Rhuna- Black City

by Barbara Underwood

  “What happened?” Damell asked as he suddenly appeared at the doorway of one of the houses. “Why have you returned early, in the middle of the night?”

  “The Mages know of your presence in the area, and are coming to kill you!” Ogul’s sister immediately replied.

  “They are coming?” Damell repeated with alarm.

  “No,” Aradin replied. “No one followed us back here.”

  “But they will come!” Ogul’s sister insisted, her voice full of distress and anger. “We warned you, we did, and now we are all in danger!”

  “What has occurred?” Goram asked as he appeared in the doorway behind Damell. Rhuna heard the commotion in the houses as people awoke and sensed the panic in the air. She heard Ogul speak in his native language to his aunt, who in turn relayed the alarming news in shrill tones to her neighbours.

  “Be calm, everyone!” Protector of Remembrance called as he stepped out of the house with his arms raised and the palms of his hands facing down. “Do not excite yourselves when there is no imminent danger,” he continued in a strong, level and calm voice.

  “It is true,” Stillness of the Lake said, imitating the senior Atlan’s soothing tone. “We have summoned visions by means of the Gazing of the Waters, and we assure you that no one is approaching Axla from the Black City.”

  “You can access the Gazing of the Waters?” Rhuna asked excitedly.

  “Of course,” Stillness of the Lake replied. “We are far removed from the impediments at the Top of the World, and we have communicated at length with the High Council of Atlán during your absence.”

  “Return to your homes without fear,” Protector of Remembrance said to the concerned residents of Axla who had emerged from their houses to gather around Ogul and his sister. “We shall continue to watch for any danger,” he assured them.

  Rhuna watched as the residents reluctantly returned to their homes, and then followed Damell and the Atlan representatives into their accommodation. Inside, lamps had been lit and Protector of Remembrance beckoned Rhuna and her group to be seated with them. As she sat down beside Aradin, she heard Ogul enter the room and address the Atlans with deep agitation.

  “You have brought danger to our peaceful village!” he began as he clenched his fists. “We have always been so careful not to arouse any attention among the Mages and people of the Black City; never! Our personal history has taught us how dangerous it is to be an Atlan in the proximity of the City, and we have suppressed our Atlan heritage for this reason! But when you came…” he paused to take a deep and fortifying breath. “When you came, we were happy and excited, and for a short time we forgot the danger…forgot the lessons of our past…”

  “You believe that you have put yourselves, your townspeople in danger,” Protector of Remembrance interjected with an understanding nod of his head.

  “Yes!” Ogul nodded, and then cast his eyes to the floor. “And for this reason we…the people of this town have asked me to tell you…to ask you to leave as soon as possible!” Ogul said, struggling to speak the words he was forced to utter.

  “Of course,” the senior Atlan said soothingly. “We fully understand your concerns.”

  “We shall begin preparations to leave immediately,” Stillness of the Lake added.

  Ogul looked up as the tension in his face gave way to great relief. “Do not hurry…if you are certain no one has followed us from the Black City,” he added apologetically.

  “We shall summon our visions regularly until we depart,” the senior Atlan assured Ogul. Rhuna waited until Ogul and his sister left the house, and then turned her attention to the grim-faced Atlan representatives seated before her.

  “Where shall we go?” asked Aradin.

  “That shall be decided soon,” Protector of Remembrance replied as he gestured for everyone to be seated. “First, report to us what you experienced in the Black City.”

  Rhuna and Aradin, along with Yarqi and Mohandu began to relate their observations and experiences in the Black City, beginning with the green mist above the city when they arrived, the stone statues on each side of the broad avenue leading to the gate, and then the brutal killing which the city’s callous residents ignored.

  “Regret, I not there to stop!” Panapu interjected.

  “He was with me in a house of records,” Goll quickly explained when the Atlan representatives looked puzzled.

  “Fortuitous,” Protector of Remembrance said. “Should he have interfered in another person’s plight, the Mages would have been instantly alerted.”

