by Pedro Urvi
She summoned up her courage and ran like lightning towards the door, which was now unprotected. She ran as though a great white tiger were at her heels. Don’t let him turn, by Oxatsi our Mother Sea, don’t let him turn. Her fear gave her legs unusual speed. Her heart was in her mouth, and for a moment she nearly choked. She crossed the empty area to the door and reached for the upper bolt. Leaning against the door in an attempt to muffle any telltale sound, she began to slide it with infinite gentleness.
There came the slightest creak.
She turned her head, her heart racing. The Custodian was beside the tree and did not turn. She breathed out heavily, releasing a whirlwind of tension. She reached for the second bolt and carefully pulled it back. This time there was no noise. She turned to look at the Custodian and saw him disappear behind the tree. Now’s the time, let’s do it! She tugged at the heavy door of reinforced iron. Using all the weight of her body she managed to open it wide enough for her to slip her body through. Here I come! Protect me, Girlai, Father Moon! She squeezed through the gap into the catacomb.
Ikai was running with all the strength of his legs. He did not dare look back. The next tree was only five paces towards the center. I have to reach it before the Custodian comes around the oak I’ve left. If he sees me, we’re lost. He clenched his teeth and ran. He reached the tree and with a swift leap, hid behind it. He was panting as if life was trying to escape from him. He tried to relax, so that the Custodian would not hear him. His lungs were burning and his legs aching from the effort. But the worst thing was his heart. It seemed it was about to burst out of his chest.
He heard a step behind him and a branch cracking.
He’s looking for me. Good. I have to distract him, gain time for Liriana. He calmed his breathing and listened hard. He heard another step. Then boots crunching dry leaves.
Hell! He’s turning! If he goes back to his post he’ll find Liriana!
He looked ahead. The next oak tree was in a straight line, no more than four paces away, surrounded by darkness.
I can do it. I can reach it. I have to risk it or Liriana will be lost. Doubt assailed him. Would the Custodian follow him, or would he return to his post? The most natural thing was for him to turn back, but the Enforcers were supposed to be like bloodhounds: once they smelt blood they did not stop until they found it. He had left his blood on both the oak and the ground on the way to where he was now hiding. Soon he would find out if the rumors were true or not. He waited with his hand still bleeding, so that drops of the liquid of life fell on to the ground beside him. A gust of wind whipped the leaves of the old oak, and the stench of the Enforcer reached his nostrils once again.
Come on! If I can smell you then you can smell my blood, so come on.
The steps sounded again. They were coming in his direction.
He’s taken the bait! Ikai shot like an arrow to the oak in front of him. He ran in a straight line so that the girth of the tree behind him would hide him as he escaped. He reached the new tree and was about to turn when his foot hit something hard, he tripped and fell forward. He had not seen the root.
Damn! He’ll see me! In pain, he raised his head from the ground. He had to hide behind the oak at once or he would be lost. And from the living gloom, mysteriously, there rose a figure. He watched it, eyes wide. He put his hand to the dagger at his back. A familiar voice greeted him.
“Always in trouble, eh, Hunter?”
Immediately he recognized the almond eyes, black as night, which shone intensely under the jet-black hair in its pony-tail. He saw the sharp face with its small nose, suggestive lips, and the fierceness and strength she always radiated.
“Al… Albana… what…?” he stammered blankly.
She smiled at him roguishly.
Liriana closed the door behind her so as not to raise suspicion either inside or outside the building. In and out like lightning, she said to herself, well aware that she only had a few moments before the Custodian returned. She ran down the stone stairs until she reached the inside of the catacomb. It was enormous and shadowy. Two oil lamps, one at the entrance and another at the end of the chamber, was the only light. She could make out hundreds of bodies of slaves, asleep after a hard day’s work, completely filling the floor. Very like what she had experienced with Tulmis.
She moved fast, passing over the lying bodies, trying not to tread on anyone and not succeeding, but she did not mind. She had no time to think about it. She did not recognize those faces, in fact she could barely see them. She would have to take the risk. There were too many people there and she had no time.
“Maruk…” she called in a low voice. She strode to the center and called again. Resentful grunts came from the sleepers around her. “Maruk, it’s me, Liriana.”
“Shhhh,” came the reproach from the bodies curled at her feet, so exhausted they did not even want to know what was going on.
“Maruk, where are you?” she asked, this time more loudly.
“Shut up and let us sleep,” said a man in front of her with a thick black beard.
Liriana crouched down beside him “Foreman Sostos’ gang. Where do they sleep?”
The man looked at her angrily. He pointed towards the east of the chamber.
“At that end,” he said hoarsely.
“Let us sleep,” another man grumbled beside her.
Liriana passed over the bodies so fast she tripped and almost fell. She managed to reach the far end. “Maruk…” she called again. She was running out of time, and she knew it. A body stirred and turned.
“Maruk, it’s Liriana. I’ve come for you.”
The man sat up. He was young, thin. His face and dark hair were covered in dirt and he had several days’ worth of unkempt beard on a handsome face. And then Liriana saw a pair of eyes, green as jade, looking at her with the uncertainty of fear and ill-treatment. The young man turned his head in the dark to look at her more closely.
