Chapter Two

The Amulet of Transition

Surviving a certain death is a miracle and a miracle is what this world is waiting for

Aden.

The Fifth Loop, Year 491, 1st January (5L/491/01/01)

Wow, that's how you'd imagined celebrating your adulthood.

I didn't plan for this.

Yeah, but someone screwed you. You'll be cutting your cake in hell.

Moses's echo was irritating him again. He ignored him and scanned the glum faces of the prisoners locked with him inside the wooden cage. None of them looked like serious criminals, yet they all were bound in heavy iron chains and were about to be thrown into the Eye of Tenebra.

Moses still couldn't come to terms with the fact that he was sentenced to the biggest punishment in Aden. Even the biggest of criminals got a fair trial and a chance to appeal the verdict if found guilty, but no such protocol was followed in his case.

A week ago, some officers of the regime picked him up from his house and charged him with the murder of a retired soldier. The judges then fast-tracked his closed-door trial and promptly sentenced him to Banishment. Furthermore, he was tried as an adult despite being a few days shy of his twentieth birthday. Every aspect of his banishment reeked of some deep conspiracy, but he couldn't understand why an all-powerful regime was hell-bent on destroying the life of a poor boy.

Moses's twentieth birthday was about to become the worst day of his life. However, he temporarily forgot his dismal situation to watch the Celebrations of Freedom from the confines of his cage.

During every Crossing, thousands of recruits departed to Elisium to replace the existing troops. Moses looked, with a hint of admiration, as company after company of soldiers came forward on the Deck of the Nineteen Martyrs. Then at the blast of a canon, they saluted the flag of Aden and jumped into the Eye of Tenebra in a perfectly choreographed manner. The giant whirlpool sucked them in the moment they hit the water.

Fifty companies of soldiers leaped into the dark world to guard Aden's entry point and protect Adeners from the invasion of its savage inhabitants. Hundreds of people braved the thunderstorms and flocked to the riverfront to cheer these brave men. The King, all the nobles, and every minister attended this ceremony.

In the last few decades, a cloud of resentment had marred these Celebrations. Soldiers returning from Tenebra had spread rumors about Aden's atrocities over the helpless people of that world. Many Adeners correlated these stories with their own plight. Sympathy for the oppressed began to take root in their hearts and minds. The cries to stop exploitation in that world grew louder. The thinning crowds at these celebrations were a warning sign but the regime chose to look away.

Once the celebrations were done, hundreds of large iron containers were dropped into the giant swirl. Finally, after the sunset, the wooden cage with Moses and eleven other convicts was lowered into the Eye of Tenebra.

Say goodbye to this world and your life.

We are not getting murdered, just being sent to Tenebra.

Tell me, how many banished have ever returned from that world?

Moses had one last glance at Aden and closed his eyes. He tightly clutched the amulet his mother had quietly put around his neck when the soldiers had come to abduct him. She had told him that this precious amulet was a family heirloom and it protected its bearer from every kind of evil.

Your family struggles to make ends meet and yet they own such an extravagant piece of jewelry.

Yes, I was also surprised when my mother gave it to me.

Yes, your family is weird. Bunch of psychos.

Moses held on to the amulet, not because he believed in its charms, but for the fact that it was the parting gift from his mother.

You will never see your mother again so stop your emotional melodrama.

Shut up.

Idiot, leave the locket and look for an escape or you will never see any other thing in your life.

The ropes holding the cage were cut loose. Everyone inside the cage twisted wildly when the whirlpool swallowed it. After a few seconds, the whirling stopped. Apparently, they had emerged into the other world.

Everyone held onto their breaths and waited for Aden's soldiers to cut the weights and pull them out of the water. But their wait never ended. There was no movement, only the stillness of death. Water filled their lungs and dread filled their hearts. The Banishment had turned into a Drowning.

Moses's mind went blank, his brain always froze during a crisis, and he saw angels of death dancing in front of his eyes. His soul was desperate to get out of his body. His limbs stopped responding to his commands.

Death by drowning? That's horrible.

Death is death. Drowning, burning, what's the difference?

Then do something to save yourself, you idiot.

The amulet twitched and then something bizarre happened. It shot jets of fire inside the water.

Flames in water? That's absurd.

My mind's playing tricks on me.

Yes, you're going nuts before death.

Moses noticed that his iron chains had broken. Or maybe melted. Or maybe he was just dreaming. All other prisoners were also free from the shackles.

