Totelun smiled to Cassandra as they fell into line behind the three old women, but Cassandra wasn’t smiling. She had her eyes closed, like she was steeling herself. She looked like she’d seen something to make her grey skin paler.
*
The entourage led them along one of the rickety walkways down to another large platform on which lay a domed shell the size of a building. A thin rivulet of the waterfall fell from directly above onto the shell and ran off it in shallow torrents. As they entered the shell, Totelun could see the inside was like a translucent gazebo with water falling all around them. The sound was a little louder, but it was mostly absorbed by the shell and the flow was gentle here.
Inside the shell was a kind of informal court, with seats at the centre that were taken by each of the matriarchs, and surrounding tiers in a loose circumference. A number of courtiers sat to watch, few making any comment. Most seemed interested in their new arrivals, but there was no obvious hierarchy he could discern except for the Matriarchs.
Totelun and Cassandra were led to stand before the three women by Kasimir, who then took a space to one side. Totelun wasn’t fooled, he would put a harpoon through him if he tried to hurt the Matriarchs for any reason.
The first and youngest Matriarch stood. ‘We have our first visitors in a thousand years,’ she announced. ‘Tell us your names.’
‘I am Totelun Altanji,’ said Totelun loudly, he didn’t need to; the acoustics were perfect in here. He wondered offhand at the size of creature that would have a shell like this. ‘And this is Cassandra Nectris.’
‘She is a Princess,’ added Kasimir. ‘He a warrior.’
‘Does she not speak for herself, this Princess?’ asked the woman.
‘No,’ said Totelun.
‘We would prefer to speak to the Princess.’
Totelun sighed. ‘She is deaf and her vocal cords are damaged, she can no longer speak. An accident some months ago,’ said Totelun trying to be diplomatic. ‘She will try to read your lips. Do not fear, she will tell me if I say something I shouldn’t.’
The woman eyed him for a while, looked at Cassandra, who nodded. She seemed satisfied. ‘We are the Matriarchs of Reunalis. My title is Pearl, and this is Opal and Coral.’ She gestured to the two much older women. Coral was a severe woman, but not without warmth, Totelun felt. He could not say the same for Opal, who was scowling at him as if he were a rat who had crawled out of a sewer and over her foot.
‘Title?’ he asked. ‘Not name?’
‘We relinquish our names when we become Matriarchs,’ said Pearl. She seemed the kindest of the three, young and not yet twisted with the weight of authority.
‘And how do you become a Matriarch?’
She smiled, indulgent of her visitor. ‘You Totelun, cannot become a Matriarch. You are far too…male. Reunalis is handed down through the female line, from mother to daughter, sometimes from auntie to niece if one of us is childless.’ So that was why Pearl had wanted to speak to Cassandra to the point of being rude to him. ‘With three seats, we generally find heirs through one line or another. We have no kings or queens, no Emperors or Empresses and no courts.’
‘What is this if not a court?’ he asked, trying to keep up. Naus had done the talking when they had addressed Aurelia. He felt more than a little out of his depth.
‘A forum.’
‘Then how do you maintain order?’
‘We have laws that all must follow. Sacred laws, passed down in our oral tradition. We all know these laws and none are ever broken.’ Totelun found that hard to credit. If their laws were coded into their stories, they were open to interpretation.
She raised a hand to forestall further questions. ‘You will have time to learn anything you seek here. But please, tell us first why you have come. We are not accustomed to receiving guests, although it is a great honour.’ She may have thought so, but Opal was almost sneering at him. She seemed to be waiting for an opening.
‘I seek a way to return to my homeland,’ he said, trying hard to maintain the formal language. ‘Cassandra here has fled her own. She is my companion. We found evidence to suggest Thunwings could be found here.’
She smiled again. ‘Your evidence has proven its worth. Tell me, why could you not return to your lands using the great ship above that brought you here?’
‘Because a ship cannot fly,’ said Totelun, smiling. He was going to need to explain. Though he knew there were airships like the one he had sought for this same purpose, they did not. And if they had been here as long as they claimed, they had likely never seen one.
