Spires of Infinity (8 page)

“Three Heretics,” Jonathan said, scratching at his chin, “against a thousand

humans that aren’t likely well armed or trained soldiers. I bet we could take them.”

Letting her brother’s talk strategy, Kari scanned the tower. The top was lost to sight, and it was so wide at the base that it would probably take more than a day to walk around it. There would have to be more entrances than one, or some way to get the attention of the Empress Oracle. If she could just figure out how to make their presence known they might be able to get somewhere. If only she’d asked Max how the people of this world communicated with their goddess when she’d had the chance.

If they couldn’t get to the goddess first, how could she turn the people against the Apostle? She just didn’t know enough about the situation. She needed to know more about Cain, and to find out if there was any reason that the people had turned so vehemently against the Empress Oracle.

It appeared as though the great adventure the twins were hoping for would be

more about talking things through and less about excitement. If she could just get into the tower without alerting the army or the Apostle, then they’d have a pretty good start.

The tower was so massive she didn’t even know where to start looking for a way in.

“Do you feel that,” Michael cocked his head to one side.

“Feel what,” Kari asked.

“Another Heretic,” Jonathan agreed. “I think I can sense another Heretic down there in the army.”

There was an old saying that creatures of darkness, like Demons and their Heretic offspring, could always tell when another of their kind was near. Kari had never been able to sense others of her kind without straining, but the twins were a bit more sensitive to it than she.

“The Apostle,” Jonathan suggested. “I mean, it makes sense. How many worlds

are there? How can one person hope to ever convert them all in a human’s lifetime? It would take a Heretic’s longevity to even come close.”

“Creatures of darkness,” Kari muttered. “Father said the Demon that killed

Mera’s parents used to serve Cain. If there is a Heretic working for this Cain then—”

“It could be the same man,” Michael finished for her.

Before Kari could add any further commentary, she felt a strange sensation of

falling. The ground around her feet began to shimmer with pale blue symbols glowing in the dirt. Her feet lifted from the ground and she threw her hands down to keep her skirt from floating up and giving the boys a peep show they would likely rather not have from their younger sister. Her loose, waist length hair began to float upward and she was bathed in a bright flash of light.

The twins grunted in surprise and unease.

“What’s going,” Kari cried. Her feet hit the ground before she could finish her sentence and she found herself in a small, plain white room with a metal floor.

“On,” she finished slowly, looking around in confusion.

“What just happened,” Jonathan asked. “Uh, your tails are showing, sis. I think something went wrong with your illusion.”

“I think we just got teleported,” Michael said.

“You think correctly,” a young girl answered.

Chapter 8: Tears of the Goddess

Whirling with her skirt flaring around her, Kari found a girl of no more than ten years standing behind them, wearing what looked like a glass coronet on her brow. Her blonde hair was cut short like a boy’s and she wore clothes that would not be taken out of place worn by any of the boys on the farms that they’d passed on their way to the World Tower. Grinning widely, her pure blue eyes twinkled and her pale face lit up like the sun.

She was very pretty despite her obvious tomboyish nature, or perhaps partially because of it.

“Uh, not to sound rude or anything,” Michael started.

“But where are we,” Jonathan added.

“And who are you,” Michael finished.

Impossibly, the girl’s grin actually widened.

“I’m Marce, and this is one of the teleportation chambers of the World Tower.

Some people call me Empress Oracle.”

Kari could actually hear the expectations of the twins snap as they groaned in unison. They’d come all this way for a beautiful goddess and they got a nine-year-old with a spectacular smile. Marce seemed to have read their thoughts and began laughing uncontrollably.

Laughing as well, Kari nudged Jonathan in the ribs with an elbow.

“Go ahead big brother. Rescue her from her accursed virginity.”

“Pass,” the twins said in identical flat tones.

“Not what you expected, I see,” the goddess giggled. “You three are certainly not what I expected from werewolves, if it’s any consolation. You weren’t thinking something naughty were you?”

“Uh-huh,” the twins nodded in unison.

