Chapter Sixty-Three
Coran hadn't wanted to see the fruits of his labor, but also knew there was nothing much for it. A day after the earth below shook (Rata Sum reported noticable seismic activity even from their vantage point), it was time to behold the aftermath.
That took considerable effort. The blast doors that had been designed to withstand the initially planned blast had been warped outward severely by the intense heat and energy released from the explosion within Bhu'kahuh's chamber. It took thirty minutes in itself just to force open the twisted metal wide enough for people to comfortably come and go.
"I wasn't seeing things when I thought I saw leaking energy." Coran noted, referring to the bright white glowing vapor trails that he had pointed out shortly after the quake, which he theorized was residue from the initial shockwave striking the blast doors.
Devona and her guildmates took the lead, prepared just in the off chance that the explosion didn't completely eradicate the hellish infestation within the cavern. Coran followed soon after, then Duke Barradin, then King Adelbern, with his Vanguard forming in his protection once past the door into the wider tunnel.
It was then that Devona became aware of the background noise once prevalent in Atal Ra... the subtle crackle of energy, the subdued bustle of it denizens... aware only due to the true silence that pervaded the tunnel and cavern. Now, the only sound was from the people sent in to survey the damage. The once smoothly carved rock from the drill made a crunching sound as she and her allies walked over it, which Coran explained was due to the heat of the explosion literally melting the earth and turning into something more akin to glass than rock.
The lights of the city and academy were gone... along with the rest of it. Their lanterns turned up nothing, no reflection off the towers, no glint of gold or metal... merely inky blackness as the light faded into the darkness.
"The anti-matter explosion likely created a chain reaction, that rampaged out of control, shifting and in turn detonating any matter it came in contact with until the heat dissipated and could no longer sustain the process of shifting the matter into its reactive counterpart. There won't be anything here." Coran predicted.
His prediction was spot on. There was nothing, even when the survey group reached what had been the central square of the academy grounds. From wall to wall of the cavern, there was nothing but black, glassy earth.
"Shame that I didn't not have the capacity to see this place before its fall." The old king mused wistfully, "I had heard such wonderful stories of the city you ruled, Coran."
The prince only seemed to half register what his father had said. "Yes... a shame." He replied distractedly, his eyes turned towards the south into the darkness.
"There likely isn't anything left over there, either." Devona noted, gently rubbing her beloved's shoulder.
"I know there isn't." Coran answered. "But, if anything is... it would be there."
Devona clicked her teeth to get the attention of the team, "Alright, let's move. Coran wants to check out the weapons testing facility. There was an underground bunker that might have survived the blast."
On the way, they heard the sound of something else approaching, the telltale signs of cracking glass earth giving whatever it was away. Initially defensive of the royal pair, it softened, but just barely, as more lights became visible, heralding the approach of a Charr war party, led by Pyre and Grazz right behind.
Adelbern, surprisingly, was the first to order both sides to stand down. "Hold your arms, men. Today... today... we mourn the loss of those who gave themselves on Tyria's darkest day. Thanks to them, there will be plenty of time to renew war tomorrow."
"Well said, king." Pyre answered with a surprising hint of respect. "I assume Coran is heading towards the weapons testing building? Then, let us proceed."
On that short expedition, the Fierce clan chief admitted, "In honesty, I am here to assess what my people will have to fare against in the future."
"There will be no repeat of this weapon." Coran said with a grim determination that startled Devona by its suddenness. "I have already destroyed my notes on my findings of the Eternal Alchemy, and nothing anyone can do will cajole me to replicate them." In an aside, he whispered to Devona, "Sorry, love... not even your life."
"I understand fully." Devona earnestly replied. She wouldn't want to be a factor in re-creating such a destructive force, anyway. She'd kill herself before Coran would have to make such a choice.
The facility offered one stark difference from the rest of the cavern. The ground there had caved in, right where Coran had pointed out as the location of the underground bunker.
"The heat encrusted ground wouldn't be as stable as the solid earth it once was, especially with the seismic activity created by the explosion." Coran explained slowly, Devona surprised by the hopeful lilt the prince's voice now carried, "But the fact that it caved in tells me that perhaps... something still exists beneath the rubble."
And so, after carefully negotiating the descent of thirty feet into the bottom of the collapse, the assembled group began to churn the fragments of heat forged rock. Even King Adelbern assisted in the efforts as he could.
"I assume we are looking for remains?" the aged king observed. "Perhaps of that Canthan Lieutenant of the Northern Vanguard?"
"She had a name, father." Coran grated.
"Yes, I know. Yue." Adelbern replied, earning a surprised look from his son. "One does not forget such a unique face among the officers of the army, my boy."
Devona flushed in embarrassment. She had... not even remembering that the assassin had been in her training regiment all those years ago until Coran mentioned it the night before in the small memorial he had held in Yue and Vekk's honor.
"She had been quite brilliant, hadn't she?" Adelbern continued. "I'm not sure if you were there as the Warmasters vainly searched for any reason to disqualify her from an officer's commission. To see their bigotry and hatred in full display... I learned the folly of my prejudice those twelve days. I remember feeling... pure, I suppose when I finally told the Warmasters to stop their silly games and promote the woman."
"I had heard someone finally stepped in and ended the deliberation before I had the chance." Coran said. "Thank you, father..."
His voice trailed off as his attention turned downward towards his foot. "Devona... over here."
The warrior complied, the rest of the team following suit in curiosity as Coran dug through the rubble gingerly. Finally, once Devona had arrived on the site, Coran held up a stained black, leather article, the gold of its centerpiece faintly glinted when the light of the lanterns struck it at the right angle.
The headband Devona had given to Yue before the battle for safekeeping.