After the End: Serenity

“Is there a reason we didn’t go around?” Serenity asked as they started moving through the streets again. He didn’t exactly regret the fight or the deaths; they just seemed pointless. He certainly wasn’t going to blame Blaze for standing up for himself after being attacked repeatedly, even if it led to the deaths of a few thugs. This wasn’t Earth; the muggers probably were the effective local authority, even if the Mimir or the city government preferred to pretend otherwise.

Blaze flushed a little. “Not really. I didn’t think he’d be so foolish after last time. We’re not even close to the dungeon entrance; I didn’t expect to see anyone in here other than maybe someone clearing out pixies and drakes.”

True to Blaze’s words, the only people they saw over the next few minutes, before they reached a small small gateway with an open gate, was a group in the distance that looked like delvers. They were dressed in slightly better gear than the muggers, but it was still well-used. They waved at Blaze and he waved back.

Another fifteen minutes’ walk prompted Serenity to ask, “Why did you choose a bakery so far from the Mount? Was that just where you could get a secure building?”

Blaze shook his head. “No, they make a drakeblood cake that is very popular with some of the Vala, especially in the Court of Blood. I’m not sure if they actually like it or if it’s for status, but I’m at that bakery almost every day. It’s one of my most reliable stops, so it made sense to put the safehouse nearby. I have an excuse to be there at almost any time and it’s not heavily watched. The only real downside is that the fast route there is through a few dangerous areas, but that’s not as much of a problem as it sounds; they’re only dangerous if you’re not trained. Messengers usually aren’t, but I am, which means I can cut through those areas and get some time where I’m not expected to be anywhere.”

The safehouse was chosen because of its proximity to a particular high-status food? Serenity wasn’t sure if he should be amused or horrified, but it definitely seemed very human. The only part that was odd was that the person who liked the food wasn’t the one who picked the safehouse. The fact that its distance from the target and the fact that there were difficult areas in between them was a bonus to Blaze was simply amusing.

The entrance to the Mount that Blaze picked was nothing more than a small, single-person gate in a tall wall. It looked very much like a staff entrance; there was nothing fancy about it at all. Serenity didn’t see any reason to ask about it; Blaze was staff, of course he’d use a staff entrance rather than the grand entrance. Actually, that was worth a question. “Is there a grand entrance to the Mount?”

“Sort of,” Blaze answered. “There’s something that used to be a grand entrance. These days, it’s a pair of wooden doors that are partially buried in the soil. There’s a small door within the door large enough for a small flyer; that’s the only thing that gets used these days. They keep a ramp down to it cleared out for the few that come that way on foot. It’s not a good entrance for us, because it’s the one that gets the most attention.”

The other side of the gate was different from the city side, but Serenity couldn’t claim that he was at all impressed. Yes, it was in better repair; there were no buildings with actual obvious damage or piebald paint jobs where peeling paint left obvious splotches of different colors at different depths. Other than that small benefit, however, it looked just as blocky, functional, and boring as any modern industrial area where the buildings were designed as much to conceal what was inside as to keep it out of the weather. They were little more than painted cinderblock walls with wooden doors and roofs.

Serenity had no idea what the area was, other than that it had to be something small; the doors were only wide enough for people, not vehicles. It was silent and empty, but that was probably more to do with the time, which was getting close to sunset, than an indication that the area wasn’t busy. “I assume it’s close to dinner time?”

“Yeah, a bit later than I wanted to get back here. Fortunately, the Courts tend to eat late, so there’s still time to get the cakes to the Valas’ kitchen before they’re needed. They’ll want the bread, too, but it won’t be used until after the Valas have eaten and the staff get the chance to have their meal; they’re always grateful when I get them a little extra. It’s still fine; the Memory of Breath holds her public court sessions starting at sunset, since that’s the only time her people are expected to not be working. They aren’t every day, but there is supposed to be a session today.” Blaze led the way along a surprisingly long route through the abandoned industrial area.

Serenity was always amazed at how much work had to be done inside a fortification to keep everything functional even temporarily if it was cut off from the outside world. Many of those areas, even on planets that weren’t as peaceful as Earth, had merged with the towns and cities that grew up around them. The Mount clearly hadn’t; it was still a small city within a city, technically almost independent. Serenity knew that had to be deliberate, just as he knew that they’d find that they were more dependent on the outside town than they thought they were if it actually came to a siege. He’d seen it.

