Maranda: Day Thirteen of the Celestial Rise. Again.
And so I torched a Lantern Village. No need to interrogate them. No need to take them prisoners. All men, women and children were rounded up like cattle, locked up in their town hall, and set aflame. I was on-stage performing a show. The audience applauded but did not have the slightest idea that I just performed a magic trick. And like a magic trick, it was best to leave before the trick became stale.
With my plan, I was able to save them all. The mayor was right. Most of the villagers didn't fight back. Those that did only did so in self-defense. My orders to take everyone alive stuck to the minds of Llurd's troops. I knew that they were reluctant to comply, but Llurd was not the type of fool who would needlessly disobey me in spite.
Admittedly, my discovery of the village secret was a fortunate accident. I haven't an explanation as to the cause of my passing out. The fall was familiar. It was like that in my dreams when the floating island of the swirling realm shattered beneath my feet. I felt weightless, yet plummeting.
The fall is the end of my dreams. I always wake up after the fall, preventing me from seeing what happens next. I awoke, with fresh water stinging my eyes. I swam to the surface immediately, burdened by my loose cloak. After taking a gasp of fresh air, I took the cloak off so I could swim more freely. The water was not violent at all.
My disorientation went away. I started to think of a plan to get myself out of the well. At first, I thought it unnecessary to 'look around' for I was expecting nothing but a narrow circular wall around me. To my surprise, I found my self in an open chamber underground. Everything looked natural--the water, the cavern walls, and small stalactites. All natural except for the floating lanterns on buoys. The buoys formed a straight line on the water, serving as guide beacons. All I had to do was follow them.
The lanterns led me to an excavated part of the underground river. I found small boats secured on posts. It was an underground dock. I got out of the water and onto the dock. It felt like I was in the basement of a large building. The damp air was quickly replaced by a stronger odor that was normally sensed in the open air. There I saw the village's treasure--wheat ready for distribution.
They came in sacks and wagon full. Most of the wheat still in great mounds beside a row of open chutes coming from above. I knew immediately where I was. Judging from the size of the basement, I was under the town hall. It explained many things. The ramp, the wide double doors, the concentration of dropped wheat in the area around the well. More importantly, the missing granaries or wheat storage above ground.
I was in their underground granary!
Wagons full of threshed wheat are rolled inside the town hall and fed down the chutes. From here, the wheat are bagged and marked. As I read the markings on the sacks, I noticed that they were all bound for Maranda mainland.
The village kept their treasure well. An underground storage out of sight of raiders. With it, a greater secret--an underground river flowing south. The boats indicated normal wear and tear. They must've ferried their goods miles down the river to another secret location, no doubt, closer to Maranda. Quite possibly, the river ended in the South Sea where a Maranda trading fleet would be waiting.
I wondered then if Maranda chose the village because of their wheat or their secret passage that might be useful in the future for whatever the reason. I really didn't care.
Behind the mountain of wheat, I saw stairs leading up a closed trapdoor. I surmised that the trapdoor would be secured and disguised from above to avoid detection. If so, I had no way of getting out of the basement.
Luckily for me, several village peacekeepers opened the only trapdoor... with swords drawn. They came for me. I knew that they meant to kill me to keep their secret safe. Funny how that works. I risked my life to save theirs, and there they were, intent upon keeping their secrets by all means necessary.
But they had to find me first. Eluding them took very little effort. A magic word and several silent steps. I was outside shortly. Invisibly, I went back to the mayor's house where I had a less-than-cordial chat with himself and his sons. I told them of my plan, rode out, caught up with Jasom, and sent Stromsburg back to the village to make sure that the plan goes perfectly the day after.
Her job was to make sure that the trapdoor and chutes were opened and cleared by the time I had rounded everyone up inside. They'd find a way out eventually. They'd--
"General! General, come in!" Jasom said through the radio in a loud, urgent whisper. I could hear the roaring of the flames with his voice.
"This is General Chere. What is it?" I asked through the secure channel.
"General, we have a problem. Llurd's men missed two. A woman and her baby. They hid in their house but got discovered afterwards."
I stopped my Magitek Armor and asked, "What's Llurd doing about it?"
"He ordered them to be locked up in the mayor's house. They're gonna burn everything down in the village! They--"
I cut Jasom off and immediately switched to another channel. "Colonel Llurd, come in!" I called as I turned my Magitek around.
He answered promptly, "This is Llurd. I copy you, General."
"What are you still doing in that village?" I demanded, sounding irate.
"Just following your orders, General. We found two more of them. Who knows how many more there are? I didn't wanna take chances so I ordered all houses burned down."
