In the meantime, I agreed with Taeral’s initial assessment. We didn’t want to use violence against these people. Not that we feared retaliation—goodness gracious, Raphael alone could slice half of them down in seconds! No, the Cerixians could help us. We just had to be careful and extra nice about them. Diplomacy, in this case, could yield better results than force.
Inalia’s cheeks had paled upon the mention of a missing Hermessi. Dread ate her up, but she kept her cool. “Our people worshipped the Hermessi for a long time. I don’t remember an era before them in the history books.”
“So, what happened? Why did the Cerixians stop?” Taeral asked.
“We felt that the worship of the natural elements didn’t help our society advance,” Inalia replied. “Violent scuffles between congregations of different Hermessi led to wars between our kingdoms. The Fire Hermessi worshippers had a permanent bone to pick with the Water Hermessi, for example. It just got to a point where it was no longer faith, but fanaticism. So, when the kingdoms were declared domains and were brought together under the one Cerixian Empire we evolved. We left the Hermessi worship behind and we moved forward. Unsurprisingly, this unification came shortly after the Druid delegation’s visit. It was like they opened our eyes or something.”
Taeral nodded slowly. “But you do keep records…”
Inalia tried to reply, but Nalyon cut her off. “Those are sealed and hidden. Not for anyone’s eyes. You shouldn’t have access.”
“What would the problem be if we let them look?” Trap asked, somewhat confused.
“It’s not their business! Those are our archives!” Nalyon snapped.
Eira rolled her eyes, surprisingly unafraid of this petulant guy. “You sound like such a toddler, Mr. Martell.”
“We’ll submit a request for documents to the high chancellor,” Inalia interjected, looking at Taeral. “If it’s approved, we’ll dig up everything we have on the Hermessi and share it with you.”
Nalyon crossed his arms and shook his head in dismay. He didn’t have the authority he would’ve wanted here, and it irked him like crazy. It was hard for me not to smile just from watching him squirm, seconds away from stomping his foot.
“Until then, I can show you the old Fire Hermessi Temple here, in Silvergate,” Inalia added. I could almost hear the steam blowing out of Nalyon’s ears. “It might give you some insights, and it’s public property,” she said, then sneered at the high chancellor’s assistant.
She shoots. She scores. Ding, ding, ding!
Trap exhaled sharply, then nodded at Eira. “Keep four soldiers with you and accompany Inalia and the foreigners wherever they go,” he said. “The rest of the troops won’t be far away, but we can’t have an entire battalion following you around.”
“Mass panic among the people of Silvergate. I understand,” Eira replied. “Worry not, sir, I’ll keep an eye on them.”
“You make us sound like we’re about to tear your city apart if left unattended.” Raphael chuckled.
“We can’t be too careful, sorry,” Eira shot back.
“That’s fine,” Taeral said. “We understand and respect your concerns. Inalia, we’d like to see the Fire Hermessi Temple, as you suggested. You may be right. It could help, while you put forward your request for the archives. Believe it or not, we understand the importance of going through the proper channels. It seems our societies are more similar than we’d originally thought.”
Hell yes, they were. In fact, the Cerixians reminded me more and more of the people of Earth with every second that went by. Of course, the discreet presence of magic and the Hermessi worship was more reminiscent of the In-Between, as was their overall societal organization, but, still… there was something about the Cerixians that made me think of humans. Brilliant and capable of great things, yet dragged down by—what, exactly? Irrational fear of the unknown? Greed? Fanaticism? All of the above. We would soon find out.
The soldiers retreated down the stairs surrounding the ginormous platform. A minute later, as silence settled around us, Nalyon sighed, then shivered. He seemed so vulnerable without the Armed Forces backing him up. Practically naked.
“Mr. Martell, will you join us on our trip to the temple?” Inalia asked, though her flat tone urged him to stay back.
He shook his head, and I felt relief in return. “No. I must report to the high chancellor at once. I can, however, advise you all to be on your best behavior. Do not draw attention to yourselves. We’ll send a message out to the people of Silvergate, but I don’t want the foreigners to stand out and distract the citizens,” he said, then scowled at Eira. “Keep your soldiers in check. And give these aliens some cloaks or something to blend in.”
Without awaiting a reply from either Inalia or Eira, Nalyon spun on his heel and walked over to the eastern edge of the platform, then disappeared down the stairs. The air seemed thinner, now that he was gone. As if we could all breathe again—even the four soldiers!
Obviously, no one likes Nalyon Martell.
“Right!” Inalia said, beaming at us. “The temple is that way.”
She pointed behind her. Beyond several rows of tall buildings with brownish-red masonry and dark gray roofs lay a wide-open green space flanked by fruit trees in full blossom. In the middle, an ancient temple stood, with a gorgeous, white marble bell tower. That was our next destination.
I briefly looked at Eira, then Inalia and the four Cerixian soldiers. They were noticeably much more relaxed now that their superiors were all gone. The grunts gripped their weapons tight but pointed downward—a subtle way of telling us that they weren’t going to hesitate to fire them at us, if needed. We had no intention of giving them a good reason to use their weapons.
Inalia led us across the platform and down the hundred stone steps leading to the ground level. Not far from where we walked, civilians gathered to watch us, their eyes glimmering with curiosity. Murmurs and whispers reached my ears, but nothing of significance, just questions regarding who we were and what we were doing here.
On the edge of the lush green space surrounding the platform’s base was a small military cabin. I assumed it was a resting spot for the soldiers patrolling the area. I’d already spotted the guards moving around the platform, making sure that no one got too close to the platform. It had to be some kind of sacred space or something.
One of our accompanying soldiers went into the cabin and came out with armfuls of dark blue cloaks, which he then handed out to our group.
“Put these on,” Eira said. “We’re about to go deeper into the city, and you heard Mr. Martell.”
“You mean, Mr. I’m-Annoyed-Because-No-One-Likes-Me-Or-Respects-My-Authority?” Herakles chuckled.
A smile flickered across Eira’s face, but she brushed it off quickly. “Orders are orders.”
We didn’t give her any trouble. We put our cloaks on and followed her and Inalia onto what looked like a main boulevard, with trimmed red-leaved trees lining the road. Everything was clean and neat, each cobblestone and limestone brick fitting in perfectly, with not a single millimeter out of place.
This was a beautiful world, and it spoke of cultural richness and artful endeavors spanning centuries. At the same time, it reeked of secrecy and unspoken truths. Beneath this fanciful surface, something foul simmered. And, given our track record, I was pretty sure we’d somehow end up getting dragged into it.
Riza
With dark blue hoods on, we didn’t stand out as much as we walked through the streets of Silvergate. Some still noticed us, but not as much as they would’ve, had we revealed our uniforms and weaponry. We moved at a steady pace, which allowed me to take everything in. Inalia and Eira led the way, while the four soldiers moved behind us. Their presence put me on edge but there wasn’t anything we could do about it. After all, we were strangers from outer space, demanding access to their Hermessi worship records and their temple—no tea and giggles before, no proper diplomatic channels, no prior official introduction. We’d showed up and that was it.
The city was, by all possible standards, beautiful. The occasional winged vehicle rumbled above as it whizzed across the boulevards. These contraptions weren’t big. They could fit three, maybe four people, and they looked like elegant carriages—black, with big, thin wheels and an engine at the back to help the wings with thrust. The interesting thing about them was the absence of any fuel fumes. I got curious.
“Inalia, how do you power your ships and… flying carriages?” I asked.
My teammates were quiet, carefully looking around. We all shared this unspoken feeling that there was something beneath the surface of this world, a hidden face beneath the mask of splendor and greenery in the heart of the city.