Tears of the Sun

by Jennifer McCormack

  “Can you do anything to help her?” Jan asked.

  “I know a healing spell that should close the wound, or at the very least stop the bleeding.” Beatrix looked up and smiled at Jan, her green eyes glittering in the light. “I’ll take good care of Talon. Go do what needs to be done.”

  “She’s right, Arbiter Sterling,” Rhys said. “Niercel is still free to pursue the Firebringer. Whatever happens, we can’t let the Coruscalli unleash the Ancient powers buried in this tower. We can’t let the Coruscalli win.”

  Jan glanced at Rhys and back to Talon. Talon had risked her life again and again to get this far. Now that they were so close, she would not want Jan to give up, not even for her sake.

  “Niercel and her cultists went this way,” Rhys said. “If we hurry, we should be able to catch up with them.”

  JAN AND RHYS encountered the remaining Coruscalli in the corridors leading down from the chamber in which they left Talon and Beatrix. The cultists were not about to let them pass without a fight. Fortunately, after all that had happened, Jan was more than ready to give them one. Jan fought her way through the Coruscalli alongside Rhys, employing the swordplay skills taught to her by Talon.

  As she swung her sword at a cultist and watched an arc of blood spray from his wound she felt a little lightheaded, but she promptly reminded herself that she only did what must be done. The fate of the world depended upon her actions.

  The cultists fell one by one, but they still showed no sign of letting up. Jan’s arm was getting tired from swinging her sword, but she forced herself to keep fighting.

  “You go on ahead, Arbiter Sterling,” Rhys said. “I’ll distract these ruffians while you get away.”

  “Can you handle them all by yourself?” Jan asked. She did not like the idea of leaving Rhys to fight the Coruscalli’s best warriors on his own.

  “I’ve faced worse,” Rhys said. “Don’t worry about me, Arbiter Sterling. I can take care of myself. You need to focus your strength on stopping Niercel.”

  Jan knew Rhys was right. She also knew he was a more than capable fighter. Jan nodded affirmation and fled through the long corridor leading ever deeper into the tower’s depths.

  The dark passageway eventually opened up to a large chamber similar to the one Jan had seen upstairs. Like the chamber before it, this one was filled with Ancient technology, equipment and instruments the likes of which Jan had never seen before. She wondered how much of it was still operational. After so many centuries of neglect, the tower was in surprisingly good condition. From what Jan had seen already, at least part of the technology still functioned. Whatever arcane powers the Ancients had possessed were strong, indeed. No mage or sorcerer in the modern world could produce energy great enough to survive such a long passage of time.

  As Jan made her way slowly through the dimly lit chamber, her eyes settled on a source of light ahead, brighter than those around it. A luminescent blue sphere was suspended in midair at the center. It glowed like mage-fire, yet it did not flicker and fade. Instead it held its shape perfectly. It was beautiful. As Jan got closer she could not resist the urge to reach out and touch the mesmerizing light. When Jan’s hand reached the sphere, her fingers passed through it as though it was not really there. It did not burn, as mage-fire would. In fact, Jan felt nothing at all as she waved her hand back and forth through the sphere.

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

  Jan jumped at the sound of the familiar voice. Through the translucent blue light, she saw its source. Niercel stood on the other side of the sphere. Her eyes were fixed on the glowing luminescence and were filled with wonder as she spoke.

  “There’s nothing quite like it in all of Lythril,” Niercel continued.

  “What is it?” Jan asked.

  “Haven’t you guessed by now? This chamber is the command center. This globe represents all of Lythril.” Niercel leaned forward on the metal console beneath the sphere. “From here, I can direct the Firebringer to any part of the world.”

  Shocked, Jan looked again at the blue sphere of light. It was true. She now noticed the familiar outlines of countries and kingdoms on the sphere’s surface. It was a map of the entire world. Jan wondered what such a map would be doing in an underground chamber of a tower built by the Ancients. What was its purpose? Was the Firebringer truly a weapon, as she had suspected all along? Still unable to understand how Niercel could have such precise control over a device of such devastating power, Jan knew she could not allow Niercel to employ the Firebringer, whatever it might be.