However, that wasn't enough to buy them freedom. The cage was locked from the outside. Despairing prisoners frantically shook the gate, but it wouldn't budge. The locked gate had sealed their fate.

Kick the gate. This wasn't his echo, this was something else. Was the amulet talking to him?

Yeah, kick the gate. You've completely lost it.

But I didn't say that.

You've got someone else inside your head other than me? Did you cheat on me? How dare you?

Shut up and let me try.

What would a kick do? Are you Solomon the Conqueror who can make a castle's gate fly?

Moses ignored his echo and kicked the gate with all the strength left in him. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the gate break from its hinges and fall away. At last, they were free. The survivors rose to the surface and breathed the fresh air. They swam to the nearby shore. Some of them were coughing violently while others just collapsed to the ground.

Moses slowly got to his feet.

You're still alive. Seriously?

Yes, and the soldiers, the containers, everything's gone.

So no one was supposed to pull you out of the water.

He looked around him. The landscapes were pretty similar to his world. He had imagined Tenebra to be a barren deserted land, but he was standing on lush green grass. Moses was startled when a man, in his early forties, hugged him.

"What is your name, young man?" He asked.

"Moses Daniels."

The man pointed towards Aden which was hanging above them like a giant orb. "That was you in that world. Our families adopted these last names to hide our true identity but that doesn't help. Those tyrants always track us down. You must be Moses Solomon, just like I am Joseph Solomon — the true descendants of Solomon, the Conqueror."

Moses rolled his eyes. "I've heard many such stories but I don't believe in them."

Joseph shrugged and pointed to the locket dangling out of Moses's shirt. "You wear that amulet and yet don't believe in these stories. Do you know what that thing, that saved our lives, is?"

Moses shook his head.

"That is the Amulet of Transition, the most powerful artifact in the two worlds. That very amulet helped Solomon forge the empire of Aden. The Usurpers have been looking for this thing for more than a hundred years. Didn't the soldiers search you when you were arrested?"

"The guy who searched me didn't notice the amulet. I thought I was allowed to keep it."

Joseph stroked his chin. "The charms of the amulet might have blinded his sight. Now keep that amulet hidden till we know who is who. Someone here could be a real criminal."

Moses raised an eyebrow. "You mean to say all the banished aren't criminals?"

"How many people did you kill to get banished?"

"No one." Moses crinkled his nose.

"That is the answer to your question. Our only crime is being the descendants of Solomon. The regime keeps looking for people having roots in the Solomon family. The dangerous ones are banished and others spend their lives in prison. All these people could be our distant cousins."

Moses quietly tucked the amulet under his shirt.

"It looks like the Banishment was a death sentence for all of us," Joseph said to the survivors. "And our captors were so confident that no one even stayed behind to check whether we drowned or not."

"They had solid reasons for that confidence." Everyone jumped on hearing a deep throaty voice. A group of men emerged from behind the rocks. An elderly man was doing the talking. "No one has survived the Drowning in the last four decades. That cage is a sure-shot death trap and seeing you all alive makes me very curious. Surviving a certain death is a miracle and this world is waiting for miracles. Tell me how did you escape?"

Who are they? Soldiers of Aden or those savage rebels of Tenebra?

How would I know?

In either case, they are going to gun you down and throw your body in the river.

Stop being a pessimist.

Joseph held his ground. "Before we tell you anything why don't you tell us who are you?"

The leader of the group ignored Joseph's question as he was closely looking at one of the survivors. "Oh my God! Argus come here. We have your otherworld-twin from Inferna here."

A young man stepped forward and everyone gasped in unison. Moses looked at Argus, and then at one of the survivors.

God! Are they identical twins? Lost brothers?

Even twins have some differences here or there.

Yes, this is nature's artistry of another level.

The group leader gave a triumphant smile. "I always told you that people of Inferna are copies of us. Now see this for yourself."

"What the hell is Inferna?" Joseph interrupted him.

"Just like Elisium is Tenebra for you, Aden is Inferna for us. Inferna means hell, by the way."

Moses stepped forward. "Thanks for all the lovely information. Now, will you stop beating around the bush and tell us who are you? And where are we?"

The leader so far hadn't noticed Moses. The moment he did, his eyes lit up and his mouth fell open. Shock, surprise, excitement, disbelief, his face passed through a hundred emotions. "Solomon. Solomon the Conqueror. Solomon the Transitioner," he blurted and fell to his knees.