Bertan`s quest by Michelle Tarynne (ereader android .txt) 📕

The tribe of Seekinglanders used to be the lowest of the low, delving hungrily deep into the lowest tiers of the Great Mine. Bred and born underground, next to the Core. Before they emerged into the freedom of the surface, they were called Anaerthers- inner ground dwellers- the name they swore to forget, yet it was impossible to escape the past.

Vlad's forefather's promise to never visit the Core again turned from sweet to sour, a truth hard to bear. Once again, what they thought a freedom, a gift from the Skies they have never seen before, turned into painful poison for their own cores.

The old Seekinglander had been feeling the presence of the nearby hunters for the last few Cycles. Cold calculation in the King's eyes still made him reeling with fearless fury. No land would be safe for Seekinglanders ever again until the coming war finished. It's just that by the words of the Oracle and the signs it foreseen, of the things to come, this war was destined to end their world as a whole. That was his biggest worry.

"Greetings, Kyre of Nyan. We need to talk." Vlad murmured to the shadow he felt sneaking by the sidewall of the darkened house he entered a while ago. The shaded man sped up silently to reveal himself as a Seekinglander. It was clearly noticeable in the way he groomed his untamed hair into a braid that reached way beyond his knees. Kyre bore the height, stockiness and light coloring predominant in their tribe. He walked beside Vlad in silence while they kept on descending the unused stone steps.

"I heard one of your boys sent out our platform to the Eastern Gates. It's time, isn't it?" his question was somber with tension.

"I think the time has come. Sword activity is on the rise according to the villagers outside the Wall. The Vault is apparently almost empty, and the War is still being planned..." Vlad stopped and staggered when he heard the Call, totally unprepared. "What the damned?" He felt the familiar vibration deep within his chest that became very weak way too soon.

"The Call is too short, too uncontrolled." Kyre frowned worriedly."It's almost childlike."

"You know what that means," Vlad said grimly. "For all that was foretold, the Hunting has just begun."

"You cannot be sure of that by this one lonely incident only, Vlad," Kyre tried to ease the Older Warrior but sped up even more to follow Vlad who wanted to reach the First Tier below even faster.

"We need to get to the Melting Place before we decide on the other steps to follow." Vlad explained the reason for his exceptional hurry. "There might be no other way to leave the Inner Wall territories."

"What are we going to do about our people left on the surface Inner Block?" Kyre asked immediately, "The tunnels were to be the last way out of here to take."

"We don't have any options left anymore," Vlad had made up his mind, "We pray Kyre. We pray they don't let themselves get caught." He felt there was no time to spare for a longer and unproductive chat anymore. Old Vlad was known as a man of few words in his world because he realized that words never fix things the same way actions do. Especially, when taking into consideration all of the things that had already been foretold by the Oracle.

The stone stairway they took seemed to have no end. Faint orange glow of the Melting Place deep below seemed utterly out of their reach. Both of the men doubled their efforts and broke into a run. Every passing moment, every stumble brought them closer to being too late again.

Kyre, the lightning runner was the light on his feet. He could not find any flaw in Vlad's plan, no matter how much he tried. It was perfect to the t, accepted by their elders, thought on carefully from every angle.

The Plan was for the Tribe to delve into the Mines and their First Homeland once more unnoticed by others, to wait out the coming War and the Hunting. The Oracle's words were explicit on the subject of their survival too, so they had been carefully taken into the account during the planning process.

And still, unexplainable shadow of doubt was nagging in Kyre's mind constantly ever since they entered the Inner Wall Axe territories. Something seemed to be off in a way that he could not just ignore. He was debating in his mind during their descent, whether it was the plan itself that irritated his nerve bundles so much or the sudden change of circumstances in the weakness of the Call they had just witnessed, or maybe something yet imperceptible to his senses, unthought-of earlier. He didn't know.

His feet never wavered in their flight into the Melting Place of old, until the final and clear decision eased into his mind. Kyre could not and would not, accompany Vlad any further. Luckily, they were already nearing the first sub-tier platform at that moment.

"Vlad…" he started as his feet touched the metal surface of the platform flooring, "I think I cannot join you in this quest."

"Are you sure Kyre? Our Tribe needs to be warned, the whole Plan needs to be fulfilled, while I may fail on my way, the larger company is an assurance somebody would get home.," Vlad started to stutter looking at Kyre, the only man of his tribe he knew was still alive. "We still don't know how are things down there… we don't know which passages are still in use… if any of them are used at all."

