“The Tower of Akalon.”
“Right,” she said.
“How do they work?”
Shann sighed. “At the top of the tower there should be a…big globe. You enter it, select a destination tower and pull a lever.”
“So…we can use it to escape from here.”
Shann pursed her lips. “No, I’m afraid not. You need a…an access module to get inside the globe. Keris has it. I don’t.”
“So, what’s the plan?” he asked.
“Plan?”
“For getting out of here.”
“The plan,” she said with forced patience, “was for you to take the avionic and leave with Boxx when you had the chance. Why didn’t you?”
Rael looked as if she had just slapped him in the face. “I…I couldn’t just leave you.”
“Why not?” she demanded. “Didn’t you realise that everything depends on us getting hold of the instrument that Annata preserved here and using it to disarm the weapon?”
Rael’s gaze was riveted to the floor, the same way it had been when she had first met him at the observatory. “I…I just couldn’t, that’s all.”
Shann let out a sigh. “Well, what’s done’s done, I suppose.”
“Maybe we could wait for the murghal to leave, then head back to the avionic?” he suggested.
Shann shook her head. “They’re everywhere. These mountains seem to be infested with them. And they know we are here. We wouldn’t get fifty paces.”
“Maybe someone will find us?”
“Unlikely,” she said. “This place has lain undiscovered for millennia. No-one knows we are here, and we have no way of contacting anybody. I’m sorry, but all we have managed to do is delay the inevitable.” She looked up at him and smiled faintly. “You might have lived rather longer if you’d listened to me.”
~
Keris looked up at the immense bole that was the Great Tree in the centre of the Forest of Atarah. It was a mass of gnarled wood, ancient ribbed bark and roots as big as hillocks that plunged beneath the forest floor. Yet there were no leaves, no creepers, no moss. The Great Tree was as dead as all the rest.
She entered the hollow trunk through a high archway. Dappled sunlight carpeted the floor and the air smelt old–musty. She headed for the curved path that led up the inside of the Tree. If the layout was the same as the one in the Forest of Illaryon, then a short way up, there should be a counterpart to the audience chamber where the Chandara had conducted her to hear the message of the woman from the past. Her stay at the Great Tree had been all too brief, yet her impression was that that place was the centre–the core of the Chandara community. If there were any clue to what had happened, then her instincts told her that it would be there.
As she climbed, natural holes in the trunk gave a panoramic view of the skeletal forest. Keris felt a shiver pass up her spine. It was a different time and half a world away, but it seemed just as if she were returning to the place where it all began. She remembered waking up in the cosy chamber high up in the bowels of the Great Tree, her injuries miraculously healed, her head filled with the scents of new growth and fresh wood. She had gone to the opening and looked out with wonder at the treetops of the forest far below; red and russet, purple and gold, stretching as far as the eye could see. Then she had turned to see one of the creatures standing before her. It had called itself Boxx…
The path suddenly opened out onto a wide, flat area within the Tree, dominated by a central column which rose from the floor and disappeared into the ceiling. This was indeed the audience chamber as she remembered it, although then the space had been occupied by Chandara jostling and crawling over one another. Now it was empty.
She walked slowly through the spacious cavity, her boots sounding a faint echo. There was something on the ground ahead of her. Keris knelt, and as she turned it over to examine it, she knew instantly what it was. A Chandara shell. This must be what was left when one of the creatures…when they passed away. She laid it back on the ground carefully and stood, looking about her. Soon she had spotted a second…and a third. By the time her circuit of the chamber was complete, she had counted a dozen shells in all.
Keris put a hand to her mouth, deep in thought. When she had encountered the Chandara before at their Great Tree, there had been hundreds of them. The Tree here was of a similar size, so logic would suggest that it would support a similar sized community. So what had happened to the rest of them?
Keris exited the audience chamber and made her way back to the forest floor. She had one last lead to explore. Maybe it would turn up some answers.
~
Keris passed beyond the tree line at the northern edge of the forest of Atarah and entered once more into open countryside. A scattering of snowflakes drifted down lazily from an overcast sky. Far to her left, the lofty peaks of the Meurigs were hidden in low cloud. Ahead and to her right was a rolling landscape, interspersed with isolated copses and areas of brush, overlaid with a covering of snow. There was firewood aplenty, but little enough in the way of game. Until now, Keris had been subsisting on the dried fruit and slices of some odd black bread she had brought with her from the house in the highlands near Kieroth. However, her food supplies were running low and would soon become a priority.
The droning sound of an engine. Keris stopped in her tracks. An avionic was sweeping in rapidly from the southwest. She started back toward the dead forest and the meagre cover it afforded, but it was too late; the flying machine was already angling toward her. She turned to face it, one hand reaching instinctively for her staff. The avionic gradually reduced speed and hovered in the air just in front of her. Its nose dipped and she had a view of two occupants. She half expected it to loose a bolt of lightning at her, but instead, the vessel righted itself and sank slowly to the ground, its twin fans plucking up whorls of snow. As the engines died and the avionic came to rest, the cockpit cover was released and the person in the rear seat stood. They were waving.
