“What are the songs about?” asked K’Jurga, listening to the War Ensemble intently.
“They are offering ballads of glory and praise to Ferociton the Courageous, one of the Beneficent Nine – praying for Ferociton to instil Courage in their warriors. All I know is that it pours fear into the hearts of ours,” replied Valerus, as he moved behind Pious to look in the direction of Pious’s observation.
Pious could make out a large assault force close to the Shield, illuminating and surrounding two tremendous and yet to be erected Sledge Cannons.
Sledge Cannons could tear through most walls like a red–hot knife through a candle. However, Sanctuary’s impenetrable perimeter wall could resist the strongest of siege cannons, and most of the smaller calibre cannon shot was bouncing off its slightly angled, reinforced walls.
“Siege weaponry… those bastards!” exclaimed Valerus, peering out from the Edge.
“It is obvious it is a siege. Why wouldn’t you expect there to be siege weaponry during a siege?” asked B’Sayan, trying to understand Valerus’s statement.
“If there are Sledge Cannons, it means that the Machinists have once again sided with the Alliance,” replied Pious, staring at the invasion force. He tried to focus his eyes as best as possible through the thin fog that floated hauntingly above the grasses. “Can you make out any banners? Any standards?”
“Nope,” said Sincerus.
“That’s a negative,” agreed Tyr, peering over Sincerus’s shoulder.
“I can see a black standard, with what looks like three golden triangles – forming a star – and a golden skull in the middle of the star,” said K’Jurga, squinting slightly.
The four Elysians looked at K’Jurga with surprise, admiring his visual acuity.
“Are you sure? A nine–pointed golden star?” asked Pious, pressing K’Jurga for certainty, as the four Elysians shared glances that spoke of impending doom.
“Yes, I’m certain,” replied K’Jurga, trying to inspect the standards further.
Valerus stood upright. “The Reclamation Army….” he muttered to himself in disbelief.
In an instantaneous flash – the memory of Tumas Zakkerian erupted in his mind’s eye. “You must halt the Reclamation Army – you mustn’t let them pass the Shield,” he said, standing above Pious. Pious pondered Tumas’s words – how did Tumas know that the Reclamation Army were coming? How did Sanctuary not know they were coming? More importantly – why would the Daggers or Merusul want to halt the Army? The Reclamation Army were considered the saviours of the Merusulian cause.
Pious shared glances with his men. “They truly have grown bold.”
“What is the Reclamation Army?” asked R’Argh, still trying to see into the distance.
“It is an army which was created with the sole purpose of invading and reclaiming Sanctuary,” replied Valerus.
“How are they any different to the Attaran Regulars under the Shaydean Alliance?” asked B’Sayan.
“Unlike the Attaran Regulars, who are the military force of Attamerus proper, the Reclamation Army is the military force of the Strict Observance, one of the many factions in Attamerus,” replied Valerus.
“Actually, I wonder if this attack has been sanctioned by the Shaydean Alliance. The Strict Observance has always been overconfident and disconcerted by Shaydean politics,” said Pious, as he stood upright.
“Well, that's the end of the Treaty – 160 Cycles of peace, finished,” replied Valerus, shaking his head in disappointment.
“Does this mean we are at war again?” asked Sincerus.
“That is exactly what it means,” replied Tyr with a scowl, glaring at the invasion force.
Sincerus stared at the invasion force on the bridge, far in the distance. “Sanctuary doesn’t have enough food for a siege,” he said with concern.
Pious’s resolve steeled, as he looked to Sincerus. “I know. Look, who knows Sanctuary better than us?” asked Pious of the Elysians.
“No one,” said Sincerus, with surety.
“That’s right, so let’s get in there. We can activate the Shield defences. I’m guessing they have not been activated. The first thing we should do is get that damned bridge raised!” said Pious with conviction, pointing to the Border Bridge.
Muzzle blasts from a volley of cannon fire gave away the positions of many artillery cannons pointed out to sea, placed along the Border Bridge. Almost immediately, percussive blasts filled the air, as many cannon shells crossed the sky, revealed by their whistling trail through the fog as they flew in front of the party.
