by Cory Huff
Liam had quite the heart-stopping moment when he realized that the drawings in that particular book exactly matched the creatures that had killed Aaron and the others. They goblins were being mowed down by golden arrows shot from the bow of a woman with pointed ears and a mane of blonde, curly hair. “Is that Tarkin?” He asked. There were dozens of dead goblins.
“No, that’s Celestina, a famed Elven archer.” Sophronia smiled.
“I have to get out of here,” Liam said out loud. “I need a breather.”
“We don’t have time for that,” Sophronia’s voice was flat and dismissive. For someone who was so fun, entertaining, and playful, she was an extremely serious student. She barely ate. She could tear through a book and remember all of the words, nearly verbatim. She had a power to concentrate that Liam couldn’t manage. She said it came from spending years in this room, trying to master what she learned in the books.
They had decided to divide things up. He would look at the books that were primarily commentaries and histories, handing all books with descriptions of Ogham uses off to her, since he couldn’t comprehend them. He hadn’t found many of those at all.
“What are we so pressed for time on? We’ve been here for days and haven’t found anything yet. Nothing has happened, except that people are probably wondering what happened to us. I’m going to go above and walk around.”
Sophronia didn’t even look up, “you can’t go above. You’ll get killed.”
Liam paused. “What?”
“You’ll get killed. There are dangerous creatures above.”
“Uh…I didn’t see anything before.”
“We were lucky. We came through in the day, I used misdirection tricks, and I also know the way. You go up there, get lost, wander into a blind corner or stay out after dark and you'll die.”
“Come with me then. We need a break. We need a new strategy. This is getting us nowhere.”
Sophronia said, “Well, you’re certainly right that we haven’t made much progress. Fine, 15 minutes.” She stood up and walked past him. Liam shook his head as he followed her up the stairs.
They walked outside and Sophronia said, “where do you want to go? Choose carefully.”
He looked at her sharply and she smiled. “Why don’t you decide where we walk,” he suggested. Her smile got bigger. “Follow me,” she said. They began walking down the main road, towards the Southern cliffs that overlooked the ocean.
Elder Kaufman walked between buildings, parallel to the main road, watching the two who had emerged from the old Bard’s college. He wondered what they knew. The woman was alert, scanning for danger. The man was nervous. He seemed to be taking her lead. She appeared to know her way around. She avoided the dangerous side alleys.
Elder Kaufman moved quickly from shadow to shadow, watching them and only half paying attention to what was going on around him, so he was caught unaware when a twisted dwarfish creature met him in the shadow, grabbing him and trying to drag him to the ground.
The malformed dwarf had a patchy beard and a wide, bulbous nose. It also had no idea who he had tried to attack. As he tried to pull him to the ground and got Kaufman’s attention, the dwarf punched Kaufman in the face. There was a small flash of light that might have been a step out the shadow, and the dwarf realized its mistake. It recognized Kaufman. Out of instinct it tried to let go and pull away, but that reflex was too late. A knife appeared in Kaufman’s hand and opened the dwarf from pelvis to diaphragm, spilling its viscera onto the street and spraying Kaufman with a liquid that was black in the darkness. It made no noise as it died other than a quiet gurgling.
Kaufman stood there, watching it bleed out, terror in its eyes. He noticed blood all over his clothes, and with a waggle of his fingers, the blood left his clothes as if they were being wrung out. The dwarf’s eyes widened as it watched. Then it died.
The knife disappeared from his hand and Kaufman continued following them, more careful this time.
Liam had never seen the ocean before. He considered how odd that was as he stood here at the edge of the cliff. He had lived in Atania his entire life, never leaving, and this ocean-side cliff was less than an hour’s walk from home. He was shaken from how little he knew.
It smelled like salt. He stood there, on the edge of the cliffs, marveling at the vast expanse. The water stretched into the distance and met the sky. In a book from the library, he had read about an island nation out on the ocean, ruled by a terrifying man with the head of a bull, a minotaur, named Gabalifix. It was difficult to imagine that other people lived on the other side of that water, like the books said. It was hard to imagine that this was anything but a dream. It was beautiful. The stories were terrifying. The fey creatures were full of bloodlust.