“Liriana? Is it really you… or is this another nightmare this filthy, unbearable place has come up with?”
“Maruk, it’s me!”
The young man looked at her again, incredulously. “It’s you…”
She fell on him and held him tight. “Yes, Maruk, it’s me. You can believe it, it’s not a dream. I’ve come to rescue you.”
Maruk took her cheeks in his hands. With his eyes fixed on hers he kissed her so intensely he left her breathless.
“You’d better hurry,” said an old man sitting against the wall. He pointed to the door.
“Sostos?” she asked.
The old man nodded. Then he looked towards the door.
“Run.”
Liriana and Maruk passed hastily over the slaves and reached the stairs. They ran up them and came to the door.
It’s been quick, straight in and out, she said to herself to give herself courage. The guard might have come back, might be there waiting for her behind the door. It was just a moment, just a moment. She pushed the door gently and peered around.
There was no sign of the Custodian.
Ikai’s managed to distract him! She turned to Maruk and signaled to him to come out. She closed the door behind them and slid the bolts back into place so the Custodian would not suspect anything when he came back. Crouching, they began to cross the open area towards the shelter of the nearest oaks. She glanced all round, expecting to see the Custodian at any moment, but the only thing her senses could make out was the gentle sound of the wind on the branches of safety awaiting them. There was not a soul in sight. They were five paces away from the first oak. She looked at Maruk, who was following her with the beginnings of unease in his eyes.
We’re going to make it. We’re nearly there. And at that very moment a wall of fire rose in front of her.
Taken by surprise, she could barely stop herself in time, and was nearly burnt alive. She took two steps back, away from the roaring flames. She looked at her companion.
“Let’s go back,” Maruk urged. “This way!”
They turned back and ran towards the east. But another barrier of fire rose before them to block their escape. They retreated. The flames were intense and the heat in the square was scorching.
“What’s happening?” she cried. “What’s this?” The fiery barriers were a total mystery to her.
Maruk looked around. The flames had now spread to form a circle around them. There was nowhere to go. They had no escape-route.
“It’s the Gods… it’s the Power of the Gods,” he said hopelessly.
In front of the fugitives, behind the flames, there appeared a Golden God. He was immense, like a mountain, a God-Warrior. He wore a tunic of intense red, decorated with vibrant orange. The massive armor he wore was blood-red. After him came a dozen Custodians. The God made a sign with his hand, uttered some words, and the flames died out.
My name is Iradu, the Champion of Lord Asu. In the name of my Lord, God-Prince of the House of Aureb, of the Second Ring, you are his prisoners.
The message from the God lashed the two fugitives’ minds with such power that their heads were whipped back. They were left stunned, terrified, unable to understand, staring at the imposing figure of the God-Warrior.
The Custodians hastened to surround them. Fear gnawed at her stomach.
Take them away, he ordered. We must hurry, we are in enemy territory after all.
So close… she thought, with the sour taste of fear on her tongue.
They were taken to the Second Ring, to the kingdom of fire. The retinue did not stop even for a moment, first on a twin-mast trireme, then on carriages pulled by jet-black coursers, until they reached a magnificent crimson palace. Liriana watched everything around her with anxiety growing in her chest, so she could barely breathe. She thought they would be taken to the dungeons, but instead they were led inside the palace, into a hall as rich and ornamented as it was enormous.
In awe, she watched a fountain in the form of a volcano in the middle of the room. The apex of the fountain exploded, and fire and magma fell on its circular base. The heat of the room was asphyxiating. She passed her forearm along her forehead, which was drenched with perspiration.
“Where are we?” she whispered to Maruk.
“I think it’s… the throne hall.” He waved his hand towards two elaborate thrones of some exotic reddish wood, ornamented in gold. Behind the seats two giant braziers were burning. The flames were so vivid that the two thrones seemed to burn without being consumed.
The boy’s a clever one, came a sarcastic voice into their minds. It sounded cruel.
A slender God appeared, wearing a rich red robe with golden designs, and a breast-plate of orange-red scales. The God stared at them with intense ruby eyes, and Liriana saw a cruelty in them which made her quail. He moved with such haughty dignity that he seemed to be both owner and lord of the entire Eternal City. After him came Iradu, the God-Warrior who had captured them.
Is it he? the God-Lord asked.
Liriana did not know what was happening. Silence filled the room.
“Yes, my Lord Asu. It is he,” a female voice said.
The voice sounded so familiar that Liriana looked around for it at once. And then she saw her, coming in from an adjacent room.
It was Albana!
Liriana’s eyes opened wide. Albana! What’s she doing here? What’s going on?
Are you sure? To me he looks no different from any other flea-bitten slave.
Albana went to Lord Asu, bowed elaborately before the God-Prince and pointed at Maruk.
“It is the one, my Lord. The one you charged me to look for among all the slaves.”
Liriana looked at Maruk, who was as white as a ghost. She was unable to bear the pressure of the situation any longer.
“But what on earth are you doing, Albana?” she asked. “Are you out of your mind?”
Shut up, slave, Iradu ordered her. The Gods are speaking, and they have not addressed you.
