“Elian’s presence is dimming, but something else is overpowering it. I-I think it’s the Supreme,” she said through gritted teeth.
The airship burst through a cloud bank to reveal a wide expanse below. Dominating the landscape and almost touching the clouds stood the Temple of Arrival. Those on the deck gasped in awe at its size. Beneath it was what looked like a huge ruined city that spread out for miles in all directions.
Artubai ordered the pilot to slow.
“They may have anti-airship defences,” he cautioned.
Marcian scanned the landscape below with his spyglass. There were signs that a great number of people had resided amongst the city ruins, but he couldn’t see any activity.
“The Ritual must’ve started,” he surmised. “Drop us off as close as you can. Once we’re on the ground start firing on the Temple. We need to draw out any Imperium soldiers.”
“So be it,” Artubai acknowledged. With expert skill, the pilot manoeuvred the airship lower, careful to avoid broken spires and the remains of ancient structures as he did so. Marcian, Lizella, Rea and Visp climbed to the top deck where they met up with the other Liberators. The Blue Coats were checking over their weapons and preparing barrels of gunpowder.
“Will it be enough?” Marcian asked Bron who was checking over a barrel.
“Who knows, but from looking at the Temple I’d say our best bet at causing some real damage will be to get underneath it. There must be an underground passage somewhere in those ruins.”
“You aim to find a sewer?”
Bron nodded.
“A city of this size must’ve had some sort of sewer network and from the size of the Temple, I’m guessing we’ll find a way beneath it. From what I can see from this height I reckon that structure over that might be our best bet, looks like the remains of some ancient aqueduct,” he said pointing to a squat round ruin close to the Temple.
The airship slowed its descent to hover over a small square that was in the shadow of the Temple. The other airships had also descended and were now throwing ropes and ladders over the side of their decks.
Arikar warriors clambered down them.
“You ready?” Marcian asked Lizella.
She smiled nervously at him and nodded.
“Here, take this, just in case,” he said drawing the White Steel dagger on hip and handing it to her. She took it without question, she could see the worry in his eyes.
“Let’s do this.
Chapter 29.
For three hundred years the Supreme had been ‘feeding’ the Oracle. Countless men, women and children had been sent to the Temple; their essences absorbed by the bizarre device. Elian stood at the rear of the chamber and watched in horror as the terrified prisoners were forced into place underneath it. With a drop of a hand by one of the masked Venerable Chamber priests a switch was thrown and a high-pitched whine filled the air. Immediately the sacrifices screamed as hundreds of the metallic tentacles he’d seen in the Supreme’s vision emerged from the chamber’s walls. Like nightmarish snakes, they wrapped themselves around the screaming prisoners until an eerie light enveloped each of them. A light that was then drawn towards the Oracle.
“It’s feeding on the Power within them,” Elian gasped in horror.
Cassia nodded. Even she looked pale as she watched the terrible sight.
“Every descendant of the Visitors has the Power within their veins. Some more than others,” she said.
“Why these people? They’re not even Gifted,” Elian argued.
“There are too few Gifted. Empowered Ones are rarer still. Besides, Gifted are too useful for other purposes.”
Elian’s mind whirled. How many people had been sacrificed over the centuries?
The Oracle itself was just as it had appeared in the vision shown to him by the Supreme. A huge bulbous metallic object that dominated the chamber. Strange pipes and tubes came off it like some metallic spider’s web and above it was a huge hole that funnelled upwards throughout the Temple.
The whirring sound grew louder so that it drowned out the agonised screams and the light emanating from the Oracle’s centre grew brighter. With a final blinding flash, the chamber was plunged into darkness. Servants of the Venerable Chamber quickly lit lanterns and once again, light filled the cavernous room.
Elian almost wretched at what was revealed.
Of the hundred people that had been sacrificed just a handful were still alive. Those that had perished looked like desiccated husks, as though their life energy had been literally sucked out of them. The handful of survivors meanwhile looked as though they had aged drastically. Withered and haggard, they were forcibly dragged from the chamber by masked Venerable Chamber acolytes.
