by Peter Yard
nine
The Story of David and the Citadel
The Citadel lies to the North where the icy winds flow head-on to the traveller. The dry, frigid air is a test for all but the strongest and the purest of Spirit. Those who reach the Citadel will find a mountain like no other. Towering before you is a work of the Gods, built when the world was made, Throne of Lord Zeus, King of the Gods and Keeper of the Law. From his high mountain, often called Olympus, he watches the world and protects all. He keeps the demon gods at bay lest they afflict the world again.
The way to the Citadel is barred now. North of the poisoned land of Xan the way is guarded by a fearsome dragon. Even those who flee from the dragon and the cursed land return only to sicken and die.
Back in the days when the Gods favored mankind the path to the Citadel was clear. In those times there lived a boy, David.
Young David lived in the city of Nu Londin of the Plains. Once he set off with his father Wulf to go to the Citadel. Wulf had a magical carriage that would take them there.
David was afraid and said to his father, “Father! The Gods will punish us for approaching them without sacrifices.”
“Never mind little one. They know the carriage and its maker. They bless us and keep us. Zeus himself has blessed our pilgrimage.”
They climbed into the carriage which shut itself around them. Many lights like jewels blessed them within and the carriage was lifted into the air as if by the will of Zeus. Soon the carriage was rushing through the clouds and far below they could see the Plains and the Cities and the Lake of Baikal.
In a time shorter than it takes to run from the center of Nu Londin to the Library they beheld before them a great mountain. Clearly, the home of the Gods: Olympus, The Eternal Citadel.
Of their time in the Citadel no more is known for all who enter accept a vow of secrecy.
David and his father returned to Nu Londin and told of their journey but not what was discussed. But all remarked that from that day onwards David had a long, far look in his eyes. He would grow to become a wise Mayor of Nu Londin but would never divulge his message beyond the Circle.
ten
The Story of the Star Boats
Before the cities were built, men came down from Heaven in great boats that were unlike those that fish the Great Lake.
One of these boats was steered by a great fisherman. He was Ray Tans. It was said he found a sunken boat once, laden with treasure, that no-one else could lift but he. That he knew the ways of the Gods and could gain their Grace for his acts.
Now, Ray Tans had gone on many great journeys, so when he was getting old the Gods gave him the honor of bringing people to our world. He left them on the Plains where the air was good and there were many wild animals, grains and other foods. But the people forgot who they should thank, they didn’t pay homage to the Gods and so fell into conflict and strife. When Ray Tans saw how they acted he was sad and felt great pain, he said:
“They are young, they need to grow and learn wisdom. They have forgotten the path.”
Zeus then struck the Plains with his anger and brought hunger and suffering, and the Cities withered and burned in those times.
All powerful Zeus appeared to him and spoke. “You worry that you will not live to see them overcome their folly. You do not need to fear, you have served me well and for this I will grant thee a great gift. I will set this boat in the sky, motionless, to look down upon the Plains until the day comes when their folly is at an end. You will remain ageless, a light to guide them back onto the path.”
eleven
A Story of the Dark
It is often said that once the Cities were fair and beautiful. Many-colored, their spires rose into the sky far higher than the trees that were then common around the Lake. Strange tales come down to us of those days of magic and power, but hardest to figure are those of the Dark. The Space between. The ships, you have heard, brought people to Neti, they were not like the fishing boats that you may see on the lake, these were gleaming shapes slender and silvery like a great fish of the air. They would float down to the cities, and from them would come men and women from the sacred places in the sky. This is one story told by the old ones of those who travelled the Dark, the realm of eternal night.
Long ago a great people built cities and had great thoughts. But their time came and went. When the People of the Cities flew in their sky ships through the Dark, beyond the stars, their arts were so great they could persuade the gods to grant them passage between the worlds in the blinking of an eye. Their ships of the air sailed to strange places in the Dark, where even words like 'now' and 'then' no longer had the same meaning. So it was that Ancients of the Cities found the world whose time had come and gone. Their cities turned to dust, a few grander things remained impervious to time, just as the Citadel of Holy Zeus resists time itself. Two worlds close by they found, one they called Term and the other Fortress, and the air was good, the plants did not poison them. They saw that it was blessed and made it their home. They raised great cities of their own, greater even than those on the Plain.
There was a young woman named Tahani, she took her ship from the world of Term and sailed far into the unknown Dark. There it is said she found a great mystery. She returned to tell of another people, the Others, far greater and more skilled than her own in the art of the Science, the highest and darkest Magic. They told her many things, some were secrets which she never revealed. She told her tale and showed a magical augury containing histories and events unknown to the Ancients. But she couldn't remember the course she steered, and the Others had removed this knowledge from her magical ship. Term prospered and explored but never found the Others. It is said the Others predicted that they would not parley until the people changed their ways. Term and Fortress boldly said that they would never change, that they were the seed of a new endless age and a new empire. They would endure.
But to all things there comes an end.
twelve
Detour
In the morning Mikel awoke, took half an hour to get his aching muscles moving, then slowly without thinking started packing his stuff. The daily ritual of pain. There should be more commotion. In fact someone should have been annoyed that he wasn't up earlier. It looked like he was the only one packing, the others were still unpacked.
