by Pedro Urvi
The Ceremony went on until the winning technology and the most advanced House had been decided on. The honor fell on the House of the Second Ring, that of the Lord of Fire. The entourage, headed by Asu, took the center of the room amid cheers. The entourages of the other Houses applauded respectfully, as tradition laid down. Adamis watched Asu in the center; he was exultant, prouder than ever, regarding everyone else with sneering hostility. High King Gar came down to greet them haughtily, with a broad smile of satisfaction. He received the trophy from the hands of the Master of Ceremonies and showed it defiantly to all,
Watching the King and the Prince of Fire together, now knowing the power of their new technology, Adamis felt as though an icy ghost had embraced him. And the presentiment was crystal clear: We are going to die, all of us.
Chapter 19
Kyra leapt off her horse and ran to hug Ikai. Both siblings melted into an embrace full of love and affection.
“I’m so happy to see you, Kyra!”
“You look awful, brother.”
“I’ve had a few complicated days,” he said with a smile. He leaned on his foot and gave a grimace of pain.
She looked down at his ankle. “What’s wrong with your foot?”
“It’s nothing serious, just a bad sprain.”
She smiled and shook her head.
“And why are you smiling now? It hurts terribly.”
“And it’ll hurt even more when it swells up.”
Ikai gave her a mock-glare. “Are you glad it hurts?”
She smiled from ear to ear. “No, I’m glad I have a horse.”
He nodded, smiling, then shook his head. “You’re impossible.”
“I know, and that’s why you love me so much, brother.”
“If my foot didn’t hurt so much and I wasn’t so tired I can’t even move my arms, I’d give you what for.”
“Ha! In your dreams!”
He laughed and hugged his sister again, filled with indescribable joy to be with her and find her safe and sound.
“It’s been such a long time… I was beginning to doubt whether we’d ever see each other again.”
“Yes, much too long. We knew it would take time, and that it’d be tough. You warned us. We all accepted the mission and its consequences. But I’m so happy to see you again!” She crushed him with another hug. He grunted with pain, but could not stop smiling.
“How did you find me?”
“I wasn’t looking for you, I was trying to find Maruk. I was following his trail with the disc. I got his message calling for help.”
Ikai nodded. “So did I.” He noticed there was something wrong with her hair. “And your hair? Why did you cut it?”
Kyra turned round to show him the burns in her neck and upper back.
His hand gently brushed the healing wound. “What happened?”
She sighed. “We’ve got an awful lot to tell each other.”
“Yes.” He scanned both sides of the road. “But not here. More Enforcers could appear.”
“All right. Can you ride with that ankle?”
“I think so.”
She mounted like an expert Amazon and offered him her hand. “Get on.”
He took his sister’s hand and leapt up, pushing himself up with his good foot.
“Where to?”
“I hid my weapons a little further on. Let’s pick them up. I’ll need them. And then let’s go get Maruk.”
“You know where he is?” she asked in surprise.
“Yes. In a camp at the end of this path.”
“Very well.”
They rode as fast as the horse could go. But the poor animal was exhausted, and the weight of two people was too much for it to keep up a lively pace. They had to stop several times so the poor beast could rest, otherwise he would have collapsed. Ikai too was very tired, and he fell asleep leaning on his sister. Kyra tucked him in and watched him as he slept. Her heart was filled with joy at being with her older brother again.
When they reached the Enforcers’ camp, the two of them approached very carefully and stealthily. They found the place deserted. Ikai read the footprints and concluded that they had left a day before.
“And now?” Kyra asked.
“We follow the trail. I hope Maruk makes it. He didn’t look good at all. He’d been tortured…”
“We’ll find him, and they’ll pay for it.”
He nodded. “Let’s rest a little before we go on.”
“Here?”
“Yes, they won’t come back. Wherever they’re going, they left in a hurry and they didn’t even wait for the Executors they sent after me.”
“Yes, that’s strange. Why such a hurry?”
Ikai shrugged. “They must have orders to deliver the prisoners. You know how literal-minded they are.”
“That’s right. They follow orders blindly.”
“There’s a stream right here. We’ll replenish our water skins.”
“Very well. I’ll do it.” She laughed. “I don’t want you to sprain the other ankle, clumsy.”
Ikai threw her the water-skin, laughing too.
They built up a fire. While they ate in the comfort of its warmth, they told each other everything that had happened during their time of separation. Kyra told him all she had lived through with the prairie tribe and Ikai did the same with the time he had spent among the people of the Highlands. Then he told her what had happened to him in that Boundary. When he had finished, Kyra told him about her encounter with the God in the underground temple.
“A God of the House of Fire?”
“That’s right. I have the burns to prove it.”
“That’s very strange. Do you think he was headed for here?”
“I’d say he was coming from here. Bear in mind that our paths crossed.”
He nodded. “Adamis told us the Golden never deigned to set foot in the Boundaries, that they considered it beneath them.”
“In general they don’t, but it’s the House of Fire, and that scum Asu might be plotting something.”
