Young Flame

“Well, aint that a sight.” Śuri is the first to speak after we walk out into the massive chamber.

I know most of the island was obscured by the heavy rain and clouds, but I never thought it was large enough to hold such a space. And I thought the cube was big. With all the metal held within this island, the áed could increase their capacity all they want and never run out of resources.

“What are the chances that’s where the ranked water is?” Yalun gestures to the massive sphere that consumes most of our sight.

From the tip of the dome, where the inverted tower touches, the green glow spreads, gradually decreasing in intensity until it has only as much brightness as the walls behind us. The sphere continues below our bridge, and while there is the residential section up to a hundred metres from the massive orb, a voided space lacking anything but those thick pipes separates the sphere from the rest of the island.

Even as we walk along the bridge, we can see down into the depths, where it seems some water pools far below. It is impossible to see the bottom of the orb.

“Solvei, bring up that tracking inscription. We can confirm right here.”

Doing as she says, I form the makeshift inscription before us and let Leal guide some of her water hyle into the targeting section. As soon as the target is accepted, I’m almost overwhelmed by the tugging sensation. While before, no guiding flame would be created — unlike the original — but now a fire grows out from the inscription. A spear of fire lurches out from my floating flames and rushes toward this chamber’s central sphere like it was launched by a centzon contraption.

Every moment I keep the inscription active, the fuel consumption multiplies exponentially. It is so much greater than before we found the original cube that I have to extinguish the flames immediately lest it grow too strong for even my capacity.

Well, I don’t think there’s any doubt in anyone’s mind where the ranked water lies. That inscription already had a horrible fuel efficiency, and with the strength of that signal, it only makes it so much worse.

Good thing there’s lots of metal to eat.

There’s no need to discuss our objective. We have two paths ahead of us: either descend into the city districts below, or follow this path up the sphere. It is obvious which we’ll choose.

About a kilometre ahead of us, the bridge transitions into wide stairs that lead all the way up to the top of the sphere. If we want to stop the production of water constantly spewed out into the ocean, then the place to do so would be the sphere.

Our walk is unsettlingly quiet. There is no sound of the storm outside. No bird whistles or the calls of insects, nothing to indicate anything lives within this expansive island. All that reaches our ears is the echoing ring of our footsteps as we gradually climb the stairs.

“What do you think happened to the people who made this place?” I ask to break the silence.

“I’ve not seen any dead, and there was only one of those ships still docked, so maybe they fled,” Leal says.

“Just because there aren’t any remains doesn’t mean they didn’t die here,” Śuri says. “It’s been over a thousand years. Bones do not last that long, and if the beings that lived here were like áed, they wouldn’t leave anything behind to announce their deaths in the first place.”

“Huh. Really?”

“If they did leave, then why?” I ask. “This place is still intact and operational after a thousand years. Surely there couldn’t have been too much danger.”

“Could have been famine. If they ran out of food, then it doesn’t matter how impressive their home is.”

I open my mouth to refute Leal, but clamp it shut before I can say anything stupid. For a moment there, I forgot fleshy beings can’t eat metal. Well, most of them. I glance to the side, where Grímr is struggling on steps far too thin for his bulky talons.

It is not a short walk to the top of the sphere, but we eventually arrive without any explosive traps going off, or being flooded by more water.

There are no entrances to the massive metal dome below us, which is our target. Instead, the only path forward is a large doorway into the inverted tower. Beyond said doorway, is a spiralling staircase that winds around a thick central column.

The base of the tower — where it connects to the sphere below — is only a dozen metres wide, but as the tower grows higher, the thicker it becomes.

With no other options, we make our way up. The stairs and walls all hold that dense ethereal green quality. It is not at all difficult to spot the moving energy within, and it makes the walls appear almost transparent.

I stick to the outer wall as we climb, passing my hand over the metal which retains its metallic feel, but not the way it is supposed to look. With each floor we rise, I attempt to see through the wall to the massive chamber outside the tower, but each time I think I see something, it doesn’t appear quite right.

