Ninna had never felt comfortable in the confines of the Fifth Eye, and now, when her belly had grown even bigger than she could have ever imagined, she did not feel like leaving her quarters despite the discomfort and the unrest building up inside of her. Two large eggs she cradled within her swollen tummy seemed to feast on her bones making her joints scream with pain.

Ninna commanded her maid Ninra to spray the weightlessness dust around the Apex of the Fifth Eye so she could float there suspended in midair. The electrified dust clung to her skin pulling on it firmly, lifting her burdened body gently above the floor. Sometimes, when Ninra gave her an unusually ill-measured fresh puff, Ninna felt her body lifting and turning as countless tiny invisible hands grabbed on and pulled on her every which way they wanted. In moments like this, she could float anywhere in her quarters. Next time I should float to the window, she thought. There was a trio of large round windows at the top of the smooth gently curving wall enclosing the Fifth Eye. Most of the time Ninna could not reach the windows as the tug of the electrified dust was wearing off before she could complete her ascent. Yet every time she tried.

When Ninra gave her a fresh dousing of the electrified motes, Ninna felt a particularly strong tug, bent her knees, and pushed the floor away. She was rising faster than before, with golden motes swirling around her, sparkling. Ninna did not feel the air rushing by as she ascended, the dust deflected it forming a semblance of a bubble around Ninna’s body. Perhaps Ninra genuinely miscalculated the quantity of dust she gave Ninna this time, or perhaps she did so on purpose as day after day she watched Ninna jump and ascend, reaching for the window sill high above, yet falling short every time. Jumping too high was ill-advised for the landing could be harder than expected, and the hard landing meant nothing good for Ninna or her eggs… Yet today she was floating higher and higher, and faster than before. Forgetting all caution, Ninna stretched her hands and grabbed the window sill she never could reach before. Wrapped in a sparkling cocoon of myriads of swarming motes, Ninna steadied herself and peered outside.

Outside, the One City was drowning in an orange glow as ever. Strangely beautiful and mysterious licks of the orange fog flowed between the towers, crashing into the bridges and separating into the entwining filaments that curved around the obstacles like snakes. The fog seemed alive and wickedly curious as it whirled and slithered looking for crevices to enter and explore.

Ninna felt a sudden urge to let the serpent fog into the Fifth Eye. She found a lever and pulled on it. Her weightlessness, however, deprived her of any leverage and she merely rose higher, her dark silhouette emerging starkly against the bright glow of the window. On her way up Ninna managed to catch the lever with her foot and wrapped her claws around it, she gave it a sharp kick. Reluctantly, the window tilted allowing the thick orange pudding to ease its way inside. The fog oozed slowly, like honey. Ninna stretched out her hand to scoop some, it was a mistake. The motes around her hand had sensed the presence of the fog and rushed towards it, trading hosts. The defecting motes thinned out Ninna’s protective cocoon of weightlessness, the fog absorbed them like a sponge.

The sudden return of gravity caught Ninna completely off guard. One instant she was floating next to the window, and the next she’d donned a heavy weight that pulled her down sharply. She screamed and grabbed onto the sill. She was hanging now, her claws digging in sharply into the grey stone, the gelatinous orange fog pouring over her. With no electric dust left around her, Ninna was holding on for dear life. Ninra shrieked, she looked terrified and frozen where she stood, not knowing what to do.

Before long, Ninna’s arms were growing tired and could not hold on any longer, forcing her to let go of the sill. Ninna closed her eyes and let the thick orange fog carry her down in its gelatinous flow. It was strangely beautiful and tranquil. Is this how my life ends? Ninna thought, feeling the air rushing by as she descended. The floor drew closer, and she could see the look of horror on Ninra’s face. The death, however, did not follow. The wall was curving gently towards the floor; the chamber of the Fifth Eye was egg-shaped. This curve had caught Ninna transforming her descent into a slide.

In one great whirl, carried by a turbulent tangle of the fog Ninna collided with her maid, and both went tumbling towards the opposite wall knocking the electrified dust dispenser off its stand. The golden motes spilled out in a happy flock, locking Ninna and Ninra in a lucid embrace. There were too many motes and the orange fog could not absorb them all. In no time Ninna and Ninra were cocooned and bouncing chaotically among the crests of the orange waves invading the Fifth Eye.

