Chapter 31. The Forbidden City
There are many great structures littered across the equator of Gorn, their number can not be known for no one has counted them. They are called Pyramid cities because of their shape, they are of a massive size and complexity. I have seen only one and never been inside, I am certain that they hold great secrets and if their true nature was ever learned it would stagger the mind.
From the Mindlock of Oshismarie Inastro Sistashion.
Andra had no plan, when she fled from her captors, now as she ran, she knew she should have waited until she had a plan. She had always been a headstrong girl, and she was not about to change now, courageously she plunged into the darkness, with only her wits and a strong knife, to see her through.
The light from the entrance slowly dimmed, and she lessened her pace, least she run into an obstacle of some kind, or other dangers. As the light dimmed behind her, she could make out a soft glow ahead. She knew it was not radiance from the outside, because were no windows, she was deep in the heart of the great city. However, there it was, a pale greenish light that seemed to come from all directions. She ran slower now, holding her weapon in front of her, and letting her eyes grow accustomed, to the strange luminescence. She moved around a great chunk of steel and stone, to find another chamber, much like the first. That was when, she realized where the light came from.
Starfall; she told her mind; the same glowing moss that grows in the Hollow Hills. It was indeed, the very same organic vegetation that grew in the darkness and gave out a cool light, as it absorbed nutrition from its environment.
Now in the pale glow, she could make out more of her surroundings, it was a tall round chamber, with many corridors leading into it. At its center, was a large mechanical structure, what its purpose was, Andra did not know. This chamber also had webbing cascading from the ceiling. There was little time for contemplation, for she heard the footfalls of the Norgonie, coming fast. Picking an escape route at random, she ran into one of the tunnels, vanishing from sight.
A few moments later, an angry Ral and several of his warriors, raced into the chamber, they looked around quickly, but found no trace of their prey. The floor was covered in rubble, and there was not enough light to see footprints clearly, they had not had time to light torches. Without their Drogs, they could be not follow a scent. So with nothing to guide them, they slowly turned back the way they came, and walked out of the chamber. Ral was the last to leave, he made a silent vow that he would return soon, and find the Half-Soul, even if it meant following her to the pit of Marloon.
Sunfall had come, and now, it was too dark to enter the swamplands, so Arn reluctantly followed the advice of the Norgonie Queen, he ordered camp to be setup, and fires lit. Darkness surrounded the pursuers, who watched the forest for danger, not speaking least they be heard, by demons of the night. They made their camp in a cluster of jagged rocks, at the edge of the swamp, it was not a safe place, but it was the best place they could find. They sat, swatting marsh flies and large stinging insects, as they waiting for the twin suns to rise.
There was still some dried Rimar, and a few loaves of stale Kasha bread, left in their carry bags. The well-aged Po, had been destroyed in the fight with the ape creature, so all they had to drink was stale water.
“Baaaa!” said the Queen, as she spit out the well water. “I say we go back to find that creature, and make it pay for crushing my wine.” Several of the Norgonie warriors, beat their weapons on the ground, and grunted their approval.
The King shook his head. “I say we save our strength for tomorrow, besides it was not very good Po.”
Hearing that her wine was considered inferior, made Ishea glare at the Nomad, “are you saying that the Norgonie, do not drink the best?” she asked, coldly.
Again Arn shook his head, “they drink the best that they have, we make the finest Po, from ripe grains of Darmock”.
Hearing their Kings words, the Nomad warriors also beat their weapons on the ground, some made mocking laughter, in the direction of the Forest-dwellers.
Ishea waited for the laugher to die down, then she spoke once more, “I have tasted the Nomad wine, I say that the barrels they use for aging, are the same ones they use, to piss in!”
This brought a hooting sound from the Norgonie, some said that the Queen's words, were indeed true.
Now it was the Kings turn to comment, “at least we piss in a barrel, instead of our beds!”
This was too much for the Queen, she rose to her feet, pointing her deadly Kagar at the King, “at least we have our own beds, and do not hide in our mother's!”
This brought Arn to his feet too, gripping his ax tightly, “your mothers, are camp followers of the Sandjar!” he screamed.
