The aeternum chronicles.., p.72
The Aeternum Chronicles- The Complete Trilogy, page 72
part #1 of The Aeternum Chronicles Series
He turned to Anzien, “Have you noticed any…unusual events occurring within the ranks of younger soldiers?”
She watched him for a moment before nodding. “I suspected the connection, but given their ages…it shouldn’t be possible.”
Thomes nodded. “It is as I suspected. Something has changed. The ability is showing in those far younger….”
There was a long silence. Clem looked around, and cleared her throat, drawing Thomes back out of his thoughts.
“Ah yes, where was I?” he asked.
“You were explaining how you arrived here so quickly…and on the aerie lookout of all places,” Anzien prompted.
“Right. In short, the answer is Magdalene Medeia,” Thomes said. “She was present on the riverbanks when Marconas attacked.”
Oren muttered something under his breath.
“Magdalene is in possession of an omni-stone—an exceedingly rare and powerful artifact.”
“What does it do?” asked Anzien.
“It is a transportation device, a tool that can be used by those with the ability to gather. It functions much as the waygates Clementine described earlier, only it grants passage to any nearby world for which the bearer knows the symbol. Magdalene revealed herself, and offered to bring us here using a shortcut through another world called Poros. When we stepped back into this world, it was onto the aerie, where your soldiers discovered us. Magdalene departed soon after.”
Anzien took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair.
Clem sympathized. They were asking her to take a lot of this on faith. Even Clem might not have believed it all had she not lived it.
Anzien crossed her arms. “It feels like I’ve been in the dark my entire life. So many secrets…gathering, waygates, omni-stones.”
“It was not always so,” said Thomes. “There was a time when these things were commonly known. But when the Ko’jin were decimated and forced underground, the Ministry began seeking out and executing anyone with the ability. It was safer for everyone that the knowledge remain hidden.”
“And Magdalene, she helped you?” Anzien asked. “I thought she betrayed Khalil. Whose side is she on?”
“The Ministry’s,” said Oren.
“Her own,” said Clem.
“It is unclear,” said Thomes.
They all answered simultaneously, then shared a look with each other.
“I see,” Anzien said slowly. “I will issue an alert to keep watch for her. We can’t have her interfering with operations. We have information suggesting the Ministry is planning another attack,” Anzien continued, “though we are lacking the details of what it will look like. Perhaps this final strike you described, Oren, is what awaits us. How long exactly, until the weapon activates?”
“Three weeks. Four, if we’re lucky,” Thomes answered.
Anzien took a deep breath. “Our underground operatives in New Arcadia have been organizing an evacuation—operation exodus. They plan to use the pre-existing tunnels beneath New Arcadia to ferry civilians out en masse. If we are going to destroy New Arcadia, we will need to get everyone off, first.”
“And then what happens to them?,” Clem asked, “Once they’ve been evacuated?”
Anzien looked troubled. “We’re still working on that part. Resources in the desert are limited. If we tried to cross it…” She stood and walked over to the map of Western Illyria at the far end of the stone table. It was weighted down at the corners with small brass pyramids.
Oren, Clem, and Thomes stood and joined her. They all knew how deadly the Miralaja desert could be. Trying to cross with so many would undoubtedly lead to a staggering loss of life.
“What if we bring them south, here to Skysever?” Clem asked, drawing a curving line around the gulf of Orithyia on the map with her finger.
“We’ve considered it, but Skysever could never accommodate so many, and it would still mean weeks of travel through the desert.”
“The same is true in any direction,” Thomes pointed out.
“What about north?” Oren asked, “Toward the Plains of Euphrite.”
Thomes shook his head. “With winter approaching, sending them north to the plains without shelter would be disastrous. When it comes to long term survival, their best chances lie here,”—Thomes placed his finger at the northwestern end of the Wyrewood, where the north-south running Shattered Peak Mountains met the easterly range of Anicetus Ridge. “The shelter of the Anicetus mountain range would protect from the north, east, and west. There are plenty of trees for building materials, and fresh water flowing from the mouth of the River Crete.”
“A chance to start over,” Clem said quietly.
“Only that would mean at least thirty days through the Miralaja. Probably more.” Anzien placed a hand to her chin and furrowed her brow, mumbling something under her breath.
“What was that?” Thomes asked.
“The Sahra’,” she answered. “They’ve survived in the Miralaja for generations…somehow.”
“Quite right, but you’d be hard pressed to find one to ask how,” said Thomes.
“Not as hard as you might think,” Anzien said, looking up from the map, meeting his eyes. “They have revealed themselves as allies…at least some of them have.”
Thomes eyebrows climbed up toward the ceiling. “Say true? This is unprecedented.”
Anzien nodded. “They arrived at the last minute in the Southern Shield, after the battle had begun. We had no idea, but apparently they’d been watching us the entire time.”
“Battle?” Oren asked.
“Right, I suppose it’s my turn to share.”
Anzien explained the trials of her own journey south from Masada, and the raid of Loch Fyne. She told them of the traitor Tilus, and of the Ministry’s facilities that converted humans into monsters.
