Guards stood at the foot of the sloped path leading to the last two gates, but they ran back up towards the Eye even as Amber approached, ignoring her. She stepped onto the path; like the main road it displayed a colourful pattern of interlocking stones, and its builders possessed a striking ingenuity, for it lifted off the ground seemingly without support.
Amber's determined footsteps took her to the lower path as the other side rose to dizzying heights. Ahead of her six soldiers in black uniforms watched her approach. Each bore the emblem of the triangle enclosed within a circle on his breast.
"I need to speak with someone from the Guild," Amber said simply.
"Who are you?" one of the soldiers in black said.
Crashes and booms started as the enemy commenced a great bombardment of the walls. Amber closed her eyes. She opened them and looked directly at the soldier who had spoken. "I'm an enchantress of Altura, from across the sea, far from here. I can tell your masters something of the nature of what we are facing. Your people may understand technology, but I understand lore."
The soldiers exchanged glances. Finally the leader made a decision, and two men were assigned to take Amber further along the path.
Amber saw a huge structure of red stone, encircling the Eye like a wheel. Her escorts took her inside an open doorway and into a featureless corridor, slightly curved to follow the building's arc. Stairs led both up and down, while doors were set into the walls on both sides.
The soldiers led Amber to a bare room, with just two seats and a table, and told her to wait. She heard the guards lock the door behind her. A mirror on the wall showed Amber how she looked: haggard, worn, and filled with fear.
As she waited she tried not to think about Miro. She knew the chances of them making it out of Wengwai alive were slim.
The door opened, and a man in a black robe entered. He bore the same symbol of a circle bound by a triangle on his robe, and his hair was grey, his eyes dark. He sat down without a word and looked at Amber down a hooked nose.
"Who are you?" he said.
"My name is Amber."
"Where are you from?"
"I come from Altura."
"And where is Altura?"
"Across the sea, a great distance to the east."
The alchemist snorted. "Pish. There's no such place."
Amber glared at the alchemist. "I thought your Alchemists' Guild was supposed to have all the knowledge. At least I have the pleasure of seeing I was wrong."
"You said you're an enchantress. What is that?"
Amber took a breath, calming herself. She reminded herself she needed this man's help. "An enchantress uses lore to give items special properties. An enchantress might, for example, draw runes on a stone to project light. We call this a nightlamp. This is just one example…"
Amber looked at the alchemist's sardonic expression, and realised he was making sport with her. "Lord of the Sky," she whispered, "your city is falling down around your ears, and you're holed up in your castle with nothing better to do than make fun of me."
There was a knock on the door, and with an expression of irritation the alchemist stood up and turned the handle. He muttered angrily with someone for a few minutes.
"Wait here," he said, before once more leaving Amber alone.
Amber wondered how the soldiers on the walls were faring. The thick stone blocked the sounds of the cannon but she knew that out there people were dying.
The door opened, and looking up, Amber saw a different alchemist this time. He was older, with shaggy grey eyebrows and kind eyes. The triangle on his robe was bound by a double circle.
"Amber," he said in a quiet, winded voice. "Please, come with me."
Amber followed the old alchemist out of the room and down a winding set of stairs.
"Who are you?" Amber asked to break the silence.
"My name is Tungawa. I have to apologise for Mendak, he knows nothing of your people."
"He's rude."
Tungawa chuckled. "Yes, rude he may be. But he is also brave, and has volunteered to stay here in our chapter to the very end. When the enemy comes, which they will, he will ignite a device and ensure our knowledge is kept from the hands of evil."
"What about you? Will you stay to the end?"
"Most of my fellow Guild members have long departed. Some fight on the walls, while others have sworn to make the taking of our chapter a costly venture. A few, such as myself, stay because we need to learn more about our enemy. When the time comes, I will surrender, and I will keep my eyes and ears open. Perhaps the opportunity may come to learn this enemy's weakness and bring the knowledge to those who can best put it to advantage."
"Isn't that risky?"
The stairs wound down until Amber thought they must now be below ground level.
"Not as much as you may think. The Guild has knowledge this Lord of the Night doesn't possess. We did work for him once, before we knew his true nature, much as we've worked for gold for many others. He needed us then. He will have use for us now."
"Do you know what he is?"
Tungawa met Amber's gaze. "He is one of the Evermen, is he not?"