by J. Thorn
“The city has fallen to the infidels. We must flee. We cannot stay here.”
Sianta smiled and took Machek’s hand. The sights and pains of the day coursed through his arms into hers. Her face twisted and grimaced, and her eyes rolled back into her head. Sianta collapsed to the ground before Falton could catch her. She sat up and spoke to Machek through wet eyes. “The Dark One walks amongst us. How could the gods let this happen?”
Machek shook his head and looked around the room. The survivors sat on the floor, arms wrapped around each other like cattle waiting for the slaughter.
“The infidels have breached the wall. They move through the city like a scourge, sowing pain and misery everywhere. They murder men and use women. It is not safe for us to stay here. It is a matter of time before the warriors sweep the city and set it afire.”
Falton looked up at Machek, sickened by the sounds coming closer. “Where are you going to lead us, Lord Major? You arrive in the form of a streetwalker. You command nothing now, and yet you think you can save us? Once we flee the city, then what? We all saw thousands of soldiers surrounding the capital. Do you think they will let us pass on our way into the forest? Do you think they’ll help us into a raft down the River of Rokin?”
Machek’s shoulders shrunk and his eyebrows creased. He faced the young man without answers.
***
The Serpent King crept alongside the dwelling. He heard conversation and crying coming from the room. He had no inclination to decipher it. The Redeemer was in there, and nothing else mattered. The Serpent King drew his sword and stood before the door.
***
Machek helped Sianta to her feet. She turned to face Falton, but could not find the right words. She turned back to Machek and kissed him on the lips.
“I shall follow you. You are the Redeemer.”
Falton looked to the ground and turned away from Sianta and Machek.
“All of you, listen to me. I cannot guarantee your survival. I cannot stop the hordes of savages destroying our city. However, if you come with me, we might have a chance to regroup. We might give the People of the Sun a new beginning from the ashes of today. It is our sacred duty to save the Empire.”
Those seated on the floor, including Falton, stood and nodded. Their prospects looked dim, but all other options faded.
“What is your plan?” asked Sianta.
“The aqueducts leading out of the capital empty into the River of Rokin. During this season, the water level is low, and we might be able to crawl through them to freedom. I do not know my way around these, but I know that if we remain here, we wait for death.”
“How do we get into the system?” asked Falton. The glimmer of hope shined in his young eyes.
“From the public baths. They are not far from here, but it won’t take long for the infidels to make it this deep into the city. We must go now to have any chance.”
“I shall follow you,” said Sianta.
“As will I,” replied Falton.
The others in the room voiced their commitment to the escape plan.
“Then let’s get moving.”
Machek led the band of survivors out the back door and deeper into the deserted streets of the capital. He heard the cries and explosions moving towards them as the fires ignited more fires.
***
The Serpent King stood at the door and waited. The sounds of conversation ceased. He moved toward the left side of the dwelling and saw the last two members of Machek’s group disappear down another street. The Serpent King whistled amidst the carnage, strutting towards them.
***
They ran past deserted shops and taverns. The mob shattered some of the doors, but others remained locked. Machek knew the rest would fall to the infidels when they reached the interior of the capital. He guided them down an open causeway. Water ran in a wide channel underneath it. Although it looked deep, the water served aesthetic purposes, decorating the front of the public bathhouse. The locked wooden doors obstructed their entry. Machek jammed his sword between the two and brought it down hard. The group heard metal clanging off stone from the inside, and Machek pushed the doors open and stepped over the mangled lock.
“Look,” said Falton.
At the far end of the boulevard, figures carrying torches came into view. The falling Sun God illuminated the bloody swords of the infidels as it dropped towards the western horizon.
“The Sun God shines into their eyes. Hurry inside before they spot us,” replied Machek.
The lord major looked back as the last member of the group stepped into the bathhouse. The renegade soldiers of the coalition broke into a sprint towards the causeway.
***
The Serpent King saw the ferocious raiding party run past, their torches held high in the blazing sunlight. A group of men raced towards the bathhouse. He could not risk having the mob descend on the Redeemer.
When the Serpent King stepped into their path, the men froze. They dropped to one knee and bowed before him.
“My lord, we did not know that was you,” one said.
The Serpent King walked between them. None dared to look into his eyes. With one swift motion, he decapitated two of the men within reach. Before the others could stand, he sliced down into their skulls, one after the other. The Serpent King knew he could not kill all those who pushed into the interior of the capital, but he protected his prey from the group. He refused to lose his soul by letting another claim the head of the Redeemer.
The door across the causeway remained shut. The Serpent King knew there was no escape from the city, and he walked down the causeway towards the door.
***
“Did they see us?” asked Sianta.
“I don’t think so, but others will. We must get to the aqueducts,” replied Machek.
He looked around at the group and thought his memory failed. They started with five in the group, including the two he knew. Now, he counted four. Before Machek could ask Falton and Sianta about the discrepancy, a sharp banging shot from the front door.
“Follow me,” Machek said.
