Year 499 E.C. (Common Era)
The oracle of Nara. An enormous and ancestral machinery on which was built centuries ago the temple of the same name, nestled between high peaks. Covered by a vault, the large circular room seemed small, despite the ten meters of height of its thick stone walls, in comparison with the complex mechanism of pulleys, wheels and metal rings joined by rails that turned slowly and heavily, causing squeaks and crackles that resounded in the chamber. A flame twisted in the air in the center of the gears, burning in spiral blue tones forming an almost perfect sphere; it was the heart of that contraption whose origin was lost through time. The enormous gold-colored metal rings had complex rune writing that glowed at the pace of the various indicators.
The rest of the place, in contrast, was the most austere. The grey stone, which formed the walls and ceiling, showed traces of having had in the past some relief or fresco, which had ended up devoured by humidity and the passage of time. Only twelve small skylights broke the routine of the stone, illuminating according to the time of day one of the zodiacal signs depicted on the floor, which could still be clearly distinguished.
Because of the monotony of controlling that monumental contraption day after day, the shaman watched over the runic sequences of one of the three lecterns which, as a checkpoint, recorded the slightest change in the position of each of the elements of the machine. His porcelain-like whitish skin, straight, dark hair, and delicate features were evidence of his belonging to the doalfar ethnic group. She wore her wide white robe with silver floral embroidery, revealing part of her arms, where she wore several runes that reacted with the machinery.
He did not even look at his other two companions, who performed the same function in their corresponding posts. The oracle interpreted each one of the alterations of the world, unintelligible to anyone who had not studied its functioning for years. A knowledge beyond the reach of any mortal.
I felt each small variation, oscillations in that harmony that came from the runes, which seemed to follow a score written by the same creative goddess, Alma. Without a single pause for five centuries, that melody flooded the spirit of the one who approached the oracle...
Silence.
She opened her eyes frightened at the sudden emptiness she felt in her soul to verify that the runes of her music stand had remained frozen, only moved by some distortion, as if something was interfering with them. Fear gripped his heart as he saw how the enormous structure had stopped and the flame within it vanished. One by one each rune faded away, leaving behind a sinister silence. She was aware of the gravity of the matter and, like her companions, looked with fear and disbelief at the machinery that had stopped, gear after gear, like a dying man exhaling his last breath. The light of the world that gave warmth and confidence to those who inhabited it had been extinguished.
He failed in saying anything. No word came from her lips, only a tremor in her body that barely allowed her to coordinate her legs so as not to trip up the stairs to announce such a terrible event.
Alma had silenced her voice.
In its monotonous rattling, the locomotive hissed announcing its passage to heads of cattle grazing near the road. The sharp whistle took her out of her dreams after countless hours of trying to read one of the books she carried to make the trip more enjoyable. It had been a long time since Eliel had felt able to concentrate on reading, and he had just looked at the pages that he would surely have to read again with tranquility, far from that incessant oscillation and unpleasant noise produced by the wagon as it slid its wheels over the metal rails.
Her dress fell on her slender body and soft curves, which gave her a delicate beauty like an elaborate porcelain figure. Her hands, fine and soft, typical of someone dedicated to study, ignored any physical effort. In contrast to her golden-brown hair, intense blue eyes seemed to imitate the sky they observed through the window.
She closed the book and put it beside her brief luggage, which rested on the opposite seat in the first-class cabin. That place was strange, too strange. Accustomed to life in the serenity of the mountains or in the valleys of Hannadiel's mark from her distant childhood, where time was counted by the colours of the leaves of the trees, being stuffed into that small wooden and metal cabin, decorated with an austere and dubious taste, made her feel uncomfortable. The only detail that stood out was the imperial shield in marquetry on each of the walls, a rampant faucet in arms and crown, as well as the legend "Company of Rails&Post of East".
After giving up reading, all she could do was look out the window and watch the train cross the plains, dotted with fields of wheat and barley, most of which had just been reaped before the imminent autumn, which extended to the horizon, where spongy clouds announced a rainy night. Only a few small houses momentarily broke through that monotonous landscape before losing themselves again to the limited perspective offered by the window.
That was one of the common people's ingenuity, huge tin carriages pulled by a monstrous machine that spat steam and smoke from its entrails, like a furious wyverna that dragged its belly on metal rails that crossed the earth. It was impossible to calm down in the belly of that monster even though she had been locked up there for almost a whole day.
Sitting there for so long, she had wrinkled her dress that she would uselessly try to smooth it with her hand. She could no longer remember when she had taken off her shoes to try to be more comfortable. The window had begun to fog up with the evening, but the oil radiator in the compartment maintained a pleasant temperature.
Carefully she passed her sleeve through the window to remove the mist, and he noticed the sudden oscillation of the train that had begun to turn after crossing an imposing bridge of metal braces that saved the mighty river Tir, and then to continue bordering that imposing sea of fresh water that crossed the continent. Its width was impressive, to the point of not seeing the other bank on several occasions. While the sun was slowly describing its last hours of travel, the flow was widening and branching into several channels. Some houses could be seen on the islands they formed, grouped in small villages around the fertile lands given away by the river or that were forcibly taken away by dikes. They were the first signs of proximity to the capital of that proud empire of those who used to call "common" in their land. Humans.
