Chapter 2

Braham’s Glory

Ariei

The bridge slowly lowers, its massive shadow keeping step with the platform. It’s almost entirely made of stone, small panes of ceremonial stained glass dotting the walkway as chiseled surfaces display fables of yore. It could have been more easily crafted of other materials, but stone prevents interference from the elements or eidelion witchery. It saunters over the massive spiked pit below as the massive sets of gears- four on each side- incongruously make their rotations inside the reinforced steam-powered machinery. As they make their landing, Emerit gleefully starts forward.

“Lucky me. It’s not too often I get to actually MOVE OVER the damned thing.”

I chuckle. “Well, today’s your lucky day. When was the last introductory excursion?”

“No clue. Two years? Three?”

Braham shakes his head. “No. Four.”

Emerit laughs under his mask. “Four years. No wonder I'm losing my mind.”

As we move over the bridge, Emerit takes his coremag rifle from behind his back. He moves just ahead of us, glances around, and steps back.

“All right. I’d get moving soon.” He glances at me. “Remember how the breather works?”

I nod, taking the metal device from my bag. It’s a mask that covers my face from the nose down. It’s mostly copper, small sets of gears along the jawline allowing for the proper processing of air from the filter below. I move my fingers, helping to illustrate my knowledge.

“It beeps when the Maw’s influence gets close. I pull the lever in the back, I take long breaths through the filter, and-”

“How long do you have in total?”

I sigh. “Two hours while it’s on.”

I can almost imagine him beaming mockingly behind his mask.

“Excellent! Full marks. Just remember…” He leans forward. “If you don’t use it wisely, your eyes will bleed and small creatures will erupt from your insides to ravage your corpse.”

I don’t laugh. He takes a moment, before giving up on the joke and standing straight.

“Well then, have fun!”

My father laughs. “Always an intriguing time meeting with you, Emerit.”

Emerit waves at us as we walk. “Truly. I try to make every day slightly more bearable for you unhinged lot. Take care! And good meeting with you, Ariei."

I give an awkward wave back.

It takes us a short while before we reach our first waypoint. Most of our job is focused on delving further into the vast forest surrounding our community, fighting back the ever-growing population of eidelion, and placing these mechanical systems to light our way and send information. It’s a three-pronged vertical collection of silver blades that, once set into the ground, begin automatically sliding the blades further and further under until reaching a layer of brightrock. Due to its conductive nature, we are able to send signals to and from each waypoint- and our city- to spread and share important information using a language made up of syllabic pulses.

My father takes a pause, kneeling down to access the lever situated upon the device’s front panel. He pulls and lifts, each tug combining to send a message of safety to our organization’s control building in the city. Two lights illuminate on the panel’s square light, a confirmation of receipt. He gets up.

“All right. Which way now, do you think?”

Braham thinks, running his hand through his short gray goatee.

“I say we go one further, then return.”

My father thinks for a moment. “Do you think it’s safe enough? I’m worried that the eidelion are hunting closer. If we found one before the bridge, there may be packs out.”

Braham smiles. “Of course it is. We’ve consistently dealt with far worse by ourselves. Besides, look at her.”

I furrow my eyebrows annoyedly at him. He just continues. “It’s your daughter, Edom. She’s as ready as she’ll ever be if more show up.”

“If more show up?” I’m getting more frustrated as I speak. “They’re going to be there, Braham. They’re everywhere.”

“And what? It’s our job-”

“Yes. It’s your job.” I turn around. “Why? Why do we even have to do this?” Both of them look surprised, my father in particular. For the first time in a long while he seems caught off guard.

“Because, Ariei. It’s our duty to expand.”

I ball my fists. “Exactly. Expansion. So we lose our own people to expand?! For what? We don’t need expansion, we need survival. We have a city, engineers, scientists, agriculture. Everybody would be fine underground.”

My father raises his voice. “And what of the other settlements?”