“That’s true. I wonder what it could be. Very strange things are going on in this place.”
“We’d better keep our eyes wide open in case anything should happen.”
“How’s your control of the Power? I haven’t managed to master it yet. I’m still having difficulties.”
“I can already use my own Power quite easily,” she said with a smile so wide and full of satisfaction that it lit up her face.
“Really?”
She nodded.
“But that’s fantastic!”
“I’m getting to master it, little by little. But there’s so much more to learn, I’m just scratching the surface, and I feel there’s a deep lake, and I have to dive into it and learn.”
Ikai blushed at the thought that his younger sister was better than he was himself. “You’re so much ahead of me. I’m a lot clumsier. I don’t know why, but I find it very hard to master.”
“That’s because you think too much about whatever you do. Stop thinking and let your feelings guide you, that’s what I do.”
“You might be right. I always question everything.”
She giggled. “Anyway, brother, take it easy, you can’t be better than me at everything.”
Ikai nodded, smiling, and the two of them shared a moment of joy which comforted their souls, lightening the heavy burdens they both carried.
With the arrival of dawn they set off, following the trail of the carts. Two days later they found the caravan of prisoners. From behind a rise in the road they saw their target entering an impressive city, with imposing walls decorated in red and orange to represent flames.
“The capital,” Kyra said.
“No doubt about that. And no doubt about who it belongs to, either.”
“The House of Fire. What a pity, we almost caught up with them. Half a day longer and they’d have been ours.”
“We’ll have to think how to get in there. It’s a big, impress
ive city.”
“You and your plans. We should go in through the gates and kill them all.”
“Well, that’s a great plan, little sis,” Ikai said sarcastically.
Kyra lowered her head and smiled.
It was midnight when Ikai floated up, slowly and carefully, trying not to lose his concentration, hugging the northern wall of the great walled city. He had used the Dark Spirit to keep himself hidden in the shadows and make himself invisible to the Guards. It took him quite a while, but he reached the battlement at last and crawled inside over the parapet. He glanced to left and right. There were no Guards. He was not surprised, as the two great gates of the city remained open and well-lit, as though inviting all to come in. But there was no-one to be seen in the streets. Only groups of Executors, patrolling the city.
Seeing there was no danger, he peered over the parapet and imitated a barn owl’s hoot. Kyra answered from the foot of the wall. A moment later she had already floated up to the parapet at incredible speed. She stopped at the level of the battlements, floating calmly in the air.
“Come on, hide!” he said urgently.
She came forward over the parapet and dropped onto the battlements beside him.
He shook his head. “I’m amazed at how easy you make it look.”
“It’s just a question of keeping control.”
“Well, you’re not exactly one for calm and control!”
She shrugged and smiled. “Soon you’ll find you can do it just as well as me. It should be even easier for you. You have a lot of self-control, and that’s very handy when it comes to using the Power.”
“Let’s see if I can manage.”
“Let’s rescue Maruk, and then I’ll teach you this and a couple other things I’ve learnt.”
Ikai smiled at his sister. “Come on, then.”
They found the magnificent capital brilliantly lit. It was the dead of night, but there was not a single street in the enormous city that was not lit by torches, braziers and large bonfires. The light of the flames danced in harmony with the sound of the night breeze. In front of the Regent’s opulent palace rose the great Monolith of the Gods. Its base was surrounded by braziers, and in the middle of the main square there burnt a huge bonfire, guarded by twenty Executors.
Kyra pointed out a small square close to the wall. “How strange. Look at that square. Instead of a fountain, they’ve put a huge bonfire in the middle. What for? The weather’s warm, there’s no need for any heating.”
“Look further to the east,” Ikai said, pointing. “There are two more round plazas with two big bonfires. I don’t think they use them for warmth.”
“So?”
“I believe it’s for the House of Fire, like the way it is in the Eternal City, in their Ring.”
“Well, I don’t like it one little bit.”
“Nor do I. If we go down into these brightly-lit streets, they’ll see us.”
“So where do we go?” Kyra asked. The city’s huge. Where d’you think they’ve got Maruk held?”
“I suspect this city isn’t any different from the other Boundary Capitals. There’s the great Monolith of the Gods, behind the Regent’s palace, and the forbidden quadrants of the Enforcers should be behind it. And there’s the entrance to the…”
“The Dungeons of Oblivion!” Kyra interrupted. She understood where her brother’s thoughts had turned. “Do you think they might have him in there?”
“I can only think of that place. That or the Guard barracks.”
She nodded. “So what’s the plan?”
“To clear up some mysteries. Follow me. We’ll have to take the risk.”
The two siblings descended from the wall and made their way stealthily, at a crouch, through the deserted streets of the city. If they were discovered, there would be nowhere to hide; the fires lit up every street and every plaza. They reached the low wall around the Guard barracks. Ikai gestured to Kyra, and she understood. Using her Power she began to rise vertically, while Ikai looked uneasily in both directions. A patrol of Executors might appear at any moment. She put her head out over the wall, took a quick look at the inside and came down again.
