‘Where are you taking me?’ asked Lady Arotha.
‘Outside,’ Master Axan replied. ‘The signalling lantern has arrived. You may now signal your ship.’
Arotha and Axan made their way down the stairs of the building attached to the observatory above the town of Exa – the marble-walled building claimed by Master Axan as their residence on the island.
‘Come with me,’ Axan said, turning left as they exited through the side door. They walked across the flat gravel yard which surrounded the observatory. At the edge of the yard, a low wooden fence formed a guardrail with a steep, grassy slope beyond. One of Axan’s acolytes stood there, carrying a lit lantern in her hands.
‘Thank you, Sutec,’ Axan said, taking the lantern from the acolyte and handing it to Arotha. The young acolyte who Axan had called Sutec nodded, and exited.
‘Here,’ Axan said to Arotha. ‘This can be used to signal. The flame burns very bright in the chamber, and this lever operates the shutter.’ Axan operated the shutter lever, and left Arotha alone to signal.
The building attached to the observatory contained a multitude of guest rooms, enough for everyone.
As Axan led Kila and Mera to their chamber, they stopped the sisters on the threshold.
‘You are both welcome to remain here for as long as you wish,’ they said. ‘However, if you desire, you may decide to leave with the visitors, when they choose to return to their craft.’
Kila looked at Axan. ‘Why are you telling us this?’
‘You are our guests,’ Axan replied. ‘I need you both to know that you are free. You have no obligation to remain.’
‘Thank you,’ said Mera. ‘We will let you know of our decision in the morning. Goodnight, Master Axan.’
‘Goodnight,’ Master Axan replied. Mera shut the door. Axan wandered down the corridor.
Silence fell. A door opened, further along the corridor.
Audet and Serenet peered into the corridor. It was empty.
‘Fetch the others,’ Serenet said. Audet nodded.
Footsteps sounded down the stairwell, as Master Axan returned to the ground floor. As they exited the building, they saw Exa coming up the path from the town. As the evening gloom gathered, they met at the top of the path.
‘Is everything ready?’
‘It is,’ Exa replied.
‘We shall see Shirae tonight,’ Axan said.
‘It shall be my first time,’ said Exa.
‘Of course,’ Axan said. ‘Come. They must make their little signal, and let the ship know that all is well.’
‘Do you believe they will actually signal that all is well?’
Axan shook their head. ‘Probably not,’ they replied. ‘However, we must let them communicate with their ship.’
‘Of course,’ Exa replied.
Captain Kathos sat in his cabin, waiting. At the sound of the knock on the cabin door, he sprang to his feet and crossed the tiny cabin.
‘Is it them?’ he asked the fresh-faced young sailor who’d knocked.
‘Repeating signal,’ said the sailor. ‘From the vicinity of the large green domed building above the town.’
‘It is using the proper codes?’
‘Yes,’ the sailor replied. ‘It is Lady Arotha’s code.’
Kathos climbed topside, and followed the young sailor’s finger. He saw the flashes, a pattern of long and short blinks. Lathos’ lips moved silently as he parsed the dots and dashes into letters in his head. Then he looked at the young sailor.
‘Could you read Lady Arotha’s cypher?’
‘Yes, Captain,’ replied the sailor. ‘She needs us, doesn’t she?’
‘She certainly does,’ Kathos replied. ‘We’ve already put out our two landing craft. Break out the third lander. It’s our last one, so I’ll need three crew with me.’
‘Count me in,’ said the sailor.
‘I need you here,’ Kathos replied. ‘I want to muster up a party of volunteers. There’ll be three landers coming back. I’ll want one of them to go back to the shore. A team of four. Seasoned warriors. You’re not that seasoned.’
‘Sir, I can pilot the lander to shore,’ the sailor said. ‘And you could need a scout rather than a fighter.’
‘Officer thinking,’ Kathos said. ‘Assemble two crews; the first, to come with me, and the second, to come to shore if I signal for assistance.’
‘Aye, Captain,’ said the youngster.
‘Get me the signalling lantern,’ Kathos said.
Lady Arotha saw lights flashing from the Blue Shell. She closed the shutter on the lantern, and made her way around towards the top of the sloping path from the town below. At the top of the gravel path, she met the landing crew, who stood waiting for her.
‘Split up,’ she said. ‘Travel in pairs. Revna; Karin; you take the big building with the black domes. I’ll look around here. Sandira, Petrina, the residential area. Loïs, Axella, the park. Nepheli, Danai, look into anything, no matter how odd.’
‘Aye,’ said the crew. They marched down the path, as Arotha turned towards the observatory.
Unnoticed by everyone, Master Axan and Exa observed them from the rooftop. They glanced at one another.
‘Prepare,’ Axan said. Exa nodded, and vanished like a cloud of mist.
Kila and Mera sat in their chamber, peering out of the window. Below them, the island of Exa stretched away from them, a rolling plain with a dense forest on the edge. An entire unexplored island, no part of which could be seen from the city of Exa.
