Brynne

Terk and Ainsley moved to support Larik after they carefully helped the man to a standing position.

They left the home heading towards the place where they had last seen the other groups, and they found them in a circle around one of the shapers, a man named Tasno, looking at something in his hands.

Whatever the item was, it must have been quite interesting because the group had moved in surprisingly close to the uncomfortable sensations that were emanating from the shaper.

As Brynne drew closer, she saw what Tasno was holding through the press of bodies. It was a soul stone, but it was different from any she had ever seen before. The stone shone with a pearlescent aura.

Brynne made her way through the group. “What is it?” She asked as she drew near to the Shaper.

“It’s incredible,” Tasno said, awe in his voice. “It has all five senses stored within it. This soul stone has the ability to both store and share complete experiences. When I access it, I can live part of the life of the person who stored their senses inside the stone.”

Everyone knew that soul stones could be used to store only one single sense within them. That sense was static as well. A single sensation frozen in place. But this soul stone somehow had a full experience stored within. Is this what we were looking for all this time? Brynne thought as she examined the stone.

“How is that possible?” Brynne asked, hope rising in her chest.

The shaper studied her for a moment. “I can’t really explain it, but I think I can do the same with an empty soul stone.”

Brynne quickly opened her pack and withdrew one of the soul stones that they had found earlier in the day. She handed the stone over to the man, and he closed his eyes focusing on it.

Brynne held her breath in anticipation, but after a moment the shaper looked up again. “It’s not working,” He said soon afterward. “I think I can figure it out with more time. Lady Arbiter, may I have your permission to study the stone while we continue to search the buildings.”

“Of course.” Brynne replied, then quickly asked, “Where did you find this new soul stone?”

Tasno pointed at a smaller building with a red tiled roof with the five-rayed sunrise carved above the entrance. She thought about searching the place for more secrets, but before she did, she realized that Tieren’s team wasn’t with the others examining the soul stone.

“Where is Tieren?” She asked, suddenly feeling apprehensive.

The members of the two other teams looked at each other for a long moment before a soldier from one of the groups replied. “He went farther towards the center of the city. He said he wanted to check to see if he could find anything there.”

Brynne frowned. I should have told the teams not to separate too far from each other she thought, looking towards the center of the city. Tieren should have known better.

Brynne looked at the sun’s position in the sky. There was still a good amount of sunlight left in the day, but she didn’t want to be in the city when the sun went down.

Brynne made her decision.

“We will wait for Tieren to return,” Brynne said, trying to sound confident.

With this new soul stone discovery, she was sure that she could return to her family triumphantly. There was no point in staying in the city any longer. She had never thought she would be so excited to return to her family.

Brynne sent a team to search the building that had contained this new soul stone a second time, but they came up with nothing after combing the place over.

After that, many of the members in the group found places to sit as they began to wait for the return of Tieren’s team.

Brynne found herself a place to sit as well, looking towards the center of the city for any sign of the missing group.

After sitting there for some time with no sight of Tieren’s group, Brynne decided to talk with one of the scholars about the city.

Brynne walked towards the scholar named Cran Tannel. She wanted some answers, and perhaps the man would know something.

“Mister Tannel,” Brynne said, “have you discovered anything interesting during the exploration?”

“Of course, Arbiter Desserow.” The scholar replied sounding excited. “This city is a trove of knowledge. After so much was lost, we are finally learning something about the ancients.”

“What happened to them?” Brynne asked the same question she had voiced earlier in the day.

“I’m afraid I do not know my Lady Arbiter,” Cran replied, “but if I was asked to put forth a conjecture, I would suggest that The Wall is responsible. Did you know that The Wall has grown smaller over the years?”

“No, I didn’t.” Brynne said blinking in surprise. She hadn’t known that. She had done a lot of investigating about The Wall before leaving, but she had never heard this before

“Yes,” the scholar said, “The Wall has been measured several times since its appearance, and each time The Wall was measured, it was smaller than the time before. Many other scholars don’t believe that the measurements were taken correctly, and therefore they discount the discovery, but I believe that this entire city was covered by The Wall when it originally appeared.”

“Do you think that anyone was able to escape?” Brynne asked the scholar.

Cran frowned, a contemplative look coming to his face. “It is unlikely Lady Arbiter,” The man finally said, “Perhaps some few managed to escape whatever happened, but if a significant number had managed to leave this place, some remnant of their society should exist. Instead, we know almost nothing about Eloria and its inhabitants.”

Brynne nodded thinking. “What about the objects of power that the church destroyed?” she asked. Referencing the years of eradication, when the church had suddenly claimed that all relics of Eloria were heretical. The church then decreed that all should be destroyed.

