The Fire King (Stormless Book 2), page 28
The Oasis was within the ward. Very few buildings dotted the land here—for the area was mostly underwater—save for what appeared to be some sort of water-pumping facilities. These were stationed on small sand mounds that protruded as islands in the middle of the light blue lake, with various pipes running to and from the structures. A large set of pipes also ran directly from the Oasis to the city walls, disappearing inside and presumably delivering water to all of Suchara. Surge watched as the water flowed, pushed by mechanical pumps, flowing toward and away from the city in a rhythmic pattern. He had never thought about how Suchara was able to acquire enough water to support their population, but this explained it.
The sand here was a yellowish gold as well, adding to the lush feel of the area. This, in addition to the prickly green plants and palms that dotted the shores of the lake, made for quite a pleasant scene.
Saevi paused, then took a few steps toward the eastern shore—which was right up against the city walls. From here Surge could still hear the bustle of the city above. Saevi knelt, staring into the bright blue water.
“What is it?” Surge asked, rubbing his brow. He had been sweating profusely, of course, which one would think he would be used to by now—he was not.
“I’m trying to figure out if my plan would work,” Saevi said, lowering a hand into the water. She cupped it, and let it pour out as she raised it back up. “You know this is the water source for all of Suchara?”
“I assumed as much,” Surge said, folding his arms. “The city must be a mess to run. Between the climate and the population, I can’t imagine the kinds of decisions the Queen must make.”
“Queens,” Saevi corrected.
Surge turned to her. “What?”
“Suchara has two queens: Siraye and Sariah Thala,” Saevi explained, keeping her eyes fixed on the water.
Surge raised an eyebrow, keeping his arms folded. Why on Auris would a place have two monarchs?
“If they disagree, the tie is broken by whoever is next in line for the dual-throne,” Saevi said, as if reading his thoughts.
“The royal family,” Surge said. “They’re Voltarians, right?”
Saevi nodded. Surge grimaced. Other Voltarians always made him uncomfortable—save for General Falx, of course. Surge preferred it when he was the only one with control over lightning and electricity, and the thought of having to share that power… It unsettled him.
“I think this might actually be possible,” Saevi said after a moment, staring at the water.
Surge walked up behind her, standing over her as she watched the water. “What are you watching for?”
“I’m watching the currents and seeing if I can trace how far it is from here to wherever the water is deposited beneath the city,” Saevi said. “And judging by the occasional bubbles, I’d guess that it’s not very far at all.”
“Wait, how do you know that the water is deposited beneath the city?” Surge asked, folding his arms once again.
Saevi didn’t answer, but instead kept watching the water. Her head started to nod slightly, as if she were counting something. “Let’s go,” Saevi said, looking around. “I think this will work.” She continued scanning the surrounding area.
A few guards dotted areas around the pumphouses, but other than that it was entirely void of people. Surge watched the guards for a moment—who didn’t even seem to be paying any attention to Surge and Saevi.
“What are you doing?” Surge grumbled.
Saevi had begun unhooking her armor plates, leaving only the light black and gold cloth that had been wrapped around it. She laid out her Sunspear, the orange and silver intertwining metals wrapping around themselves. “I’m making it easier to swim,” Saevi said. “Swimming that far with all that armor would be impossible.”
“We’re swimming?” Surge started. “And wait, you’re just going to leave your weapon here?”
Saevi leaned over and picked up the Sunspear. She clipped it onto her back once again and rolled her eyes at him.
Surge grumbled. He could’ve gone to Suchara with anyone, and he had ended up going with her. He was realizing now how insufferable this woman truly was.
“I’d suggest you lose that armor,” Saevi said, turning toward the water. “Otherwise, it’ll become your coffin.”
“Wha—” Surge began.
Saevi dove into the water, cutting him off.
