We Spin the Stars Above: A West African GameLit Epic

As they neared the inner gates, Ayo felt her skin prickle with a sense of foreboding. The area was quiet, too empty for her liking. It was as if the city was a predator laying in an ambush, hiding its claws and rife with anticipation. The trio approached cautiously, weapons and arts at the ready and senses on high alert. But even when they got closer, the air remained still. The massive gates in front of them firmly shut.

Ayo looked around, trying to find any signs of life, but there was nothing. This close to the gates the city was silent, almost as if it was holding its breath, waiting for them to make a move. Mairo motioned for them to stay put and he crept closer to the gates, studying them intently. After a few moments, he turned back to them, shaking his head.

"It's locked tight. There's no way we're getting through there," he said, frustration clear in his voice.

Ayo frowned, drumming her fingers against her thigh as she thought.

“Let me try,” she said and stepped forward, placing her hand on the cold metal of the gate. She closed her eyes and focused her senses on the technology embedded in the metal. It hummed softly beneath her fingertips, a comforting vibration that ran through her like an ache and she opened her eyes, surprised by the sudden sense of understanding that washed over her. She knew what she needed to do.

"Stand back," she said to the boys, who both looked at her with raised eyebrows but obeyed. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes again, extending her senses further. She felt the energy coursing through the metal gates, the intricate wiring and circuits that controlled their movement. With a thought, she began to manipulate the energy, sending a surge of power through the system.

There was a moment of hesitation, a second of time during which it seemed the gates were also considering her, then they creaked and groaned and slowly cracked open, like an eye.

[Approved soul signature detected. Access granted. Welcome, Spiderkin. You are cleared to proceed.]

Ayo stepped back, her heart pounding in her chest at the sudden announcement as Mairo and Wole stepped forward, gaping at the inner city before them.

It was breathtaking.

Nearly all of the buildings towered over them, their facades covered in intricate wrought iron balconies and carvings that seemed to glow in the afternoon light. The streets were adorned with wide banners and flags that even now still retained some of their colour, fluttering in the wind like chromatic ghosts. Everywhere they looked there was beauty and Ayo realised that this must have been the part of the city reserved for the wealthier citizens; the ones who drove the complex economic monster that must have been its civilization. Ayo tried to imagine how it must have been in its heyday. Not as it was now, governed by cultivators, who were mere survivors that had gained power after the Dawnfall, the cataclysmic civil war that ended the Empire of the Dawn. Instead, she thought of it as it must have been then, 60,000 years ago when the ancient races still walked this world and the Duru were the unchallenged masters of the Apotheon. When Vestige was the undisputed hub of all activity in the multiverse.

She found that she couldn't and only then began to understand the grudge nearly all scholars of this planet seemed to have for the Duru. They had built what was arguably the greatest civilization in the multiverse, had created wonders that still functioned and were still used even now, had formed a place where everyone that was anyone in the Apotheon had to visit at least once, and they had thrown it all away over pride and greed.

Still, it didn't take long for Ayo to decide that while the whole thing was sad and unfortunate, she couldn't allow it to distract her from the mission. Theti and Narai and the rest of House Whiterose were present, right here and now and counting on their success. Failure was simply not an option. Instead, she turned to the boys who she'd noticed frowning at the buildings and after prodding a bit learned that they found the empty streets disconcerting.

"It’s the stillness that bothers me the most," Wole sighed. "All of our memories of Core Cities are those full of life. At this time of day, An Tirim's moat would be bustling with fisherfolk and divers searching for crayfish and seals. An Layan’s sky would come alive with flight-capable inner disciples running errands for the Elders and occasionally one might even spot one of the Scribes of An Rajik hauling around books and scrolls." He paused, contemplative. "You've never really seen what a city with a full, prosperous House looks like and I guess it is only just now occurring to us how much we've lost."

Ayo didn’t know what to say. Here she was, worrying and daydreaming over some long-forgotten age of legends when she had people next to her who still remembered glory days that were much more recent. Ayo felt like she understood their grief; the Creator knew how much she would mourn if anything happened to the House of Knowledge, but she also knew the importance of their journey.

