Azra of the Burning Sands (Genesis Project) (7 page)

‘Would they have reason to attack your Kingdom?’

‘Apparently, before they were rebelling, their leaders secretly sent envoys to the other Kingdoms asking for help. No one came. They have a deep seated grudge against any Kingdom, and the very idea of royalty. I’d been attacked a few times, but never with such fierceness.’

‘Mmmm, I see.’

They turned and walked for one of the staircases. They took the staircase up to the library on the next level. There was a bigger library out in the fortress proper, but this one had a Mahgical creation made by one of the Wyzard council members. It allowed certain shelves in this smaller library to transport other books from the larger library, and back again when finished. It was incredibly convenient for the Wyzards of the tower, as normally transport spells were restricted to the Archway plaza and they would have had to walk to the library outside of the tower if they wanted to access books.

Beyond that, the rest of the shelves were stocked with the most important Mahgical and historical texts of the various factions that made up the council.

The nearest of the Mahgical shelves were in use by various aides, sent by Wyzards to dig up pieces of information that they needed. Azra and Ahaki walked to one of the farther ones, closer to the centre of the library, and stood next to it.

‘So, where do you want to begin?’ Ahaki asked.

‘The Raider fortress I suppose.’

‘All right, let’s try the history of the Bazra Wastes.’

Ahaki placed a hand on the empty bookshelf and closed her eyes, a second later, rows of books appeared in the shelves.

Azra looked across all the books in the shelf and spotted one with a silver star and a faint blue triangle. He reached for it and pulled it off the shelf.

‘Ahaki, do you recognize this?’

Ahaki grabbed the book from Azra’s hand and looked at it. She flipped it open and looked at the first few pages.

‘It’s a new addition. This is a fantastic find, but it’s not been translated yet. It’s written in the Zhakim scholar’s tongue.’

‘What is it?’ Ahaki handed it back to Azra.

‘Near as I can tell, it’s a map book.’

Azra opened it and flipped through it. The first few pages were a grand map showing the Halli Continent and its smaller southern neighbour. The subsequent maps appeared to in greater detail of certain areas of the world. Azra continued to flip through, but found one map of interest that showed what he recognized to be the Bazra Desert.

Sallock was shown on the map, and using it as a point of reference, he was able to pin point other land marks. His city of Jarridon wasn’t on the map, but that didn’t surprise him. The Zhakim pre-dated the Minna Kingdom by thousands of yehvs.

What was on the map though, was the Raider fortress. It seemed to be fairly important, and had the Zhakim symbol above it.

Azra looked over the book. Ahaki had pulled out a few others and was flipping through them.

‘Ahaki, do you have any ability at reading this thing?’

‘I'm afraid not,’ the woman said, looking up, ‘I only recognize numbers.’

‘That may still help. Look around this area.’ Azra went over to her and pointed at the fortress. ‘See any numbers? They may be page numbers and some basic phrases.’

‘Yes, yes I do.’ She held the edge of the book with one hand. ‘Try another fifteen pages forward.’

Azra flipped the pages and stopped at what looked like a floor plan.

‘You don’t think this is a plan for the fortress is it?’ he asked, hopeful.

‘It could well be,’ Ahaki reasoned.

‘I think this may be all I need. If I could get this to Kia somehow, she could probably manage to escape.’ Azra flipped through more of the pages, ‘Yes, I definitely think this is plans for the fortress, it’s even got tunnels marked under the desert.’

Azra handed the book to Ahaki, who looked through it herself.

Azra gazed at some other books still on the shelf, but his mind was on the book he had found, and how to get the maps to his niece. Plans climbed to the forefront of his mind, only to be tackled back by flaws and doubts.

Ahaki drew him out of his thoughts. ‘Azra, isn’t this next to Jarridon?’ she asked.

Azra looked over the map Ahaki had flipped to. It was a detailed map of the Bazra Desert. On it, Azra recognized various landscapes that had been there since before Jarridon. Near where Jarridon would have been – had the map been a few thousand yehvs more recent – was marked an image of a cave with a dotted lined towards the fortress. Several other caves were scattered on the map, but this one in particular was close to areas Azra knew.

‘You’re right. I know that rock outcrop. It’s a half day’s travel to the north of Jarridon. John and I have been there once before. If that’s right, then we could have a back door into the fortress.’

‘Unless the Sorcerer is expecting this.’

‘I can’t see why he would be, but even if he does, I still have a plan.’

‘So you aren’t going to meet with him?’

‘No, no, that’s still part of the plan, it’s just now I’m banking on him holding me captive.’

‘That doesn’t seem wise, if whatever you are planning doesn’t work, your brother-in-law will attack the fortress as you said, and may well lose the war because of it.’

