Carla El-Kir

I am sorry for leaving earlier than I said I would, and without saying goodbye. But time is short and I fear for your safety as well as my own. I’ve instructed half my companions – good trackers and guardsmen among them – to stay behind and supplement your own forces. If they can’t keep you safe, then none can. I truly wish I could stay with you, whatever may come next. But I believe that the sage-cores of the Arcologies might have the secrets I need, and never in all my life have I seen those glittering spires. What I learn, I will relay to you – that I promise. We’ll meet again – one way or another.

– letter from El-Kir to Shirahn upon leaving Ir-Hashkrim

North of Kivusk

Southeast of the auld hills and many miles further south along the meandering bends of the brackish river Carla traveled nearly alone, with her few trackers behind her. With sticks they brushed aside the brownish, sparse leaves of the trees and shrubs that covered their path. Carla, taking a place far ahead of the crowd, stepped under and past branches while keeping the dirty water always close to her right hand, viewing it in the corner of her eye.

A heavy load of traveling gear weighed her down, keeping her pace slow, but the rations she’d brought from Ir-Hashkrim still kept her going and hadn’t run out. Perhaps she’d overestimated how much it was really necessary to bring on this journey – if her map was anything to go by (and she was sure it was, its proportions confirmed by the Chroniclers who had it drawn up by their Vadallat protectors) then it wouldn’t be far to Kivusk.

The northernmost of the Arcologies stood out on the map as a single obelisk-like tower tapered until it disappeared into the background of hills drawn surrounding it. In life, it was even more spectacular – once they were close enough to see it under the heavy cloud cover, Carla was given pause by just how tall the structure really was. It was wide at the base, but continued to taper thinner as it grew taller, until it gave way to spiraling outer structures that continued back down toward the ground – but the very top of the tower disappeared in the clouds themselves. Carla had only caught a glimpse of the base through the underbrush in a luckily placed open space – almost a swath cut through the brush. But even from this distance, Carla was sure that the structure could not possibly have stood for as long as it had without collapsing in on itself, if not for a significant underground component as well. They must have rebuilt the ground itself surrounding the tower so that the Arcology could stay both sealed and safe-standing.

Indeed, perhaps somewhere under there was the old Refuge from which the Arcology had been built.

Carla motioned to the people walking behind her so that they would follow her up the crest of a hill, and when she reached the top she stopped to catch her breath. Her heart pounded hard in her chest and she looked over the tops of the trees, then squatted down to rest, lowering her center of gravity almost till she touched the dusty earth.

The Arcology was close now. Another couple of hours walking, perhaps, and they’d be at the base of it.

Her long-range radio crackled, and by the time it occurred to her that it hadn’t done so in weeks, she’d already unconsciously lifted it to her face. “Identify yourself,” she muttered into the receiver.

“It’s Shirahn.”

Carla glanced to the tracker next to her, who chuckled and rolled his eyes, then glanced down at the dusty earth, kicked up a little sand, and retreated back down the hill to give El-Kir some space.

“I suppose I should apologize again,” Carla El-Kir said, rubbing her opposite temple with the hand that didn’t hold the radio. “But you know, I had to –“

“No, you don’t,” Shirahn said, the several-second delay cutting through Carla’s words after she’d begun to speak again. “Oh, sorry. You’re quite a ways off. Have to give you more delay time. You were saying?”

“I had to leave immediately,” Carla said. “It was for everyone’s safety.”

“I know.” Shirahn paused for only half a second, then continued. “But it was still irresponsible of you. And also, why’d you leave half your people with me? You know we can take care of ourselves here. We’ve kept our independence this long.”

Carla squinted up at the tapered higher floors of the single tower of Kivusk. “And I owe it to you to help you keep it a little longer. My presence brought you danger.”

“Danger we could handle.” On the other end, Shirahn sighed, the sound of it crackling through the radio microphone, oscillating over countless miles of rough terrain. “You can probably guess that it wasn’t easy locating you and figuring out your frequency.” Carla glanced up at the sky- far above the earth, unbothered by the tumult of centuries, a little red satellite light flashed from over the atmosphere. “I wanted to talk to you because I wanted to let you know that we’re safe.”

“Did something happen?” Carla turned her head over her shoulder and looked down the hill – the rest of her crew had gathered, hands folded in front of them, waiting. Not wanting to interrupt her when she was speaking to an old friend, but not wanting to stay still for too long. Tense and ready.

“Kurikuneku sent a punitive expedition, or at least tried to. We just found out about it.” Shirahn sounded almost amused – that little throat-scoff she made at the end of her sentences coming through even over the radio. She must have been holding the microphone a little too close to her face. “It seems like they never made it across the border. They got killed by an Adma ambush, and no Invictan soldiers have come south since then. They must have more important things to worry about.”

Carla couldn’t help a laugh. “And here I was worried about you, and you didn’t even have to take care of things yourself?” Then she dropped the joking pretense. “Do you know who was responsible for the ambush?”

“Well, it wasn’t any cell that’s made contact with me, not that I am in the habit of speaking with Adma leaders on a regular basis. But considering that they were killed before they so much as got the chance to leave Invictan territory, the situation must be pretty bad – for the Invictans, I mean – right now.

“Must be,” Carla grunted noncommittally. “We have bigger things to worry about. You’ve done more than your fair share to help me, and I’ve done all I can for the Vale. We may all just be better off leaving the war out of our minds for now.”

“No,” Shirahn said. “I’m going to do what I can to help the Vale. I’m sure they’ll need more supplies for a while.”

Carla shook her head and motioned toward the others in her party as she picked up the pace again toward Kivusk. “I have a feeling that things will come to a head soon, there. Word is that the Emperor is arriving. Zhiren too. One way or another, this will all be over before long.”

There was nothing more to say. With only a few additional pleasantries exchanged as Carla walked faster toward Kivusk, soon the conversation was at an end. Carla El-Kir returned her radio receiver to her belt and pulled out a long knife to cut past the thornier briars and shrubs in the way of her forward progress.

She had bigger things to worry about, such as the answers the Sage-Core likely held. A single question echoed in Carla’s mind with each step she took forward:

Who is Aivor, really? What is Aivor? And what has the Veil to do with it?