Soldiers of the Heavens

by Stephen L. Nowland

  Behind a desk sat a woman, small by the standards of the others populating the fort, but just as heavy-set. Her face was refined and quite attractive, which seemed odd on such a large frame. Her dark eyes took in every detail about the newcomers as she sipped from a wooden cup of steaming liquid. On a mantle behind her rested a massive arbalest, lovingly cared for despite its obvious age.

  “These people were found watching the camp, Marshal,” Carthack reported to the woman, who was clearly in charge.

  “They are not of our kind,” she remarked with soft words. “Did they offer any resistance?”

  “None. I do not believe they have hostile intent, in spite of the weapons they carry. They do not speak our language, yet they have some magic which allows us to communicate.”

  “I see,” the marshal noted, placing the cup on the table before her. “You and your men are dismissed, Carthack. Return to your hunt and report back here when you are done.”

  Carthack inclined his head in assent, then turned and led his men back out through the door which was closed behind them, leaving Aiden and his companions to speak with the marshal in private.

  “I am Marshal Jenovia Maxis,” she said, glancing at each of them in turn as if trying to determine who to address. “Please, be seated.”

  “I prefer to stand,” Robert replied, causing a brief look of astonishment to flash over the marshal's features as Sayana's voice spoke in her mind.

  “Magic indeed,” Jenovia remarked. Her eyes flitted around the room, as if searching for something before returning back to Robert.

  She saw me, Sayana warned. This woman harbours power beyond her station. Be cautious.

  “Sit or stand as you wish, it is of little matter to me,” Jenovia continued. “I see you have an interesting companion who wishes to remain hidden. I find this rude.” Her eyes rolled back into her head and she whispered unknown words, which Sayana evidently did not translate. Then, the sorceress suddenly appeared above them, fully visible to all present.

  You could simply have asked, Sayana said as she descended to the floor.

  “It was an opportunity to show I am not without the ability to defend myself, if the need arises. What are your names?” the marshal asked. Aiden introduced each of them in turn.

  “I offer you greetings, strangers,” she said after Aiden had finished. “I would provide you food and water as is our custom, but our supplies are limited and our situation grave. No doubt you have seen our plight on your way through the courtyard.”

  “Yes, your people are clearly suffering here, Marshal,” Nellise answered. “If you have wounded or sick, I can offer my services to aid you.”

  “That would be welcome, but I have other questions first. Your clothing and manner of dress, as well as your spoken words... you are not from anywhere nearby. From where have you travelled?”

  “A far away land,” Aiden replied cautiously, unsure if he should inform her of the unique manner of their arrival.”

  “You are dancing around the truth,” Jenovia remarked coldly. “I appreciate plain-spoken people and have no patience for games. You came from the south, yes?”

  “Yes, I believe so,” Aiden confirmed. “The unmoving sun made navigation a little more challenging. I don't suppose you can enlighten us about that?”

  “In time,” the marshal responded via Sayana's voice. “I will be blunt — did you come through the portal?”

  “Yes,” Terinus answered. “But you knew that already, didn't you?”

  “My engineers tell me there was a strange fluctuation in the generators earlier, which puzzled us until you arrived,” Jenovia explained evenly. “This was especially curious since the portal is known to be broken.”

  “One may arrive on this world, but no one may depart,” Terinus rasped. “We need to leave as soon as possible, and require your aid to do so. But then... if you could fix the portal, you would have done so already.”

  “It was my faint hope you had managed to repair it,” the marshal replied, crestfallen. “You appear to be stranded here, just as we are.”

  “Wait, this is not your world either?” Pacian asked.

  “No, my people came through the portal long ago. We are the Escardi, or what is left of them in any case. There were thousands of us, fleeing a calamity which was devouring our home, only to arrive on a dying world with no chance of escape. We lack the knowledge required to make the portal function properly, and so we have been forced to endure this harsh world for decades in the hope of figuring out a way to leave.”

  “Do you know what happened to this world?” Nellise asked. “I find the concept of the sun frozen in the sky quite unsettling.”

  “We attempted to explore the area soon after our arrival,” Jenovia explained. “The city of Botai lies not far from here, and it was our first destination. If we knew what was in store for us, we would have turned and fled into the wilderness. Hundreds died in the first two weeks. The records from that time are vague, and have been distorted with time. Legends tell of people who simply became ill and died, while others spoke of terrible spectres rising from the grave.”

  “So, we'll be avoiding the city then,” Robert remarked dryly. “If you're not the original inhabitants, have you seen any of them?”

  “That's just it — I think my ancestors did,” Jenovia whispered. “I don't know what befell the people of this world, but they died long ago. My people have passed down the legends of our home, generation after generation. All of us here save one were born on this world, and the concept of a sun that moves in the sky is as alien to us as this appears to you. Nevertheless, our legends tell us it was not this way in our home, and so we think whatever catastrophe caused the sun to stop moving is connected to the extinction of the population.”

