The city of Arrata was located in the valley of a highland called Heaven’s Door. The legend goes that the city was named after a young man called Arrata who had averted a raid of savage, two-headed giants, the warriors of Erada. Erada was said to be the bloodthirsty ruler of the Black Mountains, to the north of Arrata. With the magic that he mastered, Arrata covered the city with fog. It was so dense and dark that the giants got lost and could not find their way back. Wandering for weeks and unable to break out of the deadly ring of thick fog, the two-headed giants devoured each other to satisfy their hunger and died beneath the walls of Arrata.

The citizens of Arrata were assured that their city was not only the most beautiful and magnificent place on the face of the earth, but that it was the place where the wisest people and the most skillful craftsman in the world dwelt. The proof of this was to be found in the hundreds of splendidly built temples and palaces rising up in the city and the abundance of straight and smooth streets and marble structures. Nevertheless, the temples never served as holy places of the gods. Arratians believed in Father God, who created the whole universe and all the living creatures and humans were his children.

They didn’t fear Father God, as children don’t fear their own father. For Arratians, God was the irrevocable and complete Love, who lived inside them. They believed that all living creatures came to earth with Father God in order to create new worlds. Then Father God gave all the creatures freedom of will, thus they became responsible for the new worlds created with their minds and actions. This was what Arratians believed in so they used to thank their God in the magnificent temples for what they had ever had, for what they had and what was yet to come.

The role of the temples was mostly ceremonial for the Arratians. They would go to the temples to remember their glorious ancestors, who had already abandoned their physical bodies and moved on to the world of spirits.

 But the true treasures of Arrata were the magicians, for whom it took nothing to navigate the clouds or to command a hard rain to fall in the middle of a sultry summer. There were even those among them who, with nothing but their will, moved boulders of enormous size; the most accomplished among them were able to hover like buzzards in the skies, or vanish into thin air before the eyes of hundreds of people.

The social structure of Arrata was equally exceptional. They were neither rich nor poor. All the inhabitants lived according to their needs and desires. Hungry? Go off to the market if you please, and take anything you need! Want entertainment? Not a problem. The city’s dozens of dancing grounds and taverns are at your service. And for all these, you need not pay a dime, but you must carry out some other service, like working on construction, or something else for the city’s benefit. This unwritten rule was in place for so long that the inhabitants were no longer able to imagine how it could ever be otherwise.        

For more than a thousand years the city has been governed by the Council of Immortals. Three members of the Council made all decisions and determined the fates of people. Nobody knew who the members of the Council were. The only thing that people did know was that this was the title given to them from the time immemorial. That was the presumption. It was only through the blind girl, Lima, that decisions and decrees of the Council of Immortals became known to people of Arrata. She was considered to be the messenger of the Council of Immortals. Even though at first glance Lima seemed to be not more than ten years old, the rumor which stubbornly circulated in the city had it that she was already six hundred years old. There were countless secrets surrounding the City of Arrata, and the people were not only used to that, but they chose not to uncover them at all. The people had everything that was necessary for a happy and safe living. This was Arrata, a dream-come-true for the Arratians.

Traders who would frequently travel to Arrata, loaded with goods, used to call it The City of Eternal Mysteries and Dreams.

It looked like nothing could affect the peaceful lifestyle and deep-rooted rules in the city, if it weren’t for the horrifying and unbearable suspense people would experience once every hundred years. Many of the citizens, who wouldn’t live to see the turn of the century, considered death a gift of fate since they were spared the duress of witnessing the dreadful events.

The expected horror was real and it would cause the destruction, incomparable to any other catastrophe, which a human mind couldn’t ever fully grasp. On the last Friday of each century, while most of the Arratians would sleep peacefully in their houses, Kasamos, the eternal horror and dread of Arrata, would enter the north gates of the city, silently and secretly like death itself. He would come to the central square of the city, where the Temple of the Immortals was, and would wait for the human sacrifice.

The Family of Berds lived in the eastern suburb of the city where mostly lived masters and builders of the city.

Their main occupation, as we can guess, was construction, although there were some skilled mages among the ancestors of Berds.

Koeb Berd was the youngest in the family. Even though he had not reached eighteen, he had already helped his father Moz to complete the construction of one of the many temples.

Koeb’s father wanted his son to attend the School of Mages, but after some classes he refused to continue education, reasoning that, of course, everything was interesting but not necessary.

Under the guidance of Koeb’s grandfather Nomos, a well-known master in the city, Moz suggested Koeb help him in constructing the temples. Koeb immediately accepted his suggestion, especially taking into consideration the fact that at the bakery, nearby a newly erected temple, worked Senna. She was the seventeen-year-old daughter of the Indridge family who lived across the street; Koeb was in love with her.

Koeb was tall, fair-haired and had too sensible an expression in the eyes, not typical of his age. He took after his father in his broad forehead and lush hair, while after his mother in an eagle-hooked nose and stretched neck. While his persistence was typical of every Berd. “A word becomes invaluable when it’s born from experience” used to repeat Koeb’s grandfather.

Koeb’s elder brother, Anex, was married and lived with his wife in the northern suburb of the city where mages resided. Anex’s wife, Saga, came from the Capper family, a family of mages famous in Aratta. Not only did that make Saga different from her coevals. Anex’s wife was the only one in Aratta who had an innate ability to clearly foresee future events. Although it happened only twice so far when Saga was entranced and in contact with the world of spirits. She then could precisely predict the time and place of rain lightning which had become calamitous for Aratta.

Saga’s father, Andok, could bring his daughter back from the world of the dead using his all magic.  After that, however, he forbade Saga not to reveal her future-predicting abilities and made her promise with her life.

