Thaqib and Halima made their way into the old city in search of a vessel capable of carrying them across the sea, the air felt cool and damp. Around them, they heard the echoing drips of water falling into unseen pools. “How far down are we supposed to go?” Thaqib asked, getting anxious about how long they’d been walking. He wondered how Rast and Judah were doing on the surface and hoped they were OK.

“It can’t be much farther,” Halima replied.

They walked for a while in silence. Thaqib glanced at Halima and saw a troubled expression on her face. “Are you still thinking about what you said back there? About how you shouldn’t have come here?”

Halima nodded.

“Did you really come through the Veil alone? I mean—you weren’t sent here?”

Halima stared into the distance, “Yes. For as long as I could remember, I was disturbed by the Veil. You can’t imagine what Zion is like Thaqib, it’s beautiful. It’s a place of dreams. But the Veil stands on the edge of it like a wall of darkness that taints everything else. The other Zionese do their best to go on with life despite it. The elders decided that was best, they forbade anyone from going to it or discussing it—”

“Sounds a bit like here,” Thaqib said.

“I’m afraid you may be more right than you know. I saw how the Veil—how the disunity of Aotea was beginning to degrade Zion. Others tried not to notice it but I couldn’t help it. We live in paradise and yet, there on the horizon was evidence that all was not right. I feared that if we did not act to rectify the situation, to work to unify Aotea, then even the Zionese side of the planet would fall to the darkness that is behind Babylon.”

“But didn’t the elders notice it too? You said they’ve abandoned Babylon,” Thaqib asked.

“Yes, they did. But they are growing old and fearful of losing what little we have left. They decided not to risk corrupting Zion and losing the knowledge that keeps the darkness at bay,” Halima replied. “But I felt so discontent, I just couldn’t live like that, knowing something was wrong and doing nothing to fix it. When I expressed my thoughts to my masters, they forbade me from acting upon them.

One night I listened to the elders speak when I wasn’t supposed to. I wanted to know what their plan was. That’s when I learned of the Czepta. They had sent someone through the Veil some years before, this person was to become the Czepta. I didn’t understand what they meant but they had said that this person would have to liberate the world beyond the Veil from within. But they had decided to abandon the hope they had placed in them. It had been years and they had heard nothing. They deemed the plan a failure. But when I heard that, I can’t explain it—I suddenly knew what I had to do. I had to go through the Veil and help this person achieve their mission. I couldn’t sit by and let it fail without knowing if it really had—without seeing with my own eyes. I decided then, that if I was not able to help Zion directly, then perhaps I could do it by helping the one they had sent to Babylon. So I left without telling anyone, I took a ship and flew into the Veil.”

Thaqib stared at her, captivated by the story.

“I’m lucky Sol agreed to come with me, or I never would have made it out of there alive. My masters were right, I was not developed enough to pass through it—the Shayateen, they were created because of that, they attacked me, somehow I managed to get through the Veil into Babylon, but the Shayateen came with me, and now they hunt me—they won’t stop until they’ve found me… until they’ve consumed me.”

“Consumed you!?” Thaqib said in shock. He rubbed his head. “What are they?”

“They were spawned by the fears and defects I hold inside, they’re the negative aspects of myself materialized. They seek to become whole, right now they are phantoms, parted from their host. They seek now to become realized, here in Babylon. To do that they must reunite with me. If that happens, my Zionese power will be inverted to their will. If that happens I will become a great threat.”

“Is that why you were so afraid of the one that attacked us on the barge?” Thaqib asked.

Halima nodded, “Yes. I didn’t take my masters seriously enough. Now I understand the wisdom in their decisions, why they forbid me to pass through the Veil, why they have decided to abandon Babylon. Because the risk is too great that we will create an even greater enemy than already exists.” Halima hung her head in shame. “If only I’d listened, I let my own desires take control of me and now I’ve ruined everything!” she stopped suddenly, dropping to her knees, holding her face in her hands. “The Order of Zion, all those people, working to save Aotea, they’re all gone because of me!”

Thaqib knelt down beside her. “No, it’s not because of you Halima. It’s because of them, Babylon. They would have done this whether you came here or not. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. You coming here has given us hope. I don’t understand what’s going on, but I know Rast, and if he says you’ve given us a new chance to change things, to get rid of Babylon, then there’s no way your coming here could have been a mistake.”

Halima looked at him and smiled. He smiled back, their eyes locked for a moment and Halima blushed and turned away. Thaqib did the same. Suddenly Thaqib noticed a light at the end of the tunnel. “Do you see that?”

“Maybe we’ve arrived?” Halima said.

“Lets find out.”

They made their way down the stairs, Sol detached from Halima’s chest-piece and went zipping ahead of them, sending shadows dancing. They came upon an astounding view. A huge body of water stretched before them, an underground lake so still it was like a clear night sky, the kind Thaqib had never set eyes upon. Reflected in its surface were thousands of twinkling lights.

