by Pedro Urvi
“What…?” was all she managed to say before words failed her.
Idana’s gaze was lost on the horizon. “It’s… I think it… it must be…”
“The only thing it can be… is the sea…” Yosane said. Her eyes were wide as saucers.
The sea!
With the word, a hundred memories, ideas and past conversations surged up in Kyra’s mind. Without thinking, she looked at her tattoos. Nobody had ever seen the sea, not since they had been enslaved by the Gods a thousand years before. But the Senoca traditions, their legends and folklore, spoke of its existence and were passed down from grandparents to parents to children so they would never forget where they came from and where they were to return. Kyra had heard descriptions of it… a host of them… and they all paled in comparison to the immense beauty in front of her eyes at that moment. She watched that infinite wonder of nature, the place her people came from. A calm sea, a blue ocean as beautiful as it was infinite.
“What beauty!” Idana said.
Yosane put her hands to her face. “It’s simply unbelievable!”
Kyra moved forward as though in a trance, unable to believe or to assimilate the grandeur and beauty of what surrounded her. She was not the only one; behind her Lian and Urda were also moving forward with their eyes lost in the immensity of the ocean. Soon all twelve were staring at Mother Sea.
“It’s the sea… the sea…!” the prisoners began to murmur amid cries of surprise and recognition as they started to make sense of their environment. Soon all the voices were silent and their young eyes devoured the beautiful landscape. Before the greatness of what they saw and what it meant for them, the twelve fell to their knees and spread their arms in a prayer to Mother Oxatsi that she would take them with her.
“Keep moving, stupid creatures!” came the Eye’s strident shout.
The Executors used their spears to strike and shove the prisoners. The girls resisted, not wishing to part from their protective mother. But the Executors were relentless and the prisoners were forced to go on.
Yosane waved her hand around her in a full circle. “We’re on an island. It’s bigger than the one in the middle of the great river when it crosses the Second County, but it’s an island, that’s absolutely certain.”
Kyra looked around, without losing sight of the Executors and their spears. It was true, they were on an island. There was little vegetation on it and it was rocky and arid. It was not excessively big, because three of its four corners could be seen from where they were. There were white birds in the sky, but for some reason they did not come near the great monolith. The girls were led to it, and the Eye-of-the-Gods went into the base through a round door and disappeared inside.
They waited restlessly, surrounded by the Executors, who watched them impassively. The girls looked all round fearfully, trying to understand where they were and why, and above all what was going to happen to them. But they had found Oxatsi, Mother Sea, and that gave them courage, courage that would help them survive.
Yosane bent over and twisted her head. She pointed to her right.
“Look! Slaves!” she whispered.
On the other side of the monolith was a long line of men with their hands tied at their back, joined by ropes around their necks. They all wore long lemon-yellow robes which stood out in the distance. They were escorted by Executors on both sides, and two Eyes led their column. The prisoners were sturdy men, broad-shouldered and strong-legged.
“Who are these poor wretches? Where are they taking them?” Idana wondered. There was concern in her voice.
“They’re strong,” murmured Kyra. “They’re probably taking them to do forced labor, to the mines, from what I’ve heard…”
“Do you recognize them?” interrupted Yosane. “Do you know what county they come from?”
“No… I couldn’t tell you…”
Yosane looked at Idana, who shrugged. “Nor me,” she muttered.
“Perhaps it’s because of those really striking clothes they wear,” Idana said. “It hurts the eyes.”
“Perhaps,” said Yosane, not fully convinced.
They followed the men with their gaze as they went towards the sea down a set of steps carved out of the rock. And then all of a sudden they disappeared as if they had been swallowed by that infinite sea which surrounded them. Kyra craned her neck, but from the plateau where they stood she could see no further.
“Mother Sea has swallowed them!”
“Look behind,” Yosane said.
