The catalyst for the betrayal amongst them is unknown, but many a scholar attributes it to a thirst for power from some and a desire for peace from others. The betrayal was followed by decades of war, of slaughter and of bloodshed. Never before had the world seen so many orphans, so many widows, so much death…
Excerpt from Rise and Fall of the Seven by Maïz the Wise.
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The long abandoned basement was murky and moist, brown mossy vines crawling along the wall finding their way up towards the sole opening, a two inch hole that allowed for air flow and the occasional supply of rainwater. Besides the vines, the cellar was empty. Not even rats had found their way in here, void as it was of any food they would be looking for.
“Make sure to double check for any other taen fragments,” Samos instructed as Asmund put down the unconscious body of Mettias on the wet floor. After a thorough search, they stripped him down to his loincloth and Asmund bound him with taen-infused restriction seals using Mettias’ own bracelet, his hands firmly behind his back and eyes covered with a blindfold.
“How long can you hold the seal?” Samos asked looking at the flows of power holding Mettias in place.
“With the taen infusion? I guess about a full day given of course that I don’t have the need of other seals.” Asmund’s look was pensive, his eyes following the lines of his own seal.
Yara gave an audible sigh. “Samos, haven’t you learned anything at all about sealing in Dadendam?”
He gave her a dumbfounded look. “What are you talking about?”
She rolled her eyes and strutted forward, snatching the bracelet from Asmund’s hands. “Release the seal would you, Asmund?”
Asmund shared a confused look with Samos but eventually shrugged and his seal disappeared, Mettias’ still unconscious body slightly twitching at the sudden ability to move again. Putting on the bracelet, Yara squatted next to Mettias, stretched out her arm and formed the same seal Asmund had used. Samos was about to ask what the difference was when she suddenly bound the lines of the seal to the taen in her hand. The taen became part of the seal, the power running through it and returning to the seal. Samos thought the returning flow were stronger than when they first made their way into the taen.
Yara stepped outside the cellar into the torch-lit corridor, scratched away at the dirt covered floor and rammed the taen part of the bracelet into the ground. A tiny white flash briefly illuminated the hallway and blinded Samos for a moment. When his vision returned, he saw Yara standing upright with a satisfied look on her face.
“What…?” Samos murmured. “What was that?”
“You seriously have not even attempted to study Sealing at Dadendam, haven’t you?” Her tone was lecturing as if she was teaching something obvious to a five year old. “How do you think the city stays afloat? How do they keep their gardens at such a perfect temperature? Why is the sun not a strong there as it is elsewhere in the Waste?”
“Because of the seals…” Samos muttered and suddenly he realized. “Seals connected to the taen rock underneath the city.”
Yara nodded. “Seals that have been there for centuries that are, just like this one here, bound off to the taen so they don’t die out and are no longer dependent on who formed it. So now…”
“So now we don’t have to keep our seals up to guard Mettias,” Asmund completed her sentence. “This is genius.”
Even in the dark corridor, Samos could see a blush on Yara’s face in the ever changing torchlight. He thought himself a fool for not realizing this sooner. The possibilities a decent supply of taen could provide… Well, he only had to look at Dadendam to know what was possible.
“How long do you reckon he’ll be out for?” Asmund asked as he regarded Mettias’ body. “I’m dying to get some answers.”
“If he has them,” Yara whispered. “Do you still have your own piece of taen on you, Asmund? Could you give it to me?”
Asmund dug in his pockets and took out the small rock, handing it over to Yara who squatted besides Mettias for a second time. Tiny flows of power exploded from her hands and entered Mettias who jerked at the sudden Healing.
“Just enough for him to wake up,” Yara whispered. “We’ll have our answers soon enough.”
Slowly but surely Mettias began to wake up, his head moving from side to side as he tried to see where he was. His arms tugged at the seal holding him. Samos could see the glow of Enhancement enveloping the man and braced himself, but the bonds were too tight, too strong.
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“Sevens be damned, let me loos!” he yelled, his body unmoving but his head. “You’ll regret this!”
A sudden seal exploded from Yara’s hand and slapped Mettias’ face as it rushed by, Samos had never seen that expression on her face before. “The only thing I’ll regret,” she hissed, “is healing you. You better make it worth my while.”
Samos and Asmund shared a worried look, Yara had never behaved like this before. Granted, there had never been a reason to, but it still made him feel uncomfortable. Unable to move, Mettias had received the slap in its full force and his cheek was growing red. Even while enhanced, it had hurt him quite a bit.
“Let’s start at the beginning, who are you?” Yara’s voice had grown flat and emotionless.
“Curse all of…!” Mettias yelled before another seal slapped him in the face, cutting of whatever it was he was going to say.
“Who are you?”
A trickle of blood spilled from the corner of Mettias’ mouth.
