[ Chapter 27 ] - The Putrid Waterways

They laid on a small hill covered in rainbow flowers. The sun blessed her soft features and gentle green eyes that held the world’s hope. She called his name in a whisper, smiling as she stroked his chin so tenderly. He had never heard his name spoken in such a lovely tune. Oh, how sweet it was.

Until a bloodied hand punctured his chest and the woman he loved withered to dust.

“Ceri.” Leor wrenched open his heavy eyelids to empty sheets. The stone settled in his chest. It was hard to find the will to move. He found himself hating and yearning for sleep these days; his solace and torture.

“Ceri?” The fourth Pillar stood over him.“Is that your beloved?”

He sat up from his bed, the straw crinkling as he moved. An orange beam poured through the broken window and illuminated the cloud of dust floating around the cathedral solar. A black ball of fur slept by the foot of his bed and perked up when Leor called, “Yoru”.

“I said to leave at nightfall, did I not?” Leor crossed the room for his clothes. In a rush, he threw on his garbs but slowed at the dragonscale shoulder guard. It was warm to the touch. As if someone had kept it cozy for him. He caressed the silky cape with his ringed finger and reminisced of bittersweet times. “Líada asked to keep this a secret.”

“Why, sir Leor, it is nightfall,” Michael said, “Or the closest to night the lands near Solaris will ever get. The sky blackens as any other but the light from the old kingdom knows no rest, tearing through the dark clouds and replacing the stars.”

“Ain’t that annoying.”

The sky was a deep lavender with raining streaks of amber. It couldn’t be any later than dusk or early evening. And yet, Michael swore on his research that it was well past midnight, showing Leor a dial on his wrist that shines brighter as night approaches. “It absorbs the world’s natural light and inverts it with the help of licht crystals. Bright yellow for midnight, black for noon. Think of it as a simple mirrored spectrum”, the Pillar told him with a prideful grin. Not that he asked for the inner workings of the gadget.

He followed the fourth Pillar through the northeastern corner of the fort, where foot traffic was nought, past empty shells of inns and abandoned merchant shacks. The slated roofs had caved and unscaled, and the stone now discolored. The ghostly silence was deafening but every so often, mumblings japed from the shadows of ruined buildings. At first, he thought it was in his head again, but the edgewolf would stop and growl at the darkness.

“Worry not,” Michael said, “Only my men occupy this section. The others would not dare trespass.”

“And what if they spread word of my early departure?”

Michael laughed. “I think not. Loyalty runs through their veins and I am the only benefactor. But never mind that. I am more curious about you. To think Líada gave away her favor.”

“Consider it a trade.”

“Ah, yes. A trade. She fancies those dearly. . .” The fourth pillar looked over his shoulder. “But she does not exchange her favors lightly. I wonder what she asked of you in return. Perhaps a chance to loot the old kingdom before the others? Or maybe an escort to guard her from what lurks behind the walls?”

Leor choked back his surprise. The Pillar was a quick-witted bastard, much more than Arthur.

“I’ll take your silence as a yes,” Michael chuckled. “That sly fox. How did she come to know about the underground canal? You can never be certain with her. . . well, not that I can complain. She’s been a great asset to my studies.”

“The two of you seem close.”

Michael waved his hand as if shooing a fly. “No, no. Not at all. We are nothing more than business partners, exchanging knowledge of the unknown between both worlds. She has provided me with valuable insight into the history we lost when humanity fled the haze. I’ll save you from the boring details, but the old lord Greymir, the strong-headed stag who turned down the title of Pillar and had once claimed he’d rather die than flee his fort, had abandoned his precious keep years before our arrival. If the merchant were to be believed. That old buffoon. He could’ve been of use. . .”

Michael took a long breath. “Forgive me, I lost myself for a moment. Tell me, Sir Leor. The Chosen Purblight. What drives you on this arduous journey? It's not every day I am graced with the presence of someone who can make use of that ring on your finger and a rouge purblight, no less.”

The question stunned Leor. He hesitated, uncertain what the fourth Pillar was after, but he figured he owed him some sort of answer since he helped him with Lisa and Yola. “To bring back someone I lost.”

“Quite the noble quest, I see.”

Something about the way the words left the Pillar’s lips did not sit well with him. “And what do you hope to accomplish with your ‘research’?” His tone harsher than he intended.

The pillar halted his stride, stood silent for a moment, then turned around with a crooked smile. “The betterment of humanity, of course.”

