1 Sanctuary of Thuraiz

Arne rose from his bunk after another sleepless night. His mind was tired with concern, although his body had restored some of its strength. He got out of the bed and looked at the upper bunk to find his younger brother sleeping peacefully.

He smiled and stretched his limbs, then proceeded to start his morning workout. Arne did a set of twenty sit ups, twenty push ups and twenty crunches. This habit made sure that he never lost muscle mass that was necessary to perform his duties.

Finishing the set, he walked to the basin at the corner of the small room and splashed cold water against his face. Wiping his face with a handkerchief, he walked out.

His parents room, as he worried, was vacant, having nothing but an empty bed. After that he checked the living room and found his mother sleeping, reclined on the armchair. He turned to his room and changed into his work clothes which was a grey shirt over a pair of woolen trousers.

Picking up his jacket from the coat hanger, he left his family's chambers through the front door. Arne's family lived in a three-roomed chamber on the fourth storey of building seven, which was one of the ten buildings of the Living Quarters, the area where the citizens of Thuraiz reside. Jogging down the stairs, Arne headed for the building's greathall, where breakfast was going to be served. In the sanctuary of Thuraiz, two meals, breakfast and supper, were served in the dining hall while lunch was transported to the respective Working Quarters.

Arne entered the hall at the ground floor. Reaching the counter, he placed a ration chip on the top. The serving lady, a middle-aged woman called Beck, took the chip and placed it in a box.

"You are up early." She said, turning to the kitchen to bring his plate.

"Had a hard time sleeping." Arne shrugged, "And getting to work early wouldn't hurt."

"You don't need to push yourself too hard, kid." Beck placed his plate on the counter. "Your father earns enough to support your family alone."

"I know." Arne smiled, "But I shouldn't let him do all the work, should I?"

He picked up the plate and sat down on a longtable. Today's meal was a bowl of meat broth and loaf of bread, same as always. Though not much of a delicacy, the food was nourishing and provided enough energy for half a day's work. Arne looked around, eating, and found that the hall was pretty much empty. The few others who had arrived ate alone, so Arne followed their lead and ate his breakfast in silence.

Finishing his meal, he placed the plate on an empty counter designated for that purpose and walked out of the building, entering the Sixth lane, which lay between Building Seven and Six.

"Hey Arne!" A voice called him out, "Good Morning!"

It belonged to Kane, a young worker who was a couple of years older than Arne.

"Good morning." Arne greeted back, running to him. Kane pushed a large trolley containing barrels of waste. One of his duties was to dispose of the wastes of the second storey of Building Seven. He was headed for the Central Passage that connected the Living Quarters to the Other Quarters of the Sanctuary.

"Headed for work early?" Kane asked him, "Don't want to miss that bonus, right?"

"Yeah, right." he replied and continued to walk along. After a few moments of silence, he asked, "When do you think the Venators will return from this expedition?"

"I don't know," Kane said, "It's been three weeks since they departed, which is longer than usual. But previous expeditions have extended till months."

"That...is reassuring." Arne said softly.

"Don't worry!" Kane patted his back, "Your father will be alright. One doesn't survive two decades as a venator without any skill or luck."

"Makes sense," Arne agreed, "I just hope that he comes back home as soon as possible."

The two reached the Passage, where they had to go separate ways.

"Try not to think too much about it." Kane told turning towards the Furnace Chamber that was in the Power Generation quarters, "See ya."

Arne nodded and replied with a wave of hand. He turned to the opposite direction and headed up the passage. The Sanctuary of Thuraiz was built in a hollowed mountain and was one of the seven sanctuaries in the western hemisphere. Like all standard Sanctuaries, it had five basic locations. The Power Generation quarters at the base, Manufacturing quarters above them, Living quarters in the centre, Farming Quarters after that, and the Garrison at the top along with the Gate.

Arne worked at the Farming Quarters, where he did various duties as per the instruction of his superiors. It wasn't a very interesting job, but it was simple and necessary. So Arne never felt that he was wasting his time. On the contrary, he took pride in it.

He reached the intersection that connected the Farms to the Passage and walked into a small cabin that sat at the entrance. In there waited Gorm, an older man who managed the workers' ledgers. He sat at his table, half asleep.

"Morning, Mr. Gorm!" Arne knocked the table.

Gorm snapped awake, shaking his head to ward off sleep. "Oh, Arne, it's you." He bent down his table and took out a thick book, opening it and pushing it towards Arne along with a pencil,

"You are just in time to see them work, kid." Gorm told as Arne signed beside his name in the ledger.

"Really?" He asked, pushing back the ledger to Gorm.

"Yes, you should hurry though." Gorm said.

Arne rushed out of the building and ran to the fields, which glowed with a greenish blue light. An individual stood at the centre of each field, glowing with or rather emitting similar light.

The Sanctuary didn't have direct access to sunlight and the light produced by UV lamps wasn't enough for a large-scale farming operation. Solution to this was the use of that greenish blue light, otherwise known as Dragon Surge.