Ilke, present day

Ilke whistled away a familiar tone. A tone that he has whistled over a hundred times. And with the whistle always came the serpents. They marched in numbers to the tune and danced in front of him, as the drunk man whistled. And every night Ilke would wish to see a four headed serpent, and it never was to be seen. He was always reminded by his friend. His only true friend and his memory would never fade away. He was in search of a four headed viper, but that day would never come. And today was not to be , and Ilke looked up to his other friend and wondered if that day would ever come indeed. Ilke stopped to whistle, yet the vipers stayed. They always did , they circled around him for a while till Ilke slept on the bedrocks and they slwoly left. Even though Ilke would like to think he has been alone for a very long time, he actually was not "The serpents had always given him company ".

The Next Morning...

Ilke got up with a huge headache, and to the burning rays of the sun that hit him right in his eyes. He rubbed his eyes and rubbed his head and got up from the bedrock. " A long time to go till sunset " he uttered and walked away. This was a region that was away from the forests and bordering the deserted region of Korgin. It was also bordering the last district. And Ilke had been into the districts, as he diguised himself in the best way possible. His whole face was covered in scarf and nobody could actually identify him. He entered the markets in the outskirts of the districts to purchase some items to cook his meal. He expected to see a big crowd as usual, but to his surprise, he did not encounter a single person in the market that whole day. Ilke was surprised by the whole situation. He did not know that the districts had come to a standstill because of the recent events. He looked around the market and pickep up whatever he needed. Where are all these people ? he wondered ?. As he picked up the needed items , he forgot to wonder about the people. He did not realize the people of the districts were given accomodation in the Kingdom as well as the forests ." Arrangements were made for them in both the places and the people were equally split in to two" And as the forests and the districts were both in the control of Darticus, the people did not really bother much about where they were given accommodation at.

All this was unkwown to Ilke. He picked up the items and deiced to leave the districts, the same way he had entered , as usual. But as he stepped away from the markets, he saw the buildings in the district which were all deserted. And an idea struck upon him. " When there is so much shlter here, why to look elsewhere". So Ilke had decided that it was best for him to stay in the districts at least for the time being. And he knew that he would not end up being lonely. He had the moon for a friend and unknowingly serpents too as companions.

The Kingdom

Philippe, Darticus and Queen Angela were deeply engrossed in a conversation. So the plane to put posts across the edges of the mountains is final? asked Angela. Yes, replied Philippe. Provided we do not touch the mountains, added Darticus. We have the touch the mountains, otherwise the posts simply would not work, replied Angela. You know what I mean to convey, said Darticus. "Let us move on to the next topic agenda" he said to Angela. I thin we are done, said Philippe as he marked the last item in the list and closed the book. Excellent, said Darticus and signaled them to the dining hall. "Let us eat" he said to the both of them! Angela reluctantly got up and made her way to the hall. Philippe closely followed her behind. They were welcomed to a grand meal which was very well accustomed to the Queen. Since the days she was a small girl , the kingdom had never disappointed them with their hospitality. She was indeed happy that Marcus was not there, who she had always found to be very intimidating. Instead his son was present who she found to be of a more reasonable nature. She looked at Philippe and smiled at him, he smiled back and immediately dug into his meals. Angela sipped her wine and ate simply. Darticus drank his wine and ate the meat all at the same time. He had finished his serving and ordered for more. Angela looked at him , "What"? asked Darticus as he chomped down on his food. And to think you once said, Klick was a brute!, she muttered to herself. What? asked Darticus again. This time Angela was a lot louder. "Where is Hana" she asked him. She is with her father, they have some important work to finish, replied Darticus

It was a well known secret that Darticus was partial to the mountains, specifically to the Marakese. No, not because his wife was a Marakese, but the Marakan people jsut generally endeared him for some particular region. So, the Marakese and the mountains were loosely reigned by Darticus, while the other parts of the planet , he had a very firm grip on. This caused a bit of a worry to Angela, but she scrubbed it off. She hid her worries and never showed her concern at all to Darticus. "She will be back tomorrow, so you could get to meet her, replied Darticus with a smile". That will be wonderful, said Angela!