The black needles took shape as they drew closer. Rows of longswords planted into dirt mounds and empty grave pits occupied the land where the stables and farmhouses used to be. Leor spotted a pair of tainted-silver knights digging up holes. They paused their task and bowed to the Pillar, keeping their head down until they passed. Beside the grave knights was what looked like a pile of bodies, but it was too dark to be certain. The rows of planted steel ushered them down the dirt path, the rust more prominent on each blade as they trudged the makeshift cemetery.

Three figures stood by a stone shack at the end of the graveyard. The Greymir Stag above the archway was half broken and the gate chewed by rust. When Leor drew closer, the figures waved; two ran and called out to him.

He squinted. By the time he figured their faces, they wrapped their slender arms around him. “Lisa, Yola. What are you doing here?”

Lisa looked up from his sleeve. “Master Michael told us you plan on journeying to the old kingdom of light on your own. We could not fathom it. My lord, say it isn’t true.”

“Not alone. The edgewolf shall accompany me, but that is the truth. I must leave for Solaris at once.” He attempted to break free from their clutches, which made them cling tighter.

“But the both of you couldn’t possibly handle the burden on your own.”

“He won’t be.” A familiar grizzly voice echoed and a twisted grin bloomed from the dark. Hendrick stepped forward, donning a fresh set of hardboiled leathers. “Sleep well, my lord?”

Before Leor could speak, Alden and two dragonslayer knights emerged from the shadows. “I second that notion,” the Pontiff said, grinning.

Leor glared at Michael who smirked like he were watching some sort of theater. “What part of ‘secret’ do you not understand? How am I supposed to explain this to Líada?”

“Same as I do,” the Pillar said, “Offer her a favor.”

“Then, my lord, allow us to accompany you. Your party is well numbered and. . . and. . . Don’t leave us here alone.” Lisa begged. Her eyes were as desperate as her voice. Yola already had her tears staining his sleeve.

Do not look at me like that. They reminded him of a certain crying wolfling. He steeled himself against the tears. “It’s not safe in the old city. Even the lord dogs have yet to return. Bringing the two of you along will prove more harm than good. It's best you stay here.”

Lisa shied away for a split second, then leaned into his ear. “It’s not safe here either, my lord. The Order —”

“ — Will offer them proper security,” Michael finished for her. “You have my word.”

Leor pried free of the women’s grasp and eyed the Pillar. “I suppose this is not a gesture of good heart.”

The Pillar’s face brightened. “You’re learning. Good.”

“Out with it then.”

Michael whistled and waved. A young woman with bright sun-kissed hair and small golden spectacles unfolded a wooden table, then laid down her parchments. She never looked at Leor as she performed her tasks. Almost as if to avoid his gaze, but he wasn’t so sure. The parchment was a map of Solaris. Old, brittle, and held loosely by dried wax. The fourth Pillar traced his finger along the border of Solaris.

“There are ballistae lining the high walls of Solari, leftovers from ancient times. How many I cannot say but by the counts of shots, I’d say two remain active. Reach the artillery, disarm all of them, and put a stop to whatever is manning the damn things. We don’t want a repeat of hellfire.” His finger moved to the heart of the kingdom. “Once done, strike the Revolutionary's Bell to signal safe travels.”

Leor clicked his tongue. “Is that all?”

“I’m afraid not. The lesser of the Twin Pillars will not think kindly of my betrayal, if he wants to call it that. He’d surely explode at your disservice. Unless you were to complete this act in his name.” Michael smiled like a cunning bastard. “One day. When the color of the solar dial makes a full cycle; yellow; crimson purple; black; and lastly, a rosy orange. That’s all the time I can afford you. Any more than that and I cannot promise I can quell Arthur’s outrage.”

He regarded his words with suspicion. What could the Fourth Pillar be after?

“As for the second favor —”

“Second?” Leor’s voice rose.

“Yes, one for each woman,” the fourth Pillar said with that damn witty grin. He gestured to the young woman beside him. “You are to escort Luella to the First Archives. She is to return to me unharmed. My protection only lasts as long as the girl’s safety is ensured. Are we in agreement?”

Leor looked at the two women and scoffed. “I don’t have much of a choice.”

“I’ll hold you to your words then.” He paused, stroking the invisible hair on his chin as he stared off into the distance as if he was searching for something. “Oh, and by chance, was that other slave a friend of yours as well?”

