by Damon Glatz
Only a few routes existed through the Shadow Mountains. Red explained over the course of the ride. Not even light can find a way through. Some of them lead to the "Dark Hole" the entrance to the Underworld. By design, only souls can find their way into it. From there, the cave leads to an intricate labyrinth said to test souls, leading the wicked further and further into its bowels. The deeper they travel; the worse afterlife awaits them for eternity. Those who lived good lives navigate the maze easily, finding a more enjoyable afterlife.
Then there are those who exemplified the will of the Gods. For instance, a Vatnic warrior who died in glorious combat. He would be handpicked by his Goddess to live in the Overworld in paradise. Each kingdom and respective God had their own qualifications for this blessing. Vatnics had to die in combat. Northerners had to die with pure honor. Ashlanders had to be descendants from the line of King Drake the First. Plainsmen had to follow the path of their spirit animal. Anyone who failed to live these lives was sent to the Underworld, where all who worshiped the God of Death were sent.
And of course, there is the Earth Mythic. The great stone giant that guards the labyrinth, destroying any mortals who attempt to enter... Or any souls who attempt to escape.
Red seemed very knowledgeable on the topic of the afterlife. It must have been something he studied in the library he talked about. Ohitekah began to grow excited about it. A tall lighthouse he described as the bright flame at its top is said to be taken from the first flame man ever created. A symbol of the birth of knowledge, and it’s a never-ending desire for more. The library contained copies of every book ever written. It was free to everyone; anyone could gain power from its expansive collection. Red explained the city was unlike any other in the world.
"You would not understand until you see it," is what he said a few times.
The plains began to turn into dirt and rock. Clear roads of travel began to develop.
"We crossing into the Republic of Orbis," Red said. "If anyone asks, tell them we are here to study from the library. We should have nothing to fear here, they are not as strict as the North. They encourage travel and the spread of information."
Ohitekah nodded. The road grew thicker, ruts from carriages began to grow deeper. Signs began appearing, arrows pointing to various cities in Orbis. But no matter what town or city was seen on the road, there was always one constant.
"Chrysos."
It was clear that was where Red was going. It was clear that’s where all the roads were going. They began to pass many other travelers. People from every culture passed by. Old men driving wagons of food. Soldiers moving in formation. Lots of men in fancy robes. The road transformed from dirt to paved stones. Ohitekah had never seen a paved road before. He could not imagine the time spent to lay each brick down in perfect place, just for horses to walk on.
"You think the roads are impressive. Wait until you see the Capital." Red smirked.
Ohitekah smiled and rode forward ahead to get the first look at Chrysos.
The city was absolutely massive. Stone buildings spread out in a wide area, in the distance he could see the ocean glittering behind all the structures. Large gold-domed temples dotted the skyline. But one thing stood out above all the rest. Ohitekah squinted, unsure of what he was seeing.
A thick black pillar of smoke billowed from the heart of the city.
Red gazed upon the destruction. His eyes opened wide, horrified at what was unfolding before him.
Along the golden skyline, the Lighthouse was missing. In its place stood a tower of dark destruction.
"No!" He shouted. In a blur, Red and his horse were gone. The wind almost blew Ohitekah off his steed.
"The library?" Ohitekah asked to himself. "Why would they destroy it?" He whipped Bolt's reins and they raced into the city.
He had no time to see the usual sights of the city, he had to catch up to Red. He raced his horse through the paved streets. The ash was beginning to snow down onto the road. He could see flaming pages flutter by on the breeze. People were screaming and running away from the inferno. Once he reached the base of the destruction, Bolt refused to go further.
Red was standing alone, watching the blaze smolder the landmark in front of him.
"Do something!" Ohitekah yelled.
He's the Mythic of Fire for god’s sake. Put it out!
Red shook his head and looked down.
"I cannot..."
Ohitekah raised his palm to the sky.
