The Chronicles of Heaven's War: Burning Phoenix (71 page)

Treston was more than a little confused and
not pleased by Drorli’s joking. “You speak like the senseless women
who wish only to see the good in all things.”

Drorli defended himself. “A senseless woman
I am not! I don’t joke with you at all. I speak only truth. Time
heals all wounds. Besides…”

He paused, watching sheet lightning streak
across the sky. “I also know… Mother told me so this very fact… and
you know it, too… in your heart. The two of you are attached at the
hip, ever since her spirit consumed you in the arena that day. In a
way you’re both one, married up in some twisted ritual of life and
death, I suppose. Your future fate and destiny are a shared with
that girl. You can’t escape it, nor can she.”

Treston fussed. Drorli would have none of
it. “Tonight you saved our girl from a very uncomfortable fate, but
you will do so even more in the future, and from far worse fates, I
assure you. The evil hour pants ever closer and that girl will need
you more then than she does now, and this time you will do her
right, save her very soul… and others as well.” He waxed poetic. “
‘The devil’s spawn shall the devil’s machinations bring to a
finish. To Desmond’s halls shall the holy saints journey with a
fearsome host, to bring to a finish what the Wicked One has birthed
in secret.’”

“What are you about?” Treston asked,
confused.

Drorli refused to speak more of the matter,
other than, “Long ago, at least by the reckoning of your lifetimes,
were those words uttered by our queen, Tolohe, before she departed
for dark and distant worlds after this Rebellion began. You, my
friend, were not delivered here to merely assist this child
tonight. Many more are the adventures you are going to have… you
and her. Get used to it.” He laughed again.

Treston said nothing, could think of nothing
to say in reply, his mind troubled as he mulled over Drorli’s
revelations. Together, the two men started for the safety of
distant shelter.

Drorli suddenly stopped in mid-stride.
Looking his friend over from head to foot, he humorously mused,
grinning, “You know, you cut quite a pose in that uniform. It
really becomes you. Makes you look all
authoritative
and
important. I’d keep it around if I were you, just in case that girl
gets a little uppity in the future.”

Treston’s face clouded. Then he saw the
twinkle in Drorli’s eyes. “Oh, you and your kind anyway!” He
motioned him to be off. “Be gone with you...” At that, he turned,
taking up a run to escape the coming rain.

Drorli laughed aloud, chasing after him as
he also took up the hurried pace.

The chill rains soon swept in, swelling the
tiny brook with a brown, frothing flood. The little monkey-like
creatures retreated to the protection of the eastern wood, longing
to hear their mistress of song again. Chasileah and Drorli finally
found some private time for themselves. Symeon and Hanna remained
far in to the night with Ishtar, eventually succumbing to their
need for rest, they soon falling to sleep in each other’s arms.

And Ishtar? The girl lay awake in her cozy
room, staring into the glow of the dancing firelight. No longer
were her doors barred, no need for it. Where was she to go? Where
was she? Who really were these strangers and why was she here?
Tomorrow... Maybe tomorrow she would find the answer. Tonight,
though, she would…

Soon the sounds of slumber drifted from the
girl’s bedchamber into the room beyond. There, at a tiny table, a
restless and troubled Treston sat alone, contemplating the future
and what it might bring.

* * *

‘
Oros, oh sweet, lovely Oros, deceptive
Oros,

Love songs you sing to the beauty of war.

Your musical entreaties with enchantment filled,

To seduce the unwary and innocent souls.

With pomp and ceremony you gather them in,

To send them away with no promise of return.’

~ToloheNahosetSodasonie~

Oros, a small city nestled at the eastern
base of the ObebBailSoar Mountains on a broad, well-watered plain,
was one of EdenEsonbar’s oldest cities. Built as a way station for
sojourners crossing the ‘Great Divide’ as the ObebBailSoar Mountain
range was then known, it was either the last stop for provisions
before entering the wilder lands, or the first oasis of
civilization for tired souls on their return. Old it was, built in
the days when knives of flint and capes of fur were common attire,
and when even the horse was still an untamed beast of the
plain.