"We need to keep going," she said softly. "I know it's hard, but we must find a way to revive the city. Maybe then we can restore House Whiterose and the city to what it once was after."

The boys nodded and without another word, they continued down the empty streets. Which was just as well because that was when they heard it. A noise like shuffling feet and a wretched growl echoing through the air. A sudden chill descended upon them like a blanket of ice and Mairo, his eyes wide with alarm, motioned for them to duck into one of the houses. Acting quickly on his command, they scrambled in stealthily from an open window, huddled beside it and peeked out intermittently to see what it was.

It didn’t take long.

Three forms soon shuffled into view. Sleek with cat-like bodies, their pitch-black fur was a stark contrast to their bleached white, skull-like faces. Claws like razors glinted in the sunlight as they pawed at the ground and their leader, the biggest of the three, paused briefly before tipping its head to the side, nostrils flaring. Even before Eye of the World activated, even before Wole muttered the word, Ayo already knew what it was.

[Direbeast. An Aberration from the void. Dangerous.]

Ayo stared, completely thunderstruck by the sight before her. Each time the Elders and everyone else had talked about the monsters infesting the inner city, she'd just assumed them to be particularly strong soul beasts or Great versions of animals or rogue machines and automatons. She'd certainly never expected Aberrations. How had they gotten here?

The boys however seemed unfazed by the revelation. While they definitely looked concerned, a whispered query from her revealed that they had since guessed that something like that would've happened. An Solidan had to have been left unoccupied for so long for a reason, after all. It was the closest to both the Boiling Sea and the mainland, which were apparently rife with Aberrations and it made sense that the city would eventually attract such creatures.

In any case, they all recognised that they couldn't let the Aberrations roam freely and since it appeared that their leader had spotted them already, they quickly readied themselves for battle.

Wole was the first to move, his body evaporating in a cloud of mist as he unsheathed his spear and flew towards the Direbeast on the right. Mairo charged forward, several smaller yellow-orange Golden Palms trailing behind him as he set his sights on the Direbeast leader. Ayo stayed back and readied herself for the last Aberration coming at them while Wole and Mairo began to battle with theirs. Sparks flared up around them as metal and art met claws and then Ayo’s enemy was upon her and it was all she could do to fight back.

A casting of Moonlit Mirage carried her out of the way of a nasty chomp and she followed it up with a slash of the hand, thin lines of silver light following the movement to strike at the monster’s neck. But the Direbeast dodged the threads with a minor, efficient move of its body then lashed at her with a barbed tail she only just avoided.

It took a few similar exchanges for Ayo to quickly realise that she could not fight this Aberration the same way she’d fought the Fleshfiend. While that monstrosity had been bigger and capable of far more devasting attacks, it had also been relatively sedentary and slow and taking damage from two more people. This enemy was fast and agile and would capitalize on dodging the long-range attacks she favoured then strike her when she was open. She could not continue as she had been.

A spark of thought condensed the individual threads of Lunar Fabric back into their new cloth-like forms and rather than launching them forward, arrow-like, as she’d been doing before, Ayo instead sent three of the silver streams, all she could manage for now, into a spiral around her.

The Direbeast hesitated for a moment, as if confused by the new tactic, but then lunged forward with renewed ferocity. Ayo darted to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack, and then leapt forward, her Lunar Fabric spiralling around her like a shield. The clothes glowed with a soft silver light as the Direbeast's claws scraped against them, leaving only shallow scratches. Ayo retaliated with a punch but the Aberration leapt back, letting out a low growl as it circled her from a distance. Ayo waited patiently, Eye of the World heightening her senses as she prepared to strike.

Then it happened. The beast lunged forward, claws extended, but Ayo was already moving. She twisted and turned, dodging the creature's attacks with ease before unleashing her own barrage of attacks.

The Lunar Fabric flowed freely around her, lashing out at the beast like the tentacles of an octopus, before curling back and around Ayo to form a shield, deflecting all attacks. The creature stumbled back, caught off guard by her sudden change in tactics, its movements becoming more erratic as it struggled to avoid her strikes. Ayo continued to press forward, her attacks growing fiercer as she gained the upper hand.