Suddenly, the chamber shook violently, and the humming noise grew in intensity. With a near deafening zap, the Oracle lit up in a flash. Lightning fizzed and crackled around it and then with a boom a beam of light blasted skyward. Elian could see the Supreme stood before it her hands held high and a delighted smile on her face.
“Finally, after so long the Oracle has been revived!” she shouted over the din.
“Bring the betrayer forward. Let the End of All Things begin!”
The crowd parted to reveal a bloody and bruised Vavius being shoved forward by two Hollowed. He was naked save for his trousers and livid wounds bled on his torso. At seeing him, Elian was torn. This was the man who had betrayed him and left him to die, this was his father. He focused his emotions and knew that what Cassia had told him was the truth. Could he stand back and allow Vavius to die as he had done to him in Asta?
The Supreme stepped forward and gripped Vavius by the throat lifting him off the ground.
“I must thank you Vavius. You have done everything I wanted you to. You gave me Elian. Now, I shall do you what I did to your friend Corvan. You shall serve me for all time as my new First Fear.”
Vavius tried to struggle, his legs kicking feebly. The crowd jeered and screamed abuse at him. With a malicious smile, the Supreme carried him towards the light emanating from the Oracle. Even over the crowd, Elian could hear his screams.
‘Help me-son’ Vavius’s voice pleaded in his head.
Tears fell from Elian’s eyes. He was not his father. He could not stand by and let him die. He focused on the emotions he had felt when he’d discovered Vavius had betrayed him and channelled into Anger. The stone in his gauntlet lit up and an extra burst of power shot through his body.
“Don’t try it,” Cassia snarled placing a hand on his shoulder.
Suddenly, the Temple was rocked violently by an explosion. Dust fell from the rafters high above to cover the crowd below.
A hooded Seeker ran into the chamber.
“We’re under attack!” he shouted.
With a shout, Elian batted her hand away, spun and lashed out. As expected, Cassia dodged the blow, but quickly he reversed his punch, striking her in her abdomen. He couldn’t help but smile as he thought of Tarv and his training. The blow sent her flying backwards to crash into the now screaming Venerable Chamber acolytes. Vavius screams grew louder. Elian spun to see the Supreme pushing Vavius into the beam of light emitted by the Oracle. Half his body was immersed in it. Tapping into Fear, all thoughts for his own safety now forgotten Elian dashed forward and threw himself high into the air to leap over the now panicking crowd and land close to the Supreme.
“Let him go,” he demanded.
She glared at him.
“You dare ruin this ritual!”
The chamber rocked again and this time the sound of gun fire and battle came from the Temple’s main hall.
“I will kill you all,” the Supreme snarled.
*
Marcian took cover behind one of the ruined buildings that had once stood proud in the ancient city of Aeranyth. All around him lay dead Imperium soldiers who’d been taken by complete surprise the Arikar airships. Now, the only barrier between them and the Supreme were the huge stone doors of the Temple of Arrival.
Arikar troops had hastily set explosives and were now lighting a fuse. At his side, her hands gripped tightly around her trusty musket was Lizella and next to her Rea.
“You know the plan. We get Elian, free who we can and get the hell out.”
The women nodded.
“Leave any Gifted to me,” Rea said with a determined look. Her brown eyes were fixed on the door, her thoughts on Elian.
They looked up as a Blue Coat ran over to them. The woman’s face and clothing were streaked with dirt, suggesting that they’d found a way underground.
“General sir, we’ve found a way underneath the Temple. There’s an old abandoned sewer network just as captain Bron expected. He says buy us some time, and we’ll see about bringing that monstrosity down.”
Marcian nodded.
“We’ll do what we can. Tell Bron good job and to hurry,” he said. The Blue Coat gave a quick salute before rushing off back to her position.
With a deafening boom, the gunpowder placed at the Temple doorway exploded in a cloud of smoke and flame to reveal a large hole. Marcian clambered to his feet, pistol and sword held high.
