7- The Proving Gate

  The living ship was due to make its descent mid-morning local time on Primus, which was the same time the crew kept on the ship. Ward and Haley wanted to be in the observation gallery to see the show, so they woke early, had their usual Gopah and sword workouts, and then met with True for breakfast. The night before, at dinner, everyone had indulged a little too much in the free-flowing alcohol, and Ward was feeling it as he sat down to scarf an enormous plate of eggs, sausage, and butter-slathered biscuits. True was already at their usual table, and she nodded in greeting.

  “Ready to put this place behind you?” she asked, directing the question more to Ward than Haley.

  “This dining hall? Hell no; it’s the best breakfast buffet I’ve ever experienced. Look at the size of these sausages!” Ward held up one of the plump links on his fork.

  True chuckled and shook her head. “I’m weary of these confines. The air ain’t right. Can’t you tell?”

  Ward had to admit that he had, indeed, been noticing the stifling nature of the same dozen or so rooms and increasingly stagnant air. Whatever filtration or air-processing system they had was due to be flushed and cleaned. The wolf in him had been getting more and more antsy, but he had a feeling his other, more dormant bloodline, the one that could hear the song of the void leviathan and feel the “aether folds,” was helping to balance the stir-crazy bestial side of his blood. He grunted his agreement, though, chomping half the sausage into his mouth.

  “I’m excited to see Primus,” Haley pitched in. “I’m anxious to see what Ordo Caelus is like; imagine the Assembly Hall, the Citadel, three challenges—all in one city.”

  “Oh, it’s a fine city, no doubt of that, Miss Haley.” True nodded, scooping some eggs onto her fork. “I noticed you two didn’t sign any binding agreements with our new friends, did you?”

  Ward chuckled. “Fitz is a hell of a salesman, but I want to see what things are like—what the Assembly has in store for us—before making a commitment.”

  Haley smiled, adding, “We have his address, though, and the same for Trent Roy. It’s comforting to think we’ve made some friends in the city before even arriving.”

  “Aye.” True sipped her steaming coffee. “I imagine it is.”

  “You receive any correspondence from the Assembly? Any more orders? Anything to indicate if we’re in some kind of trouble?” Ward had asked True the same questions nearly every day since they’d been asked to report to Primus almost two months ago—ever since he’d learned that her logbook had a section where she could receive emergency messages from her superiors.

  “No, but I told you from the start that they just want your statement and to ’ave a look at you. What we accomplished in Westview wasn’t no small thing, Ward. While sure, there are some folks who think we were heavy-handed, there are plenty who think we might just have saved that city.”

  “Well, Marshal True, I was a lot less nervous before I started learning more and more about Primus and the Assembly. I’m afraid I’d let the magic of this world—the wonder—cloud my usual cynicism. For some damn reason, I’d been subconsciously hoping the Assembly wouldn’t be like every other damn government—corrupt.”

  “Ah, don’t be so bitter. Yer too young fer it.” It wasn’t lost on Ward that her accent was getting thicker as she defended her employer. “There are good folks and, sure, some bad, on the Assembly, but I think most of ’em believe in justice; the ’ard decisions they make aren’t come by lightly.”

  “Yeah, I get it. Fitz complains about the nobility out one side of his mouth while the other makes excuses. ‘If everyone came to Primus, we’d die of starvation,’ etcetera.”

  True chuckled. “Well, you can see for yerself soon enough.”

  Ward nodded and joined Haley in her ravenous consumption of breakfast foods. The table got quiet for a while until Ward pushed his empty plate aside. After checking that Haley and True were finished, he scooted his chair back. “Shall we head to the observation gallery?”

  “Yes!” Haley jumped up and led the way, with True and Ward following.

  Ward noticed True wasn’t limping and asked, “That leg ever bother you anymore?”

  “Only the fact that it can’t feel nothing.” She chuckled and shrugged. “S’pose that’ll come in handy if I stub me toe or kick someone’s arse a bit too ’ard.”

  Ward laughed. “Now that’s looking on the bright side!”

