The Sword

by Bryan M. Litfin

  “I know. We’ll follow at a distance, just inside the circle of light. When we get the chance, we’ll jump into the wagon. Let’s go!”

  Teo rose from his hiding place, trying to pick his way forward in the gloom. Ana was right behind him.

  A door slammed shut ahead, and the tunnel plunged into the utter darkness of the blind. Ana cried out and threw her arms around Teo’s chest, holding him fiercely from behind.

  “Uh-oh,” he said. “That wasn’t in my plan.”

  Rosetta’s chalet, unscathed by the fire except in a few small places, sat proudly among the burned trees. The hand of Deu had shielded it from the worst flames. To achieve this purpose, Deu had used the heroic firefighting efforts of Shaphan the Metalsmith. Lina sighed dreamily. Thank you, Deu, for Shaphan!

  He was shirtless, up a ladder on the side of the chalet, repairing a few boards that had briefly caught fire. Lina called to him, “Do you want a drink?” She held up a jar of ale. Shaphan nodded and descended. His body was sweaty which made his muscles glisten in the late evening sun. She was embarrassed to realize she noticed it, though she didn’t look away.

  Shaphan sat with Lina in the grass. “It’s good ale,” he said.

  Lina stared at the house. “Deu was gracious to us. Almost everybody lost their homes, but ours was spared. Deu used you to do it.”

  Shaphan nodded, though his face fell. Lina noticed. “Is something wrong?” Shaphan didn’t answer. “Tell me,” she urged.

  “It’s Valent.” Shaphan stared into the distance. “I think he’s led us astray in our understanding of Deu.”

  “I know. I think so too. I’ve been afraid to say it.” Lina stroked his hand.

  Shaphan grimaced. “You know, I guess I got caught up in Valent’s idea that Deu was a big secret for special people—the insiders—like we could all sit around in secrecy and be the only ones to enjoy his favor.”

  “Well, Deu did spare our house, but no one else’s. Maybe he does favor his followers.”

  “Of course he does! I definitely believe his protection was on your mother’s house. How many prayers did we shout to him when the flames were raging and the sparks were flying yesterday? ‘Help us, Deu, help us!’ We said it over and over—and he heard us! Don’t you see, Lina? He blesses his followers, and that’s why people need to hear about him. It saddens me to think of all the people in Vingin who didn’t know to call on Deu. They were roaming around like sheep without a shepherd. Could they call on Astrebril? He’s worthless! Chiveis needs the one true God. I’m going to tell Valent he’s mistaken. I want to stand with Anastasia. Deu is good and merciful and strong. He should be proclaimed in the open.”

  “I agree with you. Let’s do that.”

  “We will, at the right time.” Shaphan fiddled with a blade of grass. “But Lina—there’s something else.”

  “What is it?”

  “I’ve done something horrible—a sin.” He shook his head and stared at the ground. “It has to be fixed before we can move ahead.”

  Lina was nervous. “You can tell me.” She bit her lip.

  Under the blackened trees, Shaphan confessed his crime. Using a key Teo had left in his lock at the University, Shaphan had stolen the Sacred Writing and given it to Valent. Lina’s mouth gaped. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Shaphan’s action was a serious betrayal of trust.

  “Why would you do such a thing?” she asked.

  “I took the key to keep it safe. But then, when we had lunch with Valent, he made me feel so good. He gave me his attention in a way Professor Teofil didn’t. I liked it.” Shaphan hung his head. “Do you hate me?”

  “I love you, Shaphan.”

  “How can you? I’m a traitor.”

  Lina scooted over and put her arms around Shaphan’s sweaty shoulders. “I’m with you,” she declared. “No matter what. You need to confess this sin to Deu, then go make it right with Teofil.”

  Shaphan met Lina’s eyes. “You really love me, don’t you?”

  “I do.”

  “I love you too, Lina. Thanks for sticking by me.”

  The tunnel was dark, black as night, blacker than night. Ana couldn’t see a thing.

  “I’m scared, Teo. We can’t navigate the tunnel in this darkness.” Ana clung to him, her heart pounding.

