A rip in space opened on the shores of the uninhabited Namib desert. Zac and the Twins were the first to exit the portal, followed by Lunara and Sage. Trigger was the last one to step out with a smile on his face.

  “I’m getting better, right?!," Trigger said with a smile on his face. Zac rolled his eyes.

  “Sure kid, you’re doing great,” Zac said sarcastically.

  “You think it’s so easy, you do it yourself then.” Trigger mumbled under his breath as Keta chuckled,

  “Don’t worry, I will soon enough.”

  “Yeah, yeah you’re the greatest.” Trigger sarcastically waved off Zac's boasting, then turned his attention towards Lunara.

  “We’re here. What do we do now, wolfman?” Trigger asked.

  “As soon as we stepped foot on this shore they should have noticed my presence here. So we just need to wait for Kyle.” Lunara said with a respectful tone.

  “Kyle?” Roisin began to ask, but her words were cut off by the shaking of the ground. Keta and Myth's eyes focused forward as Sage and the Twins tried to gather themselves. In the distance, a massive figure exploded into the air, and the rumbling continued as a massive figure ejected from the sand. A catastrophically large serpent figure dived back into the sand as it clearly made its way towards the group.

  “What the hell is that?!” Zidane shouted.

  “That’s Kyle or one of his kids. Can’t really tell from here.” Lun said with a smirk.

  “That’s Kyle?” Trigger asked.

  “That’s… not Kyle, too small. I don’t know how to describe them to you. Humans have a lot of really dumb legends about us. ” Lun explained.

  “You sure it’s not a Sand Worm?” Zidane seemed a bit excited by the prospect.

  “Sandworms aren’t real, stupid.” Roisin chided,

  “You’re not real!”

  “Zizi that’s no worm…” Sage added.

  The rumbling settled down, and the head of the creature slowly merged from under the sand. The sunlight bounced off its tan and brown scales. Its sharp yellow serpent eyes revealed themselves to the group. Behind its eyes was the budding of sharp horns. The massive snake stared into Trigger’s eyes, and he stared back at the creature,

  “What are you?” Trigger asked, not really expecting an answer.

  To his surprise, the creature's voice projected itself into the minds of everyone present. The voice had a soft feel to it, a stark contrast to its hulking form.

  “I am Varethiellumorin, daughter of Kylerionastravos.”

  “Yeah, all their names are a mouth full. This is why we call her dad Kyle, and this is little Lumi. Although she’s not so little anymore.” Lun explained.

  “That's great, but he asked what you are… not who.” Zac chimed in as he stared at the creature that was large enough to swallow all of them there in a single gulp. Lun nodded apologetically and turned towards Lumi as he motioned for her to speak.

  “We are the Virezkul, a reptilian species. Human legends about Imoogi, Basilisk, and the like are based upon brief encounters with my ancestors and kin. Our origin starts somewhere in the Gobi Desert. Over the centuries, quite a few of us have migrated to these shores, though our presence once encompassed a great deal of what you humans called The Old World.” Lumi explained.

  At the sound of Basilisk, Sage and the Twin turned their heads away from the creature. Everyone knew of the legend that a Basilisk could petrify a target through eye contact alone. The creature’s body started to rumble, causing the immediate area to quake and the sound of laughter entered everyone’s mind.

  “I bear you no ill will, tiny creature. If I did, unfortunately, unlike your myths state, eye contact is not necessary for my kind to desiccate your bodies.” She began to laugh again.

  Sage and the Twins tentatively turned back towards Lumi, finding no relief in her words. Zac stared at the serpent. His purple eyes turned to slits, and Lumi felt an instinctual terror coursing through her. Her large eyes became visibly shaken as she quickly looked away.

  “What have you brought with you Uncle Lun?” Lumi’s shaken voice asked as her large eyes darted slightly in Keta’s direction before she focused back on Lun.

  “Show respect, little Lumi. The Gteju have returned,” Lun said.

  At Lun’s words, the sandy beach began to rumble. Lumi’s large body became fully visible. Her snake body was about 200 meters long. She wrapped her body around them, forming a protective barrier around them with her body. She then revealed two powerful arms. She cupped her clawed hands in front of her and bowed her head.

  “It would be an honor to guide you to the Firmatha Sanguar. ” Lumi said.

  “Just like that?” Zac asked as he looked at Lumi's outstretched cupped hand.