  They weren’t the first to arrive in the gallery, but plenty of floor space was available by the forward bank of windows. To Ward’s surprise and Haley’s delight, Primus was already visible in the distance—a green, blue, and white gemstone that shone with reflected sunlight. From that distance, with it only about the size of a marble in Ward’s view, it looked a lot like images of Earth he’d seen taken by autonomous exploration vessels.

  While they watched, Ward felt the tingle up and down his spine that told him an aether fold was happening, and then the colorful streams of light flared past the windows, proving him right. When the dazzling display cleared, Primus was much more prominent in their forward view. Ward stared, wonderstruck by its beauty as, in the background, the captain or some high-ranking officer announced their final approach.

  “It looks a lot like Earth,” he said, and it was true. As far as colors go, it was a near match. The big difference was that the oceans were a much smaller percentage of the landmass, and the continents didn’t match up in size, shape, or location. It seemed like they were flying toward an enormous, almost completely green continent in the northern hemisphere. After another aether fold, Ward was sure of it; the green expanse was directly before them as they entered the atmosphere. Then, the ship’s attitude changed, forcing them to view more space than planet.

  “Earth’s your home?” True asked.

  “Right. The continent where we’re landing—it was all shades of green. Is it covered with forests or…?”

  “Aye,” True nodded. “Great forests over about half. The rest is farmland. It don’t seem like it from up here, but you can find a dozen cities under them giant trees. Not Ordo Caelus, though; it sits in the middle of the biggest agricultural district near an inland sea. You can’t tell from space ’cause you’ve nothing to compare it against, but Primus is bigger than most of the other worlds. Did you notice that little spot of blue as we were coming in?”

  Ward shook his head. “Nah, I was trying to see too much at once.”

  “Well, it’s the Opal Sea—bigger than the ocean that separates Westview from Port Granite.” She nodded as if confirming the fact to herself. “It’s why the living ship lands there. It’s why it’s the capital—it’s the only place on the continent that can support a void leviathan.”

  “Ah!” Ward nodded. “They need water to land?”

  “Oh, aye!” True laughed. “These big fellers don’t do well out of the water with their slick, squishy tentacles.”

  “What about all the water around the continent?”

  “Shallow!” True exclaimed, clapping her hands together for emphasis. “Lovely looking beaches, but you can walk in the water, no deeper than your knees, for miles and miles. Go further than that, though, and you’re asking for a painful death—trap crabs.”

  Ward frowned. “I don’t want to ask.”

  Haley nudged True. “Don’t listen to him! What’s a trap crab?”

  True shook her head. “Only the worst thing ever! Bigger than a horse with pinchers that could snap a person in two! They hide under the sand in them shallows, waiting for schools of fish. They don’t eat the fish, mind you! No, no; they eat the great rocs that swoop down to grab ’em.”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Ward’s curiosity was piqued. “Rocs?”

  True nodded. “Birds o’ prey big enough to carry off even a big lug like you, Ward.”

  “Sounds like a lovely day at the beach.”

  Haley giggled. “I guess I can see why the capital’s in the middle of the continent.”

  Ward felt another tingle up and down his spine. “We’re going to be down soon. Let’s get our bags so we’re not the last ones off the ships.” As the brilliant colors streamed past the windows, True and Haley agreed, and they hurried back to their rooms.

  When Ward was inside, Grace asked him, “Are you nervous?”

  “About?”

  “Well, in the short-term, the Gatekeepers. What if they don’t let you through?”

  Ward laughed. “Well, then they can tell the Assembly why I’m not coming.”

  “You joke, but is it so hard to imagine two bureaucratic organizations not being coordinated?”

  Ward held up a finger, about to protest, but then shook his head. “I guess you’ve got a point. I’ll ask True for some kind of note or something in case we get separated.” Grace nodded, frowning and watching him pack his things. He found his suitcase somehow more full than when he’d arrived, even though he hadn’t purchased anything, but he made it work.

  Before he stepped out, he looked at Grace. “You okay?”

  She smiled weakly, slightly shaking her head. “I guess so. What can we do? Let’s hope things work out.”

  Ward reached out and gently nudged her chin with his curled finger. “Don’t worry.” She nodded, and he left. He met True and Haley in the hallway with his pack on his shoulders and suitcase in hand.