“Look!” said Valerus, as he tapped Pious on the shoulder, and pointed out to sea on the left.
The group diverted their attention out to sea. Many sailing ships were barely visible in the Bay of Sarnak, their positions highlighted by lamplight in the fog and by a return volley of cannon fire.
“Must be the Tharlugian Armada,” Pious said to the group, though he himself was somewhat surprised that the reclusive and neutral seafaring Tharlugians had involved themselves.
“All right, boss, what’s the plan?” asked Sincerus, shivering from the cold.
Pious looked towards Sanctuary. Much smoke arose from within the Districts, with patches of flames illuminating the fog above. “This isn’t right. There should not be any damage inside the walls,” he said, almost in a tone of disappointment, concerned by the firelight and smoke looming above the Districts. “This isn’t the first time someone, even the Reclamation Army, has attempted to attack Sanctuary. But its walls have never been breached.”
He looked in the direction of the Eastern Gate, which seemed untouched. “We should head to the Eastern Gate– it looks as if they have not reached it yet,” he said, pointing across a bare expanse of land towards the Eastern Gate, on the other side of the mighty Partitio River.
“How are we going to cross the Partitio?” asked Tyr, looking towards the deep chasm in the distance, with the Partitio River at the Chasm’s base.
“Shouldn’t be too hard. We need to head to the spot where the river forms a point towards the forest – it’s the narrowest point,” replied Pious, gesturing to the left.
“I hope you know a trick to not get hit by that cannon fire,” said Tyr, shaking his head uneasily.
“It’s easy. Run, don’t get hit, and climb down the river bank like your life depends on it” said Pious.
“I see prophetic wisdom truly is your forte, Pious. I’m convinced,” said B’Sayan, with his arms crossed and a large smile, as he looked at Tyr. Pious looked back at him with all seriousness.
“It’s the low–angled siege cannon fire we need to be careful of,” said Valerus. “The volleys from the Bay of Sarnak are too high. The closer we get to the river, the closer we will be to the cannon fire from the bridge. When you see the blasts from the artillery on the bridge, don’t stop; just get down the riverbank. You stop – you die,”
“Well, I think we are ready as we will ever be – so lead the way!” said Tyr, clapping his hands together.
“I’ll go last and make sure no one falls behind,” said B’Sayan.
“Wait,” Sincerus interjected abruptly. “What do we do once we get there? We’re banished.” He pointed at his Whisperer’s seal and then at Pious’s hand.
“We will deal with that once we get there,” replied Pious, before turning and sprinting towards the river, with Tyr and K’Reorh running after him.
Valerus looked at Sincerus, shrugged his shoulders with a smile, and then ran off after Pious, as did K’Jurga. Sincerus shook his head, and he ran towards the rest of the group, with B’Sayan jogging behind them.
Pious ran forward through the fog toward the river, with the sound of the partially frostbitten grasses crunching underfoot. The air was alive with the haunting tunes of the Battle Ensemble, the thuds of cannon fire and the high–pitched whistle of the steel balls flying over and alongside them, some bouncing off the ground and back into the air with an explosion of soil.
Pio
us reached the riverbank crevice first, with Tyr and K’Reorh not far behind. “Climb down, now!” he ordered, pointing towards the river below, and the party began climbing down the rock wall.
Pious held onto the top of the crevice and locked his feet in place. He spotted K’Jurga trip over, slipping on a frosted–over Flatweed.
Sincerus watched K’Jurga fall to the ground in his peripheral vision. Running towards K'Jurga, he stopped, reached down and grabbed K’Jurga by the arm. “Come on!” he shouted, pulling K'Jurga to his feet.
“I think I twisted my knee,” said K’Jurga, with his arm around Sincerus, who was helping the young Scythian forward.
“You’ll be fine, just keep moving,” replied Sincerus between heavy breaths, holding up K’Jurga.
Most of the group had already disappeared over the edge of the riverbank and were hastily climbing down. B’Sayan was closing in on the riverbank when he noticed Sincerus helping K’Jurga. He turned and ran towards them.
