“Of course. Let's go.”
The paladin put her hand on Sebastian's arm, while he focused on a point on the ground below them and cast the traveling spell.
A second later they both staggered as they appeared at the bottom of the pyramid. The surface under their feet was covered with a thin layer of dust and sand and both of them noticed footsteps almost at once.
“He was here!” the mage exclaimed excitedly as he pointed at the marks in the sand.
“Easy, my friend,” Liliana cautioned him. “All we see are footprints. We have no idea if other human survivors live out here, or if those markings belong to something that isn't human at all. Be cautious.”
Sebastian calmed down immediately, the paladin's comments cutting through his euphoria.
“You're right. Sorry, but I really am worried about Simon. I thought that maybe we got lucky.”
Liliana smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
“We may have. But we'll take this a step at a time, hmm? The tracks lead in that direction, so let's follow them and see what we can see. I'll take point.”
The mage nodded and Liliana started off, walking slowly and keeping one eye on the tracks and another on their surroundings. Something felt off to her and she kept her left hand on the scabbard of her sword, ready to hold it steady if she needed to draw the weapon.
Sebastian stayed back about ten feet to give the paladin room to fight if she needed it. He was muttering incantations under his breath, preparing spells for casting at a moment's notice. He could memorize a half dozen at a time now and keep them primed for several hours. All he needed to do then was use the word of power to invoke them.
Something else that Simon taught us, he thought poignantly.
They rounded a corner of the pyramid, moving in a counter-clockwise direction and Liliana stopped and pointed up the side of the edifice.
“Look, an opening,” she said over her shoulder. “You don't think our sometimes impetuous friend would have actually gone inside this thing, do you?”
Sebastian moved forward to stand next to her and looked at the ragged hole in the pyramid.
“I think it's quite possible, yes. I mean, if you were visiting the Great Pyramid, wouldn't you want to explore as much of it as you could?”
“We are visiting it,” Liliana told him dryly. “And personally I could do without crawling through its innards. Well, let's move closer and see where these footprints lead us.”
A minute later she cursed under her breath.
“Damn it, you were right. If these are Simon's footprints, then the silly wizard actually climbed up there and went in, alone. Great.”
Sebastian looked at her speculatively.
“Liliana, are you claustrophobic?”
She turned to glare at him and then suddenly laughed, red-faced.
“I guess I am, a little. I always hated elevators and small closets, back in the old days. And as an adult, I always slept with a light on.”
She wiped her face off again and put her glove back on. Then she tapped the mage on the chest with a finger.
“And no jokes about the paladin who's afraid of the dark, thank you. I'm going in there, regardless of childish fears.”
Sebastian put up his hands in mock surrender.
“I have no intention of teasing you about a phobia,” he assured her. “Personally I hate bugs. Not just the nasty ones, but all bugs, even mosquitoes. One of the things I miss the most about the old world is insect repellent.”
Liliana cocked her head to the side and smiled at him in disbelief.
“Seriously? Bugs?”
“Yes, bugs. And that place,” he nodded at the entrance to the pyramid, “is probably crawling with them. But, like you, I'm not going to let my fear stop me from looking for my friend. So lead on and let's get this over with.”
The paladin winked at him.
“Forward then, phobias be damned, and we'll tackle this together.”
Sebastian laughed at her exaggerated tone of bravado and allowed Liliana to climb ahead a dozen feet before he began to do the same. He wasn't looking forward to entering the darkness ahead. It looked like the pyramid was just waiting to swallow them whole.
“Just how long is the Great Wall anyway?” Sylvie asked as she stood looking down at the undulating construct.
It climbed up hills and down into valleys until it was lost to sight in the misty distance. There were many large gaps in it where sections of the wall had collapsed.
“Over five thousand miles,” Chao told her. “Not all of it was intact before the dragons returned, but I don't know how much damage they did to it. I believe that construction started on the oldest sections before the time of Christ.”
Chao, Lei and Sylvie were standing on the wall at its highest point, at least in the section that Simon's original coordinates had brought them to. On either side of the barrier, lush forests and rippling grasslands stretched out as far as the eye could see. It was visually stunning and the mage found herself mesmerized by the view.
“It's gorgeous,” she said with a deep sigh. “So pristine and peaceful.”
“That's because all of the people that used to live here are dead,” Ellas squeaked matter-of-factly.
When the three humans turned to stare at her, she returned their looks with a wide-eyed expression.
“What? It's the truth, isn't it?”
“It may be the truth, Ellas,” Lei said heavily, “but it is also a reminder of everything we've lost. A little tact would be appreciated.”
“Oh pish-posh,” she said as she fluttered in the warm breeze. “The past is past. I prefer to live in the moment, not worry about what happened yesterday. One thing my people know is that you can't correct the mistakes that you have already made. All you can do is try to learn from them and move on.”
“She does have a point,” Sylvie said. “But we made no mistakes to cause the loss of our civilization, Ellas,” she reminded the sprite. “How could anyone have planned for a return of the lords of Chaos and their servants, the evil dragons?”
The tiny, glittering figure danced in the air as she seemed to ponder the mage's question.
