

The Towers of Adrala

_Text copyright © 2013 by Andrew Suzanne_

Published by Andrew Suzanne at Smashwords

Cover art by Andrew Suzanne

Saranodian Symbol Design by Zachary Downer (http://www.zackmdowner.deviantart.com)

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage without permission in writing from the author.

ISBN: 9781301551552

For information send an E-mail to:

Andrew.TSuzanne@gmail.com

March 2013

First Edition
Book One – Part One

Saranoda

The End

The Stirrings

The Awakening

Unlit

Recollections

Not for Human Hands

Maw of the Ancient

First of the Shadows

Mirrorscape

A Lost Memento

The First Manifestation

Close Quarters

In the Shade of Lies

Anarchy
For Rachel, Cassidy, Devin, and Mom. My critics.

For Dad and my Family. My supporters.

For Zack, Johnny, and Greg. My bent of ear.

For Mrs. Frost and many others. My optimists.

And for Ian, who said the one word that started it all

`

# The End

His waking thoughts brushed against the fragile world above him.  Hurricanes spawned from clashing winds, tearing at the coastlines. Endless torrents of rain flooded the plains. Tornadoes cut through civilizations like twisted scalpels. Devastating thunderstorms, destructive eruptions. The inhabitants of this world were left confused and afraid for their existence, not knowing why their home tore itself apart.

But for the being whose thoughts brought catastrophe, he awoke without knowledge of anything at all.

He saw nothing, felt nothing except the vastness of himself. He hung in a stasis without any form of understanding. He was a mind lost in its own galaxy of thought. Then words, thoughts, questions he should know began to pull themselves from the turmoiling cloak of bewilderment. One question rose above the others, so it was this question he decided to ask.

<Who am I?>

His thought echoed throughout his prison. His answer came slowly, tantalizingly. When the answer came within his grasp it exploded into a myriad of images. Strange senses assaulted his confused self. Green fields, snowy mountains, the feel of water, the smell of autumn.

<Autumn?>

His confused mind only caused the images to come faster, stronger. Creatures flying amongst the clouds in neat formations. Cities carved into mountainsides. A strange rough noise, repeating tones and inflections. These spun around him until a slow dawning of realization swept over him. Those creatures were his kind, the cities were his cities, and that noise was his people's tongue. More scenes played before his astonished eyes. The more he watched them, the more he began to remember. Exhilaration sped through his veins when he recognized his first flight. He found his joy of a science that had many names. Manipulation. The Guiding. The Control.

<Magic>

The shadows his brothers casted were long, their brilliance always outshining him. But he was determined. He grinned at his many successes, his advancement in this science, this Magic. He watched his prestige grow, his fame, his greatness. He saw his brothers, whom he had fought so hard to impress, finally proud of him.

He had everything he ever wanted.

Then the images disappeared. They were replaced by ones of strange, alien creatures. They were small, two-legged beings that spoke their own odd tongue. Instead of impressive caverns they built huts of wood and stone. Their way was brutal and without direction. His people watched these fragile creatures in mild amusement, these barbarians, these aliens, these...

<Humans>

In the beginning his people shunned them, their culture strange and unrefined. They seemed so easily broken, their lives too short to properly live. But he was curious. He saw them account for their fragility with tools and ingenious innovations. Their lives were short but burned brightly. Even with their strangeness he found a strange familiarity with them. So he broke his people's laws and gave him what he best knew. He gave them Magic.

And with Magic they burned so bright they outshone even him.

Their cities of wood and stone became metropolises of metal. Their medicines lengthened their lives ten-fold, even cured his own people of sicknesses long thought futile to mend. Their art, their language, their culture; it all began to creep into his own. They built the great towers, monoliths of science and Magic, and struck his people with awe in their power. They gained his people's respect and even began to live among them.

An image struck through the rest, but only for a moment. A glimpse of the most terrible truth. A secret buried so deep that even they did not know, could not know. For it was their truth hidden as their lie.

He remembered as a shadow dominated his thoughts. He uncovered the lies and found the power they hid. The secrets he found changed him, twisted him. He saw cities razed, mountains disappearing in explosions that tore at the world. Quakes ripped across the land, great fires ate away at metal and rock alike. A terrible war that consumed both sides, that sunk continents and shattered cities. Again, a single image suddenly struck through the rest, an image of a black tower. A tower that parted the clouds and lanced through the heavens. A floating architectural wonder, nestled atop a fountain of energy that poured from the heart of the world. It had all the grandeur of an executioner's blade, all the elegance of an assassin's poison. It was the last tower, a sword poised above the throat of the universe. It was an abomination, blight upon existence, a curse against life. It was...It was...

<My tower?>

He realized in horror that the destruction he had seen, the despair, that was of his making. Memories of human holocaust, of mass murder invaded his mind. The atrocities he had committed. The fear he had wrought.

<This cannot be>

Bodies. Craters that once were cities. He could not believe that he had ordered it done. Panic blinded him and he desperately searched through the memories, trying to find an image that would show that he was kind, gentle.

But he was not.

The images, his memories, fitted neatly together. He saw his tower being constructed, he saw its purpose. He saw the equations, the plans, and his masterpiece's completion. He watched with dread as his plan came to a close. The final trigger was in his hands. He gave the activating incantation atop the creation he both loved and loathed. When the words left his tongue he waited for the end he had worked so hard for, so long reviled. Then something happened, something he could not have foreseen, could not have imagined.

He failed.

Energy fell away from the tower and it sank into the chasm from which its life force came. His brothers, the same brethren who had supported every one of his designs, who had felt his sorrow and pain, who had helped him give rise to his tower, had betrayed him. They had stolen the tower's life, crippling it. His rage turned to annihilate their fleeing forms when the tower suddenly focused its remaining power onto him. The extent of his brothers' treachery did not stop at the tower's lifeblood; they had tampered with its lines of thought. A seal came to life around him and he was imprisoned inside the structure that was falling to the center of the world.

<WHO AM I?>

He roared at his bindings. He tore through his memories, looking for his name. He paused when he came upon it. His name had been given to him in gentler times, a name that a monster such as he could not accept. He searched more and found something else, a title. With it his people honored him. With it their people branded him. It held terror to those who knew its true meaning. To those who had forgotten it, the word still held some power.

<I am>

A word that had become described as "loathing".

<My title>

A name that once was whispered in fear, the source of the most terrible war.

<My name>

In his people's tongue it meant "the herald of truth".

<I am Scorn>

With this Scorn gathered to him all the power that once scarred continents and threw it against the seal that bound him.

<Freedom>

Right before his attack struck, one last memory rose before him. This stirring, this awakening, it had happened before. Three times before. He remembered in horror the trap his brothers had placed in their seal. He tried to pull back his power but it was too late. The energy crashed against the bindings, swallowed into the hidden abyss. His exposed mind was assaulted by his own power until he collapsed into submission. He fell away from time once more. The hurricanes dissipated into calm breezes. The floods receded, the storms crackled to an end.

It was not all for naught. His assault was to be the last of many, the seal faltering as the mountain falters under the caress of the eternal winds. The seal no longer remained invincible, he had cracked it. The chains on his mind grew slack. A small crack, nearly impossible to sense. But it was a crack, it was a beginning.

His beginning.

The world's end.

End of the Prologue

# The Stirrings

After his final words, spoken with sorrow and fury, his nightmare of humanity's extinction was almost realized. When the world was split and set ablaze, no city remained standing. Night turned to day and day to night in the barest of moments. The sky flickered from sun, to moons, to stars, and the infinity of the indescribable. The death of a world was survived by few and remembered by fewer.

Broken and thrown into a burning world, humanity still miraculously survived. Their weapons of war forgotten, their history wiped clean, they returned to an existence that eventually became civilization. They named the lone continent that had survived the onslaught 'Adrala', never questioning why there wasn't already a name.

To not ask a question, however, does not mean it will not be answered.

-Excerpt from the Book of Idusces

**P** ird bolted out of the alley in a flying leap, his heart beating furiously and enjoyably in his ears. He landed on the street and twisted deftly on his toes.

"Thief!" came the desperate shout of the guards that were still a safe distance behind. Pird bent his knees and sprang off in a dash. The cobblestone street, thanks to the celebration, was bare of the usual crowds. Pird glanced up and gauged the angle of the tower Saranoda's arms that stretched over the city Eretia.

That's the northern arm, Pird calculated, So home's across this canal and down a few blocks.

Deeming the bridge not exciting enough, Pird instead chose to jump across. He landed in a crouch on one of the large barrels floating downstream, pausing only long enough for the disturbed cargo to right itself before he leaped again to the canal's other side. He quickly crossed the street and used a windowsill to boost up onto a low wall. He turned, sat, and waited.

They're slow today, Pird idly thought to himself, taking a moment to look up and down the wide street. Buildings and homes vied for space on the road, the sidewalks narrow and the architecture well crafted. Eretia's style borrowed from everywhere; the narrow alleys of Benji, the open canals of the Delta, Bakaar's pattern of coalescing streets, and Mirith's attention to every carving upon every pillar. A distance behind the immediate buildings Pird could make out the tops of the grand, many-storied apartments of the white city. A canal split the street down the center, but the waterway was missing the normal stream of storage barrels and courier boats. It was a rare day Pird got to roam the city unhindered by people, so he was taking advantage of every street the celebration had emptied.

Suddenly Pird was oddly aware of the tower Saranoda's rumble. It disoriented him a little, as the deep resounding sound of the tower's massive waterfalls was a constant ambience that anyone who spent time in its shadow grew accustomed to. Hearing what was called Eretia's 'silence' made Pird feel his senses heighten. He could feel the cool stone beneath his fingers, the crisp air against his skin. He could even feel how the great waterfalls made everything hum.

Must be the quiet, Pird assured himself when a shout caught his attention. A troop of guards poured out of the alley and dispersed along the street. Their armor was limited to some leather here and there and a plate on the soldier, as Eretians had better and more entertaining things to do than assault anyone.

"About time," Pird muttered, standing up. He waited, but the men were obviously clueless so he gave a sharp whistle. Their heads snapped up in his direction and one shouted. Pird hopped down into the lawn the white stone wall protected. The stout mustached owner of the lawn looked up from his weeding only long enough to give Pird a wave. Pird, being mindful of the man's garden, scaled the opposite wall and jumped down into yet another street. He dodged through the stone parade of animal fountains in one of the empty squares and into another alley. Pird turned a corner so fast that he ran directly into the chest of a young man. Strong hands clapped down on his shoulders and turned him around, holding him firmly there. Pird made no attempt to break free, but struggled just hard enough to look like he was.

It wasn't long until the percussion of scabbards bouncing on their belts was heard. The soldiers turned the corner and skidded to a halt in surprise. They snapped off a smart salute and one shouted, "Prince Syrus Darvini, sir!"

Pird could feel Sye wincing at the sound of his full name and the effectiveness of which it was shouted, "What are you three doing away from the festival?" Sye asked.

"Sir! We were ordered to make sure no one took advantage of this occasion."

"I assume this young man falls into that category."

"Yes sir! Madame Canya reported that she was being robbed!"

Sye gave a quiet groan that only Pird could hear and gripped his shoulders a bit more painfully, "Well, I wouldn't want you away from your duties. I'll see that Madame Canya's possessions are returned and that Idusces above is satisfied with the following Judgment."

The soldier looked uncertain, "I advise that you allow us to escort you, sir."

Sye shook his head, "Duly noted, but I'm sure I can handle him." Pird stifled a snort.

The soldiers looked at each other, then snapped off another salute and left. As soon as the clanking of armor was out of earshot Pird asked mischievously, "So, what is the 'Judgment' that you have planned, 'Syrus Darvini'?"

Sye pushed Pird away, "Why'd you choose today of all days to cause trouble?"

Pird merely shrugged. Sye sighed and held up a finger, "For one you weren't doing me any favors pulling me away from the festival. Two," he held up a second finger, "It hasn't been long enough since your last run to avoid suspicion."

Always the worrywart, Pird thought, "I always give the stuff back. Plus they looked like they needed the exercise."

"It doesn't matter. Even if Madame Canya said in court she was playing along with you, one of those overzealous lawyers is bound to claim that getting the soldiers to go after you is a 'misuse of Eretian resources'. Emphasis on 'Eretian', we use few enough guards as it is."

Pird rolled his eyes, "Then I would be sent over to Mirith for a high trial for the severity of my terrible crime and-"

"I'm serious, Pird," Sye interrupted, "You don't know how bloodthirsty some of the people in court can get. They're always looking to use somebody's back to step up on. You're lucky my father thinks you're funny."

"Last time I checked the good Mayor said I was 'hilarious'."

"Yes, well, I just demoted you because now we have to visit Canya. What did you take this time anyway?"

"Nothing really," said Pird, taking a silver brooch out of his pocket."

"Pird! That's pure silver!" Sye exclaimed, "The size of that ruby, tell me it's not a Luther company!"

"She won't mind," Pird replied dismissively.

***

"Three centimeters of unflawed ruby, several grams of untainted silver," observed Madame Canya, holding the brooch up to the light. She was a short, frail old lady, her lax fingers and neck weighed down with an array of dazzling jewelry. The anteroom to her large house was covered in all things plushy and purple, from the silk pillows on the couch to the gaudy wallpaper and carpeting. Sye hung by the door, doing his best not to make a face at the overwhelming flowery perfume.

"Mined in Bakaar and crafted by Luther in Mirith. How did you know that this is the one trinket I'd love to lose?"

Sye looked up from the window in surprise to catch an 'I-told-you-so' look from Pird.

Great, Sye thought, Encourage him.

"I wish you would keep it," Canya sighed, adjusting her large bun of dark gray hair, "It is perfectly hideous, don't you think?"

Pird nodded, "I didn't need the head start on the guards you gave me."

Canya gave a tinkling laugh, "I would not like to put you out of business! It is not every day a young grinner like yourself drops by this little old lady's house."

Pird beamed, displaying the mentioned grin. His right cheek had a habit of pulling up more than his left, giving his smile a slightly lopsided look. Pird was a head short for his eighteen years, but well toned from his acrobatics. An unruly shock of brown hair complemented his smiling hazel eyes. Keen eyes that never rested too long on any one thing.

Canya glanced over the brooch to Sye, "You should really cut your hair one of these days, Syrus."

Sye jumped at the sound of his name and reflexively touched his braid, "I would if I could." Sye was just a few centimeters above the average Eretian height, not enough to be noticeable. By his family's tradition, his dark blond hair was worn long and held back as a simple braid that fell to the small of his back. His cheekbones were high, but did not make him look contemptuous, and his gray eyes quietly took things in their intelligent way. Sye's apparel wasn't much different from Pird's, even though he had a far larger selection to choose from. Both wore the typical Eretian garb; a loose colored shirt haphazardly tucked into white slacks. Today Sye wore shades of blue, while Pird went with a more eye-catching mauve.

"He's royalty," Pird explained, hiding a grin.

"Of course he is," replied Canya dismissively, "But that doesn't excuse having that long hair with the way his eyes take the light. It is perfectly hideous, don't you think?"

***

"It's perfectly hideous, don't you think?" Pird sang as he and Sye walked down the mostly empty street.

"You're not worth the trouble," Sye said sourly.

"You wouldn't know what to do without me," Pird prodded playfully.

Sye rolled his eyes, "You still haven't told me why you went ahead and had your fun today instead of day after tomorrow. I can't protect your hobby if you're not careful."

"I'm careful."

"You're dodging the question."

Pird shrugged, "To be honest, I really don't know. I just felt like going out here. Where it's quiet."

"You've been around Eris too long," said Sye.

"Of course I have!" Pird replied, exasperated, "You're off with your father, Zook's at the hospital again, and Magist is at the festival!"

"Why didn't Eris go?"

"Something about it being too loud. Then she started reading again, probably sleeping now too. So I'm out here, being pushed around by you."

The two came to the top of one of the bridges spanning the canals and looked around. Sye leaned on the railing and said, almost to himself, "It's easier to see when it's quiet."

"What is?" asked Pird, perplexed.

"Eretia," Sye answered wistfully.

Eretia, the trade city of Adrala, was a forest of white. Buildings crowded together, each one more magnificent then the last. Pillars and archways stretched over the streets, lending to walkways and suspended canals that layered Eretia's infrastructure. All was crafted from smooth white marble, the flurry of crowds usually providing the color with their flamboyant clothes. Water, an unlimited resource that Eretia needed no pumps for, was used in every decoration. Water spouted from fountains, ran down the sides of roofs and walls, cascaded on either side of doors, ran along miniature canals in the sidewalks, streaming simply everywhere.

After taking in the grand sight, Pird's eyes were drawn, as everyone's eyes inevitably were, to Saranoda.

Colossal, gargantuan, massive, giant, and mammoth were all words too small to describe the great tower Saranoda. The tower measured little more than two kilometers in diameter, and the tallest visible point was estimated to be twenty kilometers above the island. If one stood at the coast of the Lermur Sea, they would see a line on the horizon that rose up to fade beyond the visible atmosphere. Its metal had a dark blue sheen, but that was the only clue to its composition. At regular intervals, roughly a few kilometers in between, four massive triangular arms sprouted from its side and reached over the city, each time at a different angle but exactly equally apart.

Saranoda was the source of Eretia's water. Great slits were cut into the arms; open veins, and gaping caverns carved into its body. Pure, undiluted water rushed from these apertures all over the tower. The weight of tens of millions of liters falling from so high into the immense bowl at the tower's base created a rumble that could be heard several kilometers off the coast of their island. The sun's rays filtered down through its vast canopy, its leaves nothing more than white vapor. Pird was glad the wind was going east today; otherwise the castoff from the tower's falls would be causing a heavy rain in their northern district.

Expeditions to climb Saranoda had long been given up as impossible. The Eretians were born at its base and raised in its shadow. It struck Pird that he didn't often truly see Saranoda, it was as part of Eretia as any stone in the city's streets.

But it's just Saranoda, Pird thought, Why do I keep staring at it today?

"Imagine living to the west or east," Sye wondered out loud, "A chunk of every day removed by the sun disappearing behind the tower."

"Be rather depressing," Pird agreed, then added with a wry smile, "But at least it'd be easier to sneak around."

Sye nodded absentmindedly, obviously not hearing.

A minute passed, nearly provoking Pird to give Sye enough of a shove to make his friend jump back from the railing, when Sye suddenly asked, "Do you ever wonder where Saranoda came from?"

Pird blinked in suprise, "What do you mean?"

Sye laughed, "I mean what was here before? Why is there a giant pillar of metal in the middle of the sea?"

"Why are pants called 'pants'?" Pird asked, shrugging.

Sye frowned, "You're not very helpful."

"You're asking things nobody does, what'd you want from me?" Pird replied, exasperated, "Hey, let's go back to Magist's. You're sleeping over again, right?"

"Yea," Sye replied, giving up, "But I have to be by my father when he announces his success tonight."

Pird snapped his fingers, "That's what I meant to ask you! All of Eretia's having a party, but the only thing they know is that your father is returning. What's the mysterious Mayor up to?"

"My father wanted to keep it secret for a while; he's had a lot of opposition."

"You mean the giant bug thing?"

Sye winced, "Not you too, the bug has a name."

"So we're really going to start trading with the big bug-I mean, Flaar?"

Sye nodded, "The sand forests the Flaarians tend are home to some very unique, very valuable kinds of spices. There's speculation that there's a lot of medicinal applications to be found there as well. My father had to meet with Flaar alone to negotiate. Flaar would have it no other way."

Pird whistled, "No wonder he's only going to make one appearance, tough being Mayor."

"Don't you know it," Sye said, suddenly sounding distracted.

Pird had more to say, but he held his silence out of respect for his friend's difficulties. Being twenty, Sye had less than three years until he became a legal adult and his father would announce his successor. Then Sye would have to do more then being present and making the odd toast.

Probably will have to start acting serious too, Pird thought dismally.

It wasn't long before they came to Magist's house. It was large and ornate, bordering on being a small mansion. A pair of columns rose on either side of the door, encased in glass with running water between the clear surface and marble. The windows were tall and thin, looking over an entire fourth of an acre of grass. Inlaid in the white door was a large glass sphere. Pird knew it was useless to try and look in; the globe was somehow designed to be a one-way view.

To the side of the door was a pile of wooden boards and nails, the remains of freight crates common to Eretia.

"Wonder what we got," Pird asked, kicking an errant board back into the pile.

"No idea," Sye replied, reaching up to use the dragon-shaped knocker when a flustered looking Magist opened the door for them.

"Oh," said Magist, looking surprised, "So you are back. Just in time. Good, I mean, well, yes, good."

Magist was a short, slightly heavy man with balding white hair. His twinkling blue eyes flitted between Pird and Sye, his small but strong hands were held rigidly at his side, rubbing his thumbs over his fingers.

"Have either of you seen a roll of paper?" Magist asked urgently, ushering them in, "Leather knot with a red wax seal?"

"I saw a scroll on your desk," said Sye, "Next to our essays on the War of Two Kings."

Magist laughed, "On my desk, the only place it would be. Pird!"

Pird snapped to attention, blinking away a daydream about ducks swordfighting, "What'd I break?"

"Who do we now call the False King?"

Pop quiz, Pird thought anxiously, False King. Go away ducks! Thinking. Thinking. Thinking.

Yup. Not a clue.

"Rathmin Ter'kor," Sye answered, "He convinced the city of Benji to cut trade to Mirith and invade D'Buul so-"

"As I expect to find in your essay," Magist interrupted gently, "That is why the question was posed to whom has yet to write theirs."

"You lost me at 'whom'," Pird said.

"Pird."

Pird glanced away, "I'm working on it."

"I imagine you will be now," Magist said firmly, but with a smile. The smile was short lived, replaced again by anxiety, "Oh my speech, on my desk. Be right back."

Pird flopped down in the nearest seat. Magist called it a sitting room, but the house's dignity called it an atrium. A large elaborate fireplace was the dominating feature amongst the array of tall armchairs that evoked a peculiar image of being butlers at the ready. Pird suspected that was why Magist fussed over the chairs so much; he could not bring himself to hire someone to do something he could readily do with his own hands. Large paintings hung on the walls, water running over their glass frames. They depicted different views of different landmarks throughout the island. Magist took Eretia's decoration to heart as its head historian; every room breathed water and was tiled in white and bright marbled gray.

Magist came back down the stairs, scroll clutched in one hand, still looking flustered.

"What're you up to?" Sye asked.

"Your father wants me to give a grand speech about Eretia's place in the scheme of things. My specialty of course, we are the next Mirith, but there is still..."

"You lecture to a lot more people than just us sometimes," Sye said, "Why are you so nervous?"

"Well, yes," said Magist, "He actually wants me to say we are the next Mirith, that we'll soon have The Fourth City after our name. That, and he promised me a trip to the ruins of the Second City."

"That sounds like fun," Pird said, "You know, with all the rocks there. And snow. Snow and rocks."

"Not everyone's playpen is rooftops and races," Magist said, "There are some very interesting rocks in all that snow, so I am doing my best to, well, try my best. Have you seen my hat?"

"You're wearing it," Pird said with a straight face.

Magist took his white top hat off, "Why, so I am. Is Eris still here or has she discovered sleepwalking?"

"Haven't seen her menacing the living outside," Pird said with a shrug, then suddenly lit up, "Hey, what were the boxes for?"

"That would be a surprise, and so is what I have to say over dinner," Magist said with a mischievous smile.

Pird stood up and stretched, "What's for eats, anyway?"

Magist's face fell, "Oh I really need to leave, I completely forgot, I am already so very late. Zook will be home from his shift at the hospital soon, ask him. You know he cooks better than I do."

***

"Great," said Pird as Magist closed the door behind him, "Just what I wanted, a bowl of pissed-off to finish my day."

And Zook's not even here yet, Sye thought. "You know Zook's only irritable-" began Sye.

"-because I choose to irritate him," finished Pird, "I know, I know, but why pass up the opportunity?" Pird's face lit up with sudden excitement, "Hey, let's go wake up Eris!"

"I don't know..." Sye began uncertainly but Pird had already disappeared down the hall. Sye followed and waited expectantly just outside the generous library. Magist had a large collection of books neatly ordered on mahogany shelves, a stark contrast to his messy study upstairs. The water theme continued here, running silently under the glass on the walls, giving the illusion of a permanently rainy day.

There was a scream that made Sye wince, followed by the thudding of hurried feet. Pird tore out of the doorway and hid behind Sye. Book still clutched in one hand, Eris just missed Pird's shirt as she lunged after him.

Eris was the same age as Sye and only a few centimeters shorter. Her red-auburn hair fell to the small of her back, somehow elegant even with the bed-head she sported. Her eyes were a calming shade of sea green that reflected a calm mind waiting to listen. She was slender and her skin was lighter than the average Eretian, showing just a dusting of freckles on her unassuming nose. Sye, however, knew quite well that her delicate looks were more than just deceiving.

"Protect me Sye!" Pird yelled in mock horror.

Sye merely crossed his arms as he stood between the two, "What's his crime?"

"He stuck his wet finger in my ear!" Eris said indignantly, trying to get around Sye.

"Defense?"

"I couldn't help myself!" Pird goaded, "I claim insanity!"

Sye paused dramatically, then announced, "Guilty as charged, I suggest death by drowning," He stepped out of the way.

"Traitor!" Pird shouted, trying to make a run for it. He was fast, but Eris' proximity gave her all the advantages she needed. She grabbed the back of his shirt and lifted him bodily off the ground. To anyone not familiar with Eris it would appear that Pird was smuggling helium.

"She's got me!" said Pird, pretending to be terrified.

Sye followed Eris as she carried Pird outside. Pird tried to squirm away, but Eris held him in a grip that only could be hers.

***

"I already took a bath!" Pird protested before Eris tossed him into the canal. Pird took a moment in the air to marvel at his redheaded friend's unnatural strength before smacking into the cool water. He tumbled underneath for a moment before orienting himself and kicking out toward the surface. A cool, cynical voice met him as he broke from the water.

"We do have a pool."

Pird looked up to the low bridge over him to see a young man leaning on the railing. He wore his dark hair moderately long, accenting his permanent expression of mild irritation and contempt. Gray slacks, an odd color against Eretia's white buildings and colorful people, complemented his loose shirt. Over one shoulder he wore what looked like a messenger bag, but Pird knew that messengers typically didn't carry a selection of herbs and potions appropriate to a Healer.

"Hi, Zook," Pird said, rolling the name across his tongue in the way he knew would irritate the taller man, "You look cheery today, help me up!"

Zook pulled Pird up from the canal and Pird steeled himself in case Zook decided to push him back in. Pird had seen a glimmer of red in Zook's dark iris', a sure sign that his patience had already been spent elsewhere.

"Magist says you're cooking today," said Sye as Pird shook himself off.

"You're kidding?" Zook asked, looking weary, "There's food poisoning from your dad's party, I've been treating boils down peoples' throat from some kind of shrimp. Now I have to cook?"

"If any of us cook you'll have more food poisoning to worry about."

Zook sighed, "Pird go down in the cellar and grab the last few steaks."

"Why me?" asked Pird.

"Because it's cold down there, you're wet, and I know it'll make you miserable. Get some eggs while you're at it."

***

It didn't take Zook long to get a fire going in the clever Eretian stove that dispersed heat throughout a large black countertop and begin cooking a meal for five. Eris and Pird helped while Sye went out to look for Magist.

"Why'd you fall asleep in the library?" Pird asked Eris as he deftly sliced vegetables.

"Tired," Eris answered, perforating potatoes with a fork. Zook had delegated her to where she could do the least flavor-damage.

"From what, reading?"

Eris paused in the middle of taking down plates, "To be honest, I heard Saranoda."

Pird snorted, "Then you'd be asleep all the time!'

"No I mean I really heard it. It was like everything was quietly shuddering, the rumble seemed a little louder. It was...disconcerting."

"You passed my syllable limit," Pird said.

"I heard it too," said Zook, looking up from the stove, "Patient yelled at me for not paying attention. It was odd. The tower, I mean."

"We never really think about Saranoda much, do we?" asked Eris.

What is up with everybody today? Pird thought, then shrugged, "There's only one room and no one's been able to climb it. It's just a big fountain."

"Do you ever think about..." Eris paused, "I don't know, what it does? Besides making water?"

"Why?" Pird replied, "The Priests do enough of that and look at the 'respect' they treat everyone with."

"Never mind," said Eris, sounding disappointed.

They heard the door open and Sye and Magist's words floated in, along with a third tenor.

"You mustn't be so modest," said a woman's brassy voice, "The crowd was cheering every time you raised your hand!"

"Oh please," said Magist, sounding abashed, "It is just the spirit of the celebration."

"I kid you not, Magist," said Sye, "That was the most patriotic I've felt my entire life."

"Lo' Angelina!" Pird said animatedly.

"A cheery hello to you, too," the intimidating woman replied. She was tall and ornamented with so many jewels it was blinding. Her jet black hair was frozen in an elaborate bun and her voluminous green dress seemed to take up the whole large kitchen.

"I really do envy you, Magist," she said, looking around, "The Mayor treats you well, even for tutoring his son."

"He is a close friend," Magist replied.

"Your charges are so well behaved," Angelina remarked, looking over Zook, Eris, and Pird as though they couldn't hear, "I'd hate to imagine what would have happened to them if you weren't named godfather for all three of them right before the disappearance."

There was a long, awkward pause as Zook's prodding slowed and Pird found other places to look. Magist was the first to speak, if quietly, "They were also all my close friends."

Angelina, apparently not noticing the drop in atmosphere, gave a lighthearted wave and announced her farewell. Magist softly closed the door behind her and turned to find how quiet and methodical Eris, Pird, and especially Zook had gotten in their work. Sye stood awkwardly to the side.

Magist sighed wearily, "Come now, I can not have you go dark on me every time the Sea Hammer is mentioned. It is long in the past and by now you should have-"

"Gotten over it?" Zook interrupted with open bitterness.

Judge damn you Zook, Pird thought tiredly, Do we really have to play this game today?

Magist paused, looking at him sympathetically, "That was far from what I was going to say. It was eighteen years ago Zook, you're the only one who was old enough to truly remember anything of your parents-"

"My mother," Zook said firmly.

Another pause, "You are keeping the disappearances of Pird's and Eris' parents alive by bleeding yours. You need to let it heal, Zook. It is hurting you in more ways than you want."

Zook returned darkly to the steak's cooking. Magist hesitated, then left with a silent Sye. Pird watched him go, as it wasn't often Zook turned his back on Magist. On others, perhaps, but not on the man who simply didn't have an sliver of malice in him. The man who didn't just give them a house to live in, but a home. After thinking about this, Pird decided to break the ice Angelina had flash-frozen on them, "Zook, is this onion supposed to look like your face?"

***

The dining room was a large, proud chamber. The five crowded one end of a table that could comfortably seat twenty. Both it and the high backed chairs were carved carefully from a deep mahogany, polished and stained even darker. Cut into the center of the table was a small, quiet fountain that kept a wooden ball afloat in its parting waters. Tapestries were hung between the tall windows from the high ceiling, each bearing either the star in the parting clouds, symbol of Eretia, or the strange reversed question-mark that was the only thing on Saranoda's surface that looked anything close to a marking. A grand chandelier poised low over the table, stretching its many golden arms. Over the tall fireplace behind Magist's chair hung a large oil painting of Saranoda, an angled, dizzy view looking down on the distant Eretia. The fireplace and a few elegant lamps were starting to take over for the retiring sun, making the shadows lurch in an hypnotizing way.

Pird shot Zook dirty looks between each bite, rubbing his throbbing arm.  I wasn't that insulting, he thought. Zook glowered over his steak. Pird couldn't summon up the cheery inertia needed to make the Healer's cheek twitch, the closest to a smile that sometimes got lost onto his face.

I hope I don't become that depressing at twenty-three, Pird thought, pushing his broccoli around with his fork. Eris' lightening laughter caused him to look up. Apparently Sye was describing how people were getting so drunk at the celebration that they were tripping into the canals, keeping the guards busy. Pird's gaze traveled up the table to Magist, who kept glancing at him over his steak.

Probably curious as to why I'm not sneaking food shots at Zook, Pird thought idly, stabbing the itinerant broccoli.

"Magist," said Sye, "You said you had a surprise? You know what this dinner will turn into if you hold out on us."

"Actually, as I said, I have two," Magist said with a smile, carefully putting down his silverware, "But first I must make sure you all have paid enough attention to fully appreciate them. Pird!"

Pird jumped in his seat automatically at the sound of a teacher, "Yes?"

"What is the symbol of Eretia?"

"A star parting the-" Pird began, eyes going to the surrounding tapestries.

"No," Magist interrupted, "Not the textbook answer. What is Eretia's symbol? What is our ultimate depiction of knowledge and power? If you go anywhere in Adrala and say 'Eretia', what is the first thing one would think of? What's the first thing you see when you come here?"

And we're thinking again, Pird thought. He guessed tentavily, "Saranoda?"

"Correct, can you think of any structure larger?"

"No."

"Yet what is ironic about its size?"

Pird thought for a second.  Where is this leading?  "It only has one room?"

"Correct again," said Magist, "A tower that eclipses the sun for half our island every day, a fountain that produces enough water in five minutes to quench the thirst of each and every one of Adrala's eighty-four million people for a week. A tower whose arms, right under sea level, provides the foundations for our artificial island. Yet, in its vastness, there is only one, single, empty room. There are no other known entrances to Saranoda, although some speculate that there is one at the top. Assuming, of course, if there is a top."

"There has to be a top," Sye objected.

"I am just repeating the general opinion," said Magist with a wry smile, "Not mine. The mystery of the three towers has been tried by many and failed by all. No one has found a word as to why the sister tower Krakrenenor looks nearly identical nor why Bandui looks so different and lacks an entrance. Tomorrow, however, it will be our turn to try our hand."

"We're going to Saranoda's sanctum?" Eris asked in disbelief.

"That's right."

"When?" asked Sye.

"Tomorrow."

"How'd you get permission from the Priests?"

Magist leaned back in his chair, "Technically, I do not need their permission, the towers of Adrala belong to no one."

"Yeah," said Pird doubtfully, "But saying that won't stop em' from mobbing you."

"How did you convince them?" asked Sye.

"Yes, how did you buy a day from the men in robes and their 'talking' towers?" asked Zook.

"Please," said Magist, raising his hands in defense, "I would rather you not call them that. It really became a matter of bureaucracy; let us just say I had a piece of history they were interested in."

"That's boring Magist," said Pird, "We all want to hear how you mowed down their self-righteous pining with your advanced vocabulary."

Magist sighed, "Trust me, they are verbal enough. The lack of logic behind their words is what is diminishing. Are we all done with dinner?"

Sye eyed his half-eaten potato, which had somehow been overcooked, "I suppose so, why?"

Magist smiled, "That would be telling. Clear off the table and we will convene in my study."

***

Magist's study was the opposite of his neat library. It was dim and dusty, his many shelves crammed with dog eared books and worn scrolls. Tables and desks groaned under the mountains of papers and disheveled stacks sat on the floor beside them. One wall bore the bookcases; another was hidden by a collection of yellowed maps that showed all of Adrala to its finest detail. Behind Magist's desk was a cupboard crammed with artifacts: swords, axes, bits of ancient tablets, a silver gear, a twisted plate of a tin-white metal with bubbles frozen across its surface. All collected from the few pioneers to the Second City. Magist's most prized possession lay in a glass case on his desk; a small grayish-silver ball with flecks of orange dusting it. The wall across from Magist's desk was simply a great pane of glass that looked out across the many smaller houses, Saranoda standing proudly in the distance.

The new addition to the study stood firmly at the room's center. At first glance it looked like an oddly shaped stone table standing upon a single ornate leg. A slender pillar rose from its center, the table's surface was rough and was carved into a distorted circular shape.

"What is it?" Eris asked curiously.

"Look and you shall see," Magist said with a smile.

"It's a map!" Sye said in sudden recognition, rushing to its side, "Look at Saranoda! It's perfect!"

"A map?" Pird asked, getting closer. To his astonishment, he immediately saw that carved into its marble surface were tens of hundreds of tiny, lifelike buildings. The major canals were cut deep into the stone, each one radiating out from Saranoda, connecting to the sea and to each other in a network of pencil thin waterways. Saranoda itself was rendered in perfect detail, every arm, fountain, vein, and aperture carved intricately at their precise location. However, a meter up from the map the detail noticeably faded, until the sides were blank and Saranoda ended in an artistic shard.

Pird immediately found Eretor's memorial, a nail sized figurine of the island's founder displayed in the central square. There was the Great Hospital in its miniature glory, the Third Archives, and down a few carved roads...

"Magist?" Pird asked slowly, "Is that our house?"

"It is," Magist said, immensely pleased, "This map is perfectly accurate, but there is much more to this than extraordinary detail. Pird, will you bring me a plug?"

Pird nodded and kneeled near the wall behind him. He felt along the wall's bottom until he clicked a hidden catch. A small panel flipped open and Pird reached inside to grab the complex nozzle inside. He pulled the nozzle out, dragging out a slack black hose from the hidden reel until he thought he had enough. Magist took it from him and fitted the device into the map's underside with a satisfying click.

"Watch," said Magist. Pird pressed a catch under the hose's reel and immediately the hose thickened with rushing water. After a few moments the minuscule holes and slits carved elegantly into the imitation Saranoda suddenly erupted with water, flowing down the tower's side and misting over the miniature city. The tiny canals flowed, water reaching out in an encompassing web over Eretia until it was sucked under the sides to be recycled.

"It's beautiful," Eris said in wonder.

"The map is one of six," said Magist proudly, "One will be placed at each major port and a larger one will be in front of the Mayor's manor. Before we continue, this amazing contraption still has one more trick."

Magist felt under the lip of the map's northern coast. Before Pird's eyes several of the mock-tower's fountains strengthened while others weakened. The even distribution of 'rain' shifted until it took on a familiar fall.

"It's like today," Sye said, grinning at the map's ingenuity, "It's been raining on the western side all day."

"As it has been for the past week," said Magist, "There is supposed to be a switch in trade winds, High Idusces might give us a rainwall spectacle tonight. This map allows for wind speed and more, we can predict rainfall more accurately now."

"I think I'll retire from being chased and become an engineer," Pird said, already examining the controls.

"I am sure that would be a positive direction for your career," Magist said, "We will explore the map more in tomorrow's lesson, but now it is late and we will not want to miss the fireworks and the speeches."

"More fireworks. Less speeches," Pird remarked.

***

They waited by the door for Sye to find his cloak while Magist fussed over Eris.

"Really, I wish you would wear something more..." Magist's gestures dwindled off for a moment, "It would not hurt you to be ladylike on occasion, there will be dancing tonight."

Eris merely shrugged, not looking up from her book.

"And Zook, if you are to have any girl ask you to dance you must not dress so dourly. It would be nice if one did ask and you did not end up terrifying her."

Zook sighed and offered an arm, "Eris, darling?"

"Yes dear," Eris replied, standing and taking Zook's arm. Magist sighed, giving up. Eris tucked her book away in Zook's medicine bag.

Pird was jealous. If his hands were anywhere near Zook's bag they'd soon need its contents.

Sye came down the stairs, finishing buttoning down his dark blue suit. Pird was about to make what he thought to be a very clever comment on Sye's apparel when he caught a strange expression on his friend's face.

What, do Eris and Zook's clothes clash or something? Pird thought, bemused.

They went outside and Pird was once again struck by the absence of nightlife in the streets. The masking noise gone, there was only the oddly loud rumble of Saranoda. The five descended a short staircase nearby and piled into Magist's private gondola. Pird and Eris found the driving poles in the long, thin vessel and used them to push it out to the waterway's currents. It was unusual to see a lone barrel slowly drifting down the canal instead of there being boats of all sizes crammed together. In a city renown for its canals, it was rare to actually see the water under the colorful ships and the patient shouts of their tenders.

The sun had fallen behind the horizon and the twin moons, pale Serenade and amethyst Nocturne, shone down with all their brilliance, throwing the city into a pearly light. The stars floated and bobbed on the water, disappearing as they brought the gondola under a low stone bridge. Sye's quiet conversation with Zook died away, it was a tradition not to speak under bridges. An old superstition that they indulged in for fun, dealing with demons and elementals of lore, but even Pird succumbed because of the harmony of warped, reverberating sounds of water twirling under their poles.

As soon as they escaped the quiet twisting reflections a loud screech made them all jump, followed by a bang. A blossom of red light appeared in the night sky, quickly fading away to black smoke. Another waterway intersected them on their left, allowing them a clean view to one of the main canals. An Eretian tradeship parted the artificial river's waters, a mammoth masterpiece of shipwright and engineering. Its deck lit up with another firework, a purple flare this time, illuminating the dancing crew aboard. A large, slanted building toward its back served as the cabins and bridge. Sails were strung across its many masts, sometimes skimming over the side in their odd organization. Pird knew that under the cargo holds were great spring-powered engines, if the wind was going the wrong way-

"Pird!" Zook called from up front, "We're drifting!"

Pird shook his head vigorously and pushed forward with his pole, righting their course.  I have been hanging around Eris for too long, Pird thought, First Saranoda, now this.  His mind seemed determined to stop and take in all of Eretia's splendor, the same splendor he had seen each and every minute of his life and, as far as he could tell, would continue seeing until they drew up a tomb boat for him.

As the five floated north the quiet was slowly replaced by jubilant music and laughter. Someone had replaced the glass of the lamps with tinted colors, spilling reds and purples across the canvas of the city's white. The number of people Pird saw in the streets and in the canals grew rapidly, as most of Eretia's nine million were out celebrating across the city's many squares. The waterways rapidly filling up, the five found a place to tie Magist's boat on the outskirts and made their way through the crowd. Pird felt slightly out of place in his every day attire amongst the extravagant robes and suits of the men and elegant flowing dresses of the women. The white city was exploding in color. People hung Eretian star and cloud banners from their windows and the same symbol was painted across their white stone walls.

Won't last long when the cleaning fountains turn on in the morning, Pird thought, then caught himself from further exploring Eretia's water services in his head. It was simply not like him, sitting back and picking things over. The other three did their share of that for him.

"My father has declared today a city holiday!" Sye yelled over the ring of shouts, music, and laughter, "He's calling it 'Yester Day!'"

"Yester Day?" Pird shouted back, "As in the day before?"

"It's a day for Eretian history, which of course always happened yesterday!"

"So today is Yester Day? Sye, your father is twisted!"

Too bad the holiday isn't because the good Mayor is a partier, Pird thought, He's getting us all buttered up to tell us that we're trading with bugs.

Lectures on Flaar were amongst the few that captivated Pird. Flaar was an insect lord, an ancient behemoth that commanded a vast horde of Flaarians in the Korlith desert, south of the Lermur Sea that Eretia floated on. The Mayor had long tried to acquire trade with Flaar's hive, but the difficulty laid more with human side of things. Many regarded Flaar as a demon of sorts, which Pird knew wasn't difficult to believe with the fearsome way the creature looked. But as Magist always firmly taught, most chose to forget that Flaar's hive was the only thing keeping the other insect lord, Threndre, in check. Little was known about Threndre and his hive, as few survived any kind of encounter with it.

Pird found a buffet and grabbed an armful of warm, seasoned buns. He slipped through the dancing mass and quickly found Zook. He was talking over the orchestra to someone whom Pird quickly recognized.

"Hey Ladro," said Pird, removing a large roll from his mouth, "How's the grin?"

"Hi Pird," said Zook, a rare smile disappearing.

"'Ello my pickpocket!" Ladro replied in his enthusiastic manner, his wide and toothy smile painful to look at, "I'm told you had a whole 'toon of guards after ya."

Zook had once told Pird that Ladro had received too much of an uncommon painkiller in a hospital accident. The medicine went straight to his head and effectively erased any ability of his to feel pain, gloom, or sadness to much degree. Zook thought heavily of his friend's predicament and scowled at Pird when the thief said that a permanent smile wasn't such a bad thing.

"Not quite a platoon," Pird said modestly, "There was only three."

"Aye," Ladro said, gesturing with his glass, "But only one of you. I say you outdid yourself by three hundred percent."

"I had Sye handle that."

"Corruption in the government starts young," laughed Ladro, "To our future criminal-housing Mayor, to Sye!" Ladro and Zook raised their glasses, Pird raising his bread. Ladro made his wine disappear with one deep tip of his head. The grinning man's eyes widened as his gaze fell beyond Zook and Pird.

"Would y'look at that," said Ladro, "Saranoda celebrates too!"

Pird followed the man's eyes to the tower, looking even larger in the night. He then bolted through the crowd in search of Magist, Zook leaving his transfixed friend to follow. Pird found that Eris had convinced their old teacher to dance with her and Sye, not far off, was talking to another familiar face.

"Hi Marta," said Pird, "How's Sarge doing?"

The little brown haired and bright eyed woman turned from Sye, "Why speak of Ignorance, the Prince was just telling me how he saved you from a pack of guards!"

"Three," Sye corrected.

"A pack all the same. Old Sargie's out with the navy, they're touring the glaciers to the far north, y'know, they want to drag one all the way back here! Ice for months!"

Pird nodded and then went to Magist, whom Eris had released.

"Rainwall's coming," Pird said to him. Even though he hadn't raised his voice, the couple nearest to him gave shouts of joy and turned to Saranoda. Throughout the crowd the dancers and the drinkers, one by one, turned to the tower. Pird could tell a tourist by the few who looked around in bewilderment at the sudden halt in the party. Even the orchestra put aside their instruments and the noise of the celebration died away. To one not familiar with Eretia, it would be eerie to see so many people turn without much more than a carrying whisper in the same direction.

Pird looked to Saranoda, the grand white rumbling falls visible even at this distance. The descent of so much water looked deceivingly slow. Cloaks of mists and threads of clouds circled the gargantuan tower, enhancing its dominating shape. To the tower's right was what looked like a great, shimmering curtain, reflecting the pale light that filtered through Eretia's persistent clouds. The giant curtain didn't look like it unfurled from the clouds, but rather like it fell from even higher, roiling the clouds it fell through.

The crowd watched without a word, Saranoda's rumble the only thing heard. The massive tower grew dark and bleary as the curtain passed in front of it. Beneath the rumble there now was a gentle hiss. Saranoda faded more and more as the shimmering cloak approached them. The warm air cooled, feeling like it had grown lighter. As the curtain neared, the wind picked up in a quiet gust. Mist slipped over the crowd, tingling Pird's skin. The hiss grew to a storm of heavy pattering. Then, the curtain passed them. The rainwall had come.

Pird was instantly drenched under the deluge, the thick rain washing over him and obscuring his sight after less than a block. His vision was limited to a small space in a cloud of hissing gray. The rain was warm and pleasant, the swollen drops soon raising a shallow stream beneath his feet.

The band started up again, more jubilant than before. The dancing began with a renewed fervor, their world transformed by the Saranodian rain, the tower itself now a black outline, the falls more heard than seen.

"Breathtaking, every time," Magist said in quiet awe. Visitors to Eretia were obvious by the way they stood, shocked at the sudden downpour.

_Visit here long enough,_ Pird thought with a grin at their dumbfounded looks, _and you get used to getting wet._

"Dance with me!" Eris shouted over the rain and music, getting a hold on Pird's hand. He gave one protest then let her swing him around in resignation. He was too busy enjoying the rain. The air was just warm, almost cool, and smelled clear and crisp. Water rushed through his hair and over his face and body. He never missed a chance to be outside when a rainwall passed.

"How long until we get hypothermia?" Zook asked.

"It's warm Zook," said Pird, now released of Eris, "Give us a smile, you're going to make the rain cold and then we'll catch-"

It happened so suddenly that it took a moment for anyone to realize anything had occurred. All at once, the rain simply stopped. The music cut off in surprise and the dancers slowly halted and looked around in confusion. Pird, like everyone else, was searching for the retreating rainwall that had apparently overshot them.

That was fast, thought Pird, squinting to see in the flickering light of the lamps. He turned around several times, a full five minutes passing before a kernel of panic began to throb within him.  Where's the rainwall, it's fast but not that fast. We should be able to see it, there's no reason why we can't-

Whispers broke out around him and someone pointed. Pird followed the shaking finger once again to Saranoda.

No, he thought slowly in terror, cold writhing through his veins, That's...that's impossible. It's the mists, you can't see right through the mists. That has to be it, has to be! Pird dashed off through the frozen crowd and scrambled up a fountain carved into a house's side. His reeling mind did not notice the lack off water flowing from the fountain. His ears strained for a noise, a noise that conquered everything but seemed just out of his reach to recognize. He boosted off the fountain to a windowsill and climbed up on the rooftop. There, above the mist that had fallen through the streets, was the undeniable sight illuminated by the moonlight.

Pird felt dizzy, disoriented, like when one's mind tries to fill in the missing limbs of an amputee. Seeing something so long, embracing it into reality, that when it's gone the mind tries to see it whole. It was then Pird realized the nature of the sound he was trying to hear, the one that he strained so hard to catch. It wasn't a sound, it was an absence of a sound. The silence fell on him like the crash of a tsunami. He looked up in horror at the distant tower Saranoda.

Without sound there can be no rumble. Without a rumble there can be no falls. The might of Saranoda's grand fountains had been silenced.

End of the First Chapter

# The Awakening

"And so everything begins."

"After everything ends."

-The Four under the Foundings

Zook felt numb, the silence deafening in his ears. It was eerie; the many people around him were frozen, listening hard for something that was no longer there. He felt like he was teetering on a cliff, the fall below him endless into the terrifying unknown.

This cannot be happening, Zook thought, unable to tear his eyes away from Saranoda.

Magist suddenly shook him, "I want you four to go back to my house. Now."

"What?" Zook asked in a daze.

"What's going on Magist?" Pird asked fearfully after he jumped down from his perch.

"There will be much to discuss," Magist said urgently, "But right now you four must go to the house."

"Why?" Sye asked.

"Look around you, this city has become a living bomb. All it needs is one scream to light the fuse. In the face of the unknown there will be chaos."

"Magist," Eris said distantly, "Saranoda..."

"My poor children," Magist said, reaching out to touch each of them, "Right now you cannot afford to be afraid. Leave, I will catch up. Hurry!"

Unable to argue, the four left Magist. Walking back to the house was like walking though a dream. Everyone else was still, all looking up at Saranoda. Their faces were either confused or terrified, marking them as tourist or citizen. The fountains, the decorations on the houses and the streams carved into the walls spluttered with dying breaths, their dribbling a mockery of their former glory.

Zook's legs moved, but his mind did not. His ears strained for the rumble's return, his eyes for the city's spray of water. It was like missing a step on the stairs, the feeling of falling coming late after the missing reassurance of ground. When they reached Magist's house a sound pierced the silence, stilling them. The noise was so soft, but in the terrible quiet Zook could have heard a feather floating down.