  “Something did alert them not long after,” Aradin said, continuing their account of events in the Black City.

  “We saw the Mages coming out of an ugly black building, running in every direction,” Rhuna said, shuddering at the memory.

  “If not for Almara who let us into her house…” Yarqi added.

  “Who is Almara?” Protector of Remembrance asked sharply, his eyes alert while his fingers gently stroked his beard.

  “An older woman…an Atlan woman who gave us protection in her home until the Mages were gone,” Rhuna answered.

  “It was very fortunate that you eluded them,” Protector of Remembrance said in a grave tone.

  “You say she is an Atlan?” Stillness of the Lake asked.

  “Yes, she looked like an Atlan,” Mohandu said with an eager nod. “I saw two other people in the city with the appearance of Atlans.”

  “Perhaps the Mages accept Atlans who are residents of the city,” Damell suggested.

  “We suspect that some Atlans who journeyed to the Black City in the past remained there as residents,” Preserver of Faith said in her deep, smooth voice.

  “They made the impressive buildings we saw,” Rhuna remarked. “We saw some advanced Atlan stonework here and there.”

  The Atlan representatives nodded as they pondered this new information. Rhuna quickly looked around the room and saw Tozar standing in a corner as Goram paced nervously nearby. Lozira sat awkwardly on a cushion, her eyes appearing sad and tear-swollen.

  “You had been in the city for a time before the Mages were alerted,” Protector of Remembrance said, looking at Rhuna’s group for confirmation.

  “We made several trade transactions, and walked through many streets and along the river,” Rhuna answered.

  “Then we may assume that the Mages were slow in acquiring this knowledge, otherwise they would have been ready when you first arrived,” the senior Atlan concluded.

  “That means their awareness of certain events around them is not acute,” Aradin said with a hopeful tone.

  “But they are alerted to us now, and shall be searching,” Mohandu said with a nervous wobble of his head.

  “That is our assumption, also,” Protector of Remembrance said with a tone of concern.

  “Therefore, we should leave Axla, lest the Mages should come in search for us here and bring harm to the innocent people of this town,” Stillness of the Lake added.

  “This is my plan!” Goram exclaimed, leaping forward into the middle of the room and quickly unrolling a large textile map. Rhuna recognized it as the copy he had requested of the League of Record-Keeping Masters in the Depository of Archival Texts.

  “This map shows the currents of earth energies,” Goram said as he spread the map out on the floor in front of the Atlan representatives. “And these points are the confluences of those currents.” Goram pointed to several small knots in various colours spread across an area of land mass.

  “Yes, yes, this is basic Atlan knowledge,” mumbled Protector of Remembrance, taken aback by Goram’s aggressive address.

  “What you do not know,” Goram retorted firmly, “…is that certain confluences around this planet serve exclusively to the facilitation of time manipulation, such as this, this and this one.” Goram moved his finger across a small area, pointing to the knots made from gold thread. “These are the most effective time portals.”

  Goram paused and looked at the Atlan representative
s.

  “A time portal such as the Dark One used to enter a time period in the past,” Preserver of Faith said slowly as her eyes widened with interest.

  “Hmm,” Protector of Remembrance said as he leaned forward to look at the map more closely.

  “The Black City is one of those points, is it not?” asked Greeter of Friends, straining to lean closer to the map.

  “Correct,” Goram replied, tapping his finger on one of the small knots.

  “What are those crooked lines running through the Black City? Energy currents travel only in straight lines,” Stillness of the Lake remarked.

  “This red line here,” Goram said, running a finger along the fine red stitches in the cloth, “…this is the famous trade route which links the Ling-Yu Empire in the farthest direction of the rising sun, all the way through the Land at the Top of the World, parts of Varappa and here, to other former Atlan colonies.” Goram’s hand swept across a large section of the map as he pointed to the lands he mentioned.

  Rhuna kneeled on the floor at the edge of the map where she could view the red meandering line that connected an Empire and several lands. “I’ve never heard of a road so long and significant, not even in the land of Atlán,” she remarked.