  “This blue light can control the Firebringer?” Jan asked, trying to buy herself some time. She needed to get closer to Niercel without drawing attention to her movements. Jan had not forgotten the strange weapon Niercel was carrying, the same one that killed Morgsten and almost killed Talon. A sword was useless against such a weapon.

  “Not quite,” Niercel replied. “I control the Firebringer. With this globe I can control to which part of the world I wish to send it.”

  “You speak as though you already have the Firebringer in your possession. Something capable of such destruction must be a sight to see. Surely you’re not going to tell me that that weapon you used before is the Firebringer.” Jan edged her way around the console, moving slowly so as not to appear threatening. She was curious about the Ancient technology. It was only natural that she would move to get a better view. Niercel paid no attention to Jan’s movements.

  “You mean this?” Niercel produced the crossbow-like weapon. “While it is an impressive device and useful in the swift disposal of foes, this is not the Firebringer. The Firebringer isn’t something as tangible as a handheld weapon.”

  “So you don’t have it here with you?” Jan asked.

  “It is here, but you can’t see it. How should I explain it? The Firebringer is like a massive amount of energy, generated by this tower itself.”

  “You mean it’s sort of like casting a spell?” Jan said. She remembered the deep chamber containing the cylindrical structure, how it had hummed with energy. “Only instead of summoning the energy from within one’s self like a mage does, the energy comes from within the tower, a construct of the Ancients designed to amplify its power.” Jan stopped walking as Niercel’s gaze landed squarely on her. “I’ve been traveling throughout the tower. I have noticed some interesting details regarding its architecture.”

  “Yes,” Niercel said. “The tower acts as both generator and amplifier to the arcane energies produced within. You are sharp to have noticed such an obscure detail, Jan, but then you always were observant.”

  “So the Firebringer is merely energy produced and intensified by this tower?” Jan asked. “I don’t know what I was expecting, but I thought it would be more impressive.”

  “You’re not impressed?” Niercel had a dangerous look about her. Jan had seen that expression before. It meant that Niercel thought that she had the advantage, which in turn meant that she had good reason to believe so.

  “Well let me tell you,” Niercel continued. “If you’re not impressed now, you will be.”

  Jan was afraid to ask what Niercel meant. Instead of inquiring for further details, she decided she should concentrate on how to stop Niercel before she could activate the Firebringer.

  “Don’t believe me, Jan?” Niercel asked. “Just wait and you will see. It’s not like I will let you leave this place. You deserve the honor of witnessing the Firebringer’s capabilities firsthand.”

  “Do you think I will just stand back and watch while you destroy the world?”

  “You don’t have much of a choice. It’s too late to stop me.

  The plan is already in motion.”

  “You’re all talk.” Jan was beginning to think Niercel was bluffing, trying to stall for time.

  “It’s true. With your arrival, the last piece of the puzzle has fallen into place.” Niercel narrowed her eyes at Jan. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? You are the key to activ
ating the Firebringer. That is the reason why I allowed you to live long enough to find this tower.”

  Jan did not want to believe it, but even so she knew Niercel’s words to be true. Ever since she entered the chamber, the glowing scar on her chest emanated warmth that spread all over her body. Jan lowered her gaze and gasped. The light was visible even through the layers of clothing that she wore, forming an illuminated “X” over her heart. The scar was reacting to the pulsing light from the blue sphere. Did the light on the globe represent the Firebringer? If so, it was dreadfully close to where they were now, perhaps right beneath the tower. Niercel had said that the Firebringer was only a tremendous amount of energy, but maybe Jan’s presence had caused the energy to materialize at the base of the tower.

  With numbing horror, Jan realized that she was the key to awakening the Firebringer, or rather the light from within her body was. Niercel had wanted Jan to discover the tower and find her way to this subterranean chamber. It was all part of her plan.

  Unsure what to do, Jan gazed around the room in horror. The luminescent light from the globe filled her field of vision. If she could destroy the blue sphere, Niercel would have no way of controlling the Firebringer. Of course, that also meant that the Firebringer might turn everything to ash, with no one to direct its attacks.

