Ruin & Reliance

by Jeremy Dwyer

  “I don’t mean we should go out there! I want to go deeper into the mountain! This alcove is part of a cave system,” Fenella said.

  “No! The lava’s coming from inside the mountains! We can’t go in deeper! We’ll just get burned alive at the source of it!” Zoe said.

  “Are you sure?” Brant asked.

  “Yes! I can see where the lava is coming from! These mountains are filled with it, around the whole valley. It’s falling down everywhere from openings in the rock. That’s where all these new lava rivers started!” Zoe said.

  “We can try to find another way through the mountains,” Brant said.

  “Yes! If you won’t listen to me, listen to him! We have to try to find a way!” Fenella said.

  “What way? One wrong turn and then we’re trapped in some cave deep inside the mountains. Then what? Wait for another lava river to pour down on us? We need to just wait here until the lava stops flowing and cools off. That way, we don’t get lost,” Zoe said.

  “Don’t assume you know what’s going to happen! Look up into the caves and see if there really is a problem inside the mountains! You need to look! Because I see the problem out here!” Fenella said. She watched a brand new river of lava meandering across a portion of the valley floor that was previously dry ground – dry except for the acid rain, of course.

  Zoe used her far sight to look around corners and peer deeper into the caves connected to the alcove they were hiding in. “The caves are deep. I can see around corners, but I can’t see inside of the stone itself, so I don’t know how long we have until the walls rupture and release more lava,” she said.

  “Zoe’s right. The lava’s not flowing in our direction, but it is coming out of the mountain walls,” Rexana said. She looked outward and watched the newly-formed lava rivers pouring down from cracks in the mountain walls and flowing across the valley floor. She was satisfied that none of the lava rivers seem to be heading in their direction at the moment. “The lava is moving away from us. It’s not flowing near the edges. It’s going toward the middle,” she said.

  Fenella didn’t agree – she just had a bad feeling and managed to hide by running deeper into the alcove, leading to a tunnel that went higher up inside the mountain.

  “Let’s follow her!” Brant said.

  Zoe took Brant by the hand and said: “Brant, I need you to wait here with me. Let’s get through this together. We’re going to be fine. I don’t want to lose you. She has to go her own way. But I can see far and figure out what’s going on. Trust me.”

  “I trust you. And I love you,” Brant said. He still felt nervous, but he didn’t have far sight, and Zoe did.

  “I trust Rexana. Her eyes are true. If both of you see far, and she agrees to stay, I’ll stay,” Vadim said.

  “We’re staying, Vadim. I agree with Zoe,” Rexana said.

  ~~~

  The expanding gems that were used to pierce the mountain walls continued to exert substantial pressures in small areas. These stresses gave rise to wide and complex webs of fracture lines. Additional ruptures soon appeared in the mountain walls and new lava rivers poured down from these vents. The lava swept quickly across the valley floor, flowing in every direction. A breached formed in a section of the mountain wall near their alcove, and the burst of lava it ejected caught them by surprise, boiling Zoe, Brant, Rexana and Vadim to death almost instantly.

  ~~~

  From the safety of a tunnel deep within the mountains and high above the valley floor, Fenella cried when she heard their screams and sensed their final thoughts. She was furious that they all had to come here to follow Duke Jovan on his endless quest for vengeance. She admired Zoe and Brant as good people who fought for the freedom of others, even if she didn’t really care for combat of any kind. Vadim was loyal, and for that she regretted his loss. Rexana was competition for Jovan’s affection, but even that was not justification for her death. Fenella just waited and hoped that the lava river didn’t rise up so high that it engulfed her. She even wondered if Duke Jovan could escape the molten river, and if she ought to blame him for the deaths of these innocent people.

  ~~~

  Baron Helladius, Cahal, Lygia, Kerenza and Arngeirr thought they were safe in their own alcove in the mountain wall, but they were all burned alive when the widening lava river raged toward them and engulfed their bodies.