I glare at him. “What of it? What do we even offer them?”

“We’re carving a path outwards, until eventually we can connect and regroup as a species.”

I shake my head. “We haven’t achieved that in the sixty years the emberstrands have been established, father. I doubt we’ll achieve it soon. Another settlement hasn’t arrived here physically in, what, one hundred years? Two hundred? Are they even real?”

My father stops speaking. He turns around and starts walking. Braham looks at me, remains quiet, and follows. I follow suit.

We continue like this for another ten minutes. The path is beautiful. Unlike the mostly still woodlands near the settlement, the forest only grows in life the further in we walk. The trees begin to faintly glow gold from the small trails of bioluminescent insects that softly fly in linear patterns out of their vast trunks. Spiralflies pop out of the knee-high grasses as we move, their faint green circular pattern illuminating the dark uniform I'm clad in. One circle of them reaches a high peak, and the others around it follow suit, trying to achieve further feats in their vertical hierarchy. There used to exist larger populations of non-edidelion creatures, but they exist only to feed the beasts now.

“I’m sorry.”

I know the words come out more hollow than I think them to, but I do speak them with genuine intention. My father keeps walking, before opening his mouth.

“I understand. This… is a fairly hollow burden.”

Braham raises an eyebrow, glancing to his side towards my father. He continues.

“The days stretch on. The more blood we spill, the more setbacks we face. People die, become injured, lose family. The eidelion keep growing in number. And you’re right, no other settlement has been able to meet us in person. Most likely, ever.”

He stops.

“But, take a moment. Look around you. This is why we become emberstrands. This is why we fight.”

One of the trees continues its daily growing cycle, the root softly breathing as the carrion beetles dig their way through and populate it with nutrient-filled hives created from the shells of dead prey.

“We can sit down there, all we want, but there is an untold land around us. We’ve traveled so far, you wouldn’t imagine- by the gods, we’ve discovered mountains. A mountain, Ariei. I want to take my daughter to a mountain.”

Without knowing it, a slight smile slowly moves its way onto my face. He notices it, too, chuckling under his breath. Braham goes further ahead, clearly seeing something hidden amongst the leaves.

I shake my head. “I know. I know. But, this isn’t the life I want to lead. I can’t live up to your legacy. I know that. I’d be better off in the central building, or as a scholar, or even a damned farmhand, but I can’t fight for my life every day.” The psychological haunting returns to me, no matter how much I want to stifle it. “I know it’ll wear me down until I’m nothing more than a husk of who I used to be. I’m already halfway the-”

My father’s voice booms. “Stop.” He looks angry. “I told you not to blame yourself. She left on her own-”

“AFTER ELIAS DIED!” I start to get red, although I want to appear as calm as possible. “She left after he died, father. And who encouraged him to join?”

“Ariei, sto-”

“ME.”

Suddenly, Braham cries out. “WEAPONS, NOW.”

After the tension shifts to Braham's warning, my father pats me on the back, giving me a warm smile. He reaches behind and equips his rookclaws, the sharp, curved blades tracing around the fingers of his gauntlet. As we move towards the underbrush I can see Braham has already drawn his heavy ax. He puts a finger to his lips, makes sure we both see, and steps aside.

Just ahead of us is a naked corpse, hanging by its head. A stake has been driven through, nailing its bloodied skull to a soft rock surface. Its lower half is missing, the intestines trailing below in a sickening serpentine puzzle. A putrid smell emanates from the slowly decaying corpse. I want to vomit.

My father is the first to speak, his tone hushed, unsettled.

“By the gods. Was it one of our own?”

Braham shrugs. “I’m not sure. It could be an escaped criminal.”

My father shakes his head. “You know it’s not that, you old fool. It can’t be. They wouldn’t know where the next waypoint is. And why would they make a display?”

A thousand thoughts race through my head. This can’t be an eidelion- they’re intelligent, yes, but nowhere near human capacity.. The emberstrands are all accounted for- they need to pass the bridge to reach this point. Other settlements haven’t been close to us, possibly ever.

