City of Gold

by Daniel Blackaby

  CODY’S HEAD WAS SPINNING like a wild carousel. He squeezed his temples, trying to calm himself. What’s going on here? The banquet had been a whirlwind. Why am I acting so childish toward Jade? Why were the Story-Weavers escorted away? He shook his head like a wet dog. And what in the world is Randilin doing?

  He had been informed that Dace and the others had been detained without any violence. Yet, still, he felt a sense of guilt. He, after all, had been the one who had insisted to the others that Randilin join The Company. They had trusted him. Now, as a result, they were behind bars. But he couldn’t do anything to help his friends until the morning so he pushed the worries from his mind.

  His stomach rumbled. During the wild proceedings of the banquet, he had only picked at his food. And what he hadn’t eaten had been promptly snatched and devoured by Randilin. I wonder if there’s a High Language word for cheesecake? He imagined it longingly. If there was such a word for it, he could imagine that it would have been one of his most important lessons. Stalkton’s been holding out on me.

  He plopped himself on his bed and dumped out his backpack. He picked up the Book and nestled it against his chest. Once again the energy was intense, like water bursting through a dam; it was almost too much to handle. He slipped it under his pillow rather than his regular nightly routine of keeping it under his shirt.

  Next he raised the ruby pocket-watch. His eyes traced the direction of the short red hand toward the open chamber window. Already his thoughts of Atlantis felt like distant memories from another life.

  He lifted the pocket-watch curiously as the long purple hand began slowly rotating before going still. Of the four clock-hands, the purple one alone remained a mystery.

  Then, to his great delight, he discovered the final object from his emptied backpack: the silver glazed tart he had been given in the marketplace. His still-hungry stomach shouted in celebration.

  He didn’t have the slightest clue what the tart actually was, but at that moment, raw pig gizzards marinated in cough syrup would have tasted like chocolate ice cream. He crammed the whole thing into his mouth and chomped down on it.

  The tart had an unusually bitter flavor. He gagged and grabbed his throat. It almost tasted like parchment. Actually, it tasted exactly like parchment. Cody regurgitated the half-chewed sludge into his hand. Sticking out slightly from the middle was the corner of a piece of paper.

  Cody retrieved it and wiped the saliva from it. It was the size of the paper one would find in a fortune cookie. On one side were two letters: G. T. He flipped the paper and found a simple inscription:

  EVERYTHING IS A LIE.

  56

  Missing

  HE RUBBED THE BACK of his hand across his sweaty forehead. Even though the night was generally peaceful, the slightest sound made his heart jump. He had pushed his luck—and he knew it. He tried to relax his tense shoulders. Act natural. Don’t look so suspicious!

  With another look both ways he entered into his house. “Sweetheart?” he whispered carefully. He glanced to the kitchen table. Beside his untouched and now cold dinner was a cleared plate. She’s gone to bed already. He was relieved. It appeared more natural that way.

  A rustle from outside startled him. He grabbed the kitchen table for balance, causing a loud clamor as his stale dinner plate fell to the floor. Blast! It’s too late, just leave it.

  He hurried toward the bedroom. He quickly removed his coat and looked to the bed. The lump of his wife under the covers brought him relief and comfort. “Sweetheart, your Brodon is home….” He stepped to the bed and tenderly lifted up the covers.

  Two crystal tomblike eyes peered up at him. He screamed—then all was silent.

  Cody was awake the moment the bright light of the orb shone through his window. He looked out over the waking city as he grabbed his tunic from the dresser. He realized how much he missed Upper-Earth sunrises. The abrupt arrival of mornings was incredibly unpleasant.

  He picked up the paper warning from the previous night and shoved it into his pocket. He had questions that needed answering. As he stepped from his room he turned to walk down the hallway but stopped. He looked over his shoulder toward the chamber on the far end of the corridor: Jade’s room.

  He hesitated for only a moment before continuing on his way, alone.

  By the time he reached the marketplace there were already several people roaming through the vendors’ booths. Cody retraced his steps from the previous day with Jade. Skirting around a shopper he reached the location of the merchant’s pastry stall.

