They reached the shadowland of the Isle of Shadows early dawn the following day and the small band of Solars were gathered in the deck when they saw a glimmer of light in the distance ahead.
"Light in a Shadowland?" Azure Heart of the Sunrise said. "That can't be the sun, right?"
"No, it's something as bright as the sun, but not exactly the sun." Knife of the Ocean said. "And it seems to radiate a pillar of light, not ordinary, spreading sunlight."
As their ship drew closer, the source of the light became all too clear.
"Whoa..." Drifter said, his eyes lit up in amazement.
Deep in the dark, murky surroundings of the watery shadowland, there stood a towering statue of the Unconquered Sun himself, all six arms spread out as if to embrace something. It was made purely of orichalcum, thus radiating brilliant golden light like the glare of the dawning sun. It was situated in the middle of a huge bay opening, bordered by two towering cliffs that appeared to have pyramidal watchtowers set upon them.
"Keep your guard up." Captain Naar Kalaman said, pointing a good distance ahead of them, just near the foot of the Unconquered Sun's huge statue.
"It's them." Raging Snowstorm said.
A smoldering wreck of a ship floated near the huge orichalcum statue, its entire structure mangled and struck beyond repair. Drifter even wondered how such a horribly destroyed ship could still probably float despite whatever its been through.
"That ship's still newly sunk." Knife said. "Or else the fire would've burnt out and we wouldn't have seen that ship still afloat."
"There are bodies in the water." Azure Heart of the Sunrise said. "These people must have suffered a most grotesque death.
Drifter could not help but agree, for here and there, floating in the water, was a horribly yet cleanly severed hand or foot floating beside a cleanly cut torso, all of them appearing like as if they had gone through a sharp and fine butcher's knife. There was a reddish tint in the waters surrounding the ship.
"Can we not save them from an even more cruel fate with the Siakas and at least give them an honorable burial?" Azure asked.
"Very well, we shall fish out whatever body we can salvage." Naar Kalaman said.
They spent several hours fishing out dead bodies - or at least, what remained of some dead bodies. After that Akira decided to try something.
"I'll head over and see if there are still any survivors underneath that mess and find out what really happened." Akira said. She dived straight into the water, assumed the form of an octopus that still somehow radiated her innate beauty, and swam straight into the burning wreck. She resurfaced minutes later, looking as if something was wrong.
"What did you find out?" Naar Kalaman asked.
"The water." Akira said. "There was a sort of barrier that separated the water here and the water there. What was even more odd was that the water there was warm past the barrier, while it remains cold here!"
"Apparently we are looking at some First Age defenses here." Naar Kalaman said. "We had best be careful."
"I say we start that now." Drifter said, looking up. "The watchtowers are reacting!"
They all looked up and saw the two watchtowers on either end of the cliff, radiating with pure essence, then firing two huge beams straight into the Unconquered Sun's statue, which responded by multiplying the essence beams, criss-crossing through the cliff and forming an angry fence of essence that radiated with intense heat and light.
"I knew it." Naar Kalaman said. "This is more complicated than we have thought."
"Is there a way past this?" Drifter asked. His interest for First Age devices had kicked in and already he was anxious to find out how the defense mechanism worked. It could help their island when danger comes...
"Underwater? Does that fence reach underwater?" Raging Snowstorm asked.
Akira responded by diving once more into the water. She returned several seconds later.
"Apparently they don't reach underwater." Akira said, shrugging. "But I wouldn't bet on Captain Kalaman leaving his ship here while we swim underwater just to get through this net of death."
"Akira's right." Naar Kalaman said. "Now, if my knowledge on First Age devices still proves me right, there should be a code of some sort that can deactivate this."
"Like the hieroglyph?" Azure Heart of the Sunrise asked.
"Yes, something of the sort." Naar Kalaman said. "In fact, I believe that device would be the thing that would just help us."
They brought out the hieroglyph and set it up so it faced the Unconquered Sun's statue. Knife of the Ocean took out his scope.
"Yeah, I see some sort of glyphs engraved in the Unconquered Sun's eyes." Knife of the Ocean said. "It might do the job."
"Then let's try." Naar Kalaman said. He tried several code structures using his extensive knowledge of ciphers and code-breaking, until several minutes later one of his tries seemed to have broken through.
"It seems to have worked!" Knife of the Ocean said.
True enough, the entire area shook as the pyramidal watchtowers lost their essence beams and in an instant the essence fence faded faster than it appeared.
"You are a genius, Captain!" Drifter said. "How I wish I could learn what those devices could do!"
"All in due time, Drifter." Naar Kalaman said. "Now let's press on!"
