Chapter 1 continued
The way that a second ago was just a straight line now had turned into a fork without Xalia noticing. She was quite impressed usually these kind of tricks used some kind of dramatic effect to highlight the shift, making it seem like part of the show, here the system was finely tuned to wait for moment when attention was directed elsewhere to make things just be there. Quopka was now standing in a tunnel that was green hued on his side but an unpleasant yellow on hers. To her left hand a new tunnel glowing in a faint inviting amber had opened, it smelled of freshly polished stone,very clean and somehow of adventure. 'Active mind component,' Xalia thought, 'Expensive.'. The smell became more soothing, a faint whiff of the ocean added to it. 'Reactive even.'
"See you in minute." she said to Quopka who had gone back to looking mildly disgusted and generally miserable.
"Yes. But please don't buy anything else..."
"I already indulged myself." Xalia said waving her coat dramatically, her smile shattered on Quopka's distaste for place, the situation and as Xalia began to suspect life in general. She shrugged and entered the amber corridor.
"Chrysalis corporation welcomes you to Sralan traveller." the voice spoke with sugared enthusiasm as the path around her turned into a wide open vista of a beach. Instead of sand there where millions of tiny opal disks shimmering in all colours of the universe, the malachite green water expanding into the wide horizon where it met the cobalt blue of the Sralan sky.
"This is a world of water and precious stone, with a rich tradition going back millennia." the sight changed as she walked showing of the with every step the different cultures and architectures of the world. "A world to relax, to explore and to find all kinds of adventure." the scenery changed with every step, every word showing some new wonder that was expecting Xalia. While she enjoyed the show she was getting annoyed how the system was gently adjusting everything she was seeing to what she had reacted to the fraction a second before. When they reached the 'adventure' part she saw a lot of exiting looking but well coordinated tours through 'jungles', 'ruins' and 'hidden spots', she rolled her eyes at that point only to be show brief glimpses of a more intimate type of adventure. She smiled and cursed her self the moment she noticed. "Chrysalis corporation has a wide portfolio of Prime ranked worlds," a dizzying flash of impressions of other places, "where we carefully curate and preserve the local flair to provide the most authentic holidays possible." It refocused on Sralan, now she was walking through the air so she could see the many places where she could stay in Sralan. "You will find your personal form of comfort allowing you to experience a wide array of different cultures on your terms." It present her a large open space room, of panelled wood, comfortable chairs, books shelves and alcoves facing a large open wall, with a translucent energy window that let the ocean air flow in. Xalia was very tempted to book the place that very moment. But she was here on business, her pride was stronger than her impassivity, for once working for instead of against her. "Chrysalis also offers a wide range of congress centres, workshop retreats and company camp outs.", the voice went on not missing a beat. "From high focus environments to, places that push your creative side as far as your imagination can carry you," and then with a wink in its voice it added, "and push you that little bit further. Chrysalis brings you everything you need, where you needed and how you need it." she was back on the beach walking down a path that led her to a amber coloured tunnel that somehow seemed like it was the most natural thing to find in the middle of a beach on an alien planet. "Right now we are taking your personal needs to heart and out of the millions of possibilities, preparing four exiting packages that are perfectly tailored to your needs. Once you step out one of our local amenity experts will welcome you personally to introduce you to your choices."
A moment of brightness and she was standing in a hall, Quopka and his foul mood standing like an inverted light house at one end, while a fantastically pretty woman was flowing towards her a shining smile igniting as she saw Xalia. Xalia's breath caught, her heart skipped a beat. She had to give the Chrysalis corporation that they had recognized her... sense of adventure. She returned the smile with sad eyes.
"I'm very sorry." she said to the radiant apparition in front of her.
"Oh there is nothing to be sorry about.", she answered in a voice that told her that she was going to try a lot of things to see how far that would go.
Xalia inhaled, with her Authority she grabbed the presence, of the woman in front of her pulled out her former glory, the result was spectacular, even Quopka's eyes widened in amazement, when he beheld her. Xalia exhaled letting it all flow to the past. Now the woman in front of her was only the glowing ember, remembering how it once had been a fire, shortly before turning to ash.
This touched Xalia on a much deeper level, there was something in this kind of beauty she could not help but love. But this was the steady love of a grandparent and not the tempestuous infatuation Xalia had felt a second ago. Besides this was now within her Authority, this was a place completely under her control.
The woman in front of her she a single tear.
"What's your name." Xalia asked.
"Mynri." she answered.
"Your real name." Xalia said her voice now soft.
"Ptala" Ptala said.
"A beautiful name." Xalia said gently touching her cheek. "Don't worry, the effect won't last long and please don't be sad, look at the greatness that brought you where you are, remember who and what you where so that you could become who you are now. These past glories are what your present strength is build upon."
Ptala didn't say anything, she moved her hand up to the cheek Xalia had just touched, turned around walked to a window overlooking the Sralan sea and was lost in her past.
Wednesday 13 November 2019
Monday 11 November 2019
Project Twilight 002
Chapter 1 continued
Not long after Xalia and Quopka had left the pod and entered the ground port.
"Don't worry about your luggage my people will get them for you and bring it to your residence."
"Residence?" Xalia asked.
"Yes we got you a small house near the coast. There you can start with your work."
"That's different..."
"How so?" Quopka asked.
"Usually I get to stay in a hotel or as more or less honoured guest at the house of someone important.", aster a short pause she added, "There usually is more of social song and dance involved."
"Literally or figuratively?"
"Usually figuratively, sometimes also literally and one time in Cresilea Secunda it was song and dance most of the time." she shook her head laughing softly at the memory. Her authority expanding lightly in reaction to it. Xalia stopped. "That's strange..."
"Huh?" Quopka stopped, looked at her then around. "What is?"
"Can't quite put my finger on it." she shrugged an continued walking.
"Is it anything I have to be worried about?"
"Nah." Xalia waved his worries away with her hand, "If I notice anything dangerous or disturbing I'll tell you. This is... just odd...?"
They walked on in silence until they reached immigration. Her all paths were carefully wound their way to inconspicuous choke points where all visitors had to walk past a crystal arch through a short tunnel where their crystal ID was checked, their passing logged and of if they were carrying anything that might be something that had to go through customs. Quopka pulled a short round shard of green stone out of some inner pocket, once he passed the arch it started to glow in a pleasant verdant colour.
"Just stay within the light and we can just walk through." he said.
"Neat." said Xalia walking a bit closer to him, not wanting to risk the wrath of a immigration cavern. Once the security in these things got triggered they turned from a short walk along a straight line into a labyrinth. Every time she fell afoul of them she swore to herself that she'd never leave her home world ever again. But well her she was, as always.
While she was still trying to push away the last time, where she had descended ever deeper into one of the more paranoid defence systems, she noticed that the light of Quopka's shard began to shift into an unpleasant yellow hue.
Xalia sighed, took a deep breath, trying not to panic. "What's happening Quopka?"
Quopka stared at the shard with something very close to hatred. "How dare they..." he looked up, the knuckles on the hand holding the shard turning white. "I am Quopka, third child of Lhrà of Zyandal, primary voice of the parliament of high ocean endeavours. This," he held up the crystal as he spoke, "is an inviolate seal of office. Suppressing it is a cardinal offence." As he spoke the shard's light began shifting back to green.
"Acknowledged." a bland friendly voice coming from everywhere answered, "You, most honoured, first high voice of the exterior, Quopka may pass. However your esteemed guest has to pass through the welcoming path."
