Rhuna enjoyed the cool night under a clear sky filled with beautifully bright stars, but she could not stop thinking about the Black City just beyond the hill.
“This reminds me of the time I slept on the flood plains outside Judharo,” Yarqi said as she prepared her blanket for the night.
Rhuna also made herself as comfortable as possible on the sand, huddling close to Aradin and pulling their blanket up to her cheeks. As she closed her eyes she felt grateful that she would not be entering the Black City by herself tomorrow.
A crisp, cool breeze kissed Rhuna’s face as she slowly awoke from a dreamless sleep under the open skies. Her senses alerted her to a smoky smell nearby, and she sat up to see Ogul and his sister tending a fire for cooking. As soon as Rhuna stood up, the others began to stir and silently prepare themselves for their visit to the Black City.
“Remember the law of the City: no Atlans! Do not even speak the word!” Ogul reminded them vehemently. “It is permissible to speak the Atlan language, as my family and I do, but it is better if you speak as little as possible, lest one of the Mages hears you and becomes suspicious!”
“The Mages are the ones who enforce this law?” Aradin asked.
“Yes, but others assist them,” Ogul replied. “Remember, we are merely traders from Axla, and you are our visitors,” Ogul whispered as they led their camels over the rise and towards the Black City. Rhuna looked ahead as the city came into view and then stopped abruptly when she felt disoriented.
“It looks different this morning!” she exclaimed.
“Do you see that greenish sky above the city?” asked Aradin as he rubbed his eyes to refocus on the unusual scene.
“Yes!” Rhuna exclaimed as she observed a faint green tinge rise and hover over some of the Black City’s tall towers.
“I see it, too,” Yarqi said as she stepped up next to Rhuna and Aradin.
“It’s the green mist I saw a few times in Judharo when a time loop was taking place!” Rhuna stated.
“You are right,” Mohandu said, nodding eagerly.
“It must occur whenever something in the city changes due to something happening in the past,” Aradin reasoned.
“That tower in the middle,” Rhuna pointed. “The big one with the curved domes on top. I didn’t see it last night.”
“I also think it looks different,” Aradin agreed.
“The city is constantly changing,” Ogul commented as he and his sister continued to walk ahead, oblivious to the ominous green haze.
“A most disturbing phenomenon,” Goll said as he walked up behind Rhuna and Aradin. Rhuna looked at the pink-eyed scribe as he adjusted his headscarf to see more clearly. He expressed intense interest and wonder, without a trace of fear.
Rhuna resumed walking towards the Black City, her feet heavy with growing dread.
“That river looks strange,” Yarqi remarked when they had walked a while and could clearly see the landscape surrounding the city. “Such dark water.”
“It is known as the Black River,” Ogul replied. “That is why the city is called The Black City.”
“I thought it was because of the Mages who wear black,” Rhuna said.
“Some people say that, too,” Ogul replied.
As they continued to approach the Black City, Rhuna could see that the dark river coursed right through the middle of the city, and that various bridges connected the two sides. Green trees and bushes lined the river where it passed through the city, and for a moment Rhuna thought the city might actually be quite beautiful.
Long before visitors entered the city gate, a wide road made of thick, evenly-sized paving stones welcomed them, and Rhuna instantly recognized the Atlan workmanship beneath her feet.
“Look!” Mohandu exclaimed, pointing a short distance ahead of them. “Large stone animals!”
Rhuna blinked twice until she was certain her eyes had not deceived her.
The tree-lined avenue leading to the imposing city gate boasted large stone carvings of various animals at regular intervals. Rhuna looked from one side to the other and realized that the statues were pairs, facing each other and looking onto the wide road.
“This first pair look like camels,” Rhuna remarked as they neared the statues. She noted the smooth surfaces and simple, elegant lines of the statue.
“They are at least twice the size of a real camel,” commented Mohandu.
“Such fine sculpting!” Aradin remarked as he slowed down to admire the stone camel. “Surely only Atlans could have achieved this!”
