Part 15, Birds Eye View

Chapter 15

I do believe this is Chapter 15. See “Week of Terror” on Render’s blog.

Charity, Render, Flint, and Levi had surfaced with their dragons from the tunnel they had been walking in. They still had one week to get to the city of Silthrim and after that the cave where the scepter of time was kept. They were running low on supplies and were growing weary. On their second day they decided they would like to stay in the city for one day to buy supplies and to get some much-needed rest. They were all looking forward to getting there. Render and Levi were the only ones who had been there in their travels, and they told the Kidd siblings all about the great city.

“The city is large, colorful, and bright,” started Render, projecting an image from his palm of pointed turrets and glistening towers. “It used to be the greatest city in all of Alagasia. I haven’t been there for a while, and I surely hope Borom hasn’t gained control over it, too. It’s the second largest city here and it’s the nation’s center of trade.”

Levi helped to show the city from a sky angle, and Flint and Charity felt as if they were flying over the great city and its many high, strong, buildings. The buildings seemed to be made of many shimmering, sparkling colors, contrary to normal whitewashed ones. There was a gorgeous marketplace, filled with sounds and smells that the siblings could smell clearly, as well as breathtaking fountains, intriguing sculptures, and enticing sights all around them. They could hardly believe it was not real. Charity reached out to touch a pear a fruit seller was selling and frowned when her hand only grasped the empty air.

The whole rest of the day was spent listening to them tell about this grand city. It was known all around the world for its food, silks, and fine weaponry. The people there were the greatest cooks, tradesmen, and warriors, and many of the best stories ever written were imagined and told by Silthrim’s story tellers. Charity could not imagine such talented people all living in one city together and that just made her more anxious to get there. They decided that the dragons should go around the city separately, for folks here had not seen dragons in years and had ceased to believe in them. Anything suspicious would be reported to the city guards, who reported to the shade. They would meet the dragons in a forest on the other side of the city. They were traveling over grassy hills, and with mounting excitement they raced up the last one, ready to finally see the great city itself. They held their breaths as they reached the top, but when they looked out over Silthrim they were astonished by what they saw.

Cless the Dragoon, Luna {his sister}, Will, and Bonnie made their way to the cave where the scepter was hidden. They had to travel through a forest and then a desert. The cave was near the outskirts of this desert, closer to them than to their friends traveling through the city. They had just stopped for lunch one day when they checked their supplies again. Bonnie frowned at the report that they had only a few rolls and fruits.

“Why is the chocolate always gone?” she asked sulkily. Luna looked up, head tilted to one side as if listening.

“Soldiers!” she said softly, “Soldiers that report to Borom!” They decided it would be worth their while not to kill them…yet. They were coming. The small group determined to hide in the trees and eavesdrop. Cless flew up with his dragon wings. Luna and Bonnie climbed a different tree and watched from high among the branches, swinging their legs slowly. The soldiers drew closer. Will climbed the tree and got settled just in time, watching as two figures on horses passed below the trees at a walk. One of them had dark hair and the other had light.

“Then what is this great plan he keeps telling us about? What is this ‘new age’ he keeps referring to?” asked the one with light hair.

“You don’t know?” asked the dark one. The light shook his head. “Slaves,” he said after a pause. The friends in the trees looked at each other, their expressions concerned, angered, confused, and a bit frightened. Will leaned forward to catch the next thing they said, but leaned to far and began to fall out of the tree. Cless reached out a hand and Will was suspended in the air, not daring to make a sound.

“He plans to appoint more captains and guards, harvest more troops, and force all his city civilians into submission.”

Cless held Will in the air, his muscles aching with the effort. Will tried not to make a sound. He wondered if he should move. He began to lift himself up with magic and toward the tree but the brown-headed soldier stiffened and looked around.

“Did you hear something?” he asked.

“No,” replied the other then proceeded to ask his question, “How do we fit into this master plan?”
His companion stopped looking around, much to the friends’ relief, and replied, “We would be superior. The civilians would live, breathe, and die trying to serve us. We wouldn’t have a single need in the world.”

Will desperately flailed his arms, trying to swim through the air to get to the tree. Cless grimaced as he moved to pull him with magic back into the tree soundlessly. They all released their held breaths.

“What about the armies in the North?” asked the first.