Now all the warriors, sprang to their feet, waiting for the command to strike. There was a tense moment when, a single word from the Madrigal King, or the Norgonie Queen, would cause the earth, be bathed in blood. The two leaders looked into each others eyes, suddenly, they began to laugh. They knew, they were acting foolishly, and it was only frustration, eating at their minds. They lowered their weapons and slowly sat down. Seeing that their King and Queen, were not going to fight, the warriors of both sides, also sat down.
No one spoke for a time, then Arn looked at the Queen, “perhaps the wine was not inferior,” he said softly.
Hearing that the King regretted his words, Ishea, nodded her head to him, “the Outlanders sometimes have good Po”, she replied, she smiled at the Nomad, “, we do bake the best bread”, she added.
Not wanting to travel down the same road again, the King said nothing, he filled his mouth with dried Rimar.
How long Andra wandered in the dim maze of the city, she did not know, form the weariness in her limbs, she surmised it must have been most of the night. She moved slowly, through chamber after chamber, down long corridors and anterooms, all littered with rubble. There was machinery, the purpose of which, she could not even begin to understand. Throughout, was the same persistent webbing, once she brushed against some with her hand, the sticky substance burned her skin. She was used to pain, so she drove it from her mind. As she made her way, she saw stairs and pathways, leading upwards. Once, she followed one of them, but soon the light from the Starfall, faded and she returned to the lower levels. It was then that she realized that the glowing moss, must maintain its closeness to the earth and its nutrients to survive. So she made her way downwards, into the lower depths of the ruined city.
All the while, she could not help feeling that someone or something was watching her. Every so often, she thought she heard footfalls behind her, when she turned to look, there was nothing there.
When she was a soldier with the Selcarie army, doing recognizance, she relied on her intuition, as much as her training. When she felt that she was not alone, she took it seriously, she did not shrug it off, as war nerves. She held her dagger at the ready, as she moved into yet another chamber, of the Forbidden City. This room, was not like the others, it was huge and filled with great machines. Piping, conduits of every shape and size, ran in all directions, vanishing into dark tunnels. There were, many catwalks and ramps, to gain access to the titanic machinery, Andra slowly made her way across one of them, always, keeping her eyes open for danger, and holding her dagger ready. It was not easy going, there were vast amounts of webbing. Hanging in many of them were, cocoon like bundles, it was obvious why they were there.
Spiders; Andra thought; Gods how I hate spiders! It was a fear from her childhood, one that haunted her dreams. She knew that she owed her life to the crystal spiders of the Hollow Hills, it was those wondrous creatures that had brought rebirth, and prolonged life, to her and the Outlanders. None the less, the thought of crawling spiders, filled her with dread, bringing a chill to her spine.
She moved slowly, always ready for danger, this complex and its purpose, intrigued her. As she looked at the great machines, she suddenly understood their purpose.
Geothermal power; she
thought; the city once ran on the heat from the interior of the planet. This was indeed true, all the stone cities on Gorn, drew their power from the earth. The heat generated by the planets core, rose up to be captured by the great machines. Then it was used to make steam, and that power supply, kept the city warm in the long winters and cool during the Burning Time. Now the machines were silent, the power that they once had, was gone, all that remained, was a great steel heart that no longer beat.
The Andra continued onward, hoping to find some way out of this dim realm, back into the sunlight. She found only steel, and more steel, the deadly webbing, seemed to be growing denser. Then as she picked her way between two thick strands, she looked up, to see something that froze her soul. Hanging there like a small white moon, was a spiders egg sack, the height of ten tall men.
The blood froze in her veins, she felt a sudden urge, to scream and run, She held onto her wits, and did not move. She was trained to face her enemy, rather than be struck down from behind. Her gaze moved higher, what she saw next, was something that lived, only in the deepest, darkest corners of her nightmares. Looking down on her, with red glowing eyes, full of hate, was a gigantic spider.
Its red and yellow, striped body, was the size of a Nomads wagon. With the addition of eight legs, its width doubled. The Off-Worlder stared in horror, it rapidly opened and closed, its scythe like mandibles, making a rattling sound that filled the air.
Despite her training, Andra screamed, it echoed in the great chamber, like the wail of a demon.
