Zov’ha woke up early the next morning with her head buried in Efiros' frizzled fur. At some point in the night she had sleepily walked down to the backyard and curled up next to the bear. She had struggled to fall asleep in the dingy room of the inn — being bottled up in a small space on a soft bed was suffocating. She was used to the grandeur of the open skies and the sound of the wind in the trees. On warmer nights, she would fall asleep to the song of bush-crickets, or the croaking of spadefoot toads that occasionally let out a high-pitched snort when something alarmed them.
It was still dawn when she made her way to the self-serve salon within the inn and laid down in a shear-and-sanitise tank. The green-blue liquid was slimy and warm, but it felt good to have the dirt of her travels washed away. After the refreshing cleanse, she returned to her room and found a short servitor-bot waiting for her with a package. As she picked up her delivery, Sinovan’s voice emanated from the servitor’s speaker unit.
‘This is the least I could do for you after all you've done for me. It’s just some garbs and gears, typical of Aeroz, which will help you blend in with the crowd.'
The bot then hovered away to perform other duties assigned to it. Zov'ha unpacked the present in her room, which revealed several bodysuits of varying dark colours, a long yellow hooded poncho, and a wristband that had the word MART engraved upon it.
…Help you blend in with the crowd - was she really unique? There was no fur on her body now, thanks to the shear-and-sanitise tank. She had deliberately retained the fur on her face — she was fine with people assuming she was Poban, or half-Poban at least. She didn't have any visible disabilities covered up by mechanical or organic embellishments like a Mechanov nor did she have horns or bony spurs like a Calcar. She was… genetically perfect. Was this abnormal?
An hour later she presented herself at the reception where Sinovan and Efiros were waiting. They had decided to make the trip to the city district together. Sinovan beamed when he saw Zov’ha in the garments he had provided. The yellow poncho covered her well and she would easily meld with the people in the city. She pulled the hood over her head and nodded.
‘We need to go quickly,’ he said as she came over. ‘I have the crystals,’ he said gesturing to his backpack. Zov’ha had wondered what had happened to the crystals that were embedded in Segran’s wound. ‘I’m taking it straight to the Knights of Evalon headquarters. Last night they started pulsating with a faint light, and by morning they were glowing. The sooner I get these to the Knights, the sooner we can put this all behind us and start a new life.’
‘Sinovan,’ Zov’ha whispered almost immediately. She didn’t want the poor Calcar to be injured in any way — those crystals were perilous in the wrong hands. ‘Just… be careful.’
The travellers reached Aeroz just before noon. It did not have a grand entrance, for they had arrived at one of the smaller, yet busier, gates of the city called Forestway. Hundreds of people bustled about the streets — merchants, sailors, scholars, and even some visitors from far off lands. There seemed to be a great marketplace beyond the gates from where Zov’ha could hear the hubbub of the city, the cries of traders selling their goods, and a cacophony of music from various directions.
The walls surrounding the city were made of concrete — unpainted and dull, in accordance with the Brutalist architecture of the rest of the city. The guards wore grey battlesuits under their tactical vests and carried basic weaponry. Most of them were Calcars or Mechanovs, or a mix of both.
Efiros shied away from the humdrum of the busy street. He was a woodland beast — cities did not interest him, but he walked silently very close to Zov'ha, looking timidly at everyone around him.
When they reached the gates, Sinovan parted the cloth wraps of his farmer’s outfit to reveal a small circular disk embedded below his left shoulder. One of the guards scanned the chip with her gloved hand, the fingers of which emitted a green light that blinked on and off rapidly. She looked up after a few seconds and said, ‘You’re good to go.'
Sinovan walked into the gates, and Zov'ha and Efiros followed, but were immediately stopped by the guard, ‘Woah, hold it! Where do you think you’re going?’
The Calcar stepped back immediately, ‘She’s a traveller… She's new here.’
The guard scanned Zov’ha from head to toe with her glove, ‘All travellers…’ she paused to scan Efiros next, ‘and their pets… must report to the Rover’s Guild.’ Once she was satisfied they posed no threat she continued, ‘Meet Thalina. She’ll tell you what to do.’