"No. She must not." he said almost snarling. "She is here by my invitation, the mantel of my office covers her."
"Acknowledged, most honoured, first high voice of the exterior, however this is a private port, by the charter of the greater collaboration, we have the obligation of passing every new visitor, provided he is not a native of the region or a representative of the voices of government, through the welcoming path. The path will introduce her to the wonders of Sralan, preparing her for her visit."
"I have and will continue briefing our guest on our local culture and customs. There is no need for her to walk down your way..." he said, his body tense. Xalia was sure that if the voice had any material representation she might have had to stop Quopka from stabbing it with the shard.
"You are of course free to return back to the high ocean port, free of charge and secure passage on a ship to a port that is not owned by the Sralan chrysalis corporation, there other rules of ingress may apply." while the voice remained as blandly polite as before Xalia was sure that she could her a certain smug condescension in the words.
"What is this 'welcoming path' anyway"? Xalia asked.
"The welcoming path is..." the bland voice started with a pudding like enthusiasm before being cut short by Quopka.
"It is commercials for the chrysalis." Quopka said.
"Ah, I understand..." said Xalia who didn't understand, fearing that her asking would lead to more things she didn't know about. "It's no problem, I can just go through the path, look at what it has to say, and then we meet on the other side and go on with business."
Quopka just stared at her fuming.
"Or," Xalia had to be very careful to not make matters worse, "We can go back to the high port" she kept her voice level making sure that it sounded like this was just another perfectly reasonable option, "and look for a sphere cruiser and from there we can go to another port." she smiled her professional smile, the one she had practised for many decades for situations just like this, warm, friendly understanding, open, and nothing else, the last part was the hardest and most vital part.
"This is an outrage! I will not let this stand." Quopka was lost in his rage.
"I know. I myself am shocked by our treatment." a lot of work went into not sounding sarcastic, which was made easier by Xalia wondering who this Sralan chrysalis corporation was that it could limit the privileges of a high ranking official of the planetary government. "I hate how you are being treated," she meant that, "this should not be happening, but this helps me understand what you are going through. Let me walk the path. I promise you that I will not suddenly change my mind and... I don't know decide to go for a package holiday instead."
Quopka finally turned to face Xalia. He looked at her, then at her new coat and then again at her face raising his eyebrows.
"The coat is different." Xalia said, "That's because of the weather!", after a short pause she added, "And it is really stylish." she bared her teeth in a regrettable attempt at a smile. Quopka stared at her and started laughing. Xalia's smile turned real.
"Well even if you decide for that package deal, I know where to find you." he said. "I'm paying your expenses after all."
"You heard him." Xalia said to the voice. "Show me that path of yours."
"Thank you, Xalia Ranva, authority of glories past. The interaction and your decisions have been duly noted. Please proceed through the welcoming path and enjoy your stay on Sralan."
Not long after Xalia and Quopka had left the pod and entered the ground port.
"Don't worry about your luggage my people will get them for you and bring it to your residence."
"Residence?" Xalia asked.
"Yes we got you a small house near the coast. There you can start with your work."
"That's different..."
"How so?" Quopka asked.
"Usually I get to stay in a hotel or as more or less honoured guest at the house of someone important.", aster a short pause she added, "There usually is more of social song and dance involved."
"Literally or figuratively?"
"Usually figuratively, sometimes also literally and one time in Cresilea Secunda it was song and dance most of the time." she shook her head laughing softly at the memory. Her authority expanding lightly in reaction to it. Xalia stopped. "That's strange..."
"Huh?" Quopka stopped, looked at her then around. "What is?"
"Can't quite put my finger on it." she shrugged an continued walking.
"Is it anything I have to be worried about?"
"Nah." Xalia waved his worries away with her hand, "If I notice anything dangerous or disturbing I'll tell you. This is... just odd...?"
They walked on in silence until they reached immigration. Her all paths were carefully wound their way to inconspicuous choke points where all visitors had to walk past a crystal arch through a short tunnel where their crystal ID was checked, their passing logged and of if they were carrying anything that might be something that had to go through customs. Quopka pulled a short round shard of green stone out of some inner pocket, once he passed the arch it started to glow in a pleasant verdant colour.
"Just stay within the light and we can just walk through." he said.
"Neat." said Xalia walking a bit closer to him, not wanting to risk the wrath of a immigration cavern. Once the security in these things got triggered they turned from a short walk along a straight line into a labyrinth. Every time she fell afoul of them she swore to herself that she'd never leave her home world ever again. But well her she was, as always.
While she was still trying to push away the last time, where she had descended ever deeper into one of the more paranoid defence systems, she noticed that the light of Quopka's shard began to shift into an unpleasant yellow hue.
Xalia sighed, took a deep breath, trying not to panic. "What's happening Quopka?"
Quopka stared at the shard with something very close to hatred. "How dare they..." he looked up, the knuckles on the hand holding the shard turning white. "I am Quopka, third child of Lhrà of Zyandal, primary voice of the parliament of high ocean endeavours. This," he held up the crystal as he spoke, "is an inviolate seal of office. Suppressing it is a cardinal offence." As he spoke the shard's light began shifting back to green.
"Acknowledged." a bland friendly voice coming from everywhere answered, "You, most honoured, first high voice of the exterior, Quopka may pass. However your esteemed guest has to pass through the welcoming path."
"No. She must not." he said almost snarling. "She is here by my invitation, the mantel of my office covers her."
"Acknowledged, most honoured, first high voice of the exterior, however this is a private port, by the charter of the greater collaboration, we have the obligation of passing every new visitor, provided he is not a native of the region or a representative of the voices of government, through the welcoming path. The path will introduce her to the wonders of Sralan, preparing her for her visit."
"I have and will continue briefing our guest on our local culture and customs. There is no need for her to walk down your way..." he said, his body tense. Xalia was sure that if the voice had any material representation she might have had to stop Quopka from stabbing it with the shard.
"You are of course free to return back to the high ocean port, free of charge and secure passage on a ship to a port that is not owned by the Sralan chrysalis corporation, there other rules of ingress may apply." while the voice remained as blandly polite as before Xalia was sure that she could her a certain smug condescension in the words.
"What is this 'welcoming path' anyway"? Xalia asked.
"The welcoming path is..." the bland voice started with a pudding like enthusiasm before being cut short by Quopka.
"It is commercials for the chrysalis." Quopka said.
"Ah, I understand..." said Xalia who didn't understand, fearing that her asking would lead to more things she didn't know about. "It's no problem, I can just go through the path, look at what it has to say, and then we meet on the other side and go on with business."
Quopka just stared at her fuming.
"Or," Xalia had to be very careful to not make matters worse, "We can go back to the high port" she kept her voice level making sure that it sounded like this was just another perfectly reasonable option, "and look for a sphere cruiser and from there we can go to another port." she smiled her professional smile, the one she had practised for many decades for situations just like this, warm, friendly understanding, open, and nothing else, the last part was the hardest and most vital part.
"This is an outrage! I will not let this stand." Quopka was lost in his rage.
"I know. I myself am shocked by our treatment." a lot of work went into not sounding sarcastic, which was made easier by Xalia wondering who this Sralan chrysalis corporation was that it could limit the privileges of a high ranking official of the planetary government. "I hate how you are being treated," she meant that, "this should not be happening, but this helps me understand what you are going through. Let me walk the path. I promise you that I will not suddenly change my mind and... I don't know decide to go for a package holiday instead."
Quopka finally turned to face Xalia. He looked at her, then at her new coat and then again at her face raising his eyebrows.
