14. The Council Of Kaz’um

> “Put your sharpest drill bits for the toughest rocks. Put your sharpest minds to the toughest decisions.” - D’Varshan Founding Constitution

Ostri was not who Athena expected to see entering her cell. He had been complicit in her escape and she had expected he too would be disciplined, if not imprisoned. If he was free, and just a single guard waited for him in the corridor outside, then it implied that punishment was not on the Council’s mind. At least, that was what Athena hoped.

Another possibility passed through Athena’s mind: that this was an escape attempt; that Ostri had somehow talked his way out of trouble and was going to free her and together they would flee Kaz’um. This, also, was an improvement on any scenario she had envisioned while she had been sitting alone in her cell.

Either way, she remained ready to adapt to whatever came next. She uncrossed her legs and rose to her feet.

“Lead the way,” she told him.

Ostri turned and left the cell with Athena following behind. The guard took up the rear. The shouting of Orques could be heard down another corridor. Whatever they were, and she had never seen their kind in the mortal plane, Athena decided she really didn’t like them.

They left the imposing prison building and she was surprised to see six more D’varsha guards out in the street.

“Do they expect me to try to escape?” she asked Ostri. If this was an escape attempt then it had failed already.

“Can’t be too careful,” he said with a wink, “But no: they’re for your protection. In case one of Lucathar’s loyalists has infiltrated the fortress somehow. We would rather be over-cautious than wrong.”

Events really had turned around, she thought to herself.

The guards surrounded the pair at a distance of a few paces and she followed their lead through the streets. Even inside the mountain, out of sight of the sun, the D’varsha still followed the routine of day and night established by conditions outside. Athena judged it was still late night or early morning, judging by the light levels. She had not been in the cell as long as she thought, which said something for how effective it was at disorienting its captive. At this hour, the streets were deserted and the guards were in a hurry to get them to wherever they were going before more of the fortress’s residents awakened.

“What do the Council want?” she asked Ostri.

“I told Leonix everything I knew. About the Elemental. About transmuting aeserium into carbon. About Lucathar’s efforts to breach the Tower. In Leonix’s view none of this is possible and he wants to send you back into the Wastelands where you will cause no more trouble for our people, but it’s not his decision alone. The Council has been called to discuss what to do with you.”

“And what do you think they’ll do?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps they will send you on your way with Aguel. Some may wish to cast you from the city alone. It depends on how seriously they take the threat. In my view, they should take it very seriously, but it’s not up to me.”

“Even with your position they won’t listen to you? Shouldn’t you be on the council?”

“They listen to my opinion, but I do not have the patience to be a Council member.”

Athena looked up as the guards turned from the street and they climbed a long rise of shallow steps, carved from the mountain stone as everything was. At the top of the steps a circular building rose from the ground to the full height of the space within which the city sat, melding into the rocky ceiling hundreds of feet above them, and as Athena looked around she realised they were at the centre of Kaz’um. This must be the Council building, she thought, noting the symbolism of its design as an enormous stone column that appeared to support the very mountain above it.

Large stone doors opened and they entered, but there were no guards other than those that accompanied her. It seemed the D’varsha had a peaceful system within Kaz’um and therefore there was no need for any kind of police force, even within the seat of government. There were few species around the galaxies which felt secure enough in their internal order that even the most powerful figures needed no guards, but the D’varsha had outlasted many others precisely because of their political stability. The column was an apt form on which to model their seat of local government.

A second set of doors opened and Athena had expected to enter a large chamber with seating for rows of spectators, for the government to be observed in action, but the space was surprisingly intimate. Just a table with a gentle curve to it, although not a full semi-circle, and five D’varsha sat behind it. Unlike so much here that was made of stone, the table was made of wood. She assumed it was a choice with significance as it seemed too ornate, and too deliberately different, to be merely the most convenient piece of furniture they had to hand.

Leonix sat at one end of the table. If the seating positions related to any kind of hierarchy then it appeared he was not the most senior council member. There was one other male Council member and the other three were female, something she would find hard to tell if they were wearing armour, but in formal dress she could see the difference.

She looked to one side and saw Aguel, standing with his arms folded, the amusement that lined his face the last time she had seen him very much absent.

“Athena,” Leonix said as they entered, “Is it that trouble follows you everywhere you go, or is it that you bring it with you?”

The question was rhetorical, or at least impossible to answer, and she remained quiet.

“Ostri: you may stay. The guards can wait outside,” he continued.

The guards left and the doors behind her closed. Ostri left her side and stood by Aguel’s, folding his arms and unconsciously mirroring the pose of the much larger Engella.

“Tell us everything you know about aeserium, Lucathar, and the Tower,” Leonix instructed. The four other Council members sat back in their chairs.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Athena bristled at the blunt instruction but fought the urge to tell this D’varshan that he had no right to demand anything of an Aeseri. This is the Wasteland, she remembered, and this was their home. The Aeseri were considered little more than auxiliary helpers here, with no power, and no influence.

Well, she thought, I will change all of that soon enough.

“I know that Lucathar is obsessed with accessing the Tower,” she told them, “I know that aeserium has something to do with its construction, but I don’t know how. I don’t know what’s inside. I don’t know if Lucathar knows what’s inside. I don’t know whether his Elemental ever discovered the secret of transmuting aeserium into… carbon, was it?” Ostri nodded, arms still folded. “And I don’t know where this Elemental is.”

“I said tell us what you know. You have just told us a long list of things you don’t know.” Athena remained silent for a second. What she was not going to tell him was about the old man, the wasteland with the black sky, and the curious blue stone that he called aetherium which had crumbled into red aeserium dust in her hand.

