THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 303: 303. INTO THAZIR

”Open the gates!!” The kai announced.

Sagiri turned around to face the position of the gate. His squad did the same. There was a pause. Along one before the gate of Thazir began to open. When the massive structure started to roll upwards, that’s when Sagiri began to understand why the long pause was necessary.

The entire structure rolled slowly upward into the rocky mountain itself with a sound so heavy it shook the ground, and the canyon trembled. The gate was forged from layered black stone plates reinforced with veins of dull southern steel. Ancient markings marred the gate. Massive teeth hidden within the canyon walls pulled the weight upward while thick chains, each link larger than a man like Salka’s torso, shifted and groaned deep inside the stone.

This was the main gate. The smaller gate beside it could not by any means be used by a man of Sagiri’s status or a kai.

Dust poured from the moving sections and echoed through the canyon like distant thunder. Slowly, the darkness beneath the gate widened until the opening looked less like an entrance. Cold air rolled out from within. The gate continued rising higher and higher until the warriors standing beneath it looked insignificant, and finally, Thazir stood open.

”Now I get why everyone from the south is so guarded and secretive. Even this gate takes hours to open.” Kiuga mattered beside Sagiri low enough so Zifara could not hear it.

Just as the gate completely disappeared, everyone turned around to look at Sagiri again.

”Don’t look at the chief’s uncovered body!” The Kai of Thazir announced, and every soldier turned around immediately, whether those on the canyon walls, the stone wall, or on the ground. A covering was brought forth, a black cloak. Before the soldier who brought it could lay it on Sagiri, N’varu snatched it and laid it on Sagiri’s body, covering up to his head entirely before he tore the strings at the front, swallowing his lean body entirely. The cloak was a bit long and swept behind Sagiri.

So, as it was in the north, a chief dressing marked a chief’s honour, and covering his exposed skin proved to be an honourable thing to show respect. Sagiri needed the cloak even more than ever to hide how grave and solemn his face looked. He was grateful to Zifara for helping him with that, too.

After Sagiri was covered, Zifara remained standing for a moment longer before moving smoothly and stepping to the side of Sagiri. He lowered his head once and extended his arm toward the open entrance.

”After you, Chief.” No one moved. That was custom.

The higher rank entered first. Sagiri stood still for a second, then began walking. The dark cloak shifted slowly behind him in the cold air. His squad stepped aside to let him pass, and so he did. He took one step forward, not knowing how he was supposed to act after the unexpected welcome. He had planned to break in and light the city up until they gave him Koru, yet now he was walking through the front gate with the war general of the south walking behind him.

Another step, then another. Nobody moved until he reached the threshold. He stood still, perhaps waiting for them to change their mind and drop the massive gate on him. Nokai rested at his side as he crossed the threshold alone after a while. The open gate framed him until, for a moment, he looked smaller against the scale of the entrance and somehow more dangerous because of it.

This was it. It is not as if he wanted to be chief or the seat so much, but if acting like a chief could grant him a smooth way to go see his clan off and carry out the burial rites, then he would act like it. Sagiri was feeling somehow small and empty and defeated, and he was fighting the urge to look back at the people behind him who could not move until he had stepped past the threshold.

With that, he took one more final step and pushed off the threshold.

Then he disappeared into the city beyond. Only after he had entered did Zifara make a move. The General followed behind him, then the squad, because well by rank they served a man most powerful at the moment. Then the elite warriors followed. Then the soldiers above the canyon finally turned around, but made sure to keep their heads down. They will remain so until the gate is lowered again.

Sagiri finally stopped when she stood at the edge of the city. Thazir stretched before him, endlessly beneath the night. He could not even see its end. It was like Nvaru ha said. The capital was a whole country by itself. Built directly into the canyon walls, it descended and climbed in layers of stone, the buildings cut so seamlessly into the cliffs. Warm amber lights burned from thousands of windows, lanterns, and recessed fire basins, turning the black stone gold in places while leaving others swallowed by shadow.

Narrow bridges crossed overhead from wall to wall, and stairways climbed defiantly, showcasing the prowess of the hands that made them before disappearing into the mountains. Figures moved across elevated paths in the distance, their silhouettes small beneath the scale of the city.

Sagiri could not help but imagine growing up in such a city. Only one city came close to such artistry. Molakwa. The capital of the central plains city. But even it did not hold a candle to this city.

Sagiri inhaled sharply, feeling overwhelmed yet again.

Long banners drifted lazily between structures, and thin streams of smoke rose from night fires somewhere deeper inside. Perhaps families cooking dinner or just chatting around a fire. Just like he used to do with his step-parents. Further ahead, the city widened into massive stone halls and terraces supported by pillars so enormous they disappeared into darkness above. As far as his right eye could see, the deeper into the city, the more sculpted and beautiful the structures got.

A distance away from the wide road ahead. Far, far ahead, he could have missed it if he had not been using his right eye, stood an enormous structure taller than every other building, standing taller than the homes, higher than the towers, something enormous overlooked the city from the upper canyon, a structure cut into the mountain itself, its shape disappearing into the night while a few distant lights burned from within.

”That is one enormous structure,” Sagiri said.

”You can see it from here...” The general started to ask, but stopped.

”You will be able to see the supreme chief’s premises clearly when we get to the inner city. It is clearer from that distance.” The general spoke from beside Sagiri.

”I have grown to hate inner cities,” Sagiri said, but he did not make a move to start walking again, and everyone behind him stood still.

Sagiri stood quietly beneath the opened gate with burned robes and his dark cloak moving behind him, looking at a city that had lived without him for years and wondering, for the first time in a very long time, if this was what coming home was supposed to feel like.

”Lord Azir! You can’t run around like that. You are now the city lord.” Zifara suddenly could not take it anymore when the young man was three feet away, and it was clear he was gonna throw himself at the general and hug him or some dishonourable thing.

The city lord?

The city lord

The city lord of a prestigious capital such as Thazir was this kid? He was the one who had given the order to fire a cannonball at him.