Finally, with one swift movement, Ayo struck the Direbeast in its exposed flank, sending it tumbling to the ground. The creature let out a final growl and tried to lunge but a thought had one of the Lunar Fabrics unravel back into threads and strike, smoothly reducing the incoming monster to dark chunks.

Ayo stood victorious, her Lunar Fabrics still glowing brightly around her. She took a deep breath, her heart racing with adrenaline, before turning to the boys who promptly finished dispatching their own foes.

[Enemy Defeated!]

[x1 Direbeast Killed.]

[You have been awarded 450 essence for this feat!]

Ayo nodded in satisfaction at the screen, then frowned as something occurred to her. They had fought monsters together three times now and she was just now realizing that on all of those occasions, the boys had never received a prompt from the System awarding them essence. Come to think of it, other than hers, she had never seen an open status screen in the entire city. She had been told that the Usurper's Curse had caused some difficulty with the System, but did it really prevent them from having full access?

As it turned out, it did. Upon asking them, Mairo explained that the Curse was blocking them from seeing their status screens and cutting off their access to most of the System. "We can still use our arts, though at limited capacity because we remember them and know how they work," he said. "But you're right. None of us have been operating at full strength since that day. The limited cultivation and storage of essence, our true rankings plus a bunch of other missing things? All of that is due to the Curse," he added with a shrug. "It's not hard to beat a Legend when they can't fight at their full capacity."

Ayo stared, horrified by this discovery, but Mairo and Wole seemed rather cavalier about it.

"It's not like we can do anything about it," Wole said with a shrug. "We just have to make do with what we have and keep getting stronger until we can break the Curse. Besides, it’s not all bad. We've been getting stronger despite it. It's like training with weights on, you know? When we finally get rid of the Curse, we'll probably be even more powerful than before."

Mairo nodded in agreement. "And in the meantime, we can still work towards our goals. We can still protect the city and the people we care about. We don't need the System to tell us what we're capable of." He hesitated, then reached out to cup her face, his thumb brushing against her cheek. It was a gentle touch, warm and soft and Ayo shamelessly leaned into it. "Don't worry about it, okay? We'll be fine."

"Of course, I'm going to worry," she sniffed but her silver eyes were bright with determination. "After this, we'll find a way to break the Curse," she said firmly. "And we'll do it together."

Mairo and Wole exchanged a look, a silent agreement passing between them. "Together," Mairo echoed to Wole's nod and that was settled.

With renewed interest, Ayo looked out at the ruined city around them and her gaze landed on the biggest building of all in the area. It was a pyramid, rising well past the other ones and despite being constructed of the same white stone, was somehow more ornate and intricate.

"What are the odds the Core of the city is inside there?" she asked, pointing. While she couldn't be 100% certain, she was fairly certain a few of her books had mentioned that before the Duru settled on the now iconic Tower design, they had once built pyramids.

"The Palace," said Mairo, confirming her suspicions. "I can't think of anywhere else it would be. Every other Core City has one of those as their seat of power."

Ayo nodded. "Let's go then."

Together, the trio turned towards the road that led to the pyramid, eyes peeled for more dangers. Ayo knew that where there were a pack of Aberrations there was sure to be more or the Elders wouldn't have been so wary of expanding if it was just them they had to worry about.

It didn't take her long to find out how right she was.

***

The air hung heavy with the scent of blood and blossoms as Tolu Tobarin watched, heart thudding wildly in her chest as the siege continued on An Solidan. The massive tree city loomed above them, every single one of its colossal branches reaching out like eager fingers intending to seize the sky. But Tolu's gaze was fixed not on the tree but on the creeping horrors birthed by her own House, finally unleashed.