‘That shouldn’t upset the council much. They’ll be out two thorns,’ Azra said with a forced grin.

‘The Kingdom of Minna is
not
a thorn’ Ahaki said sternly.

‘It is so long as I am a Baron in it, and it is the largest Kingdom on Anita, it is. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have preparations to make.’

‘You’re not going to meet with the council?’

‘Not anymore. But I would ask that you continue your investigations of how the sorcerer got here in the first place.’

‘I don’t want you doing this. It’s too dangerous.’

Azra exhaled in frustration. ‘I know you don’t, but this is my choice, and my plan. I will do what I must to free Kia, and to find out what this fiend wants from me. There is more here than meets the eye, and we are practically blind as it is. Do what you can and I won’t ask any more of you.’

‘Fine. May Heaven shine on you.’

‘Thank you. And one last thing... I might recommend confirming Kont’s story with other people who had been serving on the Hyper-Wormhole-Cannon while he was.’

‘We commonly distrust those things that hurt and kill without a care...’

-Azra, teaching his apprentice, Jahnyz

WESTERN WASTES – NEAR THE ZHARIN FORTRESS

A
zra stood with his head wrapped in cloth head coverings, with only a slit showing his eyes. The soldiers he had brought with him had similar coverings and stood all around the opening to the cave, looking in. The sun was just rising over the eastern desert. They had just arrived here in the morning, after marching all night.

‘This cave leads right to a tunnel system constructed by the Zhakim many yehvs ago. It was originally used to connect their main fortress on this continent – which is now the Raider’s lair – to all their secondary out posts in the area. It is as vast as it is unnavigable. Unless, of course, you have the map, which I happen to have,’ Azra told his troops.

‘My plan is to allow myself to be captured by Shakla and slip a map to Kia so she can escape through the tunnels and out this cave. You men need to be ready and waiting to help me fight off any pursuers, and to hold this cave mouth at all costs.’

‘What if the tunnels have caved in sire?’ John asked thoughtfully.

‘The tunnel is open. I searched most of the way Mahgically on our way here. I could not go too close to the fortress, but the large tract of the tunnel I was able to scout is still open. Now, I want you men to camp above the opening, in among the rocks of this outcropping. It will shield you from prying eyes, and allow you to see anyone coming out of the tunnel before they see you. Also, remember to do whatever you can to keep from being seen. Surprise will be our greatest weapon.’

John marshalled the men and started them up the rocky climb a sheltered cliff above the cave. He then walked up to Azra.

‘We’ll be waiting for you,’ he called.

‘I’ll be back when the sun again sets.’

‘And if you aren’t?’

Azra was quiet for a moment, the wind tugging at his robes and face covering. ‘If I’m not back by tomorrow night,’ he finally said, ‘march back to the city and prepare to assist the King in his attack on the fortress.’

John nodded, placed a hand on Azra’s shoulder and said, ‘You’ll be fine.’

Azra smiled behind his covering, but the inflection still coloured his voice, as he said, ‘Thank you, John.’

John removed his hand and turned to climb up the rocks with the rest of his men. Azra turned away from them and closed his eyes. He began to focus his Mahgic around himself and pictured a spot in his mind. He had never been to the fortress before, and it was dangerous to try and teleport yourself somewhere you had never been, but he had been to a small rock island that jutted out above the deserts from which one could see the towers of the fortress.

Picturing the exact spot among the rocks he wanted to appear at, he released his Mahgic energies and vanished in a whirlwind of blue flames.

*

ZHARIN FORTRESS – DUNGEONS – BAZRA DESERT

Kia lay on the dirty stone floor, a grimy ball of cloth for a pillow, and she looked absently out the small barred window in the metal door to her cell.

Being brought here had been harrowing. The Raiders had wanted to have their way with her, but the Sorcerer Shakla had decreed that forbidden. Anyone who would try to harm her or do her ill would be put to death as soon as it was discovered. He had said that Azra would not be useful if any harm had come to Kia.

In darkness of her cell, the Princess could hear the faint hiss of the snake that the Sorcerer had somehow made her guard and protector. The black serpent was coiled in the far corner, watching her with red eyes.

Footsteps broke the gloom.

Someone was standing outside the door.

‘Get up,’ a voice said.

She didn’t move.

‘Get up, your Uncle has come.’

A glimmer of hope moved Kia to her feet. The snake uncoiled itself and slithered closer to her. The door opened and light entered the room. The guard looked warily at the snake. He beckoned her to follow.

Kia walked slowly out of the cell. Two other guards waited in the hallway. They all walked down it in silence. The occasional moaning from the other cells reminded Kia that she was not the only prisoner.

I wonder if any of them are captives from Jarridon,
she thought to her shelf.