Surge took a deep breath, grunting at the infuriating woman. She was just so… Ugh. He started to unhook his armor, the heavy red pieces dropping to the sand with soft thuds. Surge did have to admit that he felt much lighter without it. He had gotten used to traveling in a full suit of armor a long time ago, and—thanks to the enhanced strength his Crystals loaned him—he was able to do so without much difficulty.
Yet it still felt strange. Thankfully, he was able to keep his bright white Crystals attached to the belt he wore as a part of his black underclothes. He kept the gray cloak on as well and made sure to refasten his greatsword to his back.
After a few moments, Surge was ready to get into the water. The pounding heat was unbearable at this point anyway. He started toward the shore and jumped in the warm, clear water without hesitation.
Panic flooded him. Water was not exactly the most familiar environment to him, and it had been several years since he had tried to swim. Yet his training soon took over. Before long, he was breathing and pushing with his legs rhythmically.
He opened his eyes slowly, water stinging them as he spotted Saevi ahead, still under the water. He swam after her, noticing that the Oasis was rather shallow. She was clearly waiting for him, for he caught up to her in a matter of seconds.
Looking around, he realized that the large barrier to his left was actually a wall. He looked to Saevi, who began rising for a breath of air. Surge’s lungs started to ache, and he did the same.
Breaking through the surface of the water, Surge reached up with one hand and pushed back his black hair. He touched his beard as well before turning to where Saevi treaded water next to him. She glanced to the side, making sure that the pumphouse guards hadn’t noticed, then turned back to Surge.
“There’s a pipe below us. We’re going to swim inside, alright?” Saevi said between breaths. “The current should propel us forward. Before long, we’ll be at the deposit. That will get us inside the city, though I’m not sure where.”
Surge nodded, taking the time to catch his breath rather than waste this time talking.
Saevi took a few more gulps of air, and then dipped back under the surface.
Surge followed, his eyes stinging as he opened them under the water once again.
Saevi started to swim near the large opening in the lower part of the wall. As she grew closer, she started moving faster. Surge followed her and felt himself pulled toward the massive metal pipe as well. She disappeared inside, sliding into the metal infrastructure and swimming with an almost blinding speed thanks to the current. Surge grumbled, then threw out his arms and legs, propelling himself forward.
The pipe approached quickly, and before he knew it, the sun-soaked bright blue waterscape was replaced with the dark, suffocating metal around him. His lungs were already beginning to ache, so he started swimming faster. The current was taking him further, pushing him down the long straightaway through the tunnel. At various intervals, a large pumping device was stationed along the edge of the pipe, pushing the water deeper into the city.
Surge’s lungs truly began to burn now. He felt his pulse quickening, and his eyes beginning to dart. He would be alright. Everything will be fine. It’s just water. Yet he hated water.
His lungs screamed, and he found himself exhaling in the water. Bubbles slipped from his mouth. The tunnel seemed to darken. There was a mass in front of him—presumably Saevi.
For the first time in quite a while, Surge started to panic. The feeling flooded his veins like the water in his lungs. He wasn’t going to make it. Saevi had been wrong. There was far too great a distance between the deposit and the Oasis. Everything was… Everything was…
Light appeared above him as he passed another pump. Slender hands pulled him upward. He kicked and found himself being pulled out of the water.
Pushing himself up, Surge took in a breath. He slumped out of the water and lay down on the cold stone floor of… wherever he was.
His lungs quivered and spasmed. He coughed, feeling the wetness of his insides as he tried to breathe. He coughed again, his lungs burning as his body refused to take air in.
Finally, with one final cough, he spat out a large gulp of water. His lungs opened, welcoming in the sweet, damp air of this place. He rolled over to his side, feeling exhausted. His side was cramping, and his legs were exhausted.
He noticed a figure standing over him.
Surge looked to the side, finding Saevi standing with her hands on her hips.
He quickly turned over, involuntarily coughing one more time as he rose to his feet. He folded his arms, ignoring what had just happened.
