To the northwest of the Belenos district was the Gerda range; three sets of jagged mountains stretching from east to west, connected in the center by a three-thousand-meter-high ridge, after which the range was named. This mountain range borders not only Belenos, but also the small neighboring district of Viriato. 

Both districts are separated by the Harkan River, which originates at the top of the ridge and flows through the Gisli mountain range to the west through the Peder Pass, until it reaches the Lunar Lakes of the Flocelo district on the other side of the Gisli mountain range.

Each district is surrounded by towering, sturdy black granite walls, which are permanently guarded by skilled sentries who are part of the Civil Force's Security Corps.

However, the walls of Belenos, unlike the rest, are twice as thick and high, since to the northeast of the district lies the infamous Milbong rainforest, where no sane human would venture, except for those in search of a terrifying adventure.

There are several border posts throughout the kingdom, but only one of these has a special procedure.

The sentries of the Belenos wall who guard and protect the Darvaza Gate —the only entrance to the Milbong rainforest in the entire kingdom of Hathor—, do not stop anyone who is willing to cross it, and even the employees of the border post deal with less paperwork compared to others, but they still receive double the declared payment.

This was because all they had to do was collect the data of the people crossing the gate, verify they were not criminals on the run, and make them sign a document stating that the Civil Forces of Belenos would not be responsible for their lives from the moment they crossed the gate.

At the same time, the Darvaza Gate border post is also one of the most dangerous as it has direct contact with the rainforest, which is why few people agree to work there, even though the pay was high and the attacks were not frequent.

Inside the border post booth, the previously perfectly organized papers were scattered on the floor, now littered with dirt and debris. The stone roof of the booth, which had been repaired a few months ago, was once again destroyed, but this time it was not the beasts that had caused it, but rather the tremors that had struck the entire kingdom.

On the other side of the reception window that was still closed, in one corner of the room, lay a wooden table that had been broken in half after a large piece of the ceiling fell on it. A glowing light poured through the opening, exposing the dust particles floating in the air. 

A muffled groan echoed inside the seemingly empty booth, followed by the sound of something crawling across the floor. A young man with ash-brown hair appeared from under the table. The gray-green uniform he was wearing was dirty and disheveled, and even several areas were wet with dark blood stains.

Once he felt that the shaking had stopped, the boy decided to abandon his hiding place and leave the booth to assess the situation outside, and then get help to treat his injuries.

These were painful, but not serious, although if he did not stop the bleeding from his leg, his situation would become dangerous, since the improvised tourniquet he made from one of his sleeves would not serve for long.

If his precognition had not warned him what would happen several seconds before the tremor occurred, then his situation would have been a very unpleasant, if not fatal one.

After climbing out from under the table, the boy stood up using the wall as support and limped to the door, but just as he reached for the handle, it flew open.

“Emir!” Another boy wearing the same uniform appeared screaming on the other side of the wooden door.

His appearance was just as disastrous as Emir's, but luckily he had no serious injuries, except for a few scratches on his face. If one paid attention, one could notice they both had similar features; from the color of their hair to the freckles that dotted their cheeks.

“Yamile, thank goodness…” Emir sighed in relief to see his cousin in good condition.

Yamile's tense face relaxed a bit at seeing him in one piece as well, although his relief didn't last long. Yamile quickly approached and grabbed Emir's intact arm when she noticed his injuries, passing it behind his neck to balance his cousin's weight and help him walk.

Two people worked per shift at the border post, but Emir, as usual, had arrived a little earlier than his cousin, who had trouble getting up in the mornings. For the first time in his life Emir cursed his good habits because, if he had turned a few more times in his bed, he would not have been inside the booth when the tremors struck the district.

“I'll take you to the medical team, although they'll probably be busy,” said Yamile, who planned to use the first aid kit on Emir until a doctor could treat him.

“What happened? Was it a beast?” Emir asked in bewilderment. 

He reviewed his knowledge of the beasts capable of causing a tremor of such magnitude, but the ones that came to his mind did not fit the profile. The power of the strongest beasts not only affected a limited area, but they were so large that it was rare that they could reach the gate without being spotted by sentries on the ramparts.

“No, it's not that, it's…” Yamile's words hung in the air, not knowing how to explain the current situation. Soon he shook his head and continued walking.

Emir glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, confusion plaguing his thin face.

As they both left the destroyed booth, Emir's brown eyes widened in horror.

When the beasts attacked the Belenos district a few months ago, the sentries were able to perceive with their abilities the unsettling number of creatures approaching in the distance, so they had time to evacuate the civilians in the area and warn the Assault and Defense Corps, thus avoiding fatalities. Even so, dozens were wounded and several buildings near the walls were damaged, such as the border post in front of the Darvaza Gate. 

However, what Emir was witnessing at that moment was chaos and terror in its purest form.

There were hundreds of injured, if not dead, people everywhere, as well as completely destroyed stores, and houses on fire. Whether they were people from the security, surveillance, assault and defense, or rescue divisions; all available Civil Force personnel were helping to put out the flames and carrying the victims to the nearest hospitals, while healers dressed in their characteristic black uniforms went from one place to another treating the wounded.

Wails of pain and cries for help mixed together in a horrifying cacophony.

“W-What the…?” Emir could not believe the degree of destruction before his eyes.

“And that's not the only thing,” Yamile added, pointing upward with his chin.

When Emir looked up, panic and fear welled up inside him as he saw that the sky was covered with what looked like golden snakes crawling through the air, and that these originated from a huge pillar of light that rose in the distance, in the direction of the rainforest.

Emir turned his gaze to his cousin in search of answers, but it was obvious that he and the rest of the inhabitants were in the same situation. No one understood what was happening or what that pillar of light was or what the auroras in the sky meant. All this could be the announcement of the beginning of a calamity or perhaps something else entirely.

Yamile had planned to carry his cousin to the Medical Brigade headquarters, where he could find some bandages and medicines to help Emir until a healer checked on him, however, someone intercepted them halfway.

“Emir! Yamile!” A woman called them urgently.

Both boys turned their heads when they recognized the voice of Aniela, Emir's older sister. Before Yamile could utter a word about Emir's condition, Aniela had already grabbed her brother and skillfully laid him down on the ground.

The girl was a few years older than both of them, but the left sleeve of her black uniform had several red rings embroidered on it, indicating her high rank within the Civil Forces Medical Brigade.

After examining and determining the amount and severity of Emir's injuries, Aniela rolled up the right sleeve of her uniform, exposing a delicate bracelet. This was made of a coppery metal that resembled the roots of a plant climbing up her skin, and along it were inset tiny white jewels that glinted in the light when she moved her wrist.

Aniela then began to mutter a couple of words in the archaic Anatta language, and at the same time, the jewels on her bracelet began to radiate a vaporous light.

Not many were familiar with this language nowadays. This was because not everyone had the qualifications to learn it. No matter how wealthy or well connected someone was, only those whose abilities were recognized by the kingdom were sent to special academies where they could develop their powers to the limit. Even if you tried to learn it on your own, the language and its use was so complicated that most gave up at first.

When Aniela fell silent, a small white circle filled with striking patterns and symbols floated beneath her palm. She then brought it closer to the affected areas, and they slowly began to heal as the circle spun counterclockwise. Once the treatment was complete, the three of them exhaled heavily, partly relieved and partly exhausted.