The Veil (23 page)

The Elders all nodded in unison and then Elder Rayene took her hands away, breaking the connection. The glow around the platform sank back along the contours of the floor, drawing back inside her. All the other Elders removed their hands from the pillars and the Gargoyles cranked back into their original positions, becoming statues once more. 

“Your courage is most admirable, Guardians,” said Elder Rayene. “As soon as you have traveled to the Reaper Archives – with or without success – we and Highwarden Caria will aid you in any way we can for your next journey.”

I could see the renewed energy in Alex. He stepped forward, his hands bunched at his sides. “When can we get started?”

“Whenever you wish.”

Alex turned to face Aegis.

“Highwarden, get your best Lightwardens ready. We leave in one hour.”

13

Alex

The oppressive heat from the blazing suns bore down my shoulders and the back of my neck as I checked over the Unicorn’s reins. I could feel beads of sweat slipping underneath the baking leather of my uniform, and my hair hung in damp strands across my face. The mare nickered at my arm as I gently tugged at the noseband, checking it wasn’t too tight, and I gave her soft muzzle a quick stroke.

“Good girl, Yidema,” I whispered. The Unicorn gave a soft whinny in response.

Gabriella and I were in the final stages of preparation for our excursion to the Reaper Archives. The other Guardians had been given orders to keep their heads down and wait for our return, orders that it had been clear our Huntmaster hadn’t wanted to give.

Four Lightwardens – one of which I was glad to see was Vendal – were leading Unicorns onto what appeared to be an oversized version of a Valoon via a wide plank. Once on the boat, they linked a set of hinged leather-coated bars together, locking the Fera in place. There were a few whinnies of distress from the Unicorns as the bars were set around them, but after a couple of softly spoken words they calmed.

We were in a district called Navaris, which served as the docks for the sailboats we had seen patrolling the waters around Fenodara. Beyond the schooner-style ships, the great expanse of water – which led to an immense crane system, designed to lower boats from the city to the sea below – was filled with battleships that resembled huge mechanical whales, complete with dorsal fins that acted as rudders and sporting heavy artillery that put even the late Black Dawn to shame.  

Gabriella knelt down and offered Isiodore a gift of acceptance – in this case a handful of rich grass the wardens had bought us from a place called the Whiteleaf Gardens. The stallion bought his nose down to the offering and sniffed it for a moment before gingerly taking it from her palm and eating it. Afterwards he bowed his head, nuzzling it against the side of Gabriella’s face. “Good boy.”

Navaris was buzzing with life, with tons of Lightwardens loading and unloading ships with supplies and weaponry. Several patrol ships were queued up, waiting for a rotating arm of the huge crane to pick them up and lower them down over the side of Fenodara. Like a set of scales, other ships appeared in a second arm like salvaged wreckage – water streaming from the bottom of their hulls – before they were set down in the harbour.

Each retrieved ship gave a clang of its bell as it sailed into the dock, which all those heading out responded to.
Some sort of ritual for the patrols,
I figured.
Like a Fenodarian changing of the guard.

“Can I help load her on, Guardian Eden?” asked Vendal, offering his hand out for Yidema’s rein.

“Please call me Alex,” I said. “And sure.”

Vendal smiled and together we ushered the Unicorn along the plank and onto the extra-large Valoon. As we walked, a strong oceanic breeze picked up, providing momentary relief from the blistering heat and carrying with it a strong scent of sea salt and damp wood. It was a nostalgic smell that reminded me of childhood trips to Killarny Beach, when we’d visited Connie and Edgar – my grandparents – in Ireland. Being reminded of such fond memories served to relax me, and help me forget for a few moments that I was risking mine and everyone else’s lives in a world few of us understood. 

But nothing is going to make me turn back now.

After we had secured Yidema in the boat, we returned to help Gabriella guide Isiodore into the fixing posts, locking them tight and giving his hide a quick stroke. When we were done the other Lightwardens climbed on and settled themselves into low, shell-like seats complete with shoulder straps that acted as seatbelts. I glanced at Gabriella and she gave me a smile – it still had the power to make my stomach do flips.

“I love you,” I whispered.