Saevi rolled her eyes and turned around.
The room they were in was, in fact, a large deposit. There was the massive pool of water to their left where they had just come from—it made up most of the room. Water was continuously flowing in from one side, and disappearing into a set of vertical pipes on the far side of the room, only to be replaced with a new wave from the pipes.
“Well,” Saevi said, brushing her soaking wet black hair out of her eyes. “We made it—though for a moment it seemed you thought you wouldn’t.”
Surge grumbled.
Saevi turned away, facing the tan sandstone staircase built into the sandstone walls.
Everything looks so bland here, Surge thought. Though he supposed that Suchara didn’t exactly have much access to the traditional building materials of the east.
“Where to now?” Surge asked. He grunted again as he brushed the slick water from his muscled arms.
“These stairs should take us to the lower part of the city,” Saevi said. “Keep your hood up and try to stay unnoticed, alright?” Saevi flipped up her black hood, though it was still soaking wet. Surge did the same with his gray cloak. The cool dampness of the cloth was a welcome change from the oppressive heat of the desert Blazeday.
The stairs were only a few stories tall, and though Surge’s heavy, water-soaked body struggled to get up them, he was grateful to be returned to land.
Before long, Saevi had reached a large iron door in the shockingly tall building. They had wound around a set of pipes several times as they entered the stairwell, and now they were at the top. The rhythmic pumping of the water was the only sound.
Saevi grunted, pushing open the heavy iron door and letting in the overpowering sounds of the city.
An assault of odors and sights overwhelmed Surge the second he stepped out into the brightness.
The Blazeday was still shining brightly, nearly blinding him. They stood in a small, multi-tiered alleyway. Each and every surface around them was made of that same yellow-tan sandstone. Surge’s nostrils were flooded with the smell of unwashed bodies and human waste. He coughed a few times, pulling his cloak over his nose to block the smell.
The alleyway was barely ten feet wide, though there were way too many people crammed in. Each wore a multicolored cloak of some sort, making the whole scene a massive jumble of color.
Surge looked to the left, then to the right.
Hundreds of people stretched out in the narrow, stair-filled alleyway on either side. Carts and stands lay at periodic intervals. Laundry hung from lines overhead, strung between two tall blocks of buildings making up the alleyway. The buildings themselves were dozens of feet tall, and filled with dark, open-air windows.
People shouted in Sucharan, the cacophony of harsh voices grinding against Surge’s ears. Surge looked to the side, covering his ears while trying to keep the cloth over his nose.
“Now do you see why the Queens are forced to kick people out of the city?” Saevi shouted over the roar of the crowd.
Surge’s eyes widened, the horrific odors already making their way into his nostrils once again.
Saevi started down the small set of steps and led Surge into the mass of people. Countless buildings towered over him in all directions, forming an impossibly complex series of convoluted alleyways with no true streets. From here, the whole city seemed to be on a sharp slope, leading upward toward the massive keep to the west. Steps filled each alley, and Surge saw one group of people trip and fall down, creating a cascade of falls and injuries.
More shouting accompanied the falls, and somehow that worsened the stench. Saevi led them down the alley, then turned onto another even more crowded alleyway. Someone bumped into Surge and shouted at him in Sucharan.
Saevi turned back, muttering something in the language and pushing the man away with a sharp shove.
“Where are we going?” Surge shouted over the chaos.
“Sandstorm Keep,” Saevi hissed over her shoulder. “We’re going to meet with the Queens.”
Surge shook his head as he barely dodged a huge cart of rotten sandworms. The smell poisoned his nose once again, making him feel nauseous. He turned ahead to realize that he had fallen behind Saevi. He stumbled over the little steps, trying to find a way to catch up to her. More shouting surrounded him. More buildings stretched overhead. More people swarmed the streets. From what he could tell, the entire city was like this. Surge took a deep breath—which was a mistake—and started walking again.