“I know you’re scared of what might happen if Lucathar succeeds,” she said, “I know you’ve failed at any attempt to move aeserium into the mortal world.” She paused for effect. “And I know you need my help.”

One of the female Council members laughed.

“So like an Aeseri,” she said, “To think, even here, that the universe needs you to save it.”

“It will take centuries to rid her of that notion,” another Council member muttered.

“You’re optimistic,” another said, “This is the ‘great’ Athena. She will never be rid of her arrogance.” Even Ostri laughed and Athena gave him a hard look.

“Let us tell you some of the things we know,” the D’varshan woman who sat in the centre said, leaning forward and clasping her hands on the table in front of her. “We know you have fought Lucathar in the mortal world, and lost. We know you still think you can fight him again, despite having no followers, no power, and lack even the physical strength of an Engella.” She looked at Aguel as she said the last. “And we know that Lucathar still hunts for you, and that because of you we find ourselves in danger. Now, do you know why that might be? Why he still pursues you?”

“Because I’m a threat to him,” Athena answered, pushing hard with her one, big gambit. It drew the murmurings of a laugh from the Council.

“Perhaps he is as deluded as many other Aeseri we have encountered, but it seems he does perceive you to be so. Either that or you know something that he needs to know, but given the long list of things you don’t know I find that unlikely.” She paused. “Therefore I shall tell you our position. We know that Lucathar must not breach the Tower inside the Citadel.”

“Why? What’s in there?” Athena interrupted.

“We will not divulge that which we do not need to. But, like you, we do not know if the Elemental Igrisil succeeded in transmuting aeserium into carbon. We believe it to be impossible, but we wish to know, not just to believe. We do know that Kaz’um is in more danger with you here than without, and therefore we want you gone from this place.”

It sounded a lot like banishment was to be her punishment. Athena was about to interrupt, to make her case, but the council leader raised her hand. Even Athena knew it was better to bow to authority at the present moment.

“We also know that you believe the Elemental, if she has succeeded in transmutation of aeserium, will help you return to the mortal plane where you can attempt to pursue your vendetta against Lucathar.” She paused and took a deep breath. “Therefore we propose you try to find her, on the promise that you tell us anything you discover.”

“But I don’t know my way around the Wastelands,” Athena said, “Not yet. And with Lucathar pursuing me-”

The council leader raised her hand again.

“That is why Ostri will be accompanying you.” Athena turned to look at the D’varsha that had helped her to escape. He looked at her and nodded, and it seemed that he was fully in agreement with the decision. That was good, as Athena had no use for a reluctant companion. “You will start at the Market, where all information can be gained, if it can be gained at all.”

“And I, it seems, must take you there,” Aguel said, unfolding his arms.

“Must?” Athena asked. Aguel smiled.

“Let us just say that my future trading relations with Kaz’um will be harmed if I don’t put right what they see is my fault in not ascertaining your identity before bringing you here.” He sucked air through his teeth, and then in a lower voice: “Ah, Greysky, what trouble you have caused in such a short space of time.”

“I am grateful for your help,” Athena said, trying to sound genuine.

“I don’t need your condescension, Greysky. I am doing this out of self-interest, not generosity, and certainly not to perpetuate your delusional fight against Lucathar. And mark my words: if you endanger the caravan, I shall throw you at the mercy of the first party of Orques we come across.”

Athena’s anger rose and she struggled to contain it. No-one had ever spoken to her like that before, certainly no Engella. She fought to remain silent: she needed Aguel, and his caravan, for now. Until she reached the Market at least.

“You leave in a few hours,” the council leader told her, “Now, return to the courtyard and rejoin your caravan. Ostri will accompany you when you leave Kaz’um. Heed his advice or you will not survive for long in the Wastelands.”

Athena nodded, because that was something she knew to be true.

Ostri walked to the door and she turned and followed his lead. The guards surrounded them again as they descended the long flight of steps back to the street and navigated the twisting route back to the courtyard that she had escaped from only a few hours ago.

“How did they convince you to help me?” Athena asked Ostri.

“They did not need to convince me. It is what needs to be done. Not to help you, Athena, or perhaps I should get used to calling you Greysky, but to help my people. It is worth the risk.”

“You expect it to be dangerous? Because of Lucathar?”

“Because of many things.” They reached the gates of the courtyard. “And I fear that with just the two of us our chances are slim. When we reach the Market I will have the freedom to hire others to join us.”

“Hire? Mercenaries?”

“There are many Engella who will fight for the right price.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s better than having to fight for free,” he said as the gates opened and Athena was urged inside by the guards. “A small group may travel in relative safety, but a party of two are easy targets. We will have time when we reach the Market, but for now, assist in preparing the caravan for travel. We have only a few hours and there are many I wish to say farewell to.”

The metal gates closed and Ostri walked back down the street, leaving the six guards behind.

Athena turned round and almost walked straight into Sekardi.

“Where have you been?” Sekardi asked, “And how did you get out?”

“Never mind that. The caravan leaves in a few hours. We have to wake everyone.”

She turned around to see Aguel approaching. The guards unlocked the gates, leaving them open as the Engella strode into the courtyard.

“Caravan!” he shouted, his voice echoing off the stone buildings and rousing those that were still asleep in their rooms, “Prepare to move on.”

Suddenly the courtyard was filled with people and Athena and Sekardi were swept along the streets, flanked by guards and following Aguel who seemed to know exactly where he was going.

“I guess we’ll be at the Market a day earlier than planned,” Sekardi said as they almost ran through the streets.

The Market, Athena thought, where, with any luck, they would find clues as to where Igrisil had hidden herself.