Bertan`s quest - Michelle Tarynne (best beach reads of all time txt) 📗

to you, old masters," the Red Axe King spat out with disgust in his voice, lifting the chalice of the Idle Juice into the air and awaited the latest reports to come, in one of rare moments of his sanity reigning over his mind.
***
Meanwhile, the New Sword King raged on the inside, but nothing in his demeanor revealed his shock at the realization, what kind of fire Axes unleashed. It was unimaginable that the slaves managed to control and release it on the surface. The white fire used to be restricted to the Melting Place in the Great Mine only, out of safety and fear of its stone-melting powers. There was no safe passage through the Wall, or even near it anymore, there was no fast enemy clean-crush to be done either.
For none of his plans ever ended, morphing with a single modification at a time, his flushed mind calculated in its race. Any invasion to follow this development would have to be done the ancient way, the only way the Inner Block was really planned and build for. He carefully assessed the height of the flames, grimacing that the gliding kites could be out of the question too, for it looked like the only suitable place to take a plunge and reach the right height were the peaks of Mad Mountains that had just witnessed his failure to capture the Ombre Valley in a simple and fast strike.
Kites' would be too slow and too few in numbers at the same time, Cassess assessed. The capture and fight on the ground were imminent while their weaponry would not be complete for the kites had their own weight limits. He frowned at that thought for the oldest, and most experienced fighters would not reach that limit even if they flew butt naked.
"How did the capture of Ombre Valley exactly go?" He asked of the approaching Unnamed and Ash. He was the most unexpectedly glad to see them once again, his revenge could wait a little bit more, he decided, this moment called for unity, not confrontation.
"The Axes managed to point that fire directly into the fight, melting their own people together with ours," the Unnamed informed him emotionlessly.
"Do not ever call those flesh eating animals people! We are the people and will be forever! Just us! They got what they deserved for the attempt to resist us," the King barked at him, "What are you thinking Ash?" he asked.
"The surface became inaccessible as for now. We could wait it out, for the fires must burn out at some point." Ash was cautious in his words, it was clear that the King has become unstable in the wake of just one failure.
"We don't even know how they managed to get this fire to the surface in the first place, how they direct it at will… We can't wait for Fates know how long!" The King exclaimed in annoyance.
"Forgive me, my King, all we have is time, the one thing that they don't own and never will," Ash reasoned, knowing his calm demeanor would drive the King over the edge.
"We have been waiting by the Old King for millennia already. We gave them time to steal, breed, multiply and learn while we grew old and big," the New King couldn't hide the hatred he's been feeding throughout the centuries, “It’s our time. Now or never, to get those damned mines back with all the treasures they hold.”
It was his only one dream, to bring the Mines back under the Sword control and secure the undisputed support of the distant Sword cities, and all of the House Lines. Cassess own position as a King was still unstable at that point. Some had already questioned his eligibility to take over the Ruling position, and the carnage he caused the moment he claimed the throne, had made him even more enemies that hid among his supporters. The Warriors' turnout had also been disappointing from the start. It was an essential imperative to win this war. The Inner Block was becoming the symbol of his failure, and it could be the last chance to turn it into a success.
"We will take kites," the King narrowed his eyes in Fates spite.
"There are only mere hundred left," Ash was taken by a surprise. "It's an unpredictable artifact of old. Who knows if they still work the way they should? I don't think they've been accessed recently."
"That is insignificant when there are even fewer warriors able to ride them if they are to wear any weapons and armor. We are leaving as soon as you bring and prepare the kites for everyone," the royal decided.
"Are you joining us too my King?" the Unnamed seemed to be genuinely surprised with such a rash decision too.
"At this point, every sword-bearing arm is at the weight of its life," Cassess said stiffly, striding towards the remaining warriors awaiting his orders.
 
