While the hallway had created a measure of chaos, the typical pairings had once again naturally formed amongst the Malakh as they began filing out of the quarters. I sidestepped just prior to the door, waiting for App to pass. As he approached we made eye contact and I made a subtle sideways jerking motion with my head indicating I desired App to step aside as well. His eyes never left mine as he stepped to the side, and before I could say a word he stated, “I wasn’t going to actually open the door, stop looking at me like that.” I silently observed his facial features, and while I did not detect any deception in his features or tone, I couldn’t help but feel that wasn’t the complete truth. I responded, “I’m not saying you were or you were not, but I do believe it is fair to ask. While we don’t yet understand the full purpose of the Twelve, I do know you and I have been told we are expected to lead, and more importantly I know Speaker and his son have placed a higher measure of trust in the two of us than all others. Our actions are already closely watched by the others, and we shouldn’t take that lightly.” A flash of irritation, swift as lightning, appeared across his face, only to vanish even quicker. If I hadn’t been intently watching I would have missed it. App smiled and responded, “You’re right brother, I’m sorry. Thank you for caring enough to challenge me in this.” He then led the way to the door and without further conversation we headed out the door.

  The Malakh had once again fallen in line behind the son, who was standing at the entrance to the path continuing along the previously traveled path, guided by the great River Zoe and all of her intricacies. The son was facing forward, his chin raised slightly in the air, as he breathed deeply, allowing the beauty around him and the sound of the river to captivate his mind. He was ready to begin the journey, though the other ten Malakh held fast, facing our quarters, clearly waiting on us, and more noticeably ensuring a gap had been left between the son and the rest of the Malakh. App may have felt confident in the role of leading, the role of being respected by others, and it wasn’t until later conversations he would actually allude to this, but I never felt at home in this space. Without hesitation, App stepped out of the threshold, walked past the others and took his place behind the son while I slowly followed, the sensation of ten sets of eyes following my steps, waiting to be led.

  We silently took our place behind the son, without turning to see if all of the Twelve including App and myself were ready, the son began walking, still appearing distracted by the sight of beauty and sound of tranquility. He is truly an interesting being, the son that is, and this moment highlighted it. While he undoubtedly knew what App had been considering back in the quarters, knew we had a private conversation, knew the rest of the Malakh had awaited our return, and had left us a place in the front, he seemed more interested, or perhaps more appreciative of the beauty around him.

  The journey this time, while still accompanied by the crystal clear waters of the River Zoe, and the Dynami standing post, was significantly shorter. The path danced a beautiful routine with the river, creating a tranquil atmosphere dominated by the sounds of rushing water, birds chirping, and the nearly inaudible sounds of feet making their way down a dirt path. After several more bends the dirt path took a departing bow making way for a finely built path of what appeared to be machine-cut stone blocks, perfectly cut to match their adjoining partner. The edges of the path were immaculately adorned with bushes full of all types of brightly colored fruit, to which the son would occasionally bend over, pluck a cluster and snack on them while the procession continued. Seeing the son do it first, the rest of the Malakh followed in kind. The fruits were vibrant blues and pinks, reds and yellows, oranges and greens, all similar in size to your grapes or perhaps black berries.

  The path took one more bend to the right before we all came to a slow, eye-crossing, mind-bending halt. Just in front of the son were three ornately cut stone steps, and at the top of the steps a new type of material began, still arranged in perfectly cut blocks. The material looked similar to your gold, though more translucent. We would later learn it actually was partially gold combined with other Doxa materials. While the blocks making the path were solid material, there was a certain life about them. One could almost feel a life force or energy permeating from them into the air around. The River Zoe and the now vibrant path continued, bending to the left. We followed the path and noticed what appeared to be the edge of a tree line up ahead, the Dynami suddenly coming to a halt. The River Zoe poured into a vast body of crystal-clear water, with a slightly blue tint, the path turned to the right continuing along the shore of the great body of water. The body of water wore a belt of unnaturally white sand extending around its perimeter in both directions. On our left, an ornate bridge of perfectly cut white limestone blocks with the same golden blocks inlaid into the path allowed the traveler to pass over the River Zoe and continue along the shores to the left. The son indicated with his hand we would be following the path to the right.

  As we just began following the curve to the right, placing the white sand beach on our left and the resolute Dynami tree line on our right, a gasp came from behind us. Tabi spoke up shouting, “Look!” We all followed the direction of his outstretched arm pointing ahead. The path we were traveling on continued to travel around the vast body of water but up ahead stood what appeared to be a bridge, though it looked to be so wide the word bridge simply did not suffice. In the very middle of the bridge stood what would appear to you as a lighthouse. The bridge forked at the base of the lighthouse, continuing around each side of the lighthouse before joining back together and continuing into the distance. The design of the bridge encompassing the lighthouse shocked the mind and yet soothed heart. The architecture flowed so well, was so intricately crafted, like an expert jeweler crafting the perfect ring, every portion flowing perfectly.