"Are the falls back?" Pird asked, hope all too apparent in his voice.

"No," Sye said slowly, "But it is a rumble."

In the distance, they heard people screaming. Zook felt a chill at the sound of so many's terror. As a Healer, he had heard people scream before, but never in such numbers.

"Magist was right," said Eris quietly.

"It doesn't sound right," said Sye.

"What do you mean?" Zook asked, taken aback by the strange remark, "Those people are terrified!  I'm terrified!"

"I don't know, it just feels like something's wrong."

"The falls have stopped!" Zook shouted, familiar anger pleasantly driving out the numbing cold, "Of course something is wrong!"

"Pird?" Sye asked, ignoring Zook. Pird nodded and quickly scaled the nearest building.

Monkey, Zook thought. For some reason, he found his eyes drawn to the canal near them. The still water seemed to swell for a moment before dipping back down. It took Zook a second to realize that a slight wave had gone by.

"What do you see?" Sye called up to Pird.

"I...I don't know!" Pird called back. He made motions like each of his hands were on a balance, "The houses are moving!" He climbed back down, looking scared, "It's like a wave, they're going up and down in lines. It's coming for us!"

Pird was punctuated by the distant rumble growing louder. They turned toward it, toward the direction of Saranoda.

"What should we do?" Zook asked, surprised at how calm he sounded. How detached he felt.

Is this real? Zook thought.

"Nothing," said Sye grimly, "If we go inside something could fall on us. Get to the middle of the street, away from the buildings."

They obeyed and then they waited. Zook's thoughts seemed to bounce around in his head, looking for something, anything, that they could do. It tortured him to be doing nothing and grasp for calm at the same time. Doing nothing while this 'wave' approached.

The rumble grew louder and Zook's eyes were drawn to the wide building at the far end of the street, at the corner. Suddenly, all of its windows blew out with a tinkling crash. Cracks blossomed on the white stone and snaked down to the road. The cracks widened and shot up the street to the four, slipping up walls of houses.

The street and the building with broken windows heaved. The ground swelled beneath it, raising the building up higher than Zook was tall. Its cracks widened further, some spraying splintered stone. The swelling rolled forward toward the four with terrifying speed, the building dipping behind it. Houses it passed rose and fell, their windows shattering like someone within was smashing them out. The buildings groaned, the deceivingly slow pace of the wave broken when the columns of a house buckled and the entire building caved in. It was then Zook tried to run away, as useless as it was, but it was already too late. The wave rolled underneath him, the stone beneath their feet breaking into numberless facets.

Zook stumbled to the ground, the road heaving underfoot too strange to stand on. The ground slanted then fell, becoming flat once again. The earthen wave rolled behind them, blowing out windows in its path. It lifted another building at the streets other end, splitting the building in two with a gaping fissure, then disappeared from view. The rumble gradually quieted until there was nothing but the odd shout in the distance.

Zook held his hands out on either side of him, expecting the ground to move again. The wave's sudden appearance and exit was fast, but it still made the calm seem out of place. Minutes passed, it took the splintering crash of another house's foundations giving out and falling in on itself to make him talk.

"What by low Ignorance was that?" Zook asked. It was a while before anyone answered; they were too stunned to speak. The dreamlike feel of everything was even stronger now. Only in a dream could Saranoda's falls choke into silence, could Eretia's solid streets arch beneath their very feet.

"An earthquake?" Pird asked.

"We're not connected to any sort of land, Pird," Sye answered, "We're a floating island, anchored to Saranoda. The submarine crews need to be deployed under us; if any of our supports were damaged we could start breaking apart."

Another sound began to rise, beginning as a sweeping murmur. Zook turned to see a multitude of people pour out from around the corner. They were no longer individuals, but a mass that moved in the same direction. From the sound of it, there were many more to come.

"Magist's house," said Sye, "Before we're run over."

They climbed the steps, being careful of the broken glass from the windows and the columns' casing. The thick door, normally opening smoothly on fine bearings, now groaned.

Zook took his steps slow, looking at the dark room. The gas lamps on the walls hung askew, casting a pitiful light. Glass was scattered across the tile, pools of water adding to the glimmering gloom. The floor was split by a wide crack, one half higher than the other. Wanting to deny what he was seeing, Zook walked into the dining room. The chandelier had fallen, its twisted remains having broken through the long table. The tapestries had come to rest on the flooded floor and the fireplace had gone out. The moons' light fell through the thin broken windows onto the ruined room, making it look abandoned for years. The only thing untouched was the painting of Saranoda, the pale wavering light of the water washing over it.

This isn't my home, thought Zook, looking around him in twisted awe.

The four went upstairs, again mindful of the shards from the glass pipe that had once served as a handrail. Magist's study was a lake of paper, the rigid mountains of parchment having collapsed into rolling hills. His bookcases had fallen, spilling books everywhere. Thankfully, Magist kept no decorations here so the room was dry.

"The map," said Eris in a hushed voice, as though they were in a tomb. Zook's attention was turned to the stone replica. The island part lay on the floor, shattered like a frail plate, but Saranoda still stood, unscathed by the quake. Zook and Sye walked to Magist's glass wall, now shattered. Zook looked below at the stream of people that were crammed shoulder to shoulder in the street. They moved unanimously in one direction, their frightened voices not rising above whispers. No one looked up at him.

"Where are they all going?" Sye asked, "There's nothing but forest and sea outside of the city."

"They're just getting away from Saranoda," Pird said quietly.

"What, why?" asked Zook.

"When I was up top and saw the buildings move, it was like a ripple. A circle that grew across the city. Saranoda-" Pird swallowed, "You could say that it was the drop."

"What in Judgment's name is going on?" asked Sye.

Zook looked over the slowly moving multitude, "I don't see Magist."

Eris joined him, "There's a lot of people, plus you know how he is. Magist is probably at the very back, making sure no one is left behind."

"Look over there!" said Pird. Magist's study had a view that stretched to the nearest main canal. A tradeship had made emergency port at the canal's side, ropes and ramps tying it down. In the distance they could see a mob trying to get on. Zook heard Pird rummaging through a drawer in Magist's desk and the thief appeared beside him with a spyglass held up to his eye.

"Would you look at that," said Pird, using it to focus on the tradeship, "Old Roy is out there."

"Roy?" Zook asked.

"Y'know, the baker? He's shouting and turning red like he always does and he...good Idusces he just shoved someone into the canal!"

"Hey!" came a shout from below.

Zook looked down, "Ladro!"

The grinning man stubbornly held his ground, but the crowd was gradually buffeting him with them, "You abandoned me back there, mate!"

"Wha-? But...I didn't mean..." Zook fumbled.

"Just messin' with you," Ladro called back up with a laugh, "All four of you ok?"

"We are, have you seen Magist?"

"Nah, if I had I would've stuck to him faster than glue. Only codger around here who has any sense."

"An earthquake," Sye said suddenly, "It still could have been just an earthquake, like you said Pird. It started around Saranoda, right? We're anchored there, a quake would have shook the tower then shook us and-"

Whatever hopes of rational explanation Sye had were dashed when a soft blue light fell over them.

Zook held up his hands to the glow. It was as though the moons had abruptly become blue. This train of thought led Zook's eyes to the sky. The clouds around Saranoda glowed with the strange light. One by one, the people below stopped and looked up, some of them pointing. A frightened murmur bubbled up from below. Zook couldn't help but stare himself.

The blue strengthened, then the source came into view. Light struck out from the dry veins and fountains of Saranoda, piercing the night. It was like there was a small blue sun descending within the tower, its rays finding every nook and cranny to escape. As it lowered, the broken white city reflected the strange color. Zook followed its slow fall, thought banished from his mind. There was no sound of its descent, only a slight flicker of its light. It was trancelike, the whispers from below silenced and the eyes of an entire city all gazing up. Soon the light disappeared from view, vanishing underneath the distant buildings and the sole illumination belonged to the moons' once again. Zook found himself imagining how the blue light would look under the dark Lermur Sea.

"What in the world was that?" Pird asked.

"Have you ever considered," Sye began slowly, "That the Priests are involved with this?"

"Impossible," Zook immediately countered, "Those fools don't even 'believe' in Idusces, even though the deity shows up in Mirith every three years."

"Think about it Zook, they spend more time around the tower than anyone else. Plus, Magist said he gave them some information they needed. What if he accidentally gave them a piece that would play a part in..." Sye struggled to name what was happening, "In whatever's going on?"

"A bunch of thick-skulled idiots in white robes wouldn't have a-" began Zook angrily when a thundering groan breathed across the city. It sounded like a massive beast growling in pain, a creature distant and far beneath them.

"What by Ignorance...?" Sye started when Pird pushed past and pointed.

"Look!" he said fearfully. Zook looked, then snatched the spyglass from Pird and focused on the distant Saranoda. Near the tower's base there was an apartment building moving. It was sinking and tilting away from them, toward the tower. It was as though the ground beneath it was slowly being pulled down. Zook swept the spyglass to the side and found that all the buildings around the tower were behaving the same way, bowing to Saranoda.

What is this? Zook thought in confusion.

It was then the rumble began. Low, menacing, a massive cello winding up for its grim performance. The very sound of it shook Zook to the bone; it felt like the sound was in him, inside his teeth, his flesh, his mind. It was so low, barely audible, but there was no question of how large it was.

"It's not over?" Eris asked fearfully.

"Once wasn't enough?" asked Sye in despair, "One shake that's broken Eretia? There has to be more? The time, the money it will take to repair-"

Whatever Sye was going to say, it was never heard. The distant rumble exploded into an earthen roar. Zook fumbled for the spyglass but found that he didn't need it. The buildings that were sinking suddenly rose.

Rose, and rose, and rose.

The structures before those were lifted and then the buildings before them as the land seemed to come alive, arching its back in excruciating pain. It swelled higher and higher, a mountain of earth and stone rising up before them.

"Good gods," Sye whispered.

A ripple had flitted across Eretia. Now a tsunami was perched to rush them down.

Because of the distance, it took Zook a moment to notice the mountain was moving. Then he realized that it wasn't just moving, it was hurtling across the city at an impossible speed. The buildings, so far away that the white seemed to mix together, churned on its curling surface. The roar grew even louder, the cry of a twisting world's anger, but it still couldn't mask the screams from below. Zook's numbed astonishment only allowed him a moment's glance down, but a moment was all he needed. Many were fleeing in terror from the sight, pushing each other down and trampling those unfortunate enough to fall, but even more simply stood there in disbelief. He understood the hopeless reason why.

Why flee? They were on an island.

There was nowhere to run.

Something distant told him that he should try, to run, to hide. Even with the earthen tidal wave growing ever higher and closer, Zook could not accept that this was actually happening.

The wave was now close enough that it was no longer a curling white wave. It was massive, the rumbling roar now heightened by a cataclysmic crashing. It struck Zook cold to see what the cannonade came from. Buildings were uprooted before the wave to tumble up the gray wall. The buildings were crushed and ground into their neighbors, disintegrating into gravel. What remained of the broken structures crested the wave and were flung high into the sky like massive toy blocks. The crashing came from the impact of the houses, raining a deadly hail onto the city yet to be swept away. Zook saw homes disappearing under other homes; rooftops and roads punched in by falling debris. The wave's height was gigantic, making it look like they already stood in its shadow.

Zook then realized someone was shaking him.

"Move!" Sye shouted. Zook assumed this wasn't Sye's first attempt to get his attention.

"Zook, run!"

"Why?" Zook, feeling out his own daze, "We can't get away."

"The basement, Zook!" Sye yelled, "We need to try!"

Zook didn't quite hear him, his eyes were only for the surge of stone that quickly neared. He felt pain explode in his cheek and he stumbled. It took him a moment to realize Sye had struck him.

"Run!" Sye shouted.

The next moments seemed to go by at a crawl, every step falling between hours. Zook found himself fleeing down the hall and down the glass-strewn stairs, the same hall and stairs that had been part of their home as long as he could remember. His home. His only home.

They ran through the ruined dining room and to the sitting room. The basement door lay on the opposite wall. They ran, but it already felt too slow to Zook. Swimming against time. They were halfway there when the crashing seemed to be over their heads. The ceiling above the door disintegrated as what looked like a column fell through. Eris screamed and they backed away from the rapidly growing pile of debris as the room above collapsed. The cracks beneath their feet widened and the column sunk and then fell out of sight, disappearing into the chambers below. There was another crash behind them, a great slab of stone smashing through a wall to roll in front of the door to the street. A third crash sounded, but whatever fell landed in another part of the house.

"What do we do?" Pird asked. Zook didn't answer, looking frantically around him, trying to figure out a defense against the very island reaching up to smite them.

Any moment, Zook thought, seeing smaller chunks of stone puncture the walls and ceiling, Any second, a rock could be flung from that wave. My head could be in its path, or Sye's, or anyone's. That would be a very odd way to go.

"I don't want to die."

Zook didn't know who said it, or if he himself had said it, but these quiet words were what pulled him into the terrifying reality of it all. The rumble, the roar, the thundering crashes, it was all too real. It was no dream, no nightmare. Standing here, terrified and helpless, they really were going to die.

The roar grew to impossible new volumes. The walls and floors shook with the tremendous noise. Cracks lanced and jagged across the stone. With an earth splitting heave and the shattering of the floor, the ground shifted. An invisible hand forced Zook down as he felt what was supposed to be solid earth lift up under his chest. The entire house slanted with a terrible groan. Zook dug his fingers into the cracks to keep from sliding down the steepening floor. A chair tumbled over his head, missing by centimeters, along with the broken frames of pictures and rubble. Even though he could not see outside, he knew that they were already above the city, lifted by the great wave.

Another large slab fell through the wall above him. It struck the teetering boulder in front of the door, pushing it into the open air. One boulder skimmed across the door and front wall, rending stone from the house. They crashed into the wall below, their impact shattering the surface apart.

Zook looked down and saw the slabs and broken wall plow their way into the houses below. The cataclysm's earth-rending roar, in a way, made everything silent. No other sound could match its volume, so no other sound was heard. There was no sound when a house below peeled away from the road and crumbled. There was no sound when a piece of wall broke away above and nicked the ground in front of Zook's fingers to flip narrowly over his head. There was no sound as the dining table took care of what little wall was left and joined the falling debris that shot through the house. There was nothing but the roar.

The unseen weight pressing him into the ground grew stronger and the floor began to slant back up, evening out. A sound finally broke its way through the roar, a great tearing crack. The sagging ceiling, the broken walls, the furniture, the paintings, everything of Magist's home was simply torn away. Zook blinked in the harsh moonlight that no longer filtered through the ruin, but glared down through the curling hurricane of broken buildings. He looked up and saw the house fall apart into nameless debris.

To Zook, his world had been taken along with the house. What he now saw, what he was left with, was a tortured nightmare. The inertia of the wave's arc stripped stone from the roads, water from the collapsed canals. Gravity had no relevance here. Rubble and broken buildings flew up, were smashed and churned into stone and mortar, then rained back down before the wave. The land fell away in front of him, the city waiting to be crushed far below. It was then that Zook found he was no longer lying on the floor. The ground below him was descending, but he was not. The force of the earth's arching was not discriminate between city and human. He was going to join the rubble in its chaotic storm and plunge into the city below, to be picked up and thrown again, and again, and again. Zook tried to reach toward the ground, but it was already out of his reach. He had no control, tumbling head over heels, nothing to anchor him down. He was gone.

Zook suddenly slammed into the broken ground, letting out a gasp of pain and surprise. Something had pushed him down. The moonlight was blocked out for a moment and Zook turned his head to the sky, but there was nothing except the hail of debris above. Zook felt himself getting lighter as his world began to descend. The ground began to slope again, but now in the opposite direction.

Zook tried to stand, but the feeling of falling and the stone under his feet found him landing hard on his hip. He tumbled down the steeping slope, chunks of stone falling and crashing around him. His hands scrabbled over what used to be a road for any purchase. A chunk of debris landed quite neatly between his arms, peppering his face with flecks of stone, before bouncing back into infinity. Zook stood again but fell again, the jagged rock biting into his skin. He was rolling out of control when his foot found an outcropping. Zook immediately pushed up and righted himself, clinging to the ground and standing on the outcropping.

A stony screech made him look up. The largely intact remains of a building slid down the almost vertical slope, Zook right in its path. Without a thought he threw himself to the side. The crumbling structure passed him narrowly by, the outcropping disappearing within its turmoil of stone.

Zook realized his mistake a moment later. What used to be the ground was now a towering wall to his left, below him was open air. If someone froze time and defied gravity by standing on the road, it would look like Zook was falling sideways.

Something grabbed his arm and brought him to a jerking stop.

"Got you!" Eris shouted as she pulled Zook up onto a large outcropping. He immediately saw Pird, watching above them for incoming rubble, but Sye was missing.

"Where's Sye?" Zook shouted over the roar of everything falling around them. His heart took a plunge as another dismembered building passed them by.

"We don't-!" began Eris.

"He's up there!" Pird shouted. Zook looked up and saw that Sye was indeed a ways above them. Sye clung to the descending 'wall', his feet skittering back and forth on a narrow, crumbling ledge. A gaping crack snaked in front of Sye and a plume of water shoved him into the sky.

"Sye!" Eris screamed. Pird scaled the wall webwork of cracks in the blink of an eye. He got to another ledge, turned, then as Sye's flailing form was about to pass, he jumped. Pird grabbed Sye by the ankles and fell with him.

"Catch me!" Zook shouted.

"What?" asked Eris. Zook backed up to the outcropping's edge and did what he would have never done. Could not have done. To him, however, this was not him. His life. His world.

This is all just nightmare, Zook thought.

Zook didn't jump as Pird had done, he simply turned and leaned so far back he began to fall. He saw Pird and Sye descend above him and he reached out to grab Pird's ankles. Zook didn't fall far, for Eris brought them all to a jarring stop by catching hold of Zook's legs.

Zook's arms screamed at the pain of holding Pird and Sye's weight. He knew he couldn't hang on long enough for Eris to pull them up.

"Sye says to swing!" Pird shouted.

There was no time for argument, so Zook looked down, what was really up, and yelled, "Swing, Eris!"

She did, Zook's arms feeling as though they would rip from their sockets as they moved toward the wall, then back away again. There was a whistle as an intact column slipped them by. The strain on Zook abruptly lessened as Pird let go of Sye.

"No!" Zook shouted. Sye vainly tried to right himself in midair. A flood of relief washed over Zook when Sye slammed on his side onto another outcropping.

"Let go!" Pird yelled.

Let go, How ironic it was worded. Pird's life was, literally, in his hands. This was not the first time Zook had felt this way. He was a Healer after all, but this was the first time it was someone he knew. Let go, meaning to open his hands, meaning to play the roulette and hope that the annoying little thief would find the outcropping as Sye had. Meaning to take the chance that Pird might fall into the frothing maw of stone that waited below. There were two reasons to Zook's next action. His grip was slipping fast, he knew that if he didn't release Pird all three of them would die anyway.

Him or me, Zook thought. It just wormed its way into his mind, as though it wasn't even his own thought. But he embraced it.

He let go.

Pird fell away, for a moment looking like the stony hail around them. He tucked his knees in, rolling in the air, and landed neatly on his feet beside Sye. Zook curled and reached up to Eris to pull himself up. The roar managed to pitch itself into a crescendo. Zook looked down and saw that they were a moment's away from the wave's bottom, the 'wall' that carried them down descending at a breakneck speed. Zook pulled Eris to him, holding fast onto her shoulder. Beneath them, Sye did the same to Pird.

Below, loose debris and rubble writhed, rolling in the dipping wake of the wave, great stone fish following a sailing mountain. Zook bent his knees, expecting whatever kind of impact that waited for them. Somewhere in the back of his mind Zook knew that the outcropping they stood on had not once moved horizontally, due to the nature of waves, but only vertically. The sheer size of the rolling arch, however, created an illusion of forward movement that his reality clung to. When the wall behind them suddenly curved back as ground beneath them and they seemed to slide forward, Zook fell over. The crash of the falling city was all around him. Broken houses, walls, chunks of roads and monuments pulverized the ground. What he could see of the city disappeared as they dipped down into the wave's wake.

Something slammed into Zook's chest as soon as he sat up. He felt a stab of fear of being struck by a piece of rubble, but rubble didn't go "Oof!" Eris caught Pird as he rolled by and Zook pushed Sye off of him. The ground slanted again, but only slightly, as the wave began to move away and they came out of the dip.

Zook tried to help Sye up but his friend was limp, his eyes unfocused and far away. Before Zook could become afraid, Sye's eyes snapped back to life.

"Eris!" Sye shouted, "Above us!"

Eris didn't question, she just looked. A great, thick wooden beam landed next to them, standing at an angle. Its velocity drove it deep into the ground, its side falling on the four. Eris caught it in her hands and shoulder, its weight driving even her to her knees.

"Help me!" she said through gritted teeth. Her friends rushed to her, getting under the beam and adding their strength.

Zook only had a second's warning. He looked up and froze. An almost completely unscathed house fell on them. The first walls struck the beam the four held and buckled, the force of which would have shattered every bone below their shoulders if not for the broken pillar under the beam's raised end. The walls cracked in two, falling on either side like a book held with a stick under its spine. The rest of the house pushed down, disintegrating. The rest of the house, the walls, the broken floors, sagging stairs and ceiling, fell into so much dust and rubble.

Zook saw none of this; he saw the house grow horrifyingly large and close. There was a deafening crash that blocked out the descending roar, a force blasting through the beam and knocking him down. The moons and stars disappeared and the world fell to the darkness.

End of the Second Chapter

# Unlit

Shadows are born when we block out the sun. What do we become when we are sunless ourselves?

-Excerpt from the Book of Idusces

It was a long, cold time before Zook realized that he was awake. His first clue was the scattered feeling of searing embers and coals nestled in his muscles and bones. His first immediate thoughts were, in the detached way when assessing some sort of injury, that he was blind.

That's what I get for walking through those fumes at the hospital, he thought, his medical mind removing any panic he might have had. He sat up and a large rock rolled off his chest onto his lap. Zook then became very still. Slowly, he picked the rock up, hearing the heavy dust fall off his clothes.

A grinding roar made him jump to his feet. Something hard struck his head and he promptly fell back down to the rubble. He didn't move for a moment, realizing that no roar had sounded. He had imagined it, scaring himself. Why such a sound would terrify him dawned on him in a flurry of images. He reached out blindly and touched the cracked angled walls that had shielded them from the falling debris. He wasn't blind, it was just completely dark.

Zook sat, calming his rapidly beating heart. There was no roar, the ground was still. The wave had long passed. With cold realization Zook frantically reached out into the black, whispering, "Eris? Sye? Pird?" His hands stirred only cool stones and dust. He then came to touch what he thought was a shoe. Slowly, dreading what he would find, he moved his hand up to the ankle. Relief rushed over him when he found the flesh was warm. He gently shook it.

"Wha-?" he heard Eris' cordial voice mumble in the darkness.

"Don't move," said Zook, Healer taking over, "We are..?"

"Under Eretia," Eris replied, a tone of disbelief in her voice.

"Do you feel any pain? Coldness? Dizziness? Can you move your fingers and toes?"

No answer.

"Eris?"

"My head's sore."

"Do you remember Sye's father's name?"

"His last name is Darvini, you know I can never pronounce his first."

Zook felt a thin blanket of worry peel off him.

"No!"

Zook had to stop himself from jumping at the frightened shout, "Sye?"

"What? Zook?" came Sye's disoriented voice. It always struck Zook how commanding Sye sounded, even though he knew it was unintentional. "Why can't I see?"

"A house fell on us," Zook answered, gambling that his bluntness would do the most to comfort his friend.  Sye was never one for dancing around the issue.

"What do you-?" Sye began, then abruptly fell silent. Zook closed his eyes, even though he couldn't tell if they were really open, knowing what was going through Sye's head. The roar. The wave.

Eretia.

"Wait, then..." Sye began, almost silently, "That means...everything is...that wasn't a dream?"

"A nightmare," Eris said softly.

Zook let out a long, hissing sigh, "It was real."

<Let go.>

<Save yourself.>

Zook violently pushed that thought away, retreating to the cold silence of wherever he was. It was not a thought of his, he believed, so he had no reason to dwell on it.

"Where's Pird?" Eris asked. There was a stirring of rubble and a barely audible whimper.

"Pird?"

"The walls..." Pird's voice trembled just above a whisper, "They're...they're too close. On top of me."

"You know the drill Pird," said Zook, his habitual worry taking before anything else, "Pain, dizziness, numbness, anything?" He hadn't asked Sye those questions, the strength in his voice was evidence enough. That, and he knew Sye would know if he was hurt.  Eris always is more concerned about us than herself, Zook thought, and Pird just doesn't pay any damned attention.

"Cold..." came Pird's weak answer, "I can't move my leg...it's...oh there's not enough room."

"Forget about the walls," Zook said forcibly, "Your leg-"

"Too small!" Pird suddenly managed to yell.

It took only that interruption to tap into Zook's ever-present frustration. Hysterics were not going to get between him and his job, "Pird I need you to listen-"

"Too small too small too small too small too small-!"

Zook slipped, but as usual, he didn't care, "Pird this is not the time!"

"Zook!"

Sye's tone was enough to cut off the rapidly rising anger. The choking knot of frustration in Zook's chest fell apart in the silence, but his kernel of irritability still stood ready to pop.

"There's no point in attacking his fear," said Sye.

"Right. Claustrophobia." Zook replied bitterly, "Irrational."

"Too small!"

There was more rustling, then Sye's worried voice came, "His leg's cut. Bad."

Anger was instantly banished by Healer. Zook reached to his side but his hands only grabbed dirt. Zook froze in confusion, but only for a moment. His ragged medicine bag was missing, the pouch that he always wore. It had all his vials, bottles, herbs, bandages, everything.  Zook frantically groped around in the dark. A sharp stone cut his hand. His mind registered this but didn't acknowledge. Then his fingers brushed against the familiar aging leather. Zook's deft hand slipped into the bag and felt out all the glass vials. Satisfied that some miracle had prevented their breaking, especially since Eris' book was still amongst them, Zook returned the reassuring weight around one shoulder to the opposite hip. Ladro always referred to it as Zook's 'blankie', being the grinning psychologist he was. Zook, however, simply felt like he had left a limb at home whenever he managed to walk five steps out the door without it. He didn't care what Ladro called it as long as it did its job.

Hope you're all right, Zook thought, thinking of Ladro, but immediately crushed any thoughts that had to do with why hope was needed

"Zook?" Sye asked.

"Where is he?" Zook asked of the darkness.

Eris' voice spoke up to his right, "Over here."

Zook crawled toward her and she guided him to Pird. His hands found the short thief in a fetal position, shaking all over. There was indeed a nasty gash that ran from his ankle nearly to his knee. His fingers felt that it was beginning to coagulate, blood running sluggishly from the deep cut.

Zook worked blindly but quickly, expunging all impurities from the gash with a dip of a very potent liquid. Pird would definitely itch later, and not from the cut. No longer hindered by dirt and scabbing, the wound began to bleed anew. His fast moving mind then went over his next options. He couldn't risk stitching it blind, nor did he have the necessary clean cloth for a satisfactory bandage or enough disinfectant to make one.

His third and most viable option he liked even less. He transferred a little of two bottles in the darkness to a pair of dose sized vials. Raised carvings in the glasses side told him what they were, Zook sending out a silent thanks to whoever spent the extra silver taps at the hospital for the fancy engraving. The first vial he filled to the brim with a mixture that would aggravate Pird's marrow and hasten his renewal of blood. The second vial he only placed a few drops of a liquid he knew to be highly viscous and clear.

"Get him to drink these," Zook said to Eris. Zook checked the rest of Pird out of habit, then retired against the broken wall of their prison.

"Did you wrap his leg?" Sye asked.

Zook shook his head, but remembered that Sye couldn't see, "No, there's no hope of finding anything clean in this hole."

"What if he bleeds out?"

"I've handled that."

"What, with one of your blood potions? It won't matter if it all goes out of his leg!"

Zook carefully replaced his bottles in the darkness. If it was anyone else besides Sye, they would have received an earful for that challenge on his practice. Instead, annoyance came heavy on his reply, "No, in about ten minutes the only thing left of your worry will be a nice, clean scar."

Sye was quiet again, but soon Eris spoke up, "I thought you only used Fellasceince when it can be best controlled?"

"That's with bones, if you're not careful the broken pieces will fuse together at whatever angle they happen to be at. A few drops for a gash won't hurt, as long as it's clean. I'm sure he won't mind the resulting scar."

"Mm," Sye sounded in agreement, "You're right, it'll be his trophy."

"He stopped trembling," Eris said, sounding worried again.

"Prosangui wasn't all that was in the fist vial," Zook replied, "I gave him a few drops of sleep. Hard to think with all the screaming."

"Zook!" Eris said sharply.

"Naturally, his breathing has slowed with his sleep, doing us all a favor more than the absence of his misused wit."

"What do you mean?" Sye asked slowly.

"How much air do you think we've trapped down here with us?" Zook asked. The resulting silence was all the answer he needed.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Eris asked in a small voice.

Zook's answer was short, "We dig."

But Sye's response was even shorter, "No."

Zook blinked at the black in surprise, "Well, your highness, unless you've been sitting in front of a tunnel this whole time, I'm not really sure what your plan is."

"I hope I'm not the only one who saw an entire house fall on us," said Sye, imitating Zook's sarcastic tone, "I can't even tell if my eyes are open or closed, you want to just scratch at the ceiling and hope the whole thing doesn't collapse on us?"

"Again," Zook said, gritting his teeth, "It's better than hoping that it'll just open up on its own."

"I propose to wait."

"Wait?" Zook gave a cold laugh, "Wait until we feel faint and everything seems hilarious and then we're suddenly before Idusces to be Judged? I never did ask you if you feel any unpleasant lumps around your skull."  
"I'm fine," Sye said patiently, "And you can quit worrying about the air. It's cold in here."

"I'm sorry if you're missing the sun," said Zook, growing angrier by the second.

"That's not what I mean. A small space like this should take no time in warming up with us four in it. Trust me, the little rooms they use for committees are cold until you shut the door. We're not airtight."

"That's just one of a dozen reasons we shouldn't wait!"

"The rest of which," Sye countered calmly, "Won't be hurt by a little patience."

"And what exactly are we waiting for?" Zook challenged.

"Anything other than your avalanche. A rescue party, maybe."

Zook opened his mouth, ready to triple his volume, when he realized what words were about to leap nakedly forth. His own unsaid answer effectively killed his anger.

There's no one left!

Again that feeling of unreality, those words he simply could not bring himself to say. He took it that Sye found the sudden quiet for resignation, his friend saying no more. A long silence followed, the time marked neither by the sun nor Zook's blank thoughts. Zook sometimes couldn't discern if he was thinking about nothing or simply not thinking. Either way, he wasn't about to think about what happened. Or what was to come.

"Eris?" Zook asked what easily could've been the inside of his eyelids. When her pleasant, clear voice didn't answer, he immediately forgot his question, his hands finding her lying down. Her pace of breath was all he needed to know that she had fallen asleep. Zook propped her head up against his leg.  At least one part of her won't wake up sore, he thought. Eris didn't stir, but that wasn't surprising. She only woke up of her own accord.

Zook idly stroked the dirt from Eris' hair as his thoughts turned a little more constructed.  I should at least feel around and see what's holding the ceiling up. We're going to have to dig in the end, Sye will see soon enough. No one could have... Zook shook his head, interrupting the thought. There was that support beam Eris caught...and that whole house...we have to find...a way...ways...we have to...dig...

"Argh!"  
From the way his head jerked off his chest and the sluggish chaos of his thoughts, Zook realized that he had been asleep. He heard a ragged breathing and then was startled by Pird's voice.

"Who shut my bloody windows?"

Zook was immediately bewildered. He had given the thief enough Lentus to knock him out for a day, give or take a few hours due to Pird's unusually high metabolism. This was further supported by the ache Zook found in his back, the hunger that twisted in his stomach, and the chill that had sunk into his flesh.

A whole day? Zook thought with despair, That can't be right, the Fellasceince must have burned the drought faster then I thought.

Reassured by the sound explanation, Zook asked, "Pird?"

"Wha-?" Pird began, surprised, "What're you doing in my room?"

"This isn't your room."

There was a long pause.

"The quake?" Pird asked in a small voice.

"It happened."

Another pause.

"Zook...how big is this place?"

"Pird-" Zook began.

"Be precise," Pird said in a strange voice, "How big."

Zook thought for a second before catching on. He answered as truthfully as possible, "Thirty by thirty, a nice cozy hole in the ground."

"All right then," said Pird, pleased, "Well, I'm gonna nod off again. Hope you don't need me for anything."

"As much as I need a beard."

Soon, as he was unhindered by drugs this time, Pird began to snore. The next amount of time went by in an odd manner, for Zook had no idea if that was seconds, minutes, hours, or more. The cold, the weight of Eris' head, his hunger and thirst, all seemed to fade in and out of perception. Sometimes every feeling of cold and misery was etched in excruciating detail. Sometimes they were a haze on the edge of his idle mind. He must have fallen asleep once or more, as the absolute darkness seemed to stir with the unseen colors of Zook's mind. The shadows seemed to have thickness and weight. Zook had no idea how long this went on, time having no relevance in their hole, but if someone asked him Zook would answer, "Somewhere around forever."

"Anyone awake?"

Zook again found that he was unconscious, jerking awake at the sound of Sye's voice.

"I am now," Zook groaned, feeling every one of his joints crack as he sat up. His stomach twisted in protest, hunger filling him with a thin weakness. Sand seemed to line his mouth and his tongue felt like a lump of ground meat dropped several times.

"Thirsty?" Sye asked.

"Yes," Zook replied, surprised at the rasp he heard in his own voice.

"There's a puddle to your left. Clean as far as I can tell."

Zook found it and drank, reveling in the cool water as it ran across his parched mouth and throat. It felt so good it hurt, making him splutter. He then wiped his mouth and said, "We're going to have to dig soon."

"Zook..."

"I'm done waiting," Zook pressed, "It won't be too long before we're too weak to even stand. We need to dig."

"Give it a little more time," said Sye, "Please."

Zook filled his lungs, set to berate his friend, then let his breath out in a whistling sigh. There simply wasn't the energy. He and Sye had already shook out the issue of digging out, Zook didn't feel like pursuing in his hungry weariness. Now fully awake and having nothing better to do, Zook recounted what happened, thinking in the detached way he had as a Healer so he wouldn't automatically shut it out. As he played the disaster over and over in his head, an oddity in the terrifying memory kept on coming into focus.

"Sye?"

"I'm awake."

"How did you know that beam was going to fall. That it would save us from the house?"

It was a little while before Sye answered, "I'm not sure how to describe it. It was like it had happened before and I was remembering it as it occurred. I was seeing it as it happened, knowing it before it was."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"My point exactly."

"In any case, you saved all of our lives."

Surprised silence was his reply, "You should really thank Eris. If I had tried to catch that thing I would've been crushed. Remind me to put Pird on my will, he jumped clear off the wave to catch me. Then you caught him and Eris caught you. Looks like the damsel was the only one not in distress."

Zook nodded, again forgetting his invisibility, "If you hadn't 'seen' the beam, she'd be in a tight spot too."

Sye whistled, "We make quite a team, eh? Lucky that we were all together."

Zook couldn't help but chuckle. After a moment Sye asked, "Zook?"

"Yes?"

Sye didn't reply right away, Zook sensing hesitation.

"That, I don't know, 'knowing? I can't place it but I've had a similar feeling while we've been stuck down here. It's like I know to wait, or something is telling me-"

A metallic, ear-splitting screech interrupted their conversation. This time Zook did jump, smacking his head on the low ceiling. A grinding groan rumbled through their little hole, causing dust to sift down from the rubble.

"Another wave!" Sye said fearfully.

"Whuzzat?" Pird asked, suddenly awake. Eris mumbled something unintelligible.

"The quake's happening again!"

Zook didn't have time to even contemplate panicking. There was a loud, but short, crunching noise and the ground shifted beneath them. It was a curious feeling, getting heavier then lighter, meaning that they had been risen slightly up and down. As though a great weight had suddenly let go. Quiet reigned again.

"What was that?" asked Eris.

Zook ran his hands over the ceiling, checking if it had shifted at all. It didn't. "I have no idea."

"I'm just glad it wasn't another..." Sye's voice trailed off.

Zook let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, feeling every tendon slowly unknot in relief. All it had taken was a rumble to make him feel poised on the brink of death.

What could that have been if it wasn't another quake? Zook wondered. Zook felt like he should raise the topic of escaping again, or at least search around to make sure nothing had shifted, but the thought was sluggish...far away...

"Zook?"

For the third time that he was aware of, Zook found himself torn from the strange, murky clouds that passed for dreams. An edge of panic was the first thing he was truly conscious of. Hunger had bit deep into his strength and he felt thirsty again.  How long have I been asleep?

Then he remembered his name had been called, "Eris?"

"You awake?"

Zook couldn't help but smile, "No I'm talking in my sleep. What's on your mind?"

It was a moment before Eris answered, "Do you think Magist made it?"

Zook felt a twinge of cold that had nothing to do with the chill in the stone. He didn't answer her. He couldn't. He didn't have to.

"Do you think Sye's father made it?" Eris asked, her voice beginning to shake.

Silence. Nothing he thought of he could possibly say.

Eris' next question was spoken in a frightened whisper, "Did anyone make it?"

Thud.

"What was that?" Zook asked, startled.

Eris didn't answer, they both listened intently for another sound. They waited in the silence for a long moment.

What an edge we're on, Zook thought with disappointment, leaning back. He sighed, "Something must have fallen or collapsed up-"

Thump thud.

"Wake Sye and Pird," Zook said quickly, straining his ears.

Thump thump thud.

"What's that noise?" Sye asked sleepily.

"Just listen!" Zook hissed, heart thumping in his throat.

Thump.

Quiet.

A sound. Soft, rustling, faint through the stone. It pitched up and down. Zook stood and pressed his ear against the ceiling. He held his breath.

"...just try..."

"Someone's up there!" Zook, joy exploding through his mind. It was like lighting a match inside a powder keg. All four of them began bellowing hysterically at once. Between the 'Help's and 'We're down here!', Zook felt an ecstatic trill of hope. Dust sifted down as rocks were removed. Then a shaft of light pierced the darkness. Zook's blinded eyes were relieved when an Eretian guard, sporting a dented helmet and a dusty mustache, stuck his head through the hole.

"Anyone hurt down there?"

"Just get us out of here!" Pird yelled back, the small room's size now illuminated.

"Sit tight, we'll get these rocks out of the way." The man's head disappeared back up. Zook closed his eyes. He had thought it unlikely, no, impossible that someone would happen to stumble across them.

We're not alone, Zook thought, Oh thank Dilligence we're not alone.

"It's a wonder you didn't try to get out yourselves," came a guard's voice above them, "Lucky too, this whole thing would've fallen in on you four."

"Don't!" Zook said quickly, holding up a hand, "Not a word Sye."

Sye almost hid his grin.

The pair of guards removed the rest of the fallen rubble and then pulled the four from their prison. The men didn't warn them, didn't give a word to soften the terrible blow. It had been dancing on Zook's mind during the forever of the darkness, but his denial had given him a blind hope. They stood in the full glare of the darkest horror without a thread of a lifeline to anchor them.

For one, single, glorious moment, Zook saw the full splendor of Eretia as Eretia. The ocean of proud white buildings, the storm of so much water being pushed into the air by numberless fountains. The electric current of the great masses of people, their unchallenged happiness, their heedless laughter. A city where every day was truly a new day, without strings of yesterday, where ideas flourished and dreams were coin of trade.

A terrible conclusion found its way into Zook's mind. This is not Eretia, this was Eretia. The illusion faded, no matter how desperately he clung to it. In its place came stark, cold reality. Zook was distantly aware that he had fallen to his knees, his mind flayed open by the sight of so much destruction.

Eretia was simply gone.

End of the Third Chapter

# Recollections

"This will be forever burned into their minds."

"Our greatest weapon will be their revenge."

-The Four under the Foundings

To Sye it was like he had crawled out into a cruel new world. A world where the sky was a cold gray instead of the warm, cloud laden blue. Jagged lightning lit the distant sea under the horizon, the thunder a thrumming rumble. The warm mild air had been replaced by a chill that bit deep into the flesh. Icy wind howled over the scarred landscape, curling the distant columns of smoke that slowly rose up like dozens of dark kites. Where there once was a city, there were now only ruins from a forgotten people long past. Broken walls that could still stand were far and few in between. Everything else was swallowed in a cold expanse of gray, a stony snow fallen from once proud structures. Where buildings had stood, now only rubble and dust prevailed.

The crash of waves caught Sye's ears and he tore his eyes away from the incomprehensible emptiness to find that the sea opened up little more than a dozen meters away. At first, he was confused, the nearest coastline from Magist's house, or what it used to be, was for kilometers. Sye didn't think the quake had moved them that far when he saw the island supports thrusting out of the black water. They were great, rib-like structures, their ends broken and twisted. Eretia was not a true island, it was a mass of land anchored to Saranoda and held up by an elaborate, flexible complex of support beams that ran underneath the island. They were designed to withstand the swellings of typhoons and terrible storms. They were not designed to be folded nearly in two.

That's what that noise was, Sye thought, distantly feeling horror through the numbness. He could almost hear that ear-splitting screech that had woke them down in the darkness of the hole.  It was a piece of Eretia breaking off. We're falling apart.

Sye was unaware of how sore he was, how cold. It was a twisted dream, the sight of everything he knew reduced to a gray desert of rubble. It was Zook who drove Sye back into harsh reality. It was his friend's anger that tore his detached shelter from him and brought the weight of Eretia's death down with all its terrible force.

"Who did this!" Zook shouted at the nearest soldier. The man took a step back in surprise from the sudden flash of fury.

Who? Sye thought, What did this? How? Is this real, could this possibly have happened?

Why is Eretia gone?

Whatever did we do to deserve this?

"Answer me!" Zook roared, grabbing the front of the soldier's tunic and pulling him so close that their noses touched, "You've been up here! Searching! Someone must have said something! Anything!"

Another soldier tried to break the grapple but Zook violently shoved him away.

"What happened to my city!"

"Zook!"

Zook froze at the harshness in Sye's voice. He seemed to contemplate whether to ignore Sye for a moment, but a moment was all it took to interrupt the swing of his anger. He roughly let the soldier go.

"Syrus Darvini?" one soldier asked.

"Yes?" Sye answered automatically.

"Oh, what a boon for morale," the soldier said, looking relieved, "If the Mayor's happy it will be like a sun through this dark storm."

"My father?" Sye asked, standing still, "He's..?"

The guard laughed, "He can hardly be dead if he can be put into a good mood! He's a hardy one, all right, said your name only once. All determined smiles and encouragement, but...he's grieving. His eyes, y'know, he puts on a show but-" The guard stopped in mid sentence, flushing slightly, "Well, you don't need me telling you, of all people..."

Sye didn't answer; he was too busy trying not to shake under the rush of hot and cold. His father. Alive. It was a question that had danced on the edge of his thoughts every moment down in the shadows. Sye had refused to contemplate it. He did not want to hear the answers that would have come from the darkness.

"Can we leave?" Pird asked nervously, looking to the hole as though something might reach out and drag him back in.

Sye wanted to disagree, to stay here at this strange anchor in a sea of unfamiliar. He did not want to see any more of this island. It wasn't his. Against his better opinion, he remained silent and the guards led them away.

Walking across the ruins was excruciating to Sye, feeling the once solid stone shift underfoot. It was like treading on someone's half buried grave. The gray, ruined plain rolled in deceivingly gentle rolling hills, great dunes in a white desert. The wind blew dust into their eyes and cracked their lips, seeming to lash out with its own malice.

The guards did not say where they were going, nor did Sye ask. They probably would give the place a name, a name that would directly link Eretia with this corpse. Their heading was aimed toward the closest pillar of smoke, one that was much larger than the rest. As much as he tried to resist, Saranoda attracted Sye's gaze. The tower, stripped of its falls and swirling mists, stood bare over the wasteland. It seemed to brood, looking to Sye like a great sword pinning a body to a battlefield.

Sye shook this image from his mind and quickened his pace. He tried to focus on the broken rubble before him, but a lifetime on Eretia betrayed him. To an Eretian, Saranoda was better than any compass. There was a game they played as children, one had to go somewhere in the city and sketch how far away the tower was and the angle of its arms. The others raced to find the spot the first was standing when he or she drew it. To a native, orienting oneself on the island was literally child's play.

Dread slowly festered within Sye as he realized their direction. The guards seemed to have come this way before, as they knitted a meandering path around unstable parts of the broken road. They walked on and Sye became sure of the destination. A hill was crested, Saranoda at an angle he knew all too well, and they came upon the most intact structure they had seen so far.

Even in ruin the building had a ghost of grandeur. The outer walls were unevenly broken, but still stood nearly to the third floor. Only the second floor had scraps still clinging to the walls; the higher stories, the arching ceilings and proud cupolas had been stripped away. The absence of a roof and gaping holes in the side let them see what was left of the ground level. The shining floor of the ballroom had shattered, the sweeping stairs collapsed. The many other rooms were crushed under debris, unrecognizable in death.

It was the carcass of a grand beast not quite picked clean, the thick pillars rising up like broken ribs. To Adrala, it had been Eretia's capital. To Eretia, it had been the Mayor's mansion. To Sye, it was home.

As much as the scene brought despair to him, what lay within brought Sye even more hope.

People.

Survivors.

Makeshift tents of dirtied cloth were anchored all over the ruin like sagging skin. The column of smoke they had seen rose from a roaring bonfire a ways away from the tents. Sye wondered where they had gotten the wood, as most of Eretia was of stone and the forests weren't for kilometers, when a group walked past with a gutted gondola held between them.

"Doesn't look like much," one guard said, "But it's more than we had a right to hope for after the first day. Even then...we're not hardy Bakaar miners. These are writer and economists, people who think for a living." The guard gave a cold laugh, the humor of it all lost on Sye, "Bless Dilligence, I'm just a poet. Signing up in the Eretian guard was for the bigger apartment."

"How many?" Zook asked quietly.

No, Sye pleaded, Don't ask that. Please.

"Eh?" said the other guard.

"How..." Zook began, his voice shaking. His fists were clenched so tight that his knuckles went white. He wasn't looking at the two men, but at the people below.

"How many of us?" Zook asked coldly.

The guards looked at each other, then one began to answer, "One step at a time-"

"How many of us are left?" Zook asked once more with a dangerous tone in his voice.

Now they looked wary, as they thought Zook might attack a second time. Sye wanted to tell Zook off again, make him be quiet and silence the question. The guards' reluctance was enough to tell him that he did not want to know the answer. Sye only had to look around for a wisp of what lay in store.

The answer, however, needed to be known. These were his father's people, Sye needed to know all he could. One of the guards caught Sye's eye. After a long hesitation, Sye slowly nodded.

"There's four thousand here," the guard said quietly, "Another four thousand where the Great Hospital used to be and three more at the amphitheater. There are eleven thousand of us, less than half of that are still standing."

Sye didn't hear Zook's reply, if there was a reply. The chill felt like it had reached his heart, ice rushing through his veins. It wasn't the eleven thousand that made it that echoed through his horrified mind.

It was the millions that did not.

Sye slowly sat down and closed his eyes. Cold tears ran down his cheeks. How could one imagine such a number? Millions of names, faces, families, friends, futures, secrets, laughs, and sorrows. Erased in one terrible night like they didn't exist. Like they didn't deserve to exist. Trying to envision so many was like trying to imagine the distance between stars. It was simply too much.

"How is this possible?" Sye whispered. The guard's reply was a sweeping gesture, taking in the blanket of devastation around them.

"That's the million cut question, isn't it?" Zook said, seemingly to no one.

The guards led the four down into the dip in rubble the enormous mansion had crumbled in. As soon as they came near at least thirty men and women rushed from the teeming crowd to surround them. The desperation in their once collected voices was a blade through Sye's heart.

"More survivors?"

"Kolin, are you there?"

"Rita?"

"Say something Kolin!"

"My wife, did you see her? Her name's Kina and she's got-"

"Kolin, please! Anything!"

"-about my height, blue eyes-"

"Kolin, my son!"

A woman threw herself onto the broken stone of Eretia's tomb, grief stealing her will from her. Pained moans and sobs rose into the air. For every one who fell apart under their own agony, there were two more who just returned back to their work. People who had come to see them out of habit, not hope. People who were defeated. Sye could not look at them, they left a trail of people overcome by loss and despair on the outer edge of the milling crowd. Seeing the people who were farther in twisted the dagger. Here the survivors didn't look up, didn't seem to see each other. They seemed so fragile, staring intently ahead, as though they might break if they saw what lay around them.

Sye wanted to shout at them, tell them to panic, to drop what they were doing and run screaming in circles. Anything besides this careful, meticulous work. It felt like they were just building sandcastles at the shore, ignoring the rising tide.

"It goes away after a while," one of the guards said, as if reading his mind, "You'd be surprised how panicked these people were just a few days ago."

"A few days-?" Zook began when the guard pulled aside a curtain tied between two tiers on the outer wall.

"Magist!" Eris and Pird said together.

Their mentor lay propped up in a makeshift cot, leg hanging in a sling. He held a pen frozen above a piece of paper, his mouth slightly agape as he stared at them.

"My..." he began in a whisper, "M-my gods, you...you are alive!"

Pird and Eris rushed to either side and threw their arms around Magist. Sye settled for holding his hand, feeling it shake under a lifting burden of grief. Tears silently rolled down Magist's cheeks as he pulled his godchildren closer.

"Losing Eretia I could bear, but losing you four I could not," Magist gave a weak chuckle, "What a terrible thing for me to say, but I cannot deny it."

Sye wanted to say something, but the alternating bursts of relief and horror so far left him without words. He then noticed that Zook hadn't come with them, but stood awkwardly to the side. Zook gave Magist's broken leg a cursory look, gave a nod of approval, then left with the guards without a word.

"I think he left his cheerfulness back in the hole," Pird muttered.

"Let him be," said Magist, voice still a bit weak, "He wants to be angry, it makes it easier for him to get over things. He just does not know the who or the what to be angry at, because there is no who or what. Until he realizes this he will not let any other emotions distract him."

"Or until he finds something to blame," said Sye.

"That would be a sight," said Pird, "Zook yelling up at Saranoda."

"What makes you say that?" Magist asked.

"C'mon Magist, you know he does a glorified tantrum-"

"No, not that," Magist interrupted patiently, "That he will blame Saranoda."