  It was gone.

  In the precise spot where the booth had surely been the previous day now stood a lone tree. The solitary tree seemed out of place to the point of being comical. Cody rubbed his forehead. I could have sworn it was right here. He glanced down the long row of tents but the stall and its merchant were nowhere to be seen.

  Cody turned to the vendor beside the vacant lot. It was the same tall elderly lady as before.

  “Excuse me, ma’am,” Cody began, “I’m wondering where I might find the man who was set up here yesterday afternoon.”

  The lady stared at Cody curiously. “Son, there hasn’t been a man in that lot in a hundred years.”

  Cody fingered the crumbled paper in his pocket. “But there was! I’m sure of it! What was his name?” He rubbed his eyes searching his memory. “Brodon! That’s it! He made silver-colored tarts. You must remember—you were standing right there!” Cody exclaimed, his voice raising.

  The lady looked around, seemingly embarrassed by the commotion. She hollered across the clearing. “Hazig, this boy’s looking for a merchant named Brodon. Do you know the man?”

  The adjacent vendor looked up from his booth and shook his head. “I know every man, woman, child, vendor, or customer who’s ever set foot in this market in the last one-thousand-and-sixty-four years…never been any fellow by the name Brodon.”

  Cody was forced to step aside as four golems carrying a silver crate passed through the market street. The woman beamed a friendly smile toward them. “Blessings on you for keeping our city clean and perfect!” The four soldiers nodded before heading on their way.

  When they were gone the elderly lady returned her smile to Cody. “I’m sorry, son. I’m afraid you are somehow mistaken. But, while you’re here…I’ve got a lovely selection of treats sure to delight!”

  Cody brushed her off and left the marketplace. What’s going on here? He reached into his pocket and retrieved the small paper: EVERYTHING IS A LIE. He flipped it around. And who, or what, is G.T.?

  He looked up. Across the marketplace, standing like a statue amidst the moving crowd, was a Dark-Wielder. Its beady eyes peered directly at him.

  Cody shoved the paper into his pocket and hustled the other way. The whole way down the street he could feel the burning sensation of the Wielder’s eyes prying into his back.

  57

  A Deeper Training

  AS CODY STARED AT The Speaking Sands guilt nagged at his conscience. He had not contacted Eva once since he arrived in El Dorado. He knew he should, but part of him didn’t want to. He pushed the bowl beneath his bed. I’ll contact her later when I have more to report, he assured himself.

  There was a knock on the door. When he opened it he found the young, large-dimpled servant girl from the previous night. “I’m sorry to bother you, but the Lord of Lights expresses his desire to see you in his Hall.”

  Cody thanked the servant and grabbed the Book. When he turned back the servant was still in the doorway. “Was there something else?” he questioned.

  The girl squirmed nervously. “Only to thank you for coming to our marvelous city; I pray that you will be guided by the Radiant One to explore to the very heart of the Orb. I guarantee just one small sight of it will change your world.” Without another word, the young girl scurried away.

  Cody called after her but she was gone. The girl had spoken the very same phrase as that uttered by the missing merchant Brodon. Could it have been mer
e coincidence? He knew it couldn’t be. There’s something very peculiar going on here.

  The beautiful gold-crested Book beamed on the podium. Cody shielded his eyes. Once again he felt the increased, overwhelming power of his own Book gushing through him more and more fiercely with each step forward.

  “Welcome.”

  Startled, Cody spun around. The Golden King stood directly behind him as though materializing from thin air. The King circled around the podium, stroking his long golden fingers across the Book’s cover and tracing the embroidered E.

  “The sensation of the Book’s power flowing through your veins, filling your very blood stream, is fulfilling; nourishing, like air to the lungs, wouldn’t you agree?” The energy of the Book suddenly felt amplified as Cody focused on it.

  “No one else really understands it,” Cody said, releasing a long-held frustration he didn’t realize he had been carrying.