  “Hang on.” Teo fumbled for something inside his monk’s robe, then a Vulkain stick flared and lit the cavern, chasing away the blackness, though only for an arm’s length. “Let’s look in the backpacks for lanterns or something.” Before the match could burn down, they dashed to the pile on the floor.

  The match winked out. Teo lit another.

  They quickly opened the backpacks. Most contained strange melon-sized balls, perched on little stands and wrapped in parchment. Strings protruded from each ball. Ana had no idea what they were.

  Again the match went out, and all was dark.

  The third match gave them time to open the remaining backpacks. Yes! One of them contained candles and matches instead of balls. Teo lit a candle with the fourth match, and Ana’s comfort level surged as the steady flame blossomed to life.

  “I’m going to check the doors. Want to come with me?” Teo stood up with the candle.

  “No, I want to sit here in the pitch-black dark all alone.”

  Teo chuckled. “Come on then. Grab another candle, and hold on to my robe. If a gust puts the flame out, we won’t be separated.” He lit Ana’s candle with his, and they moved cautiously to the doors through which the wagon had passed. Both were firmly locked.

  A panicky sensation rose within Ana at the thought of being trapped in the dark cave. She steadied herself against Teo and found his nearness reassuring. She put her hand to her head. “I feel so queasy in here! It’s like I can’t get enough air to breathe!”

  “We’re very high, Ana. Higher in the mountains than either of us has ever been. The air gets thin up high. You just have to take things slower.” Teo slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to himself, looking her in the eye. He traced a knuckle along her cheek. “Don’t worry, okay? I’m going to get you out of this.”

  “I know.”

  Teo led Ana down the short hallway to the door the men had opened to the outside. It, too, was locked, though Ana could feel cold drafts seeping through. Faint sunlight shone through the cracks, but the hour was late. Soon even this meager light would be gone.

  Teo kicked the door; it didn’t budge. “I guess we’ll have to wait for the High Priestess to arrive. The driver said she was coming up here. Something big is happening with those balls, but I don’t know what it is.”

  Ana sighed. “Alright. I suggest we find a hidden place to sleep, and in the morning when she comes, we’ll get past the doors and sneak down the tunnel with a couple of candles.”

  “Agreed. But first I want to look at those balls again. I’m curious.”

  “The scholar’s ever-present malady.”

  “Or virtue.” Teo grinned, and they returned to the room with the backpacks piled on the floor.

  Holding his candle aloft, Teo inspected one of the spherical devices. It was rigid, yet seemed breakable. The ball nestled on top of a round stand, into which a long string ran. The whole thing was wrapped in parchment. Ana stood over him, squinting at the strange contrivance. “Break it open,” she said.

  He pounded it on the floor. Black powder spilled out in a little pile. “It’s the powder from the mill,” Teo observed.

  “What is it?”

  “I wish I knew. We’ll find out in the morning, I suppose.”

  “What’s that book?”

  “Book?”

  “There, in the front pocket.” Ana pointed at it.

  Teo snatched it from the backpack and examined it in the candlelight. It was a Chiveisian printing, not Ancient. The Secret Lore of Astrebril. He flipped the pages.

  “It’s a formula! Seventy-five percent salt stone, 15 percent charcoal, 10 percent brimstone. There are instructions for grind
ing and milling it. And listen to this: ‘How to Ignite Astrebril’s Powder.’”

  “It ignites?”

  “Yes, if you put a flame to it. Look at the diagram. The strings carry the fire.”

  “Light some of the powder. Maybe it shines like a lantern.”

  “Back up, and I will.” Teo extended a match toward the little pile and dropped it. Bright flame shot up in a tremendous flash, filling the cavern with smoke. Ana coughed and waved her hand in front of her face.

  Teo was jubilant. “Did you see that, Ana? That’s the secret! Astrebril’s Curse isn’t fire from the sky at all! It’s just a flammable powder made of three simple ingredients!”

  Ana clapped her hand to her forehead, her mind racing. “If that tiny pile flares up like that, think of the explosion a couple of kegs would cause! That must have been how my house was destroyed! In fact” —she paused as full understanding dawned on her—“that explains the digging I heard under our foundation!”