The leaves crackle behind us. Then, around us, building in frequency until the sound is surrounding us completely. I grab my rifle.

Pull the lever.

The gears crank, generating friction for the coremagnets.

They stop.

I fire.

Two seconds for the coremagnets in the back of the rifle to build energy with the reversed magnets at the back of the shell, then, friction ignites the ground firestone in the metal shell.

The fragments shatter and launch.

The four-round cylinder turns.

The cycle starts again.

I run through the process in my head, again and again, anxious sweat pouring down my face.

One steps into the light.

It’s an eidelion, yes, but unlike any we’ve ever seen before. It has the similar faint energy that radiates around it, as we’re used to. In the area close to our settlement, there exists several species making up the general hunting pool. I’ve heard stories, only witnessing the one variety today with my own eyes. What I see before me is unrecognizable, at least from the stories.

It is nearly double my size, larger than Braham or my father. It stands on two legs, a gnarled, hunched-over body erupting into two long, gangly arms. Four fingers lead into knife-like, razor-sharp black claws. Its face is long, two sets of teeth per jaw lining its open mouth. Greasy, lengthy black fur covers every inch of its wretched body. Its eyes are cold, silent, black. Perhaps most alarmingly, it’s wearing makeshift armor, carved from springwood, held together from a cut strigara pelt- identical to the beast we killed earlier. The armor covers its chest and back, crudely crafted and improvisational. I hear my father scream.

“THEY SET A TRAP!”

Suddenly, the beast lunges for me, sweeping its left claw at my leg. I try to move away but it still catches, raking across my flesh. The blood starts to pour from the wound in a thick, warm curtain. The gears finish turning, and I pull the trigger. I feel a heat from the rifle as the magnets charge. It finally fires, the shards flying into the beast’s chest. A flash of blood washes over me, the beast pausing for a moment in pain.

My father takes the opportunity to punch with the rookclaws, the blades making cruel indents in the eidelion’s face. It gets knocked down, my father finishing it off by beating its neck in with his gauntlets until it is sufficiently broken. I look around us, waiting for the cylinder to cycle in my rifle. We’re completely surrounded. Even Braham struggles, trying to use his massive blade against two at the same time. He manages to behead one of them, but is immediately countered by his combatant on the right as it grips the pole of his ax. The beast starts to warp the metal, its magically enhanced body straining with might. Two more move behind him.

I level my weapon, holding my breath to aim. I hear a stressed cry from my father as he is bitten on the shoulder, the nightmarish teeth digging into his soft flesh. I start to panic. I have to choose.

Braham.

Father.

Braham.

Father.

I decide. The fragments launch, hitting my father’s opponent from behind, giving him a chance to grapple it to the ground. I hear a cry of pain from Braham. He’s been struck by one of them, the thick claw piercing his stomach. He screams in rage, before wrenching his ax free and swinging it towards the waist of the eidelion.

One swing.

Two, and the armor splinters apart.

Three, his screams increasing in intensity.

By the fourth the eidelion is nearly sliced in half, blood pouring from its mostly severed waist. Braham takes a moment, catching his breath before more of them swarm forward. My father kills one more ahead of us.

“WE HAVE AN OPENING!”

Braham nods, starting to rush forward in an awkward limp-run. He’s bleeding heavily, his face covered in sweat. I keep pace, my rifle in my hands. The beasts move towards us in a cruel wave. There has to be at least thirty of them, far larger than a pack- no, not a pack, a tribe. The spiralflies, disturbed by the thundering movement below, fill the air as they ascend. All we can hear is the thunderous growls and shrill barks from behind. My breath tears at my lungs. Braham’s gasps sap away his strong aura, leaving him a pained, wounded animal. My father remains steadfast, stoic.

