The Way of Ancient Power

by Ben Wolf

  Dozens of crystalline blue spires jutted into the sky, each of them shimmering in the sunlight. Some towered above others, some clustered together, and all of them encircled a palatial structure that consisted of at least eight spires, each of them tipped with gold points. It had to be the Sky Fortress.

  Whether one spire or many, each structure extended from gleaming silver platforms atop the thick gray pillars Calum had seen from the ground.

  As they approached, Calum noticed that none of the platforms connected to each other. No bridges stretched between them, nor any walkways. Each platform stood free, on its own. Windgales flitted between the spires and platforms like hornets darting between sparkling nests.

  Why walk between platforms when you can fly? Calum mused.

  He found his breath again and exhaled a sigh of wonderment as the three Windgales landed with him on the nearest silver platform. A thick, but solitary spire pricked the sky before him. Lilly landed beside him.

  “You’re from here?” Calum sucked in another deep breath, but it didn’t satisfy his lungs like it should have, so he sucked in another.

  She smiled and nodded. “Yes. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

  Calum granted himself another long survey and cleared his throat. He rubbed his arms. Even with his armor on, he could tell the temperature had dropped substantially the higher they’d ascended, despite the clarity of the sky and the burning sun that seemed nearer than it ever had before.

  “That’s an understatement,” he replied.

  “Alright, put me down. Put me down.” Axel’s feet touched the platform just ahead of where Calum and Lilly had landed, and he shrugged out of the Windgales’ grips. He shivered and exhaled a vaporous breath. “Finally.”

  “It’s—it’s harder to breathe up here for some reason.” Calum inhaled another long unsatisfying breath.

  “The air is thinner this high up. A lot thinner. Until you get used to it, you’ll tire much faster, you might get headaches or nauseated, and you may even pass out.” Lilly patted Calum’s shoulder. “Just don’t get into any fights while you’re up here, and you should be fine.”

  Calum huffed, and it came out as a cloud of vapor, just like Axel’s words had. “I’ll try not to.”

  “If you start feeling lightheaded, there’s a trick we teach to visitors that might help you.” Lilly held her hand up to her mouth, fingers together, and pressed the side of her index finger against her lips. “Position your hand under your nose, like this, and inhale a breath through your mouth. It doubles the air pressure of your breath as you take it in. Sometimes it helps, and other times it doesn’t do anything.”

  Calum squinted at her, but he tried it. His lungs definitely filled up faster, but he couldn’t tell if it did much to help his breathing. “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “These towers are all made of the same blue crystal.” Lilly motioned to the spire in front of them. “Several millennia past, it used to be common on both sides of Kanarah, but when my people built Aeropolis, we used almost all of it. Now it’s as rare as gold, and almost as valuable.”

  “Why did they choose crystal?” Axel asked. “I can see through most of it. There’s no privacy.”

  “It’s a tradeoff,” Lilly said. “With less air up here, it’s also much cooler.”

  “No kidding.” Axel huffed another plume of vapor.

  “By using crystal, we’ve created a means to trap the sun’s warmth inside without letting it out as quickly,” Lilly continued. “If someone wants privacy they have but to enter a spire’s inner room. Those are usually made of opaque building materials.”

  Nearby, the fifteen Windgales who carried Magnus deposited him on the platform, and he set Condor down on his feet.

  “Good to be home,” Condor muttered.

  Axel grabbed his rope and gave it a tug. “Not for long, I suspect.”

  “I wouldn’t hold onto that too tightly.” Condor smirked. “If I take off again and you’re holding on—well, it’s a long way down, Farm Boy, and you look like the type who would splatter instead of bounce.”

  Axel released the rope and glared at Condor.

  Magnus opened his arms to receive Riley from the six Windgales who’d brought him up, then he focused on Kanton, who waved the rest of the Windgales away. “Which way do we go now?”

  Kanton motioned toward the nearest spire. “Follow me.”

  The spire didn’t have a door—just a large hole at its base. As they walked inside, Calum caught himself marveling at the inside of the spire just as much as he had on the outside.