The images are still indistinct, but I swear at one point I spot the sun. That has to be impossible, though; the other side of this wall is still within the confines of the island.

Soon, the tower widens enough for doorways to lead into side rooms. Śuri is the first through the arch. Unlike the last blocked doors, these remain open and welcoming to our entry.

I follow the others inside what I can only call a library. It isn’t one — probably — but nothing is closer to this appearance. Several large metal slabs not dissimilar to bookshelves fill the space. Considering the lack of space between each shelf, I doubt it’s meant for perusing. Leal wouldn’t be able to squeeze her way through if she tried.

Does that mean the race that lived here wasn’t as large as the ursu, then? They just liked their large doorways?

The shelves all have that same green colour that everything around here seems to be poisoned with, but through that glow, the long, sweeping lines of inscription are noticeable.

It’s almost like whoever created this place didn’t realise you could create inscriptions in more detail and at smaller, more compressed sizes. If they’d used fire hyle, then any one of us áed could have used the inscriptions to map out this place. But they didn’t, so we’re stuck with only our eyes.

“Anybody got any idea what these are for?” Grímr asks from the doorway, refraining from entering because of the limited space.

Nobody has an answer. Even if we could read their inscriptions, almost none of them sits on a single surface. We’d have to write down what’s on each surface and connect them before having a chance at deciphering them, and that’s assuming we have enough knowledge to do so. These were made over a millennium ago, after all. Who knows what’s changed since?

I place my hand on one and push my flames through. Or, I try. My ethereal flames which had no issue pushing through metal before suddenly hit an impassable wall.

I double down on my efforts, but my fire doesn’t make it through. The strange green glow flows inward to counter my attempts. Unlike the last time I interacted with the phenomenon, it reacts completely differently. It blocks me with ease.

“The glow is stopping me,” I say. “Do you think these inscriptions are the cause of it?”

“Maybe,” Leal answers. “But it has to have some purpose. Stopping your weird flames can’t be the entirety of it.”

“Solvei.” Yalun stares at the pseudo-shelf in deep thought. “Were you ever able to feel the energy of the Void Fog?”

“No. It never felt like an element. More of an alteration of the world than anything physical. Why?”

She hums as her brows narrow. “Just a thought, don’t worry. We should move on.”

Śuri nods in agreement. “Hopefully, there’s something worth our time at the top of these stairs.”

As we return to our climb, Leal groans. “I was hoping the stairs up the sphere would be the last. My legs are gonna burn tomorrow.”

“I know what you mean.” Grímr lifts one of his taloned feet. “These things aren’t exactly good for climbing.”

Grímr has taken to using his wings to assist his steps, but he still weighs such an immense weight that it must be hard. Though, considering the enhancement of his body, I struggle to imagine it’s actually that hard for him.

Well, hopefully they can push through. We still have over a kilometre to climb.

Each floor we climb, the permeating glow becomes clearer, but also more eerie. The image hidden within the walls seems to change when viewed from any different angle. The flowing green shapes approach so close to a comprehensible form, but never quite take that final step, so they remain ever so slightly beyond me.

I’d love to say it’s interesting to watch, but the more I watch, the more the shapes feel alive, the more they look back. My nerves writhe as we climb higher.

We are moving toward the source of this green glow, that is obvious by its continual strengthening. What will we find? My mind jumps to Yalun’s comment about the Void Fog. It doesn’t frighten or unnerve me as much as that experience did, but it definitely has that same impossible, otherworldly threatening presence.

Before I can contemplate these feelings the glow incites within me, we pass the last step and find ourselves in a large room with three rows of desks facing a blank wall. Each is absolutely filled with gauges, dials and a dense network of inscriptions that lead down the panels and connect to those along the walls.

