“Angry and aggressive,” Rhuna repeated thoughtfully. “That’s what this city looks and feels like.”
“Like those black spires up ahead,” Aradin said as he slowed to a stop and observed the structure carefully. The base of the spindly spires looked jagged and lopsided, with smooth black tiles on some sides which reflected muted sunlight.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Rhuna said in a hushed tone.
“Nor I,” Mohandu whispered.
“It reminds me of…the Dark One himself,” Yarqi whispered, causing a chill to rise up Rhuna’s spine.
As they stood and looked, people dressed in black robes and cloaks began to emerge from the unearthly structure, scurrying away in every direction so that Rhuna thought they resembled poisonous black spiders gushing from their nest.
“Are they…the Mages?” Aradin asked, bewildered by the uncanny sight.
“Yes!” hissed a strange voice behind them, and Rhuna jumped with fright as a bony hand grabbed her upper arm and dragged her into a doorway. “Come in here! Quickly!”
Rhuna instinctively tugged herself free, but obeyed the stranger’s command as Aradin, Mohandu and Yarqi quickly reacted. They entered the dark portal and waited fearfully as the stranger slammed the door shut behind them.
Inside, the darkness shrouded the stranger’s face, but Rhuna surmised it was an older woman who knew their language.
“Come this way,” croaked the elderly voice, and Rhuna followed the shuffling sound of her feet along a corridor. Another door creaked open, revealing a room filled with warm, soft light.
Rhuna stepped into the comfortable room and looked around briefly before looking closely at the small woman who had dragged them inside. She was startled to see that the woman had Atlan features but light-brown leathery skin with many fine lines around her eyes and mouth.
“You are obviously strangers,” she said, keeping her voice very low.
“Yes, we are,” Aradin answered cautiously.
“You must avoid the Mages,” the old woman said in a hoarse whisper. “If they want your valuable items, they will take them or kill you, if you refuse!”
“We did not know that,” Mohandu responded in a frightened whisper.
“It was not always so,” the old woman replied, shaking her head and looking away. “Things change so quickly…”
“What was that strange building they came out of?” Rhuna asked.
“The Conflux. It was made as an expression of their belief…their teachings,” she said with bitterness. “In honour of their leader, The Immortal One.”
“It sounds like you don’t approve of them,” Aradin said.
“Of course not!” the woman spat with sudden passion. She began to fidget nervously as she turned around and crept towards the door she had secured behind them. Rhuna watched as the old woman slowly reached for a small window in the door, sliding it open with one of her long, bony fingers. She looked through the tiny hole and watched for a short time before sliding it shut and stepping back into the middle of the cosy room.
“Where are you staying?”
“We have an encampment outside the city,” Mohandu answered.
“Not good,” said the woman shaking her head adamantly. “Not good,” she repeated as she began to pace. “You have to stay here until it is safe again.”
“What’s happening out there?” Rhuna asked, looking fearfully at the door where the old woman had peeked through a special little hole.
“They are terrorising everyone on the street,” she answered with a slight tremor in her voice. “Using their uncanny powers!”
“Uncanny powers? What exactly are they doing? Aradin asked, and took a step towards the door.
“No! Do not look!” the woman screeched, sudden panic and fear etched deep in her face.
Aradin stopped and turned back to face the frightened old woman. She sighed deeply with relief, and then began to explain her reaction.
“Sometimes they know if you are watching them in stealth. Sometimes they can hurt you from a distance, even when you think you are safe!”
“Just to get valuables?” Yarqi wondered.
“They do whatever they want!” spat the old woman. “Sometimes to get valuables, sometimes for their own amusement, because they have power over the rest of us.”
Yarqi looked at Rhuna with her piercing dark eyes. “This is how the Conjurers in Judharo would have become, had the city not been destroyed,” she stated soberly.
“There was another city of Mages?” the old woman asked, wide-eyed with surprise and curiosity.
“Yes, in the land called Varappa,” Yarqi answered.
The woman nodded. “Many traders from Varappa pass through here, and others go there,” she said, and then looked questioningly at Aradin. “Did the Mages come from there?”
“Yes, we think so,” Aradin answered, and then looked at Rhuna before he continued. “We want to try to stop them.”
“Stop them? Stop the Mages?” the old woman repeated incredulously. “Ha! You must be irrational!” she said with a forced laugh. She turned away and walked towards some seating cushions and a small table with unusual pots and drinking vessels.
“Sit down,” she said. “Wait until it is safe for you to return to your camp.”
Rhuna sat next to Aradin on one side of their host, while Mohandu and Yarqi used the seating cushions on the other side. They sat in silence as the woman began to pour a pale and fragrant beverage into delicately curved drinking cups.
“What is this?” Mohandu asked when she handed a cup to him.
“Tea, of course,” the woman answered. “Don’t you know tea?”
“We are used to a different kind of tea,” Yarqi answered as she took the cup handed to her.
“We are grateful for your hospitality,” Mohandu said after taking a careful sip.
“We didn’t expect to find anyone who would help us,” Aradin said.
“Not many would. I am different,” the woman said. “They think I am delusional.”