Pird gave him a funny look, "Awful suspicious that the water shuts off right before the quake, then the wave starts up right around its base."

"Oh," Magist said simply, "That makes sense."

"Haven't you thought about this?"

"No, I mean yes," Magist suddenly seem flustered, "Never mind, I am sorry if the island falling apart and sitting here, thinking that you four were dead, has been a bit distracting."

Pird immediately looked abashed, "I didn't mean-"

"No," Magist interrupted again, seeming abashed himself, "No that was wrong of me to say."

"Really, I-"

"My child, sitting in a sling for three days does not give an excuse to-"

"Three?" Sye asked, suddenly feeling very weak, "It's been...three days?"

"Three, long, terrible lifetimes," Magist shook his head, "But now you are here, alive and-" Magist paused, "You sound like you did not know."

Sye shook his head, "We were caught under falling rubble, buried up until an hour ago. If it wasn't for Eris we would all have been crushed."

"We saved each other," Eris said modestly.

"Gods forgive me," Magist whispered, covering his eyes.

That sounded odd coming from Magist, so Sye asked, "What do you mean?"

"I told them..." Magist hesitated, "I told them not to go that way, we had combed it for survivors twice before. But one of the guards, Karl I think his name is, insisted that he had this feeling that they had missed something. I never even thought of anyone getting caught beneath all of this. If Karl hadn't insisted..."

"You couldn't have known," Eris said gently.

Magist didn't' respond, hand still over his eyes.

"Three days," Sye said, sitting down on a piece of rubble.  If a guard hadn't gotten a feeling...

"Didn't seem that long," said Eris.

"Felt like forever," said Pird.

"Then it's already too late," said Sye, "For anyone out there without water or with an injury it's been too long. The most we can hope for is that there are other encampments like this that we haven't come across yet."

The most we can hope for, Sye thought, Whoever would have thought how ominous that sounds? That we would one day sit and hope that a couple thousand weren't crushed or torn apart. Like thousands are just worth the flip of a coin.

It was quiet for a moment, then Magist picked up on the source of the heavy silence, "There is nothing wrong with you if you do not feel like you are going to explode with grief. The human mind can only think in hundreds, the rest we pack away to feel horrible about later. All great catastrophes draw the same amount of blood, some just longer than others, until our scars let us bleed no more."

The feeble cloth that was Magist's door was drawn aside and the two guards stepped in, Zook behind them. They bore a blanket filled with bread and apples between them. At the sight of food Sye nearly collapsed as a weakness swept over him. Between the three and Zook's reluctant hand the bread disappeared in moments.

"Sorry we couldn't take any more," one of the guards said, "But we don't have much and we're not sure how long we're stuck here. The fountain in the courtyard didn't crack, so there's still clean water that anyone's welcome to."

The guards made to leave but Sye grabbed one of them by the arm. The man had an incredible intensity in his dark green eyes, striking Sye with a strange feeling of familiarity. Sye swallowed his mouthful of apple then asked, "Are you Karl?"

The soldier nodded, "Aye."

"Thank you," Sye said with all the sincerity he could muster, "And not just for the food."

The guard nodded, "Anything for the Prince," then he grinned, "But I have the oddest feeling that I'll be thanking you."

With that, they left. Zook lingered for a moment, as though he wanted to say something.

"I understand, Zook," Magist said softly, "You need not say anything at all. Go use the gift your mother gave you, go Heal."

Zook hesitated, then nodded and left. After a while Sye turned to Magist and asked, "Where is my father?"

"Away," Magist replied, "To the amphitheater. Apparently one of the storerooms survived, filled with medicine. Unfortunately that is also where the Priests have decided to set up."

"Don't tell me..."

"They are sitting on the medicine and do not plan on budging," Magist shook his head, "Something about it 'belonging to Saranoda'. Your father went to negotiate; we cannot force them. If we did then violence would break out everywhere."

"I bet they know that too," said Pird.

"If all were to go well, the Mayor said he would be here before dusk," Magist gestured at the deepening gray of the light outside, "So I have a hunch he will not be back until tomorrow morning."

It was then the question first rose in Sye's mind, a terrible question. It curled up at the edge of his tongue, its fangs irremovable no matter how he might ask it. The mention of the Priests brought back a memory on a different island, a different world. Before the quake, before the wave, before everything, Magist had gotten a favor from the pompous fools. A very important favor, as it was a field trip into their most 'sacred' grounds, the sole sanctum of Saranoda.

For that favor, Magist had given them some kind of information.

Hours later Eretia was destroyed.

What did you tell them? Sye wanted, needed to ask. But he couldn't. He could not even think of letting that viper from his mouth. Not after the weight of so much despair had fell from Magist as soon as they walked into this room. Not after Magist had become like a second father to him, the only father for his three friends.

So Sye held his tongue, suffocating the question with his own answer.  It doesn't matter what Magist told the Priests, Sye thought, they can't do anything with the tower. Saranoda might not be a god like the Priests believe, but it might as well be for how much we understand it. The towers of Adrala are not for human hands.

Sye tried to stand, but his legs felt like they were filled with lead, dragging him back down to sit.

"You have not eaten in days," Magist said, "Do not worry, you will be surprised at how fast your strength will return. If it were not for my broken leg I would be out there lugging bits of boats."

Sye stilled his shaking hands, "What am I supposed to do?"

"I would not be the first to ask, but sitting seems to be the best-"

"It's all gone Magist!" Sye shouted. Sye startled himself with his own raised voice, not meaning to be so loud, "Everything is just...gone."

Eris made to say something but Magist held up a hand, watching Sye patiently.

Sye's eyes fell to the broken stone, "The worst thing is that it's just like you said. There's no 'who' or 'what' or anything. It just happened. An entire city can just up and disappear, and we're not even the first. The only records of the Second City are all different ways of saying 'Dolwrath, humanity's second testament of civilization, the grandest of cities, disappeared in a plume of fire.' That was centuries ago, Magist, and we still don't know what happened! What will we do, move to Mirith? Lose Eretia in Mirith's shadow? Then, hundreds of years from now, will the Reigning Peaks swallow Mirith for no apparent reason and the people will think, 'Hey, didn't another city crumble? What was it called, there's an old song...oh yes. Eretia.'" Sye covered his face, "What can we do when Adrala can take whatever it wants?"

Magist watched him sadly, then spoke, "Do not blame the world. Earth and stone cannot harbor malice. Remember, the gods never intervene, but neither do they let us wander our paths blindly."

"What reason could they have?" It was now Eris who spoke, her voice much quieter then Sye's, "What can the deaths of so many gain?"

"Understanding what Idusces does is like understanding how vast the universe is," said Magist gently.

"What are we to this kind of universe?" asked Sye bitterly.

Magist did not answer right away, watching Sye sadly. "Pird," Magist said softly, "Find a guard and gather something for you three to sleep on. You have a long day ahead of you. We all do."

End of the Fourth Chapter

# Not for Human Hands

"History is not measured by any divisible sections of time. It is measured by moments, and by moments will the last days of Adrala be remembered."

-Excerpt from the Book of Idusces

"One," said Zook, taking hold of the man's foot.

"Two," said Ladro, gripping the shoulders.

"Three!" they shouted together as Zook yanked the leg straight. There was a sickening grinding noise as the broken bones slid over each other and fell back into place. The man shouted in agony, but quickly fell into harsh gasping.

"You make this look too easy, mate," said Ladro, helping Zook put together a splint, "Very lucky the best Doctor on the island got out of that nastiness in one piece."

"Healer," corrected Zook.

"Healer, Doctor, the only ones who the difference matters to is the bloody Board, but they're pricks aren't they all?"

Zook told the wounded man the standard don't-do-anything-that-involves-standing speech and then he and Ladro left.

"Another smile," Ladro said with a chuckle, "I really should keep count."

"I'm just-"

"Glad to see me alive," Ladro finished for him, "Same goes for you, mate. Though it shouldn't take the world ending to make you smile more'n twice a day. You should try laughing sometime, endorphins y'know."

"Cut me some slack-" Zook began when a metallic screech made them cover their ears.

"What by Judgment was that?" asked Ladro, permanent cheeriness wavering.

Why does this sound familiar? thought Zook, looking around. A low vibrating groan rose from the ground, sounding eerily like a great wounded whale. It quickly rose in volume and then the sound struck Zook.

"The supports!" Zook shouted over the noise.

"What?' Ladro shouted back.

"The supports under the island, holding it up! This is how they sound right before they-"

Zook was interrupted by another shriek cutting off the groan, followed by a grinding, crunching snap. The ground shifted and they stumbled. Zook wheeled back to keep his balance and his heel caught on something, tripping him. He looked at what made him fall and saw that a sharp ridge, about ten centimeters high, had risen from the ground. Zook followed with his eyes and saw that it snaked away beneath the encampment, dividing it quite neatly in half. There was another groan and the ground on the other side of ridge fell a few centimeters.

Half of the camp was sinking.

"Dark Ignorance..." Ladro whispered. His grin was unfailing, but humorless.

"We're sinking!"

Hearing this terrified shout was like an electric shock, Zook was back on his feet before he knew it.

"Get everyone out to safety," he said to a bewildered Ladro, "Anyone who can walk should be carrying someone who can't."

"Right, yes, mate," said Ladro, still looking at the slowly rising ridge, "Good plan, but, I mean right mate, but isn't it...wasn't it enough that we were nearly exterminated, now this is..."

"Move, Ladro!" Zook shouted and the grinning man ran off. Zook ran back to the tent they had just left and began helping the man with a broken leg limp to where the ground was still. A guard was waiting for him, one of the ones that had dug him out, Karl.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"The supports are breaking," Zook explained, "We need to evacuate!"

Without hesitation the guard turned around and belted out in a sailor's bellow, "Everybody up!" Zook went tent to tent, hearing the man shout directions behind him. Thanks to Karl's great volume, more and more people swarmed over the tents, carrying the injured to safety. They swept aside their confusion, their fear, for nothing could stand before survival. The moons lit the starry night, but not even their pale light could expose all the loose stone and uneven ground. At one point Zook nearly spilled a man from the makeshift stretcher he helped carry.

As Zook helped a woman get her children to safety, he found that they had to boost the children up. The ridge was getting higher. Faster.

Zook turned to see Eris, Sye, and Pird help Magist get over the edge. He hurried to lend a hand.

"The supports!" said Sye, "They-!"

"Broke, I was right on top of them," Zook interrupted, "Are you all right Magist?"

"I can make it from here," said Magist, a full meter taller thanks to the sinking ground, "Save as many as you can."

Zook began to turn away when Magist called after him.

"Zook!'

Zook faced him again, seeing concern on his mentor's face, "Do not forget to also save yourself."

Zook wasn't sure how to reply, so he just nodded and left.

All the while, the ridge was rising.

"Look out!"

Someone grabbed Zook by the arm and shoulder and yanked him hard to the side. He heard a great crash behind him and the ground shook beneath his feet. He looked and saw that a marble pillar had fallen where he had been standing moments before. He turned to thank whoever had saved his life, but they were already gone within the roiling mob. The shock of almost being crushed and likely killed never occurred to Zook. He had more important things to do.

A cry of pain over the turmoil brought Zook behind a broken wall. A flat slab of stone had fallen in on a boy, pinning his leg. Zook dug his fingers under the rock and tried to lift when a wave of weakness washed over him. An apple had been his only nourishment for the past three days.

Ignoring this, Zook tried again but it felt like he was lifting against the stone's weight and his own body. A man materialized from the frenzied rush and lifted alongside Zook. The slab began to rise, but then more of the wall crumbled and the stone fell back into place. The boy screamed.

For the first time, Zook realized that this was far from the only cry of pain or terror. The night air reeled with them. For a moment, Zook hesitated. The fear, the anguish, it seemed to smother him. The cruel reality of things became stark and undeniable. Here he was, standing in the blasted ruin of a famed building, in the dark and cold, trying to lift a stone twice his size off a child's leg on a sinking bit of land.

What am I doing? Zook thought, What am I trying to prove?

<Let go.>

Zook looked down at the boy, who was now unconscious. Short brown hair and a torn, dirty shirt. The boy's peaceful closed eyes were at odds with the chaos around him.  Ambandon him? Zook thought, To save myself?

Ambandon him like my father did to me?

Zook fell to his knees and pushed his shoulder against the slab with all his might, his teeth clenched so tight they felt like they would break. Eris appeared on his other side and lifted. The stone came free and Zook dragged the boy out. He ran back to the ridge and held him up with shaking arms, a dozen hands accepting the unconscious gift.

The ridge was as tall as he was, and only getting higher.

Thought had no place in Zook's mind as he ran between tents and the ridge. It all seemed to mix in a nightmarish blur. So many stretchers made haphazardly of broken beams and torn cloth, so many people that could not walk without him as a living crutch. It became strangely methodical, almost like a twisted game. Back and forth, between the bristling crowd of outstretched arms and ferrying out those already half dead.

The strange lull of the flowing panic broke when Zook slipped and fell. His body braced for the hard stone, but instead found a splash. Zook froze for a moment, then hurriedly got to his feet. It was a puddle, steadily getting deeper.

"Zook!" Eris appeared beside him again, out of breath, "What are you-?" She began following his gaze. She saw the slowly rising water and fell silent.

Eris' next words spilled ice into his veins, giving a voice to the realization he did not want to make.

"We're out of time."

Zook stared at the puddle, a fragment of the lesser moon Nocturne shaking in its reflection. Slowly, without the trappings of thought, Zook turned away. Away from the ridge. Toward the doomed tents.

"No Zook!" Eris shouted, grabbing his arm. For one second, Zook felt a flash of anger. There were still people in there, people who needed help, his help. What was Eris to argue against such a dire command?

If it were anyone else, that flash would have ignited Zook's rage. Made him tear his arm away and dive back into the carnage. But it was Eris. She knew no rage.

Eris rushed back to the ridge, Zook in tow. The terrified screams behind him pierced his heart, each one seeming to call for him.

Help us.

Save us.

Every fiber of his being told him to obey, to trade his life away. Eris' hand was like a piece of driftwood in a terrible storm and Zook clung to it just as dearly.

The ridge was so high now that they couldn't climb it on their own, they had to rely on the people above. Someone helped them up and Zook saw how many were gathered, crowding perilously on the ridge's edge. No one, however, brought themselves to jump down. The ridge did not look like it would offer a return.

"Eris, Zook!" came Sye's shout as he pushed his way to them, "Are you all right?"

Eris nodded, "Where's Pird?"

"Down here!"

Zook looked down to find Pird and two other men trying to boost up a woman who looked heavy with child. Eris, Zook and Sye immediately helped her up, then Zook reached down to grab Pird's outstretched hand.

There was another metal screech and the sinking ground plummeted a short ways. Pird fell with it. Water tore its way out from under the rubble, spraying up in white jets. Pird scrambled to his feet and tried to reach for Zook's hand, but his short stature betrayed him. Zook bent down as far as he could and Pird jumped, nearly half a meter of air still between their hands.

"Climb, Pird!" Zook shouted in desperation, feeling the growing groan of the supports in his bones. Pird tried but the stone and soil of the ridge came away in his hands, offering no purchase.

"Eris, I need you to lower me-" Zook began when another earthen groan interrupted him. It was louder this time, something perilous in its tone making everyone grow quiet and still. When it faded away, Zook carefully reached down, Eris' hold on him letting him go lower. Pird, just as carefully, reached up. No one made a sound; it felt like they were standing on a thin, cracking pane of glass. If anyone moved too fast something terrible would happen. And it did.

As soon as Zook grabbed Pird's hand there was an earth-rending crash. The sinking ground disappeared and in its place rushed up the grasping sea. Light and sound were blotted out and Zook suddenly found himself underwater. The very sea seemed to wrap around him and its displaced weight sucked him down. He couldn't breath, his instinct wouldn't let him breath. He was lost in the watery void.

Cold air struck his face and he gasped for breath as Eris hauled him out. It took him a moment to realize that Sye was shaking him.

"Where's Pird?" he was asking. No, he was shouting. Loud. Panicked.

Zook wanted to shout back, "He's here, I got him!" and he held out his hand. His reeling mind took a second to understand that his hand was absent of Pird's. Sye released him and dove into the roiling water, leaving Zook to stare at his empty palm in mounting horror. He just had Pird; he was just holding his hand. Then the water tried to pull him down. If it wasn't for Eris...

<Let go.>

"Pird!" Zook shouted, stumbling to his feet. The world seemed to be moving too fast, blurring together. He staggered toward the water but someone held him back. It wasn't Eris, for she had already dived in.

"Careful, mate," came Ladro's voice, "Hardly can walk straight, wouldn't want you to get lost down there."

Zook tried to struggle past but Ladro's grip was strong. He couldn't argue, his thoughts were too chaotic to pull into words. All he could do was watch.

Sye and Eris were far from the only ones in the quickly calming spot of sea. Broken wood and pockets of air drifted up from the depths. Zook saw his two friends disappear again and again into the black water.

It was quiet except for the pain-filled voices calling out names, calling for those who had been so cruelly taken away after their second chance at life. Zook's heart rose and fell with every person that was dragged out of the greedy sea.

Minute after minute crawled by. Eris and Sye dove, resurfaced, and dove again.

No, Zook thought numbly, No. Not one of us.  Zook couldn't feel what he was supposed to feel. It was too much. Everything so far was too much, but this was finally too close.

What will we tell Magist?

What will I tell him?

"Let...go," Sye spluttered as someone pulled him from the water, Eris trailing behind, "I...need...to look..."

"You're drowning yourself," the man who had Sye said, "It's been too long. Everyone...everyone down there is gone."

Again Zook felt an icy cold wash through his veins. He watched as Eris fell to her knees, sobbing with merciless grief. Sye kneeled and held her, his gray eyes wide and unfocused. Zook himself wanted to collapse, but he couldn't move. He felt so rigid that he thought he would shatter. His mind spun faster and faster, trying to find his way around a part of his living life torn away.

"I'm sorry, mate," Ladro said quietly, choking on his words, "I really am. He was a...a good sort. He really was."

Zook didn't reply. He couldn't. His thoughts were frozen. There was no way around the great wave of loss that crested over him. He felt horribly stuck in its cold shadow.

"Look and behold the vengeance visited upon those who would challenge the Second Pillar, the mighty Saranoda!"

Zook's mind froze, his whirling thoughts banished.

"This is the price of your cherished pride!"

He slowly turned toward the source of the voice, a man swathed in white robes. One of the infamous Priests. His hands were outstretched, smiling over the grieving crowd.

"We come from the dark, bearing the light of the almighty Pillars."

Zook took a step toward the man, then another. He did not feel the bite of his nails within his fists, a single rivulet of crimson dripping from a knuckle.

"Guiding is our word. Follow is our request!"

Zook's pace grew faster, carrying him swiftly closer.

"A cleansing will be had for all of man to survive-"

The Priest faltered in surprise when Zook jumped up to the large marble slab he stood upon, "One orator at a time, boy, wait your-"

Zook didn't hear him, he only felt the flood of fury and loathing that was ripping through his mind. Zook barely felt the man's cheekbone as he crashed his fist against him. The man twisted and fell from his platform, drawing a collective gasp from the surrounding crowd.

Stunned, the Priest tried to get to his feet, but his attacker was already there. Zook grabbed his robes and pulled him close. From the Priest's look of terror when he met his eyes, Zook knew that his own pupils had taken on a crimson shade; a loathsome trait inherited from his father.

"What are you-?" the Priest shouted angrily, "Are you out of your-?"

"What did you do?" Zook whispered, his voice shaking.

"What by the-?" the man began in confusion.

"What did you do?" Zook roared, the crimson in his eyes growing more prominent. That, more than anything else, scared the Priest into raising his hands before his face, as if to ward him off.

"You were always there!" Zook shook the Priest, "In the tower! Doing your rituals, your experiments! You found something, didn't you?  Didn't you?"

Zook violently pushed the man down. None of the many onlookers made a move to intervene. They seemed far more interested at the direction of the angry Healer's blame. The blame itself.

"We didn't..." the Priest whispered, trying again to stand, "...do...anything."

"Liar!" Zook shouted madly as he struck the man down a third time, "You're trying to say this," he picked up a piece of rubble, "Happened of its own accord? That these tents sank themselves? That all these people lost their lives to chance? Is that what this is to you, a game? A game where you get to choose who lives or dies? Who survives? What did you choose, Priest? What do you choose for yourself?"

Slowly, Zook raised the rock over his head.

Terrified, the Priest tried to crawl away but found a wall of people blocking his escape. They, too, held rocks and rubble with a solemn look in their eyes. At the edge of his senses, Zook could see Eris and Sye trying to fight through the crowd, shouting his name. He simply didn't care. Still blinded by fury, Zook took a step forward and the stone in his hand began to descend.

"Torin Mursaan!" bellowed a great commanding voice. Zook froze, he recognized the voice, but that wasn't what cut through his rage. It was the name that the voice had shouted.

The name his mother had given to him.

His father's name.

The crowd parted before a man like water at the prow of a grand tradeship. The makeshift weapons hastily disappeared and the small space around Zook and the Priest suddenly became a clearing. The man was tall and lean, his dirty robes still evoking an air of respect. The broken ground seemed to tremble under his stride of powerful authority. Streaks of brown marked his stone-gray hair, thick and pulled back into a simple braid. His short, ruffled beard hinted at once being carefully trimmed. On any other day the man's bright gray eyes would be kind, understanding and benevolent, but now they were alight with a cold anger.

"Is this how you repay Idusces for saving you?" the Mayor asked, coming between Zook and the Priest, "You make a scapegoat for a disaster? I rush back here, hearing that Syrus and his closest friends survived, only to find you about the snap the thread of peace I've been weaving for the past three days?"

"I..." Zook said, slowly lowering the stone, his mind once again not able to reach out with words, "I didn't..."

"There is no excuse for this!" The Mayor accused, "What reason could you have to consider such a thing? Do you have no-?"

"It should have been me!" Zook suddenly exploded, causing even the Mayor to lose what he was going to say, "I was in the wrong place, I should have been there! It was my fault!"

"What are you talking about?" the Mayor asked, the command in his voice replaced with concern.

"He's gone!" Zook felt the warmth of his own tears, the chill of his own blood, "Pird's gone, because he was where I was supposed to be. It...it should have been me!"

Zook abruptly turned and stumbled away. His world swam before him. His mind found a darkness and eagerly plunged into it. He knew no more.

End of the Fifth Chapter

# Maw of the Ancient

"They are flimsy"

"We must take greater care."

"It is much too early for any of them to die yet."

-The Four under the Foundings

Sye caught Zook just as he collapsed, nearly falling himself underneath his friend's limp weight. He quickly lowered Zook to the ground. Sye stood over him, unsure what to do.

The Healer collapsed, Sye thought, bemused.  Now what?

A hand came to rest on Sye's shoulder.

"He'll be all right," said the Mayor, "There is only so much one can handle and I doubt our famed Healer could sleep earlier amidst all of this."

Sye could only nod. The cold he felt seemed to clench his jaw shut and freeze his thoughts. It was a small mercy, to have this pause before he dove into the hollow despair.

"Is it true, then?" His father asked, much more quietly, "What he said?"

That question Sye could not answer. Saying it aloud would make it irrevocable. Irreversible. To answer would be to condone the crime fate had committed against his friend. Against them all.

The grip on his shoulder became firmer, "I am sorry, my son. I am unsure whether to feel joy to see you alive, or sorrow to see you in the face of so much loss." His father squeezed Sye's shoulder then let go. For a moment the Mayor looked as though he had more to say to his son, but his eyes failed to rest on only Sye. Eyes that felt more comfort upon cheering crowds.

"I'm sorry," the Mayor repeated, then left.

Sorry, Sye thought, feeling sick to his stomach, What am I supposed to do with 'sorry'?

"Let's get this baggage out of here, mate," said Ladro, coming beside him. Even his trademark grin seemed strained. He and Sye lifted an unconscious Zook and carried him to what remained of the tents. They chose an empty lean-to that did not overlook the fresh sea-filled wound. Sye could not bring himself to look at eerily still water. Ladro lingered for a minute after they set the Healer down on a torn blanket, then left. Sye stayed behind, looking down at his sleeping friend. Zook's visage was peaceful, but Sye could see the excited flicker behind his eyelids. Many things came to Sye's mind that wanted to be said, but his tongue refused to push them into reality.

Struggling for a moment, Sye finally settled to whisper in a strained voice, "What will we do?"

He hesitated, then stepped outside. For some reason, Ladro was still there, standing rigid and his back to Sye. It didn't take Sye long to find out why.

Two people were carrying Eris toward them. One was a woman Sye had not seen before, the other, shivering and sopping wet, was Pird.

"Gods, I have finally cracked," Ladro said hoarsely.

Again, Sye found his mind blank. No cognitive thought could rise while his dead friend approached him. He felt so terribly confused he didn't know what to feel, how to feel. So he simply stood there and waited.

"She just fainted!" said a bewildered Pird as he neared, "I finally found my way out of that damned hole and she was just standing there, staring at the water. She saw me and I waved, then she just fell over! Where's Zook?"

Sye didn't even try to reply, he was still trying to figure his way around this anomaly in his reality. Fortunately Ladro picked up the slack.

"Zook's inside, but...but he's out of it too. H-here, allow me." Almost hastily, the grinning man took Eris' feet from Pird and disappeared inside the tent with Eris and the woman.

"What's eating you?" Pird asked Sye, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Sye swallowed, then managed to say, "I am. Right now."

"What do you mean-?" Pird began, then faltered. "Oh," he said simply, eyes going wide, "Now this suddenly makes sense. It felt like a long time...but I figured that it was just...you thought I was dead?"

"Aren't you?" Sye asked weakly.

Pird held his hand up and looked at his palm, as though checking if he was still there, "Sorry to disappoint."

Ass, Sye thought happily as he embraced his short friend, relief washing away the sorrow, "Good to have you back."

Pird gave Sye a clap on the back, "Didn't even know I was away, but missed you too."

Sye released him, then asked, "What happened down there?"

Pird hesitated, "I heard the crash and then...and then it was..." he shook his head, "Dark. And cold. I could feel the sea sucking me down. I couldn't see..." Sye watched as Pird struggled with the memory, "Anything. At all. It was like there was nothing there. Except for the water. I didn't know whether I was swimming up or down. And then I felt...then I hit rock. At first I thought it was below me, but there was a crevice. I put my arm through it and found air."

"You were beneath the island?" Sye asked, amazed.

Pird nodded, "I made little trips. I couldn't see. Felt my way out as far as I dared then scramble back to my bubble. I eventually got back to that hole that had collapsed and then gave Eris a heart attack."

"You were down there for-" Sye began but Pird held up his hand.

Pird shook his head again, "I don't want to know."

Sye paused, then nodded.

Pird looked at Sye levelly, his expression growing confused, "Sye...I know this is going to sound crazy but when I was down there...I felt like something was down there with me."

"What do you mean?" Sye asked.

Pird looked down at his hands, "I don't know how to explain it but I just felt it. I somehow knew I wasn't alone...and I'm not sure if it was just a current or my imagination but it felt like something pushed me towards that air pocket."

"Maybe it was Idusces...or Diligence?" Sye offered, "Saying it wasn't your time to be Judged yet?"

"Maybe..." Pird said, sounding unconvinced, "But why me? Why save just me instead of the island?"

"That won't be the last time that question is asked."

They watched as Ladro and the woman exited the tent and left, Ladro nodding towards Sye.

Starting to sound like somebody, or something, is looking out for us, Sye thought, First me when we were buried, now Pird when he

was supposed to drown. Why would the Judge Idusces care about us while a whole city was left to perish? We aren't that special.

"Anything interesting happen while I was out?" Pird asked.

***

Eris found herself sitting next to the hole in the island a second time, watching as the deep waters turned from black to icy gray in the morning light. An ashen color seeped across the sky as the distant cold sun rose above the ring of stormy clouds on the horizon. She had awoken hours before and had wasted no time nearly strangling Pird in tear-ridden joy.

Now, the welcomed distraction of seeing her friend alive was beginning to wear off, leaving her again to dwell on the cold things around them. The hole before her had taken many lives, lives that had been thought to be spared from the island's wrath. A cruel joke had been played on them all.

Pird came to sit next to Eris, grumbling something. She glanced at him, then turned quickly to face him.

"What happened?" she asked.

Pird gingerly touched his swelling cheek and winced, "Zook woke up."

"And?"

Pird gave her an isn't-it-obvious look, "He saw me, went white, stuttered a bit, and then attacked me! He was yelling 'You think this is funny?'." He carefully put his cheek against a cold slab of stone, "Damned loon."

Need to find him before some poor soul wanders in his path, Eris thought, stepping outside. She scanned the horizon and saw a figure a ways away from the encampment, up on a hill of debris. It didn't take Eris long to close the distance between them. It was, of course, Zook who stood there, arms crossed, brow deeply furrowed, the dark of his eyes flickering with a reddish hue.

"You all right?" asked Eris feebly, failing to think of anything better to say. Zook didn't reply, didn't move, and didn't give any indication of hearing. Eris sighed, she hadn't expected any different. She followed his brooding glare and found, to her surprise, that he was looking to Saranoda. Even at this distance the monolith dominated nearly a fifth of the horizon. Eris was suddenly struck by the eerie sensation that it was gazing back at them.

Eris waited beside Zook, allowing him to organize his thoughts. He suddenly turned away.

"I'm leaving," he said, then began walking back to the encampment.

It took Eris a moment to realize what he had said. "Where?" was all she managed to say through her puzzlement.

Zook didn't look back, but she still heard him.

"To Saranoda."

***

"What in the gods names do you think you will find there?" shouted Magist from his sling. He had already tried to stand twice, but Eris, Pird, and Sye managed to hold him down in fear of his broken leg. Zook did not flinch at his teacher's rarely demonstrated anger, but continued to pack away his medicines and a few scraps of food.

"There is one, single, solitary, useless room!" Magist continued, "Scoured from bottom, if not necessarily to its infinite top, by hundreds of scholars, professors, tourists, and tower worshiping megalomaniacs! What is there that is worth risking life and limb for?"

"Please, Magist!" Sye pleaded, trying to calm him down.

"I will not have it!" Magist shouted over him, attempting a third time to stand and foiled a third time by his pupils, "I thought I lost you once, then I thought I lost Pird for sure. I will not bear it thrice! The entire island is falling apart, what looks like solid ground is nothing but a layer of dust over pits of razored rocks and splintered timber. I will not have one of mine storming across it because he thinks the inanimate tower is to blame!"

Now Zook paused and so did Eris.  Saranoda? she thought, He thinks it did all of this?  In her mind it seemed outrageously absurd, a part of the landscape slaughtering millions.

"Did you not see its glow?" Zook finally asked, turning toward them, "Did you not see its falls turn dry? The blue light that fell from the clouds within that tower and disappeared under..." He suddenly went silent, averting his eyes.

He can't even say its name, Eris realized, he can't bring himself to say Eretia! Oh, Zook, how far has this pushed you?

"Under here?" Zook decided to say, "Beneath us? Into the Lermur sea? And what came from the sea? What could have raised this very land so high and just let it drop? A flux, a great welling of water, bulging around that damned tower and crushing everything before it. You think its coincidence, a quake giving that pretty little spire a good shake? Nothing natural could have done this!"

"So you will go and look down its throat?" Magist retorted, "Offer your head to its maw? By Ignorance, you want me to sit here and explore all the many terrible ends Eretia has lying in wait fore you?"

"This was a place of beginnings," Zook said, much more softly, "Saranoda made it a place of far too many ends." With that he shouldered his pack and turned to leave.

"Do not dare turn your back on me!" Magist roared, startling Eris, "I am yet your godfather. Do not make me invoke the promises I made to your mother and father over your birth!"

Zook grew very still, "He would have nothing to do with this."

"And neither would she," Magist's voice grew quieter, "Please. Think this through. You are letting your anger make your choices for you. Your fate is not a broken body amongst the shattered stones."

Zook turned to face him. He still wore a mask of anger, but his eyes showed his sorrow.

"Neither was it for the millions who died here," he said. It was silent, save for the wind that tore at the meager tent, for a moment before Zook continued.

"I need to see, Magist, I need to at least try. If I don't it will never let me sleep. I need to, for our home's sake, to see if I can't find out why."

Magist's brow slowly lost its angry slope, slowly turning upwards into a sorrowful hill.

"My crutch," he said under his breath.

"Magist..." Sye began.

"By Idusces I will not throttle anyone! Old men think on their feet, not on their asses!"

Eris resisted the urge to laugh in light of the dire situation, Pird being less successful. Sye reluctantly gave Magist the conveniently crutch shaped piece of timber Pird had found for him earlier. With their help their teacher managed to get to his feet. He paused before the torn flap of cloth that was doing its best to be a door.

"Do not follow me," he said, "I need to wander."

"But-" Sye began.

"I know which places are safe. I know which are quiet. Trust me, I know."

With that, Magist left.

Sye turned to Zook, "Why are you doing this now, of all times?"

Zook's answer was quick and scathing, "And what would you do? Sit here? Wait for someone to pick up the pieces for you?"

"And you would pick at the world until it falls around your ears?"

"Stop it."

Zook and Sye turned to Eris, who returned their looks with a wavering gaze.

"Can we just...just quit while we're ahead? Please?"

Sye said nothing. Zook looked at her for a moment, then stiffly returned to organizing his vials. Eris watched him, looking at how Zook stood so rigidly, how each move of his hand was so forceful. He was angry; Zook was always angry. Eris closed her eyes and let her mind wander through everything she had just experienced. The loss of Eretia. The loss of the camp. And what was for too long, the loss of Pird.

Nothing came of it. No anger. No hate. It had been so long since she had felt any of those things it was difficult to understand Zook.

For a brief moment, Eris was a child again. Alone in a dark cavern. A monster in the shadows.

Eris opened her eyes, escaping from the past. She felt nothing but sorrow for all the loss. Anger had been left behind all those years ago. Left with the monster in the cave.

Never again, Eris gave the memory a parting thought before locking it back behind its old door.

The minutes slowly ticked past in their silence. After what felt like half an hour, Eris became concerned. Magist had just told them how dangerous the island had become. Pird also began to get restless.

"Well," said Pird, standing, "I don't know about you but I'm not going to wait for someone to come tell us that Magist fell in a hole-"

The shelter's drapes were suddenly cast aside and Magist limped in. He leaned on his crutch far more than he needed to and he didn't meet the eyes of any of his godchildren.

Taking his place back on his sling, Magist spoke, "I still believe this is rash and foolhardy, galloping off all for the sake of-" Magist stopped himself, shaking his head. He sighed, "But I also believe that you must go and see Saranoda for yourself."

This took all of them by surprise, but Magist continued before anyone could say anything, "Make your peace with the tower, Zook. I doubt we will ever come to understand what happened here, but if this is what will make you content, so be it. Saranoda will not have any answers for you, only an empty room."

It took Zook a moment to realize that his wish had just been granted. "Thank you," he said simply, then turned to leave.

"There is, however, one condition."

Zook paused. Eris looked to Magist, waiting. She couldn't imagine what Magist had in mind. His face was oddly expressionless, as though he didn't want them to know what he was feeling.

"Sye, Eris, and Pird must go with you."

Eris felt a stir of relief, Now I don't have to confront Zook and insist we go with him.

"Why, Magist?" Zook asked.

Magist looked at him levelly, "Even if I did not already know how well you four work together, the wave has demonstrated that there is nothing more this place can do to threaten you while you have each other."

"My father-" Sye began.

"-Has already been spoken to," Magist finished, "He is the hole I fell in." Pird turned red. "And he has agreed. He thinks that you would be the best suited to deliver a message for him."

"A message?" Sye asked.

"Yes. Apparently a group of survivors have set up around Saranoda. The Mayor wishes that they come here, to better organize them. A tradeship has been spotted off the coast."

"We're leaving?" Eris asked. It had crossed her mind several times, when Sye had said that they would disappear in the city Mirith's shadow, but she never gave it much thought. She had been born here, raised here. Everything she had ever known, everything that had ever happened to her, happened here. It made sense to leave, but she had never been away from Eretia for very long.

Is this how an apple feels? Eris thought sadly, When it must finally let go of the tree?

Magist slowly nodded, "There's nothing left for you four here. We'll have to find somewhere to start over, someplace to recover from this. Without a proper port it will take a few days for the tradeship to remove its cargo and make room for people. Even then, we should be leaving before our food stores run out."

"Magist-" began Eris, her voice trailing off. There was so much she wanted to say. Couldn't they stay? Help rebuild? This place used to be paradise, couldn't it be so again? Eris just couldn't find the words to describe these thoughts, for they had to be said together to make any sense. To make as much sense as she felt.

"Go now," said Magist, "If you do not leave soon you will not reach Saranoda before sun down."

"But it's only a little more than a few kilometers from here," said Pird.

Magist looked at him sadly, "I am afraid there are no roads for you to run on, good thief."

"Oh..." Pird said, his face falling.

"Let's go," Zook said shortly, hand already opening the tent.

"Wait," said Magist sharply. They looked at him but he didn't answer immediately. He seemed hesitant, "If you do find...anything, there is something I know that might be useful." Again he paused, slowly meeting each of their eyes, "Can you name the towers for me?"

Eris shared puzzled looks with her friends. Sye answered, "There's Bandui in the Korlith desert, Krakrenenor in the Bowels, near the city Bakaar, and then there's Saranoda."

"And what attributes, besides from being enormous, identify them?"

Eris didn't see where this was going. Sye didn't seem to either, "Bandui seems to represent wind, Krakrenenor fire, and Saranoda..." The irony was not lost on Eris, but Sye still finished, "Water."

Magist nodded, "By what little research has been done on the Second City, our forgotten ancestors would have called those misnomered 'elements' Aero, Pyre, and Aquae. Now, from an archaic point of view, why are the three towers unusual?"

Sye did not answer right away, so Eris picked up the slack, "Everything that was written before the Second City says that people believed that everything was somehow divisible by four. By their count, there should be a fourth tower."

"One for earth, or Terra. There is a name that appears again and again in my preciously small collection of books from the Second City. 'Tumbar'. I believe this is the fourth tower."

"I don't think we could have overlooked something like a tower," said Sye doubtfully.

Magist gave him a knowing smile, "Do not think that because we have circumnavigated the globe that there are not places waiting to be found."

"Is that what you told the Priests?" Eris asked. For some reason Sye visibly jumped in his seat.

"No," said Magist, "I would never impart something of such consequence to those baboons in robes. They merely wanted to know the circumference of Saranoda."

"Why?"

"They were going to do some ritual and needed to know how many of them it would take to make a ring around the tower." Magist shook his head in amusement, "I do not think there are enough of the fools for such a feat, but I have been wrong before."

***

On the horizon Saranoda made the sun look like a mere marble, seemingly a simple destination. At first the journey was easy as the rubble was even and mostly gravel. As they came closer to the tower, however, large slabs of buildings littered their path and skeletal structures sometimes collapsed when they drew near. Their pace was reduced to a crawl as they were forced to climb over broken homes and what remained of the crumbling roads. The island itself further impeded them. Like the tragedy from the morning, they saw gaping holes filled with the Lermur Sea. Once they had to scramble off of a fallen building they were climbing over as it began to sink into the ground. They watched as Eretia seemed to swallow the ruin, then they had to find another way through the rubble.

"Oh Idusces..." Eris breathed. Behind a large piece of rubble there was a vertical piece of timber jutting from the ground. A man was impaled upon it. He was slumped over the timber, face down. His face was hidden under his hair, for which Eris was glad. She did not want to see the look of terror that had captured the poor man's last moments. The timber and rock beneath him were dark with congealed blood.

His last image was watching himself being poured out onto his home, Eris thought, her stomach turning. She was now glad she had eaten little.

"Let's go," Sye said softly beside her, his hand going to her wrist and pulling her away. She looked to him and saw that he was also holding Pird's arm; the small boy's face had gone white and his eyes trembled. Behind them Zook still looked up at the body, but he was turned away so Eris could not see his expression.

They soon found that the dead man was far from alone. For each body Eris felt her heart drop, only to feel a sickening wave of relief when she saw their tormented faces. She hadn't recognized one of them yet, but with each new one her mind imagined a familiar face.

There were moments when the only way to proceed was to step over the dead.

The air stank of it.

Several times they caught a glimpse other survivors traveling in loose lines a distance off, but no one made a point to find the four friends out. By the time they reached Saranoda the sun was setting.

A huge stone bowl had been built around the tower long ago to catch the water and direct it through a labrynth of pipes, one of the only man-made achievements that could even be said in the same sentence as a tower of Adrala. There were three walkways that circled Saranoda above this giant bowl with bridges joining them together.

Saranoda was colossal in size, dominating their entire view. Eretia had always been a beacon of safety for tradeships travelling between the mines of Baradur and the port cities of Benji and the Delta. No matter the weather, no matter the sea's turmoil, one could always see Saranoda and the once safe harbors it stood over. The tower's fountains were innumerable, a common sport was to take a spyglass and a guidebook and see if one could find any undiscovered fountains.

It was a relatively easy sport.

The destruction caused by the quake stopped near the edge of the gerat bowl, the eye of the storm. Here the quiet was eerie, for the buildings were untouched. The roads were intact and, if one didn't turn around and see the devastation behind them, it would look all too much like Eretia was still standing. Many survivors had gathered at this oasis of civilization, sitting in groups in the streets and staring out the windows.

Walking through the survivors brought a chill down Eris' spine. None looked up at them or said a word in passing. Just empty stares past each other; most towards the desert of rubble that stretched to the horizon. It reminded Eris of a historical museum she once visited. Recreations of an older people, wax figures imitating the past; their eyes not seeing the present.

The four reached the bowl at Saranoda's base and crossed the long arching bridge that spanned its waters. Eris glanced down into the crystalline waters of the proud structure and felt a twinge of sorrow. A jagged hole had opened up at the bowl's bottom many fathoms below, schools of fish flitting in and out. The remains of the great pipes that once connected Eretia to Saranoda's fonts were shattered and scattered through the great pool. Soon the four stood before the archway that was the entrance to the one single room of the tower Saranoda.

Water still dripped from Saranoda. The silvery blue material of the tower shimmered in the daylight, its surface smooth and unscratched in spite of centuries of many a scholar's hand breaking many a diamond against its surface. The symbol that baffled so many and embraced by the notorious Priests was emblazoned on top of the archway. A reversed question mark with a pair of lines crossing its stem, a bizarre character that no scholar has ever come to understand. It was not often any of the four had the chance to be this close to Saranoda before. It was a symbol of power, immortality, and a challenge against the sky. Here the wind was still and quiet reigned.

"Do you hear that?" Pird asked suddenly.

Eris, along with Sye and Zook, stopped to listen. There was nothing, save for the quiet dripping of water still running down the tower's surface.

Eris opened her mouth to question Pird when she heard it. Or rather, felt it. She knew why Pird described it as a sound; there was no other way to describe the deep thrumming at the edge of silence that seemed rise from the floor and resonate with her being. Eris suddenly realized that it wasn't a sound that she heard, or a trembling that she felt. It was simply something she knew. A presence, the same as when one knows they're being watched. Eris shivered, feeling as though it was Saranoda that was watching them.

"What is that...sound?" Sye asked, looking up at the tower.

"Let's go find out," Zook said evenly, walking towards the archway. Eris looked to Sye, who shrugged and followed.

Eris walked to the mammoth archway's edge, its top fifty meters overhead, and touched the metal of the tower. It was unnaturally smooth, feeling as though there was a thin sheen of water beneath her hand. Sye, Pird, and Zook walked past her into the room.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Two men stepped from behind the wall just inside of the archway. Eris was confused by their challenge, but only for a moment. They both bore blue sashes with Saranoda's symbol emblazoned in silver.

"They want to come inside, methinks," said one Priest as if answering the question the first had asked.

"Do they now?" replied the first. He made an exaggerated motion of looking outside, "Well, it doesn't seem to be raining."

"Or snowing," helped the second.

"This is Eretia, you idiot, it doesn't snow."

Beyond the two Priests, Eris could see a number of people milling around in the massive chamber. They weren't wearing sashes. One noticed what was happening at the archway and began to approach. Eris hoped the stranger would arrive before Zook's clenched fists found a jaw.

"Do they seem cold to you?" asked the first.

"They're not shivering," answered the second.

"It's not like we've got a fire anyways."

"Or that we've got food."

"I really don't see a reason why we should let you in."

The second nodded, "Not a single one."

"So scurry off now, back to whatever hole-"

A meaty hand came down on either Priest's shoulder, a large man leaning between them.

"Making friends?" he asked pleasantly, but with a hint of danger in his voice.

"S-Salem," the first Priest replied, all the superior look draining from his face, "We were j-just...ah..."

"'Course you were," Salem replied, "But I got em' now, so...what was it? Ah yes. Scurry off now you two."

And that's exactly what the two men did. They hurriedly pushed their way past the four and began the trek back over the bridge.

Salem shook his head at their retreating backs, "Don't mind them, they're harmless. They just try 'n scare folks off before we can catch em'."

"Thanks for the help," said Sye, looking around, "There's not more of them?"

Salem chuckled, "Oh there was, but had a bit of a scuffle earlier. They've decided to just leave behind these two to get underfoot. What're you four doin' around here? Come to ask the big blue tower 'what did we do to you?'"

Zook opened his mouth to say something, from his expression it wouldn't be pleasant, so Sye cut in, "No, we're here to deliver a message."

As Sye explained about the tradeships, Eris wandered off with Pird and Zook in tow.

Being the lone atrium of the grand tower it was, of course, enormous. Eris grew a bit dizzy simply looking from one distant side of the chamber to the other. The only other place she had ever been that had such space indoors was the great arena built in early Eretia history. A great domed building for sports and political gatherings; the arena had taken a century to build and could house tens of thousands. That entire arena could have fitted comfortably here with room to spare.

The dome was built to withstand tempests, Eris thought, wondering if that had been enough to withstand Eretia's wrath.

The chamber's walls were lined with half columns that ran up into the infinite black above them. It was a common idea that there was no ceiling to be found, for it was difficult for anyone to imagine something that no one has actually seen. The only light was a shaft of the setting sun that fell through the great arch behind them, casting long shadows against the smooth floor. In the falling light Eris could see part of the most intricate and baffling design known to Adrala. Across the entirety of the floor's surface was a series of coalescing circles, long slender lines with perfect geometry, each with a fine line of unintelligible symbols etched beside them.

"Am I the only one who feels like they're going to get crushed by all the air in here?" asked Pird, looking around in awe.

Eris tapped the floor with her shoe. Although the material of Saranoda appeared metallic, it had the sound of some kind of stone. It suddenly occurred to Eris that she wondered how the material tasted; it just as quickly occurred to her that she should ask Pird. With a small smile she pushed the thought away.

Most of the people surrounding them wandered aimlessly, looking around. A few felt their way across the wall, as though something might be engraved there, and one or two even had their ears against the floor, listening intently at nothing.

Eris suddenly found herself walking to the center of the room, where all the gently curving lines of the floor's design converged.

How long have I been walking? Eris thought, confused. She glanced behind her, seeing that her friends weren't too far behind, talking with several of the other occupants of the chamber.

She realized that she was standing at the exact center of the room, which made her feel even smaller. She could only imagine how it would feel to be at the center of the entire tower, if a way within would ever reveal itself.

Eris' eyes were drawn to the center of the design beneath her. Here there was a final series of concentric circles, all the long flowing lines of the entire room meeting at the exact center.

It's kind of beautiful, actually.  Eris thought, sitting beside the design within a design, Everything simply converges. Everything's...connected.

Eris traced a few of the slim lines with her finger, taking in all the strange shapes and symbols that surrounded every circle. Finally sitting after such a wearying day made Eris realize just how tired she was. The hard, cold floor seemed strangely inviting to rest against.

Suddenly Eris shot awake, looking over her shoulder. Nobody was anywhere near her.

There was somebody standing right behind me, Eris thought, her racing heart slowing back to a tired rhythm, Or I'm crazy. Or I'm tired. Or Pird's become far too good.

Her half-lidded eyes fell back onto the symbols, looking at them without any focus. Something about them made her rub her eyes and look again.

Why do I feel like I can read what they say, Eris asked herself, but I have no idea what it actually says.

She glanced over her shoulder again, the feeling that somebody was leaning over her had returned. Without any real thought to what she was doing, she whispered aloud what she thought she could read.

Well, Eris thought, I now know how Pird feels when reading math problems for Magist. Gibberish.

The symbols lining the design disappeared. Eris rubbed her eyes and found that the symbols had returned. She thought for a moment that she was just seeing things.

But now they're...different?

She reached out and touched the center of the circle at the heart of the design. For the briefest moment, she saw dozens of hands woven in shadow lying beside hers. She would have given this glimpse a pause for thought, had not the circle and its symbols begun spinning.

"Sye?" Eris said numbly, her heart racing. She looked around and saw Sye a ways off, talking to Salem.

"Sye!"

Sye broke off his conversation and looked to her. Without hesitation he ran towards her, Salem following behind in curiosity. Zook and Pird also followed the strange fright in her voice.

"What's going on?" Sye asked, perturbed. Eris only pointed. Sye looked, then simply stood there dumbfounded.

"I'm going to assume that's not supposed to be happening," Pird said beside Eris quietly.

"I don't see anything," said somebody unfamiliar. Eris looked up and saw that her shout was bringing everyone exploring Saranoda's atrium to her. They formed a ring around her, pushing in to get a better look at the first disturbance in Saranoda's chamber in written history.

"It's right there! Look, it's moving!" said another.

"Did you do something Eris?" asked Sye in disbelief.

"No, I mean yes. I think," Eris looked up at him, "I thought I could read some of the words...so I did."

"What did it say?" Zook asked. Eris looked at him in surprise; he didn't look like he doubted her ability to read gibberish at all.

"I don't know," said Eris. She gazed at the spinning circles and suddenly felt compelled to reach out and touch its center once again. At the moment of her touch, the symbols froze.

She sat back, waiting for something to happen. Anything.

For the longest few minutes, nothing did.

"Well," said Pird, "That was exciting." There was then the very recognizable sound of Zook's hand encountering the back of Pird's head.

"I don't understand," said Sye, "You said something, the design moved, but nothing-"

"Sye?" Eris said slowly, not entirely sure what she was seeing. She slowly reached out with her fingers above the design's center. Her hand brushed against something barely visible, something warm and soft. Eris couldn't seem to actually see it; it was like there was something wrong with a thread of air strung straight up from the floor. Scalding heat suddenly sliced across her fingers and she snatched her hand away. An almost inaudible hum was heard and the distortion took on a color so all could see.

It was like a golden thread of light was slipping up through a cloud of invisible dust, so Eris could only see parts of it shimmering. The thread was thin and rigid, stabbing up into the perpetual darkness.