  “You’ve been branded with the power of the Ancients, a power spoken of in the Prophecy of Fire,” Niercel said.

  Jan placed a hand over her chest. The warmth from the mark pulsed in rhythm with her heart, which also matched the light from the sphere. Was that what the mark was, the key to activating the Firebringer? Talon would be disappointed. She believed wholeheartedly that Jan was gifted with Astraeyu’s Light, that the scar marked her as the one chosen to protect the world. If Niercel was correct, the glowing light branded Jan as the one who could bring about the destruction of the world instead.

  Suddenly the entire room began to tremble and shake. At first Jan thought it was an earthquake, but then she saw Niercel working at the console beneath the blue sphere.

  “What are you doing?” Jan shouted over the rumbling. “You’re going to kill us all.”

  “You said before that you weren’t impressed with the Firebringer. Watch this next part closely and prepare to be awed.” Niercel appeared unnaturally calm in spite of the fact that the tower was shaking so badly Jan worried that it would rattle apart. There were many floors above the subterranean chamber, all of which could come crashing down on top of them if the tower became too unstable.

  Jan grabbed onto the metal console and struggled to keep her footing as the tower quaked and trembled. The floor gave a sudden jerk. It felt like the tower was sinking deeper into the earth. Jan fell to the floor and stayed there, still clinging to the console for dear life. The force of the tremors was so great that it kept Jan pinned. She felt like she was being crushed by an unseen weight. There was a terrible rumbling, like a peal of thunder that shook the world. It was as if the mountain roared at the effort of keeping the tower intact.

  The mountain was losing the battle. The tower lurched to one side violently, pitching Jan forward with great force. She slid to the far wall as the tower leaned precariously. Jan put her legs out in front of her and absorbed most of the impact with her feet as she collided with the wall. For a brief instant all was quiet, but the peace did not last for long. As Jan propped herself up on her elbows to see what was happening, another tremor shook the tower. There was a deafening roar as the tower leaned the other way. Jan reached for anything with which to brace herself and latched onto something on the wall behind her and clung tightly to it as the tower swayed from one side to the other. This was it. Jan knew the Ancient tower could not take much more. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer to Lyth and even Astraeyu and waited for the end.

  After a few moments, Jan realized that she was still alive. The tower had ceased to rock to and fro, and there was considerably less noise than before. Jan opened her eyes slowly, afraid of what she might find. The tower could not have survived such an ordeal and still be standing. Jan opened her eyes and was met with a sight she never would have expected, or even believed.

  The tower was mostly intact, at least as far as Jan could tell, but it was no longer standing. Through a transparent wall Jan had failed to notice before because of the dark, she saw the blue sky outside. Although there was still a distinct rumbling from somewhere within the tower, it no longer swayed and trembled. Jan was able to pull herself to her feet and, on unsteady legs, shamble to the window. She peered out and gasped.

  The world was far below, so far that trees appeared no larger than tall shoots of grass and rivers looked like ribbons of silver that crisscrossed the land. Jan saw the Harrowing Sea, and in the distance she could make out the faint outline of a landmass—the Four Kingdoms of Lythril. It had to be. She knew the tower was tall. From the ground it appeared as though it reached all the way to the heavens, but the chamber she was in was underground. Jan could not imagine how she could see the sky from where she was, unless the tower had moved during the earthquake. Jan gazed out the window again and saw that the tower was in fact moving. The ground below seemed to be getting farther and farther away. The tower was rising above the world.

  The sound of Niercel’s voice reminded Jan that she was not alone.

  “Glorious, isn’t it? You can see the world from up here. What a perfect vantage point from which to witness the power of the Firebringer.”

  “Did you know this was going to happen?” Jan demanded, still unable to believe all she had seen. Niercel merely stared at her as though the answer to that question should be obvious.

  “Surely you did not think the Prophecy of Fire could be fulfilled from underground.”

  “What have you done? How is the tower able to be suspended in midair over Astraeyu Nouvi?”

