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

Her core urged her to take his hand and lead him straight for the Eastern Gates. He didn't object in any way, closed off and almost dead from fear in his mind. Like a puppet he followed her lead.

"I must talk with the Great Matron of the Cantine, maybe you need a job, boy?" her voice traveled far, they walked steadily.

Bertan analyzed the fact that he looked like he was part mesmerized and part drunk so she drenched his clothes with the Idle Juice out of the keg she was still carrying and draped his hands around her so he would appear totally hazed to the Axe world. The unseen watchfulness could be felt behind her back, but thankfully, it seemed to be focused on something else then.

When they reached the Gates, Bertan noted with amusement that all the guards seemed so much more aware than they were earlier, though the only thing they seemed to notice about her was, again, her cleavage. Even the boy glued to her side was not much of a concern.

"Good Night Warriors," Bertan greeted them cheerfully in a high-pitched chatter, "We both seem on duty-shifts tonight," she smiled dazedly, "And I have to bring this heavy keg to the Diner. Would you mind help me some? I can't drink any more Juice tonight without being fired by the Matron," she giggled and batted her eyelashes at the willing guards.

"Aye, if it's just a sip then, we can be of help Fair Lady," the guards leered at her, took the keg out of her hand, opened it and each of them took a few swallows.

"Thank you for your help, handsome Warriors. Please be sure to visit me by the Diner when you get off your shift, eh?" her voice trailed not so subtly.

"Aye," they cheered.

She could hear them arguing about their coins for a few more moments behind her as she and the boy slowly left the Inner Block.

They were safe, safe for the moment. At once Bertan went off the main road and turned north. She let herself pause and try to wake the boy from his dazed and unconscious state that took away his mind. It took all of her determination not to beat him into a pulp, but he remained the most unresponsive.

"Come on, you have to wake up!" she pleaded urgently, "Please wake up, or we are going to die here tonight," No effect, Bertan knew he would have to be carried for the time being, but she noted with great relief that he wasn't much of a burden when she'd strapped him to her back and broke into the full run. There was no plan in her head yet, but to run north. She was praying for the long lost Gods to be favorable, so they might just make it unharmed.

The biggest advantage and disadvantage of the Axeland was that it was almost impossible to get in or out unless by air if you were to avoid the heavily guarded elevators and staircases built by and over the Wall. The art of air-travel was the Swords' most guarded secret. The Axes were not able to recreate in any way that long lost secret, but they did not waste the ancient three-track railways that had deeply melted into the ground with the heat of the Skyfire Storm, a technology that they stole with the lands from the Sword Slave Masters of Old. It still worked, fueled by the heat off the Great Mine that the Axes knew how to make use of. The railway had been built to transport the goods and people throughout the territories up to the Wall and it stayed that way under the Axe reign.

Bertan had to reach that railway in time for the next platform to be mounted on the northern tracks. It would be the only way to board it safely and unseen. She couldn't explain the overwhelmingly nagging urgency that raced through her body and mind. She ran as if the Skyfire was chasing her, distrustful to her inner knowledge that she wasn't followed, she ran with the boy strapped to her back as if he was no burden at all.

All through her life, she had thought she had been gifted with strength and speed unsuitable for her tiny, as for a Sword, female body for no apparent reason. Just an accident of the Fates… until she received the ancient Call of the Anaerthers, it changed everything. One single vibration at her core had no right to be received by her the way it was for the Swords were just a different kind.

Her mind frantically reviewed all of the information it possessed about Anaerthers. What surprised her the most, wasn't the fact that she received their Call, but that it happened on the surface. They were supposed to live deeply underground, close to the Core. It was even speculated that they had the ability to talk to the Core itself. But how could any of them survive on the surface, where the pressure was so different to what they're adjusted to? Nothing made sense anymore.

Her mind was slowly detaching from her body as she was running. First, she reveled in a moment of pure thoughtlessness that was closely followed by her mind taking its own course. It felt as if two separate beings were acting inside of her. The last wisp of connection that linked her with the barriers of reality dissolved in one quick moment of clarity. Suddenly it became so obvious for Bertan, that the only thing that kept her from reaching the fullest potential was the belief she had already reached it. After that revelation every doubt was cast aside. It was the time to reassess her true limits and origins. But first, no matter how much she hated that idea, it was time to go back home and talk with her Mother.

Bertan chose the northern tracks for their escape, because they were the closest of the three other tracks that had the platforms moving almost continuously towards the Wall and the only ones in line with the prevailing southern winds. It was imperative for them to board a platform riding the northern tracks to avoid highly secured Wall elevators. She could not afford to be noticed, especially not with the Anaerthan boy she carried on her back.