“That light in the water—what is it?” Thaqib asked.

“It’s not in the water Thaqib, look,” Halima said, pointing upward. Thaqib looked above him, he almost fell over in awe from the sight. The lights in the lake were only a reflection. On the cavern’s ceiling were millions of tiny lights glowing in the dark.

“What are they?” Thaqib asked, amazed.

“They’re glow-worms, we have them in Zion too. They are worshiped for reminding us that light can awaken in the darkest of places.”

“They’re beautiful,” Thaqib said. “I didn’t think there was any beauty left in this world.”

“I wish you could see behind the Veil, you’d be astounded,” Halima said smiling.

Thaqib turned to her, “Halima, if you return to Zion—will you take me through the Veil with you?”

Halima looked at him and smiled. “Come on, we better find the boat,” she said walking toward the lake. Thaqib stood and watched her a moment then followed after.

At the edge of the lake they saw a small boat floating next to the bank. It was old and looked like it had been floating there for an eternity.

“Looks like we can take this across the lake,” Thaqib said. “If there’s a boatyard here, it must be on the edge of the lake somewhere.”

“Maybe on the other side,” Halima said.

In the center of the lake they noticed a small island.

“What do you think that is?” Thaqib asked.

“I don’t know,” Halima replied. They heard a rumble from above.

“Man, I hope Rast and Judah are OK. Let’s find the boat so when they get down here we can get going quickly.”

Halima nodded and they climbed aboard the vessel. It was a long canoe shaped boat that had a pole with an old oil lamp hanging from it. Sol chirped, seeming to find it interesting. He flew inside and became excited when his light was magnified. There were mirrors inside of it. Sol seemed to get comfortable inside the lamp.

“He looks happy,” Thaqib said.

“He loves to play,” Halima replied, smiling. Thaqib picked up a paddle and pushed the boat off the shore. They drifted into the crisp waters. Neither of them said a word as they drifted along the surface of the impossibly still lake. The serenity of the place was almost reverent as though they were in the most sacred place on earth. Thaqib felt that it would be disrespectful to brake the silence with speech, Halima seemed to understand this implicitly, and so in silence they drifted, only the gentle sound of the boat gliding through the water belying their presence.

As they reached the center of the lake, they came upon the island and were surprised to find a small jetty with stairs leading up.

“What do you think this place is?” Thaqib asked. They looked up and noticed what appeared to be a tower rising from the center of it.

“Maybe we can get a good look around from up there? What do you say?”

Halima nodded. “Yes, we could spend hours paddling around here, this lake is huge.” Thaqib moved the boat into the jetty and they climbed out onto the stone steps. A path lead upward toward the tower and they made their way up slowly. When they reached the top, they found a doorway that lead into the tower. They stepped into the dark and Sol followed after them, lighting another stairwell that wound its way inside the tower. They followed the stairwell up and at its pinnacle found a strange room.

The room was filled with an assortment of strange esoteric artifacts, in fact it reminded Thaqib of Rast’s workshop.

“This looks familiar,” Thaqib said. “What is this place?”

“Looks like a sanctuary,” Halima replied. “A place of isolation where one can focus on their internal development without the distractions of life around them. A powerful cultivator must have worked here.”

“A cultivator?” Thaqib asked, suddenly becoming curious. Maybe there was something here that could help them. Thaqib walked around the room as Halima went on to the turret that looked out over cavern below.

Thaqib saw something that caught his attention it seemed to be a stack of wooden cards upon each one was strange writing and pictures of a person striking various poses. Something about one of them intrigued him and he put it into his pocket.

“Thaqib, look!” Halima said, calling him over. Thaqib made his way quickly to where she stood on the balcony of the tower. He was amazed by the view that met him. Looking out over the lake from there you could see everything, including the far end of the cavern that had been shrouded in darkness. They saw buildings rising up a steep bank, now dark and empty.

A chill ran down Thaqib’s spine when he saw the mammoth shapes of frightening machines and more of those giant man-shaped golems he’d seen in the caverns earlier. But that wasn’t what Halima was pointing to, down on the lake’s surface, there floating upon the still waters was a ship unlike any he had ever seen. It looked like a giant sea shell, it’s bone white hull glowed in the dark. “That’s a ship?”

“Yes,” Halima said. “A Zionese ship.”

“Do you think it will still be usable?”

“A Zionese craft like that will last for a thousand years. It’s just what we need. Come, let’s get down to it!” Halima said, running back into the tower to the stairwell.

They ran back down the tower and made their way to the jetty. Suddenly Halima froze.

“What’s wrong?”

She didn’t speak, the words seemed to be caught in her throat. On her face he saw the expression of terror. The same one he’d seen back on the barge when the Shayateen had appeared.