  As one approached a mountain and it only seems to grow with each step closer, the lighthouse grew. The height and sheer magnitude of the structure was breathtaking. We continued walking along the path, eventually making the left turn onto the bridge and faced the lighthouse directly. A low murmur circulated amongst the Malakh, and App asked nobody in particular, “Who could build such a structure?” The son did not turn, but a brief glimpse of the side of his face showed he was grinning. While the lighthouse loomed in the near distance, the bridge itself had become a momentary distraction. Now that we stood on it, the golden stone path sure flowed with some type of energy or essence, or perhaps a life force itself. The golden blocks of the road were inlaid into the stone of the bridge. It was crafted of blocks similar to the quarters, a shockingly white limestone cut to the precision of a diamond, but upon closer observation, I realized the stones were horizontal mountains themselves. I began counting my steps out loud attempting to grasp the sheer length, each was over 100 feet long. The blocks were taller than me, making each stone of this bridge almost twice as large as the largest stone your people have ever attempted to cut. From the entrance of the bridge to the lighthouse, three of these blocks were laid, one after the other, on each side of the golden block road. The incredible stones were not simply cut in a long rectangle but precisely cut with the top of the block protruding out all the way down the stone and a shelf underneath this. Deep green vines wove down the length of the stone, clinging to the stone as an infant koala to its mother. Between the top protrusion and the shelf beneath, the same peculiar water-like substance that had flowed around the top of the dinner table pillars flowed. Perhaps the vines took nourishment from this substance or perhaps this substance served an alternative purpose. We did not know. Below the shelf were intricately cut windows allowing a view out over the water. Each window was perfectly cut and perfectly spaced from the previous and next.

  The bridge had been so wide the line we had been in had long since dissolved like a child’s soccer match and we found ourselves in an awkward, disheveled pack, some of us ahead of the others. Momentarily allowing my eyes to break from the looming lighthouse, I noticed Asa, one of the Twelve, lingering further back than the rest. His hands were running from the cuts at the protrusion near the top of the stone walls of the bridge, to the shelf containing the water-like substance, the vines that followed, and the moment the stone blended into the blocks of the road itself. I stopped walking and moved back to Asa, asking, “What do you think?” Asa startled, having not even noticed my presence, as he came out of a trance-like state, simply stared. As a student caught daydreaming in class he responded, “Huh, did you say something?” Chuckling, I asked again, “What do you think?” Asa, as a student having the opportunity to have the question repeated said, “I’m not entirely sure what to make of this, and I suppose once we receive training it will make more sense, but these blocks, this bridge, they don’t appear to be cut with tools. I am finding I have an affinity for all of this architecture, from the dinner table, to the quarters and now this, it fascinates me. I truly hope I am given the opportunity to learn more. There’s also these little triangles imprinted on each stone. Peculiarly none of the triangles have a point, but are flat where the points should be.” As I looked closer at the blocks, I realized he was right. There were little point-free triangles on each block, no visible tool marks along the length of the stones, and the places where the larger stones met, or the stones blended with the blocks of the road were so precisely cut, even a piece of paper could not have fit between. Smiling, I clapped my hand on his shoulder and told him, “I’m not sure what the future holds, Asa, but I certainly hope these observation skills are only the beginning of your study of architecture.” He nodded and proceeded slowly down the bridge, as a child not wanting to miss a single toy in the toy store.

  Leaving Asa to his thoughts, I walked quickly and caught back up with App, whose attention had become fixed at the tip of the lighthouse. The precise cuts of the immense stones, the intricacy of the vines, the sacredness of the water-like substance all quickly paled as we neared the lighthouse. As we neared the base we noticed the circular shape was not made of small individual blocks but each layer was made of two of the same blocks that had been used on the edge of the bridge. Eyebrows furrowed, App turned to look at me about the same time I noticed, staring, “The stones.” We had both noticed, each layer of blocks of the lighthouse were made of two of the same massive stones from the bridge, however, they were each bent to form a half circle. Each layer looked to be about ten feet in height, and as the layers rose they were just slightly more compact, making the top of the light house thinner than the base. From a distance the top of the lighthouse had appeared to have some type of roof structure standing guard over a bright light, however, now that we stood in the presence of this mighty structure we realized it was not a light at all, but a vibrant blue energy with a life of its own. A slow motion electrical storm contained by an invisible shield, and yet somehow radiating out from the peak. The vibrant, yet soft blue was not unlike the energy that seemed to emit from the golden path and other structures we had encountered. As App and I craned our necks to stare at the ball of energy, I began counting the layers. The son turned, looked at me and said, “The stone portion is 808 feet, six inches tall, each layer is ten feet, six inches. The blocks framing the outside the bridge are each 115 feet, six inches in length.”