  “It existed only in small parts until the Black City appeared and attracted traders,” Goram stated.

  “So, it is the work of the Dark One!” Damell commented.

  “When establishing the city, he required materials to build and people to control and dominate,” Goram explained. “A major trade route would serve his purpose quite adequately.”

  “We see,” grunted Protector of Remembrance. “What do you propose?”

  Goram grinned as he straightened his back, stuck his thumb into the front of his waistband and began to outline his plan.

  “In this cluster of energy confluxes facilitating time manipulation,” he began excitedly, “…there is an abandoned inn along the trade route, a day’s foot journey from the Black City.”

  “An abandoned inn,” repeated Greeter of Friends, looking at Goram with growing interest.

  “An inn for travellers along the trade route, with lodgings, a natural water spring, gardens, comfortable abodes and even a small pyramid for the purpose of harnessing energy,” Goram said, beaming. “Everything has been closely examined by means of the Gazing of the Waters during your absence,” he said, looking directly at Rhuna and Aradin.

  “That’s where you want us to go and stay?” Rhuna asked.

  “Not only shall we learn a great deal about the workings of the Black City and the activity of the Mages from travellers who frequent our inn,” Goram continued confidently. “There is also the possibility of constructing a time portal in or underneath the pyramid to enable me to come face to face with the Dark One in the past!”

  “No, Goram, no!” Lozira wailed as she jumped up to grab her husband’s arm. Rhuna looked up and saw that Tozar had stepped further into the room and stood with outstretched arms behind Lozira. She was deeply moved by Tozar’s gesture to comfort his daughter, and her eyes lingered on the sad face of her former husband until she was distracted by the din around her.

  “Do not let him do this!” Lozira pleaded, falling on her knees in front of the Atlan representatives. Rhuna felt her heart jump in her throat at the pitiful sight of her daughter’s anguish, and she bent down to grab Lozira’s arms.

  “If he does this thing, h-he may never find his way back to our t-time…to me!” Lozira stammered as she began to sob. Rhuna embraced her daughter as she tried to comfort her.

  “We shall evaluate all the dangers to Beacon of the Night, and to the rest of us,” Protector of Remembrance stated with authority.

  “Let’s go into one of these sleeping chambers,” Rhuna said softly as she led Lozira out of the room where the Atlan representatives began their serious deliberations. “Let’s see what they decide to do…” she continued and then paused when she realized that Lozira had given way to a torrent of silent tears.

  Rhuna lit a small candle in the sleeping chamber where Lozira had let herself drop onto the pallet with heavy sobs. She stroked Lozira’s yellow-golden hair in silence until she was ready to sit up and wipe her cheeks.

  “How can he think of doing this,” Lozira mumbled as she fiddled with the soft cloth she had used to wipe away her tears.

  “He is driven by ambition to attain greater powers, and the feats of the Dark Master challenge him,” Rhuna answered.

  “I know,” Lozira sighed. “He wants to beat him; prove that he is more powerful and more clever than the Dark One, but is that not irrational?”

  “I don’t know,” Rhuna whispered uncertainly.

  “But what about me?” Lozira wailed softly as tears began to fall down her cheeks again. “How can he simply leave me behind to pursue this…this madness!”

  “I know, it hurts,” Rhuna said simply as she recalled the pain she experienced when Aradin’s love for her was taken away by the Dark Master. She tried to think of comforting words to say, but then merely sat with Lozira in silence.

  As Lozira sobbed quietly, Rhuna remembered Shandi’s vision of Lozira crying. In that moment she realized that the vision was of Lozira crying over a significant event that was yet to occur.

  Some time later, Goram entered the sleeping chamber and Rhuna stood up to face him.

  “They have agreed to my plan,” he stated smugly.

  “What?” Lozira jumped up as her anguish and outrage re-surfaced.

  “They agree that we shall go to the abandoned inn,” Goram corrected. “That is all for now, yet they shall not prevent me from pursuing my plan in its entirety.”

