A seemingly endless line of carts, full of supplies and visitors, passed behind Yonni as she explored the market square of Kephram’s Keep with eyes full of wonder. The way that the ribbons and flags hung from the rafters and vibrant colors were splashed across every surface reminded her of the Raftworks back home. She wondered if she would hear news of her kingdom or whether she would be able to return anytime soon. The weight of the accident that separated her from her mother weighed heavily on her mind. While Utic had tried his best to offer her solace, and Tuvhe his trust, nothing could replace the yearning she had to feel the salted waters of the sea embrace her. The feeling of being dragged down to the abyss knowing that it was not a place of fear, but home. The weightlessness that came with being able to swim wherever she pleased.
‘I miss it too, keeper,’ Drinex confided. ‘We’ve been away too long. I can barely hear the water’s call.’
‘I want to make sure the Queen is safe,’ Yonni told him. ‘After that, I would love to go Wallu riding along the mineral wells. It would be nice to feel the current in my hair and see that diamond-like dust again.’
“Yonni, did you hear me?” Utic said from beside her. She had gotten lost in the sea of her oceanic fantasies and didn’t realize he had approached. Her absent expression gave him his answer.
“Tuvhe says that we need to go,” He said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her along. “He’s found a guard that may help us get in.”
Yonni tugged against Utic’s hand to loosen his grip. His palms were rough despite his young age. Her hand slipped out and she slowed her pace. While she had practiced walking plenty over the two days it took them to reach Prodigium from Orghov’s barge, she still wasn’t able to move as fast as she would have liked. Any attempts to speed up often resulted in her flat on the ground and both of her fellow Tomekeepers asking if she was hurt.
“Oh! I’m sorry, Yonni,” Utic expressed. “I didn’t hurt you did I?”
Yonni shook her head. The curls of her hair bounced lightly. “You’re just moving faster than I can keep up with.”
Utic apologized again, then looked around. Yonni felt it too. There was an odd sensation that rocked down the back of her neck and into her stomach, like the sting of multiple jellyfish all at once. Her breathing grew heavy. It felt like a more extreme version of the sensation she felt when Tuvhe first met them.
‘More Tomekeepers are nearby,’ Drinex informed her. ‘You may be feeling the culmination of our magical energy. I can sense… seven more nearby. One in particular has an abnormally large amount of magic pouring out of them.’
‘Can you tell who each Tomekeeper is connected to and where they are?’
‘Everyone’s magic is ebbing and flowing into one another’s,’ Drinex explained. “I can detect all the gods except Heivara and Ghantei. As for where, the only thing that I can tell you is that Noli and Wogiwoj are somewhere in the immediate vicinity.’
Yonni met Utic’s eyes as they looked around. “Did Drinex tell you the same thing that Verna told me?” Utic asked. “About Noli and Wogiwoj?”
Yonni nodded in affirmation and scanned the crowd. Being able to navigate the flow of bodies was a massive task already, but trying to find two other specific people in it seemed impossible. Utic waved to get her attention. “Bunny ears, three carts up. That’s got to be them!” He suggested.
Yonni and Utic weaved through the crowds and carts until they reached the one that seated the bunny man and his redheaded companion. A strange vibration rippled through Yonni’s body, one she could only assume was an indicator of their magical connection. Outside of the Tomekeeper potential, the ears of both stuck out to her. The man’s were tall and furry while the woman’s were sharp and slightly tilted back. A Wojlidoj and a Phreeton Elf indeed. Yonni had heard many stories about both groups from her father growing up, but to her it was like seeing a mythical creature in person. She wondered if that was how others felt meeting her in all her Anquan glory.
“Excuse me,” Utic called up to the couple. “You wouldn’t happen to be riding into Prodigium, would you?”
The man looked down from the cart and looked Utic over. The woman leaned over, and the moss and leaves that adorned her forest garments appeared waxy in the bright, white sun. She whispered something in his ear.
“Why are you asking?” The man replied with a guarded tone.
Yonni shuffled over to Utic’s side. To her, there was no point in skirting around the topic. They looked displaced from their nations, had traveled to the city, and were an odd-looking couple to begin with. Either they were Tomekeepers, or they weren’t.
“We’re the Tomekeepers of Drinex and Verna,” She informed them. “I have strong reason to believe you may be the chosen for Wogiwoj and Noli. Am I correct in that assumption?”
