As they crested a mountain range they stopped their horses, and were confronted by a hug lake that was only separated from the ocean by a thin mountain range; it was an ancient but small caldera that had fed a river into the ocean. With a surface height of water some fifty yards over sea level, less than a hundred yards from the ocean itself, it was surreal.
‘This must is the lake the old man mentioned… it’s magnificent.’
Conn agreed and looked at it intently for some time. It was a very strange site; water cascaded over the huge wall of soil and rock and down into the ocean. It looked to all intents and purpose to be a dam wall. In his “old” life Conn had accumulated a number of degrees – one of which was in geology. Nothing in front of him felt right.
‘Derryth, there is also something wrong here. Tell me, if you removed that wall that has the waterfall, what would we have here in front of us?’
Derryth looked around as the rest joined them, ‘A bay I guess – a small one – but I don’t know what you mean.’ Derryth was no geologist.
‘Remember the mountain side that collapsed to close the road between Zedah and Kuita – we determined that it caused by an earthquake.’
‘I do.’
‘Well, perhaps it was another earthquake – some time before that caused the mountains here to collapse and block off the entrance to this bay.’ He pointed out the features to Derryth. ‘See those peaks there – both have been sheared off – both halves have come down and closed off the entrance in a single motion – an event so severe that the entrance to this bay was completely closed off. And with the high mountains behind and a lot of snow melt, it wouldn’t have taken long for this valley to fill with water. That is why the Troakians watched their town disappear under the water.’
‘Here? At the bottom of this lake?’ Derryth was not convinced. ‘You want me to believe that there is an ancient town under that lake.’
‘I do – they left here and moved to Kuita. The old stone castle was certainly not built by Ancuman…’
‘Twacuman you mean – the Ancuman never do anything except fight and fornicate – they have slaves for everything else.’
Conn smiled. ‘Indeed. And after the road were closed and they were usurped, everyone forgot about this.’
Derryth finally conceded. ‘What you say sounds reasonable – I’ll tell my grandchildren the story even if it isn’t true. So how are we going to find out?’
‘I don’t think you are going to like my plan.’
‘If it doesn’t involve sheep and goats, its fine with me…’
‘Well, it is going to take a lot of black power – and I hope that I don’t wipe Cyme off the map doing it.’
‘But that is all in Halani….’
‘I’ll send Eggar to Atrak – and we’ll send a pigeon to Caewyn and she can send a company of wiga to guard it as it is brought here – in fact I’ll get Eggar to take it to Cyme first.’
‘Black powder in operation … that is something I am going to want to see.’
Back in Kuita, they waited for the arrival of the Twacuman and Fiona’s two babies – making Conn’s increase in children that year to be eight – his best effort so far – Halla, Jofrid, Fiona, and Aisly all having twin daughters. As well as continuing to work on the development of Kuita, Conn spend some time over the winter to devise his plan and he made sure that the only people who understood what he was going to do would be the Twacuman and the Valkeri.
Cyme had to know because a potential tsunami was going to head their way, and on the set day, Sibbe needed to ensure that there was no one on that side of the island, just in case. Conn went and visited to explain, and with Jofrid and her babies back in Cyme, he was able to arrange things without too much discussion. Jofrid was the heir now – without Halla, she was Sibbe closest living relative. He needed their assistance in his subterfuge.
Eggar brought the components for the black power, and the squad of Twacuman, from Halani to Atrak to Cyme; they were then carried across the island to be placed on small costal traders that then carried it across to a small bay near the lake. There the Twacuman unloaded the ingredients and Conn mixed them into his black power – Conn had a ‘degree’ in Chemistry as well, and placed them into a series of caves that had been dug into and under the vast wall that held back the lake.
The day before the spring equinox was the day chosen for the event; all of Cyme had been invited to a special spring celebration while everyone else would be preparing for the festivities. Very few would be out on the ocean or unnecessarily working in the fields.