“Who says Borom won’t stop here? He’s going to conquer the whole of Alagasia! The North will be his too. No one can stop us now. Aren’t you glad you picked this side?” he asked. They both laughed a chilling laughed that made Luna’s stomach flip over. They passed below them. Once the soldiers were out of hearing range, they looked at each other, each not knowing quite how to handle this new information.

“I can’t believe this!” exclaimed Bonnie, dropping out of the tree with a thud. Miya flew out of her cape and chirped in her ear excitedly.

Luna gracefully lowered herself and swung out of the tree, landing on her toes. “We need to get to the cave quickly. The faster we get there the faster we may be able to stop this all from happening.”

Cless flew out of the tree and Will followed him to the ground. Cless was looking between two trees and stared at what he saw.

Render frowned. Silence. Flint, Charity, and Levi could not understand either. They were looking at the city. They were looking at the great and glorious city Silthrim, famed and revered throughout all of Alagasia…and yet…it was hideous. They slowly walked down the hill and toward the city gates. The city was brown. No colorful, bright, shimmering turrets or towers could be seen anywhere. The walls were crumbling, not looking like the fortress walls they should have been. Trees that were supposed to be orchards had been chopped down, ripped apart, or had merely died. They approached the gates that were supposed to hold the millions of people back, but there was no one. Not a single soul rushed up to them to ask for an entrance toll. They entered the city silently. The walls on the inside were covered with mud, ash, and plants. All the magnificent buildings had been destroyed. The houses they had seen projected from previous memories were now no more than piles of rubble on the ground. Debris, rubble, trash, dirt, and wild ivy reigned free. A few deteriorating shacks had broken windows without doors. Noting the thriving vegetation, they guessed it had been deserted for quite some time.

Render slowly entered one. Broken glass, shards of pottery, and a few random forms that once could have been furniture littered the floor. He was careful not to step on those. Charity stood in what they had guessed to be a doorway, tears in her eyes.

“What happened here?” she asked, looking at the burned walls.

Render shook his head. “I don’t know. I would give anything to know.”

Levi called to them from outside the shack and they met him standing in what looked to be the center of the city, where a great fountain used to be. It was bare, empty, and silent. Not even a breeze ruffled their hair. It made them all edgy and uneasy.

Levi was standing in between some buildings partially sunken into the ground. He was crouched beside an item that Flint was investigating. “What’s that?” asked Render, joining them as Charity glanced up at the sky quickly. The skies were blue, an uncharacteristic color for a day so sorrowful.

“A bird cage…” said Flint.

“A bird cage?” repeated Charity. “Why would the people of Silthrim need birdcages?”

“Well, many of them had pets…” said Levi, as he glanced at the buildings around him once more. “Most of their animals were very healthy and lived abnormally long lives, some even longer than their masters.”

Charity blinked. “That’s it!” she cried, and began walking through the piles of rubble in an effort to get out of the city. The others followed her, curious.

“What’s it?” asked Flint.

“I know how we can see what happened here!” she said. They had reached the exit out of the city. There was a small forest that the dragons were hiding in and then there would be a large desert, at the end of which lay their destination. She hurried into the trees as the dragons flew over to them. She looked around, her eyes searching the treetops desperately. The others grew very excited. Levi looked at her face, then at the trees. Understanding spread across his face. Render and Flint soon caught on and began looking in the trees. Finally they found what they were looking for.

Cless’s face was unreadable. Luna looked over the trees with him. Will and Bonnie joined them, their eyes wide and unbelieving. Before them, so numerous they looked like sand on a beach, was a gigantic army. There were so many soldiers that the whole countryside looked black. Bonnie squinted. “What flag is that?” she asked.

Luna’s Elven eyes picked out a dark flag. “That…is Borom’s army,” she replied. They stared in utter disbelief.

“They weren’t kidding when they said he would take over the world!” exclaimed Will.

“We’ve got to do something. Now I see how imperative it is that we go back and stop all this from happening!” said Bonnie. Luna looked at Cless’ face.

“Something wrong?” she asked.

“It all seems too easy. We’re almost to the cave and we haven’t encountered any enemies at all except for those officers. I’m starting to wonder if he doesn’t know we’re here after all. One would think that after he met us in the woods he would be more wary,” he said in a low voice. They reflected on that and for the first time took into consideration that there might be guards at the cave. They moved on, each submerged in their own thoughts.

