The Secret of the Golden Gods Omnibus Edition

by Pedro Urvi

  Idana gave a muffled cry. “Get down, you’ll kill yourself!” she said in a low voice so that the Executors would not hear her. But they seemed distracted, looking at the city around them. Lian and Urda noticed what was going on and stood up to watch their companion’s daring. Yosane studied everything she could see from her elevated position. She filled her lungs and exhaled slowly, turning her head from left to right and back again in a sweeping survey that allowed her to see everything within reach of her eyes.

  “Get down now!” Idana urged her, deeply worried.

  Yosane glanced back at Idana. When she saw how high she had climbed and how unprotected she was, she came back to her senses. Fear gripped her at once. She held on to the rope with all her strength and began to shake uncontrollably.

  “By Girlai!” Kyra cried. Before she had finished saying the words she was already climbing up the spur with the agility of a panther.

  Lian went up to one of the Executors and pointed in the direction of the two girls. The Executor spun around.

  “Get down from there, slaves!” they heard behind them. At the same time two Executors came towards the girls.

  “Give me your hand, Yosane,” Kyra said.

  But Yosane was so scared she could barely breathe. She was not going to let go of that rope for anything in the world. Kyra swore and climbed up to her.

  “Come on, let’s go down,” she said soothingly, and offered her hand with a smile.

  The presence of her fearless friend calmed Yosane. She let Kyra help her and finally came down with difficulty. As soon as they were on deck the two Executors lunged on them. They were struck, ruthlessly. The two friends ended up lying on the deck, beaten.

  “I hope it was worth it,” Kyra said. There was blood on the corner of her mouth.

  “I think… I think so,” Yosane replied, as Idana tried to help Kyra.

  They rested a while, still lying on the deck, as the ship advanced inexorably towards the great island in the center. The closer they came the more magnificent it looked, both in size and architectural beauty.

  Lian and Urda came up to them. “Stop making so much trouble,” Lian said reproachfully. “You’ll get us all killed!”

  “Leave them alone,” said Idana.

  “I’m going to break that little nose of yours,” Kyra threatened with a grunt of pain from the deck.

  Urda stepped forward. “Don’t even dream of it.”

  “I think I have it,” Yosane said. All the girls turned to her. “The city has been built over water, it’s made of five concentric rings, and the innermost is that huge island-mountain. Separating each of the five rings there are channels which seem to act as borderlines. To join the center and the rings they’ve built huge bridges with more than a thousand arches, amazingly complex and beautiful, which reach as far as the outer waterfall.”

  Urda scratched her head. “I don’t understand…”

  Yosane eyed her and smiled gently. “Give me that ring on your finger” she said, pointing to the soldier’s hand.

  Urda hesitated briefly, then took the ring off and gave it to Yosane.

  “Now you, Lian.”

  She shook her head and folded her arms. “In your dreams. My ring is worth more than you are.”

  “Here, have mine,” offered Idana, “and let’s have peace.”

  Yosane took it and placed it on the palm of her hand. With the other she felt on the floor until she found a pebble. She placed the pebble in the center of Idana’s ring and showed it to Urda.

  “The pebble is the big island,” she said. She waved it in front of her, where the great mountain was looming closer. “Idana’s ring is the first circle. Between them is water. See?” Urda nodded. “Now I take your ring, which is bigger, and I put it round Idana’s. This would be the second ring. Between your ring and Idana’s there’s water. And there are two more rings. Do you understand now?”

  “Yes, now I understand.”

  Yosane smiled and returned the rings.

  “Well, that’s pretty stupid,” Lian barked. “How does that help us?”

  Kyra clenched her fist. “If you don’t keep your mouth shut, I’ll shut it myself.”

  Yosane looked ahead. “It helps us understand where we are. If you don’t know the labyrinth, you’re not likely to find the way out.”

  “Humph! Stupid riddles!”

  Kyra came to stand beside Yosane. They stared at the magnificent island they were arriving at. Idana came to stand next to them.

  “Tell me, Yosane what do you think is waiting for us ahead?” Kyra asked as she stared at the great monolith on the island’s summit.