“On me!” he roared charging toward the breach. The Arikar at his back.
The airships fired again, blasting great chunks of earth high into the air and masking their charge with clouds of thick smoke. Pouring out of the Temple came hundreds of strangely masked figures. Most were armed with nothing more than knives or sabres, but they attacked with fanatical fury. Scores were cut down by cannon and musket fire but still, they charged. Marcian shot one with his pistol before having to fend off others with his sword. Rea was a whirlwind of fists and kicks to his left, whilst Lizella wielded her musket like a club. The Arikar warriors soon began to win the day, their discipline and White Steel armour making the difference. Marcian watched in awe as an Arikar was struck with a sword that shattered upon impact with their shining armour. His attention was forced back to the carnage raging before him as a screaming masked woman thrust a spear at him. The steel tip narrowly missed his face but he ducked and stabbed forwards with his sword, dropping her screeching in pain to the slippery ground. The fighting was vicious. The ground had turned into a morass of mud, the fanatics of the Venerable Chamber weren’t giving an inch of ground without a fight. Marcian lashed out left and right with his sword, cutting down more of the masked lunatics, but still they came. He glanced to his right to see Lizella sent sprawling into the mud, a snarling masked man on top of her his hands gripped tightly about her throat. His mask had been knocked from his face to reveal a face in the throes of madness. His eyes bulged and spittle fell from his snarling mouth. Marcian cut down another attacker before running to Lizella. He grabbed the man by the scruff of his coat pulling him off the coughing Lizella. With a swipe of his sword, the man lay dead in the muck.
“Are you ok?”
Lizella nodded and took the hand he offered her. Once back on her feet she rubbed her bruised neck. The lines of battle had moved on as the Arikar continued their merciless advance. Scores of bodies littered the ground and the airships continued to fire their cannons into the enemy ranks.
“I’ll be fine. We have to get inside,” she replied her voice a strained croak.
Up ahead the fighting intensified as the Seekers joined the fray. Arikar warriors fell as the Gifted piled into them, even their armour was little defence against the Power. Nonetheless, the Arikar fought on. Visp was with them, fighting with savage determination. At seeing them she left the front ranks and jogged to them. Rea too hurried over to them.
“I saw what happened. Are you ok?” Visp asked Lizella who nodded in the affirmative.
“We need a way inside. I can feel that Elian is in distress, time is running out,” said Rea, her eyes fixed on the Temple.
Marcian looked at the entrance and swore. It was blocked by the desperate defenders and worse still a Hollowed had now joined the fray. He winced as he watched it rend an Arikar warrior limb from bloody limb. His eyes moved to the body of the man who’d tried to kill Lizella. The mask he’d worn lay next to him.
“How about a disguise?” he said his thoughts culminating into a plan. He walked over to the body, picked up the mask and put it on. The others did likewise and charged back into the fray. This time they headed for where the Imperium forces were thickest. Rea faked an injury and Marcian and Lizella put her arms over their shoulders. Visp leading the way. Together they limped towards the fighting. Thanks to their disguise the enemy paid them little heed, allowing them to pass through their ranks thinking they were their own aiding a wounded comrade. Once past the front line, they made their way inside the Temple.
*
Elian faced the Supreme. Chaos was all around them, but her eyes were fixed solely on him. Behind her lay Vavius who groaned in agony. The right side of his body had been dipped into the Power that was pulsing upwards from the Oracle. Half of his once handsome face was now twisted beyond all recognition as though it had been aged a hundred years. His once black hair was now white and turned to wispy strands. His bare torso had also been aged so that half was that of an elderly man, all pale and sagged. Elian could feel his pain, could feel his despair. He did his best to shield himself from it.
“Do not do this Elian. You are the key. The answer to the riddle that has plagued me for millennia. Born of Supreme and Empowered One your Power is the solution. It will allow me to make this world anew, but this time eliminate any chance of this’ – she gestured to the violence all around them ‘from happening again.”