The couple exchanged a glance and relaxed. “Drinex and Verna, eh?” The man replied. “Couple of the good ones, I hear. Nothing like the off-kilter ones that surround us in the North. I’m Kliev, Tomekeeper of The Woj.”
He reached across the cart and extended a hand that Utic and Yonni shook in good faith. He held his palm out towards the woman.
“I’ve never heard you call him The Woj before,” She commented.
“He said he prefers it,” Kliev responded.
“Alright, then,” The woman said with a few heavy blinks. She faced Utic and Yonni, arms outstretched as she dipped into a small bow. “I’el Rivini, Tomekeeper of Noli. It’s a pleasure to meet you two.”
“The pleasure is ours,” Utic replied as he returned her bow. “It’s nice to acquaint ourselves with more Tomekeepers before the upcoming banquet.”
“Banquet?” Kliev asked in surprise.
“Did you seriously forget about the Banquet of Tomes?” I’el asked him. “You know, the moment we all come together and officially acknowledge the centennial cycle?”
“I’ll be honest with you, I’el. I don’t recall much of the process. I just know if there’s food and mead to be had, I will gladly be a part of whatever you need me to do. “
Yonni tilted her head and tried to assess their new acquaintances. They seemed comfortable with each other, but both were awkward in comparison to many of the people she knew. Kliev came across as cocky and brash, a front to no doubt hide a more emotional side, while I’el was sweet, but flighty. They were an usual mix that somehow managed to click.
“You two must have traveled quite a ways,” Yonni said, breaking her silence. “I’d love to hear about your journey at some point. We just arrived ourselves and were trying to find a way into the city. Perhaps we can join together?”
“That’s fine by me,” Kliev answered.
“Same,” I’el seconded.
Yonni let out an unnoticed sigh. Somehow, she had gone from all alone to a group of five strong, and thankfully all the Tomekeepers that she had met had been, from the outside at least, nice people. It was far from how she originally thought the situation and the journey would go.
“I see you two have made new friends,” Tuvhe’s voice startled Yonni from behind. She jumped and spun around to face him. He had an air of seriousness around him.
“Who’s this?” Kliev asked Utic and Yonni.
Tuvhe offered a slight bow. “Tuvhe Vull, Tomekeeper of Senna and the Devement.”
“You mean Tomekeeper of the Betrayer, then?” I’el blurted. She looked at Yonni. “This is the company you keep?”
“Drinex and Verna told us to trust him, and we have,” Yonni replied. It was a weird sensation to say such things out loud. “He hasn’t steered us wrong. In fact, he saved us from a group of Pyrolites.”
“The Woj is telling me that he was never proven to be the Betrayer,” Kliev leaned over and told I’el.
“Well, Noli is saying otherwise,” I’el said with crossed arms. “Something about weeds in a garden. Tell me, Tuvhe: Why should we trust you?”
Tuvhe stepped up to the cart and gave I’el a cold look. Kliev seemed to brace himself for trouble. “Because if you don’t, your options for getting into Prodigium reduce drastically,” Tuvhe answered bluntly. “I don’t suppose you would be able to grow a vine tall enough to stretch over this wall?”
I’el lowered her arms. “To be fair, I haven’t really had a chance to try.”
“I understand your hesitation. I really do,” Tuvhe continued. “Yonni and Utic were the same, but I promise I’m just trying to help and get us to where we need to be.”38Please respect copyright.PENANAj9ORgjtnTT
Tuvhe waited for a response, then stepped back when there wasn’t one. “One of the guard towers next to the gate is helmed by a Celenian named Coltiel. I told him about everything and he’s offered to take us to the castle when we’re ready.”
“What made him believe that you were a Tomekeeper?” Yonni asked in surprise.
Tuvhe patted the hilt of his sword. “I had to show him the only magic I can muster right now.”
Yonni pondered asking more questions, then decided against it. The group looked at one another, then followed Tuvhe as he led the way toward the guard tower. It was bigger than Yonni had expected, a sturdy metal block that was raised high into the sky with the flag of Prodigium fluttering across the pointed tip. The Celenians guarding the door stepped aside as the group entered and Tuvhe took them up six flights of stairs. They pressed on through a set of double doors and into a room with wood paneling along the floor and walls. An older Celenian man with vibrant white wings and shaggy hair gazed out the tower’s right side window.