"No!" Red shouted. Ohitekah was confused, he lowered his hand.
"He wants us to stop it. If the Fire Mythic or the Mythic of Storms were in his city, they would put out the fire. We would be exposing ourselves." Red looked back into the horrific blaze. "We should have never come here. This is my fault."
Ohitekah staggered back, he was flooded with guilt and disbelief. Daisuke fell to his knees and slumped over. He looked defeated. He turned to Ohitekah.
"This is a tragedy on a global scale. The entire world lost something today." Red shook his head. Ohitekah had never seen him this upset before. His hands were shaking.
"The amount of knowledge willingly destroyed here is incalculable. Most of it, forever. We will never know some of the secrets this Library kept."
There were shouts echoing down the street. Ohitekah turned to hear them better.
"The Emperor is giving a speech, come on!" A man shouted as he ran down the road.
Falko is over there.
Ohitekah left Red and followed the movement of the crowds. He was led to a giant courtyard in the center of a square U-shaped building. It was packed with people wishing to see the Emperor, to hear his response to the attack. Ohitekah could hear whispers of how great he was, how strong he is, how he would react to the tragedy. The cheers erupted into an unbearable level as the Emperor made his appearance on a balcony above the courtyard.
He towered above his citizens like a god among men. It seemed he was living in a palace, and this area was constructed specifically for crowds and speeches. He was brilliantly dressed in golden military armor and a long black and gold cape. He carried a spear at his side, it seemed to also be made of gold. Banners of black and yellow decorated the courtyard. They depicted a black mountain against a gold sky, the sigil of the Orbis military. His army lined the bottom of his palace, restricting anyone from coming too close to it.
The emperor punched his fist into the air, followed by the rest of the crowd repeating the action.
"Hail, Emperor Falko!" They all shouted. This action was repeated a few times. Ohitekah stood in shock. He had heard so much of the reason and intelligence of the Republic of Orbis. Almost overnight they had devolved into crazed fanatics of the Emperor.
"My people!" Falko said raising his hand, the crowd fell immediately silent. "My people," he repeated. "Citizens of the Gilded City. Many of you know the legends of the Shogun who became the Fire Mythic."
"Red," Ohitekah whispered to himself.
"Understand now, that the Fire Mythic is here. In our city. He is the one who burned down our great library. They are trying to weaken us, bring us down to their level." There were angry shouts from the audience. "But we are too strong to be crippled by this! We will use this as an act of War! This fire is making us stronger! Cleansing us of the foreign ideas and lies fed to us over the centuries. The Orbis way is the only way!"
The crowd cheered.
"Today we have made ourselves known to the histories, and to the world. We have made our first stand as independent citizens of a new society. A society where we are not living in the shadows of our enemy nations. For so long, we have spent our time collecting the knowledge of foreign countries. Spending our time and our resources studying the ways and religions of enemy cultures. It is time for us to stop trying to learn from others, and start spreading our culture to those nations less fortunate."
What is he getting at? Ohitekah wondered
"We will rise from the ashes of this tragedy greater than ever. I will lead us to a new an
d greater world. I was chosen by our God to lead us to glory. To change the world forever. With Orbis as the leaders of the free world. Our people. Our empire!"
People began punching their fists into the air and cheering.
"Now, I urge you all. Go out. Collect all the scrolls and texts from foreign nations that you can. We shall fuel the fire of their betrayal with their words of blasphemy. Cast the doctrines of our enemies into the fire they caused. Show them that we are not afraid. Rise up! Take control! This is our first step to a greater world."
"Oh, gods," Ohitekah whispered. The crowd became a panic of people running and cheering. The streets flooded with anarchy. Hundreds of people gathered around the still burning lighthouse. Mothers handed books to their children who then tossed the books into the blaze. Families clapped and cheered as the literature was turned to ash.
"Clean the filth from our streets!" They shouted.
"Keep the foreign words from our youth!"