Bertan quickly assessed the situation to create a new plan, it took a bit of precious time that she didn't have. Thanks to the time spent with the Southern Daughters, every plan she has made was to be updated as much as the situation required. It couldn't be even be called planning anymore, like smoke trails can't be touched without changing its whole structure.

It took almost no time for her to realize that the only safe way out was to climb the Tower-Bridges that fueled the three-tracks railway. Those towers were made of the iron-cold resistant structure and looked like funny and playful Giants sitting astride the tracks. The problem was that they were also brightly lit on the outside, too brightly for them to remain unnoticed. Luckily enough, soon she thanked her Fates when she found a narrow crack within their structure that would allow them to climb to the top from the inside rather than through the outer staircase. It was too rugged and uneven to be planned by the Tower's builders. Unfortunately, it was also too slim for her to squeeze into with the kind of luggage she was carrying.

Bertan unstrapped the boy from her back and carefully laid him down on the ground, next to the opening she just found. She slapped his face with deliberation, quite a few times, in hopes of waking him up from the hazed panic he was going through. Much to her dissatisfaction, deep reverberating groan was the only reaction she could induce. Weird and alien thought danced on the fringe of her mind, seemingly, it didn’t belong to her. She followed that thought, only half-aware of her actions, covering his mouth with her hand and deliberately blowing air -with a great force- right into his nose.

The boy momentarily started to struggle. All of his awareness was back in one short moment. All of his fears and anxiety fed strength into his feeble body. Bertan never lost control over his body during his outburst for she didn't dare to release her hand that confined his screams.

"Shh, quiet, boy," she hissed, "We need to be quiet to be able to leave this territory. Do you understand?" she waited for his nod. His struggles slowly weakened. "I need your full cooperation for our escape to succeed. Do you agree?" she continued and noted his nod again. "Or do you want to go back to Inner Block to your friend?" That question got him thinking longer and Bertan was pleased to see that as it meant he was overcoming his fear with logic. Hesitation cleared his eyes. She took her hands off him completely then.

"I don't know," he muttered after a short moment, "What are my other options anyway?"

"I don't know what awaits you here, boy," she frowned disliking her need for honesty with this random boy.

"Genes, my name is Genes," he said exasperated.

"Bertan, my name is Bertan," she smiled at him, "What is your decision Genes?"

"Is there any plan?" he asked hesitantly.

"Usually, there is one." Bertan snorted. "Not necessarily a good one… you get what I'm saying?"

"Basically yes, that you do have a plan."He looked at her suspiciously.

"Yes," she nodded absently already looking around.

"It doesn’t look like I'm having any other, better option anyway." Genes muttered trying not to sound too hopeful.

"No, you don't. It's or only chance at the moment." Bertan quickly entered the narrow opening and started to climb. "Follow me,"

The boy was quick to follow her. Both were light in their moves, graced with uncanny agility and strength. In a blink of an eye, they reached the upper tower deck, getting there just in time, to witness one of the waiting platforms being mounted on the main track.

"Now we jump," Bertan told the bewildered youngling. With no time to spare to wait for his answer, she hooked her arms tightly around his waist and dragged him down before he had any chance to argue.

A heavy thud announced their arrival onto the already slowly moving platform unit that started its ride along the three-tracks. Bertan quickly regained her composure. She took her outer maid clothing off, revealing a black and stiff body suit beneath that clung to her body like a second skin. Then she got out of a barely visible backpack draped around her body, looking rather like a vest. It was the crucial element to the success of their escape. Unbinding the unassuming pack took only a short while.

"Why do we need arrows?" Genes asked. He was watching in fascination as she was uncovering the elements the pack contained.

"Those are not arrows, boy," Bertan scoffed, "Look, learn and follow, if you are able to."

"Genes. My name is Genes," he whispered to the winds in exasperation.

"What?" Bertan asked confused. She was distracted with the task at hand, so she wasn’t even sure he said anything.

"Nevermind," Genes coughed out the answer.

Having settled that, Bertan wasted no more time for any talking. Arm length thin tubes were quickly separated and divided into four groups. Each had the plug and a socket on the counter sides that tightly fit together. One long, thin, yet sturdy and unbending pole was swiftly created. After a few moments of watching Bertan and what she was doing, Genes started to assemble the second pile of sticks into a similar, but a slightly shorter pole. By the time he was finished, Bertan had managed to assemble two more items. Only then he noticed that two small globes lying on the floor connected the two longer tubes.

The fabric that formed an illusion of a backpack turned out to be almost infinite amount of a very thin, almost