Pons. It took a while for him to realize that. Leor shook his head. The old slave wasn’t worth a shred of favor.

“Very well. I shall put him to good use then. He’s almost ripe.” The fourth Pillar handed Leor a solar dial and a potion of healing waters.“Well, go on. Make your peace and hurry along. Time waits for no one.”

When the Pillar disappeared beneath the Stag head, the two women embraced him once more and gave him a worried look. “My lord, promise me you’ll return for us,” Lisa said.

Leor could only offer a half-smile. He saw a bit of Ceri in them and remembered what he had told her; Promises are to be kept. And he dared not make such a promise again.

The stone hovel led to descending spiral steps that were too narrow for the group to walk abreast. Their footsteps echoed down the cold stone into the darkness that numbed his solar dial to a feeble twinkle. His eyes strained to adjust to the constant flicker of lanterns, disappearing and reappearing behind silhouettes. The dark played tricks on him, feinting the end with leveled ground, only to be met with more steps soon after. An endless loop of descending nothingness.

Though his eyes lost their senses, his nose borne its burden. An ungodly stench radiated from the abyss, growing more rancid the deeper they traveled. It poisoned his nostrils and brought tears to his eyes. He feared breathing in the horrid air through his mouth would make the taste forever stain his tongue. The very thought made him want to hurl. If hell existed, this is what he imagined it smelling like.

Even the thick, gapless, steel door at the end could not subdue the miasma. Standing before it, Michael turned and said, “Beyond you will find the path to Solaris. If you run into any issues about the old city, ask Luella. She’s one of the brightest young scholars of Lichtwerth.” His voice was muffled by some kind of face mask. The pillar locked eyes with Leor. “Pray well that you do not disappoint me, Chosen purblight.”

As the steel door slammed shut behind them like trumpets booming their arrival, it became evidently clear that his imagination was just. The canals below housed a shallow river of filth, littered with clumps of human and beast bones alike. Their corporeal flesh one with the cesspool. A nasty sight of blood and excrement. Now, this is hell. Leor cinched his nose and spat; Hendrick did the same and followed it with a slew of curses; Yoru whined as the edgewolf tried desperately to scratch the scent from its nose; the rest seemingly unaffected by the deathly stench. It must be the masks and helms. Perhaps they were blessed by the Gods.

The putrid waterway would have been as black as the stairwell if not for the luminescent shrooms and crystals that glittered the dilapidated walls like a million tiny orange candles, and the hand lanterns the followers of Gods fastened to their waists. Luella made her way to the crumbling edge of the stone walkway and looked down at the grime, then tossed a pebble into the canal. When the splash echoed softly, the scholar tucked her trousers into her boots and leapt in.

Leor’s eyes widened and jumped in soon after. He covered his mouth with his sleeve when the discolored water splashed when he landed. “Have you lost your mind?” he said, pulling on her arm.

Luella returned a stupid look. “It wasn’t deep. I checked.”

“Deep or not. What if something lurked in the waste? Might I remind you your life rests in my hands.”

“Then you’d best act quicker, good purblight.” Her eyes met his only for a brief moment. “The longer we spend squandering the more lives lost.”

Leor chewed his words and released her arm. The rest of the party plopped down and followed after the scholar.

“Are all Litharians lost of sense?”

“My friend, I believe you are one and the same in that regard.” Alden’s laughter echoed inside his dragon helm. When Leor did not share his enjoyment, he sighed. “A hearty laugh might do you some good, Leor. A man can only carry so much burden. Not even the Gods are capable of everything.”

Luella led the way, checking her map and marking it with a quill whenever they reached a cross. The stream slopped opposite of their trek, slow as a slug and just as slimy. Leor found the working stream to be peculiar. It should have been dried out long ago. This told him the floodgates must be open, but if that’s the case, then for what purpose did Líada need his escort?

He observed the few elevated walkway islands and noted their stained stone; the sewage once licked near the high edge. A thousand skulls sat on the surface of the putrid water, staring at him as they kicked past. Their jaws locked open in an eternal cry for salvation. He pitied the poors souls. Rotting away, forgotten by their Gods, while the rest of them bury in a fanciful dreamland. It was unfair and cruel, and it reaffirmed his disdain for the ones who claim the high thrones.

They slew countless rats, snakes, and lizards that did not scurry at their haste. The vermin were the length of his legs and bloated as a pig, but he gave that little thought. Oversized beasts were the new norm.