Render had seen a small bird walking on the ground. Levi held it still with magic and Charity ran out from their hiding spot behind some bushes and brought it to them. Render and Levi worked together in sorting through its memories before they came to the right one. When they found what they were looking for, they projected the memory so Flint and his sister could see. They watched the fall of Silthrim play out before them.

The bird had been kept inside a cage, by a window. They felt it thinking about food. It was in a small, quaint little house with a lazy cat sleeping on the floor and a baby in a cradle nearby. The bird looked out the window and up at the sky. Merry folk walked by and obstructed his view so he chirped and whistled at them threateningly. The street outside was packed with people, making a loud ruckus that made the bird move his head as if trying to get the sound from his ears. Suddenly someone screamed so loudly that everyone stopped. The bird looked out the window but saw nothing but curious people. Another scream pierced the air along with the sound of thunderous voices and the loud clomp of hundreds of boots stomping on the ground. All at once the people began shouting and running, dropping their bags and leaving the people they had been standing with. Sounds of swords being drawn, arrows being fired, and glass being shattered echoed around the city. A line of Silthrim soldiers lined up outside the window, swords drawn. The door burst open and a terrified woman with dark brown hair rushed in. She opened the bird cage, shooed the cat out, and scooped up her baby with one hand. The bird hopped to the edge of the cage just as another figure ran into the house. It was a soldier, dressed in black with a bloody sword held high. The woman clutched her baby close to her, sobbing, trying to protest. The bird flew out the window just as a scream erupted from that house and a baby cried. The streets were full of these soldiers, battling away at everyone. Houses were burning. People were crying. Everything was being destroyed. This bird’s eye view was not at all like the previous ones they had seen projected before them. The bird flew away to safety among this forest, and it had stayed there ever since.

They withdrew from the bird’s thoughts. Charity was covering her eyes with her hands. Render clenched his fist. Levi scooped up the trembling bird and set it on a nearby branch. “That’s horrible! A whole city! Gone like that! Innocent people, their children, their animals! What kind of people would kill like that? What kind of people would have no disregard for life? Who were those heartless monsters?” asked Flint, enraged.

“I’d say they’re Borom’s troops,” replied Render. He stood up. “This has gone too far. We can’t delay. This world is crumbling. We need to make haste and get to the cave before all is lost. We have to do all within our power to stop this from happening again.” Charity looked up, still a bit horrified at the cruel brutality being drilled into the evil soldiers. They set out in the desert, trying to make up for lost time.

Will and Cless were walking ahead of the girls. Luna and Bonnie talked briefly of minor dragons, their own still sleeping in their hollows. Gradually the group came to a stop.

“Why are we stopping?” asked Bonnie.

“We’re here,” replied Cless. A huge cave stretched out before them. They walked to the entrance. A thin, purplish air seemed to be covering the whole entryway. “We can’t get in until they arrive with the dragons. Three dragons is the only thing that will break the barrier,” he said.
Bonnie sighed and said, “I wonder what’s taking them so long."

“I wonder if Borom has tried to stop them,” said Will. Just then Luna pointed to something in the sand dunes far off. Dragons were flying in the sky. They beamed. It would take them about ten minutes to get to the cave, but they were overjoyed at the sight of their friends. They watched as the dragons flew over the gigantic sand dunes and came closer. They were about five miles away. Their smiles soon faded. The sand behind their friends seemed to be growing larger…it seemed almost as if…Their eyes widened.

Charity glanced backward from the back of the dragon she was riding on and could hardly contain her fear. “Sand storm!!” she shouted. They all looked back to see huge amounts of sand building up, growing higher and higher. The dragons increased their speeds. Then, all at once, the sand collapsed and rushed out at them, as if trying to swallow them up in its great, sandy jaws. Faster they flew, yet faster still the sand waves gained on them. Charity turned around and closed her eyes. She could hear it, coming closer and closer.

The onlookers shouted and cheered, urging them on, although they knew they were not heard. They watched as the sand grew closer and closer.

Flint could feel specks of sand on the back of his neck. He looked behind and his eyes stung. He quickly faced forward. “Hurry!” he called. The rushing sound was painfully loud. A cloud of sand began to cover them. They were so close!

“Almost there!” shouted Render, then choked as he breathed in sand.

Their friends waited by the entrance, still whooping and hollering. Sand obscured them from sight. And then…all was silent.

~ Captain Bonnie Spinner

PS. Sorry if it was a little graphic…in describing the city…Render, your turn.

The Scepter of Time and the Cavern of Death