(Narrator: Ijan) There was once another Ijan al-Hala, my idol, but I would come back to him later. Balad-alqamar, the Qamariyyah region in the record. It was the birthplace of Qamaram (Islam), which is the second most widely practised religion in all of Migica. Home to one of the first civilisations in the world, contributing towards arithmetic with the discovery of algebra (al-Jabr meaning reunion of broken parts), astronomy, medicine, famous literary works like the Alf Laylah wa Laylah and optics (obviously for Qamari magic is mostly related to light) with Ijan al-Halla, the scientist with the same name as mine and my idol. He revolutionised optics. He studied reflection, refraction, lenses, mirrors, shadows, rainbows and developed complex Qamariyyah incantations based upon his research. These incantations are still of level one hundred.
Culture wise Balad-alqamar consisted only of the Qamariyyah culture with rich works of art, literature, fashion and cuisine. This culture had its influence from Mehtap to Agni-deshah. Now it is renowned for its futuristic cities like Layla (Dubai) and Qamar (Riyadh) where we are now advancing towards (Vibhuti: That was a nice intro; wait until we reach Agni-deshah (Tejasvi: Vibhuti, it is not a competition.) I know, but I have things in mind).
(Narration switches to Tejasvi) After our amazing time in Kamer, we headed through Mehtap. Vibhuti sat in front as usual, chatting with Ijan. At one point she asked him, “Hey, Ijan, do you listen to music? If yes what kind.” “Well, I do find pleasure in perceiving music, especially the tunes by the Backstreet Boys. Are you aware of them?” “Aware, I love their music.” “The BSB, I love that band,” Marin said, fangirling over them. Ugh, three Backstreet Boys fans in the car great. Then Vibhuti shuffled some songs by them, and the car just got wild. Marin and Vibhuti started singing the songs out loud, but they actually sounded good.
I had to endure this for seventeen hours with breaks, but still tiresome. At one point when one of their songs, Aquinol Eyes, came, Marin sang it with such emotion and when the part came with Aquinol Eyes, he looked right into my eyes, which are not Aquinol but Agniya. But still his words carried emotion. But in a day, we reached Balad-alqamar. We took a break at 'Iida'atan (Damascus). 'Iida'atan is one of the main historic sites in Qamariyyah culture. The environment got colder than in Kamer (Author's note: sorry for not getting the environment of the region right; I wanted the Qamariyyah region to be cold, but in the real world the region is hot, so sorry to make the environment inaccurate)
We stayed at another hotel over there. We stayed there for the night. The next day we exchanged our currency for malls, then bought more supplies and headed towards Qamar. After sixteen hours of 70’s music, breaks and are we there yets we reached Qamar (Riyadh) in a day. Qamar had a cold environment. It was a high-tech city with tall skyscrapers and organised roads and infrastructure.
