City of Gold (2 page)

The two turned and began wandering back to the palace. “Oh, and Dace,” added Cody, “there’s probably no need for the Queen to hear of my…sleepwalking tonight.”

“Aye?” Dace responded with a hint of amusement. “Perhaps we can arrange a bargain,” he said with a wink.

They came to a halt before an iron gate separating the Outer-City and Mid-City districts. Two large turrets spiking up like spears flanked the entrance. Cody could faintly perceive the glimmer of arrowheads emerging from the narrow slit-like windows.

Blockading the entrance were the two bulky figures that Cody had earlier evaded. They gave a slight bow. “Captain Dace, Book Keeper.” Dace returned the gesture. “Wolfrick, Sheets.” As the guards stepped aside to allow passage, Dace frowned. “Your lax attitude is unacceptable, soldiers.
No one
enters without the proper password. Including me.”

“But Dace…it’s
you
! We’ve served under you for hundreds of years.”

Dace’s hand silenced him. “Times have changed. We are at war. The Golden King is as cunning as he is malicious. He has already infiltrated our city with mocking ease. Comfort and trust are no longer luxuries we can indulge. Now, carry on.”

The guards crisscrossed their weapons, although their faces exposed clear discomfort. “Password,” they demanded half-heartedly. Dace replied without hesitation. As the final word slid from his tongue there was a loud popping sound, and the gate began to lift.

They proceeded through the Mid-City, which was unnervingly silent; the residents all inside their homes having long-since closed their scattered factories. Since the onset of war, citizens rarely ventured out into the night.

At the Inner-City gate Dace relayed a new password, representing higher clearance. General Levenworth devised the system following the ambush. Passwords were changed every five hours. Those with clearance were delivered the new password thirty minutes beforehand. No exceptions. The Queen herself would be denied without the proper passphrase.

Dace stopped at the foot of the royal palace. “I trust you can make it to your chambers without detour?” It was an order, not a question. Taking leave of Dace, Cody scurried up the stairs toward the large, double palace doors.

He abruptly slowed to a stop. Something grabbed his attention. Even before his eyes located the movement he knew what it was. The alluring smell floating on the stale air was unmistakable. Cody found her concealed in the shadows. Her flowing blonde hair hung gently over her shoulder and the fairness of her skin appeared to glow in the dark night. Her red lips were pressed firmly together and her ocean blue eyes held steady.

“Tiana!” Cody exclaimed in surprise. “What are you doing here at this time of night?”

The girl tilted her head, her thick hair falling loosely over her eyes like a fresh sheet of snow. She silently examined Cody. “I was watching your escape. Even from my dwelling on top of the Sanctuary, I could tell it was you. Your movements are predictable; they give you away,” she answered emotionlessly. Cody felt the brisk drumming of his heart through his throbbing temples.

“Ti, we really need to talk. I don’t understand what went wrong between us. We need to…” Cody didn’t get the opportunity to finish his plea; without a sound, Tiana disappeared, leaving him, once again, alone.

2

The Pawn

MORNINGS ARE THE FOULEST ABOMINATION
, thought Cody as sharp light beams poured through his window and burrowed through his eyelids. He pulled his shaggy, brown hair over his eyes. It was not so much the
morning
which was so detestable—it was the
living
which followed. He massaged his temples; it had not always been this way. Just one short month ago everything in his ordinary life was meandering along as usual.

Like every other morning, his hand instinctively slipped beneath his pillow, brushing against the cold sleekness of worn leather. A shrilling jolt of static energy scaled his finger and raced down his spine. Pushing aside the pillow, Cody gazed at the ancient Book—the scarlet ‘A’ radiating like smouldering coals:
The Code
.

The Book had obliterated everything
normal
in his life. It had given him unimaginable power…but at a great cost. Cody exhaled a pained breath. If not for the Book his dearest friend in the world would still be with him. She had been stolen from him—and it was entirely his fault.

I miss you, Jade.