  “Elder Lun left nearly 2 centuries ago to avenge his mate and family; he put himself into a self-imposed exile, to punish himself for shirking his duties. He is loyal to a fault and would never betray or lie to us. If he says you are Gteju, then you are.” Lumi had no reference for what a Gteju was. She was only aware of the legends her father shared with her. However, she was sure of two things. What she felt from Zac and Trigger was unlike anything she had experienced before, and her “uncle” Lun would never lie to her.

  Zac scoffed a bit as he walked unto her cupped hands followed by Lun and the others. Once Lumi saw the group on her palms and then placed them on the top of her head. Her voice echoed in the group's mind once again,

  “Hold on tight.”

  “To what?!” Roisin shouted in protest as Lumi’s large body quickly turned. With a push of her arms, she exploded forward. Roisin was launched off her feet but was caught by Zac, who remained standing in his position. Trigger was much the same, neither of them seemed affected by the G forces or inertia caused by the creature's swift movements. Sage and Zidane, had nestled themselves comfortably between the grouping of horns on Lumi’s head near her eyes, following Lun’s lead.

  “Dumbass.” Zidane teased his sister as he watched her being held like a baby in Zac’s arms. Roisin was too engrossed in staring at Lumi’s scales to pay attention to what the others were doing. She flipped her brother off, as she made herself comfortable by wrapping her arms around Zac’s neck. As she did so she noticed that there was no wind pressure at all. She looked off to the side to see how fast they were moving.

  Lumi’s large body was swiftly speeding past mounds of sand, at speeds faster than any animal could ever hope to achieve. However, she felt nothing when being near Zac. She could understand Trigger, as he could control the wind pressure with his Program. Had he already started to get a handle on his abilities?

  “How far do we need to go?” Trigger asked.

  “At our current speed, we will arrive at the oasis in no time at all,” Lumi responded, as she slammed her arms against the ground and launched her large serpent body over a large mound of sand.

  “How have things been since I left?” Lun asked.

  “Nothing has changed. Even the seat you left empty 200 years ago remains waiting for you to return.” Lumi said with a tinge of annoyance in her voice.

  “Really?” Lun sighed.

  Lun left for revenge, but even if that hadn’t been the case he probably would have left anyway. It was one of the flaws of long-lived species. They had too much time on their hands, too much time to wait.

  “Stagnation will ultimately lead to our extinction.”

  “What could they be waiting for?” Lumi's voice echoed in their minds, and she swerved around another large hill of sand.

  “I can think of a couple reasons.” Lun looked over at Zac and Trigger.

  “But just sitting still for so long, watching the Chasers slowly conquer the world is… infuriating,” Lun growled to himself.

  “You seem quite comfortable saying such things in front of us,” Sage said to Lun with a curious expression on her face.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “HAHAHA!!! I’ve had some run-ins with The Twins, I know there are only 2 things in this world they care about. Unfortunately one now. You on the other hand. You strike me as someone more interested in knowledge than anything else, am I right?” Lun laughed.

  Sage nodded her head in confirmation.

  “Then there is no need to worry. While stagnant, we have amassed a staggering amount of knowledge that even you Chasers could never imagine.” Lunara smirked.

  “So as long as you keep my curiosity satiated, you feel I’m no threat?” Sage asked.

  “Yes. Also to be blunt. You humans still aren’t a threat to us, to begin with. I alone was enough to put Heka in a tizzy, and I was the weakest of the 7 seats, and plenty of their kin were more powerful than me.” Lun began to laugh.

  A shiver went down Sage’s spine. Lun didn’t seem like a pushover. Like he said, Heka chose to target his family to break him, rather than killing him directly, largely to avoid as much collateral as possible. There was something else that caught her attention,

  “Was, were? As in?” Sage inquired,

  “Unlike my compatriots, I was not content to rest on my laurels. So I’m quite interested to see where I stand now.”

  “If things go how they usually do, I’m positive that you will get your chance.” Trigger said as he looked ahead.

  “You are expecting a confrontation?” Lumi's voice echoed in their minds.

  “Lumi, you should know better than that. As much as we’d like to dismiss it, we are ultimately bound by our instincts, and…”

  “A hierarchy must be established.” Lumi cut off Lun.

