The Crescent Hour ✓

Chapter 27. The Desert Crown

The ragars landed on a small sand hill. From her vantage point, Clara could make out the town nuzzled among a sprawl of sand dunes. Nazim was not protected by a concrete wall. It was ringed in tall poles positioned at regular intervals. In between the spaces was a glass shield that glistened like the surface of a lake. There were three gates, the outermost being the biggest and the other two, smaller in size. Each was carved in the shape of a ring.

Tamer guided the creatures towards a shed of trees. He ordered them to rest. Before they had left the forest, Clara had helped him hunt for rodents to feed the ragars. When she spotted the four figures standing watch in front of the gates, she swallowed.

More Homunculi guards.

She tightened her fingers over the straps of her backpack. It was dawn but the morning light was not strong enough to animate the world in colors. Everything appeared to be some shade of grey. But as they neared Nazim, the sky brightened and the stars and twin moons vanished.

“Do the Homunculi have free will?” she asked.

Tamer took out the sleeping Mecha from his pocket and poked it. “No. They never disobey orders. Homunculi are simple puppets to their masters. They feel no pain or joy, no love or hate.”

She’d seen Mikail, the guard in the gatehouse, smile at Tamer in Amarant. She remembered the knights standing in rows in the hall like lifeless sculptures, too silent and still, their cold black eyes following them. 

They could smile and frown and speak like living humans and if given the orders, she had no doubt, they could destroy and kill without pity or regret. The perfect soldiers, all soulless and emotionless.

Clara crossed her arms over her chest, feeling cold. Mecha chirruped a greeting at her. She responded with a half-hearted smile.

“You do not like the Homunculi,” Tamer said.

She nodded. “I find them unnerving.”

When they approached the circular gates, a Homunculi guard greeted them. Tamer explained their purpose of visit—that they were passing travelers in need of food and shelter. The sentry allowed them to pass.

 As they entered Nazim, Clara noted the sun riding high in the eastern sky, the clouds stained the color of gold. The street teemed with moving bodies. Men in long robes carried crates full of fresh bread. Women in embroidered veils sold the day’s produce behind wooden kiosks. Children in matching uniforms rushed to catch rolling carriages, and proud horses trotted along with small carts in tow.

“Nazim lies inside an oasis,” Tamer said. “Some call it The Desert Crown.”

A crown in the desert? She was reminded of the barrier surrounding the town of Nazim. The tall poles formed a circle and the ringed gates looked like a set of ornamental discs. It actually looked like a crown from a distance.

“Aha! I know why.” Clara raised a triumphant finger.

“Why is that?” His tone was playful.

She explained to him her findings.

He smiled.

She'd gotten it right. They strolled further into the boulevard. There were palm trees as tall as the buildings, bushy coconuts clustering beneath a crown of leaves. Clara paused to look up a giant statue in the shape of a man. It stood a good distance away, behind huddled houses and grand buildings with yellow domes.

The statue balanced a flat stone blade on its palms. Together with its hands, the blade served as a balcony bordered with banister rails. Lattice windows punctured its body. Green flags flowed down its neck, each decorated with a pink flower and three tear-shaped drops.