  “One step at a time then,” Rhuna said to reassure Lozira. “Let’s get there first and see how things go.”

  Rhuna forgot her aching limbs and lack of sleep when the Atlan representatives gathered in a corner in the wash area to summon visions by means of the Gazing of the Waters.

  “It has been a long time since we were able to use it,” Aradin said, echoing Rhuna’s excitement.

  “View with us the images of the abandoned inn,” Greeter of Friends said, beckoning Rhuna and Aradin to join them.

  “I would like to see the inn from above, so that I can more easily recognize it from the RTE,” Rhuna said as she approached the group.

  “Of course,” Protector of Remembrance said. “We shall include it in our summons.”

  Rhuna kneeled beside Aradin as the Atlan representatives stood behind her and began the process of summoning visions by means of the Gazing of the Waters. She noticed that Stillness of the Lake did not require any coloured powder, and only spoke half the usual words of incantation.

  The still reflection on the surface of the water in the stone basin began to swirl in various colours until they appeared to merge into an opaque beige hue. Rhuna knew that this stage always preceded the images, and she held her breath in anticipation.

  The opaqueness gave way to a clear and colourful image of pale yellow stone constructions in various shapes and sizes, all of them surrounded by green bushes and several palm trees. After a moment, the image changed to show a new one of the same buildings from another direction, this time with a pond of fresh spring water in the foreground surrounded by more trees and palms.

  Another image showed details of the main buildings, some of which were in need of some repair. The final image showed the entire inn complex from above, and Rhuna quickly noted the proximity of a mound nearby and a sandy trail leading to the buildings.

  “It does look quite nice!” Rhuna said when the water reflection had returned to normal.

  “We should be comfortable there while we assess the situation and make further plans accordingly,” Preserver of Faith said.

  “Daylight shall be upon us soon,” Stillness of the Lake observed. “You have not rested,” she said to Rhuna. “We require your alertness to operate the RTE and transport us to the new location.”

  “I’m too excited now to sleep,�
�� Rhuna replied. She turned around to begin preparations when she saw Tozar step towards her with a solemn expression. His eyes asked an unspoken question.

  “She was very distraught at the thought of losing Goram,” Rhuna told Tozar in anticipation of his question. “But she’s better now. It’s still only his plan…”

  “…which the Representatives tolerate while making alternative plans,” Tozar concluded.

  “Why is everyone awake so early?” Kiana asked as she strolled into the room and looked at Rhuna and Tozar.

  “Rhuna!” Shandi called as she left Kiana’s side to be embraced by her mother. Rhuna squeezed the young child firmly, grateful that she had returned from the Black City safely.

  “We are leaving soon to settle into our own accommodation,” Tozar told Kiana.

  “Oh,” Kiana said without much interest, and then turned her attention to Shandi. “She played with the children yesterday,” she told Rhuna.

  “Did they play with a ball?” Rhuna asked, remembering Shandi’s recent vision.

  “Yes, they had a ball,” Kiana confirmed.

  “Sula-tana! Sula-tana!” Shandi suddenly began to sing as she made a little circular dance in front of them. The style of the sung words reminded Rhuna of a chant she had heard in the Land at the Top of the World.

  “She must have learned it from the children yesterday,” Kiana remarked.

  “No, she spoke this word - Sula-tana - before already,” Rhuna said, trying to recall the details. “In connection with the Dark Master!”

  “What does it mean, Little One?” Kiana asked.

  “It means Rhuna,” Shandi answered casually, and then looked around for her father.

  Rhuna followed Shandi outside where Aradin was speaking with Panapu, Mohandu and Yarqi.

  “Din-Din!” Shandi called as she approached Aradin with open arms, ready to be lifted in the air and embraced. “We’re going to a new home,” Shandi said happily as Aradin took his daughter in his arms.

  “She knows already?” Aradin asked as he put her back down. “Or did she have a vision?”

  “I don’t know exactly,” Rhuna answered, wondering how many visions her small daughter experienced in a day.