Zov’ha nodded and began walking away, but the guard wasn’t done. ‘That’s a strange weapon,’ barked the guard. Zov’ha immediately moved her lance as far away as possible from the guard’s reach. Folding her arms, unthreatened by Zov’ha’s reluctance, the guard continued, ‘There are a lot of weirdos coming in through Aeroz, so I’m not going to ask where you got that. But fortunately there are some rules in place here. Surrender your weapon now, then come collect it when you have registered with the guild.’ Zov’ha looked towards Sinovan who nodded and then handed over her lance to the guard. 'Welcome to Old Aeroz,' the guard finished.
‘Don’t worry,’ Sinovan reassured her as he led the way, 'You’re safe here. Come, Thalina will get you fixed up with everything you need. She’ll hook up a disk to your heart so you don’t get stopped everywhere.’
‘Why the heart?’ Zov’ha asked quietly.
‘Well,’ Sinovan started, keeping an eye on where they were heading so as to not get disoriented by the crowd. ‘Half of us are so mutated that we have body parts missing. Some don’t have eyes and others don’t have limbs, and yet there are others who don’t have whole halves of bodies. The only thing that all of us have is that pumping machine inside of us. So they keep a record of everyone’s heart scan. Make sense?’ Zov’ha nodded.
Sinovan led Zov’ha through crowded streets between closely-built structures. The buildings around her were oddly shaped with narrow bases — she wondered if they were just badly built or made to look that way on purpose.The denizens seemed to be either too busy with their business or too busy conversing to pay attention to the new traveller. Zov’ha preferred it that way.
Just as they were about to turn into an alley that would lead them to the Rover’s Guild, Sinovan suddenly stopped in his tracks. ‘It’s the crystals,’ he said turning to Zov’ha, ‘They’re pulsating more than ever. I can feel it through the bag. I have to get this to the Knights’ headquarters as soon as possible.’ Zov’ha nodded and he turned around and began to jog away. ‘I’ll see you back at Farianvale at night!’
Zov’ha and Efiros watched as the Calcar disappeared into the crowd. They then made their way into the intricately designed building which served as an office of the Rover’s Guild. They entered a big, circular room which was brightly lit due to the ample sunlight flooding in through the large windows. The centre was furnished with wooden tables and leather couches where guild members sat and chatted. Most of them were drinking a dark amber-coloured ale that had a very heady and citrusy smell.
On the opposite side was a desk, which Zov’ha assumed was the reception. As she approached it she saw a large egg-shaped glass apparatus with a metal framework placed behind the desk. There was something swirling within the apparatus. Then a light clinked on from the inside and the glass frames parted, and out of it emerged a membranous sac filled with a transparent fluid, held to the metal frame by some organic tendrils. Floating within the sac was a small girl, who looked like she was seven or eight years old. She wore a wetsuit that covered every inch of her body except her head. There was a gelatinous transparent mask attached to her nose and mouth — some kind of organic breathing apparatus, which had several cords and veins connecting back to the egg-shaped apparatus. She had big black eyes, and her long unkempt golden hair swirled in the fluid.
‘Good day, travellers!’ said the girl in a high-pitched voice, which sounded slightly muffled as it emanated from an amplifier somewhere on the metal framework. When Zov’ha only stared back in wonderment, the girl continued very animatedly, ‘What? Haven’t you seen a Xalian before? I mean, yeah, there are just a handful of us… but that doesn’t mean you have to stare. That’s just rude. I’m forty-five years old, you know?’
Something from Zov’ha’s past flashed back to her just then. Xalians — the fourth social organisation of humans based on visible traits. These were humans who ceased to grow after a particular age. Most would die but those who could afford a portable incubator, survived. Calcar, Pobans, Mechanovs, and Xalians — most humans were a mix of two or more of these ‘classes’, but some, like Sinovan, showed characteristics of only one of the four classes.
‘Are you… Thalina?’ Zov’ha managed.
‘Well, of course I am,’ cried the Xalian. ‘And who are you, Miss Rude?’
‘Zovhara Ashfrost,’ came the reply. ‘I’m from… I’m new to Aeroz… and so is Efiros.’
Thalina’s mood changed back almost instantly, ‘Well then, we’ll get you signed up and ready for your participation in Aeroz’s finest guild! Now, do you have a wristband?’ Zov’ha raised her left wrist to show the band. ‘Good, that’s the most important device. Keep that with you at all times. You pay and get paid with that and it’s what you use to communicate with your friends, search the city-net, yada, yada, yada… Get me so far?’
‘I think so…’ Zov’ha said, but was immediately cut-off.