Idana and Kyra turned and took a surreptitious look. Behind the great Monolith they saw a large building of one floor. In front of it a great number of men in brown robes were piling boxes beside several carts while others loaded them. An Eye seemed to be taking notes of everything being loaded and a dozen Executors stood stoically on guard.
“Supplies of some sort…” Idana ventured.
“They’re loading them to take them somewhere, but where?” Kyra said, looking toward the far end. “There’s nothing here except rocks and dry bushes.”
“Yes, that’s strange,” Yosane said.
The Eye-of-the-God reappeared. “Start moving, slaves!” he ordered.
They walked to the edge, where the plateau ended, and before their eyes, as if out of nowhere, there appeared a bay in the shape of a half moon. In its very center was a substantial merchant port. Several ships could be seen, great cargo vessels, most of them at anchor and some already setting off towards the open sea, heavily loaded.
“The port is… enormous…” Yosane whispered. “There must be close to a hundred ships.”
Kyra shaded her eyes from the sun, which was now bathing her with fire and life.
“And what on earth are all those ships doing here?”
Yosane narrowed her eyes and stared at the ships.
“They look like twin-sailed triremes. The biggest ones have their holds arranged for cargo. They use the wind to sail, but if they’re too heavily loaded —which seems to be the case here— or the capricious breath of the Gods doesn’t fill the sails, they use the oarsmen. From the dimensions of those ships I’d guess they must carry about sixty in each galley, maybe more. At least that’s how they sail along the great river, and I should think it’s the same with these. Trade between the main cities and the capital, as well as the transport of goods, Proxies and Enforcers depends on those triremes. If they’re using them here it’ll be for the same reasons.”
Kyra smiled, with a touch of sarcasm. “Is there anything you don’t know?” she commented.
Yosane blushed. “Oh, a lot…” she said shyly, and looked away.
The Enforcers quickened the pace, and the group went down the stairs to the pier. The activity on the docks was frantic, with numbers of slaves loading the ships with all kinds of materials and containers. From amphorae to enormous crates, as well as cattle, victuals and a multitude of slaves. In front of each ship an Eye was posted, who made a note of everything that was loaded onto each ship. Seeing the steady bustle and all the movement of goods and people, Kyra felt the urge to slip away and board one of those triremes to escape. For a single crazy moment she even considered it seriously, but she realized it would be suicide to try. All along the pier there were Executors on guard, and several patrols were on foot. Besides, she had no idea where these ships were going. It was not a brilliant plan, but then she was not really one for making plans, much less brilliant ones. She shook her head unhappily and went on. At least Ikai would be glad she had not tried anything rush.
The group of slaves in yellow robes was led up onto one of the ships, and as they went past Kyra could see they were being chained to the oar-benches.
“Yellow robes, oarsmen,” she told Yosane with a wink. Yosane smiled shyly back.
They went along the whole pier on the eastern side until they were nearly at the end. An Eye-of-the-Gods awaited them. Beside the Enforcer of the Gods a ship with a single sail was moored, swaying with the movement of the waves. It was lighter and more ornamented than the
rough cargo triremes. The Eye in charge of the group walked ahead to speak with the other Eye in a low voice. The latter approached the group and briskly studied each of the prisoners, taking notes incessantly in a silver book with his bony ochre finger. Kyra had no idea what he was writing, but she felt as if she were being measured before being put in a box. Cursed bastards! She wished with all her heart she could grab the book from his hands and kill him with it. She clenched her fists as rage consumed her.
The Eye barked a sudden order. “On board, slaves!”
The Executors came to harass them immediately, and with fear in their hearts the prisoners obeyed.
They sailed for hours, heading deeper into a measureless blue ocean. Yosane gazed at it in puzzlement while her timid spirit struggled to summon up courage, since the beauty of that sea imbued her with cheer and hope. They had been placed at the prow, and half a dozen Executors formed a line to deny them access to the rest of the ship. At the stern, two Eyes-of-the-Gods were talking with a strange Enforcer who appeared to be the Captain. He was dressed like the Eyes, but his helmet was different: bluer. Yosane had never seen anything of the kind. She avoided looking at the Captain and shook her shoulders to get rid of the shiver which ran down her back every time she caught a glimpse of him.
