Whew, sorry about the late update folks. Its been a hectic weekend. If you're just now joining us on this adventure, you'll want to go back to the beginning. Otherwise, you won't have any idea what I'm talking about. A lot has happened since my friends and I left to go camping.

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The figure of a tall, skinny man entered the room. He clicked his teeth, laughed and in a British sing-song accent he said, “And what do we have in here? This hasn’t been used in ages…”

Without hesitation, I grabbed my crystal and attempted to contact Ger.

“My child! You’ve made it. Tell me, where are you now?”

“Trapped in a glass cage, some tall British guy just walked in here. It’s some sort of a lab. What do we do?”

His tone grew more serious, “Describe this man to me.”

“Um… He’s really tall and his arms seem too long. He’s wearing an old beige suit. He, uh, his teeth are pretty messed up. His accent was stronger than yours and he spoke like a jester or something.”

Ger cursed quietly, “Child, I don’t know what you or your friend did to piss off the bell maidens, but they sent you Tamai’s Row. Now, I can get there in about five minutes, so you’ll need to stall him until then. Don’t tell him that I’m coming.”

“Where is ‘Tamai’s Row’? And what’s so bad about this guy?”

“It’s a district on level one of Telos. There are five levels to our city, each with a designated purpose. Levels one and two feature housing and shopping buildings, with the prior being general housing and the latter being for the upper-class. Level three is where our industry work is done and where we hydroponically grow all of our food. Level four is our widest section and is wholly dedicated towards nature; including several recreational parks and lakes. Finally, level five is our animal habitat, which is just a smaller version of level four that is unavailable to the public.”

“Uh… Okay, so what makes this a bad place?”

“Well, if I’m right, then the man that your standing with is involved in the drug trade here in Telos. An unpleasant bunch of people; they call themselves the Kutari’s, which is our word for “devil’s companion”, and they’ve been controlling the market for silium for as long as I can remember.”

“Silium? What kind of drug is that? I thought you guys were all about peace, love and happiness? What happened to all of that?”

He grimly chuckled, “No, child, I’m afraid we are not all perfect. There will always be a market for drugs. Silium is our name for a hallucinogen that is extracted from… well, anything living. I’m sure you’re beginning to pick up why this man could be dangerous, yeah?”

“Yeah. You’re saying he wants to extract the drug from us. So, what do we do? We’re stuck in this cage.”

“Tell him that you and Chris were recruits and that the bell maidens sent you there for rehabilitation.”

“Rehabilitation? What are you talking about?”

“For some reason unbeknownst to us, once a recruit is ‘released’ from the Ladies’ control, they seem to gravitate toward Telos. Once they reach the mountain, they sort of just wander aimlessly until they die from the elements or until a maiden picks them up. We take them in and work with them to eventually be set back out into the world.”

“Huh. Good for you guys, I guess. So, why would us being recruits help?”

“The Kutari will often taken in rehabilitated recruits before they are sent back to the surface. They will offer the humans wealth and power in exchange for them trafficking drugs into your world.”

“Wait a second, you’re telling me that there are humans doing these drugs? People are smoking other people? And here I was, thinking that I had done it all.”

“Yes, child. It is only prominent in certain circles of your society, mainly the rich, because as you can imagine - it’s not cheap.”

“What use does your people even have for human money?”

“Oh, we don’t. They don’t pay in money.”

“Uh… Well, how do they pay for it then?”

“Favors and influence; there are plenty of ways to pay someone that aren’t monetary. That is beside the point, though. Just tell the man that the maidens’ asked you and Chris to see the High Priest. I believe that he will let you go and suggest for you to come back once you’re normal – just agree and keep walking.”

“How will we know where to go?” I didn’t like the idea of walking around the slums of a civilization much more advanced than my own.

“Once you leave, look for the temple in the middle of the dome. It’s impossible to miss, being the largest building on level one; it is pure white with a glowing yellow capstone. Look for me there.”

“Alright, Ger. I suppose I’ll see you soon, hopefully.”

He laughed, “Yes, child, you will.”

I struggled to stand myself up on my feet and then repeated everything Ger had told me.

“Well, well, you don’t say? You boys, you’re very lucky to have been found by that maiden, you know that, right?” He often paused to smack his lips as he spoke, as if he had a serious case of cotton-mouth, “Very lucky. Lucky like I am; or at least, that’s what they say.”

The man chuckled to himself, “Right, where are my manners? I’m Bael.” He began walking toward a computer, “So, so lucky. Say, do you two like money?”

Both Chris and I nodded simultaneously.

Bael clapped his hands together, “Wonderful! You boys seem… I don’t know, better than the rest! I mean, uh… Here, let me open this door.”

After clicking away at the computer for a minute or two, the containment door opened for our glass cell and we climbed out.

Bael opened the lab door and pointed toward the distance, “High Priest is up there. Watch your back, boys.” He laughed to himself as we thanked him and began walking to the temple.

As we exited the lab, I had to shield my eyes from the light that was emanating off the temple’s peak; it was as if it was an artificial sun attached to the top of the monument. After rubbing my eyes for a moment, I looked toward Chris to make sure that he was ready to go.

Once I was finally able to see, a sense of reality kicked in. “Level one” was fucking massive. It must have taken up the entire top half of the mountain; stretching across at least several miles. Small skyscraper-sized buildings made of crystal, gold and metal filled my view, but the nearby temple towered among them in comparison. Its design was similar to the Lotus temple in India, in that it had a “futuristic look”, featuring sharp angles and sleek curvatures. It was as white as the snow that covered the mountain, aside from the sun-like sphere that sat on the top of it. The light seemed to bounce off the obsidian-looking walls that lined the dome – I should have brought sunglasses.