“You said that before already,” Rhuna remarked. “What do you mean?” Rhuna sipped her tea and realized it was the kind of tea given to her by the travelling merchants who first told her about the strange city in the wilderness called the Black City.
“People around here say that I – and my house – suddenly appeared here only recently,” the old woman began awkwardly. “But I know I’ve lived here all my life! My family’s lineage goes back many generations, right here, in this house!” she said forcefully, pointing to the floor with a crooked finger.
Silence followed as Rhuna struggled to comprehend the strange time-distorting dilemma of the woman’s origin.
“They say your house appeared suddenly…just like that?” Aradin asked, snapping his fingers.
The woman nodded.
“We’ve heard that this is what happens here in this city,” Aradin continued cautiously.
“Yes, it does,” the woman replied. “Like that monstrosity called The Conflux. A normal house stood there one day, and the next morning there was that ugly black thing!”
“What do other people in this city say about such buildings appearing just like that?” asked Yarqi, trying to snap her fingers.
“They say nothing, they do nothing. They think nothing!” said the woman with frustration. She took a large sip of tea, finishing her cup, and then poured more from the pot.
“But you care,” Rhuna said, looking at the woman closely. She thought she could almost recognize her familiar Atlan features, but then dismissed the irrational notion.
“We think…” Rhuna began slowly, looking at Aradin for approval. “We think it has to do with changes in the past.”
“Changes in the past? What does that mean?” the woman asked irritably.
Aradin cleared his throat, and Rhuna waited for him to speak.
“A powerful Mage – their leader known as The Immortal One - found a way to manipulate time,” he began slowly. “He went
from this present time into a time many generations in the past where he founded this city, and whatever he does in that past results in these sudden changes in our present time.”
Rhuna looked fondly at Aradin, proud of his ability to express a complicated matter so eloquently. Then she looked at the old woman who continued to stare blankly at Aradin. Suddenly she began to laugh.
“Manipulate time? Went into the past?!” The old woman scoffed and waved her bony hand dismissively. “You are even more delusional than I am!”
“It is difficult to comprehend at first,” Mohandu said as his head began to nod excessively. “I also could not comprehend at first, yet I know…”
“You should go now!” the old woman interrupted as she stood up abruptly. “What nonsense!”
“What other explanation is there?” Aradin asked, hoping to reason with the woman.
“The uncanny powers of the Mages, of course!” snapped the woman as she strode towards the door. Rhuna stood up and followed her as she peered through the secret hole in the door.
“Are they gone now?” Rhuna asked.
“It is safe for you to go now,” the old woman said in level tone, her face without expression.
“It was kind of you to let us stay here a while,” Rhuna said as she followed Aradin outside.
“What is your name?” Yarqi asked as she passed the old woman. Rhuna looked back, curious to hear the woman’s reply. The old woman hesitated, looked at Rhuna and squinted her eyes at the bright daylight.
“It is Almara,” she said, and then quickly closed her door behind them.
Rhuna stepped out onto the street, looking nervously in each direction as a chill swept over her like a cold wind. She looked around at Aradin, Yarqi and Mohandu whose faces reflected her own unease.
“We should get back to the trading area,” Aradin said, striding firmly in the direction they had come before the threat of the Mages emptied the street of people. Rhuna looked around and saw only a few people on the street that had been bustling with activity only a short time ago.
They arrived at the trading plaza without further incident or unusual events apart from the emptied streets and strange chill in the air. Rhuna glanced briefly at the few people standing around and thought their faces had a disturbingly empty expression.
“We are almost finished,” Ogul said when Rhuna’s group approached his trading area. Rhuna noticed that the hessian bags of vegetables were empty, and a stack of bundled textiles and similar items stood in their place.
“Did the Mages come past here?” Yarqi asked, looking around for any evidence that they may have used their uncanny powers there.
“No,” Ogul answered with a concerned expression. “But we heard they were about.”
“We saw them coming out of that strange black building with the long spires,” Rhuna explained.
Ogul signalled them to be silent as a stranger approached them carrying trade goods. Rhuna turned around to face Yarqi and Mohandu behind her, and then looked around for the other two members of their group.
“Where are Goll and Panapu?” she asked.
“Here they come now,” Mohandu said, nodding his head and looking in their direction.
Rhuna was relieved to see that they appeared to be unharmed and not disturbed by anything they experienced.
“What did you see in there?” Rhuna asked Goll. She noticed an excited expression in his pale face and wondered what had happened.
“The building we entered contains historical records and texts,” Goll answered, his voice full of tender affection. “It was even permissible for me to make a copy of the most relevant records.”
“A copy?”
Goll surreptitiously opened the front of his overcoat so that Rhuna could see part of a rolled parchment tucked into an inner pocket. He then showed her a small bundle of writing utensils and ink bottles stashed neatly in his waistcoat.
“Did you find anything of interest?” Goll asked as Rhuna glanced at the well-hidden copy.
“We had a frightening experience when someone was killed right in front of us,” Rhuna began but stopped when she saw Goll’s horrified reaction.
“No one reacted, and just kept passing by,” Aradin added.
