The city streets were virtually empty. Newspaper and debris blew around the eerie silence as Slate and Arianna followed their new acquaintance down the gaping canyons of concrete all aglow with magic light. The three reached a neighborhood where the buildings showed more signs of age, and the window displays and flowerbeds obviously received less care. Gangs of suspicious-looking men and women sat on porch steps and stood around fences like guard dogs.
The stranger scanned the road for anyone following other than his confused visitors before darting into an alley, then up a cast-iron stairwell. Slate gave Arianna a look that said, ‘Well, we’ve already come this far,’ and clambered up the stairwell afterwards.
Upon reaching the fourth floor of the building, the man rolled through an open window. Slate swallowed and followed after.
He found himself in a warmly painted room strewn with books, newspapers, and bowls of old food. Tattered maps were tacked to the walls alongside newspaper clippings. A string of tiny, rainbow-colored lights lit the cluttered space.
“I’m sorry for the mess,” apologized the stranger.
Arianna climbed through the window and tripped over a stack of dirty cups, sending it spilling and shattering on the floor.
“Oh, no, I’m sorry,” she said as she scrambled to pick up the broken pieces.
“No worries, no worries. Just leave it. Are you thirsty?” the man asked.
“Yes, actually,” said Slate. “I would love something to drink.”
“And you? Miss? Thirsty?” asked the man.
“Yes... I’m really sorry about your dishes,” said Arianna.
“Really, that’s okay. They were dirty anyway,” the man said as he headed into another room.
“What were we thinking, following him here?” Arianna asked Slate in a whisper. "I don't want to drink anything he gives me."
“I know, this seems strange. But we came here to find out what was going on in Opal Pools, and something tells me this guy knows better than anybody,” said Slate.
The host reappeared with a tray of citrus drinks and set them on a table in front of a worn couch.
“My manners,” he said. “My name is Maydal Crebbs.”
“Maydal, my name is Slate, and this is Arianna.”
“Nice to meet you. Properly,” Maydal said after finishing his drink in one long gulp. "Go ahead, have a drink."
Slate and Arianna stared at the glasses.
"Oh, I see. You're cautious. Makes sense," Maydal said. "Here," he said, taking a sip out of each drink. "You see? They're safe."
Arianna laughed nervously. "Alright. I feel better now." She took one of the glasses, and handed another to Slate.
“So, why did you bring us here?” Slate asked.
“You can’t talk truth in the streets of Opal Pools,” Maydal said. “No one wants to hear it.”
“So what’s the truth?” Slate asked.
“Well, kids, let me tell you a story,” Maydal said, sinking back into the comfort of his old chair. “Originally, see, way back in the beginning, the eastern coast of Proterse was a much different place than it is today. Opal Pools was the first place settled after humanity crawled out of the caves up in Aurora Falls, and they retained a strong memory of what happened surrounding the Fall. They eschewed conquest and exploitation, wouldn't trade beyond their immediate network. Already isolationist, they broke all communication with the other cities of Proterse, after the Ojikef atrocities. After those poor people had their land taken from them. Refused to sign the One World Accords. Now, due to the spin of fate’s wheel, all of the best cropland and natural resources happen to lie on the western side of the Protersian continent. For hundreds of years, the people of Opal Pools lived a meager life, almost in their own Alm, scared to make the same mistakes as the Gods, scared to progress like the rest of the world. But as the generations here changed and forgot their heritage, the abundance that the west enjoyed became a target of jealousy. Stories of the luxuries in Jaidour and the schools in Dale began to cross into public discussion. Suddenly, the east coast wasn’t good enough anymore. But the leaders of the rest of the world resented Opal Pools for spurning their trade negotiations for so long. And so they ignored them when they finally came asking to participate. But Opal Pools had an ace up its sleeve. You kids ever heard of the Books of Knowledge?”
Slate and Arianna nodded their heads.
“Sure, everyone has,” Maydal said. “Mythical books, right, supposedly written by the Gods? What would you kids say if I told you that the Books of Knowledge actually existed?”
Slate and Arianna feigned shock.