The dragonslayers, whose identify was kept concealed, were swift and deadly precise with their strikes, cutting through swarms of enemies with a single swing of their Soul Arm. Lightning swam from the blade edge and out with each wave. It sent tingles through the air. Leor looked at the longsword at his hip and the ring on his finger and wondered how to wield the trinkets as they did.

Hendrick was no slouch either. The giant was the largest in the party but the clumsiest in battle. He’d swing his broadsword like he were wielding a blunt weapon, often getting the blade stuck in bone. Not that Leor could say differently about his own current handling. Though each felled enemy made his wielding a slight easier.

Still, the scholar showed no hesitance. They continued down the endless maze of intersecting tunnels. Walk identical strips of sludge and slay all that rushed them. Clean their blade of blood and their mouth of taste, then follow the scholar. Sometimes he would catch Luella watching him or perhaps testing him as he defended her. It bugged him that he was being sized up for reasons he did not know, but he held his tongue. If the scholar knew the quickest path to Solaris, it was an annoyance he could tolerate.

Each fork made the solar dial a darker shade. His heart thumped at the lost time. Or perhaps the fumes were getting to him. Was it a murky yellow or a very faded red? It looked all the same yet different. . . The damn thing is useless.

They finally reached an end. A mountainous pile of debris clogged the entirety of the canal’s path. The sewage trickled between the cracks like puss from a leaking blemish. Clicking her teeth, Luella shook her head and marked her map, then strode from whence they came.

Leor stood in her path. “Don’t tell me we’re lost.”

“Not lost. It’s more of a detour.”

He tried his best to keep his voice from blazing. “We’ve done nothing but follow your guidance to end up here?”

Luella frowned. “You say it as if I am to blame for the walls collapsing. Our course was correct. It just so happens now it is not.” She looked down at her parchment and smiled. “As my great grandfather once said, a path absent of struggle is no path at all.”

“All I care for is the fastest path.”

“And I share the same sentiment, good purblight, but the best course of action is to clear each path until we find one that is free of obscurity.”

Leor peered at the solar dial swinging back and forth from light to dark yellow. “Still, time is not on our side. We cannot afford to check every single route.”

“Seeing you are so fretful, why not take the lead? Do you plan on navigating this labyrinth with gut-feeling?” One of the Dragonslayers finally spoke. It was a familiar female voice, hostile and full of contempt.

Emilia, Ceri’s friend. . . and for that, he was glad her eyes were masked by her dragon helm. “No —”

“ — Then let Miss Luella conduct her experiment. We have no need for your complaints. Your guidance would no doubt lead us to our end. Just as you’ve done to Ceri.” Her hand clamped down hard on the hilt of her sheathed longsword. He could see it took all of her to resist drawing her blade. “A bastard purblight playing the role of a leader. A false little lordling. . . See out your duty in silence. Step out of line and I will put you in your place.”

To her left, Alden pinched between his eyes — if his helm would allow it — and sighed.

Leor’s tongue receded into his throat. What was he to say to that? Deep down he knew she had every right to be upset with him.

Then Yoru jumped around and snarled behind the party. They followed the edgewolf’s gaze and saw flames tumbling towards them, the heat crashing against their bodies like smoldering waves. Footsteps echoed, clacks on dry stone. The dragonslayers circled Alden while the purblights and the edgewolf guarded Luella.

“My, my. Quite daring for the lot of you to fight in this wretched sewer.” Another familiar voice. A flaming bird took shape from the waves and he knew who approached them.

He lowered his weapon. By their wide eyes, he could tell the others were as surprised as him. “What are you doing here, Yui? Did the Fourth Pillar send you?”

“That’s no way to greet someone, Leor. Especially since we have not spoken since the edgewoods.” Her voice was tender and relaxed as always. She had torn a sash from her dress and fashioned a mask. “No, I am here of my own volition. I expected to trail you from afar but it would seem you are lost.”

“Not lost,” Luella corrected.

“A detour, right? I heard the entire thing. No need to explain it to me, little one.” Her slender fingers tapped Inazuma’s handle as she stared at Leor with cold eyes. “I expected better from you as The Sky Splitter’s pupil.” Yui turned heel. Before she walked away, she said over her shoulder, “Come. I will lead you to the old city of light.”

“You have a map?” Leor asked.

Yui's smile outlined her mask. “No, but the thread of light is ever so clear.”