  “It is not the sun which has ceased motion, but rather the world itself which is turning at a rate slow enough to make the sun appear to be standing still,” Terinus corrected, drawing a blank look from Jenovia.

  “If that's correct,” Aiden added, “then you could travel in the direction of the sun and it would appear higher in the sky. You could find a more hospitable climate to live in.”

  “Under the layer of snow and ice there is nothing but blackened earth,” Jenovia answered. “Insect-like creatures the size of a man roam the earth, hunting anything that moves. This fort is the only defensible structure we found, and so we stayed here to make the best of our situation, and for another, more important reason.”

  “The devices within the central chamber,” Aiden finished. “You're still hoping to reopen the portal someday. That's what those cables are for, yes?”

  “Correct. Few things were retrieved from the ruinous visit to Botai on our arrival, but one of them was a decaying book which described a source of power that might be enough to make the portal work again. Those who originally translated the text did what they could to make it work, but they died before their task was complete. The knowledge has been passed down through the generations, but we have never been able to complete the great task. Life in this place has diminished our numbers, and only one remains who remembers the sacred tome of knowledge in sufficient detail.”

  “We will meet with this individual,” Terinus stated, “and you will allow us to see this device you are attempting to restore. I have knowledge required to service such machines.” Jenovia's eyes lit up at this statement, and she immediately stood and headed for the door with excitement in her step.

  “Come, I will show you the ancient device.” Aiden exchanged a glance with Terinus as he and the others followed her back down the hallway to the large chamber they passed earlier. At Jenovia's command, the doors were flung open and a number of people within the chamber parted to allow the group inside.

  The earlier glimpse Aiden had of the chamber did not do it justice. Far above them, the ceiling could be seen amid flickers of dim torchlight. Two massive blocks of stone with dark metal laced through the cracks filled much of the chamber, disappearing into the darkness a
bove. Each was four yards wide, with a two-yard gap running between them, all the way to the rear of the chamber. It wasn't the size that caught Aiden's eye, but the design which was all too familiar.

  “This is sa’quaarin artifice,” Terinus rasped, drawing the same conclusion.

  “I think we may have just figured out what devastated this world,” Aiden grimly added, recalling the vision of a city obliterated by fires from above.

  “Dear god,” Nellise breathed. “We are standing in what could be Aielund's future.”

  Chapter Ten

  Sayana stood alone in the corner of the chamber, resisting the urge to levitate. Bottling up the energy surging through her made her leg twitch unconsciously, but it was preferable to drawing undue attention to herself. The last thing Sayana wanted was to be thought of as a witch or demon by these simple folk. If she was forced to defend herself, things would get bloody.

  Nellise had gone off to see to the needs of the sick and wounded overflowing the courtyard, taking Pacian along as bodyguard. Sayana suspected the cleric had actually asked him to accompany her so she could coax him into helping with the healing efforts. Despite his dour demeanour of late, Pacian had recently been able to channel healing energies in the same manner as Nellise, and she had never stopped trying to guide him back onto that path.

  Robert sat nearby, puffing on a cigar while watching Aiden and Terinus as they examined the ancient devices. Most of this seemed well beyond his experience, but the mercenary had a way of distilling complex issues down to basic concepts. In this case, the reopening of the portal was beyond his understanding, so he let others concern themselves with it while he relaxed, cat-like and worry-free. Sayana both envied and admired him for it.

  Aiden and Terinus, their two resident experts on sa'quaarin artifice, were suitably impressed with the enormous device, and conferred with the escardi 'Keeper of Knowledge' as to its workings. His name was Ovis, and he was the sole remaining sage who had memorised the ancient texts. He was very young when the book had been recovered and was the first to memorise its contents in full. Now well into his ninth decade, it seemed possible he would take that information with him when he passed, for this society was focused soley on survival.

  He was a genial old fellow, eager to exchange knowledge about his favourite topic with those he deemed to be his contemporaries, and gave Sayana a headache in the process. She continued translating between the two parties, but the technical nature of their discussion proved to be quite challenging. Still, it helped to keep her mind off her twitching leg.

  “When we first discovered the ancient text,” Ovis explained, “my masters spent months figuring it all out. The devices were not whole, and work needed to be done to restore them to their original state. That effort took the better part of a decade, and their disappointment was palpable when they finished and discovered it did not work.”

  “It's quite an impressive result, regardless,” Terinus remarked from on top of a ladder leaning against the side of one of the slab-like devices. “To rebuild relics as advanced as these, with little more than the instruction manual is a feat of patience spanning generations.”

  “I have been personally involved in rebuilding both of them from the ground up, in an effort to determine the fault,” Ovis announced proudly. “Alas, our efforts revealed nothing.”

  “The ancient text you speak of was either incomplete, or simply did not cover details of the third component,” Terinus said as he descended the ladder. “Do you see the gap down there?”

  “I do,” Ovis replied patiently, his eyes following the wizard's finger to a place on the side of the device's wall where the innards of the contraption could be seen. “That is as I was instructed, by he who discovered the text.”