When they reached the end of the passageway, one of Kia’s escorts banged on a large, iron, door. They waited as a locking bolt was slid open. The door swung outward, and another Raider watched them as they walked out into the rest of the fortress.

They walked through more and more passageways, which seemed to be branching outward from the centre of the fortress like a wagon wheel – which would force any would be attackers to split their forces, if they ever managed to make it to the hub.

They arrived in a large vaulted room. Its top was intersected by large stone archways, though the age of the fortress showed in some of the crumbling masonry. Pillars larger than any of the trees back at the capital stretched up to hold up the criss-crossing arches. Kia let out a breath, in awe of the size of this fortress. It was much larger than even her Father’s own palace. She would venture to guess that it was larger than any of the current kingdoms palaces.

I wonder who could have built this?
she thought to herself.

Then she spotted her Uncle.

Azra was standing in chains between two of the Raiders, with the Sorcerer Shakla standing to one side, watching Kia.

Azra looked up at Kia and smiled.

Kia smiled back, but began to feel uneasy.

‘Azssra... Asss promisssed no harm hasss come to your lovely niecsse,’ the snake man hissed.

‘Kia, are you all right?’ Azra asked, ignoring the assurances of the sorcerer.

‘Yes, Uncle. The Sorcerer has given me protection, if nothing else.’

The Sorcerer held out his arm and beckoned. The snake that had been following Kia slithered forward. Shakla bent down and let it climb up his arm. The snake wrapped itself around his neck, and he stood up.

‘My pet here hasss made sssure ssshe wasss sssafe,’ Shakla stated.

Kia saw Azra looking at the snake.

Shakla looked at Azra, and said, ‘Now, you have sssomething to do for me, Wyzard.’

The flickering light of nearby torches gave Shakla’s scaly skin a gleam as he spoke.

‘What do you want from me?’ Azra asked.

‘Nothing but information. What do you know about a people called the Nehhom?’

‘The who?’ Azra asked in genuine surprise.

Shakla hissed softly and his eyes narrowed to slits.

‘I sssee. They are a people who dwell beneath the wavesss. They came to thisss world three thousssand yehvs ago.’

‘I have no knowledge of any such people. And asking a desert bound noble about a people that dwell beneath the seas strikes me as a poor move on your part.’

‘Don’t try my patiencsse. We’ve disssucsssed why I want sssome one elssse sssearching.’

‘My kingdom hasn’t even been around that long. Kingdoms change hands very frequently on this world. Knowledge is lost and forgotten. Take the builders of this fortress for example, the Zhakim. Most of the common folk don’t have a clue
who
they were. Most historians only know the name of them! Only a few people know anything useful about them.’

‘Then you will asssk a question to one of thessse knowledgeable onesss on my behalf,’ Shakla said.

‘Why would I do that?’

Shakla knelt down on the ground, and the snake unwrapped itself from his arm and started to slither towards Kia.

Kia backed away a step, but the Raiders flanking her grabbed her arms and held her still. The Azra took a step forward, but was knocked down by one of his guards and held in a knelling position.

Kia squirmed against the grip of the guards as the snake wrapped around her leg and opened its jaw. The snake’s fangs rested harmlessly on her leg. But she could feel the prick of the fangs nonetheless.

‘If you don’t, I will
kill
her,’ Shakla said.

Azra was still struggling. Shakla looked at the snake. Its jaw tightened. Kia let out a pained yelp, more in fear than anything else... she’d seen how people died when bitten by this serpent. Azra stilled his struggles, and the snake removed its fangs from Kia’s leg, but stayed coiled around it.

Shakla knelt down in front of Azra, and, with his long reptilian fingers, pushed his head up to face him.

‘I can asssure you. It would be a mossst unpleasssant way to die.’

‘Fine,’ Azra snapped. ‘What questions do you want me to ask?’

‘Find the home of the Nehhom.’

‘What if they aren’t here? What if your wrong and they never came?’

‘They came. I can feel what I am looking for, but it’sss exact location isss being hidden from me. The Nehhom will know where it isss.’

‘What are you looking for?’

‘You don’t need to know that little man,’ Shakla said dismissively.

‘Wait a myno. Just because I don’t know about the Nehhom doesn’t mean I would know about whatever it is you’re looking for.’

Shakla stood up and glared at Azra for a long moment. A distant howling noise sounded as wind blew through the empty halls of the fortress.

‘You
don’t
need to know,’ Shakla said at last.

‘There is just one problem,’ Azra replied.

‘And what could posssibly be more important than the life of your kin?’ snarled, sounding like he was at the end of his limited patience.

‘If she doesn’t exit this fortress with me,’ Azra informed, ‘the King – her Father – is going to attack. You must trust me, when I say, Sorcerer... he will not stop until he gets her back.’

Shakla’s lip curled up in anger.