Chapter 10: Zulanah (Part 1).

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  Somewhere near Solmaris, Month: 94, Year: 226.

  Zulanah's lungs burned as she sprinted through the dense forest, her pale skin glistening with sweat under the unforgiving sun. Her silver hair whipped against her face, and her violet eyes darted frantically, scanning for any escape. She didn’t dare look back again, though the beast’s guttural growls seemed to claw at her heels.

  The creature crashed through the undergrowth like a battering ram, its heavy footsteps tearing apart roots and snapping branches. Its sharp-toothed maw let out a roar that shook the forest, the sound clawing at Zulanah’s spine.

  Her heart pounded as she ran, the large backpack slamming against her shoulders with each desperate stride. She had no other option but to let it go. She yanked the straps from her shoulders and let the pack drop behind her, hoping the beast might stop, even for a moment, drawn by the scent of food, or at least be tripped by its weight.

  She was wrong about the first, but half-right about the second.

  The backpack struck the forest floor, scattering its contents in a messy arc. The beast barely broke stride, crashing through it with a snarl, but it staggered, just for a heartbeat. Long enough for Zulanah to put a few more precious steps between them.

  She stumbled on the roots of a tree, but didn’t stop, her hands gripping the smaller satchel still slung across her chest. It was lighter, but even now, it felt like an anchor. Still, she refused to let it go.

  Thorns lashed at her arms as she dove through a dense bush, leaving stinging red scratches on her already sunburned skin. The ground was uneven, scattered with roots and jagged stones that threatened to trip her at every step.

  Its snarls grew deafening, and a quick glance from the corner of her eye sent a chill down her spine, the beast was gaining. Zulanah lunged for the nearest tree, gripping a low-hanging branch. Her arms trembled as she hoisted herself up, her satchel slipping and nearly tumbling to the ground, but she caught it just in time.

  Her ankle scraped against a jagged branch, pain shooting up her leg, but she bit back a scream and climbed higher. The creature roared below, pacing in frustration as its yellow eyes glared up at her. It leapt at the trunk, claws scraping furiously against the bark, but the branches were just out of reach.

  Zulanah settled on the highest branch she dared, legs pulled to her chest as her breath came in ragged gasps. Her arms were lined with scratches, and her pale skin burned where the sun had punished her earlier the last several days. She winced at the shallow gash on her ankle, but it was nothing serious.

  The beast prowled below. It paced, growling low in its throat as it tested the tree’s bark with a claw. Zulanah’s heart pounded as she watched its movements, every creak of the tree sending jolts of fear through her.

  Time dragged on. The beast didn’t leave, but neither did it seem capable of climbing. It circled restlessly, occasionally snapping its jaws at the air or scratching the dirt. Zulanah clung tightly to the branch, her breath slowing as the adrenaline drained from her body. Her limbs trembled, not from fear now, but from exhaustion. Minutes turned to hours, and the tension that had gripped her began to loosen its hold.

  Zulanah looked at the wide trunk of the tree, “Will you try to eat me too?”, as she recalled the surface protocols of Kalista stating that even plants from the surface would be hungry for flesh. Yet, the tree remained predictably motionless. Perceiving no threat from the wooden giant, she reached for the small knife strapped to her belt and turned it in her hand. Slowly, she pressed the blade against the bark and carved her own name, each letter small but as carefully written as possible. “Well, even if you do eat me, if someone ever finds you here,” she murmured, “they’ll know at least I made it this far.”

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  As she blew the wood dust away, something in the edge of her eyesight caught her attention: a pinecone nestled in the crook of a nearby branch. She stood on the branch, stretched her hand and picked it up, turning it between her fingers. “What is this?” She whispered, marveling at its shape and the pattern of its scales. “It’s beautiful… like a miniature tree.” She giggled, and after a moment, she slipped it into her satchel. “I’ll show it to Qilani,” she said softly. “If I ever see her again.”

  She looked down to the ground, the beast now settled at the base of the tree, its body coiled like a spring. Zulanah frowned. "Stubborn." She turned her face upward, glancing up at the darkening sky. The scene above was turning different shades of red and orange as the giant ringed planet glowed near the setting sun.

  "Auron is even more beautiful than I imagined." Zulanah spoke softly, her voice only broken by the sound of moving leaves and singing insects. “Where I come from, people say that Auron is watching us all the time, even if we are underground and can't see him back.”

  The beast seemed indifferent to her comments.

  "Five… six… seven… I wonder if all those moons have names too," she mused, pointing toward the faintly glowing orbs in the distance. A small, almost wistful smile tugged at her lips. "What about that blue one over there? It’s so pretty."

  Zulanah leaned against the tree trunk, her fingers brushing the scratches on her arms. "I bet you see them all the time," she murmured. "I only got to see them a couple of days ago when I left Kalista. All that time, I never thought they’d actually look this amazing."

  Her voice grew quieter, more thoughtful. "Do you think it was a mistake? … leaving?" She glanced down at the creature. “At this hour, I could be in the mess hall, talking with Qilani and the others about our day, eating and getting ready for bed.” She looked down at the beast. “Instead, I'm here, hanging on to the branches of this tree, talking to you.”