  “I do not mean to question your memory or the sacrifice of your forebears,” Terinus rasped, “but there is a similar gap on the device opposite. My suspicion is they are meant to be linked in order to function.”

  “An interesting theory, but it was never mentioned in the texts,” Ovis answered.

  “I think we can do something about that. Aiden, would you care to do a little research?”

  “I'm already on it,” he replied, studying the glowing pages of the Lexicon before him. “I've found the right page, though I can't figure out much of the text without further study. But there's a diagram. Here are pictures of both of your big devices, quite clearly with a linking mechanism on the ground between them. It's rather like a bridge, with a crystal mounted in the middle.”

  Ovis peered down at the pages in awe, shaking with the surge of emotion running through his old frame.

  “You have the ancient texts in your magic box?” he whispered. “All of this time, we have laboured to repair them, yet never have we had all of the pieces. So much effort, all for naught.”

  “All is not lost,” Terinus replied soberly. “The longevity of sa'quaarin artifice is such, that we may still be able to recover an intact link. Do you remember where your ancestors first discovered the 'ancient text'? It may be a place where spare parts were once stored.”

  “Legend says the First People found a place of warmth amongst the incessant cold, a place of brilliant light where great knowledge was kept. But something else dwelled within those halls, something terrifying in its might. Our people took what they could and ran, and only half of those made it out alive.”

  “Where was this 'place of warmth'?” Aiden pressed.

  “The First People went to the great city, but it is a large place and the precise location is lost to the ages,” Ovis explained. “I was but a child at the time and did not go to the city.”

  “And nobody has been back there since?”

  “Some have braved the perils of the city over the years seeking lost knowledge,” Ovis responded. “They were never seen again. Something dark lives in that forsaken city, my young friend. Even the very air is thought to be poisonous, for many of the First People died on their return to this fort having never been struck or wounded. You would do well to heed my counsel, for to travel to Botai is to risk a grisly death.”

  “We can't stay here,” Aiden said. “There is too much at stake back in our homeland.”

  “You're underestimating the danger,” Jenovia interjected, watching from the doorway.

  “You're unfamiliar with our strength,” Robert said, speaking up for the first time since they'd entered the chamber.

  “I want nothing more than to lead our people from this frozen hell, but you cannot enter Botai unprepared and expect things to go your way.”

  “We won't be,” Robert replied. “Sy, could you take a look for us and see if there's anything nasty waiting in the shadows?”

  I can, Sayana replied as all eyes turned to her. This may take a few minutes, during which time I will not be able to translate for you. Could you please tell me the direction of the city?

  Jenovia raised a hand and pointed, watching Sayana curiously all the while. The sorceress knew the escardi leader possessed a good measure of power, but it was subtle and not fully under her control. She was surrounded by a swirling torrent of energy, barely visible even to Sayana's enhanced sight, but resembling the aura surrounding living beings. Jenovia appeared to be a conduit for spiritual forces, who protected and possibly even communicated with her.

  Storing this information for later, Sayana relaxed her telepathic influence over the others and tilted her head. Focusing her thoughts on their surroundings, she could see herself standing in the room with everyone else, and with a casual thought sent her inner vision out the door and through the halls of the fort. Faster and faster it went, leaving the confines of the ancient edifice, heading in the direction Jenovia had pointed.

  A pathway of sorts could be seen through the dead forest, clear even after all this time. Her vision whipped past the blackened husks of trees, and passed by large craters that spanned hundreds of yards. Low buildings were visible on the horizon, and in the blink of an eye, Sayana looked down upon the ruins of a
once-great city, half frozen in a glacial wall a hundred yards high.

  Those parts of the city not entombed in ice were littered with crumbling buildings, most of them intact. Like the rest of the landscape, it appeared to be devoid of life, so Sayana concentrated and narrowed her vision further.

  Walls flashed past, the remnants of a living city fallen into decay. If Sayana could have seen her own face, she would have noticed a slight crease on her forehead, for even at this distance she could sense a strange energy permeating the city. The intensity of the energy grew stronger as she plunged through the cracked flagstones in pursuit of answers.

  It was now taking quite an effort of concentration to maintain her vision. Something unusual was happening, forcing her to muster all of her considerable will to keep going. She held focus a little while longer and caught a glimpse of something bright just at the edge of her vision, right before the image suddenly vanished.

  Sayana reeled in shock as her focus snapped back to her surroundings, and it took a moment to recover from the sudden transition.

  “Are you alright?” Robert asked, hesitantly moving towards her to offer her help if need be. She held up a hand to stave off his advance as she shook off the sudden disconnect.

  I saw the bright light Ovis spoke of, Sayana announced, causing intense interest to spark amongst her audience. The place was warm, deep underground, but something cut off my vision as I closed in. I felt a presence... I'm not sure what it was though.

  “You felt the spirits of all those who perished in the city,” Jenovia counselled. “The unquiet dead, seeking to find rest that will never come.”