Ral had returned to the entrance to the Forbidden City, as night began to close in, he made ready to continue his search, for the Half-soul. He commanded his men, to gather wood to make torches, and to sharpen their weapons. When all was ready, he picked ten warriors to accompany him, the remainder to stay behind, and care for the Rowgors. As he was about to signal, for his men to follow him into the crumbling city, he heard a strange sound.
It was a faint rattling noise, like dried Safic berries in an empty gourd, it came from outside, and with each moment, it grew louder.
“Fighting formation!” Ral called out, instantly, the Norgonie warriors gathered around him, in a tight defensive ring. They pointed their spears outward, and braced their feet. The Forest-dwellers did not fight like the Outlanders, they knew the strength of fighting together, to face an enemy, they did not stand man to man, as did the Nomads. It was a good strategy, if one man fell, another took his place, the power of many, became the power of one.
Now they waited, listening to the rattling sound, as it grew more intense. The terrified Rowgors, began to pull at their tie downs, while roaring loudly, frantic with terror, one of them burst its shackle, it ran headlong through the city portal, out into the darkness of the night. Its fearful bellowing could be heard, as it thundered across the steel bridge, then it turned into a wailing scream.
What could be doing this to a Rowgo? Ral thought, before his mind could answer, he saw what had caused the great beast to cry out.
Scampering across the fallen doors, were hundreds, thousands of spiders! They moved in a great wave, their pincer like mandibles making a fearful rattle. These were not the harmless crystal spiders of the Hollow Hills. They were something far different, and far deadlier! Their bodies were hairy, they were as large as a Burrow baby, they had a large triangle shaped head, and great red eyes. Two hook-like jaws, dripped a sickening greenish drool, against this oncoming enemy, the Norgonie were defenseless.
The wave of predators, raced into the stone city, directly at the warriors. The first to die, was a man standing next to Ral. One of the huge insects, jumped through the air to land full on his face, before he could react, the monster clamped its jaws into his skull, then filled it with deadly venom.
The young Prince was not going to run, he braced himself, as the next spider jumped at him, he impaled it on the end of his Kagar. The other warriors were not so lucky, one by one, they fell before the onslaught of the hairy demons. Seeing that his men were dying around him, Ral raised his spear above his head, and called out in a loud voice. “FOLLOW ME!” Hearing this, the Norgonie warriors ran after their leader, into the stone city.
Behind him, Ral could hear the Rowgors dying, as the deadly spiders swamped them. There was nothing he could do, he needed all his strength just to survive, moving as fast as possible, he led his warriors deeper into the crumbling city.
They had left the torches behind, so it was with great relief that Ral saw the glow from the Starfall. Knowing that they would not be blind, he led them down a tunnel. Some fell behind, and their screams could be heard, as the demonic spiders overtook them, they died in agony. One by one, they fell, until only Ral was left, he knew that soon his strength would fail him, and he too would die. Somehow, he remained on his feet, turning this way and that, eventually he found that he was no longer pursued, he was safe. So when he walked into a large chamber, he stopped for a moment, to fill his burning lungs, and rest his tired legs. His chest rose and fell as he breathed in the foul air, after a time, he was able to move again, and take in his surroundings.
It was a strange place, all about him were racks, filled with armor and weapons, they were not the primitive hand axes, and daggers that he was use too. They were death devices of the Gods, how many there were, he could not even guess, they rose up high over his head, there was row after row, as far as he could see. He stood there for a time, taking in the chamber, then he walked slowly to a holding rack, and gazed at what was hanging there.
Ral knew that the Talsonar possessed hand weapons that could kill from a distance. He had even fired one in the past, but he put it aside as an unworthy devise. He also knew that on other worlds, killing your enemy without facing him, man to man, was acceptable, to the young Prince, it was a cowardly way to fight. So he left the cursed mechanisms where they lay, moving on to the armor. When he was able to touch it, he realized that they were forged for giants, and far too massive for his use. With nothing to gain, he turned and walked from the chamber, into a dim tunnel.
The Norgonie Prince, walked for a long time, turning this way and that. Despite his faith in himself, he accepted that he was lost, but his pride, kept him from turning back, he continued onward. Soon one room faded into another, in time the Starfall faded away, he had to walk with his spear outstretched like a Sun-Gazer, still he moved forward. When the light returned, he walked more easily, he was always ready for danger and kept his ears sharp, for any sound.