We stayed at a resort, and like in Qamar Ijan, booked two duplex rooms, out of which we got the bigger one, yay. We rested for the night, and in the morning which was like four a.m., and we all were sleeping, we heard our doorbell ring. I got up and went upstairs to wake up Vibhuti, and let me tell you, she is not a morning person. She woke up half dead, and we opened the door to see Ijan and Marin holding some maps. Marin looked fresh as a daisy while Ijan looked sleep-deprived but focused, while Vibhuti was slumping over my shoulder. So, I shook her awake, and she said, “Where am I what time it is.” And when she saw it was four a.m. and the cause of her waking up so early was the two of them, then she started ranting about deserving proper sleep, which woke Evanthia up too. The both of them just entered, and as Ijan placed the maps on a table in our room, Marin said, “Guys, please forgive us for disturbing you so early; however, we must head out early, for today we are going on a long journey, so Ijan is now going to tell us about the next artefact, right, Ijan?” And now Ijan also dozed off and quickly woke up when shaken by Marin. “Affirmative” he said “The subsequent artefact we must acquire is the Qamar al-marayah. To acquire the Qamar al-marayah we have to advance to the Nuṣb al-Qamar monument, which is guarded by the Huraas-alqamar, an elite group of warriors and illusionists who guard all the Qamari magical artefacts. The Qamar-al-Maraya is a looking glass silvered with the foremost leaf of moon silver that was produced from the moon. The Qamar-al-Maraya was invented by a renowned inventor, Badr, who found a shingle that had peculiar reflective properties. He observed that the shingle, when liquefied or solidified into a sheet it revealed objects that appeared under an illusion or cover. He employed a portion of the shingle he discovered to silver the Qamar-al-Maraya to make it reveal the truth; another portion was ground and reacted with several varieties of substances to produce moon silver precipitate that when employed, shall produce illusions; and the remainder was employed to produce a shield that reflects any attacks, rebounding to the attacker. Thus, this looking glass was employed to solve misconducts compelling the accused to inscribe their defence, and the reflection discloses the truth. Soon, moon silver was quarried in excessive quantities, and more looking glasses and illusion powder were produced and manufactured, but the first mirror could expose even the most powerful illusions. It is studded with twenty-eight white-black diamonds on the edge of the mirror, representing all the faces of the moon.” “So, where to go to find it.” Vibhuti asked. “I do not possess the knowledge of the location of the Nuṣb al-Qamar; however, I am aware of an individual who may possess this knowledge. He resides two hours away in Ghasaq, my hometown.” He responded, saying the word home town in a gloomier tone. I wondered why, but I did not have the time.
After breakfast at the hotel, we had it at five in the morning, which consisted of some chocos-like things, just things you put in milk and eat and some freshly squeezed juices. We drove to Ghasaq. No music was played during the two-hour ride. As we reached Ghasaq by seven, we saw it was a moderately planned city. There were no skyways, so we had to land. There were multiple small roads, and Ijan pulled up at an especially rural but modest area. We parked at a pay-and-park lot. Then we passed by an alleyway and entered a small colony of people. The buildings were all dusty beige bricks with a terrace on top. The people were all friendly with each other. However, when we passed by one of the largest houses in the neighbourhood, Ijan hunched up and ran past the area. I asked a shopkeeper in a shop opposite the house that who lives in that house, pointing at it. The shopkeeper replied, “Oh, that house, it belongs to the Hala family. They are one of the richest houses over here.” I wonder why he his so afraid of that house. But who cares, so I caught up to the others. We were now in front of a dilapidated pawn shop with a home on top of it.
The interior of the shop was creepy and full of nasty potions. It was messy and had random things in random places. There was one desk, which acted as a counter; it was messy with maps hanging and scrolls on the edges and books piled up to one side. The shelves were cluttered with books, scrolls, potion bottles and some random artefacts and objects. Ijan walked through the shop, and his eyes lit up with enthusiasm, and Evanthia was confused as to how this robotic person, programmed to be neutral or depressed all the time, was now enthusiastic about an equally depressed shop. Then Shab, the owner, entered the room, and Ijan bent down to his level and gave him a big hug, which we didn’t think was possible. Shab was a short, kind man with a quirky personality. Ijan mentioned that he always supported Ijan, as he was alone most of his childhood and Shab was the only one who understood and cared for Ijan.
“Hey Ijan, haven’t seen you in a while”, said Shab. Ijan responded, “Greetings, Shab. We have arrived here for matters of great importance; we require the map to the Nuṣb al-Qamar monument” To this, Shab grimly replied, “I have every map in the world, but the map to the Nuṣb al-Qamar monument is the only one I do not possess.” To this, Ijan became really disappointed, like really disappointed. So, he asked, “Well, at the least, do you possess any knowledge of anything about the monument?” “Now that I know that. The monument is in the far Northern Region; just go northwards, and you’ll get there,” answered Shab. So, we thanked him, and he offered them some winter wear, compasses, mountaineering gear, matches and firewood to start a fire. We packed the stuff in a duffle bag, thanked Shab and left.
