Ashok already knew the answer to that. Thera was hardheaded, but she also kindhearted, though she did her best to hide that aspect beneath a mask of sardonic pessimism. If someone really wanted to leave, she would try to talk them out of it, but would ultimately let them go.
As for Ashok, most of Lok called him the Black Heart and that name hadn’t been earned because of his mercy or patience. He would always do what needed to be done. With Devedas on their trail they could not afford to let anyone who knew of this place be captured. To do so would be to utterly fail in his obligation.
Ashok caught Shekar’s eye. “Bring up the rear,” he whispered.
Shekar nodded in understanding. All of the Sons had differing beliefs as to the true nature of the Forgotten. The Somsak’s version was merciless, direct, and practical enough that he would have no issues with removing liabilities. Shekar would keep an eye on that complainer.
“You’re committed,” Thera said. “There’s no going back. The Law knows about all of you now. The Protectors have Chakma and Dhakhantar. Anyone they even vaguely suspect of believing in the old ways has already been killed.”
“The Law knows your name,” Ashok warned. “The Law does not forget.”
“Thank you, Ashok…” Thera turned back to the murmurers. “Look, I understand you’re afraid, but the Cove is a rich and bounteous place, where there are no castes determining how you can live, where the faithful are free to worship openly, where the gods have given us resources beyond our dreams. There’s plenty of room. There will be a roof over your head. There’s wood to burn and grass for your animals to eat. The water’s clean to drink. Keta called the place the gods’ holy mountain.”
Even though Ashok knew Thera did not believe very much of Keta’s nonsense she was doing a good job selling it here. Either she was starting to believe her own propaganda, or she’d overheard Ashok’s orders and didn’t want the Somsak to have to murder any stragglers.
“All right. We have faith in you, Voice,” the man who had been worried called out. “We’ll follow you through the dark!”
Shekar looked slightly disappointed at that change of heart, but they’d be on the lookout for deserters anyway.
“Thank you.” Thera glanced toward the receding water. “It’s almost time. I’ll lead the way.”
Their prophet got off her horse and passed the reins to one of the Assassins’ slaves. Murugan had lit a torch for her and handed it over. It was just a stick with a head of tightly wrapped dead moss, but she’d said they’d not need to last long. Thera took the torch and held it high. “Follow me.”
There was probably some imagery there intended to boost the faithful, but Ashok had no mind for such things. On that note, he didn’t like how some of the fanatics had started wearing little metal hooks as jewelry, as a reminder of when he’d come back to life and lifted himself from Sikasso’s meat hook.
Ashok placed himself at Thera’s side. Even though she declared the journey to be a safe one, that did not make it so. Foul creatures lurked in the dark corners of Lok, and who knew what manner of beast might have moved in here since Thera’s last visit?
“I need to be in front,” she whispered at him. “It’s symbolic.”
“Of course.” But he stayed close enough that if she fell, he could catch her.
Water crept in through the holes of his worn-thin boots as they waded across the lake. It was surprisingly warmer than expected. Runoff from the melting snow should have been shockingly cold, but the almost comfortable temperature suggested that whatever was feeding this lake from above was volcanic in origin. It was common for hot water to seep from the ground in Dev, but not so much here. It still made him uneasy though, because no matter what Keta proclaimed to the contrary, Ashok knew that whenever water collected into large bodies it became a potential source of evil. Water was necessary to support life, cleanliness, and commerce, but it was still made from the same stuff as hell.
The tunnel into the mountain was clearly visible. It was bigger than Ashok had expected, being a good twelve feet across, and probably ten feet tall, leaving plenty of room to spare even for their wagons. The rectangular shape marked it as clearly man made. The material appeared to be rock, but it was so coated in slimy plant life it was impossible to tell.
The temperature dropped significantly as they left the sun behind. Having been recently filled, fat droplets of water rained from the ceiling. The ones that hit the torches disappeared with a hiss. The column trudged along obediently after them. Some of the livestock balked at being led into the water, but the silent slaves were remarkably skilled at animal handling and got them soothed without so much as a word.
They went deeper and deeper into the tunnel. A slick green ooze had grown on every surface. The water was now up to their knees. If Thera was worried, she didn’t let it show. Ashok looked back, and could see a line of torches stretching back to the shrinking rectangle of daylight. The fanatics were worried, and it was plain on their faces. Even some of the Sons were unable to hide their emotions.
“This is a strange place,” Murugan said. “It’s unnatural.”
“It’s a fascinating construction,” Eklavya disagreed. “The engineering behind this had to be rather impressive. There’s got to be some manner of device up ahead to divert the water, and from the volume necessary it must be gigantic.”
“What happens if they open it back up while we’re stuck in here?” Murugan asked.
“That would be…interesting.”
“Keta’s not going to do that,” Thera said.
“Assuming Keta is the one in control,” Murugan muttered. “If this place has fallen to the Inquisition, it would be a simple way to drown hundreds of rebels at a time.”
“Calm down, boys. I’ve seen what happens when they turn it back on. It’s not a rushing wall of water. It takes hours for the lake to fill back up. Worst case we’d make a slightly damper retreat. Keta’s got lookouts all over the peaks above. They saw us as soon as we entered the valley. Once they decided we were friends they shut the valve. It doesn’t make for convenient travel in and out, but it’s secure.”
