North of the Crescent Mountains, at Narlsay, Slate and Arianna learned that the kingdom of Morai was four days of travel away. It took all they had to keep moving in the face of their despondency. Pilotte too seemed broken, unwilling to hunt or even eat. Gray skies and unceasing light rain made the trip long and wearying.
The tall walls of the little kingdom of Morai came into view on the morning of Slate and Arianna’s fifth day of travel. When they reached the gate, they gave their name to a guard, and then were admitted and shown to the castle a short time later.
“Friends,” Dahzi said upon seeing them. “Why are we so sad looking?”
“Have you heard about the weapon Opal Pools tested on the Crescent Plain?” Slate asked him
“I’ve heard rumor. A report is due in this morning,” the prince answered. “I take it you have knowledge of the event?”
“We saw the test,” Slate said. “It was horrible, Dahzi. Like nothing imaginable. It was like an explosion, but so much more terrible. It ate up an entire valley, and poisoned the sky. Neither of us can understand why a weapon like that would even be useful, apart from complete destruction. You couldn’t use the land you won after that. It is an awful, monstrous thing. There’s no hope in a world where an enemy has such a weapon.”
“Who’s that?” came a voice from across the room. “Is that Slate Ahn?”
Ertajj came running over to where the others were hanging their heads.
“Hey, Ertajj,” Slate said sadly. “Good to see you.”
“You wouldn’t know it from that look on your face. What happened?”
“I feel like I’ve seen the end of the world,” Slate answered. “Arianna and I have just come from the Crescent Mountains. We saw Opal Pools test their new weapon. It’s… it’s a real-life apocalypse. We don’t need to wait for another Fall. We can produce our own now.”
“You’re kidding,” Ertajj said, his mirth falling away. “Sorry to meet you like this, Arianna. But Slate told me lots of good things about you.”
“It’s good to meet you, too, Ertajj,” Arianna said. “I wish it were under happier circumstances.”
“I must tell my father and mother,” Dahzi said. “I don’t know what they could possibly do, but all leaders, in fact, everyone, must know about what has happened.”
“What are we going to do now?” Ertajj asked. “Celebrating being back together seems wrong, somehow.”
“We can’t let them destroy the good in this world with their horrible machinations,” Slate said. “But I am incredibly tired after our trip here. It’s been four long days. I think maybe Arianna and I will get some sleep, then we can talk about what sort of future we have in store.”
“Good,” Dahzi said. “Go with my thane; he will make sure you’re well taken care of.”
“Thank you,” Slate said. “It’s good to be together again, friends.”
In their room, Slate and Arianna sorted through their items, in part as a way to sort through their thoughts.
“What are you going to do with those?" Arianna asked Slate of his Books as she refolded her socks.
Slate sighed. “I wish I knew. Maybe, if the Books are full of iron sirrks, perhaps its best that they don’t exist, anyways.”
“But they already do,” Arianna said. “It’s just, now, Opal Pools is the only one using them. It's so unfair. The rest of the world won’t be able to do a thing.”
“They’ve got the only quickshot,” Slate said distractedly.
“What does that mean?” asked Arianna.
“When I was with the pirates, in the Passage Islands, only one of them had a quickshot. A hand-held blastporter of sorts. He held all the power with it,” Slate said.
“Just like Opal Pools,” Arianna said.
Slate’s eyes flashed. “Arianna,” he said, “Imagine what we might be able to do if we translated all seven volumes... Opal Pools only has two. We could stop them in their tracks. We could reverse the whole game!”
"But they've been at it for years," Arianna countered. "Even with all seven volumes, how could the rest of the world hope to match them now?"
Slate thought for a moment, rolling ideas between his fingers.
“We need a printing press,” he said with a snap. “Do you think there's one in town?”
“Maybe," Arianna said. “Why do we need a printing press?”
“Because,” Slate said, “We have to get the Book into the hands of as many people as possible. To everyone. It’s the only way to level the playing field.”
“To everyone?” Arianna gasped.
Slate nodded. “To every last person on Alm.”
Chapter 27