The point where the water touched the sky could only be seen between a narrow gap in the grey granite cliffs that ran in a circle out from Atania, making a neat ring from Atania’s walls. The gap was overlooked by two enormous stone statues that he couldn’t make out from here. He wondered if there were books that explained the statues.
He could see a series of wooden scaffolds extending into the sea from the beach. Sophronia said “I think those were the docks described in a story about trading with Gabalifix’s Minotaur sailors, where huge boats would load and unload cargo.”
The docks were nearly eighty feet long. Liam was trying to imagine how big those boats would be. The largest boat he’d ever seen was just 6 or 7 feet long, made for a pond in the Eastern Atanian woods. “How big would a boat have to be to move across this water and carry items for trade?”
“Gabalifix’s boats were almost sixty feet long,” responded Sophronia. She smiled when Liam realized he’d been wondering out loud.
There were switchbacks leading down the cliff side. They looked like they’d been carved into the rock. “‘Let’s go down there,” he suggested.
“I’ve never been down there. Sure, let’s go,” she said and they turned to take the first switchback. “We can’t stay long though. We definitely don’t want to be going back through the hidden city after dark.”
“You know, you keep saying that, but I haven’t seen anything yet. What’s so scary?”
Sophronia seemed to be thinking for a while. “The first time I went exploring down one of those alleys they surrounded me. They’re short, thick and stocky. They have these patchy, course, black beards and black, beady eyes. But that’s not the first thing that I noticed. The first thing I noticed was that they are twisted. Deformed arms and legs. They were haunted. They had an anger, and a sadness to them. I think they were just as afraid of me as I was of them.”
Liam broke in, “I thought you said they were dangerous?”
She snorted, “Of course they are. I think people who are scared are the most dangerous of all. They have nothing left to lose. I think there’s something else driving them. When I walked into that alley, they surrounded me. At first they just watched me, and seemed really uncomfortable and scared. But when I tried to talk to them, they didn’t respond, and seemed to grumble to each other. When I tried to leave, they pushed together. Then, as if acting under orders, they rushed me as a group. I thought I was going to die. I desperately tried a misdirection trick with the Ogham and was able to dodge through a gap in their line. I flat out ran all of the way back into town, and didn’t return to Hidden Atania for a week. It was one of the first times I ever used the Ogham. After that, I almost always carried a shortsword with me, and didn’t go down any alleys.”
“That’s terrifying,” said Liam. He was thinking about the endless miles of alleyways that snaked through Atania. These dwarfish creatures could go anywhere.
“Yes, and that’s not all of it,” said Sophronia. “There are other creatures. Some of them I’ve seen. Ghostly and insubstantial in the distance. I’ve seen sprites and other fairy tale creatures here. Will-O-the-Wisps, just like the old stories, tried to lead me into alleys or into the sewers through open entrances, with ladders down into the depths.
There are other creatures down there. Darker, more dangerous creatures. Shape shifting terrors that resemble rat-men and other terrifying things. I used to have nightmares about them.”
“Why did you bring us here?” Asked Liam. “Surely, there’s a better way to deal with Mindee. The Church would help. Why do you keep coming here? Is the Ogham worth it? You could die.”
“Let me ask you this Liam. You have some sort of natural affinity for the Power. How do you feel when it happens?”
“Terrified,” said Liam.
She waved her hands. “Yes, yes. But also, isn’t there something else? Some sense of invincibility or euphoria?”
“Yes, but…”
She cut him off, “That’s why. The euphoria is addictive. The Ogham makes me feel like I can take control of my life. That I’m not just another girl singing in taverns for extra coin. That perhaps I can get out of here and see something that the books talk about. I want to see the world. I want to see elves or tuatha or whatever they call themselves. I want to see dwarves, and maybe even a dragon.”
“Then why haven't you gone? What’s holding you here in Atania?” He asked. “Why keep coming back here where you know its dangerous?”