He snatched a smooth, ruby-coated object from the nightstand—Wesley’s mysterious pocket watch. The clock’s golden hand remained firmly pointed at 3 o’clock. Cody wondered whether Jade had arrived in El Dorado yet. What he tried
not
to imagine was what dark, unknown fate awaited her when she did.

A burst of knocking on the door startled him. “Come in,” he called out. The door creaked open and a plump, pear-shaped head oozed through the narrow crack. “M-m-master Clemenson? Oh, there you are!” the man muttered, as though somehow surprised to find Cody in his own room. “Th-th-the Queen reminds you that your presence is required at the war council in precisely thirty-two minutes.”

“Thanks, Poe. I was just heading there now.”

Poe gave a quick, clumsy bow. He opened his mouth to speak but, seemingly losing his train of thought, turned and waddled out of sight. Cody kicked off his blanket. Normally he’d seize another thirty-one minutes of sleep, but lately slumber had become scarce and contaminated with nightmares—every night the same one.

Cody was still rubbing his baggy eyes as Queen Cia commenced the assembly. As always, she looked radiant, transmitting intoxicating grace with every motion. Her twin brother, Prince Kantan, was perched beside her like a vulture patiently waiting for something to die. To the Queen’s other side was a conspicuously vacant chair: that of the traitorous murderer, Prince Foz.

Filling out the table was the grizzly General Gongore Levenworth; Captain Dace; the panther-faced Sli Silkian, head of the Atlantis Rule Enforcement Association or AREA as it’s called by Underlings; and lastly, Private Tat Shunbickle, the borderlands’ scout who had provided first intelligence on El Dorado’s swelling war camps.

“These are dire days,” began Cia solemnly, “the faith of our people is in an epidemically fragile state. So again, I must advise that the information revealed in this council not be shared. Our citizens must continue to assume that there is hope, even if that hope is bleak. General Levenworth...”

The stone-faced General stood. “Word has come from Flore Gub through the tunnel-phone network: Captain Eagleton’s forces arrived just in time to repel the initial assault on the borderlands…
however
, rumor spreads that a new legion of enemy soldiers has emerged on the battlefield. Warriors referred to in hushed whispers as
The Rephaim
: hollow wraiths impervious to fear and pain; men who are not men at all—but unholy demons. Where they trek, the ground ripples with the blood of our men.”

Cody saw Tat’s face drain of color. It had been he who had first seen the warriors up close. Levenworth continued, “I fear El Dorado is using these assaults merely to gauge a lesser foe’s strength. The Golden King now knows the extent of our weakened state. His strike will be swift and furious. As such, I will not risk wasting our soldiers in unnecessary open conflict or in an indefensible outpost such as Lilley. I have ordered all fighting men to fall back to the fortress of Flore Gub immediately….”

“And what of Lilley?!” Tat cried. “It’s just a peaceful outpost. You remove the troops and you assure its doom!” The suddenly animated Tat Shunbickle thrust a finger at the General. “You heartless fiend, it will be a bloody massacre!” his voice cracked and his eyes moistened. “My wife…”

General Levenworth stood silently against the outcry like a rocky shore withstanding the violent crash of the ocean’s waves. Rage drained into fatigue and Tat collapsed back into his chair. When Levenworth spoke again his voice was calm and steady.

“The fate of Lilley is a tragedy without equal since Sir Randilin’s
dark deeds
in the First Great War. Captain Talgu evacuated as many people as possible but, regrettably, many still remained when the dark shroud of El Dorado fell over it. I’m sorry, Private. Unfortunately, the price of victory is often the willingness to sacrifice some for the greater good….”

“Repeat that tonight while you rest in your luxurious palace chambers,” spat Tat venomously.

At this Kantan broke his silence, “Enough, Private! Step out of line
one
more time and you’ll earn a date with the gallows. The decision is made. Lilley is now lost behind enemy lines and thus out of our control. We will not let Lilley’s sacrifice be in vain. As much as it pains my soul, our greatest hope now rests in our Book Keeper.” His beady eyes fixated on Cody. “Regardless of how utterly incompetent he may be,” he added spitefully.