“What if the valve breaks off?” Murugan asked.
“Considering the size of the reservoir above us, if it all let go at once…” Thera thought that over. “Our bodies would probably get washed clear back to Chakma.”
It was a much different setting than where the Heart of the Mountain was hidden, but Ashok had no doubt this place had been built in the same era. Ashok knew almost nothing about the time before demons, but the people who had lived back then had certainly liked to build things. In his travels across Lok he had come across the remains of many great and mysterious structures. These discoveries were often of interest to the Capitol. In order of descending importance, any images or icons deemed to be religious in nature were destroyed by the Inquisition. Anything relating to stars or constellations went to the Astronomers. Artifacts would go to the Historians or to the Order of Technology and Innovation. Anything with writing became property of the library. If there was a device with writing on it, well…he had actually seen Historians and Archivists take offense and get into duels over which order claimed what. Fortunately those duels had been mostly bare-handed and ineffectual since neither of those orders could fight worth a damn, and usually ended with one first-caste man getting a black eye while the other order got a new treasure to hide in their vaults.
It was unclear how far they had gone, but the sun behind them had vanished. Once their way was lit only by torchlight, the fanatics became somber. The moist walls seemed to absorb sound. Even the chickens and goats were quiet.
“Is this the only way in?” Ashok asked.
“If there’s others we’ve not discovered them yet. Maybe someone like you could climb over the mountains, or a wizard could change into a bird and fly out, but for normal people this is it. Once inside, leaving is a big enough of a production you’d better have a good reason for going out. The lake stays warm enough not
to freeze, so you can even get in during the worst part of winter. The Keeper has a group of rebels he trusts, and he’ll send them out a bunch at a time on various errands, but most folks are happy to stay inside. You’ll see why soon enough.”
Ashok had to grudgingly approve. It was no wonder his brothers hadn’t been able to find the rebels’ hideout. “If this place was submerged, how did Ratul find it?”
“He swam all the way up this tunnel.”
Ashok shuddered. His old sword master was full of surprises.
Thera looked at Ashok conspiratorially. “I didn’t tell everybody, but in those ancient books where Ratul learned about this place, they declared this place to be cursed. Or haunted. Probably both. That’s one reason it stayed empty for so long.”
“Foolishness.” Though he had himself spoken to entities that some would refer to as ghosts and his sword had been imbued with the memories and emotions of all its previous long-dead bearers, he had been taught that there was no such thing as a haunting, because if there was, that would mean there was some manner of existence after death, and the Law did not allow for that.
Now curses on the other hand were very much real. All that required was an illegal wizard, some demon parts, and a grudge, but he’d never heard of one strong enough to linger for centuries.
They reached a point where the water was almost entirely gone, so each of their footfalls only made a little splash. There was enough airflow that the tunnel didn’t become choked with smoke. For the most part the floor beneath them was level, but there were a few holes. Hopefully none of their cows would break a leg.
As their feeble torches began to die off, the tunnel became darker. Each time a torch was extinguished, cries or curses could be heard.
“We’re almost there,” Thera shouted.
Ashok was unsure if she believed that or was merely trying to comfort them. There was no way to actually tell where they were by the featureless walls. The distance was uncertain, but if Ratul swam this far there was no way he could have held his breath that long. He must have used the Heart of the Mountain to keep him alive. Ashok had figured out that same trick fighting Chattarak in the river Nansakar. That experience had been awful, but brief. He could not imagine sustaining it long enough to make it through this tunnel, especially not knowing what would be on the other side. Ratul had been as dedicated in his religious fanaticism as he had been to his swordsmanship.
After a time, Ashok’s heightened senses felt a change in the air pressure, and his improved vision saw a faint light far away. “I believe that is the sun.”
“Told you we’re almost there.” Thera turned back and shouted. “You hear that everyone? Ashok sees the sun!”
“I should run ahead and make sure it is safe.”
“No, Ashok. These people have been through a terrible upheaval. I need to be the one to lead them into the promised land. I didn’t want this stupid job, but it’s mine now. They’ve still got challenges to face. They need something to believe in.”
Getting others to believe in you, when you didn’t even believe in yourself? Ashok found that curious. “It will do your followers no good if their Voice walks into an Inquisition ambush. You have your obligation to them.” He nodded back down the tunnel. “My obligation is to you. Let me keep it.”
“Fine. Just don’t make a big deal out of it.”
He addressed Murugan and Eklavya. “Stay by her side.” Then Ashok called upon the Heart to give him speed. To those behind them it was if he disappeared from the circle of torchlight in the blink of an eye.
He ran the last mile of featureless tunnel in a few minutes. Imagining covering this distance while submerged made him feel a grudging new respect for his old sword master. He had loved Ratul once, like the harsh replacement for the father he could not remember, but he had lost that love when Ratul had betrayed their Order. Now that Ashok was the despised traitor, he could understand his predecessor a bit better.