‘It’s beautiful,’ Kila said.
‘Beautiful, indeed,’ Mera replied. ‘I don’t think any of the townspeople have seen what’s here.’
‘We could be the first to explore this place,’ Mera said.
‘So you want to stay?’ Kila asked.
‘Yes,’ Mera replied.
‘And explore this place,’ Kila added.
‘Somebody has to,’ Mera said.
‘It’s dark outside,’ Kila said. ‘Let’s close the window.’
‘Master Axan promised that we would see Shirae,’ Mera said. ‘Do you think we ought to go out and find them?’
‘They will probably come for us,’ Kila said. ‘All in good time.’
There was a knock on the door. Kila and Mera glanced at one another.
Revna and Karin looked at the main entrance of the building which Axan had described as Exa’s town hall and library. Karin kept a lookout as Revna tried picking the lock. The plaza in front of the building was eerily empty, but that could change at any moment.
‘Any luck?’ Karin whispered.
Revna tugged at the handle. ‘The lock is unpickable,’ she replied.
‘We’re taking an unreasonable risk,’ Karin said. ‘Trying to pick a lock in public like this.’
‘Just keep looking out for any signs of activity,’ Revna said. ‘If you see any lights, or hear any footsteps, just let me know. We’ll duck into that alley around the back.’
‘Aye,’ Karin replied.
‘This is disturbing,’ said Petrina Letrys, to her crewmate Sandira Ondimos, as they canvassed the last residence in the street.
‘You’re telling me,’ Sandira replied. ‘You’d expect to see light through the shutters. Lit fireplaces, candles, lanterns. Something. But there’s nobody inside anywhere.’
‘It’s as if they ceased to exist once the sun went down,’ Petrina said. ‘Do you think that that is what they do?’
‘That’s what scares me,’ Sandira replied. ‘We cannot assume anything.’
‘Let’s go back to their library building,’ Petrina said. ‘Karin and Revna might have had better luck.’
Arotha had made a complete circuit of the building, noting that it had entrances in three of the four cardinal directions. The rounded wall at the base of the observatory, facing westwards across the sea, had no doors. Arotha realised that if she were to enter the domed observatory, it could only be done from within.
Arotha went back to the northern entrance, the one which faced the path leading into the town, and opened it. She peered into the well-lit interior. Arotha entered the building, and crossed the main hall within, with a great stair leading to an upper storey balcony which encircled the hall. In the west wall of the hall was a set of double doors. Arotha realised that the entrance to the green domed rotunda could be through those doors.
Cautiously, she crossed over the chequerboard tiled floor of the hall, and opened one of the double doors a tiny crack to peer within. Immediately, she regretted it; the light from behind her spilled through a short hallway into a dark interior, giving away her position.
Arotha closed the door, and turned, startled, as she became aware of a noise behind her. She gasped –
‘I wasn’t making any headway with this damnable lock,’ Revna replied. She turned to see the rest of the landing party as they reached her location. She glanced at Karin, then at the others.
‘What did you find?’ Revna asked.
‘Nothing,’ Perita said, glancing at Sandira. ‘It was as if they’d all ceased to exist.’
‘Either that,’ Sandira said, ‘or they’ve all gathered around somewhere.’
‘We’d have seen lights,’ Karin said. ‘Torches or lanterns, making their way up that path to the observatory, for example, or heading down to the docks. Nothing.’
‘Do you all concur?’ Revna asked. The rest of the landing crew agreed. She glanced at Karin, then looked back to the crew. ‘In which case, I suggest we go back to the observatory, grab Lady Arotha, and take her straight back to the boats. We are getting -‘
The doors to the town hall opened behind her. Bright light shone behind Revna.
‘out … of … here …,’ Revna said, turning around slowly.
‘What do you know?’ Sandira said. ‘I was right.’
The door to Kila and Mera’s room opened. Master Axan stood in the corridor.
‘Come with me,’ they said to the sisters. ‘It is time.’
And now Revna and the others knew where the citizens of Exa had gone.
They emerged from the interior of the town hall, bearing lanterns, and began driving Revna, Karin, and the others into the centre of the plaza. As they all watched, lights appeared in all the alleyways and streets leading off the perimeter of the plaza. More citizens entered the square from every direction, cutting off the exits and gradually surrounding the landing party. Once they had encircled the team, they stood silently, waiting.
‘In pairs!’ Revna ordered. She and Karin stood side by side.
‘Defensive!’ At Revna’s command, they formed a ring, all facing outwards in battle stance.
‘Sound off!’ Revna commanded.
‘Karin!’
‘Sandira!’
‘Petrina!’
‘Loïs!’
‘Axella!’
‘Nepheli!’
‘Danai!’
‘That’s my girls,’ Revna whispered, as the circle of lanterns took a step closer.
Kila and Mera entered the main observatory chamber, flanked by Master Axan and Holgnar. They saw Lady Arotha, and rushed towards her.
