by John Corwin
It looked an awful lot like—"Hang on. You're saying the aether storm in Voltis is similar to the energy in a malfunctioning arch?"
"I'm going further than that," Adam said. "I think Voltis is one huge malfunctioning portal."
"Son of a butt-munching unicorn." Shelton chomped down on a fry. "It kinda makes sense."
"The fact that it's a malfunctioning portal creates a problem." Adam gave an apologetic look. "I'm still analyzing the data, but simply reversing our course back through Voltis might not get us back to Seraphina. It might take us somewhere else."
Shelton face-palmed. "I'm gonna throw up."
I didn't like that thought either. "Let's hope you're wrong."
"If it's one huge portal, that means there must be a way to other realms," Elyssa said. "It means we might be able to get to Eden."
Shelton's face brightened. "Hey, that's right."
"There are numerous possibilities," Adam said. "We just have to narrow them down."
Before we could dig deeper into the mystery, Adonis came up behind me and politely tapped me on the shoulder. "Justin, now that dinner is concluded, would you do us the honor of telling one of your stories?"
"Uh, sure." I scooted back my chair and gave Adam a sharp look. "Give some thought to the portal theory. I need to know if there might be a way back to Eden from here."
He gave me a thumbs up. "You got it."
I walked across the spacious citadel and hopped onto the central pedestal. It was time to educate these people on how they'd ended up here at the end of the universe. Seconds later, the crowd surrounded me, faces lit up like kids about to hear a fairy tale for the first time.
"Once upon a time, the world was whole." I channeled a sphere of Murk and traced the continents onto the globe.
Oohs and aahs filled the room.
"The Seraphim ruled the skies, the Sirens the sea, and the Lyrolai lived in the forest, the glade, and the glen." I continued the story Cora had told me about how the Apocryphan had conquered the kingdoms and how their war had split the Earth into realms, making the globe of Murk shatter into pieces and reform into their own globes, much to the amazement of my audience.
"It wasn't until thousands of years later that the Sirens anchored the worlds together by creating the Glimmer." I shattered one of the globes and did my best to recreate the shattered realm of the Glimmer. "It seems no corner of the world was untouched by the Sundering and the Anchoring except for Atlantis."
"But why?" asked a child. "Did the gods protect us?"
"I don't know." I shrugged. "If there's one thing I've learned about magic, it's that sometimes you just have to accept certain things and move on."
That drew a chorus of laughter and knowing looks.
I continued with the story of the First Seraphim War, leading up to a Siren named Melea who removed the Chalon from the Grand Nexus without properly attuning it for removal. "The magic within the arch exploded!" I channeled a globe to represent Eden and simulated a dark wave of Murk racing across it. "This Desecration drained the light from anyone near the arches, turning Seraphim into husks, and mortals into shadow creatures that hungered only for the light of the living." I formed the globe of Murk into the image of an infantile creature with skin like tar. It held up its arms as if grasping, and I made the dreaded cry I'd heard so many times before. "Da-nah!"
A woman screamed and the kids shrank back from the monstrous apparition.
I released the channel and let the image fade away. "It was at that time that Atlantis was cast adrift from the world," I said, using all my best words for poetic points. "For thousands of years, nobody knew what had happened to the lost city. Now, we have finally found you."
Anyone sitting down leapt to their feet and joined the others in a raucous round of cheers.
"We are reunited!" someone shouted. And then the chant started—"Reunification! Reunification!"
I felt a bit guilty, because I sure as hell didn't know how to actually reunify this fragment of a realm with Eden or any other realm for that matter. There were plenty of more stories to tell, but I decided this was enough for now. I caught a glare from Aesop who was busily scribbling on a sheaf of rough parchment. I imagined they didn't have much in the way of paper here, but given the critical shortage of stories in these parts, the old man probably figured it was worth writing down what he heard.
Adonis and the others bowed deep when I stepped down. "Surely, you are one of the gods," Adonis said. "We have never seen such magic."