Keris stood her ground, but her hand moved away from her staff.
“You there…all right?” It was a man’s voice, spoken in the odd dialect of this world. He dropped lightly to the ground, followed by the smaller figure who had occupied the front seat. They began approaching her position. Their gait was casual, non-threatening. She allowed herself to relax a little more.
The taller man flashed a ready smile “Thork,” he said.
The word was unfamiliar, so she could only assume that was his name. “My name is Keris,” she replied.
“…my son, Torran…headed to Vandral for the avionic races.” The last word sounded like ‘races’, but Keris concluded that she must have misheard. Thork’s forehead creased beneath the rough, tawny thatch that was his hair. “…avionic break down?”
After a number of days among these people, Keris was finding it a little easier to make out their speech. She could even manage a fair approximation of it, at least to the point of carrying on a basic conversation. Of course, she didn’t have Alondo’s flair for communication but…“I didn’t come here by avionic.”
“…clothes are strange. What are you doing here?”
“I’m on a personal journey.”
It was a pretty thin explanation, but Thork merely shrugged. “…dangerous animals in these parts. They don’t often frequent the lowlands, but…take care.”
“Thank you. I will.”
“…offer to take you with us but…avionic can only carry two...can ask someone to come by avionic and pick you up.”
Keris smiled reassuringly. “That won’t be necessary.”
“…anything you need?”
Keris thought a moment. “Do you know where the nearest town is?”
Thork pointed. “…east you will find the settlement of Lechem…avionic recharge station there. Directly north lies Kynedyr, the ruined city…” His expression became grave. “…not go anywhere near that place. There are…illusions there. Impressions of those who died before the Goratha…place of fe
ar and dread. Stay well away.”
Keris expressed her thanks once again and stood watching as the avionic took to the skies once more, heading southeast over the Atarah Lowlands.
She waited until it was gone, then set her feet toward the north.
~
Shann awoke from a deep sleep to find herself lying on the floor, covered by a brown fur coat–Rael’s coat. She rubbed her eyes and looked about the room, but the boy was nowhere to be seen. She touched her left arm gingerly. There was no pain, and the skin appeared whole. Next to her, Boxx lay motionless, its eyes closed. It seemed to be asleep. She pulled a hand through her dark tousled hair. She couldn’t remember when she had slept so soundly, which in view of their predicament didn’t seem to make much sense. Maybe it was something to do with Boxx’s ministrations. Not that she was ungrateful; her body had clearly needed the rest.
Shann went over to their makeshift barricade, jumped up and grabbed hold of the top of one of the cabinets, hauling herself up so that she could look over the top. Outside it was dusk. She could see no more than indistinct shadows, but her ears detected a distant growl. Murghal. She hopped down lightly and decided to hunt for Rael.
As she ascended the stairway, she found herself engaged in a grim debate–eke out their last few days before finally succumbing to cold and starvation, or make a break for it in a futile attempt to reach the avionic. Personally, she favoured the quicker end. The thought of going down fighting did have a certain appeal. Still, she couldn’t make a decision like that without discussing it with the others. What Boxx’s reaction would be, she couldn’t guess. However, she was quite sure that Rael would resist the notion–at least at first.
She found him on the third level, bent over a bank of instruments. He seemed oblivious to her presence. “This is incredible,” she heard him say. “It’s a laboratory of some kind. These circuits are getting power somehow. I’d love to know where it’s coming from.”
For a moment he reminded her of Alondo. The last time they were inside one of these towers, Alondo had wanted to stop and examine everything. Then there had not been time. Now they appeared to have all the time in the world. “No-one has ever gained access to the Tower of Akalon,” he continued. “Archaeologists could never penetrate its structure. This…this is the most important ancient find ever made. I could spend a lifetime trying to figure all of this stuff out.”
Which is precisely how long you have, she thought wryly. In a way she had to admire him. Faced with their situation, many people would have either broken down or shut down emotionally. Rael seemed to have found a third way. Denial. No, not denial. Obsession. He was like a child who suddenly found themselves in a room stuffed with every toy they could possibly wish for. “Found anything interesting?”
Rael turned and smiled at her. “I see you’re awake.”
“Sorry about that,” she said. “I don’t know what came over me.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you’re here. What do you know about ‘vacuum displacement’?”
Shann looked at him blankly. “Nothing. I don’t even know what it means.”
“Hmmm. I was afraid of that.”
“Why? What does it mean?” she asked.
“I wish I knew.”
Shann had fully expected to be discussing their impending doom. She found this subject infinitely preferable. Perhaps there was something to be said for having an obsession, after all. “The only thing I know is that Annata’s people built these towers to transport people instantly from one place to another.”
Rael pursed his lips. “A ‘vacuum’ is produced when air is removed.”
“Air…removed?” she queried.
“The air we breathe consists of oxygen and a mixture of other gases. If you remove the air you get a vacuum.”
She cocked her head to one side. “So a vacuum is…nothing,”
“Not exactly. You still have the space that the air occupied.”
“I see,” she said, although she was not at all sure that she did.