‘So, you must fly? Where are your lands, Totelun?’
‘You may not know them, but your riders will.’ He glanced at Kasimir. ‘The Islands that float in the sky.’
Pearl nodded sagely, like he had said something of import he didn’t realise. ‘We do know of these. And you need a Thunwing to get back there? Then how did you get here?’
‘I fell,’ he said. He felt it right to go further. ‘I hunted and killed one of the great Medusi that roam our skies. They are called Celestials here. To me they were great beasts who lived in the clouds, the hunt a sacred tradition in the journey to becoming a man. When I killed it, I was too late to jump from the falling body and I fell to the surface world. My family is up there still awaiting my return.’
His short tale had caused a hush to fall on the gathered Reunali senators. It was Coral who spoke next, standing and stumbling slowly over to him. It was as if they took turns; Totelun still dreaded Opal’s.
‘You think they still await your return? From there?’ she said. Her voice creaked like an old door.
Totelun hung his head. ‘They likely think I am dead. But I must show them I am alive. I must return to them or they will mourn for someone who has not died. A Thunwing is the only way back.’
She took his hands in her soft old palms. ‘And you killed one of the great Medusi, with these hands. How can I believe such a story?’
Totelun extricated his hands and reached to the belt satchel on Cassandra’s hip. From inside he pulled the skull-sized cylindrical crystal he’d cut from the Celestial what seemed a lifetime ago, and held it up for all three Matriarchs and much of the forum to see. ‘This is not just the heart of any Medusi. You can see from its size where it must have come from.’
Instead of answering, Coral took a step back and addressed her people. ‘Many centuries ago, our ancestors fled from the surface world. They set sail, with high hopes of finding a new land across the great ocean. Better still than a new land, they came across Reunalis. The first of our people tamed the first Thunwings, flew down below the waterfalls. Here we founded our fine city, hidden away from a world above that was soon to become ash and fire and death. Reunalis was the perfect place to hide.’ She was reminding them of their story, but also informing their visitors.
Cassandra was writing quickly beside him, using some of the paper Cane had given her. She tapped his shoulder and gave him the note.
‘If I may,’ said Totelun, ‘Cassandra asks, what were you fleeing from? Why are you hiding here?’
Coral smiled, but it was sad. ‘It may not be easy to understand for the slayer of a Celestial, but we fled from the Medusi. Our people were from the far north, where the Medusi first appeared in this world. Our stories tell of a witch who foresaw the end of the world. She decreed the Medusi would flood the land, sucking the very life from every other creature they came into contact with.’
The end of the world, and a witch? That sounded like Velella, and the prophecy. He felt a little like telling these strange cave hermits that he was the answer to that prophecy. But what was he supposed to say, Never fear, I’m here to save the world? He wasn’t ready for that.
He couldn’t anyway, not while he was still trying to get home. Maybe when that was complete, he could think about dealing with the Medusi.
‘There was a great war,’ continued Coral. ‘Both sides were ruled by the Medusi in one way or another. No one could win
a war like that. Our ancestors could see the witch’s tale coming true, and so they left. How could the Medusi truly destroy everything if this last enclave of humanity remained?’ This was why they had been so amazed to find they had visitors. ‘We thought the surface world had been overrun by Medusi,’ she said, stepping back and joining her colleagues. ‘We thought we were the last human beings on Arceth.’
‘You aren’t,’ said Totelun. The war in her story was the one Naus had told and Cassandra had written out for him, the War of the Overlords. It was all connected. ‘The Medusi have not yet taken over, but their numbers are growing. Every day there are thousands more. There are still vast cities of humankind left, fighting the Medusi, fighting those who have chosen to use them. But we face an unsurmountable foe.’
He trailed off, as he watched Opal step forward slowly. It was her turn finally. ‘You can imagine, Medusi slayer,’ she said, ‘our city’s aversion to Medusi of all kinds. We have managed to stay hidden for centuries from the taint of them, from the danger they bring. From the destruction of what we thought was the final bastion of humanity. Have you brought destruction with you?’ Opal raised her long nose, looking down it at Totelun.
He tried to shake his head, but her attention suddenly jumped to Cassandra.