“That’s right, kids. They’re real! And it had always been known in Opal Pools that the books were real. In fact, it had never been forgotten. But they felt that they stood as a testament to a failed society. They didn’t need them. And anyway, the Books were undecipherable. Or so we thought. But then came a twist, a brilliant young man named Dorieaye Khe-tK. Khe-tK, a scavenger, was on a waste hunt in the Grail Caves, to the south of here, when he stumbled upon an old translation key. He recognized some of the writing as the same strange language in the Books of Knowledge, which were all available in the archives of the municipal library. Khe-tK was able to steal two of the volumes from their unguarded display. Unfortunately, after the first two books were stolen, a group of older citizens raided the library and destroyed the others, in an act of senseless waste that was hailed at the time as heroic. But try as they might, those same elders could not contain the explosion of information Khe-tK had sparked. He created a laboratory and began producing miracles. And Opal Pools changed almost overnight. Within one generation, the people here went from outhouses to the most sophisticated system of plumbing on the planet, from couriers to telecommunication. My own father was a potato farmer. Can you believe that?"
"Well that's incredible, right?" Slate asked. “All that change was a good thing, wasn’t it?”
"I wish," Maydal said. "Only, so much destruction has followed. The mining, the logging. The cities and towns and countrysides that have been eaten up and turned to waste by the great tentacles of Opal Pools.”
“That’s what must have happened in Satyr’s Quarry,” said Slate.
“Right, right,” said Maydal. “And now, what we saw out there in the square? Well, it’s time to show the west a thing or two. Particle energy. It’s madness."
"But why construct a weapon when there’s no war? Simple jealousy?" Slate asked.
"You kids hear of the bombing in Jaidour?" Maydal asked.
"No," Arianna said.
"About two weeks ago, there was a political envoy from Opal Pools visiting the Great Hall in Jaidour. He and a number of aides were killed in a bombing. Conflicting information came out about who orchestrated the bombing, but Opal Pools was sure it was Jaidour, and vice-versa. And so hundreds of years of simmering quarrel are now set to explode into war."
"So it's Opal Pools and Jaidour going to war?" Slate asked.
"It'd be Opal Pools going to war with the rest of the continent, really. Which might as well be the rest of the world. It doesn't matter that they don't have the army to match; they have their weapon, one so incredibly powerful it has already destroyed entire tracts of land in its construction. But they don’t even know what they’ve got. They can’t draw the line from the Legend’s stories about fire from heaven to their own terrible invention. They’re about to test it soon. And we’re left to just watch, you and I. We just watch and wait and try to sleep.”
“When are they going to test it?” Arianna asked.
"Soon, I’m sure. I’ve heard next week. They’ve even picked out the venue: the Crescent Plain, to the south of here. It's madness, kids, madness.”
Slate turned to Arianna. “Then we’ll head to the Crescent Plain. To see this weapon with our own eyes.”
“Do you want to come with us, Maydal?” Arianna asked.
“Come with you?” Maydal repeated, his face scrunching up. “Ah, no, no. No, I’m not really th
e type to go running toward death.
Maydal, what’s the fastest way south?” Slate asked. “To the Crescent Plain?”
“The war will come here soon enough, if that’s what you want to see. Just wait. But if you’re in a hurry, there’s a train from here to Grail’s Wharf. Then you can take a raft or canoe down the Gee River to the Crescent Plain. Now, I don’t want to tell you kids how to live your life or anything, but I really think that you ought to consider your decision for a while, before you go running off doing something you regret.”
“Thank you, Maydal, but we really have to see this for ourselves,” Slate said. “I’m sorry if it seems rude to leave so abruptly, but we have a friend waiting for us outside town. Your information had been very helpful.”
“Alright then, kids. Enjoy your war,” sighed Maydal. “Say hello to the Gods for me, won’t you?”
Slate and Arianna ducked back out the window and raced down the fire escape, then through the streets of Opal Pools to the nearest train station. They rode back out to the park at the edge of town, and then raced along the long path to where Pilotte was waiting for them. Exhausted, Slate and Arianna followed Pilotte along the train tracks outside the city to another station, where they took the first available ride south to Grail’s Wharf.
Chapter 25