“Can you climb down?” asked Sincerus, as they approached the riverbank.
“Yeah, I should be okay,” replied K’Jurga, with a slight groan.
“Okay,” said Sincerus. He let go of K’Jurga and moved towards the riverbank.
Pious looked towards the Border Bridge just as it erupted with several blasts of light. “Shit! Get down now!” yelled Pious as he began to hastily climb down the rock wall of the crevice. Sincerus crouched down, threw his leg over the edge of the riverbank and began his descent.
Pious looked up and spotted K’Jurga staring down the side of the riverbank's high walls, observing the group climbing down its rocky walls. As he was staring down into the river below, he violently flew to the side, hurled to the ground with a gut-wrenching crunch directly in view of Sincerus.
Pious hurried to reach the sandy banks of the river and looked to Sincerus, who was still staring over the top of the crevice. The rest of the party had begun to take account of their goods and assess the grazes on their hands from the jagged stones.
“B’Sayan, let’s go!” yelled Sincerus, as he began climbing down the banks of the river.
“What’s taking him so long?” Pious said to himself with concern. He went over to the rock wall and reached out to climb it – just as B’Sayan appeared, and looked over the edge. B'Sayan dropped the Encourager, letting the hammer fall to the left of Pious, who stood at the bottom, staring up at B’Sayan. B’Sayan climbed over the edge, descending as fast as possible.
The Partitio River
“If only they would remove the Stalwart Pillars – trade between us would be far more efficient. We would not need to cart everything across the land by Faun.”
Regular complaint of the Earlgraves of the Ford and Bay Marks,
Ridder Rodburser, Fordsmark Earlgrave.
Recorded in the 149th Cycle of Purity.
As B’Sayan got close to the bottom, he jumped down, landing in the soft sand, not far behind Sincerus. Sincerus had run to the edge of the river and was washing his face vigorously with the freezing waters.
“Where is K’Jurga?” asked K’Reorh, looking up to the top of the riverbank, waiting for his brother.
Sincerus stood from his crouched position, wiping the excess water from his face as he looked blankly at B’Sayan.
B’Sayan looked at Pious and shook his head and knelt, pulling his hammer from the sand, where it was buried halfway in the ground. He looked at Sincerus, and back to K’Reorh.
“I told him to go back, at the forest’s edge… to watch your mother, and uh… help the tribe,” replied B’Sayan, as he looked back at Sincerus and shook his head discreetly.
The face of K’Reorh showed signs of suspiciousness. “Then why did you allow him to come with us in the first place, Voivode?”
“I did try to stop him and you – remember? By the time I realised how dangerous this was going to be, it was already too late,” said B’Sayan. He grabbed hold of K’Reorh’s arm, guiding him away.
“Okay, I guess. He is a bit too young for this,” replied K’Reorh, as he diverted his attention towards the river.
Sincerus was about to open his mouth, but Pious looked at him and shook his head.
“Light!” ordered Pious, as he looked at the group. R’Argh withdrew one of many rough–surfaced roots from his backpack, followed by a knife. With the knife, he peeled away the rough outer layer of the root, revealing an illuminating cyan glow. The glow oozed from the root and clung to the blade.
“There is some weird shit in that forest, big guy,” said Tyr, staring at the glowing root in amazement.
“The forest provides much for those who protect and care for it,” replied R’Argh, as he handed the root to Pious.
“It should be here, somewhere,” said Pious, as he started digging with his free hand into the loose sand around the base of some stones.
“You know what? I know more about Serica than I do about my own home,” stated Sincerus, in awe of Pious’s knowledge.
“It doesn’t help that you have spent almost your whole life on Serica. After we sort these bastards out, I’ll make sure you and I get to see more of Elysia,” said Pious, as he continued to dig around in the loose sand. “Got it,” he said. “Here, take this,”
He handed the light root to Sincerus, who was watching Pious’s activities with curiosity.
Pious reached down with his other hand and started to remove a chain from beneath the sand.
