Chapter One

Thicker than sisterhood...

In the fallen City of Aswana…

After the fall of the Sivien Empire…

Lightning flashed its interwoven charges in the dark blue sky. The wind blew wildly against the glass windows and doors, causing them to clatter. However, its movement still didn't bring forth the ojoroc.

The Dome had been the only standing world since the fall of the City of Aswana.

It took strength, commitment, and blood sacrifices to erect and protect the Dome named after the structure itself. The Dome stood over a massive area of land. The hardened translucent glass world couldn't be infiltrated by any missile of recent times. Its composition consisted of shielding minerals such as Inevo and Nervarite. Organic materials were rare and only achieved through smuggling.

The hemispheric glass resulted from equal-sized pyramids with sides fused together. Avant-garde architecture was in alliance with scientific innovation, which involved the transfer of electric current. This produced the hemisphere's own light, brightening the world and harnessing the energy of outside natural resources. Even when breached, the Dome could regenerate, closing its weak spot in the structure.

Hidden beneath the merged pyramids was a transparent and impenetrable cloak of Venra steel. When the rays of 'Sona' shone upon the Dome, the iris was revealed in myriads of beautiful colours. It was a fascinating structure.

The Lords of the Lands assumed the lands had all yielded to them after the war. For many years, the Dome had been viewed as a military base with operations run privately as agreed, but they never knew what the Dome was really about.

The last floor of the high-rise glass building was at the pinnacle, shielded from ceiling to floor by an ancient steel enclosure.

Within…

"Don't talk to me about that."

The male voice was raised above average, and his appearance was in a 3D photographic motion image from head to toe. His scarred face filled with rage and impatience at the woman standing before him. His frame was slender yet athletic, and he wore a grey military suit with thick black boots.

"We should give it time-"

"Time?" he questioned, fists clenched upwards. Time was elapsing, and he was at the brink of losing his mind.

"Did you think we built all this because we were patient?"

The woman clenched her left jaw, her face lacking expression at the man she was indecisive about hating and the one person who mattered at some point in her life.

His fingers touched her face, tracing its delicate features. He knew how much his touch had affected her despite their years apart, and he hadn't been wrong.

She could feel the warmth of his touch, her lips parted, imagining the days she had succumbed to his pleasure. She knew submitting to her emotions made her vulnerable to him, for she had known better at the very last moment they had separated.

A-hole.

"You see, my dear, I do not have so much patience left," his voice came out as harsh as his face. His hands pulled away immediately, and she was brought back to his demand as if nothing had happened a while back.

"I will do what I can and get back to you." she stood proud, looking him squarely in the eye, not regretting why she left him.

"I will hear from you soon." The side of his lips was raised with sarcasm.

"Very well then, I have other issues to tend to." She informed him.

His left brow shot up, and interest set in his eyes like always. Too proud to ask what her life had been like since she left, he tailed her daily with one of his 'boys'.

"See you in the future, Nyla."

Her taut lips and squinting eyes signaled enough that she was done having the conversation. His image disappeared.

Damn you

She collapsed on a chair behind the large conference table with nine unseated chairs. Her delicate fingers rubbed her temple, easing her headache. Her fingers were long and neat, hiding away all the hard work she was still going through.

"He likes to get what he wants." She dug her front teeth into her lower lips, feeling challenged.

"Mama!!" the children cried, their hands grabbing the limbs of the pants of the armed men and women who offloaded them from the aircraft.

Their cries reverberated around the cubicle, which had an inbuilt soundproof system that prevented them from reaching the outside world. As protocol, they were all delayed and quarantined for a while.

Most girls were crying, grasping, and clinging to their dresses as they had been taken, and the soldiers' dispassionate faces scared them as well. There were just two girls who stood still with their faces turned downwards; not a tear dropped from their faces. All the female children were ages three to five.

Other brave children tried finding their way out through the closed floor-to-ceiling reinforced gates. They were left alone, knowing they had no chance of escaping.

They were all of mixed races and backgrounds: Nuvano (Ancient bloodline of very dark skin and purple hair), Laschino (Ancient bloodline of orange skin and dark hair), Wychester (Ancient bloodline of pale skin and yellow hair), Islandyers (Ancient bloodline of pink skin and straight brown hair), and Sandyers (Ancient bloodline of glowing brown skin and white hair).