Red petals unfurled from the backs of two adult Bloodfiends as they took flight, their lanky forms towering over even the tallest of the assembled cultivators. The bigger Fleshfiends roared their displeasure as their cages were uncovered, crimson light claiming the grotesque monstrosities as Lady Saada teleported them and seemingly endless swarms of Scarlet Wasps up to the city above. Tolu and her fellow Signs had not yet been given the order to mount the tree, but from the satisfied looks she saw on her superiors' faces, she guessed that it wouldn't take much longer. The residents of An Solidan were putting up a surprising amount of resistance but even the blind could tell the city would fall before the dawn. And that was without any of the cultivators let alone the three Sigils or Lady Saada taking part in the assault.

A freshly released Fleshfiend roared next to her, nearly blowing out her eardrums and Tolu wondered just how her life had come to this. Could she have known when she'd taken one of the annual House Tests that the results would lead her to this exact moment in time?

She remembered that day, as clear as the waters of a pure lake. The jostling of the crowd of hopefuls. The barking of the cultivators as they herded the mortals into line. The rough outline of the cheap desk and chair, as they listened to the bored-looking Elder, recite the instructions on how to sense and manipulate essence.

She remembered the joy when the System prompt arrived, declaring her acquirement of the cultivation art and the Title upgrade from Farmer's Apprentice to Cultivator. The confused soup of emotions as she was whisked away and waved goodbye to her proud and tearful parents.

Perhaps it was her first few weeks at the Palace that should have warned her. After learning Sanguine Soul Body, House Redwood's Body Art and unlocking the near useless affinity of Flower, her dreams of rapid advancement and favour gain had taken a nosedive. None of the House's premier arts would synergize or could even be learned with such a pathetic affinity and none of the Elders saw her as talented enough to bother crafting or modifying an art just to suit her.

It hadn't been all bad though–there were still some benefits to being a cultivator, even an outer disciple, of one of the most powerful Houses in the world–and so it had been easy to lie to herself and pretend that she could just bide her time and wait for an opportunity to present itself. To pretend that everything was right and just.

But now, as she watched Lady Saada's creations ravage the city, Tolu knew that she had been wrong. Her House was not a noble institution of cultivators aiming to better the world that was sometimes forced to do bad things; it was a ruthless, bloodthirsty organization that would stop at nothing to achieve its goals. And she was a part of it, whether she liked it or not.

Tolu felt a twinge of guilt in her chest. The residents of the city might be weaker than them, but judging from the way their probe had been repelled, some of them were still cultivators, still people. They had families and friends, aspirations, and dreams. And yet, here they were, their lives on the brink of destruction for no other reason than the fact that their House had dared to anger the Red Queen long, long ago.

Tolu felt bile rising in her throat, but she choked it down and forced herself to focus. She couldn't afford to let her emotions get in the way, not now. She had a role to play, just like everyone else in the assault. Whether she liked it or not, she was a Redwood, and it was her duty to see this through to the end.

The sounds of battle grew louder as Tolu and the other Signs were finally given the signal to begin the climb to the city. Ladders and siege towers and other instruments of war were produced from soulspaces and placed against the great iron tree as the host finally began to make its move. Lady Saada, having finished releasing the last of her fiends, let out a tinkling laugh and gestured to her Sigils. The quartet vanished in a flash of red light and Tolu turned back to her ascent with a light shudder.

Icons, while not as insanely powerful as Legends, were still counted among the powers of the world for a reason. Teleportation and flight were only some of an Icon's inherent powers and Lady Saada was one of the very best. Despite being on the same side, Tolu didn't find it odd to be very afraid of her. After all, it was whispered that the woman had a Unique Title and even possessed a soulblade.

Tolu didn't know much about them; mostly because those sorts of things belonged to a small subset of people with a vested interest in keeping their full abilities a secret, but there were credible rumours that in addition to other distinct powers, Unique Titles also granted the ability to cultivate essence. A thing that was supposed to be unique to the Cultivator Title.

She shook her head and climbed another rung. It wasn’t any of her business what Lady Saada did or did not have. It was thoughts like that that got someone disappeared in the middle of the night. And it wasn’t like it mattered now. She had to focus on her task and not dwell on the past or speculation.

Tolu squared her shoulders and began to climb faster. Not if she wanted to survive the night.