He raced down a flight of stone steps and turned the corner into an open courtyard strewn with debris. In prosperous times, the basins held cool water during the dry summer. They had stood empty for so long in preparation for the siege that weeds grew from the cracks on the bottom. Machek sprinted past these and entered a narrow archway. Darkness shifted his equilibrium. His shoulder smacked hard into the stone wall, and he stumbled down the first steps until his eyes adjusted to the lack of light. Machek stopped at the bottom of the steps in total darkness, waiting for the rest of the group to join him. He grabbed a torch from the wall and lit it. The others saw the flash and arrived as the flame took hold of the oily torch.
Machek led them down another tight hallway and into a cavernous space, deep under the paving stones of the streets above. The torch glimmered off the black water that gurgled past. Nine other archways, identical to the one they entered, stretched out in a circle around the reservoir. Water sloshed through eight of them and exited through the ninth. Stains and remnants of mold high upon the walls demonstrated how low the rivers ran during the season. Machek jumped off the stone landing and into the main reservoir, where the cold water jolted his extremities. He estimated that it would not exceed chest level for even the shortest member, and motioned them to fall in line. As the fourth person hit the water, an amber glow appeared at the top of the staircase they had descended moments earlier. Whoever had breached the door followed them through the bathhouse all the way to the aqueducts below.
***
The smell of sulfur and mold filled the nostrils of the Serpent King. He picked up his pace inside the bathhouse as the Redeemer fled deeper into the complex, and he scoffed at the faint aura of luxury left over from the opulent Empire. He visualized grossly overweight men sitting in the baths, carving up the wealth of the One World while peasants lived a bitter existence. The Serpent King kicked a leaning column to the floor an
d shattered the head of a life-sized statue after pausing to listen to the echo of feet off the stone. He realized what the Redeemer planned to do, and laughed to himself as he continued down into the labyrinth and the world of water below the walled city.
***
“Machek,” said Sianta. She was the first to speak since they had entered the structure.
“Yes.”
“Stop.” She looked at him with worried eyes. “We have lost one.”
Machek knew he was not losing his mind. He had kept track of thousands of Jaguar Knights leading up to the war. He would not overlook one in his own band of survivors.
“What happened?” Falton said, turning towards the two people Machek did not know.
They both shook their heads, but said nothing. If Machek could have seen the face of one under the rays of the Sun God, his blood would have frozen solid.
“There is nothing we can do about it now. He pursues us. If we are caught, drowning in this dark, cold place would be a merciful release.”
The torch Machek carried sputtered and flickered as the last of the oil burned from the top. He did not want to continue through the aqueducts in absolute darkness, but had no way of refueling the torch. The five figures moved through the damp chill towards an unknown destiny.
***
“Stop here,” said Sianta. Falton placed his hand on her shoulder. “Let me lead.”
Machek stopped and looked at her. The silhouette of the other four people stood out against the dull gray circle of the entrance to the aqueduct. Ahead lay a blanket of black.
“I’m not sure. I don’t want you falling in the dark.” As Machek spoke, a faint glow grew from the center of Sianta’s forehead. It swelled and cast a sharp cone of light in front of the group.
“The Spirit sends help,” she said.
***
The Serpent King entered the aqueduct moments behind the ragged gang. He had never explored the system, but spent time in others like it. His body degenerated as his spirit crept closer to the moment of redemption. Across time and space, his flesh had held up against many foes, but, like all things, time had broken it down. The Serpent King pushed himself onwards to the dull shine deep in the labyrinth of water. It would end soon, and he would leave this plane with his soul.
***
The group came to an intersection where the water flowed from their channel into three others. The archways stood in a row, each with iron bars from top to bottom. Civil engineers had designed the aqueduct to prevent obstructions and contaminations from making their way in or out of the system. The bars were spaced close together, preventing anyone but a child from passing through them.
Sianta sighed, as did Machek. The chance of escape dwindled with each step they took. She turned and tried another channel, but each one stood firm with an iron sentry.
“We must face him,” said Sianta. Machek knew she meant the Serpent King. Sianta nodded and sat on the cold stone floor with the others.
“You do not need to be involved. Stay against the wall and let me fight.” Machek walked out of the subsystem and into the cistern. He looked at the nine archways and climbed onto the stone landing. A glow of light bobbed and held firm at the top of the narrow staircase. After a brief hesitation, the light floated down towards the group.
The Serpent King stopped in front of the Redeemer. He coughed and spit blood onto the slick stone, looked at Machek, and grinned. His teeth dropped from his gums, and clumps of hair fell from his shoulders.
“The Redeemer,” said the Serpent King.
“I am Lord Major Machek, supreme commander of the Jaguar Knights.”
“How noble. You do not need to posture with this bravado. What has been written will be done. It took me a long time to come to the realization. You are the Redeemer, my redeemer.”
“You speak the nonsense of a fool.”
“Not so long ago, you inherited the nonsense of a fool. You assumed the role of savior for your people. However, you didn’t know what the Book of Horoscopes foretold, and neither did I. My salvation runs through your veins, great warrior. You were never christened to save the People of the Sun. You were doomed to save my soul.”
“I will do nothing but cast you into the gates of hell. I am prepared to die in this dank place, and I am prepared to take your soul with mine.”