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We then took the car and headed out of Ghasaq. Then Ijan took off to the skyway and set the car to head north. We then drove for thirteen hours straight. We now reached the region of Barid which only a few people lived. We landed, and for the first time in my entire life I saw snow, so fluffy. Vibhuti, Evanthia, and Evanthia geared up while Ijan and Marin felt comfortable in their coat and hoodies, respectively. We then started heading north. The way was cold and frosty, and the ground was all white with no sign that there was any rock underneath- yay snow. As we got closer to the monument, creepy, terrifying illusions appeared, trying to scare the two. Evanthia, Marin and Vibhuti were creeped out by that illusion, while Ijan and I just did not care as we walked through the nightmare blizzard as if it was a safe garden ware one can casually walk by. It was getting colder and colder, and we three were shivering while Ijan and Marin were chilling. I, at one point, asked them, “Aren't you feeling cold?” Ijan looked at me and said, “no.” and before I could say anything Vibhuti gave him a big hug but instead of feeling warm his body was even colder than the surroundings and feeling sudden cold Vibhuti pushed Ijan and he fell into a lump of snow while she franticly and awkwardly pulled Ijan out of the snow and started apologizing profusely and he just looked at her and to avoid the awkwardness he said, “Let’s just procced in our voyage.” And he continued walking until we reached the Wahum ranges. We then wore the mounting gear, hooked each other, with me in the front, then Evanthia, then Vibhuti then Marin and in the last Ijan. We then walked in a line (which I only remember doing in my school days) along the narrow ledges.
The climb was steep and difficult, but a few meters up the slope gentled, and I did not need to relive my school days anymore. As we were now planning to relax, a monster of darkness suddenly crept behind us and tried to attack us but Ijan noticed pushed all of us to one side and dodged the attack by pushing her to a side. We were stunned, and as the monster charged towards us, we started to use our magic to attack the monster with the exception of Evanthia. I used my sward, Vibhuti flame torches, Ijan bullets, light blasts and Marin ice shards, but all our attacks seemed to passed through without affecting the monster, blast that monster. Evanthia, frustrated, said, “How is it possible that your attacks just pass through?” I then said, “You don’t need to be frustrated cuz you are not attacking it.” Hearing this, Evanthia said, “Well, could we just run away?” “No,” said Ijan, “we cannot for one surge of magic from it, and we are deceased, for dark magic is toxic for us.” He said this, his eyes transfixed on the beast. Marin, noticing his focus, asked, ‘Hey, Ijan, you look like you figured out something.” “Affirmative, I observe that the beast appears to vanish and re-emerge.” He replied. “Ijan, I think you’re on to something. What if it is not real?” Vibhuti assumed, while I stood their confused
But suddenly, as Evanthia fed-up said, “Ugh I just don’t care; let's just run away.” and she ran away from the monster but then she tripped and her leg got stuck between two rocks and she tried to release her leg but she couldn’t free herself, and the monster, in the worst moment sent a wave of darkness to attack her. Ijan in an impulse, came in front of Evanthia and blocked the attack but it just passed through them without hurting either of them. Now Ijan was sure that the monster was an illusion. So, he stood in front of the monster, took his staff and healed it in front of the monster as it came to spue another attack. Then Ijan used his staff and casted a spell by saying, “Tadmir-alwahm” to destroy the illusion of the monster, wow crazy, right?
(narration switches to Evanthia) I was stunned, I did not expect Ijan would sacrifice his life for me. Ugh, how mean I was to him. I know I was unreasonable. I know I feel like a dead weight to everyone. I am not helping the cuz I believe there is good in everything, but I know I need to learn that some things are just an obstacle in our mission and I must not support it. But before that I must apologise to everyone, but not right now, probably back at the hotel.