"The coat is different." Xalia said, "That's because of the weather!", after a short pause she added, "And it is really stylish." she bared her teeth in a regrettable attempt at a smile. Quopka stared at her and started laughing. Xalia's smile turned real.
"Well even if you decide for that package deal, I know where to find you." he said. "I'm paying your expenses after all."
"You heard him." Xalia said to the voice. "Show me that path of yours."
"Thank you, Xalia Ranva, authority of glories past. The interaction and your decisions have been duly noted. Please proceed through the welcoming path and enjoy your stay on Sralan."
Saturday 9 November 2019
Project Twilight 001
Chapter 1 Planetfall
Three weeks lighter the deep liner CPV Prince Sverond emerged at the high ocean port above the hospitality zone of Jran on on of the many southern continents of Sralan, bring with it a slightly drunk Xalia Ranva authority over glories past who had been spending a lot of time regretting her decision to come here. She was enough of a professional to remain on the safe side of very slightly tips. Just enough to take the edge of her nerves. Quopka, the man that had hired her was probably already waiting for her on the arrival deck of the ship. All she could do know was look like she knew what she was doing while trying to figure out what exactly she could do to help that man... and his planet entire planet added the more miserable part of her mind. She carefully checked the ceremonial paintings on her skin a last time making sure that they were impeccable, touching up some fine details before putting on her uniform. She and that uniform had gone through a lot over the past few centuries, they had survived quite a few adventures together, some of them caused by her impulsive nature but most by that of others. It's colour faded, becoming threadbare at the edges. Just looking at it it was clear that if it could talk it would be able to tell the most fantastic stories, it had witnessed so much and though it might have left its best years behind it, those times had been incredible. Xalia smiled, she closed her eyes, focusing on the past and what she and her uniform had been through, she grasped those memories and brought them back with her, she opened her eyes, the markings on her skin coming alive. The things she wore, bathed in this light became resplendent again reminding all who beheld them of their glorious past. Xalia left the room to go look for Quopka, she caught the eye of every one she passed, partially because seeing an authority in the flesh was something so rare that they would still be telling their grandchildren of this moment but mostly because a deep wave of nostalgia washed over them the moment she entered the room.
"Please, don't." Qupka said to Xalia as soon as he could shake off the effect of her power. "That you are here should be kept a secret as long as possible."
"How illegal is the thing you want me to do." Xalia said, eye brow raised.
Qupka looked around to make sure no one was listening, but they were standing on the far end of the deck and the people who had noticed Xalia where to busy reminiscing to actually notice them. "Nothing about this is illegal. But we are moving against very powerful people."
Xalia snorted. "Really?", she said crossing her arms, "Is another authority here that will try to stop us?"
"No."
"Didn't think so." Xalia said, "Your biggest problem still is that you want me to turn your whole planet into a past glory. I'd say we'll need all the help we can possibly get.
"There are other forms of authority Mrs. Ranva. At least as powerful as you and much more insidious."
"You've been talking in ominous riddles since we first met and it isn't doing you any favours." she said shaking her head. "The closer we have come to your home the more crazy you are starting to sound..."
Qupka grimaced, "I would sound crazier if I told you what is happening here. It really is easier if I show you. And for that it is important that you trust me, or at least indulge me, just a little bit longer."
"You are paying me well enough," Xalia shrugged, "and as long as we are not breaking any laws or ethical principles and there isn't anything better for me to do, I'll indulge you."
"I think you will understand what's we make planetfall."
"Sure. Please, go ahead."
"Your power? Please?"
Xalia had to restrain herself from rolling here eyes. "As you wish." with that she turned back into an unremarkable woman in a foreign uniform that had seen better days.
While Xalia wanted to go forward Qupka held her back, "Let's wait until the others have left. It will give you more time to take in the scenery." Xalia exhaled trying to remain calm.
"Please," Qupka said, "it is important, I want to know what you observe. Once we are at the ground port I'll invite you to dinner. As an apology."
"Food and lodging are part of the contract Qupka..."
"Yes but this I will pay for you from my own money. I now a good place down there and... well maybe it is mostly symbolic and I know I'm being very cryptic..."
"You do?" Xalia asked. "You also realise what a pain in the arse you've been the closer we came to your home?"
"I actually do, yes. And I'm sorry. Please just indulge me for a bit more, in a few hours I think you will have seen and felt what I need you to understand. And I believe that it is very important that you experience it first hand. It will make everything else easier. At least that's what I hope."
"You and me both Qupka, you and me both..."
They spent the rest of the time in silence Qupka trying to be solemn but he could not help himself from fidgeting. Xalia mostly looking out of a panoramic window, looking outside trying to distract herself. Below her she could see the dark opalescent blue of the high ocean and also below her but in the other direction she could see the southern sea of Sralan and its many islands. While she could not see them she could feel the transit pods launch from the port, as they sent out subtle shock waves through when they pushed themselves towards the planet.
Twenty minutes later most of the passengers had left the deep liner,leaving the deck mostly empty except for Xalia, Qupka and a few of the crew who were making a pointed performance out of cleaning the ship slowly moving the towards the last stranglers trying to push them out through social pressure. Xalia looked at Qupka lifting her eye brow, he responded with a tiny nod.Finally they left the CPV Prince Sverond, moved through the docking bridge into the arrival platform of the high port. the bridge opened into a large hall, white an polished, Xalia felt like walking into the inside of a giant pearl. The floor, the walls, the ceiling was all polished out of the same milky material, all of it glowing very faintly in a cool light. There was the faintest wave moving from the bridge towards the many exits leading to the landing pods. The hall it self was filled columns that were strategically placed so that one had to pass them by if one wanted to leave. Every single one of them containing a little store, as polished as everything else here, presenting all manner of things that could easily be carried away for the right price. Xalia decided that she wasn't going to fall for this kind of cheap marketing ploys, following Qupka towards the next exit she noticed that the shops had some kind of way of evaluating, as she passed the first ones those that followed smoothly rearranged themselves to present her with goods more to her tastes. 'I will be manipulated this easily.' she thought to her self.
"You didn't buy anything." she said to Qupka as she put on her new open coat that would protect her against the salt and humidity of the southern atmosphere, then she took the bottle of the strong wines this region was known for form a tired looking Qupka. "No," he said, "I hate this place.", he grimaced a bit, "And had you controlled yourself a bit more I could have shown you places on the surface where you could have found better things of a higher quality and for a better price."
"And I'm looking forward to. But this way I'm ready for the atmosphere down there and I can sample the bounties of your world even before we set foot on the planet. Win-win." she beamed. Qupka somehow managed to look even more tired, a corpse would have looked downright perky in comparison.
It turned out that drinking her welcome drink was more fun than anticipated. The transit pods were of a kind that Xalia hadn't seen so far. They too plummeted from the platform down to the surface but where this usually was either a rather tumultuous ride in the free fall models or a breathtakingly boring one in orbital elevator types, these somehow managed to combine the advantages of both. Their pod fell with terminal velocity towards the planet but as it fell it harvested all excess energy making the ride perfectly smooth. The only way to tell that the pod was moving at all was that inside once the decent started gravity stopped.
"This is really fun." Xalia said, pouring a little ball of liquid out of her newly acquired bottle, trying to catch it with her mouth. "I wonder though, this is really sophisticated, why don't we have gravity in the pod?"
Quopka looked at her his eyes dull. "Because it is more fun this way." the corner of his mouth twitched in slight disgust.