"Over here." A commander threw his hands upwards, summoning the other soldiers towards the two isolated children.

One chanted to herself, incoherent lyrics. Her hair was brown and dishevelled, just like the rest of the girls'. The other little girl beside her was quiet, her jet black hair covering her face, and both of her hands bunched into a fist.

The soldier waved his hands downwards to the other soldiers approaching, signalling to them he had it under control. His hand touched the left shoulder of the brown-haired girl, shaking her gently.

"Hello there, I'm-" His voice was calm as he squatted beside the child.

"Leave her alone!" the black-haired girl yelled, her stance combative, her fist held up, half her face exposed.

This startled the guard, who was surprised that such energy emanated from a young child.

He brought out his digital board and scrolled through other girls' faces. He got her face and wasn't giving much time to digest her name when his board flipped through the air and clattered on the metal floor next to his booted feet.

The dark-haired girl squinted an eye. Her legs were wide apart on the floor, and she was in a fighting posture, with a small nose flaring.

She had kicked his digital board, which he hadn't anticipated. A soldier came forward to pick up the malfunctioning board, handing it to the commander. Other soldiers deployed their ammunition, targeting the two children. The cubicle was quiet as other children who weren't as brave blinked repeatedly, watching the scene they didn't fully comprehend. The commander shook his head and raised his hand, holding the soldiers in various positions.

The black-haired girl panted, her purple eyes deep with hatred and vengeance. The brown-haired girl stood in shock at her honour being protected.

"I've found her." a female soldier announced behind them, holding her digital board in the pit of her elbow.

"This one sure as hell is gonna be trouble. She's Shyva. Half Nuvano and half Sandyers. Mixed bloodline. Her parents are of no existence; sure, my arse, they are dead deep under the ground."

"Shut up!" Shyva screamed, hating the way the woman talked about her dead parents.

The female soldier's eyebrows were drawn together, and the side of her lips was raised upwards in a sneer. Her hands played with the top of her weapon in her belt. She thought she needed to teach the child her place.

 "Get yourself together. You wouldn't allow a little girl to get on your nerves. You know better, Alika."

Alika obeyed, standing at attention and raising her chin.

"Round them up," the commander ordered, getting to his feet. Fog filled the chamber with scanning, harmless lasers running each individual. The fog dissipated, and a buzzer announced the next step. Another gate was opened, welcoming them further into the Dome.

"I'll have this child before she joins the others." The commander informed his soldiers.

All the children were led through long passageways of great height and white illumination. They were led in a queue, with a guard for every five children positioned at the end of every last child. The girls were a total of fifty. They walked tiredly, gasping, whimpering, and blinking repeatedly, adjusting their sight to the light of the corridor.

They were led to a laboratory large enough to accommodate three times their number. Scientists, lab technicians, and medical practitioners all stopped what they were doing to welcome the children and the soldiers.

Immediately, they were led from one section of the lab to another, where chemical and biological implants were embedded into their body. The pain had been short as many wailed and adjusted immediately as more tests and implantation were carried on them.

Neuroscience and psychoanalytic processes were carried out on them with wires connected to their temples and lower hands. Electrical impulses coursed through their body as they stirred up what the scientists paid interest to on the large digital analytical boards erected beside the younglings.

On the board was the structure of their brain moving in a position and showing any impairment. Blood tests; diseases (as there were none); fertility; the implant's position, particularly the geographical chip located in the sole of their feet; bloodline; ions and compounds in ratio present in their body as well as the ratio of cells and the strength of their immunity.

All unnecessary memories, including their various experiences before entering the Dome, were cleared from the children's minds. The process took hours to determine the results. All the children selected were without any health deficiency that could hinder their future performances.

Shyva didn't take her eyes off t

he female soldier she had confronted for a minute. Something about the youngling stirred fret and trouble within her.

Shyva, who was new to the process, didn't fret. She kept telling herself.

All will be fine; it's just another dream like... like…

Her memories faded as she forgot who had registered those words in her memory. The process didn't hurt, but it left a small hole that would grow bigger in the future, needing to be satiated.

"To the washroom, all of them." The commander announced. The eyes of some little girls were half closed while others were already dozing. The processes for that day had ended, and the girls were moved to another chamber.