They sailed further into the strange island of the Unconquered Sun until they reached a second bay opening, once again protected by two pyramidal watchtowers on either side.
"Not another one?" Knife of the Ocean asked.
It didn't take long, for the towers reacted similarly as the first set and fired essence beams that now formed a net that seemed to stretch even underwater, like as if blocking the entry of ships and undersea vessels.
"Oh, great, now there's no statue to decode on." Raging Snowstorm said, his impatience settling in. "Whoever's setting us back is going to pay big time!"
"Can't it be our Dragon-blooded friends?" Knife of the Ocean asked. "We didn't find their bodies back there. I assume they made it even past here."
"Ah!"
They all turned, and saw Peleps Nuada, his face lit up in surprise.
"Captain, perhaps I can try something!" Peleps Nuada said.
"Go ahead." Naar Kalaman said.
Peleps Nuada jumped into the water and dived straight into the essence fence.
"What do you think is he going to do?" Azure asked Drifter. Drifter shrugged at him. "Whoa!"
The watchtowers reacted once more as a dazzling light shone from the waters in the middle of the bay and all of a sudden the essence net dissipated into mere wisps like the first one. Peleps Nuada then resurfaced and rejoined them several moments later.
"What happened down there?" Naar Kalaman asked.
"It was a long shot, captain, but I was right!" Peleps Nuada said. "Apparently when I noticed that we deactivated a barrier that covered anything above water level from the top, then anything that would cover anything below water level would be deactivated from below!"
"Ah, but of course! Now we can press on and look for the engines that we need!"
They proceeded past the second bay opening and faced a really amazing sight.
"That's one huge tower, man." Knife of the Ocean said. "I didn't expect it to be THIS tall, not even from the distance."
A huge, towering monolith of a tower stood dead ahead of them, protected all around by walls that had moonsilver engravings on them. Two pyramidal watchtowers stood sentry on either side of its landing port, and at its side, a little distance away into the stone cliffs on the right, there nested a couple of drydocks and repair ports, most of them fallen into the harshness of the environment and of time itself. Drifter's eyes could not help but light up and his heart skip several beats as he marveled at the sights. Sure, they might be dysfunctional, but to a Sorcerer-Engineer, returning it to its former grandeur would not pose a monumental challenge.
"I want to perform some exploration!" Akira said, changing herself into a swan and taking off into the misty air.
"Speaking of birds," Knife of the Ocean said. "Nearly every visible corner of the sea almost always has seagulls or even at least birds gracing the skies. I wonder why there are none here, not even shadowland varieties?"
"Perhaps it's the environment?" Azure Heart asked.
"No..." Naar Kalaman said, his voice faltering slightly. "Akira, GET DOWN HERE!"
She did in time, for the watchtowers had already started reacting the moment she took off in the air, and could have done something really nasty had she not landed. The watchtowers quieted down for a while, but still continued to channel essence at the tips.
"It was the tower's aerial defenses." Lilac informed the others. "It was designed to shoot down anything that flies."
"Oh, great, then I'd be barbecue by the time I get down." Akira said, rolling her eyes. "Just great."
"Be a little more careful now, everyone." Naar Kalaman said, as he steered the ship to the tower's landing port. "We have no idea what lies in store for us."
As they moved closer, Drifter fell into the entire surrounding's entice, his mind flooding with interest just by staring at the First Age structures around him - from the tower itself to its outlying docks, even the walls and the watchtowers. A mountain of ancient knowledge lay in store here, all waiting for someone to rediscover them and restore them to their former glory!
And Drifter swore that he would be the one to do it. Not just here in the West, but to the rest of Creation as well.
As he snapped back to reality, he suddenly became aware that the rest of his fellow Solars seemed to have entered a trance as well, although not as shallow as he had. They - from his point of view - appeared to recall visions from their former incarnations, similar to what he had experienced before.
But why can't he see them as well?
"Now... now I know this place..." Knife of the Ocean said, when they had all returned to reality.
"It's... It's HOME!" Akira cried. "Oooh, hot showers! Fancy chambers! It's home, it's PARADISE!"
"This was our Circle's original headquarters here in the West." Captain Kalaman said. "Now everything is so familiar!"
Drifter just stared back at the tower. Of course he was not part of the original Circle, therefore he would not know... then again, his former incarnate had not been here either, otherwise he would have seen something as well.
"Well, shall we enter our home?" Raging Snowstorm asked. "Knowing the shadowland, I'd suspect that something's befouling it at this very moment. Something vile... and nasty."
"Whatever it is, we will rid this place of it and find what we need." Naar Kalaman said. "Home as this may be, our objective stands more as of the moment. Assemble the troops!"
