Chapter 9

“The Ianuae”

Cariphae stood on a familiar grassy cliff with icy rain trickling down her skin. The wind moved her hair and her light blue dress in elegant waves while she watched the rolling sea crash against the rocks below. Her white veil whipped with the wind and struggled to contain her golden hair. The fog masked the horizon and thunder rolled across the waters. She felt her skin tighten to goosebumps and the scent of the sea filled her nose, that familiar scent.

The same dream she had every other night haunted her for as long as she could remember; It was so lifelike and so familiar. Something felt different this time. She felt more aware than usual. She was aware that she was dreaming and managed to move her eyes away from the horizon that always held her full attention. Cariphae fought to keep her sight away from the horizon and looked up to see her veil slipping from her head and understood that it was about to catch the wind. She predicted it correctly and saw it fly away to release her locks. Watching her veil flap wildly in the wind towards the sea’s horizon, she fought to try and catch it. Her fingertips managed to snag the edge of the beautifully knitted cloth.

She let it go and watched it soar into the fog. Now she waited for the rain to slow and for time to stop, only it didn’t. She could see the fog rising from the shore and slithering up the cliffside and it caused her to take a step back. Thunder clapped behind her so loudly that it rattled her chest and forced her to turn around with her eyes snapping upwards. Looking up at the darkening skies, she saw a storm barreling at her with fierce golden lightning striking across the thickening greenish-gray clouds. She could taste metal in the air from the electricity circulating around the cliffside – which she had not recalled in her earlier dreams. The sensation was reminiscent of Guardian’s presence in Arithmetia.

She felt an unknown fear deep down inside her and her body felt paralyzed. Her feet were cemented to the ground, and she couldn’t run no matter how much she struggled to move her legs. She felt heavier and heavier with an intense weight on her lower back. There was a sharp pain in her abdomen that made her wince and grasp at her stomach. It felt as though she had been kicked and it forced her to exhale all the air in her lungs in a whimper. The clouds continued to roll toward the sea and blackened the skies with a chilling ominous presence that overwhelmed both land and sea.

The storm crept and crawled its way to the horizon and filled Cariphae with dread. She looked to see the gray horizon once again, knowing that in her dreams, the horizon was always constant. It was unchanging and secure, always foggy, and mysterious yet there without fading. She couldn’t run from the fear and the storm, so she looked to that horizon for any semblance of comfort, only to see it change too. Behind the fog, there was a silhouette of a large ship with sails sharp and narrow. It was faded and dim, then grew darker and bolder as it approached the shores. Though she couldn’t see the ship through the fog, it sailed close enough to let her see its oddly slender and elegant shape. It reminded her of a particular fish in the sea called a marlin.

She tried to cry out to it in hopes that it could sail away from the storm, but nothing came from her mouth. Her desperate voice was muffled, and her rapid breath felt heavy to push out. She tried to breathe, but the air was viciously sucked from her lungs. The coldness and the rain froze her and the fog from the shore latched itself to her legs. Time began to slow until she could see every droplet of rain freeze in front of her. Cold white turned to warm darkness once more.

Wake up…

Cariphae jolted upright and gasped for air. She panted heavily and swallowed hard to wet her dry throat. Her hand grasped her chest and neck before sliding it down to her stomach to feel that the sharp pain had vanished. Her heart was pounding against her chest so strongly that the sound of it was deafening in her ears. She batted her eyes to blink the fogginess away to see that she had fallen asleep on her vanity.

The large ornate brass mirror reflected the terror in her eyes when she saw herself. Black charcoal makeup had dried against her cheeks from old tears that fell in her sleep and her black lipstick had smeared slightly. The dream had turned itself into a nightmare and it reflected that horror in her dark sunken eyes. She felt more exhausted than she had ever been as sleep had turned into more of a daunting chore. It was embarrassing to see herself in such rough shape and she looked away to gather herself. She fixed her lipstick and wiped away the makeup on her cheeks with heavy eyes before coming to a stand. She was still in her red silken nightgown, loose and lacey yet long enough to reach her feet. She had attempted to dress comfortably to sleep, though it had proved fruitless. She should’ve known better than to have tried.

