Chapter 24 - An Eye of Unity

Taking care not to be seen or heard, Adam snuck past the many walls and fortified buildings of the town. In an attempt to find out where they were, he studied the buildings, trying to link their art and architectural style to one of the many cultures he knew. Although he admired how the waterfalls at the walls of the cave were put to use by sophisticated water mills and elegant arching aqueducts, he’d never seen anything like it. Towering buildings, integrated with the colossal stalagmites and stalactites, were covered with hieroglyphs and reliefs, showing ranks of soldiers with overlapping shields.

The many attributes of the Royal Army and the Talons of Aves seemed curiously out of place in this environment. Although most statues depicted Caine, many likenesses of soldiers and myrmidons were erected beside long military flags. However, most statues in the Node depicted Caine as a dignified lord.

Why would Caine make so many likenesses of the Royal Army and the Starwing Order in here, when he has betrayed them as a Penduli? It doesn’t make sense!

Luckily, the group didn’t see any Thalers or Roots. They did encounter a group aurochses, the huge extinct ancestors of modern cows, which wandered through the deserted streets. The bull amongst them warily raised his horned head to the same height as a small elephant. While his herd grazed on garden plants and mushrooms, he kept a watchful eye on Adam, Emily, and Oliver from a distance.

Adam groaned internally; he would’ve loved to study the proud, mighty beast further. So many extinct animals… Has this place been isolated from the world above ground for ages, which gave these creatures the opportunity to survive? Or did the Thaler consciously keep populations like these alive?

After a while, Adam had followed Emily up the small stairs to the flattened top of the pyramid. The massive spiral in the floor bathed the statue of the tower in a warm, greenish-gold light. Vaguely familiar to Adam, the tower showed a balcony with two sculptures: Caine stood together with a beautiful woman. Adam scrunched up his nose. Another honey on the side, sickening.

Along the edges of the pyramid’s flattened top stood many pedestals decorated with symbols that glowed in green. The position of each pedestal was perfectly aligned with one of the tunnels and its pattern in the ground, which ended at the pyramid’s base. And so, looking out over each pedestal gave a good view of its corresponding tunnel. There was also a round notch on the top of each pedestal, as if something should be placed inside.

Eager to learn more about the strange sorcery practised here, Adam studied the pedestal that corresponded with the tunnel towards Catherine’s Node. Below the round notch was an engraved hieroglyph, depicting a woman in the swirly, colourful art style that seemed typical for the Thalers. Adam squinted and cocked his head to the side a bit before he recognized the hieroglyph as a rough, stylized depiction of Catherine.

Adam’s eyes widened. “Oh, maybe we can use the hieroglyphs on these pedestals for navigation, to see what kind of statue is on the pyramid at the end of each tunnel! Look, this one depicts Catherine. I’m not sure what the notch and that symbol are for though…”

Oliver huffed and puffed behind him, bent over with his hands on his knees after running up all the steps of the pyramid. After he’d always focused his training on Novaseering, Oliver had become a powerful sorcerer indeed. However, being relatively out of shape compared to Adam and Emily had its downsides. “Marvellous,” Oliver managed to say between his panting.

When Adam got a bit closer to Catherine’s hieroglyph, unfamiliar feelings rose within him. Although Adam’s heart was calm and didn’t pump any heat through his body, the peculiar emotions of doubt and guilt that came up were definitely not his own. It was like he was wondering how he could hide something, although Adam had no idea what that would be. He frowned and took a few steps back; the strange feelings disappeared again.

Emily made a startled gasp. “Oh, look at this!”

She stood in front of the spiral. With a loud gushing sound, goldish-green energy seemed to flow through it, towards the tower at its centre. The tower had transformed. Instead of plain white marble, every colour and detail of the tower was clearly visible, as if it was real. The likenesses of Caine and the mesmerizing red-haired woman on the balcony were actually moving, although they seemed oblivious to Adam and Emily, who gaped up at them. Soft bits of sound came from the statue, like indiscernible voices and the shriek of metal on metal.

Oliver fiddled with his lips and studied the statue with a frown of concentration as if he was absorbing every detail. Adam looked back to check if any enemies had seen the statue’s bizarre change, but nothing unusual seemed to be going on in the deserted Node.

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“Now what do we do?” Oliver asked.

“Take a closer look, of course!” Emily said as she stepped towards the spiral. “We got this far, why—”

Emily’s movements slowed down until she stopped in her tracks, standing still as if frozen.

“What? Emily!” Adam shouted. He ran towards her to get her out, but couldn’t reach her. If he would step on the rushing spiral he would probably be affected as well. “Oliver! Use Novaseering to pull her off!”

Oliver shut his gaping jaw and made the Ironglass gesture. Before he could act, Emily’s body glowed in a greenish-gold light and she disappeared in thin air.

“Ugh, Emily!” Oliver groaned. “Where did you go?!”