Instead of being terrified, Ninna laughed. For the first time in many cycles, she felt genuinely happy, floating weightlessly and watching the chamber of the Fifth Eye spin around her. It was a sweet chaos, devoid of nausea, and she hoped that it would never end. At one point she glimpsed a wildly thrashing Ninra bouncing by, the expression on her face was sheer panic, a frozen mask of terror hiding underneath the veil of the swarming golden motes. Before long Ninra passed out. Her body turned stiff as a stick and bounced awkwardly, making Ninna laugh.

Eventually, the fog sucked in all the golden motes and Ninna landed softly on the floor, Ninra flopped nearby. Miraculously, the second Ninra’s stiff body met the floor, her mouth twitched and her eyes widened as she came back from her stupor. Wasting no time, she jumped on her feet like a ninja and rushed to Ninna. “Are you alright, Your Hollowness?” she asked, voice trembling, as she tried to steady herself on her feet and wipe the remnants of the horror from her face.

Your Hollowness, the familiar words echoed through Ninna’s mind. Meant as an exaltation, these words eventually took a different meaning for Ninna. She had been hollow, yes, for she needed room within her for eggs to grow. The Ones hallowed the void as the mother of being. The void gives birth, the void creates, for nothing that is already full can accommodate anything new. That much she knew, yet somehow she feared that all she would ever be was just that, void.

Ninna quickly brushed away the unwelcome thought, by now she was sitting on the floor, her body shaking. Ninra knelt next to her, reached out with her hand, and only then realized that her master, the Hallowed Void and the Royal Consort to the One in Command was laughing. Bewildered and confused, Ninra could not think of anything better than to laugh with her master. Two nins sat laughing on the floor, hugging and kissing, laughing, with orange fog swirling around them and rising to the ceiling where it formed peculiar tufty clouds sparkled with occasional golden freckles of the electric dust.

The sound of the sudden commotion surprised the guards who broke the chamber’s doors down to enter the Fifth Eye. Ninna had always had Ninra lock the chamber when they were there alone. The remnants of the door were sparkling with the golden dust and floating chaotically midair with smaller parts taking up higher to the ceiling. One of the guards slipped on the condensation from the fog, which managed to form a small puddle of red mud on the floor, and nearly fell. The other guard had caught him by the neck and pulled him back towards the entrance to the chamber. Realizing that there was no immediate danger, the first guard had swung one of the floating pieces of the door towards the window’s lever. He did not miss. The piece hit the lever on its far end, moving it to close the window and cutting off the orange waterfall. As the last sheet of the ethereal jelly slid down to the floor, the guard announced: “Looks like this chamber is in need of cleaning, Your Hollowness. Shall I summon iggs?”

Ninna wanted to wave him away, but a sudden cramp in her belly cut her motion short. Instead, she groaned and clutched her hands around the massive bulge on her waist.

“Your Hollowness?” The guard’s voice was sounding concerned, yet he dared not approach closer.

The reply came from Ninra, who was holding the Royal Consort by her shoulders, hugging and rocking her gently: “Send for the Priestess, you fool! Go! Now!”

The guard disappeared in the corridor, leaving the other sentry by the smashed door.

“Ninra…” the voice of the Royal Consort was soft and weary. “The eggs… do you think they will be empty this time as well? They were always empty…” Ninna’s laughter changed to sobbing, “Why are they always empty? What am I going to tell An? I should have crashed and died!” There was no trace of jolliness left in her voice, only fear and grief. Perpetual boundless grief. What could be worse than delivering another disappointment to the One in Command? Being the only failure in his perfect world? The Hallow Void that does not birth, she thought. A threat to the Order of Things that her husband labored so hard to bring to perfection. Am I supposed to be his undoing? Ninna wondered, still clutching the bump on her belly. The bump was moving now, slowly and lower, towards the birth canal. There was no time…

“Ninra! Quickly! Help me to my feet.” Ninna commanded.