Her bedroom was open and in pristine condition with the crimson bed sheets untouched and every piece of furniture well-dusted despite her lack of use for the room. Most of her time that amounted to rest and solitude was spent in her office rather than her bedroom. It was round with many cabinets, dressers, and closets to house all her most regal outfits. Paintings of Endle’s green forests and blue oceans lined her walls to remember what they looked like, for she had a deep appreciation for the beauty of the world above. A large red worn cape trimmed in gold had been hung above a fireplace that sat opposite to her large canopy bed. Beside her vanity stood an armor stand that held a most elaborate, magnificent, and yet deadly set of glistening gold-plated armor with deep dark cuts, dents, scratches, and holes that had been welded and forged back together. It was not seamless but certainly beautiful, nonetheless.

Like a scorpion’s armored shell, this armor layered itself around a tight curved waist and a pronounced breastplate – much larger than her chest’s true size – with rounded breast pockets and dipped sides. The shoulder plates stretched upwards in sharp spires while the brown leather skirt adorned a set of tasses made of layered metal scales. There were arm plates that were spiked with spires similar to the shoulders with the left arm having peculiar hooks and indents in them as if something locked into it. The gauntlets were thinner and sported sharp claws at the tips of every finger to be deadly in hand-to-hand combat.

The trim in every piece of the armor was decorated with intricate designs of bulls and intense fire. The headpiece was a thick war crown made of gold with a red jewel in the center of the forehead where a singular spire reached up high. Both side pieces of the war band cupped her face in equally dangerous points that would meet her jawline. The boots were just as layered with scaled armor that matched the torso with pointed knee cops and chiseled cuisses and greaves. The boots had thick heels and a sharp point to the toes which would’ve made kicks utterly fatal. The entire armor set was worthy of belonging to a war-experienced leader that all others feared.

Cariphae felt her eyes lock onto the armor and focused on the repaired damage that embellished it to remember every attack that caused them. The armor had seen sunlight and felt the sting of cold rain, yet she couldn’t remember what it felt like as it had been what felt like an eternity to her. However, the memory of warm blood splattering against her bronze flesh was still fresh. She turned away from the imposing armor and saw her paintings of lush forests and divine seas and approached a particular painting of a seaside cliff. Her hand touched the layered dried paint and admired the detail of the sea foam and fog. She had always been drawn to the painting.

Soon she would feel it again and put her weary mind at ease. There was no guarantee that her visit to the surface would solve the mysterious riddle her dream frequented her with but there was a spark of hope within her that fueled her desire to discover it. Her eyes felt so weighted and strained that it was more tempting to fall back asleep rather than prepare for her visit to Endle. There were chains of exhaustion tied to her legs that begged her to stay and drink until she could sleep once more but she had sworn to herself, Agatha, her people, and even the deceased Ensanguined King himself that she would reignite her inner flame and do what was right for Endle and Arithmetia alike.

The mysterious man who announced himself as Captain Adamus O’Dweller knew too much. There was a deep paranoia that he had been spying on her from a distance in Lovelacia. There wasn’t any explanation she could come up with to rationalize his knowledge about her, unless he was being aided by the Three Queens of Malice. The three had signed a peace treaty with Cariphae after they bent their knee to her when Virgoth had fallen. She knew the Ensanguined race all too well; They weren’t a race content with submission and always craved power. She wondered if Nacre was yet again up to no good and scheming.

Then there was the ‘urchin’ the Captain had described as Guardian. Yes indeed, Cariphae knew that Guardian was despicable in his own way, but he had vowed to protect the surface of Endle and all its living things. Surely, he was upholding his vows. She couldn’t be certain. The only way she knew what was happening on the surface was through him and she knew he had a history of dishonesty. Her heart told her something had been wrong for a long time, and she had yet to do anything about it. If she wouldn’t visit the surface for a dream, she would have to visit for a reality.

Thankfully she was visiting for both.