“Yara…” Samos whispered and laid his hand on her shoulder. The sudden feeling seemed to startle her. “Yara, are you alright?” She turned to him and it was only now he noticed the tears streaming down her face.
“So many dead…” she spoke in between sudden sobs. “Morley dead. And for what?” She broke down crying and Samos took her in his arms, whispering comforting words as he stroked her hair.
“You two go,” Asmund suddenly spoke. “I’ll take it from here.”
Samos gave an appreciative nod and guided Yara out of the cellar, through the corridor and up into the upper reaches of the keep until they reached the roof where several benches and tables had been put. It was empty as far as he could see, Morley’s crew had started working on getting the keep clean and repair whatever was broken.
Yara gave a small gasp at the view as did Samos. Walking through the streets, preoccupied as they had been with Mettias and Morley, they had barely looked at what lay below. Now though the city stretched out before them for miles and miles, further than the eye could see. From this high up, the size of Nokoroy was even more spectacular than it had been from sea. Hundreds upon hundreds of buildings, several dozen docks each with at least twenty or more ships moored at them and thousands upon thousands of people making their way through them.
Could one man really have ruled over this place? Samos doubted it, the system of the ten pirate lords had probably been the only way there was some form of justice here, as twisted as it may have been. Besides, he didn’t think a populace like this one would just simply accept some unknown leader.
They sat in silence for a while, enjoying the view and each other’s company while they waited for Asmund. The sun had just disappeared behind Mount Raeyner’s peak when he joined them, an exhausted and painful look on his face. Whatever is was he had done, he hadn’t enjoyed it.
“So…” Samos began hesitantly, not sure if he would like the answer. “What did he say?”
Asmund sighed. “Not that much I’m afraid. A lot of things we knew already. He knew we were coming, he had felt the pull come closer as well and was waiting for us. He hadn’t taken Morley into account, things might have gone differently if he hadn’t been there he claimed.”
Samos scoffed and Asmund nodded. “I don’t believe it myself. To me, he seems like a power hungry person. He would have killed us if it would have made him the only one with four Talents. But he felt the other two as well. One to the north, one more north-east. He says he doesn’t know who they are, that much I believe, but he also claims there will be one more and only one more.”
“That would make…” Yara said. “That would make seven of us.”
Asmund gave another nod. “Mettias has taken up the idea that we are the Seven come again.”
There was a moment of silence before Yara whispered. “That’s insane.”
“Mettias is many things,” Asmund responded, “but insane is not one of them. I think. He truly believes what he says.”
“But… the Seven? From what I’ve read from Morley’s book is that they were pretty much the founders of civilization as we know, the most powerful people to have ever lived. That’s not us, it can’t be us. Can it?”
“There’s no way to be certain,” Asmund replied. “But whatever we are, whatever our four Talents mean, I plan to find the other two and the third if he is real before they turn out like Mettias.”
“And we will go with you,” Yara answered, looking at Samos for a nod that he gave her without much hesitation.
“What about Mettias?” Samos asked. “We leave him here?”
Asmund gave a short nod, his expression darkening. “He won’t be going anywhere with the seal tying him down. He belongs to Morley’s men now, there’s nothing more he…”
With a start, he stopped talking. Something had suddenly begun tugging at Samos and looking at his friends’ expressions they had felt it too. To the east, the way they had come.
“That’s the seventh,” Yara whispered.
From below, they heard Mettias let out a scream of pure joy.
¥
“There’s something wrong here…” Ralph muttered under his breath. “Why haven’t they attacked in days?”
“Sevens be damned if I know,” Rey answered, “but I’m glad for it, the fortress could use a moment of respite.”
They stood atop the walls of the Order’s central fortress in Eresath, the white they had once shown now a mixture of black spots and broken down sections. Five days since they had managed to sneak in to organize the defenses, three days since the last piece of rock was launched from the boats.
In those three days, Ethel’s infantry had withdrawn from the city back to their camps where they had stayed since, not showing any signs of hostility.
“I should look for a way to Ethel’s boat tonight,” Ralph told Rey. “We need to know what’s going on.”
Rey frowned. “A dangerous mission, but not impossible. The water is getting colder this time of…”
He cut of as the sound of a hundred horns and a hundred more resounded over the bay. As one, sails were lowered on the ships that filled the waters below them and slowly but steadily the fleet left. Ralph was dumbfounded.
“They’re…”
“They’re leaving,” Rey continued equally surprised. “They’re actually leaving.”
It didn’t take long for the other members of the Order to see the fleet leaving and cheers went up soon enough. In a matter of minutes, the entire fortress was in a state of celebration. Except two men. Two men who stood on the battlements looking at the ships sailing off. Ralph couldn’t help but fear that whatever it was that had driven Ethel away, it was something far worse than what he had done here.