"What in Judgment's name-?" someone began to whisper when a slight, inhuman sigh was heard. A second thread struck out, this time originating a few meters up the first, and stabbed through Sye.

"Sye!" Eris shouted, making a step toward him. But he didn't fall, didn't flinch, even though she could see the light fall on the base of his throat and exit out his back, hitting the floor. Sye, instead of worrying over his strange impalement, was staring at her.

Eris looked down and saw that she, too, had a thread of shifting gold where her neck met her body. There was no broken skin. She held her hand up, blocking it, but the light didn't break. It just continued like her flesh wasn't there.

One by one the thin shafts found their way to each and every person in the room. There were starts of surprise, but it seemed strangely wrong to be any louder or turn away. Eris felt a tingling in her fingers and toes and she had the odd taste of metal in her mouth. She didn't feel panic; a blanket of inexplicable calm had fallen around her.

One of the many threads shifted to a glistening red. Another followed suit, then another. It wasn't long until they all had a crimson glow.

All but four.

At once each of the connecting lines of light disappeared. The first upright golden string dwindled and then, with a sharp sigh, disappeared. There was silence.

"I think we should leave," Sye said, looking shaken. Eris also felt a strange sense of foreboding.

What did we do? Eris thought.

"Help!"

Everyone turned toward the desperate shout. At first Eris thought that the man in the back was unusually tall, but as people backed away she felt a wave of nausea. His feet weren't touching the floor.

There was another yelp, followed by a second. The affected people flailed uselessly. One man jumped to try and drag his friend down, but instead pushed him into a sickening spin. Watching made Eris glad she hadn't eaten much. She looked around and saw that she, Pird, Sye, and Zook were the only ones not floating helplessly in the air. Then Eris realized that everyone else weren't just floating up, they were being pulled toward the archway. And they were picking up speed.

Without thinking Eris tried to grab one of their legs, but fell short. She reached for another and a third crashed into her back, knocking her to the ground. People were screaming in fear, all their control taken away. Eris looked up and saw that Pird had gotten a hold of one and was being dragged toward the arch. Sye and Zook ran past her after him. She scrambled to her feet and gave chase.

The flying group passed through the archway and was hurled into the waiting water. Pird, however, did not. It didn't look like he let go, it was as though something had flicked him back.

"Are you all right?" Eris asked urgently when they reached him.

"There's a wall," grunted Pird, clutching his forehead as he stood. Sye reached out to the archway. Something they couldn't see stopped his hand.

"But there's nothing there!" Eris said desperately.

"Let's not panic," Sye urged, feeling his way across the invisible barrier.

The silence of Saranoda was again broken by a quiet hum, seeming to come from the very air. Eris struck the unseen wall but her fist bounced off like she had hit a massive drum. Salem and a handful of others managed to pull themselves from the water and ran back to the four. They pounded on the wall but were repelled like Eris. She could see them shouting, but she couldn't hear them. Eris struck harder, the feeling of being trapped growing.

Everything went utterly dark.

Eris held very still, for she couldn't tell if her eyes were open or closed. The vast chamber suddenly seemed like it could be filled with all manner of nightmares, just out of her reach.

"Can I panic now?" Pird asked in a small voice.

A dim, dark blue glow seeped through the room, letting Eris just barely make out her friends. She also could now see that there was no longer an archway. Eris stepped away from it, feeling stunned.

It hadn't closed.

It simply wasn't there.

"Good gods," Sye whispered, staring at the blank wall, "We're trapped inside Saranoda!"

"The light," said Pird. The source of the light came from the floor, back at the center. Sye warily approached the source, Eris following close behind with the other two in tow.

The glow came from the central most circle of the floor's concentric design. The blue light was steady and silent. What caught Eris' eyes was what looked like a single drop of quicksilver not quite at the center of the circle. There was a plip and another fell beside it.

Eris looked up and was startled by a brief shower of mirrored rain, every droplet landing neatly within the circle. A second burst followed, then a third. The fourth, however, was far from a small patter. A long curling tongue of the silvery liquid fell from the darkness, causing the four to step back. The stream didn't splash against the floor; instead it splashed against the air. It was like there was an invisible sphere a few centimeters off the floor, the mercurial fluid sliding across its unseen bowl and splashing up the sides.

The invisible ball quickly filled and began to expand like a silver balloon, the stream still pouring from above. Ripples rolled across its curved surface. As it grew larger it floated higher, the puddle from the previous showers plucked by an invisible hand and sucked up into the roiling mass.

The sphere rose over their heads and began to stretch horizontally, thinning into a disk. Even though she couldn't see it, Eris could still hear the quicksilver falling and adding to the mass. As she looked up with puzzled wonder, Eris found that the substance wasn't quicksilver at all, the dim blue lighting tricking her eyes. Above her stretched the clearest mirror she had ever seen, looking all like she was looking up into the eyes of her startled doppleganger within an identical room. The only flaws in the illusion were the ripples that curled across the expanding disk.

The sound of the stream abruptly silenced. Eris looked around and saw that the colossal floating mirror had spanned the great chamber, giving the chamber the high ceiling it never had. The low hum cut off and the circle of light under their feet began to fade.

"I don't like this," said Pird, as the darkness silently fell. There was, again, quiet. Again, Eris felt that there were things in the approaching shadows just outside the dwindling light.

Then the hum returned with an intense warbling tone. Eris shielded her eyes as the room was flooded with a bright blue light. At first she thought that the entire floor was alight with sapphire fire. As her eyes adjusted, however, Eris found that the piercing glow flowed from the swirling design on the floor.

And again the design was moving.

The great curving lines that shed from the central circle spun in one direction, the many concentric circles spun in another, all at different speeds. The floor now seemed translucent, for another similar array was moving what looked like several feet under the first. Another lay under that and, as far as Eris could see, the pattern continued until there were too many glowing lines to see past.

Panic rose again and again within her, but it was like there was something preventing her from feeling the panic. She was afraid and confused, but she couldn't act on it. The distortion of her emotions was strange, but she already had enough distractions.

A dark blue glow joined the piercing light. Eris looked down and saw that a circle of a darker hue had formed around her feet. Lines of miniature scrawl and hyperbolic shapes drew themselves beneath her. She looked to her friends and found that they, too, had their own still symbols underneath. Eris wanted to jump away from this strange mark, but something held her there. A compulsion stronger than self-preservation.

Eris' eyes were drawn back to the great mirror above her, only to find something horribly wrong with the reflection. In the mirror the symbols the four stood on were red instead of blue. The entire design was off, not quite in the same position as the one beneath her.

The loud hum reached a new crescendo, then suddenly the world went silent. Eris could not hear anything, not even the beating of her own heart. Her reflection, for the briefest of moments, was surrounded by figures. None that she could describe, just shadows looking back at her through the mirror. Then her reflection disappeared, along with the shadows, leaving only the symbol.

Disorientation took her as she realized that her surroundings had changed. They were in the same cavernous, ceilingless chamber, but the bluish light had given way to a clear glow. The designs beneath the floor were gone, its translucence banished, and the design on the floor was different from what she remembered. The pitiful amount of light that remained came from the floor, but only just around her feet. Slowly, she looked up. The mirror was gone, replaced again by the infinite reaches of the tower's maw.

Eris found Sye a short distance away, also looking up in dazed confusion. She began to walk toward him but a wave of dizziness overtook her. She stumbled, then sank to her knees. The disorientation passed and Eris went to Sye.

"What...?" began Eris, but she stopped herself. What happened? Sye had seen everything she had. The golden light. The expulsion of everyone but them. The lights. The mirror.

What happened? Eris thought, Who in Adrala could possibly answer that?

"What in the world have we done?" Sye asked in a terrified whisper.

Even in light of everything that had occurred, Sye's tone was strange.

"What do you mean?" asked Eris.

Sye slowly turned toward her, eyes wide with horror, "Saranoda hasn't changed as long as anyone can remember. What happened the one time something did change?"

"We did not create another wave," said Zook in a strangely calm voice, he and Pird walking to them.

"How could you possibly know?" Sye asked

"There was no roar," Zook replied simply.

"There were people screaming and beating on that invisible wall! We didn't hear a thing!"

"I believe that gold light was some kind of security," Zook continued, pointedly ignoring Sye, "The mirror, the lights, everything was merely Saranoda unlocking."

"How can you be so sure that we haven't just killed the last of Eretia!"

"The door was closed when we got here, now its open."

"Door?" Sye asked, bewildered. Zook didn't answer, he merely looked past them. Sye and Eris turned around.

Where there was once ambiguous wall was now a towering archway. Light from the setting sun did not fall through this arch, instead it lead to a wide dark corridor.

A corridor that led into the untouched darkness of Saranoda.

End of the Sixth Chapter

# First of the Shadows

"We were to open the tower to their prying, the girl let herself in."

"So early in the plan and already it is twisting from our grasp."

"Early? You forget how long ago this began."

"This is the end."

-The Four under the Foundings

That shouldn't be there," Pird said in disbelief.

"Agreed," Zook said sarcastically.

"No, I know it's not supposed to just pop out of the wall. I meant the arch isn't supposed to be there."

"Your point," Zook said evenly, "Quickly."

Eris knew that tone. What Zook was really saying was "You have five seconds to explain why you're in my way before we have a problem."

"That's where we came in!" Pird said loudly. He seemed even more baffled then their collective state of bewilderment. "That should lead back outside, but...I don't understand!"

"It's not the same arch, Pird," said Sye, getting over the initial shock of seeing a wall disappear.

"I know!" Pird Shouted, nearly hysterical now, "It's a different door, but it's the same Dark direction!"

"How do you know?" asked Zook contemptuously.

"Dammit Zook!" We've lived in the same house for fifteen years!  You know that I know that that is south," Pird pointed, "and that's west, that's north, and that's east." Pird pointed one hand to south and the other to west, "And that-" Pird said, pulling his fingers together, "Is where we came in." Pird's fingers fell upon the new archway.

"There's something very wrong with this room," Pird finished quietly.

All four of them looked at the shadowed opening. Without a word, Zook began walking toward it.

"What are you doing?" Sye asked. Zook ignored him.

"Zook!"

Zook stopped, halfway between them and the arch. He turned, "We're not going to find anything by standing here. I suggest you move forward."

"We're trapped in here," said Sye, "Saranoda's locked us in!"

Zook glanced around, "I don't see anything stopping us."

"Zook, this is Saranoda," Sye said, exasperated, "There's never been a way inside!"

"And you would hesitate now?"

"Have you forgotten about Eretia? Don't you think there's a reason why we were never let inside before?"

"Have I forgotten Eretia?" Zook asked in a threatening tone. He looked like he had more to say, but he stopped himself. To Eris' puzzlement, Zook took a deep breath and appeared to calm himself. Zook never pushed away his anger. He always let it all out, let it burn until he was tired. If the need arose, he did it quietly with bites of sarcasm, but he never tried to control it. Not until now.

Is he controlling it? Eris wondered, Or have we just not seen this much fury before?

"You can stay here if you're afraid," Zook said, "But I'm leaving. I don't care how big this tower is, I'm going to find out why Eretia had to be destroyed."

Once again, Zook didn't stay for any argument. He turned and left to the corridor. The glow around his feet followed him into the shadows, giving a thin defense against the darkness beyond.

"Zook!" Sye called again, but it fell on deaf ears. Pird hesitated, then went after the tall Healer. Eris followed, but when she was at the arch she realized Sye wasn't with her. She looked behind herself and found that he hadn't moved. Eris walked back to him

"Sye..." Eris trailed off. She felt torn between him and Zook. Sye met her eyes, his face unsure, then he looked away.

"There's nowhere else to go," Eris pleaded. She could feel Zook and Pird getting farther away. She walked to the brooding archway, then looked back at Sye. When he stayed silent Eris hesitated, then reluctantly left.

The dark twilight of the wide arching hall was eerie, there being just enough light to barely make out the walls. Shadows stained the high cathedral-like ceiling and upper walls, even directly above the glowing floor that followed Eris.

It was utterly silent within Saranoda, every footfall seeming to echo endlessly. Gone were the noises of people, horses, and carts. Of the wind and the sea. The distant roar of the tectonic plates that human senses cannot hear but primeval instincts know is there. Beneath the disquieting silence, however, was a sound not quite there. Eris could not find a word for the strange feeling, but she felt if weight had a sound, if all the weight of the gargantuan tower had a noise, then that's what it would sound like.

It didn't take Eris long to catch up to Zook and Pird, for they hadn't gone far. They both stood, utterly baffled, before a split in the hall.

"Who wants to get lost first?" asked Pird, sounding amused at their conundrum.

Zook was already frustrated, pacing a few steps down one corridor, then coming back to vainly explore the other.

"What are we supposed to do?" he asked in a low temper, "Guess? Spin and point?"

"Anyone got a coin?" Pird asked.

As if to answer Zook, a pinprick of blue lit in the distant shadows of the right corridor. Without a second's thought Zook took a few steps toward the glow. He stopped, however, when the light bobbed.

"Is someone else here?" Eris asked. She wasn't sure whether to feel hopeful or afraid.

We're alone here, Eris thought, Aren't we?

The light did not come from the glowing floor following a person; instead it came from what looked like a floating blue sphere. Eris felt Pird turn wary beside her and couldn't help but feel cautious herself. The approaching object looked harmless, but at this point anything was possible. Zook did nothing to show that he was perturbed.

As the sphere neared Eris saw that it was about the size of her head. It looked to be made of foggy blue glass, containing a dark haze that swirled and convulsed within. Swarming over its surface glowed what looked like indecipherable words in yet another lighter shade of blue. The orb shone with an azure blaze, yet the light that fell around it was a soft, clear white.

"What's keeping it up?" Eris whispered to Pird as the sphere drew closer.

"I'm still getting over the fact that it's moving by itself," Pird whispered back, "Don't rush me."

The orb came to a stop a few meters away from Zook. Eris had a curious feeling it was looking them over, even though she couldn't see how it could see at all.

It was so quiet that when the orb finally made a sound Eris had to resist the urge to jump. It was a soft, sorrowful sound; the orb's light darkening a shade and the words on its surface swirling a bit faster. After a moment it made the noise again, sounding like some sort of violin humming away. The orb played a few more sad notes, then bobbed once and drifted a few meters away. It returned to Zook and repeated the motion.

"It wants us to follow it," said Zook.

"How do you know?" Pird asked.

Eris could almost see Zook's hackles rise.

"What about Sye, Zook?" Eris asked Zook Pird could formulate a response, "We can't just leave him."

"I thought we just did," said Zook.

"What the Dark is the matter with you?" Pird asked angrily.

Now Zook did turn fully around. He didn't say anything, just crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

It was a moment before Pird continued; Eris guessed that he had been waiting for Zook's normal scathing retort.

"I'm used to you being pissed off," said Pird, "But this is a whole new level. We're in Saranoda, do you think we should be poking around?"

"You're right," Zook replied evenly, "This is Saranoda. That's why I don't have time for this."

Zook then made a strange look over Eris' shoulder. She couldn't read what lay in the shades of crimson in his eyes, besides that he was expecting something. Eris turned around and saw that Sye was finishing closing the distance between them. He didn't say anything; the way his head was bowed said it all for him.

"Well," said Pird, "I'm glad glower-wonder isn't hasty."

Eris looked around in surprise and found that Zook was gone, already a ways down the corridor with the orb bobbing in front of him. Sye's abashment immediately disappeared and he made to yell after Zook, but Eris stopped him. Sye looked at her questionably, but Eris just shook her head. Sye hesitated, then walked after Zook. Eris and Pird followed.

"What is that he's following?" Sye asked.

"Flying marble," Pird replied, "Zook thinks it's taking us somewhere."

"Does he?"

"What else would it be?"

"Light of an anglerfish."

"Alright, I'm already thoroughly creeped out," said Pird, "Keep your morbid thoughts to yourself."

"You did ask," Sye pointed out.

"You know what an anglerfish is?" Eris asked Pird, impressed.

"Your high opinion of my intelligence is noted," Pird replied, "And I only know what they are because Magist showed me a picture of one. I don't forget things that I imagine jumping out of the shadows when I'm trying to sleep."

They caught up to Zook before long. He made no sign to acknowledge that he had left them. The blue orb seemed to know where it was going, wherever that happened to be. They came to another intersection, the corridor now splitting thrice, but the orb went right again without pausing. There were many forks in their path, sometimes coming to circular rooms with walls lined with archways, all leading to more endless corridors. At first Eris tried to remember all the twists and turns, but after the first dozen she gave up. She didn't worry, Pird was sure to have it all unconsciously mapped out in his head.

The deeper they traveled into Saranoda, the more wrong the gloomy empty twilight around them felt to Eris. It seemed to her that the silent corridors and their interconnecting chambers should be filled with light, with banners, art, monuments, and, strangely enough, people. Her own thought of there being humans within the tower was strange, but she could not deny the feeling that she should be surrounded with crowds like that of a bustling city.

As they walked Eris noticed that there were symbols on the corridors walls that would glow feebly when the blue orb passed. They appeared fairly regularly, every few meters or so, but now and then there would be great empty lengths in between. It was in front of one of these hand-sized designs that the orb suddenly stopped.

Many of the previous symbols were simple shapes or short lines of unreadable text. This array, however, seemed to be artistic on accident. To Eris it seemed like it had been carefully measured and precisely drawn. It looked like a slightly lopsided diamond, the bottom half being longer. The diamond was split into four smaller diamonds, the bottom again being largest. There was a symbol in each one, but before Eris could see what they were the entire design glowed fiercely.

Eris didn't get a chance to avert her eyes from the harsh light, for it faded away as quickly as it had appeared. The symbol, however, was not the only thing to fade. At first Eris thought that the wall around the mark was darkening, like a sheet of paper slowly soaking in ink. But as the darkness spread Eris realized that the black wasn't a color, it was a lightless room beyond the evaporating wall. The wall's dissolution proceeded quickly until the four stood before yet another towering archway.

"Well," said Pird, "I would say 'Oh wow that's weird', but..."

The blue orb bobbed through the archway, the walls and floor within beginning to glow with the tower's weak light. The four cautiously followed.

At first it looked like any of the other great circular rooms, although there were no other archways. As they went deeper into the chamber it was clear that they had reached somewhere more significant. There were rows and rows of low circular pedestals raised from the smooth Saranodian floor. They were about a meter in diameter and each one was emblazoned with the reversed question mark of Saranoda. One of these marks was glowing.

The orb made a beeline for this symbol and the four obligingly followed.

"What do you suppose this place is?" Sye asked as they walked.

"Lavatory?" Pird suggested.

Everyone ignored him.

When they reached the pedestal the orb stopped bobbing and began to slowly revolve around it. The four gathered around the slight glow.

"So," said Pird, simply because it was too quiet for him, "Who else enjoyed the tour?"

"What do we do now?" asked Eris. She had no idea what they had been doing, but she felt the question was still worth asking.

"We go forward," said Zook, looking at the mark with his arms crossed.

"Gee, that's enlightening," said Pird.

"There's hardly anywhere we can go," said Sye, "And we just made thirteen turns-"

"Fourteen," Pird corrected.

"Fourteen." Sye glanced at Pird, "Turns. I'd rather not go get lost."

"By 'forward'," Zook said irritably, "I meant 'a meter in front of you."

It took Sye a few seconds before it sank in, "You mean this pedestal?"

Zook nodded, "Step on it."

"Step on it? I'm not going...why would I step on it? You step on it."

"I asked you first."

"You're the one who had us traipse all around the tower."

"I'll step on it!" volunteered Pird.

"No!" both Zook and Sye shouted.

Eris sighed, deciding the best tactic was to let the two sore toes wear themselves out on each other. Fingers were being gestured, not pointed, so no one was going to get hurt. As accusations were tossed back and forth, Eris' eyes wandered to the lethargic blue orb. The way the words on its surface ebbed and flowed made it look almost alive.

Eris reached out, hesitated for the sake of caution, then lightly brushed the orb with her fingers. It was cool to the touch, its surface feeling like it buzzed against her skin. The orb made its sad noise softly and Eris felt so sure that it was looking at her. Whether it was the way the flow of text changed or the way it arranged its glow, the orb's 'gaze' seemed to swivel to Sye and Zook. With another low note it floated away from Eris but stayed near the four.

"This is stupid," Zook said finally, "It's just a glowing letter."

"I still don't understand why I have to do it," said Sye.

"Why can't I step on it?" pouted Pird.

"Fine," said Zook, exasperated, "I'll step on it."

Zook never got the chance. The orb, because it was moving slowly, had dropped out of the three males' attention. Eris watched it out of curiosity as it came to hover behind Sye. The last thing she expected, however, was the orb suddenly shoving forward and pushing Sye onto the pedestal.

At once the weak glow of the Saranodian symbol brightened. Sye gave a small yelp of surprise as an invisible hand plucked him off the ground and held him a meter up in the air.

"Sye!" Eris and Pird shouted, starting forward.

"Stop," said Zook calmly.

They both hesitated out of confusion. Zook reached out toward Sye, but his hand instead pressed against an unseen wall. Now Eris saw that the air above the rim of the pedestal was slightly off, as though someone had built a cylinder out of shadow around Sye. Sye himself was struggling against whatever held him there, with little success.

"Sye," Eris called, but Sye didn't hear.

"Sye!" Pird shouted. Sye slowly ceased his flailing.

"Can you hear us?" asked Eris, remembering the silence at Saranoda's entrance.

"Yeah..." Sye replied, looking down at the gap between his feet and the ground, "What's going on?"

"Like we know," answered Pird.

What looked like a large paper-thin sheet of glass snapped into existence before Sye. Before anyone could react a dozen more similar but smaller panels appeared in a loose circle around the floating Prince.

"How are they staying up?" Eris asked.

"How am I staying up?" asked Sye, looking down at himself, "And where'd they come from? You can't just make things out of thin air."

"Why does Sye get to be in there?" Pird complained.

The floating panels flickered for a moment, then lines upon lines of the same blue text that was on the orb rolled over the clear surface.

"I think I'm going to be colorblind with all this blue," said Pird.

"Quiet, Pird," said Zook.

The scrolling letters continued for a few moments, then abruptly disappeared, leaving only a small blinking rectangle at the top left corner of each panel.

"What was that all-" began Sye when each rectangle on each panel moved slightly to the right. Where the rectangles once were now glowed what looked very similar to an 'S'. The rectangle blinked sluggishly a few more times, then moved again, revealing a 'y'. The third move took the shapes a number of spaces at the same time, leaving behind a string of letters. Letters divided into two short words.

Syrus Darvini

"My name," Sye breathed, staring at the panel, "That's...that's my name."

The rectangle moved underneath Sye's name and flickered across the panel, revealing more words. When it was finished each of the panels bore the same strange message.

Syrus Darvini

700th Infantry (Legion)

Pod Call Number-30112

Status-Inactive

"700th infantry?" Eris asked.

"Sounds..." Sye shook his head vigorously, getting rid of the shock. Even then, his voice was weak, "Sounds military. Why would it say that?"

"Why does it say anything about you at all?" asked Pird, "And it's written in Dialect, not the weird runes."

"Because it was expecting us," mused Zook.

Before anyone could react to what Zook just said, the last line of the text flashed red. The word 'inactive' faded and was replaced with 'active'.

"What's happening?" asked Sye when a clunking noise resounded from above, attracting the four's attention.

None of them had looked up when they had entered the room. Instead of a cathedral-like ceiling Eris could barely see, there were rings upon rings of some kind of round-bottomed objects. There was a second clunk and three of the outer rings began slowly rotating at varying speeds and alternate directions. After a moment they stopped, then began again. The outermost moving ring, however, remained still and a previously inert ring just inside the rotating ones started up. This happened again and again, Eris looking on in confusion, when Pird suddenly pointed.

"Look at that one!" he shouted, "Always in the second moving ring. It's switching between them!"

Eris saw it too. Two of the round objects that made up the rings would trade positions whenever they stopped. As Eris watched she saw it was the one that moved inward that was truly moving, the one that switched outward was simply making room and never traded positions again. Eris watched the traveling object's meandering path until it was directly above them. The entire arrangement became still.

"I don't like this," said Sye.

"We need to get you out of there," said Eris.

"How?"

"I don't know!" said Eris, feeling panic and helplessness starting to gnaw at the edge of her thoughts, "Just look!"

Sye began trying to pull himself from whatever held him there. Eris started feeling the invisible barrier over, searching for any sort of give. Pird soon followed suit, but Zook just stood there. Watching.

Waiting.

"Help us!" Pird yelled at him.

Zook shook his head, "If Saranoda wanted us dead it has had plenty of chances before this."

"Saranoda..?" Eris asked, confused.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Pird shouted, "The tower can't want anything! Get over here and-"

"It's moving!" Sye yelled fearfully.

Eris looked up and saw that the round thing had lowered itself from the rest of its brothers. Then, as though some invisible rope had snapped, it suddenly fell.

Sye shouted something and flailed with terrified vigor. Eris frantically pounded on the barrier, her fists bouncing off with a drumming noise. Pird stood there helplessly.

Zook just watched.

The object dropped like a stone, aimed directly at Sye. Sye curled up in the air, eyes squeezed shut, arms over his head.

"Sye!" Eris screamed.

Suddenly, incredibly, the object Eris now saw as a great blue egg slowed to a full stop just a few meters above Sye. Eris felt sick; both at the near miss of her friend's life and seeing such a large object stop itself in midair. Before she could feel relieved the egg split lengthwise into spiraling pieces, opening like a blooming flower. The pieces lowered themselves and then snapped shut, swallowing Sye whole.

Eris struck the wall again, but only once. It was like Zook said, if Sye was to be harmed then the egg wouldn't have stopped. So she, Pird and Zook were forced to wait.

The egg itself was fairly simple, only big enough to fit someone inside. The only markings were the swirling lines it had bloomed upon, a string of letters on each piece, and a glowing circular design on top.

And, of course, it was all the silver blue of Saranoda.

There was a low hum and the egg's seams glowed. Moments later it opened. Sye was no longer curled up and he was slowly lowered to the ground onto his feet.

Eris didn't think she could be any more confused, but then she saw that a dark cloak was wrapped around Sye's shoulders.

"You all right?" Pird asked.

Sye didn't answer. He swayed slightly, looking past them.

"Sye?"

Sye slowly looked at them, wide-eyed. Without a word, he simply fell over.

The barrier beneath Eris' hands disappeared. She and Pird ran to Sye's side. It only took one good shake from Eris to bring him back around.

"Wha-?" Sye mumbled sluggishly, sitting up and bringing a hand to his head. He froze, looking blankly at his arm.

His right hand was clothed in a black, fingerless glove that stretched up to his elbow. On that same arm the strangest contraption was strapped to the back of his forearm. It was silver blue and ovate in shape. Slight etches and ridges gave it a streamlined look. Besides a narrow hole toward its front, there wasn't any clue to what it was.

"What in the world is that?" Pird asked.

Sye looked confused, but he wasn't looked at the thing on his arm. He was staring at them.

Pird snapped his fingers in realization and pointed at Sye, "You're not dead!" he said rather loudly.

"I'm...not?" Sye whispered.

Eris then understood Sye's odd behavior. His eyes had been closed when the egg-pod thing had stopped and closed around him.

Oh Sye... Eris thought numbly, How many times are we going to feel like we're about to die?

"Well, we might already be dead," Pird went on casually, "Turns out that this is what the Dark of Ignorance looks like. Would explain a lot of things, but let's think cheery thoughts, shall we?"

Sye slowly shook his head, "I saw that...that thing come down. So I closed my eyes and I heard a clunk. Then there were...there were lights. I thought I was...it was so... "

Eris helped him to his feet, but when he stood she heard the slight clink of metal on metal. Sye gave her a quizzical look, then pulled aside the strange cloak. Underneath on each hip hung a sheathed sword on a new, plain belt.

Sye lightly touched one of their hilts, as if confirming their existence. He hesitated, then slowly drew one from its sheath and held it before him.

The blade was the most remarkable color, a silvery blue so polished that it was virtually a mirror. It looked nothing like the short swords Eris had seen Eretian guards show off. Instead of slowly tapering to a point, the blade was a long, straight, narrow rectangle, ending in an a slanted razored end instead of a point. Sye turned it on its side and Eris saw that it was impossibly thin, its edge seeming to have been sharpened into nothing. The most curious part of the sword was a shallow cut a third of the way up the blade. Whatever its purpose was, it was lost on Eris.

"You're bloody loaded," Pird said in awe.

"I'm no expert," said Sye giving a feeble cut at the air, "But this thing seems much too light."

"Remember the duel?" asked Pird, "Down where the Backard's emporium is?"

"Was," Zook suddenly interjected.

The strange correction and Zook's sternness caused them all to glance in his direction before Pird continued.

"The swords they fenced with, what were they-"

"Rapiers," suggested Eris.

Pird paused again, "It's kinda scary that you knew that."

"I read," Eris said defensively.

"Anyway, they were really thin, right? They wobbled all over the place, remember?"

Sye shook his sword and Eris saw what Pird was getting at.

"But this doesn't even bend at all," observed Sye, running his finger up the blade, "Because it's made from the same stuff as Saranoda. It feels the same, like polished stone-"

Sye flicked his hand away. Eris was surprised to see a bright bead of blood on his finger, as he had barely touched the edge.

"That was smart," said Pird, then added excitedly, "Lemme try!"

Sye reluctantly gave up the sword, then drew the second one. As Pird took some jabs at the air Sye motioned Eris closer.

"Look at this," he said, putting a finger on the identical blade, just under the hilt. Eris leaned in and found that the same diamond design that the orb had used to open the last archway was carefully etched into the odd mirrored metal. Her eyes immediately recognized the symbol inside one of the four diamonds the design was split into as the reversed question mark of Saranoda.

Leaning so close Eris noticed that the same four diamonds were also emblazoned on the silver brooch that pinned Sye's cloak at his throat.

"It has the symbols of the towers," Sye said, "The hook-thing for Saranoda, the horseshoe for Bandui, and piston cross-section for Krakrenenor."

"And the last one?" Eris asked. The largest diamond was occupied by what looked vaguely like a backwards 'S.'

Sye met her eyes and said quietly, "Remember what Magist said? Tumbar. The fourth tower."

"Hey!" Pird shouted.

Eris and Sye turned to see that Zook was being lifted off the ground. Above the pedestal.

"What're you doing?" Pird asked.

"It's not exactly dangerous," Zook replied, seeming nonplussed that he was levitating, "As you've seen."

"Zook," said Sye, more forcefully, "What are you doing?"

Zook looked at him levelly, "We were brought here for a reason. I'm fulfilling it."

"We weren't 'brought' here!" Sye shouted, "Neither is there a reason!"

"Are you blind?" Zook asked, suddenly angry, "The orb led us here, past hundreds of symbols to this specific room! The tower knew your name!"

"What will we need swords for?" Eris asked before Sye could answer

"I don't know," Zook admitted, deflating a bit, "But I don't think we're leaving until everyone's had their turn."

Eris, Pird, and Sye turned and saw that the orb was hovering next to the wall. Or rather, the wall that now took the place of the archway they had entered through.

The panels flickered again, clearing Sye's name. Eris was expecting it now, but still felt a twinge of surprise when the panels displayed 'Torin Mursaan.' Zook scowled at his name and a clunk was heard again. The pods above moved again, but only enough to replace Sye's with the next one over. Eris watched it fall, still with a gnarl of dread, but Pird was apparently already bored with both the pods and the sword. He sheathed Sye's weapon for him, then paused.

"What's this?" Pird asked, tapping something tucked behind Sye's right sheath.

Sye pulled his cloak back further, revealing a box-like leather container. He reached in and extracted a short, slender bolt. Its narrow tip was the same mirrored silver blue as his sword. The shaft was nearly black, but for some odd reason there was no fletching.

Curiously and carefully, Sye lined the bolt up to the hole on the device on his arm. It matched perfectly. When he started to slide the bolt in a sliver of each of the device's sides flipped forward, forming a pair of slender wings perpendicular to his arm. A thin, almost invisible cord was strung between the wingtips and through the device.

"It's like a crossbow," said Pird, "Tower style."

Sye pulled back on a small ridge, drawing back the bolt easily. Once it reached the end there was a click. He turned his arm over and found a small strung ring near his hand. As Sye threaded his finger through it he accidentally pulled it.

Eris and Pird ducked as the wings snapped straight again. Eris couldn't even see the bolt leave the bow. There was immediately a metallic ping! on the far off wall. Pird impulsively sprinted after it.

"Sorry," Sye said sheepishly. He folded the wings of the bow back and they stayed put with a satisfying click. He searched for anything else hidden away on his person and found success in a wide pocket on the inside of his cloak. Out of it he pulled a small black book and an ornate silver pen. He opened the book, but Eris saw only blank pages. He raised a confused eyebrow to Eris, then replaced both back into the pocket.

Zook was now being lowered, pod floating back up. He, too, now wore a dark cloak pinned with a silver diamond-shaped brooch. As Zook joined them he wasted no time in sliding out the single sword he was given. It was the same color and general shape as Sye's, but slightly wider and at most a half-meter longer. There was also no cut in the edge. As if only assuring himself it was there, Zook immediately sheathed the blade then reached behind his shoulder where a wide quiver, bristling with arrows, hung. He pulled one out to show that it was similar to Sye's bolts, albeit it was longer and more slender. They also had fletching, two sleek feathers black and one a dark blue.

"Arrow but no bow?" Eris asked.

Zook replaced the arrow and reached behind his back, under his cloak. He pulled out a strange contraption that Eris didn't recognize. It was a wide, stocky thing with a handle at its center that seemed contoured to Zook's hand.

Why does it look folded up? Eris began to wonder when Zook must have accidentally found a hidden catch. The contraption flung itself open with frightening speed, suddenly becoming an elegant bow; hiding its folded origins well.

Zook clumsily knocked an arrow and began to pull it back when Pird rejoined them.

"You're on your own if you fire that," said Pird, panting slightly, "Look at this, Sye." Pird held out the recovered bolt. Curiously enough, the small weapon now had fletching, colored like Zook's. When Sye reached for it, however, the fletching folded and disappeared within the bolt.

"Normal anything is too much to ask around here," Sye said as he turned the bolt over in his hands.

Zook patted himself down, then removed a silver ring from one of his pockets. It looked rather nondescript to Eris. Zook put it on, raised an eyebrow, then seemed to disregard it.

"My turn!" announced Pird. Before anyone could stop him Pird was already on the pad and beginning his short ascent.

"What is this?" asked Sye, "Dress up?" Zook merely shrugged.

"The tower knows our names," Eris thought out loud as 'Pird Altius' was displayed across the panels, "It has all this for us. It chose us, above all others. Why?"

Zook watched Pird's pod fall, arms crossed, "It was waiting for us."

Sye visibly struggled for his reply, then settled on, "For what?"

"Whatever it is," said Zook, "Something seems to think it was worth our home."

Neither Eris nor Sye answered that, watching Pird touch down. He wore the matching cloak and showed off a pair of daggers that were miniature replicas of Zook's sword. Pird also had a device similar to Sye's crossbow, albeit one key difference.

"Why do I get just a metal stick instead a pocketful of bolts?" Pird asked in disappointment, examining the cylinder protruding from his device.

"Try shooting it," suggested Sye.

"And lose it?" Pird asked dramatically, hugging the device to his chest, "Never."

"How could you lose it in here?" asked Eris.

"I don't feel like chasing it."

"Just shoot it," Zook said, annoyed.

"Fine," said Pird, lifting his arm with a grin. After taking a moment to aim very carefully at nothing, Pird pulled the trigger ring. Instead of a pair of wings and a string, Pird's fired with a distinct metallic pung! After the cylinder flitted away, Eris saw that it was trailed by a thin metal cord.

"Uh, Pird?" asked Sye.

"What?" Pird replied, distracted.

"Brace yourself."

The cord suddenly snapped taut, jerking Pird forward and making him stumble. There was a clatter as the cylinder fell what looked like fifty meters away. Eris picked up the trailing cord and found that it was actually a string of finely interwoven chains. It was flexible and easy to grip, but Eris doubted that anyone could ever break it.

"This is handy," Pird said sarcastically, pulling the ring a second time. The distant cylinder jumped into the air, making Eris drop the cord in surprise. Three arms had sprung from the cylinder's side, forming a slender grappling hook.

"Now we're talking," said Pird, giving it a third tug. With a quiet zipping noise the cord was yanked back into the device at a violent rate. Right before the grappling hook reached him its arms folded back up. The hook struck back into its resting place, forcing Pird a step back.

"Handy," Pird said approvingly, giving it a pat, "I think I'll call it my grapplechain," he continued, holding it before him.

"I think I'll call my sword 'my sword' and my bow 'my bow'," said Zook, "Eris?"

What do we need weapons for? Eris repeated in her head, failing to hold back a feeling of dread.

Eris was glad that it was Sye that had first gone in blind, for she didn't think they could have convinced him to step up now. She didn't feel too warm with the idea either. She stood on the edge of the pedestal, unsure.

Don't think, Eris thought, Just take one step and...No. No, put me down!

Feeling the invisible force wrap around her made Eris' skin crawl. Being lifted by nothing added a layer of vertigo, topped by the sight of 'Eris Salvor' flashing across the panels. She had seen Sye, Zook, and Pird do this, but it was still disturbing at best. It felt like the most bizarre nightmare, hanging in the air and waiting for a giant blue egg to position itself above her. Eris watched the pod fall, her stomach dropping with it. It really seemed like the pod had no reason to stop, by all rights it should crush her with a gory splat.

But stop it did, opening and then closing over her. Once again, Eris found herself in utter darkness. After a moment a very soft, almost indiscernible light played across the black. A strange thought emerged from Eris' mind, a gnawing worry that the pod might not open back up, leaving her there to starve or dehydrate-

That thought was interrupted by something cold suddenly pressing against her torso and bosom all at once, as though her shirt wasn't there. Eris gave a gasp of surprise and she was abruptly outside again, pod making its way back up to the congregation. Eris immediately parted the soft cloak that was now about her shoulders and lifted a little of her shirt. After seeing what lay beneath, she pulled it the rest of the way.

Underneath was what looked like a very unique piece of armor. It conformed to her figure quite comfortably, covering the front of her torso and most of her back, omitting the shoulders. The armor was composed of an elegant array of variously sized plates, although they didn't overlap like any plate-mail Eris had ever seen. Instead they meshed neatly together, like a metal puzzle. The armor could bend slightly along the seams that the plates met along, allowing Eris to breath. The metal itself was curiously thin and the plates were either colored a pleasing lighter or darker shade of-

"Blue," Pird said in mock disbelief, "Not green to match your eyes?"

"Please shut up Pird," said Zook.

"For being so polite I just might."

Sye looked over Eris' shoulder, "I guess you won't be joining us with the hack and slash."

Eris reached behind her and her fingers brushed against a handle. That was odd to Eris, as she didn't feel anything more than the armor's almost non-existent weight. She grabbed the handle, but then it came free of her back. The metal slipped from her hand and cracked to the ground, as though someone had snuck up on her and tied a wagon to it. She turned and found that it was an enormous hammer. Its long handle was little more then a rod with a slight curve, just thick enough to hold comfortably. The business end of the weapon was a sphere, the handle coming to curve around it like a close-fingered hand. The whole thing was just shy of her height.

"Anything I've done to you Eris," said Pird, eying the great mallet, "You don't hold any grudges, right?"

"I'm not going to hit anyone with it," said Eris reassuringly, squatting to get a proper lift on the hammer. When she yanked it off the ground she nearly launched it, the weapon wasn't half the weight she had thought it to be.

"So it's filled with air too?" asked Pird, "Lemme try."

When Eris let go of the hammer it was like Pird wasn't holding it, dropping like a stone. At first she thought he was playing the fool, but as he grunted she knew something was wrong.

"Your legs, not your back," Sye advised, hiding a grin.

"I...am..." Pird said through gritted teeth, the hammer not budging, "How..do you...do this...Eris?"

I know I'm stronger than I should be, Eris thought, but not that strong.

"It's not all me," Eris said, touching the hammer. Pird looked surprised as he was suddenly able to stagger to his feet with it.

"It's Saranoda," Zook mused as Eris took the hammer back. She gave it a half-hearted swing, doubting that she could hit anything with it. Assuming she would want to strike anything at all. It was still a good weight, requiring two hands to clumsily lift.

Eris replaced the hammer on her back, finding that it stuck like a magnet through her shirt to her armor. After some experimental shaking it was clear it would only come off at her touch.

"I feel rather silly," Eris admitted, looking down at herself.

"All dressed up and nowhere to go," added Pird, "But what the Dark, we've got matching cloaks!"

The light on the pedestal slowly died, the panels disappearing to wherever they had spawned from. The blue orb bobbed to another part of the wall. It wasn't long before yet another archway appeared, although this one was taller and much wider then the ones before.

"That's it?" Sye asked, "Slap some fancy brooches on us and send us on our way?"

"Don't argue, just walk," said Zook, starting to do so himself.

"Don't argue?" Sye asked in disbelief, "Do you remember where we are?"

Zook slowly turned, "I've been asked that several times now, so let me say it loud, slow, and clear. We're within Saranoda, the largest tower on the face of Adrala. We're the first in history to step inside. Understand?"

"I don't think you do," Sye retorted, "You're a little too eager to follow that giant blueberry around this entire bloody tower."

Eris could hear the slow grind of Zook's teeth. "And what else would we do?" Zook asked.

"First understand," Sye held his hands up defensively, "I know no one's going to dig us out this time, but it's still good idea to catch our breath and think this over. We-"

"You want to wait?" Zook interrupted with a snarl, "While Eretia's rotting outside you want to twiddle your thumbs and wait?"

"Better than walking ourselves to death!"

Zook jabbed a finger at the arch, "We're supposed to go farther!"

"We're not supposed to do anything!"

"What else can we do?"

"Think!"

"There's nothing to think about!"

"There's plenty!" Sye bellowed back, "We're the first ever to be here! All this..." Sye tore off his brooch and threw it and his cloak to the ground, "This stuff. The orb, being led, our names, the quake. And you!" Sye pointed and accusing finger at Zook, "This grand delusion of yours, that there's an intelligent reason behind all of this!"

"What else-" Zook began furiously, but this time it was Sye who blasted on.

"What did you do when that pod fell?" Sye asked. Zook stopped what he was going to say, frozen.

"I was trying to get down," Sye continued, "Pird and Eris were trying to find a way through, but what did you do?"

"I knew it was going to stop!"

"Did you?"

"It made sense!"

"I thought I was going to die!"

"But you didn't!"

"But I'm your godsdamned friend!" Sye roared.

The silence that followed felt worse to Eris than the shouting. A nerve hadn't been struck; a fatal wound had been laid out for all to see.

Zook looked away.

"Nearly fifteen years," Sye said quietly, almost weakly, "That's all we have right now. We have to help each other, Zook. There's no one else here."

Come back to us Zook, Eris pleaded silently. She could see so many parts of him conflicting with each other. His rationale, his sudden belief in Saranoda. His rage. After a long uncomfortable minute, Zook turned back to the archway.

"Let's go," he said.

Again, Zook found himself interrupted. This time, however, it was not Sye, but a whirring crash behind them. The four turned and saw that a fifth pod had fallen to their pad. It was off center and tilted, hanging only a few centimeters off the ground.

Without a word, the four approached cautiously. As they neared, Eris saw that something was wrong with the shadowed barrier around the pod. It was visibly writhing, bulging in some spots and caving in on others. It was as though invisible hands were clawing at it, twisting and pulling it. Abruptly it froze in the middle of its silent agony, then it dissolved into thin air.

The pod opened, but only slightly. It began to shake and there was a metallic whine, then it opened a little further. To Eris it looked like something they couldn't see was peeling the petals of the pod back. The whine grew to a screech, then the pod's maw was thrown open.

Within, where each of them had hung in the air, now floated a gauntlet.

The four warily surrounded it, standing on the pad. The gauntlet seemed to be the forearm and hand of a suit of armor built for a juggernaut. It was the strangest color, the deepest black Eris had ever seen, but it shone with a brooding crimson sheen. Leaf-like pieces curled off the forearm. The gentle curves and many overlapping round plates on the fingers and hand made it seem almost lifelike. The knuckles tapered to dull points and the palm's many plates made it appear that it could flex as well as any hand.

As far as real hands go, however, the gauntlet was three times the size of the largest human hand. The forearm was thick, but oddly enough it had a normal human length, disproportionably short for its size. It hung vertically in the air, facing down. The great gauntlet hung limply open, fingers slightly curved. To Eris it looked like it was balanced upon its index finger.

"What is this?" asked Sye.

"A big metal hand," Pird pointed out, "Who's it for?"

"If it was for any of us it would have just been put on us earlier," said Sye, "The pod was acting funny, like it was forced open."

"Maybe it didn't like the color," said Pird. His friends rolled their eyes. Pird warded them off with his hands, "Don't tell me I'm the only one who noticed it wasn't blue!"

Eris jumped when a glass panel snapped into existence behind Pird. She looked around and saw that the others had appeared like before, a ring around the pod and the four.

"Maybe these will make sense," said Sye as they each turned to a panel near them.

The small blue rectangle blinked on, then off, then on again. And again. Just when Eris thought nothing would happen the rectangle blinked off, but didn't blink back on. She leaned closer. All at once, three words appeared.

I am here

Eris felt a chill down her spine as Sye's words echoed in her mind <There's no one else here.> but her attention was drawn to the next sentence that appeared underneath.

I will lend a helping, ah, 'hand'.

"I think someone's trying to be punny," Eris heard Pird say.

Something brushed her arm. Eris began to turn automatically, then froze. The gauntlet floated before her, its fingers slowly curling and uncurling. Eris couldn't move, both out of surprise and fear. Without her consent her right arm snapped up straight in front of her. The gauntlet whirled around and her forearm disappeared within its metallic jaws.

Pain, like none she had ever felt, exploded from her arm. It was like every one of her nerves was on fire. Eris screamed. Her friends yanked themselves from their panels, but were stunned still at what they saw.

Help me! Eris thought, terrified, but she could only get her throat to scream. She swung the gauntlet over her head; the black hand and fingers shuddering madly like a demonic mannequin. Eris slammed it against the floor. The pain doubled, feeling like she had stuck her arm into a grinder.

She lifted the gauntlet again, her friends running toward her. Then she heard a chuckle, a deep resounding noise that seemed to thrum in her very mind.

Eris' world suddenly turned black and she knew no more.

End of the Seventh Chapter

# Mirrorscape

"The tools have been tampered with."

"We must be cautious, with him even we may be pawns."

"Are you certain that it is him?"

"I have no doubt, he has his hand in this."

"Dear brother, I thought you had lost your humor centuries ago."

-The Four under the Foundings

Sye paced relentlessly before the newest archway. As far as he could tell it led into another room, but all he could see was darkness because the dim glow of the floor halted at the arch. Even though he couldn't see anything through the archway, something about this particular darkness was unsettling. The orb made repeated motions to follow it in, but Sye ignored it. The last thing I need is to have a door disappear between me and the others, he thought. He still was not wearing his cloak, having contributed it with Pird and Zook's to make the unconscious Eris a makeshift bed.

The gauntlet had proven to be quite stubborn. Eris' arm only went a few centimeters past her elbow before disappearing into the wide black mouth of the gauntlet's forearm. They each had steeled themselves and felt inside, discovering that her skin melded with some sort of metal sleeve, which widened until it blocked their fingers.

At first Zook had suggested making a stretcher using their cloak and scabbards, but Sye had firmly drawn the line. After a short and one-sided argument, Sye had convinced Zook that they should all rest and wait for Eris to wake up.

Sye glanced back across their giant room. Pird was laid out, spread eagled, on his back, snoring. Zook sat near Eris, carefully extracting each individual bottle, vial, and pouch from his bag. After Eris fainted Zook had dug into his medicines, only to discover that Saranoda had hidden another gift. Potions, dozens upon dozens of vibrant liquids capped in vials so clear it looked like they were bottled in nothing at all. After a little bit of scrutiny and wafting, Zook said he had an idea of what most of them did and claimed that they were the most potent medicines he had ever seen.

For being obsessed with the tower, he seemed a little hesitant to try any of its potions, Sye thought.

Sye's glance caught the smoldering gleam of the gauntlet, so much like the red hidden behind Zook's dark eyes. Sye shivered, then turned away from Eris' unconscious form. Remembering Eris' terrified scream, the small splatter of blood from her arm, it didn't matter how many times it flashed in his mind, ice still snaked down his spine.

It was the twinge he felt, however, that made him turn away. At first hadn't known what it was, when he had held Eris in his arms and feeling how frail the thought of Pird dead had made her. Her clutching his hands, her body trembling against his. Seeing her helpless a second time, locked within the tranquility of her sleep, had caused the second twinge.

He was afraid of it, now that he knew what it was.

She's my friend, Sye thought forcefully, not anything else.

But the twinge wanted more.

***

Eris' mind struggled against the thick tendrils of sleep. Waking up was never a comfortable experience, there was always a space of time where she was stuck in between her sleep and the waiting embrace of consciousness. She never had dreams, not as long as she could remember.

She stared up at the dark depths of the ceiling above, intrigued by the utter stillness of the shadows. She had the most unusual feeling that the shadows were looking back at her. It wasn't until Zook's relieved but worried face obscured her vision that she realized that she was awake.

"Eris?" Zook asked. When she blinked in reply he turned his head away and called for Pird and Sye. Eris groaned and sat up, the cloaks falling away from her.

They gave up their cloaks for me? Eris asked herself, yawning and reaching up to rub her head.

But it wasn't her hand that touched her cheek.

The last webs of sleep burned away as Eris realized how cold her right arm was. She remembered why she had passed out. Slowly pulling her arm away, Eris turned to look at the thing that had claimed half of her limb. She was holding it up as though it weighed nothing, the massive hand hanging limp from the metal wrist.

What? Eris thought numbly, unable to fully comprehend what had happened to her arm.

One of the fingers twitched.

Barbed wire wormed its way around inside her arm, slashing through every nerve. Eris was too surprised to scream. She hunched over, clenching the black gauntlet with her hand with only a strained grunt. Zook immediately went back to her, but Eris turned away. Through a blur of tears she could see that the heavy hand was thrashing back and forth, every finger convulsing. Sye and Pird were now beside her. They tried to pull her back, but she refused.

It's not me! She screamed at them in her mind, What if it wants to hurt you?

Warmth blossomed where her forearm once was. Where the warmth spread the pain stopped, where it touched the fingers stilled. After it curled around her fingertips, the warmth faded to a dull, lukewarm ache. Then there was a chill, like she could feel the air through the metal.

