I fell onto the step, gasping for air. Kero sat next to me. “You should have told me that the stairs keep going and going and going and going…”

      Kero scowled. “I did tell you!” He wiped the sweat off his forehead.

      I wiped the sweat off mine too. “I think I lost twenty pounds.” I said.

      Kero laughed. He then got up. “Common, we have a long way to go.” He then surprised me by transforming. The wind blew me back, almost making me fall down the stairs. When Kero looked at me, I glared at him.

      He grinned. ‘Get on.’

      I sighed and climbed onto his back.

      ‘Hold on.’

      “Yeah.” I said as I knotted my fingers into his fur.

      With that, he lunged forward. After a long time, we were at the top. I got off of Kero and he collapsed. He changed back and rolled onto his back, taking deep breaths.

      I looked over him. “Maybe they should build an elevator.” I grinned.

      He smiled. “Yes… they… should. That… would help… a lot.” He said, between breaths. He then sat up. “You are so lucky… you have… me.”

      I smiled. “Yeah. I am.”

      He seemed a little surprised by my response. “Really?” He asked.

      I nodded. “Of course… why are you so surprised?”

      Kero hesitated but shook his head. He then got up and held his hand out.

      I took it and he pulled me up. We then walked to another wall, Kero put his hand on it and the crescent moon on his forehead started to glow again. The wall started to rise, just as the one at the bottom did. This time, I covered my face so that I wouldn’t choke because of dust.

      But then, I gasped.

      The room was not only huge but the whole wall was covered with beautiful, intricate carvings. I walked in. “Oh my gosh…”

      Kero walked to my side. “Isn’t it amazing?”

      “Who did these? Was it that artist?” I asked.

      Kero nodded his head. “There’s a whole story behind this.”

      “Tell me!”

      Kero took a deep breath. “Well, Raakshya Ravun was the first queen of Raakshya. She was said to be very powerful and frightening but also very kind. She was loved and she loved everyone.

      “The artist, Javet Dryll, was one of the many people who loved her. He gave her gifts, lots and lots of gifts and eventually, people realized that he didn’t just like her, but he was in love with her. People started to worry that he was going to get her love and that was a bad thing because he was a peasant.

      “So what they did was imprison him somewhere. They gave him large chunks of stone so that he could carve things, just for the sake of keeping him quiet. He spent most of his life carving and carving and carving inside a prison. Eventually, the queen found out and came to him, and he told her that he was madly in love with her. But he died soon after he admitted his feelings. She was horrified and thought that all of this was her fault. So, to avenge his death she, obviously, killed the people that imprisoned him and decided to build the tower for him.

      “It’s sort of a reminder. A reminder that if you try to screw with love, you will one day be punished. All these carvings are the ones that he made. They all tell stories of Raakshya, things he heard from other prisoners or from other things. They used them to make the wall of this room.” Kero turned around and started to walk towards a door. “The ashes of the first queen and the artist are inside here.” He opened the door.

      I gasped again. Inside were two large coffins resting side by side and every wall was painted with a different picture.

      “These were painted by the artist’s nephew, as a gift to his dead uncle.”

“Wow.” I said as I looked to the wall on my right, there was a woman. “Is that the queen?” I asked.

Kero nodded.

I looked at her. She looked beautiful. She wore strange, old fashioned clothing though. She had long black hair and her eyes were golden. She had a warm smile and dimples too. “You know, she looks a bit like aunty Seretha.”

Kero nodded. “We used to tell Seretha that all the time.”

I then turned around and saw that on the other side was a painting of a man. “Is that the artist?” I asked.

“Yes.”

He looked fairly good. He had red hair and a beard. His eyes were small and he also had a warm smile. His clothes weren’t as rich looking as the queens, but that was probably because he was a peasant.

“Wow.” I said, again.

Kero then took my hand and guided me out. He closed the door and then walked me to another one. “This isn’t what I wanted to show you though.” Kero smiled. “Are you ready?”

“I think I’m scared.”

He laughed. “Don’t be. There’s nothing to be frightened about. But promise me one thing… don’t tell anyone I showed you this.”

I smiled, starting to get excited. “I promise that I won’t tell anyone!”

He smiled and opened the door.

I gasped, again.

Inside this room were a bunch of statues which were in a circle and they looked so real that for a second, I thought they were actually people. I then recognized one of the statues. “Kyrian!” I said as I ran towards the built, but old looking man.

I looked at him. He had a straight and hard face, making him look fierce and scary. I carefully touched the axe in his right hand. It looked just as sharp as the original.

“You’ve seen him already. Why don’t you look at the others?” He smiled. 

I nodded and let him guide me the statue right next to Kyrian.

“Meet Floria, goddess of earth.”