Cariphae’s mind wandered into possibilities where perhaps the Captain was genuinely warning her and offering her help in ways that no one else could. As strange as he appeared, he seemed honest and concerned while at the same time, fond and gentle. She had grown dull and calloused to Guardian’s arrogance and vague reports for so long that she had forgotten how to take true action – which is what the Captain had encouraged in mere moments of meeting her. The fiery queen established her plan in stone and knew she had to find the Captain.

Come to the sea up above. Watch the horizon, and I will come for ye.

His words felt so familiar to her as if they had been spoken a hundred times over to her. His words reflected her sea dream and commanded her to watch the horizon – that very same horizon that hid a mysterious ship. Her head hung low while her eyes stared aimlessly at the ground when she put what felt like two puzzle pieces together. Her stomach churned at the sudden realization of it, and it dragged her mind downwards. Was that Captain Adamus’s ship in her dream?

She heard a knock at her door to interrupt the long silence and her eyes blinked rapidly to return her to the present. Turning towards the door, she ran her palms against each side of her face to pull any floating strands of hair from her vision.

“Enter!”

The door opened and what stood in the large door frame was a massive, broad Valaah man whose flesh was blood-red. His head was that of a Clydesdale horse with a singular golden horn atop his brow, and long braided black hair fell past his decorated tattooed shoulders. His thin coarse hair was just as red as his flesh with a black muzzle and black-tipped ears and black digitigrade-hooved legs. He wore brass and iron armor with gauntlets on each hand, and his hooved feet glistened with iron horseshoes. Even his tail had been neatly braided and fell to the back of his knees. Intimidating sharp teeth protruded from the sides of his mouth and reached upwards to his muzzle – making him one of the fiercest Valaah in Cariphae’s fortress. He was her most prestigious General in all Arithmetia and a descendent of the same General who aided her in the great Red War.

“Amdusias,” Cariphae started as she approached her general, “have the court spires been unsealed?” She asked. Amdusias gave his queen a respectful bow with his right arm over his chest.

“Yes, ma’am, as you have requested,” Amdusias said as he stood upright and eyed his queen. His voice was deep and guttural like a beast. His chest was so broad that every breath the behemoth took could be heard easily while every exhalation produced a small amount of fog from his wide nostrils.

“Good. Now, accompany me. I trust that you would like to see it for yourself.” Cariphae nodded as she reached to a stand beside the door and took a black sheer robe from its hook before putting it on. The length dragged the floor several feet behind her, and she slipped on shined black heels. Amdusias looked a little taken aback by the invitation to see such a legendary piece of history.

“Forgive me for asking, but how is this Ianuae still functional? We were led to believe you had it dismantled many years ago.” Amdusias asked as he ushered her out the door with his hand on a sheathed blade strapped to his hip.

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“It was never dismantled, only concealed. I did not want Guardian destroying it.” Cariphae answered.

“He does not know?” Amdusias asked further.

“It is best that he doesn’t. He offered to open any portals necessary for my armies should the need ever arise, but I believe it is best to not allow him to possess that much control over where I send my men.” Cariphae spoke flatly.

“A wise choice, your majesty.” Amdusias agreed.

Cariphae led the way down the halls with Amdusias at her side who towered over her. His footsteps overpowered her own with heavy horseshoes pounding the stone floor – echoing powerfully against the walls. Her hair was flowing free in tow and offered a little more light to the dim halls. His breaths were just as loud as his steps and Cariphae found herself enjoying the sound as it was much better than pure silence. Even still, she yearned for a little more conversation to ease her foggy mind.

“Amdusias, I must ask you something.” Cariphae broke the silence which gained a rather confused yet surprised look from the General. Amdusias was obedient and followed his orders to precision, but it felt as though his queen was asking permission to ask something of him. It was an odd feeling for the Valaah man but a welcomed one.

“Of course, ma’am. You may ask anything of me.”

“Not of you. Just a question.” Cariphae corrected. “Have you ever wondered what the surface of Endle is like?” She asked. Amdusias glanced down at the floor for a moment.