  The King nodded. “They don’t understand it because they can’t understand it. You must realize by now that we are different from the others. We alone are the Book Keepers. There can only be two, and that sacred lot has fallen to us. We have a power they will never comprehend. We have a responsibility they will never carry.”

  Cody tracked the King’s steady gaze to The Code. He pulled the Book protectively against his chest. The King grinned at the gesture. “Make no mistake, young Cody; while we are equal in title, we are far from being peers in creation ability and power. If I had desired to pry The Code from you, it would have taken but a single word the moment you entered this Great Hall.”

  The King’s words seemed sincere, but Cody kept the Book nestled against his body. “Then, why haven’t you? They told me your deepest desire was to obtain the Book. Isn’t that why you started this war?”

  The King laughed. “Is that what they are saying? Ask yourself this: Is it not strange that the very moment Atlantis has its Book Keeper return, and thus a means—a power—to counter El Dorado, they are suddenly swept into war? Has it even occurred to you that Atlantis is attacking us, to seize The Key for its own gain?”

  Cody stepped back, caught off guard by the unexpected response. “Prince Kantan allowed me to leave Atlantis so that I could aid the war on the frontlines of Flore Gub,” he admitted reluctantly.

  The King’s grin deepened. “Curious...and it is also curious that your Queen would willingly, on the dawn of war, send a band of her most valuable soldiers on a dangerous mission to rescue a single Surface-Dweller. It’s poor logic…unless your band had a different reason for coming.”

  Cody wanted to counter the claim but couldn’t. As much as he hated to admit it, the King’s words made perfect sense.

  “Either way, you’re still at war. So I don’t understand why you didn’t take the Book.”

  “Because you have been misled; my desire is not for The Code—it is for knowledge. And for that…I need you.”

  “Me?”

  “There are two Books and two Book Keepers. I cannot read from The Code any more than you can read from The Key. If we are to unveil the mysteries of the universe and fulfill our destined obligation to make an imperfect world perfect, we must do it together.”

  Cody relaxed his shoulders. “And, how would we do that?”

  “I can train you. So far, your education appears to be, how shall I put this…lacking.”

  “Lamgorious Stalkton was teaching me the foundational words,” Cody countered defensively.

  “What your master was doing was holding you back. All the power of the universe at your fingertips and you are reduced to creating mere magic tricks. I can show you so much more. There is no limit. Indeed, there are some creations which have, as yet, eluded even me.”

  “The-Creation-Which-Should-Be-One’s-Own,” Cody blurted.

  “Or so it is called by those without the courage to seek it. The albino is incapable of finding what he is unwilling to search for. The pursuit of knowledge and truth leads only as far as you are prepared to follow it.”

  The King placed his golden hand on Cody’s shoulder. “So I ask you…how far are you willing to go?”

  58

  Ulterior Motives

  THE BUILDING WAS AS ELEGANT as each of the El Dorado houses. However, the presence of four walls made it stand out as something else—a prison. Cody trotted after Jade toward it.

  Jade slowed down impatiently to allow Cody to catch up. “Hurry up, you snail,” she chided. When Cody reached her he was huffing and puffing. Following his training session with the Golden King, Cody had returned to his chamber to find Jade waiting for him. Before departing for the prison they had stopped by Tiana’s room but it had been empty, with no indication of her whereabouts.

  Cody and Jade came to a stop before the prison doors. Two armed golems stood in their path. With a bow, they parted, allowing entrance to the prison.

  Even the wealthiest aristocrat would have enjoyed the comfort offered within the bright, spacious, and elegantly-decorated room. Only the thick, iron bars of the jail cells reoriented one to its more solemn employment.

  “Dace!” Jade exclaimed. The handsome captain reclined against the cell’s wall. Having been stripped of his armor and weapons, he looked unusually youthful and plain.

  Rejecting the fluffy bed provided, Chazic lounged on the floor of the cell. The Enforcer had removed his shirt to use as a pillow, once again exposing his unusual tattoos. Next to him sat Tat, whose eyes were as cold as a corpse. He stared straight ahead and didn’t budge to acknowledge the visitors. There was something unusual about the trio but Cody wasn’t sure what.