“Is this wise, my lady?” Ninra protested meekly.

“There is no time, Ninra, do as I tell you. Help me to the Apex.”

Ninra reluctantly pulled the Royal Consort onto her feet, put her arm around her shoulders and they both waddled to the Apex of the Fifth Eye. If the guard was watching, he would have seen a slimy rut of blood and placenta peeling from under Ninna’s tail. He faced the corridor, however, with his back to the Royal Consort, a firestone-tipped spear in his hand, determined to preserve the sanctity of the royal birth.

Back at the Apex, Ninna felt strangely calm. “I feel them coming, Ninra”, she said as she was clutching her maid’s hand. “Any moment now, argh!” She screamed, but not in pain – the One’s birth was painless – but rather in surprise. The egg was there, right at the cusp of the emergence, yet when it slid out the feeling of it was so sudden as the dropping of fine China on the floor, a scary surprise mixed with silky wetness of rupture, blood mixed with placenta, yet no pain. A confusing mix of feelings formed a cacophony in Ninna’s mind. Ninna had experienced the disconcert of birth many times, yet there was no getting used to it. As she felt the egg emerge from underneath her she had no time to look at it as she was hit with the second wave of urge, an anxiety mixed with pleasure. The second egg approached the birth canal. All Ninna could do was to shift her weight onto her feet and move her tail a foot or two to a side such that the second egg did not come on top of the first one already laid. And as she did she felt a swarm of sharp icicles pierce her spine and endorphins flooding her mind followed by the sensation of another fine crystal being awkwardly let down to the floor. The second egg emerged with a dull thud and settled next to the first one in the nest.

Only now Ninna realized that she was holding her robes by her hands up over her long slender legs, too high for necessity. Yet her legs were blue with her blood and most with her placenta. She was still drunk on rupture and dazed. She paid no mind to maids, a few had arrived with the Priestess, all too late, yet they were busy cleaning her: her legs, her feet, the eggs, and under her tail. Ninra was still holding her by the shoulders, whispering. “You can let go of your gown now, Your Hollowness. You are clean now. The eggs are here.” She waved the servant iggs away, who by now had finished mopping the streak Ninna left on the floor and crowded by the door, gawking at the two eggs in the nest.

“Will they hatch?” Ninna asked the Priestess, trying to hide despair in her voice.

“Of course they will, my Hallow Void” was the reply, the same reply she heard during all her previous layings. The priestess’ gaze was transfixed on the eggs. Clean, but still most from the birth they glistened softly in the dim orange light. The priestess was watching the eggs too, as if she tried to see through them and to discover what was hiding beneath the smooth white shells. The smaller egg was leaning, it wasn’t a good sign, although the larger one was perfectly straight.

Suddenly they all saw the larger egg move. Ninna gasped. She squeezed Ninra’s hand so hard, that her sharp claws tore through her maid’s skin with bright blue drops of blood growing underneath. Ninra’s gaze was glued firmly to the eggs, she did not notice the abuse done by her hand.

“Wait… is that… a CRACK?” Ninra pointed with her other hand toward the larger egg, “Look, there!” she kept pointing, “I see a crack! Look!”

Ninna was afraid to look. The Royal Consort had to summon all of her courage to lift her head up and focus on the larger egg. A tiny hair-like black lightning crisscrossed the smooth porcelain surface of the egg. The crack was growing wider, and then it stopped. All three of them – Ninna, Ninra, and the Priestess – leaned closer in unison, as by command, and saw it. There was a tiny glimmer of a pupil of an eye visible through the crevice.

“I must tell An…”, Ninna heard herself say. Still in disbelief she came closer, bent over, and peered into the crack. Something alive stirred lazily within. She reached out with her hand only to be stopped by the Priestess. “Don’t”, the Priestess said calmly, “Do not touch the egg. It is forbidden”. The Priestess gently pulled Ninna away.