“Sorry to disappoint,” Marce said. “Though I am over a thousand years old, I

stopped aging before I reached my teens. Come, we have much to talk about and there are places with much better scenery to do it in. I have been waiting for you three for a very long time. I’ve had my servant prepare refreshments.”

Striding forcefully through a door, as much as a child can forcefully stride, Marce led them into a large, well-lit hallway with visible excitement in her step as she hummed a wordless tune.

Every few yards there was a painting, sculpture, or woven tapestry hanging on the wall or displayed on a pedestal. Most of the sculptures were of animals doing peaceful, everyday things. The paintings were mostly of flowers, and the tapestries depicted landscapes.

“My people give me these things as gifts,” Marce said, gesturing to a tapestry showing a mountain waterfall. “I display every one of them, because they mean so very much to me. It doesn’t matter if it’s a child’s drawing or a grand tapestry the likes of which would adorn a palace. My beloved people made a gift of it to me, and I honor them all equally. Who is to say which is the more beautiful, the vision and purity of a child’s wishes, or the hard work of a skilled artisan? All are welcome to my tower if they come in peace, and all can enjoy these things at any time that they wish.”

“They are very pretty,” Kari said.

“This is not at all what we expected to find inside this tower,” the twins said together.

“Ah, here we are,” Marce stopped in front of a door and pressed a button to the side that lit up with her touch. “This lift will take us to the observation floor at the very top of the tower. I expect you’d like to see the view. You can see the whole of the Ten Nations from the top of my tower.”

“Oh yes,” Kari said, aware of the fact that she sounded a little giddy. “That would be wonderful.”

Sliding into the wall with a ding, the door opened, and Marce stepped through.

Kari and her brothers followed into a small room that was little larger than a closet.

“Observation deck,” Marce said in a clear, loud tone and the little room began moving upward rapidly. Kari felt herself dragged down at the floor for a second before she adjusted to the sudden movement, causing an odd sensation in the pit of her stomach.

“Wow,” Michael said.

“We’ve heard about elevators and lifts before,” Jonathan added.

“But never thought we’d ever see a place big enough.”

“To have them.”

“That is so
cute,
” Marce flashed her spectacular smile. “Do they always finish each other’s sentences and talk in unison like that?”

Kari nodded. “Trust me, it gets annoying
very
quickly.”

Giving Kari a queasy weightless feeling that made her stumble, the lift slowed to a stop, opening with a ding. Stepping out, Marce gestured for them to follow.

“Come, look, see,” she said excitedly. “The air is too thin to breathe up here so the windows don’t open, but you can still see everything through them just as well.”

Stepping out of the lift, Kari found herself in the center of a circular room perhaps two hundred feet across with large picture windows all around. She could see pink sky through them and ran to look out.

Stretching out for countless miles, the golden plains seemed to go on forever with a range of mountains and a deep blue lake in the distance. They were so high that she could actually see the curvature of the world. It was amazing.

“Oh wow,” she said in awe, leaning against the glass to look down at the tower slanting away outward.

“We sure got a winner with our first try,” Michael said. “Look over there. Is that an ocean? I’ve never seen so much water in the same place before.”

“Look at these mountains,” Jonathan cried. “They must be as high as this tower is. And there, that’s a city, isn’t it?”

Wandering around the edge of the room, Kari looked out at the breathtaking

scenery in every direction. The World Tower was well named. She felt like she could see the entire world from it.

Watching them as they took their time seeing the sights, Marce sat in a

comfortable looking chair, not speaking or interrupting them in any way. A strangely satisfied, motherly smile spread across her features, incongruous with her child’s face.

Reaching the place where she’d begun, Kari decided that she had wasted enough

time staring at the wondrous view. Walking over to Marce, she sat down in another chair facing her. The twins soon wandered over. Jonathan sat next to Kari, but Michael opted to remain standing, examining a bank of computer consoles. Their father had taught them in the use of various forms of computers, and Michael had always had an

uncharacteristic interest in them.

“You said you’ve been waiting for us,” Jonathan said. “So, you really can see the future?”