“Bad people here,” Panapu grumbled in his rough, deep voice. The giant bald man looked around with narrow, suspicious eyes. “Should kill killers!”
“Psst! You must not interfere!” Ogul hissed as he leaned towards them. “Remember my warning!”
Rhuna imagined that Panapu should not have attempted to save the man from a violent death, and then realized that it was best that Panapu had accompanied Goll instead.
“What a terrible place!” Rhuna whispered to Aradin as they lingered around the trading area. “No one cares about another, and someone’s death is as meaningless as…stepping on a bug,” she added as she trod on an insect that had emerged from the dry hay strewn across the ground.
Before long, Ogul and his sister announced the completion of their trade transactions, and Rhuna helped them pack their goods onto the camels. She noticed that some of the hessian sacks had been filled with small white grains.
“Let us hurry,” Ogul whispered as he took the reins of his camel and began to lead them out of the Black City. “We should return to Axla as soon as possible,” he added as he passed Rhuna and Aradin. “The danger is great today.”
Part Four
(The Inn)
Rhuna followed Ogul and his sister through the city gate and past a long camel caravan entering the Black City. Everyone remained silent, obediently heeding Ogul’s warnings until they traversed several sandy mounds and could no longer see the city’s towering spires.
“There was great danger in the city today,” Ogul said gravely as he stopped and turned to face Rhuna’s group.
“We know,” she responded. “We saw the Mages come out of the strange black building.”
“What did they do?” Mohandu asked. “We found shelter until they were gone.”
Ogul looked at each one of them with a stern expression before he spoke.
“The Mages heard that Atlans had entered the city, and they were prepared to kill them – kill you – had they found you,” he said in a slow, deliberate tone.
Rhuna let the significance of Ogul’s words sink in before she reacted.
“But…how did they know?” she asked feebly. Yarqi released a heavy sigh of relief mingled with dread, and Mohandu shook his head briskly.
“How fortunate that Almara was there to save us!” Aradin said almost breathlessly.
“Who is Almara?” Ogul asked, his eyes narrow with suspicion.
“An old woman of Atlan descent who saw that we were strangers and needed help,” Yarqi answered.
Ogul frowned as he contemplated Yarqi’s answer. “Very unusual,” he finally stated.
“People of the Black City do not care about each other, and would not help strangers,” Ogul’s sister explained.
“We noticed that,” Rhuna said, thinking of the horrific killing they had witnessed which elicited no reaction at all from the city’s inhabitants.
“How did the Mages know of our arrival?” Mohandu repeated Rhuna’s question. “They must have a way of perceiving events, like the Gazing of the Waters,” he added with a nervous bob of his head.
“We should have thought of that,” Aradin said sharply. “We walked into a lion’s den!”
“We warned you,” Ogul said sternly, and then grabbed the reins of his camel. “We should return to Axla as quickly as possible,” he said as he prepared to mount his camel.
Rhuna and the others followed his lead, and soon they had pushed their camels into a fast gait. The rhythmic swaying that almost lulled her to sleep on the inward journey had become a jarring pummelling on her body, and she was relieved when Ogul finally slowed the camel train to a fast walk.
As the sun made its final descent, Rhuna expected Ogul to stop the camel train and make an encampment for the night. Her entire
body ached from the unaccustomed strain of bouncing in a saddle for almost half a day, and she became desperate when the camels continued their fast pace.
“Aren’t we stopping for the night?” Rhuna called out to Ogul. His shadowed form jiggled on the camel in front of Rhuna’s, and at first he appeared not to respond.
“We are going back to Axla as quickly as possible,” he called out in reply. “The moonlight is bright enough, and the camels know the way.”
Rhuna sensed great tension in Ogul’s voice, and she assumed he was afraid of the Mages. Suddenly fearful, she spun her head around to look at the faint horizon behind them for any signs of pursuit.
“I think he’s afraid that we’re being followed by the Mages,” Aradin said as he prompted his camel to trot alongside Rhuna’s animal.
“I can understand that,” Rhuna muttered as she suppressed her physical discomfort.
“I’ve already looked back several times,” Aradin continued. “I didn’t see anyone following us.”
Feeling only slightly relieved, Rhuna resigned herself to the uncomfortable ride back to Axla, hoping their fears of pursuit were unfounded, and that she could sleep peacefully in a soft bed when they returned.
The near-full moon was high in the night sky when Rhuna recognized the boxy silhouettes of Axla’s houses just above the low rise of another sandy ridge. She breathed a sigh of relief as the shadows slowly revealed more of the low, flat houses. Not a single lamp shone from any of the township’s windows, but the roads were bathed in just enough soft moonlight to guide them to their destination.
Grateful to be on the ground again, Rhuna and the others helped Ogul and his sister to unload the goods from the camels and lead the animals into their pens. The gentle sounds they made were enough to wake some of the nearby residents who came out of their houses carrying candles and expressing surprise at the unusual night-time arrival.
Rhuna listened to the hushed exchange of a foreign language between Ogul and some of the Axlan residents, and then followed Ogul’s sister to the two houses that served as their temporary accommodation.
Rhuna- Black City Page 12