  ~~~

  Judith watched as the army of Count Nemanja – except for a single woman – was destroyed by the flowing lava and falling gray-blue acid all around her. She continued writing into her book, recording all that she saw and heard.

  ~~~

  From the spirit world, the Guardian Angel Ondothel maintained his protection of Judith. Neither of these perils caused her the slightest harm. Even her book was undamaged by the acid and the lava.

  ~~~

  The power of the Hidden by this Harmony song protected Duke Jovan and his two thousand one hundred (2100) soldiers, hiding them even from the streams of molten rock and the gray-blue corrosive liquid falling from the sky. Jovan drank anew of the waters of the Pirovalen Ocean from his vial to be energized with the powers of music and sound. He reinforced the melody to continue its protective effect, such that he and his army remained undetected and unharmed.

  ~~~

  The three hundred eighty-four (384) warships in the Jeshirinko fleet were engulfed by the new lava rivers raging across Cinder Valley. The constructor on board was incinerated, halting its crystallization and dispersal of the gray-blue lake waters. The crew and commanding officers – including General Tiglath, Admiral Erisinni, Lieutenant Skender and Lieutenant Delfina, as well as the architect, Erlend – were all burned to death by the flow of molten rock.

  ~~~

  On board the Greatest Future, Arisha was inside the wheelhouse and gazing out the window. “What’s going on down there? The valley floor is turning completely red everywhere I look. Why?” she asked.

  Nikon could sense some of what was happening below and said: “Everyone is burning to death. I can feel their spirits departing.”

  “Is it from the burning lake waters that you lifted up using the constructor? Is that acid rain spreading? I warned you this was dangerous, Perikles! Have we destroyed all the reinforcements sent by the central bank to protect this valley?” Klemens asked.

  Perikles looked out the window, recognized instantly what the problem was and yelled: “The magma chambers in the mountain must have erupted! Fotini, sail us out of here! Go as high as you have to!”

  “This is no time for taking risks! Just go to safety!” Klemens yelled.

  “Higher is safer! Go!” Perikles yelled.

  Fotini steered the Greatest Future eastward through the air above the Cinder Valley floor. She pulled levers to adjust the ship’s altitude to four hundred seventeen (417) feet and sailed it between the peaks of low-lying mountains at the edge of the valley to escape the infernal rivers before they flooded the valley to great heights. Outside the valley, she pulled levers to bring the ship down onto a river and sailed it eastward across Waderav.

  ~~~

  The spirits of Colonel Iulan, Colonel Ghenadie and Colonel Dumitru and the spirits of all of the soldiers in their brigades, along with those of the soldiers in the brigade led by Colonel Crina, as well as the spirits of Zoe, Brant, Vadim and Rexana, and the spirits of Baron Helladius, Cahal, Lygia, Arngeirr and Kerenza, were joined by the spirits of Admiral Erisinni, General Tiglath, Lieutenant Skender and Lieutenant Delfina and the architect Erlend, as well as the spirits of their soldiers. Each of these departed souls found themselves confined in a strange realm that was a deep shade of blue. They were weak and restful, having none of their former strength, speed, ingenuity, insight, wit or purpose. Their energy nearly completely left them, and they did not have any understanding of what this meant.

  ~~~

  From his cave high up in the mountains – three hundred ninety-two (392) feet above the valley floor – Nov’Talod held the staff with the lapis lazu
li at the tip and watched it glow ever brighter as all the new spirits entered. The pearl in his left hand alternately pulsed light and dark as spirits from the valley below reflected off of its surface and were then sent into the lapis lazuli. Soon, the pulsations ceased and he was satisfied that enough spirits had been captured for the moment.

  Nov’Talod put the pearl into his coat pocket. He then drank anew of the waters of the Ursegan Ocean from his vial to be energized with the power to slow the passage of time. He exerted this power to gain multiple advantages: to slow his own aging, to hide his secret knowledge by slowing the parts of his mind that held those thoughts and to shield his body from any potential attack.