“It’s just that moving an object in or out of a vacuum wouldn’t transport it anywhere.”
“What if it was a different sort of nothing?”
Rael looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“Well, what if there was a nothing where the space wasn’t there? Wouldn’t the object be pushed out again?”
He raised his eyebrows, giving him a comical appearance. “Now that’s a fascinating suggestion, Shann. You know, you wouldn’t make a bad scientist.”
If that means working with Hannath, I think I’ll pass. “Sorry, you have the wrong person. Now Alondo–he loves this stuff. You two would get on really well.” It was an easy prediction to make. Alondo got on with everybody.
“He was the engineer and musician who was travelling with you, wasn’t he?”
“That’s right.” She chuckled. “I remember our first night at the Calandra, when he beat Keris at shassatan. Now that was funny.”
“Shassatan?”
“It’s a game. When we get out of here, remind me and I’ll teach you the basics. Of course, you’ll have to see Alondo for the master class.” Now who’s being the unreasonable optimist?
Rael ran a hand through his dark, brush-like hair and bowed his head. “Did you…like him?”
It struck Shann as a most peculiar question. “Like him? Yes, of course I liked him. Everyone likes Alondo. It’s the way he is.”
“Oh…right.”
“What’s the matter with you?” He kept staring at the floor. Shann didn’t know what was suddenly wrong with the boy, but she wished he would snap out of it. He was making her feel uncomfortable. “I’m going to check on Boxx.” She put her nose in the air, turned on her heel and left the room. At the stairs, she halted. She didn’t really want company right now. Changing direction, she headed up the stairs toward the top of the tower.
<><><><><>
Chapter 18
Shann stood atop the ancient tower, watching the last light of day fading from the eastern sky. From her vantage point she could see the highest peaks of the Cathgorns, their snow-clad flanks a roseate hue. Cimmerian clouds floated in a sky of indigo. Soon the first stars would make their appearance–once an object of both fear and fascination. The fear had vanished now, but the fascination remained.
A brumal wind knifed through her, causing her to wrap the cloak tightly around her body. It didn’t make sense for her to stand here out in the cold. She ought to be sensible and go inside. Her legs didn’t move. Somewhere inside the tower there was a boy who was clever, confusing and annoying, and she didn’t want to face him right now.
Dominating the platform was the same huge silver globe she remembered from the tower on the Eastern Plains. She cast her mind back to their abortive escape attempt and her aerial duel with the boy Nikome. It was Keris who had come to her rescue. The raven-haired woman had tried to reason with him, but the boy had misjudged his trajectory and fallen over the parapet to his death. He was Keltar, of course. She tried to tell herself that he deserved it, but for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to feel that way.
She flexed the neck control of her cloak experimentally, and felt the familiar push of lodestone. It came from all directions. Like the one on the Eastern Plains, the roof of the tower was constructed of lodestone, allowing the sphere to rise into the air on command. However, this time she had no access to it. There was no escape from either the tower or the boy within it.
Shann had a sudden urge to soar into the air–to feel the unprecedented freedom that the lodestone platform afforded someone equipped with a flying cloak. She extended the lodestone layer of her cloak and sprang upward as high as she could go, then spiralled down before leaping off once again. It was exhilarating. She reached the apex of her leap and began descending, pirouetting slowly as she did so. The tower rotated beneath her. Suddenly she became aware of a figure standing on the platform. Watching her. Rael. The feeling of pure liberation shattered, and she sank to
the ground as if suddenly burdened by heavy chains.
“I’m…s-sorry,” he stammered. She wasn’t sure whether he was apologising for disturbing her private aerial ballet or for his attitude earlier. It hardly mattered. In either case, the moment had passed.
“Forget it.” She turned away and walked slowly to the parapet, gazing down at the snow-covered rocks far below. He joined her, following her gaze. He was wearing his brown fur jacket once again–retrieved from the ground floor where she had discarded it after she awoke. The memory of that small act of kindness gave her a pang of conscience. Maybe she had treated him a little harshly. However, she didn’t feel ready to return his apology. She decided to share a question with him instead. “Have you thought why Annata’s people would build a tower in a place like this?”
Rael looked at her with an expression of surprise. It was evident from the expression on his face that he hadn’t. “M-maybe they wanted to hide it for some reason?”
Shann recalled posing a similar question to Lyall about why the fortress of Gort had been built in the middle of a desert, and his intriguing answer. She decided to share it with him. “Or maybe this place wasn’t always as inhospitable as it is now.”
Rael nodded. “Climatic change. That would make sense. With all the murghal in these mountains, it’s difficult to see how the site would ever have been safe.”
The conversation lapsed into silence once again. The mountain was being engulfed by deep shadow. Stars began to appear in the darkling sky.
“They’re still out there, aren’t they?” The tall boy’s voice was almost a whisper.
Shann sighed, her breath condensing in front of her face. “I’m afraid so.” She paused for reflection, then asked, “Is there nothing that would adversely affect the creatures?”
Silence descended once more. The boy’s face was half hidden by shade. Finally he spoke. “Heat, I suppose.”
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