Xalia, having caught her drink, turned to face what was the floor of the pod drifted down a bit to look a Quopka. "You say like that's a bad thing... why?"
"Because it's wrong. It's just like the shops up there. This is all part of an experience..."
"I still can't see the problem with that because so far," she poured another little ball of liquid sending it flying, "it is a really good one." she twisted around jerking this way and that, trying to catch her drink.
Qupka sighed. "It is the wrong experience." he paused. "Look, this was all made to be interesting, captivating and fun, but this is not the Sralan way. These pods here... they are great. Marvels of modern technology. But these used to be wooden fliers." he looked out of the pod's window looking into the sky which was turning from black to blue, the stars vanishing slowly giving way to Sralan's cobalt sky. "Our terminals were built in orbit far from the port cities below, our pods would glide down the atmosphere trailing a tail of fire. From inside you could see all of the sea and islands surrounding your port and from down there..." finally life returned to his face, as his eyes lit up and a faint smile rose. "From down there you would see the fire trails, spirals in the sky interlocking with each other painting a flower into our sky. The journeyman's lilly, it called. There are cards with all the different lilies of our world. One look and you know what city you will find under that sky." Qupka was looking past the sky now his face warm. Xalia had long stopped moving, once her employer had become lost in his memories., she felt a wave of power. The feeling of love, just fading, a savoury taste, just tinged with bitterness. This was glory moving from the present into the past.
She followed Qupka's gaze into the past. "This used to be different kind of port." Xalia said.
"Yes."
She felt the pull of the time when this had been a shining jewel of this planet, gently polished over centuries turning it into a treasure that was carried in the hearts of all who knew it. Something that was part of the locals life, something that touched everyone who came here and saw it for the first time.
Xalia inhaled, stretched out her authority, garbed hold of that ancient glory. She exhaled igniting the sky around them bringing that long lost flower of the sky back from the sky reminding all those who saw it of a golden age now slowly fading.
Quopka just stared in wonder, his feelings overwhelming him as tears filled his eyes.
"I think, I'm starting to understand you." Xalia said, "and I might even be able to help you."
Three weeks lighter the deep liner CPV Prince Sverond emerged at the high ocean port above the hospitality zone of Jran on on of the many southern continents of Sralan, bring with it a slightly drunk Xalia Ranva authority over glories past who had been spending a lot of time regretting her decision to come here. She was enough of a professional to remain on the safe side of very slightly tips. Just enough to take the edge of her nerves. Quopka, the man that had hired her was probably already waiting for her on the arrival deck of the ship. All she could do know was look like she knew what she was doing while trying to figure out what exactly she could do to help that man... and his planet entire planet added the more miserable part of her mind. She carefully checked the ceremonial paintings on her skin a last time making sure that they were impeccable, touching up some fine details before putting on her uniform. She and that uniform had gone through a lot over the past few centuries, they had survived quite a few adventures together, some of them caused by her impulsive nature but most by that of others. It's colour faded, becoming threadbare at the edges. Just looking at it it was clear that if it could talk it would be able to tell the most fantastic stories, it had witnessed so much and though it might have left its best years behind it, those times had been incredible. Xalia smiled, she closed her eyes, focusing on the past and what she and her uniform had been through, she grasped those memories and brought them back with her, she opened her eyes, the markings on her skin coming alive. The things she wore, bathed in this light became resplendent again reminding all who beheld them of their glorious past. Xalia left the room to go look for Quopka, she caught the eye of every one she passed, partially because seeing an authority in the flesh was something so rare that they would still be telling their grandchildren of this moment but mostly because a deep wave of nostalgia washed over them the moment she entered the room.
"Please, don't." Qupka said to Xalia as soon as he could shake off the effect of her power. "That you are here should be kept a secret as long as possible."
"How illegal is the thing you want me to do." Xalia said, eye brow raised.
Qupka looked around to make sure no one was listening, but they were standing on the far end of the deck and the people who had noticed Xalia where to busy reminiscing to actually notice them. "Nothing about this is illegal. But we are moving against very powerful people."
Xalia snorted. "Really?", she said crossing her arms, "Is another authority here that will try to stop us?"
"No."
"Didn't think so." Xalia said, "Your biggest problem still is that you want me to turn your whole planet into a past glory. I'd say we'll need all the help we can possibly get.
"There are other forms of authority Mrs. Ranva. At least as powerful as you and much more insidious."
"You've been talking in ominous riddles since we first met and it isn't doing you any favours." she said shaking her head. "The closer we have come to your home the more crazy you are starting to sound..."
Qupka grimaced, "I would sound crazier if I told you what is happening here. It really is easier if I show you. And for that it is important that you trust me, or at least indulge me, just a little bit longer."
"You are paying me well enough," Xalia shrugged, "and as long as we are not breaking any laws or ethical principles and there isn't anything better for me to do, I'll indulge you."
"I think you will understand what's we make planetfall."
"Sure. Please, go ahead."
"Your power? Please?"
Xalia had to restrain herself from rolling here eyes. "As you wish." with that she turned back into an unremarkable woman in a foreign uniform that had seen better days.
While Xalia wanted to go forward Qupka held her back, "Let's wait until the others have left. It will give you more time to take in the scenery." Xalia exhaled trying to remain calm.
"Please," Qupka said, "it is important, I want to know what you observe. Once we are at the ground port I'll invite you to dinner. As an apology."
"Food and lodging are part of the contract Qupka..."
"Yes but this I will pay for you from my own money. I now a good place down there and... well maybe it is mostly symbolic and I know I'm being very cryptic..."
"You do?" Xalia asked. "You also realise what a pain in the arse you've been the closer we came to your home?"
"I actually do, yes. And I'm sorry. Please just indulge me for a bit more, in a few hours I think you will have seen and felt what I need you to understand. And I believe that it is very important that you experience it first hand. It will make everything else easier. At least that's what I hope."
"You and me both Qupka, you and me both..."
They spent the rest of the time in silence Qupka trying to be solemn but he could not help himself from fidgeting. Xalia mostly looking out of a panoramic window, looking outside trying to distract herself. Below her she could see the dark opalescent blue of the high ocean and also below her but in the other direction she could see the southern sea of Sralan and its many islands. While she could not see them she could feel the transit pods launch from the port, as they sent out subtle shock waves through when they pushed themselves towards the planet.
Twenty minutes later most of the passengers had left the deep liner,leaving the deck mostly empty except for Xalia, Qupka and a few of the crew who were making a pointed performance out of cleaning the ship slowly moving the towards the last stranglers trying to push them out through social pressure. Xalia looked at Qupka lifting her eye brow, he responded with a tiny nod.Finally they left the CPV Prince Sverond, moved through the docking bridge into the arrival platform of the high port. the bridge opened into a large hall, white an polished, Xalia felt like walking into the inside of a giant pearl. The floor, the walls, the ceiling was all polished out of the same milky material, all of it glowing very faintly in a cool light. There was the faintest wave moving from the bridge towards the many exits leading to the landing pods. The hall it self was filled columns that were strategically placed so that one had to pass them by if one wanted to leave. Every single one of them containing a little store, as polished as everything else here, presenting all manner of things that could easily be carried away for the right price. Xalia decided that she wasn't going to fall for this kind of cheap marketing ploys, following Qupka towards the next exit she noticed that the shops had some kind of way of evaluating, as she passed the first ones those that followed smoothly rearranged themselves to present her with goods more to her tastes. 'I will be manipulated this easily.' she thought to her self.