  The blue crystal glistened all the way to the top of the spire, which had to reach a hundred feet tall, if not more. Several hallways snaked off in different directions inside, and half of them had translucent walls.

  About ten paces inside the entrance, a Windgale sat at an oak table. She wore a white cape and a matching robe with red accents and scribbled on a piece of parchment with a quill. A pair of spectacles, blue like the crystal all around her, perched so close to the end of her pointed nose that Calum didn’t know how they even stayed on her face at all.

  As they approached, she scanned Kanton from head to toe with one eyebrow raised. “May I help you?”

  “With respect, Madame.” Kanton showed her the Windgale salute and bowed low. “I humbly request that you provide us with aid. My friends have a wounded companion in need of serious medical attention.”

  The woman’s head recoiled a few inches, not unlike a bird’s head would bob backward. Though she was thin, the action created a double-chin effect on her neck. “What seems to be the problem?”

  Kanton motioned toward Riley, whom Magnus still held. “This Wolf was stabbed in his side and is dying. He needs attention immediately.”

  “We will gladly help him.” If she had intended to express any enthusiasm, her tone failed to indicate it.

  She picked up a small crystal bell on her table and gave it four distinct jingles. Four Windgale men, also clad in white robes with red accents, emerged from one of the hallways with a white board.

  “Take the Wolf into chamber sixteen and notify Lord Elmond that he is needed immediately,” the woman said.

  The four men nodded and approached Magnus, who carefully set Riley on the board. As quickly as they had arrived, they vanished into one of the hallways. When Calum started after them, the Windgale woman held up her hand.

  “Staff only, I’m afraid. No visitors are allowed beyond this point without authorization.”

  Calum wanted to say something, but Kanton gave him a reassuring nod. Instead, he approached the table. “How much do we owe you for your help?”

  The Windgale woman recoiled her head again, and her double chin reappeared. “Owe us? Sir, we offer complimentary aid. Anyone in need may partake in our healing works.”

  Calum cracked a smile. He never would have guessed that based on her attitude. “Thank you.”

  “I’m happy to stay here and wait for word on your friend.” Kanton nodded toward Condor. “I’m sure you have somewhere you need to take him in the meantime.”

  Calum extended his hand to Kanton. “Thank you, Kanton. We’re indebted to you for this.”

  Kanton shook his hand then gave him the Windgale salute again. “No. It is I who am still indebted to you. Now and forever, Calum the Deliverer. Go, take your prisoner before the Premier. I imagine he’ll have nearly as many praises for you as I do.”

  Calum returned the salute, and then turned to Lilly. “The platforms aren’t connected. How do we get across to the Sky Fortress?”

  She showed him a smirk. “I’ll take care of that.”

  “That’s what you said about the lift, too,” Axel muttered.

  “This time I mean it,” she countered. “We didn’t have enough time before.”

  “Whatever the case, we need to get you back to your parents soon.” Magnus tugged Condor close. “I imagine they will be delighted to see you returned safely.”

  “Thrilled, I’m sure
,” Condor said.

  Lilly shot him a glare, then she refocused on Calum. “Give me a minute, and I’ll be back.”

  She zipped out the spire’s entrance and disappeared into the sky, leaving the guys alone with Condor.

  “You know, it’s not too late to set me free.” Condor smirked at Calum.

  “You shouldn’t have attacked us,” Calum said. “If you had let us pass, the Raven’s Brood would still be at full strength, and you’d still be a free man.”

  “We would have overcome you had it not been for the Sobek,” Condor said. “I’ll admit I made a tactical error in attacking you with your big green friend here. He’s the only reason the rest of you aren’t all dead.”

  Axel huffed. “You’re giving him too much credit, if you ask me.”

  “Except I didn’t ask you.” Condor’s vivid blue eyes centered on Axel, and he displayed a polite grin.

  Axel steeled his voice. “We did just fine without Magnus. I took out ten of your men with barely so much as a scratch on my armor.”