I looked at the statue, the woman was beautiful. She had hair that was curly and carved so that it looked like it was being blown by wind. She had large eyes and a smile on her face. In her right hand were a bow and an arrow. In her left hand was a real leaf. The clothes she wore looked like they were large leaves which were sewn together. The clothes were so realistic that even the veins of the leaves were carved in.

“Next,” he took me to the next statue, “is Seerian.”

This one was a statue of a man. He looked much younger than Kyrian, and he looked very good. “Oh my gosh…” I said, when I noticed the ball of water in his left hand. “Is that actual water?” I asked as I reached up to touch it.

“Yes.” Kero said.

I felt the cool water wrap around my finger when I stuck it into the ball of water. “Wow.” I said.

“In the left hand of all these statues are the elements that they control. In the right are the weapons they use.”

I nodded and stared at Seerian. He was slightly built and the crooked smile on his face made him look mischievous. He seemed to be wearing a strange armour that had textures which made it look scaly. He had short hair and small eyes. In his right hand was a spear. The head of the spear was designed in a way that made it look almost like the fleur-de-lis on the Quebec flag. Of course, the tip was much sharper. “He’s your guardian, right?” I asked Kero.

Kero nodded.

Next was Rudia, goddess of fire. This goddess was a little different from the others, and that was because she had four hands. Her bottom left hand was on fire and her bottom right hand held sand. Her top left hand held a sword and her tope right hand held another one which was exactly the same as the other. “Why does she have four hands?” I asked.

“Well, because she represents fire and the desserts, and she carries two swords.” Kero said.

“Oh, okay.” She had long, straight hair that was tied back in a ponytail and small eyes. She had a look on her face that made her look tough. She wore harem pants and a top that only covered her chest, letting her belly show. I turned to Kero. “Would she be Chirpy’s guardian?” I asked, remembering that Chirpy could play with fire.

Kero nodded. “Yes.” He said. “And the fact that Chirpy can use the element of his guardian shows that there is a great connection between the two.”

“Wow.” I then walked to the next statue, well, two statues. These two statues were very close together and looked exactly the same, except on looked scarier than the other. The first one, Yamanan god of death, wore a long robe and had long hair. His face reminded me of Snape from Harry Potter. He looked mean, and bored even. His eyes were small, and he looked mad. In his left hand was a skull. “Ugh! Gross!” I said.

Kero laughed.      

“What’s that in his right hand?” I asked, pointing at the black smoke that floated over his left hand.

“It’s darkness.” Kero said. “You can touch it, if you want, but I doubt you’ll like the feeling it gives you.”

I touched it, and pulled my finger back right away, gasping at the sudden fear that filled me.

“I told you.” Kero grinned.

I frowned at him and looked at the next statue. Vinon, god of life, was exactly the same as the other one, except, he had a happy face. In his left hand, he held an ankh and white smoke floated over his right hand. I reached out and touched the white smoke. I then pulled away, surprised that nothing happened.

“It only affects the evil.” Kero said.

I felt happy that it didn’t do anything, it would have been embarrassing if it did. “What would it do to evil?”

“It weakens them.” Kero said.

“Oh.” I said.

The next and final statue was Sky, the god of the sky. In his left hand was something that looked like a cloud and in his right hand was a giant boomerang. He had a warm smile and large, round eyes. His had short spiky hair and wore harem pants and a long shirt, which was quite similar to what Kyrian wore.

I looked around. “Why are these statues here?” I asked.

“This is considered the tower of Raakshya, since it was built close to the exact center of all of Raakshya. Our people believe that the gods and goddesses come to meet here when there is an issue.”

I nodded my head. “You guys have a lot of beliefs, don’t you?” I asked.

Kero laughed. “Yes, we do.”

      I then walked to the center of the room which had a globe on a table. I spun the globe, which seemed to be made of glass. “Kero, you said that there’s a northern, southern, eastern, western and central Raakshya, but how does that work if the planets circular?” I asked. In my head, I tried to put the separate lands together so that they would for a circle, it didn’t work.

      Kero stopped the spinning globe. He pointed at the top of the globe, making a circle. “All of this land in Northern Raakshya, snowy and cold.” He then pointed at the bottom. “This is Southern Raakshya, warm and desert-like.”

      “Wait… shouldn’t the very bottom be snowy and cold too?” I asked.

      Kero shook his head. “Our planet is positioned in a way which is different from yours.” Kero said.

      “Oh…” I said. That made a lot of sense, since I loved geography. “Continue.”

      With his finger, Kero made a circle around the land in between Northern and Southern Raakshya. “This is Central Raakshya.” He said. He then pointed to the east of it. “Eastern Raakshya.” He pointed to the west of Central Raakshya. “This is Western Raakshya.” Kero then spun the globe around to show the back of it. There was a big chunk of land which was surrounded by water. “This is the outlands.”