  “Do you realize what this means?” Teo was pacing around with his candle. “This discovery will change everything! With this knowledge, we can undercut the High Priestess’s power. Once the Chiveisi find out Astrebril’s dreaded curse is just a human concoction, they’ll have no reason to fear her religion!”

  Ana came to Teo’s side, gripping his sleeve in her fist. “And then the people will be open to a new God! Teo, I can see it all coming together. Deu is answering our prayers! He’s coming to Chiveis, and the people are being prepared to receive him!”

  Teo smiled at her. “You did it, Ana! You believed, and you made it happen!”

  “Not just me, it was both of us—and Maurice and the house community. We all took the right actions. We persevered through trials; we proved ourselves. Now we’re seeing the rewards! We opened the door for Deu and let him in!”

  Teo leaned toward Ana and hugged her, holding the candle away from her back. “I’m so happy for you,” he said.

  “Thanks for being excited about this, Teo. It means a lot to me that you’re not acting aloof anymore.”

  He smiled and patted her on the shoulder. “Things have taken a good turn, but we’re not out of this yet. We still have to spring Maurice out of here. Then we can let everyone know what the High Priestess is up to. They’ll abandon her in droves once they find out! But we can’t do any of that until tomorrow, so we’d better get some rest before Her Eminence shows up.”

  Ana nodded. “Yeah, I’m really tired. I’ll find us a spot to sleep.”

  Teo closed the backpacks and stuffed the secret book in his own rucksack while Ana found a nook shielded by a pile of boulders. The ground was hard, but they were tired, and they quickly fell into a fitful sleep.

  The blond eunuch dismounted from the carriage and pranced to the locked door, turning a key and swinging it open for his queen. Her coach rolled into the little room at the top of the world.

  The High Priestess stepped down and surveyed the backpacks on the floor. Lifting a flap, she examined the contents. All was as it should be.

  “Open the door to Astrebril’s sky!”

  Two eunuchs scurried down the hall while others hoisted backpacks to their shoulders and followed close behind. The High Priestess strode down the passageway in full ceremonial regalia, wrapped in an ermine cape. It was always an august occasion when Astrebril’s fires were lit.

  The exterior door stood open. Dawn had not yet come to Chiveis, but the sky had lost some of its deep blackness. Far above the mountains, the morning star shone brightly. The High Priestess stepped onto the glacier in the bitter predawn cold.

  CHAPTER

  14

  All was quiet. The High Priestess and her entourage had exited the room, taking most of the backpacks with them. Teo rose from the hiding place behind the rocks where he and Ana had spent the night. He began to sneak down the hallway to the outside door.

  “Where are you going? The tunnel’s this way!” Ana gestured with her candle.

  “I know, but—”

  Ana tsked. “Curiosity again?” She arched her eyebrows.

  “No! Well, maybe just a little bit. But it’s more than that. We need to understand what the High Priestess is doing out there if we’re going to defeat her.” He rummaged in one of the wagons that had followed the High Priestess’s carriage until his hand closed on a fleece-lined cloak left by one of the priests. “Here. Put this on. I don’t want my housemaid to get goose bumps.”

  Ana donned the cloak and buttoned it. “Just a quick peek, and then we go, okay?”

  “Of course.”

  They walked to the end of the passage but were unprepared for what they found when they opened the door and stepped outside. Though they had seen glaciers before, the one that stretched before them now made the glaciers of Chiveis look like ice chips in a summer drink. It was a frozen river many leagues wide, snaking off into the distant mountains of the Beyond. Great stripes of crushed rock streaked its entire length.

  Ana exhaled slowly. “Unbelievable,” she whispered. “It’s enormous.” Teo nodded.

  The sun was starting to brighten the eastern sky, though it hadn’t yet broken over the jagged horizon. Teo drew the brisk air into his lungs, feeling slightly dizzy at such a high altitude. On his left, fresh tracks led up a snowy slope. Steps had been carved into it, and ropes were strung through poles as handrails. Where the slope ended, a rocky knob thrust up from the snow. Teo moved forward to get a better view. Something on top of the knob caught his eye. He looked more closely, trying to make it out in the twilight. He gasped as he realized what he was seeing.

