Page 324 of Of Empires and Dust
“My concern is for my people and the Belduarans with whom we have broken bread for millennia, not the Lorians. Such is the weight of a crown.” Kira folded her arms and looked at the maps. “This gives us time. While he is arranging his assaults, perhaps he will be less vigilant of what is closer to him.”
“That is all well and good, sister. But it is the forces of Durakdur he will send first. Our people who will take the brunt of the Lorian mages. Why do we wait? Why not attack now? There are many who stand beside you, ready to rally to your banner.”
“Because first we must see the Belduarans safe from our halls. They have suffered too much already.”
“And why is thatourduty? We gave them sanctuary.Weprotected them. I was not here, but it was their boy-king who plotted with Pulroan, was it not?” Erani looked around the chamber at Alrick and the others. “Why do we continue to risk ourselves for their benefit?”
“Because that is who we are.” Kira slammed her fist on the table. “The Belduarans have stood by us since long before you and I drew breath. I will not be the one to break that bond. Oleg has promised us half his fighting number to see Hoffnar dead and our home returned. All he has asked is that we ensure the Belduaran people escape this mountain and the torrent of horrors they have endured. They are our allies, and wewillstand by them.”
The door creaked open, and Turim Arlan, Guildmaster of the Wind Runners, strode in with those padded navigator glasses strapped to his head and two of Kira’s Queensguard at his side.
“The Wind Runners Guild is ready when you are, my queen.”
Kira nodded. “Then let us begin.”
Hours later,Kira found herself standing in a place she never believed she would stand. A place part of her had only thought legend.
The lost city of Vindakur sprawled before her, golden domes and rooves glinting in the yellow light of the strange Heraya’s Ward that covered the rock ceiling and spread down the sweeping pillars. If she didn’t look too closely, it was as though the city stood still in time, just as awe-inspiring and wondrous as it had been in her mind when she’d heard the stories as a child. When she looked closer, however, she could see marks in the stone, the plants growing through the cracks, the bodies of the kerathlin littered about.
This place had once been the glittering gem of the Lodhar Freehold. And those creatures had slaughtered every soul within. It still made little sense to her. The kerathlin were vicious when provoked, an unrelenting wave of claw and mandible. And whenever mining parties strayed too close to the nests – which happened far too often for her liking – the results were savage. But they’d never attacked a city before. It had always been thought that the mass of sound and bodies kept them away. The kerathlin were ferociously defensive but not aggressive. And then, after everything, the creatures had simply abandoned their nest? Pieces of this puzzle were missing, of that she was sure.
Slowly, Kira pulled her attention from the golden rooves and sweeping walkways to the thousands of souls that filled the streets on the opposite side of the bridge upon which she stood. Blocks of red and purple marked her Queensguard and the Belduaran forces marching through the thick of bodies.
Just over half of the Belduaran refugees had made the journey so far, the Wind Runners in constant operation to bring them through. With care and patience, and more than a little luck, they could see the Belduarans through the portals before Hoffnar had any idea.
“Just a little longer,” Kira whispered as she watched the sea of people. “Just a little longer.”
Five shapes emerged from the crowd and crossed the bridge. Vikmar and four of her Queensguard stopped and bowed as they reached her. “The defensive lines are set, my queen, and we’ve blockaded the external Wind Tunnels. Twenty-nine watchposts have been placed between here and the other cities, virtuk riders at each. If Hoffnar’s forces move, we will know about it.”
“Good. Come.”
Kira turned towards the ruined dome that had once enclosed the Portal Heart. The structure was enormous and dominated the island upon which they stood. Erani had told her they’d pulled several bodies from the rubble during the excavation, dwarven and Belduaran. This was how the Draleid had escaped the tunnels. Kira had made sure Rikber Lars would remain ignorant of the fact that he would not be the first person to activate a Portal Heart in centuries. That piece of information would help absolutely nobody.
The circular tunnel that led into the centre of the island was the only piece of the structure that had remained fully intact. Kira removed her gauntlet and brushed her fingers against the smooth rock as she stepped into the tunnel and walked its length. This place was more than just a structure. It was a holy thing, a gift from Hafaesir to her people – a gift she had thought lost.
When she reached the end of the tunnel, she just stopped and stared. Even with most of the roof gone and stacks of rock piled along the chamber’s edges, the Portal Heart was still a sightto behold. Massive stone rings, some twenty feet across, etched with delicate carvings and marked with glyphs at the top. One had been crushed by the falling rocks, but three were still intact.
Rikber Lars and a score of other dwarves stood about a pedestal at the chamber’s centre, as they had done for some time, books and sheets of parchment all about them.
“How goes the progress?” Kira asked Erani as her sister approached.
“As quickly as it can!” Rikber called out.
Erani just shrugged, and Kira gestured for her to follow.
“I understand it is a delicate process, Rikber,” she said, moving to stand by Rikber’s side. “But there are only four glyphs. Surely we could move a little faster.”
Rikber shook his head, staring down at the markings on the topmost page of a thick sheaf of parchment in his hand. The dwarf stopped, gave a sharp ‘tssk’, and turned to Kira. “There may only be four glyph markings, but each glyph is composed of several subsets with instructions contained within. These are glyphs in a language long lost, a language gifted to our ancestors by the gods themselves, one that is singular in its ability to record large quantities of information in a small space. I am the only living scholar who has even a semblance of an idea what they mean. If you want me to activate the rings, I can do so right now.”
Rikber pressed his palm down onto one of the four glowing crystals. The ground beneath their feet shook, and the glyph marking atop the ring to Kira’s left ignited with a golden light. A heartbeat passed and awhooshswept through the chamber as molten gold poured from within the ring, forming into a floating pool.
“There,” he said, gesturing towards the ring. “Step through. Go. I have no idea which Portal Heart I’m sending you to, but go. I’m sure it will only take hours or days to stumble yourway through the tunnels on the other side and, with luck, you can determine where in the gods you actually are – as long as you don’t starve or get murdered by something. And if you’re in the wrong place, we can try again. Do we have days? Weeks? Not to mention Portal Hearts canfeelintent and can alter their functions accordingly… at least, that’s what the old writings say. But yes, go, step through, do what you want. What use am I anyway?”
“I get your point, Rikber.”
“Do you? Good. Now can you stop looming over me and let me do my work?”
A part of Kira wanted to hack the old dwarf’s head off and take her chances with a one-in-three guess. But she decided against it.
