A new hope

The Queen continued onward with her royal procession, followed by a squad of assistant bees and Haniya. Only about fifteen minutes had passed since the entire Insaaf team jumped into the gateway, got sabotaged by Amawas and the dark ones, then imprisoned and chased by thunderbirds. They managed to break free, fought Amawas again, and barely escaped with their lives. In the end, almost getting obliterated in a fight against an Executioner, they were fortunately saved. All of this happened in just fifteen minutes on Earth.

But things seemed better now. Haniya didn't exactly know the details of what happened with the Executioner or who they were, but seeing Queen Golden relax a bit and arrange a royal procession gave her courage and peace.

They passed by the Ambrosia and toured some more of the falling cascades of beautifully colored honey. Eventually, they reached what the team of assistants described as a 'Khana-e-nafs,' a large hall with hundreds of semi-transparent crystals of different colors hanging from the ceiling, moving in waves. Some were huge, and some were tiny.

The entire ceiling of the hall had deep linings of diffusing material in its corners, emitting light outward. This light passed through each of the crystals, painting the entire hall in hundreds of colors that swayed in perfect sync.

The hall was the most breathtaking thing Haniya had ever seen. She stopped and gasped, her grey eyes reflecting hundreds of different colors.

After a few moments, she cleared her throat and asked in a low voice, "But how is... the light... how is the light made?" She asked the assistant bees.

"Well, what do you think? It's made of a special kind of honey that glows. The crystals are of different kinds of honey as well, shaped by the builders. Once every two months, all the different bees in the hive, from various fields, present and hang crystals of their honey in respect and reverence to the Queen. May she protect us and the hive from any danger."

Queen Golden moved deeper into the hall, and the words of the assistant bee turned into a buzz. As long as Haniya remained close to the Queen, and if the Queen willed, she could cast understanding between Haniya and the different bees. She didn't know why the Queen had just now decided to impose this; she could've easily helped in the Gateway room as well, but that wasn't important. The hall in front of her eyes was, though.

She jogged towards the Queen, and the assistant bee followed.

"Look there!" it pointed to the middle of the room.

There was a magnificent throne chair, completely white and radiating a sense of peace. She asked the assistant bee about it.

"That would be the throne of our Previous Queen, Queen Amber. The savior. Everything you see is because of her sacrifice."

Haniya looked at Queen Golden, who knelt in front of the throne chair and stayed there. She lowered her eyes as well. She didn't know the whole story, but it felt like showing reverence and respect was the proper thing to do right now."

***********

They exited the hall after a few minutes; Queen Golden remained silent and did not say much. Haniya kept following and talking to the assistant bee. Soon, she caught up with the queen.

"Queen Golden, can I ask you something?"

"Yes, child. Go ahead."

"Who were the executioners you mentioned, and what exactly will happen now?"

"Ah, the executioners. I knew your keen mind would not let it go." The queen stopped and looked at her for a few seconds.

"Alright, I'll tell you. But i warn you, it may be alot for you to digest" She said

"Try me" Haniya replied.

Queen golden smiled at her remark and then started talking 

"You see, magic exists everywhere, in its pure raw form—untamed and unruly. Thousands of years ago, during the raid on the sacred tree, the creatures who raided it learned that, instead of containing unimaginable power of its own, it could also source and channel the same magic that exists on their lands and tame it into something usable. After conquering a branch and dividing it among themselves, they thought that the trial was over. With this newfound discovery, they believed they would be able to sustain themselves. No one knows what they were fighting against and why they were so desperate as to raid the ancient tree; that is still a topic of speculation. Over the generations, magical societies developed, each focusing on their own application of the magic. It was named Parvaaz because the ancients believed that it saved them and launched them to new heights. However, the ancients failed to take into account one inevitable fact: with power comes greed for obtaining more; with light also exists darkness. And so, down some generations, some started craving for more power, and to obtain it, they wreaked havoc, chaos among other societies. Blinded by their selfishness, they imposed a tyrannical rule over the whole Sehra for centuries, to enforce their occupation they made an elite unit of warriors suffused with the magic they had corrupted, called the executioners, the task of the unit was simple. To kill anyone who opposes them so that fear is maintained throughout the entire land, then by a miracle, a warrior finally rose and defied them—a legendary figure of the past that no one knows much about, a human from a faraway land. During the end of his time, there was a prophecy made that when the executioners will start dying like flies again by an outsider , a change so deep will come that it will shake the entire Sehra and push filth and corruption out of it. Now, something unexpected happened. An executioner, for the first time in a long while, died at the hands of an outsider. And that outsider is residing in the grove with the girls. So that's why I'm happy. Maybe this will not only end up with the vine; maybe this will be a war for hope finally. A war for justice which we may win."

Haniya stopped. Blood left her skin, leaving her completely pale. She was getting goosebumps continuously.

After some moments she finally caught her breath back

"What happened with the power of the tree? its own power?" She said

Queen golden looked at her with surprise.

"Surprisingly, noone knows"