  “Ana, look!”

  She swiveled her head in the direction he was pointing. Her jaw dropped, her mouth making a perfect circle. “There is a temple up here!”

  A building sat on the knob. Though Teo couldn’t believe his eyes, nonetheless there it stood—a large building topped with a silver dome. Apparently there was no limit to what the Ancients could achieve.

  “Let’s investigate it,” he said.

  “Let’s get down before we’re seen!”

  “We’ll just go up the slope a ways. It’s still dim—we won’t be noticed. If we see anyone, we’ll clear out right away.”

  Ana shook her head reluctantly but followed Teo up the steps in the ice. At the top of the slope, they realized the climbing would become more difficult for anyone trying to reach the building on the knob. Rope ladders had been affixed to the rock in the steepest places.

  “I guess that explains why they put everything in backpacks,” Teo said.

  “The High Priestess must be pretty agile to have climbed up there.”

  Whoomph!

  A bright light flashed from the silver dome, leaving a puff of smoke in its wake. Teo and Ana looked at each other. There was no wind. The top of the world was completely still.

  Then it happened.

  An incredible concussion shattered the heavens, reverberating off every summit, echoing through all Chiveis. The sound seemed to physically assault Teo and Ana as they hunched on the slope beneath the rocky knob. Colored sparks trickled from the dark blue sky.

  Ana held her hands over her ears. “What was that?”

  “They’re shooting those powder balls into the air!”

  “It’s so loud!”

  Teo stared at the silver building. Whoomph! Another fire streak shot from the dome accompanied by smoke and a shrill whistle. Seconds later, another deafening explosion threw red-hot coals across the sky.

  “I see what’s happening!” Teo said. “The first explosion propels the ball. When it’s high enough, more powder explodes. It’s loud, it’s spectacular, but it’s just salt stone, brimstone, and charcoal! What a charade!”

  Another flash. Another tremendous boom.

  Ana’s eyes were wide. “I can’t believe they ignited that infernal powder under my house! I could have been asleep in my bed. I should have been!”

  “We have Deu to thank that you weren’t.”

  Ana caught Teo’s
eye, holding his gaze. She said nothing, but a faint smile seemed to play at the corners of her lips.

  Teo broke the moment. “Let’s get out of here. I’ve seen what I need to. With this evidence, we can blow Astrebril right off his evil throne.” He gestured down the snow slope. “Watch your step there in your little handmaiden shoes.”

  Ana curtsied. “As you please, master.” Teo laughed and helped Ana down the slippery steps.

  Back in the tunnel, they opened one of the remaining backpacks and grabbed some extra candles and matches. “I think we should move quickly,” Teo said. “We have enough of a lead to beat them to the bottom, but we’ll hurry just in case.”

  “No arguments here.”

  They set out at a fast pace. The gradual slope made for an easy descent, and the candles illuminated just enough space to show Teo and Ana where they were going. Infinite blackness stretched before and behind them. Only their footfalls on the tunnel floor broke the stillness.

  After a long, silent walk, Ana spoke up. “It’s getting brighter ahead.”

  “It’s the windows to the outside. Let’s take a look.”

  The windows overlooked an expansive glacier much like the one Teo and Ana had viewed above. They returned to the main tunnel and reached the lower windows after more walking. Again they turned down the side passage to investigate. In ancient times the panes must have been filled with glass, but now they were empty. Teo took off his rucksack and dug into a pocket, handing Ana his last piece of beef jerky. She accepted it gratefully, along with some water from a flask.

  When he finally approached the window and looked out, he did a double take. Unlike the barren view from the higher set of windows, the view here revealed several Chiveisian villages nestled in the valley below. A sheer drop-off plunged away beneath him. Teo craned his neck upward. The cliff soared straight into the clouds.

  “Ana, can you tell where we are?”

  “I don’t have my bearings. I’ve been inside a mountain since yesterday, you know.”

  “That’s the Troll’s Valley down there. That means this cliff we’re in—”