The walls of the hallway he was moving down, started to drip water, soon he was ankle deep in a foul smelling muck. He passed through an open doorway, and entered a chamber, filled from floor to ceiling with rusted machinery. There was an overpowering odor of rotting flesh, scattered about were the skeletal remains of Forrest creatures. He heard a rustling noise, before he could see, what was making the sound, something struck him on the back of his head. The world around him, faded into darkness.
At the first sign of light, Arn ordered his warriors to mount the Rowgors, then follow him into the swamp. Not wanting to split their forces, Ishea called for the Norgonie to do the same. They rode along the same path that Ral had taken, they did not have to contend with the Daggermouths, they had filled their bellies, the night before. Now slept in their watery beds, with no desire to hunt again soon. High above them, were many Screechers, their massive skin-drawn wings, shadowed against the light. Although Screechers are deadly creatures, they were also beautiful to see, their skin was brightly striped, in all the colors of the rainbow. To see them, you would have thought them creatures of the Gods, rather than killers of the air.
They circled the great pyramid like huge Sun-droppers, it was easy to see that they had made the upper portions of the stone city their home. Now the column of warriors, stood before the Forbidden City and the steel bridge that led into it.
There was no sign of the ravaging spiders, they had left their crumbling home before Sunbirth, moving out into the swamplands to hunt their prey, they waited for da
rkness before returning home. Arn could feel that something was wrong, and so did the Norgonie Queen.
“Do we go in?” she asked.
Arn turned to look at her, “we go where the trail leads us”. Suddenly, he had a flashing vision of a huge spider with Andra, screaming in terror, without saying anything more, he charged his Rowgor over the bridge and thundered into the haunted city. A moment later, his warriors followed, seeing that she was being left behind, Ishea lifted her spear and the Norgonie raced forward.
Inside the portal, Arn pulled up on the reins and his mount came to a sudden stop. He leapt to the floor, and stood ready with his sharp ax. There was no enemy to fight, all that remained were foul smelling Rowgors, cocooned in webbing. There was no sign of the warriors that had ridden with Ral.
The King waited until his warriors and the Queen's, were inside and dismounted, then he spoke to Ishea, who stood beside him, holding her Kagar. She saw the cocooned remains of the Rowgors, and prayed that they would not find her son, in the same webbing.
“They escaped in that direction,” Arn said, pointing to the tunnel with his weapon. He looked around at the many silken coffins, “there is great danger here, if you wish to turn back, I will not think less of you”.
The Queen replied swiftly, “we took an oath, to find your mate and my son, I will not break it”, she said calmly. She looked into his eyes, “I am not afraid”, she said softly. Then she turned to the warriors, “five of you, stay with the Rowgors, if there is danger, hide in the swamp. Everyone else, come with us!”
Without anymore words, she and her former mate, ran into the darkness and into the unknown.
Andra was floating in a sea of dreams, it was a warm soft place, filled with rainbow delights and towering crystal mountains. She stood looking up at a sky with many moons, she thought she was home. It was not her home, there were no mountains of crystal on Selcarie, her planet had one moon. She heard a voice calling her name, she turned to see her brother Simon, walking towards her, he smiled as he came to her side.
“I thought you had forgotten me,” he said softly.
“No I haven’t, because I love you very much”, she replied.
He took her by the hand, and they began to walk, as they did, the landscaped slowly changed into cavern, filled with giant green crystals and a rattling sound.
The spiders; she thought, this time she was not afraid, with her brother leading the way, they continued forward. Slowly they made their way to the cluster of glowing rocks, and the tiny infant that lay naked upon them. All around, were dozens of crystalline spiders, but Andra was not afraid. She moved over to the small child, she looked at its snow-white skin, and glowing blue eyes. As she stood there, the baby held out its frail arms to her, Moonbud did the same. She took the small naked child in her arms, and held it, close to her body, feeling its warmth and heartbeat, she looked down into its eyes, then it spoke to her.
“Remember me”, it said.
She felt something take hold of her body, something that burned like fire, closing her eyes, she began to scream, as the echo of that scream died in her ears, she opened her eyes.