“Ah,” Cran responded, unfortunately we don’t know if those were truly objects of power, or if they were something else. If the church truly did destroy artifacts of the Ancients, it did a great disservice to the world.”

Brynne was about to ask another question when she heard an exclamation of joy.

Tasno had apparently uncovered the secret to storing experiences in a soul stone. Brynne rushed over to the man in excitement.

“Show me.” Brynne said trying not to sound like a little girl receiving a gift from her father.

Tasno handed her the soul stone, and when she touched it, she could feel something pushing against her. She let it in.

Instantly she found herself in a new body, looking through a new perspective with sensations that were slightly off. The eyes that weren’t hers were staring at the soul stone that now glowed with pearlescent light. The mouth that wasn’t hers opened and let out a shout, the same shout that she had just heard from Tasno.

She jolted back to her own body. The experience was very strange, but this was incredible. In the end they had found something new in Eloria.

Her family would certainly be happy with this discovery. This information combined with the soul stones that they had found would be more than enough to placate the Deserrow High Court. Brynne was relieved that they wouldn’t need to look through the city another day.

“Use that stone to record our experience here,” Brynne commanded Tasno, “The Deserrow High Court will want to know what the city is like, and that stone is the perfect way to show them.”

“It shall be done Lady Arbiter.” Tasno said with a small bow.

“Thank you Tasno.” Brynne said looking into the sky, noting that the sun was much closer to the horizon than she would have liked, and Tieren still hadn’t returned.

They couldn’t wait any longer, it was time to search for Tieren and his team. If something had attacked them, Brynne didn’t want to split up their group. Poor Larik would have to move with the group. One of the soldiers was a field medic, and he had put a splint on the ankle, but the injured shaper was still in obvious pain.

The terror that she had felt in the wall was slowly starting to worm its way back into her. She had tried not to worry about Tieren and his team, but they had been gone a very long time. Her mind was determined to think of all the ways they could have died.

The group moved towards the center of the city. Hopefully, they would be able to find Tieren’s team and leave the city before dark.

As they walked Brynne was starting to realize just how huge this city was. They had been exploring the city for the greater part of a day, but they had barely seen a fraction of Eloria. Even after walking for quite some time straight towards the city’s center, they were still far from reaching the place.

She paid close attention to the buildings they passed by while walking towards the center of the city, looking for the mark that would indicate that Tieren and his team had searched the building. Not a single building had the mark.

The worry Brynne was feeling was starting to grow the longer they went without seeing a sign of Tieren’s group. She truly hated this mission.

At last, they found a sign that the team had passed through the area. They ran across a terelia tree that looked like it had had its soul stones plucked. Tieren’s group must have passed through here.

They continued their walked for quite some time, again with no sign of Tieren’s team until they found yet another terelia tree without its soul stones.

Brynne once again marveled at the number of terelia trees within Eloria. Just walking down this single road they had found four trees. There could be hundreds in the city. A fortune in soul stones.

She continued walking as she guessed at the number of terelia trees in the city.

After walking for what seemed an eternity, they were actually coming close to the center of the city and the buildings were becoming much grander and far more intimidating.

As the sun approached the horizon, the buildings started to cast ominous shadows over the party, like a burial shroud slowly being drawn over a corpse.

The deeper the shadows became, the higher the terror rose in Brynne’s chest and gripped at her heart. They would need to turn back soon, or they would have to camp inside Eloria. That was something that she really didn’t want to do now that Tieren’s groups had disappeared.

Tieren’s group definitely should have come back by now. Her mind started to imagine all kinds of hideous things that could have happened to them.

Just as she was about to speak the order to leave Eloria, one of the soldiers pointed towards a building that looked like it had been incredibly fine before the fall of the city. There, on the door, she could see the mark of exploration that the expedition used.

Apart from the mark of exploration the building had the symbol of the sun rising at dawn, five rays shining out to illuminate the land before it. Brynne had seen the symbol before. That’s right, she thought, it was on the archway that we passed through to enter the city, and it was on the building with the strange soul stone as well.

Tieren’s group must have searched this building. The only question was if they had already left, or if they were still inside the aged structure.

Brynne apprehensively approached the building with several soldiers. When they reached the doorway Brynne looked down at the thick coating of dust that covered the floor.

What she noticed chilled her.

Footprints were heading into the building, but none led out.

Tieren’s team was somewhere inside, unless they had left through a backdoor to the building, though that was unlikely.

She left Terk and Ainsley to keep watch at the doorway and to look after Larik. She wouldn’t make them explore the building with the rest of the expedition. Everyone else moved to enter the building, soldiers setting alight their pre-prepared torches to illuminate the structure’s dark interior.