Conn took three small fishing boats with just a few Twacuman and Priecuman with him – the latter were there as witnesses to the “magic”. Beaching the boats and pulling them to safety on higher ground, Conn climbed a mountain that was positioned perfectly between the wall of the lake and the sun, and he brought out his special “Gyden” focusing instrument – a burning lens – a large specially built convex lens that would concentrate the sun’s rays onto a small area at the base of the wall. Specially designed to ignite easily, the resulting fire and small but colourful explosion would light fuses that would lead to ten specially placed piles of black powder – otherwise known as gunpowder.
The resulting explosion should cause parts of the wall to collapse, and hopefully break the integrity of the wall to the extent that the massive weight of water behind it would break through and carry it all away – in a tidal wave of water thirty yards wide and thirty yards high.
Conn was safe where he stood – the water was rushing out towards the open sea or the island of Cyme. As for it working… all he could do was hope; he suspected that the sudden large amount of soil that had been placed there – and the slow and gradual filling had created the perfect lake. He was going to do the opposite. Create the perfect storm for a dam busting. If he wasn’t right, it was a serious case of environmental vandalism, but luckily there was no one to bring him to account.
He assembled the two pieces of the burning lens onto its frame and moved the frame into position, and then waited for the sun. The day was perfect – there was not a cloud in the sky and as the sun moved across the sky the moment became imminent. The highest temperature created by the lens would only last for a short period of time but it would be sufficient for the show. If it didn’t work, Derryth was concealed with a bow to ensure the explosion occurred.
As he waited, he watched the sun move across the lens until a beam of sunlight passed through both lens and became a bright ray of light that beamed down to the wall; almost instantaneously, the fire caught light, a red flare exploded and then all hell broke loose.
It was at first just a series of muffled explosions – not sounds that anyone in Meshech knew – followed by a deep rumbling and then the wall started to crumble in minor places – the waterfall started to expand and deepen and then in almost slow motion the entire wall collapsed; spouts of water appeared first as a trickle and then started to gush. With that the end was neigh, and the wall broke apart in chunks.
Conn then watched the increasingly huge body of water carry away the wall; digging deeper into its sides and head out to sea as a tsunami. Still very high, but not as high as what Conn had calculated to be possible. In what seemed to be a ridiculously small amount of time, the bay was almost devoid of water – until a reverse tsunami of water rushed back to fill in the space left by the departing wall; and what was once a beautiful body of fresh water had now becoming a sea of dirty churned up salty water.
Conn felt physically and emotionally sick – in a single act of environmental vandalism that took less than 30 minutes, he had destroyed a four hundred year old lake, and an entire ecosystem of life had been wiped out. He stood for a while contemplating the ugliness f what had happened, and taking a deep breath, he packed up the lens, and re-joined the others. They then all looked down the bay where five hundred years of water had just been forced out to sea. They were all silent for some time.
Derryth finally shook his head in a
stonishment. ‘That is certainly not something you see every day – and something I never want to see again. It was simply horrible – as well as spectacular. Will Cyme be okay?’
Conn nodded. ‘Probably, it wasn’t as bad as I thought; hopefully by the time it reached Cyme it will be half the size it was now – which should not be too bad. We will know when we get back to Kuita – the messengers will have arrived by then.’ Derryth scanned the bay with a telescope,
‘Well, was I right?’ Conn asked.
Conn knew he was already; as soon as the water had left the bay – the noisy silence that he had heard once before – in his head in Lykiak – was suddenly in his heard – the noise of a Cirice without haligdoms. It was however an odd noise – not exactly the same as the sound in Lykiak.
‘I think you might be – there are signs of lots of old stone building on the far horizon – the donjon itself must be four stories high. This definitely looks like an Ancuman settlement.’ He handed the lens to Conn. ‘How long do you think before we can go in?’
‘Weeks if not months – depending on how much rain we get and how long it takes for the ground to dry. Are the sentries in place?’