“Indeed, brother. Cody is the key,” declared Cia. “He alone is the symbol that unites Atlantis against El Dorado.”

Sli Silkian cleared his throat, producing a high-pitched wheeze. “Symbol or not, Kantan is correct. Valuable as he may be, Cody remains an amateur Creator at best. Potential alone does not win victories. He doesn’t stand a chance against the immense power of the Golden King. Let him return to the Brotherhood of Light and complete his training under High Priest Lamgorious Stalkton…”

“There is no time!” Kantan interjected. “Every moment we delay means more soldiers slaughtered on the borderlands. Flore Gub is strong but not impenetrable. It will fall, and when it does, the wrath of El Dorado will pour into our land like a plague. Cody’s connection to The Code is all that can tilt the ever-slimming odds in our favor. Peace is a time of knowledge—war is a time for action. Cody should be…”

“
STOP!
” The room faded into silence. All eyes turned to Cody, who was now standing, the veins in his neck bulging as they pumped blood to his reddened face. “ Everybody just
stop
! You talk about me like I’m invisible. It’s been thirteen days since El Dorado’s ambush. Two weeks of
councils
. Two weeks of
bickering
. Two weeks of arguing over how to best deploy me like a game piece.
Enough!
Every second we delay, Jade is dragged closer to El Dorado. I want to help, I really do; but I’m not abandoning Jade to that fate. I’m going after her, with or without this committee’s approval.” Cody slammed
The Code
onto the table. “And don’t even
think
about trying to stop me.”

For a moment the unexpected tirade lingered in the air. The unusually tender voice of Cia was the first to venture into the silence. “We have not forgotten Jade. I swear upon this royal crown that we will do everything in our power to rescue her. But you
must
understand, you are very special. You have been given a marvelous gift—but it is always the greatest men who pay the highest price in troubled times.”

“I never asked for this,” Cody said bitterly, still standing defiantly.

“But you received it, nonetheless. The moment you placed your hand on that Book, your life became destined for a higher purpose. The only question is—how will you respond? The fate of our world hangs on how you, and you alone, answer that question.”

3

A Beautiful Voice

SHARP PAIN JOLTED THROUGH CODY’S FOREARM as his fist slammed against the wall.
Ouch!
He had stormed out of the council, paying no heed when Dace called after him. He was in no mood to talk—with anyone.
Why can’t anyone understand?
Suddenly Jade’s image filled his mind as clear as if she were there in the flesh.

Cody forced open his eyes; the vision brought unbearable pain—and guilt.

Somebody shouted his name from across the hall. Cody sprinted down the corridor and rounded the corner. He needed privacy. He didn’t care that he was being childish. He skidded to a halt. Several voices sounded from around the bend; Cody recognized one as the grating voice of the irritating, nosey editor of the
Under-Earth Rumblings
: Fincher Tople. From the other direction, the shadow of the original pursuer approached.

Cody glanced around desperately. There was only a lone, windowless door staking claim to the lengthy hallway. He jerked the doorknob—it was locked.

Both the shadow and the voices continued their steady collision course toward him. Cody dropped to his knees. “
Sellunga
.” A gooey, silver substance bubbled out of the keyhole. Cody cupped his hand, allowing the molten material to spill out onto his palm. He scrunched his eyebrows together. As he did, the silver matter thickened like dripping water into an icicle. “
Gai di gasme
.” He grinned—being the Book Keeper definitely had its perks. He twisted the newly formed key and hustled through the door, latching the lock behind him. He was safe. And alone.

The room overloaded his senses. Like a long forsaken attic, it was a congested stockpile of trinkets and neglected objects. Dust blanketed the room like morning snow after a wild blizzard. The ceiling curved in a majestic arc and was adorned with a collage of detailed artwork that time had faded beyond recognition.