  He walked out of the cave toward the mountain ledge so that he could select the most suitable road leading down into Cinder Valley. Instead of finding his escape, he witnessed the rivers of lava flowing down from the sides of the mountains that surrounded the valley, and the red hot burning valley floor below. Fortunately, only a short distance away, he saw a hovering ship which he thought would serve him well. He considered subjugating the crew with a swarm of spirits he could release from the staff, but decided that this mode of attack would be unnecessary and possibly worse than useless if he revealed his powerful assets to someone who could resist the haunting and then effectively counterattack.

  Nov’Talod exerted his power to slow the vertical passage of time. He then walked off of the mountain ledge and out onto open air, but did not fall downward into the valley, because of the temporal delay he created on the vertical axis. He walked twenty-seven (27) feet forward and stepped onto the deck of the hovering ship. By slowing the movement of light around himself, he was able to guide all eyes away from his presence and descend into the ship’s cargo hold before any of the sailors on deck noticed his arrival.

  ~~~

  On board the Fertile Fields Sixteen, Captain Eulalia awakened from her trance. She didn’t remember why she was docked on the fields of a farm surrounding a castle. She looked in her log book and didn’t see any business reason for her presence here. She drank anew of the waters of the Atrejan Ocean from her vial to be energized with the power to listen to the sounds of the stars. She concentrated to learn their paths and positions and then charted a course back to the Provincial Isles. She pulled levers to retract the boarding ramp and elevated the ship to one hundred twenty (120) feet of altitude. She steered the ship westward across the dry land of Waderav and brought it down to sea level in the Ursegan Ocean.

  Captain Eulalia knew that traveling across the time waters was always challenging because of the odd changes in the pace of the ocean currents from north to south and from east to west, and this course would also require sailing across both the Pirovalen Ocean and the Trerada Ocean, as well as crossing the Scholar’s Path and Farmer’s Road land bridges in addition to the Admiral Ramalaxis Bridge, on her way to the Gradaken Ocean where the Provincial Isles were located. Still, this was preferable to traveling the rivers coursing through Waderav.

  ~~~

  Inside the wheelhouse of the Yield Adjuster Twenty-Seven, Nandru Bazavador said: “Sunniva, it is time to leave Cinder Valley. Take us to the family castle in the Bazavadoran Isthmus. We will return to this valley after a while to measure the progress of the lava flow.”

  Sunniva sailed the Yield Adjuster Twenty-Seven westward through the air above Cinder Valley and steered it through a gap between the mountain peaks that formed the perimeter. After exiting the valley, she steered the ship over the fields of western Waderav until reaching the Ursegan Ocean. At that point, she pulled levers to return the vessel to sea level and sailed it northward across the ocean toward the Bazavadoran Isthmus.

  ~~~

  Nov’Talod waited in the cargo hold of the Yield Adjuster Twenty-Seven until an opportune moment to escape presented itself.

  ~~~

  From inside the wheelhouse of the Sky Lion – which was still anchored along a river, forty (40) miles to the east of Cinder Valley – Munroe watched the battles and the decimation of the valley by the fall of acid rain and the flow of lava within Cinder Valley.

  “Tens of thousands of soldiers have been slaughtered – either in battle, or by the acid rain or the flowing lava. The mountain walls were pierced by cannon fire, releasing the molten rock. They valley is being destroyed while I watch,” Munroe said.

  “There is no hope then,” Captain Duvall said.

  “There’s got to be hope. There’s got to be something that can be done,” Goyo said.

  “For you, there’s no hope. You attempted murder. You deserve no hope. Now, even the innocent will die, if they haven’t already,” Captain Duvall said.

  “Is that all you can see, Munroe? Look closely and carefully. What do you see?” Captain Lusala asked.

  Munroe drank anew of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean from his vial to refresh his powers of light and far sight. He concentrated these powers and returned his focus to the interior of Cinder Valley. “Some of the people are safe. Some of the ships are untouched. I can see that now. Those people we met before, in the garden. Somehow, they survived. I see Kaija,” he said.

  “I believe there is hope,” Captain Lusala said.

  “The valley is burning while I watch. The lava is flowing everywhere. Even if those people and their ships are safe, everything else is ruined, and it keeps getting worse,” Munroe said.

  “That’s the fate you deserve, Goyo,” Captain Duvall said.

