Peleva is frozen. The people are gone but the structures remained in some perpetual preservation. My guides are more reluctant now. The woman is begging for me to turn around. It is cursed, they kept repeating. I know. It is indeed cursed. But I must go on.
_______________________________________________________________
"We are here." Marble said, looking at the stone entrance guarded by a group of Sentinels.
The journey here took longer than what Crystal expected. They flew to the outskirts of Area Fifty and crossed the mushroom plantation. A rocky wall met them, the mine marked only by the stone entrance and a nearby Sentinel camp which was hidden to the unobservant.
"Where are the miners, Highness?" Crystal asked, noting the lack of miners. It didn't look like a mine at all.
"This is but one of the entrances to the mines. Kind of a secret passage. Take note of this place child. This is the closest entrance to Area Fifty."
The stone door was slid open by three Sentinels. Even with their strength, the Sentinels struggled with the act. A long and narrow path met them. Crystal tried though she cannot see the end. They stepped inside. The air here was different. Dusty. Damp. A little sour.
Crystal followed Marble deeper into the mine. Strangely, the path grew wider after a turn. The lamps also became denser. The tunnel ended ahead into a large cavern. Too large. Crystal couldn't believe that such a space exists beyond the rock wall. The domed ceiling was lofty, supported by three large columns. Leather tents and stone structures were sprawled around, Sentinels either standing guard or marching. There were also beast-drawn carts, miners- thousands mingling in what seemed to be camp of sorts.
"This looks like a whole city Highness"
"Hardly, child." Marble patted dust off her dress. She included the patting on Crystal's. "You should see the miners settlement, Area Forty-nine. I estimate it to be larger than Area Fifty. It is stinky though. And not fine. And the people are crass and..." Marble sighed. "Well being my assistant you'll see it soon."
Crystal nodded though she had no desire seeing a squalor. What she longed for was the High Tower, nothing more.
"So, what is this Highness? This space?"
"We call this The Cavern. This is the major staging area before the vast mines. See those three passages?"
Marble pointed at the large passages to each of the directions. The passages were several times larger than the one they were in.
"That one to the left is for the wastes. It leads to the outskirts of Area Forty-eight. Rocks and the things we break to further the mines are being thrown there." She pointed at the next one. "that one in the middle leads to the vast mines." Marble pointed at the passage on the right. "And that leads to Area Forty-nine. Miner's City. Our supplies also arrive through that tunnel. Though I must warn you that Maulers are sometimes involved. Are you afraid of Maulers child?"
"No Highness."
"You are either a liar or a fool then." Marble was crisp. "Only fools do not heavy worry when seeing Maulers."
Crystal found honesty as her only escape. She was indeed fearful of the things. Maulers were few but she had seen some prowling especially in the central Areas. The encounters were never comfortable.
"The things are nasty, Highness."
"Be at ease Child. The Maulers here are the tamest. I made sure of that. We can't have one raging here. Let's go."
As always, Marble carried her and they flew. The streets below them were fine pavement, cemented instead of merely flattened. The sprawling tents were made beast leather and fastened in the ground through nails and ropes. The structures had people in them, tending to whatever task they were assigned with.
They landed at the center where a large tent was built. The center pole was halfway through the ceiling of the cavern. Beside it was a pole and on top was a cloth painted with rich colors.
A flag. It was another weapon they adopted from the humans. But this one wasn't much of a weapon but a symbol. She had heard, from unreliable commoner sources, that their first true battle was lost because a stubborn group of humans stood beside the thing they call flag. Castonians they say, stubborn even with human standards. Since then the Grand Consul considered making a flag of Ninev. It ended looking like a queer brown dome with the Grand Consul's face beneath. If it worked, Crystal could only guess.
Marble led and she followed as always. Three armed Sentinels saluted before sidling. The tent was cozy inside though it was empty. Two chairs were on opposite sides of a mushroom stalk table. A map was on the table, pinned on the four corners. Around, five lamps hung, all glowing with fine Red Stones.