“That is true,” she finally admitted. “Ah well, I do suppose one cannot plan for every little eventuality, can one? Such is the nature of our existence.”
Lei growled something unintelligible and turned away to stare off into the distance.
Chao looked at his brother's armored shoulders sympathetically but left him alone to sort out his thoughts. Instead, he decided to focus on their reason for visiting the wall in the first place.
“So if Simon O'Toole actually came here,” he said to Sylvie, “which way do you think he might have gone?”
He scraped the stone beneath them with a sandaled foot.
“The wall is bare of dirt so there are no footprints to tell us if he was ever here or not.”
The mage tapped her lip in thought and then looked at the hovering sprite.
“Ellas, I don't really know anything about your people or their abilities. Do you have a way of tracking someone or some other talent that might help us find our friend?”
The sprite's wings moved in a blur of color as she dipped and fluttered in the strong breeze that blew along the top of the wall.
“Possibly,” she said after pondering for a moment. “Although it isn't a very specific thing. I can find you the nearest human being, but there is no guarantee that it is the wizard that you are seeking.”
“You can do that?” Chao exclaimed in wonder. “Why did you never tell me that? We could have searched for other survivors when we were living in Beijing.”
“You never asked,” Ellas replied simply. “I don't just blurt out my list of talents, you know; I would appear less than modest if I did that.”
The conjurer rolled his eyes and shook his head futilely. The sprite could be maddening sometimes.
“Then could you try that, please?” Sylvie asked politely, trying not to push
.
The sprite was obviously a rather impetuous and reactive type of person and the mage guessed that if they said or did the wrong thing, they might lose her cooperation entirely.
Ellas gave Chao a final, rather imperious look and flew closer to Sylvie.
“Of course I will. You only needed to ask. Some people,” she looked back at the conjurer, “have better manners than others.”
Chao wisely held his tongue and Lei, standing several feet behind him, was clearly hiding a wide grin.
“I shall return in a few minutes,” the diminutive creature told Sylvie. “I must do a complete circuit of this entire section of the wall to get an accurate reading.”
And with that rather confusing statement, Ellas shot off into the bright sky, disappearing almost instantly.
“Is she always so...touchy?” the mage asked Chao.
He nodded ruefully.
“Always. But she doesn't mean to be. I'm convinced that it is the nature of her kind. Ellas has a good heart and can usually be cajoled into aiding me. But I will admit, it can be like walking a tightrope at times trying to placate her.”
“She's a pain in the ass, that's what she is,” Lei said bluntly as he looked out over the edge of the wall.
There was a low parapet running along the side but the big man was being careful not to get too close regardless; the barrier barely came up to the middle of his thighs.
“Lei, be careful!” his brother said, wide-eyed. “What if she heard you?”
“So? It wouldn't be the first time she's heard my honest opinion of her. I am a paladin, my brother, and I cannot speak anything but the truth. Unlike yourself, I will not bow and grovel to that irritating little woman, no matter how helpful she ends up being. I do have some pride left.”
Chao just sighed and looked at Sylvie.
“You see? They have always been like this, from the moment I first summoned Ellas. I fear that my brother takes this whole 'honest of speech and pure of heart' paladin thing way too seriously.”
Lei scowled at his brother's back but didn't reply. Instead, he turned away to look at the empty lands that stretched out as far as the eye could see.
“It really brings it home, doesn't it?” he asked after a moment.
“Brings what home?” Chao wondered as he and Sylvie walked over to join the paladin.
The big man stretched out his arm, his silver armor ringing as he moved, and swept it across the landscape.
“This...emptiness. We were over a billion strong, our people, before the massacre. A billion. My mind cannot even comprehend that number, really. But these lands were never empty, deserted, forlorn. There were always people; bustling up and down the length of the wall, walking through the trees out there, gathering in family groups to enjoy each others' company. You were never truly alone back then. I never realized how much I detested solitude until right this minute. Isn't that strange?”
His brother reached out gently to lay a hand on the cold metal covering his arm.
“You are not alone, Lei. I am here. I have always been here and I will always be here.”
The big man looked down at the conjurer and smiled tentatively.
“Always?” he asked, looking younger and more vulnerable than Sylvie would have believed possible.
“Always. Do you think I could have survived all those years in Beijing if you hadn't been with me? I hate solitude as much as you do. No, I would have given up long ago. But you were there and I did not. Don't you give up either.”
Lei finally smiled and carefully patted his brother's small hand.
“As long as you can go on, Chao, I can too. I promise you that.”
“Good.”
The smaller man gave his brother a push that didn't even come close to moving the big man and grinned up at him.
“Now, stop being so gloomy. This is a rescue mission, not a funeral. Simon O'Toole is alive and we will find him. Concentrate on that.”
Lei clapped a hand to the long sword on his hip and bowed slightly to his brother.
“I intend to. Now, if Ellas would just get back here with some good news, we could continue our search.”
Sylvie had listened quietly to the brothers' intense discussion and had found parallels between their relationship and her own with Veronique. There was one notable difference though; when the Change had come and magic had reentered the world again, she had regained her sight; something she had been born without. After that, nothing could have convinced her to surrender to death.
