Four Sunrises

by J C Maynard

  “But we don’t have time for this. You’ve been in the Evertauri for what, two years now, and yet you can’t control your —”

  “Emotions, yes I know! Aunika we’ve been at this for an hour.”

  “Oh I’m sorry,” she said, “is there something more pressing that you have to do? Sometimes I think you forget we are fighting a war; even Dalah understands that. Queen Xandria’s only disadvantage is our existence; we all have to be ready to do anything to overthrow her.”

  “I know,” said Calleneck.

  “Then show me you care. You’re strong sorcery compared to others your age in the Evertauri. I’m just trying to help you; I can’t see you dead in battle . . . Focus. Focus on the energy. Focus on your mind.”

  Crimson embers erupted from his hand, lighting the cavern. He channeled the column of light into the rock wall in front of him. The wall glowed red. He pushed harder, forcing the energy through the stagnant air. A deep rumbling could be heard over Calleneck’s heavy breathing. A fracture appeared in the wall, and soon hundreds of pounds of rock instantly shattered, falling to the cavern floor ahead of him. He stopped the flow of energy and caught his breath.

  Aunika looked satisfied. “I’ll be back.” She left through the entryway of the cave, and Calleneck sat on the cold stone floor next to a stalagmite to rest.

  The caves were unfinished sections of the abandoned underground city created by the once powerful goblins of Cerebria, who had spent hundreds of years building the massive subterranean Network. But a few years before Calleneck was born, their race had been hunted and killed in a mass genocide ordered by Queen Xandria. Inhabiting the goblins’ cities without their consent made Calleneck feel unwelcome, but it was the only place where the Evertauri could operate in secrecy.

  Because he was covered in sweat, he took off his cloak momentarily before any officials saw. The skin on his chest was severely burned and contorted from his branding. The Evertauri did not tolerate mistakes.

  He thought back to the day he was marked. It was after Aunika — unbeknownst to Calleneck — joined the Evertauri that he discovered his gift of sorcery; but the way in which he learned was not a pleasant memory. He remembered the explosion of magic that threw him to his knees, crushing him into the wet cobblestone. He remembered the columns of crimson flames violently circling his crouched figure at great speeds and the glass shattering from street windows cutting through the air. He thought of the air drumming in his ears like thunder, the crimson embers erupting from his chest and reentering through his back, screams slicing through the cloud of smoke that stretched to the sky. As soon as the incident occurred, the Evertauri came to the scene and rushed him into the tunnels to hide him. Unwilling to show mercy, President Madrick Nebelle branded him to show that he was now a part of them, that others could never know of their existence.

  Snapping back to reality, he covered himself up as Aunika returned through the entryway with two cloaked sorceresses and a skinny, ugly pig on a rope. Calleneck stood up and bowed to the guests as Aunika guided the pig to a stalagmite and tied him to it.

  “All right Calleneck, obviously you can’t practice on a human, but this is close. Kill it quickly.”

  Calleneck looked at the pile of broken rock ahead of him and took a deep breath in. Crimson sparks sprung from his hand. He channeled them into a column of energy and forced them into the pig. The pig began to squeal in pain and writhe on the floor.

  “Don’t torture it, just kill it.” Aunika said.

  Calleneck drilled the sparks into the bones of the pig and shattered them, sending fragments of bone slicing through the organs of the pig. It flopped on the stone, lifeless.

  “An efficient way to kill a soldier.” said a woman watching. “Once mastered, it will take only seconds to take down a dozen enemies. You are exceeding expectations. I think we are done here. Thank you Miss Bernoil for aiding your brother in his training.”

  “Of course.” Aunika replied as she exited the cave. Calleneck followed her out, passing by tunnels and rooms, each glowing with various colors. Violet flashes, golden waves of light, and green flames dotted the corridors.

  Calleneck halted when a liquid-like yellow energy beat in waves along every corridor. Summonings of the whole Evertauri by President Madrick Nebelle’ are usually silver, he thought, but this was yellow . . . Something was off. He changed direction and headed toward the Nexus.