"You didn't buy anything." she said to Qupka as she put on her new open coat that would protect her against the salt and humidity of the southern atmosphere, then she took the bottle of the strong wines this region was known for form a tired looking Qupka. "No," he said, "I hate this place.", he grimaced a bit, "And had you controlled yourself a bit more I could have shown you places on the surface where you could have found better things of a higher quality and for a better price."
"And I'm looking forward to. But this way I'm ready for the atmosphere down there and I can sample the bounties of your world even before we set foot on the planet. Win-win." she beamed. Qupka somehow managed to look even more tired, a corpse would have looked downright perky in comparison.
It turned out that drinking her welcome drink was more fun than anticipated. The transit pods were of a kind that Xalia hadn't seen so far. They too plummeted from the platform down to the surface but where this usually was either a rather tumultuous ride in the free fall models or a breathtakingly boring one in orbital elevator types, these somehow managed to combine the advantages of both. Their pod fell with terminal velocity towards the planet but as it fell it harvested all excess energy making the ride perfectly smooth. The only way to tell that the pod was moving at all was that inside once the decent started gravity stopped.
"This is really fun." Xalia said, pouring a little ball of liquid out of her newly acquired bottle, trying to catch it with her mouth. "I wonder though, this is really sophisticated, why don't we have gravity in the pod?"
Quopka looked at her his eyes dull. "Because it is more fun this way." the corner of his mouth twitched in slight disgust.
Xalia, having caught her drink, turned to face what was the floor of the pod drifted down a bit to look a Quopka. "You say like that's a bad thing... why?"
"Because it's wrong. It's just like the shops up there. This is all part of an experience..."
"I still can't see the problem with that because so far," she poured another little ball of liquid sending it flying, "it is a really good one." she twisted around jerking this way and that, trying to catch her drink.
Qupka sighed. "It is the wrong experience." he paused. "Look, this was all made to be interesting, captivating and fun, but this is not the Sralan way. These pods here... they are great. Marvels of modern technology. But these used to be wooden fliers." he looked out of the pod's window looking into the sky which was turning from black to blue, the stars vanishing slowly giving way to Sralan's cobalt sky. "Our terminals were built in orbit far from the port cities below, our pods would glide down the atmosphere trailing a tail of fire. From inside you could see all of the sea and islands surrounding your port and from down there..." finally life returned to his face, as his eyes lit up and a faint smile rose. "From down there you would see the fire trails, spirals in the sky interlocking with each other painting a flower into our sky. The journeyman's lilly, it called. There are cards with all the different lilies of our world. One look and you know what city you will find under that sky." Qupka was looking past the sky now his face warm. Xalia had long stopped moving, once her employer had become lost in his memories., she felt a wave of power. The feeling of love, just fading, a savoury taste, just tinged with bitterness. This was glory moving from the present into the past.
She followed Qupka's gaze into the past. "This used to be different kind of port." Xalia said.
"Yes."
She felt the pull of the time when this had been a shining jewel of this planet, gently polished over centuries turning it into a treasure that was carried in the hearts of all who knew it. Something that was part of the locals life, something that touched everyone who came here and saw it for the first time.
Xalia inhaled, stretched out her authority, garbed hold of that ancient glory. She exhaled igniting the sky around them bringing that long lost flower of the sky back from the sky reminding all those who saw it of a golden age now slowly fading.
Quopka just stared in wonder, his feelings overwhelming him as tears filled his eyes.
"I think, I'm starting to understand you." Xalia said, "and I might even be able to help you."
Saturday 2 November 2019
Project Twilight 000
Project Twilight
Prologue
"It will be very hard. It may not even work at all. But that isn't the real problem. What you need to understand is that the process is irreversible. Once I'm done there is no turning back. Ever." Xalia said.
The man in front of her had not moved a muscle in his face listening to her, the only thing betraying any kind of emotion was the burning in his eyes. This was someone that had only hope left, hope and self-control. "If you do not help us Mrs. Ranva, there will be nothing left of my world."
"Well it is not as if your planet will be cracked and dissolved into the high ocean." Xalia said, she leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes and massaged the bridge of her nose. "Your world is changing, it is becoming something else, something different. That's just the way of the universe. Things change. It can be unpleasant I understand that but..."
"No, you don't understand." the man interrupted her some of the fire from his eyes escaping into his voice. "This is not a natural change, this is not a natural development, no matter what the others may say. It is the death of our world... We will be 'improved', streamlined and adjusted until we are just one of many. What made our world Sralan will be gone." he paused, slowing his breathing putting the fire back to where it belonged. "Why are you so opposed to my offer. Aren't we offering you enough.", for a moment the fire was about to escape again.
"No, that's not it. You offer" she could not stop herself from glancing at the piece of paper lying in front of her containing nothing but a preposterous number, "it's just that people usually pay me to bring things back. You on the other hand want me to make a whole planet disappear."
"You have the authority over glories past, you can bring them back so that we in the present can see what great things came before us, all I ask you is to take the greatness of my home..." he paused looking for the right words to say, "...and enshrine it in the past."
Xalia was desperately trying to find the right argument to convince the man in front of her that he should choose another way. She looked back down to the piece of paper who whispered to her of a future free of anxiety. She turned the paper around, hiding away the temptation.
"If I am able to do what you ask of me, and again I have to repeat myself, I have no idea if I can actually do that, the glory of your world will be no more. It's golden age will have passed and I'm convinced, that if I do what you want me to do, there won't be a new golden age, ever again. Yes, if you do nothing, your world may fade away but it will have the chance to be reborn. Come back to me in a few centuries and I can help you find what you need and I can tell you where to find the authority over glory resurgent, an incredible arsehole but he will help you and your people to regain what they have once lost."
The flames in the eyes of the man flickered becoming embers. "In a few centuries I will be no more than dust drifting through the high ocean. With me and all those who live today gone the memory of Sralan will be gone." he looked her in the eyes, somehow the fading glow was harder to endure than the fire, so Xalia looked away out of the window up into the ocean above, infinite and blue. "If you refuse", he continued, "my world will die and out of its corpse one day something new may emerge. But that will be another world. It's line to the past broken, the ones carrying its greatness in their hearts long gone..." just an afterglow was now left, the man had lost most of his strength and sank back down into his chair, his gaze directed at the floor, "I..." he started but could not think of anything else to say.
They sat there in silence for a long time. "No matter what I do," Xalia said, "I am going to regret it". The man lifted his head and looked at her, his expression dead. Xalia took the piece of paper and folded it, three, four times so that the number was well hidden within. She pushed it back to the man, a gesture which took almost all of what was left of him away. "I won't do it for this. I do believe that, for you, your world is dying, so I will travel to Sralan, to have a look at your home. I will listen to you and your people, listen of Sralan's stories of greatness, I will witness them so that I can inscribe them into the fabric of the universe, so that all who come will know of its glories past."
In his eyes the embers came alive again. "Thank you..." again words failed him.
"Wait with that until I have finished the job." she said, "and I will need to get paid."
Prologue
"It will be very hard. It may not even work at all. But that isn't the real problem. What you need to understand is that the process is irreversible. Once I'm done there is no turning back. Ever." Xalia said.
The man in front of her had not moved a muscle in his face listening to her, the only thing betraying any kind of emotion was the burning in his eyes. This was someone that had only hope left, hope and self-control. "If you do not help us Mrs. Ranva, there will be nothing left of my world."
"Well it is not as if your planet will be cracked and dissolved into the high ocean." Xalia said, she leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes and massaged the bridge of her nose. "Your world is changing, it is becoming something else, something different. That's just the way of the universe. Things change. It can be unpleasant I understand that but..."