"This is my personal tent" Marble said as she brushed her fingers on tent's cloth. She looked up. "When I am in these mines, I reside in this tent. You will also reside here if you are in the vicinity of the mines. Whenever I have a task for you, you'll stay here as I did. I admit that it is not as comfortable as my floor in the High Tower but I have made it comfortable enough."
It was a different comfort. Marble seemed to be the kind to enjoy being alone in an empty dwelling. But Crystal, to her rue, needed conversation once in a while. The slums of Area Ninety-two were rich of Commoners who taught her the value of conversations. She would probably descend into insanity if she stayed isolated here alone longer than a cycle.
Crystal went to the table and caressed the map. It was of leather, the good kind from small beasts. It was soft to the touch like silk though a little tougher. The lines on it were complex and crossing. It was the tunnel's map, Crystal knew without asking. She pointed at a larger circular mark which should be this cavern. Tracing her finger to one of the passages had her lost after a while. It was a maze.
"I was not the first one made in charge of the mines, Child. There were generations before me extending to time unknown. We have been mining a long time for Red Stones. The tunnels have become a monster to manage. You see my hardship here? Every single one of those passages are my responsibility." Marble pointed at each of the five conglomerate of passages. "Five major mines and two dozen smaller ones."
Crystal scanned the map. She had no idea how to distinguish mines from one another. The tunnels were all crossing and knotted. "Where is the Shivan Mines, Highness?"
Marble glared at her before she even finished the question. The older Gifted opened her mouth, several times in fact, though she kept it shut in the end. Marble stared at her for long. Crystal felt stripped of her lies. She lowered her head, lips bitten.
"Never ask about that again" Marble said, tone surprisingly mellow. "Please child. Do not breathe word of that. Especially to other Councilors. There are some things better buried in the mines, truths which should never surface again. Do you understand Child?"
Crystal looked up. Marble's eyebrows were meeting though not in a furious way. It was pain. And worry. And something else. She ought resting the issue. Digging further would risk Marble's suspicion. But Shadow's deadline was closing.
"You are training me to replace you someday. Isn't that right Highness?"
"I am. You are my blood and so you have my capabilities. Nobody is better suited to manage these mines after me than you."
"Then I need to know. Whatever happened, I need to know."
"Someday child. Not now. There are things in the mines beyond the span of reason. As if it is another realm just like the world of humans outside. What happened in Shivan is a truth I ought you not knowing for now."
"Highness I need to know." Crystal was almost begging now. She didn't want to die. Shadow's deadline was truly close.
Marble again stared at her, voiceless and scrutinizing. The air stilled around them.
"Highness" One of the Sentinels flapped the tent. Marble frowned at the man but the Sentinel kept his intrusion.
"What is it? You dare peek uninvited?"
"The Grand Consul Highness" The Sentinel was out of breath. "He's here. Personally."
It took Crystal three blinks to gather the meaning of the Sentinel's statement. Or rather it took her that long to believe. The Grand Consul. God. Someone above all else. His eyes were everywhere. His hands work without halt. And Crystal was to meet him?
Marble knelt, a rare sight for a First-rate Councilor. Crystal realized that she was meant to kneel too. And she did. Her skirt met the ground.
"Do not be anxious" Marble whispered. "He is rather normal in person."
Crystal awaited, eyeing the tent's flap and waiting for a God to burst in. The amplifying footsteps were many. Their nearing was slow or maybe she was just too anxious like Marble said.
A old man went in. His white robe was dragging to his back, buttoned on his chest. His hair had taken the white and his face was crinkled. Nevertheless, those green eyes meeting hers were glowing with youthful vim. A ring was on each of his fingers, all with Red Stones but strangely no two were identical.
His walk was proper as if the ground was his realm, as if everything his boots touch was a slave to his rank. There wasn't a pinch of arrogance in it- just purely natural as if it was meant to be. Two men were with him, one was dressed in a dark shirt collared to his neck. His age was clear, wrinkled face and all but his body was still stiff with form.
"Marble" The Grand Consul's voice was fond, like dripping honey. It cracked with age yet still maintained the strength. He looked at Crystal. "And? Who is this?"
