Bastion

by Kyle West

  “That is why any plan to find it will need to be executed with great care,” Isandru said.

  “Isaru has a point,” I said. “It’s hard to imagine how we could ever find the Prophecy in the Red Bastion. Common citizens aren’t even allowed in, except on official business. And if the Prophecy turns out to be missing the entire time, then that risk is for nothing. Do you know what they do to Elekai in Colonia? What’s the plan if we’re caught?”

  “We still need more information,” Isandru said, avoiding my point. He nodded toward a book on his desk. “This book details the construction of the Bastion, and from its contents I’ve sketched a rough blueprint.”

  As he opened a scroll and spread it across his desk, all three of us went around to look over his shoulder. A series of rooms, towers, and hallways had been detailed — multiple floors of them.

  “It is large,” Isandru said. “A wonder of construction. There are ten floors, including turrets, battlements, and barracks for well over a thousand men. The bottom three floors are built into Red Cliff itself, holding the dungeons and storage areas. The Bastion was built by the Old Elekai from which to rule; a symbol of power to intimidate the local populace.”

  “They really were different back then,” I said.

  Elder Isandru said nothing, and I got the feeling that he believed the Elekai might not be so different today.

  “Given the environment of late Old Colonia, it isn’t hard to imagine why the Annaran Covenant gained such control,” Isandru said. “In the end, the people changed their allegiance from one master to another. It is a highly complicated matter, best left to the Scholars who study that era, such as Seeker Marlene. It is said, and it has been said for a long time, that power corrupts. Though the Elekai only composed a minority of the people of Old Colonia, they believed they were the chosen ones of the gods. If you believe yourself the children of the gods, then what are mortals but tools to do your will?”

  “Anna talked about that in the reversion,” I said. “Apparently, that belief was commonplace even in her lifetime.”

  “And as the founders of Colonia faded from memory, stories spread, and we all know how easy it is for a good story to spread. And a good story often adds embellishments that stick. And other details might change — such as the Annarans’ belief that the Elekai were the evil ones, and it was against them that the gods fought during the Ragnarok War. At the time the Annaran Covenant was new to the world, almost three centuries ago, the people’s discontent against the Elekai aristocracy was at an all-time high. If Anna — or Annara — could be used as an instrument against the Elekai, that would lead to their dismantlement. What followed the Uprising, the Exile, Hyperborea, and the Sundering of the Dragons — everything that has shaped our history to this day. Before that time, only Elekai Wilders lived in the Red Wild. That changed with the Exile, when the dragons took those of the fleeing Godsblood in. Originally, the Red Wild was only supposed to be a temporary refuge. However, the Wild became our home, and it wasn’t long until there was no longer any desire to return to Colonia.”

  “I thought the Prophecy said that the Elekai would take over Colonia someday,” I said.

  “There will be a war again,” Isandru said. “Though it has been years since there has been anything serious. The Makai openly fight any Colonians who come near their borders of the Red Wild, while Havenites are isolationists. Although, given how easy it is to forget important matters, we cannot be certain of anything we think we know. For all we know, the Prophecy says something entirely different from what we’ve been taught.”

  “Tradition can be wrong,” Isaru said.

  “Do not blindly follow tradition,” Isandru said. “The very words Anna wrote as a guide for her Order. You know them as part of the Seeker’s Way.”

  “How do we know she truly said that?” Fiona asked. “For all we know, that could be wrong, too.”

  “Perhaps so,” Isandru said. “Specific words and phrases, however, passed down in memory with the intention of being remembered for posterity, are at much less of a threat of being corrupted. I believe this is true of the Seeker’s Way; we require all initiates to memorize the Way, as we have done for centuries. Indeed, when I was a boy, the Seeker’s Way was the same — at least the English version was.”

  “Were you a Seeker when you were young?” I asked.

