Waking Olympus (The Singers of the Dark Book 1)

by Peter Yard

  They examined the bodies and checked for anything useful. He was surprised that the soldier’s armor was merely leather.

  He looked at the dead, then at Tei. "They only have leather armor. Why?" He was breathing heavily.

  She looked him in the eyes and said. "Easy there, I know, it is a waste. That is the just the way things are. As for their armor, the Cities hate us so much they would rather reject us and forego the extra metal. They have barely enough for weapons, much less armor, and I wouldn't be surprised if they had lost some of their skills in metals as well. Their weapons are terrible."

  This was why the Traders were a game changer for Sanfran. Tei had told him once that the Cities would fall within a century but she wouldn’t say who the aggressor would be. Mikel was pretty sure the Traders could do it themselves if they put their mind to it. He wondered in fact if Tei had revealed a long term Trader strategy. No way to know.

  They buried the bodies in shallow graves amid the long grass, then released the patrol’s horses.

  Tei and Mikel walked together to their horses ready to continue their journey. He cleaned the blood from his hands on the dried grass, obsessed in removing every trace.

  “You surprise me Mikel,” she said. “You're a marksman.”

  “When I was learning the physics of rotating objects we played with slings. I got very good. But I broke the law.” It was a painful memory somehow magnified now.

  “I don't understand.”

  “I killed some birds with it. But not for food. I broke the Law of Respect for Life.”

  “Yet you helped kill two of these soldiers. No, you didn’t kill any of them directly but we made sure. Yet you played your part.”

  “The soldiers were a direct threat. The birds were merely sharing my day,” he said. He meant it sincerely, it was a part of his training and being.

  They proceeded quickly after the incident and rapidly started to leave the Plains behind. Within two days the vegetation had changed from the drying grasslands, Tei called it ‘savannah’, to the semi-arid; the grass was short, dry, and patchy gradually replaced by dry shrubs with reddish dirt between. The meandering creeks that made the Plains so lush were gone completely. Tei said those creeks were from the mountains to the north, and that the Euphray came from a valley beyond them. Mikel had never even heard stories of such a valley or lake but he trusted that the Traders knew it from direct experience.

  They continued heading towards the Caravanserai of the East. Later that day they started to see other Trader caravans paralleling their track in either direction. Some of those heading west would come close enough for a friendly wave or greeting. All paths converged to the same point a place just barely noticeable in the distance. As they got closer it he could see a brown smudge surrounded by green, with a building in the middle.

  The oasis was named Lastchance. Tei explained that originally it meant that this was the last water before the Great Eastern Desert. Back then, the records showed, the desert lay further to the east, and the plains around Sanfran were wetter and more fertile. The oasis was a focus for caravans from the west, south and north. Even from the east across the desert to Tanten and Tan Vu. To get to Tanten the caravans would head east for a given time and then turn north-east traversing the edge of the desert, arriving at a city that at first seemed to be an oasis but was in fact a tongue of fertility on the northern edge of the desert. Mountain streams kept it verdant. Because of the path that the caravans took adversaries did not know of a safe, short route to the city and attempts to find it by crossing the desert became suicidal.

  The Caravanserai was a large fortified inn with a large courtyard, where any number of horses and camels could be rested, while the team did the same in rooms overnight. For a price the Traders who ran the inn would protect the animals through the night, stay guard on the walls, and send out occasional scouts to look for possible bandit buildup. If there was an attack on the Caravanserai then it was everyone's duty to do their part in defending it.

  The building was in the shape of a square about a hundred meters on a side, like a fort with walls about four meters high. It was made of sun-dried mud bricks, coated over with some kind of plaster with fading decorations on the walls. It had two stories of rooms and a cafeteria, a place where there was some cooked food and highly valued fresh fruit and vegetables from the gardens outside the walls. The gardens were carefully watered and guarded, the plots supplying valuable fruit, vegetables and even flowers. Out here the gardens were worth more than gold or silver.

  The courtyard of the building was full of resting animals and guarded trade goods. The most precious items were carried by the owner or kept in a sturdy locked box located in their rooms.

  They had stopped in the Caravanserai for a couple of days while Tei did her wheeling and dealing, selling and buying, and arranging for care of her camels and horses. They would be kept in the surrounding fields and carefully tended. The Caravanserai acted as a place for animals as well as humans to recover their strength. It was similar but more permanent than what he saw in Bethor. Eventually, one of Tei’s clan would put together a new caravan using the animals and a selection of trade goods to take west or south.

  Mikel was checking and re-evaluating his gear, sitting on a bench in the courtyard; is this ok, is that worn, do I need to replace this, endless small decisions. In the middle distance Rijart and Tarvis were talking, discussing something at length by the look. They wouldn't talk long, it was almost midday and it was very hot standing in the sun like that. He couldn't work out what they were saying and found his attention drifting to the clothes they wore, the similarities. He should try to fit in more, it would be camouflage from prying eyes.

  What was distinctive about Traders?