When they finally came within sight of the building that held the Four Thrones, Serenity stopped short. He hadn’t expected anything like what he saw; it looked nothing like the sparsely decorated functional buildings that surrounded it. It looked like a Greek temple, which was a completely incongruous notion.

He’d expected nordic styling, since the names were predominantly nordic; even the idea that the top of a mound was significant was more relevant to that culture than it was to Greek mythology, at least as far as he knew. He still couldn’t disbelieve the evidence in front of him: grand pillars and heavy construction of large stones, with carved scenes painted in bright colors reminded him of Greece or Rome.

The one thing that set the temple apart from those was the content of the carvings. There was a great tree with a serpent at its roots, a man with an eyepatch walking with a raven on one shoulder while another flew above him, and a man’s hand holding a head by its hair above a pool of water. Those scenes were all obvious references to stories Serenity knew. The World Tree and World Serpent were obvious, as was Odin, Hugin, and Munin, while the last one was probably a reference to the god Mimir. None of those were things Serenity would have expected to see in a greek or roman temple.

The fourth carving was easy to make out, like the others, but it was far more elaborate. Four thrones were placed side by side, carved in exquisite detail down to even the most minor of the gems set into them. There were even some gem chips set into the carved thrones. Serenity suspected that the sapphire, ruby, diamond, and emerald bits were real; he couldn’t see any other reason such small bits of material would have been carefully added to the incredible sculpture. They didn’t make the colors of the thrones any more obvious.

There was no question why that carving was there. It had pride of place, near the doorway into the building, while the others lined the entrance in front of it. It was there to tell everyone where they were and why it was important.

The building itself was strange to Serenity’s sensibilities. Unlike the outside, there were no fancy carvings; instead, the floor was a rich mosaic in only four colors: white, red, blue, and green. In the entryway, the floor was a simple geometric pattern, but Serenity could see different images in the mosaic as it went down the three hallways he could see from the entrance. The walls were painted in rich colors, while the ceiling was a shiny white. As they moved through the building, the pattern of the mosaic floor and the colors on the wall changed, but the four colors and the ceiling stayed constant.

Eventually, they came to a large room with stone benches covered in cushions. The benches were all white, but the cushions were in the Memories’ four colors. No matter where you looked, it was obvious that the Memories did not want people to forget who they were.

There was an attendant standing just outside the door, a woman dressed in a simple blue robe. Blaze walked up to her and exchanged a few words. With Aide’s help, Serenity was able to make out that there was one petition ahead of them and that she expected the petitioner out soon.

No sooner had she said that than the door in front of her opened and a young man, probably in his mid twenties, staggered out. He was clearly trying to walk normally, but he moved like one who was exhausted. Tears ran down his face, but he didn’t seem to notice them. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he let the door close then turned to the attendant. “Thank you. Without your advice, I don’t know if I’d have gotten permission.”

The attendant watched the man stagger away, then shook her head and muttered to herself. “They always push too far. He should have stopped a step or two earlier.” She looked up at Blaze and frowned. “You’re not going to do the same thing are you? Go as far as you can maintain it, don’t push past that. The farther you get, the more she listens, but if you pass out you won’t ever get to make your request.”

Blaze nodded. “We’ll keep that in mind.” He waved for Serenity to come over to the entrance, then turned back to the attendant. “Thank you for the good words. I assume we’re good to enter now?”

The attendant nodded silently and opened the door for first Blaze then Serenity to step into the next room.

It was little more than a staircase. Each step was split into four colors, which lined up to form a clear pathway to the throne of the same color. A glance around the room made it obvious what was here: the entire room was set up as a restrictive array based on the aura of the occupants of the thrones. The enchantment wasn’t even particularly well hidden; it was emphasized by the color that swirled on the walls. Serenity doubted anyone who didn’t know runes would see it as more than a pretty pattern, because it was in a somewhat archaic runescript, but he knew that if he had the time, he’d be able to decipher it.

As it was, he could only make out the basics in a quick glance. It would impose more and more resistance to everything as you climbed up the steps; eventually, you would hit a point where you couldn’t climb any farther because it was too difficult if you didn’t reach the top first. Serenity couldn’t tell how hard it would be for him without starting the climb.

There was a figure on only one of the four thrones, a woman dressed in a blue robe that was absolutely dripping with sapphires seated on the sapphire-encrusted throne. The robe was open at the front, revealing an outfit that was easily as gem-covered as the robe. It was clear that the attendant’s robe was a simplified version of the frippery the Memory of Breath wore.