We keep running, until more growls come from ahead of us. Seven more dash directly into our path, blocking us from every angle. My father growls, as well- a low, rumbling rage that permeates the surrounding soundscape and controls the atmosphere around us. He readies himself. I level my rifle at one of the furthest eidelions. Braham speaks up.

“In five seconds, you all need to run.”

I turn to face him. “What? There’s no way forward, Braham!”

He shakes his head. “I’m going to carve one.”

He limps forward, ax in hand. He lifts it, carving a line across his chest- a traditional sign.

In our culture, doing so marks you as an Ember. One final spark of flame before you burn out.

Braham rushes forward, ax raised high. The furthermost eidelion catches the blade in its hand, blood spilling from the grab. The others focus on him. I look at my father. He nods. We start to run forward, my father grabbing one by the face. We can almost get through.

“Braham! You old bastard!” He thrusts the eidelion into the ground, stamping on its neck. “What’s gotten into you?! I’m not going to let you die like this!” Braham cuts through the beast’s hand, his axe cutting into its torso.

“Foolish boy!” ” He cuts it down, backing up and keeping the others trained on him. “You know I took this oath! My duty is to die for the common.” He stops speaking as claws rake down his back, and he screams again, spinning to face the creature behind “GO!”

We obey his command. Father gives pause, before accepting Braham’s sacrifice. We keep running as fast as our legs can carry us, the trees becoming a blur in comparison to our sheer focus on escape. I take a moment to look behind. Braham is a blur, spinning and dancing through his final battle like a candle flame at the end of the wick. I think I can see him smiling.

Braham’s glory shines through everything. He is at home.

---------------------------------------------------------------

We manage to reach the bridge. My father is screaming for Emerit to lower the bridge. Although he refuses to let me see his face, I can see tears falling down from the side. He breathes in heavy gasps, and he tries to wipe some of the blood from his face.

The bridge starts to descend, the soft hiss from the steam startling the somber atmosphere. Emerit sees us, and rushes to meet us.

“What the fuck happened?!”

My father keeps moving. “CLOSE THE GATE. NOW.”

We walk fast, clearing the bridge as Emerit motions to the other guard. My father looks at me as we cross, the tears leaving stains in the dirt on his face.

“Are you alright?”

I nod. His expression falls as he slowly moves forward.

“I’m sorry, Ariei..."

I shake my head.

Emerit looks at the two of us. “You both didn’t answer my question. What. Is. Going. On?”

My father doesn’t even look like he’s in the same reality mentally. “Braham- Braham's dead. A new breed. They were acting like people.”

Emerit pauses.

“Excuse me?”

I shakily nod. “They set a trap. They’re wearing armor.”

“What?! No.” Emerit turns, terrified, rushing to the communication device to deliver a frantic message. Father notices my leg injury.

“Oh, here, let’s get you stitched up an-”

I shake my head. “No. Thank you, however. I’m just… I just need a moment.” My father nods sadly. Clearly he believes me to be upset with him, or in shock from the current events. It's not that the assumption is untrue. I just know I need to stay alone for a moment. I move to the ramshackle medical shed, closing the door and blocking it with a metal chair. With shaky hands, I unfurl Braham’s note.

Ariei,

I couldn’t tell you this in person. I had to leave you and Edom behind, and for that I am truly, truly sorry. I knew what would happen today. My death is just a small price to pay. But I speak from the dead with warning of the future to come.

Within five days, blood will spill. The fires of agony will consume those around us, the world will illuminate Go to my living quarters in the barracks building. There you will find some items I’ve left for you. You cannot trust anyone in a higher position- even your father. Gather those common people closest to you. There is a small escape tunnel in the city near the sewage system. Five days.

Remain strong. I am sorry, but I cannot tell you more. Doing so will jeopardize my legacy. I may be dead, but you will make me immortal. Many more fires shall erupt in the coming years, all cast from this moment. And when everything burns to a cinder, the ash will become the fertile ground to life anew.

Destroy this message after reading it.