  “Do you want to leave, Captain?” Uzoma asked.

  “Not yet, Uzoma. Keep waiting,” Captain Lusala said.

  “Waiting for what? You heard what Munroe said. Everything is bad and getting worse. What good is it to stay here?” Captain Duvall asked.

  “I’ve been alive a lot longer than you, Captain Duvall. Six hundred seventy-nine (679) years might not sound like much compared to the lifespans of most Chroniclers, but that’s long enough to convince me that something unusual is happening here. If everything really is ruined, why are those people still safe? If their ships are untouched, why are they still inside the valley instead of sailing out? I think there is much more to this story. I want to see what happens next,” Captain Lusala said.

  “That sounds like wishful thinking. We’re not accomplishing anything by waiting here,” Captain Duvall said.

  “Ordinarily, I might agree with you. However, Kaija is a very determined woman, and even though I don’t care for her way of doing things or how she treats people, she may still find what she is looking for. I think we should wait and see what she and her crew can discover,” Captain Lusala said.

  ~~~

  From inside the wheelhouse of the Plenteous – which was still anchored alongside the Sky Lion – Consolata continued kneeling and watching what was happening inside of Cinder Valley. “My lord, thousands of soldiers have fallen in battle. Thousands more have died by acid rain or flowing lava. The land is being destroyed as I watch,” she said.

  “Shall I sail away from this place, my lord?” Allegria asked, still kneeling in front of the ship’s wheel.

  “Calm yourself, Allegria. We are safe in this place. Your fear will not determine when or where we go,” Grand Duke Braden said.

  “Be calm, my love,” Duke Rowan said. He continued massaging Allegria to comfort her.

  “Thank you, my lord, my love,” Allegria said.

  “Consolata, what else do you see? Focus! Do not let your weak feminine intellect get distracted by fear and overlook details. Is there anything else?” Grand Duke Braden asked.

  Consolata drank anew of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean from her vial to refresh powers of light and far sight. She focused her powers and peered into Cinder Valley, looking for anything of interest. “My lord, the other people we met in the garden are there. They are safe, and so are their ships. I see unfamiliar faces, as well,” she said.

  “They know something they didn’t share with us. Kaija is trying to trick and make fools out of us. We shall remain here and watch everything that happens
in that valley,” Grand Duke Braden said.

  “Shall I chart a course, just to be ready, my lord?” Allegria asked.

  “No, Allegria. You are afraid for no reason. I intend to find out exactly what is going on,” Grand Duke Braden said.

  “If my father says we are safe, you should trust him, Allegria. We are far away from the danger. Consolata will continue her watch. Just be patient and know that I love you,” Duke Rowan said. He continued massaging Allegria and playing with her hair.

  “I feel safe because of your love,” Allegria said. She also felt desire, despite her fear caused by the terrible report of events within Cinder Valley.

  ~~~

  From within the maze of caves high up in Mount Rurik, Talmai Hathus continued observing the events in the valley through his telescope. His heart grew heavy at the thought that his wife would almost certainly have been killed by the ongoing destruction of the valley. He sincerely hoped that Anena was nowhere nearby, but safe in some faraway place. Talmai opened his book and began writing new entries to describe the ongoing ruination of Cinder Valley. He had every confidence that many sinful intentions led to the worsening of the already terrible situation.

  ~~~

  Erikkos and Kastor continued their run through the tunnels inside the mountains surrounding Cinder Valley. After advancing only two (2) miles, their pace slowed to a brisk walk. Lava seeped through cracks in the walls, but didn’t pour out in sufficient quantity or speed to threaten them.

  “I think we’re safe. We should stop and rest,” Erikkos said.

  “I don’t agree. We need to keep moving. Any lava burns will be fatal,” Kastor said.

  “It’s a slow drip, not a raging river. There’s no need to run. If we collapse from fatigue, we’ll be in no condition to run if and when we need to,” Erikkos said.

  “There are magma chambers inside this mountain. If a wall ruptures, we will be drowned and burned to death instantly. Not even I can stop that. It could happen at any time,” Kastor said.