Red was nowhere to be seen. He must have vanished when he learned of the Emperor's accusation. Ohitekah was by himself. Surrounded by the madness of the crazed people around him.
Falko did this. He started the fire to expose us. He blamed it on Red to start a war.
Ohitekah felt a hard shove from beside him.
"What are you doing here savage?" A man shouted.
"Yeah!" A child ran up to Ohitekah, he was as tall as his knee "Get out of our country!"
Ohitekah was speechless.
What is happening here? These were once respectable people. A country of philosophers and scientists. How could Falko change them all so quickly?
He scanned the crowd for Red, or for Bolt. He was not sure where they went. He wandered away from the fire and down the road, he heard a familiar neigh. Bolt was standing alone in a dark alley to his right.
"What are you doing there, boy? We need to get out of here." He walked into the alley.
There was a sudden and hard hit to the back of his head. Before he knew what happened he fell to the ground, unconscious.
"This is him?"
"Yes, this is the boy we were looking for, good work."
"Well let’s take him to the hideout quick."
"Where is his friend? The Northerner?"
"I already told you, I lost him."
"If we're lucky, he will come looking for him then, let’s go."
"Yes, sir."
Chapter Eight
The Order
Ohitekah woke up disorientated and with a throbbing headache. His eyes fought to focus onto the details of the room he found himself in. It seemed like a prison cell, thick stone bricks lined the walls. There was one wooden door mounted with an iron-barred window which bled through the only source of dim light. There were hushed whispers from the hallway outside.
"What’s going on?!" Ohitekah shouted down the hall.
"You tell me."
Ohitekah spun around. The voice came from behind him, he wasn't alone in the room like he thought.
"Who's there?"
A figure walked out of the darkness. A dark grey cloak disguised their body, and a hood shrouded the person's face in shadow.
"Don't worry about who I am. What are you doing here?"
Ohitekah could tell by the voice the person was a female. She had a long-sword that poked out the bottom of her cloak. It reminded him of Lance's sword, straight and thin. There was nothing else he could determine from her disguise beyond that, as the cloak shielded her from his eyes.
"I came here with a friend to study from the library."
"Don't lie to me. You're horrible at it. Now, what are you doing here, Mythic?"
Ohitekah's eyes widened.
How could she know?
"Oh god, never bluff at card games," she said condescendingly while shaking her head.
"I... Uhh..."
"Oh? Your friend didn’t tell you what to say here?"
"No. We came to see what the Emperor's plans were."
"Finally, truth." She took a step toward him, partially revealing her face in the light. "Do you know what risks you took coming here? That's exactly what Falko wanted you to do."
Ohitekah squinted.
She’s not with Falko? Where am I?
"Now. Before I have to beat it out of you. Where is your friend? Who was he?"
She's threatening me? I'm the Mythic of Thunder!
"Stop it." The cell door opened suddenly. A charming looking man walked into the room. He was about Ohitekah's height with a high and tight brown haircut. He wore similar robes to the girl but his sword was shorter yet thicker. The young man closed the door behind him and raised an eyebrow to the girl. "We need his help. I know you're upset, Sierra. But there’s no reason to threaten the boy."
Sierra pulled the hood off her face. She had short dark hair that barely covered her eyebrows, it was a little longer in the back and sides, and it covered her ears and went halfway down her neck. It was much shorter than Ohitekah had ever seen on a woman. She was also much younger than he expected, maybe near his age. Her eyes were blue diamonds that shined despite her anger.
Ohitekah froze for a moment and was hypnotized by her expressions. She was incredibly passionate and expressive as she spoke. A fire that he had not seen before.
"You gave him my name! You know better! Now he knows my identity!"
"So what? He's our ally. What do you think he's gonna do, turn us in to Falko?"
"We don't know his intentions. He could be with Falko. That’s why I'm interrogating him!"
Ohitekah stood between them. "Umm... I'm definitely not with the Emperor."