I remember enough of my time with the Henosis scientists to recognise a control panel when I see one. The design is alien compared to the Empire’s, but there’s no denying what this is. This is the central command centre of the island, or at least the controller of something important. The position above the sphere containing ranked water can only mean this is the place to shut it off.

The eerie glow is the strongest I’ve yet seen in here. The entire wall appears almost like a moving painting. I thought when the green permeation was stronger, I’d finally get a view of what those unclear forms were, but all that is visible now is a thick cloak of clouds tinged the same sickly hue.

Maybe it really does let us see outside, but considering the thick storm covering this island, there’s not much to see. The clouds look rather strange, though. Too smooth and viscous, almost like water in the way it moves.

“This looks just like the bridge on one of Henosis’ vessels. Has this place really been around for a thousand years?”

“Henosis are the ones murdered our people, right?” Śuri asks. “How do you know what the interior of their ships look like?”

I don’t know if he meant to come across as accusatory, but it definitely sounds that way. Narrowing my eyes, I go to defend Leal, but she beats me to it.

“We repurposed a few of them after we won the war. Most water mage’s military induction occurred aboard one of them while the council were preparing for the invasion on Zadok,” Leal says. “I got a decent tour during my time at sea.”

“Leal has nothing to do with those monsters.” I glare at Śuri.

He raises an eyebrow at me before his eyes widen and he raises his hands in a defensive gesture. “Sorry, I wasn’t accusing her of anything. I’m just curious if she’d be willing to share whatever knowledge she might have on their technology and fighting techniques.” He inclines his head to Leal. “Is that alright?”

She shrugs and nods. “Sure, I have no reason not to.”

Leal steps toward a control panel and places her hands on a pair of orbs positioned near the edge of the desk. The ursu’s hands are too large to sit comfortably. I step in beside her to see what interests her while the others search elsewhere in the spacious bridge.

“I’m pretty sure these are the interface controls.” Leal pushes and pulls the orbs, but they remain stiff. “It looks like there’s some sort of key required.”

She removes her hands to reveal a series of slots around the base of each orb. The holes are too thin for anything but a key to fit. Taking Leal’s place, I position my hands over the interface balls and fill each keyhole with physical flame. If I can mould them to the shape of the lock, we might interact with the panel.

Instead of the locking mechanism expected, I find only a single pin in the deepest part of the slot. Not much of a lock. I press down on each keyhole at once, which frees both orbs to twist and roll beneath my hands. While keeping the pins pressed, I spin the spheres to test its range of movement.

A loud hiss of compressed gas releasing snaps my eyes up to the wall before me. I don’t know whether it is because I unlocked the control, or my initial motions activated it, but the entire wall drops out of sight, sliding into the floor. Behind it, the outside world is revealed.

There’s not much to see; the mass of metal above and below limit our field of view, and while the sides slope outward, it’s like viewing the horizon through a short tunnel.

Two things immediately stand out: one, while the air is cloudy, it appears nothing like the moving image on the other walls, plus the two massive geysers now visible were not detailed at all in the green mural; two, an inscription painted over every part of the outside of the island glows the same ethereal colour as the surrounding walls.

The green inscription pierces through even the thick clouds and seems to pass over other, older designs. Not much of the island is visible, but every part we can see from this vantage point seems covered in the eerie glowing lines.

Śuri walks up to the opening and taps his fingers against the glass previously hidden by the metal wall. “Huh. I expected better from whoever made this place.”

I guess the glass isn’t as high quality as what some áed can create. Though, considering this is the first appearance of glass we’ve seen at all along this entire island, maybe that’s not surprising.

“Hey, I think I found our target,” Yalun calls, and I turn to see her step down from another set of stairs, hidden away at the back of the room.

I look down at my pair of orbs. What makes her think it isn’t any of the complex controls here?

Well, it can’t hurt to look. I pull back on my flames and remove my hands. The wall doesn’t rise again, but hopefully that won’t be too much of a problem.

Time to see what makes Yalun so sure she has found the control for the ranked water production.