"No, you don't understand." the man interrupted her some of the fire from his eyes escaping into his voice. "This is not a natural change, this is not a natural development, no matter what the others may say. It is the death of our world... We will be 'improved', streamlined and adjusted until we are just one of many. What made our world Sralan will be gone." he paused, slowing his breathing putting the fire back to where it belonged. "Why are you so opposed to my offer. Aren't we offering you enough.", for a moment the fire was about to escape again.
"No, that's not it. You offer" she could not stop herself from glancing at the piece of paper lying in front of her containing nothing but a preposterous number, "it's just that people usually pay me to bring things back. You on the other hand want me to make a whole planet disappear."
"You have the authority over glories past, you can bring them back so that we in the present can see what great things came before us, all I ask you is to take the greatness of my home..." he paused looking for the right words to say, "...and enshrine it in the past."
Xalia was desperately trying to find the right argument to convince the man in front of her that he should choose another way. She looked back down to the piece of paper who whispered to her of a future free of anxiety. She turned the paper around, hiding away the temptation.
"If I am able to do what you ask of me, and again I have to repeat myself, I have no idea if I can actually do that, the glory of your world will be no more. It's golden age will have passed and I'm convinced, that if I do what you want me to do, there won't be a new golden age, ever again. Yes, if you do nothing, your world may fade away but it will have the chance to be reborn. Come back to me in a few centuries and I can help you find what you need and I can tell you where to find the authority over glory resurgent, an incredible arsehole but he will help you and your people to regain what they have once lost."
The flames in the eyes of the man flickered becoming embers. "In a few centuries I will be no more than dust drifting through the high ocean. With me and all those who live today gone the memory of Sralan will be gone." he looked her in the eyes, somehow the fading glow was harder to endure than the fire, so Xalia looked away out of the window up into the ocean above, infinite and blue. "If you refuse", he continued, "my world will die and out of its corpse one day something new may emerge. But that will be another world. It's line to the past broken, the ones carrying its greatness in their hearts long gone..." just an afterglow was now left, the man had lost most of his strength and sank back down into his chair, his gaze directed at the floor, "I..." he started but could not think of anything else to say.
They sat there in silence for a long time. "No matter what I do," Xalia said, "I am going to regret it". The man lifted his head and looked at her, his expression dead. Xalia took the piece of paper and folded it, three, four times so that the number was well hidden within. She pushed it back to the man, a gesture which took almost all of what was left of him away. "I won't do it for this. I do believe that, for you, your world is dying, so I will travel to Sralan, to have a look at your home. I will listen to you and your people, listen of Sralan's stories of greatness, I will witness them so that I can inscribe them into the fabric of the universe, so that all who come will know of its glories past."
In his eyes the embers came alive again. "Thank you..." again words failed him.
"Wait with that until I have finished the job." she said, "and I will need to get paid."
Monday 11 March 2019
Heaven's Bridge
When you have lost everything in life all that remains are memories. For Varan there was no place filled with more memories than Heaven's Bridge. Since times immemorial the members of his family had been buried in this ever growing mausoleum. Before there even was an empire the noble line of Sagras had laid their dead to rest here. At first in catacombs carved into the rock deep beneath the earth, later as the earth did not want to yield any more they started to build upwards into the ever open sky. When Varan had been child he had been filled with pride and awe seeing the Bridge extend beyond the clouds. His ancestors had built a mountain reaching higher than even the peaks of the Shakrash mountains to the south. There was nothing else like it. A symbol of the great destiny of his indomitable house. A bloodline that would not be stopped; not by man, not by nature, not even by the gods themselves.
These days when he walked through the cold stone corridors past the beautifully carved doors leading to the suites of the dead the only thing he felt was shame and the deep cold of grief.
"Hubris." he muttered to himself. "Hubris..." he said his voice dry and cracking, he had not used it in a long time. The words escaping his mind while he wasn't paying attention. It had been there all along reminding him and the world what the ultimate destination fore everyone was, regardless if they be peasants or emperors.
He had thought of Heaven's Bridge as a monument to the tenacity of his bloodline. They had survived whole eras of history rising to the greatest heights, falling to near ruin, but always, always persevering to grow again into a new resplendent form.
"Hubris." he spat. It was there in front of him, in front of the court, in front of the entire bloody world warning them that the only thing that was certain in this world was death. The one constant that was always there throughout the history of house Sagras.
He had not seen the ruin inching ever closer, he had been distracted. At least that's what he told himself when he begged sleep to take him for the night, while in the far corner of his room death was watching him with a condescending smile. The empire was in declining. The vassal states getting ideas of independence. The fools. It was unity that kept them alive, unity that upheld civilisation, unity that made them strong. Imperial unity not the fickle consensus of the masses who followed whomever's voice was the most honeyed, nor that of the council of the noble houses driven by their unquenchable envy of each others power. It was the true unity brought by house Sagras the only noble bloodline to have survived since the dawn of history. They who had left behind artefacts even before the age of the first great chroniclers. Even now archaeologists were unearthing artefacts from a time now mostly forgotten on a continent they believed newly discovered bearing the crest of the imperial house.
"Hubris." half choked by tears.
Emperor Varan Sagras LXVII last of his bloodline, bent by old age and broken by grief in a way only the strongest will could be warped and crushed to arrived in the tempest halls. Here was the entrance to great spiralling stair roads leading from its very foundations all the way into the heavens. The heat of the deep catacombs rising towards the topmost floors above created the raging storm that gave this part of the tower its name. He gripped his staff of office tightly with both hands, working his way slowly towards a carrier, pushing against the storm. It took all of what little strength was left in his desiccated body to reach the cylindrical metal carriage container. Trembling with exhaustion he barely made it to the door at the lee-ward side of the cylinder. The carriage was a splendour from the seventh dynasty, wrought from precious metal, and polished hardwood, made to work for centuries but above all else to awe those who laid their eyes on it. The metal forming the shapes of the great predators of the eastern lands, the wood engraved to mimic its overgrown plains and forests. Hands shaking he opened the door and entered. Inside after closing the door there was only perfect silence, in here the storm had no power, was denied any presence. Here he could only hear the drained beat of his heart and his fluttering breath, nothing else. At first. Then little by little the room around him started to resonate with him, coming alive with a deep lethargic hum. He sat down in the seat in the front of the carriage facing the main window. The wind could not be seen or heard from this place. He let himself fall into the control seat its cushions rushing forward to catch him as he fell, gently, almost lovingly, seating him. He closed his eyes finding for a brief moment a semblance of peace. The resonant hum around him shifting into a deep languorous drone. As he relaxed sleep finally approached him, but as always sleep brought memories, of fire, of disease and of war. Before his eyes his wife, his children, his cousins, uncles and aunts, his brothers and sisters one by one where plucked away from him. Again.
He forced eyes open, staring out of the window pushing the dream away and with it the memories.
It was time to move on. He laid his hands on the controls of the carriage activating the ancient machine. Outside it unfolded it wings of woven gold, catching the wind, absorbing its raging power, converting it into fluid motion. The craft moved right into the tempest towards the stair roads. The actual bridge to heaven connecting the depths of the earth with the sky above. The wise scholars of the empire had ascended to the Heaven's since the days the tower touched the clouds. To study the sky, the stars and the winds. Or so they said. Secretly they were all looking for the edge of the realm of the gods. A fact the gods at first found amusing until one day many centuries ago the sage Lirna of Tharas Falls noticed that it was hidden within the air right where the clouds could reach no higher. That lead to the first ever diplomatic incident between humanity and the gods leading to the Celestial Incident a few decades later. A time of great glory for the Sagrasan Empire.
