The Last of the Ageless (36 page)

They drew closer to the town and its dilapidated wall. A long building to the south dwarfed the smaller buildings to the north. Two towers to the north and south stood watch over it all.

“Well, the first step is healing my slaves so we can come up with a plan. We’ll be hot on his trail now. I’m right outside now, Kaia. Let us in.”

Korreth supposed the wall made the town somewhat defensible, but he couldn’t imagine Zen’s pawns having any difficulty. The Joey could’ve hopped over the wall, and the two Changelings wouldn’t let a pile of crumbling stones get in their way. The scent of charred wood drifted toward them.

The Ancient device crackled. “Like I told you last time—what do you mean, you’re outside?”

Soledad’s mouth quirked into a sly grin. “I mean, tell your people not to shoot us.”

“What are you doing here?”

The smile disappeared. Soledad’s words came from between clenched teeth. “One of my men. Is wounded. Help him, and we can hunt down Zen.”

“I told you no a few days ago. What makes you think I’ve changed my mind? This is against the Prophet’s Mandate!”

Korreth heard his own pulse pounding in his ears. If this Kaia person had something that would put Jorrim back together, she couldn’t tell them no. Jorrim needed help, or the infection would worsen.

Tossing a hand in the air, Soledad yelled into the device. “Oh, get off your high horse already. I know you’ve gained other technology since the Catastrophe that the Prophet never assigned to you. I’m no fool. Don’t pretend you always follow the rules.”

Soledad’s finger slipped off a button on the side of the device. She met his eyes and shook her head, making the beads of her hair clack together. “What a bitch. I know Gryid shared his knowledge with her, but she wants to act like she’s the only one who faithfully upholds the Mandate?”

Kaia’s voice came through a moment later. “For god’s sake, how does this man keep getting injured?”

“It was Korreth who was injured last time, and thanks to you, we had to go to the forest for healing herbs. So it’s because of you the other one got injured. Perhaps if you’d let us in the first time, Jorrim and I could’ve helped you repel your invaders.”

A long spate of static assaulted Korreth’s ears.

“Alright, fine. But you must pick an age and remain that age the entire time you’re within sight of my followers.”

Soledad’s eyes widened. “You mean…”

“I mean I slowly aged ‘naturally’ over the years, and now I appear quite old.”

As they approached the western wall of the town, Korreth realized the long building was actually made up of two wings, joined together and pointing south. He scanned the adjoining wall, looking for an easy place to cross with the litter.

“Well, it’s not like it’ll make any difference, Kaia. Your people don’t need to know we’re of the same tribe.”

“Do you want my help or not?”

Soledad frowned. “I’ll meet you at the lab in… say, fifteen minutes. Over and out.” She twisted the knob with more force than before and tossed the device into her pack.

“What age shall I choose?” Soledad mused.

An Ancient tower rose before the incongruous stone wall. Korreth spotted people on the battlement and shapes moved behind murder holes along the tower’s length. He hoped they wouldn’t consider them intruders. “Your friend wasn’t very happy about our failure to stop Zen’s pawns.”

Soledad shook her head. “She understands what we were up against, now.”

“And yet neither of you care about how many Purebreeds we led to an early death.”

Her gaze pierced him. “You have no idea how many Purebreeds will suffer if we let Zen continue unchecked. There’s much more at stake here than you two even imagine. You have no long-term awareness, which is exactly the same problem as always.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

Her hair lengthened as strands turned white, and Korreth found himself wondering what would happen if she aged beyond her lifespan.

Her voice was raspy, yet no less vehement. “The Catastrophe happened because stupid, short-sighted fools like you were allowed to make the decisions and play with the big-kid toys. They doomed us all.”

He and Soledad made their way toward a broken-down section of Searchtown’s wall, where four men waited. Outside the perimeter, Korreth noticed a huge pile of wood, stacked taller than the wall, with a pile of dirt behind hinting that a large hole wasn’t far away.