“All Valaah have, but it isn’t a thought I entertain often. My place is here in Arithmetia by your side.” Amdusias replied confidently.

“By my side.” Cariphae repeated as they approached a long flight of stairs with a regal red carpet winding down the center.

“Always, my queen, as my father has and his father before him.” Amdusias reassured. “It honors me to continue the line of servitude in your name.” He added as he took Cariphae’s hand in his to assist her down the steps. Though she didn’t need assistance, it was a kind gesture she always appreciated from her General.

“And the soldiers?”

“Much the same. Even with this recent event concerning Guardian, they still pledge their utmost devotion to you.”

“That brings me peace of mind, Amdusias. Now I will ask something of you.” She said as they reached the bottom of the stairs and continued along the winding hallways and open corridors to head toward the armories.

“Anything, my queen.” The behemoth Valaah placed both beastly hands behind his back.

“I want you to come with me. I traveled to the surface to fight the great Red War with legions of proud Valaah at my side. Your bloodline has always proved to be loyal and mighty, but also wise and endearing during my stay. We all were aliens to the surface but together, we were strong enough to endure whatever the surface threw at us. This will not be a visit like the last. I intended to go alone.” She explained and paused for a moment. Amdusias grunted as he listened intently.

“What changed my queen’s mind?”

“Your great great grandfather was the first to rush to my side when I was in need before I took the throne here in Lovelacia. It was his bravery that sparked a revolution. Had it not been for him, we would not be walking freely here today. He stood for what was right when I could not. He saw what I was blind to. I value that in my company.”

“I wish to be just as honorable in my servitude to you. If I may speak openly?” He asked.

“I was hoping you would.” She replied. This also surprised the general.

“The surface still teems with the enemies that were not slain during the Red War. The Three Queens of Malice still reign. Going to the surface alone would be far too dangerous, even with me at your side.” He advised as he lifted his dark chin high.

“No one on the surface knows of our departure to Endle. There will be no need for combat. If there is, do you fear the Ensanguined?” Cariphae lifted an eyebrow at her General. Though it wasn’t a smile, it was the closest thing to amusement she could express.

“I fear nothing. I assumed you would’ve chosen to take my finest men. Perhaps even Lady Agatha.” He responded.

“Are you not my finest, Amdusias?” Cariphae countered. He found himself flattered and turned his head away from her with his hands still behind him. There was a fondness the Valaah felt for his queen that could only be described as devoted and to hear his queen think so highly of him made the beast smile ever so slightly.

“I will go wherever you need me most, ma’am. I will protect you at any cost and heal you should you need it. After all, I am akin to the unicorn.” He tapped his horn with his nail as a reminder and received a nod from Cariphae.

“Then when we have finished inspecting the Ianuae, you are to prepare to travel lightly to the surface. Instruct your men to follow Lady Agatha’s every command until we return. I trust you will have everything prepared by the next eventide?”

“It will be done promptly after.” Amdusias nodded with his head held high. “If I may ask, will there be others accompanying us?” He questioned.

“No. I want our presence on the surface to be undetectable and that cannot be achieved with numbers to our group. Your services are all I require.” Cariphae answered as the two began to enter a large room that opened to the armory.

The grand iron doors adorned in bull-shaped locks larger than Amdusias himself lined the door’s edge in rows of 5 and were currently unlocked to allow soldiers to pass through freely. Two armed guardsmen with the heads of vicious boars with impressive, curved tusks stood at the doorway with their spears in hand, and upon seeing their queen and General, they bowed their heads and grabbed ahold of the monstrous iron handles to pull the doors open and inwards. The door hinges moaned under the intense weight and let the hot winds of the outside blow passed Cariphae and Amdusias. Their hair brushed backward and warm orange light from distant braziers drenched the room in a warm glow. They could see the armory’s structure in the distance outside as well as the barracks and training grounds that sat upon an enormous, flat, brick platform.

