The HaRT Knight Decaverse

Heir of Magic

Chapter 34

Pensilisurbis

As Alexander stepped through the door onto a stone floor, all the sights of a real city met his eyes. Wattle and daub houses mixed with ancient stone structures stretched as far as the eyes could see and potted plants adorned fences and windowsills. Groups of small cevarion, dhaesí, and human children ran around playing. A woman who looked like she might be part cyclops yelled at the children to behave as she hung her laundry. Gigantic metal chains—larger than most of the houses—hung from the cliff above and connected to the corners of the city floors.
“The Hanging City,” Alexander gasped.
“Can you see the pub?” Merrick asked from behind Alexander, who just now realized he had frozen and was blocking the way.
He moved to let the others pass, first Merrick then Jared, followed by Dante and Kohr. Only Merrick seemed to mirror Alexander’s expression of amazement at the sight.
“This is the Residential District of the city, most of the people live here. To get to the stairway to the Market District we must cross to the other side,” Kohr said, leading the way forward. “The tactical advantage being, of course, that if anyone should ever make it through the walls and down here, they would have to conquer level for level to get to the palace.”
“How many levels are there?” Alexander asked, staring at a small boy who was half lizard.
“If we count the area above us, there are five levels.” Kohr waved at a mother pulling her protesting son into the house.
It took about thirty minutes to reach the other end of the first level. The wind that roared up past the edge of the stone floor, which was almost as thick as the walls above. A few feet after the floor ended was a waterfall, except it was flowing up instead of down.
“The wind current is so strong it carries the water up to the cliff,” Dante said as he saw the puzzled expressions on Merrick and Alexander’s faces.
“Look at that little one!” Merrick shouted, pointing to a nearby cevarion boy with the head of a cat. He was flying a kite over the edge of the city, making it do swooping tricks.
“Yes, that’s storm kite flying. It’s a very popular sport here,” Kohr said as he nodded for the guards to open the next door. The steel door was built into one of a hundred white marble pillars that emerged from the stone floor.
“This is The Market District,” Kohr commented as they exited onto the next level.
A lot more hustle and bustle filled this district, with people buying and selling goods at a rapid rate. The ethnic diversity of the people in the city also meant a diverse arrangement of goods. There were traders for every single thing you could imagine. Food Alexander had only seen in faraway lands could be bought for a few coppers, and there were even swords and armor he had never seen before.
At the other end of the district they once again made their way down the spiral staircase and onto the fourth level. “The Wealthy District,” Kohr said.
It was clear why it was called the Wealthy District. The houses were enormous, some reaching four stories high, and each having a complete garden growing in soil held together with wooden planks. Behind the large gates of the houses there were pets as mundane as dogs or cats, and as exotic as a tamed cockatrice; he even though he saw a miniature wyvern chained up in one yard.
The last door was much larger and well-guarded. It took the ten men guarding it over twelve minutes to open the metal gate and allow the General and his companion’s entrance to the Royal District.
As Alexander stepped onto the last level of the city, moist stone surrounded by a raging river greeted his boots. Despite its wetness, the stone wasn’t slippery, which was a good thing, Alexander thought as he stared into the raging rapids. Any man unfortunate enough to be caught in that current would drown in seconds, or be smashed to bits on some rocks.
“You have got to be kidding me!” Merrick exclaimed.
As Alexander turned, he understood the other man’s frustration. The white marble pillar next to Merrick had slid open a concealed door to reveal Captain Clarkson stepping out. The pillar was in fact not a pillar at all but an elevator. If animals were used to raise and drop the wooden room on the inside which Alexander expected would be the case here, the distance which had just taken them almost two hours to complete could be done in two minutes.
“You had us walk all that way when we could have been here within minutes!” Merrick exclaimed.
Kohr laughed at Merrick’s indignant expression. “It can only take three people at a time and only stops at the Royal District and the army barracks. I thought you all would like to see the city.”
Merrick went off into a rant about feeling lied to and not having seen a single pub on the way down, so Alexander tuned him out and stared around at their surroundings. For what felt like the millionth time that day, his breath was taken away by what he saw. A blue glassed dome hung from the ceiling above and spiralling metal steps ran up to meet the bottom of the dome. Metal railings appeared at regular intervals around the glass dome, giving the impression that the metal stairs continued upwards.
“This, my friends, is the Hourglass Palace,” Kohr introduced the building.
Alexander and Merrick stared up in amazement at the breath-taking beauty, but Merrick’s eyes narrowed at the sight of the stairs, and he asked, “Please tell me you’re not going to make us take those stairs again just to find another elevator at the entrance.”