“No! Damn it!” Adam growled, clenching his fists in frustration. “Why am I so slow? This spiral, and that rushing noise, it’s similar to the Invocation Caine used on us in the Starwing Grove!”

Oliver’s eyes widened. “What, you mean she’s been transported to a different location?”

“Oh no,” Adam said dryly. “She’s just standing right there, can’t you see?” He gestured broadly at the nothingness in front of them.

“Don’t worry, Emily! I’m coming for you!” Oliver yelled, running towards the spiral. Before Adam could react, Oliver’s feet touched the loudly gushing pattern. His body slowed down as well.

“No! We don’t know what this thing does or where it leads!” Adam growled at Oliver, who stood still as if frozen. “Blindly rushing in worked wonders with the giant’s trap, remember?”

Oliver didn’t, or couldn’t, react. His body disappeared in a goldish-green glow.

Adam pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Marvellous. Strange for him to rush in without a plan though. Probably because it’s Emily who’s in trouble.

Adam studied the spiral again, remembering the spiral that had transported them here didn’t have a statue, pyramid, or pedestals. It did have intricate hieroglyphs in the outer rings, which were lacking in the spiral in front of him. Yeah, no idea what these differences mean. For all I know Oliver and Emily might be back in Gotterburg now. Either way, do I want to stay behind and leave them to their fate?

Adam looked at the statue of the tower, which seemed more real than ever, and he puffed out his cheeks. He walked forward and felt his body slow down. All around him became dark. There were no sounds or smells anymore, as if nothing existed, except for the statue. Adam’s movements stopped completely. Yes, this is just like when Caine brought us into this place. Maybe… Adam tried to think, but his thoughts slowed down until they stopped completely.

Adam slowly got back to his senses. His blurry dreams, of pure green light shaping the outlines of people and buildings all around him, drifted away to his subconsciousness. It took a while before he realized he was lying on his belly on a smooth, hard surface. Warm sunlight tickled his skin. There were sounds around him, besides the ringing in his ears. The marching of feet, the rattle of chainmail, and the shouts of people trying to keep order. What, where am I?

With difficulty, Adam opened his eyes a bit. The Node, the top of the pyramid, all were gone. He lay on a flat stone roof instead. The sun that shone merrily on the grey, fortified buildings around him seemed strangely out of place after being underground for so long. Huh, am I out? Are we free? He forced his stiff body to sit up.

“Ah, Adam,” Oliver said, walking towards him at a tense pace. Oliver’s hands quivered as he helped Adam up. “Glad that you’ve joined us. There is something you must see.”

Adam gasped when he looked at their all-too-familiar surroundings. They stood on a high building within Eulenschloss: one of Dorenland’s great fortresses. Enclosed by mountains, the proud fortification was swarming with troops of the Royal Army. Archers and tridentiers marched up the broad walls, dressed in the light blue, silver, and black colours of the Royal Army. The symbol of Aves, the black owl that enveloped the world, decorated their shields and a plume of feathers crowned their beaked helmets.

Under the commands of their screaming officers, the archers readied their bows and quivers. Many looked over the walls with pale, clammy faces of fear, for another army marched through the mountain valley and straight towards the fortress. An army clad in elegant, spotless robes and equipment of purple, white, and gold. Three legions with tall and proud banners, moved in perfect unison as they were all controlled like puppets by a single unified consciousness.

Adam felt the blood drain from his face. “No… no, this can’t be happening…”

In stark contrast with the messy attempts at order in the Royal Army, the Pure effortlessly adjusted their complex combat formations. Elegant siege towers, shielded with gilded screens depicting the heavens, were readied in ideal positions for the siege. Cavalry that rode heavily armoured rhinos were readied at the flanks. All carried the symbol called the Unity: a gold circle that linked together six pupilless ivory eyes, depicting the ‘holy community’ of the Pure.

Although the Unity was a feared symbol, forbidden by the kingdom of Dorenland, the most terrifying aspect of the Pure was their faces. An empty, white light shone out of the pupilless eyes of all that were joined in the Pure. A blissful, euphoric smile adorned their faces in all circumstances. Filled with ‘the endless happiness of the Heavens,’ they were unable to experience pain in any form.

Her mouth open in shock, Emily stared at the approaching forces. “How… the Pure were defeated years ago! Have their remnants attacked us with a new army?”

“They haven’t,” Adam said softly, trying to comprehend the implications of all that was happening around him. “Eulenschloss, the placement of the troops around the fortress, this army of the Pure—I remember all of it.” Oliver and Emily stared at him. “This is a battle from the War of the Prophet, eight years ago, a couple of months before the battle of Stormbridge,” Adam continued. His finger shivered as he pointed at the southern wall. “I fought over there, near the second tower from the left.”

And there on the southern wall was the last person he’d expected to see: a past version of himself.