‘Excellent,’ squeaked the Xalian. ‘Now let’s get you hooked up to the surgical chamber and get a heart scan. You should be good to start taking up jobs from the local register. We’ll then sign up your pet and any other possessions you have.’
Zov’ha and Efiros spent the rest of the day going through the formalities of becoming a temporary citizen of Aeroz. She had looked through the local register and had picked up some odd jobs to do for the next whole week, which would pay for her food and rent at the inn.
Once they had registered, she planned to go back to the gate to pick up her lance and then make her way towards the city centre, hoping to get a view of the magnificent ports before it became dark.
Just as she was making her way out of the guild office, the sound of a loud explosion came from the north. The ground shook beneath her and her gait faltered. She tried to regain her balance, but a shockwave, which felt like a reverberation in the air around her, knocked her off her feet. Everything around her was sent flying.
What sort of explosion was this? After a few minutes, when everything stood still, the befuddled crowd on the road ahead started to scream and scatter. In minutes, the chaos turned into a stampede. People were running helter-skelter… they were running anywhere except northwards, from where a plume of smoke could be seen rising.
Sinovan! Could it be the crystals? Zov’ha knelt down and hugged Efiros, who looked a little shaken, and she whispered to him, ‘Go back to Farianvale, Efy. I promise I’ll come.’
She didn’t waste anymore time. She left Efiros where she knew he would make it back safely, and darted to the nearest wall. She could not use the streets to make a dash towards the explosion — she would have to use the rooftops.
She easily navigated through the labyrinth of buildings, making her way up to the roofs and down ladders, through terraces and porches — surprised at her own agility. At one point she had reached the top of one of the highest buildings in the neighbourhood, and she could clearly see the site of the explosion below. It was a dome shaped building, a quarter of which had collapsed. The streets around it had emptied and she made her way towards it — climbing down pipes and window sills.
Within a few minutes she had reached the ruptured building. Looking around, she found a body lying on the ground. She sprinted towards it, heart racing. The body moved as she reached and the person screamed as she turned it over — it wasn’t Sinovan. More bodies lay around — all injured and moaning. She heard the sound of sirens, which meant help was coming.
She decided to move closer to the dome-shaped building. Carved into the building in large letters were the words, ‘The Knights of Evalon.’ Now she was more than sure that it was the crystals that had caused this blast. Was this all Sinovan’s doing? Where was he? Did he take the brunt of it and turn to dust?
Soldiers and paramedics of the Knights of Evalon had appeared in squads and were digging out survivors from the debris. They had started zoning off anyone who tried to enter the vicinity of the blast.
Zov’ha kept to the shadows and sneaked her way into the building, where the walls had collapsed. After a thorough search, which lasted about an hour, she was ready to give up as there was no sign of Sinovan. I should have gone with him. But how could she have prevented all this destruction? The only person she knew — gone in a single instant. And what about Segran? Who would take care of him now?
She was about to turn to leave when she heard a clang from an inner chamber. Racing towards where she thought the sound came from, she called out to Sinovan. She heard a voice… Sinovan’s voice! She spotted him in a crumbling chute. He was sitting huddled, uninjured, but terrified. The moment he saw Zov’ha he found his strength and pushed away the fallen debris. She helped him up and examined him. He was still shaking.
‘Are you alright?’ she whispered.
‘The crystals…’ he said, coughing as the dust swirled around him. ‘They let out a loud screech just as I was showing them to the High Knight. He didn’t know what they were… but he did it, Zov’ha! He took the box and ran towards the outer wall… away from us all.’
Zov’ha looked around and saw the fallen bodies of the Knights around her. They were all intact — injured and unconscious — but not dead. She also recalled that none of the bodies outside were very badly injured. The High Knight had saved everyone by sacrificing himself.
The crystals were gone. There was no evidence of what happened. Zov’ha realised that there was no use lingering here.
‘Come,’ she said at last. ‘Let’s head back to the inn.’
‘No,’ Sinovan said, a little dazed now, realising there was a ringing in his ears. ‘I have to tell the Merchants of Ro of what transpired here.’
‘Not today,’ Zov’ha pressed. She heard the squads from outside moving into the building. ‘You need to rest. Let’s head back to Farianvale.’
Zov’ha helped the ailing Calcar to the courtyard as stealthily as she could manage, and the two of them disappeared into the city.
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