“I’ve only seen stone sculptures in Safu,” Rhuna mused, and then remembered the large stone statues on her homeland of Chinza which were made by renegade Atlans. “…and on Chinza, when some Atlans came and made statues to honour the Dark Master!” she added.
“No doubt these statues were also made for him,” Yarqi commented bitterly.
“Yet they are so beautiful!” Goll gushed in a whisper from behind them as he admired the stone camel with wide pink eyes.
“In Safu many stone animals like this,” Panapu commented, nodding his big bald head. Rhuna noticed that the lumbering giant had brought his heavy wooden club, well hidden in the layers of his garments.
“There are more ahead,” Aradin said, ushering Rhuna further along the avenue. Ogul and his sister had already passed the second pair of animals which resembled a cow or bull. Rhuna looked farther ahead and discerned a pair of stony bird-like beasts and then feline statues bordering the wide street.
As the group proceeded, several people passed them on the impressive avenue, and Rhuna studied them surreptitiously. One man was dark-skinned and boasted colourful headwear, but intentionally avoided eye contact with Rhuna’s group. A second man leaving the city glanced briefly at Rhuna as he passed, and she noted his small stature and appearance similar to the people of Axla. He was followed by an entourage of similar-looking men and women carrying large bundles of textiles and yarns.
Finally, they stood in front of the looming city gate set in massive stone walls, and Rhuna was alarmed to see guards carrying weapons standing on each side of the gate.
“Say nothing! Do nothing! Just follow us,” ordered Ogul in an urgent whisper. Rhuna lowered her head and kept walking, looking down at the feet of the camel in front of her. She was relieved when the guards remained at their post and allowed them to pass through the threshold into the Black City without a word.
The city gate led visitors into an open courtyard where people stood, walked or milled around, without noticing visitors with camels and trade goods. Rhuna looked from side to side, noticing a place where people met to eat and drink, then a row of vending stalls and finally an alley leading to residential buildings.
“Everything looks like a normal city so far,” she whispered to Aradin.
They continued walking along the main avenue until they reached the trading area filled with tents and stalls. Ogul led them to an area where they could tether their camels and unload their wares.
“Be alert! Speak as little as possible!” he cautioned in a hoarse whisper.
Rhuna nodded obediently, and then looked around at the others in her party. Aradin looked apprehensive, Mohandu wide-eyed with tense curiosity and Goll cast his eyes to the ground as he covered most of his face with his scarf.
“We shall barter for textiles, pottery and some tools for tilling soil,” Ogul said as he helped his sister open the thick hessian sacks containing a variety of freshly harvested vegetables. She placed a sample of each vegetable onto a cloth she had spread out on the ground.
“You can look at the wares along there,” Ogul said, pointing further along their row of stalls and coloured cloths which marked each trader’s personal space. “The textiles and tailors usually sit there.”
Rhuna and Aradin followed Ogul’s instruction, walking cautiously along the trade square as they looked at the wares on display.
“Hmm, nice jewellery,” mumbled Yarqi as she walked behind Rhuna.
“M
y feet require new coverings,” Mohandu remarked as he wandered towards a stall boasting fine leather footwear.
Rhuna observed the people around them, noticing their different skin and hair colours, their various styles of clothing and even their manner of speech and behaviour. Finally, she saw the items of clothing she wanted, and led Aradin in that direction. The women tending the stall of undergarments and rolls of plain textiles spoke a language Rhuna had never heard before, and their dark features were also unfamiliar.
Aradin cautiously removed the pouch containing precious stones and jewellery, and soon a transaction was made without a word spoken in any language. Buoyed by the successful trade, Rhuna proceeded further along to other traders offering footwear and other leather products while Yarqi and Mohandu wandered casually in another direction.
“Do you need anything?” Rhuna asked Panapu, who lingered behind her and accompanied the wide-eyed and curious Goll.
“Need nothing,” Panapu answered with a quick shake of his big head.