They spent the rest of the hour gearing up for a trek inside the tower.
"Light in a Shadowland?" Azure Heart of the Sunrise said. "That can't be the sun, right?"
"No, it's something as bright as the sun, but not exactly the sun." Knife of the Ocean said. "And it seems to radiate a pillar of light, not ordinary, spreading sunlight."
As their ship drew closer, the source of the light became all too clear.
"Whoa..." Drifter said, his eyes lit up in amazement.
Deep in the dark, murky surroundings of the watery shadowland, there stood a towering statue of the Unconquered Sun himself, all six arms spread out as if to embrace something. It was made purely of orichalcum, thus radiating brilliant golden light like the glare of the dawning sun. It was situated in the middle of a huge bay opening, bordered by two towering cliffs that appeared to have pyramidal watchtowers set upon them.
"Keep your guard up." Captain Naar Kalaman said, pointing a good distance ahead of them, just near the foot of the Unconquered Sun's huge statue.
"It's them." Raging Snowstorm said.
A smoldering wreck of a ship floated near the huge orichalcum statue, its entire structure mangled and struck beyond repair. Drifter even wondered how such a horribly destroyed ship could still probably float despite whatever its been through.
"That ship's still newly sunk." Knife said. "Or else the fire would've burnt out and we wouldn't have seen that ship still afloat."
"There are bodies in the water." Azure Heart of the Sunrise said. "These people must have suffered a most grotesque death.
Drifter could not help but agree, for here and there, floating in the water, was a horribly yet cleanly severed hand or foot floating beside a cleanly cut torso, all of them appearing like as if they had gone through a sharp and fine butcher's knife. There was a reddish tint in the waters surrounding the ship.
"Can we not save them from an even more cruel fate with the Siakas and at least give them an honorable burial?" Azure asked.
"Very well, we shall fish out whatever body we can salvage." Naar Kalaman said.
They spent several hours fishing out dead bodies - or at least, what remained of some dead bodies. After that Akira decided to try something.
"I'll head over and see if there are still any survivors underneath that mess and find out what really happened." Akira said. She dived straight into the water, assumed the form of an octopus that still somehow radiated her innate beauty, and swam straight into the burning wreck. She resurfaced minutes later, looking as if something was wrong.
"What did you find out?" Naar Kalaman asked.
"The water." Akira said. "There was a sort of barrier that separated the water here and the water there. What was even more odd was that the water there was warm past the barrier, while it remains cold here!"
"Apparently we are looking at some First Age defenses here." Naar Kalaman said. "We had best be careful."
"I say we start that now." Drifter said, looking up. "The watchtowers are reacting!"
They all looked up and saw the two watchtowers on either end of the cliff, radiating with pure essence, then firing two huge beams straight into the Unconquered Sun's statue, which responded by multiplying the essence beams, criss-crossing through the cliff and forming an angry fence of essence that radiated with intense heat and light.
"I knew it." Naar Kalaman said. "This is more complicated than we have thought."
"Is there a way past this?" Drifter asked. His interest for First Age devices had kicked in and already he was anxious to find out how the defense mechanism worked. It could help their island when danger comes...
"Underwater? Does that fence reach underwater?" Raging Snowstorm asked.
Akira responded by diving once more into the water. She returned several seconds later.
"Apparently they don't reach underwater." Akira said, shrugging. "But I wouldn't bet on Captain Kalaman leaving his ship here while we swim underwater just to get through this net of death."
"Akira's right." Naar Kalaman said. "Now, if my knowledge on First Age devices still proves me right, there should be a code of some sort that can deactivate this."
"Like the hieroglyph?" Azure Heart of the Sunrise asked.
"Yes, something of the sort." Naar Kalaman said. "In fact, I believe that device would be the thing that would just help us."
They brought out the hieroglyph and set it up so it faced the Unconquered Sun's statue. Knife of the Ocean took out his scope.
"Yeah, I see some sort of glyphs engraved in the Unconquered Sun's eyes." Knife of the Ocean said. "It might do the job."
"Then let's try." Naar Kalaman said. He tried several code structures using his extensive knowledge of ciphers and code-breaking, until several minutes later one of his tries seemed to have broken through.
"It seems to have worked!" Knife of the Ocean said.
True enough, the entire area shook as the pyramidal watchtowers lost their essence beams and in an instant the essence fence faded faster than it appeared.
"You are a genius, Captain!" Drifter said. "How I wish I could learn what those devices could do!"
"All in due time, Drifter." Naar Kalaman said. "Now let's press on!"
They sailed further into the strange island of the Unconquered Sun until they reached a second bay opening, once again protected by two pyramidal watchtowers on either side.