The soldiers tried to look confident, but Brynne could tell that they were nervous. It seemed that the disappearance of Tieren’s team had put everyone on edge

By the Creator’s mercy let them be safe. Brynne thought.

Martin stopped her as she was about to enter behind the soldiers.

“If Tieren’s group hasn’t left the building, there could be some kind of trap, or perhaps there is a dangerous creature inside.” Martin said, looking concerned. “You should stay here with Terk and Ainsley.”

It was tempting, but Brynne needed to do this. She needed to conquer her fear. She wouldn’t allow herself to run from this. She had been running her entire life.

Today she would confront her fear.

“No.” Brynne said putting on a stern face. “This expedition is my responsibility. I will not hide from it.”

Martin looked as if he were about to object, but Brynne pushed past him to enter the building. She put on a brave face, but her knees betrayed her. They were shaking like a pair of small saplings caught in a tempest. Hopefully, nobody would notice.

The look Martin gave her as he entered the building told her that he had definitely noticed. Shadows take the man. He started walking towards her once again and grabbed her hand before she could object, and once again she felt Martin’s boundless optimism flowing into her, but she pulled away quickly.

Martin looked hurt as she started to walk away, which made Brynne feel a little guilty for shrugging away his attempt to calm her, but this was not the time. Brynne needed to remain focused on what they were doing.

Brynne returned her attention to the task that lay before her, examining the room that she had entered. Even through the clear signs of age, the room was exquisite. Stain glass windows lined walls at the sides of the room, and fine rugs set with delicate furniture covered the space inside.

The footprints in the dust ranged throughout the room, but soldiers had followed them to where they were concentrated. Tieren’s team had gone down a hallway leading through the large entrance chamber and down a hallway.

Brynne followed the soldiers deeper into the building. She walked next to the scholars and Martin who were protected at the back of the group. The footsteps in the dust had led them down a flight of stairs and through a doorway that entered into a room with a table in the center.

When Brynne’s eyes fell on the table she knew immediately that this was what they were searching for. They had finally found their objects of power.

On the table set up for display lay dozens of black bands with white streaks creating complex swirling patterns over the surface, reminiscent of the soul stones that they had found. They glowed with the same pearlescence as the soul stone they had found earlier. Several of the bands were missing, but it didn’t detract from the beauty of the display.

The bands were beyond anything she had ever seen before.

Each one gave off a soft white glow with just a touch of multi-hued color swirling within. The torches that the soldiers carried seemed dull and mundane compared to the radiance given off by the bands displayed on the table.

Everyone stood still, staring in awe until Martin rushed forward to examine them, an excited gleam in his eye. The scholars and shapers were quick to follow, looking just as excited as Martin.

The soldiers moved to check the doors leading out of the room, leaving Brynne standing in the doorway, considering the implications of what they had found.

This could change everything.

It could change the way that the world worked. The jump in technology could change their lives forever. If the legends could be believed, this disco-

Screams and curses shocked her out of her thoughts. Inside one of the doors the soldiers had opened, blood covered the floor. Within the pool of crimson lay the bodies of Tieren’s team.

Brynne stood stunned staring at the corpses. This couldn’t be happening.

A clicking sound, like dice being rolled, registered in her ears and then a force slammed into her. Not a physical force, but something else.

All of her emotions winked out.

She felt… nothing.

She stood motionless as a clinking sound heralded the arrival of a suit of armor with hands that glowed with the same pearlescence as the metal bands on the table. The armor entered the room and a sword appearing in its glowing hands and started killing soldiers that were struck by the same stupor that held Brynne.

Brynne should have been shocked at the sight

Deep down, something told her that this was wrong. That she needed to move, to do anything. But she couldn’t find the motivation

Another soldier died, and the effect started to wear off as fear started to break through the wall of nothing.

Several more soldiers were cut down still looking dazed from whatever had hit them. In fact, it looked like Brynne had suffered the least from the attack except for Martin who had turned towards her with fear in his eyes. He yelled out, and something finally broke within her. She could finally move again, and terror flooded into her replacing the nothing that had suffocated everything else.

More soldiers died to the suit of armor. This isn’t just a suit of armor, Brynne thought, this is a monster. The thought ran through her muddled mind as she witnessed the carnage before her.

Her terror reached new heights as she saw the men dying in front of her.

Some of the soldiers had finally shaken away the trance like state they had been in and managed to draw weapons.

One of them took a swing at the monster, but it swiped out a glowing hand, reaching towards the man’s sword. When it made contact with the blade, the entire sword fuzzed for a moment, then disappeared.