‘Indeed they are; no one will get into Kadash without your permission.’
The island of Cyme had indeed been spared significant damage – at around the same time as the explosion under the dam wall, a severe storm developed to the north of the island that counteracted again the force of the tsunami and managed to mitigate the severity of the body of water that Conn had created. This was followed by a period of excellent weather, and after several weeks, workers were sent in to start building new docks – building them from barges floated into position; and from the completed docks they started to explore the ancient town. It was almost pristine – albeit all the timber and anything dissolvable by water was gone, but the stonework of the five hundred year old town was in perfect condition. Being so close to the water’s edge and given that it had taken very little time for waters to enter the buildings, the town would have been deserted very soon after the event itself – not more than a year after was Conn’s estimation.
With regular rain washing the streets and building clean, it wasn’t long before a further avalanche of workers arrived to work on residential buildings. With accommodation, even more workers moved in with the daily deliveries of building equipment and supplies. Everything had to be delivered by boat or ship – Kadash was not really accessible by road – even without the water; it was essentially just a harbor.
With so few places to hide, the Cirice should have been easy to find – but it proved annoying difficult until they had finally moved away five hundred years of silt and soil slippage at the back of the town to reveal a grand archway that opened into a cave in the mountain itself. It appeared that the Cirice had been damaged before the town was inundated – the mountain had collapsed over the entrance. It explained, in Conn’s mind, why it hadn’t been rebuilt – it had never been closed down – and as they dug away the landslide they found human remains under the rubble and three haligdoms – the only one missing was Lilith’s – which had been rescued – and which was in his possession.
Conn and Derryth stood outside the revealed doorway to the ancient Ancuman Cirice.
‘You could have told me that the Ancuman have their Cirice under things…’ It was knowledge that had slipped Conn’s mind – after all the Cirice in Cyme was in the basement of the donjon. Conn was annoyed that it had slipped his mind – but he hadn’t visited that Cirice.
‘You seem to know everything else – how was I to know you didn’t know. Anyway, the slippage has preserved the Cirice perfectly – everything seems dry. When do we go inside?’
‘In a few days – let’s let the air freshen up a bit.’ There was little Conn was scared of – almost nothing except time really – but for some strange reason he had a disproportionate dislike of being enclosed in total darkness – and he didn’t know why. He did not enjoy being underground and heading into the mountain was not something he was looking forward to. He’d rather face ten men with swords than go through that doorway. ‘And we need to organize some lamps – lots of lamps.’
Chapter 09
It was several weeks before Conn had gathered together all the people that he thought needed to be present for the “re-commission” of Lilith’s Cirice. The last to arrive was Aisly, Healdend of Trokia, as Esras, Aebeling of Kania, had arrived the day before. Conn had insisted that he attend, and Esras really couldn’t say no.
Aisly arrived by ship into Kadash and was mostly dumbstruck at the beauty of the harbor and the town that surrounded it. A lot of building had been repaired while others had to be totally rebuilt; but work was advancing at a rapid rate. It was a hive of activity. She was now Wealdend – her mother had resigned as Wealdend soon after Aisly had her babies. Sibbe had agreed that she could go “home” to Cyme.
Conn walked beside her through the cobbled street to the doorway of the Cirice.
‘And all this has been under water for three hundred years? And no one knew?’
‘It all happened when lots of other things were happening – soon after they left here and went to Kuita, the oceans continued to rise slowly until Kuita no longer a good harbor and then it was usurped by Trokiak as the main town after the rod was destroyed. Perhaps remembering wasn’t a priority.’
She shrugged. ‘I guess.’ She stopped to look at Conn. ‘I have been wondering how this is even possible – we don’t have the heart-stone. We have looked but it is nowhere in Troakiak.’
Conn smiled bashfully. ‘It isn’t in Troakiak anymore…’
‘You have it… since when?’