A few hours later, Alexander was walking down the glass hallway of the palace with only a towel wrapped around his waist. After Kohr had taken the three travelers to the room they would share, he left to report to the King on his travels. Alexander had leaped at the opportunity to take a bath and was the first to the bathhouse. The bathhouse was a communal one with a swimming pool-sized bath which all the staff of the palace shared.
When Alexander entered the room where he had left his two traveling companions, he found the room abandoned with only a small piece of parchment on his bed to greet him. He could distinguish two different handwritings from the letter, first an immaculate curly handwriting with slender letters and the other more jagged.

Alexander, I went to the city library. It is at the edge of the Royal District built right into the mountain. I am hoping to get some information we can’t find anywhere else. I shall return late tonight, so you are to practice your magic lessons without me.
Dante

The second message read.

Sorry Brother, I was curious about what Dante wrote to you. Anyway, since captain exciting has gone to read his books and isn’t here to punish us anymore, I’m off to find this Hanging Wombat pub the soldiers were talking about. I’ll be back by sunrise—if I don’t meet a pretty young thing willing to entertain me in some cardinal manner.
Now, be a good boy and practice your magic lessons, okay?
Your friend and brother.

Alexander rolled his eyes. Both of them were off doing what they loved most, and here he was, expected to do what he had to do instead.
A knock on the door pulled Alexander’s attention away from the letter. Gripping his towel with his left hand, he opened the door a crack to see who it was. A very well-dressed gentleman was standing outside the door, staring in at Alexander with an expressionless stare. The man was very thin and pale and wore a black hat with a black feather in it.
“You are Alexander?” the gentleman asked in a manner that showed he didn’t care what the answer would be.
“Yes. And you are?” Alexander asked.
“I am known to all in the palace as Delphi. His Majesty has requested your presence at his feast tonight. I am here to relay that message and give you these.” He handed Alexander a pair of trousers and a doublet with a pair of well-made boots on top. “I took the liberty of having the clothes altered a bit to better fit you. Please be ready for a servant to come and fetch you within the hour.”
The man turned and strode down the hallway. Well, it seems I found something to do. Alexander thought as he threw the new clothes on top of the letter Dante and Merrick had written. He got dressed, marveling at the fine material of the clothes and how brilliantly they fit him. The trousers were made of very soft leather, the same as the boots, and the doublet was of fine material and was a splendid blue. As he stared at his reflection in the blue glass wall, he turned his phoenix cloak black side up and draped it over his shoulders, leaving it open at the front. The effect was aesthetically pleasing, the blue doublet bringing out the intensity of his eyes.
There came another knock on the door and Alexander said, “Enter.”
The door swung open to reveal a beautiful girl in a maid’s uniform, standing on the threshold of the room. Her eyes widened as they fell on Alexander. Stammering, she said, “Good evening, milord. Master Delphi sent me to escort milord to the royal dining hall.”
“Please, call me Alex,” Alexander said, smiling at the girl who turned the same shade of crimson as the phoenix cloak.
“This way, Lord Alex,” she added, leading the way out of the room. Before leaving, Alexander dropped the same letter Dante and Merrick had left him on Dante’s bed, now with the added message that told them where he would be that evening.
Alexander followed the girl in silence down the hallways of the palace. Several people stared and turned their heads as the two of them passed. But his attention was focused on the decorations of the palace. Nothing seemed to fit together, and even less seemed to belong in the palace. There were strange statues of monsters here and there, and paintings of very gory heroic battles on the walls.
“This is the dining hall, milord. The King already awaits you. Milord has been seated to his Majesty’s left,” the girl said as she opened the door for Alexander to pass through.