      “The outlands?” I asked.

      Kero nodded. “It’s where the banished people go.”

      “Banished people as in the people who betray the goddess and stuff?” I asked.

      Kero nodded. “Yes, and the bad Raakshyans. It’s our version of a jail.”

      “Wow… that’s one big jail.” I said.

      Kero grinned. “I’m sure if you took all the jails in your world and put them together, it would be much bigger than this.”

      I frowned at him. “Okay, humans aren’t that bad.”

      “Sure.”

      I jabbed my elbow into his chest and he laughed.

      “Well, that makes a lot of sense.” I said.

      He nodded. “Any questions?”

      I grinned. “Nope.” I then thought for a moment. So, what now? Where are we going next?” I asked, I was actually having a great time.

      Kero smiled. “Next stop, the Raakshyan Graveyard.”

I was surprised by how late it had gotten. It was twilight when we arrived at the graveyard, which made it creepier than I thought it would be. Kero walked a little quickly so it was hard to keep up with him. “Kero!” I called.

      Kero stopped and turned around. “Yes?”

      “Slow down, please.” I said, rushing to his side.

      “Sorry.” Kero said as he started to walk again, this time slower.

      “Thank you.” I guess he was nervous, or maybe even scared.

      We eventually arrived at burial vault. I bit my lip. “Is that your family’s’ tomb? Is your mom buried there?” I asked.

      Kero shook his head. “My mother’s family abandoned her when she married my father, so they didn’t want her to be buried in their tomb.”

      “No way!”

      Kero nodded. “And since my father wasn’t there, they couldn’t bury her in his family tomb.”

      “Wait… your father came to the funeral, right?” I asked.

      Kero snorted. “No.”

      I felt my heart get heavy. “Oh…” I looked around. “So, where was she buried? Why are we here?” I asked.

       Kero turned his head and looked at another burial vault. “That’s my father’s family’s vault.” He said. He then walked towards the vault and stopped at the steps, he looked down.

      I followed his gaze and looked down and the black, pretty jar which was sitting on the step of his fathers’ family tomb. It took me a second to realize that it was a cremation urn. I put my hand over my mouth. “Is that…”

      Kero sighed and nodded. “It was in her will… she wanted to be cremated and wanted us to place the urn on the step of my father’s family tomb.”

      “Why?” I asked, shocked.

      Kero took a deep breath. “She wanted to wait for that damned man.” Kero said. “She wants to be buried next to him when he dies. I don’t think she knew that the man wouldn’t even show up to her funeral.”

      I felt my eyes tear up. “Your mom—”

      “Never gave up on him.” Kero said, cutting me off. “She never thought that it was true. She thought that he would come back.” He sat down next to the urn.

      I bent down and put my hand on his knee. “I’m so sorry…”

      Kero shook his head. “Don’t be. Apparently she was always stubborn.” He sighed. “We got into a fight a few days before she died.” He said. “It was because I told her that he wasn’t coming back. You know what she told me?”

      I shook my head.

      “She told me to never throw away the faith I had in him, she told me to never throw away the love I had for him. She said that he would come. She swore on him that if I do throw it all away, I would never forgive myself when he does come back.” He looked at the urn. “It’s too bad that I already threw it all away. I threw away all my hopes and all my dreams the second he walked out on our family. Everything. There was nothing left in me. I forgot what I wanted to do with my life, I didn’t even know if I wanted anything anymore. Actually, if it weren’t for Jasmine… I might have been some useless boy walking around with no goals and no reasons to live.”

      I thought of Jasmine, the girl the broke Kero’s heart. Huh. I thought. Maybe there was some use to her. I got up and sat next to Kero. “What was he like?”

      Kero looked at me. “My father?” He seemed surprised with the fact that I was asking.

      I nodded. “Do you remember Jaren?” I asked.

Kero looked confused. “Your ex-best friend…”

“Do you remember what happened between us?”

“He betrayed your trust by telling his girlfriend, who hated you, things about you. And then that big problem started between you and him…”

I nodded again. “Yeah… the reason I’m saying this is because after that, I was so broken because not only did I lose a best friend, but I lost my capability of trusting everyone else. And then, my brother came to me and told me to tell me all about him, good things and bad things. He said that it always helps to talk about it with someone.” I smiled at him. “And he also said to think of the positive things that came out of it… for example, if that problem didn’t happen, Jacob wouldn’t have had a reason to stick up for me and the fact that he stuck up for me is one of the biggest reasons towards why he’s my best friend today. And now I know how much my girls love me. Jaren’s girlfriend told me that all my friends hated me, if she hadn’t said that, my friends wouldn’t have had a reason to cuss her off and tell her that I’m one of the greatest people in their lives.”