They watched as the top of the shell lifted slightly and fell back again, then lifted one more time, and fell back again. It took the newborn several tries to rid itself of the chip on top of the shell and to reveal himself. A sudden gasp left Ninna’s lips leaving her awestruck. A newborn! By now she was so accustomed to laying barren eggs that the sight of the live birth startled her. All three of them were startled, even though both Ninra and the Priestess had seen plenty of live births before, but they did not expect it from Ninna…

Their adoration was interrupted by the commotion in the corridor caused by the arrival of An. It has been a long time since An left the confines of the Sixths Level to venture down to the Fifths or anywhere else for that matter. The guards were as surprised to see An as they were to see Ninna’s eggs hatch. Ninna was awestruck. Her heart was beating wildly as she loudly breathed out her excitement. “An!” she addressed him, perhaps too informally for the occasion, then she remembered and recomposed herself, straightened up, assumed a royal posture, and uttered solemnly, “The One in Command, may I present you with the heir!” She gestured towards the hatched egg, from which the wet glistening head of a youngling was protruding.

An had to lower his head as he forced himself awkwardly through the shattered door into the chamber of the Fifth Eye. I forgot how big he was! Thought Ninna, It has been too long since he came down to see me, she realized with sadness that it’s been nearly a full cycle. Past few cycles An was growing reclusive and aloof. He hardly left the Sixths level and Ninna could not recall the last time he summoned her up, if not for mating. Stupid order! Ninna bristled at the notion that being the Royal Consort did not give her the right to go up to the Sixths level to see her husband unless he summoned her. Why would An uphold something so galling? it made no sense to her. The last time she dared to ask, An stared at her blankly and explained as if talking to a child: “All Ones have their stations in life, Ninna, you know that as well as I do. Such is the Order of Things. What would it do to the Order, If the Ones were allowed to change their stations? It would be chaos, and chaos devours everything. If I were you, wandering freely between the levels would be the last thing I’d worry about. Give me an heir, Ninna. Give me an heir!”

She never could. And the shame of it was growing inside her, filling up the void that was meant for something else. This evil feeling grew like a mushroom, clinging on to the shell of her body and colonizing the space within. With every barren laying she felt less and less sure of herself. Lately she could not bear to look An into the eyes and always stared at her feet when he summoned her. She did not make as much of a sound when they mated and left quietly when they were done. How did it come to this?

But today was different. She felt proud and for the first time in many cycles she looked An into the eyes with courage and command of due respect.

“An, come closer, don’t be afraid! He won’t bite!” she laughed nervously. The calmness and courage were just a facade on her pretty face, the nervous laughter betrayed her true feelings, even if for a moment. He? She said ‘he’. How did she know? She did not. Ninna was so eager to please An, she told him what he wanted to hear all these cycles, that he had a son.

An took his time to move closer, and Ninna now came to regret her boast that she let slip so hastily. She swallowed a tear and put up a mask once more, approached An and took him by the hand. His hands were huge, his claws long stilettos, the most she could do was to wrap hers around his finger. There was a strange pleasure in the sensation of the touch of her soft skin against the hard scales of his hand, as if she never touched him before. The sensation was eerily similar to the one she felt when An touched her for the first time. Ninna felt an excitement she did not feel in… forever. The excitement of her youth was suddenly alive! The excitement she felt when she just met An. They both were young and foolish, and life seemed wonderful. So much has changed… Yet now, when they both stared at the newborn, the hope was making a comeback. She can bear him other children too. She knew it now that she could.

“Let’s celebrate!” she said, clutching An’s hand. Reluctantly An pulled his huge hand away from her and pointed at the second, smaller egg, which sat crookedly next to the larger one, which had already hatched. Amidst the excitement of the hatching, the second egg was all but forgotten. Now everyone could see that it was not balanced, it was leaning precariously against his larger brother, which was not a good sign.

The other egg! Ninna thought frantically, I have another egg! Why do I care? Why would he care when the first one is already hatched? She was determined not to allow the empty shell of the second egg to steal away her joy. How does An find a way to squash my happiness, when it is so rare? Does he always have to point at a defect? His precious Order commands it! She was beginning to boil on the inside with blue blush creeping up her cheeks. I am not going to allow him to ruin this moment for me, oh no, not now, when I waited for so long to be celebrated. It is my moment now. Mine! The Chaos take your Order! She almost said the last part aloud, when she noticed the smaller egg bounce and roll off to a side, forcing the larger egg to tip over, spilling the hapless youngling out of its crumbling shell.