  Yosane heaved a deep sigh. “There ahead of us the Gods are waiting. May Oxatsi, Mother Sea, take pity on our poor souls.”

  13

  The dungeons beneath the barracks of the Regent’s Guard were almost as hospitable as the Dungeons of Oblivion. Ikai let his body slide and lay face down on the hay which covered the cold stone floor. He felt as if he had been thrown off a wild horse, his body ached terribly, particularly his side. He spat blood and wiped his split lip. Through the bars of the cell he glimpsed the two wardens. They were as big as mountain bears and as ugly as wild boar. They had beaten him with a vengeance and he could barely breathe, much less move. But he had not told them anything, not a single word.

  He kept going over the one thing which tortured him more than the physical pain: Why did Albana betray me? This question gnawed like acid at his guts.

  “On your feet, prisoner!” one of the wardens brayed.

  But he had no strength left to stand.

  “I said on your feet!” the warden shouted again. He banged the bars with a wooden club.

  All Ikai could do was open one eye. Between the hay and the bars he made out a familiar face. It was Istas, the Commander of the Guard, who was watching him sternly, his arms folded over the cuirass which covered his chest.

  “I told you I wanted him in good condition, you donkeys!” the Commander said.

  “He’s alive, my lord…” said the more massive of the two wardens.

  “Has he talked?”

  “No, sir…”

  Istas shoved the one closest to him. “You incompetents! Take him out of there!”

  The two wardens hastened to open the cell.

  “I’ll come back at noon. Give him something to drink and some food. Burn his rags. I want him cleaned up and presentable. If he dies I’ll make eunuchs of you with my own hands. Is that clear?”

  “Yes sir, absolutely, sir,” the two giants gabbled.

  The sun was shining at its highest among a scattering of clouds with an almost divine purity when Ikai was brought out of the barracks and made to get on a cart pulled by two heavy working horses. Ikai thanked the heavens that they were not forcing him to walk, as he could barely stand. The gates of the walled-in precinct opened and they left the military quadrant behind them.

  Six Guards escorted him, led by a Captain. He counted four women and three men under the helmets, armor and blue capes. It did not surprise him. The scarcity of men was growing as a result of the Quotas, forcing the Guard to recruit massively among the women. From what Ikai had seen, once they were well trained many of them were as skilled with weapons as the men, and in most cases more intelligent too. He could make out their sex by the shape of the bodies, since the plumed helmets they wore hid their faces so that nothing could be seen but their eyes. The Commander of the Guard brought up the rear, behind the cart.

  “Istas, where are they taking me?”

  The officer glared at him angrily. “As far as you’re concerned I’m Commander.” Istas showed him the Ring engraved with a Lion, which showed that he belonged to the military caste.

  “We’ve known each other a long time, Istas…”

  “Yes, a long time, but then you were a Hunter and I was an Officer of the Guard. We’ve worked together and shared a lot, that’s true, both working for the same goal: we both served the Regent. I don’t know what’
s driven you to this betrayal, or whether you’ve completely lost your mind, although it comes to the same thing. You’ve brought dishonor on yourself, you’ve broken the law, and for that you’ll have to pay; with your life. You’re not a Hunter any longer, you’re an outlaw, a pariah, and I’m the Commander of the Guard.”

  “I see that,” Ikai replied. He was watching the people move back quickly as the group passed by, shunning the procession. There was fear in their gaze.

  “Let me give you a piece of advice for the sake of the good times gone by: confess and beg for mercy, otherwise you’ll suffer a horrible death.”

  “Thanks, Istas. I appreciate your kindness.”

  “I really don’t understand what’s happened to you, Ikai. You must be out of your mind. You and I both serve the Regent. We enforce the laws of the Gods. We chase, capture and execute those who break them. If we don’t do this, the Gods themselves will come down from their Eternal City, bringing death with them. They’ll put an end to us, you know that.”