The mental message hit her mind so hard she felt as if she had been struck on the temple with a hammer. She was stunned.
Thank you, my faithful Iradu. These troublesome ill-smelling slaves never know how to behave before their Gods.
On your knees, slaves, Iradu ordered the two fugitives.
Liriana and Maruk exchanged a look of mingled anxiety and confusion, and knelt.
They all look the same to me, Lord Asu said disdainfully. But if you assure me this is the one I am looking for… remember what you have at stake, little spy… you know full well the price to be paid if you fail me…
Albana nodded. “It is, my Lord, this is the one she has come to rescue. This is the final, convincing proof. A little over a year ago I managed to infiltrate their organization, after many months of hard work earning the trust of one of their leaders. I have been spying on their clandestine group since then. When the rumors of his existence, of what he was able to do, reached me, I tried to locate him as you had ordered, my Lord. I tried to find out who he was, but they kept him well hidden, in secret. When I was close to finding out his identity he disappeared completely, as if the earth had swallowed him. I could not find his trail in the entire Boundary.”
Because he had fallen into a quota… Iradu said.
“That is right. The one we had been looking for was taken from the Boundary and brought here, to the Eternal City.”
Iradu shook his head. Sometimes fortune plays tricks on us.
“I thought I would never find him here,” Albana went on. “There are thousands of slaves in the city, and I did not have either his name or his description. But then the plan one of his closest people had made to rescue him reached my ears. So I thought I would offer my services to the leader of the organization and become part of the rescue team. That would lead me to him, and I simply had to ensure she reached here. And that is what I did,” she ended, and pointed at Liriana.
When she heard this, Liriana felt as if a mountain of guilt had fallen on her. She had led them to Maruk. In her attempt to save him, to save the Senoca, she had led the Gods to Maruk.
It is very cunning of you to be one of them. I like that, Lord Asu said. He was looking at Albana with a cynical smile.
Albana bowed once again. “Always at my Lord’s service.”
And the other one? Lord Asu asked with a frown.
Iradu gestured, and from another chamber came two Custodians, dragging Ikai’s unconscious body by the ankles.
“You bloody traitor! Why are you doing this to us? Why?” Liriana shouted as Ikai’s unconscious body was set down in front of her.
“We each have our own reasons to be here today,” Albana replied with perfect calm. “Powerful reasons.”
Very well, Lord Asu said, and now that we have caught these small rodents playing around in our granary I want to know if it is really true.
“It is, my Lord. The Hunter witnessed it.” Albana gestured at Ikai’s body on the floor.
Let us question him directly. Tell me slave, is it true, the rumor which has reached my ears, that a slave was able to manipulate the Ring the Gods imposed on him? That he has been able to free other slaves?
The mental message frightened Maruk so badly that all he could do was stare at Lord Asu, wide-eyed.
You see, slave, that would be very undesirable and would go very much against my interests. An enslaved people cannot be liberated. It cannot have hope. It cannot escape from the Boundary, from the control of the Gods, from my control. Such an affront is inconceivable. And more than that: if it were true, it might spread to other races, other groups of slaves. This might have a decidedly negative effect on the perfect system we now enjoy. But such is the rumor which has reached me, and there are certain rumors and their consequences to which I pay a great deal of attention. I shall ask you once more: is it true?
Maruk looked at Liriana, who stared firmly back at him to encourage him not to give in.
I see you need some motivation to make you talk, Lord Asu said, and smiled broadly.
Maruk gave a terri
fied shrug.
No, it is not you I am going to punish. I need you alive. But not her.
Asu pronounced a single word and twisted his wrist. From his hand there appeared another, a replica of it, in flames. The fiery hand moved to Liriana’s arm and closed upon it.
Liriana screamed with pain as the flames of the arcane hand burnt her arm.
“No! Wait! I’ll talk!” Maruk cried.
You had better hurry… Lord Asu said. At a command of his index finger the fiery hand began to climb Liriana’s arm. The girl screamed in agony and tried unsuccessfully to blow it out. The smell of burning flesh was nauseating.
It will soon reach her neck…
“It’s true!” Maruk cried. “I can do it! I can manipulate their Rings so they can escape!”
Lord Asu smiled, and his ruby eyes shone with the intensity of triumph.
That is something I want to see, he said. His face had turned cruel.
He waved his hand, and the fiery hand went out. Liriana fell to the floor, groaning and writhing in pain. Maruk tried to help her.
Tell me, my little spy, do you have the names of the leaders of this little group which seeks rebellion?
Albana nodded.
Lord Asu’s face lit up again.
You see, my dear Iradu! This is how to end rebellion before it even starts.
My Lord is a great strategist, Iradu said.
Take them away and lock them up. I have not finished with them yet.
Iradu nodded.
As to you, spy-slave, I am satisfied with your performance. I shall speak to Oskas, my Master-Spy, to let him know.
“My lord Oskas will appreciate the honor. Will I obtain that which I was promised, my Lord?” Albana asked humbly, with her head bowed.
Lord Asu spread his arms and looked up at the sky.
Will I obtain it myself? He said with a cruel smile, and left.
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