He walked over to Rijart who was busy trimming his red beard with an evil looking knife, more weapon than anything else, staring at his reflection in a bowl of water.
"Rijart, what is going on? Or not going on? Why aren't we moving?"
"Talk to Tei. She has a surprise for you. I know you will be thrilled." He burst out laughing hilariously, bumped over the bowl of water, which made him laugh harder.
Tei was packing but she was dressed in odd clothes. He did not understand their customs so it was probably best if he assumed everything was normal; except for them staying here.
"Good morning, Tei. How are you?"
She turned and smiled. It was not reassuring.
"Mikel, I have a great surprise for you. You and I are going to make a secret little visit to Lindin."
That started to sound intriguing until he remembered what Tei had told him.
"Didn't you tell me just two days ago that the Cities of the Plains were in a highly unstable state and were too dangerous to do any trading? I think you even said something about 'blood thirsty psychopaths'."
"You are right. It would be too dangerous to go in as a Trader, but if Mikel the Merchant were to go in with his wife, that would be very different. It has to be wife, Bethorese don't trust low born women in positions of power — no breeding — so I cannot be your business partner or your boss. Besides, I've heard you fake a Bethorese accent, it is damn near perfect. We need that. They'd recognize my accent in a second, so I will be quiet and demure."
This was not supposed to happen, he just wished he could cancel this trip and make his way back to Bethor. Surely he knew enough. But this apparently crazy woman was explicitly to
be his guide. He didn't want to offend the Traders, and therefore the Center, however this woman was going to get him killed.
"I really don't think this is a good idea. Look, why can't I just go back to Bethor by myself?"
"No. You'd get robbed and likely murdered before you got 10 k."
"I could pay one of you to take me back."
She laughed. "No one is going to accept your pitiful allowance for a share in a caravan's profit or their own sales. You come with me. Was that not what you were ordered to do?"
"Fuck! Sure." He gave a growl of frustration.
He was powerless. "When is all of this going to happen then?"
"Take some essentials. Your clothes are fine. Can you act like you are a haughty, I-don't-give-a-crap-about-anyone, sleazy bastard? Good. Wow, you should have been an actor."
"Or a slave," he mumbled, wondering if he was again.
"Whenever you are ready, we will leave. I am taking some Center items as trade goods, I'm sure you are familiar with them, you should have no trouble working up a convincing sales pitch."
They followed a track south, then southwest through lush green grassland and farms, then he lost his bearings. Looking at the sun didn't help he couldn't remember where it was last time he looked. Finally, they came to a rough road. This, unbelievably, was the main 'highway' connecting the Cities. From here he could even see the beautiful blue lake in the distance, a slight shimmer over it.
They followed the road, eventually a town started to come into view. He spoke to Tei, in Bethorese, "I'm surprised we are so close to Lindin. I would have thought we would have gone further north."
"It would have taken too much time. This is the best route I could think of."
"Did you also factor in a possible trip to Lindin as part of that?" He said. A possibility that made him angry.
"We do what we have to."
The 'walls' of Lindin were a palisade of upright rocks, masonry, old wooden beams and sticks. Almost like a giant had mashed a town and piled the debris up as a wall. Inside the gates there were hovels lining each side of the wide road, so many people in rags, interspersed by some in fine clothes. The soldiers at the gates let them in without question once Mikel spoke to them, almost magical: speak and enter, he only said his fake name, in pure Bethorese. There was a great deal of activity, some shops in poorly built wooden structures, here and there an old stone or 'cement' building, aged but with an old glory. In the distance towered some of the old 'skyscrapers', the few still standing were little more than shells, Tei whispered that they were too old for anyone important to risk their necks in, just for the poor. They seemed immensely impractical, hard to climb, hard to bring water and food up, and waste down. It didn't make sense, he would have to think why the Ancients would even think of building something like that.
The roads were once wide but the edges were now taken over by stalls and tents of families and hucksters. Noise and bustling. Not the colors of Bethor but overwhelming grays, browns and dirt. An oppressive almost ominous heat complemented the pressing eyes and hunger. It was drab and dirty; it was wretched.
"Tei, why are the fields so lush but everyone looks like they are hungry? Don't they farm?"
"Unreliable growing seasons. The attitude that farmers are rebels. Previous reliance on other sources of food, now exhausted. Hmm, yes, it shouldn't be this bad, they do have their own farms."
In spite of that it was busy. He saw lots of bartering, the glint of silver coins.
"Lots of activity here." He said.
"A very profitable place. But money is no good if you get your throat cut."
"There also seem to be a lot of soldiers here. Is this normal?"
"Not at all. We should investigate."
"Damn. Why did I say that?"
They brought their horses up to an inn that Tei knew facing a large square where a market was in progress. Inside it looked cosy enough, or maybe dingy enough to hide them. He had trouble concentrating, he was sore and still not used to riding a horse for so long. His body was aching, he just wanted somewhere to fall into a bed. The innkeeper greeted them, Tei still kept the hood over her head hiding her face.
