Chapter 12: The City Named Devhara

  After arriving in India, we went directly to Goa. For the next few days, we stayed in Panjim, the capital city of Goa—one of the most beautiful places on planet Earth. After the children arrived, we decided to rest for another day before heading toward the entrance of the city.

  When we finally reached the entrance, we saw numerous people guarding the gates, all bearing the insignia of the SSA.

  The SSA followed a strict hierarchy, arranged as follows:

  Slaves

  Handyman

  Mercenaries ( Low Mid High )

  Soldiers

  Captains

  Commanders

  Elders

  Leaders

  It ended at the top with Leaders and began at the bottom with Babies. These were the official ranks, but beyond them existed two other categories—Specials and Slaves.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  In the fifteen years since our disappearance, the SSA had become a dominant force. Not that they were ever insignificant—but because of me and my people, they were once regarded as secondary at best.

  As we approached the gate, one of the guards stopped us and asked for our credentials. This visibly annoyed the children.

  Val immediately snapped,

  “Do you know who you’re asking for credentials??

  He is—”

  I stopped her before she could finish and told her not to make a scene.

  Frustrated, she pushed past me, attempting to step toward the guards. I calmly reminded her,

  “Do you remember the first rule of The Art of War?”

  From that point onward, we switched to speaking in Japanese.

  “Don’t treat me like a kid,” she shot back.

  I continued staring at her.

  “Never underestimate your enemy.”

  She glared.

  “What does that have to do with these clowns??”

  “Don’t be so impulsive, my dear. When the right time comes, everyone will know that I am back—and not just me. I have brought my entire family with me… and some new members as well.”

  D smiled.

  “Don’t you think that would be far more grandiose than a petty fight with random nobodies?”

  Reluctantly, she backed down, and we presented our credentials.

  One of the most important things about Devhara was that she was alive.

  What I mean by that is the city had been saturated with so much magic and power that it had developed consciousness. To enter the city, one needed an invitation from her.

  There were two ways to receive such an invitation.

  The first was having a special connection to the city or the dimension—usually by being a resident, or by you or your ancestors having helped build the city.

  The second way was being a supernatural entity.

  Occasionally, the city would even invite—or call—ordinary people with no apparent connection to her at all.

  As residents of the city, my family and I possessed an everlasting invitation.

  As we moved forward, another SSA member stopped us—the commanding officer stationed there. She apologized politely and said,

  “We are only following the rules set by our organization.”

  Then she stepped closer and whispered,

  “And frankly speaking, as much as I know about this place… even if we wanted to, we wouldn’t have been able to stop you.”

  Moved by how kind she still was, I whispered back,

  “Thank you, Jules.”

  She froze for a moment, memories flooding back to the day we first met.

  “Who was she?” Aleina asked.

  “Do you know her?”

  “Don’t you remember?” I replied. “That’s Jules. She was just a baby back then. Now look at her—she’s a Teenager in the SSA. It seems she rose to the occasion after we were gone.”

  “Ah!”

  “That kid… I couldn’t even recognize her after all this time.”

  And with that, we opened the gates to one of the most magnificent cities—places—dimensions—ever created in the history of all worlds.

  By the time Jules regained her composure, we had already entered the city.

  She smiled to herself, thinking—

  “Things are about to change.”