  “Exactly,” Zac responded with a smile on his face. The others all looked at him. It seemed he was excited by the prospect, it became even more obvious as he continued,

  “Who are the 3 strongest of the seven seats?” Zac asked as he looked over his shoulder at Lun.

  “The strongest 3? Well The 1st seat Zyvaroth, he is a Weproti thousands of years old.”

  “A Weproti?” Sage asked,

  “Humans refer to their kind as Vampires,” Lun answered.

  Zac flinched at the mention of Vampires. He and Dr. Varma found the teams in a blood-splattered dungeon controlled by Vamps, and this was during a quest to find the Vampires responsible for Dr. Varma’s family death. Zac looked at The Twins but they didn’t seem to react at all, to the mention of Vampires. Zac sighed as Lun went on to name the other two,

  “The 2nd seat Vaerros, the Gorvath war Chief. Humans seem to call Gorvaths orcs, but they are more tied to your legends of Titans. Finally, there is the most powerful, the 3rd seat Nethyros; she is the matriarch of the Vaelthora race. You may be more familiar with the term Leviathan or mermaid.” Lun explained.

  “Wait, the 3rd seat is the most powerful? So your seat number has nothing to do with your strength?” Trigger’s question was met with laughter, from Lun.

  “HAHA, no. It had nothing to do with fighting strength or even their authority. It’s just the order in which we were added to the seat of elders, nothing more. It’s just coincidental that the first 3 are the strongest. Furthermore, in Vaelthora’s case, I’ve heard her mate is just as strong if not stronger than her.”

  “If he’s that strong why does he sit in the elder seat?” Trigger asked.

  “Elders require both strength and intelligence. They are responsible for representing their entire species.” Lumi’s voice echoed into their minds.

  “So there are only 7 species with you guys?” Zidane asked.

  “No, there are dozens of species, but most don’t have the military strength to represent themselves, so they have aligned with other species. For example, Skinwalkers and a few other shape-shifting species have put themselves under us, the Selunari.”

  The Selunari were what the Lycans called themselves. There was a low grumbling that came from Lumi’s body as she chimed in,

  “Ah, several months ago, a rather powerful Skinwalker arrived. They spoke of the ‘Great Mother’, and they gathered the other skinwalkers. There may be an 8th seat soon. “

  “Really?! That's great news! Good for them.” Lun seemed to be generally excited. A new seat would spice things up if nothing else. On the other hand, Sage and Trigger shared a look.

  There was no doubt in their mind who that Skinwalker was. If he joined the Firmatha Sanguar, it gave a clearer picture of just how powerful they were. Even now, if Team Watabe and Team Micheal fought that thing together, Sage wasn’t sure what the outcome would be.

  “We’re here!” Lumi’s voice echoed.

  Everyone looked ahead but saw nothing. There were just more endless mounds of sand as far as the eye could see. Just then two more dark brown Virezkul erupted from the sands, both of them larger than Lumi by a noticeable margin. Their upper bodies craned over the group as Lumi came to a stop before them.

  “Let us through, uncle Lun has returned and has come with distinguished guests!” Lumi's flowery voice called out to her kin.

  The two sets of yellow eyes looked at Lun; they both bowed their heads in respect; they then looked over the Sage and the Twins, with little interest. Their eyes then landed on Zac and Trigger. The ground shook as those towering figures recoiled in a moment of fear.

  “Are you going to let us in or what?” Zac asked.

  “Let us in where?” Zidane was the first one to ask.

  “There’s a massive pathway in front of us. You can’t see it?” Trigger asked as he looked over his shoulders at the others. When he looked back at them, The Twins and Sage stared at his slit pupils.

  “No, WE can’t,” Sage responded.

  “Nore should you be able to. The only ones who should be able to see, or those who have been here before. But I guess the rules don’t apply to Gteju… as expected. Open the gate.” Lun smiled and then motioned for the two massive serpents to open the gate.

  Even without Lun saying anything they would not have refused after hearing that these distinguished guests were Gteju. At Lun’s words, the two of them arched the part of their bodies that was above the sand and wrapped themselves around each other forming a massive archway.

  “What the hell?” Sage mumbled as Aquamarine colored markings began to appear on the bodies of the large creatures. Those markings were similar to runic but there were stark differences, and seemed more complex than the runic alphabet Sage was familiar with. The aquamarine glow flowed into the space formed by their massive bodies and a massive portal of the same color formed in front of them.