Flags blew from atop each building and spire in Lovelacia’s colors and cast their shadows upon the dark bricks. There were six tall spires surrounding the entire training area at equal distances and each cap of the spires was made of polished iron statues with the head of a different creature. One of a horse, one of a bull, one of a boar, one of a stag, one of a rhinoceros, and one of a ram – all with mouths agape and facing the central platform. Amdusias and Cariphae knew these training grounds very well as they had trained together for years upon the hard hot bricks. They eventually reached the center of the platform.

Cariphae looked up to the spires and inspected each of them one by one before looking at the bricks beneath her carefully as if counting them.

“All the heads have been unsealed, exposed, and buffed as you have requested,” Amdusias reassured as he watched the queen move to her right to count the bricks. He wasn’t entirely too sure what she was doing but he understood that she knew something he didn’t, and he politely moved away from her to allow her to do as she needed. This platform not only served as her men’s training grounds, but it was also the entrance to the Ianuae that she had once opened so long ago.

“Excellent work, Amdusias. All seems to be in order.” She complimented before placing her foot on a particularly light brick that stood out among the rest. It wasn’t held down by cement like the others either, in fact, it was loose and slightly cracked with a decent gap surrounding it.

“Are you certain it is still functional? I know little of Ianuae portals.” He asked curiously as he noticed the brick that she had placed her foot on.

“I am. Hand me your sword.” She replied as she outstretched her hand to his blade. He looked at it and gripped the handle to remove it from its sheath. A long iron blade revealed itself to Cariphae’s glow and he handed her the sword with the blade hanging downwards. She took it and inspected its tip with her palm to the blade, seeing her own reflection on the polished metal.

“Ianuae portals have been called the Highway of Nagas. Before their extinction, they used magic to rip through the realms and travel in just minutes rather than days or even months. Since they were created using magic, each one requires a different ritual to activate, like using a key for a locked door.” She explained.

“Why does Guardian destroy them then? They seem rather useful.”

“As useful as they can be for the right reasons, they were a risk to be abused. The Nagas tapped into magic only Guardian possesses. They became too dangerous to spread their knowledge. If any of the Three Queens of Malice held access to an Ianuae, well…”

“I understand.”

“Though it is a shame. The Nagas were very influential. Every great source of power is abused eventually.” Cariphae scowled as she tightened her grip on the sword’s handle.

“My queen–” Amdusias paused and thought twice about the rising concern of what entering the surface would mean. Though he was merely a servant to his queen, he knew well of the peace treaties Cariphae had founded. Going against the treaties would jeopardize the peace in Arithmetia – especially if it were done behind Guardian’s back.

“Speak freely, Amdusias. I know what concerns you.” Cariphae urged as she took her foot off the brick.

“It could spark another war. If this is done without Guardian’s knowing, it could spell disaster for the empire you have constructed here.” Amdusias stressed.

“I fear there is more at stake if I do not go to the surface. I don’t believe Guardian has been entirely truthful in his reports. I feel it so.” Cariphae frowned as she looked up once again to view the iron heads eyeing the platform and felt their cold lifeless eyes staring down at her. She then placed the blade's tip between the loose brick in the gap and shoved it down a few inches.

“I see. Why do you feel this way toward him?” Amdusias reluctantly asked as he took a good look at the iron heads as well. Cariphae squinted her eyes and felt an anxious pang in her stomach. She honestly couldn’t find the right words to describe why she felt the way that she did. She had witnessed a cruel act of cowardice from the demigod one too many times and it somehow tainted her opinion of him ever since, but she could never find the courage or time to speak of it – not even to Agatha. Forming words to perfectly describe her feelings was a skill she never possessed.

“Call it intuition. I’ve recently been given a warning from a surface dweller. He will be meeting us there.” She answered flatly and grabbed the blade’s handle with both hands and twisted it counterclockwise, then clockwise, and then forced the loose brick to sink down with the sword in tow.