Both An and Ninna were so awestruck, they forgot to breathe. Ninna could only hear An’s tail lash from side to side, the black shiny tip of it brushing against the wall. The Priestess’ mouth was opening and closing yet making no sound, the golden scroll she was holding under her arm sliding slowly to the floor.

By now the smaller egg had cracked as well. A tiny youngling climbed out briskly, circled the empty shell, and came nose to nose with his bigger brother, sniffing at him by darting his forked tongue.

“He is a curious one!” announced the Priestess. He! He, he he! Ninna felt soaring, the ceiling of the chamber gone. Joy and excitement bubbled through her every vesicle. She wanted to leap and fly out of the window and be one with the orange glow and the red swirling fog permeating it.

She clasped her tiny hand hard around An’s clawed finger, tugging on it as she announced: “Your Radiance, may I present you Lil and Ki, your sons”, she emphasized the word sons. The moment was hers now, there was no question about it. After so many barren layings, cycles of humiliation and exclusion she finally succeeded at what was expected of her from the beginning. She gave An not one but two heirs, both of them male. There was no denying it now, and the moment was hers to celebrate. She will be celebrated now, finally! Oh, yes.

An watched as two tiny lizards crawled away from their milky shells and curled up on the floor beneath the feet of their mother, their air pouches rising and falling rhythmically. They both had slanted eyes, smooth glistening skin, six toes with tiny black claws on each foot, and patches of blue scales on their neck (this is how Ninna knew they were males).

“Wait!” the Priestess interjected unexpectedly, “You’ve got a Light One!” she pointed her crooked finger with a cracked uneven claw to the smaller newborn, Ki.

The shock of her words hung heavy in the air, An and Ninna staring at Ki in disbelief. For so many cycles they tried, and now when their efforts were rewarded with not one but with the two sons, why did one of them have to be a Light One? The Light Ones were rare, very rare, and they were not considered heirs as their lives lay outside of the Order of Things. But no matter, there still was Lil, a Dark One, like the rest of ens and iggs. It does not matter if Ki is a Light One, or does it? An was perplexed and did not know what to do with the information he was given. Ninna was equally confused and fought hard to keep the mask of victory upon her flushed face. She was determined not to allow the news – any news – to take away from her triumph. There would have been more glory for her if she paraded two sons during the celebration of the Rite of Hatching, but one will do just fine. She cannot be blamed for birthing a Light One no more than the orange skies of the Homeworld can be blamed for raining occasional meteors, not when she had hatched a proper heir as well. A proper heir… this thought brought up a bubbling wave of disquiet through Ninna, the wave she had been pushing down for too long. There was no guarantee that Lil would indeed be An’s heir and succeed him as the One in Command. Yet she worked so hard to make it possible. The seemingly endless barren cycles had allowed her to broach her agenda on the Ens Most High, each one of them by now had more than one male offspring, some still at the Nursery, others at various stations through the One City. Surely they all wanted their children to succeed them rather than wither away at some thankless low station that was beneath their birth?

She spoke to their nins about it, surprised at how little they cared. The only childless nin among them, she seemed to care the most. Back she only dreamed of having sons, this seemed like eons ago. Now when her wish was granted, she was determined to see the rest of it through. It was almost time for An to hold High Council, and she was certain that the matter would come up as she was relentlessly massaging the idea into the nins’ pointy bony heads. Surely they talked to their ens, they could have not to… but they must have!

This was a matter for another heartbeat, now it was time to celebrate.

Ninna turned to An and spoke, carefully crafting her words: “This moment is ours to cherish. It is time to celebrate the hatching of your heir!” Despite her best effort at courtesy she sounded demanding, “The One in Command! Will you command a celebration of the Rite of Hatching?”

The unsubtle force hiding in her voice woke up An from the trance: “What? Yes, of course, I will command the celebration of the Rite of Hatching!” he proclaimed in a booming voice with all his iron authority, “But first we must deal with this”, he pointed at Ki.

