The Wanderers of the Water-Realm (38 page)

The envoy quickly regained his composure and led his charges towards an open passenger carriage that was drawn by four stout labourers. He chose not to comment on the mind-message that he had just received from the red-haired wisewoman, but he now realized that he was in the presence of a female seer with incredible latent power.

The three newcomers followed the envoy into the carriage and the escort of mercenaries took up station at the rear as the vehicle moved forward.

The carriage passed through the gates of the dockyard and joined a dense throng of traffic that was moving down a wide avenue running parallel with the western bank of the Life River. Paris pointed towards the base of the great metal bridge, lying about a quarter of a mile ahead of them.

“We must pass over the bridge,” he said, “for it’s the only means of entry into the ‘Quarter of the Guardians’ the portion of the Holy City that lies closest to the eastern bank of the river and where most of the Dark Priests reside. Fortunately, we shall experience little impediment from other travellers once we near the entrance to the bridge, for the lay-helpers, serving the Dark Priests, will have crossed the river long before dawn and are already at their employment. All commercial traffic crosses by night, so we shall pass unhindered at this hour of the day.”

Sure enough, the press of traffic eased considerably as they approached the bridge, and the carriage was almost alone as it came abreast of the heavily manned checkpoint standing at the great bridge’s western portal, but Paris brandished his baton of office and both the vehicle and its escort passed onto the white-metal roadway without the slightest pause. The carriage had only travelled a short distance when some of the soldiers broke ranks and put their shoulders to the rear of the carriage, so as to help the vehicle in its laborious accent of the sharply curving slope, an incline that led steeply upwards towards the point where the bridge reached its highest point above the Life River. George coughed nervously and all of the newcomers stared uneasily at the many different types of vessels navigating upon the surface of the great waterway lying a dizzy three hundred feet below them. Eventually, the loftiest section of the bridge was reached, and one of the mercenaries hurriedly applied a brake to the rear wheels of the carriage, and slowly, the vehicle began it’s controlled decent towards the heavily guarded gateway piercing the mighty outer-walls and gave access to the interior of the “Quarter of the Guardians.”

Once again, a flourish of the envoy’s baton ensured an uninterrupted passage through the ranks of the guards standing by the gate. The carriage passed through the shinning copper clad walls and emerged at the beginning of a wide avenue running directly into the very heart of the Holy City.

As the carriage moved onwards, the newcomers were held in awe by the immense buildings towering upwards on every side. The vast majority of the structures, the travellers immediately noticed, were constructed from huge blocks of stone resembling the one’s littering the ruined cities of the ‘The Ancient Dead.’The very tallest of the structures, the ones that seemed to almost pierce the crimson sky, were invariably made from the same strange white metal that had been used in the construction of the great bridge spanning the Life River.

Smaller roadways branched off from the main avenue at regular intervals. These were inhabited by numerous groups of scurrying individuals whom Paris described as ‘helpers,’ namely the workers in modest technical and administrative grades, who could easily be identified by their bright blue uniforms. Occasionally, they noticed an isolated figure wearing a plain brown robe, whom they now knew to be an official holding the important rank of overseer and above. Of the black robed Dark Priests, there was no sign, but Paris immediately explained that the ‘Guardians’as he generally called them, occupied the high towers and were seldom seen abroad in the streets.

In addition to the uniformed denizens, a great many parties of ordinary citizens, dressed in a wide variety of local Water-Realm garbs, could be seen being shepherded along by the blue uniformed ‘helpers’ who where obviously serving as tourguides.

The visitors were numerous in the vicinity of a number of richly decorated high towers. These structures, the envoy casually explained, were chapels dedicated to the worship of the Ancient Lore; these shrines were the ultimate destination of most of the many pilgrims who visited the Holy City of Ptah.

The carriage had travelled about a quarter of a mile down the main thoroughfare, when the man-hauled vehicle slowed down and turned into a short avenue. It drew to a halt in the shadow of an immensely tall building constructed from the ubiquitous white metal. The structure, the newcomers immediately noted, was completely windowless and reached upwards towards the crimson sky like some gargantuan obelisk. Only a single entrance could be seen, a doorway of massive proportions set near the base of the building and reached by a short flight of stone steps.

Paris led the three travellers up the steps and into one of a number of circular chambers facing them as they crossed the threshold.

“Do not be afraid.” He said. “You are now inside a simple transportation device that will deliver us to Councillor Hemm’s place of work without further delay.”

Adoor slid shut behind them and the envoy touched a small green panel with his baton of office. Instantly the newcomers experienced a sensation of complete weightlessness and they realized they were shooting rapidly upwards, on what seemed to be an invisible cushion of air. Each one of the travellers was startled by this new phenomenon and was immediately tempted to shout out in alarm, but the sensation of weightlessness lasted for only a few moments, and they suddenly found themselves standing motionless, upon the floor of another circular chamber, similar in every detail to the one they had entered only seconds before.

Adoor in the front of the chamber slid noiselessly open and the group stepped out into a spacious room that was plainly furnished with a table and a few simple chairs.