Rhuna looked down at the giant’s feet and decided that she would acquire large footwear and perhaps a new leather belt for him, despite his protests. Her nervousness subsided even further after another successful transaction without spoken words, and Rhuna walked on to look at some nearby trading stalls.
“Look at this strange jewellery,” she whispered to Aradin as she clung tightly to his arm. “It’s like the pendants we saw in the village where the travelling merchants arrived with goods no one had ever seen before.”
“This is where the jewellery and other strange things came from,” Aradin replied.
When they reached the end of the trading plaza, the group decided to return to Ogul and their camels, each carrying bundles of necessary new footwear and items of clothing. Rhuna smiled when she saw Ogul’s surprised expression.
“You did well – and without our assistance,” Ogul’s sister stated with an approving smile. She directed them to a space where they could stack their bundles of newly-acquired goods until they were ready to pack them onto the camels.
“You can wander about while we continue to do our business,” Ogul suggested in a low voice. “Be cautious…”
Rhuna nodded and then wrapped her arm around Aradin’s as they slowly wandered away from the trading plaza. She looked back at Yarqi and Mohandu who followed at a distance behind them. Further away she saw Goll and Panapu conversing and apparently deciding to enter a building together.
“Where are they going?” Rhuna whispered. “We shouldn’t leave Goll…”
“He’s safe with Panapu,” Aradin quickly assured her.
Rhuna’s apprehension eased as they progressed along the street leading further into the city and she continued to see normal activity around her. The people appeared to be uninterested in each other, relieving Rhuna of the fear that their presence might attract the attention of the Mages.
“This isn’t so bad,” she whispered to Aradin. “And many buildings remind me of A…” Rhuna abruptly stopped herself from speaking the forbidden word, and saw alarm briefly flicker in Aradin’s eyes. He quickly looked around, and then relaxed his tense stance.
“Yes, they were built by…them,” Aradin whispered. Rhuna looked more closely at a nearby building that featured traditional Atlan stonework, realizing that it was a particularly advanced design using tabs and insertion holes, as well as metal rods to make a very stable yet aesthetic building.
They passed the impressive Atlan-made building and turned a corner which revealed a narrow alley in the dark shadow of the tall buildings around it. A vicious fight between three people took place only a few steps away, and Rhuna gasped in shock. She instinctively stepped back and grabbed Aradin’s arm tightly as the tussle spilled further out of the alley towards them.
Rhuna felt someone tug hard on the back of her overcoat until she stumbled towards a wall and out of the way of the fighting men. She realized that Yarqi had pulled her further out of the alley and that all of them were now out of immediate danger of the violence.
“He’s got a weapon!” Aradin exclaimed.
Rhuna stared as one of the fighting men raised a shiny metal object with a pointed blade, then thrust it into the other man’s chest with all his strength. Both men grunted loudly as the victim flopped to the ground and became instantly motionless. The assailant grunted again as he jerked his weapon from the man’s bloody chest, and then both he and the third man turned and briskly walked away.
“What…”
“Shhhh!” Yarqi hissed sternly. “We must not do anything!”
Rhuna looked at Yarqi aghast, and then recalled Ogul’s admonition not to criticise any action.
“But…but someone has just been killed!” Rhuna objected.
“Shhhh!” Yarqi repeated.
“Let’s just walk away,” Aradin urged as he prodded Rhuna to walk in the direction they intended to go before the horrific incident took place.
“Don’t look back!” Aradin said, leading Rhuna by the arm. She was grateful for his support in that moment as her legs felt weak and her heart beat rapidly.
The shaken group slowly stopped when they reached another corner, and Rhuna carefully looked back. She was shocked to see that no one gathered around the dead man, and people simply walked past without more than a brief glance at the body on the ground.
“I wonder if this happens often,” Aradin whispered.
“It is obviously not worthy of special attention,” Mohandu observed.