  Ikai was silent. He knew that up to a point all this was true. Seeing an old woman avert her eyes from him and move her granddaughter away as they passed, Ikai remembered painful conversations with his sister in the past. Conversations which had filled him with remorse. Kyra saw things in black and white, only good and evil in people; for her there were no shades of gray. But the world Ikai was trying to make his way through was all gray, although it was a shade which went on darkening until it was almost black. And he was aware of this. All these thoughts became more definite as he continued his conversation with Istas.

  “That’s what we say to justify our actions…”

  “I’m not justifying anything. I’ve nothing to justify. I serve the Regent and follow the law of the Gods. Thanks to men like us, our nation survives.”

  “Survives, yes…”

  “There’s nothing more to say. I’ve chosen my path and you’ve chosen yours. Once there was comradeship between us, but that’s over.”

  Ikai nodded. He could understand Istas, because he had been justifying his own actions with the same arguments. But how could he justify Kyra’s kidnapping and disappearance? Or his mother’s pain and suffering? No, there was nothing justifiable about that.

  It did not take them long to cross the great central square. Ikai, as he always did, stared at the immense Monolith of the Gods rising to the clouds. That powerful arcane artifact had intrigued him ever since the first day he had set foot in the big city. He had no idea what it was for, but it was an instrument of the Gods and a very powerful one which awoke a great respect in him. Nobody ever went near the giant artifact of Power, not because it was forbidden but because it provoked great fear. They left the enigmatic construction behind and arrived at the Regent’s majestic palace. The retinue stopped at the entrance, in front of the Guard of Honor.

  The great palace was huge, occupying a whole quadrant. Endless stairs, white as chalk, led up to a great arcade with twenty round columns. Both the columns and the façade had been painted gold in honor of the Gods. The blue of the Senoca, the People of the Sea, had been completely eradicated. The Regent, like the Priests, vied incessantly to please the Gods in every possible way. As for the people, that was a different story.

  Two of the Guards helped Ikai to get down from the cart.

  “Captain Liriana,” Istas called.

  The Captain presented herself hastily. “Commander.”

  Ikai noticed that the Captain glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. She had very large turquoise eyes which could not pass unnoticed. All the more when it was all he could see of her under her helmet and armor. Although another detail caught his attention: the Captain’s legs were heavily worked and nicely outlined, which surprised and pleased him. Her right leg was tattooed on the outside with the characteristic sky blue of their people, representing the waves of Mother Sea from ankle to thigh.

  “Have the escort wait here,” Istas ordered.

  The young woman gave her superior a brief salute. “At your command, sir.”

  “Can you walk?” Istas asked, and saw Ikai nod.

  “Let’s go, then,” the Commander said, and led the way.

  They walked into the building and Ikai was faced with spotless walls. They walked along the long corridor and immediately four Guards of Honor got behind him. After going through several enormous areas, luxurious and filled with ornaments, they reached a double door, strongly guarded. Istas presented himself to the Guards and after a moment they were allowed to enter.

  They went into a big hall, which took Ikai’s breath away. It was gigantic and magnificent. In the center was a thermal bathtub whose vapors rose to the ceiling and impregnated the silk curtains which surrounded it. Paintings and tapestries in lively colors hung from walls and ceiling; exquisite carpets covered the white marble floors. Silver trays filled with exotic fruits were laid on tables, and a group of half-naked women were dancing around the water.

  At the sight of all that luxury and waste Ikai felt a burning rage catch fire inside him like a funerary pyre. Luckily he was too weak to do anything about it, so he called upon his sang froid and calculating mind and tried to breathe deeply, letting out his breath slowly. He quieted the rage which was consuming him and focused on what was important: the people there.

  Straight away he recognized the powerful and very dangerous Regent Sesmok, the man responsible for the destiny of each and every one of the Senoca, who was watching him from a great armchair with an elaborate round back. It looked to Ikai more like a throne than a mere armchair. The Regent’s expression was stern. He was a thin man, still short of fifty, with a gaunt face. His prominent aquiline nose stood out more than his small sunken eyes: eyes as black as his soul.