  “What the hell?!” Zidane shouted,

  “Is this some kind of monster magic?”Roisin shouted.

  Roisin could instantly understand any kind of technology and duplicate and improve upon it. However, she didn’t understand anything she just saw. The only thing she could think of was that it was some sort of magic or undocumented ability.

  “Monster Magic? Hehehe… I guess maybe I was too harsh on my comrades. It seems we still have plenty of time before you guys catch up to us.” Lun said as he shook his head, he then looked over in Zac and Trigger's direction, and saw the look of understanding in their eyes,

  “Soul…” Zac and Trigger both whispered under their breath in understanding. Lun nodded his head, and reverence.

  “They’ll grow infinitely stronger in moments, just from experiencing our world. This was the right decision. The Rulers have returned.” Lun smiled as Lumi headed through the large portal.

  “Welcome to Firmatha Sanguar.” Lun smiled as they came out of the other side of the portal.

  As they passed over the portal's threshold, all of their eyes widened at the sight before them. Sage audibly gasped at the sight before. She felt as if she had entered a completely different world. There was lush plant life all around, plant life that not only should not exist in this part of the world but plant life she had never even seen before.

  Roisin and Zidane weren't much better. Before them was a city. A city filled with technology they had never even contemplated. There were towering skyscrapers with advanced infrastructure, all built alongside a massive river that came from an unknown water source. The landscape was a harmonious blend of hyper-advanced architecture and serene natural elements.

  The Twins were blown away by the natural blend of tech and nature. Lumi did not spare them time to fully take in the sights as she dove into the massive river that ran through the middle of this city. As she swam through Trigger noticed all the supernatural creatures that seemed to be living in harmony here. They filled the sidewalks and the sky above them, there were even water creatures swimming alongside them.

  “What is this place?” Trigger blurted out.

  “Home.” Lun chuckled softly.

  “Ever ‘monster’ that just wants to… be. Eventually, they find their way here. It’s a single city, that’s the size of Sudan, filled with our kind.” Lun said as he smiled at Zac.

  “The size of Sudan? That doesn’t make sense. We’re in a part of the Nambia Desert, Sudan is then twice the size of Nambia as a whole.” Sage protested.

  “It makes perfect sense, you just need to fool around with the principles of space a little bit. Nothing a proper System can’t handle.” Lun explained.

  Sage and the others looked on confused as Zac responded,

  “System?”

  “Oh, you guys have a lot to learn. Fortunately for you, we have some time before we reach the Citadel.”

  “I’m guessing the Citadel is in the center?” Trigger asked.

  “Correct,” Lun responded.

  “Is that the only entrance?” Sage asked.

  Lun looked at her for a moment before turning his attention towards Zac. He let out a hesitant sigh before continuing.

  “No, we have multiple entrances and exits, located around the southern and eastern parts of Africa. There is a major one at the Cradle of Humanity, and several entries spread across Botswana where the Citadel is located. There are also few in Mozambique.”

  “So when you said it was the size of Sudan, you were serious. If the edges spread that far. How can this exist without…” Roisin asked as she looked at all the bustling frankly beautiful life that was around her.

  “Without anyone noticing? A spatial system, a rather elegant but simple one. Simply put, it's a parallel space.”

  “So this system made a massive pocket dimension?” Trigger asked?

  “Hehehe no! We’re not gods, unfortunately. We share the same space, we just don’t… occupy it, in the normal sense. It’s not perfect mind you, our presence leaks over from time to time, and well you know.”

  “Supernatural sightings, strange phenomena, etc.” Zac filled in the blanks.

  “Exactly. And sometimes humans go messing because they clip over to our side.” Lun responded.

  “What happened to those humans?” Trigger asked, a bit apprehensive.

  “Look for yourself.” Lun casually pointed to the side.

  While they were moving through the water at breakneck speeds, Trigger’s sharp eyes could still clearly pick out very obvious African humans mixed in with the cryptids.

  “Most have nowhere to return to or were running away from something to begin with. We have no reason to turn them away if they wish to stay. Some have less than favorable intentions, and well… you know.” Lun explained. Trigger nodded his head in understanding.

  “These systems you talked about, I’m guessing it has something to do with that light and strange markings we saw on those snakes before we came in here?” Zac asked.

  “Yes, that’s correct,” Lun smirked.

  “Interesting. Explain.” Zac smiled darkly.