  Isandru shook his head. “No. The Seekers were far different during the age of Hyperborea than they are now. But we are straying too far from what we were originally discussing.” Isandru returned his focus to the blueprint. “The Bastion is indeed the greatest fortress we currently know about. Situated on Red Cliff, along with the Dome of Annara, it is only accessible by one side — a northern gate that can only be reached by scaling the road leading up the cliff. All of its other sides are guarded both by cliff and wall, and the Dragonriders defend it by air — something we can be sure of given Isaru’s recent foray into Colonia.”

  “How is it possible to get in without being detected, then?” I asked.

  “I’m still trying to determine that,” Isandru said. “From what I can see, by air or by the front door are the only ways in. But it is possible that there is another entrance I’m simply not seeing. After all, Colonia has internal plumbing and sewers, so why wouldn’t the Bastion be the same?”

  “It seems too high off the ground for there to be any sort of plumbing,” Isaru said.

  “Colonia has plenty of plumbing,” I said. “Most of the drinking water is brought in via aqueducts from springs in surrounding hills. One of these aqueducts flows right into Red Cliff itself through a tunnel.”

  Isandru looked at me. “I’ve seen no record of this aqueduct.”

  “When was that book written?” I asked.

  “It’s old, admittedly. It’s dated from the Third Century.”

  “The Dome Aqueduct was built during my grandparents’ time. It’s Colonia’s largest aqueduct, supplying water to Red Cliff and the Dome District north of the Inner Wall. The aqueduct splits in the cliff; one of these splits is used for drinking and general use while the other is used for waste disposal, ending up in the Colorado River south of town.”

  “So if we follow this aqueduct,” Isaru said, “it will lead us right into Red Cliff?”

  Yes,” I said. “I don’t know whether the system connects to the Bastion’s lower levels. It’s possible.”

  “I should have thought of this before,” Isandru said. “Plumbing works differently in the Red Wild.”

  “Colonia’s four aqueducts were built during older times,” I said. “The people of Colonia take them for granted, too. My father knew a lot about that sort of stuff, and he explained it to me when I was a kid.”

  “From what you’re describing,” Fiona said, “there seems to be two ways in…either through the wastewater aqueduct, or the drinking water aqueduct.”

  “Is this really a choice?” Isaru asked.

  “We can either start by the river and work our way up,” I said, “or we could follow the aqueduct down from the hills. It might be easier to be spotted on the aqueduct itself, unless it was night. A dragon could easily land us up there, and I doubt it’s guarded.”

  “What about the sewer?” Isandru asked.

  “It has the advantage of being underground for much of the time. It’s dumped directly into the river. We’d need lights, and it would be a hell of a climb.”

  “Smelly, too, I imagine,” Isaru said. “With no guarantee of getting inside at the end.”

  “There has to be a way,” Fiona said. “Workers would need an easy way in for maintenance. Why wouldn’t there be access to the Red Bastion itself?”

  Isandru chuckled. “Here I’ve been researching for weeks, and I could have had my answer within minutes.”

  “So, should we do it?” Fiona asked.

  “We have a lead,” Isandru said. “Assuming it is a way in, there’s the matter of locating the Prophecy itself.”

  “Have you found anything out abou
t that, Elder?” I asked.

  “The Bastion is the location of the Covenant’s Treasury,” Isandru said. “That seems the most likely place.”

  “How do we break in to the treasury?” Isaru asked.

  “Getting in won’t be easy,” Isandru said. “It would require getting past all the guards without raising an alarm. Of course, the vault itself would need to be opened, and the Prophecy sought out within.”

  “Where is the Treasury located?” Isaru asked.

  “According to what I’ve read, it is accessible from the first floor. A set of steps leads down toward the Bastion’s back, here…”

  Isandru pointed on his blueprint. Where he was pointing was on the back end of the Bastion, as far opposite from the doors as possible.

  “Down the stairs, the Treasury is guarded by a door of solid bronze. No doubt it is under heavy guard.”

  “This just gets easier and easier, doesn’t it?” I asked.

  “How does it open?” Isaru asked. “Is there a key?”

