throne fire

There is a cliff in front of me, and the magma is rolling under the cliff, and the bubbles are sizzling.

Aslan knew he was in a dream, but he couldn't wake up, so he could only continue walking along the cliff.

This dream appeared more than once in his night sleep, and he was very familiar with the following scene.

As long as he turned the corner ahead, he could see a towering ancient tree hanging in the air. Its canopy was enough to cover the sky and block out the sun. The thick roots wrapped a huge boulder, and the current passed through it.

Gradually, the surrounding fog was dense, and the big trees and boulders disappeared. A voice came from the fog, carrying some kind of calling.

"Aslan."

"Aslan—"

"Who?" he asked.

"Come here, Aslan, come here."

"Who are you?" he shouted into the abyss, but the question was quickly muted by the sound of the beast shaking the earth.

Some fuzzy shadows appeared in the sky from far to near, and a group of ferocious beasts crossed the sky, rushing towards the majestic buildings in the mist.

The clouds were pierced by the scorching sun, and the flamingos hovered over the majestic temples, their eyes like torches.

Its extremely penetrating eyes quickly spotted Aslan on the cliff, and his ear-piercing neighing pierced the sky, forcing the latter to cover his ears and squat down.

In a moment, the bird flapped its wings and swooped towards him.In an instant, the storm was raging, people were dying, temples collapsed before his eyes, and the world became full of holes...

He woke up suddenly, and in front of him was the stone the size of a bird's egg.It turned out that he was not dreaming at night, but lost his mind when Suo Jia handed him the stone.

He looked at the stone again. It was crystal clear, and the dark pattern in the center resembled a heart. After careful observation, it was covered with bright red blood.

He aimed it at the light, his blue eyes narrowed into slits.

"What do you say it is?"

"Heart of Flame." Suo Jia disapproved, "The spoils that the red-clothed priests took back from the crusade against the traitors of Fire Island during the Gula dynasty."

"What can it do?"

"It's useless except for being beautiful." Soga took back the stone and put it back on the original stone base next to the stone wall. "It's also called Tears of the Sun God. Have you ever heard of Bhikkhu?"

"The kingdom of giants? You don't believe it's real, do you?"

"Not questionable."

A picture from the legend appeared in Aslan's mind.The giants there will turn into high mountains after death, and their relatives will cry around the mountains, and their tears will be turned into rare treasures on the top of the mountains.In that world, the mountains are surrounded by the burning sea, and the land is barren and scorched by flames all day long.

At this moment, the flame in Suojia's palm turned from red to white, and the stone path under the boys' feet became clearer.They shuttled between the narrow stone walls, and their shadows were reflected behind them, blending with the faces of countless ancestors depicted on the stone walls.

Aslan stared at the faces jumping in the firelight, and guessed that they might be the successive kings of the Mu dynasty.

Walking out of the stone wall array, the field of vision suddenly widens, enough to overlook the distant Sokaka River, and a huge world map occupies the entire empty tower terrace at the foot.

In the silence, their sandals struck a string of crisp notes on the ground.

"Where is your country?"

Familiar continents and islands are scattered throughout the map, some places are painted with names, while others are left blank.

Aslan found where Atlantis was and stood there.He turned around and looked at Suojia above the continent of Mu. It turned out that the two continents were far apart even on a map.Feelings of homesickness surged into his heart, and he lowered his head sadly, staring at the familiar land under his feet.

"do you miss home?"

He didn't answer, avoiding Suojia's aura-filled black pupils.The latter stopped asking questions and turned to a piece of white land.

"500 years ago, Ramsona sent troops to hunt down the fleeing King Panlu. At that time, the army went all the way north and reached the ice land. But 300 years later, Rammish's fleet passed through that sea area but found nothing."

"They may have lost their way."

"I believe there must be an unknown door in some corner of this world, which can lead to the residence of the spirits or the world of the gods. One day we will be able to connect the world together, right?"

"Me?" Aslan was slightly surprised, and countless thoughts disturbed him for a moment.

"Alan, no matter who the king of Atlantis is in the future, I will only recognize you, Soga."

After a moment of silence, Aslan said, "Go back, you have to go to the morning ceremony tomorrow morning."

"We'll go somewhere else tomorrow."

"Okay, as long as it's not a monk." He yawned, and the two walked back together.