"Crystal, Grand Consul. I am Councilor Marble's new assistant."
"Assistant. That is how you describe your relation. A mere assistant. Protege. But you two look like you've been split from a single womb. As if I am in a Dreamweaver's dream, looking at Marble's current and past selves. Explain Marble. She is your daughter."
"You said it yourself Grand Consul." Marble's voice was low. "The dangers of relatives working in close contact does not apply to all. I have been loyal to you since the beginning. I will not falter now."
"Oh Marble" The man with the tight shirt said. His smile was false and so were three of his front teeth which were golden. Crystal had seen similar false teeth with Shadow. But the leader of the Resistance wore his differently. More subtle, if she was to describe. "You have betrayed the Grand Consul. I never expected an act from you. Marble the proper one. Not so proper now, are you?"
"I did not betray him." Marble's face flushed red. Her fine sculpted lips quivered until she bit them. "And who are you to talk, Rage? I've heard what you did two hundred cycles ago and the punishment you received. That was sordid. The way you acted was sordid."
"I erred. Enough of that." Rage's eyelids squinted. He breathed a few times, his annoyance apparent. He then looked at Marble with lips twitching. "You've always disliked me, have you not Marble? I haven't had favor in your eyes as if my actions are all sleazy."
"Because your actions are always sleazy."
"Stop this bickering between you two. I am in your presence and yet you act like children." The Grand Consul said. He scorned a look at Marble though Crystal saw a little compassion in that glare. "I have forgiven Rage for what he did. He has been punished. Bringing up the past would just drag us to the past. And he is right, you just faltered now Marble. By seeking this child as your assistant you broke one of my rules. I told you to explain. Do it. Clearly."
Marble gulped. Crystal noticed the trembles of her hand. "I am in dire need of an assistant, one who can Air Surge. Airsurgers are scarce nowadays. And so I thought that I could take her. She is the perfect assistant, Grand Consul. She has my rigor and she is smart."
"And yet I only know of this now. I would have allowed it, seeing that there was no other choice."
"Forgive me. I made a mistake."
"You shall be punished for this Marble. I respect your abilities. You are an essential member of my Council. These mines would halt without your thorough leadership. But you made a mistake. Every person shall be accountable for his or her mistake. That is fairness, Marble. That is justice."
"I accept whatever punishment you see fit, Grand Consul."
"Yes. Sadly. But not now. We have work to do." The Grand Consul turned to Crystal and smiled. Crystal flinched seeing that smile. It was pure. "Leave us Crystal. I have important matters to discuss with Marble."
Crystal rose and bowed. "Of course Grand Consul. I shall be outside."
Whatever was discussed inside, Crystal had no intention of prying. That was the Grand Consul and his word was law. His command was absolute.
Crystal left the tent and trekked the camp. Most of the people here were Sentinels who were minding their own business. Pots filled with mushroom were cooking. The stews these Sentinels make were thicker than the ones filling the commoners' bellies. Even though Ninev was supposed to be a land of equal people, there was still a division between commoners and Gifteds.
Some eyed her as she walked. The others were nonchalant. She turned a corner into a wider part of the camp. The street here abled beast-drawn carts entry. The carts rolled, filled with rocks from the mines. Miners also shared the street. With bowed heads and dragging feet, they walked. Those faces were smeared with dust and those clothes they wore were too close to being rags.
Crystal resumed. Marble might look for her once the talk with the Grand Consul was over. But she wasn't willing to wait outside the tent in idle. Her feet longed for a walk and her eyes wanted to see what this place is. Marble could just float and look for her in the air anyway.
A Sentinel blocked her way. The lumbering man was tall, armored in full. Through his barred visor. Crystal saw a familiar face.
"You..."
"Me" There was that mischief she despised in Breeze's voice.
Crystal looked back and then dragged Breeze into the side where people were sparse. She glared. "I am trying my best alright. You don't need to spy on me."
"Spy on you? But you are the spy. I am your guardian." Breeze upped his visor and looked around. "This is a fine place. But there are too many Sentinels for my comfort. I cannot leave you alone here."