Eris became very still, realizing that she wasn't feeling through the gauntlet. It was as if the gauntlet was her. The hand was limp again, but not in the empty, lifeless way like before. She took away her other hand, then held the gauntlet up before her.

Incredibly, horribly, Eris slowly spread the black fingers as easily as she would her own.

"Get it off," Eris whispered.

"Eris-" Sye began.

"Get it off!" Eris screamed, curling it into a fist and raising it above her. Her friends took a step back, but they reached for her, yelling for her to stop. She slammed the gauntlet's fist against the ground and raised it again.

"Get it off!"

Slam

"Eris!"

"Get it off!"

Slam

"Please!"

"Stop, Eris!"

Slam

"Get it off, get it off, get it off!"

Slam, Slam.

Crunch

Their shouts cut off at the strange noise. Eris froze in mid-scream, then looked down at the great fist. She pulled the gauntlet away. The floor beneath was chipped Flecks of blue metal were scattered around. Metal that was impervious to rock, khalist, and diamond. Impervious to everything.

You can't...Eris thought in shock, You can't scratch Saranoda. You can't break it. What are you?

"Eris," said Zook gently.

Eris turned her head to him, but kept the gauntlet on her furthest side. Zook took a step toward her and Eris took a step back.

"Stay away," Eris urged. Couldn't they see the chip on the Saranodian metal? That the gauntlet could move on its own?

"The gauntlet isn't dangerous to us," Zook said, "We wouldn't have been given it if it was."

"Zook..." Sye said in a warning tone.

"What do you mean?" Eris asked, taking another step back.

"Something forced that pod open, Zook," Sye said.

"We can't remove the gauntlet, we tried everything," Zook said, still looking at Eris, "The gauntlet chose you, as Saranoda chose us. That message was to let us know that there is something watching. Something guiding us. We're here for a reason."

"You're not going to ask who?" Sye asked, "Or for what reason?"

Zook stepped toward Eris, hand outstretched, "That's what we're here to find out."

Eris looked at his hand, then met Zook's eyes. He looked calm, confident, something that never really had found itself on Zook's face before when he wasn't Healing.

Eris heard the gauntlet clink at her side. She looked down at it, then raised the gauntlet effortlessly, opening its hand. Shards of Saranodian metal fell from it, tinkling to the floor. She held it above her, watching the near invisible crimson slide under the black as the light changed, like blood-streaked shadows.

What am I supposed to do? Eris thought, feeling the despair starting to catch up with her. She heard Sye begin to say something but Pird hushed him.

Lost my parents. Lost my home. Lost my arm. Eris stared up at the great metal hand, then let it fall to her side. Eris returned Zook's patient gaze, I feel like I'm losing my friends too. What will be left of me then?

Eris slowly reached out and let Zook take her left hand in his.

Zook started toward the archway, Eris in tow, but Sye stopped them.

Without them...I'm just lost.

"Just like that?" Sye asked, "Eris just woke up and you want to leave? Did you-?"

"Do you truly think I wanted any of this?" Zook asked. Sye didn't answer, taken aback.

"Every minute that goes by is a minute that we haven't had any food or water," Zook turned enough to look at Sye, "Do you really want to wait?"

When Sye said nothing Zook walked past him with Eris, Pird quickly falling in line. After the barest hesitation, Sye turned and followed.

As the four approached the archway the orb bobbed excitedly and ducked into the black room. Eris looked up at the archway that curved over their heads. It looked bigger than the ones they've seen so far, comparable to the tower's entrance. They followed the orb into the shadows, then hurried to catch up as the only source of light came from the orb's glow, the floor staying dark.

The back of Eris' neck crawled, making her look behind her.

The archway was gone.

"Now I feel like I forgot something back there," Pird said, patting himself down.

Eris couldn't help but smile, then shivered.

It's colder here than anywhere else in Saranoda, Eris thought, And do I smell salt?

"Why doesn't the floor glow here?" Sye asked to no one. No one answered

Eris did not know how long they walked, as the unmarked wall behind them was quickly swallowed into the black. She had to quickly learn to keep her right arm still as she walked, to avoid feeling the gauntlet brushing against her side. Long slender lines passed by under her feet, hinting at a much larger design, but nothing to indicate they were any closer to reaching the room's center.

Eris shivered again, but this chill made her stop and stand still.

"Eris?" She heard Sye ask quizzically.

"Suddenly remember that you left the oven on?" Pird asked, not so quizzically.

"Do you feel that?" Eris asked, standing still and feeling goosebumps rise over her exposed skin.

"What, that it's a bit nippy in here?" said Pird, "Maybe this whole tower's an elaborate ice cream mach-" Pird cocked his head, "Nope, that's definitely a breeze."

"Can't be," said Sye, "We're indoors. Or in-tower."

Pird licked his forefinger and held it up above him, "Well I wouldn't break out the kites, it doesn't have any real direction. Just blowing back and forth, north to south."

"I don't know how you do that," Eris said, always impressed with Pird's sense of direction.

"I don't know how you all don't, but I like to think that I don't hold myself above anybody," Pird replied with an overtly dramatic sniff.

"Are we done with the weather?" Zook asked shortly, arms crossed and the orb nearly bouncing on his shoulder.

Eris suddenly imagined the orb wearing the same impatient scowl as Zook and had to fight a grin. They resumed their walk through the darkness.

After whatever immeasurable span of time passed, the orb suddenly stopped. Zook was following so close he nearly walked face-first into it. The orb hung there, its glow flickering. It sang one of its long, sorrowful notes. To Eris' surprise, there was a faint echo. This place seems far too large for anything to echo.

Another note, lower in tone, answered from the darkness. Eris, Pird, and Sye stepped closer together at the sound. It was soon accompanied by a flicker of blue light, a distant twin of their guide. To Eris it looked like she was seeing it under a pool of water, its light bent and distorted. When another note was sung from even further away, Eris noticed that its note warbled and seemed muffled. Soon dozens upon dozens of other orbs joined in the sad chorus, peppering the darkness like sapphire stars in a cloudy sky.

Their guide bobbed in one direction towards its brethren, halted, then chose to go another. Is it hesitating? Eris asked herself. The orb seemed to commit to one path to bob down and the four followed. It didn't get far before it stopped again, but this time the reason was far more apparent.

Zook stepped around the orb and held out his hand. Where the orb had stopped there was a strange glimmer in the air, beyond which the orb's light seemed muted. When Zook's fingers brushed against the glimmer a ripple of blue light radiated out from them.

"What is it?" Sye asked.

"I think...its water," Zook answered, unable to hide the confused tone in his voice.

Eris stepped beside Zook and held out her human left hand. It was met with an icy cold wall that was pliable, but firm. When she took her hand back she felt like it should be damp, but the strange sensation danced on dry skin.

The orb played a note, one deeper than any it had sung before. It grew louder, a sorrowful hum that Eris began to feel in her bones. The orb pressed against the strange barrier and the breathless note grew ever greater in volume.

Eris started to raise her hand and, with hesitation, the gauntlet to her ears when the watery wall rippled around the orb. With a shudder, the wall bent inward. The orb flashed with a violent blue light and burrowed into the wall, leaving behind a widening tunnel in its wake.

"Well," Zook said, "Not everyone at once."

As the four walked through the tunne,l Sye looked more and more concerned to Eris.

"This place doesn't feel right," Sye said.

"Why?" Pird asked, glancing about, "Not your first time walking underwater?"

"Everything before this has been so...precise," Sye said, "Purposeful. This feels like the gauntlet, something isn't..."

Sye stopped short, nearly running into Zook.

"...isn't right," Sye breathed, looking up at what caused Zook to stop.

It was like no structure Eris had ever seen, a tall building plated in mirrors. It looked like it had been proud, once. Now the mirrored building lay in ruin. It sloped to one side, its foundation broken. Cracks wove their way across the sheen of its mirrored surface. Splinters and entire rectangular plates were scattered across the floor before it.

Eris held up her hand to block the glare of one of the orbs being reflected across the broken mirrors, "What was this building for?"

"And what happened to it?" Sye asked.

"And why is it underwater?" Pird finished, "For that matter, why are we underwater?"

Eris waited for Zook to add his thoughts, but when none were voiced she looked to find him already walking farther into the tunnel. The orb had not stopped.

"Are you going to even admit that you're curious?" Sye asked as they caught up to Zook.

"I'm curious," Zook said evenly without looking in Sye's direction, "Why, I'm actually very curious. So curious, actually, that I'm following this funny blue orb which seems to be quite determined to guide us somewhere."

Sye only shook his head, falling back a bit to walk beside Eris.

"Absolutely insane," Sye muttered under his breath.

"He has a point," Eris admitted quietly back.

"All that orb has done so far is raise more questions. I'll only be impressed once it shows us some answers."

"Or food," Pird added. When no one answered he took offense, "What? I can't be the only one hungry. That'll be a fine thing to happen as we unravel this grand mystery. Starve."

"That's the last thing I want to think about right now, Pird," Sye said unhappily.

As the four followed the orb they began to see more of the mirrored buildings. Eris couldn't help but stare upwards as she walked on, often bumping into Pird as he did the same. Some of the buildings were enormous, dwarfing even the ones she had seen in the supercity Maliah while on a field trip with Magist. These buildings were shadowy titans, their heights revealed for scant moments as flurries of orbs flitted above them like schools of fish.

It's a city, Eris realized as the buildings grew in both height and number. The floor beneath them had lost its coalescing designs and instead gained a pattern of parallel lines, forming streets. The city felt to her like a long undisturbed graveyard. Buildings leaned against each other, some so precariously Eris feared if their steps were too loud they may be buried under an avalanche of shimmering mirrors. The street sparkled with debris. Whatever the mirrored walls were made of, it wasn't glass as it didn't crunch underfoot. Several times the orb had to tunnel around parts of structures that had fallen from the dark reaches above.

To Eris, this ruined city felt hollow compared to her own razed home. Where is all the broken furniture? She thought, Where are the torn clothes? All there is are broken bits of buildings. Was this a city no one lived in?

A few more steps down the tunnel another thought struck Eris, Or is this place so old that everything but the buildings has been washed away?

Movement to her right caught Eris' eye and made her falter. She turned and backed away from that side of the tunnel. She heard the sound of stone sliding against stone beside her and glanced to its source. She was surprised to see Sye unsheath one of his swords.

"What do you think that will do?" asked Zook with amusement, arms crossed and watching Pird unsheath his daggers.

"You want to try defending yourself?" Sye hissed back.

Oh, Eris thought, I think that includes me. She reached back and clumsily grabbed her hammer's haft. She was forced to steady it with her gauntleted hand as she brought it before her.

What can I do with this thing? Eris thought dismally, the hammer feeling useless in her hand. And gauntlet.

A figure emerged from the darkness. Eris haphazardly raised her weapon, then slowly lowered it in wonder. What walked with slow, deliberate steps through the water looked like a living statue. It was vaguely humanoid, sculpted after a crude sketch of a person. It was impossibly tall and thin, made from stone with a muted blue hue. Its forearms were strangely long, bearing large heavy spheres instead of hands that nearly dragged across the floor. Its head was nothing but a sphere marked with a simple swirling design. Small floating orbs took the place of joints between its limbs. It walked beside their tunnel upon small tripods of toes instead of feet.

"I've never been so glad for something to be so boring," breathed Pird, watching the statue slowly lumber out of view into the dark.

"What was it?" asked Sye.

"A golem," Eris answered reflexively.

Sye looked at her, "A what?"

A what? Eris echoed herself, taking a moment to chase down where that answer had volunteered itself from, "A living statue. A golem. It appears a lot in early translations of the Second City's manuscripts. They described inanimate objects that could walk that they used as workers. Fiction writers absolutely loved the idea, it's in a lot of stories." Eris cocked her head, "I can't be the only one that ever read about them."

"Don't make fun of my condition!" Pird mockingly scolded, "You know I'm quite allergic to sitting still. And books. And anything that doesn't generally end up annoying Zook."

"Whatever it was, it didn't seem terribly interested in us," said Sye, then looked to Zook's retreating back, "Neither does he it seems."

"I'm gonna put a bell on you!" Pird called after Zook.

Eris lost track of how much longer they walked on, not that time seemed to matter in the silent dark of Saranoda. All she knew was that this strange mirrored city was enormous. Their path was winding, twisting down the wide streets between the shimmering sentinels. Pird pointed out to her that they were headed in a single general direction, even with all the turns.

They all look the same, Eris thought, looking at a building that was missing its upper half, Were they apartments? Offices? Who used to walk these streets?

Eris was jolted out of her thoughts when she stumbled downhill. It took a moment for her to get a bearing on her surroundings, for the city street had abruptly opened up into a crater. The watery tunnel was expanding into a dome to encompass the crater, their glowing guide being assisted by a dozen more of its kind. The buildings at the crater's edge were warped and twisted, their mirrored surface blackened. It was as though the four were standing in the aftermath of a fiery whirlwind. No broken pieces slid underfoot, whatever occurred here had melted everything into a glossy sheen that shimmered with every color Eris had ever seen.

"What happened here?" asked Sye.

"Some kind of bomb?" Eris offered, "Though I've never read of one being so big."

"What about the water?" Pird asked, "So something blew up and that's why we have this crater and broken buildings. Why's everything underwater? This place doesn't look mermaid-friendly."

Sye glanced up at the watery dome that hung over them like a glimmering umbrella, "Maybe this bomb, or whatever it was, damaged Saranda's pipes? The tower produces water."

"Fresh water," argued Pird, "Can't you smell the salt? Or do I now have an excuse to lick the walls without looking like a loon?"

"When has looking like a loon ever stopped you?" asked Eris, smiling.

"Maybe Saranoda filters it and this water hasn't hit those filters yet," Sye interjected before Pird could continue his wall-licking tangent, "Nobody knows where the water comes from."

Pird shook his head, "When I told you I knew we had moved, teleported, or whatever it was, it wasn't just the doorway reopening in the same spot but leading elsewhere. I felt like we were deeper."

"You think we're below sea-level?" Eris asked, "That there's a breach in Saranoda?"

"I think we're way below sea level," Pird shrugged, "Just a feeling though."

Eris looked up, I wonder how much ocean is being held just above our heads. If we're deep enough and these barriers broke, I suppose we wouldn't feel a thing. "Can you imagine a hole in the side of Saranoda?"

"Can you imagine being inside Saranoda?" Pird replied, "Imagine it being filled with floaty orbs that talk in strings and an old broken city made of mirrors? And a pouting Doctor trampling through it all?"

That earned Pird a withering look from Zook.

"We're kind of in a generally silly situation," Pird finished.

"Sye?" Eris heard Zook ask. The uncertainty in his voice made her turn. Sye had abandoned their conversation and had wandered down to the crater's center. Eris glanced to Zook and was surprised to see him look concerned.

Sye's just wandered off, Eris thought when Sye started walking around erratically, his head cocked as though he were listening to something.

Eris walked down to him, Zook and Pird in tow, and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Can't you hear it?" Sye answered, not looking back at her.

Eris and Pird exchanged looks. She saw her thoughts reflected in Pird's expression, This can't be good.

"Hear what?" Zook asked.

"I don't know, it's like...whispers," Sye said, "But I can't quite make them out."

'Sye," Pird said cautiously, "We don't hear anything. I really hope you didn't just say you're hearing voices because I will get into the fetal position and start crying if anything scary starts happening."

"You have to hear this!" Sye said, exasperated, "It's coming from right...here." He crouched, right at the crater's center, "It sounds like...wait, there's some kind of mark here."

"There's nothing there!" Zook suddenly shouted at him, making Eris jump, "Knock it off and let's go!"

"It's right here!" Sye pointed at the ground, looking up at them angrily. Eris saw his eyes go vacant as he turned back to the floor. His hand hovered over where he had been pointing.

"It's...calling out..." Sye mumbled, "...to me."

Eris could suddenly see the mark, a strange symbol burning with a hazy orange glow.

"Don't-!" Eris started, leaping forward to stop him. The mark vanished beneath Sye's touch and he fell forward, lifeless.

End of the Eigth Chapter

# A Lost Memento

"He thought he understood their secret. He thought he knew the danger. He found himself woefully ignorant and all suffered for it."

-Excerpt from the Book of Idusces

Sye felt shadows wash over him in a torrent, seeing nothing in the void he fell into. He thought he was screaming, but he heard nothing but the rushing sound that blasted into his ears. He fell, but he couldn't tell whether he fell down or up, thrown in some direction with increasing and terrifying speed.

Sye slammed into something solid, crashing into it with every fiber of his being.

He blinked.

Sye stood at the edge of a starlit rooftop.

What? Sye thought, his mind locked in confusion, Where...How am I...?  
He couldn't move. Nothing restrained him, his body felt relaxed and breathed slowly, reflecting none of the panic that was rampaging in his mind. It were as though he couldn't connect with his physical self. He couldn't turn, couldn't blink, couldn't shout.

Couldn't scream.

Suddenly his panic vanished. Not by any natural progression of his own, it was like somebody had reached into his thoughts and shook him. Made him focus.

What Sye saw before him was the glimmering nightscape of a city ablaze in color. Large rectangles that shone with effulgence plated every building. A city crafted from a kaleidoscope. It was quiet, but there was a buzz of distant things instead of the still silence of Saranoda. Flickers of blue light glinted out between the shifting colors of the buildings, clouds of orbs flitting over the streets. Sye couldn't look down but felt like he was high up, other buildings towering even higher above him.

These are the same buildings, Sye realized, But there's no water here. Nothing's destroyed. The mirrors he had seen before were now vibrant displays of light.  
Sye realized his eyes were looking at a particular series of panels on a building across from him and they displayed images, not just color. It depicted a beautiful blonde woman drinking from a bright red bottle. He was further shocked when the woman in the lit image moved, turning towards him and smiling brilliantly. Her eyes seemed to lock with his, eyes an impossibly bright shade of blue. Her face disappeared and words took her place. Sye didn't get to read what they said as his eyes wandered away without his consent. His body sighed and shifted its weight from one foot to the other. Sye realized he was wearing some kind of helmet when he saw a glimmer of the cityscape glint off of glass just in front of his nose. His clothes felt heavier and something weighty hung at his hip.

Am I...taller? Sye thought.

If Sye could jump, he would have when a voice yawned inside his ear, "Hey Dayv, there's some kind of disturbance going on down Seventh Avenue, you're going to have to go check it out."

"This is unit four-thirty-two, responding to command," Sye heard himself respond sternly, his voice deeper and flat, "Is this a request to investigate-"

"Ignorance damn you Dayv, it's three o'clock in the godsforsaken morning," the voice interrupted, "My shift was supposed to end in ten minutes but now I get to stick around until you're done chasing shadows. These civilians forget we're at the bottom of the sea, nowhere near the warfront, and right next to Saranoda. So would you kindly go make sure it's safe under everyones beds?"

"Acknowledged," Sye, or Dayv, replied tiredly, "Requesting coordinates from command and a recommended route."

"I am so going to throttle you. You very well know where Seventh Avenue is; we go there to drink every other damn week."

Am I in someone else's body? Sye thought numbly.

Before he was given a chance to dwell on that thought, Dayv stepped off the building's edge. Terror flooded Sye's thoughts as he plummeted. Dayv held out his left hand and Sye glimpsed what looked like a watch on his wrist. A circular design, lit in purple, flickered above the watch's face. Sye was deafened by an explosive updraft that caught Dayv. His fall slowed to a halt just above the street, then the updraft vanished and dropped him onto his feet.

What did he just do? Sye thought in confusion as Dayv walked on without a moment's hesitation. Sye recognized the streamlined streets that had been in the underwater ruins, however now beads of light flickered up and down their parallel lines.

"You're going to want to put up a bubble array," the voice in his ear said, "There's a scheduled storm that's about to break."

How am I hearing somebody who's not here? Sye thought as Dayv looked down at his left wrist. Sye had never seen such a wristwatch before. Instead of hands and numbers there were interlacing circles and lines that spun at a sluggish pace. Dayv tapped the watch's face and woven circles of light flickered above it. He gently slid his finger around the edge of the largest circle, causing the designs inside to change and flicker through a whole spectrum of color.

Command really needs to sort these arrays, Sye thought wistfully, At least let us tune them ourselves.

What?

The thought was clearly not his, it was foreign. Spoken in his mind like Dayv was speaking through his mouth.

I'm observing, Sye realized, a memory. This is the past. That's why the city isn't destroyed.

But how?

Dayv settled on a design and tapped it, causing it to retreat back into the watch. He looked up to the sky.

The night was clearer than Sye had ever seen, even more than when he had been far from civilization, hunting with his father and other politicians. The three moons shone in incredible clarity, the visible detail in their craters made them appear unusually close. The stars twinkled like distant candles.

The sky's fake, Sye thought, The city lights should drown out the stars. There's some kind of roof...a dome? The voice said we were at the bottom of the sea.  
But...three moons? What is that pale one across the sky from Nocturne and Serenade?

Dark, turbulent clouds materialized from nowhere. As suddenly as they had blotted out the stars and moons they erupted with rain. The buildings were drowned out of view, their pearlescent light creeping through the haze. The flat street now looked like a rippling mirror, reflecting the violet glow the nearest building had shifted to.

Not a drop, however, fell upon Dayv. The rain pattered against an invisible umbrella just above him, droplets sliding down a dome carved from the air. He continued walking, the water slicking the street parting into dry ground before him and rejoining behind him.

Put up a bubble array, Sye echoed the voice in his head, now very curious about the strange wristwatch.

"City guard. There was a call about a disturbance?"

Sye returned his focus to find that he was speaking to two men. They both had a similar unseen umbrella. One had a watch like Dayv. The other did not and merely had one hand raised above his head. Sye felt something strange emanating from the two men, a gentle pressure in his thoughts.

Their attire was strange. The one with a watch had a silvery shirt crawling with moving designs and alien lettering that glowed a bright blue. The other was shirtless and instead wore an incredible collection of tattoos One design on the man's shoulder resembled a boar but rest were foreign to Sye. An impressive number of silver rings were pierced into the man's bottom lip.

The tattooed man pointed farther down the road with his free hand, "There's a cloaked guy stumbling around over there. We thought he was just drunk until we felt his Manipulation was out of control."

"What kind?" Dayv asked, "Aero? Pyr?"

They both shook their head, "Neither of us got a good read. It felt like some pretty strong stuff though."

"Thank you," Dayv replied, "Evacuate the premises, notify anyone you encounter on your way."

As the two walked away from him the voice in his ear spoke up, "No hospital is reporting any missing patients. I'm dispatching the nearest unit to you, sounds like you have a fresh Broken."

"It's only one," Dayv said back, "I can handle it."

"Are you kidding me? After breaking my ass earlier about procedure? There's going to be a unit close enough to give that throttling for me in case things get out of hand."

"Acknowledged," Dayv replied dismissively.

A strange thought echoed in Dayv's mind. Sye couldn't understand it; the thought had no language, no connection to any of the senses. It was like he was flexing an arm he didn't have.

The visor before his eyes became alive with words and numbers, most of which crowded around the edges of his vision. Beads of light highlighted the edges of buildings that were near invisible in the mist.

There he is, Dayv thought. The visor drew the outline of a cloaked figure stumbling down the street. Words and numbers flashed beside the outlined figure. The figure halted and stood still. It looked straight at Dayv, then stumbled down an alley. Dayv followed.

The alley was bare except for a small pyramid of metal crates stacked up against one wall. A crimson light was cast down its narrows by a building behind Dayv, his shadow stretched tall and thin. Water sluiced down the sides of the framing buildings and rushed down into the dark reaches.

The figure was hunched over behind one of the boxes. Sye felt Dayv focus on the outline and he could suddenly hear haggard breathing loud in his ear. A circle framed the figure in his visor.

"Are you running a trace on his signature?" Dayv said quietly.

"Give me some credit Dayv," the voice in his ear replied, "Be careful, that reading of his is pretty modest."

"Sir?" Dayv called down the alley, "I need you to exit the alley and allow me to escort you to the nearest hospital."

The breathing continued uninterrupted.

Dayv resisted the urge to step forward, "You're very sick. You have suffered a Break. The longer we wait the more difficult therapy will be. We can-"

"I. Am not. Broken."

The man's voice rang clear in the alley, even though it was uttered between gasps. Rang with an authoritative tone that made Dayv pause.

"There's no shame in being ill," Dayv continued, "You can't be discriminated against under the law of-"  
"Not. Broken." The man forced out with greater difficulty. Dayv thought he heard a laugh amongst the gasps. "You cannot. Help. You will. Not want. To."

"Sir, I'm going to have to subdue you if you do not-"

"Run!" the man shouted, looking up at him. All Dayv could see was the bright silver of the man's eyes under his hood. "I do not know. What happens next! Run! As fast. As you can!"

"Dayv, his signature doesn't match anyone registered here in Royanter," the voice in his ear said urgently.

"That's impossible," Dayv said back, confused.

"Run! All of you! Run!" the man bellowed, his last word taking on a strange echoing sound. More circles appeared on Dayv's visor, then began to flicker and distort.

"He has multiple signatures Dayv!"

"That's can't be-"

"He's not human!" the voice shouted, "We've been breached! Take it down while it's still in that body!"

Before the voice had finished Dayv snatched something off of his hip. Sye only glimpsed a moment of the stocky, angular device before Dayv sighted down it with natural precision. There was a pressure in Sye's thoughts and the device glowed a harsh azure along its streamlined sides. Dayv squeezed a trigger.

A bolt of azure lightning flickered to the figure with a crackling boom. The figure was thrown back behind the crates with incredible force. Dayve dashed forward. As soon as he could see the body in the dark he pointed and squeezed twice more, lightning arcing from his device and dancing over the figure's thrashing form.

Dayv waited, little arcs of electricity flickering in the dark, until the figure was finally still. More illegible information flitted across his visor.

"It's dead Dayv. We are going into lockdown."

"How did an Omni get in?" Dayv asked.

"Like I said, we saw multiple signatures. All of which read what used to be 'undoubtedly human'. One of the signatures was actually registered as a citizen of our fair city Royanter a few weeks ago. We are doing background history now."

"What does all of this mean?"

"Means they've figured out how to fool us Dayv. Means the war is here. Turns out nowhere is safe."

Dayv heard heavy footfalls and splashes behind him. He turned to see a platoon of soldiers much more heavily armored than he was. Sye assumed that it was armor, even though it looked more like Eretian diving suits, albeit very streamlined ones. Many of them carried longer versions of Dayv's weapon, requiring both hands to carry. Each one's suit and weapon had arrays of lines and hovering lights that glowed with different colors.

The foremost soldier saluted, "Unit forty-two Bravo here to recover the body sir."

Dayv saluted back with his free hand and two soldiers moved forward, a woman with a sapphire glow to her weapon and armor; and a man with gloves that burned crimson.

"Dayv we are going to need a hard copy of your visor's recording and scans," said the voice in his ear. Other voices, loud and angry, could be heard in the background, "Get back to command and-"

Just as the two soldiers were passing Dayv they suddenly hunkered down, weapon and gloves raised. Dayv turned on his heel and followed suite, reflexively sighting down his weapon.

"Dayv, you burst its heart," the voice said, wavering, "Why is it standing up?"

Sye could feel the confusion and fear that washed over Dayv's mind as they both watched the dead figure slowly get to its feet. The figure grasped his chest and gave a heaving cough.

"All units terminate the target with excessive force," commanded a new voice in his ear.

Dayv and the flanking soldiers dropped to their knees to give the unit behind them a clear shot. Dayv pulled the trigger.

The figure's eyes flashed red.

The world went black again for Sye, nothingness rushing in his ears.

Pain was the first sensation he felt. A raw burning across his chest and palms. Vision wobbled into focus with every blink. There was no longer a visor and his body felt slighter. Armor and weapons no longer weighed him down.

I'm somebody else, Sye realized as whoever he was got to his feet. The ground around him was slick with water but it no longer rained. There were others also picking themselves off the ground, a few soldiers amongst them. Bits of broken mirror littered the street, more still tinkling down from the buildings above. The mirrors looked like little rubies, reflecting the urgent red glow that cascaded over everything. He turned and looked back down the long, wide street. The cracked mirrors that still clung to the black buildings flickered with emergency messages and evacuation instructions, all lettered in a searing crimson. A red, shimmering haze still fell from the tallest structures. Stars and moons no longer painted the sky, the dome abandoning its illusion for what looked like a red map of the city plastered in warnings and urgent symbols.

The glimmering cityscape only held his attention for the briefest moment, his eyes drawn to the great dark cloud that rose from it. Lightning of unnatural color flickered within the cloud as it swelled over the city, brooding over the epicenter of the destruction.

"What's going on?" someone asked.

"Was that a bomb?"

"Terrorists!"

"The war can't be here!"

"We're supposed to be safe!"  
Aren't we always supposed to be safe? Sye thought numbly, What kind of force can summon this kind of destruction? Eretia was destroyed by a tower, by Saranoda.

Wasn't it?

"Lockdown procedures are to cease immediately," a flat, authoritative voice boomed from every direction, "A full scale evacuation is underway. A soldier or Talad will guide you to the nearest exit portal where you will await further instruction. Report any and all suspicious activity immediately, this is-"

The voice died with a shrieking pop, interrupted by a detonation that lit the dark cloud with a white flash. The person Sye occupied held up his hand to shield his eyes from the blinding light. The skin on his outstretched palm burned with the searing heat that washed past him. He heard crashing around him as more of the dead mirrors burst from the sides of buildings. People screamed as the grand structures nearest the blast tilted away from it, crumbling to the unseen streets beneath.

A large dark figure burst from the top of the cloud, smoke clinging to it and hiding its silhouette against the red glow of the dome. Sye only saw the figure for a moment before it disappeared in another explosion, a furious gout of harsh white light that burst from the dome and grew with alarming speed. Around the explosion the dome went black, darkness cascading overhead.

The fiery maelstrom twisted in on itself, then disappeared as it was overtaken by a cloud of mist. To Sye it looked like the sky was bleeding, the red of the city illuminating the great torrent of water that fell from the shattered dome. Giant pieces of the dome fell like dark hail, their broken silhouettes glimpsed just before they caved in the buildings below. Sye watched the sea gleefully spring free from the dome, detailing the fatal cracks that snaked across the sky.

It began to rain.  
Sye looked around him, both he and his host numb and overwhelmed. People surged past him, screaming. It was beginning to become difficult to see the extent of the terrified masses, as the streets were darkening with every building that fell beneath the crash of the falling sea. Sye found himself slowly sitting down, noting that he was far from alone in his strangely calm act. Everyone that was not running was sitting, looking on towards the descending wall of black that glimmered with the last sighs of the city's red.

No, Sye thought blankly, not this.

Not again.

Sye's sight was obscured by shut eyes, leaving him with only the sound of the approaching wave before it struck.

Sye felt himself thrown out of the body and into the nothingness. He tumbled through it for a time, longer than before but by how much was impossible to tell in the void.

"Sye?"

"Zook! He's awake!"

It took Sye a moment to remember how to move, how to even open his eyes. It was undoubtedly his body, never before had he ever felt so comforted by a place so familiar.

The jarring pain of being slapped across the face, however, was a sensation not quite as welcome.

"Gods damn it Zook!" Sye shouted as he opened his eyes to his surly friend's examining ones, "I can't think of a single medically appropriate reason to slap me!"

"To make sure you were actually awake this time," Zook replied evenly, "Hold on."

Zook's face disappeared. Then there came a very familiar sound of a smaller individual being tackled and subsequently pummeled.  
Eris' visage appeared before him, her eyes worn with worry, "Are you alright Sye?"

Sye found his other senses seeping in, surprising him with how warm his body felt. How much it felt solid.

"Other than my face, I'm actually fine," Sye replied with surprise, "I thought I'd be as sore as Pird is about to be."

"When'd you get so damn fast!" Pird's shout came muffled.

"What happened?" Eris asked, ignoring Pird.

"I'm...not entirely sure. I was-" Sye began when a curl of red hair fell from behind Eris' ear and brushed his cheek. His cheek tingled, but Sye suspected it wasn't from the slap.

Sye sat up, making Eris move back to avoid their foreheads from colliding. She knelt beside him, eyes still trained worriedly on his.

Sye, this is how she is, Sye thought sternly, She's protective, that's why she's looking at you that way. That's why she's sitting so close.

Isn't it?

Sye opened his mouth to begin explaining when he noticed he was no longer in the crater, "Idusces knows, where am I?"

Eris glanced up, "Oh, you wouldn't wake but Zook said you were all right to move. So we carried you and went forward. The orb didn't take us any farther than the inside of this building."

The room was large with tall walls that angled over their heads. The walls met at their tops, forming a pyramid around them. Sye saw several of himself peering around, as the walls and the sloping floor were all mirrors. Unlike the city, however, these reflections were tinted a deep golden color that gave Sye the illusion of feeling warm. The floor was a shallow bowl, their reflections warped and bent in its curvature. At the room's center was a ring of tall rectangular mirrors. They hung inexplicably in the air, there were no strings that Sye could see holding them up. Inside the mirrored ring Sye saw their bobbing guide. Every now and then it sang, flitting out of the circle then back in.

"What is this place?" Sye asked, "And what is the fascination with constantly knowing how unkempt I look?"

"And they're not blue!" Pird shouted.

Eris laughed, "I don't know. It was the only undamaged building we've seen. When we followed the orb in here the entrance disappeared behind us. It flew to that ring of mirrors and seems to want us to join it. I thought it'd be better for you to be awake before we did." Eris reached out and touched Sye's short braid that was tossed over his shoulder, "Unkempt is giving you too much credit," She teased, "I really need to cut your hair. Soon as we're out of here, or I could always borrow Zook's stitching scissors."

Sye was both surprised and relieved that he didn't feel his cheeks turn red. He reached up and pulled his braid back behind his head.

"It sounded like you did more than take a nap when you touched the crater," Eris prodded carefully.

Sye nodded, "I think I was in...I don't know how to best describe it, what I saw."

"What you saw?"

"It was a like a memory. Not mine, somebody else's."

"Well, that only makes sense," Pird said as he joined them, wincing as he rubbed one shoulder. He edged away from Zook as he too came to listen.

"I was seeing through somebody's eyes and I had no control over anything," Sye explained, "I saw what I think was this city before it was destroyed. They called it Royanter. The city used to be..." Sye shook his head in disbelief, "Beautiful. Everything was like it was made of light. There was so much color. If I were an artist I don't think I could paint it."

"You were in the past?" Eris asked.

"I'm almost certain of it, but they had unimaginable technology."

"Naturally," Pird commented.

"They?" Zook asked, his voice strange.

Sye looked up at him, "He was human, the man that I was...remembering? I saw others too. They dressed strangely, but they were human. There was one other that was...not. But it was humans that lived in this city. Built it as well, I think"

"I guess I just saw the place as ruins," said Pird, "Didn't think about the 'who'. Makes sense, I guess?"

"Does it?" Zook challenged.

Pird looked at Zook, who seemed confused, "Who else? The giant bugs?"

Zook didn't answer, only looked to Sye to go on.

"You were right, Pird," Sye said, "About when we were moved. We're deep down, there used to be a dome over the city. I heard someone say that we're at the bottom of the sea and ...we're no longer inside Saranoda, we're just near it. I don't know how its possible to be so far down."

"Why would anyone build a city at the bottom of the sea?" Eris asked.  
Sye shook his head, "It sounded like they thought it kept them safe. They mentioned a war was going on. The person I...was, his name was Dayv. He was some kind of soldier. The technology...they had scheduled weather, invisible umbrellas, weapons that summoned lightning. The dome had an illusion that made it look like the night sky, they even added a third moon for whatever reason. It was was like...Magic."

"He chased somebody, something down an alley." Sye continued, "They thought it was sick, they called it a 'Broken', but it wasn't human. They were so afraid of it, calling it an 'Omni'. It looked human and it told Dayv to run. It looked sick and said it 'did not know what came next'. Dayv killed it but it came back and...exploded."

"Exploded?" asked Pird.

"I think Dayv died in that crater," Sye said in realization, "Somehow his last few moments were left behind. The explosion tore the whole city apart. When he died I started remembering as someone else as they were evacuating the city. I that saw something huge fly up and break through the dome and...well, we all saw what came of that."

They all were silent for a few moments. Sye looked at each of their faces and saw the confusion in their eyes. Not disbelief, only confusion.

"Is anybody going to laugh?" Sye asked. They all looked at him, not understanding. "Tell me that it was just a nightmare? An awful, vivid nightmare? That I passed out from exhaustion because only Idusces knows how long it's been since we were shut in here. I can't have been someone else. I couldn't have been in a memory."

"It only makes sense," Eris said, shaking her head, "We all saw the mark flash the moment you touched the ground. You just...crumpled. Pird tried touching it too, against better judgment." Eris shot Pird a look of withering disapproval. He grinned sheepishly and held up a bandaged hand.

"No body-time-jumping for me," said Pird, "Only a lovely and exciting burning sensation."

"Did anyone in the memory say what the creature was?" asked Zook,

"Besides that word, 'Omni'? Or how long ago this was?"

"No" Sye replied, "Even if they had said a date it probably wouldn't be the same kind of calendar as ours. And that's all they said about the creature." He pulled his knees up to his chin and hugged them. "It was awful. Watching another city fall. The buildings were so tall and stretched so far. There must have been so many people."

It was silent a few moments more, the final scene playing over and over in Sye's head. The darkening streets filled with people. Running away in terror or emptily looking up at their approaching death.

To Sye's great surprise, Zook held out his hand to him. Sye took it and pulled himself to his feet. There was a brief moment of dizziness, but otherwise he felt fine.

Is this what's going on in there? Sye thought, looking at his tall friend. Zook back at him levelly, the faint crimson in the dark of his eyes smoldering like distant embers. This hollow, useless feeling? I must be running from it, only to trip over that despair again when I least expect. That last moment...watching your city's, your home's last breath. Was Zook ever buried with us under Eretia's bones? Or is he still in Magist's house, watching the oncoming wave?

"So, are we moving forward or not?" Sye asked to Zook, "No real use to us all just sitting around."  
Zook didn't smile, not the way anyone else would. To Sye, the twitch in his friend's cheek was a full toothed grin.

"Shall we?" asked Pird. The four walked down the almost invisible incline until they were at the edge of the ring of mirrors. Before anyone could stop him, Zook stepped forward.

Nothing happened.

Sye, Eris, and Pird joined him. "What now?" asked Sye. Zook didn't answer, looking up at the strange angular ceiling. Sye's gaze kept returning to the ring of mirrors that floated just above them, mirrors that hung from nothing.

"Something's not right," Pird said suddenly.

Whatever troubled Pird, Sye noticed it too. He turned in a circle several times before Eris found it.

"The mirrors, they're moving," said Eris.

It was too late then, the mirror's deceptively slow pace had already lowered themselves around the four. The ring of floating mirrors circled them slowly, but they were rapidly picking up speed.

"What's going on?" asked Sye, turning in place to watch the display.

The mirrors moved faster and faster. Soon they circled with such speed that they could not see where one mirror ended and another began. It looked like a reflective hoop had fallen around them, the hissing of the air betraying its true nature.

"We need to get out of here," said Sye, beginning to draw one of his swords. Zook grabbed his hand, but said nothing. He only watched the mirrors. Sye hesitated, then let go of the sword.

The bottom of the reflective ring elongated to the floor and the top stretched and pulled together overhead, forming a dome. The dome grew and at the same time the reflection began to change. A dark blue color appeared at dome's top and creeped across the curved surface, like an egg cracked over one's head. The reflections of Sye, Pird, Eris, and Zook fizzled out and disappeared, leaving just the image of the floor and distortions of the mirrors. The dark blue spread, shadows and lines appearing within the color. The blue did not stop at the bottom edge of the dome, but crawled across the floor to meet the rim of the mirror they stood on. The distorted image of the spinning mirrors stretched and twisted until it reflected a huge circular room. The hissing suddenly cut off. Silence dominated and the air went cold. Sye took out a bolt from his quiver and tentatively reached out it. The bolt met nothing but air.

"We've been moved," Zook said.

"But where?" asked Sye.

"Like that's a relative question," said Pird, "But if I had to guess, pretty far. A bit higher up. Just a feeling though."

The room was one of the largest they had seen, save for the city of mirror's grand dome. But for such a gargantuan room, there was little floor. A giant round pit occupied most of the chamber. The chasm's far side was nearly too far away to see. The arching walls curved to meet an identical hole far above. Pird picked something out of his pocket, a piece of rubble, and dropped it in. Sye strained his ears. He waited. And waited. And waited.

"Watch your step," Pird said, backing away.

The floor suddenly lit in a harsh, white light. Circles, like those of the first room's floor, appeared on the wall.

"Permission requested for the production of a category Glass energy accelerator," echoed a voice throughout the room. It was cold, feminine, and seemed to come from every angle.

"Processing specifications," the voice rang out again.

"What's going on?" asked Pird.

"I don't like this," said Sye nervously.

"Permission granted. Warning. Sensors in central core have been compromised. Requesting a manual evacuation of all personnel."

"Evacuation?" asked Pird in confusion.

"Request overridden. Initializing shake-down sequence."

The air suddenly spiked with some unseen weight, an electrifying charge that seemed to run underneath Sye's skin. The circles on the wall began spinning, words and lines appearing within their rims.

"This isn't a good place to be," said Sye, "We need to find a way out, fast."

"Where?" asked Pird in despair, "There's no arches!"

"Search the walls! Look for any sort of depression. Hurry!"

"Uploading codes for Reactor One. Codes accepted. Uploading codes for Reactors Two and Three. Codes accepted. Begin firing sequence for Reactor One."

Sye frantically scoured the walls. The surface was unchanging, no give or crease. No escape.

"Reactor One turnover successful. Begin firing sequence for Reactor Two."

"The gauntlet!" Sye shouted, remembering that it chipped the Saranodian floor.

Eris hesitated, then pulled back the clenched fist of the gauntlet and lashed out with all of her impressive strength. Before it struck, it almost seemed as if the air thickened around the gauntlet. There was a flash and the sound of a giant drum. The force of her strike was reversed, snapping her arm back and throwing her to the floor.

"Reactor Two turnover successful. Begin firing sequence for Reactor Three." There was a pause. "Reactor Three procedure compromised. Breaches detected in chambers twelve through thirty-three. System at forty-three percent and dropping. Flooding system." Another, longer, pause. "Breached chambers rerouted. Restarting system." Pause. For some reason Sye held his breath as he helped Eris back to her feet, waiting for the outcome of the strange conflicts the voice was reporting.

"Reactor three turnover successful. System at eighty-seven percent, within safe parameters. Synchronizing reactors with central core."

A thread of blue light shot up from the depths of the pit. Its blue glare fought with the white glow of the walls and became too bright to look at.

"Overload in Reactor one. Venting secondary chambers. Calculating gradient for category Glass energy accelerator." Pause. "Creating base."

The circles on the arching walls slid forward, revealing cylinders. Blue beams of light abruptly connected the thread in the pit with the cylinders, all focusing on a central point. Other circles of Saranodian metal lifted completely free from the walls, separating themselves into rings. These hooped around where the beams met and began to rotate, like a giant toy gyroscope. The beams struck the inside of the rings, reflecting to other rings, back and forth, up and down, constantly moving, until they met at the center. The air began to hum.

"Creating first layer. Merging. Merge successful."

The point grew brighter.

"Hurry!" Sye shouted over the rising hum. His shaking fingers felt along the wall for any flaw, any nick. The hum grew louder, taking on deeper and more menacing tones.

"There's no way out!" shouted Eris.

"We're trapped!" screamed Pird.

Sye, when he did not hear Zook, turned to his friend. Zook wasn't looking at the wall; he was looking at the roaring flood of light. For the first time since the wave, he looked frightened.

"Creating second and third layer. Merging. Merge successful. Creating fourth layer. Mer-" The voice was drowned out by the roar of energy that was gushing forth from the pit. It roiled and twisted, shooting up to the waiting chasm above. The blue column, surrounded by a sphere of lancing beams that crisscrossed like a mad spider's web, grew with tremendous speed until it began curling over the lip of the pit.

Sye tasted and smelled ozone. Static crackled with his every movement. He felt the air thicken, the pressure intensifying. The roar reached a new volume and the room was bathed in blue. The last thing he remembered was a sharp pain and a warm drifting feeling, as though he had slipped into a deep sleep.

The voice rang out over the roar, heedless of the lives it contained, "Sequence complete."

End of the Ninth Chapter

# The First Manifestation

"We were not told of this."

"The plan was to be perfect."

"Have we already failed?"

"Or is there something, dear eldest, that you have kept from us?"

-The Four under the Foundings

Marydin toiled away in her garden. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she yanked yet another plump weed from the rich black soil.

This is what happens to my poor garden when Mr. All Knowing of the House has to have the back room redone to have guests over! She chucked a weed as hard as she could into the wheelbarrow. As hard as she could being the weed flew in that feeble way light things do when thrown in anger.

He never even has any bloody guests!

A shriek floated over the field, jarring the headache that had recently taken hold of her skull. Marydin sighed. Todder must have found himself another spider

Tody, a five-year-old boy, ran, and somehow also waddled, over a hill. "Mommy! Mommy!" he bawled around a nose full of snot, "My cold is hot! My cold is hot!"

Puzzled, Marydin got up to walk to him and promptly tripped. Her foot had somehow gotten stuck under a clump of rocks. She bit her tongue to stop herself from screaming in frustration. She tried to get up but her hand had entangled itself in another clump. I just tilled this! Marydin thought angrily as she tore her hand away, ripping weeds and dandelions.

"What is it Todders?" she asked sweetly, hiding her irritation.

Tody sniffed and pointed at his leaking nose, "My nose is fired!"

Marydin sighed again and turned from her bewildered son to trip on yet another trap of rocks. This time she did scream, her head throbbing furiously. "Stupid damned rotten garden!"

"Mommy, my cold-!"

Marydin whirled angrily on Tody, and shouted "Be quiet Tody!" Tody screwed up his face and Marydin braced herself for the bawling onslaught. But instead, he sneezed. A plume of flame jetted from his nose, scorching the grass before him. Marydin screamed again but didn't move, caught between a desire to run to her son and a desire to run away. Tody sneezed again and fire curled through the air. Marydin tried to stand but found that layers of soil anchored her legs against the grass. She watched in horror as more rocks and dirt burst from the earth and clung to her. Screams from the nearby town reached her ears and Marydin thought the world was ending.

In a sense, it was.

***

They stood around Eris on a bleak gray plain, figures stolen from the black of night. They were silent, still, faceless, and without distinction. Eris turned to look at them all, or she thought she was turning. It was hard to place herself in this vague realm.

The figures were closer. Eris didn't see them move, they were simply there. As indistinct as they were, Eris felt that if they came just a step closer, if she could look just a bit harder, she would be able to see past the shadows and see their faces.

They each held out a closed fist. Their dark fingers uncurled, empty palms held towards her.

"Come to us."

***

Eris jolted awake. She held so very still, afraid that the slightest move might break the fragile image of her dream. For reasons she didn't understand, that gray place was so...familiar. It was like she knew who those figures were, their names just escaping her.

That's...what a dream is? Eris thought, And I finally had one? Sye always described it like where my mind goes when I read, except filled with bits and pieces of memories. What memory do I have of some gray realm of shadow-people?

She didn't know what to feel. Excited? Happy? Scared? In all the things that had happened, this was the last thing she expected. Especially after-

<We're trapped!>

Eris jumped to her feet with an ease she had never felt before. She hurriedly looked around for the rushing energy, but instead found something stranger. The ground was carpeted with a thick, healthy grass. Boulders and stones were arranged in an organized, yet somehow random manner around a shallow crystalline pool. A trio of stone torches with azure flames stood on either side of the pool. Rivulets of water seeped down through the shallow veins in the walls and thin cracks in the grass. A larger version of their guide floated above, filling the room with artificial sunlight. A number of orbs hung near the ceiling, if any of them were their guide Eris couldn't tell. The entire scene seemed out of place, especially with the blue walls enclosing it and the arching ceiling overhead.

"Odd place, isn't it?" said Pird, sitting on a large boulder behind her.

"Where are Sye and Zook?" Eris asked.  It's exciting I finally had a dream, she thought, but it's hardly important right now.

Pird nodded over his shoulder, "Still sleeping. Watch this." He produced a dagger and balanced its hilt on the palm of his left hand. He held it there, teetering, then twisted his hand. The blade danced across his palm, darting in and out from between his fingers. He kept up this complex patter for a minute than flipped the dagger up into the air and caught it in its sheath. He gave a small bow and waited, grinning.

Eris had seen this trick numerous times, Pird got an odd coin for it in the streets of Eretia. "What is it you wanted to show me?"

Pird's grin faded, "Just because you're ambidextrous doesn't mean you get to be insensitive. I did that with my left hand! I feel so...awake. It's like I had the most fantastic cup of coffee. Without having to go to the bathroom. Don't you feel the same?"

"Yeah..." Eris replied. She felt lighter, faster. It was like a shroud had been pulled from her mind, her head felt startlingly clear. She couldn't help but grin at the strange elation that sped through her veins. Her elation vanished when she heard a metallic tap beside her. She looked down at the gauntlet. For a moment, she had forgotten it was there. A blissful moment, but a moment nevertheless.

Why are you here? Eris asked the gauntlet silently, How can I be rid of you? Is that even possible? No...no you can't be permanent, there has to be a way.

There has to be.

"Where are we?" asked Zook, sitting up. Sye groggily sat up as well, stifling a yawn.

"No idea," said Pird. He tossed a stone at the shallow pool. It skipped once, twice, then seemed to stick to the surface. A tendril of water wrapped around the stone. Eris watched in astonishment as the tendril flicked the rock out then stretched up into the air. Like a straw it sucked up the pool into a growing ball of water until it all hovered before them.

"What in the world-" began Sye when a thin slit on the ball's surface parted.

"System reboot seventy-six percent successful. Corruption detected in lower data banks and permanent memory." Her voice was identical to the one in the 'core'. Eris suddenly remembered the sight of the terrifying energy tearing from the chasm. Watching it crash into her and knocking her from consciousness.

The water around the slit roiled then smoothed along small curves. It pushed forward and Eris saw that it was a feminine face. The face's eyes opened, revealing pools of liquid sapphire. For the briefest of moments, so brief that Eris wasn't sure that she saw it, the eyes blazed with a fierce intelligence. Then, it was gone, replaced by a lax expression that mechanically took the four in. The eyes focused on Sye.

"Names?"

Eris caught a hint of a tone, a personality that the voice had lacked before.

"I'm Sye," Sye turned and indicated each of his friends, "This is Zook, Eris, and Pird. You are-?"