“You’ve made it back,” Coltiel said. “And with extras in tow. I take it you all are ready to head to the castle?”
He turned and Yonni let out an audible gasp. The tips of his entire left wing had been burned off haphazardly. It looked like someone had taken a sword to it and cut off chunks without regard to the final presentation. Black and dark brown lines ran along the edges. She didn’t even know it was possible to destroy a Wingsong’s wings so badly.
“It’s no worry,” Coltiel said to Yonni, reading her expression. “I can’t fly like I used to, but I can still hold my own in battle.”
“Thank you for taking us to the castle,” Utic said.
“Yeah, we weren’t sure how we were supposed to enter,” Kliev added.
Coltiel waved his hand in front of him. “It’s no problem, I assure you. We’ve been waiting for you all to show up, but, as you can imagine, we’ve also had to increase our security measures as a result. Word is spreading fast that the Tomekeepers have been chosen, and everyone wants to know who or claim that glory for themselves. I trust you can vouch for one another?”
Everyone nodded in agreement. “Good, then we can proceed,” Coltiel continued. He moved to the back of the room and pressed his hand against a hidden panel in the wall. It shifted back and he rolled it into the rest of the wood to reveal a doorway. “We’re going to climb up onto the top of the wall and take the path around to the castle, then descend the bulwark to reach the courtyard. I hope that you all are ready for a walk.”
Coltiel ascended a ramp into another stairwell, the group behind him. The rounded staircase spiraled to the top, but the lack of railing caused Yonni to cling to the stone wall as they ascended. They went through another door at the top of the staircase and emerged onto the paved pathway at the top. The wind blew fiercely against them all. While Coltiel was unbothered, the others flinched from the sudden blast of frigid air. Yonni felt like a strong enough breeze could even blow her over the edge. She shuddered.
The view of Prodigium from atop the wall was breathtaking. The mass collection of buildings, carts and people all seemed so much smaller from her bird’s eye perspective. The glittering rooftops and flags blended into a rainbow of colors that stretched across the city, and a massive grassy circle filled with man-made rivers broke up the infrastructure in Prodigium’s center. The castle, tucked toward the back, was a multi-story and five-towered sprawling work of architectural art made of white quartzite that radiated in the sunlight. “Lidaesea’s crown jewel”, as it was often called, was the most fitting name it could have been given. It was truly a work only Ghantei herself could have created.
The bridge rumbled slightly as the gate below them opened up. Yonni looked over the edge to see the mass of carts had been parted to make way for a singular carriage covered in gold, silver and blue tourmaline. 38Please respect copyright.PENANAQut0r6Mt9n
“What’s up with the fancy carriage?” Yonni asked Coltiel. He stopped in place and tilted over to see what she had noticed. Another breeze threatened to blow her away as he looked back at her. 38Please respect copyright.PENANAe8PQtEnRVT
“Oh, that? That’s another one of you Tomekeepers. I’m not sure who, though.”
Ramji peered out of the carriage window and listened to the crank of the gate as it lifted. It sounded old, maybe even rusted. Probably in need of maintenance.
“You might want to have them run an inspection on that thing,” She said to the blonde Celenian seated across from her. F’jalla, as she had introduced herself, was not amused. She cracked her knuckles and remained silent. “I’m just saying,” Ramji continued. “I wouldn’t want to be the one to get a slap on the wrist for something that could be easily prevented.”
“And what exactly do you think is going to happen?” F’jalla snapped. “You’ve been commenting on nearly everything we’ve seen or passed since we left Casis. Do you not stop talking?”
Ramji scooted back against the seat of the carriage and crossed her legs. “I thought you would have enjoyed the conversation. Clearly, I was wrong.”
“Great Ghantei,” F’jalla fumed. “I was told that you lot were supposed to be easy to work with. That you answered to the voices in your head and followed along. Nobody said anything about Tomekeepers being dense.”
Ramji dropped her leg back down and shot F’jalla a deadly stare. “I will not allow anyone to call me dense, or any other variation that dilutes my intelligence. I worked incredibly hard to get to where I am, much as I’m sure you have as well, so - woman to woman - drop the shite and at least acknowledge that much.”
F’jalla looked surprised, then a smarmy grin wrapped across her face. “Oh, it looks like the Tomekeeper has some bite to her after all. Here I thought you were too buried in your books to know anything about standing up for yourself.”