  “Dreadful circumstances aside, it’s good to see you again, Jade,” Dace welcomed with a friendly smirk.

  Jade clenched her fist. “I’m so sorry! I’ll go straight to Hansi and have him resolve this immediately. He will grant your release. You have my word.”

  Dace chuckled. “We travel from one end of Under-Earth to the other, battling monsters, golems and Dark-Wielders, brave the Great Sea of Lava, and infiltrate the fortress of our enemy—all in name of rescuing you. Yet, here we are, behind bars, waiting for you to rescue us…just as we drew it up in the war room.” Dace’s ironic laughter faded as he noticed the look on Cody’s face. “Something on your mind? You look as though you have a spiked mace going through your digestive system.”

  Cody jerked his head as he remembered the Golden King’s words: It is curious that your Queen would willingly, on the dawn of war, send a band of her most valuable soldiers on a dangerous mission to rescue a single Surface-Dweller. Everyone’s eyes were on him. “It’s just, what you said just now, about doing all that stuff to rescue Jade…” he paused. His forehead grew sweaty. “Is it true?”

  Dace frowned. “What are you talking about? Of course, it’s true. I offered myself as your blood protector. You know I would never deceive or use you….”

  “Unfortunately, finding men as noble as Dace is as common as Wolfrick staying sober,” Chazic added.

  “What do you mean?”

  The large Enforcer shrugged. “The night we departed Atlantis I was summoned to the AREA headquarters by Sli Silkian. I was not sent on this mission merely to be a body guard. I had a higher purpose.”

  “Which was…?”

  “To steal The Key and return it to Atlantis.” Chazic’s words felt like a fist reaching out to punch Cody in the stomach. The Golden King was right.

  He felt his anger rise. “What about the rest of you? What other lies have you been spewing? Who else was just using me to…” Cody stopped. It suddenly hit him. The unusual thing about the trio was that it was a trio. “Wait. Where’s Xerx?”

  Dace’s eyes dropped to the floor. “Another notch on the sword hilt,” he uttered distantly. Cody shook his head in disbelief, as though he had misheard.

  “What are you talking about? That’s not funny; where is he? Dace?”

  Tat looked up from the floor. “In case you didn’t notice; nobody’s laughing, son. We were ambushed right after you left us
at the boat. They were waiting for us. We weren’t prepared. I’m sorry, lad, he’s gone.”

  59

  A Sacred Glen

  EVA PULLED HERSELF UP from the floor; a tingling sensation still dancing through her limbs—the aftermath of another attack. She used the wall of the corridor for balance as her legs wobbled unstably beneath her. The room to her chamber was at the end of the hall, but, in that moment, it may well have been on a distant planet. She began staggering forward.

  She had not heard from the Book Keeper in over a week—at least not directly. It was much worse, like a nightmare without escape. At any unexpected moment it would come. Always bad news. Always pain. Like a cry for help written in a foreign tongue that she didn’t understand.

  Suddenly her legs gave out from under her and she toppled to the ground, her face colliding hard against the wall. Her head throbbed. Why me? Why did the accident happen to me?

  With a soft creak a door down the hall opened. She heard hushed voices released from inside. One was clearly her sister, Cia. Who’s the other? She heard the door close with a click. The floor vibrated under the weight of heavy footsteps. When they stopped, Eva could sense the presence of someone standing over her.

  Mustering all her strength she managed to raise her head in the man’s direction. He wore a long black coat and a matching rimmed hat that covered much of his face. Two calculating blue eyes peered down at her. On his chest was an unfamiliar emblem with the word: CROSS.

  “Goodnight,” he whispered in a strange accent. Then he was gone.

  “I will do everything in my power to have your friends pardoned and released. You have my word.” Hansi’s voice was rich and sounded genuine.

  “What a saint,” Cody snarled under his breath. Releasing Dace and the others would do nothing to resurrect Xerx. Cody glared at the Prince as though it had been his own sword that had delivered the killing blow.