  Condor rolled his eyes. “As I said before, I look forward to the day when you and I get to cross blades again.”

  Axel’s eyes narrowed. “Likewise.”

  Magnus stepped between them. “We will see what the Premier says. Until then, no blades will cross.”

  “Speaking of which, when are you gonna give me my sword back?” Axel asked.

  It was a fair question, but Calum looked at Magnus.

  “Not until Condor is in the Premier’s custody,” Magnus said.

  Lilly drifted back inside the spire. “Come on out. Ride’s waiting.”

  Calum followed Axel and Lilly outside with Magnus and Condor in the rear. There on the platform sat two large boxes, each big enough to hold a half-dozen people, and each adorned with gold edging and embellishments. Eight rods, two on each of its four sides, extended out from the boxes. Two teams of eight large Windgale men in vibrant purple armor with white capes stood nearby.

  “What is this?” Axel asked.

  “They’re Aeropolis’s shuttle service. They get visitors from place to place in these chariots,” Lilly replied.

  Axel closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. “This is the only way over?”

  “I fear I must agree with Axel’s query in this case,” Magnus said. “It took sixteen Windgales to carry me up here, but now eight of them can supposedly carry me to the other platforms in a box?”

  “They can, and they will.” Lilly nodded. “Don’t worry about it. This is what they do, all day, every day.”

  Magnus’s brow furrowed, but he relented. “If you insist.”

  A long sigh escaped Axel’s mouth. “Fine. Let’s go.”

  Calum and Axel took one of the chariots, and Magnus and Condor boarded the other. The trip to the fortress lasted only a few minutes, but it gave Calum another chance to absorb Aeropolis’s splendor. Even in his wildest imagination, he never could’ve conceived of a place like this.

  The Sky Fortress towered above all the other spires by at least a few hundred feet, and its silver platform would have more than filled the King’s quarry back in Eastern Kanarah. Its spires’ golden tips glinted with yellow sunlight, making it look more like a crown than a building.

  More Windgales in bright purple armor zipped around the exterior of the Sky Fortress. Wisps, who always wore armor a much darker shade of purple and with no capes, flew past less frequently, but they were still more common here than anywhere else Calum had ever been.

  More interesting still, not all of the soldiers were men. Calum noticed several Windgales with long, flowing hair and rose-colored armor among the purple shades.

  The chariots landed on the front of the Sky Fortress platform, and the Windgales stepped aside. Though also made of crystal, the fortress’s walls lacked both the translucent quality and the easy access of the other spires. Two guards in vivid orange armor with purple accents and capes stood on each side of a large double-door made of polished brass. Each of them held a long spear.

  “What now? Do we just walk in?” Axel stepped out of the chariot.

  “Follow me.” Lilly started toward the brass doors, and the guys followed her. As she approached, the guards moved to the doors and opened them without so much as a word.

  Calum looked at Axel, who shrugged, then he glanced at Condor. That same familiar smirk formed on his lips, and he raised a dark eyebrow.

  It bothered Calum. Why wasn’t he more nervous? If what Lilly had said about him was true, he should’ve been terrified of coming back here. So why wasn’t he?

  The interior of the Sky Fortress resembled that of the medical spire they’d just left, except more opulent. Crystal chandeliers hung from the lobby’s lofted ceiling, and brass torches, all unlit, adorned the walls along with matching flower pots, each of them stuffed with colorful flora.

  White marble floors stretched throughout the space, and one central staircase spiraled upward in the center, no doubt a convenience for non-flying visitors. Grand hallways lined with blue crystal, gold, silver, and marble emptied out of the lobby to the left and to the right.

  While the Windgales outside the fortress darted around as if in a constant state of hurry, those inside the fortress floated through its halls at their leisure. About half of them wore armor and carried weapons of one sort or another, and the other half wore fine robes similar to those of the Windgale woman who had received Riley in the first spire.

  Many of them regarded Calum and his friends with raised eyebrows and wide eyes as they walked through the fortress, but almost every person they passed stared at Lilly in total wonder.