Legend spoke of Oros in mystical and magical
ways, saying that the Tower of Oros, a rock-hewn fortress carved in
a mountainous outcropping high above the city, was built by the
Ones Who Came Before. Whether it be true or not, neither Chrusion
nor Tolohe lay claim to its building. Even the name, Oros, rendered
in runes carved on stones at the base of the tower, was shrouded in
mystery.

After her returning from the Jahouk
Mountains on MueoPoros, Tolohe took for her home the ancient tower,
incorporating it into the palace she eventually built there. In
time the name, Oros, came to mean, the ‘City of the Lady’, or the
‘City of the Lady’s Love’. It was there, in Tolohe’s palace, that
many of Lowenah’s sons came of age, serving in the Lady’s house
during their eight virgin years. Soon after the Rebellion, Tolohe
disappeared behind the sealed doors of her estate, never to be seen
again throughout that evil age. There were those who supposed, a
few who even knew the truth of matters, but none spoke it aloud.
For all others, Tolohe was gone, never to return to this world
turned evil and dark, the curse her final words had cast upon the
city proof of that.

Since that time, the city of Oros had
changed into a bustling metropolis filled with factories,
spaceports, depots, and military encampments staring up at Tolohe’s
forebodingly silent palace. A few brave souls might journey up the
path to the locked gate of her palace, it and the surrounding walls
now nearly entombed in tangles of thorny ivy. They would stare up
at the weathered tower, its sightless windows glaring back down
menacingly. There was a feel of unwelcome that hung upon the place
that was so powerful that none attempted entry beyond.

So, in time, the name Oros eventually
acquired the meaning ‘Valley of Lost Souls, the Motherless Child,’
as it is still known down to this day. To this city came the
patriotic and loyal, marching off to the endless wars that so many
did not return from, other than be gathered to their rest in the
Silent Tombs. For countless a new recruit staring out upon the
city’s vast expanse below, the descent down the eastern mountains
on the ObebBailSoar rail stage was the beginning of their journey
into Hell.

(Author’s note
: The periodical,
Ottawa
, recently published an article
describing Oros during the days leading up to the King’s War. The
following, taken from its pages, adds interesting details
concerning the military’s deep interest in the city in those
days.

“
Oros was a small city, nestled in the
lower mountains about thirty leagues east of Palace City. It had
been chosen by the new field marshal and her party to be the nerve
center of Army operations, and it was not by mere coincidence that
it was selected.

Early on, Trisha’s team had decided to keep
the center of operations on the home planet. Although Lowenah
promised Asotos that she would not use her power to directly
influence the outcome of events, she still would provide guiding
counsel at appropriate times. Being only minutes away by air ship
made gaining a ‘face to face’ audience with her much easier than if
they were located on another planet, or even a nearby moon.

Oros was also near the Teleohodos jump
portal. It was one of four strategic portals located within the
Children’s Empire. Teleohodos opened upon many hundreds of exit
points, Eden’s Gate being the only other portal having greater
capabilities. These two jump locations connected to seventy percent
of all known exit points. If, by chance, Eden’s Gate became
inaccessible, a ship could still reach the Second Realm, albeit by
a much more circuitous route. This happened once, long before, when
Mihai attempted to send support troops to Gabrielle’s forces,
waylaid by the prince of Persia, Legion, just outside the Second
Realm. It took Mihai nearly three weeks to bring aid by the
Teleohodos portal, nine days more than Eden’s Gate would have
required.

Oros’ location also afforded the Army great
protection by a powerful, unseen defense. Trisha and her officers
believed that Asotos would need to be desperate before he would
attempt an attack on Lowenah’s home planet. To do such a thing
might risk her wrath. If that happened, she might call the
negotiations at the Prisoner Exchange invalid, and rescind her
agreement to abstain from active military involvement. No force
could ever withstand Lowenah’s private military sentinels. They
were indestructible and unstoppable. For this reason, Oros could be
garrisoned by a relatively small military, thus permitting those
forces to be used elsewhere.