“By wiping out all life? I saw your mind; I felt your emotions when you showed me the past. You despise humanity. You sought to control us, but we cannot be controlled in such a way. People will always resist. You didn’t earn your power- mother. You took it to stop another from committing evil, and yet you ended up abusing it yourself. You became the very thing you despised and now, because you can’t stop people from being -people, you want to kill them all. You’re mad, and as long as I draw breath, I will fight you,” he replied. To his surprise, he didn’t feel Fear, but a strange calm. It was as though everything he’d experienced and suffered had led to this moment. He realised that he had been born for a singular purpose, to bring about the End of all Things. Instead, he would end the Supreme.
*
Packed inside the Temple’s main hall were the prisoners they’d been searching for. Those tasked with guarding them had all headed outside to defend their Supreme. Quickly, Lizella and the others set about cutting their bonds. There were so many of them. Were her parents and the citizens of Fork amongst them? Every prisoner she freed she asked if they were from her former home. She was almost about to give up when she saw them. Her heart raced and tears of utter joy fell from her eyes. Her parents were there, half-starved and terrified, but alive. She rushed over to them. She laughed in joy as she recognised the other people from Fork including Elian’s parents who looked at her open mouthed.
“Mother, father!” she sobbed.
At first, there was little recognition in their haunted eyes, but then her mother’s widened in realisation.
“Lizzi?” she said in disbelief.
Lizella nodded.
“It’s me, mum. I’m here to save you,” she said unable to contain her happiness. Her mother and father pulled her into a tight embrace. They all wept with happiness.
*
The prisoners were freed, but the fighting continued to rage outside.
“They won’t be able to stop them all,” Visp offered.
Marcian agreed. It was risky but there was nothing else for it. They had to get the prisoners out before Bron detonated the explosives.
“You all must flee this place. Run and don’t look back. Get as far from here as you can. Once beyond the Arikar line, you’ll be safe,” he shouted so that his voice filled the chamber.
Heeding his words, the people fled. Those too weak to run were helped by the strong. Marcian pushed his way through the jubilant crowd to Lizella who wa
s pleading with her parents to flee.
“Mum, dad this is Marcian. He saved me after Fork,” she said introducing him.
“Nice to meet you both,” he said with a smile. Despite the chaos all around them, he felt a twang of nerves at meeting her parents.
An agonised scream came from the chamber ahead. The light from within had grown in intensity.
“Elian!” Lizella cried recognising the scream. “Please, mum, dad go with the others. Keep your heads down and get out.”
“What about you? Come with us, we cannot lose you again,” her mother pleaded.
“I can’t. I have to help Elian. I’ll be ok.”
*
With startling speed, the Supreme launched herself at Elian. The calmness remained as he tapped into the power of Anticipation. Ghostly images of her appeared in his vision to show him all possible futures. He settled into a fighting stance and the images coalesced into one solid vision. To an observer, the Supreme had moved faster than the eye could see, but to Elian, she’d moved slowly. He stepped to the side and swatted her attack aside. She staggered, her momentum carrying her past him. Recovering quickly, she faced him again unable to hide the surprise in her eyes.
“Indeed, you are powerful. What a Hollowed you would have made,” she sneered. She advanced again, darting in close and striking like a viper. Elian blocked a strike with his arm, the blow felt like a sledgehammer. He winced as he felt his forearm shatter and his arm went limp. She attacked again, this time he ducked the blow and channelled Joy to heal his injured arm. Panic filled him as all that answered was emptiness. All the while he was being pressed backwards toward the Oracle. The calmness he’d felt evaporated as the Supreme rained blow-after-blow on him. Every impact broke a bone, to fill his vision with stars and his body with agony. She was too fast, for every attack he blocked or avoided using Anticipation, another would connect. Finally, with a savage kick to his chest, he was sent to his knees. He coughed up blood but forced himself back onto his feet.
The Temple of Arrival Page 24