  Calum noticed, but he didn’t know what that meant.

  “Come on,” Lilly said. “It’s this way.”

  Lilly led them around the staircase toward another set of doors, these made out of a deep brown wood and set into a wall made of opaque blue crystal. Two guards in familiar orange armor and wielding spears squinted at her, then they quickly moved to open the doors. Their eyes widened, though, when they noticed Condor walking between Magnus, Calum, and Axel.

  Something definitely wasn’t right.

  At first Calum had attributed the looks they’d been given to Condor, but it wasn’t by his authority—or infamy—that the doors continued to open for them as they headed deeper and deeper within the fortress.

  They walked through a final set of doors made of black steel, and guarded by two Wisps in dark-purple armor, into the largest room of them all so far. Instead of crystal walls, dark metal formed the room’s perimeter. Two rows of marble pillars, white and colossal, outlined the main walkway and reached up at least two hundred feet to the ceiling.

  In the center of the walkway at the far end of the room, two Wisps in dark purple armor flanked both sides of a throne made of the same blue crystal and adorned with gold. Another Wisp with long blond hair stood just to the throne’s right. He wore dark gray armor the shade that Condor’s had been.

  And there, on the throne, sat the Premier of the Sky Realm.

  A network of angular yellow crystals connected by blue threads adorned the top of his white robe. A crown, also made of yellow crystal, reached up in multiple symmetric points from atop the Premier’s head. His white hair and beard betrayed his youthful face and bright blue eyes.

  As they approached, the Wisp in the charcoal-colored armor grinned at Lilly like a handsome idiot, but her only response to him was a curt nod.

  Then the Premier stood and fixed his eyes on Lilly. “You’re late.”

  Calum glanced at her, then at Axel, whose face mirrored Calum’s own befuddlement.

  “I’m sorry.” Lilly performed the Windgale salute then knelt down with her head bowed. “It’s good to be home, Father.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  “What?” Axel’s question split the silence and echoed throughout the throne room, but he didn’t care. “You’re the Premier’s daughter?”

  Lilly stood upright and stared at him. “Yes, I—”


  “So this whole time you’ve been with us,” Axel interrupted, “you’ve been lying to us?”

  “I never once lied to you,” Lilly replied. “I said I left my home and my parents in the Sky Realm.”

  “But not that you were the Premier’s daughter.” Axel squeezed his fists tight.

  Why had she lied to him? This changed everything. When she was just a normal Windgale, he thought he might’ve had a shot at being with her, at least once he got Calum out of the way. Now, though…

  “Not telling you I was the Premier’s daughter is not the same as lying.” Lilly glanced at Calum, who squinted at her, then she refocused on Axel. “Mostly. I didn’t know for sure if I could trust you guys until we made it here and I knew I was safe.”

  Axel’s eyes widened. “After everything we did for you, after all the times we saved you from danger, you still didn’t trust us?”

  “A young woman in my daughter’s situation can never be too careful.” The Premier stepped forward. “Had you and your friends been less honorable, any number of calamities might have befallen her. What if you had learned her identity and decided to ransom her?”

  “We would not have done that.” Calum stepped forward. “Lilly is our friend—a part of our family, even.”

  The Premier grinned at him. “My daughter has exercised great wisdom. There are few people in this world who are unquestionably trustworthy, and she was wise to recognize that the first three beings to take an interest in her might not belong to their ranks.”

  Axel followed the Premier’s line of sight to Condor, all while bristling at his words. Who was he to assume Axel wasn’t trustworthy or honorable?

  “I know what it’s like to endure betrayal, and it is an experience from which I’d like to spare my daughter.” The Premier’s eyes narrowed on Condor. “Bring him forward.”

  Two of the Wisps zipped forward and clamped their gloved hands on Condor’s arms. They wrested him from Magnus’s grip and darted back to the Premier before Axel or anyone could do anything about it.

  Axel motioned toward Condor with his hand. “Hey, he—”

  “He is in our custody now, along with my daughter,” the Premier said. “For which you will be greatly rewarded.”