"I am safer with them than with you. Please just let me be. Four cycles. I get it. I only have four cycles."
"Three and a half."
"Fine!" She blurted loudly and craned her neck around after. Nobody seemed to notice her outburst. "Three and a half. I know. But you better leave me alone. I don't want you around."
"Oh you would want me to be around. These lads. Sentinels. You know our kind. The reports of abuses are real. They wouldn't exempt even a pretty lass like you."
Painfully, she saw some truth in that statement. Unlike Marble who could shatter rocks and fly, her gift was at its infancy. And Breeze probably wouldn't do her harm.
Crystal stared long at Breeze. The Sentinel was smiling, always smiling. She dropped a sigh. "Do not talk to me. Just be my guard. That would be the end of it."
"I'll try. Promises are too much though."
Crystal shook her head and proceeded in her stroll. The camp grew balder as she went on. The tents were replaced with more permanent structures. Warehouses and other vital structures. One of the buildings was a kennel fenced around. Nearly a hundred warbeasts were leashed in small compartments. Most of them were larger than her and this breed of beasts were bred only for hunting and killing. Crystal shuddered as the beasts seemed to stalk her movement.
"Where are we going?" Breeze asked.
"Didn't I tell you that I dislike having conversations with you?" Crystal allowed a momentary silence. "We are asking questions. Shadow has burdened me with a time limit, hadn't he? There is bound to be knowledge scattered if we just pry deep enough."
"And where would you ask questions? Miner's city? That's too far."
"This is a mine. Mines have miners."
"Miners don't stay here long. Those returning to the miner's city are on a hurry to go home."
"Not all of them." Crystal stopped by a building. It was a tenement of only two stories but it was long. Splinted and bandaged men were sitting around the porch, eyes scanning at her and Breeze.
"A morgue" Breeze said.
Crystal scowled to that. "Infirmary"
"What's the difference? Most of them would die anyway."
Crystal disregarded the statement and proceeded inside. Beds of thin cloths contained dusty patients. Some were asleep- or dead. A few of the medical staff roamed the building in hope of providing aid but there were too few of them.
She tiptoed through the narrow paths. A man with a bloody apron and folded sleeves turned a curious glance at her before going back to scribbling.
"We have to cut your foot." The man said to the patient. Crystal eyed the said foot and bile rose to her throat. It was gangly, crushed and rotting. Dark decays had replaced his flesh. There were maggots in the foot, crawling and eating.
The patient just nodded weakly though Crystal doubted he understood his fate. He was red and sweating, late stages of wound fever.
"I need assistance." Crystal said to the surgeon in the bloody apron.
It took a few strokes of his pen before the surgeon glanced again. "You don't look injured. And I'll be a fool of I thought you are a miner."
"Yet I need assistance. Not of the medical kind. I need to see some records from three to four years ago."
"Records. Papers. Ah. No."
"No?"
"Well it depends on your purpose. And your rank of course."
Breeze prodded closer, standing a head taller than the surgeon. "You dare question her rank? She is..."
"A Gifted asking for your assistance." Crystal glared at Breeze. The idiot almost revealed her name. She went back to the surgeon. "I need it for some research I'm doing. I am one of Councilor Book's assistants."
"Forgive me Highness. Truly. But can you prove your identity? And even if you could, Highness Marble had strict instructions. I don't understand it either but she is the law down here."
"Then just give me something. Highness Book aims to gather data about the injuries sustained by the miners." She looked around. "And she is right to be concerned based on the state of this establishment. Just tell me of names then. Or something related to the injured miners four years ago. Anything."
"Injuries" The surgeon scoffed. "You are digging into the mystery of Shivan, aren't you?"
Breeze was quick to grip the surgeon's wrist. He tilted it, squeezing a grunt. "You are a smart man. You know where smart yet powerless men end up. Fertilizers. For mushroom."
"I know. I know." The surgeon hissed as Breeze dragged him to one secluded side. Crystal followed, eyeing if the commotion they caused gathered looks. Thankfully the patients were busy being wretched.
