Chapter 1

Can Birds Remember?

She can’t go further. They have followed her through the whole district, along the Pian road ruins, passed the new market, until there isn’t a single source of light left other than the stars and the all-seeing Indirian Station up in the black sky.

She is being surrounded. Marta must keep the data intact, or all will be for nothing. No bargain will be achieved. And if they are out to catch her, she must destroy it by any means whatsoever.

‘There you are’, says Cornelos, engineer-in-chief. ‘I’ll need you to hand this back, my dear child.’

‘Why do you care for this so much?’, she asks, pressing the yellow leather bag between her arms. ‘Why won’t you rest until our world is flooded with death? Don’t you understand?’

She looks back. The end of the road, by night. No moon, only desert. Hundreds of miles only inhabited by those crazy enough to dwell on the ruins of the ancient Pian settlements. Who are they? Hermits? Ravagers? Marauders turned mad by the thermal contrast, hiding from the sun by day and freezing in night’s velveteen darkness? They cannot be any better than the military engineer corps. But they don’t have the same power and determination to destroy them as Cornelos and his team. Him and five more men… All engineers. Not one wizard, fortunately.

She is only fourteen. Hazelnut hair and eyes, short and lean, with a funny nose. Why has she left herself to become entangled in this fuzz? Not that she cared so much at the beginning. She doesn’t even have a home to return anymore. Not a familiar face to hug you to sleep. Not a soul but only the memory of the ones who tried to stop the Indirian Corps before her. Not even this, when you think about it.

‘Look’, Cornelos stands tall, broad arms stretched in sign of peace, trying to seem friendly, ‘I know what put you into all this. Your father was a good wizard, one of the best. Maybe the Canal wouldn’t have been a viable project without his intellect. But he worked too hard and his mind burned out. He started ranting about the past and against Indirian progress. I assume he filled your head with all those ideas before going away, right? Poor kid, we don’t blame you. You must have gone through hell. Don’t you want to get this over with? Just give us the data and I’ll take care of you. I’ll look for a nice academy, so you can learn magic and follow his steps.’

Oh, she will follow his steps, all right. Some of the men next to Cornelos cough and sigh. They are tired and want to head home already. It’s hard for her to admit this, but as much as he hates the engineer-in-chief, he is holding them back. There is some gentleness about him at least. The others would have shredded her like hyenas already.

‘“Before going away”? You killed him!’, shouts Marta. This won’t get her anywhere. She hoped she had at least a day before they noticed the data was missing. She sneaked in Cornelos’ office using the keys she found on her father notes after they took him. So, it has come to this. The desert is the only way to go. Aim for the coast. Sail to the Free Counties. Ask the Prince for protection against the Indirian Monarchy. Otherwise, she must hand over the bag and hope Cornelos is willing to save her from their own men.

‘We didn’t kill him, Marta’, he replies angrily. ‘He had a fair trial and found guilty by the royal inquisitor. You and I know what he did went against the Monarchy.’

‘This Monarchy goes against its subjects. It goes against all that has ever lived. The Canal turns everything to dust.’

‘Don’t be selfish. Just imagine a world without pain. A world where a life of sadness can’t even exist. This is what the Canal brings with the ether’. Cornelos has realized she is just making time at this point. ‘I won’t change your mind, won’t I?’

One of the men leaps toward her. End of the line. Cornelos won’t loose more time. Make your mind, Marta! Why go against them? Why so much trouble?

Why, indeed? Let’s see…