A Twist of the Sands

by P R Glazier

  ~

  Nar’Allia stood standing on the leviathan’s open balcony deck looking over the side at the ground passing beneath. She could see that the temperate woodlands had given way to a dry somewhat harsher looking scrubland. All that grew here hugged the ground not rising any further than a couple of metres above it. But the colour, the range of colour was breath taking.

  From this height it continued to look quite beautiful all around them, although the hard moorland looked tough and unforgiving, the heather and gorse were in full bloom and the whole landscape below was tinted in hues of purple interspersed with bright yellows and orange colours. Here and there rocky outcrops dotted the landscape. The rock was very dark in colour; it had the look of great age, the look of an ancient geology, formed when the Maker created the world and unchanged since that time.

  “The anvil of the world.” Muttered Jonas as he stood beside her. Nar’Allia looked at him. He shrugged, “the thought just came into my mind.”

  But as old as this rocky landscape was, even newer things made the most of it, for the rock outcrops were spattered with yellow hues. Nar’Allia recognised this as a lichen type growth that clung close to the rock managing a meagre survival on the rocky face, taking advantage of these spaces where the heather and gorse could not get a grip with its roots and thus the lichen basked in the sun and did not have to compete for water with the dense mat of the larger plants root systems. 

  Subtlety at first but increasingly, a grey mist started to obscure the landscape over which they flew. JDC was forced to take the Leviathan down to a lower altitude so that they could still see the ground below.

  Nar’Allia could see no sign of the old Pnook city. Nothing remained as an obvious giveaway, at least not here. If there were then surely she would have seen it. She knew that even ancient past civilisations left their mark millennia after they had passed on into oblivion. There should have been something, obvious grooves in the earth where streets would have been buried under the eroded soil, or a rock here and there that showed the giveaway signs of an artisan’s work. But there was nothing only animal tracks, many of which criss-crossed through the otherwise foot-snagging heather. JDC had been surprised for the old Pnook city was surrounded by dense forest when he lived there. These open moorlands were something different, something new to him. It harkened of a change in the climate of this place. Obviously great changes had come to this part of the world since the Pnook lived here.

  Nar’Allia took her hands from the hand rail, meaning to re-enter the leviathan when something below and to her left caught her attention. At first she thought it may be a movement caused by the wind, a wisp of the mist. She scrutinised the landscape below. Yes, there upon a well-used animal track sat a lone wolf. Rather surprisingly by its side sat a hare. The smaller animal washed its long-ears with its forepaws; each ear flexed down and then sprang upright again as the creature passed its paw over them. Nar’Allia smiled and waved, then she giggled as if finding her own actions most amusing. The wolf sat looking up in her direction but did not seem to be spooked by the gigantic craft flying above. She watched as they passed slowly overhead. The wolf and hare eventually rose, the wolf yawned and stretched first its front legs and then it rear legs and then both creatures casually started to walk across the heather, along the animal track in the same direction as that in which the Leviathan flew.

  Nar’Allia watched until she could see the pair of animals no longer, so she went inside and joined JDC in the control room, “I’m sorry JDC there seems to be no sign of the old city anywhere below us, are you sure we are in the right place?”

  “Yes, Nar’Allia, it should be here, I have checked and rechecked the coordinates and re-entered them into the navigational equipment. It is, or was, most definitely here.”

  Nar’Allia turned and went to stand by the main windows that looked out over the landscape across which they flew. But the mist was so thick now, she could hardly see anything below them and certainly not for any distance around them. “What about the Leviathan’s sensors, have they picked anything up?”

  JDC nonchalantly said, “No, nothing has shown up at all.”

  Nar’Allia lifted her eyebrows in some surprise; she thought at the very least the crafts sensors would have picked up a heat signature for the two animals she had witnessed on the track not five minutes before.

  She was about to make a comment around the accuracy of the sensors when JDC said, “there is one thing though,” 

  Nar’Allia turned to face the Pnook a questioning look upon her face.