‘Thank goodness you two are unharmed,’ Arotha said, her voice carrying a quaver of fear.
‘What happened?’
Arotha glanced at Holgnar. ‘He came up behind me,’ she said.
Kila looked at Holgnar. ‘Did you harm Lady Arotha?’
‘No,’ replied Holgnar.
‘Actually,’ Arotha said, ‘I was about to intrude on this place.’
Mera looked at Master Axan, who nodded slowly.
‘I am not angry,’ Master Axan said. ‘You could have come here at any time. No part of this island is forbidden to you. It is only your fears which conjure up taboos where none exist.’
‘Not even disappointed?’ Lady Arotha said.
‘You were exercising your curiosity,’ Master Axan said. ‘That is understandable. You are a guest of this place, and the laws of our hospitality forbid any of us from harming a guest.’
Lady Arotha moved closer to Kila and Mera.
‘As a matter of fact,’ Axan said, ‘Exa is, even now, rounding up your crew and bringing them all here.’ They extended a hand. Arotha reluctantly took it. Axan’s fingers felt cold, with an unearthly smoothness to the touch.
‘Come,’ they said. ‘I will show you.’
Outside, Lady Arotha saw a procession advancing up the path from the city towards the observatory. At the head of the procession were the members of the landing party.
‘Come,’ said Axan, beckoning. ‘You are all just in time, all of you. Come.’
Revna joined Arotha. They glanced at one another.
‘We’re going to be eaten here, aren’t we?’ Revna asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Arotha replied, her eyes wide with apprehension.
They all entered the building, where Axan led the landing party into the observatory chamber. There was a metallic squeal as the dome opened, revealing a sky full of stars. Darkness descended in the chamber as the citizens exited the room, dousing their lanterns as they went. Even the lights in the hallway outside dimmed and went dark.
‘And here we are,’ Axan said, gazing upwards at the sky visible through the dome. ‘Shirae.’
Kila, Mera, and Arotha looked up at the sky, as did the others.
‘But,’ Arotha said, ‘that’s just the Trail of Stars.’
Axan looked at Arotha. ‘Is that what you call her here?’ they asked.
‘Er, yes,’ Arotha replied. ‘Is that your Shirae? Your goddess?’
‘Not a goddess,’ Axan replied. ‘This is where we live, and love. We sail her currents and follow her tides. Aeons whirl and fall away as we dance between realms and caress the faces of a myriad worlds.
‘We all come from Shirae.’ Axan smiled, their eyes bright. ‘And so does this world.’
‘And so do you,’ said Holgnar.
The doors burst open. People spilled into the chamber. There was the gleam of metal.
‘Hold it right there!’ boomed Captain Kathos.
Master Axan turned, to look at the shadowy silhouettes of the Blue Shell’s crew. ‘Welcome, Captain,’ they said, their voice unperturbed.
‘I will not allow you to harm my people!’ Kathos growled.
‘Of course not,’ Axan said. ‘However, your assistance will not be necessary. Lady Arotha has just seen what we wanted her to see; and now, everyone is free to go about their business. There was no intent to harm here. There never will be.’
Lady Arotha swept up Kathos in her arms and kissed him deeply. In the dark, they could not see one another’s faces; but Arotha could feel the warmth radiating from his face when they came up for air.
‘Thank you, my gallant,’ Lady Arotha said, ‘for rushing to my rescue.’
‘Do you think they understood?’ Axan asked Holgnar and Sutec, as the landing party and Lady Arotha exited the observatory.
‘To be honest, they looked somewhat disappointed,’ Holgnar replied.
‘They fully expected us to ravish them, or try to sacrifice them, or something,’ Sutec said. ‘I overheard one of them pondering whether or not they were to be eaten in here.’
‘Food? In the observatory? Certainly not!’ Master Axan retorted. Sutec and Holgnar guffawed.
‘Master Axan,’ said Kila.
Axan looked at Kila. ‘What is it?’
‘Something’s wrong with my sister,’ Kila said.
‘Show me,’ Axan replied. Kila led them to where Mera stood, gazing upwards at the clear night sky, and the glorious ribbon of stars visible through the aperture.
‘She hasn’t moved since you showed us Shirae,’ Kila said. ‘Just looking up at the stars.’
‘I see,’ Axan replied, peering at Mera’s face. They gasped, and beckoned. Holgnar and Sutec came over and looked at Mera, before turning to face Kila, awe on all their faces.
‘Is something the matter with her, Master Axan?’ Kila asked.
‘Look at your sister,’ Axan whispered. Kila looked, and gasped.
Mera’s eyes were a window to a vast cosmos. In the darkness which filled the space where her eyes should be, stars danced and whirled.
Master Axan looked at Kila. ‘There is nothing the matter with her, sweet child,’ they said. ‘Rather, something wonderful has happened. Your sister, Mera, has Awakened. She has embraced the gift of sorcery.’ They smiled. ‘The legacy of an Exan.’
The Spiral Room 