Rhuna clung tightly to Aradin as she looked around fearfully at the houses and people. Suddenly, the people no longer appeared ordinary to her, and it struck her that their lack of emotion was deeply terrifying. The buildings also took on a menacing appearance, and Rhuna stopped briefly to observe the street scenes more carefully.
Each house appeared to be constructed differently and from various materials, with odd-shaped windows and doors. Then Rhuna noticed a crooked tower that appeared to have been built in separate stages, combining wood and brick in an unusual way. The cluster of buildings next to the tower was a chaotic jumble of edifices made from straw, sun-baked mud bricks and brittle wood. Suddenly, she was reminded of a huge refuse pile of odd parts that do not fit together.
“Look at those two houses,” Yarqi said, pointing in another direction. “It looks like they are melded together.”
“This is a place that shouldn’t exist,” Aradin stated.
Rhuna pondered Aradin’s statement as they proceeded along the street, wary of their surroundings and people they passed until they came upon a low wall made of even rectangular stone blocks. Rhuna recognized the Atlan workmanship again, and stepped closer to it.
“Oh, it’s the river!” she exclaimed. The gentle sound of rushing and gurgling water instantly soothed her distraught state of mind, and she remained standing quietly for a while watching the flowing river.
“Flowing water always feels good,” Yarqi said softly, and Rhuna nodded. As the group looked at the city from their pleasant viewpoint on the river’s edge, Rhuna noticed a small jagged rock jutting out in the middle of the stream. She saw several lengths of seaweed or other leafy plant strung around the tip of the rock, and the remainder of the plant flapped around vigorously in the disturbed current behind the rock.
A flash of understanding suddenly struck Rhuna as she observed the whirlpools caused by the protruding rock. She thought of the river’s current as the flow of time, and the rock as the Dark Master’s appearance in a past time, disturbing the natural course of events just like the jutting rock caused turbulence and eddies in its wake.
“What are you looked at?” asked Aradin, placing his arm around her.
“That rock sticking up out of the river,” she said, pointing. “It just helped me understand what is happening. The water is like the flow of time, but the Dark Master’s sudden presence in the past is like that rock, out of place and disturbing everything around it.”
“And those weeds stuck to it are being tosse
d around, like the way events and even people’s lives are being disturbed and changed by the interference in the flow of time,” Aradin concluded.
Rhuna continued to contemplate this effective illustration of the Dark Master’s interference in the flow of time as they continued their walk through the streets of the Black City.
“Look at that!” Mohandu remarked as they reached another corner and intersection of roads. The main street ahead of them led directly to the tall, spindly black spires she had seen from a distance, and they looked much more imposing at close range.
“What are they?” Rhuna wondered.
“Let’s go nearer,” Aradin said, staring at the strange sight. They continued in silence, ambling casually along the wide street, avoiding direct eye contact with other people. Rhuna frequently peered to her side to glimpse the various types of buildings, noting that each one was unique and quite different from the next. One house had only a thick metal door, firmly shut, while another had an open terrace and wide windows. Another building appeared to be a public inn, but when Rhuna looked more closely, she realized the people were all reclining as if in some intoxicating stupor. As she wondered whether the patrons had partaken of hallucinatory herbs, she suddenly became aware of a disturbing noise. The clashing sounds were rhythmical despite their dissonance, and Rhuna wondered if it was music.
“What’s that awful noise?” Aradin asked.
Rhuna listened a while longer until she could distinguish drum beats and cymbal clashes.
“Music,” she said.
Before long, they had reached the source of the disharmony, and they stopped briefly to take in the sight. An open area between buildings was filled with people, moving like an agitated sea in a storm. Some shouted, others tangled with each other, and several people were engaged in a fight.
Rhuna feared they would witness another violent death as several people, men and women of various ages, tumbled onto the street, screaming with anger and hatred. They stopped and watched, relieved when they appeared to calm down and return to the crowd surrounding the music-makers.
“I think the music is making them like that,” Yarqi commented. “It’s so angry and aggressive.”
Rhuna- Black City Page 11