“The Councillor will join us shortly.” Paris explained. “In the meantime, it may interest you to view the City of Ptah, from the highest room in its tallest building.”

The envoy raised his baton and the walls and ceiling of the room glowed pink for a moment before turning completely transparent and below them, the entire city lay open to their scrutiny.

The high white-metal towers of the city were arrayed before them like pine trees in a plantation, whilst the encircling walls of burnished copper shone brightly in the filtered light from the five suns. The travellers peered out across the Holy City for a few moments and then looked above their heads at the rolling crimson clouds that appeared to be speeding across the sky only an arms-stretch above their heads.

The walls and ceiling of the room suddenly resumed their normal appearance.

“An impressive sight, my friends,” said an unfamiliar voice from the farthest end of the room, and the newcomers turned in time to see the hooded figure of a Dark Priest emerging from a door that had silently opened in the far wall.

The man was tall, and must have stood a good seven feet in height, and he appeared to be of very slight build, a fact that was not disguised by the voluminous black robe covering him from head to foot. He waved his hand towards a group of chairs.

“Please be seated.” He said. “A servant will arrive shortly with wine and refreshments, but until then we have much to discuss!”

He threw back his hood and gave the three travellers their first glimpse of the facial appearance of a member of the dark priesthood.

By Earth standards, the man seemed to be of early middle age, for his closely cropped brown hair was tinged with streaks of grey, but his light blue eyes possessed a strange opaque quality that was slightly disturbing to the beholder. In addition, a further physical characteristic singled him out from the commonplace run of humanity for the priest had an extra-prominent forehead that was supported by a small ridge of bone, that sprang from the bridge of his nose and curved upwards like some medieval flying buttress.

“Look well.” He commanded, in a resonating voice that seemed to demand immediate attention. “And you will realize that we ‘Guardians’ do not belong to the same genus as you humans!”

The priest paused and seated himself before the three wanderers, with Paris at his side.

“Firstly,” he continued. “I will tell you something of the ‘Guardians’ and of the role they play in the maintenance of civilized life, within this reality that is sometimes described as the ‘Water-Realm.’ Many aeons ago, this world was ruled by a great and incredibly advanced race, who are remembered here as ‘The Ancient Dead.’You have seen many relics of this race as you journeyed down to the Life River and beyond.You will also remember the ruined city by the lake, close to where you emerged into this reality, and the bridge where you were attacked by river pirates on your voyage to Calar of the Mighty Walls. These are but a few of the physical reminders of this long disappeared people. In those distant days, we who are now called ‘Guardians of the Ancient Lore’ or simply ‘Dark Priests,’ were the servants of that ancient race who are said to have originated somewhere amidst the distant stars. Serve them we did, and for countless generations, until they finally quit this world for reasons that are difficult to fathom after such an immensely long passage of time. We remained as the ‘Guardians’ of their greatest surviving achievement, the Life River, which allows trade to flow and for civilized life to exist in the Water-Realm.”

Myra’s eyes narrowed. “Councillor, your words have now confirmed my suspicions that you have been keeping a discrete watch upon us ever since we arrived in this world. The help afforded us by the ‘Dark Priest,’ on the battlements of Calar, and the timely arrival of the overseer’s galleys at the doomed ‘Island of Plenty,’ can hardly have been mere acts of chance.”

The hint of a smile crossed the Councillor’s face.

“We have known of your presence in the Water-Realm, ever since your craft berthed at the home village of Thom Jaks, the wizard. It is also true that we have intervened whenever your destruction appeared to be inevitable, but we had our reasons and they will soon be revealed to you.”

He paused. “I and the other Councillor’s, feel that you should now view the ‘Great Cavern,’lying far beneath the City of Ptah, and see for yourselves the machinery that powers the two-directional flow of the Life River. Only then will you fully realize the magnitude of the task we inherited from the ‘Ancient Dead.’A burden we have discharged for countless generations since the Old Ones disappeared into the abyss of space.”

Councillor Hemm replaced his hood. “Refreshments will now be brought to you. Paris will then conduct you to the Great Cavern and you will view undreamed of wonders. Afterwards, we will talk again!”

The door in the wall slid open and the Dark Priest quickly disappeared.

The three travellers dined upon cakes of plain Thoa-bread, then followed the envoy back into the transportation chamber. Once again, they felt the sensation of weightlessness as they hurtled downwards upon a cushion of air, until they found themselves inside another matching chamber. However, the sight which met their eyes, as they exited the chamber, almost took their breath away.

The newcomers found themselves standing upon a metal platform that was situated high upon the inner-wall of an enormous natural cavern. Before them lay a huge void that was at least a mile in breadth and stretching away into the distance as far as the eye could see. The interior of the cavern was illuminated by panels set into the rocky walls and ceiling and threw beams of white light down upon the floor below. However, little of the caverns natural floor remained exposed to view, for the base of the void was completely filled with a massive array of apparatus of unimaginable size and complexity. Rows of huge metal tanks marched onwards, rank after rank, until they disappeared into the far distance, whilst metal pipes and an indescribable tangle of multi-coloured cables criss-crossed the cavern in every direction supported upon white-metal gantries of considerable strength.