A deep rumble vibrated the platform and a flash of red lightning snaked through the skies. Amdusias took a step back from the blade and looked all around him to see that the iron heads had lifted from their place on the spires, only to slowly tilt downwards to turn their gaze towards the blade simultaneously. Their eyes began to glow an intense blue hue and the ground began to shake, yet Cariphae seemed unphased and calm. Amdusias turned around to take in every little detail of what was happening and felt his massive heart bang against his thick ribcage as he didn’t fully understand what was happening. The guards at the door ran out to see the commotion, believing their queen was somehow in danger, and found Cariphae gripping the blade and holding it steady. The entire platform began to move clockwise, causing bricks to dislodge from their cement and grind against one another in a thunderous groan.

The mouths of all six iron heads began to spit out bolts of white lightning that slammed into the base of the sword, remarkably missing Cariphae and burning the bricks around them. The surge of sudden power blew her hair upwards towards the sky and her gown outwards while Amdusias stumbled away from her. All six streaks of pure white lightning combined and fired outwards behind them and exploded straight upwards, slicing through the air violently and chaotically before it split into a rectangular door of swirling fantastic blue light. It reached high into the air and stood with no support while cold air blew outwards from it. The smell of cedar and water brushed past Amdusias’s nostrils and his pupils widened from the new sensations. Pure energy radiated from the mystical doorway that had been opened from thin air before him. Thunderous waves of sound bounced off every wall in the fortress and the air charged with electricity. White light bathed the two and Cariphae let go of the handle of the blade.

“By all that is magical…” Amdusias exhaled in awe as he witnessed the legend before him. The light was so mesmerizing that he couldn’t tear his brown eyes away from them for even a second. The queen calmly turned to see the light once again for herself and closed her eyes when the smell of flowers whipped by her and cradled her face. As foreign as the smell of the surface was, it all seemed so familiar at the same time. She inhaled a deep breath to embrace it and fixated her gaze upon the doorway to the surface.

“Ianuae are a force of nature greater than anything I have ever witnessed in all my years of life. To cut through the very fabric of our world is something no storm could ever overshadow. Never would I destroy such a thing in favor of Guardian’s insecurity.” She admired.

“Where does it draw its energy from? How is this even possible?” Amdusias wondered with bewilderment. Cariphae almost found herself smiling but she simply couldn’t form one.

“Only its creators know, and they are all gone.” She answered as she suddenly twisted the blade and ripped it from its place. In a sudden collapse of great energy, the doorway whipped shut and sent out a wave of force and wind that nearly knocked over the General. The guards at the door felt their feet become swept out from under them and a clap of thunder rolled through the kingdom. Clouds had been blown away from the sight and the heads on the spires steamed red hot from the power that coursed through them. Their eyes dimmed from intense yellow to deep red as they cooled.

Then there was silence and peace on the platform where Cariphae hadn’t budged from her place.

“Still perfectly functional after all these years. I’m more than pleased, Amdusias. Excellent work.” She comically added as she handed Amdusias back his blade. He reluctantly took it and examined it for any signs of damage from the heat that would have disrupted the hardness of his blade, but it looked to be in pristine condition. It didn’t even feel hot to the touch when he pinched the tip. He couldn’t understand how his sword was untouched despite being a conduit for one of the most powerful displays of magic he had ever witnessed, but the calmness of his queen guided him to remain steady and collected.

“I…suppose it does, yes?” He agreed breathlessly as he slid his sword back into its sheath. “How did you activate it? Is it truly a simple twist of a blade?”

“Each Ianuae is activated uniquely, as each one was built by a different magician. This one is tricky, as it can only be activated by a weapon of a loyal soul. I knew your sword would’ve worked just fine.”

“Your majesty, I’m more than flattered.” Amdusias found himself smiling yet nervous. He felt as though his queen had tested him and perhaps it was indeed a test. The look she gave him was chilling, but he respected it.

“Inform your men of our time of departure, gather the necessities, and report back to me. Ready my steed as well. I will finalize the details with Lady Agatha in my office.” Cariphae ordered as she headed back towards the doors. The guards still sat and stared at what they had just witnessed as their queen walked past them – stunned and dazed.

“Yes, ma’am.” Amdusias bowed and turned back around one last time to see the heads on the spires in awe.

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