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  I stood, mesmerized by the sheer size of the structure, now captivated by the master craftsmanship as pointed out by Asa, and unable to even respond to the son. App, asked, “What is it for? While we are surrounded by water, a lighthouse this size doesn’t seem to make much sense.” The son, as if he had never considered the idea, turned to look up at the lighthouse, eyebrows furrowed, looked back at App, and said, “Oh young App, so much to learn, so many voids in your knowledge.” App, a sliver of irritation creeping into his face and into his tone responded, “I’m not following.” The son, either not noticing the irritation, or more likely not acknowledging it responded, “This is not a lighthouse, not in the sense you are thinking of anyways. This is a bearak spire.”

  From behind us a voice, as a starter pistol at the beginning of a race, cracked off far louder than intended, asked, “A what?!” App and I started, turning quickly to see a now bashful Asa, who had clearly inserted himself into the conversation, shifting quickly from the lighthouse to the son to App. The son, allowing for a hearty laugh, partially at the startled look on our faces and partially at the sheepish grin on Asa’s face stated, “This is a bearak spire. Bearak is the power source for all the land of Doxa. You will learn far more about it in your training soon, but safe to say bearak is all around us, though certain structures and items can contain, control, or in the case of the spire, extend the range and strength of the bearak from its original source. It provides energy and strength amongst other uses, which like I said, you will learn about soon enough.”

  The Malakh sat in momentary silence, processing this new information, all staring up at the spire, specifically the condensed bearak at the top. I turned to look at Asa, watching the spark in his mind twinkle through his eyes as they made their way to the golden blocks we stood upon, where they focused intensely. “Is the faint blue glow within the walls of the bridge and the gold-colored blocks under our feet also bearak?”

  As someone standing on fiery coals we all immediately began shifting our feet looking underneath, our minds traveling down the road of Asa’s theory. The son responded, “Very good, Asa! It is in fact in everything around us, some materials certainly contain more than others, while some materials are far more conductive than others of course.” Pure admiration washed over Asa’s face, enthusiastic understanding, and a desire for deeper knowledge radiated from his eyes. He said, “I would very much like to learn more about bearak and these structures, sir.” The son clapped Asa on the shoulder while smiling, stating, “None of this sir nonsense, master Asa, that is reserved for my father, and you most certainly shall! Now, onward we march, we mustn’t keep him waiting. He is patient, but each moment spent learning from him is a treasure.”

  The son continued forward moving around the right side of the spire. App, still straining his neck to observe the bearak floating at the top of the spire, found himself walking around to the left. Sid, Asa, Koka, and Ram followed App to the left, while I and the remaining Twelve fell in behind the son. As we journey around the spire I noticed a ring of vibrant green grass with scattered Dynami continued off to our right, landing at what appeared to be another bridge, and a now easily identifiable bearak spire. Once we had completed the journey around the curve, we met up with the rest of the Twelve on the backside of the great spire. Off to our left there was a twin bend, full of grass and Dynami, matching the one we had observed to the right, ending with another bearak spire.

  As my attention returned to our current path, I realized the bridge continued forth from the backside of the spire, identical to the bridge we had just crossed, the same point-free triangles were imprinted on each block. This bridge led to a wall. To say this was a magnificent wall feels like saying a Texas sunset was ok, not even close to a fair description. We continued across this second bridge, approaching the wall, another body of water off to our right and left. At the end of the bridge the path divided into three paths each leading to a gate embedded in the wall. The wall, from afar, appeared to be made of a gray and brown rock-like material. As we closed the distance, we saw the walls were far more spectacular than the bridge or even the spires. The walls were of a cyclopean nature similar to the walls found at your Sacsaywaman in Peru. Incredibly carved stones fit together in a perfectly intricate way, yet, not in the standard linear fashion commonly associated with walls. The walls appeared alive, vibrant blues, reds, and yellows coursed through them making one feel they had a lifeforce of their own. The son stood at the fork of the three paths momentarily, before turning to greet us with a smile. Three banners hanging from the walls behind him with the same point-free triangle in a vibrant royal blue inlaid over a pure white background appeared to shout from behind him. The son announced, “This is the great city of Doxa. These walls define the outermost perimeter, standing at 216 feet high above ground, twelve feet thick, with twelve layers of foundation behind them. The city is a perfect square, with three gates on each side that never close. Yes, that is bearak coursing through them, amongst other matter which you will learn about soon enough.” While App and I remained stoic, the rest of the Twelve appeared overwhelmed at the magnificence before us, and young Asa was beside himself, completely overwhelmed.