“With the help of the Sahra’, we won, and the facilities were destroyed. General Graves promoted me to Legion Commander, and we marched east, here to Skysever Hold, where we’ve taken refuge ever since. Scouts have been sent out to all remaining Ko’jin strongholds, calling for any and all surviving soldiers to make their way here.”
“A final stand,” said Oren.
Anzien nodded. “There will be no hiding from what comes next.”
“How many have answered the call?” Thomes asked.
“Our numbers total just under eleven thousand,” she answered.
“Eleven thousand,” said Clem, her mouth open in shock. To her this seemed like incredibly good news, but Anzien appeared troubled.
“In a matter of weeks, our forces were cut down to one-third of what they were before the attacks. Soldiers were captured, and turned into mindless beasts, who were then used to attack other strongholds. As of now, it is estimated that they number approximately fifteen-thousand; and that does not account for the hordes of hasai and breakers under the Ministry’s command.”
Clem swallowed. She had a hard time conceptualizing so many. “So what’s the plan?” she asked.
“We have three objectives,” Anzien said, placing her hands on the table. “Evacuate the civilians, bring down the Patriarch, and destroy New Arcadia.”
Can this be the same waterlogged runner I met in Tectum Caverns? Clem wondered. The woman before her exuded confidence, and seemed a natural born leader.
“They’ll need protection,” Thomes insisted, “During the evacuation. The Ministry will not simply let the civilians leave.”
“Agreed. This is our first major challenge. The eight evacuation points are marked here on the map.” She pointed to a top-down map of New Arcadia. A semi-circle of evenly spaced black dots lined where the city met the suburban sectors. “At each one, there is a mass transportation device that will carry them underground, to the edge of the colony, where they will be deposited into the desert.”
“Out of the frying pan…” said Oren.
“By now the Ministry likely knows we are assembling an army. Their forces have already begun traveling back toward New Arcadia.”
“So we deploy our troops inside at the evacuation points, defend their escape, then strike at the core,” Oren suggested.
“Just one problem,” Anzien said. “Who will defend them once they’re outside? Without protection, an army of Ministry monsters would tear through them with ease.”
“If we split our forces inside and out, we won’t have the strength to take the inner core,” Thomes observed.
“Exactly,” Anzien agreed.
“What if there’s a way to destroy it without taking the core?” Clem asked. “Instead of trying to fight our way in, we can send in a small team to infiltrate and trigger a catastrophic failure. We could destroy the Ministry and New Arcadia all at once.”
“You know how to do this?” Anzien asked, and everyone turned toward Clem.
“Well…not exactly,” she said with a hint of embarrassment. “Not yet anyway…but I have a theory. I just need some more time.”
“The battle for the core will not be an easy one, and sneaking in may prove impossible,” Thomes said, looking over another nearby map depicting New Arcadia from the top down. “Gabrial will surely be close by, surrounded by his most powerful servants. As for defeating the Patriarch himself…none have been able to accomplish that in over eight-hundred years, and not for lack of trying.”
“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t,” Oren said. “I’ll cut a path to him myself, if I have to.”
Thomes gave Oren a measured look before continuing, “A normal regiment of soldiers, regardless of their number, will break like water upon the walls of the inner core.”
“Unless we could jump over the walls and open the gates,” Anzien said.
Jump over them? Clementine thought. She’d done the same thing in her mag-suit a lifetime ago.
“Even still,” Thomes continued, “swords, shields, and even mag-weapons will be no match for the dark powers standing guard inside. If we are to have a chance against them, we will need a force armed with powers to equal their own.”
“What are you suggesting?” asked Anzien.
“We comb through all of those who’ve arrived here, find the ones with the potential to gather, and train them to fight,” Thomes answered.
“Funny you should mention that,” Anzien said. “I recently came across a book on that very topic.”
Thomes furrowed his brow. “This book, what is it called?”
“Training and regimen for the newly kindled,” she answered.
“Hah!” Thomes laughed, smiling in amusement.
Anzien canted her head to the side. “You’ve heard of it?” she asked.
“Heard of it? I wrote it!” Thomes said with a grin.
“You wrote…” Anzien’s eyes went wide. “How old are you anyway?” she asked.
“Old enough,” he answered. “You send those showing signs of kindling to me, and I’ll teach them to use their gifts. There isn’t enough time to make them into proper kai warriors, but we’ll do the best we can.”
“I’ll have my commanders spread the—”
A jarring squeal interrupted her mid-sentence. It was like a thousand of the world’s rustiest hinges all being forced open at once. The awful sound sent unsettling chills down Clem’s spine. By the time it stopped, everyone was on their feet.
“What was…” Clem trailed off as faint screams echoed from behind the door to their meeting room.
Anzien stared at the door, her face grave. “Trouble.”
5
Swallower
Metal scraped as Oren slid his sword from its sheath. Anzien did the same with her short-sword and dagger. The two of them shared a look, then rushed toward the door, leaving Thomes and Clem to follow behind. Clem drew the daggers strapped at her sides, feeling their balanced weight in her shaking hands. She made herself open to kai energy, and it suffused her skin with tingling warmth. It spread through her arms and legs, bringing her a sense of calm. Her hands steadied, and she glanced at Thomes. Faint, coruscating golden light danced over his form—an indication that he too was gathering. The same was true for Oren.