“Somewhat,” Marce said with a nod. “The future is always shifting like the sands of a desert, or the clouds in the sky, and it’s hard to sift things out of it. The more likely events are to happen, the clearer they become. You look so much like your father. All three of you.”

“You know our father,” Kari asked, surprised.

“Who doesn’t know of the great Northern Sage? That is a long story, and I

should start at the beginning. It’s so refreshing to have visitors that don’t try to grovel at every opportunity. Speaking of refreshments, here they come. This is my loyal servant and friend Markus. Markus, this is Kari and her brothers Michael and Jonathan.”

“How did you know our names,” Jonathan asked.

“One of the perks of being a goddess,” Marce winked at him.

Carrying a silver tray balanced on one hand, A man of about twenty years with a very neatly trimmed beard and long dark hair approached. He bowed deeply and set the tray on a small table between them.

“Welcome,” he said in a deep voice that sounded like it should belong to someone at least twice his age, and perhaps three times his size. “Please ask if there is anything I can do to make you more comfortable.”

With a bow he backed away and straightened, shooting a disapproving look at

Michael when he thought no one was looking.

“Markus’ family has served mine since before the original colonists from Earth settled this world during the war with the Demons so very long ago,” Marce said with an appreciative look in his direction. “Please, help yourselves. You have many questions, and there is much that I must tell you.”

Kari took one of the small honeycakes from the tray and a cup of a reddish orange juice. The cake was a lot sweeter than the ones her mother made, and the juice had a very pleasing tang to it, complimenting the sweetness of the honey.

“Before we start,” she said. “I need to know if you have any way of contacting our father?”

“I’m afraid I don’t,” Marce said apologetically. “I’ve already used my single allotted visit to his pocket of extra-dimensional space. If you leave a message with me, I will try to find a way to send it in the time that I have left.”

“Please tell us,” Jonathan said, leaning forward, stroking the fur of his tail in his lap absently with one hand. “What is going on here?”

“Like I said, it’s a long story that begins just over a thousand years ago. I was once a young girl like any other, and in that time, my world was very technologically advanced. We lost the ability to travel the stars so our scientists tried to make a gateway that could take us to other worlds. There was an explosion, creating a space-time anomaly that nearly destroyed this world. Markus and I were visiting my father at work when it happened, and we were at the center of the blast, the only ones to survive it. We were changed by it, never aging again. We are still mortal, but so long as no one kills us, we will continue to live forever, unchanging.

“After the accident nothing would grow, and a seven year long winter fell upon the land. Our high and mighty civilization crumbled into primitive anarchy with rampant violence and cannibalism. I felt responsible in some way because it was my father that first envisioned a doorway between our world and others. With Markus by my side I sought out the Northern Sage.

“He told me that all of the energy generated to make a gateway to another world had somehow become trapped within my body. He told me how to build this tower so that it would sap that power from me and send it into the land, making it fertile and green once more. These things came at a price. I would be the power source for the tower that staved off the destruction of our world. I could never grow old, and if I were ever to die, this world would soon follow me to my grave. All of my beautiful, wonderful people would die with me.

“With the tower built, the winter ended. The land grew fertile once more, and law and order were restored. As time passed, the technology was forgotten and good riddance to it. Peace has reigned for a thousand years. I taught the people how to farm the land rather than build machines to do all the work for them. They’ve become peaceful and hardworking, deserving of every bit of happiness that they have.”

“And then the Apostle showed up,” Michael said, leaning against the bank of

computes.

Marce nodded gravely. “I do not know where this Apostle came from or how. I

know little about him, not even his gender. I call him a him for the sake of brevity. He began to convert my people by the thousands in a very short time. It appears that he has some sort of power to influence the emotions of my people. I never claimed to be a goddess, and having people worship me is highly embarrassing. Jealousy of this Cain is not what angers me about the poisonous teachings of the Apostle. I made a pact with my people in the beginning, that I would stay here and preserve their world so long as they live in peace and do not raise arms against one another ever again. They have forgotten that if they kill me in the name of their new god, this world will soon die as well, and everyone in it would follow me to my grave.”