AGE OF EXPANSION

circa 3200 AD

Garret tapped three times on the hood of the car. Few drivers who approached the temple failed to comply with its well-established security measures, but dealing with the troublemakers was his job.

Isabella shot him a look. "Another one? It's the first day of the conference."

"I keep telling these people..." Garret muttered.

The window rolled down and the driver peeked out. "You fellas gonna open the gate?"

"ID or no entry. And this lovely lady right here is going to search your trunk."

"Sure, just a second."

Garret often envied the gatekeeper, remembering that if he had been the one born to the rich villages of the North, it would be him in front of the gate with the golden helmet, typing in a passcode every few minutes instead of dealing with the drivers. For all its high pay and prestige, being the gatekeeper was an easy job and far less dangerous. But Garret was a poor man, and the best shot a poor person had at advancement was by protecting a rich person.

As Isabella stepped around the side of the car, the door opened and the driver stepped out. Garret stepped up to the driver. "You'll have to stay in the car until we're done."

As Garret took another step closer, the driver shoved him to the ground. He raised a gun and shot Isabella twice in the chest. Garret scrambled along the ground, reaching for his gun, but before he could turn back, the driver pointed the gun at the back of his head and pulled the trigger.

The gatekeeper removed his helmet, revealing a scar just above his right eye. "You're late."

The driver ignored the comment. "Open the gate."

Inside the temple, Kevin sat beside the Temple Keeper, a bald man who'd been at the temple longer than anyone could remember. The visitors had yet to introduce themselves, and the topic of conversation had quickly turned to the coming war.

"They'll be here soon, you know," said one of the men, a tall man with a black goatee. "The Iron Forces won't stop at three northern cities."

"The Iron Forces," the Temple Keeper said, "Have a number of problems of their own. How many forces can you assemble in a month? Two months? You have time, and many of our wisest commanders. I'm afraid that's all I can do for you."

"You know what they do to temples like yours?" the man with the goatee said. "Because they love destroying temples. Northern Earth Temple, Battle of Kodiak. The Iron Forces burned it to the ground. Then they took the high priests. The families of the high priests. All of them died long, painful deaths after hours of torture."

"If you're referring to rumors about the Iron Forces, I'm quite familiar with all of them."

"I'm not done," the man with the goatee spat. "Then they found the Temple Keeper. Idealistic, like you. Old, like you. And like you, he had a family. They cut his daughter into pieces. They made his son rape his wife. They forced him to stab them both to death. And then they left him alive."

"I suppose I haven't heard all the rumors," the Temple Keeper said.

"I met that man. He doesn't worship your god anymore. He doesn't have anything to do with your High Council, and quite frankly, they don't want anything to do with him. Because he could've resisted. He chose to kill his wife and son."

"My boss doesn't want his time wasted," Kevin said. "I assume you have a point?"

"You have our greatest possible weapon somewhere in this temple, and you're going to waste it. So if you're man enough to admit the truth, then tell your family their blood is on your hands." He turned to Kevin. "And tell it to yourself. Or you really are a coward."

"Enough!" the Temple Keeper rose from the table. "I will not have you insulting my most trusted vassals. And the sacred texts will remain as they are: hidden, and shown to no one but the high priests. You have insulted this temple with your ignorance. And with your arrogance, you insult me."

"Of course," the man said, holding up his hand in defeat. "Perhaps I should handle this matter more civilly. But we face a grave question of time."

The Temple Keeper sat uneasily. "I have questions of my own. Why come here, when greater armies exist elsewhere? You knew we would never show the sacred texts to an outsider."

"We believed you would be more...sympathetic," the man with the goatee said. "As we have been sympathetic to you. Our government has given you freedom to worship, respected your claims to the forest. Much can change in a time of war."

"You don't have that kind of power," Kevin said. "He can't do all that, can he?"

"What I'm beginning to wonder," the Temple Keeper said, reaching for the gun on his belt, "Is what kind of role you actually hold in our government."

"Don't be a fool," the man with the goatee said. "Much to the contrary, I am a very, very powerful man. If you fear the Iron Forces, you will need us on your side. They have raped families, killed monks, and burned down temples to expand their domain. So tell me, Great Teacher, do you fear the Iron Forces?"

"I have a power you know nothing about," the Temple Keeper said. "Your threats against this temple are quite meaningless."

"If we cannot bargain," the man said, signaling to several of the others. "Then perhaps the time for discussion is coming to an end."

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Two men entered the room, equipped with machine guns. One was covered in blood, and the other had a scar above his right eye. In the hallway, several men barricaded the door. A high priest ran up to stop them and was swiftly gunned down.

"Find Elijah," the Temple Keeper whispered, and as Kevin stood up to leave, a large man entered the door on the opposite side of the room, a Glock on his belt.

"Sit," the man with the goatee said, watching as Kevin slowly obeyed. "Now I will ask you one last time. Where are the documents hidden?"

The Temple Keeper gripped the gun under the table, pointed squarely at the man with the goatee. "Did I ever tell you about Esha, goddess of the underworld?"

"I don't believe you have," the man with the goatee said, smiling. "But if it explains why these texts are so important, then I do insist. Tell me about this...goddess of the underworld."

"Oh, I believe some introductions are best made on their own."

The Temple Keeper fired, hitting him in the chest. Kevin dove to the ground as the men with machine guns opened fire, annihilating the Temple Keeper and much of the table. Kevin grabbed his gun as the large man at the door reached for his pistol, pointed it at the man's chest and fired three times. As he collapsed to the ground, Kevin ran for the door. At about that moment, the men with machine guns noticed that he was getting away and opened fire. Kevin turned his gun, firing once at the both of them before escaping out the door.