"No, I'm not a god, and don't call me Shirley."
Shelton snorted and Elyssa rolled her eyes.
Adonis's forehead wrinkled. "I apologize if I offended you."
I waved off his apology. "No, it was a bad joke on my part." During my story, I'd only skimmed the surface of Seraphim powers, and barely mentioned Daemos and other supernatural types. It seemed only right I let him and the other mortals know the Seraphim weren't gods, but beings with magical powers.
"Your people can learn magic," I said.
Adonis flinched. "We can only use that which the gods have gifted us. To do otherwise is blasphemy."
"Like the food preservation spell?" I asked.
He nodded. "Yes. The gods give us what we need."
"Interesting." It sounded like oppression to me, but I wasn't here to start a rebellion.
"How did you do your magic?" Adonis asked, and the weight of a hundred stares settled on me.
"I'm part Seraphim," I explained.
That rocked the crowd back on their heels.
"He is god!" someone shouted.
Many sank to their knees, soon joined by their neighbors. I held up my hands. "Hey, enough of this! I'm not a god."
Adonis looked up at me. "Many apologies, Almighty Justin, but if you are not a god, what are you?"
Elyssa's groaning sigh penetrated the silence that followed.
I barely kept myself from laughing. "I'm just a guy with super powers."
Judging from the murmur of conversation, it seemed that the Atlanteans had a great topic of conversation to keep them occupied for a while.
We excused ourselves and headed back down the road. Shelton stared up at the moon as we walked. "Do you think the moon used to be blue instead of gray like it is in Eden?"
"If this is really a preserved slice of old Earth, then yeah," Adam said. "This place is fascinating. I wish we didn't have to hurry back."
Shelton groaned. "If I have to eat another glurk, I'm gonna puke."
I just hoped Shelton's gripes were the least of our worries.
Bright and early the next morning, the four of us walked to the Falcheen and convinced Illaena to fly us over to Heval. Narine and her besties didn't make an appearance, but I figured when we got back I'd have to give them the same history lesson I'd given the mortals.
Mortals. It was damned strange to be labeling humans like that, especially since I'd grown up believing I was human. Since Daemos were part human and part demon, I had a slice of humanity lurking in me, but I definitely wasn't one of them.
As the Falcheen cast off and headed north toward Heval, I began to have doubts about our unannounced visit. "It seems like the Fallen enjoy being gods around these parts."
"Maybe," Elyssa said. "On the other hand, they might just want to be left alone. We should assess the situation by asking the locals for information."
"Good idea," Adam said. "Walking into a den of malicious vipers like Daelissa would be pretty bad."
Shelton snorted. "Understatement of the day."
A towering black silhouette appeared in the mists on the horizon when we were about twenty miles out to sea. Mount Olympus rose so high its peak was lost above the clouds, making the mountain in Atlantis look like a molehill. The town of Heval was packed onto a wide plateau on the southern side of the mountain where some strange act of geology had created a square mile of land with grass and trees. Though it was plenty of room for people to live, it wasn't arable, which meant they most likely
traded for food with Atlantis.
"How do you figure they get down off the mountain?" Shelton said.
As we drew closer, Adam pointed to a series of stairs and bridges built into the side of the cliffs that went all the way down to a small harbor. "I'd guess they have to take the long way down."
Shelton grimaced. "Holy pant-crapping cliffs! Ain't no way in hell I'd walk that route."
The buildings in Heval looked markedly different from those in Atlantis. Built mostly of polished black rock and gray granite, they were tall and square, without much of the architectural flair of Atlantis. A few buildings near the city center bore the spires of Atlantis, leading me to believe the Sirens might have constructed some of the buildings, but not the rest.
Since there was no space to land the ship, the Falcheen sidled up to the cliff where a round courtyard offered space for the gangway. Three large statues of winged Seraphim stood in the center, their stone gazes fixed upon the sea. A man with a rough brush perched on the shoulder of one the statues, busily scrubbing bird poop from its shoulders.