‘We know about you, slayer,’ she continued. ‘But what about your friend?’ She studied Cassandra, peering at her in a way only an old woman could get away with. Cassandra tried to stand still, but ended up recoiling a little. ‘What is wrong with her skin? Why can’t she speak?’
‘I told you, she is de-’
‘Why the hood and goggles? We are indoors now.’
‘Opal,’ said Pearl. ‘What is wrong with you?’
‘Nothing,’ she snapped. ‘I would look upon her face. Is that so unreasonable?’
Totelun tried to step between them, but felt the point of Kasimir’s spear pressing on his chest immediately. He raised his hands. ‘She wears them because bright light hurts her eyes.’
‘Tell her to remove them.’
‘Why?’ he asked.
‘Yes, why?’ asked Coral. ‘You are being rude, Opal.’
But Opal had eyes only for Cassandra. ‘You have had your chance to question our guests,’ she snapped. ‘Now it is my turn.’
What Totelun had thought was a successful first audience, was quickly unravelling before him. How had they suddenly arrived at an altercation?
‘Remove the goggles,’ she said again.
‘No,’ Totelun answered.
‘Remove the hood then.’ Her eyes blazed.
And Totelun suddenly realised that Opal knew what Cassandra was. When neither he nor Cassandra complied, Opal grew angrier. ‘Now you are trying my patience,’ she snapped. ‘It is rude to hide one's face as a guest of Reunalis. Take off your hood now!’
Pearl yanked at her colleague’s shoulder. ‘Opal, what has got into you? The first guests we have in a millennium, and you want to insult them?’
Opal turned on her colleague. ‘Do you not remember the stories, Pearl? Those who were enslaved by the Medusi, those who worked for them, plotting the downfall of their fellow humans, the traitors to their species.’ She pointed at Cassandra with one gnarled finger, and spoke like she was reciting verse. ‘They walked among us, yet their skin was burnt like ash and they could no longer see the light. For they had become the creatures of darkness. This is how you will know them.’
She turned back to Cassandra, who began to write a note furiously. Opal knocked the paper and charcoal from her hands. ‘I know you can understand me. Take off the hood now. Show them what you are. Or I will have Kasimir here run you through.’
Cassandra stared at the old woman.
‘You don’t have to do it,’ said Totelun, trying to get Cassandra to focus on him. ‘We will just leave.’ He had to hope she could lipread well enough now to understand everything.
The Princess raised her chin and unbuttoned the hood’s clasps to either side of her neck, the ones that held it closed. She threw it back defiantly. From inside, her tiny Cephea floated free until the thralling tentacle drew taut and left it hovering over her head, its blue light incriminating. The forum fell silent.
‘I knew it,’ spat Opal, flinching back from Cassandra. ‘A fucking Medusi witch!’ She opened her arms to the gathered crowd. ‘Let this serve as a lesson to listen to your elders.’ Then she gave Totelun a withering glare. ‘Our ancestors fled here, slayer, to escape the Medusi and their filthy taint. They do not exist here, and you bring one into the very heart of our city!’ She turned and stormed back to her seat; the other two Matriarchs were already seated. When she was also, she roared, ‘Execute them!’
Kasimir started forward. ‘You can’t just execute the first visi-’
‘Silence, Kasimir,’ said Pearl.
‘But mother! This is wrong.’
Opal barked at him. ‘It is the law, as you know full well. Now stand down, or you shall be treated as an accomplice. You who brought them down here.’
Kasimir bristled, as did his mother Pearl.
But Opal wasn’t finished yet. ‘Princess Cassandra, our laws are clear.’ Cassandra immediately began writing on the paper she had retrieved from the floor. ‘A person enslaved by the Medusi must be destroyed, their magic nullified. The laws of our ancestors state they must be fed to the ancient coral Nepenth.’ Fed to a coral, thought Totelun. Did coral even have mouths? ‘While you are inside it’s stomach, we will be safe from your magic, as you are slowly digested.’
Cassandra handed Totelun her note as she was seized by guards from behind. Totelun made to take a swing at them, but was blocked by Kasimir. His eyes told him he didn’t want to hurt him, but he would if he forced the issue.