The man raised his hands and shrugged, "See?" He looked at Ohitekah and gave a light two-fingered salute. “I’m Darius by the way, nice to meet you.”
"No. He could be lying." Sierra grumbled.
"And if he is, I'm sure you would be able to tell." Darius smiled, knowing the only way to win with Sierra was to play to her ego.
Sierra shook her head pensively. She focused her attention back to Ohitekah.
"Who were you with? Tell me."
I can't tell her the truth… Red doesn’t want people knowing who he is.
He glanced away from her to think of something.
"See! He's coming up with lies. What are you afraid to tell me?" Sierra commanded.
Darius leaned in, interested in his responses.
Damn! How is she doing that?
"He's uh... A Ronin."
"Half-truths..." Sierra turned away frustrated. "See, we can't trust him."
"Listen, boy." Darius rested a hand on Ohitekah's shoulder. "If you are against the emperor like you said. You're on our side. We need to know who you were traveling with."
Ohitekah thought to himself.
"How can I know to trust you? What if you are lying to me about who you are? I could be betraying myself and my friends with anything I say... Tell me who you are first."
Sierra glared at him and turned away.
"Since you are in the mood for spoiling our identities... Why don't you just tell him everything else, Darius?"
The man shook his head and laughed. "Alright then, I guess that’s a good point." He took a glove off his right hand and rolled his sleeve up. Revealing a tattoo on his wrist. A red spade. Ohitekah leaned in and took a deep breath.
"So you've encountered us before I see?" Darius rolled his sleeve back up and fixed his glove. "We are the members of a secret organization. The Blood Red Spades."
Ohitekah took a step back and tried to remember.
"Yes... I have seen that before... A few times actually."
Sierra turned back around, listening.
“Apparently, we’re not as secret as we thought,” she mumbled to herself.
"I helped rescue one of your members... Tao... Tao Seigong I think his name was."
Sierra and Darius exchanged glances.
"He was captured along with one of my friends in Shinra Castle. We helped him escape. And I think I met another one of
your friends as well. He was an archer in the streets of a Northern City. I beat him in a contest and won some money. He said his name was Yu Ryouku. Both of them had the same tattoo as you. The red spade on his right wrist."
"You beat Ryouku?" Darius raised an eyebrow. "That crafty bastard, I’ve only heard stories about him. He's one of our recruiters." Sierra turned back to the conversation, now believing his stories. Darius continued to talk. "Well, if you actually helped save Tao, then we owe you one."
"We owe him nothing!" Sierra snapped. "If he never came here the Library would still be standing."
Darius turned to her. "You know that was not his fault Sierra! Falko burned it and pinned it on Shogun Daisuke. Falko is the enemy here, not this boy."
Sierra frowned, she glanced at Ohitekah, she studied him intensely for a moment, staring into his eyes. Before Ohitekah could address the discomfort of the situation she spoke up.
"You recognized that name. Daisuke. Your pupils dilated when it was mentioned."
What? Stop doing that!
He nodded, collecting himself. "You guys worship him, right? Daisuke? The Fire Mythic."
Darius stepped forward. "The northern branch is a bit more fanatical about it, I wouldn't really say worship." He gave a laugh. "But yes, we will follow him when he truly arrives, that’s one of our more traditional ideals. For now, we're protectors of the peace… And we're kinda secret."
“Protectors of the peace? Like how?” Ohitekah wondered.
“Ever heard of the Vatnic-Ashland War of 116? Or God-King Ferdinand?” Darius asked.
Ohitekah hesitated “No?”
“You’re welcome.”
Sierra cut in. "And… If you know anything about Shogun Daisuke. You need to tell us."
Ohitekah hesitated.
I guess I don't really have a choice.
"Daisuke... Yes. He is the man I traveled here with. He likes to be called 'Red' now for secrecy. We're good friends."
Sierra took a step back.
"He's actually here?! That was him?!"