Two of the sentries jumped over the dilapidated wall and grabbed Jorrim’s litter without saying a word. He clenched his teeth at their audacity, but Soledad gave him a curt shake of her head. Between the four of them, the sentries managed to navigate the litter over the barrier without dumping Jorrim.

Korreth clambered on top of the wall and hopped down on the other side, dislodging a few stones on his way. Soledad’s huff of annoyance satisfied him. If she’d wanted his help climbing up, she should have known she’d have to order him.

When one of the bearers noticed Korreth wasn’t helping the old woman, he motioned. “Take this corner, friend. I’ll help the lady.”

As he grabbed the arm of the litter, he noticed Jorrim’s lips were blue. The scratches across his friend’s face and upper body, the uncovered gash on his chin, even the blood-soaked cloths tied across his chest worried him less than how much paler than usual Jorrim’s skin had become. He hoped Soledad knew what she was doing.

The Ancient buildings had withstood the siege of the centuries better than other places Korreth had traveled. He overheard children laughing, the low hum of conversation, and music from what he guessed was a stringed instrument. He wished Jorrim were awake.

Like a daydream, an image of the town in ruins filled Korreth’s thoughts. If the Changeling army he and Jorrim had helped train marched through here, the slight damage he saw on a few of the buildings would be nothing compared to the destruction the Changeling warriors would wreak. The stately Ancient structures would be razed, the towers pulled down.

As they carried Jorrim’s litter down dusty roads, Korreth’s rifle tapped his naked back. The trusting Purebreeds hadn’t even bothered to take his weapons.

“What was that pile of sticks outside?” he asked.

The medium-colored man met his eyes with a slight smile on his face. “You mean the pyre? It’s for the worthy.”

“Worthy?”

“Those who deserve to be freed from the cycle of rebirth.”

Korreth felt his eyebrows shoot up, but caught his tongue before he said anything stupid. “And the rest will be buried?”

“Correct.”

They trod in silence until Korreth introduced himself.

“And I am Yarren, a humble Purebreed. Are you and your friends Changelings?”

“No, no.” Korreth wasn’t sure what Soledad planned for this trip, so he didn’t point out the old woman following them was, in fact, a Changeling. Instead he went on, “Though sometimes I wish we were… Perhaps a mystic or other powerful Changeling would’ve found a way to avoid what happened.”

Yarren nodded at Jorrim. “Was your friend very brave?”

Korreth smiled grimly. “Very brave. He saved Soledad and myself from mutated boars.”

“Then perhaps he will return as a Changeling in his next life.”

The litter bearers pivoted, catching Korreth by surprise. He recovered his balance as they marched down the main thoroughfare through town, headed for the vertex of the long-sided building.

Children bounced a ball across the road, and the man in front said something to one of the little girls. She gasped and grabbed the ball, then dashed out of their way. The other children followed and silently watched the procession. Korreth smiled at them, and a little boy waved and smiled back until his friend whispered something to him.

Ahead, the main path ended in area with flat paving stones at the nook of the V-shaped building. Two gray buildings flanked the inner edges of the V. Their lack of color conflicted with the many-hued buildings. A dilapidated statue of a man, his arms outstretched to the sky above, stood in the center of the square.

An old woman in blue robes slid in front of it, waiting as they filed down the road. As soon as Soledad’s feet touched the paving stones, she smiled and made a slight bow to the robed woman. “So good to see you again.”

“I wish I could say the same.” Korreth recognized her voice, despite how much Soledad’s communication device had always distorted it. Kaia’s long white hair gave her a dignified appearance. “But let me be the first to welcome you… to Searchtown.”

Soledad’s dusty clothing made her look like a beggar compared to the mistress of the town. Soledad motioned to the buildings around them. “It’s amazing that your people have managed to hold on to this place for so long. I know it must have been difficult to avoid incursions from foolish tyrants and raiders.”