The idea that Lowenah might do such a thing
was not unfounded. During the Great War, a small armada of Asotos’
warships came upon one of Lowenah’s trading ships en route to a
nearby opposing colony. They attacked it in an attempt to capture
the ship and whatever contents might be aboard. The story was told
that the little vessel suddenly lit up in a blinding ball of white,
static fire, erupting into a wall of searing flame that enveloped
the armada, dissolving it in seconds. Only a distant outrider scout
craft survived to relate the story. To this day, those burned and
twisted hulks have remained as a warning sign of Lowenah’s hidden
powers.

This was not the first time the city of Oros
was used for military purposes. During the Great War, it was a
center hub for industry. The original city was built on a series of
narrow valleys and steep bluffs at the eastern base of the mountain
range separating it from Palace City. These valleys collected
together south of the city to form a plain that gradually spread
out to several miles in width. The rich, black soil once produced
outstanding crops of grain and vegetables. The farms were replaced
with factories and warehouses, the waters of the Oros River and
feeder streams used to power the wheels of production. After the
Great War ended, the vast fields of buildings were abandoned to the
elements and now lay in various states of disrepair.

The Navy’s old headquarters were located
about five miles south of the city proper. It was a complex of
landing fields and hangars, some large enough to hide a ship the
size of the DusmeAstron inside, with the hangar doors closed.
Scattered around the grounds were old ships in various stages of
repair. When news came of the Armistice, the maintenance crews put
down their tools and walked away from them as if going on break,
never to return. Storerooms, barracks, machine shops, mess halls
and all the other odd buildings necessary to maintain such an
operation were silent reminders of the struggle, most of them
surrendered up to the elements the same as the ships had
been.”
)

Tiny pieces of gravel crunched beneath the
field marshal’s feet as she slowly paced the tarmac of the ancient
Navy depot in Oros. The late evening showers had moved off to the
east, leaving behind a refreshing summer chill on a light breeze.
Few were the people busying themselves about this night, a happy
couple exiting the ramp of the Dogie and hurrying off together, and
the pleasant chatter of some men far up the street. The night was
quiet, the mood peaceful, but the harmonics hidden beneath filled
with agitation.

Trisha grew nervous as she anxiously awaited
Zadar’s arrival. She lifted her head as if sniffing the breeze.
Yes, the pungent smell of evil lingered heavy upon the night air,
growing stronger by the moment. What kind of abomination must be
lurking out there amid the ruins of the abandoned depot, capable of
cloaking itself from all save a few? Or was it possibly just her?
There was no indication others felt its wrathful hatred...only she
did. And now it was calling to her to seek it out.

Wrapping her arms about her, Trisha silently
contemplated the demon hiding somewhere out there in the darkness.
She first had noticed it that night at the last council, but
disregarded it, thinking it possibly to be coming from Darla. Twice
more, its open malice was revealed: during her argument with Mihai
and later, during the Prisoner Exchange. Was this one of Asotos’
new, demented creations unleashed, a weapon secreted in living
flesh that harbored no soul or heart?

Zadar finally arrived, hurrying down the
Dogie’s ramp with the items Trisha requested he deliver from her
cabin. “Found ‘em tucked away where you said they’d be.”

Trisha thanked Zadar as she reached first
for the belted, scabbarded sword. Fastening it about her waist, she
made casual conversation. “I see a lot has been accomplished since
our return. This is a good place to set up headquarters. That old
command center is perfect for us.”

She reached for her cape, draping it about
her shoulders and tying it fast to her uniformed shirt. “Offices
and wardrooms should be ready to move into within a day or two. The
technicians have been more than busy to set them up for us. Then we
can surrender the Dogie back to the Navy, or possibly convert it
into our command ship.”

Zadar laughed. “Doubt the Navy will want it
except for a target tug, or a target. Maybe we can use it to train
recruits, you know, for landing operations and such. There are so
many new ones arriving every day, most who’ve never seen combat,
let alone what we’re planning.”

Trisha looked about her surroundings as
shaky fingers tied the last of the cape’s strings to her shirt
loop. Through pale lips, she remarked, “It was so stuffy in the
mess tonight. I needed to get some fresh air, clear my head a bit.
Yes, you’re right of course, about the Dogie, I mean. Contact fleet
in the morning requesting our extended use of it. Tell them it will
be returned, little less for wear.”