  True smiled at him, dragging her big trunk through the doorway. “Ready, big man?”

  “Yep.” As they all started down the hallway, Haley helping True by lifting one end of the trunk, Ward asked, “Hey, if we get separated and they don’t want to let one of us through, is there something I should say? I mean, about the Assembly summoning us?”

  “Oh, right you are!” True said, as though it had slipped her mind. “There’s an, um, inquiry docket number on my orders. Just a minute.” She set her end of the trunk down and fished her logbook out of her vest. Biting her tongue in concentration, she flipped through it, exposing some of the neat, tiny print inside. “Here it is. WV088.” She looked from Ward to Haley. “Can ya remember that?”

  “WV088,” Haley repeated, and Ward nodded.

  “Right. If they give you any trouble, just tell ’em to look up that inquiry docket, and they’ll push you through.”

  “WV stands for Westview?” Ward asked.

  “Oh!” True snapped her fingers. “I imagine it does!”

  “Huh.” Ward shrugged. True picked up her trunk, and they continued toward the central corridor leading to the gangway. Halfway down the stairs, the ship shuddered, and Ward almost missed a step, but he caught himself on the railing. Some people below let out startled gasps, but True just chuckled.

  “Think we’re in the water now.”

  Haley nudged Ward. “So soon!”

  He smiled down at her, nodding. She was excited, and he had to admit to having a bit of nervous energy; they’d spent so much time talking about Primus and Ordo Caelus over the last few weeks that it had begun to take on a kind of fairytale quality in his mind—great sorcerers, mystical orders, massive structures, and exalted places of learning and justice. He hoped it lived up to half of what Haley expected. As for him, he’d been disappointed before; he’d survive.

  They were near the front end of the gathered crowd of passengers as the ship swam toward the dock, and Ward kind of wished they’d stayed in the observation gallery so they could see the city as they approached. Standing there in the disembarking corridor, they didn’t have any sort of view, and the minutes stretched into nearly an hour before a crew member announced, “We’ll be lowering the gangway shortly! Please maintain an orderly procession. Everyone will be allowed off, and there are dozens of Gatekeepers waiting to interview you. Things will go quickly—no need to rush!”

  Despite having an order of entry from the Assembly, Ward felt himself begin to perspire with nerves, and he knew why: on some level that he hadn’t wanted to admit, he was afraid the Gatekeepers would be able to detect Grace and that they’d view her as a threat to the city. Would the Assembly’s “inquiry docket” override such a concern? He pushed the worry aside; there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

  As the enormous bronze and lacquered hardwood gangway broke away from the sealed aperture, air whooshed past the crowd as the stale atmosphere of the ship vented, and fresh, ocean-scented air rushed inside. Ward inhaled an enormous, deep breath, suddenly far more relaxed as sunlight shone through the slowly widening opening. “Holy shit, that tastes good,” he sighed, sucking in another deep breath through his nostrils. He looked at Haley and saw her beaming up at him, nodding.

  “Right, it does!” True agreed, clearly anxious to get out as she took a half step toward the people in front of her, even though no one had disembarked yet. The gangway creaked and groaned as the gears clattered in some hidden machine room. The gray-blue sky expanded, and then, as the gangway finally thunked into its housing, Ward got his first view of Ord Caelus and the world of Primus.

  A broad, mossy arch of white marble led away from the ship toward a great edifice built of matching white stone. It looked like a hulking monument to strength and power—five-sided, with a square, soaring tower at each corner. Ward had to crane his neck as he approached the ship's exit to see the tops of the towers. They were crowned with patinaed bronze crenellations that glinted in the sun, and, like tiny ants, Ward could see soldiers patrolling up there.

  Closer to hand, a colossal bronze gateway stood open at the base of the enormous building, though guarded by a dozen soldiers wearing gleaming steel breastplates and wielding spears that flickered with blue arcs of electrical force.

  Ward looked left and right and saw nothing but a deep blue ocean with waves whipped into whitecaps by the wind. “Where the fuck is the city?”

  True grabbed his shoulder and gave it a good jostle. “Relax, big feller. We go through the Proving Gate—” She nodded to the considerable building ahead. “—then we get loaded onto a big ferry, which will take us to the city. The port’s about two hours yonder—” She nodded straight toward the building. “—on the other side of that big eyesore.”

