Age of Swords (The Legends of the First Empire #2)

Persephone opened her mouth to explain then shook her head. “Never mind. She can show you.”

They walked on in silence, the climb making it difficult to hold a conversation. Esbol Berg—the mighty towers and gate of Neith—loomed ever larger as they approached. The fog retreated, though the sun never fought clear, leaving the sky a muted gray. The great Esbol Berg wasn’t built; it was carved by nature from the face of a dizzying cliff that itself had been hewn from the steep side of the massive mountain, a fa?ade of grandeur. Columns, piers, capitals, and plinths were sculpted into the face. The gate itself, while only twenty or thirty feet across, stood eight stories high. The pair of doors, each a vertical sliver, were impossibly tall. Persephone was pleased to see they were standing open. If not, all of them working together couldn’t have pulled those gigantic slabs back. Still, she was confused.

“Why are the doors open?” she asked, looking back at the three dwarfs, who trailed along at the rear of the troop because of either their shorter legs or their better understanding of what lay ahead. She hoped for the former.

All three looked at her oddly.

“The gate.” She pointed. “If you fear this demon’s escape, why leave the doors open?”

Understanding dawned on the Dherg, followed by looks of surprise.

“Closing those doors would do nothing,” Flood said. “They are cloth before a charging aurochs.”

Persephone looked at Arion, but the Fhrey walked merrily on as if without a care.

“If such doors as these can’t hold it, what did you use to trap it?” she asked Flood.

“No cage in Elan could contain that beast, except perhaps the one it came out of, which is now ripped open.”

Frost said, “There isn’t a door we could build that would contain it.”

“Then how did you keep it trapped for thousands of years?”

“We didn’t,” Frost said. “We confused it.”

“We got it lost,” Flood said.

“Our ancestors spent generations upon generations digging tunnels through this mountain and down into the heart of the world,” Frost explained. “There’s more down there than up here, you know. Inside, we found oceans of water and seas of molten rock, caverns of crystals, chambers of salt, and rivers of metal, marvels you can’t imagine, wonders of legend. There’s another world beneath us, and that’s where the legions led Balgargarath on a merry chase. It can sense movement, you see. The demon is like a spider in a web. It feels the quiver of stone, and travels to it. Heroes led Balgargarath deep into Elan while others placed knockers—clever devices powered by dripping water—that make a clack the same as a hammer. The knockers were spaced and timed so that just as Balgargarath got near one, another would catch his attention. Once caught in this system of clicks and clacks, Neith was declared off limits to ensure that no one disrupted Balgargarath’s eternal trek.”

“What happened to the heroes?”

“Why do you think we call them heroes?”

The path grew steeper the closer they came. Behind them, the view expanded with the height and the dwindling mist that by then clung only to the edges of the sea. The port city of Caric was larger than she had realized, with streets running off and intersecting at various points that were hidden to her while she was there. The city formed a large half circle that cupped an inlet where ships lay along several long piers. Looking straight out, Persephone saw a thin line of land across the sea. Rhulyn, she thought. So far away, and yet just seeing it, reminding herself it was there, made her feel better.

Persephone and Arion paused on the porch until they were all gathered. She felt the ground shake. Dust and dirt, pebbles and chipped rocks fell like hail. They all jumped under the lintel.

“What was that?” Moya asked.

“Balgargarath,” Rain said.

“He knows we’re here? Is he coming after us?” She reached for her sword.

Rain knelt down and placed an ear to the stone at their feet.

“What’s he—” Persephone started, but Frost held up a hand to stop her.

After a minute or two, the quiet little man with the giant pickax stood up and shook his head. “He doesn’t know about us. Just working his way up. After we pushed him off the knocker trail, he’s been destroying them. Only a couple left, I think. So we don’t have much time.”

“Don’t suppose you could do anything from here?” Frost looked at Suri and Arion hopefully.

They shook their heads, and Arion added, “Nothing useful.”

Frost sighed. “Then in we go. Oh, and walk lightly.”

—

Suri prepared for the war she would wage with herself. The door to Neith was open, and it didn’t look easy to close. That was good. As long as I can get out, I’m fine. Suri expected it to be dark inside; caves usually were. This one was bigger and fancier than any she’d seen, so she figured it would be darker, too, though even she wasn’t certain how that was possible. After all, dark was dark. Either way, Suri wasn’t overly fond of caves. She wasn’t happy with any place that had walls. Caves were less disturbing than buildings as they lacked doors. Doors were the real culprits—doors that sealed.

They passed through the entrance, which led immediately to a massive wall—quite the disappointment since she was expecting something grander. This cave wasn’t even as big as Grin’s. There was, however, a pretty picture painted on the stone: people standing in a line leading to a building and a mountain. Lots of colors and Suri liked that. She and Minna paused to stare at the picture. She almost missed seeing that Frost went left while Flood veered right, both of them disappearing through small openings. Suri wasn’t the only one confused. Most followed Frost, and on the other side, it was discovered that the wall could be gotten around by going either way. Rounding it, Suri discovered how wrong she had been about everything: the size of the cave, it being dark, but most important its grandeur.

The interior of the mountain was a vast chamber lit with sunlight that streamed from shafts cut through stone. The beams struck polished surfaces and pools of water, bouncing to other mirrored planes that reflected the light again until the whole of the immense chamber was illuminated as if by magic.

“Impressive,” Arion muttered in Fhrey as she stood beside Suri. “I didn’t know they could build such things.”