“I don’t know,” she sounded exasperated. “Every time I decide I’m going to do it, something comes up. My parents want me to come for dinner. My brother needs help with something. A neighbor is sick and I end up helping them. I thought I was in love once, but that didn’t work out. I guess I keep hoping for something big to happen that will sweep me along.”
“You want a story.” Said Liam.
“What?” Sophronia stopped at the bottom of the switchbacks, right at the edge of the sand leading to the sea.
“You are a story teller. You’re a singer. You tell stories through song and hold peoples’ attention, right? That’s what you told me the last couple of days. Aren’t you looking for a new story you can tell? Maybe one you can live?”
Sophronia looked at him and nodded.
Liam saw the look on her face and wasn’t sure what to say next. “Isn’t that how it works in the stories? In the tale of Brian O’Shea, his best friend goes along with him when he leaves his village and chronicles his journey, becoming a famous bard in the process.”
Sophronia shook her head, walking the edge of the sand, feet being touched by the waves, “I don’t want to be the bard. I want to be the hero. I want to be the one in charge. I want to determine my own destiny Liam.” She was upset. Breathing heavily. “My entire life I’ve felt like Atania is too small. Like I was being stifled. I want out and … and I can’t get out! I can’t leave! I’ve tried! Look at that Liam! Look at the ocean, at the horizon. There’s a world out there - and whatever caused THAT,” she turned around, facing him, and pointed emphatically at the city on top of the cliffs, “is trying to prevent me from leaving.”
The water was rising behind Sophronia. Rapidly. He tried to say something.
Sophronia ignored him and continued on, “I’m certain of it. I feel like I’m being constantly distracted, like a whiny toddler distracted by shiny baubles.”
Not only was the water rising, but some kind of figure was rising from the water, directly behind Sophronia. The outline of a woman, legs still in the water, made from the sea, with a sword made of water, loomed behind her. Liam’s eyes goggled, and he pointed.
“WHAT IS IT LIAM?! I’M TALK…” Liam sprinted at her and tackled her back and diagonally, trying to save her from the sword coming down. “OOF!” She exclaimed as he slammed into her. They both went down into the onrushing blue water and an enormous wave slammed down on top of them, crushing their bodies together and tumbling them into a blue and white void. Neither of them could breathe, and neither of them could tell which way was up. Liam tried to hold onto her, but she fought and scratched desperately to get away from him. Finding the surface was no use as the water tossed them like rag dolls. Just as Liam thought his lungs would burst, he slammed into something hard and the final bit of air exploded out of his lungs. Everything hurt. The water rushed away from him and he realized that his body was wrapped around a black rock jutting out of the sea floor. In his disoriented state, he looked for Sophronia and the sea creature at the same time. She was next to him, clinging to him and the rock, desperately sucking in air as he was. The creature was just 10 feet away, receding with the water, seemingly floating atop the water, riding it. Made of it.
Suddenly, someone ran by him, charging the sea creature. He saw expensive black boots, a drawn sword, and grey hair tied back in a pony tail with a black ribbon. It looked familiar but the water suddenly rushed back in a wall, pushing him and Sophronia back up the beach, tumbling them over and over. When that wave receded, Liam looked up and the pony-tailed man with the sword deflected the sea creature’s sword made of water wide out to his right, and came back across to the left with a mighty two handed swing, cleaving through the water body and severing it at the legs. The form instantly collapsed and the man was deluged with the released water from the collapsing form.
Liam half sat up in the receding water, transfixed, as the collapsing water cleared and the figure held his sword in a balanced stance, down and to the left waiting to see if the figure reformed. After a moment, he turned and Liam couldn’t have been more surprised to see Elder Kaufman, from the Elder’s Council standing there, the water swirling around his boots.
Kaufman strode over to them, sheathing his sword, and offered a hand to each of them, “Come with me if you want to live.”