  “I simply don’t know, Isaru. It could simply remain closed from the sheer weight of the door.”

  “It’s hard to imagine how we’d make it that far without getting caught,” I said.

  “Which is why I don’t want any of you to attempt it until you are better-trained. Killing someone in real life is starkly different from winning a duel. And killing should be avoided, such as it is within our power.”

  I knew Isandru was right, there. I’d have Fiona and Isaru beside me, but against the Covenant’s elite fighters, and especially if we were outnumbered, we might meet our match.

  “This is why information is key,” Isandru continued. “Without information, we’re walking in blind. The aqueduct gives us a good lead. As Fiona said, it’s hard to imagine there not being some form of entrance from there. Perhaps it won’t lead into the Bastion itself, but it might at least get you inside the walls at night.”

  “How do we get more information without actually going there?” I asked. “There’s only so much you can learn from books.”

  “You leave that to me,” Isandru said. “In the meantime, I will need both you and Isaru to continue your training. Both of your performances in the tournament were encouraging, but you must become stronger still. If all goes well, there will be little fighting. But one thing is for certain: the Prophecy must be secured if there is to be any hope of knowing the purpose of Anna’s return.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  THE NEXT MORNING I AWOKE to find that Isaru wasn’t at breakfast. I didn’t think anything of it and proceeded to go through my day. He wasn’t present at Judge Kais’s lesson either, or Sage Alan’s. By lunchtime, I sat next to Ret and Samal to find out what was going on.

  “Have either of you seen Isaru?”

  They both exchanged a glance, as if they had been discussing this already.

  “You haven’t either?” Ret asked.

  “No…”

  “We didn’t see him when we woke up,” Samal said. “Didn’t see him at breakfast. I assumed he was just in the library. Sometimes, he wakes up early to study.”

  “It’s not like him to miss lessons,” I said. “Have either of you checked there, yet?”

  Both of them shook their heads, and neither of them seemed as concerned as me.

  I headed for the library. When I walked in, there was no apprentice on duty, so I was free to climb up the stairs to the second floor unimpeded. I had never been up here, so I didn’t know the first place to look. The library’s second level was just as large as the first — if anything, it seemed larger because the stacks were packed tighter in seemingly random arrangements. As I turned down one of the aisles, I quickly found that it was a labyrinth, utterly empty. The light from the dome hardly reached this far, making it seem far dimmer than it should have been for this time of day.

  I wove through the quiet stacks, trying to find a likely place where Isaru would study. In various nooks were desks and chairs, but all were empty.

  “Isaru?” I called. “Isaru, are you up here?”

  There was no answer as I found myself in a far corner of the library. I kept walking down the stacks, until the lane ended at a window with white curtains blowing in the breeze. A desk was situated in the corner, over which spread books and notes taken on paper. Somehow, I knew I had stumbled upon Isaru’s study hole, but Isaru himself was absent.

  I considered leaving to find Fiona, but something made me stay. His notes were all in disarray, slightly shifting in the breeze. I knew I shouldn’t look, but the notes were right there and I wanted to see what he was working on.

  I began going through the notes, my curiosity getting the better of me. Isaru had been up here for weeks on end, reading and piecing together seemingly disparate subjects. Every time I asked him what he was researching, he was always vague, saying it was either history or politics, which were a part of his lessons.

  I knew for a fact that even the most stringent instructors didn’t assign the workload Isaru was claiming. This was his personal project, and I wanted to know what it was. I sat down and flipped through the thin paper, finding about a hundred pages of his small, neat script.

  Reflections of the Xenofold. Hyperborea a threat to the Elekai consciousness? Last recorded telling from Elekim, 2082 P.Y. by Anna. Disappearance of Anna in the same year. Hyperboreans searched for her remains, but she was lost to the Sea — as she had been for one hundred and fifty years. Would have been circa 2215 P.Y. Note: search for the writings of Sandra Keener, Brevian Archives. I saw it referenced in Trails. Must gain ambassador status with the Shen Collective. Perhaps by becoming an Augur? Research Seekers who ascended before the usual age of twenty (may not have that much time).