Ratul had also been gifted with the ability to sense magic. What was it he had felt on the other side of this tunnel that had caused him to risk his life in the darkness beneath?
Ashok slowed as he neared the exit and listened carefully. There were people waiting just out of sight. From the sounds of leather creaking and metal clanking, they were armed. If this place had been found by the Inquisitors, better to face them directly and get it over with. Ashok walked into the light.
He squinted and held up one hand to block the sun. The tunnel opened into a now empty lakebed. The entire area had been hewn from stone and then rounded by time. On the side opposite the tunnel was a vast gray wall, in the middle of which was a metal square, big as an elephant. That must have been the valve Thera had spoken of. When it was lifted this basin would fill and flood the tunnel.
There were also several men waiting in the lakebed with sword, hammer, or spear, but they looked to be Law breakers, not Law keepers. Ashok looked up and saw that there were men and women atop the wall with bows and what were probably Fortress poles. He looked behind him and saw that rocks had been stacked above the tunnel, the avalanche being held back with only a wooden fence. It would be relatively easy for the rebels to hold this narrow position and bury it if they needed to fall back.
“What’s the password?” one of them demanded.
Thera had not told him of such a thing. She had left this place a long time ago though.
“My password is lower those weapons before you annoy me. Tell Keta that Ashok Vadal has arrived.”
There was a happy laugh from up above. “I knew it! I knew it! Praise the Forgotten, I knew you would come!”
Ashok was not given to frivolity, but hearing that familiar voice caused a faint smile to cross his lips. “Hello, Keeper.”
“Do as he says and put down your arms, my children!” There was a path that led upward out of the lakebed, and a short, balding man came running down the bank with near giddy excitement. “Before you stands the one I’ve been telling you about, the Forgotten’s chosen warrior himself! Ashok Vadal is here!”
“I am.”
“I knew you would live.” Keta reached him, and surprisingly enough, grabbed Ashok by the arms and shook him, as if to make sure he was not an illusion. Ashok just stood there, awkwardly. The last time he had seen the Keeper of Names they had drank together as friends, but that did not mean Ashok was good at such business.
“It is good to see you again, Keta.”
“Did you find Thera?”
“She’s right behind me.”
Keta was so filled with joy it appeared he might start to cry, but thankfully he let go of Ashok’s arms. “Of course you have her, because you declared you’d walk out into the ocean if you couldn’t save her, and Ashok Vadal is a man of his word! I knew she was still alive and I knew you’d bring her back to the faithful.” He turned back to his people. “Rejoice everyone, for the Voice has been returned to us at last! All will be well.”
The rebels seemed overjoyed at the news.
“Hurry, Ashok. Come with me before she gets here. You need to see this. You need to know what you’ve been fighting for this last year.”
He had been fighting because he had been ordered to protect a criminal, nothing more, but Keta seemed very excited and proud to show off what he had built, so he followed the Keeper up the hill.
“Behold, the Creator’s Cove.”
Only a fool named a place something related to the sea, but as he reached the top and looked inside, Ashok actually felt surprise, for it was not at all what he had expected.
At first Ashok thought the thing stretching before them was a regular mountain valley, surrounded on all sides by giant forested peaks, though the valley was uncannily round. They were standing at the edge of a circle that stretched for several miles, almost as if a great scoop had come down from the heavens and cleaved a hole in the rocks.
To each side, entire buildings had been carved from the walls. Blocky, with circular windows, they were gigantic, and surely the
work of the ancients. And with a shock, Ashok realized that there were dozens, maybe hundreds of the structures stretching all the way around the circle’s rim. Many of them were crumbling, but most seemed solid.
“What was this place?”
“The people who came before built it for us as a gift, and now we have claimed our birthright.”
“Meaning you don’t actually know.”
“I can only guess, as I count myself fortunate to live amongst its bones.”
Ashok walked toward the edge to look down into the valley, but then he had to reassess his terms. It seemed more of a crater, like the graveyard of demons. though this was far larger, and there was no sign of what spectacular impact must have dug the massive thing. Far below was a white lake, and from the steam rising off the surface, it was a hot one.
The sides of the crater might have once been smooth, but terraces had been cut into it all the way down. Upon many of those, crops were growing. Upon others, fences had been erected along the edges and animals grazed inside. They were all connected by a wide road that wrapped like a corkscrew down the interior. Ashok realized the stone wall with the metal gate he had first seen was a dam, because a multitude of concrete pipes stretched from it down to feed the terraces.
“I thought you were prone to exaggeration, Keeper. I was not expecting something so…”
“Impressive? I told you it was wonderful. The one thing we have been missing is the Voice of the gods and now you have brought her back to us. I had faith that the Forgotten picked you for a reason.”
Ashok wanted to argue against that superstitious foolishness, but there were more pressing matters at hand. “Thera also picked up a few hundred followers along the way.”
A glimmer of some other emotion crossed Keta’s face, fear? Worry? But whatever it was, he quickly shoved it aside and put his happy face back on. “We saw the great mob camped below, but don’t worry, as you can see we have plenty of room. We will find shelter for all! Everything will be fine now.”
“We have spent far too much time traveling together for you to deceive me, Keta. What troubles you?”
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