She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and ran her gloved hand up the nape of my neck. “I love you too, always.” We gave each other a brief but tender kiss and then settled down into our seats.

Once again Vendal was on a seat that faced ours. He had been politely looking away whilst we shared our moment, but now he was looking at us with a friendly smile on his face. “Ready to depart?”

I took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

Vendal nodded and then raised a fist in the air. The boat shuddered into life as a female Lightwarden who had introduced herself as Sabrien activated the motor and then settled into her own seat, pulling a computer panel fixed to a rotating lever down onto her lap. She placed her hand on it and slid her palm upwards. The boat’s engines roared and the hyper-Valoon sped off at an alarming rate, the nose rising up as the rotor tore at the water behind.

“Whoa!”

The force pushed me back into my seat, and Gabriella let out a chuckle at my astonishment. We cut through the harbour and I expected the Valoon to join the queue for the crane, but instead Sabrien steered it off in a northwesterly direction, heading right towards the edge.

Vendal gestured towards the safety belts still hanging loose at the sides of our seats. “I know you’re Chosen and all, but I would recommend you put those on now.” He gave a cheeky grin as we both quickly gathered up the belts and locked them in place around our shoulders.

The boat slowed and we drifted towards an almost-hidden gate that covered a tunnel opening. Two wardens were stationed on platforms either sides. “Purpose?” asked one of them.

“Level six mission on behalf of the Council of Elders and sanctioned by the Highwarden.” Vendal removed a small electronic tablet from inside his uniform and stretched as much as he could to hand it over. The guard crouched down and took it from him, scanning the information. He gave a nod. “Th’ull  dehen Cetus ana te edris.”

“Thank you.”

The Lightwarden rose back up and then both guards stamped their gunpikes down in a salute. Then the warden pulled a lever behind him and the gate covering the tunnel cranked down until it was hidden under the waves. “Fenodara Descension!” they bellowed together.

“Here we go,” said Vendal with a wink.

Sabrien edged the boat into the tunnel, and I saw why everyone was strapped in a moment too late.

“Oh shi–”

I didn’t have time to finish before the air was punched out of me as the boat shot down at a seventy-degree angle. The G-force smashed me into the back of my seat and my stomach threatened to jump out of my mouth as we rocketed down the tunnel like the world’s most extreme log-flume, spiraling around and down as the rushing water splashed over the sides of the boat and sprayed my face.

We kept going faster and faster until I thought that the straining shoulder straps would rip from my body and I would be thrown over the side of the boat. Gabriella’s face was wide with shock, her hands clamped tightly around the straps; the Unicorns neighed and tried to buck, but they were held fast by their restraints. In front of us Vendal wore the calm expression of the experienced.

The boat kept screaming down the rollercoaster route to the bottom until eventually the angle softened until we were shooting horizontally through a dim tunnel that amplified and echoed every sound the boat made. I forced my eyes open and saw that we were approaching the end, straight towards a solid gate.

We’re going to crash!

The moment the thought entered my brain the gate flew open and we shot from the tunnel like a bullet, flying through the air and falling ten feet before slamming into the water and sending giant waves rushing out from the sides. The jolt as we landed was like being kicked in the spine. I groaned as the boat came to a rest, bobbing up and down on the great swell we had created. The Unicorns were neighing like crazy.

“It is not as fun going back up,” said Vendal with a smile as he shrugged off the straps and stepped over to soothe the Unicorns. I let out an incredulous gasp and turned to Gabriella; her mouth was still a wide O. As we took in each other’s shocked expressions we both burst out laughing.

Once the Unicorns had been calmed, Sabrien used the panel to guide the boat forward, and soon we were cutting through the waves at an insane speed. She guided the powerful vessel at an angle around the vast column of Fenodara until we were parallel to the open ocean, skipping over the wakes left by several of the patrol boats and heading further and further away from the city until the water shifted from its pure turquoise to a dark ink. The bright sky above gave way to threatening clouds and a pervading scent of decay poured down my throat. Gabriella gave a cough and placed the side of a gloved hand against her nose.