I gritted my teeth in anger and cursed. I made sure he didn't hear it, however. "Order your men to move out, Colonel," I barked, trying not to sound upset with his initiative. "Don't waste any more time in that village. We're done!"
"But--"
"But what, Colonel? I gave you a direct order. Now move out!" I yelled harshly. I parked my Magitek Armor behind a hill, just out of their sights. Llurd answered a short while later.
"We're moving out, General. Over."
With that I turned back to the secure channel. "Jasom! Answer me, Jasom!"
"General? I copy, General. Over!"
"Llurd's men are moving out. Find a place to hide and stay there. I will be there shortly. Do you copy?"
"I understand, General!"
I jumped off my Armor and ran towards the village as fast as I could. When I was far enough from the Magitek Armor that radiated magical energy signatures, I cast Invisibility upon my self.
I guess I spoke too soon.
With the sun set in slumber, the darkness between trees and all that stood reigned, defied only by the firelight of the burning houses. The soldiers were gone. I stood alone in the middle of the burning houses, searching for the mayor's house. One would think it'd be easy. But when landmarks were set in flames, my sense for survival kicked in to muddle my judgment.
The houses all looked the same. How could that be? The mayor's house was so much bigger! How--
"General!"
It was Jasom, coming out of his hiding place.
"Where?!" I asked. He responded simply by pointing to a house. The flames clung to the sides, racing for the roof.
"It's too late! We can't--"
I didn't want to hear it. It was far too obvious. But I came too far to be beaten in this game of snipe hunting. I ran towards the front door, refusing to acknowledge the barrier of fire.
It's only superficial, I thought to myself. The fire is still only outside. It did not start inside. There is hope!
As I got nearer the front door, I saw the long piece of lumber used to barricade it from the outside. It was placed there by Llurd's men to prevent the people inside from escaping. The barricade itself was already being consumed by the flames. It shouldn't be as strong as it originally was.
"General!" Jasom shouted from behind. It was a futile attempt to convince me that it was madness.
I ran faster, knowing what I had to do to gain access. I needed to break the barricade and force the door open. Hopefully, the fire had consumed enough material to weaken the structure. I felt the heat grow in intensity exponentially as I got closer. I ignored it.
Pain is only temporary--just like my death.
Crack! I heard it the barricade split as I kicked it with my booted foot. The force, however, was not enough to open the door. A second charge was needed. I retreated. The extreme heat stung my face and eyes. Blindly, I moved away from the house. I staggered and fell on my knees, rubbing my eyes. I prayed for rain. The sky gave me the next best thing.
In an instant, I was drenched in cool water. I opened up my eyes and saw Jasom holding an empty bucket.
"Are you all right, general?!" he asked above the roaring of the flames.
"I have to get inside!" I cried. I pushed myself up and ran towards the door again. The water helped me endure the heat a little better. I slammed my shoulder against the door. Not only did it open, it also came off its hinges. I fell inside clumsily, feeling the heat overwhelm me again. The heat forced my eyes shut again.
I heard a scream--mine.
I willed my body to move further in. I knew that there had to be a pocket of cooler air inside. A wall stopped me from going any farther. I opened my eyes and saw nothing but smoke. I dropped on all fours and crawled, recalling the floor plan from memory. The house shook for a few horrifying seconds. I heard the windows shattering. The front side of the house had collapsed taking away one of my exits. I heard a scream again. It was somebody else's.
I continued to crawl, ignoring the pain. I tried shouting to let the terrified woman know that help was coming, but the smoke got the better of me. I started to cough.
The house shook again. Another wall was on the verge of collapse. Which one? I had no way of knowing. My lungs burned and my eyes were useless against the smoke building up in the room. My body ached all over.
Another thundering crash confirmed the collapse. The floor tilted and cracked. It felt like the Abyss had opened its maw and was drawing me inside. I held onto something--the leg of a dining table. It was sturdy enough to support my weight. Unfortunately, the floor continued to tilt steeper. The furniture around me started to slide and fall towards the hole that I could not even see.
Everything was happening too quickly. The pain restricted my movement. I had no choice but to fall in with the rest of the objects. It was a rough fall. I fell on top of something hard. I felt and heard the sickening sound of ribs breaking. On top of that, a heavy object struck my head.
Too fast...
I could not recover. I felt my body being torn apart from the outside as well as the inside. I could not get up.
"Heal," I whispered. It was all I could muster.
I felt no change. Perhaps the magic was too weak for the damage that I had sustained. Perhaps it was all too late. I was numb. My sight was leaving me.
"Heal..."