"Hubris." said the Emperor as his carriage took him past the celestial ring where the first embassies to the gods were built.
By now the stair road was getting calmer, even the wind lost force these heights, the carriage now mostly moving through the energy it had accumulated before. Varan left behind the stone blocks that had been used to build most of the tower entering the very tip which was wrought from living crystal and transparent metals a structure that defied nature and the gods. After the wind had failed, Varan knew that it was now as silent outside as it was inside his craft. Here even the sun began losing its power. The sky outside now visible through the translucent wall shifted from dark blue to the black of the void of space, the first stars becoming visible.
Not far now. He was almost there. He had reached the part where he knew the name of everyone one who lay here, the name and the person. Not far now. His body remembered before his mind did. His tears pooling into his dry eyes, recognising the grave of his great grandmother before his mind did. Shaliliana the Elder. For others the nigh immortal matriarch to the empire, to him the warm and loving woman who would always dote on him and never return from any of her many state voyages without a little gift. Now there was no one alive who was close enough to him to know that to this day he had kept Vyl a tiny cloth bear she had given him before he could walk. Vyl still sat in his office on the highest shelf, always watching over him, even now that he was an old man. For a moment the old emperor thought if it would not have been a better idea to not hide Vyl from the eyes of the others, but keep him maybe on a tiny chair on top of his desk, reminding his subordinates, that even he, Varan Sagras LXVII was a human like them. Maybe then... His tears washed away his thoughts.
The carriage had reached its destination, it retracted its golden sails falling dormant again, while inside the emperor had to wait until the tears had washed away enough of his pain so that he could move again. When he finally stepped out his eyes where dull. For a short while he felt empty, a gift he was unable to enjoy but was deeply grateful for.
With his head down he moved forward. He knew the way. He did not dare look up and see the exquisitely decorated doors leading to the tombs of his closest family. He knew better than to look at the walls etched with scenes commemorating their greatest moments in life. It was meant as a celebration for those who had come before, yet if he lifted his eyes it would crush him. No, he had to move past, he had to reach his own room. It was waiting for him.
When he finally arrived at his final resting place he scrambled to the control panel next to the gate slamming the emergency button that would seal the room. The great doors thundered shut. Now he could dare to raise his eyes. The room of eternal rest itself was only decorated once the inhabitant had died. So he was now standing in a great hall with translucent walls the colour of white opal with a transparent celling above showing the stars in the black sky. In the centre of the hall stood his sarcophagus on raised part of the floor. Here he would lay down to rest for a final time, rejoining his family.
"Not today." he told the universe. He moved towards the open coffin faint embers smouldering back to life in his eyes, a faint echo of his once great will. After his last niece was killed by the sword of enemy soldiers, sweet little Laha, the last scion of house Sagras, Varan had almost died with her. Almost. His grief had almost consumed him, then his anger burnt him giving way to suffocating despair. He was too raw, too wounded to die then. After calming down enough to feel the loss, a final drop in an ocean filled with regret, he could start to think again. His life, his dynasty, his empire, everything was over. In the end death had won. It had always been with them, following them wherever they went. They even built death a monument, the greatest that had ever been erected. Somehow they all had failed to grasp the warning growing ever taller as countless generations passed. Now after millennia of patience death made its point clear.
"Hubris." this time his voice was calm. He just nodded to himself. He leaned his staff of office against his sarcophagus. He pulled a crystal rod from his coat. Warm to the touch, almost as long as his forearm, made from a dark blue stone. It had cost him most of the treasures left to the Sagrasan Empire and the sanity of many of the greatest sages of his time. Some of the more resilient sages despite their great wisdom did not know when it was prudent to remain silent. So with great regret Varan had to teach them virtue they lacked. He had laid them to rest inside the imperial mausoleum honouring their great work.
His fingertips caressing runes into the warm almost pliant crystal, activating it. As the artefact came to live it consumed his, withering the hand and most of the arm that had woken it. The desiccated arm fell to his side, the hand turning to ash slowly raining to the pristine floor. He gently laid the rod now strobing in a strange rhythm onto the floor, pulled out his knife held it between his teeth and cut deep into his still healthy hand. As his blood splashed onto the sarcophagus he spat out the knife. He took back his staff of office. He spoke the words, tapped the staff against his coffin opening his final resting place. The sarcophagus blossomed open its many arms expecting his body ready to wrap themselves around him to welcome him to his eternal rest. In stead of himself he gave them the blue rod, they took it and the sarcophagus collapsed into itself now pulsing with the blue energy.
Emperor Sagras' eyes where now alive again. Death had come and taken everything from him. Destroyed not only what was dear to him but what he and his ancestors had fought so long to establish, to nourish, to protect. It had come to claim the greatest civilisation that ever was. But he would not allow it. He would not be broken. Death had claimed his realm, well Varan would claim the realm of death in return. The cerulean rod was now part of Heaven's Bridge extending its tendrils of power growing from its very tip down to the deepest foundations finding the dead which had the taste of the blood it had drunk. Using the life force of everything around Heaven's Bridge as a fulcrum it grabbed hold of the dead, ready to pull.
Emperor Varan Sagras LXVII stood in front of what once had been his final resting place, now a throbbing ovoid mass of blue crystal light. He raised his staff of office high above his head ready to strike it down and return every single member of his dynasty who had been taken by death back into this world.
The staff crashed down.
"Hubris."
These days when he walked through the cold stone corridors past the beautifully carved doors leading to the suites of the dead the only thing he felt was shame and the deep cold of grief.
"Hubris." he muttered to himself. "Hubris..." he said his voice dry and cracking, he had not used it in a long time. The words escaping his mind while he wasn't paying attention. It had been there all along reminding him and the world what the ultimate destination fore everyone was, regardless if they be peasants or emperors.
He had thought of Heaven's Bridge as a monument to the tenacity of his bloodline. They had survived whole eras of history rising to the greatest heights, falling to near ruin, but always, always persevering to grow again into a new resplendent form.
"Hubris." he spat. It was there in front of him, in front of the court, in front of the entire bloody world warning them that the only thing that was certain in this world was death. The one constant that was always there throughout the history of house Sagras.
He had not seen the ruin inching ever closer, he had been distracted. At least that's what he told himself when he begged sleep to take him for the night, while in the far corner of his room death was watching him with a condescending smile. The empire was in declining. The vassal states getting ideas of independence. The fools. It was unity that kept them alive, unity that upheld civilisation, unity that made them strong. Imperial unity not the fickle consensus of the masses who followed whomever's voice was the most honeyed, nor that of the council of the noble houses driven by their unquenchable envy of each others power. It was the true unity brought by house Sagras the only noble bloodline to have survived since the dawn of history. They who had left behind artefacts even before the age of the first great chroniclers. Even now archaeologists were unearthing artefacts from a time now mostly forgotten on a continent they believed newly discovered bearing the crest of the imperial house.
"Hubris." half choked by tears.