Ki might have looked exactly like his big brother, but by now it was clear even to the guards that he was different, very different indeed. Lil was lying quietly, curled up by his mother’s feet, his pulsating air pouches were the only moving part about him as he was waiting patiently. Ki, on the other hand, was squirming, his long black tongue darting restlessly, his head turning in all directions as he tried to circle his mother and father on the floor, yet his long tail was caught up beneath his big brother, so Ki could move only as far as the length of his tail allowed, which was not much, his tiny feet scratching restlessly against the slate floor of the chamber.

“So restless…” Ninra remarked absent-mindedly, earning herself a glare from Ninna. Ninra lowered her eyes, “I beg your pardon, Your Hollowness, I meant to say…”

She interrupted her: “I need you to stay quiet, maid! My sons are perfect! Go, fetch us the Keeper!”

“And the Seer! Wherever he is.” added An, watching Ki as he was struggling to break free from the weight of his big brother’s body on his tail. Ki finally succeeded and waddled awkwardly towards his father’s feet. An recoiled, visibly disturbed. Was he afraid to step on it and crush the poor thing? The sight of it almost made Ninna smile, but she fought back the urge. Seeing mighty An unsure and seemingly afraid of a tiny youngling was amusing, to say the least.

Finally, An got a grip on himself and gave Ki a gentle shove towards his brother, who didn’t move all this time. “Here”, An said, “Go play with your brother, young one, you won’t be like to see him again anytime soon, or ever”. An knew that the Seer would take Ki to the Seventh Level, where he would be leaving with the other Light Ones. Who knows, might one day Ki would become a Seer himself? Then he might see his brother again but until then…. Until then he would never be seen among the ens as the Light Ones were not known to leave the vastness of their rocky abode above the city.

The Keeper arrived first. Judging by his look, it was not his first time at the Fifth Level for he seemed to navigate the corridors and the elevator knowingly as he approached the chamber of the Fifth Eye. He was an igg, all Keepers were. The Keeper’s work was beneath the rank of ens, and so he was there, standing in plain grey garb to cover his scales, a gilded cage in one hand and a basket of soft blue moss in another. He set his cargo on the floor, glanced at Lil and Ki and addressed Ninna: “I see there are two, Your Hollowness. I wasn’t told.” There was a tone of subtle insolence in his voice as he was searching for an excuse for not being prepared to take the two younglings. And then he found it, ”Which one am I taking?”

Ninna was visibly annoyed at Keeper’s impudence, yet managed to keep her face calm allowing a flare of anger to seethe in passing through her voice: “You are not here to collect my son, Keeper!” the way she uttered the last word meant to show the igg his place.

“You’ll have him after the Rite of Hatching,” An interjected, ignoring the obvious question in the Keeper’s voice, which one? The Nursery was not a home for the Light Ones, the Keeper had guessed correctly, but he could not tell which was which.

“Fine”, the Keeper was unperturbed, “Here is the cage to keep him in, and some moss for when he is hungry”, he pushed the cage and the basket with his foot towards the younglings. The movement caught the eye of Ki, and an ever restless youngling waddled towards the basket, bit on a strand of moss and pulled it over the edge, spilling its contents on the floor. If An had eyebrows, he would have raised them, but they way it went the Ones did not have eyebrows or eyelashes, or any hair of that sort.

The Keeper stared at the sight of Ki munching noisily on moss and continued ever unphased: “A hungry fella! I only brought moss enough for one. Should I come back and fetch some more? And a second cage, perhaps?”

“The Seer will see to him”, An waved the Keeper away, “Go now. You’ll have the Dark One after the rite”, An took a step and pointed to Lil, still curled up at his mother’s feet. Then he reached down and picked up Ki, bringing him up to his face. Blue moss dangled from the youngling’s mouth as it was making its way up through his tiny sharp teeth, “Who are you?” An looked intently in Ki’s tiny slanted eyes, as if trying to read his purpose.