In front of her, the bodyguard assigned to her by the school in Coril was silent, arms folded over a brown gabardine. The doalfar, named Ohras, looked tanned and did not stand out for his impeccable presence, but he was a serious and trusted type who had helped many shaman priests on trips to dangerous areas. Perhaps the imperial capital was not as hostile a territory as others she would have been in, but she was very grateful to have been put at her service despite being a simple novice.
After an incessant succession of bridges over canals and brick houses, increasingly tightened together, leaving little space for the fields, Eliel had to cling to the frame of the window in order not to lose the balance when the route along which the train was running found several changes of needles where other lines were added from different parts of the empire. Still frightened by the sudden oscillation of the wagon, another one of those metal wyvernas passed in the opposite direction a few centimeters away. Her heart was beating in haste because of that out of tune concert of screeching metal and smoke when, after a new curve, she went along a track that ran parallel to the main canal of the Tir, where its width increased until it turned the merchant ships that sailed there into small walnut shells in the middle of a freshwater ocean.
Eliel recovered her composure and put her face to the window to see better, allowing her breath to fog up more. Several towers, gray and dirty with smoke, were erected over that sweet sea, among which emerged gigantic metal walls that delimited that enormous channel. Behind it there was nothing else, as if those gates were pointing to the very end of the earth. She had hardly time to contemplate the vision that troubled her. She had never seen anything like it, but the outside became dark as the train went through a tunnel, letting the two quinqués of the room illuminate the compartment. A long minute passed while he tried to assimilate that strange landscape, trying to retain it in her memory like a strange dream when she woke up, but when the light returned it had vanished, eclipsed by the vision of that city that was the final destination of her journey: Tiria.
She came closer to the window again, to the point of touching the cold glass with the tip of her nose, trying to discern if that spectacle was real. The metal walls had been quickly left behind, converted into a succession of several staggered floodgates that, in addition to controlling the flow of the river, allowed the small merchants to go up it from a large lake embraced by docks and cranes where the ships anchored to manage their cargo.
The plains had been broken in a strong unevenness on the slopes of the hills that had been turned into gigantic terraces connected by bridges, tunnels and canals, creating a mesh of streets, avenues and railroad tracks around two clearly differentiated core; the aforementioned port to the south of the city and the governmental district, which still preserved vestiges of the ancient walls and which stood over the city with its imposing stone buildings, which protruded over the tapestry of small houses and narrow brick and tile buildings that formed a red, ochre and grey mosaic that extended beyond the thick smoke of the chimneys.
- How many people can live there? - she asked Ohras, unable to get a clue. She could only distinguish cobblestone streets crowded with people passing fleetingly as the train passed by. To live there seemed simply crazy to her.
- More than four million is said, - he said, looking out of the window as well. - No matter how many times I've been to this city, it's always overwhelming. The first time you see it you always think it's claustrophobic, that's normal, - he said condescendingly.
- What a barbarity... she was overwhelmed by that vision. How many times have you had to come to Tiria?
- Serving your order, this is the fifth, - he smiled, showing some sense of humor. - I hope it is the last.
The buildings were getting taller and taller, six, seven, eight floors...; it was difficult to count them. That city looked like a convulsed beast that was gradually gobbling it up.
Eliel sat down again and put the book in her travel bag. It seemed that she had finally arrived at her destination, and instead of feeling relieved by the end of so many days of travel, she was anxious and overwhelmed. She pulled down the curtain from the window so that she could no longer see that city when a few soft knocks on the door of the compartment caught her attention. She rose irritably to slide the curtain that covered the glass of the door. It was not the best time for them to come and disturb her.
A common man wearing the uniform of the railway company, consisting of black trousers and jacket with blue borders and a plate cap he wore under his arm, pronounced himself:
- Gentlemen, there are only ten minutes left to reach Tiria Términi. Get ready to get off, please. - The young man with dark hair and stairs smiled at her with an air of false courtesy. This irritated her even more, for Eliel thought the smile was like someone remembering some obscene joke.
-Thank you very much... - she said in a polite tone, not knowing what else to add.
- Let me help you with your luggage. - The clerk entered the compartment without waiting for her to give way, so he had to step back to avoid being approached without disguising his surprised face. Such manners were utterly grotesque.
- You don't have to. As you said, there are still ten minutes left. - Eliel went back a little bit more. She wanted to avoid any physical contact with the commoners, although it was going to be an impossible task in a city full of them.
Ohras, seeing that the employee had no intention of leaving the room, got up and grabbed him by the shoulder.
- Lady not let you in, common, - he said in a terrible tirade, far removed from the one spoken by Eliel, who, except for a small phonetic error, mastered it almost perfectly.
- Calm down, I just want to help the young lady off the train. - The boy's gaze was anchored in the hand holding his shoulder, but he didn't seem to care.
- Out - ordered the doalfar, tightening his grip on the boy. - Ten minutes - he said.
- Yes, that's for Tiria Términi. - His gaze became malicious and he drew a wide smile until she showed her teeth, which Eliel perceived as sawn, clearly inhuman. - But she's leaving now.
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