"You look a bit troubled today" spoke a man sitting on the stairs leading to his own home "Did you find anything weird during your patrol?"
"I sure did! But not on patrol, I was picked to make the trip to the furthest town, but I didn't even dare get close to it, there is a huge, sprawling mass of green just near it now!"
"Huh? You mean someone planted a whole bunch of sollock there?"
"Sollock barely got any taller than my knees, those things were way taller than even the solar temple! Like those trees described in the old tales, I have no idea what the hell is happening over there, but it gave me a nasty feeling- Do you know where the Ersta'la is? He probably knows best what this might"
The man sitting down raised an eyebrow at the claims, clearly not believing a word of it at face value, but pointing with his thumb to the end of the path, toward the city's solar temple.
"Do you even need to ask? He barely ever leaves his duties in there"
Without another word, the man jogged toward the solar temple, this city was very similar to the town in architecture, the houses were built in the same manner, bush-tree grew everywhere, the only real difference being that the walls were taller and not nearly as eroded by wind-carried sands, and that the city was naturally larger.
What truly marked the difference between a town and city was the presence of a solar temple, the architecture itself was large, featuring a tall, circular tower in its center, bush-trees covered it in its near entirety, but the tower was like a well, open and allowing the radiant sunlight in.
The carvings upon the sandstone walls depicted Prime Undeviginti for the most part, only one was present that showed another, and it was a group representation of Prime Undeviginti looming over the other four and appearing larger, the message was clear, there was only one reason to represent the rest in the minds of the artists that had worked here.
A most annoying sights for the servants of Illusory Undeviginti that now resided here, there size of the city and the numbers of towns was too great for them to fill it all, so they felt grateful, no matter what the reason was for the former inhabitants to decide to move away, and it wasn't like anyone would feel comfortable removing the representations of Prime Undeviginti, it was considered the progenitor of all others, and moreover, it was the one ruling right at this instant.
"Ersta'la, I have come to bring you news from the town that is furthest"
"Ah, you are back, boy… So, have the orcs been dwelling there as I thought?"
"You don't think so? That is a bizarre way to tell me that you did not do your job properly" the Ersta'la took a few steps forward and frowned, garbed in simple robes fashioned from the remains of a now unidentifiable creature, he was a middle-aged man a beard that seemed to be growing in reverse as it was more present on his neck than face.
Like all other humans of the desert, his skin was dark, heavily battered by the sun and bearing the marks of burns, as it was customary to let the young children endure the rays of Prime Undeviginti until a burn was left, believing to be a sign of goodluck, as a sort of small blessing.
"Sir! I saw the town, but right before it, there was a mass of green… Trees and bushes, a luxurious forest like in the legends!" exclaimed the young man.
The Ersta'la struck the sandstone ground with the sheathed blade he held like a cane.
"Is that the truth, boy?"
"Did you see anything else?"
"Mmh… Hold on a minute… Did you see anyone else? As in, one of our fellows?"
"I did not see anyone, Ersta'la"
The older man stayed silent for a few moments, before speaking again, his expression hard to read, but definitely not a good one.
"How close did you go to this city, did you observe everything from a distance?" he asked, putting both hands upon his weapon.
"No, I had to get close as there was a tall dune in the way… If I had walked over to the city and come back directly after reaching the entrance, I wouldn't have arrived much later" the youth replied, not certain what the Ersta'la was trying to learn.
"That's bad… I sent people to each of the towns we did not settle in at all, all are much closer and they were gone before you, yet you are the first to come back? Moreover, since you have applied for the test to become an arm-bearer, I had sent someone ahead of you in case the orcs really were there… His name is slipping from my mind, but he definitely should be back by now too…" the man's expression darkened.
"C-Could it be the servants of Sanguine Undeviginti? Or… Of Cleansing Undeviginti?" the boy shivered.
"Who knows, we should wait a little longer in case they just all decided to be slow at once… But I have a feeling that things won't be that simple" the Ersta'la spoke in a grave tone, right as shouts and screams erupted in the distance.
"Stay here, boy" if it comes down to it, help the women and children hide in the underground, understood?"
The boy nodded fervently as the older man pushed open the doors of the solar temple, finding himself slightly over elevated at the top of the stairs, allowing him to get a look over the city, bush-trees blocked sight of much, but that was fine.
Arm-Bearers seemed to already be at the site of the incident, and judging by the fact that the screams weren't dying down and only growing louder, the threat was not so simple.
The sound of weapons clashing against other weapons soon resounded, and he had all the information that was needed, it wasn't the work of beasts.
'How could anyone know that we have settled here? It hasn't been so long for news to spread through the desert… the sanguine and cleansing might be mad, but they shouldn't have good enough numbers to mobilise in such a short period of time either…' he was about to rush ahead, but instead leapt away, nearly falling as he landed on the edge of a step further down.
At one point, he did not know when exactly, something appeared right behind him, and had he not reacted, his body would have been cut in two and his guts would have flown all over the stairs.
He drew his blade, curved and thin, decorated with depictions of his patron sun.
"Identify yourself! Who do you serve?"
But his only answer was for twin scimitars to slash down at him.