  The Nexus stretched fifteen stories high, yet still remained far under the surface of Seirnkov. It was the central city square, the heart of the Network to which all tunnels lead. Open like a giant foyer or courtyard, it was lined with balconies, halls, libraries, and dorms on each floor of the central square.

  Light from thousands of torches filled the giant city square where hundreds of cloaked figures began to gather. On a balcony above the central square stood Sir Borius Shipton, whose body emitted waves of yellow light with each of his heart beats. Sir Borius, second in command to President Madrick Nebelle, had very dark skin, a stern face, and a strong regard for justice. The crowd of sorcerers stood in complete silence as the last of the Evertauri funneled in. Calleneck squeezed next to fellow rebels against Queen Xandria to listen. The beating yellow light stopped, and Sir Borius Shipton stepped forward.

  “I have come to address you on behalf of our leader, President Nebelle.” The stone of the Nexus amplified his voice. “The reason for his absence today: the Council has received word from our spies that his son, Shonnar Nebelle, has been killed on a mission for the Evertauri. Sir Nebelle has asked me to take command for the next week to allow him to clear his mind.”

  Yelling voices echoed from a side hallway; many of the Evertauri looked over to see the source. A man and a woman, being dragged by guards, emerged from the tunnel with green ropes of energy binding their feet and hands. Their faces bled and they let out cries of anguish, screaming for help. “The Council of the Evertauri also would like to remind you that any disloyalty is punishable by death.” The two Evertauri were then tied to a stone column underneath the Sir Borius’s balcony. “Two of our Council Members accompanied Shonnar Nebelle on his mission. When the Cerebrian Guard became suspicious of the three, these two ran away, leaving Shonnar with one option.”

  Calleneck shook his head. He blew himself up to erase evidence and kill the Guard. He looked over and saw his sister, Dalah, covering her mouth with her hand from within her cloak.

  “Due to the heroic actions of Shonnar Nebelle, our secrecy remains. However, these two Evertauri have committed treason by cowardice . . . and they will suffer their companion’s fate.”

  He raised both of his hands and emitted streams of yellow light that spiraled down into the bodies of the two. They both cried out in pain. Because it was everyone's duty to stand for justice, the crowd of cloaked figures raised their hands. A collage of colors soared from their hands and into the bodies of the traitors. Calleneck watched as his crimson beam pounded into the body of the man. He glanced over at Dalah; she held a stream of shimmering gold in the air and reluctantly sent it gently into the heart of the woman. Such a young, innocent girl, forced to aid in the death of another human being.

  The energy inside of the traitors grew until it was too much to bear and they fell limp on the stone column. Borius Shipton looked out into the sea of black cloaks. “Dismissed.”

  Calleneck and his closest friend, Tallius, waited in line for a dinner portion.

  The cold eating hall hung high and many torches and candles illuminated it’s stone walls. Young Dalah sat on a cart of food, handing out rations — one of her duties in the Evertauri. Tallius stood taller than Calleneck with brown hair a bit darker than Calleneck’s honey-brown. Just a year older than Calleneck, Tallius had long, strong legs, and his eyes shone blue.

  “They should’ve known better than to try and escape the Guard.” said Tallius. “If Nebelle hadn’t saved the mission they would've been dead at the hands of Xandria. It’s not the Council that decided to kill them, they decided that
for themselves. Cowards.”

  Calleneck took a step forward in line. “Well the Council isn’t exactly forgiving.”

  “They didn’t kill you. You were just branded.”

  “Tallius —” Calleneck looked sideways at his best friend.

  “Sorry.”

  When he stepped in front of the cart with Tallius, Dalah reached down to get a plate of large carrots, noxlimes, and bread for each of them. Calleneck looked back at Tallius. “Anyway, do you know who will replace Shonnar?”

  “No clue, my guess is that —”

  Dalah turned around. “Aunika will.”

  Calleneck took his food from her and raised an eyebrow.

  “I was surprised too, but she told me herself about twenty minutes ago.”

  “Are you sure she wasn’t just pulling your leg?” asked Tallius.

  Dalah handed him his food. “Why would she do that?”

  “Well she’s your sister.” he replied.