Everyone stood there in silence, stunned with curiosity as to how Pious knew about this secret, buried chain.
“We will have to use this as our guide across the river,” said Pious, holding the chain in one hand and pointing across the river with the other.
The river was almost 300 spans wide and extremely deep in the middle. Several large steel-reinforced stone pillars protruded from its depths, disturbing the river's surface as its waters bent around the columns, subtly revealing the strength of the current.
“These things are huge. Did we put them there?” asked Valerus, gesturing at the tremendous pillars that reached high into the sky.
“I don’t really know. I believe we did. I know they are a component of Aquila’s original Sanctuary designs, drawings and concept,” replied Pious, as he dropped the chain onto the ground.
“The Stalwart Pillars were piled into the river’s bed during the Shield’s final stages of construction,” said B’Sayan. He stood by the river’s edge, testing all the knots and latches on his equipment and tying the Encourager securely to his belt, which fell low under the hammer’s weight. “They were placed here to prevent any ships from moving between the Hydraen and Aecor, and ultimately, to keep any ships from coming within effective firing distance of Sanctuary.”
Tyr laughed to himself. “Yeah, what this guy said,” he said jovially, pointing at B’Sayan over his shoulder with his thumb.
“The river is very cold and flows gently towards the Sea of Aecor. The current isn’t too strong, but it's strong enough to sweep you away if you let go,” said Pious. He pointed to the coats of his comrades. “Remove your coats; they will pull you down.”
“You’re shitting me? It's freezing!” replied Tyr, looking at Pious, who was unfastening his coat.
“No, I’m serious,” replied Pious with a smile.
“You’re mad,” said Tyr, but he took off his coat.
“Besides – dying of cold may be better than what destiny may have in store for us.”
Pious folded his coat and placed it into a stone crevice before walking over to the chain lying in the sand. He drew more chain out of the water, wrapped it around a large rock and pulled it taut.
“How do you know about that?” asked Sincerus curiously. “It’s a strange thing to know about.”
“It doesn’t look like it has been fabricated by any artisans I am aware of,” said Valerus, as he rubbed his hand along the braided chain, and tested its weight. “It feels lighter. The links – they’re smaller, more numerous. This isn’t even Attaran.”
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“Well, to be honest, I don’t remember how I know. I think it was a skirmish I was in when I first got back to Aurania,” replied Pious. He went down to the edge of the river and stood in the shallow water.
“Right, the injury,” said Sincerus, letting the subject go and heading for the river's edge.
Valerus stood inspecting the chain closely. “Truly – this chain is amazing. Impeccable craftsmanship,” he said in wonder and awe of the chain.
“Injury, what injury?” asked B’Sayan, as he came closer to Pious and tried to inspect his head for old scars.
“A few others and I were caught in an explosion – we all received trauma to the mind from experimental weapons used by the enemy. None of us remember anything preceding the incident and our memories are poor subsequently,” explained Pious.
“You don’t look like you received significant damage to your head. You don’t remember anything at all?” asked B’Sayan, with suspicion, examine his cranium.
“No, I don’t remember anything. I don’t remember conversations or circumstance – memories. However, I have feelings – feelings as if I have done something before, been somewhere before. Feelings, just like this chain really,” replied Pious, as he walked a little further into the water and grabbed hold of the chain, testing its tautness.
“Doesn’t that bother you? Doesn’t it bother you that a majority of your life is missing from your mind?”
“No – I can’t let it bother me. Why should I worry myself with something outside of my control?”
“It’s a fair point,” replied B’Sayan.
“It’s set; let’s go,” said Pious, as he walked a little further out into the water and lost his footing, holding onto the chain tightly. He began pulling himself along the chain, dragging himself through the water. After Pious, Tyr hastily entered the water and grabbed hold of the chain.
An instant later, Tyr shouted at the top of his lungs, suspended in the water by his tight grip on the chain.
Pious turned to look back at Tyr in concern; the slight current rushed past his face.
Exhumation: An Epic of Existentia (Acts of the Sojourner Book 1) Page 23