"I will be silent." The surgeon said and yanked away. He cupped his wrist and frowned. "You didn't have to be so harsh. It is a secret mission from Highness Book and I'm not a fool to go against that terrible Dreamweaver lest I go into a perpetual nightmare!"
"Yes. Imagine your worst fear being shown over and over again. And you will be powerless, commoner. You'll be trapped for a thousand cycles." Crystal said.
"I know!" The surgeon patted his bloody apron. "I can't give you files. Highness Marble had burned them or something. Trust me, even I want to know what happened in Shivan. But I think there is something who can help you. Follow me."
Without waiting for their nods, the man went up the spiraling stair. Crystal followed with Breeze by her side. The Sentinel had his grip on the curved dagger by his side.
The same crowded room met them on the second floor. Miners lay on the floor, attended by a short-staffed crew of surgeons. The man strode to one of the rooms. He produced a rusty key and sheathed it on the keyhole. It turned but before the man pushed, he looked back to Crystal.
"You must be a Dreamweaver too right? Just like Highness Book. Being close to you is already unsettling. Your kind are terrifying. What you can do, that is sometimes worse than death." He smiled. "But I guess your gift can help solve a mystery. This man, I know him. Personally. He is a good man."
"Man?" Breeze asked.
"Yes. Man. A miner, one of those whose thoughts were mangled by whatever they saw in Shivan."
"So this man is a survivor of Shivan? There were no survivors." Crystal said.
"Ah that is true. In a way perhaps. His body might have survived but his mind had died years ago. Highness Marble wanted him slain but we here save lives, not take. All the other survivors also went insane but this one is the only living among the crazy bunch. Come on Highness. See him for yourself."
Crystal almost choked after hearing that. A survivor? Shivan was supposed to be empty when the first respondents arrived. This was the greatest lead they had in uncovering the mystery in Shivan. A blossoming pride warmed her belly. She did this. With her own capabilities, she found this trove of information.
They went inside with Breeze to her front now. The smell was old and dusty. Cobwebs tangled on Crystal's hair and face. The room itself was dark, only illuminated by a small window.
"This used to be our morgue. Well this is still our morgue but it is empty for now." The man said. Crystal's neck felt chilly to the thought. The man pointed at something. "Ah here he is. How's your day Boris? Not good huh?"
There was this man, if one could call him a man. He was more of a thing now, just lying on the floor with eyes open. He did not move, nor did he say anything. It was as if he was frozen. But the tender heaves of his chest declared his living body.
"How do you feed him. And water?" Breeze asked.
"We force it. And feces and urine just come out. Poor man, really. He has been like this for years."
Crystal plastered her look on the man. If this miner was really a survivor of Shivan, then the mystery of what happened was deep in his mangled mind. She went closer despite the odor, despite the sticky floor and despite her fear. Breeze went to her side.
"We need the Resistance's" Crystal whispered. "You have a powerful Dreamweaver in your rank right?"
"More powerful than Highness Book."
Crystal doubted it. Book was the most notorious Dreamweaver in all of Ninev. But the Resistance's Dreamweaver should suffice.
"We need the Dreamweaver's dust."
"I'll relay this to Shadow."
Crystal nodded and turned to the surgeon. "We'll be back. Our dust will not suffice to pry into his mind. Never tell a soul about our arrival."
"My lips are sealed." The surgeon said.
Crystal walked back to the door. There was nothing she could do for now but at least knowing this was a start.
"They are coming!" Came a sudden shout from behind. Crystal turned and the man tilted his head to them. He was smiling, a crazy smile. "They are coming! They are here!"
Breeze drew his blade and shielded her. The surgeon was open-mouthed.
"Soon they will rise." The man continued, eyes shaking in their sockets. "And soon we will be no more!"
He fell back to his languid state, back to being unresponsive as if his shout earlier was nothing but a dream. It wasn't a dream based on the shocked look on both Breeze's and the surgeon's faces.
Crystal trembled herself. She understood nothing but felt her heart grip with fear. The man said that something or someone is coming. It could be nothing and the crazed man was just blabbering whatever crazed thoughts he had been having. But somehow Crystal believed those crazed words. =