"I am the Oracle, the Overseer, the Foreman, the Caretaker of Saranoda," her face pulled forward and the ball of water now had a full three-dimensional head, "I have many names. I direct the forty-seven million, three hundred and five thousand, eight hundred and forty-nine systems and subroutines of Saranoda. I have been inactive for the last three thousand and twenty seven years, fifty-six days, four hours, and eleven seconds." The bubble rippled as her head migrated to its top.

"Beauty sleep, I wonder?" Pird said under his breath.

The bubble roiled and stretched. A neck appeared, followed by a soft torso in a flowing gown. The water curled to form the rest of her curving figure. A simple dress adorned her, swirling about her form with disregard for gravity. Silky translucent hair flowed around her head, following soft currents the four couldn't see. The light shone softly through her watery form, a creature of fantasy painted beautifully into reality.

"Well," Pird said with a mischevious grin, "You're cute."

Eris hid a smile when Zook reached out and smacked the back of Pird's head.

"Syrus Darvini, Torin Mursaan, Eris Salvor, and Pird Altius are all recognized. Entries are logged in under 700th infantry, ranked as Special Forces tag 'Legion'. Authentication provided by the Four Under the Foundings."

"Legion? The Four Under the Foundings?" asked Sye excitedly. Eris saw the relieved look in his eyes, the expectant look in Zook's.

Maybe now we'll get those answers they've been fighting over, Eris thought, Maybe now we can go home.

The Oracle's voice became choppy and seemed to reverberate onto itself, "Data invalid. Corruption suspected for missing data. Re-query."

Sye looked stunned, his mouth silently framing an empty question. Eris looked to Pird and saw him looking back at her with the same unhappy expression she felt herself wearing. Zook snapped out of his own state of shock and began angrily, "We've come all this way, what do you mean-?"

The Oracle suddenly interrupted him, "Your previous search parameters yielded a recording. Do you wish to hear it?"

The four looked to each other. "Yes," said Sye shakily.

Her voice became a deep rumble, a heavy timbre that resonated with a careful power.

"You have been selected to save all of humanity."

At first, Eris didn't understand what had been said, Isn't this supposed to be the end? Don't we finish our little adventure here?

"I am one of the Four under the Foundings. My name does not matter, as few will in the face of these dire events. Your natural human curiosity will predictably drive you to seek answers. A basic instinct of your kind that has kept you alive thus far. In the fast approaching hour of his awakening, however, we require for you to follow our exact instruction."

The Oracle paused as the voice sighed. A weary, ancient sigh.

"You will soon be under siege by a creature of more power than you could possibly understand. A mortal god. His hatred towards your race threatened the existence of us all, we were forced to act. When we sealed him away his mere wrath set our world ablaze. Your people have no recollections of this terror as nothing but the towers survived the fury he unleashed. His name is Scorn, there is little else that you must know of him and even less that you could understand."

"Each of the four towers of Adrala can produce what is called a 'Glass'. Retrieve these for our cause. That is all you must do. No deviation. No hesitations. No questions. There is no place now for answers."

Her voice snapped back to its cold smoothness, "End of recording. Do you wish for me to play it again?"

For what seemed like eternity, there was silence. The recording had only taken a few minutes. There had been no warning. There had been no easing into the scalding reality before the plunge.

No, not the end, Eris thought numbly, Far from it. What have we been dragged into?

"Do you wish for me to play it again?" the Oracle repeated without blinking.

"No," said Sye, sitting heavily.

"Selected?" Eris whispered,

"To save all of humanity?" Pird finished.

"What is this Scorn he spoke of?" Zook asked, his visage pale and his jaw set, "Who are the Four under the Foundings, these Glasses? I don't give a damn what he said about questions, faith in answers is what got me here. It won't get me any farther!"

The Oracle's voice grated and whirred, "Block C memory shutdown. Data invalid."

"What do you mean 'data invalid'?" growled Zook.

"I have been without maintenance for too long. My memory banks have aged beyond repair."

"Memory banks? What-?!"

"Zook," said Eris, "She's a part of Saranoda. She's a machine."

Eris glanced to the Oracle as she said this. Something passed across her watery face, the beginnings of an expression. Then she looked past them, staring towards somewhere they couldn't see. Her vacant look returned and she nodded with silent acknowledgement. Zook gaped at Eris' revelation and slowly sat down.

"What is this?" Pird asked in a hushed voice, as though he were afraid of the Oracle overhearing, "What does she mean by 'selected'? We...we can't save the world. What does it even need saving from? What does the world need us for? Eretia is gone, but we still don't even know why!"

Sye laughed. It sounded horrible in Eris' ears, a cold barking laugh nothing like the warm jovial one she knew.

"Save the world?" Sye said incredulously, standing, "The lunacy of all of this! Save it from what? We hardly even have wars anymore! We still build walls because we think cities don't look right without them. Every now and then Benji tries to claim D'buul as theirs and Mirith just politely pushes them back with overwhelming force. You're trying to tell us that there was an apocalypse we conveniently don't remember, that there is a single creature that threatens everyone? You can't just-!"

Sye abruptly paused, his lips frozen mid-sentence. Eris knew what had caught up to him. I would have read something, somewhere, she had been thinking, There would be some record of a world before Adrala. Of it burning away. You can't just say it's so.

Except there's the broken city of mirrors we walked through, Eris now realized, and everything Sye saw in it. None of it should exist. None of this should.

"The city beneath Saranoda," Sye asked the Oracle, "I saw...when had it been destroyed?"

"Destroyed being defined as a catastrophic failure of the infrastructure and termination of all personnel?" the Oracle queried pleasantly.

Eris felt a chill at that heartless description.

"Yes," Sye replied.

"Royanter, the City of Mirrors, was destroyed approximately three thousand and-"

"Did this 'Scorn' destroy it?"

The Oracle looked at Sye, mouth still open in mid-sentence. Her eyes then looked at some far away place, as they had before. It was only a moment before she again focused on Sye.

"Royanter's sky-dome had been breached by a quantity of destructive energies shortly after an attack on Royanter itself. The unknown signatures related to the attack have since been connected to the unusual properties of Scorn's method of Manipulation. Royanter's buildings are not designed to withstand water pressure the breach exposed them to. The result was a total failure of Royanter's infrastructure and the termination off all its occupants."

A slight wave of nausea suddenly swept over Eris. She sat quickly and the feeling passed. At first she thought it was because of the onslaught of terrible revelations, but she noticed each of her friends was now sitting with similar expressions as well.

"None of this makes sense," said Sye quietly, "What happened to us, to Eretia? It was supposed to be a disaster. Just a terrible disaster. You're telling us that the rest of Adrala is in danger? That we're supposed to save it? What could we possibly do to save a world?"

No one answered him. The Oracle merely watched Sye, her gemstone eyes blazing silently. Her slack expression seemed mask-like, as Eris could not shake the feeling that her eyes seemed to look at him sadly. Sympathetically.

She did not, however, answer his question.

"Before we woke up here, we were in a chamber," began Sye, "Stuff...some kind of gas or plasma, was gushing from a pit there. It washed over us. What happened?"

"You died," the Oracle replied simply.

Eris felt another wave of nausea. From the looks of her friends, they felt it too.

"We...died?" asked a bewildered Pird.

"That doesn't make any sense!" said Zook.

"Enough of your physical structure and signature was altered that you should have died. Human bodies have a tendency to reject foreign material. That one of you survived would have fulfilled my current definition of 'miracle' but all four of you survived. There are no previous records of anyone going into the core during firing. There are too many unknown energies in effect."

"What do you mean, our signature was altered?" asked Zook, "What's a signature?"

"The surrounding field of energy that all organisms possess. It is a fingerprint of your very being. It is more specific than DNA when it comes to a creature's biological and psychological make-up."

"DNA?" asked Zook.

"Deoxyribonucleic Acid," she answered smartly.

"Ok," said Pird, "Whatever that means."

Eris stumbled as more nausea swept over the four, stronger this time.

"I feel like I'm going to be sick," said Sye hoarsely.

"What's going on Oracle?" asked Eris, her head throbbing painfully, "What's happening to us?"

"Whatever you survived appears to be taking its toll. Saranoda rests on one of the primary Rifts of Gaia, the Hydrological Rift in particular. The core has been inactive for as long as I have, blocking the flow of the raw elements. It has been many generations since I was shut down; your bodies are unused to channeling manipulative energies. Do not worry, it will pass."

A new wave of nausea drove Eris to the grassy floor. The pressure overwhelmed her mind, clenching her head like a vice. It almost felt like there was something in her skull, squirming into her brain and twisting around with a barbed malice. Then, she felt the most peculiar, the most alien feeling. The pain suddenly felt like it had weight, like it was a tangible mass she could touch with some strange invisible appendage that seemed to have molded from her struggling thoughts. She instinctively drove the pain away with a brutal push. A cold, burning feeling rushed through her chest and arms. It felt like icy needles pulled by searing wires.

The feeling disappeared. Then all the pebbles around Eris began to float up into the air.

Before she could even begin to think about what just happened, pain again wrapped her mind in its thorned web. She stumbled to her feet and ripped the pain from her. The pebbles rose higher, swirling together into peppering whirlwhind. Again there was a moment of clarity before the red shroud clouded her thoughts. Eris blindly directed it away from her and the pebbles were flung away.

The pain returned and Eris ripped it away once more. Consciousness left with the pain and Eris fell into the resulting black.

***

It wasn't long before Zook woke with a headache that was trying quite hard to burst from his skull. He slowly sat up and looked towards the Oracle. The torches grew brighter when he looked at them and his headache relaxed for a moment before growing more painful. With a groan he reached into his bag and drew out a bottle.

"That will only make it worse," the Oracle stated.

Zook slowly replaced the bottle, "Why?" he asked, wincing at his own voice.

"That is for headaches. The green stoppered one is for Obruos stress."

"Ah-brew-ohs?"

"The part of the brain that handles the energy flow. Your bodies had begun to evolve to a world without energy for the past few millennia. Your Obruos has started to become vestigial, although the exposure to the raw core seems to have 'cleaned-out' the evolutionary defects. The trauma should pass with time."

"But energy is everywhere, it's-" Zook began.

"The energy I speak of goes by another name that properly describes it, but my creators determined it was...inefficient, to say its full name," she wrinkled her noise, as though she disliked not being able to regurgitate every proper syllable.

Zook shook his head more vigorously, trying to remember what had happened. He vaguely recalled the pain being far more intense than it was now, like a blunted dagger being driven into his skull. He then noticed that one of the torches surrounding the Oracle had gone out, its top blackened.

"So what just happened was us doing...?" began Zook, trying to find the relation between the pain and the blown torch.

"Energy Manipulation."

Pird eased himself to his feet and yawned. Pain immediately flickered across his face and he quickly shut his mouth. Pird turned to the Oracle, "We did Magic?"

The Oracle looked vastly irritated, "That is a very crude way to describe it. It's-"

"Energy Manipulation. Heard you the first time, just too many syllables for my liking."

Zook tentatively reached out with his mind. It was the most bizarre experience, it was like a third eye, an extra arm or nose that he had his whole life, but never knew how to use. It was strange but so...natural. He could not describe it, not even to himself.

Is this what it's like to describe color to somebody born blind? Zook thought.

He touched the throbbing ball of pain in his mind, trying clumsily to use his new sense to control it. Trying to grasp an invisible weight with only thought felt like grasping at water. All of it squelched out of his mental grip and another torch exploded. For a moment the sixth sense was gone, but it returned along with another ball thudding painfully into his mind. It took him a second to realize Pird was talking to him.

"What?" Zook interrupted.

Pird gave him a funny look, "I asked if you blew up yonder torch. I felt something...fly from you. You can't see it, it wasn't a real feeling it was just...knowing."

Zook heard him, but for some reason he just couldn't put the words to meaning, "What?"

The Oracle cut off Pird's angry reply, "Lack of concentration is a side effect of Manipulation. The more you use Manipulation, the harder it is to focus. This can be dangerous, as it is your ability to direct the energy to the desired target that is diminished, not your ability to manipulate."

"So all this time," asked Zook, "Magic really existed?"

"Energy-" The Oracle began angrily.

"But that's what your creators called it, isn't it?" asked Sye drowsily, easing himself up. He helped Eris to her feet, "Otherwise the word wouldn't exist, wouldn't have been in all of our stories. They called it a Magic of sorts."

"Yes," the Oracle regrettably admitted, "They did."

"Tell us more about this energy," said Zook.

"There are many Rifts across Gaia. They are fissures that lead directly to the center of this world. They constantly release elements not found elsewhere in this reality. These 'elements' leak into our dimension from another. A dimension of energy called the Aether. Humans and several other races have the ability to direct these energies to affect the four states of matter, solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. Each individual is born with their Obruos tuned to one of these four states. A far more general way to describe them would be the four elements-"

"Earth, water, wind, and fire," said Sye.

The Oracle ruffled a bit at the interruption, then nodded in agreement, "Your only limits with this ability are experience, element, and capacity. That part of your mind is like a muscle. The more you stress it the more it will grow, allowing you to be more specific with Manipulation. As a muscle will grow, so will your power, letting you tap into far larger amounts of energy."

The water in the rivulets beneath them suddenly exploded, soaking all of them.

"Sorry," said Sye, grinning painfully.

"If I needed a shower I would've asked," said Pird, shaking water off his cloths.

"Why can we suddenly do 'Manipulation' now?" Sye asked, "Magic, whatever you call it. Or is this just a silly dream where I can make bubbles by thinking about it?"

"Built on top of each of Gaia's major Rifts is a tower designed to focus the escaping energy into solid forms, like the Talads," said the Oracle.

"'Talads'?" asked Pird.

The Oracle gestured to the floating blue spheres above them, clones of their guide through Saranoda.

"You keep on mentioning 'Gaia'," said Sye, "What is 'Gaia'?"

"Gaia is the name of this planet, the word derives from-"

"Hold on," Zook interrupted, "What about Adrala?"

"Adrala...search yields no significant data."

"But it's-!" Zook began angrily when Sye stopped him with a raised hand. Sye shook his head and then Zook understood. She might not know what's happened, Zook realized, She might give us more than she's supposed to.

The Oracle continued, as though nothing had happened, "At the end of the Dominance War the towers were rendered inactive and stopped nearly all elemental flow."

"Dominance War?" asked Sye, "What happened? Who was fighting? Why haven't we ever heard of any of this ever before?"

The Oracle said something too quietly to hear.

"What?" asked Sye.

She hesitated, her reluctant expression encroaching on her expressionless face.

"You do not have sufficient clearance for that information," she said softly.

"Sufficient clearance?!" shouted Zook, feeling the veins on his neck bulge.

"Zook -!" Sye began but Zook simply shouted over him.

"Do you know how many people died in the quake your tower created?" Zook roared at the Oracle. She looked confused at the accusation, but Zook did not heed her expression. "Can you, in your mechanical understanding, imagine how many people lived on that island? Do you realize how many lives depended on this cursed tower? Eretia was the home to nearly nine million people! They each had lives, they each were important! Why were they slaughtered while we were spared? What makes us so special? What makes us worth saving?"

The Oracle watched him, sad at first, but then confused, "But you activated Saranoda. You activated it from within the core."

"We weren't in this 'core' when Saranoda first went off!" said Sye, "We came here to find what caused the quake!"

The Oracle looked deeply puzzled. She closed her eyes. "My subroutines report an unauthorized access to the central core's security parameters. It disengaged protocols two thirty seven through...that's..." She opened her eyes, "Impossible. Someone vented the secondary chambers to relieve the pressure on the Rift's seal. Saranoda was activated four days afterward at the request of a category Glass energy accelerator when the pressure of the elemental flow exceeded the safety parameters. There is no signature on this request."

"No signature?" asked Sye.

"No identification. That should not be possible. The security identifies elemental fields, there is no way to duplicate or hide your signature. There's one who's able to mimic, but he's..." Her eyes suddenly widened with fear, a sudden change to her slowly evolving personality. Her watery form quivered as her eyes looked far away, flickering between unseen objects.

"Sensors in storage are off line, authorizing forward Talad group, golems on stand-by." Her eyes paused in their flickering, "That cannot be, probe again."

The Oracle's eyes snapped back to the four, her sapphire eyes ablaze.

"It's him! That's not possible! Defenses are compromised. Saranoda is still partially offline. How did he get in?"

"Who got in?" asked Sye.

"You did not warn me!" she suddenly shouted, eyes flickering to her far away place, "It's only...it's too early for him to come back. What is going on?"

"Who?" Sye asked again, dread in his eyes.

The Oracle's eyes flickered to Sye, just long enough for one word.

"Scorn."

"He destroyed Eretia," Zook said emptily, drawing his sword, "He massacred millions and left the rest to die." He looked up the Oracle, "Take us to him so I can fight him."

"No!" The Oracle roared, embers of fierce blue light flickering through her figure. A glow blinded Zook as rings appeared around his feet. The four were suddenly lifted up into the air and bubbles of water wrapped around their bodies. Zook kicked wildly, trying to swim out of the strange imprisonment. He had been caught off guard, his lungs already screamed for air. He couldn't help but gasp. The water rushed into his mouth.

Then he breathed the water back out.

Zook paused, taking another slow breath. The water felt like the thickest air, making him want to gag. He could breath, but he still couldn't escape.

Zook struggled against the water to no avail. "Let me go!" he screamed, barely hearing his own distorted voice through the water. The Oracle either didn't hear him or was ignoring him.

"Suspend all local non-critical processes and scramble information transfers from router four," the Oracle said tonelessly, her voice somehow clear through the water, "Standing by."

The orbs that lit the chamber dimmed and a subtle hum Zook hadn't noticed before abruptly went silent. This reminded Zook of when a freak hurricane had narrowly missed Eretia. They had all huddled in the small central room of Magist's house, waiting fearfully with only a single candle casting red shadows while Ignorance' storm raged outside.

They waited for what seemed like hours. The Oracle never moved, her eyes watching that distant place of hers. Zook tried thrashing loose several times but only succeeded in exhausting himself. The Oracle did not react to his cries of outrage. Eventually, he gave up and was forced to wait.

A strange warbling noise caught Zook's attention and he craned his neck to see Sye's bubble shaking madly. Sye's face was contorted with pain as the bubble seemed to tear itself apart. Suddenly, the bubble collapsed. Sye landed on his feet with water crashing around him. He stumbled sideways and fell hard onto his back. The Oracle did not flinch nor react in any way

What's wrong with him? Zook thought frantically, his medicine bag that lay below seeming so far away. He watched his friend's chest rise and fall, relief rushing over him when Sye shakily got to his feet. Sye stood before Eris' bubble and squeezed his eyes shut in concentration. Her bubble fell apart and she caught Sye as he began to fall again. When he recovered he released Pird and came to stand before Zook.

"Get me out of here Sye," Zook said, unsure whether he could be heard or not. "This 'Scorn' did all of this to us. To Eretia. We're supposed to stop him; didn't you hear what the recording said? We have to kill that monster."

Sye watched Zook sadly for a while, looking hurt. Then he slowly shook his head.

"Sye! We have to kill it! We have to!" Zook said, his voice and rage rising, "It destroyed Eretia. It killed everyone we knew!" Sye was unmoved. Zook slipped into a red fury, "Do you hear me? It destroyed everything we had! We have nothing left! Let me out Sye! Do you hear me? Ignorance curse you let me out!" He tried to reach out to the last remaining torch but it blew apart in his fragile mental grip, causing his friends to dive for cover. Zook roared in anger and he turned the painful power onto the bubble that bound him. The water seemed like it wasn't there for his mind to touch, as though it didn't exist. Zook blindly and uselessly tried to escape until he was too tired to move. He could do nothing but flare his hating glare at Sye.

We can save this world right now, Zook's thoughts burned, End this adventure here. Why can't he see? How can he not want to avenge Eretia?

Hours passed. Pird paced laps around the room. Sye avoided Zook's scathing stare. Eris tried to gently move stones with her newfound ability, but the skill always escaped her and the rocks split open.

Then a presence, a great wave of power, suddenly crashed down onto their minds.

What-? Zook began to think but a rush of burning energy into his mind drowned his thoughts out. Zook drew away from it, instinctively hiding his mind. It brooded on the very edge of Zook's new senses, lurking like a predator, searching. Zook didn't know how to explain it to himself, he could simply feel it, a vast power beyond his imagination.

A thought slipped from Zook's mind and he felt the presence rising with a new interest, its focus turned onto him. Fear stabbed at his heart as more of the presence's form came within his range.

Zook felt like he was looking up at the stars and the infinite cosmos of stellar clouds and black nothingness. A cosmos alight in a blazing inferno. A single thought from the power that flooded Zook's mind, a single twitch from the omnipresent being felt like it would rip the very life from Zook's body.

Is this what it's like? Zook thought numbly, To walk the surface of the sun?

It drew closer. Zook did not try to struggle. How could he in the face of infinity? The vastness of what was closing in was simply too much for his mind to comprehend. Then, as it was a moment away from discovering him, the presence paused. It drew back slightly, as though listening to something far away. After what seemed like a lifetime of waiting, it slowly drew away. When it disappeared Zook's world grayed for a moment and an acute pressure in his head grew painfully then gradually eased off.

Zook's bubble gently touched the ground and drained away. All of his nerves itched and buzzed, he felt incredibly light and frail like a scrap of parchment surviving a hurricane.

"Zook, I'm sorry," Sye said shakingly, "You couldn't reason. I didn't want to risk-"

"It's ok Sye," Zook said quietly, barely managing more than a weak whisper, "I'm all right. It doesn't mean...I don't feel...I'm all right. I'm...all...here."

What am I doing here? Zook asked himself, Thinking that I could challenge that kind of power? How could I think I could match it? It wouldn't even need to try. All it would've had to do was blink and I would've died.

"What...?" Pird began, his entire body shaking, "What in the Dark was that thing? Is that what we're supposed to stop?"

The Oracle's eyes again snapped back to the present reality, "Saranoda is no longer the safe haven it once was," she said, her voice anxious but resolved, "That has been twice demonstrated. You must take the Glass and leave for Krakrenenor, as is the Four under the Founding's command. Their orders are of the highest priorities in my programming, and must be obeyed. You are to prevent Scorn from awakening the four towers of Adrala and creating the rest of the Glasses"

"What will he do with them?" asked Sye.

"That is not of your concern. You must leave. Now."

"But we're at the bottom of the Lermur sea!" said Sye, exasperated, "How do you expect us to-?"

The Oracle cut him off with a gesture. An archway appeared. "Follow the Talad."

"But there's so much to ask!" Sye shouted in desperation, "We don't know anything!"

The Oracle's gemstone eyes fell upon Sye's, their liquid sapphire glowing in the shaded light of the chamber.

"There is little you would want to know."

With that, the Oracle's watery form fell apart, falling back into the pool in a gentle splash.

"Oracle!" Sye called in frustration, about to say more when the room seemed to expand around them. Golems stood where the walls receded, silently waiting shoulder to shoulder in a large ring. The walls snapped back to where they originally lay.

"Error two fifteen," the Oracle's voice droned from the pool, "Orders of the Four under the Foundings are conflicting with the Legion's questions."

"Legion?" asked Eris.

"I think she means us," said Pird.

"Defensive procedures are compromised due to priority failure." The walls moved again, but now the revealed golems were beginning to move.

"We should go," Pird said fearfully.

"Priority conflicts are rising. Force is now deemed necessary."

Pird grabbed Eris by the arm and ran to the arch. Zook and Sye followed after the briefest hesitation. The moment they left the room a wall came to be behind them, blocking the entrance. Zook found himself in yet another corridor, identical to the dozens that they had traversed before.

"We need to get out of here," said Pird.

"That means we have to do exactly as she says," said Sye angrily, "I don't like any of this. Why aren't we allowed to know anything?"

"That's how it's been so far, Sye," said Eris quietly, "We haven't once had a chance to choose what happens."

"The second we do have a chance we're going to take it," said Sye, "Whatever it takes."

They let the Talad lead them through the twists and turns until they came to a large circular door. The Talad glowed and the door's symbol, Saranoda's question mark, glowed in reply. The door slid apart in two pieces just long enough for a small group of Talads to float through. Zook caught a glimpse of a cavernous room with a huge structure in its center before the doors closed. The structure had looked like a curving hourglass with its center missing. There were three Talads circling around a small blue orb. Sye held out his hand and the orb dropped into his palm.

Sye's hand dropped slightly as he caught it, making Zook think it was heavier than it looked. Its blue glass was somewhat translucent, bearing only a faint etching of curling lines on its surface. Its interior seemed to slowly swirl, but was unspectacular in every other regard.

"Is this the Glass?" asked Sye.

"Yes," boomed the Oracle from the surrounding walls, making them all jump "That device is the reverse engineering of a Logic Rift, the Hydrologic Rift that supplies Saranoda with its power. Instead of producing amounts of stored energy as the different ranks of Talads do, the Glass category attracts energy upon activation."

"So we 'died' for this thing?" asked Zook.

"After what's happened so far, sounds reasonable," said Pird.

Sye turned the orb over in his hands, "I thought this is what Scorn was after."

"It is," echoed the Oracle.

"Then why isn't it gone?"

There was a long silence, "You must leave Saranoda."

"Oracle!" Zook bellowed at the ceiling, "Answer our questions! You know something!" He wished desperately something around them was made out of wood so he could smash it.

The Oracle's voice hummed around them, "I've answered everything that you have asked to the best of my knowledge and within the limits of my programming."

The Talad abruptly left them and hummed down the corridor, forcing the four to chase after it. It led them to another door that opened when they neared. Eris, Zook, Pird and Sye slowly stepped out onto the small balcony beyond.

They stood high above over a multitude of machines lined up in neat angled rows. Their numbers stretched far to the right and left where they disappeared around the gentle curve of the wall. There were machines that looked like giant spiders, others like slumped headless humanoids. Zook saw dozens of different kinds of contraptions, from great egg-shaped machines surrounded by wide strips of metal to taller kinds of golems.

The balcony shuddered once beneath their feet then began to move away from the wall. The four clung to the railing as their transport descended amongst the metal and gears. An eerie feeling fell with the silence and the eyeless stare of the dead silver-blue machines. It felt like a rather eerie museum.

The balcony moved up against an odd looking structure hanging by cables from a surrounding scaffold. It had a flattened shape, a large sleek egg preceded by a smaller twin. Webs of metal suspended a series of curving metal. A cluster of drill-like cones protruded from its wide end. To Zook it looked vaguely like a winged legless wolf.

"What is this?" asked Zook.

"A luxury submersible," the Oracle's voice sounded, "Capable of speeds up to a hundred and five knots while underwater, surface speed is-"

"Shouldn't have asked," muttered Pird.

"Shh!" shushed Eris.

"-of quality. Six bedrooms with full accommodations are placed throughout-"

"Bedrooms?" Pird asked weakly.

"Just listen," said Sye.

"-an automated kitchen. The sleek design is optimized for-"

Pird's stomach growled loudly.

"Shut up Pird," said Zook irritably.

"But I didn't say anything!" said Pird with exasperation.

"Let's just get on it," said Sye.

"You're planning on driving?" asked Zook.

"It's automated, I'm guessing you don't have to," said Eris.

"The kitchen is automated," said Pird, "I'm not going to steer with an egg beater."

Eris rolled her eyes, "Of course you only heard that part."

"I like the 'luxury' in the name," said Pird, stepping in.

"'Submersible' not so much," said Zook.

"We have submarines in Eretia, Zook," said Sye.

"Had submarines," Zook corrected bitterly, "Big leaky barrels that could barely dive a hundred meters and had an air supply for fifteen minutes. If you didn't talk or get excited."

"Don't be such a pessimist Zook," said Eris. Then with a sly grin she said loudly, "One of these is bound to have a better air supply."

The Oracle's voice crackled on, "The A-22 Luxury Submersible has an air recycling system that processes at a rate of-"

Zook quickly ducked into the machine. When he saw the inside he felt as though he had stepped into another world. His normal world in particular. The floor and walls were made up of deep, rich wooden boards. The walls were decorated with rigid indentations painted white and glass lamps that imitated candlelight. It all had the feeling of a very expensive caravel.

Sye stepped in and looked around. "This is probably 'old world' decoration to them."

"'Our world' decoration to us," said Eris.

"You gotta see this!" Pird's voice floated down from the hall on the left, the small end of the ship. Zook turned the corner and saw shiny, curved surfaces covered with panels similar to that of the armory.

"Guess what?" asked Pird, who sat in a high backed swiveling chair before a large flat panel, "It's all...blue."

"What did you want, Pird?" asked Zook.

Pird pointed to the panel before him, "It's a map."

"Of?" asked Zook.

Pird merely pointed again, now to the elaborate calligraphy at the map's top. It was written in a smooth, angular font. Whatever language it was, Zook had never seen it except for glimpses in all the strange designs they have seen during their trek through the tower.

Eris stepped forward and touched the words. She suddenly looked over at her shoulder, but at what Zook couldn't guess. When she looked back at the map she said, "It says Gaia, then I think some kind of coordinates."

"How did you...?" Sye began, but Eris only shook her head.

Zook counted twelve very complex looking continents. The oceans were small but many. Rivers and lakes covered most of the land, ranges of mountains and circles of plains and deserts dotted the spaces in between. But before he could ask Eris to read the small script naming them, the panel went blank.

"No!" Zook yelled angrily, striking the panel. The panel being far harder than his hand, Zook instantly regretted it. As if written by an invisible pen guided by a likewise hand, lines appeared upon the panel. They watched it draw a rough looking circle and labeled in tiny, flowing script "Eretia." It drew the Lermur Sea and soon the rest of the continent Adrala. Compared to the congregation of landmasses they had seen, Adrala looked small and lonely on the Alenus Ocean.

"I thought she didn't know about Adrala," said Pird. Zook didn't understand what had happened either. The map was very detailed; it was almost like a picture had been taken of Adrala from the moon.

"Why is Gaia so different?" asked Eris, "its just Adrala several thousand years ago."

"So it would seem," muttered Zook.

"I saw one continent that looked like Adrala," said Sye thoughtfully, "That recording, 'his mere wrath set our world ablaze', 'nothing but the towers survived'. Scorn did something to the world."

"How can you change the very appearance of an entire world?" asked Zook. Sye didn't answer right away, staring at the map.

"The ice caps," Sye said, "He flooded the city of mirrors, what if he flooded all of Gaia?"

Zook shook his head in disbelief, "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

"Well, where are we taking this tub?" asked Pird.

"A good place to start would be Benji Bridge, they're closest to Eretia and will have news of everything that has happened up there," Sye said and tapped the panel, "Here."

A small circle appeared where his finger had touched. A fairly straight dotted line traced its way from Eretia to the circle. The floor and low curving ceiling that took the place of walls flickered then turned transparent, causing Zook to grab the closest seat out of instinct of falling.

There was a metallic groan and the submersible suddenly lurched forward. The floor under the machine split open, forming a rectangular ditch that ran all the way to the wall of the chamber. The chains trailing from the scaffoldding above lowered them into the ditch. Circles sank into the floor of the crevice and water welled up from the resulting holes. The four jumped at a dull thud as thick streams struck the submersible from above, pouring from tubing in the scaffold. The water crashed against the invisible roof and cascaded down the sides. The water level rose quickly until it enveloped them. A deep clanking noise vibrated through the ship and it suddenly listed to the right. Eris, Sye, and Zook barely kept their footing at the sudden movement.

The chains snaked out of the water and disappeared. The wall a few hundred meters before them disappeared. A hum began to grow in their ears.

"Didn't the Oracle say that this thing goes a hundred and five knots?" asked Sye.

Pird paled and gripped the arms of his seat.

A hundred and five knots? Zook thought when realization struck him as well, but a moment too late.

The submersible kicked forward with incredible speed, knocking Zook clear off his feet. He tumbled backwards to the rear wall, landing against an entangled Sye and Eris. Zook felt an unseen force press him back against his friends. He watched as they hurtled through what now seemed like a very narrow ditch and out a tiny space of absent wall into the open sea. The ship dipped down and Zook shouted as they barely missed a giant formation of coral. The submersible dodged and weaved amongst the twisting arches and columns of colorful coral. Zook slid and rolled across the floor at every turn, every erratic change in direction. Just when Zook thought he could take no more the ship pulled back and rose above the treacherous underwater terrain. Eris, Sye, and Zook shakily got to their feet.

"Luxury my ass," grunted Zook.

"Look at this," said Sye. They gathered around the map once more. A smaller dot had appeared on the line from Eretia and Benji.

"Is that us?" asked Eris.

"If it is we're in for a long journey," said Zook.

"No," said Sye, "An Eretian tradeship takes a week, sometimes two, to cross from Eretia to Benji. We're moving at four times a tradeship's speed and are safe from storms and trade winds. I'm guessing we'll be there in two or three days."

Zook now noticed a few other panels with moving images. He peered into one and was dumbfounded. It was showing Saranoda disappearing behind them. He saw the base, the foundations of a tower they had lived around all their lives. Great columns rose from the depths of the bedrock, looking like giant pistons. Massive domes surrounded the tower, its base looking nearly twice as large as it was at sealevel.

"Goodbye, Saranoda," Pird said to the image as the opaque salt of the sea drowned out the view.

Goodbye indeed, Zook thought dimly. He left his friends without a word. They were too occupied with the moving images to notice. When Zook stepped into the hall he wasn't sure whether to be relaxed or on edge about the eerily familiar decoration. It almost felt like home.

Almost.

He twisted the doorknob of the first door he came to. Inside was an ornate carpeted bedroom. Expensive dressers and tables with odd-looking gadgets lined the walls. But Zook's eyes were drawn to the four-poster bed. A web of motivation, of energy and adrenaline that Zook hadn't noticed before, slipped from his mind. His legs wobbled and his vision swam. He stumbled across the room, managing to kick off one shoe before collapsing onto the bed. He was asleep before he hit the sheets.

***

The Oracle drifted in her now empty sanctum. A panel floated near and the voice of Sye repeated over and over again. "The ice caps. He flooded the city of mirrors, what if he flooded all of Gaia?"

The Oracle shook her head sadly, "If only Scorn had been that kind."

End of the Tenth Chapter

# Close Quarters

Energy Manipulation: n. The ability to store and alter Aether "energies" inside the Obruos, located in the frontal lobe of the brain. Basic use of this skill involves aligning the Aether energies within the Obruos with attuned matter; any change in the energy creates a change in the connected matter, as a reflection would imitate the one looking into a mirror. As energy is used, the Obruos tires and must be allowed to replenish itself from the ambient supply, or the user's concentration will be similar to that if he were intoxicated. More complex uses of Energy Manipulation require the use of arrays; radical logic only the most gifted of minds can comprehend. The application of Energy Manipulation so far discovered is only limited by the imagination, ingenuity, and the Obruos capacity of the user.

-Excerpt from the Book of Idusces

Sye stood at the edge of a great pit. It stretched for as far as he could see, having no beginning nor any end. A poisonous wind burned over the choked landscape behind him. At first glance one might call it a desert, but even that was far too healthy a title. The cracked, blasted land crawled over torn hills to the toxic light of the horizon. Sye stared down into the hungry shadow of the chasm. From his height he could not see its bottom. That was assuming there was a bottom. Names for this pathway to the Dark floated through his mind. The Origin. The End. He looked deeper into the darkness for he could not look away.

<Come closer.>

Sye recognized that voice, but could not place it. Whomever the voice had belonged to, it was now altered. Full of terrifying power. It seemed to radiate from the depths, as though the chasm itself was the gaping maw of the world.

<Your slumbering mind wanders, Syrus Darvini.>

An icy shard slipped into Sye's veins when his name rolled over the voice's tongue.

<Wanders far too far.>

Sye felt the same presence from the Oracle's chamber gather below him, except this time it felt even larger, more powerful.

<Are you lost?>

The voice began to thrum, a deep resounding sound that shook his bones. It lulled Sye, smoothing away all fear. Sye felt something nudge through his mind, his thoughts. Impulsively, he tried to shut it out. The presence broke through his barriers as though they were mere paper.

<Quiet.>

As he struggled more, he heard whispers, voices that sought to sooth his rebellious mind. The presence did not need to try hard to subdue him. It dug into his mind and searched through his memories with the passing interest of one flipping through a short novel. Sye felt stripped naked as his most private thoughts were purged. He saw himself before a multitude of senators, stumbling through his first speech, his father looking away. When he tipped a punch bowl onto an ambassador from Mirith. His first kiss with a girl he barely knew. His thoughts of Eris...

No you don't Sye thought angrily, That one is mine.

Sye sought all his strength to banish the intruder from his mind. With a hint of amusement, the presence crushed him. It burrowed deeper. Sye saw his memories of maps and charts pulled before him. The presence seemed confused, scanning old histories and moth-eaten records. Something that happened wasn't there. The maps were alien. The names were wrong. It moved faster, as though it were looking for something. Sye felt a panic that wasn't his. There was a mistake in what he knew. There had to be a mistake. It was not possible.

<What have I done?>

***

Sye jumped out of bed with more force then he knew he had in a cocoon of white sheets. Pain crossed his back when he hit the floor. He fought to disentangle himself and the air struck the cold sweat on his skin like icy daggers. The orb near the ceiling grew to a dim glow, allowing for his eyes to adjust as it brightened. It took Sye a few moments to find his footing. When he did, he shakingly sat on the edge of his bed, his heart pounding in his ears.

That was far too real, he thought, cradling his head in his hand.  That voice, it was the one from the memory. The one who destroyed that city, Royanter. Scorn. He stiffened when he thought he caught a whiff of the dead air on his skin.

Did I imagine that?  Sye thought Can you remember a smell from a dream? And should a smell terrify me so?

The enormity of everything was like an ocean held back by an old, rotting dam. Sye tried to think back on Eretia, their travels through Saranoda and the mirrored city. It wasn't long before he pushed those memories away. It was easier to not look back.

Sye quickly stood, his temple throbbing slightly as the blood rushed to his head from the change in altitude. He pulled his cloak from under his bed and swung it around his shoulders as he looked for the brooch. A weight thudded against his chest. He paused, then pulled the Glass orb from the cloak's pocket. Its features were plain, just a large blue marble of hazy glass.

"Why are you so important?" Sye asked it, rolling the sphere around in the palm of his hand. The throbbing lump of power in his mind shifted slightly. Curious, Sye clumsily reached out with that odd sixth sense. When his probing tendril touched it the orb suddenly flared to life. Circles of light and curving lines blossomed in the air around him, alien letters and numbers swirling in neat concentric rings.

"What-?" began Sye when the jumble of white lines aligned themselves in front of him, forming a two-dimensional plane of frozen, interweaving circles. The circles began to spin unanimously in one direction.

Something invisible punctured his mind, snagging itself in the power there. Sye staggered back with a shout of pain, covering his forehead as if to ward off the strike. The unseen lance twisted and Sye was driven to his knees. He craned his head back to see the orb floating low in the air, its carnivorous blue glow burning into his eyes. The circles spun faster and the unseen point drove further into his mind. Sye felt paralyzed, his muscles didn't respond and his mouth was clenched so tight he couldn't yell for help. The circles halted, then slowly rotated in the opposite direction. The lance tugged, causing the power to quiver painfully. It tugged again and the pocket of energy slipped free, the pain like a fishhook pulled from his brain. The orb slowly drew the lance in, growing brighter and brighter until Sye felt it drain the everything away. The spinning circles, lines and letters abruptly disappeared and the orb dropped out of the air onto the floorboards with a dull thud. Sye kicked it, a lucky strike as he was seeing seven of everything, sending the ball bouncing under his bed. His strength disappeared and he fell limply onto his back. He ignored the sharp pain of his head hitting the floor over the heavy stinging that crackled through his head. All coherent thought slipped through his fingers like water, his feelings and senses swirling together. He felt panicked and calmed at the same time; all awareness of the room simply was forgotten.

Slowly, a more familiar pain nosed through the static. The small ball of power in his mind swelled until it was restored to its throbbing self. Sye's dulled senses grew clearer with startling speed until the only thing that bothered him was the sting on the back of his head. He sat up and hastily scrambled away from his bed, where he could make out the outline of the orb in its shadow. It sat there innocently, no hungry glow or words or circles. He waited, thinking wildly that the orb might come to life and roll after him. When he was assured it wouldn't, Sye weakly got to his feet.

If I stay here much longer, something else is going to attack me, Sye thought, turning to the door. Or, as he found, the doors. He stood there, bewildered.  Which one did I come in? He opened one at random and found himself in a fancy, but familiar, bathroom. At once the need to obey nature took precedence over his escape. Afterwards he took the other door and went out into the hall. He first tried the forward room but no one was at the blinking panels. Sye went back down the hall, noting the six doors on either side. He guessed that each bore a bedroom. At the hall's end was a pair of arching doors framing panes of frosted glass. He could hear Pird and Zook's voices before he was halfway there.

"Put those down! You're going to break them!"

"No I'm not."

"We're going to eat those!"

"Next you'll be telling me that I shouldn't play with my food. What are you, Magist?"

"Problem is, it's our food, not your food, that you're playing with."

"Your point is?"

"My point is that I can't cook the eggs when you're juggling them around like a damn clown!"

Sye rested his hand on the knob and hesitated. The ominous dream and hostile orb were fresh in his mind. What made him stop was the casual argument between Zook and Pird. Casual, meaning that Zook's voice steadily shook more and more with anger with Pird's cheerfulness growing alongside it. For the shortest, most wonderful moment, Sye forgot he was in a submarine hurtling at incredible speeds to the port city of Benji. He forgot about the destruction of Eretia, the memory of Scorn.

There's nothing they can do about my dream or the orb, thought Sye, let them have peace while they have it.

When Sye stepped into the room Pird and Zook only gave him the briefest glance before returning to their argument. Sye felt like he had stepped into a courtyard. Unlike the hall and their rooms, it was a strange fusion of merchant ship decoration and Saranodian technology. A long, ornate table and its surrounding chairs toward the back were carved elegantly from a reddish wood and polished to a glossy sheen. Around this were short marble columns topped with lush plants in spiny pots. Sye didn't recognize their species, they seemed to be more like potted vines with heavy leaves. A large silver chandelier hung low from nothing over the table. Its curling arms ended in candles, which burned with what looked like liquid diamonds instead of flame. The floor was tiled with a heavy stone, the arching ceiling the only thing giving away the illusion of being outside. There was a pleasant smell Sye couldn't quite place and the room was bathed in sunlight without a sun. Zook stood near one wall next to a glossy black surface that floated a little above waist height. A multitude of tiny lights slowly swirled in a large sphere formation above it.

"Just give me the eggs Pird, I'm starving."

"Get some more."

"I told you, I don't know how. I got those by accident!"

Sye turned from looking over the room to them, "Do you realize how old those might be?"

Pird faltered and nearly dropped one of the four eggs he was lazily juggling. Zook took advantage of his lapse and snatched one out of his hand. Zook deftly cracked it onto the side of the panel and plopped the egg's contents onto the black surface. They all took a deep sniff of the air.

"I don't smell anything," observed Pird.

"They must have some way of preserving things," said Sye, "Like those plants. Where'd you get the eggs?"

"I accidentally touched one of these dots," Zook gestured to the swirling lights, "It dropped a bunch of eggs into my hands."

"Six to be exact," said Pird.

"What happened to the other two?"

Zook dipped his fingers in the egg goo and flicked it at the juggling Pird. Pird dodged out of the way, misplacing an egg in the process. It tumbled from his hand and splattered across the stone floor.

"Watch," said Zook.

"You could've asked nicely," grumbled Pird.

A small light zipped from the hall and came to a halt just above the mess. It darted down and exploded into a white, foamy poof. It scrubbed back and forth, getting every speck of egg. Sye thought he smelled lemons. With a wet slurping noise the foam was sucked back into the light and zipped back into the hall, leaving the floor clean.

"That's what happened," said Zook.

"You'd have to wonder what these people did all day," said Pird, "They didn't even have to clean after themselves."

"Pird," Zook said forcefully, "Eggs."

"Oh, fine," Pird said dejectedly, handing his prizes over. But when Zook turned around Sye felt something strange flit between Pird and Zook. It's like hearing something invisible by feeling it with my eyes, Sye thought, So very odd.

Zook's hair was blown into his eyes by a sudden gust of wind.  "Pird!" he shouted angrily, spinning around.

"What did I do?" asked Pird with a straight face.

"It's bad enough you've decided to wake up a few hours earlier so my morning peace is gone!"

Pird frowned, "You're just jealous because you don't have any fire to practice on."

"What do you mean?" Sye asked. It sounded like they had come across a bit more information.

They both gave Sye a blank stare.

"Ok, who are you and what have you done with Sye?" asked Pird, "You remember we can do Magic now, right?"

"It was called-" Zook began.

"C'mon Zook, it's much faster to say 'Magic'. Plus, it doesn't make you sound like a shrink."

"You know how much I dislike that term."

"And you wonder why I use it."

Zook ignored him, "From what we've seen, I can only do things with fire, Pird air, you water, and Eris earth."

"Coincidental that there's four of us," said Pird, "Four elements and we each got a different one. Isn't there a number or something that makes that interesting?"

That was something that Sye hadn't thought of, "Since Eris said those words in Saranoda's sanctum there have been no coincidences."

"Kinda makes you wish she was illiterate," said Pird, "Anyhow, I've been goofing off for a few hours, I'm already getting better! I'm like...a human fan! Wait that sounded better in my head..."

Eris groggily stepped in, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Her clothes were disheveled, having obviously passed out in them. Sye noticed she had rearranged her cloak so it fell over her right shoulder, obscuring the gauntlet. Her dark-ruby hair was tousled, looking uncomfortably endearing to Sye.

"How do you people get up so early?" she asked.

"Actually," Zook said quietly, "It's nearly five a' clock in the afternoon. There's a panel up front that shows the time and the date."

"The date?" yawned Eris, "What day is it?"

Zook suddenly looked very uncomfortable, "Well...I really don't...ah."

"Zook," Sye asked, Zook's hesitation making him afraid of the answer, "What day is it?"

Zook shifted weight from one foot to the other, "It's the fourth day of the thirteenth."

"Wait," said Sye, mentally counting, "That means...No. That can't be right."

"It is."

"How could we have been gone for two entire weeks?"

Eris was instantly awake, "Two...weeks?"

"That can't be," said Sye, "There's no way that's correct! We never once ate while in the tower. We never drank. It's...it's just not possible Zook. This ship comes from a world long gone, how do you know it's not wrong?"

"Because I watched it as it changed from Gaian time to our time," Zook said tiredly, "I checked it over a dozen times. I suppose it could be wrong, but given so far..."

"I thought we might have been down there for two, possibly even three days. A week was out of the question," Sye looked to his friends, confused, "But two? That's just...just..."

"Madness?" Pird suggested helpfully.

"Madness..." Sye trailed off.

"Madness or not," said Zook, "We've dropped off from the world for fourteen days."

"Magist and my father would have reached Benji and left for Mirith for long ago," Sye still shook his head, "They would have waited three days at the most, the others would have told them what happened to us. They probably think we're dead." This realization caused them all to be quiet for a few moments before Sye continued, "We will be hard pressed to catch up to them before they reach Mirith."

"We would be," said Zook, "If we were headed to Mirith."

"What?" asked Pird.

Zook did not answer, but Sye didn't need him to, "No, Zook."

"Scorn is headed for Krakrenenor, the Oracle said we have to get there first."

"You're not serious," said Sye in amazement, "We need to find Magist and tell him what happened."

"By then Scorn will have Krakrenenor and probably Bandui too. If anything the Oracle said is true, if anything we felt was real, all of Adrala is in danger."

"Exactly.  All of Adrala. Not just you and me, but over a hundred and fifty million people. If something happens to us, the rest of Adrala will be none the wiser. They must know of this threat. They must be prepared. We can't just go barreling off and-"

"You're afraid," Zook said quietly.

Sye stared back for a few moments, managing to summon only a bewildered "What?"

"You're trying to run away!" Zook accused.

"I'm trying to figure out what's really-"

"You're afraid and want to run away like a coward!"

"You weren't there!" Sye screamed wildly, causing all of his friends to step back in surprise, "You didn't see him! It wasn't you he just looked at and you were dead. You didn't see all those people sit down and wait to be destroyed! You want to fight him with a puff of wind, some rocks...?" Sye was now shaking, the memory he was forced to witness now flitting through his mind, "You want to match him with exploding torches when you believe he sank Eretia? You hope to kill him when he erased everything but Adrala from that map? Are you that desperate to run off and get yourself-!"

Zook interrupted him by suddenly crossing the room. Sye held up his hands in defense, but Zook grabbed his wrist. Sye tried to pull away but Zook transferred his grip to Sye's palm and deftly slid his silver ring over one of Sye's fingers.

***

Sye abruptly halted his struggle. His arms fell limp. He took a step back and slowly sat down in a chair, his gaze far away.

Zook took a long, calming breath. "I'm...sorry," he said.  Why doesn't he understand? Zook thought, Why doesn't he see what we have to do? "You're no coward. But we have to do this Sye, we really have no choice. We weren't given these gifts of weapons and Magic to give up and throw them away. We were given them to fight. You're right, I didn't see what you saw-"

"You still don't understand, do you?" Sye asked, giving a harsh laugh that wasn't his, "You can't begin to imagine what I saw, nor what I'm seeing right now."

"What do you mean?" asked Zook, "It just helped me think, it didn't-."

"I can hear you, Zook, and I'm probably sitting in the submarine still, but that's not what your ring is showing me."

"What is it showing you?" asked Zook, suddenly dreading the answer.

"I'm watching as you and everyone else dies. I'm seeing what will happen when Scorn isn't stopped. Right here before me," he held out his hands, "I see all of Adrala. Dead."

The ring slid off his finger and bounced onto the stone floor, the metal ting seeming to echo through the room. Sye's gaze slowly came to rest on Zook, "You think by showing me this you'll convince me?" Sye shook his head, a sad smile on his face, "We cannot fight what we do not know, we need answers Zook. Blind rage and an oath of revenge aren't weapons and allies." Sye suddenly stood and walked down the hall, slowly as though in a dream, and shut the door to his bedroom quietly behind him.

Zook crouched and picked the small silver ring off the tile, "I didn't think-"

"What did you do that for?" Eris asked.

Zook paused; he always paused when Eris' voice lost its warmth. She looked at him levelly, expressionless.  She's upset, Zook thought, or as upset as Eris ever gets. "It felt right. When I put it on I felt...different. More clear. Not by much but I thought it might make a difference. I thought it would help with Sye's fear. I didn't know it would show him...whatever he saw."

Why did he see it?  Zook asked himself, Why could he see that vision in the city, now this...premonition? What was it?

There was a long awkward silence, interrupted only by a low, gurgling growl.

"That would be me," said Pird, clutching his stomach, "Are we going to eat those eggs or not?"