"Let me guess," Shelton said. "Those are the Fallen."
Adam gave him a thumbs-up. "Gold star for you."
Domiciles crowded the edges of the courtyard, their windows looking straight down at the thousand-foot drop.
"Talk about the Cliffs of Insanity," Elyssa murmured. "I hope they don't get earthquakes here."
Before the gangway had reached the shore, dozens of people spilled into the courtyard, mouths agape and eyes wide at the sight of the flying vessel.
Illaena stepped to my side. "I do not like the idea of you seeking out the Fallen. I will take the ship out to an aether eddy where we will wait." She tapped the communication gem on her collar. "You know how to reach me when you're ready."
I'd kind of hoped her crew might come with us just in case we needed an assist, but the look in her eyes told me that wasn't going to happen. She's scared. I couldn't blame her. The idea of ancient Seraphim who'd ruled like gods in a lost land for thousands of years was enough to make anyone a little hesitant of dropping in and visiting.
I just hoped the gods of Mount Olympus didn't kill us on sight.
Chapter 25
By now, the crowds were all the way up to the cliff where a stone railing prevented them from slipping over the ledge to their doom. Like the Atlanteans, the Hevaleans wore tunics and togas though, with the chillier weather at this altitude, these people covered their shoulders and heads with robes.
A young man with a gold wreath on his head stepped forward. "I am Archon Hippias," he said in the same heavily accented Cyrinthian spoken by the humans in Atlantis. "Did the gods gift our brethren with a flying ship?" Hippias sounded a bit miffed that we'd get a fancy gift before them.
"We are not from Atlantis," I said, and was not disappointed when my declaration brought forth a chorus of confused sounds. When the noise died down, I continued. "We spent the night as guests of Atlantis and have come to visit your city."
Hippias looked comically confused. "If you are not from Atlantis, then where could you possibly have come from?"
"Oh, brother." Shelton groaned. "Here we go again."
I smiled reassuringly. "If we could have private audience, Archon Hippias, I will explain everything."
"Very well." Hippias waved his arms. "Make room for our guests!"
The crowd parted right down the center. I tried not to look down as I crossed the narrow gap between the ship and the cliff, and stepped into the courtyard. Elyssa and the others soon joined me. Illaena wasted no time and the Falcheen swooped out over the ocean.
Hippias led us down narrow streets of smooth polished basalt and the other citizens followed at a respectful distance, expressions wary of the new strangers. Where Atlantis was shining and beautiful, the buildings here were square and dark, casting a pall over the city. It wasn't until we reached the central section that we entered a neighborhood of white marble mansions on wide plots of grassy land dotted with trees and gardens. Unsurprisingly, Hippias led us into the largest, a great domed house that looked like it could have been a church. The inside was finished in marble with gold-trimmed tiles and murals in the floors and walls. Ornate statues of the Fallen greeted us in the main foyer, and past them was a hall filled with busts of people bearing imperious expressions.
"This is the hall of Archons," Hippias explained. "My forefathers."
"Being archon is a birthright?" Elyssa asked.
He nodded. "I am of the royal bloodline bequeathed by the gods."
"Ain't no better way to get it," Shelton said in a voice dripping with sarcasm.
Hippias entered a round room with a polished stone table in the center. Columns reached up to the domed ceiling, and behind them were shadowy alcoves with more statues. He rang a bell and a man with the universal bearing of a butler stepped inside.
"Refreshments for our guests," Hippias told the man. He motioned us into the heavy wooden chairs around the table and then took a seat for himself. "Before we commence, might I ask your names?"
I took the lead. "I'm Justin." My finger pointed out the others in turn. "Elyssa, Adam, Shelton."
Shelton tipped his hat, but didn't remove it, and I noticed he had his compressed staff at the ready in one hand. Shelton, as a general rule, didn't trust anyone he didn't know, so for him it was normal behavior. Elyssa's eyes wandered warily around the room, and I could tell she was evaluating escape routes and battle plans.
Adam was taking selfies with his phone.