  “There is an anomaly, a strange thing. Every so often the navigational equipment seems to halt and then jump forward as if it is giving a cough, this repeats at regular intervals. It almost seems that it becomes disorientated for a period of time over certain parts of the land. I have been playing with it and the area of effect seems to be roughly circular in shape and around an average of twenty-seven kilometres across its diameter. Within this area the arcane or gravitational sensors on the craft show a concentration of energy, but nothing obvious can be seen. I’d like to land and take a closer look on foot, maybe I can find some clue as to what may be causing this.”

  Nar’Allia remembered JDC’s story of the old Pnook city and the discovery of the strange arcane energy beneath it. It seemed too much of a coincidence that the anomaly that JDC described and the description and location of the arcane energy present beneath the old Pnook city should coincide at this point. She agreed and so JDC brought the craft to a chosen spot and they descended. It was decided that JDC for obvious reasons and Amndo for his scientific knowledge would investigate whilst Nar’Allia and Jonas stayed with the Leviathan.

  Whilst JDC and Amndo prepared to depart, Nar’Allia and Jonas decided to drop the spiral stair down and stretch their legs upon the ground once more, for they had not stepped upon the world since they left the island of the pigs. The heather was slightly damp, moisture from the mist Nar’Allia supposed. It felt good though to walk upon the earth once more, feel the soil under her feet. As they walked up a slight incline away from the Leviathan Nar’Allia noticed coming through the mist a wolf and a hare. Nar’Allia stopped as did Jonas, they both watched as the pair of animals made their way slowly closer until they were sitting high on a rocky prominence. Nar’Allia thought to herself, ‘so, you two have followed us’. The two animals slowly descended down into the slight depression where the leviathan was hovering. They didn’t seem to be in any particular hurry, but Nar’Allia was again amused by the way that the wolf seemed attentive towards the hare, even allowing the smaller animal to be lowered to the ground astride its muzzle from the top of a large boulder at one place. Jonas took up position by Nar’Allia’s side as he looked warily towards were the wolf approached their position.

  He whispered in her ear, “best we get back aboard milady?”

  Nar’Allia however made no move to re-board the Leviathan, she just said, “no Jonas, I fear no threat from these two. If the hare does not fear the wolf then neither do I.”

  Even so Jonas slowly drew his great sword from the scabbard across his back and placing the point upon the ground he held the hand guards in both hands looking like he stood behind a cross.

  The two animals came within ten metres of them and stopped. They both stared towards Nar’Allia and Jonas, there countenance certainly not conveying any malice, if Nar’Allia didn’t know better she would have said that the animals exhibited an expression of curiosity. But suddenly the wolf reared up on its hind legs, and after a shimmering of the air around it there stood a man, probably in his early twenties. He was tall, blue-eyed. He had a shaved head apart from a topknot that was tied close to his scalp, the long hair beyond the tie dangled down his back, several leather cords tied it together at intervals down its length so it looked like a length of rope attached to the crown of his head. He looked down at the hare and a similar transference happened. But this time a young girl stood by his side. She was at least a head height shorter tha
n he, also exhibiting the same blue eyes. Nar’Allia guessed her age to be no more than sixteen at most. Her straw-coloured hair hung down her back, but some strands from around the front portion where set in two plaids that were tied at the back of her head, to keep the hair out of her eyes and away from her face.

  Both wore clothing of a light coloured leather material, fashioned to give a modest covering as befitted their gender. The girl had on a thick belt from which hung an array of throwing knives and a pair of short scimitars. The man held a spear in one hand, but hanging from his belt was a leather slingshot and a loose net bag which contained a number of round stones. He raised his free hand in a form of greeting. Nar’Allia responded immediately by making a similar gesture. The man strode forward, the girl stayed where she was. Jonas raised the long sword; Nar’Allia heard the leather of his wrist bands creak as his muscles tensed against the outstretched weight of the great sword. She slowly placed her slender hand upon Jonas’s wrist in an obvious gesture of restraint. The wolf-man did not seem to notice any of these gestures as he walked right up to them, he stopped in front of Nar’Allia, she said “you are shifters?”

