Bel’s blood turned icy as Martinus casually discussed Technis conquering her brother’s homeworld. “You don’t seem too upset by it,” Bel observed.
The old engineer shrugged. “Well, it happens, you know?”
He pointed in a vaguely upward direction, which, with the way the underworld wrapped in on itself, was at a distant part of the inner shell of Olympos. “There used to be a powerful and enlightened kingdom over that way.”
Bel glanced in the direction that he’d pointed, but she couldn’t see much through the web of city the spanned the air above them, although if she squinted she fancied that she could see a few drifting clouds.
Martinus continued, clearly unbothered by Bel’s lack of geographical knowledge. “They were strong enough to send flights to nearly every spot on the interior, and they were known for being just and fair. They created works of artistic beauty so moving that even their imitations bring viewers to tears hundreds of years after their making.”
“Then bam!” He clapped his hands together suddenly, sending Bel’s snakes wriggling with alarm. She hurried to smooth them back, glancing with embarrassment at Cress’ well-behaved hair-snakes.
“Just like that, they got involved in something over their heads and they were gone,” Martinus continued, ignoring Bel’s distress. “So we’ve learned to mind our own business,” he concluded.
“I get it,” Orseis said quietly, “when you’re in the ocean, you’re never the biggest predator. But, you know, I’ll bet that Technis is a predator like me: he’ll never eat enough to be satisfied.” She bit off a mouthful from one of her purloined foods and chewed angrily in the engineer’s direction. Her eyes narrowed as she rudely chewed, clearly trying to prove her point through intimidation. Bel thought that the engineer looked more disquieted by her manners than any implication about Technis though.
Orseis swallowed and continued. “If he knows how to go one way, what’s to say he can’t come back?” She whipped a tentacle through the air, adding force to her words. “But next time he’ll be back with a bigger army – and more technology. James always talks about how primitive we are.”
Martinus snorted and gestured to the sails that propelled the Free City of Walls, and the suspended bridges that filled so much of the air that they could scarcely see the sky. “Our technology aside, the pantheon wouldn’t never let some upstart invade the entire world. If he started getting close to dangerous, then I’m sure they’d do something.”
Orseis pointed several of her tentacles at Bel and gave the engineer and meaningful look. He scratched his chin and looked Bel up and down.
“Well… maybe. I guess the gods do work in mysterious ways.” He held up his hands to forestall Orseis’ next words. “Look, I’m helping you anyway, whether or not I believe in Bel’s destiny, so there’s no need to argue about this.”
Her turned to Bel and explained. “I’m friends with a lot of gorgons here. Your people are lousy fighters – no offense – since they don’t have the backing of a patron.”
Bel looked doubtfully at Cress, wondering how her friend would react if she understood the man’s condescending words.
“Their minds work fine, even without a patron’s abilities. I’ve worked with plenty of gorgon engineers who’re just as good, or better, than anyone else I’ve met. Some of them asked me to help get you out of here.”
“Really?” Bel said, surprised. Then she narrowed her eye with suspicion and stopped in the middle of the street. They were on an uncrowded side passage, but she still received some sharp words from a pair of robed people carrying stacks of books who had to alter their paths to avoid a collision. They flicked their scaled tails with irritation as they brushed past her. Bel grabbed Cress and Orseis and dragged them to the side of the road and pointed at Martinus.
“I’m not going to know what’s going on even if you explain it, and if I know one thing it’s that I don’t understand politics. Tell Cress what’s happening, and I’ll let her tell me if we should trust you.”
She turned to Cress and pointed at the engineer. “Can you tell me if his words are good?” she said in English.
Cress chewed on her lip as she concentrated on the abrupt change in language, but then nodded to Bel. While Martinus spoke to Cress in some incomprehensible language, Bel leaned against a low stone fence and anxiously picked at her metallic nails. Then she glanced at Orseis and pondered the young girl’s words.
Would Technis really be able to conquer James’ world? And would that give him the edge to come back and conquer Olympos?
She pulled on her snakes as she fretted, but she didn’t know enough to answer the questions. Well, at least I know that my mother and Kjar have a good reason for sending me on this quest. Dutcha… well, who knows what she wants?
Cress tapped Bel on the shoulder. “Seems good,” she said, giving Bel and awkward thumbs up. “The… hm…”
She turned back to Martinus and said some things to him. He turned back to Bel again and attempted to translate for Cress.
“She says that the, uh, the egg woman – is there a word for that in this language?”
He looked at Bel expectantly, but she could only shrug.
“Well, the egg woman has the gorgon’s best interests at heart. Wait, did your goddess make you alone? Do you know what an egg woman is?”
Bel shrugged. “Of course I don’t.”
Martinus slapped himself in the forehead, jostling his utility glasses halfway down his nose. “No wonder you’re so strange and ill-mannered,” he muttered to himself.
Bel growled low in her throat.