Her head throbbed with pain, she felt like she had drunk a whole barrel of well-aged Po. For an instant, she believed that she was back in her barracks on Selcarie, just waking, from a night of song and drink. As her vision cleared, she saw that this was no army base, and she had not been drinking. She tried to move her arms, but they were held fast against her body, by the same webbing, she had seen before. Unlike those terrible strands, these did not burn her skin. A moment later, she remembered the giant spider, she looked around fanatically, for any sign of it, to her great relief there was nothing. Now she took in her surroundings, she appeared to be hanging, in some kind of nest, all about her, were other cocoons. Some smaller than hers, others much larger. Some appeared to be shrunken, as if their contents had been sucked out. Then the truth hit her, she was now food for the eight-legged monster.
Knowing this, turned her heart to ice, all courage drained from her; I have come a long way; she thought; and now, I will die in my nightmare. It was a horrible thought, one that she had to face, as she closed her eyes to pray that her life, would end soon, she felt something in her hand. She could only move her fingers a bit, the webbing, around them was strong, it was enough, to feel Ral’s dagger still in her hand. Knowing that she held a weapon, Andra moved back from the brink of despair, she gripped the handle of the knife tightly. Summoning up all of her strength, she tried to move the blade up and down, at first she felt nothing, then after a few more attempts, the strands holding her hand, began to loosen. Now with hope filling her heart, she began cutting more and more of her bindings, until her hand could move freely, now, it was simply a matter, of severing more of the webbing, until she was completely free.
Andra worked on her escape, for what seemed like ages, as she continued cutting, she feared the titanic spider, would come for her at any moment, and she would die under its fangs. With sweat covered her brow, she felt her right arm moving away from her body, she knew that in a few moments, she would be free. Quickly she cut the strands holding her legs, then those restraining her left arm, all that remained, were the thick ones wrapped around her middle and she would be free. It was then, she looked below.
If I cut these last ones, I will fall; she thought, so she grasped the strands over her head, then held them tightly, as she began to cut the last of her bindings.
She heard the rattling sound again.
Turning her head, she saw the giant spider, moving towards her. Knowing that she would not be able to climb away, before the monster was upon her, she whispered a little prayer and cut the last cord holding her. She did not scream as she fell, she felt that any death, would be better than the one she had escaped.
Arn was lost, he knew which direction he was moving, the stone and steel of the Forbidden City, could not dampen the directional power that all Nomads possessed. What lay ahead, and the dangers he would face, he did not know, but nothing was going to turn him, from finding his mate and punishing those, responsible for taking her.
With him were his warriors, and those of the Norgonie, although Ishea would never admit it, she too was lost, like her former mate, she would never turn back. Now both King and Queen moved through the endless maze of the ruined city. They kept a keen eye out for danger, always holding their weapons at the ready.
They moved swiftly and carefully, the dim light from the Starfall, was not enough to reach into every dark corner, to expose an enemy waiting there. Then as they walked down a corridor, the King suddenly stopped. He stood, stone still for a time, the warriors did the same, Ishea also, after a moment or two, she whispered to the Nomad. “Is there danger?”
Arn said nothing, but he pointed to the floor with his ax. Norgonie Queen, could see footprints in the dirt, covering the stone floor, being a good hunter, she knew that the imprints were fresh. Ishea had never seen imprints quite like these, although they were human, they did not match anything she had seen before. They were misshapen, and bore a resemblance to the Galu, of the southern jungles. These were far smaller, than the hairy feet of the jungle giants, before she could study them more closely, Arn moved ahead and she followed reluctantly.
They walked in silence for a time, then turning a corner, found themselves in a high chamber, it had many tunnels and corridors, leading away in all directions. It was the floor that caught the interest of the warriors, most of it, was covered in great mounds, of animal remains, and the rotting carcasses, of Norgonie warriors. In the dim light of the Starfall, Ishea could see that they were the warriors that rode with her son. Ignoring any danger, the Queen bolted into the room, fanatically looking for her son amongst the dead, seeing that he was not one of the slain, she turned to the Nomad King.
“Ral is not here”, she said quietly, “nor is your mate”.
Arn glanced around at the carnage and nodded his head, “they must have been killed at the entrance for they carry no wea
pons”, he said. “Something has been feeding off them, I do not see how.....” he stopped speaking, then raised his hand for silence.