“The light of the Luminar only travels so far, I’m afraid,” said Vendal with a sigh. “Pandemonia is a very sick world.” He turned in his seat and stared out silently across the ocean that spread out onto a now-bleak horizon.

After a while, Sabrien changed direction, closing in on a patch of land ringed by high cliffs. Not long afterwards, I could make out the formations of land – and alarmingly the stripped carcasses of a variety of unfortunate ships that had run aground or crashed against the cluster of towering rocks. Sabrien turned off the engine and allowed the tide to carry us the rest of the way. I watched hundreds of the double winged birds I’d seen when I’d first arrived in Pandemonia perching on the bones of the of the shattered vessels. As we passed by, they took off in a burst of wings, becoming a silhouette of shapes against the shape of Capis and Soren.

Vendal pointed at the ships’ carcasses as we passed. “There are times during the cycles when even the waters of Fenodara are not safe to traverse. During the Fury Storms, as they are known, the waves can reach so high they almost touch the city itself.”

I glanced back at the towering pillar fading into the distance behind us.
Wow, that is high.

“It is not uncommon to find ships wrecked some forty miles inland at those times,” he continued. “It is a both a boon and a curse. Any attack by sea can be laughed off – the waves would consume anyone foolish enough to try. A serious aerial attack however…well then outside support or escape would be impossible.”

We reached the beach…or what could have once been considered a beach. The sand was grey mush netted with putrid seaweed, weapons that had been worn down to bladed nubs and rusted frames, and – worst of all – the mouldy, skeletal remains of the recently drowned, washed up by the tide. The stench of decay was almost overwhelming.

Sabien switched the motor on for a few seconds and gave the boat a final thrust of power until it ran ashore, scattering the dead and sending things
that stood on too many legs
scuttling under the blankets of seaweed. A knot of dread started to bloom in my stomach.
This is the beginning of the real Pandemonia, the one that caused entire civilizations’ worth of species to flee to my world.

“Stay here a moment,” said Vendal. He signalled to the other Lightwardens, and they all grabbed their gunpikes and jumped out of the hyper-Valoon. Then they proceeded to sweep around the sides of the boat, staring at the ground intently and unleashing occasional shots that were followed by loud squeals and pops. After a few minutes he raised a hand. “Okay, all clear.” He glanced up at us. “There are some very poisonous creatures on this beach, ones that could give Unicorns terrible infections.” He turned to the two other male wardens. “Hendahl, Obeden, let’s get them unloaded.”

A few minutes later we were all riding up the beach, the hooves of the creatures kicking up the corrupted sand as they galloped in great strides. I’d only ridden Unicorns a few times during my time as a Guardian – and only ever around the stables in the Sanctuary – and at first it had been a struggle. But with every moment we rode up the long spit of sand away from the sea, my Chosen instincts grew until it felt natural and easy.

We passed through a narrow canyon of crumbling rock faces that were still scorched with the spatter patterns of high-energy weapons that had missed their targets. The light of the suns could only just reach the thin path and most of it was bathed in a cold shadow that made goosebumps rise up on my flesh. After some time we broke through the canyon and out onto a flat plain. I was looking at Gabriella at the exact moment we emerged, and it was her expression that I saw first, her mouth falling open in horror and eyes widening. I turned back and got my first true taste of Pandemonian chaos.

The plain around us was blackened and scarred, completely devoid of life. Countless once-majestic trees had been ripped from the ground and their skeletal remains lay scattered around in a bed of bleached wood. And dotted within them, around them and under them were the remains of soldiers. Some wore the light armour of the Luminar – their grimacing skulls staring out blankly from helmets similar to those worn by the Lightwardens. Others were Umbra, their armour dark and regal – similar to medieval suits of armour, coated with spikes and patches of chainmail. Some had died in the worst ways imaginable – on their knees with a blade driven through their mouths or eyes, or on their backs with heads that were no more than skull fragments, smashed into shards by hulking hammers still standing upright at the scene. The dead were
everywhere.

Jesus Christ, there must be five thousand bodies…at least.

I looked at Gabriella and she looked back at me, an aghast expression still on her face. Without her saying a word, I knew what she was thinking, because I was thinking exactly the same thing:
We’ve been fighting battles…but this is war.