This city was a disaster, but that didn’t matter. They were on a mission, and they could not forget that. They needed to warn the Queens of what was coming. If they didn’t, all of Auris could fall under the control of the Blood Sorcerers.
Surge had entered this city seeking an alliance, and one way or another, he was going to leave with one.
CHAPTER THIRTY
FUSION
Asteros Silverglade’s feet collided with the ground, causing the pressure in his head to spike. He looked to his left and right, orienting himself in the next memory that the Emissary was constructing.
The black sands were receding, leaving a trail of turquoise frost in their wake. Illusory snow fell violently, pelting the narrow, jagged walls of this place.
No, not walls, Asteros realized. Mountains. He was standing in a deep ravine, set right between two of The Highlands’ mountains. Crooked, uneven slabs of snow-covered black rocks surrounded the small ravine, leaving hardly enough space for Asteros to stand.
Just ahead, two figures in black trudged through the snow, pushing through the raging Frostfall. They were making their way toward an almost hidden crevice at the bottom of one of the ravine’s steep declines.
“Is that the entrance they’re looking for?” Asteros asked. His voice sounded quiet against the howling wind of the Frostfall.
“It is,” the Emissary said from above. “As I said, the chambers were underground.”
“So they were,” Asteros said. He looked up, staring at the massive mountain face of what he presumed was Faras. “How long did it take them to find this?” Asteros asked, turning around. The ravine was extremely well hidden, for it was surrounded on all sides by steep slopes.
“Several hours,” the Emissary said. “The heavy Frostfall slowed their progress considerably, but they found it regardless.”
Asteros advanced, catching up to Haldir and Lucien. They were nearly to the crevice, and thus on the precipice of discovering whatever secrets awaited within the testing chamber.
“This must be it,” Haldir said, his low voice barely reaching Asteros’s ears.
“I would hope so,” Lucien snorted. “We’ve been looking for hours.”
Haldir shrugged off the comment and pushed onward. Moments later, he reached the gap in the rocks. He examined it, looking down into the opening with narrowed eyes. The crevice was no more than a few feet in length, and it was barely large enough for a person to fit.
Lucien stopped by Haldir’s side and reached forward. He shot a pulse of umbrakinesis through the gap, closing his eyes as he did so.
Asteros reached out with his abilities instinctually, searching for Lucien’s pulse of energy. Though, as he expected, there was nothing there.
So this truly is all an illusion, Asteros thought to himself. Fascinating…
“It opens up down there,” Lucien said, opening his eyes. “The drop is only a few feet, and there doesn’t appear to be anything living down there.”
“If this is what we presume it to be, nothing will have been down there for almost two thousand years,” Haldir muttered.
“We’re making history, old friend.” Lucien smiled.
“That we are,” Haldir agreed. He patted Lucien on the back, and jumped into the crevice.
Lucien followed a few seconds later, landing with a thump.
With his enhanced eyes, Asteros was able to see Lucien dust himself off once he stood up. Asteros took a deep breath, and jumped down. Given that this entire place was an illusion, the landing was much softer than expected, though the terrain did still change, indicating that whatever illusion the Emissary was controlling did include some physical components.
Perhaps he truly does have some control over the Void, Asteros thought. His enhanced eyes fully adjusted to the darkness, and he soon located Haldir and Lucien standing before a narrow stone door.
The door was perhaps seven feet tall and two feet wide, and it was fairly unremarkable—unlike the other doors that Asteros had seen. There were a few Runes clearly etched into it, and there were some carvings around these to amplify the Runes.
“Let’s hope this works,” Lucien said.
“It will,” Haldir said softly. He reached forward, slipping off his Shadow-Sand gauntlet. With a pause, Haldir lightly touched the central square Rune.
The Rune pulsed. Within seconds, it began to glow a soft white, indicating that it was still active. The lines carved around it soon lit as well, followed by the other four Runes that were etched on the front of the door.
