battle and its victor: Okkos Zeimey, the harbinger of Lord Sekera."

"That crack," said Artur. "it still exists, Will. It's a giant canyon extending from the northern border between Uchim and Oksid all the way down to the moon sea, the southest-south of Reniram. There's even a town and some settlements built in the canyon. Wait 'till we go and see them. It's incredible."

A whole mountain destroyed and a giant canyon long of what would be entire kingdoms down? William's previous wonders halted. If that story was true, then it wasn't the battle of two simple men. It was the battle of what sounded like nothing less than two gods.

Only two tablets left.

"Number 5: The Morning," spoke Miris. "The battle finalized, each fighter obliterated in body but not in soul. Ludovik's last words were his promise to return one day to best Okkos, exterminate the Yikkhs and liches, and reclaim the land he and his vampires ruled over. Okkos promised him to be there again to destroy his evil plans, and Ludovik disappeared. With the leader of the vampires and Goiki fighters gone, the war was already won."

"Disappeared? Didn't that Aurorikus die?" asked William.

"We don't know," said Zho. "But it's hard to believe that such a powerful being would truly die after his body was destroyed. It takes much more than magical power to destroy the willpower of someone like who he was."

Vampires, Goiki, Ludovik Aurorikus… Who were those, exactly? William wondered what true story hid behind those inscriptions. To think that such wicked things could exist, and the pass of time hid all that history from modern eyes was mind taking.

Reniram would always hide from him more things than he would ever be able to process. Miris stood before the final tablet.

"Number 6: A New Beginning. With Ludovik Aurorikus and his vampires defeated, the liches and Yikkhs could finally find peace and call Sukhuul their new home, spreading all over its fertile lands. For reasons only known to Lord Sekera, Okkos Zeimey could not find himself among his people for much longer. Before disappearing, he left one last mission to two of his most trusted liches, Akko the Silent and Seir the Scribe; they would build a monastery deep in the mountains at the heart of Sukhuul, where future lich generations would be trained, and make sure no evil stalked their people again. The monument was built and Okkos was gone, but not without anyone hoping he would return one day…"

"...those are all," said Artur. "What do you think, William? We have only so few comparable stories back there in Sunia, don't you think?"

"You said there were seven tablets," asked William. "I know you said the last one is missing, but do you know what it put?"

"Why would that matter? The story is over," said Artur.

"No," said Zho. "I don't know what the last tablet put. Not even our leader knows. Maybe it never existed. Or maybe it hasn't been written yet."

"It's strange," said Miris. "I've always thought it reads like a prophecy, like those in which the Katosi believe. Like the Prophecy of Yakka's Gift, which made them all look like cats."

"Maybe," said Arthur. "but prophecies are often complete. These texts are missing one last part."

"We don't really know," said Zho. "But you can be sure that time will tell. It always does. Let's go further into the monastery. We're now going to the Hall of Progress. I want to test you, William."

"Test me?"

"Your fighting skills. You were a soldier back in your homeland, right? and not a mediocre one, or you would have been killed even before you could have arrived here. Let's see what you can do."

William gulped his own saliva. The story in those tablets was something to think about, but not even after dying and being revived in a land thousands of kilometers away he would be dismissed from holding a weapon.

Something expected from what he heard it took being a lich, but, what would he be fighting in there? That kept him doubtful...