The Serpent King chuckled. He could hear the commotion of the coalition warriors moving into the vicinity of the bathhouse. They would not venture into the dark labyrinth yet, so he had time.
“Why do you refuse to accept your lot even now, when the finality of it stares you in the face?”
“I pledged myself to the Empire and accepted my fate long ago.”
“Ah, yes, when you were being coerced and duped by the Soothsayer. He twisted your thoughts and molded the consequences. You did nothing of your own free will.”
A scream interrupted the two figures speaking on the platform. Machek ran towards the archway and saw Sianta’s glow flickering in the dark. Splashing and cries echoed off the aqueducts walls. He ducked and entered the archway in time to see Falton’s dead eyes staring from the water. His neck spurted blood, which entered the channel and flowed from his body into the heart of the One World. Up against the opposite wall sat the lifeless body of an older man. He slid down the stone and into the water, the current dragging his body face down into the iron bars, where it twitched and shook. A few paces away, Sianta wrestled with another woman. The glow that appeared above her head flickered in and out, making it difficult for Machek to focus on the two combatants. A blow stung the back of his head, bringing silence and darkness.
***
Machek awoke to a dull ache in the middle of his skull. He felt as though someone had cut his head in half, and he tasted the foul mold of the labyrinth on his tongue and longed for a swallow from his flask. The torchlight penetrating the cloaking darkness burrowed into his head, exacerbating the ache. He looked up from the ground and saw the leather straps binding his ankles and wrists to the wall. Machek’s stomach twisted and he soiled himself, the result of captivity through several nights. He saw Sianta bound in the same way, head slung low on her chest in a state of unconsciousness.
“Machek, Lord Major of the Jaguar Knights,” said the woman, with a caustic and familiar tone.
“Who are you?” he muttered. The words formed in his head but had a difficult time leaving his mouth. When he looked into the face of the one known as Sasha, he recognized the leer of the old man, the Soothsayer.
“You were so concerned about saving your little bitch that you didn’t even bother to look at me.” Her hand came up fast and struck Machek on his left cheek. It stung his face, but also helped to snap his head back into the moment.
“You are nothing but a useless charlatan. I hope the Dark One abuses your soul forever.”
Sasha’s hand struck Machek again, this time drawing a fine trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. The Soothsayer’s anger started to get the best of him. “You shall die at the hand of the useless charlatan.”
The Serpent King stepped between the two and pushed Sasha’s body away from Machek. Machek saw that the skin on his face had turned a mottled gray and slid from the bone in places. A heavy, wet rasping sound came from his body with every breath, and the stench of death floated around him.
“Your flesh fails you,” Machek said.
Sasha stood, huffing and anxious to take more shots at Machek, but the Serpent King put his weakened hand on her shoulder while he spoke.
“That does not matter, Redeemer. I care not for the flesh. You will help to release my soul and free me from my servitude of the ages.” He looked at Sasha and spoke again. “The whore is yours, but he is mine.”
Sasha gave the Serpent King a long look, but realized the futility of challenging the master.
“Leave her be. She plays no part in this,” said Machek.
“Take her now. I don’t have much time left.”
The Soothsayer moved Sas
ha’s body close to Sianta. She lifted Sianta’s chin with her hand and spit into her face. Sianta’s eyes shot open, and a beam of golden light penetrated Sasha’s forehead. The profane and desperate cries of the Soothsayer fell from Sasha’s lips as the golden beam pushed further into her body, smoke drifting from her hair in tight tendrils until her entire head caught fire. The Soothsayer flapped Sasha’s extremities back and forth in an attempt to fight off the flame, but it consumed her clothes and skin, filling the chamber with the sweet, nauseating smell of burning flesh and gray smoke. Without another word, Sasha’s body dropped to the paved stones. Momentum carried her into the flowing water and through one of the archways into the aqueduct.
Unnoticed, the Serpent King had moved behind Sianta while she and Sasha were fighting. As Sasha’s body took the soul of the Soothsayer to his cold grave, the Serpent King wrapped an arm around Sianta’s neck, and when Machek turned back to smile at her, he squeezed her throat shut. Their eyes met, and Sianta struggled to breathe, collapsing to the ground. Machek tried to free himself and save her, but the leather straps remained fastened over his limbs, and he looked down at his feet in shame. He could not bear to witness her pain.
“The hordes of savages would have broken her. I have been merciful.” The Serpent King’s comment was not meant to be a consolation, but he saw some of that in Machek’s eyes.
“Do what you must, and end this.” Machek gave up the fight. He consigned himself to the destiny prescribed by the Serpent King.
“The Dark One has shown me great empires that will rise on the ashes of yours. All kingdoms must die so that new ones may rise.”
Machek could see the bones of the Serpent King’s fingers where the skin slid away. Dark patches of flesh remained on his face. “Is that supposed to comfort me?”
“It is knowledge, nothing more.”
“I want to reunite with my family beyond the Region of the Dead. Be done with it.”
“I burned at the stake eons ago, and yet I can still feel my flesh bubble and shrink from the flame. Do you have any idea how long I have waited for my Redeemer?”