They paused before the doors, listening to the chilling sounds coming from the other side. A faint, rapid-fire clacking came from down the hall, like two stones repeatedly smashing against one another. It paused momentarily, then continued again, growing louder. The repetitive clacking slowed as it drew near, and stopped suddenly just outside the doors. An unsettling gurgle filled the silence, followed by a splat of something hitting the doors. Clem took a step back as a viscous, grayish-yellow liquid seeped under the door.
Anzien and Oren shared a quick nod, but before they could act, the doors burst violently open, flinging them aside toward the walls of the hearth room.
Filling nearly the entire opening between the broken and splintered doors was a chittering nightmare of brown and black spines, spikes and whipping antennae. A multitude of pale spindly legs jutted up and out from it’s fat, bristling body, then bent sharply at a single joint toward the floor, where they ended in serrated spikes. Two bulbous, shining black eyes, made from hundreds if not thousands of smaller spheres, protruded from either side of its hideous face, and though there were no discernible pupils, Clem was certain it was staring directly at her. It twitched its long, whip-like antennae, and Clem cringed as one swept to within inches of her face.
The creature, which was easily the size of a transport van, would have been truly horrific for its sheer size and repulsive insectile nature alone. But the part of the beast Clem found most unsettling, the part that planted a seed of fear in her belly which threatened to sprout into a weed of sheer terror, was the all too human mouth planted on its face, grinning at her with white lips and perfect silver teeth.
Clem froze, and a gurgling sound erupted from its throat. Its mouth opened wide, and a glob of black liquid shot out toward her. Clem came to her senses just in time and dove aside, narrowly avoiding the attack. She instinctively bent the light around her body as she leapt, rendering herself invisible. She tucked into a roll, and a sharp clack came from directly behind as one of its spear-like legs hit the ground behind her.
Clem rose to her feet with her daggers held ready, not that they’d do much good. No sooner had she taken a stance than another leg darted down toward her. She crossed her daggers, desperately hoping to deflect the blow, but it never came.
The beast’s leg was knocked away as a sphere of clear, rippling liquid splashed over it. Clem glanced to her left and found Thomes, already preparing a second attack. Oren and Anzien were still at the far ends of the room, dazed and struggling to regain their feet.
“Get back!” Thomes shouted as he let loose another giant sphere of liquid. This one splashed over the creature’s face, white ice crystals forming on every surface it touched. The beast shrieked in rage and charged Thomes, its legs clacking loudly on the stone floor.
Clem searched desperately for some way to help. The limb which Thomes hit with his first attack was frozen up in the air at an awkward angle. She took three long strides and leapt up, striking down toward the frozen limb with both daggers. The steel made satisfying contact, shattering the limb at the joint, as the rest fell to the ground. Meanwhile two more of the serrated legs stabbed down in an attempt to spear Thomes. They crashed into an invisible barrier surrounding him, which flared bright blue on contact.
Don’t just fight, think! Clem said to herself. Thomes crouched to the ground, placing both hands against the surface. In less than a second, the floor beneath the creature froze to solid ice. Its legs sprawled apart on the slippery surface, and its body crashed into the ground with a deep thud.
Clem knew just what to do next. Imbrication! She released the force bending light around her, and lensed back into sight. Furrowing her brow in concentration, she focusing her kai, bending a circle of light inward on the ground before her. She then placed its twin—another circle of light bending outward—beneath the beast. It’s prickly black belly was suddenly visible through the small portal at her feet. Clem wasted not an instant, leaping into the air and driving both daggers down into the exposed flesh not once, but three times. She would have continued stabbing until the disgusting thing stopped moving altogether, but while she’d been stabbing, it had been smashing the tips of its powerful limbs into the ground like ice picks. It had once again raised its body up away from the floor.
Clem let the portal close, and felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her. She collapsed forward onto her hands and knees, panting. All the kai she had been holding was nearly spent. Imbrication was powerful, but holding an opening for so long like that took its toll. With the beast bearing down on Thomes, Clem struggled to stand, but only managed to take a knee.
Black liquid dripped out of the revolting beast’s punctured underside, pooling onto the ice below. Clem could only watch as its face began opening from the center. She was mercifully unable to see what it had revealed beneath, but poor Thomes—whose hands had been furiously working to produce another attack—now stood slack-jawed before it, motionless. Shadows danced on his face, and a dark halo had begun forming around his head.
“Thomes!” Clem shouted, but he didn’t respond. She willed herself to stand, hoping to somehow distract the beast. But as she did, a battle cry came from the far side of the room. Oren leapt into the air, gripping his strange new sword in both hands overhead. He was descending, blade angled for its neck, when an antennae whipped out, wrapping around his wrists. It jerked him violently aside, and held him dangling, kicking his legs several feet over the ground.
Anzien rushed past Clem. Its other antennae whipped out toward her, but she anticipated the attack, and evaded it. Instead of striking at its head or face as Clem expected, she charged headlong into Thomes. Her arms wrapped around him, and they crashed to the ground, sliding just out of reach of the chittering horror.