There was the unmistakable sound of silence that only fell when something impressive or unexpected entered a room. He held his head high and wore his best confident grin as he made his way to the head of the table where the King sat. The King, who was sitting at the farthest point from the door, smiled as Alexander came close. The strange gentleman who had brought Alexander the clothes earlier leaned in at the King’s right side and whispered something in his ear as Alexander approached. Resting on his long black hair that fell in curls to his shoulders, the King wore a crown made of some green stone that matched the color of his eyes.
Sinking to his knees, Alexander said, “Your Majesty, it is an honor.”
“Yes, it is, isn’t it, lord Alexander,” the King said.
Alexander’s tongue tripped over his words, taken back by the King’s response. After a few seconds of stuttering he said, “Yes, your grace, quite.”
“Come, come, Lord Alexander,” the King urged, pointing to his left. “Tonight, you will receive the grandest gift of your life. To be allowed to sit beside me, King Johan Gerhard Swan, the greatest man alive.”
For the shortest of moments, Alexander was frozen in shock as he thought, is he being serious?
To the right of King Johan, Grand General Kohr shot Alexander a look, rolled his eyes, and nodded for him to indulge the foolish king’s wish.
When Alexander reached the chair, the man called Delphi pulled it out for him, then returned to his place behind Johan’s chair a little to the right.
That would make him the Royal Advisor, Alexander realized.
“I was so upset with Grand General Kohr for abandoning our city for so long, but when he told me about you earlier today, I was quite eager to meet you,” King Johan said. “he makes you sound like some legendary hero. Well, of course, that clinched it for me. Someone as magnificent as myself just had to meet you.”
“I am sure it sounds more impressive than it was, Your Majesty,” Alexander said, wondering with a little concern what Kohr had told this fool.
“Oh, so modest. I too am amazingly modest, you know,” King Johan waved the humble reply away as if he did not want to hear it. “Is it not true you fought the Black General and survived?”
“That is true Your Majesty,” Alexander admitted.
“Oh, well done. Of course, if it were me, I would have killed him, but then again battling a dhaesí assassin is no place for one of my noble blood,” King Johan said. He gestured to the servants to bring food and drinks as he went on, “But, anyone who possesses enough skill to face off against one of the dark generals and survive is worthy of praise.”
“Thank you, Your Grace,” Alexander said without emotion. In an attempt to avoid having to talk to the king, he grabbed the goblet a servant handed him and began to drink.
“Delphi here tells me you were also there during the fall of Moondrake?” King Johan said and Alexander almost choked. Even Kohr’s stoic mask cracked for a split second at this revelation of knowledge.
Alexander had to think fast here in order not to give too much away. “I saw its fall, yes. It was the work of another of the dark generals. The cloaked one who rides the dragon. He destroyed the entire city.”
The mention of the Cloaked General had the desired effect Alexander was after. The people around the table gasped and avoided looking at him.
No one enjoyed discussing the foulest of Cain’s pets, except for King Johan unfortunately. “You saw him? What did he look like? Is it true he resembles the Shepherd King himself?”
“I cannot say, your grace. I’ve never met the personification of death.” Alexander took a turkey leg for his plate. “But he is one of the most frightening things I have ever seen.”
“Yes, I can only imagine. You know I—”
Delphi cut the king off before he could bring the focus of the conversation back to himself as he leaned forward and said, “Your Majesty, if I may.”
“Yes, Delphi?” The king said, trying hard but not succeeding at hiding his annoyance at being interrupted.
“We have the current dilemma of a dead Special Commander. He needs replacing, and Grand General Kohr said he was having trouble finding someone to fill the vacant position,” Delphi said.
“What of it?” Kohr asked.