Korreth gripped the arm of the litter. They stood by talking while his friend might be dying. But they needed this woman’s help, and he couldn’t risk her ire.

After an uncomfortable silence, Kaia cleared her throat. “Why don’t you come inside the temple?” She addressed their four escorts. “This woman is my… kin. Please see to their comfort, and bring the poor wounded man inside.”

A young woman Korreth hadn’t noticed before twisted a lever, and one of the doors in the V-shaped building clanked open. The old woman stepped inside, accompanied by Soledad. Korreth and the others escorted Jorrim inside atop the litter.

He blindly followed the other litter bearers through an open doorway in the entry room. In the next room, Ancient machines circled a plain silver table. Besides Ancient weapons and Soledad’s communication device, Korreth had never seen functioning Ancient technology. He longed to touch the machines, but knew the townspeople wouldn’t want him to defile their Ancient temple.

Korreth sidled up to the table in the center of the room. Two of the men slid Jorrim off the litter onto it, composing his hands at his sides.

“Thank you,” Kaia told them. “Please leave us. Tephen, please make sure there are refreshments in the next room. We may be here a while.”

They left Kaia, Soledad, Jorrim, and Korreth alone in the room with the table and machines. When Kaia faced them, she’d lost more than a decade. A slightly plump woman in her childbearing years with mid-length blonde hair stared them down.

“What were you thinking, coming here?” Kaia hissed.

Korreth put the table between himself and the two of them.

Soledad glared. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing with your slaves here, but mine needs help, as you can see. Beyond that, I’m not sure why I bother—”

Kaia reeled as if slapped.

“I’m sorry,” Korreth interrupted, his eyes riveted on Kaia. “We don’t mean to invade or inconvenience you, but my friend desperately needs your help. If I were free to do so, I would offer to help you in any way I could to repay you for your kindness.”

His words hung in the air as Kaia bustled around the room, gathering various items from drawers in the walls.

Her back to them, Kaia explained, “My people know me as the Advisor, a Changeling who is extremely long-lived. This is the Temple of the Prophet, which helps keep them from prodding too much into its secrets. I would ask that you keep it that way.”

Kaia cut the bindings from Jorrim’s chest and peeled away the poultice-filled cloth. Korreth winced at what he saw underneath. Jorrim let out a slight groan, but otherwise didn’t move.

He couldn’t let Soledad antagonize their benefactor any further, at least not until Jorrim healed. So he filled the growing silence with a question. “Is the statue we passed of the Prophet?”

Kaia glanced at Soledad, then said, “Yes.” She hesitated. “He prophesied that if we encroached on the aliens’ secrets, we might suffer retaliation. And then the Catastrophe happened.”

Soledad snorted. “And do you ordain priests to keep up the charade as well? I thought
my
stories were outrageous.”

Kaia washed Jorrim’s wounds. Then she picked up a small metal object from a nearby stand. “It’s near enough to the truth.” Using the delicate metal, she pinched a few boars’ hairs out of the gashes. “It happened right after we—”

“Yes, well, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have happened anyway.”

Korreth tried to guess what his mistress feared he’d hear. Encroaching on the aliens’ secrets? Retaliation? His eyes widened as he wondered if the Ageless had played some part in the Catastrophe.

Still bent over Jorrim’s form, Kaia’s eyes flicked up at him and then back to her work. “Fine. Unlike you, I don’t enslave my followers. So I needed something to inspire them to protect the lab, despite its indefensible location.”

Despite the accusatory tone, Kaia’s words seemed to placate Soledad. She examined one of the Ancient machines. “I can’t help but almost consider it sacred myself. It’s been so long…”

The melancholy in her voice made Korreth wonder what had happened here. Out of the sun, he noticed the difference in temperature. He rubbed his hands over his arms.

At the same time, Soledad said, “Is it always so cold in here?”

Kaia glanced between the two of them. “Your nanotech must miss the heat of the drylands. Is that why you travel there so often?”