"Only if you like them raw," said Zook, glad for a change of topic, "I need to figure out how to make these dots work." He turned to gesture at them but was surprised to see Eris already there.

Eris reached out and tapped a light, causing it to split into a rotating sphere of many smaller lights. Eris scanned the dots then selected one and a loaf of bread popped into existence before her, dropping lightly on the floating black surface. She made another light shatter soundlessly and created a round pitcher. She then used the pitcher to catch another pinprick. When it touched the bottom the pitcher filled with an orange liquid. A few taps later she had a collection of crystalline cups, glass-like forks, knives and plates. She traced an invisible circle on the panel and within her mark the surface glowed to an angry red, waves of heat rolling above it. She turned to see the astonished expressions of Pird and Zook.

"How did you...?" began Zook, at a loss for words, "I mean...I could only get some eggs but you...just tapped...how?"

"That was bloody brilliant," said Pird, grinning broadly.

Eris looked slightly dazed, "That was strange, I just knew which lights to tap. I just...knew."

Zook turned a cup over in his hands, "Do you think you could get a..." Eris handed him a spatula. "...spatula?"

Soon Zook had them sitting at the table before the first warm meal they had in, as disconcerting as it was, two weeks.

"Wait," said Pird, "Watch this." He waited until a dim speck of light floated near. He caught it in midair by clapping his hands over it and a ball of water sprang into reality around his hands. Grinning, he rubbed his hands together and suds appeared. When he pulled them apart there was a slurping noise and the water was sucked back into the light, suds and all.

"How'd you figure that out?" asked Eris.

"I thought one was a firefly earlier," Pird said guiltily.

***

We didn't ask for this, we didn't need or want this, Sye repeated to himself over and over again. He had checked under his bed, and after a moment's hesitation, carefully retrieved the Glass. Assured that it wasn't going to attack him again, Sye replaced it in his pocket.

Two weeks ago, he still could not believe that number, we were experimenting with Magist's latest toy, now we're on our way to fight some three thousand year old monster we didn't even know existed with Magic. Magic!  Sye shook his head, Why us?

Sye flopped back onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling. After a few minutes he stood again. He undid the brooch, now feeling a bit silly masquerading about the ship in his cloak when no one else did. Sye tossed the cloak on his bed and heard the Glass inside bump against something else. Curious, he dug through the cloak until he found the small black book and silver pen hidden inside another pocket, another gift of Saranoda that he had nearly forgotten.

Sye began to put it back when a thought crossed his mind. He slowly sat down, looking at the veins of silver that reached from the binding across the cover. He opened it and uncapped the pen.

There was so much happening, simply too much to process. The enormity of it all seemed to be too large for his thoughts.

But maybe it will be smaller on paper, thought Sye, maybe something will make sense to me if I wrote it down.

He rested the tip of the pen on the first page. Before he began to write, the click of the door latch caused him to sit up quickly. Eris edged into his room, holding a plate heaped with omelettes and toast.

"Hey," she said, setting the meal down next to Sye.

"Hey," he mumbled in reply. Without a thought, he put away the black book. Eris went to sit next to him, hesitated, then sat by his other side.

She doesn't want the gauntlet between us, Sye realized. "What'd you do with the hammer?" Sye asked.

"My room," she answered, "The handle is so long, I keep on bumping into things."

Silence reigned the next few minutes, during which Sye wondered why Eris was still there. He did his best to ignore other wonderings.

"How did you sleep last night?" she asked.

Sye looked up in surprise and looked into her eyes. She knew, somehow, even if unconsciously, she knew. Before Sye could stop himself he was telling Eris of his dream, of the pit, of the voice from the dark, and how the orb had reacted to his probing. Eris listened intently, without interruption or distraction, until he was finished.

"The last thing I heard," said Sye, "Was him asking 'What have I done'. He sounded...horrified."

"Do you think that voice is Scorn?" asked Eris.

"I'm not sure," Sye replied, "I'm more concerned if that dream is more than a dream, if it's real. I know what that pit is," he leaned back, "It's the Origin, the great abyss in the dead lands south of Mirith. But why did I see it?"

Sye felt her hand on his shoulder, sending an electric jolt across his chest that he did not acknowledge.

"Sye," Eris said quietly, "What else did the ring show you?"

Again that unerring accuracy. "I saw you Eris," he said, his voice shaking, "I saw Zook and Pird, Magist, my father, everyone I have ever known. All of you were looking at me. Then...then it was like somebody just put out your lights, everyone's eyes went dark." He buried his face in his hands, "Everyone fell like your strings were cut. It was so quiet, so sudden. I watched you die and there was nothing I could do."

Sye felt Eris' hand on his opposite shoulder and she pulled him to her. Sye's mind betrayed him, beginning to form words on his tongue.  I can't, Sye thought, stilling the words.  I just can't. What if she doesn't want me? What if I drive her away?

"But we can do something," Eris said soothingly, "We wouldn't have been chosen by Saranoda, by the whoever the Four under the Foundings are, if we couldn't."

Sye spoke, keeping his thoughts out of his voice, "This is changing us, Eris. I'm seeing things, memories, and who knows what else. You..." Sye struggled with the best way to say it, but he didn't have to. Eris shifted slightly, hiding more of the gauntlet then she already had.

"And Zook is blind with revenge," Sye finished.

"Pird hasn't changed."

Sye gave a smile, "Of course he hasn't. His last words are going to be a punch line." They sat there, Sye growing more and more uncomfortable in Eris' one armed embrace as his feelings grew stronger. He stood up abruptly, feeling Eris' questioning gaze on him.

Eris reached inside her cloak and pulled out a small, velvet box. For some reason, her hand was shaking. She gently laid it down on the bed, then slowly took her hand away.

"What is that?" asked Sye.

"Another gift from Saranoda," Eris said quietly.

"We're going to have to check our shoes and make sure nothing is hidden between our toes."

Eris didn't laugh, just looked at the little box. With a questioning look, Sye picked it up and opened it. Then he nearly dropped it.

Inside was what at first looked like an effulgent sapphire, cut into the shape of a swollen tear. A second look revealed the curving facets and the dark blue clouds inside. It was a beautiful, flawless gem. To the eye it was a masterpiece, but Sye saw what it was to Adrala.

"This is..." began Sye in astonishment, "But it can't be-"

"It's a Caerul diamond," said Eris, gently taking it from him and replacing it in the box.

"Are you sure?" Sye asked, dazed. There were only two other Caerul diamonds in existence, one belonged to the High King, the other rested with the insect lord, Flaar. They were more than rare; they simply did not have a price. One cannot buy a symbol of ultimate power.

"What do we do with it?" asked Eris, "Buy a city?"

"Keep it in your cloak," said Sye, not sure what really to do with the gem, "We'll tell Zook and Pird later, right now is not a good time to throw something like this in. Don't lose it; if it was given to us then we'll probably need it."

"For what?"

Sye thumbed the hilt of one of his swords, "I don't know what we need any of this for. I don't think we're going to get much warning."

Eris nodded, emerald eyes going back to the glimmering gem. Without a word, she closed the box and it disappeared within her cloak.

Sye paced a little, trying to sort out everything that had happened. His hands went to his braid and he turned to Eris. Her mouth was open, as though she was going to say something more, but she quickly shut it.

Sye paused, thinking he should ask what was on her mind. Instead he asked, "Eris, could you do me a favor?"

***

Zook sat low in one of the rotating chairs in the forward room, his crossed feet resting on one of the screens as he watched their progress on the map. They were already halfway there, going even faster than Sye's prediction. He idly turned the ring over in his hands. Slowly, cautiously, he slid the ring on. He waited, but felt nothing. Just the barest bit calmer.

Disappointed, Zook returned his attention to the screens. It wasn't long before staring too long irked the serrated ball of power in his head. The pain had gone down noticeably since the Oracle's chamber, but it was still uncomfortable. Zook dug around in one pocket and pulled out a few broken matches he had found back in Eretia. He lit one and held it up, furrowing his brow in concentration. Reaching out with his 'energy' seemed much too easy to Zook, but it still took a few moments to find the small flame. When did find it, it was like an elastic band stretched beyond its limit. Zook felt a mental 'snap' and the match incinerated between his fingers.

Zook jerked his hand back in surprise and immediately inspected his fingers. They tingled, as though he had just touched something warm instead of grasping a fiery spark. Before he could get more curious, his thoughts were scattered by the rude re-arrival of the thorny weight.

How could we have Magic? Zook asked himself.  It seemed impossible, even as he felt it stir within his skull.  Pushing rocks with a thought. Summoning wind. It's all so...impossible. Yet here we are

Sitting deeper in his chair, Zook idly wondered again why Sye was able to see that memory back in Royanter when all Pird had gotten was a burn for touching the mark. Zook held his splayed fingers up before him, letting the silver glitter in the light.

"What in the world are you?" Zook asked out loud.

"The Band of Idusces," a feminine voice answered.

Zook nearly fell out of his chair. He sat up and frantically looked for the source of the voice.

"My, you look flustered," it chuckled.

Zook suddenly recognized the tone, "Oracle!"

A circle appeared on the floor's center. From it rose half of a Talad, filled with water. The surface of the liquid roiled and soon Zook was looking at a miniature Oracle.

"You don't look too happy to see me," she said, crossing her arms.

She's...different, Zook thought. "You've been here all this time?"

"Of course I have, though I had some more important things to tend to before I could carry a chat with you four," the Oracle gave a dramatic sigh, "After some very tedious defragmentation I managed to access a few of my corrupted areas."

"Pretending I knew what half of that meant, anything there that would answer some of our questions?"

"They are my more personal files."

"Hence your ability to smile."

She frowned, "If you had been rudely awakened from a three thousand year sleep you wouldn't have smiled much either."

Zook noticed she had broken the habit of using the specific time down to the last second, "I have some new questions."

"Naturally."

"Did you say that this is the Band of Idusces?"

"Yes, why?"

Zook looked at the innocent ring. The intertwined circles engraved on its side were indeed the sign of the God of Judgment.  The Band is said to pierce lies. Not give visions of death. And it's also supposed to be on the finger of the man sitting beside the High King of Adrala.

"If this ring is the true Band of Idusces, then what is the Creed wearing?"

"The Creed is not familiar."

At least you haven't lost that wonderful feature, thought Zook, "There was a map of Gaia here, can you show it to me?"

"Unfortunately, no. There is a tight limit on what I can do at this distance."

"Can you tell me more about Scorn?"

"I have recovered all of my files from backups."

"And?" Zook asked hopefully.

"That is classified information, I'm sorry."

Frustration boiled within Zook, making him want to scream why can't we get a straight answer just once? Instead he asked through gritted teeth, "Classified by whom?"

"By the Four under the Foundings."

Zook's anger was now mixed with puzzlement, "Why would the people who are setting us against him not want us to know more about him?"

"I wouldn't know."

"The Oracle's here?" Zook heard Sye behind him.

Zook swiveled in his chair, "Yes, she scared the living-" his words lost their way to his mouth as he caught sight of Sye, who grinned sheepishly.

"Sye?" Zook asked slowly, "What did you do with your hair?" Sye's long braid was gone, his hair cropped short. Zook had never seen Sye without his braid before.

"You guys have to see this," said Pird, walking in, "It's the neatest-" He stopped short when he saw Sye, his mouth agape. Pird slowly raised one arm and prodded Sye's hair, like one prodding some strange new animal. He withdrew his finger and prodded once more. He grinned, "You're like my twin!"

"A taller twin," Zook said.

"Watch it," Pird growled.

"Sye?" asked Zook, "Might I be so bold as to ask...why?"

Sye took a seat, "We're going to be at Benji soon, we shouldn't attract undue attention to ourselves. I don't want anyone to recognize me."

"Again," said Zook, "Why? Unless there's some family enemies you haven't told us about."

"I just don't want to be known by someone I don't know."

Zook shook his head, "Whatever you say, Sye."

Pird was still eying Sye's hair, "You did a good job on yourself."

Sye ran his hand through it, "Eris did it."

"Really? I didn't know she could cut hair."

"She did yours, remember?"

"Oh yeah...how did she do it with one hand?"

"It's Eris with scissors."

"I think it makes you look less barbaric," the Oracle said approvingly.

"Thanks..." Sye said slowly, raising an eyebrow at Zook. Zook shrugged.

"C'mon, I want to show you-" began Pird when Eris entered.

"Oracle?" Eris asked.

The Oracle nodded patiently, "There wouldn't happen to be anyone else I need to be re-introduced to?"

"What happened to our time?" Zook asked.

"Your time?" the Oracle repeated.

"Yes," said Sye, smile disappearing, "Our time. Zook said that he saw the clock switch to Adralian hours and days. Did two weeks really pass?"

The Oracle was quiet for a moment, looking far away. "The core," she said carefully, "Your consciousnesses took a while to figure out what had happened to them, then apparently took a while longer to find their way back. I assume my subroutines were satisfactory, as I have yet to hear complaints about any lingering effects of your comas."

"A coma?" asked Sye quietly, sitting down.

"A coma is when one is in a state of-" began the Oracle.

"We know what it is," Sye interrupted, "I just...asleep? We were asleep for two entire weeks? Just like that? A damn coma?"

"From the stress I hear in your voice it sounds like you might need another one," the Oracle said wisely, resting her chin on her palm. When the four stood there dumbly, not saying anything, she sighed, "At least you didn't die. I have not managed to track down whatever subroutine decided to go rogue and alter the reflection paths to drop you in the core. They do that from time to time."

"From time to time?" asked Zook, "No worries, right? It's not that odd, us being 'reflected' over to the middle of a tower's power source. Possibly dying?"

The Oracle didn't answer. She merely shrugged.

"Right," Pird said, giving himself a good solid shake, "Back to the dining room!"

"Not now, Pird," said Zook.

"Yes now, Pird," Pird glowered in an uncomfortably good impression of Zook, "You all heard him right? Let's go!"

Pird disappeared before Zook could make a grab for him. Eris left after Pird, followed by Sye. Zook hesitated, it seemed so wrong to just jump back into simple amusement after being surrounded again by dire things. His eyes wandered to the miniature Oracle. She returned his gaze with raised eyebrows, then finally sighed and left. Feeling awkward worrying about their situation when it just left the room, Zook followed.

"Look on and be awed!" said Pird enthusiastically as Zook entered the dining room. He traced a small circle on the wall. The table, chairs, and black panel sunk into the floor. The cloud of shimmering lights clumped together and disappeared underneath. The chandelier folded up and withdrew into the ceiling. What rose in their places were thick, fluffy couches, chairs, and mahogany desks.

"Instant home redecoration?" asked Zook, unimpressed.

"Hold your horses," said Pird, "Watch this," he traced a larger circle and the ceiling, floor, and walls vanished, revealing the scene around the ship.

"Wow," whispered Sye. Just beneath their feet the sea floor flew by. The coral, sponges and sea worms were illuminated by the bright glow of the submersible. Colorful fish three times the size of any man weaved amongst the plant life, their sleek flat bodies shimmering. The reefs and chasms underneath whipped by in such a blur that Zook grew nauseas thinking about the speed they were moving at.

"Good stuff, eh?" asked Pird, doing a cartwheel. Just watching Pird do such acrobatics on the clear floor made Zook feel dizzy. Zook watched the sea flit by under him, reefs and schools of silver fish whizzing by, when they passed over a wide chasm.

He felt his heart stop.

"Stop the boat!" Zook shouted. The submersible halted without slowing. The four were hurled forward, stopped painfully by the assortment of fortunately soft furniture.

"Two week's notice would be nice next time," said Pird.

Zook ignored him and looked down at the Oracle, "Take us back to the canyon we just passed."

The Oracle looked irritable, "This isn't a boat it's-"

"I don't care what it's called!" Zook yelled, "Just get it moving!"

"Zook, what is this about?" asked Sye, leaning with the ship's turn.

"I'm not sure," Zook said, looking past him, "But pray that I'm wrong."

The ship drifted over the chasm, the four watching expectantly. Zook thought he could make out something down in the shadows. Something familiar.

"Is there a way to see down there?" Zook asked.

The Oracle rolled her sapphire eyes, "Of course."

Two intense cones of light struck out from the ship, piercing through the darkness.

Zook pointed, "There." The lights swept over to where he indicated and he heard his friends gasped. Down in the depths below them was a massive wooden ship. An Eretian tradeship.

"Magist!" Sye cried out.

End of the Eleventh Chapter

# In the Shade of Lies

"Your leash has grown too slack, brother."

"Her cooperation is too valuable."

"Her dissent is too dangerous."

"Fret not, she will soon remember who she answers to."

-The Four under the Foundings

Zook gave a weak smile, "No, it's not the evacuation tradeship. This one is much larger. Much older."

"Then what-?" began Sye.

"Take us lower," Zook interrupted.

The submersible descended into the chasm. The tradeship dwarfed the Saranodian vessel, its broken form tilted deep into the chasm. Many of the numerous masts were missing, but a few torn sails still hung in the still sea. A closer look revealed great burns and jagged holes, enough to show what sunk the once grand ship.

"It caught fire?" asked Pird.

"No," Zook replied quietly, feeling his throat tighten, "Something outside burned through it."

The Oracle turned them alongside the broken tradeship where the probing lights shimmered on three silver words forged into the ship's side in a blocky script.

The Sea Hammer

"No," Eris whispered.

Zook slowly walked to the invisible barrier that separated him from the crushing weight of the sea. He reached out and put both hands on the cold window, leaning close.

<A smiling woman, dark hair and careful eyes, beckoned to him, "Torin, come here, I have something to show you."

"It's Zook, Torin's his name">

"Is that where you lie?" Zook asked quietly. His hands slowly curled into tight fists.

<"It's not your father's name anymore, Torin, it's yours. Now come here." She pulled a ratty looking bulb from her pouch, soil falling onto the kitchen floor.

"It's ugly, mum, I don't want to eat it.">

"Is this where you left me?" Zook rested his forehead against the cold wall.

<The woman laughed, "No, you don't have to eat it. It's called Sin Resin, do you know what it's for?"

"Mum, I didn't even know that it wasn't dinner."

The woman laughed again, a warm sound full of comfort.>

"Who did this?" Zook whispered.

<"It's the main ingredient for Fellasceince, remember when you broke your leg? My job is to find a way to make Fellasceince less painful. It's very important, some people won't take the healing amplifier because of the pain."

"Those people are dumb."

"Now, Torin, your friend Pird won't take the medicine, are you calling him dumb?"

The floor became a very interesting sight, more interesting than the woman's face.

"Pird's not dumb." The woman's face came back into view, "Can I go outside now?">

His hands began to shake against the icy barrier. He balled them into fists. There was a chain tied around his arm under his sleeve, an old necklace he always hid there. Now it seemed to burn against his skin.

<The woman sighed, her hand going to her Doctor's necklace, "Just be careful, Torin.">

"Who did this?" Zook screamed, slamming his fist against the wall, "Who did this to you?" He struck the wall over and over again in a mindless rage.

<"Just be careful.">

"Who took you away?" He hit the wall again and pressed his forehead against the surface, his eyes squeezed shut to stem the flow of tears. He struck the wall once more weakly. "Why did you leave me?" he asked, his voice shaking with grief. He slid to his knees, his opened hands against the wall like a dying man in prayer.

***

Pird silently lowered himself onto a couch. He only had brief, fuzzy memories of his parents. His mother, he was told by Magist, was beautiful and possessed a boundless patience that was often tested by Pird's father. Magist said that Pird was the image of his prankster father and smiled like his mother.

It had bothered him that he had no parents, if only a cold twinge every now and then, but that was how it always was. He had known no other life. But the reality, the stark proof of their existence was separated from him by a clear surface and a few meters of seawater. He didn't know what he was supposed to be feeling. Zook shook horribly under his pain, his sobs choked and trembling.  Why don't I feel like that, Pird asked himself, Zook is only a few years older than me, is that really enough of a difference to remember?

Tap.

Pird looked up at the sound. Eris sat next to an endtable, her gauntlet arm resting across the wood. Her expression was tranquil, as though bored by everything that was going on. She slowly and methodically tapped the desk with the pointed end of one metallic finger. With each wooden syllable it was driven deeper into the desk. Pird reached out and lightly touched her shoulder. Eris jumped in her seat, but only glanced at Pird without expression before returning to her rhythmic tapping

"They could be alive," said Sye, his voice like a cruel blade through the quiet. Pird looked to him and for a moment Sye's face was not his own, but the shifting visage of many children. Pird could hear their cold laughter.

<Orphan! Orphan! Got no daddy! Got no mommy!>

Suddenly Pird felt an intense anger, a wave of loathing against his best friend. He was not one of them, he still had his father.

<Got no daddy!>

Sye had never felt that kind of pain.

<Got no mommy!>

Sye was never exposed to such cruelty.

<Orphan! Orphan!>

Pird opened his mouth, prepared to strip Sye down to his most secret bone to make him feel what he felt, when Zook cut him off.

"How do you think they possibly survived this Sye?" Zook asked, his voice still. Pird caught the scarlet that swam in his pupils.

They're almost completely red, Pird thought fearfully, This isn't going to end without somebody getting hurt. Seriously hurt.

"Look," Sye pointed. The lights swiveled to focus on yet another ship. It was a long thin vessel that looked like it sailed with its deck slung low to the sea. Strung atop its broken mast were the tatters of a black flag, a strange white symbol sown into the fabric. It looked like a grinning face, heavy tusks jutting from its mouth and a clump of horns sprouting from its head

"Pirates?" Pird asked.  He spotted the ship, he thought, I didn't. I'm too busy being a fool while he's being the only sane one here.

"Pirates. Raiders. A scourge not often seen on the Lermur Sea," said Sye, "They don't sink ships for fun, they do it for gain."

"And?" Zook asked patiently, dangerously.

The tones in Zook's voice set off red flags in Pird's mind. He saw the way Sye hesitated. The safest thing for him to do was to remain silent, to abandon his theory. But, to Pird's despair, Sye harbored no want to discontinue.

"And, they could've taken the passengers for slaves, or held them for ransom."

"Slavery has long ago been wiped from the face of Adrala, over a century ago when the last pirate fleet was crushed by a handful of Eretian warships," said Zook, his already short patience beginning to show signs of strain, "Or have you forgotten our lessons? And a fifteen-year long ransom? What do you take me for?"

"Maybe they escaped."

Zook balled his hands into fists, "Why do you insist on false hopes?"

"Why do you insist on killing your parents?" Sye countered.

Zook was caught off guard so Sye pressed further, "What's wrong with believing that they could be alive? What's wrong with a bit of hope Zook, especially after Eretia?"

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Zook gave a barking laugh, "What's wrong is your head, Sye! Don't twist what you don't know!"

"You don't want to believe they're alive because you're afraid of being wrong?" asked Sye in realizing disbelief, "How the Dark did you become a Doctor?"

"I'm no Doctor, but that's off the point-"

"You're overqualified to be a Healer and we both know it."

Zook was silent for a moment before he turned to the Oracle, "Take us closer."

The Oracle looked surprised for a moment, then nodded. They felt light for a second as the ship descended.

"No," said Sye. There was a slight shake as the submersible halted. The Oracle said nothing, her eyes flickering between Zook, Sye, and a place beyond them.

"Take us closer, Oracle," Zook said forcibly, his terrifying eyes daring Sye to defy him again.

"Stop this Zook," said Sye, "You don't need to know."

"I have to see this."

"Oracle take us back up."

"Take us closer! This isn't yours to bear Sye! Stay out of it!"

"Back us up, Oracle," Sye said, almost sadly, "Ignore Zook's commands."

The vein on Zook's temple bulged now and the the last of the dark in his eyes was gone, "Take us closer!"

The Oracle bit her lip and hesitated.

"Oracle! Take us closer!"

She suddenly dissolved and disappeared back into her Talad, zipping down the hall.

"I have to see, Sye!" Zook shouted furiously, stepping toward Sye, "I have to know!"

"Does Pird need to, or Eris?" asked Sye quietly. "Do they need to know the reality? Is that something any of you can handle right now, especially you Zook?"

It came so fast, so unexpectedly that Pird didn't even know that Zook had moved until his fist connected with Sye's cheek. Sye's head snapped to the side and he stumbled back, a few specks of blood flecking the tile. Zook leapt forward, his eyes so red they nearly glowed. Pird started toward him but Eris was already there. She grabbed Zook by the back of his cloak and lifted him clear off his feet.

"Let me go!" Zook shouted, his eyes still locked onto Sye.

Sye straightened up and wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth. The little scrubbing light zipped out of the hall and began its task on the red specks on the ground. He touched his swelling cheek, wincing at the light brush of his fingers.

"Let me go!" Zook thrashed.

"Not until you're Zook again," Eris said. Pird looked to her and saw that her eyes looked to the floor, her gaze tear-filled and distant.

Sye spat a sanguine wad, summoning another light. He met Zook's hating eyes. "Why'd you hit me?" Zook stopped struggling and furiously looked away. Sye stepped closer, "What did you think you would accomplish. What'd you think you would solve?  Look at me!"

Zook's eyes flickered up in surprise at Sye's commanding roar before looking away again.

"Our chances against that monster that destroyed our home are already small enough as it is without us attacking each other! You need to remember what's happened and who our enemies are and stop acting on every whim that comes your way!" Zook still didn't look up. Sye watched him for a while, then said quietly, "When we reach Benji we're going to Mirith." He spat once more to the pleasure of the lights. He turned and walked into the hall. He made to close the frosted doors behind him then hesitated. He looked back at Zook.

"With or without you."

He quietly closed the door behind him.

Eris released Zook. He slowly walked back to the wall, a defeated slump in his shoulders. Pird watched him warily. Once before he had seen Zook act like this. It seemed like ages ago, even without the memories of Eretia disappearing in a stony cloud. During that occasion Zook had withdrawn into himself, entering into such a state of depression and flammable anger that Magist worried for Zook's sanity. Pird once made the mistake of trying to cheer him up, a mistake that he never made again.

But this is different, thought Pird, watching Zook. The muscles in Zook's neck tightened, then relaxed, then tightened again. This isn't some 'pity me' play; he really wanted to hurt Sye.

When the chasm had disappeared in the depths of the sea behind them, Zook left to the submersible's front.

"Well," said Pird, "That could've gone better."

Pird shifted weight as the submersible turned back on course. The floor shuddered, a sign that they were picking up speed. Pird turned to Eris, joke at the ready, when he saw Eris' expression.

"Do you think our parents are down there?" Eris asked quietly.

Pird hesitated, then shrugged, "If they're anything like us, probably not."

"You sound like you don't care."

That caught Pird off guard, "I care, just..." he gestured down the hall, "You saw what happens when you let it get to you."

Eris heeded him with a slight nod and her eyes were drawn back to the invisible walls.

Pird's mind was filled with conflicting thoughts, Where will Benji take us? I feel like I'm about to take a dive, is this just the beginning? Pird shook his head, reassuring himself, No. It'll all end soon. We're not heroes, we're not on some quest. Pird looked on into the sea around them with Eris, but then his thoughts were broken by a strange absence his keen eyes caught.

"That's odd," said Pird.

"What is?" Eris asked.

He turned to her, perplexed, "All the fish are gone."

***

Zook paced back and forth, under the amused eyes of the miniature Oracle.

"Anything else I can help you with?" she asked pleasantly.

"Yes," Zook growled, "I want these 'privileges' you're talking about back."

"I'm sorry, but Syrus' command was rather vague. Your status has been reduced to Peon to reduce complications."

"Why do I not like the way you pronounced that?" Zook asked.

"Sorry?"

"It sounded like you just called me a 'pee-on'."

"I did."

Zook threw himself into a swivel chair, hands clamped on either side of his head as though trying to hold down the frustration that boiled within. He did not pay any heed to his throbbing knuckles, nor the repeating images of him striking Sye.

"Then what is a 'pee-on'?"

"A Peon has a limited access to my data banks and no subroutine privileges."

"Meaning?"

"Either you're going to hear me answering your questions, me saying 'Access Denied', or 'Must be of civilian class or higher'."

"Fantastic," muttered Zook, turning to the panels.

They were nearly at Benji, probably arriving in the morning. Benji Bridge imported and exported nearly all of Eretia's goods. Benji was originally a small, wide island near the Lermur Sea's coast. A massive bridge was built, connecting the island to the mainland. Much to the rest of Adrala's amusement and surprise, the people of Benji expanded their city onto the bridge. A good portion of their city was in the Lermur Sea, buildings anchored to the sea floor. That section had no roads, just thin walkways and canals.

Zook was looking forward to the visit. The city handled a lot of Eretian medicine, so there were many qualified Healers and Doctors directing the cargo's distribution.

His thoughts were interrupted by the Oracle's prodding voice, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No!" said Zook, "Especially not with you!"

"I'm not a cold, feelingless computer I hope you know," the Oracle sniffed.

"Computer?" asked Zook, confused.

"Access denied," the Oracle corrected hurriedly. Her eyes suddenly glazed over, going to that familiar far away place.

"Sonar came back a bit funny, cross scanning."

"Sonar?" asked Zook, growing even more baffled.

The Oracle pointedly ignored him, "Deploying cameras."

Zook heard a series of light thuds. 'Camera one' appeared in the corner of a blank panel before him. Several other panels hummed to life, just as aptly named.

"Lights," the Oracle announced. Images sprang up on the panels, showing coral and the calm swirling of sea particles.

"What am I looking at?" asked Zook.

"The extra eyes of technology that I dropped behind us. Trying to get a visual on whatever is following us."

"There's something following us?"

"Just watch."

Zook scanned the panels. Nothing moved. All they showed were the dim outlines of coral and rocky outcroppings and the never ending dark blue of the sea.

"I think you're being paranoid," Zook said grumpily, sitting lower in his chair.

"I think you're being belligerent," the Oracle snapped back. "It should be passing the cameras in approximately four seconds."

Zook returned his attention to the images. What he saw made him bend closer. The outcroppings the camera panel showed were bulging and shrinking, twisting and rippling. It was like looking through a bobbing glass of water in a fish tank. He heard the Oracle give a small gasp.

He turned to her, "What is it?"

"Victus fontis, or 'living water'. Commonly found in-"

Zook staved off her lecture with a raised hand, "Spare me."

The Oracle wrinkled her transparent nose at him, "It's a water elemental. We don't understand many of the energies the Rifts release and sometimes they combine with the environment in strange ways. Sometimes they even give a halfway semblance of life."

"Why is it following us?"

"Elementals are like amorphous Talads, they're living elemental energy. We manufacture Talads and other orbs in Saranoda and Krakrenenor, infusing them with a skeletal structure and programmed intelligence. Elementals, on the other hand, are commonly formless and command a twisted, primitive set of charged nerves that could be considered a 'mind'. Unlike Talads, they are born with instinct. Animalistic really, but still instinct. They can't sustain themselves long after breaking from the Rifts unless they find a source of manipulative energies." The Oracle gave the panels a cursory glance, "But they are not supposed to get this big. The largest one ever recorded is about your size."

"And this one?" asked Zook, not wanting the answer.

"Larger than this ship."

Zook's heart was beginning to beat faster at the image of a mammoth mindless ball of energy chasing them, "Some of our tradeships have ballistae and the like, what kind of weapons is this ship armed with?"

The Oracle rolled her eyes, "This is a luxury submersible, fire boy."

Zook stared at her, panic growing in his veins with dawning realization, "Wait...you don't mean...oh Dark...This thing doesn't have any weapons?"

"I can tell you what it does have," she offered helpfully.

Zook dashed out of the panel room. When he came to the ship's back, the dining room, he whirled on the floating Oracle.

"What does this boat have?" Zook asked frantically.

The Oracle gave him a disapproving look, "It is not a boat it is a-"

"Good Judge spare me! What do we have?"

She sighed, "We are equipped with an assortment of viewing cameras, exploration suits, retrieval drones, hydro-flares-"

"Flares?" Zook interrupted, "How do they work?"

The Oracle made her ruffled look at the interruption, "They use a brilliant method that combusts water, creating a bright red-"

"Combusts? So there's fire?"

"That's what 'combusts' naturally implies."

"What's going on Zook?" asked Eris, getting up from the couch.

"Yes, Zook," Sye said calmly, almost scathingly, "What's the emergency?"

The emergency is going to be my fist meeting your... Zook raged in his head. He took a long, shuddering breath. "We're being followed by a water elemental," He finally answered.

"Water elem-?" asked Pird.

"That one," Zook said, jerking a thumb to the Oracle, "says it's a carnivorous spawn of the energy Saranoda conducts. "

"If it's just energy, how can it be carnivorous?" Eris asked.

"Something must sustain energy," The Oracle said matter-of-factly, "They are attracted to dense pockets of manipulative energies. Your Obruos' are good examples."

"Oracle," said Zook, "I want you to deploy a flare."

The Oracle bit her watery lip, "Ah, remember that conversation we just had about the Peons...?"

Zook turned to Sye, who was watching him with a guarded anger that Zook had never seen his friend wear. A thousand things floated through his mind that wanted to pass out of his mouth, but less than half were pleasant. After a long hesitation, Zook simply asked, "Please?"

Sye examined him with an angry brow for what seemed like ages, each passing minute making Zook increasingly fearful. Then, Sye gave a slight nod.

A low thump resounded through the floor and they saw a small silver canister whip by them outside. It quickly vanished into the black sea behind their ship.

"Fire," said the Oracle.

Light suddenly blossomed behind them, a sharp red glow piercing the darkness. Illuminated by this glare was a near invisible mass of mosterous proportions. Ripples appeared at the nose of its ovoid shape, ripples that stretched and ran down its surface, propelling it through the water. It was utterly silent, a behemoth many times the size of their ship that slowly ate the distance between them.

"Good gods," said Sye.

"Is it going to attack us?" asked Eris nervously.

"Elementals have never been recorded to be passive," the Oracle answered.

Zook felt out the ball that had nestled itself in his mind. His hopes faded a bit when he found the power was just as slippery as before. He focused on the flare and willed the ball forward, but even as it darted from his grip he felt the shot was wide. The invisible force missed and the flare disappeared within the elemental, the mass becoming enveloped in darkness again.

"Hold on!" the Oracle shouted.

"What-?" began Zook before a weight pressed him roughly to the floor as the submersible rolled to the side. He looked up just in time to see a semi-transparent tendril the size of a tree-trunk miss the ship by mere centimeters. He watched it snap back and saw how dearly the Oracle's maneuver had cost them. The elemental was close enough to be seen by the ship's lights.

"Another flare, Oracle!" Zook commanded, watching bulges form on the elemental's 'skin'. A red flare slipped by, twirling in the ship's turbulence. Zook winced as the ball of Magic swelled within his mind. He launched another invisible spray of power but his meager control proved not enough for such a small target.

"Third time's the charm?" Pird asked helplessly.

"Flare!" Zook shouted as two of the elemental's bulges erupted into thrashing tendrils. Zook's feet momentarily left the ground as the Oracle dived. A tendril flashed by overhead but the second didn't come for them directly. It slung around and came in from the side, far too fast for the Oracle to dodge. Zook's fear drowned out the rushing rumble of the ship, hearing nothing but the pounding of his heart. The tendril grew rapidly, its round nose seeking to break the thin barrier between them and the deadly pressure of the sea.

Right before it struck, Zook 'felt' something flit by him. The tendril crashed against an unseen shield and snapped back as though struck by a bat. Sye suddenly collapsed and Zook realized the source of the protection.

"Flare away," said the Oracle. Zook tracked the red glare, Magic recharging, until the flare was before the elemental. He gathered his remaining diminished power and raised his hand. It was a simple gesture, to point at his target, one shaking finger jabbing forward. So simple that Zook did not even know he was doing it, he did it instinctively.

When he released the throbbing ball it didn't disintegrate and spray away erratically. Instead he felt it course up his arm and burst from his finger. At once he felt the flare. It was different, he didn't just bounce off and make it explode like the torches, it was like he was actually holding the flare in his hands, molding it.

His surprised concentration was broken by the roiling surface of the elemental exploding into a frenzy of writhing tendrils. The connection snapped and the flare suddenly ripped through the water in a fiery sphere. A deep whump resounded and the elemental disappeared in the display.

"Yes!" Zook shouted victoriously. His excitement was erased when he was slammed into a couch as the Oracle dodged left. A pair of intertwining tendrils narrowly missed them. The Oracle shifted up, tendrils passing below. Five more flashed by and curled together, netting them in. The couch lifted slightly off the ground and fell sideways across the room as the ship turned on its side and slipped through the elemental's web. The Oracle dived down into the stony reef, weaving in and out of the giant, living caverns. The elemental's mindless assault crashed through the giant plants, causing the Oracle to dodge around both tendril and reef debris. They slipped by collapsing stone and coral, the crashing echoing dully through the ship.

"I can't stay ahead much longer!" The Oracle said frantically.

"Get us free of the coral!" Sye said weakly, shakily getting to his feet.

"But we're not fast enough-!" The Oracle objected.

"Just do it!" Sye shouted.

The Oracle dived lower, slipping into a long narrow cave. A tendril chased after them, its twisting surface flaying open the cavern's walls. The tunnel's exit approached quickly, but the tendril neared faster. It lashed forward, tearing into the stone as the Oracle adjusted them out of the way. They shot from the cave like a dart from a blowpipe. The tendril wormed its way out but snapped short. It thrashed once, bulging slightly. For a moment Zook thought the entire amorphous thing would slip through the narrow cave, but the tendril instead withdrew.

"Decrease speed," Sye ordered.

The quiet seemed wrong after the bone-jarring crashes that had pursued them. Zook felt so exposed in the wide-open water. The cliff behind them was a great wall; stony outcroppings and caves pockmarked its surface.

"What's your brilliant plan?" Zook asked, "That's about to get us all killed?"

"This," said Sye. He made a rough, slimy noise in his throat and spat on the floor.

"Are you insane?" asked Zook reproachfully.

"Ten points," said Pird in approval.

They were interrupted as a network of cracks snaked across the cliff side, loose stone and dust tumbling though the water.

"Let's get out of here," Pird said nervously.

"Just wait," Sye said with a strange patience.

A dot of light flitted over the lugee Sye had spat.

The cliff side heaved, cracks widening.

"Get us moving Oracle!" Zook ordered.

"Don't listen to them," Sye said distractedly, reaching into his pocket.

"What are you doing?" Zook screamed in frustration, "You're going to kill us all!"

"Sye!" Eris yelled fearfully.

The cliff side erupted, giant slabs of stone slowly hurtling through the water as the elemental smashed through the dust and debris.

The tiny light exploded into a small puff of soapy foam. Sye opened his closed fist over the suds. Zook caught a glimpse of something blue dropping into the soap. The foam disappeared with a slight slurping noise and something small and round glinted by outside.

The elemental loomed, hundreds of tendrils sprouting from every centimeter of its surface. They curled and intertwined, closing the submersible in a weaving, shrinking sphere of elemental.

Zook watched the oncoming mass grimly, refusing to look away. Sye stood straight, arms crossed. A blue glint caught his eyes. Sye smiled.

He's insane, Zook thought.

The elemental froze. Nothing moved. The ripples on its surface were still.

"This is my brilliant plan," said Sye.

The elemental glowed with a subdued blue light. The tendrils relaxed and drew back, slowly forming the great mass once more. The light intensified, then dissipated into a giant cloud of shifting, tiny blue stars. Zook watched in utter bafflement as the underwater nebula sparkled in the dark of the sea. The lights swirled like a cyclone and were sucked into some small, invisible hole in the empty waters. The sea grew dark again as the last light disappeared. The only sound was the hum of the ship. The elemental was gone.

Pird climbed out from under an overturned chair. He walked over to the clear wall and asked Sye in a hoarse voice, "Might I be so bold to ask, in the name of all that is still sane, what just happened?"

"Oracle," said Sye, ignoring him, "Can you retrieve the Glass for me?"

Pird stared at Sye, mouth agape, "You did...how...what...I don't understand. That pitiful thing saved our lives?"

"That 'pitiful thing'," Zook muttered darkly, "Is what Scorn destroyed our home for."

"Oh will you stop that!" Pird shouted hysterically, "Oh high Idusces help me tolerate this irritating, stupid, raving idiot!"

Is this another stupid joke of his?  Zook thought, confused. Pird had a crazed look in his eyes, looking at Zook with an intensity he didn't know the short boy was capable of.

Zook slowly began, "Pird, what in the world are you-?"

"Shut up!"

"Pird-!"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! We almost just died and you still just won't shut up!" Pird yelled madly, practically dancing in place, "I am so sick of your constant whining! Shambling around like a lost soul, moaning about how 'you lost everything, there's nothing left. Oh the world is gonna end!' Zook we know there's nothing left for us, we know that Eretia's gone. It's dead, Zook, dead! Deader than a whole bag of doorknobs! Let it be dead! Every time you say something stupid, every time you remind us, you kill it over and over and over again! Just let it be dead."

Zook stepped back as though Pird had just slapped him. He felt he should be angry, that he should be screaming at him for speaking so lightly of his obliterated home. But it had been Pird's home too; there was an undeniable wisdom in his words, wisdom that Zook refused to accept.

If it's just dead, Zook thought angrily, Then what's the point of any of this?

Zook turned to Sye, but even before he saw Sye's expression he knew he would find no help there. So, without thinking, he turned to his third friend, "Eris?"

He regretted his asking as soon as he had said it. It was cruel for him to put her between him and Pird, two of her only three friends.

Eris shifted uncomfortably, "Zook..." her eyes flickered to the fuming Pird and silent Sye. Zook knew he did not want to hear it. She took a slow, deep breath and said quietly, "You need to let Eretia go."

Zook did not reply right away. For once his grief was sad, not angry. But only for one, brief second.

"I won't just let it be dead," Zook said quietly, feeling his whole body shake, "Not until the monster that klled it is dead too." No one stopped him when he left the room.

Just let it be dead, Zook echoed in his head as he stormed down the hall.

Just let it be dead.

***

Why am I friends with a ticking time-bomb again? Sye wondered as he watched Zook's retreating back, Why did I follow him into Saranoda without a thought?

Sye heard Pird's voice behind him, "It had to be said, Eris."

"Just leave me alone," she said miserably. She left, going out into the hall and into her room.

Never upset, Sye thought sadly, never angry. She always just goes and sits by herself. Locks the door for a few hours then comes out like nothing had happened. What goes on in her calm mind when anyone else would be furious?

Two of their party gone, Sye now felt rather alone.

"Just you and me then, eh?" Pird said to Sye, failing a weak smile.

Sye ignored him. He watched a small, curving machine with a pair of flat three fingered arms detach itself from the submersible. Lights flickered on from the three lenses that hung from its front. It kicked forward and zoomed through the sea. In less than a minute it returned and disappeared in the ship's side. A small bubble rose from the floor to hover at eye level. Sye held out his hand and the bubble popped, dropping the Glass into his hand.

"You still haven't told me what happened," said Pird.

Sye bounced the orb in his palm, "The Oracle said the reason this thing is so special is because it attracts and stores enormous amounts of this 'energy'. I found that out first-hand earlier in the day when I touched it with my Magic. Then the Oracle said the water elemental was just living energy. Two and two, Pird. Plus," he turned to the Oracle, "Oracle, do elementals normally pursue their prey over such a large distance? It must've been following us since Saranoda."

"No," the Oracle said, puzzled, "Actually they're quite lazy. If they expend their energy too quickly over failed prey they dissipate."

"This thing," Sye held the orb up between two fingers, "Attracted it."

"Don't even have to blow on it," said Pird. Sye raised a questioning eyebrow. Pird sighed, "You know...like those hunting whistles...makes animal sounds?" When Sye still didn't understand Pird continued, "How did you know the Glass would be teleported outside by the lights?"

Sye shrugged, "It made sense that the trash would be dumped outside."

"It made sense?" Pird began, but Sye interrupted.

"Anyway, didn't you notice the change in Zook's third attack?"

"His Magic-" Pird began.

"Energy Manipulation," the Oracle interrupted irritably.

Pird afforded her a wide, strained grin before continuing, "His 'ma-nip-u-la-tion' didn't just puff and flit by, it made something like a...like a thread. He sorta connected to it."

"I wonder what he did different," Sye pondered.

"He pointed, like this," Pird pointed at Sye.

"Pird wait-!" began Sye fearfully before a sharp gust of wind blew back his freshly cropped hair, making his eyes water.

"Don't worry," Pird said, grinning, "While you were sleeping in I've been practicing on Zook. I can limit myself to half a blast." His fingers went to his temple, wincing.

"Anything different?" asked Sye.

"Yeah," said Pird, looking at his finger, "Wasn't just a wide poof, but a stream." He sighed inwardly, "Zook can make things explode and the most I can do is knock over a one-legged drunk."

Makes sparks into explosions, Sye thought, Of course that's Zook.

"Anyway," continued Pird, "Why are you asking me, why don't you try it yourself?"

"We don't have Eris to work the lights."

Pird rolled his eyes, "Oracle, can you-?"

"Done," The Oracle interrupted. A glass of crystalline water rose from a glowing circle atop one of the tables. Sye hesitated, then sat in front of it and leaned close, hands flat on either side. He sought out the throbbing weight and lit all his focus upon the water. He was so close his breath rippled across the clear surface.

I look ridiculous, thought Sye. That was enough to break whatever meager control he had. Cold water sprayed over his face, causing him to pull back so fast in surprise that his chair fell over.

Pird helped him up, barely containing his laughter, "I didn't think you were that thirsty!"

Sye ignored him, wiping the water from his face and setting himself in front of the glass again. The Oracle refilled it with a casual wave of her hand and he again leaned close, waiting for the Magic to grow again. His aim was to have the water ripple, move, do anything without it going everywhere. But once he focused again, Pird whispered "Don't blink."

Sye whirled around, face dripping wet, "Damn it Pird!"

Pird's expression wavered as he bit back a fit of laughter, "Sorry, couldn't help myself."

Sye irritably turned back to the refilling glass and half heartedly swept at the water, accidentally releasing the small amount of Magic he had regained. For a moment it was like he was holding the liquid, not the glass but the water in its cylindrical form. Then he finished the gesture in surprise and the connection snapped. The glass seemed to fling itself suicidally from the table, hurling halfway across the room before exploding into a watery mess, summoning many of the cleaning-lights.

"You pulled to the left with your hand," said Pird, "And I felt the 'thread' and water follow."

Sye watched the lights clean his mess with interest, "Just a little movement changes everything. Doesn't make any-" he turned to the Oracle, "Why didn't you tell us about gesturing?"

"You didn't ask," the Oracle replied curtly.

"Glad you're doing your best effort to save Adrala," Pird said sarcastically.

"No," said the Oracle, for some reason sounding confused, "It's just interesting watching you four."

"How so?" asked Sye curiously.

"You four act like friends, yet you behave like siblings. It is very..." her eyes flickered to her far away place, "Strange, for me to watch. I like to...part of my programming is to analyze human behavior and interactions. You four are very unique. You don't fear instinctively for yourself but for yourselves. You are like one being. A very disorganized and sardonic being,"

"Thanks," Pird muttered under his breath.

"But one nevertheless. The fact that four radically different personalities have come together in such a relationship, complementing each other, seems almost-" her monologue was suddenly cut short, a flicker of realization passing across her face. Her eyes suddenly went distant. For the briefest moment Sye thought he saw a different expression touch her face.

Fear.

"Almost what?" asked Pird. The Oracle didn't react for a moment, but when she realized she was being addressed she abruptly looked away.

"Almost what Oracle?" Pird asked again.

"You were going to say," Sye began slowly, pieces fitting together, "Almost convenient, weren't you?" The Oracle would not meet his eyes. Sye stepped closer asked quietly, "What do you know that you're not telling us? What did you figure out?"

Her head suddenly snapped up, her eyes going far away again, "Approaching Benji Bridge, this is the limit of my effective range."

"No!" Sye shouted.  She knows something! Something to do with why we were chosen!

"If you need to use the submersible again, twist this," A small silver blue cylinder dropped onto a desk, "And drop it into the sea." Her voice was beginning to fade.

"Tell me, Oracle! Why is it convenient? Who is controlling us?" He reached out to touch her but she lost her form, sinking into the Talad that in turn sunk into the floor.

"Best wishes," her voice whispered before the Talad disappeared.

It was silent again, save for the quiet hush of the ship slipping through the sea.

"Sye?" Pird asked tentatively.

Sye balled his hands into fists in frustration.  Another chance to figure out what's going on, he thought angrily, and it literally slipped through my fingers.

Sye suddenly felt heavy as the submersible began its ascent.

"I'm going with Zook," Pird announced, rather loudly. Sye turned to him in disbelief.

"Nothing against you," Pird said hurriedly, "If you haven't noticed he isn't in good graces with me either. But this Scorn has erased our history, Sye, wiped out an entire civilization. Whatever he's trying to do, it won't be pretty. We have to do something."

"Yes, we do Pird. We need to go to Mirith and-"

"As far as I can tell," Pird cut him off and held up his grapplechain and a dagger, "These things were meant for a different kind of diplomacy. If everything is trying so hard just to push us forward without giving us answers, maybe it's better if some things are left unknown."

"Pird, I can make a cup explode," Sye countered bluntly, "As noble as going against him is, we don't have a chance."

"The Oracle changed my mind about that. What if this didn't start at Saranoda? What if our wild adventure didn't begin when the fountains fell silent?"

"When did it start then, Pird?"

"She was going to say it was convenient-"

"She could have been about to say that."

"C'mon Sye, do you really think we're out of her range? Saranoda's range?"

Sye didn't answer; he didn't need to so Pird continued.

"What brought us together Sye? What put us under the same roof? What made it so all four of us would be in that tower at the same time?"

"You think someone sunk the Sea Hammer so we would become friends?" asked Sye in disbelief.

"Look, I don't know! Someone out there thinks we're the only chance Adrala has, who are we to argue any different? Please come with us Sye!"

"Who are we to argue," breathed Sye, "Do you know who you're fighting Pird? Do you honestly know?"

"If you're going to go on about your vision I'm not going to-"

"Just answer," Sye interrupted, suddenly calm, "I just want to know which page you're on."

Pird sighed, "Scorn."

"Who is 'Scorn'?"

"He's a monster of enormous power, do I get a cookie?"

"How do you know?"

"You told us!" Pird replied, exasperated, "Or those 'Four under the Foundings, I don't know! You're the one prattling on about how dangerous he is!"

"Yes," Sye said distantly, "But as the Oracle changed your views, she has changed mine. Again who is he?"

"I'm not sure what you're getting at-"

"Ok, a simpler question. What is he?"

"I..." Pird hesitated, "We don't know."

"Why are we fighting him?"

"He destroyed Eretia!"

"Did he?" Sye countered, "How do you know?"

"The Oracle said so, she said he was after the Glass!"