“Well, it just seems to me that fortune has smiled upon us by delivering such a capable warrior into our hands. I think Lord Alexander here might make an excellent Special Commander,” Delphi explained.
“Why that sounds like a brilliant idea!” King Johan exclaimed. “What say you, Lord Alexander?”
“Your Majesty, I must object,” Kohr said. “I like Lord Alexander as much as the next person, and I am thankful for him saving my life, but a great warrior does not make a great leader.”
“But from what I hear, you have been teaching him to be a great leader and strategist just like yourself. Why would you want to stand in your new protégé’s way?” Delphi answered.
“How did you know?” Kohr snarled in a low rumble.
“Come now, Grand General, it is my job to know everything that goes on with our people,” Delphi said.
“Well, if you’ve taken him under your wing, Grand General, I must insist he takes the job,” King Johan said.
“Yes, Your Highness,” Kohr said.
“But, Your Majesty,” Alexander shook his head vehemently. “I was not planning on staying in the city for very long. I am only here to learn from the royal blacksmith; then I will be on my way again.”
“Blacksmith. But Lord Alexander, you’re a warrior. Surely being a Special Commander in my army is much more suitable than being a blacksmith,” King Johan said, his nose turned up as if he were smelling something rotten.
“I thank you for the offer, Your Grace, but as I said, I am not planning on staying.” Alexander shook his head.
“May I make another suggestion?” Delphi whispered before anyone else could say anything more.
“Speak Delphi.” the King nodded.
“Well, Your Majesty, if Lord Alexander does not wish to stay, we could offer him the position temporarily. Just until Grand General Kohr has trained a replacement.”
“Yes, surely you can’t object to that.” King Johan turned back to Alexander. “I won’t take no for an answer. I’m allowing you to stay in my city, granting you the use of my blacksmith and Grand General, these are kindnesses I can always refuse you.”
Alexander opened his mouth to argue, but nothing came to him. This would not be something he could refuse now. “Very well,” he sighed. “As repayment for the gracious hospitality Your Majesty has shown me, I will take the post of Special Commander until Grand General Kohr has trained a replacement.”
“Brilliant!” King Johan clapped his hands together. “We’ll have you sworn in first thing in the morning. Now, come, sit and tell me more of your adventures, Special Commander.”
Alexander obeyed the request and took his seat next to the King. He spent the meal telling the King the stories of how he had once fought a giant sea monster and how he killed the infamous Captain Sharktooth. King Johan, in turn, told a lengthy and exaggerated story of how he had saved the city from three manticores. Not a single person dared point out that this was so obviously the story of Barquiel. In fact, Alexander had a sneaking suspicion the king would soon tell the tale of how he had once killed the infamous pirate Sharktooth. The narcissistic fool might even tell it to me and expect me to believe him.
The evening dragged on for what felt like an eternity, but eventually, Alexander found himself back in the room with both Dante and Merrick, informing them that King Johan had given him his own room.
“Your own room? Why?” Dante asked, looking suspicious.
“Because I was made Special Commander of some special regiment tonight,” Alexander explained.
“They made you what?” Merrick asked, falling out of his bed in shock. “You’re not serious.”
“I’m afraid I am. Kohr told the King about me saving his life, and the Royal Advisor Delphi seemed to know even more about me. It was he who suggested I take the place of the fallen Special Commander.”
“What about me? I fought that dhaesí bastard too,” Merrick said indignantly.
“Yes, but you almost died because of that stupidity,” Dante snapped. “You say this Royal Advisor knew things about you? How much.”
“I don’t know for sure. But it’s too much for my liking,” Alexander said. “There is something about him that makes me feel uneasy.”
“You’re not the only one who thinks so. I heard quite a few whispers at the pub about the Royal Advisor and his strange ways.” Merrick said.
“We should be very careful of him until we know more,” Dante said.
“Agreed.” Alexander nodded.
“So unfair! I should get a fancy room as well!” Merrick added and plopped down on his bed, sulking.