And Veronique? Well, her sister was a born fighter. Giving up was simply not in her nature. But the love between them was mirrored by the Zhang brothers and she felt a sudden rush of affection for the two men.
We are going to be the best of friends, she thought warmly. I just know it.
She looked at Lei's rather heroic figure and thought that he looked like someone out of a storybook.
His silver armor was almost identical to Liliana's, except for its size, of course. It flashed and glittered in the sunlight as if freshly polished, something that both paladins claimed they never had to do.
“It just doesn't get dirty,” Liliana told her once when Sylvie had asked her.
“Any scratches or dents fade away within hours and it never gets dull. But of course you would expect nothing less of a gift from the gods, would you?”
Both warriors had been directed to their armor in dreams. And their blessed weapons as well.
Sylvie frowned as she just noticed the sword on Lei's hip. Unlike Liliana's more traditional blade, his sword looked like something she had only seen in books.
“Lei? Is your sword different from Liliana's?”
He looked at her in surprise. Obviously the question was unexpected.
“Sorry,” Sylvie said with a smile. “Normally I don't pay much attention to weapons, since I don't use them myself, but it seems...longer? Skinnier? Something like that.”
The paladin stroked his sword hilt almost as one would a beloved pet.
“No need to apologize,” he reassured her. “I just didn't expect that question. But you are correct. The gods, in their wisdom, created my blade to resemble the Chinese swords of olden times. They were called jian. This version is a double-edged sword made to be used with two hands. That is why I do not carry a shield.”
He patted the weapon fondly.
“I would draw it and show it to you, but I am a little superstitious about doing that. I believe that a sword should not be drawn unless it is meant to be used. My apologies.”
“No problem,” Sylvie said as she looked at the sword.
Lei's description didn't really tell her much, but then again she wasn't very knowledgeable about swords, or weapons in general.
She turned away, gazing down the length of the Great Wall and considered its history. So much had been lost to them thanks to the dark gods and the dragons.
“I wonder how long it will take Ellas to do her search?” Sylvie asked quietly.
Chao stepped up to her side and she turned to see him smiling at her.
“What?”
“Nothing,” he replied, and then his smile widened. “It's just that your vague reaction to my brother's sword mirrored my own when he first dug it up in an old ruin on the outskirts of Beijing. I know nothing of weapons either. We went there on the strength of a dream he had had. Can you imagine that? Digging through rubble all the while watching the skies for signs of dragons? Ridiculous really, but I've always trusted my brother. This was before Lei exhibited any of his paladin's powers and before he had found his armor.”
He looked past Sylvie at Lei, who had begun to pace along the edge of the wall impatiently watching the lands around them.
“Traditional sword or not, neither of us were fighters back before our Change. We owned a small shop together, selling vegetables and herbs. We were both, what is the word, bookworms?”
Sylvie nodded.
“Ah good. Yes, we enjoyed reading, watching television, and playing
video games. Both of us were single. We were born less than a year apart and were as close as twins, I think. We still are, for that matter.”
“How old were you when you began to Change, Chao?” the mage asked curiously.
“Nowhere near as old as some of the others. I have been told that Simon O'Toole was over sixty when the magic claimed him.”
“He was, yes.”
“Lei and I were in our thirties when it started.” His voice shook at the memory. “We thought that we were cursed. Our friends deserted us as our bodies began to alter. Our few relatives shunned us. We locked ourselves away in our rooms over our shop for our own safety. Changlings had been killed outright in the streets by gangs of vigilantes; religious fanatics mostly, screaming about demons. How ironic that the process they claimed was a curse was actually our salvation.”
He slipped his fan out of his sash and flipped it absently from hand to hand.
“I wonder what those people thought as they looked up to see dragons criss-crossing the sky and saw fire raining down to engulf them. Did they regret their actions or did they continue to blame the Changlings for their deaths? It is a question that I have pondered many times over the past few years.”
“I can't answer that. Veronique and I had a similar experience, and most of the others that I've spoken to went through it as well. Fear and prejudice can make small-minded people do terrible things.”
Chao sighed and nodded as he watched his brother.
“True enough.”
Sylvie looked at the metal fan that he was flipping around so deftly.
“And where did you get that interesting piece?” she asked and pointed at it.
“Ah, the fan. It was actually buried close to Lei's sword. We found it by accident, or at least we thought so at the time. Now I'm not so sure. I believe that the lords of Justice gave me a gift along with my brother. Perhaps they found it easier to nudge me into discovering the fan because both objects were buried close to each other. I cannot say. But when I saw it, it called to me in a way that I have never experienced before.”
He opened the fan with a flourish and moved it around slowly so that Sylvie could get a good look at it.
“I learned the hard way that the edges are razor-sharp, which makes me assume that it was made to be a weapon. Perhaps for a courtesan or noble lady. I don't really know. I also don't know what kind of metal it is made of. It isn't copper or any other element that I know of, so perhaps it is an amalgam of several different metals. Who knows? What I do know is that my powers work best when I channel them through the fan. I can still summon creatures without it, but it takes much more effort and time to do so.”
Tales from the New Earth: Volume Two Page 130