"I know it all too, I was there with the Elders when the Plan was created. But let's face it now, please Vlad, the plan has already started to crumble. The Hunting wasn't supposed to start now at all. Things are shifting into the zone where we are blind and without any of the Oracle's guidance. Something nags at my core, I don't know what it is, but I cannot ignore that feeling," Kyre frowned, disliking how upset the old warrior has become with his decision, "Considering all that has been happening I think you would be safer alone. They won't search for a solitary traveler now. Besides, we will all follow Home, even if it only means to assess everyone's safety."

"Maybe you are right Kyre, as always. It troubles me to leave all of you here. Once we separate, it will be impossible to unite again. You could be completely locked out," Vlad slowly ceased to argue.

"That's the plan Vlad, but you see that plan isn't working perfectly anymore, and it's only the beginning. There must be something we have been missing in all this. The only way to fix our position is to forgo the Plan and follow our Fates." Kyre wanted to end this conversation already. His core urged him insistently and forcefully to go up to the surface immediately.

"Impossible!" Vlad almost yelled, "It's all been passed on for generations. Not one prophecy went unfulfilled. Not one plan went haywire in the Seekinglanders history, Kyre. We are already on the lookout for the three-tracks to appear on the Wall. Once it happens, the whole Tribe comes back here. We cannot leave them unprepared. It's the reason so many of us got inside that damned Walls after all this time in the first place."

"And yet still, this time is different, I feel it, I can almost taste the change in the air. Have my blessings for the journey brother," Kyre said gently noticing the distress he was causing, "If you use the elevator chains now, you will be ahead of all our plans," he noted quite surprised how easily the changes came when one accepts their guidelines.

"Yes, I've been thinking about it too. It seems that the first core-to-surface platform has been untouched," Vlad said after he calmed down. He neared the chains that seemed to fill a tube connecting the surface with the Melting Place miles below. "You could have a use of the upward movement too." His smile too sad and distressed to be honest.

They wasted no more words then. After a brief embrace each found and firmly caught correct chain. Finding the brackets for the feet was a bit more complicated, but manageable.

It was just a blink of an eye right there and they separated. Vlad rushed downwards with a speed of a dropped stone while Kyre rode upwards for the surface matching Vlad's speed. Kyre's heart became lighter and lighter with each and every interval he passed on the way up.

What he did not fully think through as it was still unbeknownst to him, was the fact, that he would finish his ride in what currently was the Red Axe King throne room, and he would not do it quietly.

Kyre found himself in a deep, deep trouble once he reached the end of his ride. He had no way of knowing that the end-stop of his chain-motored journey would be in the Throne room. He had even fewer chances to imagine that the exact point of entry was the throne itself.

Back in the old ages of previous Sword owners, only the Commanders of the Mine were aware of that route. Even then it was rarely used. It was more of a way into the lowest levels of The Great Mine and the most precious treasures it held in its belly, rather than a way out, designed only for the time of urgency and trouble. More comfortable ways were available at the time for the Swords anyway.

What was used as an Axe Throne, had in reality been constructed as a giant trapdoor in the floor surrounded by the silent machinery that controlled the cords. It had the look of a giant immovable chair. The only upgrade made by the Axes was to position few small steps by it and cover the obviously hideous metal surface. Eons passed and the machinery still worked well, but understandably it worked awfully loud, creaked and stuttered.

Kyre froze in shock the moment he opened the door that appeared in front of him when his ride ended. He realized quickly where arrived and that it was not a quiet journey. A subtle noise of many marching, shuffling, heavy feet nearby revealed to him that he was a prey now. Unable to fix the position he had suddenly found himself at, Kyre locked the narrow doors again. He knew straight away that there was no other way than to wait for the troubles to go away in this imprisoning and tight cubicle. So he waited to follow his Fates into the unknown, for the first time, future. The Oracle's words didn't apply to the world anymore

Bertan approached carefully the boy sitting next to the Wicked One who looked like he was dead, though still breathing. There was no way she could save both of them. She put the Idle Juice Keg she carried on the stone ground and kneeled down to face the petrified boy.

"Boy, what are you doing here alone in the middle of the night? You sure haven't lost your way?" she said tentatively, and yet still cheerily