  Apart from their desert cloaks, which they rarely wore on the Plains, they were dressed similarly to him; leather armor sometimes partly hidden under loose and light outer fabrics, no fancy colors except for the headgear, some wore turbans, some wore caps, no one went bare headed, like him. The armor was also different to Lind, the patterns and artwork, sometimes the very design of the armor. There was a lot of variety, he likely had not noticed before because his team didn't seem that different to him. Or, had he changed?

  When he got to Tanten he would have to buy new gear, change his dress to blend in. Also he suspected that Traders knew a lot more about armor than peaceful Lind.

  Above the rooms, on the roof, was an excellent place to look at the surrounding country. It was also part of the defenses for the Caravanserai. In the daytime the heat meant it wasn't a good place to spend too much time but at night the stars were spectacular. Often people would come up stand on the still warm rooftop, briefly immune to the chill of the desert night, gazing upwards. At night Mikel saw Tarvis climbing one of the ladders that led to the roof. He followed along. On the roof a waist high ornate parapet, now crumbling, was the only thing protecting people from accidentally walking off the edge in the dark. Though it wasn't a high drop.

  Sharing the night spectacle with him were Tarvis, Tei, Rijart, and Kay. They were pointing at stars and naming them, references to myths, general talk. Mikel had brought along his spyglass. He walked to the parapet and found a place where the artist's work and natural wear had created a nice stabilizing niche for his small telescope. He extended it and let the large end rest in the niche while he moved the eyepiece. It was not comfortable. If only the parapet was half a meter higher, and he had a chair, and a small light for his notebook, and a better telescope. He couldn't set the scope on Raytans, it was too close to the zenith, he could focus on a couple of the planets and the moon with its very odd markings.

  "What do you see with that?" Tarvis asked.

  He let the man have a look, carefully guiding him towards the moon, also called Tanis, it was half full.

  "That is amazing. You can just make out the structures on Tanis."

  "Structures?"

  "Long story. You will get a chance to find out more when you get to
Tanten. But in short, the surface of Tanis has the remains of old buildings. Very large buildings."

  "Tanis doesn't have enough gravity to keep an atmosphere, how can it have buildings? How do you know about this? Who built it? Why so big?" He did a few quick calculations and was staggered at the numbers he got for the size of the 'structures'.

  Tarvis shrugged. He could barely see that in the feeble moonlight, if there were facial expressions he didn't see them at all.

  Tarvis' voice, "When humans first came to Neti they wanted to call Tanis: Thatsno Moon. Apparently, they thought it was funny, the authorities didn't and had the name changed later. Funny, the odd things that are remembered and the important things that are forgotten."

  They used only camels for the last leg of the journey. Mikel was not prepared for it, he had become a reasonable horse rider, easier than expected but these camels were another matter. Still it wasn’t far and camels were safer in case something caused them to lose their way. One camel each, loaded with precious items, and some special goods owned by the rider. Mikel had received his share of the profits, he had a moment of lust for riches but knew he loved being a Wizard more. A brief flirtation.

  The desert was a completely new experience, even stranger than his sea voyage to Bethor. It was frightening, not just because of its vastness but because it killed passively not actively. Against the desert there was no action you could take to defend yourself except prior preparation. If you got yourself lost here without water then you were as dead as if an arrow had hit you in the heart, but there would be no arrow, no aggressor, only the knowledge of being a condemned man without a prison cell and no reprieve.

  They travelled mostly at night and sheltered in tents by day. After about a day and long after night had fallen Tei looked up and checked the position of the stars and Raytans, then headed on a new bearing. It would be dawn soon.

  At first light, Tei stopped and got the box out of her saddle bag. Mikel was next to her looking on as she adjusted the very familiar item. It contained a delicately poised floating needle: a compass.

  “I’m sure you’ve seen one of these before.” She said.

  “Yes, we make and export them, we need them for our ships.”

  “Tei, when we were in Sanfran,” he paused a moment remembering that night. “When we were in Sanfran you mentioned something about reading ‘Records’ when you were ten. What did you mean?”

  “I was wondering when you would get around to that. All right, a bit of background first.”

  She was quiet for a minute. Perhaps she was not just working out what to say but even whether it should be said. Sometimes a few words can save or destroy a relationship, or a nation.

  ”The possibility of the fall of the Cities was foreseen long before it happened. In fact the Center and Tanten were setup as part of the strategy to retain knowledge after the Great Battle.”

  Mikel almost stopped his camel in surprise. “What? I mean, what do you mean? The Center was founded by the Society of Wizards for learning.” He said. Unusually he now found himself on the receiving end of new uncomfortable information.

  “The Center was set up by and for a contingent of scientists and engineers. Wizards to you. Tanten was set up to retain the records, books and knowledge of the Terran Federation, or Human Nexus as they liked to call themselves. Apparently, they foresaw, accurately, that society and technology would continue to unravel for centuries in the wake of the damage after the Battle. So they used examples from their own history and mythology to create a long lived cultural identity for both of our societies. You would hold the scientific knowledge and more importantly the scientific process until the world could support advanced technology again while we would retain the history and scholarship. We Traders thought that the Cities would survive, though their continued decline finally did lead to the Fall. However, we still have the records from before the Battle, we still remember the history of Earth and the coming to Neti.”