The suit of armor stabbed the poor man, with its sword who looked shocked after losing his weapon. Two more soldiers moved to attack the suit of armor, looking for weak points in the steel plate. One of the soldier’s swords clanged ineffectually off the armor, but the second soldier’s sword found an opening near the armor’s pauldron, stabbing shallowly into the armor.

Brynne heard a gasp of pain from within the helmet, but the suit of armor whipped its sword around to kill the man who had wounded him, then swept back to kill the other soldier that had attacked.

It had all happened so quickly. So many men were dead in so little time

This was wrong, so very wrong. Any pretense of courage that she had vanished, and she ran. As she turned to run, she saw even more soldiers and one of the shapers fall before the suit of armor.

She had been close to the doorway, but as she reached it, it suddenly felt like she was trying to walk through thick honey. It was as if the air itself was solidifying around her. She managed to pushed her way through the sensation, seeing that the air was indeed becoming solid in the doorway.

As it slowly started to turn opaque, solidifying into a slab of stone she saw a group of terrified members of the expedition reach the doorway led by Martin. They tried to push through as well, but they slammed into the solidifying air, unable to reach through. Martin’s terrified eyes met hers just before the doorway was completely obstructed, leaving them trapped in the room with the monster.

Then, through the diminishing screams she heard Martin’s voice shout out a single word, muffled by the slab of stone that now stood in the doorway.

RUN!

There was no time to think.

Nearly driven mad from the panic, Brynne scrambled up the stairway as fast as she could. She charged out of the building screaming at Terk and Ainsley to run.

They had obviously heard the screams from below because they were ready to run the moment they saw her coming. They grabbed Larik, dragging the injured man with them as they began to run down the street.

She was about to tell them to abandon the shaper until she realized that the only way they could possibly escape through The Wall was to bring the man with them. None of them would survive if Larik died.

Brynne realized that they needed to hide. They were moving too slowly because of Larik’s ankle, even with both Terk and Ainsley trying to help him.

“Follow me!” Brynne cried leading them down a smaller road to the side of the main thoroughfare. They continued on, Brynne guiding them through the maze-like streets at random. She continued to take them farther away from the building where so many of her men had died. After she thought they had moved far enough away, she led them to a small, nondescript building to hide in.

She sat down, rocking back and forth staring into the distance, trying to forget the faces of the men she had seen slaughtered before her. Trying to forget the screams of the dying men. They were all dead now. Almost the entire expedition had been wiped out, and it was all her fault.

Only four of them had survived. Four out of twenty-two.

Ainsley and Terk were asking her something, but their whispered words were drowned out by the screams inside her head. Why won’t they go away? What is happening to me?

Terk and Ainsley eventually gave up trying to talk with her, and she blocked out everything else.

She sat there in the darkness. She sat there in the silence.

Then, something shocked Brynne out of her trance-like state. It was distant, but she knew what it was.

The chink chink sound of metal footsteps on stone.

It was the suit of armor. It was the monster.

The sound drew near their building. Slowly, the suit of armor was moving closer to their hiding place.

All Brynne could do was say prayers to the creator in her head. Begging for help.

The sound drew even closer.

Brynne began to cry silently. Is this how I will die? She thought, tears rolling down her cheeks. Is this how it all ends?

The images of death swirled into her vision once again and instead of her men dying, this time it would be her.

The suit of armor would find her and kill her just like he had killed everyone else.

Then she realized that the sounds weren’t coming any closer, in fact, they were starting to move away from their hiding place. Thank Novian, Architect of souls and Creator of men! Brynne thought as relief flooded through her

The monster hadn’t found them.

The monster must have seen their footprints, or some other sign of their passing headed in this direction, but it didn’t know exactly where they were.

They stayed there for several more hours before Brynne moved them again. She took them further into the city, away from the building where they had found the objects of power. If they were going to leave this place, it would be best to do it at night.

They walked through Eloria for several more hours before they eventually they found an exit from the city and made their way to The Wall using the night to keep themselves hidden.

She tried to pierce the darkness with her eyes, constantly scanning her surroundings to detect any sign of the monster. She strained her ears listening for any sound, but after all of her effort, she didn’t see or hear anything.

Despite the almost pitch-black darkness of the night she couldn’t help but worry that the monster would find them, but as they covered the distance to The Wall nothing moved to stop them.

They drew up just outside the dark fog bank, preparing themselves. She never would have thought she would be happy to go into The Wall, but now it only seemed to be a protection from the eyes of the monster that had killed her men.

“Let’s go.” Brynne whispered, a quaver in her voice.

I can only move forward. There’s nothing else I can do.

With that thought, she stepped into The Wall.