  Hours continued to pass as Zulanah shared fragments of her story with the beast, about her life in the underground city, the people she left behind, and the brutal ways of the city she once lived in.

  “It happened months ago, but I can’t shake it off.” Zulanah’s voice thinned, cracking under the weight of memory. “That month they assigned me to help supervise the captured prisoners, the ones they called ‘rescued workers.’” She let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “Rescued? What a bunch of nonsense. Even the people in charge of the program aren’t blessed by Auron. Because not even they can lie to themselves well enough to pretend they’re rescuing anyone.”

  “There was this rescued worker girl“, Zulanah said with sarcasm. “She stole food and… they caught her.” Her hand moved to hold a thin branch. “The chief gave me a whip and told me to show her discipline.” She swallowed as she waved the branch slowly. “I did it… but I tried to be gentle, hoping it would be enough.” She exhaled as she started filling with anger.

  “The chief ordered me to do it for real, but I complained, saying that she was just a child and that she was just hungry. The chief slapped me in the face so hard I fell to the ground, bleeding from my nose.” She pressed the fingers of her right hand on the bark of the tree, she broke the branch she was holding with the other. “Nobody had ever struck me before, Mitti! I was furious! I stood up, ready for a fight, but when I moved forward, everyone moved like they were ready to protect her from me.”

  “She told me I could either do my job right, or that they would lock me up.” A tear slid down Zulanah’s cheek. “I should've taken the lock up.”

  More tears followed, her face tightening with rage. “Weeks later, I heard the girl died. Not because of what I did… Just from… living there. From the conditions we forced on her.”

  She exhaled like someone drowning. “I can't forget her terrified expression. And perhaps I shouldn't."

  The beast let out a low growl, not threatening, just a bored sound, and Zulanah took it as sympathy and an invitation to keep talking.

  “They say Auron curses liars,” she said at last, her tone a little more composed now. “But if I’d stayed, even if it was working on the palace like Qilani wanted, away from all that… wouldn't I still be part of the system? Wouldn’t that have been lying to myself? That's worse … right?”

  “I’ve never told anyone any of this. Not even Qilani,” she signed, hands still trembling. “Maybe I should have… but I was angry, and ashamed, and I felt filthy for being part of it.”

  At this point, the creature was lying on the ground, its massive body curled into a deceptively peaceful ball. "What do you think, Mitti?" she asked.

  The stars began to dot the twilight sky as Zulanah exhaled, her breath still shaky but steadying. She allowed herself a small, wry smile. "You’re a good listener, Mitti. Thanks."

  She lay back on the branch, resting her head against the rough wood. Her still wet eyelashes moved as her violet eyes flicked to the satchel hanging from a nearby branch. "Aren’t you supposed to be magical?" she muttered, narrowing her eyes at the worn fabric. "A relic blessed by Auron? A living thing that would help me out?"

  Her stomach growled, loud and hollow, emptier than she could ever remember.

  “Now would be a really good time to show me your powers,” she muttered, glaring at the satchel.

  It remained lifeless as ever.

  Minutes dragged into hours as she lay uncomfortably on the branch, lashed in place for safety, her limbs aching and mind fogged by hunger. Sleep came in fragments, broken by discomfort and the ever-present tension coiled in her chest. She could only hope that by morning, Mitti would be gone, that her hunger would loosen its grip, and that tomorrow, luck would finally be on her side.

  Zulanah opened her eyes to find herself standing in a long brick-walled corridor. It was eerily familiar, resembling the underground halls of Kalista, though the walls here were reddish and lit with fire instead of glowing fungi. She blinked in confusion, her footsteps echoing softly as she moved forward.

  "Where am I?" she whispered, her voice unusually steady despite the unease curling in her chest. Her thoughts churned in a chaotic swirl. “Am I dreaming? Did I fall asleep?” A dreadful thought crossed her mind “Or... did I fall, and Mitti ate me?”

  She pushed those thoughts away and walked, she noticed rows of doors lining both sides of the corridor, she tried the handle of one: locked. Another: also locked. She kept going, trying door after door, but none would budge.

  The end of the corridor was just ahead, where a single door stood apart from the rest. This one swung open slowly, as if inviting her inside, though she was still several steps away. With her heart pounding, Zulanah stepped through.

  The room beyond was vast, its ceiling and walls lost in shadow. The only thing inside was a single object resting in the center of the floor. It was the pinecone she had placed in her satchel earlier.

  She approached it slowly, she knelt and picked it up. The weight and texture were exactly as she remembered. She turned it over in her hands, studying every ridge and curve as if seeing it for the first time.

  After a moment, she set it gently back down, in the same place she had found it. The moment her fingers released it, she was plunged into darkness. She gasped, and when she opened her eyes again, the dream was gone.

  Elise's Journey.

  Chapter 10: Zulanah (Part 2)

  Qilani's Campaign.

  Chapter 10: Zulanah (Part 2).

  Thank you very much for taking the time to read my story.