The Unnamed and Ash stared at each other in silence.
"I'm getting this weird feeling, it could go even worse than the first attempt," the Unnamed said after he thought about the whole idea to bring the Kites back while they walked up to the deserted platforms. In the new Sword era a mere thought of air-travel of any kind brought nothing but uneasiness into a Sword's core. They had forgotten how to fly, and let it slip through the cracks of time.
"Look at the bright side then," Ash smiled in a feral way that made the Unnamed even more uneasy
"Is there one?" the Unnamed asked, though truthfully he didn't expect any real answer.
"If everything works out fine we do get to fly. I've forgotten how great it felt," his voice took a soft, dreamlike tone, "We can get our hands dirty without being constantly picked on by the ancient ones. I never truly liked to be around them." Ash was known to be the first to jump into any kind of trouble. "And if anything goes wrong, yet again, there are always catapults waiting, so we get to soar up in the air anyway." He unhitched the last platform from the docking and released it on the three tracks on the ground. Once the platform was released, and it was almost empty of any load, it soared back to where it came from almost soundlessly.
"You truly don't want the Swords to win this war." The Unnamed realized when he noticed laughter deep within Ash' posture and couldn’t hide the surprise in his tone. A meaningful silence was his only answer Ash gave him. "You know it well, and yet you share it with me… While you know loyalty is the only thing…" the Unnamed fidgeted nervously for the first time in his life.
"Yes I know, I know. It's the only thing that separates us from those beasts we are fighting now," Ash finished the Sword ruling, still wearing the marks of a smile in his voice. "I know there is no fault in that reasoning, brother," he finished after a short pause.
"Give me one reason to save your life now," the Unnamed took his invisible blade to meet the Ash' throat with such speed and stealth that it felt like a soft breeze until the first drop of blood was drawn.
"I don't wish us to lose, brother. No matter what happens, we are nearing extinction anyway. No slaughter, no restoration, no temporary moment of glory could ever change that fact."
"You know how to fix it, though. I feel you know it, and yet you don't want to act upon that knowledge," the Unnamed didn't appreciate the overwhelming sense of defeat with every possible option that Ash seemed to believe in. He couldn't understand why anyone would think of the future like it was set in the stone of time. Some thought that the only thing they could do was counting down to nothing, while for him the time of future was like sand, always looking for the best place to pour into, just as the future searched for the weakest link to cling to and bring change. Though, even the most prominent Swords looked up for the Oracles to guide them into the one prophesized standard-future. All they were doing for ages was to follow its guidance on the way out of their own existence, the Unnamed now realized.
"There are other things that need to be done too. First in order of things to fix calls for a sacrifice much bigger than I can spare at the moment," Ash said heavily, hinting the price he was unwilling to pay.
Life usually comes in many flavors and an unknown expiration date. Not everyone could ever be ready to consciously sign it off. Especially not Ash of the Second Line. His plans and ambitions went far into the unknown. He knew, he had to live just a few more moments to salvage the ruins of the Sword history.
"None of the things you are planning guarantees your life to be spared at any point." The Unnamed finally understood the full scope of the problem. Ash couldn’t be in two places at once, and there was this pesky problem that he was afraid to pay the ultimate price. Watching their kind's slow and steady destruction had nothing to do with the war on their hands.
"Fates will decide on that," Ash was calm to say when the first sight of Naam in the distance greeted them, "I'm not afraid of failure… that much." 15

Heavy breaths started to fill the silence as darkness gave way to the softest of glows that emanated from water surrounding the boats. Scant lightning of a very mysterious origin revealed the immense size of cave the inner-lake was placed in. The ceiling was so high, it was barely visible. Despite its height, it was covered with intricate paintings that were so big Brine had no problem understanding their meaning. His breathing hitched, and his gut churned with a sudden spike of fear as the low in water was becoming brighter and brighter and more details met his eyes, but shoreline was still nowhere to be seen. Brine’s growing fear had a taste of blood after he bit his lip to remain still and unaffected. He didn’t want to scare the kids that were waking up again, one by one.
"We have just reached the halfway," Mars said unexpectedly close to Brine, making him jump out of his skin again.
"Why is the water glowing?" Pam asked excitedly.
"Nobody knows," their guide answered offhandedly, still quietly laughing at Brine’s nervous reaction.
"Why?"
"Why what?" Mars asked with a deep frown that Brine could finally see.
"Why nobody knows?" Pam huffed impatiently.
"There is no way to check what it is, or what it could be."
"So," Pam looked up to spot another thing that bothered her, "How did that painting on the ceiling got there?"
"Nobody knows that either," Mars chuckled and sped away from their boat quietly to talk with the Commander few vessels away.
"I don't like it," Pam muttered to her brother, still gaping at the ceiling. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “I don’t like it and I don’t even know what it is.”
"Me neither," Coope agreed, “It doesn’t look bad, but it makes me scared. It has to be something bad.”
"I feel the same," Brine whispered, already knowing the