Conn nodded. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier but it pays to keep the cat amongst the pigeons as it were. You actual gave me the heart-stone…’
‘I don’t understand…’
As they walked, Conn explained how the gem was in the pommel of the sword he had been given.
Aisly was astounded. ‘All this time, it was under our nose. Anyway, are you sure that it can be replaced – that you can place Lilith’s heart-stone back in place without killing yourself?’
‘Yes, pretty sure – it is meant to be placed back where it belongs. There is no one else to do it. And it’s not me that I’m really worried about…’
Everyone was waiting for them outside the entrance. Esras greeted and bowed before his Healdend. Jofrid was there to represent Sibbe – she was quite ill – something that had distressed Halla immensely.
Jofrid greeted her cousin warmly. ‘Wealdend – there is something that I need to do for you.’ She reached behind her neck and detached a necklace – she was wearing two – and walked toward Aisly. It was one of the Folgere type necklaces that all Valkeri wore and the stone at the end was golden.
‘This belonged to your ancestor – it was taken from her after she broke her vows. I would like you to have it again.’ She then placed it over Aisly’s neck and it flickered slightly as it sat down between her ample bosoms.
‘There – it accepts you. Welcome home.’
Aisly immediately burst into tears and she hugged her cousin and thanked her profusely.
Conn and Derryth swapped looks. ‘It is only going to get worse.’ Conn whispered and then turned and looked at the entrance.
‘Shall we do this then?’
Conn and Derryth had already been inside – the discovery of the remains of ancient Folgere meant he needed to inspect the Cirice before today, but that hadn’t made things easier. He turned and led them inside the doorway. Luckily it wasn’t that far in; the Ancuman seemed to have simple tastes for Cirice—a long fifty yard tunnel led to a large circular room. Aisly, Derryth, Fiona, Jofrid and Halla followed along behind, and inside the circular room were four stone carved statues of the Gyden – one large and three smaller – all very naked. The light from the wall torches flickered golden around the room.
Reaching into his bag for the heart-stone, Conn withdrew it and
held it in his hand. The guests were all standing side by side, looking with interest. He had given them instructions to support Aisly as she would probably have her first connection to her Gyden and she should be prepared. They were all to stand close together.
Even Conn wasn’t prepared for what happened next, as he stood in front of the erotic stone carving, with its empty and open hand positioned under the large and pert left breast.
As he opened his hand to expose the gem, every torch in the cavern went out instantly – to everyone’s shock and dismay. Simultaneously, however, the heart-stone started to glow, and the room quickly became visible in the faint golden light. Conn braced his mind and then moved his hand toward the idol; though he could have sworn he saw the stone quiver, become fluid, and its right hand reach towards him and suck the gem right out of his hand. Conn shut his eyes as the stone was absorbed, and through his eyelids he could see the room lighten up immeasurably.
Behind him he heard Aisly sigh and swoon, and turned to see her being caught and lowered to the ground. Even Jofrid was not immune – and she was already connected to Lilith. She staggered but was being held up by Halla.
Doing what he normally did, Conn walked around and replaced the other small haligdoms – the ones found under the rubble. Before long, the Cirice was complete, and whilst there were no voices, there was something like music in his head, and it was a melancholy sound.
As he turned around, one of the Valkeri guards ran in. Conn looked up as she arrived.
‘My apologies, Eaorl, but there are Folgere at the docks; they bid an audience.’
‘Folgere? Here today? Amazing… what colour are they wearing?’
She considered the question for a moment. ‘Gold – gold under the black cloaks.’
Derryth moved to stand beside him. ‘You really didn’t think that this was going to be a secret from the Gyden did you?’
‘No, but…’ He turned to the Valkeri, studying her before answering. Young, she was taller than most Valeri and had a magnificent physique. Conn assumed that it was the influence of Lilith but his mind was overcome with lustful thoughts. He gathered himself. ‘Send them in.’
The Eaorl (The Casere Book 2) Page 12