Totelun watched in impotent rage as Cassandra was marched away. He looked down at her note. [I foresaw this would happen. I was trying to put it aside, do what you and Aurelia always tell me to, realise that it was just one of many outcomes. I didn’t realise that my choice to ignore it was the decision that would cause it.] If you knew it was going to happen, why didn’t you say something? was all he could think. He was angry with her for shutting him out again, trying to take on the world alone. Her note continued, [Their laws are not our laws. Challenge them. You killed a Celestial, use that to your advantage.] It finished with a postscript. [I have heard from Naus.]
Opal addressed him as he finished. ‘You brought a Medusi into our city. You betrayed our sacred laws.’
Totelun used Cassandra’s argument immediately, holding up the crystal once again. ‘Your laws don’t apply to me. They are not my laws. I am a Medusi slayer, who among you can claim that? I do not recognise your authority.’
Opal considered him for a long moment and nodded. Her one acquiescence. ‘You have bought clemency with your proof of a slain Celestial,’ she said. ‘But no one is above our laws. In acknowledgement of your accomplishment, I will grant that your death be much quicker than that of your companion.’
Part Five
Chapter Thirty Five
Nausithorn
Never before, in all his years of wandering, had Naus been so ill-prepared for a journey. As he trudged through the scrubland, his light packs slapped empty against his side; he had no water, no food, no provisions of any kind. He had no horse. The steppe stretched ahead of him for hundreds of miles, heat haze warping the horizon; it would kill him this time.
In his haste to escape, there had been no opportunity to resupply. He couldn’t stay in Medaquen; the town had been on lockdown when he’d dashed down the trail under cover of darkness. He’d been forced to sneak through what had become a ghost town, now patrolled by what looked like every spare Cleric and acolyte left in the temple. All of them held lanterns, making a stealthy approach very difficult; the few thralls were surrounded by the own blue glow. Naus spared a thought for the townspeople and their understanding with the temple. He chuckled to himself. That deal was as dead as he would be soon, and it was his fault. He had a habit of wr
ecking the places he visited.
Some intelligent Cleric had set extra guards at the storehouse and the dilapidated general store. There was no water to be had; even the stables with the brackish water the horses drank, were under a tight watch. Naus knew he could have killed a few Clerics without trouble – I am a legendary assassin after all – got inside and stolen some supplies, but he couldn’t have done it cleanly. Each group was arranged in such a way that at least one could always see the next and would sound the alarm. And then we’d have the whole town to deal with, he thought. As it was they would find one dead Cleric in an alley who had got too close.
Many miles later, his throat parched and his mouth dry, he regretted those decisions about as much as he knew that he would make them again. Stumbling out between the rocky outcrops at the back of a dried-up farm, he put as much distance as he could between himself and the cursed town, knowing he was lucky to be alive.
If he squinted hard, he could see ruins on the horizon. Just as he’d related in his epic tale to the barroom, the plains of Terracon were littered with the remains of the city-forts of the Overlords, long reduced to scattered walls, freestanding pillars and odd broken statues and carvings. Most had been stripped and plundered of anything of value centuries ago.
In amongst the broken stones, he searched. Maybe there’ll be a well, he thought, though he knew it was a push. The dying evening sun caused long eerie shadows to be thrown from every stone. At least in the shade he could feel some relief.
Instead of essential supplies, he still held on to two things. The sword he had taken from the first Cephean guard in the Temple library, and the book.
It’s title, embossed but missing its ink, was The Return. But it was the subtitle that had made him keep hold of it. On the Establishment of the Order of the Medousa and the Return to the Original Race.
He’d been putting off reading it. He didn’t want to admit to himself he was too scared to find out what was inside. What good would it do? He’d had his chance to get a message to Totelun and Cassandra. If he had anything else to add it was too late anyway. Crescen was dead. He’d never get close to the Temple again, he’d never get close to a Cephean again. And that was the only way he knew he could speak to Totelun.
Embrace of the Medusi (The Overlords Trilogy Book 2) Page 48