Kyra and Idana were in front of her, standing at the foremost point of the bow. They seemed to be enjoying the journey. This was not the case with Lian and some of the other prisoners, who were soon seasick from the movement of the ship and had spent half the day throwing up over the gunwale. Urda on the other hand was sitting still in the center of the deck with her arms folded. The wind was blowing strongly, the billowing sail pushed the ship whose high prow cut the waves. Yosane tried to guess where they might be heading. If her calculations were correct, they had been traveling north ever since leaving the island. As she did not know where they had started from — they had appeared on the island without any point of reference — any guess as to where they were was totally useless. Still, at least she had one point of reference, and if they found another she could begin to calculate their position.
The breeze brushed her face, and Yosane gazed at the peerless beauty of that blue sea. For one moment an absolute sense of peace filled her, and all the fears which usually tormented her spirit were swept away from her heart. For several long wonderful moments she enjoyed a peace she had not known in weeks. Since the ill-fated day when her Ring had shone on her arm and her world had been turned upside down. She opened herself to Mother Sea, and her soul filled with a longed-for joy.
“Hellish bloody sea!” she heard Lian complain between bouts of gagging with her head hanging over the gunwale. She looked at the girl. She was beautiful, privileged, vain, yes, but also brave in her own selfish way. Yosane did not want to envy her but deep down, she did. In spite of all her drawbacks, she was brave. And that quality, so scarce in men in that time of slavery and submission, was what Yosane valued the most, because she lacked it herself. Shame overcame her and she shrank into herself. She knew it was not her fault, she told herself over and over again, but it did not help.
“Look, mist!” she heard Idana call out.
Yosane went over to her two friends and gazed at the horizon ahead of them. A heavy white mist rose over the sea like a ghostly presence, floating above the waves.
“Isn’t it weird?” Kyra said.
Yosane gazed at the clear evening sky, where not a cloud disturbed the blue. The breeze was warm and the sea had turned calm.
“Very weird, there shouldn’t be a mist in these conditions…”
Kyra nodded and looked ahead. The ship was moving fast toward the wall of mist, which rose ten feet above the surface and prevented them from seeing further. Yosane looked aside at the Captain and the Eyes, but their course stayed the same.
“We’re going into it!” she warned Kyra and Idana. “Hold on!”
In the blink of an eye the ship entered the mist and they were swallowed by a damp, whitish cloak. They could see nothing around them, not even on the ship itself. Yosane held out her arm, searching for Idana’s. They touched and held hands. The wind dropped completely and a gloomy silence enveloped them. Suddenly there came a loud noise of wood on wood. Yosane froze as a new sound reached her ears, that of water being beaten.
“Oars!” she said excitedly. “They’ve taken out the oars!”
The sound developed a rhythm, the oars plunged into the water propelling the ship and came out of the water with a methodical cadence. Yosane calmed down a little, but not being able to see what was around her made her heart race. In the midst of that thick gloomy mist, to the rhythm of the drum, on a sea as still as a mirror, she felt as if they were entering the realm of the dead. She had a sick feeling in her stomach, a horrible presentiment. Suddenly the mist vanished. Yosane looked back in surprise and realized that they had left it behind; they had gone through it and beyond.
“By my brother’s blood!” she heard Kyra cry.
Yosane turned and was overwhelmed by what she saw. She had to rub her eyes to be sure it was true.
“But… but… how can it be?” Idana asked.
Yosane stared at the giant waterfall rising ahead of them in the middle of the sea. It was sixty feet high and its width filled the horizon. An endless stream of water fell along its entire length, hurling itself on the sea, breaking against the waves with foam as white as snow. The sound of the water constantly breaking against the sea reached them like a furious murmur. The ship headed straight towards it.