  “Even so,” said Calleneck “Aunika wouldn’t kid. Dalah, did she tell you anything more?”

  "Yes,” she peered over at the other sorcerers who were standing within earshot, "I'll tell you later."

  The boys found a table by a glassless window that looked into the Nexus. A blonde woman sat behind them, and three burly men in front of them. Two horses pulled a cart of food through the street; they were some of the very few horses the Evertauri owned. Few horses tolerated an absence of sun, but the ones who did were used to ship supplies in and out of the Network.

  Tallius and Calleneck discussed the day and their assignments. Tallius bit his bitter carrot and then held it up to examine it. “You know, Cal, I thought after two years of this that I would get used to the food.” Calleneck laughed, but soon stopped; for some reason that he couldn’t place a finger on, Calleneck’s mind kept flashing with images of a dark forest with massive trees. The images were dreamlike, almost like memories. “Cal?” said Tallius. “You’re staring into nothingness.”

  Dalah approached the table and smiled. “He tends to do that.”

  “Sorry, just thinking . . . So tell us what else Aunika told you.”

  Dalah began her meal at the table. “I didn’t get to talk to her much, but she just told me that Borius Shipton had approached her and asked her to fill the spot. I mean, she’s qualified, she’s the best sorceress her age, and better than many who are older.”

  “What will she do?” Tallius asked Dalah.

  “Probably the same as Shonnar did . . . spying on distinguished Crats, relaying information back to the Council, stuff like that . . . it’s truly awful, what happened to him. I wonder when his sister Raelynn will find out. I mean, she’s off in Ferramoor, but no one except her father knows why she left, and it’s classified. What’s strange to me is that he didn’t seem pleased that she left. Maybe it’s not a mission.”

  Calleneck felt like he had spoken with Raelynn recently, even though she had left for Ferramoor weeks ago. The daughter of President Nebelle, Raelynn would surely be devastated to learn of her brother’s death. “Yeah, maybe it’s not. Is President Nebelle okay with the slot being filled this soon? I mean it’s his son that he’s replacing.”

  “Well I think he has to be.” said Tallius.

  A short man with a lazy eye and a girl with rosy cheeks approached the table. Kishk, the overseer and trainer of newcomers into the organization, addressed the three of them. “If I may have a minute of your time Mr. and Miss Bernoil, oh and Mr. Tooble too.” The three nodded. “I am running late on a meeting with the Council — details about Shonnar’s mission and things of the sort — so I don’t have enough time to show this young lady around — she’s quite pleasant you know. I need you three to sit with her and help her adjust — it’s a cruel place down here — don’t tell anyone I said that — so just show her around. All right?” The girl looked about the same age as Calleneck and Tallius with silky chocolate hair and rich blue eyes.

  “Of course,” said Dalah. Kishk the Trainer left the dining hall and the girl sat down next to Tallius and across from Dalah, who introduced the three of them.

  “I’m Lillia Hane,” said the girl. She looked just older than Calleneck — most likely twenty or twenty one.

  “How did you come about joining?” Dalah leaned forward and put an elbow on the table.

  “Well, my family — they live a bit North of Ontraug — they needed me to go find work to help support them, so I came to Seirnkov looking for a job. I was recruited by a woman named Selenora Everrose; she told me they would send money to my family under a fake employer name.”

  “Wait, you were recruited by the Selenora Everrose?” Calleneck interjected. He smiled to the others and back to Lillia. “You must be promising, Selenora is the best sorceresses in the Evertauri. I’d even say she’s more talented than Borius Shipton; he’s second in command here.”

  Tallius nodded. “Selenora is an extremely powerful sorceress. President Madrick Nebelle trained her himself. I’ve only heard stories of the things she can do — topple buildings, disintegrate ships, even manipulate time.”

  Dalah rolled her eyes. “No one has ever confirmed that to be true, Tallius.” She looked back at Lillia Hane. “How much do you know about us?” asked Dalah. “The Evertauri.”

  “A decent amount I guess. They interrogated me for hours and told me what I would be assigned to do. Both the Council and the guards are intimidating. And that — that execution of those two people just made me sick to my stomach; this whole place scares me.”