‘This one is quite the antagonistic force,’ Shoroux commented. ‘I implore that we deduce why.’
Ramji agreed. “Why are you so spiteful towards me when I’ve done nothing of harm to you?”
“You think I’m going to spill my heart out to you? Tell you my tragic story and make you cry? Ha!” F’jalla mocked her. “The only thing you need to know is that I don’t trust Tomekeepers.”
“But why?”
“Because there is nothing you Tomekeepers have done that couldn’t have been completed by everyday people. All of Ghantei’s keepers were chosen because they had already done great things. Being a Tomekeeper never gave them the ability to do more than they had before. The rest? All power hungry or attention-starved louts that flaunted their connection to our almighty beings to gain favors.”
‘Incorrect,’ Shoroux said. ‘Gaddiel was one of the best tomekeepers I’ve chosen and was neither of those things.’
“I don’t believe that,” Ramji responded. “I think you’re being unfair in your assessment of what we are and do.”
“And what exactly is that?”
Ramji ruffled the curls of her hair. “Honestly? I have no idea yet. I won’t until I receive my tome. I know I was chosen for a reason, though. Shoroux has already shown me that.”
“If you expect me to believe that you, or any of the others, are not just using your connections to gain for yourselves, then I’m going to have to see hard proof. Actions speak louder than words.”
“That’s a trite phrase that offers little semblance of an argument,” Ramji snarked. “You want proof? Fine. As a scientist, everything I do comes down to proving people wrong.”
The ensuing awkward silence was filled by the clacking of the carriage wheels against the stone roads of Prodigium. Ramji looked out the window at the mass of people shopping, playing and conversing around them. While she was sure it was paradise for some, she would much rather have been tucked away back in her lab.
‘There’s solace in searching for the unknown, keeper,’ Shoroux told her. ‘That much I understand.’
‘Data makes sense, Shoroux,’ Ramji remarked. ‘People don’t. I can understand the alchemic makeup of iron, or how to create a fuel for the propulsion of modernized vehicles, yet the actions of others continues to confound me.’
‘Life is a series of trials, Ramji. That is why I choose to explore what awaits us in the aether instead,’ Shoroux stated.
Ramji used her peripheral vision to see what F’jalla was doing. The clacking of the wheels had begun to bother her immensely. Ramji needed something to distract her and scratched at the tops of her nails. Meanwhile, the Celenian was rubbing a spot off the balled point of her hilt.
“You come across as someone who likes battle,” Ramji noted. “Why work for the Monarch instead of leading the troops?”
F’jalla stopped rubbing and looked up. “Are you asking why I choose to serve His Majesty instead of chopping down naysayers?”
“If that’s how you opt to take it, sure.”
“That may be the only sensible thing to come out of your mouth this entire ride,” F’jalla teased. “The answer is simple. I love the thrill of battle. The feeling of my sword piercing through an enemy’s armor is unmatched. The sounds of hundreds, if not thousands, of soldiers joined together and stomping across a battlefield is the only type of music I enjoy. Yet, I know the cost of it all. The sad truth is that when we go to war, the ones who pay the biggest price are the ones that never see the battlefield. The mothers and fathers of fallen sons and daughters. The widows left behind by their loved ones. The children that will never again feel the embrace of a parent. I’ve had to deliver news that nobody wants to hear to too many of these people to ever want to do so again. By serving the Monarch, I can help prevent the wars that once ravaged our world from ever occurring again.”38Please respect copyright.PENANAgKPYGuISL2
Ramji reflected on F’jalla’s words. It wasn’t the answer she had expected. In fact, it made the Celenian seated across from her seem a little more human. War was a long forgotten idea to many of the people that inhabited Lidaesea. The last one, if Ramji recalled correctly, was in the sixth century when the gods were still corporeal.38Please respect copyright.PENANAx9rxcGVLbr
‘That was when we made the vow to never wage war again,’ Shoroux noted in her mind. ‘We would resolve things peacefully, and by our own standards. No matter the cost.’
The carriage suddenly stopped as a loud explosion and screams of terror rang from outside. The pressure of the blast caused the windows to shatter across Ramji and F’jalla in a cloud of sparkling glass. The former covered her face and was too scared to move, but the latter wasted no time in getting out to investigate. Another explosion rocked the carriage.
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