“It’s going to swallow us!” Idana cried.
Kyra stood up, ready to jump overboard.
Yosane glanced at the Captain and the Eyes-of-the-Gods, who remained unperturbed.
“Back!” one of the Eyes ordered.
Kyra hesitated for a moment, then stepped back. Idana did the same. The Executors came forward. Seizing all the girls who were by the forward gunwale, they threw them back to the center.
They don’t want us to fall into the sea, Yosane wondered. How odd! It looks as though they want us alive. I wonder why, or rather what for.
The ship headed rapidly toward the great wall of water before them. Yosane felt the beginnings of panic, and Kyra threw her a questioning glance. A silver flash of great intensity filled the sky. They turned to see the Captain holding a small disc on the palm of his hand. The disc sent out two more potent flashes, then the Captain closed his hand over it. At once there came a violent buzzing, as if the sea bottom was shaking. But it was not the sea, it was the waterfall. A small part of it now began to sink into the sea, creating a passage for the ship.
Yosane looked on in awe. This was no work of men. It would have been impossible to build something like that, still less to operate it that way. The ship went through the giant waterfall along the open passage and held its course along what now looked like a great channel. Behind them the submerged part emerged from the water and closed once again. There was no way out.
Kyra looked in every direction in turn. “What the hell? We’re in a channel!”
As they advanced Yosane realized that the waterfall was really a great wall, decorated so as to look like an endless waterfall. This surprised her immensely, but not as much as what she saw next.
“By Oxatsi!” Idana muttered.
Yosane’s eyes were sending images to her brain which she was finding hard to make sense of. Before her eyes, on both sides of the channel, a beautiful city rose in splendor. Immense palaces with enormous lakes, ornamented with countless fountains and cultivated gardens came into sight as they moved on. The palaces were blue mingled with white — splendid, worthy of Gods. Each palace had one or more lakes in the form of gardens, and the gardens were extravagantly-shaped with fountains and small waterfalls at different heights. Where there should have been streets and avenues were rivers and channels. An uncountable number of small boats were moving along them, but from the distance their occupants could not be seen.
Unbelievable, was all Yosane could think
.
“What is this place?” Kyra asked.
Yosane shaded her eyes with her hand. In the distance, where the channel ended, in the very center, she made out an imposing island. Even from where they were it looked like a colossal mountain with a single peak, floating over the water. Looking closer, the whole surface proved to be teeming with exuberant palaces and monuments, from the base to the elevated peak, where a giant monolith rose in search of the sun. And then she knew where they were.
“We’re in the Eternal City, the home of the Golden Gods!”
Kyra and Idana turned to her in amazement. An absolute and somber silence came over the other girls, hushing exclamations and speculations alike. If they were in the Eternal City, then there was no hope for any of them, since nobody had ever returned from that accursed place. Nobody. Ever.
The ship continued on its way along the channel. The silence on the deck was now that of a graveyard, broken only by the cadence of the oars. A broad new channel opened on both sides. Yosane’s attention was immediately caught. Elaborate granite and white marble bridges, with many massive arches, crossed the new channel towards the center, to the great island, following the direction the ship was taking.
They were entering a complex spider’s-web of channels and buildings. She needed to understand, it would come in useful later on. Survive and escape, as Kyra said, and to escape they needed to understand where they were. Besides, that was something she was very good at. That was why she was a builder, like all her family. She could contribute knowledge, but she needed an elevated perspective. She gazed at the elaborate figurehead at the bow. She thought about it several times, searching inside herself for the courage she could never find. I have to help! I need to contribute! She summoned up her weak courage and with some difficulty climbed onto the figurehead, which rose six feet above the deck in the shape of an eagle’s head. Idana saw her, and with her face a mask of fear helped her steady herself. Yosane held on as best she could, then with the aid of the sail ropes, stood up on top of the eagle’s head.