We continued to climb up. There were still many scary illusions. Some illusions were not that horrific, but some were very realistic, and some had sounds, and some would just appear out of nowhere to scare the all of us away. Ijan and Tejasvi did not care, as they were not scared; good for them, while the rest of us were terrified. I personally would jump at the sight of every illusion. But out of us all, Vibhuti was the most terrified; she was still twelve after all. She also looked terribly sick due to the height and the cold and the illusions popping up nowhere. Ijan noticed this too; I could see he did not understand why she was afraid. At one point, when a really scary and loud illusion came up, she couldn’t bare it anymore. Dropped down into the snow and curled up against the mountain and cried, “I can’t take it anymore, can we go back please.” Ijan knew he must do something, so he dropped down next to here, covered her eyes with his scarf and her ears with some ear muffs and then gave her some water which immediately drifted her into sleep. Then he picked her up and shouldered her. I felt a little jealous of Vibhuti as she could get that close to Ijan, but I knew that was wrong of me. So, then we continued, and we reached the top of the mountain and saw the Nuṣb al-Qamar monument.
The Nuṣb al-Qamar monument was beaming with the light of the moon. It was surrounded by the tall lavender young fold Wahum mountains with snowcaps. The monument was in a disk shape with a large symbol of the moon on top surrounded by twenty-eight. “It was constructed to enclose the entirety of the extremely powerful artefacts of Balad-alqamar; in addition, it plays the role of the centre of all Qamari magic. The monument contains a large Qamar sphere. Some of the Huraas-alqamar guarded this monument, as it contained very powerful artefacts, and a portion of these artefacts, when employed by the one with wrong intentions, have the potential to inflict ruin on the entirety of Migica. It also acted as the headquarters of the Huraas-alqamar.” Ijan informed as we headed down.
Know it would be midnight as we arrived at the base of the mountains. By that time, Vibhuti woke up. We rested for a while. I saw Vibhuti rest her head against Ijan’s shoulder, which made me feel more off. After a break we headed to the monument. We tried to get in but were denied entry. So, Ijan cast his famous invisibility spell, and we managed to get in. The corridors of the monument were tall with arcs. As we were passing by, we were suddenly stopped by a voice behind saying “well, well, well, looks like a moon illusionist, a nature potionist, a water mage and a fire mage and warrior have entered the Nuṣb al-Qamar monument, drop the illusion guys we all can see right through it”. All of us were stunned. So, I asked “but how, and why are you so chill about it and who are you?”. “All the members of the Huraas-alqamar can see through illusions and only ones of a pure soul can reach the Nuṣb al-Qamar monument and you proved to be one, my name is Alhila and by the way why are you here in the first place.” She asked. Vibhuti answered to her question “we are here for attaining peace in Migica, for that we need the Qamar al-marayah.” “Then you shall get what you ask for, but I must warn you: if it use for the wrong intentions, it could destroy the whole of Migica”, warned Alhila. Hearing Alhila’s warning, Ijan said, “We’ll risk it.” Then Alhila said, “nah, I am just messing with you; you are already worthy to follow me.” Then Alhila led us to the Qamar al-Marayah chamber. We entered the chamber, and in the centre was the Qamar al-Marayah. Ijan went up to the Qamar al-Marayah and hooked it up to his belt. “We are one step closer to peace in Migica”, he cheered.
Alhila, as she was leading us out asked us, “So, I know that you guys are in quest and you must put it first; however, I must ask you something: could you help me find the Dire-alqamar?” “What is the Dire-alqamar?” I asked. “The Dire-alqamar is the shield produced from the remainder of the moon silver shingle Bard employed to produce this looking glass and some illusion precipitate. This shield can reflect any object striking it, following the laws of reflection. However it has been misplaced. I believe you require our assistance, for I can employ the Qamar-al-Maraya, which can be employed to discover the location of the Dire-alqamar.” Ijan responded. “Yes, so would you help me find it,” Alhila asked. To which we all gave a big yes.