  Mikel was quiet for a moment. He had so many questions. He knew Tei didn’t talk much about this so he better pick his questions carefully in case she rationed the answers.

  “What Battle?” He said.

  “We don’t know exactly. A great battle occurred which destroyed starships and cities, made deserts and altered the weather. Many died. The Records say that the survivors were amazed that anyone survived it. It appears to have occurred in a single day. The few records about it are sealed. Well, sealed when I looked, I was much younger then. I may have enough respect and rank now to get permission.”

  After a couple of hours he could see a green band on the horizon and in the distance beyond that a small mountain range.

  “We are heading for the smudge of green on the right. Tanten. Home.” She said.

  They moved towards the green haze of Tanten at a steady pace. Tei started to speak seemingly to the air but he was the intended audience.

  “There is a story we tell our children. It is called ‘The Man in the Desert’.” She spoke with the well practiced skill and voice of someone who has taught it to many children.

  Long ago, a Trader set out from the Caravanserai on the final leg of his trading mission back to Tanten. He carefully folded his compass in protective cloth, because back then they were more fragile than they are today. He took with him two camels one for him to ride and another for his personal goods and new wealth. He had been traveling for more than a day when in the distance he saw something, a dark shape in the dust. He rode up next to it. There was the prone figure of another Trader. He looked dead. The man on the camel was about to move off and continue, since there was nothing he could do, when he saw a movement. The man moved, opened his eyes and turned to the man on the camel.

  "Please sir, help me, I need water. Take me with you. I was thrown and my camels ran off. You have water and two camels."

  "I cannot spare my water, I may need it. My other camel has my hard earned profits which I need. I am sorry but I cannot help you."

  The man in the desert collapsed back into his imitation of death. While the other turned his camels east, then later north-east, forgetting the other and heading to Tanten.

  The time came around for the next trading mission. The man, gathered his provisions and planned his stops and the goods he intended to purchase. Yes, it would be very profitable. He left Tanten early morning on a day most of the other Traders would not leave. The weather was still a bit stormy but he had endured worse and it would give him a great advantage. As the sun started to rise higher he saw a cloud in the east, an orange wall of dust. Dust storms were something he had dealt with before so he was not unduly worried. He could push on further, at least get to the turning point. He continued, thinking more about some of the merchants in the Cities of the Plains that would be interested in some of the things he planned to acquire. It was getting dark, too early. He had forgotten about the dust storm and now it was upon him. He looked about, but there was nothing of course. No shelter, no assistance. He set the camels down, and was just getting off when the animal bolted upright and stamped the ground. The man was thrown off, he looked down where the camel had stamped, the crushed remains of a scorpion. It must have bitten the camel on the leg. Both camels were agitated. They ran off in random directions leaving the man standing there in the gathering storm incredulous. What was he to do? He hunkered down, covered himself in his cloak and endured while the storm passed. It was not a severe storm, merely a typical late winter squall. When he came out he found himself in an orange haze. The sun was not visible but soon the dust would settle. He had no water and he had lost his compass. He knew how far he was, in camel time, from the turning point. But he did not know how to convert that to a walking man, or more importantly which direction. Even while he thought about this he was losing water. He would have to walk. He must get to the turning point, there was a better chance of him being found there.

  He walked the remaining daylight hours, and for a little while into the night. Then he suddenly knew he
had not been paying enough attention to the moving stars or even the sun during the daylight. He was hopelessly off course. He was dizzy and weak and lay down to sleep through the bitterly cold night. In the morning he was under the full glare of the sun. He wandered further, half delirious, this time knowing he was lost and not caring. He was already dead the moment he lost his camels. This was just a shadow play that he must complete.

  Tei continued, now in her ordinary voice, her own opinion. “The moral of the story? There are several. We are all the man in the desert, both of them. Helping the wanderer is helping ourselves. The desert will kill you through your negligence or through bad luck; all humans can do to oppose that is to plan, to work together, and aid each other. Individuals are easily laid low so do not travel alone. Lastly, knowledge is power and survival. Heh, and yes, maybe a little karma as well.”

  sixteen

  Tanten

  Tanten is at the tip of a tongue of land that projects southwards from the Uuten Mountains. Through the middle runs the Tanuuten River trying to reach the dried Lake Despair to the southeast. Tei had been giving Mikel a guided tour of the city even before they had actually arrived. She clearly loved the city. He hoped he wasn't disappointed because he had no chance of hiding it.

  "Most of the rivers from the Uutens flow north except for the Tanuuten. It flows through the Northern Pass to the southern side of the Uutens and creates the oasis of Tanten. There is little habitable land along the southern borders of the Uutens except for Tanten. Since we founded the city we have diverted the river into farmland and forests. We've created artificial rivers and expanded the oasis. None of the river now reaches the old Lake." She said.

  "So Tanten isn't as old as the Cities?"