Return to the Holy Land

The day of Iston's departure came to meet Ersas. Everyone in the castle prepared to see off Vhaeraun's emissaries, but at the same time they were concerned about Ray's state of health, who still showed no signs of awakening. Meraki refused to move away from his side.

Patrizia and Jia, Iston's mother, prepare something that will not harm the little boy who was in a very bad emotional state. Vladimir and Iston needed him both physically and mentally healthy. The boy's depression put them on alert as they noticed a dense, dangerous-looking fog forming around them. Ray still had a fever and at times he had spasms that scared the little boy more and more, who was afraid that his father would never wake up. So they chose to put sleeping pills in the tea so that he could rest.

- Damn! Just now he came to fall ill. How is the child, has he already woken up? -Vladimir was not in the mood since his benefactor was still in bed.

-Stop complaining Vlad, you said you would accompany Iston and the child to avoid any setback. You need to calm down and, prepare your mind for what you will see. According to the information I collected, Rashid is not an easy target and can detect mana, don't be funny or he will attack you to kill.- Tanji declares calm to make his partner see reason.

The Ursinis and Red Sugars were eating breakfast early in the morning to ease their day's work. They had regained their strength and youth thanks to the Elysium water that Meraki gave them, before this they swore loyalty to the group and will sign the contract, once Ray awakened.

Iston and Edrielle descended with Meraki in their arms. He was still sleepy and in no mood. No matter how many promises they made to care for his father, the boy was reluctant to believe them. Iston convinced the boy that he should follow the orders of his father and this calmed him down. Breakfast continued its normal rhythm until it was time to leave.

Meraki opened a portal and changed the shape of it to that of a marten to hide in Iston's purse. Vladimir accompanied them as a bodyguard.

**

In the ocean of Inova, a fleet of ships including 13 ships, 5 corvettes and 6 barges are heading east at full speed. They have been waiting for this for centuries. Although what they least expected was to be ordered to sail from the continent to new undiscovered lands before it was impossible to set sail due to the snowfall and the frozen sea. A new world, a new Holy Land to avoid continuing to mix with sinful monsters.

The winter cold was behind us four days ago but the ocean wind was blowing strongly. Rashid and his people are on deck looking out to the horizon, where the sun is setting and twilight heralds the end of the day. Suddenly the sky turns dark and the stars come out to greet them.

They can see about 800m ahead a halo of black smoke of approximately 10 km that seems to be swallowing the boats, when suddenly 2 humanoid figures walk out of it. These two men disappear and the next instant they appear on the deck of the ship. Rashid, incredulous of what his eyes see, approaches the men to question them. They remove the hoods that cover them, exposing their identities.

-Greetings Emir Rashid. I introduce myself, I am the emissary of the god Vhaeraun, I am Iston Lathiam Ursini III, the Holy Knight Master of the sword "Gemini" and this is my bodyguard.-

-Greetings Emir, my name is Vladimir "Ibis" Vorychenko, former leader of the Nest and current leader of Red Sugar. It is a pleasure to meet you-

Both men bow to offer their respects to who will be the next strongest ally they will gain. Not only Rashid but everyone on board the ship was stunned. It was something indescribable and unusual since they had confirmation that both men on deck had been dead for years. Doubt, bewilderment, confusion and astonishment had invaded the general thought.

-Emir, if it weren't too much trouble, they'd mind rushing to get there, the portal can't hold that long- Iston was serious, Meraki was tired and opening such a large portal would make him collapse at any moment.

Nodding without saying a word to the men, he prepared to order all the sailors on deck and the other ships to head for the portal. When the last ship crossed, the portal vanished.

The first thing they noticed was that it was another ocean, the ocean currents were far from the known ones as well as the seasonal birds that flew, it clearly corresponded to the other side of the hemisphere. Far off the shore where they landed was a large naval port and a huge shipyard ready to receive them.

They disembarked all their belongings and animals in silence, without emotion. They were waiting to enter the Holy Land since a celebration ahead of time would make them look desperate. Iston asked the prophets and apostles in charge of the temple to carry the package.

A man and a woman each approached to receive a box with the heart of their God and the other carried the water of Elysium. The entire tribe followed those in charge of the return ceremony. They climbed a hill with a staircase to a mountain with a hole for the entrance. They crossed the hole and the landscape of a sleeping, deserted, lifeless country was shown. Buildings whose façades were in ruins, dry canals where water was supposed to flow at some point and deep down where the city would end stood a mosque built to fit into the mountain.

The people in charge climbed the stairs to enter the mosque along with the emissaries, the emir, the sheik and the council of sages. The mosque was an immense quadrilateral 300 m wide by 390 long, with vaulted ceilings with skylights in places, more than 1700 coupled and Persian style columns, 35 doors finely decorated with floral, geometric and foliage colored details: white, green, red and blue that opened the way to the vast central courtyard. The pillars were an admirable architectural gem with ornamentation of spiders, lions, wolves and horses on the capital and base that support horseshoe arches. Wood, gold, ivory, adamantine, bronze and porcelain covered this richly decorated ensemble.

Arriving inside the resting place of their gods, both prophets approached the central altar where there was a skeleton sitting on a throne. The other guests waited behind the columns. The woman placed the heart inside the skeleton and the man turned the perfume box with the contents inside a kind of opening behind the throne and they walked away.

The earth began to shake and a wind began to blow in gusts that caused those who could not stand to fall to the ground. A column of red light rose through the ceiling and the water savagely manifested to cascade down and finish into the holes in the ground around the throne. An overlapping voice was heard and was present both inside the compound and outside the city. It was Vhaeraun who thanked him for having returned to the world, he sent blessings to all his people and to his prophets for being patient.