  On his right, sitting on a comfortable sofa with pillows, was the High Priest Torkem. His gross body completely filled the sofa, even though it was big enough for two. He was eating fruit, and his wide cheeks were as red as the wine in the silver goblet he was holding in his chubby fingers. Sitting in front of the religious leader was the leader of the Hunters, Lord Hunter Osvan, who gave Ikai a fiery look which went through him like an arrow.

  Istas presented himself with an elaborate bow. “The prisoner, sir, as you ordered.”

  The Regent stood up. “Leave us, all of you,” he ordered, and the women and servants left the hall at once. Sesmok approached Ikai slowly with a graceful, well-balanced movement, like a cat stalking its helpless prey. Istas moved to one side with a bow and Sesmok came to stand in front of Ikai, staring into his eyes fixedly. Ikai had the feeling that the man was trying to read into his soul.

  “I’m trying to understand your decision and I find it unbelievable, Hunter. It’s extremely difficult.” He tilted his head to one side, staring directly into Ikai’s eyes. “Lord Hunter Osvan” — he went on with a wave in the direction of the leader of the Hunters, who gave the trace of a nod — “tells me you’re one of the most talented young Hunters we have, very qualified and highly recommended by Master Sejof, an authority in the profession. How is it possible that a young Hunter, trained and intelligent, knowing the laws of the Gods, an implacable pursuer of infringers, could commit such an act, such an outrage?”

  Ikai analyzed the tone, the cunning of the question, the manner of interrogation. He knew he was facing a very intelligent man. But also a very dangerous and ruthless one, as was well known among the Senoca.

  “The Gods have taken away my sister,” Ikai replied bluntly.

  Sesmok put his hands behind his back and took a few steps, nodding.

  “I see… that would explain pain, suffering, but not what you’ve done. Confess now, tell me who helped you by giving you information about the forbidden quadrant. Tell me who your accomplice was, the one who managed to escape, and beg for mercy. Perhaps you’ll receive it…”

  Ikai might be young, but he was not naive. His years as a Hunter had hardened him and taught him valuable lessons of life. He knew perfectly well that in this world neither Gods
nor rulers would have mercy at all. I don’t owe anybody loyalty, not Proxy Ambuk or least of all that traitor Albana. But I’ll gain nothing by talking, absolutely nothing. I’m already doomed, and death’s waiting for me. Condemning others to the same end wouldn’t be honorable. He stared ahead and kept silent.

  Sesmok raised one eyebrow and shook his head. “Don’t worry, we’ll catch your accomplice and whoever gave you privileged information. You know it very well, nobody manages to escape from my claws. Meditate on what you’ve done… you’ve ruined your career, your future and even the wellbeing of your family in a futile act which in any case was going to bring you nothing but death… and you knew it. You’re not the only one who has suffered this fate. Many have been separated from their loved ones and they resign themselves to the fact. After all, it’s the Gods’ chosen purpose… isn’t it so, High Priest Torkem?”

  The religious leader sat up straighter on the sofa. “The Quotas are sacred,” he replied, “and the Summons, when they occur, are a blessing for those who are chosen, as they have been picked by the Gods themselves for their chosen purposes, which we mere mortals can never hope to understand. Their Divinities, in their eternal wisdom, require of us their mortal subjects that we obey and serve them, for such is our purpose on earth.” He glared at the young Hunter.

  Ikai had had a bellyful of that same speech and others like it throughout his life. The Priests never ceased to instruct the enslaved people with the goal of extinguishing any flame of hope. The implications of what they preached made him sick. If Kyra had been there she would have made the brute swallow his sermon. But Ikai was not his sister and he stayed calm. He had to; the situation was critical.

  Sesmok circled him, walking slowly and deliberately, studying him. “As I was saying, young Hunter, many suffer painful losses when required to by our Gods, but very few — in fact almost no-one— acts in response, still less breaks an explicit law.” He stared into Ikai’s eyes. “The people know the laws and follow them. If not, they know death awaits them. A death which I don’t enjoy having to order, but I must because it’s my duty as leader of the Senoca and responsible before the Gods.” He spread his arms wide, with a look of resignation.