Emperor Varan Sagras LXVII last of his bloodline, bent by old age and broken by grief in a way only the strongest will could be warped and crushed to arrived in the tempest halls. Here was the entrance to great spiralling stair roads leading from its very foundations all the way into the heavens. The heat of the deep catacombs rising towards the topmost floors above created the raging storm that gave this part of the tower its name. He gripped his staff of office tightly with both hands, working his way slowly towards a carrier, pushing against the storm. It took all of what little strength was left in his desiccated body to reach the cylindrical metal carriage container. Trembling with exhaustion he barely made it to the door at the lee-ward side of the cylinder. The carriage was a splendour from the seventh dynasty, wrought from precious metal, and polished hardwood, made to work for centuries but above all else to awe those who laid their eyes on it. The metal forming the shapes of the great predators of the eastern lands, the wood engraved to mimic its overgrown plains and forests. Hands shaking he opened the door and entered. Inside after closing the door there was only perfect silence, in here the storm had no power, was denied any presence. Here he could only hear the drained beat of his heart and his fluttering breath, nothing else. At first. Then little by little the room around him started to resonate with him, coming alive with a deep lethargic hum. He sat down in the seat in the front of the carriage facing the main window. The wind could not be seen or heard from this place. He let himself fall into the control seat its cushions rushing forward to catch him as he fell, gently, almost lovingly, seating him. He closed his eyes finding for a brief moment a semblance of peace. The resonant hum around him shifting into a deep languorous drone. As he relaxed sleep finally approached him, but as always sleep brought memories, of fire, of disease and of war. Before his eyes his wife, his children, his cousins, uncles and aunts, his brothers and sisters one by one where plucked away from him. Again.
He forced eyes open, staring out of the window pushing the dream away and with it the memories.
It was time to move on. He laid his hands on the controls of the carriage activating the ancient machine. Outside it unfolded it wings of woven gold, catching the wind, absorbing its raging power, converting it into fluid motion. The craft moved right into the tempest towards the stair roads. The actual bridge to heaven connecting the depths of the earth with the sky above. The wise scholars of the empire had ascended to the Heaven's since the days the tower touched the clouds. To study the sky, the stars and the winds. Or so they said. Secretly they were all looking for the edge of the realm of the gods. A fact the gods at first found amusing until one day many centuries ago the sage Lirna of Tharas Falls noticed that it was hidden within the air right where the clouds could reach no higher. That lead to the first ever diplomatic incident between humanity and the gods leading to the Celestial Incident a few decades later. A time of great glory for the Sagrasan Empire.
"Hubris." said the Emperor as his carriage took him past the celestial ring where the first embassies to the gods were built.
By now the stair road was getting calmer, even the wind lost force these heights, the carriage now mostly moving through the energy it had accumulated before. Varan left behind the stone blocks that had been used to build most of the tower entering the very tip which was wrought from living crystal and transparent metals a structure that defied nature and the gods. After the wind had failed, Varan knew that it was now as silent outside as it was inside his craft. Here even the sun began losing its power. The sky outside now visible through the translucent wall shifted from dark blue to the black of the void of space, the first stars becoming visible.
Not far now. He was almost there. He had reached the part where he knew the name of everyone one who lay here, the name and the person. Not far now. His body remembered before his mind did. His tears pooling into his dry eyes, recognising the grave of his great grandmother before his mind did. Shaliliana the Elder. For others the nigh immortal matriarch to the empire, to him the warm and loving woman who would always dote on him and never return from any of her many state voyages without a little gift. Now there was no one alive who was close enough to him to know that to this day he had kept Vyl a tiny cloth bear she had given him before he could walk. Vyl still sat in his office on the highest shelf, always watching over him, even now that he was an old man. For a moment the old emperor thought if it would not have been a better idea to not hide Vyl from the eyes of the others, but keep him maybe on a tiny chair on top of his desk, reminding his subordinates, that even he, Varan Sagras LXVII was a human like them. Maybe then... His tears washed away his thoughts.
The carriage had reached its destination, it retracted its golden sails falling dormant again, while inside the emperor had to wait until the tears had washed away enough of his pain so that he could move again. When he finally stepped out his eyes where dull. For a short while he felt empty, a gift he was unable to enjoy but was deeply grateful for.
With his head down he moved forward. He knew the way. He did not dare look up and see the exquisitely decorated doors leading to the tombs of his closest family. He knew better than to look at the walls etched with scenes commemorating their greatest moments in life. It was meant as a celebration for those who had come before, yet if he lifted his eyes it would crush him. No, he had to move past, he had to reach his own room. It was waiting for him.
When he finally arrived at his final resting place he scrambled to the control panel next to the gate slamming the emergency button that would seal the room. The great doors thundered shut. Now he could dare to raise his eyes. The room of eternal rest itself was only decorated once the inhabitant had died. So he was now standing in a great hall with translucent walls the colour of white opal with a transparent celling above showing the stars in the black sky. In the centre of the hall stood his sarcophagus on raised part of the floor. Here he would lay down to rest for a final time, rejoining his family.
"Not today." he told the universe. He moved towards the open coffin faint embers smouldering back to life in his eyes, a faint echo of his once great will. After his last niece was killed by the sword of enemy soldiers, sweet little Laha, the last scion of house Sagras, Varan had almost died with her. Almost. His grief had almost consumed him, then his anger burnt him giving way to suffocating despair. He was too raw, too wounded to die then. After calming down enough to feel the loss, a final drop in an ocean filled with regret, he could start to think again. His life, his dynasty, his empire, everything was over. In the end death had won. It had always been with them, following them wherever they went. They even built death a monument, the greatest that had ever been erected. Somehow they all had failed to grasp the warning growing ever taller as countless generations passed. Now after millennia of patience death made its point clear.
"Hubris." this time his voice was calm. He just nodded to himself. He leaned his staff of office against his sarcophagus. He pulled a crystal rod from his coat. Warm to the touch, almost as long as his forearm, made from a dark blue stone. It had cost him most of the treasures left to the Sagrasan Empire and the sanity of many of the greatest sages of his time. Some of the more resilient sages despite their great wisdom did not know when it was prudent to remain silent. So with great regret Varan had to teach them virtue they lacked. He had laid them to rest inside the imperial mausoleum honouring their great work.
His fingertips caressing runes into the warm almost pliant crystal, activating it. As the artefact came to live it consumed his, withering the hand and most of the arm that had woken it. The desiccated arm fell to his side, the hand turning to ash slowly raining to the pristine floor. He gently laid the rod now strobing in a strange rhythm onto the floor, pulled out his knife held it between his teeth and cut deep into his still healthy hand. As his blood splashed onto the sarcophagus he spat out the knife. He took back his staff of office. He spoke the words, tapped the staff against his coffin opening his final resting place. The sarcophagus blossomed open its many arms expecting his body ready to wrap themselves around him to welcome him to his eternal rest. In stead of himself he gave them the blue rod, they took it and the sarcophagus collapsed into itself now pulsing with the blue energy.
Emperor Sagras' eyes where now alive again. Death had come and taken everything from him. Destroyed not only what was dear to him but what he and his ancestors had fought so long to establish, to nourish, to protect. It had come to claim the greatest civilisation that ever was. But he would not allow it. He would not be broken. Death had claimed his realm, well Varan would claim the realm of death in return. The cerulean rod was now part of Heaven's Bridge extending its tendrils of power growing from its very tip down to the deepest foundations finding the dead which had the taste of the blood it had drunk. Using the life force of everything around Heaven's Bridge as a fulcrum it grabbed hold of the dead, ready to pull.
Emperor Varan Sagras LXVII stood in front of what once had been his final resting place, now a throbbing ovoid mass of blue crystal light. He raised his staff of office high above his head ready to strike it down and return every single member of his dynasty who had been taken by death back into this world.
The staff crashed down.
"Hubris."
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