The engineer quickly cleared his throat and held up threw up his hands with frustration. “Well, I’m bringing you to her, so I’ll let her explain. We should be rushing anyway, we’ve got to smuggle you out before someone figures out what’s happening and goes to Stion to complain. We’re lucky that he likes to nap after a big meal.”
The engineer set off at a fast walk, his short legs moving at an incredible speed as he zipped ahead. Bel yelped with dismay and jogged after him. The moment she caught up, he increased his pace, leading them through an instantly forgotten maze of roads, alleys, and bridges.
As Bel’s mind adjusted to the pace and the strange cadence of the city, she began to take in her surroundings. The relatively empty area around Stion’s palace quickly gave way to a more crowded residential area with tall buildings that stretched up and down several levels. The buildings were made from cut pieces of giant shells joined together with thick ropes so they swayed gently with the movements of the city. Bel realized that the entire city was made of suspended platforms, but the movement was so subtle that she hadn’t picked up on it until they crossed the first bridge that spanned two different walls. James really would love this – I wonder if he’ll ever become strong enough to travel down here?
Different buildings were decorated in different styles; some had intricate carvings and designs on their surface, some were coated in murals so thick that the underlying material was completely hidden, and others had a thin, shimmering coating to enhance the natural beauty of the building material.
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The people were as varied as the styles. People with snake bodies and human torsos slithered through the streets while two- and four-legged, cloven hoofed people clopped along side by side. Winged people flew through the air and some areas even had canals running through them to accommodate a few marine folk. There was every kind of person that Bel could imagine – except for humans.
Bel payed close attention to everyone they passed, and although some only showed a subtle sign of their non-humanity – an extra eye, fangs or small, sharp claws, or an extra mouth hidden on the backs of their heads – none were human. Although they were rare, Bel also saw several gorgons. She was afraid that she would have to go through another embarrassing round of hugging, but the working gorgons were far too busy for that. In fact, they barely glanced up as they rush about their chores with tired deformation on their smudged faces. Bel couldn’t help but notice that, of all the citizens, the gorgons seemed the worst off. Even with her single piece of clothing, missing snake, damaged eye, and body covered in scars, Bel looked better than some of the other gorgons.
She opened her mouth to ask Cress about it, but when she saw her companion’s lips pressed together in a frustrated frown she realized that this was the situation that Cress wanted to change. If this city treats its gorgons better than other places, I can understand why she was so happy to agree to Lempo’s terms, Bel thought sourly.
Gradually the quality of clothing in the people they moved past dropped and a foul smell grew. When they crossed another large bridge they reached some type food processing district. It smelled as foul as the Baytown docks and slaughterhouses mixed together with the tannery, and was infested with little flying creatures that dove into crates of waste parts whenever they were left unattended. Martinus was forced to slow down lest he slip in a puddle of ichor and end up falling face-first into something even more disgusting.
“Ugh, I think we’re on the wrong side of this place,” Orseis complained. “I’d much rather see the food coming out of here than the waste that’s left behind.”
Cress was squeezing the collar of her shirt over her mouth to keep from gagging, but Bel didn’t have that option. The smell wasn’t that bad, at least compared to the time she’d spent plenty next to decaying corpses and rotting food back in Technis’ prison. “Is this place always like this?” she asked.
“It depends what we’ve caught recently, but luckily I lost my sense of smell years ago,” he bragged. “I had a small accident with some acid back in my reckless youth.”
Bel ignored the engineer and looked at the people as they passed. As they entered the new section, the proportion of the population that was gorgon gradually began to climb. “There are a lot of gorgons here,” she commented.
Martinus gave her a disappointed look like he had wanted to talk more about himself, but he quickly grinned as he looked around. “Yup, this is the perfect place to find some dissidents.”
“Dissidents?” Bel asked. “Why are we looking for dissidents?”
“Who else would embrace change?” he asked.
Bel saw him give a slight nod to a group of gorgons as they passed. Two of the women stood up, dropped their meat hooks, removed their bloody gloves and aprons, and fell in behind Bel’s group. She began to turn to ask what was happening, but Martinus quickly dropped back to her side.
“Just keep walking,” he whispered. “It’s inevitable that we attract attention from here on in, so our best chance is to just go quickly and not stir things up too much.”
Bel glanced at Cress, and the other gorgon gave her a brief, affirming nod. They kept walking and more gorgons put down their work tools, shucked their work clothes, and fell in behind the group. Their numbers swelled to at least thirty other gorgons before Martinus lead them to a stop at a large gate made of huge bones lashed together. A group of hooded figures stood in front of the bone gate, giving the space a foreboding atmosphere.
“There’s your ticket out of here. It should be fast enough to give Technis’ lackey the slip, or at least get a head start on him.” He gestured to the closed gate of bone, which distracted Bel for a few heartbeats until she realized that he was pointing at the thing behind the gate. It was a disk of fired clay, with knee high lip that curled up from the edges. Several small wings protruded from the sides, making it look like some bottom-dwelling fish that had washed ashore and stiffened.