----

The next day, the little bird jumped on the branch, chirping and singing.

When Aslan changed his clothes, Suojia just came back from the morning salute. He waved his hand, and all the eunuchs retreated.

"Father arranged a new teacher for me, and I hope he is an easy-going old man." He looked out through the purple wooden screen carved with rare and exotic animals, and the eunuchs had already walked away, "Quick, we Go somewhere."

The two boys climbed over the fence, followed a path, and entered a low vegetation.The vegetation that is neither tall nor short just covers them.

In the middle of the woods was an open pasture, and a pile of holy fire was crackling and burning on the altar.

A group of poorly dressed young women sang and danced around the altar. Their long hair like splashed ink was draped behind them, flying in the wind with each dance step, and their graceful figures were very charming.

Suddenly, the crowd pushed the holy flame to the ground, leaving the altar empty.A woman stepped onto the altar, and ancient musical instruments echoed in the forest. Under the stage, the crowd tore off the woman's clothes. She spoke a completely unfamiliar language and led the group of women under the stage. Caught in a frenzy of carnival.

The children stared at the altar intently, and the sight made them blush.

Suddenly, a hand was placed on the shoulders of the two of them, and they jumped in fright. Behind them was a well-dressed young man.

"This ceremony is too early for you," he laughed.

"Who are you?" Suo Jia asked angrily.

The young man kept smiling, with wisdom in his black pupils, then he motioned for the two boys to silence and followed him out of the woods.

When he got out of the woods, he turned around and nodded slightly, "Your Highness, I am your new teacher, Durakaze."

a bolt from the blue--

At lunch, the two boys looked down on a table of food.

Soga stared at Durakaze trying to judge whether he would betray himself, he didn't want to eat his father's horsewhip anymore.

"I was also very curious about Dionysus rituals when I was your age, but obviously you are doomed to get nothing in the position you chose today." The teacher poured half a glass of juice for the two of them.

"Have you seen it, in the middle of the altar?"

"I was always trying, bushes, trees, under the altar, and even disguised as a woman to sneak in among them, but some things are wrong from the beginning, and your efforts will only make mistakes happen. The adults will not let you The thing to try is because they expected the result, but if you don't try, how can you know that their blocking is right?"

"What's in the middle of the altar?"

The teacher smiled and said nothing, and he took a prime rib from a silver plate, and with a pick knife divided it between the two boys' plates.

"Try it, I made it myself."

"You did it?" Soga looked suspiciously at the piece of tender meat, and then he and Aslan put it into their mouths at the same time, with incredible expressions on their faces.

"Is it delicious?" the teacher asked.

"I don't believe you did it unless you saw it with your own eyes." Soga replied.

"I appreciate your skepticism, but sometimes what you see isn't necessarily the truth."

"What do you mean?" asked Aslan.

Durakaze looked at Aslan, and then picked up a piece of meat, "This is a heifer that has just reached the full moon. If it does not become your food, it will give birth to countless calves when it grows up. These calves have There are males and females, they can reproduce non-stop. What you see is a dish, if you think about it, you will find that you have eaten countless cows at the same time. So when you choose to make it a dish, those cows have never been possible I have come to this world. The essence of things needs you to feel with your heart, and then make judgments based on the essence, and use it for yourself.”

The two boys stared blankly at the plate, and then at Durakadze, who was elegantly putting the food into his mouth.

"Can I ask you a question?" Suo Jia said.

"You have the right to ask me any questions, and I have the right not to answer some questions, but I will not lie to you, this is my bottom line."

"Why did you come to the palace to be my teacher?"

"Ram is willing to pay me a huge fee every year to let you know more. No one will refuse such a generous payment."

"Are you doing it for money?" Suo Jia smiled contemptuously.

Durakaze met his gaze kindly, "Your Highness, your birth gave you good luck. You don't have to worry about whether your roof will leak or whether you can fill your stomach. Your finances will always be I can’t make ends meet. And I have to take care of my family, I have to pay for their doctors when they get sick, and I have to give them a proper funeral when they die. It all needs money to work. I work for money, and I don’t care about that. guilty."

"Aren't you a nobleman?"

"Proper education can make a person a true nobleman." Durakaze smiled slightly, "We cannot control fate, we can only make it as perfect as possible."