The chamber became like a tomb, as the warriors stood stone still, waiting for their leader's command. For a time there was no sound, then from a darkened corner of the room, a soft hissing noise, slowly rose. At first, it was no more than a faint murmur, like the wind through the trees, then it became louder, with it came the soft pad of footfalls on stone.
Without being told, the warriors of both tribes, gathered around their King and Queen, forming a defensive circle, with their weapons pointed outward. It was a standard fighting formation, to guard their leaders at the first sign of danger. Arn and Ishea, stood back to back and waited, as the sound moved out of the darkness, into the dim light of reality.
What they saw, caused them to grip their weapons tightly, moving slowly forward, were things that only lived in legends. They were short in stature, humanoid, they had no eyes to speak of, just slits where eyes should be, they were naked, and their scaly mottled skin was covered in sores and filth. They bore no weapons, other than sharp claws, and a wide mouth, filled with razor sharp teeth. Their thin bodies, were strongly packed with corded muscles, their large heads covered in scaly plating.
Ishea, reached back into her memory, she realized that these were The Wormrow, Demons of the Darkness, they were spoken of, in ancient stories. She had always thought of them, as tales to scare children, not something of flesh and blood. She remembered that Wormrow, feasted on the bodies of Forrest Dwellers, and they had no fear.
“FIGHT OR DIE!” she screamed out to the warriors, the words had no sooner left her mouth than, the naked demons fell upon them.
The first to come within weapons reach, died horribly, those behind did not run, they leapt over the bodies of the slain, attacking the humans with tooth and claw. They did not have the superior strength of the Nomads, or Norgonie, what they lacked in power, they made up with numbers, as soon as one died, two more took its place. Arn struck left and right with his ax, cutting down the little monsters, like he was harvesting Kasha-wheat. What he did not kill with his Tooth, he broke with his fist. Again and again, he struck out, smashing in the malformed skulls of the Demons from the Dark, feeling their tiny brains, turn to pulp beneath his blows.
Beside him, Ishea fought like a she-demon, her spear, impaling enemy after enemy. If one of the screaming demons got close, she struck out with her foot, smashing in its misshapen face. Then she spun around, readying herself for the next attack.
The fighting madness now rose up in the warriors, they did not think of living or dying, only killing for killings sake. Arn swung his ax with an unstoppable fury, cutting down the blind creatures until he was covered in foul smelling blood, and dripping gore. All the while, he smiled, this was what Nomads were bred to do, this was what they did best, this was their world.
The Norgonie Queen, also reveled in the death match, Forest-dwellers were beaten from the same metal as the Outlanders. They too lived for battle, and died smiling, knowing that the Gods would reward them for their faith.
As Ishea fought beside Arn, she knew that this was how she wished to die, fighting beside the man, who had so long ago, stolen her heart.
If this is my time to die; she thought; then I die content.
The pile of the dead, rose up like a wall around the warriors, but still the Wormrow attacked, again and again. Little by little, they overwhelmed the warriors, until only Arn, Ishea, and two other warriors were left standing. They would have been content to die then and there, but an image flashed inside the King's mind, an image of his mate, suddenly, he remembered why they were here, and what must be done.
“We cannot win”, he called out in a loud voice, “follow me!”
With Ishea at his side, he ran towards one of the tunnels, all the while, cutting down the howling demons. They reached the portal, and were just about to enter, when the last two warriors, one a Nomad, the other a Norgonie, turned to their leaders.
“Go now, my King!” the Outlander shouted. “Save yourself!” screamed the Forest-dweller to his Queen.
They turned to stand side by side, blocking the entrance with their blood stained bodies. They smiled at each other, then screamed out the war cries of their different tribes, as they fell under the relentless onslaught of the Wormrow. They died knowing that they had given their King and Queen, time to escape, and that they would sit beside each other, in the Golden Halls of the Afterlife. When stories were told about them, they would say that they had fulfilled their vows and died gloriously, defending their leaders.
Arn and Ishea, understood what their warriors had done for them, there was no time for grieving, and they raced headlong into the tunnel. Soon the sounds of battle faded, and they found themselves alone in the darkness.