"Not another one?" Knife of the Ocean asked.
It didn't take long, for the towers reacted similarly as the first set and fired essence beams that now formed a net that seemed to stretch even underwater, like as if blocking the entry of ships and undersea vessels.
"Oh, great, now there's no statue to decode on." Raging Snowstorm said, his impatience settling in. "Whoever's setting us back is going to pay big time!"
"Can't it be our Dragon-blooded friends?" Knife of the Ocean asked. "We didn't find their bodies back there. I assume they made it even past here."
"Ah!"
They all turned, and saw Peleps Nuada, his face lit up in surprise.
"Captain, perhaps I can try something!" Peleps Nuada said.
"Go ahead." Naar Kalaman said.
Peleps Nuada jumped into the water and dived straight into the essence fence.
"What do you think is he going to do?" Azure asked Drifter. Drifter shrugged at him. "Whoa!"
The watchtowers reacted once more as a dazzling light shone from the waters in the middle of the bay and all of a sudden the essence net dissipated into mere wisps like the first one. Peleps Nuada then resurfaced and rejoined them several moments later.
"What happened down there?" Naar Kalaman asked.
"It was a long shot, captain, but I was right!" Peleps Nuada said. "Apparently when I noticed that we deactivated a barrier that covered anything above water level from the top, then anything that would cover anything below water level would be deactivated from below!"
"Ah, but of course! Now we can press on and look for the engines that we need!"
They proceeded past the second bay opening and faced a really amazing sight.
"That's one huge tower, man." Knife of the Ocean said. "I didn't expect it to be THIS tall, not even from the distance."
A huge, towering monolith of a tower stood dead ahead of them, protected all around by walls that had moonsilver engravings on them. Two pyramidal watchtowers stood sentry on either side of its landing port, and at its side, a little distance away into the stone cliffs on the right, there nested a couple of drydocks and repair ports, most of them fallen into the harshness of the environment and of time itself. Drifter's eyes could not help but light up and his heart skip several beats as he marveled at the sights. Sure, they might be dysfunctional, but to a Sorcerer-Engineer, returning it to its former grandeur would not pose a monumental challenge.
"I want to perform some exploration!" Akira said, changing herself into a swan and taking off into the misty air.
"Speaking of birds," Knife of the Ocean said. "Nearly every visible corner of the sea almost always has seagulls or even at least birds gracing the skies. I wonder why there are none here, not even shadowland varieties?"
"Perhaps it's the environment?" Azure Heart asked.
"No..." Naar Kalaman said, his voice faltering slightly. "Akira, GET DOWN HERE!"
She did in time, for the watchtowers had already started reacting the moment she took off in the air, and could have done something really nasty had she not landed. The watchtowers quieted down for a while, but still continued to channel essence at the tips.
"It was the tower's aerial defenses." Lilac informed the others. "It was designed to shoot down anything that flies."
"Oh, great, then I'd be barbecue by the time I get down." Akira said, rolling her eyes. "Just great."
"Be a little more careful now, everyone." Naar Kalaman said, as he steered the ship to the tower's landing port. "We have no idea what lies in store for us."
As they moved closer, Drifter fell into the entire surrounding's entice, his mind flooding with interest just by staring at the First Age structures around him - from the tower itself to its outlying docks, even the walls and the watchtowers. A mountain of ancient knowledge lay in store here, all waiting for someone to rediscover them and restore them to their former glory!
And Drifter swore that he would be the one to do it. Not just here in the West, but to the rest of Creation as well.
As he snapped back to reality, he suddenly became aware that the rest of his fellow Solars seemed to have entered a trance as well, although not as shallow as he had. They - from his point of view - appeared to recall visions from their former incarnations, similar to what he had experienced before.
But why can't he see them as well?
"Now... now I know this place..." Knife of the Ocean said, when they had all returned to reality.
"It's... It's HOME!" Akira cried. "Oooh, hot showers! Fancy chambers! It's home, it's PARADISE!"
"This was our Circle's original headquarters here in the West." Captain Kalaman said. "Now everything is so familiar!"
Drifter just stared back at the tower. Of course he was not part of the original Circle, therefore he would not know... then again, his former incarnate had not been here either, otherwise he would have seen something as well.
"Well, shall we enter our home?" Raging Snowstorm asked. "Knowing the shadowland, I'd suspect that something's befouling it at this very moment. Something vile... and nasty."
"Whatever it is, we will rid this place of it and find what we need." Naar Kalaman said. "Home as this may be, our objective stands more as of the moment. Assemble the troops!"
They spent the rest of the hour gearing up for a trek inside the tower.
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