"I would like a room for me and my wife. The name is Mark Oconnor, and my wife …"
"Tei." He said, and smiled. "You and your wife are welcome here. I hope your business goes well. Standard rate is five silver."
Later in their room.
"He knows you?"
"Shhh. These walls are thin, whisper. Yes, he knows me, we are old friends. Traders trade and make friends, not all in Bethor are swept along in this craziness."
"But — can you really trust him? A casual word from him and … " An old memory, hideous, flashed in his mind and was gone. He took a deep breath, he couldn't remember it but his shaking body did.
"Mikel. I mean Mark, you look terrible. How about you lie down on the bed for a quarter of an hour, dear?"
He sat down on the edge of the bed without thinking. His mind started to cloud over instantly.
"Huh? Doesn't make sense. An hour is 63 minutes can't divide by four."
"The homeworld of the Ancients had a 24 hour day that had 60 minutes in an hour. On Neti they just changed the minutes in the hour to 63."
He was sitting on the edge of the bed. Growing weary. He heard Tei. It should be fascinating but he was having a hard time thinking. How long was a year on the Ancient's home? Did they also have a leap year every second year, except for the 72nd? No, that would vary from world to world. He couldn't work it out. He toppled over. Tei came to him pulled his shoes off. Vaguely he heard an angelic woman's voice.
"Sleep my prince. I'll protect you." Maybe a kiss on the forehead, that was surely a dream, perhaps.
He started to come to, then snapped wide awake as a single memory came back. He was in Lindin. He wanted to jump out of bed but his whole body ached so much he couldn't move. Slowly he swung his legs off the bed, and pushed himself up by one hand. There was pain everywhere.
"Ah. You're awake! Good. How are you feeling? Don't worry I think you only slept for about an hour."
He groaned.
"I'm sore all over. Can't move."
"Ready to go? Come on, once you get moving you'll feel better."
The sun was noticeably lower in the sky. It was a very pleasantly warm day. But the smells of the city were atrocious. There was poor sanitation, and everywhere the signs of disease in the people he saw. Many of the problems he knew were curable, even avoidable with sewers. They didn't even know about antibiotics or aspirin, much less the new vaccination. Although many diseases had returned some practices had been saved from the time of the Ancients, less so in Bethor and not at all in Lindin. This was a city that suffered, unnecessarily, its only painkillers were nationalism and jingoism. He didn't know the history of such things but guessed it would not be good. Tei told him that the Traders knew the histories and that he was mostly right, it would not end well. They would unleash a wave of terror, eventually that terror would be directed internally, first at 'traitors' then finally it would be self-justifying and perpetuating. It would consume the society that gave it birth, it would cause endless suffering for the innocent.
They walked south out of the market area into an area that looked very different, here the old city had decayed or been removed completely, it was flat, now replaced by row upon row of army tents. A lot of smoke was rising from camp fires. Men in the distance were practicing drills. It was highly suspicious and he knew they were too close already. A guard — no, an officer — approached them. He was beefy, a bit round but with the air of someone who was fit in spite of that. He was dressed in the red and black of the army, his face had a red blush, more from health than overindulgence of anything, and a great mustache that flowed off his upper lips like a curl of reddish brown smoke across and up both sides of the face. He stopped. Put both hands in his lower vest pockets, chin up, announcing confidence but betraying a complete lack of animosity or guile — not a professional so
ldier. He spoke in a boisterous, barely disguised friendly voice. A broad southern Canta accent. Not the picture of the Bethor war machine that he expected.
"Citizen! What is your business here?"
"Good afternoon, sir. I was merely walking with my wife to see the city. I have never been to Lindin before. Most of my business is in Bethor. Come to think of it, is there anything that our troops miss from Bethor or the Cantas?"
He smiled. "Well, yes, quite a bit. For instance … " He gave Mikel an almost shy look, embarrassed to be talking about trivial things at a time like this. "You know that salami they make in Grahamville, south of Bethor? You can get it in Bethor, at Fenth's deli on Steel Street. It always reminds me of home and my Beth. A lot of us miss things like that. I know you think that is silly, there are lots of things we need but we miss home most of all. That and such like that would be a welcome relief."
"Sure. I'll see what I can do."
"Look forward to it sir. The name is Miley, by the way, Miley Aarons, sergeant first class. At your service." He saluted.
They smiled and left, walking to the south. Mikel wanted to see the Lake close up.
After a few blocks they were out of sight of the camp. There were fewer people here.
"Tei, there were thousands of troops there. I think we know why everyone else looks hungry, all those extra mouths to feed, and guess who gets preference. Surely they don't need that many to defend Lindin?"
"Correct. They are preparing for war. But against whom?"
"We can figure that out later."
They continued to walk south towards the Lake, some of the old buildings he noticed were in reasonable condition and inhabited, others were just rubble.
The histories of the Cities and their Fall was complex and confusing with large gaps, no one understood it. A lot of the damage was done long before Bethor conquered them, but for some reason they didn't repair the damage. The sun was setting, the reddening light mellowing out the harshness, giving a false friendliness to the faces that passed him. They were not going to get to the Lake in time, and he didn't want to be on these streets in the dark.