It was too easy to climb the wall, thought Brannan. He crouched between the vine-covered wall and a crumbling stone house, staying hidden from the people in the town. Brannan was a tall warrior from the Thir, the vast grassland outside of Atania. He stood just over six feet two inches, and had the lithe muscles of a seasoned warrior. His blonde hair was pulled back in a braid, woven with bits of decorative bone. The hide tunic he wore was stenciled with the images of buffalo and deer that the Black Raven tribe hunted, as well as images of the ravens themselves. Those same ravens were tattooed on the backs of his hands. He colored his eyelids with blue, and carried a heavy rapier, small battle axe, and dagger. Light weapons for a scout, as opposed to the heavy claymores that his brothers used in open battle. His friend Ennain, just a couple of inches shorter, was dressed and armed much the same.
Brannan and Ennain had approached the wall at night after watching it for an afternoon from the tall green grass. Nobody watched the wall. The gates themselves were guarded only in the most lazy way possible, with the guards dicing and laughing with friends, barely paying attention to what happened outside.
It had been no matter at all to approach this place from the Thir. Crawling through the grasses and running the last few yards to the wall had raised no cry.
So now here they were, with free run of the town. They were here to see what they could see and hear what they could hear. They would report back after a night of looking around.
“So, you’re telling me that you’ve known about Hidden Atania for years, and you’ve never told our people?” Liam asked, incredulously. They were walking back through the hidden city. Liam had been peppering Kaufman with questions, trying to remain respectful.
Elder Kaufman, who was more concerned with keeping a lookout through the hidden city to ensure they weren’t ambushed, shook his head, “Liam, what would happen if we told everyone about this place? Use you head, man. I know you’re just a tanner, but you’re smart enough for this.”
Liam was mildly surprised that Kaufman knew enough about what his profession was to be insulting, but he supposed it was the Elders Council’s job to know things about their people. They had passed the library where they had spent three days searching through books. Elder Kaufman had called it the Bard’s College. “There once was an order of people whose sole jobs were to document the learnings of humanity from the Sidhe and pass them on to the next generation. They were all murdered.” He had refused to say more. They were quickly approachi
ng the vine-covered palace in the center of Hidden Atania. There was a wide road that led straight into the center of town. Liam was momentarily distracted thinking about the fact that there was an enormous road that led into the center of town that nobody ever walked down.
Kaufman continued, “If we told everyone, they would be terrified. There would be a panic. There might be calls to go and hunt the monsters. Or, more likely, they might think I’m crazy and try to have me removed from the Council or even locked up for safety. This way I can guide the Council away from dangerous decisions in a surreptitious way with no one having to worry.”
Sophronia broke in, “I knew there were others! There’s no way something like this could be a secret from everyone but me! I want you to teach me! Will you teach me?” She had asked him this multiple times since he saved them from what he named the water wyrd. He had named it, but when asked where it came from, he simply said it was a Sidhe creature placed there to guard the shore.
Kaufman had pulled them both bodily out of the water when they hadn’t scrambled up fast enough. He was much stronger than a man of his age had a right to be, Liam had thought. Especially since he doesn’t work with his hands any more. Did he ever? Liam didn’t think he could remember a time when Kaufman wasn’t on the Elders Council.
At any rate, Kaufman had hustled them both up the cliffs and was insisting that they leave Hidden Atania at once. “You are both like children,” he said, “and don’t know how much danger you are in.” He scolded Liam, but he chided Sophronia even harder. She acted confident as if she knew the dangers, but she had no real idea, he told her. She had no idea what kind of attention she was attracting. She and Liam needed to get away as quickly as possible.
“No. I will not teach you. As I already told you, you need to leave Atania, not just the Hidden City. As quickly as possible. If I found you so easily, just because I felt that surge of power from your fight with Mindee and the Sidhe, there are others who will find you and destroy you. Others beyond what that Mindee you told me about can do. Far, far beyond,” he muttered the last part. Sophronia and Liam had hurriedly explained to him how they had gotten here, including the part where Mindee killed Sophronia’s brother and Thomas. He had grimaced when they told him she had pointed ears and that had been when he had become wary, watching every shadow and side-alley as they left the hidden city as quickly as possible.