  The man bowed and said, “yes, we have been following your passage with interest. The great sky ship has been seen before, but not for many turns of the seasons.”

  “You have seen another of these Leviathan machines?” Asked Jonas.

  “Come,” said the shifter looking around him, “make haste, the sun will pass soon, we will go to our village and maybe all will be revealed there.”

  Jonas expressed concern over doing this. But Nar’Allia remembered the stories that Minervar had told about the shifters, indeed Serinae’s friend or business partner was a shifter, in fact similarly to this man Teouso was also a wolf in his animal form, she found herself wondering if the man who stood before them knew of Teouso, she doubted that he was Teouso himself, for the stories told how he most probably had died protecting Minervar and her friends from the demonic void beasts that hunted them. But then Nar’Allia remembered that Teouso was a mute, he had no tongue for it was cut out, so this was definitely not Teouso. Nar’Allia did not detect any malice from these two, after all Teouso was firmly on Serinae’s side, why shouldn’t these two feel the same. Serinae had also told them to seek out these people. Nar’Allia was curious and she found herself saying, “we would be honoured by your generous hospitality,” to which the man again bowed, a slight smile upon his face.

  Nar’Allia then asked for time to let their companions aboard the Leviathan know where they were going. The shifter man nodded his approval and returning to where the shifter girl stood, he sat with her in amongst the heather and waited. 

  The four companions gathered in the control room. Nar’Allia explained about the invitation they had received from the shifters.

  Amndo said, “we should place a guard on the leviathan.”

  “No need” said JDC, who is going to try and steel our toy from us around here, there is nothing just this desolate moor. We will be close by anyways.” Then turning to Nar’Allia and Jonas he said, “you two go with your friends below, Amndo and I will return once we have seen the lie of the land hereabouts.”

  “Even so,” said Amndo, “I will rest easier if some protection was awarded to the machine.”

  They all took up what they needed for their individual expeditions and exited the Leviathan. Once the spiral stair had been taken back into the machine and the hatch closed, they all stood a short distance away. Amndo placed the end of staff onto the ground. Slowly a flow of blue seemed to run down like a thick liquid from the top of the staff and spread out across the ground. He walked backwards drawing the staff along the ground as he went. Slowly the blue spread out from where he stood, Nar’Allia found herself backing up as it spread out beneath the hull of the machine and flowed towards her feet. The blue ring continued to spread until it covered an area upon the ground all the way around and beneath the machines hull. Nar’Allia was reminded of a shallow pool of water. Then Amndo slowly drew the staff upwards, the blue also moved up like a shimmering curtain, higher and higher until the ring of blue - light Nar’Allia now likened it to, joined above the hull enclosing the machine completely. Once this was done the blue light faded until it could no longer be seen.

  Finally satisfied with his work, Amndo said, “that should keep out any unwanted visitors, or curious beasts.”

  So they parted. JDC and Amndo to investigate the land to try and find out what happened to confuse the navigation equipment whilst Jonas and Nar’Allia went to the village. The two shifters stayed in human form, Nar’Allia tried to strike up a conversation with the young girl, but she would say nothing, she just looked at Nar’Allia and smiled. Jonas slowed until he was beside Nar’Allia and said, “well these are a strange couple are they not? They didn’t seem in the least frightened or show any concern over our coming here and what about what he said, about having seen another Leviathan before?”

  The shifter man was at least twenty paces in front but he turned and said, “we do not fear attack from the sky, for we are well protected.” Then he turned once more and started walking forward again. Jonas looked at Nar’Allia, shrugged his shoulders and they both walked onward following the path the shifters had taken.

  An even heavier mist came down over the land as the day started to close and the air cooled. The shifter girl shivered and looked up at the man, he nodded to her and she changed once again into the form of a hare. The man bent down and took the hare in his arms and cradled her against his body, she seemed to nestle into his arms and closed her eyes. Nar’Allia was touched by this obvious display of affection, somehow it gave her warmth, but her attention was soon drawn away, for something stirred through the mist ahead.