The Mechanical Crown

Waiting for gods

"They're all going to starve, you know. If they can't get anything working down here."

There was movement on the steps that led up from the bonfire to where they sat. It was Hatch, moving hurriedly. "Have you heard what they're saying?" she asked, out of breath and evidently concerned. "Eris is down there, talking to the whole crowd. He's saying that Kirya killed Aera. That it's her fault that the city fell."

"That's absurd," Stefan said. "Why would he claim that?"

The crowd was moving, rising en masse. Neither Tranton nor Fenris had been able to provide a full account of what had happened on the day that Aviar fell from the skies, or what they'd seen in the Spire. She was sure they'd have told her anything they knew. The disaster had unfolded so rapidly that it seemed as if they might never know what had really happened. Regardless, the crowd was shifting and growing, picking up more people as it left the fire behind.

"They're heading towards the camp," Galisai said. She sheathed her sword and pocketed her tools. "With me," she ordered, setting off at a fast pace along the ridge that ran the circumference of the cave. From that vantage point they were able to move quicker than the crowd, which was rapidly developing into a mob, overtaking them before they hit the choke point where the chamber connected with the adjacent cave. The path had led the three of them higher and she crouched for a moment, looking down on the passageway below and judging the distance. She could sense Hatch and Stefan beside her and knew they would follow her orders, in spite of any other misgivings.

Leaping down to the muddied lower path, Galisai took up position at the entrance to the passageway which connected the adjacent caves. With synchronised crunches, Hatch and Stefan landed next to her. They spread out, close enough to maintain a defensive formation while taking up enough space to effectively block the passage.

The crowd approached, unintelligible shouts bursting from within. Eris was at the head and he held up a hand, slowing those who followed. "Step aside, Galisai," he said. "We have no quarrel with you or your comrades, unless you create one."

"And where are you all going this fine evening?"

"I was there, Galisai. I saw it all happen. Kirya murdered Akila, then Aera. There must be justice."

A cry went up from the crowd, then another. They were calling for justice - a very particular kind of justice - and the sea of faces surged, eager to flow past the three Bruckin soldiers. Galisai put a warning hand to the hilt of her sword. "I cannot believe this accusation," she said. "Is it possible that you are mistaken?"

"There is no mistake. I saw her wield the knife."

"Murderer!" came another cry. "They're trying to protect a murderer!"

"This is not going to go well for us," Stefan murmured, bracing himself.

The mob moved as one, pushing towards them.

"What do we do?" Hatch said. "We can't use our weapons against them - they're just civilians."

Galisai turned and ran, Stefan and Hatch close behind, darting through the passageway into the next cave, which was filled from end-to-end with thousands of makeshift tents. In an open field, it would have reminded her of an army camp; here, it took on the air of a mausoleum. "We warn Tranton and Fenris, and do what we can," she shouted to the others.

The mob swelled in size, picking up new recruits as it passed tents. Its purpose blurred, the original intent slowly subsumed into an all-encompassing, directed rage that needed no justification beyond itself. Its roar echoed around the chamber.

"What's happening?" Tranton asked, coming to meet them. Kirya lay inside a tent on a slightly raised platform, against a wall of the cavern, where Fenris stood, staring at the approaching cluster of anger.

"They think Kirya had something to do with Aera's death and the city's destruction," Galisai said, shouting above the din. "I don't think they're going to listen to reason."

A strange expression flickered across Tranton's face and he glanced back at Fenris. In that moment, Galisai's stomach sank and she knew, with complete certainty, that Eris' claims were true. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Tranton sighed, his face a mask of frustration. "We thought it was safer to have fewer people know," he said. "Probably a mistake."

Looking down at the floor with his hands on his hips, Stefan shook his head. "Now can we go back to Bruckin?"

The crowd arrived, solidifying like water turning to ice, forming an unbreakable wall that surrounded them on one side, with the wall of the cave on the other.

"Move aside!" shouted Eris. "Or we will move you."

Tranton stepped out in front of the others and pulled the hilt of his sword from his belt. With a flick of his wrist the blade ratcheted into place, seeming to gleam even in the low light. "You can certainly try," he said.

Not seeing much of an alternative, Galisai drew her own sword. Stefan put a hand to her arm. "Are we really going to do this? He just admitted that it's true!"

"That doesn't make this right," Galisai said, unsure of her words even as she spoke them. "Kirya deserves a fair trial."

The crowd looked up then, past the three soldiers and the explorer, over their heads. "He is right!" came Fenris' voice. Galisai glanced back at the old man, who stood with his arms outstretched, while keeping one eye on the mass of furious faces.

"He is right," Fenris said again, using his raised position to project to the entire gathering. "It was Kirya's hand which did these things--" the crowd erupted, somehow more distraught at the confirmation, though also confused by the admission, "--but! We believe it was not her mind. There is more at work here, and if we do not understand what happened, we will all be at risk."

There was a momentary pause, as the people at the front of the crowd exchanged glances to gauge each other's thoughts. Then they rejected Fenris' plea for pause and rushed forward, unarmed, towards the exposed blades of Bruckin and the Headland.

At that very moment, the lights came on. The sudden intensity of the source lamps halted the onrushing mob in its tracks and also forced Galisai and the others to take steps backwards, while shielding their eyes. The illumination spread through the chamber, intense like the heart of a furnace before dimming slightly to a more tolerable level. There was a whirr and thrum as machinery and contraptions all through the caves found themselves working again. The unexpected and most welcome sound of running water reached their ears, shifting the mood instantly from anger to elation and disbelief.

A commotion at the far end of the chamber, near another passageway leading off deeper into the caves, slowly caught the crowd's attention. Tranton hopped back up to the raised platform where Kirya's tent was set and looked out across the suddenly bright chamber. He reached a hand down to help Galisai, which she studiously ignored and clambered up unaided. Through the vast lines of tents came a figure clothed in loose robes, walking slowly, the lamps flaring with particular intensity as they passed.

The crowd slowly parted to admit the new arrival, until he was stood in their very centre. Eris was the first to drop to his knees.

"You will not recognise me but you will know me," said Tarn. "I return to you now, when I am most needed." Then he looked up to where Galisai and the others were huddled and winked.