  There were approximately twenty things in those notes that I didn’t have a clue about. I wanted to make notes of several things to research on my own later. There was also a woman named Sandra Keener. I didn’t know anyone named “Sandra,” but it sounded like a feminine name. Even though I’d never heard it, it sounded strangely familiar, as if I should know it.

  Then, there were the Brevian Archives. I’d heard of that before, but it was far from the Sanctum, in California. Brevia was a small city that was once part of the Colonian Empire, before it was invaded by the Shen during my grandparents’ generation. Seekers have been known to enter Brevia on occasion, but only for a limited amount of time and rarely at that. The Seekers’ expertise was sometimes called upon by the Shen for the translation of old English texts, but the Shen, from what I understood, were mostly interested in the ancient cities and technology of the Old World. Apparently, Isaru wanted to get in to find this Sandra’s writings.

  No outsider was ever allowed in Shenshi or any of their other settlements. Brevia was the only exception, and an exception usually only extended to the Seekers.

  I noticed that many of the pages, as I flipped through them, contained the names of locations. Possible Prophecy sites? Brevia was listed, along with Hyperborea and Shenshi. Hyperborea was underlined. Apparently, Isaru believed it the most likely place.

  Also on that list was a place called Nova Roma, but I’d never heard of it. An archaic name for Nova, perhaps. I remembered Anna and Samuel discussing it extensively in my previous dream.

  But also on that list was the Red Bastion, but it wasn’t underlined.

  I checked around the corner to make sure no one was coming. The lane was still empty, and there wasn’t a sound, save for the gentle breeze coming through the window.

  I went back to the notes.

  I need to learn more about Anna herself. Shanti is the greatest source, but she only gets her visions at random intervals. Nevertheless, she is the key to any knowledge that today is lost. It was said Anna and Samal (or Samuel) founded Colonia at the end of the Ragnarok War, and it was Anna herself who founded the Seekers. It’s more than strange that we know so little about her as a historical figure. I know many records were lost during the Uprising — the Great Library was burned to the groun
d, and the Annarans reshaped their goddess to their chosen history. But that doesn’t explain why we don’t know much. As Elekai, as Seekers, we should know the truth of things...only we don’t. I suspect that we went through our own similar revision, but for different reasons. It has to have something to do with Hyperborea, which was founded a mere two years following the Elekai’s loss of Colonia. Everything gets muddied there. All I would need to find is the history. I need to know who Anna really was. I’ve been through every row of this library, and have found little to nothing outside of Trails of the Exiled. I want to believe they recorded nothing following the fall of Hyperborea, because the alternative...that they have erased it...is far more terrifying.

  I paused for a moment, taking in what Isaru had written. Somehow, he believed it was possible that the story of Anna wasn’t merely forgotten, but destroyed. It seemed as if he believed more could be discovered in Hyperborea — that even the Prophecy itself might be there.

  Then, a thought came to me that was so crazy that it couldn’t be real.

  If Isaru believed Hyperborea was the key to finding the Prophecy, and if he wasn’t here right now…

  “He wouldn’t…”

  Jorla had been hanging about the Sanctum, so it wouldn’t be hard for him to ride her north. The alternative was that he went to Brevia, which had also been mentioned in his notes.

  Quickly, I gathered up all of Isaru’s notes. The fact he had left them behind for anyone to find had been an enormous oversight on his part, and for a moment it made me believe that he was still here. Whatever the case, I took the notes with me, placing them in a satchel nearby.

  The next step was finding Fiona.

  * * *

  “He what?”

  It had taken an hour, but I had finally found Fiona in the very same place I had started: the library. There was no telling how many places I had missed her before she went there.

  “Look,” I said, showing her the notes. “I haven’t read it all, but from everything I’ve seen so far, and from what Isaru has told me, it all points to him thinking that the Prophecy is in Hyperborea.”