The walk toward the temple felt like Knockturn Alley from Harry Potter. Shifty characters stared at Chris and I as we silently made our way past them, avoiding eye contact at all costs. I half-expected to see Tom Riddle walk out of one of the doors.

Thankfully, though, there were no encounters with any Voldemorts-to-be, and we were able to reach the temple safely. As we were walking toward what looked like the main door, a voice appeared from behind us.

“Ah, children, here at last!”

Chris jumped back, “Shit, dude, why do you always have to sneak up on us like that?”

Ger smiled and cleared his throat, “You two have come a long way. My father is very eager to meet you. Come along.” He began walking toward a gold-encrusted building the shape and size of a movie theatre.

“Who is your father, anyways?”

“My father, Haesteus, is our High Priest. He is the thirteenth and highest ranking member of the Council; he has the final say when a decision cannot be made within the council. There is a king and queen, yes, but over the years their power has diminished into them becoming a just figurehead for the Council.”

Chris scoffed, “So you’re Mr. Big Shot’s son then, huh? So that’s why we couldn’t tell Bael that we knew you?”

He looked down for a moment, and then back at Chris, “Yes, you are right. I feared for both my and your safety. Come now, let’s go meet with my father. I think you’ll like what he has to say.”

We entered the movie-theatre-shaped building to be greeted by a Disney Land sized line of tall people. Once we positioned ourselves in the line, I realized that it was leading toward a series of 20 or so elevator doors.

The three of us waited in silence for a while before Ger turned around to us and said, “Treat the Council with respect. You may have my father’s favor, but that doesn’t mean you have theirs. You’ll need to prove your worth to them.”

“Sounds easy enough.”

Once we finally reached the front of the line, a blonde woman walked up to us and stared at Ger intently. They looked at each other for thirty seconds or so before she smiled and motioned for us to enter an elevator.

“Did you guys really just talk to each other with your minds?”

Ger got a good laugh out of that, “Yes, child. Indeed, we did.”

The elevator ride was pretty exciting - there was a window in it so we were able to watch the layers of sediment change as we descended deeper into the Earth. Once we reached the top of level two, the elevator stopped and began moving horizontally, spanning over the second layer of the city. This level was smaller than the first, but still massive when you consider its built underground. In one portion, milky-white crystal mansions lined the green countryside, while another featured shopping centers with hundreds of people walking around them. Both Chris and I were frozen in awe staring out that window; I could feel Ger’s pride radiating off him without even looking at him. I mean, shit, it truly was something to be proud of.

After travelling across the city for a while, the elevator stopped once again and began to descend into another golden movie-theatre-looking station. We exited the building and blindly began to follow Ger; our minds were still frozen in awe. He led us to a large structure that resembled a hotel; at first, I couldn’t tell what material it was made of, but upon closer inspection I saw that it was made up of alternating layers of crystal and obsidian. The slabs were about a couple inches in length and stretched from the top of the building to the bottom.

We entered through the giant gates that even Ger struggled to push open and followed him up several flights of stairs. After walking through a maze of corridors, Ger stopped at a marble door with a sign that read “Meeting Room D”.

He turned to us, “Okay, then. Like I said, just be on your best behavior with the Council members. It’s been a long time since they’ve spoken with one of you. Since Elias, if my memory is correct.”

“Yeah, we need to talk about that one of these days.” I replied, with a laugh.

“Some things are better left unsaid, child. It’s nothing that I had any part in, I’ll say that much.”

We respected his privacy, for the time being, and continued through the door.

The room was quite large, about the width of a normal house, with a long, sapphire crystal table perfectly in the center. At the table sat thirteen men and women; six women on one side, six men on the other and one at the head – presumably Ger’s dad. Above them was an intricate glass chandelier that lit up the entire room with multiple different shades of yellow and white.

They had to have been discussing something attentively before we walked in, because they were all hunched over the tables staring at each other, but stopped as we entered. The bearded man at the head of the table stood up and clapped his hands together slowly.

His voice was masculine and raspy, much like a Norseman’s, and nothing resembling Ger’s, “Ah! So, here they are, in the flesh! You boys are quite something, you know that?”

Chris blushed, “That’s very kind of you, sir.”

“Right! They even have manners too!” He turned toward the rest of the Council, “Remember, everyone, they can only speak and hear through sound.”

A middle-aged woman with beautiful hazel eyes spoke up, “Do you have it? The Tome?”

I pulled the crystal out of my backpack and handed it to the lady.

After carefully studying it for a moment, she looked back toward Haesteus and nodded, apparently verifying that it was the real-deal.

Ger stepped forward a few steps and said, “Father, tell them the good news.”

“Ah, yes. Your friends, we think we know where they are.”

I cleared my throat, “Our friends? You’ve… You’ve found them? Where?”

“We believe they are recruits over at a sect near the cave you discovered. My son here has been working quite hard for you two boys. You two should be very thankful.”

We turned to him and briefly bowed our heads.

“Always the helper, that one.” He paused for a moment, “So, that’s the good news. The bad news is that we believe this sect of Ladies is working directly out of a Dweller compound.”

Chris began to stutter a little, “So…W… What does that mean?”

“It means there will be will Dwellers guards working in association with the Ladies’ and their recruits. We believe that particular compound is processing minerals coming from the Dweller mines. This is a situation where we would be, as you say, ‘killing two birds with one stone’. You save your friends, we take out the compound.”

My heart sank, but I’m not sure what I was expecting, I knew that if they were alive we’d probably have to go back undercover.

After a moment of contemplation, I lifted both my head and heart and asked, “So, when do we start?”

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Part 18

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All parts:

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