  “It’s not a tower,” Niercel replied. “This structure is a vessel of the Ancients, perhaps one of the oldest in the world.”

  “A vessel,” Jan began, and then stopped. She recalled hearing legends of how the Ancients once traveled the world by ships that sailed through the skies. She had always believed the stories to be no more than wild tales dreamed up by early Astraeyu Nouvins. Now she was beginning to wonder how much was truth and how much was fiction.

  Jan was startled out of her pondering as the scar on her chest began to glow more brightly than ever before. The light was nearly blinding. Jan felt lightheaded from staring into it. Was this how the Firebringer was activated? Jan closed her eyes and fought to contain the light emanating from her body.

  “Are you impressed yet?” Niercel asked. Jan opened her eyes and saw her former friend regarding her curiously. Jan also noticed the light on the globe was brighter, still flashing in sync to the light from her scar. “You will have a bird’s eye view of Lythril as the Firebringer works its wonders, starting here, with Astraeyu Nouvi.”

  “You said before this tower is a vessel,” Jan said. She knew she had to buy some time to come up with a plan, anything to keep the Firebringer from becoming operational. “It’s gargantuan.”

  “It had to be.” The response did not come from Niercel, but came from the opposite side of the room. Jan recognized the familiar voice at once and turned to find its source. Talon was standing in the doorway, holding her injured side with one hand, a sword in her other. “In order to hold the entire Ancient race, the vessel had to be massive.”

  “This is the Ark.” Jan had heard of how the Ancients came to Lythril on a giant ship, but she never imagined it would still exist in the world. “You knew all along, didn’t you?”

  “I suspected this was no ordinary ruin when we discovered the deep furrow leading to it,” Talon said. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, but I was unsure this was the Ark. I did not realize it was here, in Astraeyu Nouvi.”

  “Why would the Ark possess a weapon as powerful as the Firebringer?”

  “It was intended to be used for defense
,” Talon replied. “The Ark was once used to transport an entire civilization. The Ancients were prepared to take whatever measures necessary to preserve their race. Everyone serving in Astraeyu’s Will has heard of the Firebringer. The information was never meant for the public to learn, but then legends of an Ancient weapon surfaced and the Prophecy of Fire spread, all the way to the Mainland apparently.”

  Still in awe that she was standing inside the Ark from all the legends, Jan was reminded of their precarious situation when she saw a cloud pass by the window.

  “We have to stop Niercel,” she said to Talon. “She knows how to control the Firebringer. If she gains access to its powers, she will destroy the world, starting with Astraeyu Nouvi.”

  “Do you honestly think you can still stop me?” Niercel laughed mockingly. “Take note of your surroundings carefully, Jan. If you actually manage to defeat me, there will be no one left to operate this vessel. It’s a long way down.”

  “I know how to fly an Ancient sky ship,” Talon said. “I’ve never flown a sky ship of this magnitude, but I should be able to land the Ark safely.”

  There were so many questions Jan wanted to ask Talon once this was all over, if they lived long enough to talk about it. The light from Jan’s scar flared up again, nearly blinding her with its luminosity. Niercel was trying to activate the Firebringer!

  “Do whatever you must to stop Niercel,” Jan said. She shielded her eyes from the light with her hand. As she squinted, she saw Talon unsheathe her other sword and rush Niercel.

  Jan could hardly see the battle between Talon and Niercel through the glare from the light from within her body. Niercel was a fierce warrior. Even when they were at the Academy, Niercel could best any of the students in their class, but apparently she was unfamiliar with the two-sword technique favored by the Astraeyu’s Talons. Talon’s succession of rapid attacks left Niercel on the defensive, but she was too hardened at combat to allow her momentary lapse in judgment to determine the victor of the battle. Niercel regained her composure and fended off Talon’s attacks with her sword. She used the brief pause between Talon’s attacks to begin working a spell as a counterattack. Jan recognized the incantations. The spell was meant to be used as a shield for the wielder, but the magical barrier was designed to explode on impact, leaving the attacker momentarily paralyzed.