Koeb was his grandfather’s most favourite grandchild. Nomos had already grown old and was no longer able to work for the city. He went on the so called well-deserved rest, though he was leading an active life. He loved to spend most of his time in the garden in front of the house talking with his favorite flowers. It was his wife who, before going to the world of spirits years ago, taught him the secret of understanding their language, the language of flowers. Nomos used to tell Koeb about all the amazing things he could learn from flowers, that each flower was individual and unique, with its extraordinary ability to think. Nomos was saying that a flower lived two parallel lives during its existence.  The first one was visible to us as a stem, head, and leaves and which was for admiring. The second one gave life to the flower, but couldn’t be seen – the roots dug into the dark, cold ground. Despite their differences, the roots and the stem functioned together. “I wonder where the roots of a person are hidden” Nomos liked to repeat frequently. “If we succeed in finding our own roots, we will understand the purpose of our existence”.

Koeb’s such affection to his grandfather could be explained also by the circumstance that he had been brought up without a mother.

She died when he was two. And the incident was caused by the rain lightning. Koeb’s mother and some other women didn’t manage to get home from work when the lightning flood came down from the dark clouds that suddenly appeared in the sky. As the witnesses claimed it was a terrible scene. The lightning turned the people into ash piles in the places they stood.

Kobe sometimes wanted to remember his mother. What kind of woman was she? What was he feeling when his mother was holding him to her warm bosom and singing a lullaby with her soft, tender voice.

It was astonishing how Koeb could still remember the words of the lullaby.

…Anyway, the dark will pass,

And again, will the morning rise,

And again, the light will warm our souls up,

And will we be together furthermore…

On that day Koeb came back from work late. It had been already two days that his father hadn’t gone to work, for he was taking care of the sick grandfather who’d suddenly fallen sick and was now bedridden. That’s why Koeb had been doing the job of two.

While on the way home Koeb recalled that he’d promised Senna he would accompany her to the mage competition in the center of the city, so he headed towards the Indridges’ house.

Koeb had been close with Senna since childhood, but during the last few months a deep and tender feeling had emerged between them.

Koeb wouldn’t miss a chance to be with Senna. Even during working hours he would find a reason and steal some time to run to Senna who worked together with her mother at a bakery.

Senna was not indifferent to Koeb either, yet because of her shyness/demureness she didn’t want to confess.

In those few months when they were meeting, only once she allowed Koeb a kiss on her cheek.

Senna was of average height, had a beautiful face, golden hair slipping down her shoulders freely. She was the only daughter of the Indridge family. Her three brothers got married a long time ago and lived in different districts of Aratta.

Senna’s mother, Mrs. Becca noticed Kobe’s intense attention towards her daughter and, frankly speaking, was content with the prospect of him as a future husband for her daughter. As they were neighbours with the Berds, she had known the family for many years and was well aware of their good name and nature.

Although Senna’s father, Mr. Jinks, was not against Kobe being with his daughter, he held conservative views. He didn’t want Senna to marry too young, as she hadn’t yet turned eighteen. As a matter of fact there were only some months left until the date, but Mr. Jinks still wanted traditions to be followed.

Approaching the Indridge house, Koeb softly knocked at the door with a fear that Mr. Jinks, who usually was asleep at that time of the day, would wake up. Soon, unfortunately, Mr. Jinks, whose sullen face was enough for Koeb to regret his indecisiveness, opened the door.

“Senna’s not home”, roughly answered Ginges, slapping the heavy door on Koeb’s face.

“Mr. Jinks…”, Koeb couldn’t even finish his sentence.

Koeb waited for a while, facing the shut door, hoping it will open. He decided to head home, and stepped towards the front steps, but the sound of a turning lock stopped him.

“Koeb, come close’’, whispered Mrs. Becca, poking her head out of the door.

“What happened, Mrs. Becca?”, Koeb was asking, “Why is Mister Jinks upset?”

“Don’t you understand, Koeb? Senna was waiting for you to go to the mage competition, but you were late and she started to cry. She thought you didn’t want your friends to see you together. And Mr. Jinks, saw Senna suffering, made her go alone,” Becca explained.

“Grandfather is ill, and my father isn’t going to work. So I’m the only one working. That’s why I was late. Please, forgive me, Mrs. Becca.”

“You can still reach her, my son. Go!” Mrs. Becca encouraged.

“Thank you, Mrs. Becca, I won’t ever forget your kindness.”

Koeb ran after Senna excitedly, hoping to reach her before she gets to the road leading to the city center.

Koeb ran through the crowded streets, delighted that Senna finally had the courage to speak her feelings to her parents.

He was even happy that Mr. Jinks was angry with him. It meant that he, in some small way, accepted Senna’s choice and was now trying to pull himself together.

“Koeb, I’m here”, Senna’s tender voice came from the dark corner of the street.

Koeb moved towards the voice and found Senna standing with eyes red of tears.

“Senna…”, Koeb saying apologetically, “Forgive me, please, I know that I am guilty.” Koeb came closer. “I love you, Senna…”

Senna, who was silent, was shocked by Koeb’s unexpected confession. Until now she was naively thinking that Koeb was treating her as a neighborhood girl. Certainly, she sometimes thought that there was something more than a simple connection between them, yet she didn’t dare to go beyond an innocent hope.

Koeb was guilty, too, as he hadn’t spoken about his true feelings until that time.

“Did you say you loved me?’’ Senna asked in astonishment.

“Yes, Senna, more than anyone in the world. There is not a moment when I don’t think of you. At nights, I stare at the windows of your room for hours hoping to see you… I love you, Senna…I love you in a way I have never loved anyone else.”

“Koeb”, said Senna with trembling voice holding his lover’s head tenderly.