Kero nodded. “Yes… I remember.”

“So, why don’t you tell me about him?”

Kero hesitated, but nodded. “He was… great.” Kero frowned. “He was an excellent father and at the time, an amazing person. You would have never thought that it would end up like this. He taught me everything I know. He was an amazing warrior and he was smart too… everyone loved him.”

“Well, if that’s how he was… why didn’t your mom’s parents like him?”

Kero hesitated. “After my father left, Master Odysson was the one who trained me. He explained a lot of things too me, and what he told me was that it is almost impossible to become the King of Warriors unless it runs in your blood.”

I looked at him, confused.

“My mothers’ father was the King of Warriors before my father.” Kero explained. “He was upset because all his kids were girls because traditionally, the name is supposed to pass down to the King of Warriors eldest son. Eventually, he realized that it was okay and he decided to train his eldest daughter, my aunt.

“My father was also a student of my grandfather at the time, and Master Odysson told me that it was his dream to become an excellent warrior. Soon, he fell in love with my mother with only that one dream and no intention of being the next King of Warriors. Apparently, it was after he fell in love with my mother that he found out he would have all the rights to become the next King of Warriors.”

“Why is that?” I asked, confused.

“Because, if you’re the student of the King of Warriors and you marry his daughter you are given the right to become the next King of Warriors. The title is traditionally passed down to you. You may not be bound to the family by blood, but you’re now bound to the family in other ways.”

“Oh! So you’re grandpa didn’t want your dad to become the next King of Warriors. He wanted your aunt to become the… Queen of Warriors?”

Kero nodded. “So he told my mom that she had a choice, leave him and be a part of their family, or marry him and leave. He told her that he would never want to see her face again.”

“Your mom chose to marry him.”

It wasn’t a question, but Kero answered it as if it were. “Yes. That’s right. But apparently, she didn’t really have much of a choice.”

“What did you mean?”

“She was already pregnant with me.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but then I closed it again.

Kero smirked. “I know what you’re going to ask and no. It’s not wrong to have sex before you’re married here.”

I nodded… “But… you said there are no such things as condoms here… so shouldn’t you half expect a kid?”

“There aren’t such things as condoms. And our bodies work differently.”

“How?” I asked. I then regretted asking. Kero and I were about to have the Raakshyan sex talk, weren’t we?

Kero sighed. “How do I put this…”

“You can start off with ‘when a man and woman like each other very, very much…’”

Kero chuckled and nudged me. “Well then fine. When a Raakshyan man and Raakshyan woman like each other very, very much, they may decide to do things that people like you shouldn’t know about.”

I laughed. “Okay, just get to the point.”

He smiled. “Well, with Raakshyans, people don’t have sex and if they’re lucky—or in some cases unlucky—get pregnant—”

“Hey, it’s not like that with humans either. Humans only get babies of the sperm merges with a fertilized egg.”

“But that only happens if the egg is fertile.”

“So with Raakshyans, the egg doesn’t need to be fertile?”

“Yes it does.”

“Wait… I’m confused…”

Kero laughed and put his hand over his slightly pink face. “A Raakshyan woman will only get pregnant if she and her man want a baby.”

“Oh… so if the man didn’t want a baby and the women wanted a baby, or vice versa, she wouldn’t get pregnant?”

Kero nodded.

“But if they both wanted a baby, she would get pregnant?”

Kero nodded again.

“I see…well that’s nice! At least you can be a hundred percent sure that your parents always wanted you!”

He smiled and looked away. “I guess that’s a good thing…”

“You think the fact that your mom was pregnant with you was a bad thing?” I asked, confused by his expression.

“I think that if my mom wasn’t pregnant with me than she might have stayed with her dad and she would still be alive.”

“But then you wouldn’t be alive.”

Kero didn’t say anything.

I sighed. “Well… have you met your aunts?”

Kero snorted. “They hate my guts. Especially the eldest one.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m his son. That’s how it is to everyone. I’m not ‘Keroshan’. I’m ‘the son of Aarvind’. I hate it, it picks at my nerves and I feel like breaking something.”

I put my hand on his shoulder. “How about you think about it this way. One, if it weren’t for what happened, you would have never found out about how Jasmine really felt about you.” I said.

Kero nodded.

“And worse… you might not have even met me!”

Kero grinned at that. “I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”

I punched his shoulder and he laughed.

He took my hand in his and got up, pulling me up with him. “It’s getting late, let’s go home.” He then pulled me into a hug. “And thanks…”

I smiled and wrapped my arms around his waist. “If you ever need anyone to talk to, you should know that you always have me.”

He nodded.

Before we left, I went down on my knees in front of the urn and prayed. ‘It was nice meeting you…’ I said to myself. I then looked at it and wished with all my heart that her soul, somehow, was resting in peace.