  The son turned towards the city, waving his hand, indicating we should follow, and headed towards the central gate directly in front of us. The gate loomed over us as a human standing over a grasshopper, a massive arch made of the same material as the cyclopean walls, though intricately cut into rectangles to build a beautiful, rounded arch. Passing under the arch, as one seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time, we were completely overwhelmed at the realization, each of these cyclopean blocks used to build the wall were the width of the entire wall. Looking up as we were in the middle of the archway, I saw the massive gate itself, held within a cutout in the ceiling above. Wide enough to fill the entire space of the archway, what appeared to be a solid, dazzling, off-white substance, similar to your pearls, made the gate a truly spectacular piece of craftsmanship, even without being able to see the totality of it.

  We followed the son, passing through the other end of the archway and entering the city proper. I found myself standing next to a paused son, App on the opposite side, and the Twelve fanning out on both sides of us. All were silent. Your language does not have the words to explain what stood before us, but I shall try. A vast, open land stood before us, the wall stood as a resolute sentry around the perimeter, more magnificent than the outside. In the center of the space stood a massive structure, while unable to tell the shape due to the sheer size and the angle of our view, it appeared to be a triangle, once again, without points. The two sides I could see had twelve pillars each, all massive. It wasn’t until later that I was exposed to the true intricacies of this structure. The wall on our left seemed to be more robust with each gate appearing larger than the one we had entered, and the paths running from them seemed wider, as if this were perhaps the main gate to the city. The path from the center gate opened wide from this side, leading directly to one of the flat sides of the triangle shaped structure. The son following my gaze, but seemingly speaking to nobody in particular stated, “That is the north entrance, we have entered from the west. There are similar entrances at each of the cardinal directional points, though the north is considered the primary or main entrance.”

  From our position to the right of the triangle-shaped structure stood a pyramid, not unlike your pyramids in Egypt and other places, however, on a far grander scale. This was the pyramid. On initial glance it was four-sided, though on closer inspection it was actually eight-sided, slightly concave on each of the four main sides. It was encased in a dazzling polished limestone-esque material, more elegant than the perfect pearl, more vibrant than the most captivating sapphire. While the stonework appeared to be solid and reflective, an incredible electrifying blue, shifted across multiple shades, and visibly coursed through the stones. The blocks themselves were so large they were visible from this distance, perfectly cut, the base stones at least as large as the stones of the bridges. The capstone of the pyramid appeared to be a different material than the rest. Unlike the solid, reflective material of the base, the capstone was made of a translucent diamond-like material and was clearly a conductor of some type as evidenced by the raging storm of what appeared to be bearak inside.

  A river flowed into the base of the pyramid, though from this distance I could not tell if it entered into the pyramid or not. The water flowed from the southern entrance of the city northward ending at the pyramid. We all sat in silence, processing all that sat before us. The son cut the silence stating, “The River Zoe flows from the outer rings into the pyramid. The pyramid generates bearak that powers not only the city proper, but conducts through the four spires, providing bearak to all of Doxa. The pyramid itself is 1,165 feet, six inches on each side and the angle is 51.5 degrees.”

  The architecture, the design, the tangible detail was nearly overwhelming. For Asa, it was overwhelming. As a child being told they could pick any toy in the store, Asa looked overwhelmed, unsure what to ask, and even more unsure where to begin. That said, having been temporarily mesmerized by the structures we had completely missed the natural beauty. All throughout the city were beautiful trees, plants, bushes, and vines, however, most intriguing, they were suspended in the air. Their roots were dirt free and visible in the air, gently wriggling in the air as if absorbing life-giving nourishment directly from the sky itself. They were clustered together in perfectly designed gardens, none of which required soil to be grounded. Waterfalls flowed downward from seemingly nowhere only to descend into a mist-like stream, a light, blue-tinted life source intertwining its way amongst the base of the vegetation. The gardens were incredibly well kept, appearing to be trimmed and molded to a level of aesthetic beauty only a master of design could ever have imagined. As we tapped each other's shoulders pointing out the beauty of the gardens, the son looked back smiling and said, “Ah yes, the gardens of Doxa. A true masterpiece, an eloquent painting, one only Speaker could have the creativity and love for beauty to produce at this level.”

  A small, yet still quite elegant limestone-like structure sat between us and the great triangle structure. The son pointed at the structure and stated, “We are headed there. This is where your education will begin. Follow me and you will begin to receive all the answers you desire, especially you, young master Asa!” With a rowdy laugh and joyous hearts, our group followed the son on the final portion of our journey before our education began.”