Despite their hoods, Bel immediately recognized the figures standing in front of the gate. Five of them were the egg-woman and her four guards from the airship dock. Two more egg-women stood nearby, their own egg-shaped pottery clutched tightly in their arms. At Bel’s approach the group threw back their hoods as one, revealing a plethora of hair snakes that immediately flicked their tongues suspiciously.
As the lead woman said something sharp to Martinus, another egg-woman stepped to Bel’s side. “She accuses him of being late,” she said in a thickly accented Mycenaean.
Bel looked the new woman up and down, noting that she was nearly identical to the first egg-woman, down to her glossy snakes with black and brown bands and an underbelly the color of milk pudding. Her clothes were completely different though, a set of rough leather instead of impractical silks. “I will be travelling with you,” the woman added.
“Great,” Bel replied, “I’m–”
The woman cut her off. “We will do introductions later,” said whispered. Seeing Bel’s hurt expression, she added, “so many will soon die, so it is easier to learn names afterwards. We will remember the fallen through their blood.”
Bel’s eye widened. She opened her mouth to ask what the woman meant, but Martinus spoke before she could make a sound.
“Right, so, the esteemed woman has asked me to quickly explain this contraption.” He straightened his back and spun in place, gesturing to fish-like clay thing with a grin. “This is a waste disposal pod! It’s light and aerodynamic, and can glide with an entire load of garbage. We generally use them to dispose of waste that would attract unwanted attention, but they should be fine for a group of people.”
He made a flinging motion with his hands. “The sling tosses it far away from the city with enough force to clear bow range in under a second.” He patted the bottom of the ramp affectionately. “It’s meant for waste, but the accuracy isn’t so bad. With this, we’ll be able to get you to the bottom of the Pillar that leads up to that human kingdom that you’re so worried about.”
As he spoke, the third egg-woman went around to the gorgons who had followed Bel. She handed each one a knife and held out a small bowl to collect a sample of their blood, which she periodically emptied into her egg-shaped pottery. Bel tried to ignore the strange ritual and pay attention to Martinus, but she found her eye drifting back to the bizarre bloodletting despite her attempts.
When Orseis’ incredulous objections inevitably began, Bel turned to her translator.
“What do you people do with the blood?” she asked quietly.
“Are there no people like us where you came from?” the egg-woman at her side asked.
Martinus frowned at the interruption, but Orseis didn’t care about his feelings. For once, Bel was happy for the distraction – she was desperate for an explanation.
“No,” she replied, “I was the only gorgon there. What are they doing?”
The woman’s snakes eyed her curiously, calmly flicking their tongues. “My younger sister collects their blood so that they may be born anew in the next generation.” She tapped her own egg, gesturing to the story-like drawing on the front. “When a gorgon dies, we add her vital parts to our sacred eggs so that a new brood may be born from the blood of the fallen. With no gods to make more of us we have had to create our own ceremonies – but we have persisted,” she declared proudly.
Bel glanced at the vivid depiction of the cut serpent heads emerging whole-bodied from the sea that covered part of the egg.
“But why are you doing it now? Is someone dying?” Bel asked.
“Many of us will be dying,” the woman replied confidently. Her eyebrows went up and she smiled reassuringly at Bel’s look of surprise. “Following you and challenging our fates will be the same as courting death. And any who succeed will stay where you have gone, so their blood should be collected as well, lest they be lost to us. You have already given to my sister’s egg, but you should give again, so that part of Lempo’s favor remains with us.”
She licked her lips as she looked Bel up and down, giving Bel the shivers. “Your blood is unique. Having more here would be good for our local dens.”
“You want me to give you my blood?” Bel squirmed at the thought of little baby Bel’s running around without her knowledge.
The woman shook her head. “No, give it to my younger sister. I will be accompanying you. Crecerelle has been trying to convince the gorgons to make a new kingdom upon the surface of Olympos.” She tilted her head and inspected Bel again. “Your presence is as clear a sign from the gods as any that the time is now right.”
If she was the same person as she had been on the surface of Olympos, Bel would have shrunk back from that heavy burden of responsibility. I guess I’m getting used to all this heavy destiny stuff.
James did always warn me that great power would bring great responsibility, she lamented.
“So wait,” Orseis yelled, her tentacles eagerly gripping the engineer around his shoulders, “we’ll be launched through the air like a pile of garbage? And then we’ll skip across an ocean and crash into the pillar?”
“Well…” Martinus began.
“And that’ll skip a week of walking?” Orseis continued.
“Yes, as I–”
“That sounds awesome!” Orseis yelled triumphantly. She turned to Bel with a wide, happy grin. “Bel, this is going to be fantastic! Tell James to make one of these instead of his lame hot air balloons!”