“Not a soul to be seen,” she whispered.
“Sure?”
She nodded firmly.
“Wait for me here. There’s no point in both of us risking our lives. I’ll be back in a moment.”
The gates turned out to be open. He took a quick look inside, and seeing nobody, went in to investigate. Just as Kyra had said, the barracks were deserted. He went into the military building and found it abandoned. No one had lived there in a long time. The layer of dust on the furniture was more than two inches deep, it smelt rank and there was not a single footprint on the floor. He went down the stone stairs to the dungeons and found all the cells open. The prisoners had been taken away. He went back to Kyra.
“It’s empty.”
“Then that just leaves us the Dungeons of Oblivion…”
“Let’s go.”
They moved fast and in silence. A patrol of Executors appeared in a square they were about to cross. Ikai stopped and held Kyra back with his arm. They retraced their steps and hid in a doorway. The patrol went down another street without seeing them. If the alarm was sounded they would have a hundred Executors upon them before they could count as far as three, and it would be the end for them. They went on with the greatest care, stopping at every corner to check. They avoided two more patrols before they reached the wall which surrounded the forbidden quadrant of the Enforcers. Keeping close to the wall, they reached the corner. Ikai took a quick glance at the entrance. Half a dozen Executors were on watch duty there.
“Careful, they’re on duty,” he whispered.
She narrowed her eyes. “It must be for some reason…”
Ikai nodded. He noticed her shiver, something unusual in her, and he was concerned.
“Are you all right? Is anything wrong?”
She shook her head, but her face said otherwise.
“It’s… it’s the memory of what happened in there…”
“In the dungeons?”
“Yes, with Oskas, when he caught me and took me to the depths of that place of horror… What I saw… what he did to Urda…” She shivered again.
He tried to comfort her. “That was in our Boundary, not this one. Besides, Oskas is dead, you killed him. Don’t worry.”
She lowered her gaze and nodded.
Ikai was looking up at the high wall which surrounded the quadrant. “Ready?”
“Yes, let’s go.”
They shut their eyes, concentrated and used their Power. They rose together, close to the wall, and stopped when their eyes could see over it. They looked out at the gardens and buildings, calculating when the Executor patrol inside would disappear behind one of the buildings on their route. They waited patiently until there was no danger, both hovering in the air like two Gods. They sank gently into the gardens.
“Be very careful,” Ikai said.
Kyra nodded.
He studied the buildings. Three of them looked like huge warehouses. A spherical one, guarded by two executors, was the entrance to the Dungeons. They approached it secretly, keeping close to the warehouses, careful to make no sound, avoiding the patrols until they were near the two Guards.
“And now what?” Kyra asked.
“We have to finish them off quietly. Don’t let them sound the alarm.”
“That’s not really my strongest point,” she said with an apologetic grimace.
“I’ll deal with it.”
Ikai concentrated, summoned two Spirits of Anguish and sent them against the two Executors. Then he drew his sword and knife and followed them. In less than a heartbeat the spirits had the two Executors on the floor, and he finished them off. Kyra ran to help him hide the bodies inside. Once in the building they went down a flight of stone steps. They met two other Executors on watch duty. Ikai had no time to act, but Kyra hurled one against the other and then at
the walls so brutally that all the bones in their bodies broke.
“Shhhhhh!” he whispered.
She spread her hands wide in mute apology.
“If we’re not careful, they’ll sound the alarm. And there are too many of them.”
“I know, but it’s just that with the Power, I do the first thing that comes into my mind… and that’s usually hurling them…”
“Well, hurl them silently.”
Kyra looked at him, wide-eyed. “I’ll try. But I can’t promise anything.”
They went down a long tunnel and into a chamber. When they arrived Ikai expected to find the sphere-cells with prisoners inside them, but what they found was not that, and it made him feel sick. His arms dropped to his sides and he was left in shock, speechless. The round chamber, whose ceiling and floor were of silver, was filled with narrow vertical pods. These were of metal, with crystal lids. Inside each pod was a naked human being submerged in some strange golden substance which covered them up to the neck. There were more than a hundred pods, arranged in concentric circles. From the top of each there issued a pipe that led up to the ceiling of the chamber, into which it disappeared.
Kyra too was shocked. “What… what’s that?”
Ikai came back to himself with a start and went over to look at the people in the pods. They seemed to be alive, although in some kind of sleep. A dozen metal rods had been inserted in their shoulders and thighs, as though they were being injected with something.
“I don’t know, but this looks very bad. Could it have something to do with turning them into Enforcers? You saw what they did to Urda. Is this what the pods were like?”
She swallowed hard and her gaze saddened. She shook her head. “No, the pods I saw were much bigger. And they were different, stronger and more metallic. Bear in mind that they had to hold an Executor, or even a Custodian. These are much smaller, and they look more fragile.”
“An experiment?” he suggested.
“It might be, but why so many? In all the experiments Notaplo showed me, his own and those of other Houses, the Gods only used a few slaves. Why experiment with so many? I don’t know… it doesn’t make much sense…”