"Interesting names," Hippias said. "I would ask where you are from, but I suspect that information is forthcoming."
"My story will probably upset some of your long-held truths about Atlantis and Heval," I said, "but I must assure you it's all the truth."
He nodded. "I have an open mind."
I sure hope so.
The butler returned with wine, cheese and bread. Shelton looked at it suspiciously and scanned it with a program on his phone before taking a bite. The rest of us poured ourselves glasses of white wine that tasted surprisingly sweet.
I launched into the story about the Sundering, the Desecration, and our theory of how this realm fragment came to be. Hippias remained calm and sipped on his wine until I'd finished explaining how we'd come from Seraphina and into his neck of the woods.
Hippias took a long gulp of wine after I'd finished. Despite his outward calm, he was obviously a bit shaken by the revelations. He poured himself another goblet and spoke. "You have undertaken a journey worthy of Odysseus himself to reach this place, but there is something that puzzles me."
"What's that?" I asked.
His question was simple. "Why did you come here?"
Elyssa's eyes met mine. She nodded. Adam nodded, and Shelton shrugged. It seemed that it was time to divulge our suspicions.
"What do you know of the gods who live on Olympus?" I asked.
"I have personally spoken to them," he said. "As Archon it is my duty to inform them from time to time of the state of our city."
I wasn't really sure how to phrase the next question. "Um, are they nice people?"
"They are gods, not people," he said sternly. "They have always treated me with respect."
"Any evil vibes?" Shelton asked.
Hippias almost spilled his wine. "What sort of question is that? Why do you ask such things about the gods?"
"We think they might be in danger," I said.
Hippias narrowed his eyes. "Though they warned me and every Archon before to be vigilant of danger, I doubt any could harm the gods."
I heard the sound of air through a hollow tube. Shelton was two steps ahead of me, probably forewarned by the change of tone in Hippias's voice. His staff snapped out and he shouted a word. Elyssa flipped over the table and knocked Adam over backwards. I channeled a shield just an instant before several darts bounced off of it.
Hippias scrambled backwards, but Elyssa had him in a chokehold before he could move another inch. Armed men burst from the a
lcoves, swords in hands, and tried to attack us. Thanks to my shield and Shelton's, they ran headfirst into the invisible barriers and bounced off like kids slamming into freshly cleaned sliding glass doors.
"Sound the alarm!" Hippias cried. "The god killers are here!"
"Son of a—" Shelton flicked away his shield and aimed his staff. A bolt of blue energy slammed one soldier in the chest, knocking him across the room. Shelton whirled his staff and spun, his leather duster flying out like a cape, and blasted another attacker in the face.
Adam took out his wand and picked off two more soldiers with precisely aimed spheres of energy that coalesced around the attackers' heads and knocked them out like gas bombs. Elyssa fought three soldiers, her body and fists a blur. Unable to even draw a sword or fend her off with fists, the men grunted, doubled over, and fell into a heap.
Elyssa stood over them and smoothed out a lock of mussed hair—the only indication she'd just taken out three armed men.
The scene resembled the day after a raucous fraternity party—a bunch of dudes in togas unconscious on the floor in puddles of their own piss and vomit. Only Hippias remained awake, and he looked absolutely terrified.
"I knew this day might come," he said hoarsely. "You will be the end of us all."
"How did you know?" I picked him up off the floor and planted his ass back in the chair. "Tell me!"
He looked up at me with tortured eyes. "The gods told us if anyone ever came from the outside, they were here to kill them."
I blew out a long sigh. "Well, today is your luck day, Hippias. We're not here to kill anyone."
Hippias looked at the men on the floor. "But your powers—who else could you be but the evil gods from beyond?"
"I hate to break it to you, buddy," Shelton said with a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, "but your gods ain't gods at all. They're just a bunch of posers."
"When was the last time you spoke to them?" I asked.
Hippias swallowed hard. "I should not say."
I squeezed his shoulder a little too tight for his comfort. "You should definitely say."