  “I guess they don’t want anyone rushing through to the city, Ward,” Haley said soothingly, which made Ward wonder why. Had he been growling or something? He took a few more deep breaths, trying to relax, savoring the fresh, clean air.

  He realized something as they made their way down the gangway and toward the guarded gateway. “Hey, you said this world is ‘big’ or something like that, right?”

  “Aye.” True nodded.

  “Bigger than Cinder?”

  “Oh, aye!”

  “Well, why don’t I feel heavier?”

  True looked at him like he was mad, and Ward came face to face with the fact that maybe gravity wasn’t an oft-discussed topic in the Vainglory System. “What’s the connection? Are you talking about all the food you ate on the journey?”

  Ward sighed and shook his head. “Never mind.” While they walked, he thought about the problem and realized he had no way of figuring it out unless he met someone a lot more knowledgeable than True. Maybe it had something to do with mana. Maybe the “ancients” who used to live in the system did something to the planets to make them all more habitable.

  His questions faded as they passed by the guards and their crackling, electrically charged spears. They didn’t look like the clockwork tools and contraptions he’d grown accustomed to on Cinder. They looked like honest-to-God magic spears.

  The soldiers didn’t smile or shout greetings but didn’t seem particularly menacing or angry. He saw women and men, and none of them looked like monstrous aliens or anything. He chuckled at the thought. Considering the first beings he’d met in the system had been the jackal-like scavs, he supposed it wasn’t too far-fetched to wonder if he’d see something just as exotic in this world.

  When they passed through the gateway, a wide corridor carried them into an enormous marble hall with a hundred-foot-high ceiling. A brass fence bisected the space. The fence was only about six feet tall and had ten openings in it, each attended by a man or woman in a neat-looking uniform—blue jacket, white shirt, black pants, and shiny boots. Ward could just make out long lines of braided yellow ropes, creating lanes on the other side of the fence.

  “Here’s where they start to separate us,” he said, taking ahold of Haley’s wrist. He looked at True. “You’re good? You’ve got the artifact secure?”

  “Naturally, Sir Wolf. I’ll follow Haley, seeing as she’s got half me trunk, but if we get separated, we’ll meet up on the ferry.”

  Ward nodded. “Sounds good.”

  The crowd spread out, everyone picking a “gate” to go through. Ward aimed for one of the central-most ones, and when he approached the young woman standing beside it, she smiled and said, “Welcome to Primus, good traveler. Please proceed through the gate and stay within the roped lane. When you reach the far door, be patient until it opens. Only one may pass through at a time.” She directed the last part of her spiel at all three of them as they were linked via hands and a trunk.

  Ward nodded and walked through the fence. “Got it.” On the other side, braided yellow ropes attached to brass stanchions created a path across the second half of the hall toward an ornate brass door on the far side. Ward walked forward.

  While he walked, he looked around, taking in some details he’d missed earlier. In alcoves, high on the walls, figures carved from marble stood, watching over the space. Some looked like depictions of Greek gods, wearing togas with long hair seemingly blown by a breeze. Others looked like warriors or wizards. They all seemed to be watching him, though, and Ward thought that was a pretty damn impressive feat of craftsmanship.

  When they got to the closed door, he turned to look at True and Haley. “Either of you want to go first?”

  True shook her head. “All yours.”

  “I’ll wait.” Haley smiled and shrugged. “See you on the ferry.”

  Ward nodded, then turned back to the door. “Is it going to open, or should I check the hand—” The door clicked loudly and swung inward, revealing a long, narrow hallway paneled in darkly stained wood. It was dim and claustrophobia-inducing, but Ward walked through, not wanting to cause a scene.

  “Good luck!” Haley called, and then the door clicked shut behind him. Ward frowned, not liking the foreboding nature of the “Proving Gate.” He didn’t like the sound of it, the feel of it, or the look of it. Worse, his wolfen nature hated it. He could feel it clawing to get out and assert dominance, likely to run madly until it found some open space and air. He pushed it down with a growl and started forward.

  “Let’s get this over with.”