The Keeper wanted to ask the same question but knew better, so he bowed lightly and left the room. As he was exiting through the shattered door he came up face to face with the Seer, an ancient Light One elder with a long and shiny silvery beard. The Keeper made way for the Seer to pass, glanced back over his shoulder at An, who was still holding Ki, studying him with queer curiosity, and continued through the corridor towards the elevator.

The Seer’s presence changed the atmosphere in the room, filling it with an invisible sense of the Devine. Was it his beard that made him so lofty? Or the aloof appearance of his unseeing eyes? The Seer was not blind, oh no, but the way he stared was strange. When he looked at you he seemed to look through you, and it was impossible to tell if he was really looking at you or probing your future with his mind’s eye.

The Seer glanced around the chamber. His eyes washed over Ninna, Ninra, and An before focusing on Ki, who by now had finished chewing on the moss in his mouth and was squirming to get away from An for a second helping. Unlike the Keeper, the Seer needed no telling which one was destined for his care. “I’ll take him, Your Radiance”, he addressed An as he approached, “Bid your farewells to Ki now,” he said addressing Ninna this time.

How did he know his name? Ninna wondered, taken aback by the Seer’s insight, surprised at how his commanding presence somehow managed to overpower An’s immensity. The Seer reached out for Ki and took him from An’s hands. At once Ki stopped squirming and stared at the Seer’s beard. Before long, his tiny claws were reaching for the silvery strands flowing down from the Seer’s face in a ghostly rolling waterfall.

The Seer tilted his head, moving his eyes closer to Ki’s yet placing his beard out of reach of the tiny sharp claws reaching for the strands: “I think I know who will succeed me”, the Seer uttered enigmatically without taking his eyes from Ki. Strangely, he was looking at him, as opposed to through him. Something has changed. Ninna felt relieved as she was trying to decide what to make of the words the Seer had said just now. Should she feel proud? The Seer was still a Light One and not an en, and therefore not a part of the Order of Things, yet An often had his council. A voluntary council, yes, but nonetheless a council. Before long Ninna made up her mind: she shall be proud of both Lil, the heir of the One in Command, and Ki, the future Seer, although none of this was certain. If she could be certain in her belief that was good enough for her. Her face relaxed and now took the most beautiful state since the strain had left the muscles of her neck and cheeks.

An seemed relieved as well. He turned to Ninra: “Put Lil in the cage and give him some moss. Don’t just stand there!” Ninra did as she was bid, and Lil obediently went into the cage, sniffing at a bunch of moss offered to him. “And summon Enra to meet me at the Apex of the Sixth Eye”, he added.

The last bit was unnecessary, however, since Enra was already standing behind An’s back beaming with excitement, his horned helmet shining brightly on his conical head, revealing five gently twisting golden horns. “You sent for me, Your Radiance?” he inquired politely.

He thought of putting on his ceremonial helmet, An noted satisfied. He was pleased that Enra was among the few ens he did not have to tell him what to do and how to act. Enra understood the Order of Things as well as he did, and An often thought that he would make a proper One in Command when it would be time for An to go. Which would be when exactly? That much was unknown, yet An was happy to see Enra on top of things. He knew he didn’t have to tell him what to do next, but the protocol required it.

“Prepare to the Rite of Hatching, The Second in Command!” An announced solemnly in a booming voice. We ride in one hundred heartbeats”.

“One hundred heartbeats?” Ninna interjected indignantly, “So soon?”

“It’s always been one hundred heartbeats, Your Hollowness”, An sounded annoyed although he was working hard to hide it, “The…”

“… Order of Things requires it”, she finished for him more prickly than she should have. Enra pretended not to notice. The Chaos take your Order! She thought bitterly, watching Enra preparing to utter another required yet meaningless courtesy before leaving.

“On my way, Your Radiance!” Enra bowed low, but not excessively, just the right amount his loyalty to and admiration of the One in Command required, and left.

“One hundred heartbeats!” Ninna glared at An when he left, “One hundred heartbeats? When I was waiting for this moment for countless cycles?”

“Ninety-six, actually”, An corrected her unphased, “Best waste not any more time or the celebration would be very short indeed”.

Speechless, Ninna turned away in dismay and stormed out of the room, her gown brushed at An’s feet as she passed.