"Then why," asked Sye angrily, reaching into his pocket, "Am I the one holding this," he held forth the orb, "Instead of him?"

While Pird struggled for an answer Sye pressed on, "If he was willing to level a whole city for this little energy magnet, why didn't he take it? Why did he just pause in the room it was in and move on?"

"Maybe he was studying it, or needed the tower for something else."

"Maybe he wears thick spectacles and rides a unicycle!" yelled Sye in frustration, "We don't know! We're fighting blind! Who is the one who told us Scorn wanted the orb?"

"The Four under the Foundings," Pird answered shiftily.

"Who told us he was evil?"

"The Four."

"Who told us that he needs to be stopped?"

"The Four!"

"Who won't tell us what Scorn is, nor what he's done?"

Pird paused before answering, "The Four. But Sye, you're the one that saw what he did to those people, explain the good in that!"

"It just doesn't add up. I want to find out what they're hiding. I want to figure out who this 'Scorn' is. Four under the Foundings or not, I refuse to be a pawn."

The room they stood in brightened as their ship approached the daylit surface.

"I'm sorry, Sye," Pird said, unconvinced, "But our home is gone. Nothing makes much sense past that."

"I just need to find out who really is the greater evil."

"I'm satisfied with the one we know, and obviously so is Zook. To be honest, I'm sure Eris is too."

Sye opened his mouth but had nothing to say. He never imagined going it alone. He thought one of them would see reason, see that they were being forced to dance to some faceless group's tune.  It's just me then, Sye thought sadly, will I see them again after this is all over?

Pird turned away from him to the fast approaching surface, clearly eager to escape the submersible.

Isn't he claustrophobic? Sye realized, Not once has he said anything about being on this tiny ship so far underwater.

"At least we'll have a little peace for a day or two in civilization," Pird said with a relieved smile, "Maybe we can talk this over and figure some things out, I bet this itty space isn't the greatest for intelligent thinking. Welcome to Benji-" The submersible broke the surface, bobbing once before settling.

"-Bridge?" Pird finished with horrified astonishment.

Heavy smoke rose from the high hilled island of Benji. The famed city in the sea was nowhere to be seen. Flashes appeared erratically on the far off demolished coast.

"It's just like Eretia," Pird whispered.

Sye scanned the horizon, unable to believe his eyes, "No. Eretia was killed with one swift stroke. Benji is still dying."

End of the Twelfth Chapter

# Anarchy

"His questions have become a nuiscance."

"Will he be a threat?"

"The destruction of their island was supposed to be evidence enough."

"Nothing was in the plan of needing their trust."

-The Four under the Foundings

"Why is there destruction everywhere we go?" Eris asked mournfully. The four leaned forward as the submersible bumped up against a half-submerged building. They jumped off the top of the ship onto the sloping stone structure. The submersible turned, closing the top hatch the four had climbed out of and silently disappeared under the choppy gray sea. They had approached the coastal island under the water at Sye's urging. He did not want them to be noticed until they knew what was going on.

Sye led them up the fallen building and dropped to the muddy grit below, as the structure had sunk far into the ground. They were surrounded by either high rises cracked open like square eggs or buildings that had several of their stories swallowed by the wet ground. Mud was streaked over the cracked surfaces and water dripped from every crippled overhang.

"What happened here?" asked Sye, stooping to look in a blown out window. The shop that used to be inside was a meter underground. Bottles and crates floated in the dirty water that flooded the room

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Zook scathingly.

"No, it's not," Sye retorted, "This place wasn't torn apart. If Scorn was here there would be little left. Look at Benji's canal city," he gestured to the empty sea behind them. "There's nothing. Something hit this city hard and all at the same time. It wore itself out on the canal section, but still managed to break upon this hill."

"What about a wave?" Eris said.

"A wave?" Sye repeated, "I've never heard of one ever big enough to do this."

"We seem to be encountering a lot of firsts," Eris replied dismally.

"Here's a way through the mess," said Pird. He stood over a deep ditch that ran between two buildings. Trash and debris bobbed in the knee-deep water that filled it.

"Through to where?" asked Zook.

Pird shrugged, "Somewhere."

They jumped down, one by one as the ditch was too narrow for two to walk abreast.

"What do you suppose this is for?" Sye asked, picking his way around the flotsam.

Eris held her nose, "Trash."

"Wonderful," muttered Zook.

They sloshed through the stone ditch for several turns. Sometimes the sun was blocked out by a building leaning precariously over them onto its neighbor. Balconies slanted above them; doors hung open and furniture leaned perilously over the cracked rails.

"Watch it!" Sye yelled out. He grabbed the back of Eris' cloak and yanked her back. A slab of stone fell neatly between the narrow walls of the ditch and plunked heavily into the garbage-strewn water. Sye watched the plume of white foam fall back into the water, his heart beating furiously.

"Thanks," Eris offered breathlessly. Sye nodded in return.

"That was too close," said Sye, shielding his eyes against the sun as he looked up, "We need to move slower and keep an eye on the-" his words died away as something caught his attention down the canal. They heard frantic splashing and the desperate shouts of a man. They could not make out his words until he sounded close.

"P-please come back, I beg of you!" cried the wavering voice, "I'm so t-thirsty! J-just come back, s-stop running away!"

The man turned the corner with a swell of water before him. His clothes were torn and stained, his graying beard wet with perspiration. He ran unhindered by the water, as he neared it was apparent why. The water parted before him, as though an invisible wall pushed it away just out of his reach. His eyes were so intent on the curling wave before him that he did not notice Pird until he ran into him.

Sye felt that unseen power radiate from the man, he 'felt' it push out in an invisible sphere, creating a barrier between the man and the water. Manipulation.

How is he using Manipulation? Sye thought in confusion, We didn't get it until we woke up, until after the core. If this man has it too...that means...

"It's everywhere now," Sye said direly, "Magic has come to Adrala."

Pird grabbed the disoriented figure, but the man tried weakly to escape, his eyes bulging and only seeing the water.

"The water! The water! Oh p-please just let me taste you..."

"Help me Sye!" yelled Pird. Sye stepped in to force the thrashing man's arms down.

"No!" Pird yelled, "Not him, his Magic!"

"What?" asked Sye, confused

"His Magic! He's controlling water like you! Do something!"

Sye stepped back, unsure of what to do. He sought out the man's Manipulation as he usually found his. He tried to take hold of it but the energy did not respond to his will.

He can't control himself, Sye thought, I need to stop him, take away his tools...

An idea struck Sye. He took out the Glass and grazed it gently with his mind. The Glass flickered for a moment and Sye felt it yank part of the man's Manipulation away from him. The rest of the man's energy recoiled, then withdrew. The water rushed back around his and Pird's ankles and the stranger immediately stopped struggling. Pird released him, letting the man drop to his knees and dunk his head in the trash filled water.

"Wait!" said Zook, pushing through Sye and Pird. He pulled the man forcefully to his feet.

"I need water!" the man yelled hoarsely, "Please let me go! I'm so thirsty!"

"This water is a cesspool of filth and disease," Zook said sternly. He turned the man to a crack in the ditch wall, where water trickled down from the above buildings. The man desperately pushed his cracked lips against it, his fingers scrabbling at the edges.

"Water's not going to be much better," said Pird.

"At least it doesn't have trash swirling around in it," Zook replied. He pulled the man away from his drinking.

"P-please, I'm so thirst-"

"How long have you been without water?" Zook asked.

"T-two days but I-"

"Then take it slowly," Zook advised, "Otherwise you won't be able to hold it down."

The short, aging man nodded slowly. He was unusually short and had a wispy white beard and hair. His unfocused eyes were those of a man missing his spectacles.

"What happened here?" Sye asked, pocketing the Glass.

The man stared at him for a moment, then asked, "What...what d-do you mean? H-happened? Happened h-here?"

"All of this," Sye gestured around him, "What did this?"

"You...you weren't there? Y-y-you...?" The man's sentences fell apart past his lips. He began to shake. At first Sye was afraid he was going to collapse, then he realized the man was laughing. Uncontrollably.

"Y-you didn't...didn't s-see...it? You w-weren't...t-t-there?" The man threw back his head and laughed, a terrible, gasping noise.

"What didn't I see?" Sye asked, What could have driven this man away from his sanity?

The man suddenly rushed up to Sye, grabbing him by the front of the shirt and pulling him down until Sye could only see the emptiness in the man's eyes.

"T-the w-w-wave!" the man whispered, but soon his tone became a howl. "The w-wave, the wave! Hehe...hehehe...he...hahahaHAHAHAHA THE WAVE THE WAVE THE WAVE HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The man pushed Sye from him and stumbled past the four, laughing all the way. When he reached the turn he whirled around, shouting back at them.

"The w-wave killed the...haha!..city...but the M-Madness...but the Madness killed them all!" The man gave one more howling laugh, then disappeared around the corner.

Sye slowly looked at the ruined buildings around him as the echoing laughter died away, then found a foothold on the ditch's side. He climbed up just enough to see over the edge, between the buildings, and to the sea and city below, "You were right Eris," Sye said, seeing now how all the buildings tilted away from the sea, "But where would it come from? Benji barely gets tides."

"Eretia," Eris said, "The surge that made the quake...what if it made a tsunami?"

"What do you mean?" Sye asked.

Eris hesitated, "That...wave. The entire island bent over it. What if it was a tsunami that was beneath the island and it found its way here?"

"Leaves behind quite a wake doesn't that mons-dammit!" Zook tripped on a submerged stone slab and fell into the grimy water. He quickly jumped to his feet almost as soon as he fell.

"Oh!" he shouted angrily, "Oh!" he shook water from his drenched cloak and sleeves, dislodging a blackened orange peel. "Just fantastic!"

Sye, ignoring Zook's ranting, reached out with a cupped hand. He 'connected' to the water on Zook and pushed down. Zook fell forcibly down into the water again.

"Sye!" Zook spluttered, "I hope you feel better!"

"Shut up and stand still," Sye said evenly. He made another gesture, like he was wiping off an invisible curtain. The water on Zook's front simply fell off, leaving him dry.

"Turn around," Sye ordered. Zook obeyed, raising his arms and Sye dried off his back.

"Probably could walk easier if you imitated our giggling friend's trick," Pird said thoughtfully.

Sye nodded. He mimed pushing something away and the water dipped about halfway down. Sye's hands shook for a moment under an unseen weight and the volume of the water overwhelmed him, draining his pocket of energy instantly.

"Wonder why he could do it?" asked Pird, "I mean, do it at all? And so strongly?"

"The core," said Sye distantly, willing the Magic and his concentration to return, "The 'energies' the Oracle mentioned must be seeping from Saranoda now. A fountain of Magic, one that everyone can now tap into. If it spreads as far as Mirith...Adrala must be in chaos."

His friends nodded in silent acknowledgement. Sye knew that they felt just as small as him, but he continued anyway, "I think he could push the water because he has limits. The Oracle had said something about the Obruos becoming vestigial. That Saranoda's core had traumatized and 'cleaned-out' ours. I bet you that's one of the only things he can do. We can do anything. We're each a jack of all trades and master at none."

"So because we're the 'chosen ones'," said Zook bitterly, "Our Magic is defective and nearly useless. I can brighten a flare and pop a torch. Pird can screw up someone's hair, Sye replaces a towel and Eris can..." he looked to Eris. She picked up a stone from the crumbling ditch and held it in the upturned palm of her hand. It gently lifted free of her hand to float in the air. She tilted her hand slightly, sending the cube into a light spin.

"I can make rocks fly," she offered helpfully. Before Zook could return to his pessimistic speech she continued, "Yes our power is spread thin. But the skills of a jack-of-all-trades have more uses then the master's one. I doubt that man would be much help if he needed to pull the water to him, lift it up, or shape it."

"Yes but-" Zook tried to retort.

"But," Eris pressed on, "Haven't you noticed that every time you use your power, it becomes a little easier? A little less painful? No amount of Saranodian blessing is going to turn us into wizards overnight Zook, we need experience, practice."

Zook's irritated glare softened then turned thoughtful, "I suppose you're right, but there's not much we can do about it until we get out of this place and find a little peace."

"A little peace will go a long way," said Sye, glad for Eris' way of defusing Zook.

"That is if we can find some," said Pird.

***

The four sloshed on for several turns before they came to a collapsed section of the ditch. Pird deftly climbed up the rubble onto the street. He turned to help Sye up when something cold came to rest on Pird's neck.

"Take it easy," cautioned a gruff voice behind him, "And before you do anything stupid I want you to look up."

Pird obeyed and glanced up. In three of the smashed windows stood cloaked figures with bows, arrows nocked and strings taut, pointing at Pird. Pird slowly raised his hands into the air.

"Did you fall asleep up there Pird?" Sye called out.

"Your friends," the voice prodded, "How many?"

"Twenty," lied Pird, his heart racing.  What's going on?

"Likely story," the voice replied, the sword on Pird's neck shifting slightly, making his skin crawl. Two men walked past him, swords drawn. Pird saw a glint within their cloaks.

"Who are you?" he heard Sye ask, "Where's Pird?"

"I'm fine," Pird yelled.

The sword pressed harder, "Silence."

"Why should I listen to thieves that would steal armor off dead soldiers?" Pird challenged.

The swordsmen hastily backed away from the ditch. The archers in the windows shifted their aim from Pird to his friends below.

"That's funny," said the man behind the sword, "Coming from a looter. What poor soul's shop did you rob for your blue trinkets?"

"Looters?" asked Pird, "Wait, you are soldiers! We're from Eretia, don't shoot!"

"Eretia?" asked the man just as a bowwoman let an arrow fly. It struck something in the ditch. The attacker ducked away from the window. A sliver blue bolt buried itself in the window's wooden frame with a dull thud.

"Hold your fire!" the soldier shouted, taking his sword away from Pird.

Pird rushed to the ditch. Sye still had his crossbow raised, finger still pulling the trigger ring. His arm shook and he looked pale. Eris stood beside him, arms raised and palms outstretched. A broken bit of building floated before her, an arrow buried in its stone

There was a defiant look in Eris' eyes that Pird had never seen before. It wasn't a look of anger, for Eris did not feel anger, but almost like she was challenging her attackers to threaten her friends again. She seemed to have no difficulty levitating the large slab of stone.

Sye lowered his arm and turned over his hand to stare at his palm. The trigger ring slowly slipped from his finger.

"I almost killed her," he said to himself in disbelief, "I nearly killed someone."

"Only in self-defense" said the soldier that had prodded Pird, squatting next to the ditch over them, "Though if you hadn't missed my soldier I'd have to return the favor," he offered a hand and helped them up. "I'm Jahrst, former commander of the Benjiin guard."

"Former commander?" Pird asked.

"Dishonorable discharge," the big man said proudly, tapping his breastplate. It was obviously a little small for his nearly giant stature. His face was stern and carried a heavy brow and strong chin. His small dark eyes rested carefully on each of the four before he continued, "Former commander and current custodian. It's a long story and I don't like to be anywhere in these overrun parts of my city for too long. Your weapon," he gestured to the arm crossbow Sye was folding away, "If you didn't steal it, might I ask who forged it?"

"An Eretian tinkerer," Sye said quickly, "He mostly made toys, so you've probably never heard of him."

Jahrst's eyes passed between the four again with suspicion, many thoughts passing over his furrowed brow.

"Why are we deceiving him?" Pird whispered to Sye without looking away from the commander.

"We must avoid a panic," Sye whispered back, "With this outbreak of Magic they don't need any more wood added to the fire."

"So!" Jahrst interrupted loudly, clearly annoyed at their hushed conversation, "Let me welcome you to our proud home at Benji, where we think small and build smaller!"

There was a strange mix of pride and disgust in the formidable custodian's voice when he mentioned Benji that perplexed Pird. Jahrst turned, making a quick hand gesture. The three archers and two swordsmen formed up behind him and the four as he led them through the city. The streets were cracked and caked with mud. Four men ran by, swords bouncing at their hips. Pird noted that many of them lacked proper armor, most of the plates and chainmail seemed to have been put together piecemeal. They came to a large circular clearing, what looked like the remains of a bazaar. The collapsed stalls looked like they've been abandoned for years instead of a few weeks. A few mud-streaked tents were pitched and a canopy was roped over a battered desk. Jahrst sat in the chair behind it and opened his mouth to speak. Two men hurried by, a body held between them. A broken arrow protruded from the dead man's blood spattered clothes. His hands were burnt and peeling and both the carriers' cloaks were pockmarked with blackened holes. Pird felt his stomach turn at the sight.

"Fire-user," Jahrst muttered. The two men entered a short, leaning building and reappeared moments later without their dead charge.

"Benji's newest morgue," said Jahrst, turning to the four. "Though at this rate we'll have to find another one."

"What's going on here?" asked Sye.

"An insurrection that was unintended and caused by nothing, except maybe Ignorance herself," Jahrst leaned his heavy build back in his chair, "I've seen some of the things that we did to D'buul a decade ago during our ill-planned invasion, and what Mirith did to us in turn. None of it seems that terrible anymore, not after what happened only a few days ago. The wave was bad enough, wiped out the canals before we even knew what happened. So many of us were pulled out to sea, in case you were curious about the lack of bodies. Just as soon as we stooped down to begin picking up the pieces this 'Madness' happened."

Madness? Sye thought, Or the Broken? I wonder if this is what Dayv had mistaken Scorn for.

"It happened to everyone, all at once." Jahrst continued, "People call it Magic, and rightly so. It's hard for me to describe, but one of my men, Darmin, was quite the philosopher. He said it was like the world was blind and one day we all could see."

"That's an apt way to put it," said Sye.

"Didn't help him when a building fell on him," Jahrst remarked casually.

"Oh...I'm sorry, I didn't-" said Sye, going pale.

"We have two problems," Jahrst continued, ignoring him, "One, there are people out there who were driven out their minds by this Magic. We call them the Mad. They've been reduced to animals, they'll turn their power on anything that moves, or more often, onto themselves."

"So you're just slaughtering them, as you say, like 'animals'?" asked Zook with a hint of angered disgust.

"We try not to," Jahrst replied, not rising to Zook's provocation, "We do our best to run them down first, then lock them up until they come to their senses. Some do that by themselves and they either come to and help us restore order or they become our second problem," his brow furrowed, "A few have taken a keen liking to their new powers. This Magic is indiscriminate; it's blessed and cursed both the poor and the rich, the law and the lawless. We have looters, pleasure killers, rapists, just take your pick. If this isn't just going on in Benji, I can only imagine what the other cities are dealing with or what kind of chaos is in Mirith."

"So you thought we were looters?" asked Pird, "You're killing people who are probably stealing to survive?"

"You don't need silver or diamonds to survive," Jahrst said bluntly, "Benji has become a mausoleum, grave digging is committed by vermin."

"Darmin wasn't the only philosopher I see," said Sye.

"Here in Benji people think that spurned commanders make great school teachers," Jahrst replied evenly. He opened a small box amongst the organized clutter of his desk and picked out a cigar. "My own I assure you," he replied to the four's looks. He propped it in the corner of his mouth and snapped his fingers under the cigar's tip. There was a small puff of flame and red embers fell from the brown stub.

"You create fire?" asked Zook, "I can only make it move."

"Only if there is something to catch it," Jahrst removed the cigar and slowly let the sweet smelling smoke slip from his mouth, "So, will you stay here and help me or am I going to have to label you 'refugee' and send you off to the Bowels in a springcart?"

"A springcart?" asked Pird excitedly, "Those are so much fun."

"To the Bowels?" Sye asked, confused, "To Bakaar? What about Mirith?"

"The Third City is on the other side of Adrala," Jahrst explained, "Though that didn't stop the other Eretians and-"

"Wait," Zook cut in, "Other Eretians?"

Jahrst took a long time before answering, clearly irritated by the interruption, "Yes, I heard what happened to your island. A pity, I always liked the buzz from your cigars and no one makes medicine like you lot. I bet everyone is going to be missing Eretia soon enough."

"Did all of them go to Mirith?" Eris asked.

"All but one," said Jahrst, "An elderly man, short. He talked like Darmin, fancy words and idioms."

"Magist," Eris said.

"You know him?" Jahrst asked curiously.

"He's our godfather," said Pird.

"Really?" said Jahrst, clearly amused, "He helped out here for a few days before leaving on a springcart going over the western Curian. He said there was something he wanted to see in the Bowels. He had one mean way with water, could even produce ice. I have yet to see one of my men do that trick."

Of course our smartipants teacher already knows all the tricks, thought Pird, Probably already has some lesson plans for me to sleep through.

"What's to the west he would want to see?" Sye wondered, "Tower Krakrenenor?"

"We disappeared in a tower," Pird whispered to him, "It would make sense for him to look at another one."

"Anyway," Jahrst continued, "All trade, communication, everything from Mirith has dried up. We're assuming that its situation is as bad as ours, if not worse. Bakaar is stable along with the smaller towns on the way there."

"And if you wanted to go to Mirith?" asked Sye.

"You'd have to walk east on the Curian Way to the Delta. The Delta is a big town and, as far as my last messenger went, it's beginning to regain control. If you can find a wind-up caravel and a captain, you can probably sail upriver all the way to Mirith."

"And if I can't?"

"You'll have to walk, following the Silk River. Eventually you'll have to cross it as you'll come to the Wedge and you'll have Silk River on one side and its twin the Ditch on the other. As it's over a thousand kilometers away, it'll take you about a month if you hurry. A few weeks if you can find some horses."

"Come with us Sye," Eris pleaded.

Pird looked to his contested friend and saw his brow furrowed with conflict.  Come with us, said Pird, Somebody needs to keep Zook in check when Eris and I aren't enough.

For a moment it looked like Sye was about to give in, but then Jahrst had one more piece of information for them.

"Though I met with the respected Mayor of Eretia, he said he was going to take his survivors to Flaar and that the great insect would lend him a few big flying bugs. I respect the man, but Flaar just only tolerates us. If I'm mistaken, your Eretian friends are probably already in Mirith."

Sye closed his eyes, "I'll see you three off."

Eris remained silent, as did Pird and Zook. Jahrst beckoned and a soldier appeared at his side. The man seemed to have stripped down his own armor to nearly nothing. His eyes were cold and his short hair was beginning to gray, though the lines on his face didn't seem to be caused entirely by age.

"Jakmin, take your men and these four to Kingsmin's springcarts, use the Dallas Hill roads.

"Jahrst," replied the soldier with only just the right amount of respect, "Those roads are overrun by-"

"Dallas is the quickest and the...safest way, go now and you can get back before noon," Jahrst glanced sideways at the four.

Pird saw Zook and Sye exchange looks. It was clear from their faces that they didn't like the little conflict either.

"If you stop in Esdelen," said Jahrst, getting up, "Do me a favor and check on my brother Fahrst. He's an alcoholic and a bum, but I've made certain promises to keep him out of trouble."

"This way," Jakmin ordered. Six men stood from their various places in the bazaar and arranged themselves neatly around the four.

"Like a ballet around here," Pird said under his breath.

"Except we dance to a different tune," Jakmin replied, surprising Pird who had thought he was out of earshot.

"Commander!"

Everyone turned to the source of the cry. A man ran from around a corner. He tumbled toward them, clutching his shoulder. His cloak was damp with blood and red droplets spattered the muddy stone.

"Commander!" he gasped, nearly collapsing on Jahrst's desk. "An ambush, at the warehouse crossing. A flame-user and two stone throwers. Falmin and two others are pinned down. I only just got away and got clipped by a rock and..." He gasped suddenly and collapsed onto the mud, leaving a bloody smear on the desk.

"Get Lunder," Jahrst ordered, drawing his longsword. Three men organized themselves around him. "Where's the rest of you?" Jahrst asked angrily. The three looked at each other in confusion.

"Where are they?" Jahrst roared, smashing the hilt of his sword onto the table.

"I think you sent them out on patrol," said Jakmin coolly. Pird noticed the obvious absence of 'sir' at the end.

Jahrst growled in frustration, "I'll have to borrow two of your archers, Jakmin."

Jakmin nodded and a pair of his soldiers joined Jahrst's.

"I take my leave," said Jahrst. He and his soldiers disappeared around the corner the bleeding man had come from.

***

"Get him on the table," Zook ordered. Jakmin's soldiers hesitated.

"Do as he says," said Jakmin, not blinking at Zook's sudden charisma.

"Watch his head!" Zook warned as they picked the unconscious man up. After the man was arranged to Zook's liking he undid the man's cloak and tore off his bloody sleeve. Right below the man's shoulder on the outside of his arm was a jagged gash. Zook imagined that the bone would be showing if not for all the blood.

"Bring me some water!" Zook shouted, tearing the soldier's cloak into strips. He tied one tightly just above the wound. The rest of the cloak he used to prop the man up so his heart would not so easily pump into his arm. Zook opened his bag to grab a box of threads and needles, but one of the bottles had come loose from its protecting pocket. He picked it up to replace it but the light glinted off its bottom. He looked closer and found a shallow symbol carved into the glass, recognizing it as lentus or sleeping mixture.  Those are supposed to be on the stopper, Zook thought, glad that he had found a way easier than smell to identify the potions. He unstrapped several vials and found one resistere dolerus, an anesthetic, and extrahere incendium, an anti-infectant. A tick next to the symbols told him that the pain reliever was topical while the other was to be ingested.

Thousands of years and they still use the same nomenclature, Zook thought, Or these were made and translated specifically for me.

"Five drops of this," Zook handed Sye the anti-infectant, "Get him to swallow it."

A soldier appeared with a bucket of water and set it on the table. Zook pushed the bucket so that half of its bottom was over the table's edge. "I need a match or flint, get something and hurry!"

The same soldier picked up a damp piece of paper. He rolled it into a ball and held it in his cupped hands and closed his eyes. The paper burst into flames, blackening and curling. It soon disappeared in a puff of smoldering ash, but the man still held the flames.

"Under the bucket," Zook instructed. The soldier obeyed and Zook reached out with one hand. He made a gesture, like he was plucking a napkin off a table. The small flames brightened and grew. The soldier blinked in surprise but held the fire still.

Zook was a smith in his forge. He gave no thought to what he had just did, snapping his energy into tight control and slowly releasing it so as to not overwhelm the fire nor too hot to melt through the fragile khalist metal. The water was soon boiling. Zook filled one of his empty bottles and poured the searing water over the wound, washing out the mud and clotting blood. The wounded man gave a gasp, briefly fluttering into the conscious world. Zook dabbed the wound with the anesthetic then held a needle up to the sun and deftly threaded it. He heated its tip in the soldier's handful of fire and proceeded to push it through the wounded man's skin.

The Saranodian needle's keen blue tip reappeared within the gash, slipping through the flesh like a fish through water. Zook pulled the needle and black thread through. He crossed it over through the opposite skin and back again. Zook's brow was furrowed in concentration, his eyes narrowed with the most intent precision.

A man hurried to the group, a red diamond halphazardly painted on the front of his shirt and back. He was painfully thin and his hair was hidden in a ridiculous looking feathered hat.

"Sorry, had to make sure my other charge was stable," the man huffed, "Got here as fast as I..." His words dwindled off as he noticed Zook, "...could? I didn't know we had another Doctor in the house."

"Healer," Zook corrected without glancing up. He slowly tightened the crisscrossing thread, pulling together the flesh and skin of the bloody chasm.

"But the necklace on your arm-" the man pointed.

"It's not mine," Zook replied hurriedly, pushing a chain on his wrist up into his long sleeve.

"Wait, you're Zook aren't you?" the Doctor asked, "The child prodigy?"

"Want my autograph?" Zook snapped, finishing the closing of the wound. He traded Sye's pain vial for a bottle of red liquid, "Give him about a sixth of that, it'll help him regain his blood faster." Zook turned to the Doctor and offered his hand, "You must be the mentioned Lunder."

"The very, I hope the commander didn't say anything belittling about me," Lunder looked genuinely worried, "He's always getting after me for avoiding battles."

"I'd avoid battles too," Zook overheard Pird whisper, "If I wore such a lovely target above my head like him."

"Don't move him too much," Zook advised, capping and replacing his tools, "Nor aggravate his arm. He's already-"

"I'm not a Doctor for nothing," sniffed Lunder, "Actually, I got my license the same time you applied for yours. It's a pity you sacrificed your career to make two men live a few hours longer."

Zook bristled visibly, his hand frozen above his bag with a bottle.

<"We the Board have come to the decision to reject your application.">

"We should get moving," said Jakmin, "We want to get to the carts before they leave."

"Too bad," said Lunder in disappointment, obviously missing the sudden danger in the air, "I was looking forward to discussing some policies with you Zook, as you seem to have your own frame of rules, but I must look after this patient you have so aptly blessed."

"A pity, I'm sure," said Zook, trying very hard to keep the fangs out of his voice.

Zook, Eris, Sye, Pird, Jakmin, and their four escorts left. The group traveled uphill, skirting the broken roads and fallen buildings. It was a long walk before their way leveled out. Zook glanced behind him to see how strange the sea looked from what was startlingly so high up. The angle of the hill was misleading.

"Jahrst welcomed you to Benji," said Jakmin, "Let me welcome you to Benji Bridge," He led them through a side alley that suddenly opened up to the empty air. An old stone railing stood at shoulder height. Here the wind howled and the weakened stone buildings groaned. Zook looked over the side and felt dizzy. The gray choppy waters looked even farther below when right under him instead of a glimpse between buildings.

"A two kilometers long, half a kilometer wide and nearly as tall at its highest point," said Jakmin, "My ancestors cut this stone, I'm glad the tsunami didn't destroy it," He leaned on the rail, his icy eyes briefly glittering with an old awe.

"Sir?" asked a soldier.

"Let's keep moving," Jakmin replied, immediately straightening up and leading them away.

The nine went back through the ally, escaping the tearing winds. They turned a corner and halted in confusion.

In the middle of the road stood a woman. Her blonde hair was long and haggard, her white clothes torn and dirty. She slowly looked up, her unfocused eyes looking past them. Dirt and grime smeared her face, save for the clean trails that curled from her eyes to her chin. She slowly raised her shaking arms.

"Get down!" Jakmin shouted.

"What-?" began Zook before Jakmin roughly pushed him down behind a fallen stone slab. The soldiers pulled Eris, Sye, and Pird back into the alley

The woman's hands went rigid, her eyes still slack and unfocused. The air between her palms rippled and her hands jerked back. Something heavy and unseen cracked against the stone Zook and Jakmin took cover behind, splattering mud over their heads. The slab slid a few centimeters down the road.

"Ma'am, be calm!" Jakmin called out, "We don't want to harm you. I carry no weapons, see?" He unstrapped his sword and laid it on the road then slowly stood, hands in the air. He quickly dropped behind the slab again as a bent ball of air whistled past where his head had been and smashed through a window.

"Blast," cursed Jakmin, "Jahrst took both my archers, I have no bows under my command."

Zook stood, ambandoning the slab's protection. He pulled out his bow and an arrow, snapping his arm out to unfold the bow's arms. He nocked an arrow and pulled the cord taut.

"What're you doing?" yelled Jakmin, "Get down!"

"Calm down and let me help you!" Zook shouted, shakily sighting down at her feet.

Nothing but fear registered on the woman's face. She began to raise her hands.

"She's too far gone, stand down!" Jakmin ordered.

"Cover, Zook!" Sye shouted, "Get some cover!"

Zook steadied his bow, "Don't make me hurt you!"

"Get down Zook!" Eris screamed.

"Don't be stupid!" Pird shouted.

The woman held her palms out and Zook could feel the energy she called upon.

"Please just let me help!" Zook shouted desperately.

The air between her palms began to ripple.

"Shoot her!" roared Jakmin.

Zook didn't mean to, he had no intention of following through. At Jakmin's abrupt cry he let go of the arrow. The cord snapped forward with a low thrum. The arrow flew from him with a short high-pitched whistle, slipping through the air with balanced precision. For a brief moment Zook was terrified of what he had just done. Then it dawned on him that this was his second time drawing back a bow, first time letting go.

The shot went wide, vanishing down the road. Zook was lifted off his feet as Jakmin's lean frame tackled into him, carrying both of them out of the way of a bolt of air.

"Get out of my head!"

Both Zook and Jakmin looked up from the ground. The woman was hunched over on her knees, her face pressed against the street.

"Get out of my mind!" she wailed, "Please. Just leave me alone."

Zook got out from beneath Jakmin and started to her, but Jakmin held him back.

"We need to help her!" Zook said, struggling to get out of Jakmin's strong grip.

"She still could be dangerous," warned Jakmin, "She needs to come to us to know if she's safe."

"She's reacting to our fear; you'll only make it worse!" Zook said angrily.

"I do not wear my heart on my sleeve as you do," Jakmin said coldly, "Watch."

He stood and called out in a calm, suprisingly pleasant voice, "Ma'am, we want to help you but the road you're on isn't safe." At the sound of his voice the woman's hand jerked up toward him. Jakmin didn't blink, waiting for the woman's hand to slowly resume its place on her head.

"Ma'am, we need you to come here where it's safe," Jakmin called out again. She still didn't look up and continued to slowly rock back and forth. Jakmin took a deep breath and said louder, "Ma'am-"

"Senella!" Pird yelled out, startling Zook. The woman's head snapped up, her unfocused eyes going in Pird's direction. "We want to help you, help your head!" Pird continued, "But you need to come here!"

The woman stared at Pird, then slowly got to her feet. She walked toward them, each step sluggish in contemplation.

"How'd you know Senella was her name?" asked Sye.

Pird shrugged, "Lucky guess?"

"More likely her confused mind just heard the sense of identity," said Jakmin, "Sensed the importance of having a name. Rather brilliant idea."  
Zook was already opening his bag. His keen eye caught a slight limp in Senella's stride.

"Looks like you lost an arrow," Jakmin remarked, "Next time you should be more careful, those arrows are finer than any I've seen. And your folding bow-"

A furious, guttural roar caused everyone's hair to stand on end.

"What was that?" asked Zook when a fist-sized rock shot from an alley and cracked against the back of Senella's head.

"No!" Zook screamed. Again Jakmin tried to restrain him but Zook pushed him aside with sudden strength.

Senella took one step forward, her eyes focusing on Zook's for the first time in a look of surprise. Zook saw that her eyes were a soft teal, eyes that seemed to want to tell him something. She fell forward, her slight frame collapsing onto the muddy ground. Her arms did not move to break her fall.

A monster that once was a man shambled out of the alley. His mouth hung open in a maniacal grin. Cuts and gashes pockmarked his blood-streaked chest and his hands were both steeped in red. Every muscle on his body seemed to be taut to the point of snapping, forcing him to hunch over under their strain. His madly rolling eyes revealed irises so wide that ink seemed to have been spilled over the white.

Zook changed his direction from Senella to the bloody creature, drawing his sword. He heard his friends and others shout behind him, but their words sounded like meaningless noise through the sound of furious, rushing blood in his ears.

The man snarled and scooped a stone off the road and flung it in one smooth motion. The stone flew with a deadly accuracy, its speed moved by something more than savage muscle.

Zook had no time to react, to dodge or even blink. The rock's straight path suddenly distorted, curving to the side to whistle past Zook's ear. He heard Eris shout out, felt her Manipulation flicker around him.

The man ran toward Zook with a murderous roar, the Madness that gripped his shattered mind not registering the threat of the honed blue blade gripped in Zook's hand.

Zook lunged, stabbing with his sword with as much strength as he could muster. The monster stepped past the thrust with a snarl and took Zook by the throat, ragged nails pressing against Zook's skin. Even as the man's hands squeezed his neck Zook only thought of burying the sword into the monster. As black flowers blossomed in Zook's vision he pulled back his blade and rested its razored end on the man's belly. Zook's grip on its hilt began to slacken against his will and his sight dimmed. He felt the hot, foul breath of the man's panting on his face.

It won't be you, Zook thought defiantly at the wild eyes, It will be him.

Zook drove the sword up, its keen edge slipping into the soft flesh. There was a slight resistance as the sword severed the man's spine. Hot, sticky blood spilled on Zook's hands. The grip on his throat released and Zook gasped furiously at the air. The man's savage brow smoothed and his maniacle grin faded. Zook could not look away from the man's eyes as he died. Like the woman before, there was a moment where the man locked eyes with Zook, the Madness fleeing from him. The man slumped back, pulling free of Zook's sword, and fell motionless to the wet stone.

Zook turned and ran to the fallen Senella but his friends finally reached him and intercepted him.

"I'm a Healer I need to help her!" Zook shouted, trying to push through them. Screams and shouts caught his ears, a strangled chorus of the Mad and the dying.

"There's going to be more," said Jakmin, "We need to leave, now."

***

Sye grabbed the front of Zook's cloak and shook him, "There's nothing you can do for her, we have to go!"

"I'm a Healer!" Zook shouted again.

Sye looked into his eyes. They were lost, no sense dwelled there, "She's dead Zook."

"No!" Zook screamed at him, "She's breathing, I can see it!"

"She isn't, you're imagining it! Come back to us Zook!"

"I see it, look!" Zook fought harder.

"There's nothing you can do!"

"Let her go Zook," Eris pleaded, "Idusces has her now, you've done all you can. She'll be Judged fairly and given to Dilligence. If we stay here more will die."

Zook stopped his struggle. He looked to the slim figure lying in the mud as they pulled him away. The shouts and screams did not follow them and soon faded in the distance. The only sound was their feet against the stone.

Sye let Zook lean on him, he was afraid that if he let go Zook would let himself fall. Sye looked at his friend and saw that tears were silently making clean streaks through the grime on his face. Zook's eyes were not looking at something in the mortal world, their color darker than Sye had ever seen before.

How long until he breaks and we lose him entirely? Sye wondered grimly, And how long will it take the rest of us to follow?

They walked, and walked. And walked. The now clean abandoned buildings looked even more forlorn compared to their wave broken brethren.

"Kingsmin's springcarts are only a little further," said Jakmin.

"I thought this was supposed to be the safest road," Sye said angrily, giving Zook to Eris.

"Their convoy is supposed to leave today," Jakmin continued, not heeding Sye with even a look, "You four have perfect timing."

"Jahrst sent us this way to get a few kills for him, didn't he?" Sye pressed on with growing volume.

Jakmin didn't reply, his set expression saying as much. Sye hurried forward and turned, stopping in front of Jakmin.

"How did Jahrst get relieved from duty?" Sye asked.

Jakmin remained silent, regarding Sye with a casual eye. Suddenly, Jakmin moved. That's all Sye saw, before he felt the cold of Jakmin's sword at his throat. Eris and Pird started then held still, backing away from Jakmin's men who had their hands on their swords. Sye resisted the urge to swallow, the sword's point resting on the lump of his throat.

"I'm going to warn you once," Jakmin said calmly, as though as he had done nothing more than shake Sye's hand, "Just once. Jahrst is a dangerous man. I hope he never has a hand in whatever you four are up to. They say war is but a game, but he takes it to the next step. He throws away those under his command without regret or emotion."

"He said," Sye whispered, "That if I had killed his man he would do the same to me."

"Yes, he would say that. That is how he managed to get to commander. He sees the proficiencies and flaws of every person and uses them to their fullest potential. But he does not see feeling or compassion. You would argue that he feels because he would become angry at a man's death. It isn't the anger of one who lost a friend or comrade, it's of one who lost his rook to a pawn."

Jakmin paused, the continued more quietly, "He was stripped of his command after he sent a platoon to kill a group who were inciting open war against Benji. War over rumors of another invasion of D'buul. He did not tell his men the information revealing this group had come from the mouth of a criminal. A criminal who was tortured and was threatened with death if he did not say the words Jahrst wanted to hear, nor that each of the group's members had children, wives, husbands, families. Families that were rooted deep within D'buul ancestry. Families that turned all the tribes against the platoon and ripped them apart," Jakmin lifted the sword higher, forcing Sye's chin up. "Take care of what you say of Jahrst. The only ones I trust with this mistrust are my own men. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Sye whispered, not able to nod without impaling himself, "I understand."

Jakmin searched Sye's eyes for a moment before flicking his sword back into its sheath. Sye watched him warily, touching the itching skin the point had grazed.

"Keep moving," Jakmin ordered.

They walked through the dead city. For a moment Sye wasn't sure where he was.  Is this one of the broken streets of Eretia? The drowned Royanter? The shattered Benji? Does it matter which ruin I am in anymore? Which graveyard?

They came to a man who stood before a tall chest of drawers with a podium before him. His clothes were only tinged with dirt, as his mouth was only tinged with a frown. A thin mustache perched on his lip and his hair was slicked to a greasy sheen.

"You can turn around right now Jakmin," the man said, looking down his nose at them, "Save yourself a few steps. I send you back to the commander with the same answer as last time, and the time before that and before that. My carts are for transporting citizens, not soldiers."  
"I came to see if you had a few extra seats for these three," said Jakmin.

"Ah, customers!" said the man, his expression instantly changing to that of an eager businessman, "My favorite kind of people! Where are my manners, I am Kingsmin, your trust in travel." He looked the four over, his eyes dwelling on Eris a second too long. Sye saw her shift uncomfortably under the man's gaze. He found himself clenching his fists.

"Are you planning on taking that with you?" Kingsmin asked, nodding to Eris' hammer.

"We're taking everything with us," said Sye, forcing his fists to relax.

Kingsmin flipped a few thick pages of a book on the podium, making a mark with a heavy silver pen, "Then a one way ticket on one of my very comfortable springcarts to Bakaar will come to twenty taps of silver."

"Twenty?" asked Sye in astonishment, "That's ridiculous! We're standing in a ruin!"

Kingsmin made a loud clopping noise with his tongue, "But since it is a ruin, twenty taps won't be too hard to find."

Sye gaped at the man then turned to Jakmin, "Are you not hearing this? Do something or I'll have to!"

"He has a springbow leaning behind that podium," Jakmin said casually.

Kingsmin smiled, tipping the handle of the weapon to the side so they all could see, "What's a businessman without guarantees?"

***

Pird slowly and carefully reached inside his pocket and drew out a slim hooked rod from his stash of lock-picking tools. He dropped it in front of him, making sure no one saw the strange gesture. While watching Kingsmin he slowly slipped one of his feet free of its shoe. He dug his foot into the mud and was rewarded with the cold touch of the metal rod. He gripped it between his toes and pulled it from the grime. He slowly reached forward with his foot until the rod's end touched the chest of drawers behind the swindler. Never looking away from Kingsmin as the man argued pleasantly with an irate Sye, Pird quested around until the rod hit another resistance. He hooped the hooked end of the rod around a drawer's knob. He eased it open and gently fished inside.

"What will you even do with the money?" Sye asked angrily, "There's no one to buy from!"

"Order will resume eventually," Kingsmin countered with a greasy smile, "And when it does my investments will reward me."

"Since you will not be swayed," Pird interrupted Sye's next outburst, "I guess I will have to lighten my pockets." He raised up one hand and dropped a small strung pouch onto the podium. It fell heavily and they all heard the rattle of coins within. Eris and Sye did poorly to hide their surprise, but Kingsmin eyes were between Pird and the pouch. Kingsmin lunged forward. He undid the string and spilled silver onto the wood.

He did a quick count, pushing a few spare clicks and taps back to Pird, and said, "Twenty taps, you are now passengers to Bakaar, mining city of the Bowels!" He pointed to two of Jakmin's men, "You two! Make yourselves useful and get my stuff onto my cart."

***

"I guess this is where we part," said Sye, "Will you not come with me?"

"We were going to ask the same of you," said Pird.

Sye shook his head, "I'm not going to fight a battle until I find out whose side I'm on. There's too much we don't know and I can't shake the feeling we're being misled. My father is at Mirith and so are the oldest archives of Adralian history. We could get access to the Ringkeeper's histories."

"Ringkeeper?" Pird asked

"You really never did pay attention to Magist. The man beside the King and the Creed who-"

"-wears keys!" Pird interjected, "I mean, he has a lot of them. He...keeps the histories. And Idusces' creeds. And other important and likely shiny things."

Sye shook his head, smiling, "Yes, that's exactly how Magist explained it."

"Look at Zook, Sye," Eris pleaded. Zook was being led around the corner by Jakmin. He seemed confused, his eyes not focusing on anything in particular.

"You know him better than any of us," said Eris, "He needs your help more than ever now."

Sye felt himself wavering. He had never seen Zook this way.  I've never seen him kill anyone either. But he's seen plenty of death in his work. I guess...this will just be a new way of him seeing it.

Sye looked at Eris with as much confidence as he could muster, "And because I know him better I know he'll be all right."

"But he killed a man!"

"No," said Sye, smiling sadly, "He freed a man. Freed him of the Madness that was making him murder and maim. If he sees it any different you'll have to correct his views."

Eris' eyes brimmed with tears. She suddenly rushed forward and hugged Sye, burying her face in his shoulder. He raised his hands in surprise, then awkwardly hugged her back.

"Promise me you'll be careful," she whispered into his shoulder.

"I..." Sye swallowed. He suddenly realized that this might be the last time he would ever see her again. Krakrenenor might not be as welcoming as Saranoda was and her path might cross Scorn's. A thousand things clamored in Sye's mind, each wanting to be spoken. Then a prick of pain flashed across his back. Sye realized that Eris had forgotten about the gauntlet.

They'll be all right, Sye thought, After all those 'Four' are supposed to be watching over them. With their 'plan'. It's me that they might not feel too keen on protecting.

"Only if you promise the same," Sye finally replied.

Eris nodded and gripped Sye harder, than released him and hurried to follow Zook.

"Stay out of trouble," said Pird, briefly embracing his friend.

"Sounds funny coming from you," said Sye, "Especially after that little bit with the swindler's silver."

"That man's so greedy he didn't even notice it was his own pouch," Pird paused, "I better see you again, the Terrible Three doesn't sound as good as the Fearsome Four."

Sye laughed, "I'll miss you too."

Pird followed Eris around the corner and Jakmin appeared at Sye's side.

"Your friends are in good hands," said Jakmin, "The cart driver, Kurn, is...an old friend of mine. He's the best man you could have driving those noisey things. And I'll call Idusces to Judge Kingsmin on just how comfortable they are."

Sye watched Pird's cloak disappear, Will I ever see them again? And will they be the same after everything that will happen? Will I after what I discover?

Sye turned and began his long walk back to Jahrst with Jakmin.

"You four are sure a curious lot," said Jakmin.

"More curious than you would care to know," Sye replied.

***

It was closing hours in the emberlit markets of Bakaar. The pumice streets were still crowded as venders were finishing their last sales for the evening. The crimson street lamps had begun to take over for the setting sun, steam rising from their magma glow.

Amongst the settling crowd was a young blonde woman waiting at a bakery's storefront. She had a petite figure and soft features, a small nose under wandering brass-colored eyes and above gently bitten lips.

Is this really normal? She thought, eyes grazing the people packing their goods, Or do we just pretend that well. I'm picking up food for refugees waiting in my kitchen and I still have to step over craters a Mad earth-user left in front of my door."

"Samas?"

Samas stumbled out of her thoughts, "Yes?"

The vendor sighed, a parcel of loaves in her arms, "I was telling you that you should stop biting your lip, you're going to end up with a scar."

"Sorry."

"Where did your mind wander off to?"

It was Samas turn to sigh, "I was just thinking about how calm everything is already."

The vender waved her hand and the lamps of her bakery went out, "People can only panic for so long."

Samas began to dig in her belt pouch for a silver tap when the vender shook her head, "Don't worry about it, I know you have extra mouths to feed tonight."

Samas took the parcel from her and pressed the tap into the vender's palm, "You can't bake milk. Or new windows for your house."

The vender smiled, "Thank you missie. Don't forget to open your vents, it's going to be a cold one this evening."

Samas hurried off down the street.  Gregory keeps his butchery open a little longer than the others. I should be able to pick up some ham from there and-

Samas came to a stop. Standing in the middle of the street was a man wrapped in a simple black cloak. He looked peculiar amongst the heavy red or ochre jackets and wraps that passed him by. No one else seemed to notice the figure, they walked around him as he stood there, looking up.

Samas walked up to the man, not seeing much else besides his chin under his hood, "New to Bakaar? You'll want something warmer to wear, you'll catch a cold even with the magma pipelines."

The man didn't answer, still looking up. Samas followed his gaze in curiosity.

Strange for a newcomer not to be complaining about the sulfur, Samas thought, but still be this fascinated by Krakrenenor.

The great tower of fire stood at Bakaar's center. There was a wide field of obsidian between Krakrenenor and the rest of the city; no one wanted to build under the mist of embers from the massive tower's lavafalls. It never was truly night in Bakaar, there was only the fiery twilight in the deep of night.

Samas turned back to the man, "Are you a refugee? I know of a few places that should still have room."

When the man still didn't acknowledge her, Samas asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm waiting," he finally answered, tilting his head to look at her.

Samas felt a chill snake up her spine. Even though he spoke quietly, there was powerful tone of authority that resonated in his voice. For a moment she could see his eyes beneath his hood. Onyx discs wreathed in ruby so bright they almost seemed to glow.

I've never seen eyes that kind of red, Samas thought, and I've seen eyes. Mother's are gold and father's turn purple when he laughs.

Something in the way the man had looked at her, the way he had spoke and stood so still, unsettled her. He seemed so indistinct, even with the prescence his voice and eyes commanded. Like he wasn't quite there. Like he was part of a dream.

The man returned his gaze to Krakrenenor. Samas shivered, even though she wore a thick jacket.  I don't think he wants me bothering him, she convinced herself, growing uncomfortable in the strange man's prescence. She walked a few steps past him then glanced over her shoulder.

The man was gone.

I can't have imagined him, Samas shook her head, Could I? It has been a very long day.

Samas tucked the parcel more snugly under her arm and resumed her walk back home.

***

The cloaked man looked down at the dark, snow-swollen clouds. The lava that welled up from one of Krakrenenor's arms cooled to obsidian beneath his feet. He raised one hand, fingers intertwined with unnatural shadow. Great jags of magma struck up from the flowing mass, blackening quickly to dark glimmering glass. Soon they formed a harsh black throne, its form crude and its edges cruel. The man sat between its scythlike arms.

With the roar of a tower's burning fury falling around him, he waited.

End of the Thirteenth Chapter

End of Saranoda

End of Part One of Book One of The Towers of Adrala

### About the Author

Andrew Suzanne is an easily bored individual who came up with a world where people can move rocks and fire with their minds while he was in the shower. After a decade's worth of boredom and countless minor characters that refused to stay minor, Andrew had a sizable collection to turn into a series of books. He hopes that you enjoyed your stay in his home in Adrala and wishes you to come back soon in Book One – Part Two: Krakrenenor.

He lives with roommates he often keeps up till dawn with Adrallian 'what-ifs' in Tennessee.

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More about the Adrala universe, including short stories, can be found at Adrala.com