  “It scares you because we’re serious about what we do,” said Calleneck. “It’s treason to be part of this; but we use our sorcery only for the benefit of Cerebria and to insure its safety against Xandria.”

  “How can you pull off this massive project underneath Xandria’s capital and get away with it?”

  “Secrecy and skill.” said Tallius. “President Madrick Nebelle is the leader of the Evertauri and he founded it some twenty years back, right after the split of the Empire. He thought that sorcerers and spies living in the capital of his enemy nation would be the only way to take down Xandria.”

  “It sure caught me off guard,” replied Lillia. “But that’s another thing, the sorcery. I always thought it was a myth and now I’m supposed to use it.”

  “We’re still learning ourselves,” said Dalah. Kishk the Trainer will teach you the basics soon, and then you will receive training from various other people.”

  Calleneck sat up. “But basically, every human has a sort of . . . ‘energy’ flowing in them, though few can harness it and use it. Now, I don’t know how the recruiters know, but they can tell who can use that power and who cannot. Selenora Everrose recruited you, so you’re obviously capable of it. Every sorcerer or sorceress has a Taurimous.” He looked at Dalah for help. “How should I put this?”

  “It’s kind of like your soul.” Dalah put her hand out; a shimmering golden flame danced around her finger tips. “See, this flame? It isn’t matter, and it’s not really energy; we just call it that. It’s part of your Taurimous, a manifestation of your soul that some of us can control.” Dalah continued. “Every person’s Taurimous portrays itself in a different color. As you can see, my color is gold; Tallius’s is sapphire and Cal’s is crimson and so on.”

  “And what determines that?” Lillia asked.

  Tallius put down his bread. “Nobody really knows. I suppose President Nebelle may have an idea.”

  “But you can produce energy that isn’t your Taurimous’s hue.” said little Dalah as she wrinkled her forehead and changed the little flame in her hand to deep purple. “It doesn’t carry nearly as much energy and power though, and it takes a lot more strength, focus, and skill to control. It’s quite difficult, so most of the Evertauri just stick with the natural color of their Taurimous.” Her flame turned back to a gold. “You’ll find yours soon I bet.”

  Lillia put a finger on her temple. “How does the Evertauri supply itself? It doesn’t seem to have very m
any people.”

  “We have about three thousand members.” said Calleneck. “Most of them are here in the Nexus or above ground on missions in Seirnkov. The rest are stationed throughout the Network.”

  “We’re shipped supplies through secret donors and supporters,” said Tallius. “Some people who aren’t sorcerers grow us food and get us horses. But you’re right, the number of actual sorcerers is only around three thousand.”

  “That’s another thing,” said Lillia “The ‘Network.’ What is this place?”

  Dalah extinguished her flame. “I’m sure you’ve heard about what Xandria did to the goblins about twenty years ago — The Day of the Underground Fire.”

  Lillia nodded. “Yes, ordering the extinction of the goblins is one of the reasons I hate her . . . Are these the goblins’ tunnels?”

  “Well, President Madrick Nebelle needed a place where the Evertauri would never be found,” said Dalah “After all the goblins were killed, this network of underground tunnels and cities went dark. The entrances were blocked by Xandria’s army and humankind left it untouched. President Madrick and a friend of his named Mordvitch found hidden entrances in Seirnkov, and he brought his followers down here to live. Since then, we’ve sealed the entrances so that only a person with a Taurimous can pass through. Even then, you saw the Evertauri that guard the Network. One of Cal’s jobs is to help map the Network. It’s so complicated that we still have trouble navigating it twenty years later.”

  “She’s right.” said Calleneck. “The goblins were extremely skilled architects.These tunnels span across all of Cerebria and even into the Crandles and Endlebarr.”

  Tallius jumped in. “Cal helped discover an entrance to the surface in Gienn just four months ago.”

  “Anyway,” Calleneck continued, “we use it to avoid being seen, and to move around Cerebria quickly.”

  Tallius finished his bread. “You know, it’s marvelous — given how quickly supplies get around in these tunnels — that the food can still taste this bad.”

  Lillia laughed, “It’s not the best I’ve had. But these noxlimes are fine.”