Elijah was no high priest, and his title was a mystery to himself as much as anyone else. When people referred to him it was usually by name, though some time ago, they had finally settled on the term "advisor" to describe his role. He was a man of wisdom, both good and bad, and the Temple Keeper himself was known to ask him for advice on many an occasion. He was 106 years old, but well-preserved by most standards. When he rose from his chair, it was with the swiftness and dexterity of a young man, and with the watchful eye of a trained killer.

The knocking continued, and he pushed open the door of his study. "What do you want?"

Kevin was at the door, appearing to be in a state of shock more than anything else. "The Iron Forces are here. Temple Keeper is down. He told me to find you."

"I should have known this day would come," Elijah said. "Come quickly, there's a side exit that will take us through the forest."

They ran up to the third floor of the temple complex. Few monks were in this part of the temple, and Kevin saw no one who looked dangerous, but the shouting he heard from below meant the Iron Forces couldn't be far behind.

"This way," Elijah said, and Kevin followed.

He ran along a ravine by an unfinished part of the temple, a cliff that sloped narrowly down to the forest below. Kevin saw a door up ahead, built in similar fashion to those that led to staircases in the other parts of the temple. But as they approached, several men with weapons came from around a corner, standing in front of the door.

"We're looking for someone," one of the men said. "Should be alone somewhere in a study. Maybe you can help us find him."

Kevin's hand moved to the gun on his belt, and he looked warily at the intruders as Elijah stepped forward, gesturing him to follow. They stepped forward a few feet along the ravine, and the men raised their weapons.

"I don't want you coming any closer," one of the men said. "And you're beginning to try my patience. Tell me, where can I find the man I'm looking for?"

"What's so important about him?" Elijah asked, moving an inch closer to the men.

"That's for us to know," the man pointed the gun at Elijah's head. "How much do you value your life, old man? How about his?"

Elijah pulled Kevin closer to the edge of the ravine. Here it dropped less narrowly into the forest below, although rocks jutted sharply out from the side of the cliff. It was a three story drop to the ground below, and a quick one at that.

"He's on the second floor," Kevin said. "Next to the library."

"Now I can tell when someone's lying to me," the man said. "And normally I'd call my men and tell them to search while we hold you at gunpoint. But I'm a student of human character. And I think the both of you have served your purpose."

Elijah grabbed Kevin and pulled him off the side of the ravine as the men opened fire. As they rolled down the slope, Kevin felt a rock cut into the side of his back and saw blood begin to trickle down his side. When they landed at the bottom of the cliff, he was surprised to find himself uninjured for the most part. Then Elijah began to cough blood.

"They're coming," he said, pulling a key from his pocket. "Take this. There's a town on the other side of the forest, and the Iron Forces won't dare attack them. Not immediately, anyway. You'll be safe there, but go now and don't look back."

Kevin took the key uneasily. "You're going to stay behind?"

"Look at me, do you think I can keep going? They're looking for me, and I can buy you some time but you have to go now. You haven't much time to spare."

"You know what they do to high priests, don't you?"

"I'm not a high priest, and I don't intend to go peacefully." Elijah pulled the gun from his belt. "Now go. No more arguing."

Kevin turned and darted through the forest as the shouting grew louder behind him. He heard the sound of an engine growing louder with each passing second, and finally he turned to look. Through the trees he could see several vehicles approaching and men with flashlights running through the forest. He was barely halfway through the forest, and the cars were quickly gaining on him. As one of the vehicles parked nearby, he ran and sat behind a tree, peeking back around as men approached.

The man with the scar held a gun in one hand and a flashlight in the other. "Spread out, and block every route to the village. You see someone without one of our uniforms on, you shoot them. No questions asked."

Kevin reached for his gun as the man with the scar stepped closer to the tree. He was ten feet away...then five feet...then three feet. Then he stopped, and Kevin gripped the gun in his right hand as he peeked around the side of the tree. He had three shots left, but one way or another he figured he wouldn't need more than that.

"They told me your name is Kevin," the man with the scar said. "Would you like to know my name?"

Kevin stayed hidden, but as he readied his gun his eyes darted through the forest, looking for a possible escape route. The forest was vast, and there were too few soldiers to cover it all. As he prepared to run, the man with the scar spoke again.

"If you're thinking about running, I have a sniper in that van trained on this tree. You can still get out of this alive, Kevin, but you don't leave with the key."

Kevin leapt out from behind the tree and shot the man with the scar in the chest. He fired back, hitting Kevin in the side, and they both tumbled to the ground. Kevin scrambled to his feet, diving toward the nearest tree as a bullet whizzed into a bush behind him. The man with the scar hadn't been bluffing. The van window was shattered, and the sniper fired again, the bullet lodging itself in the tree. Kevin turned and fired twice at the man in the van, and he heard a cry as his last bullet hit the sniper.

Then he ran. He didn't see the van coming after him, and the man with the scar hadn't moved since being hit. He was dead or incapacitated, and Kevin couldn't afford to think about alternatives. Part of his side had gone numb, though the pain was growing, and he knew he was losing blood. When he couldn't run anymore, he walked as quickly as he could, reaching the edge of the forest with a throbbing pain and blood dripping down his side.

The village had no gate or any kind of visible barrier, and it began with several gardens that stretched out to the edge of the city square. He wasn't sure if the Iron Forces would kill him there, but he decided that it would be foolhardy to risk it. He reached the city square as some kind of celebration was in motion, and the first to notice him was a child whose dog had wandered to the edge of the plaza. She called her mother, and then several others began to notice him. One woman fainted.

He collapsed to the ground, and things began to fade to black. That was when the screaming started.