Immanent Ascension

And thus the inspection began. From the great hall, Master Ligish took them to a nearby drawing room, then more guest quarters, a side dining room, a few empty rooms, the kitchens, and then a library.

Captain Ishki generally stood back and watched while the soldiers performed cursory physical searches, and the mages took turns using their sight to see beyond what ordinary humans could see. Nothing particularly unusual came to light, which was in line with what they’d expected. If Master Ligish was producing illegal machinery, he wouldn’t leave evidence just sitting around.

Gandash was particularly interested in the library.

“And I thought my grandparents had a big collection,” he said, stepping up to one of the bookshelves and looking closer at the spines.

“I’ve spent a long time accumulating this collection,” Master Ligish said. “Feel free to browse.”

“Seer Gandash,” said Captain Ishki, “would you care to stay behind here while the rest of us continue up to the second floor?”

“If you don’t mind, sir.”

Thus, they left Gandash with the books, along with a soldier to watch over him.

The tour of the first floor lasted about an hour. The entire time, Xerxes felt a mounting sense of unease. He wasn’t sure what precipitated it. Perhaps it was the tapestries on the walls, most of which depicted ancient historical battles, or mythological events. Or it could have been the light. Everything inside the castle was illuminated with candles, lamps, or torches, but there never seemed to be enough light, and the constant flickering proved disorienting. It might also have been the odd aroma that lingered everywhere, that mixture of mildew, freshly lumbered wood, and solvents. Possibly, it was all of those things mixed together.

The tour of the second floor went more quickly, as at least three quarters of the rooms were empty. And the third floor was dusty and decrepit.

They went down into the cellars shortly before returning to the first level and then out into the courtyard. From there, they headed up through a tower and onto the battlements. The tour of the walls, including time spent in each of the towers, took another hour. There was one tower that climbed higher into the sky than any of the others, and they stopped atop it to look out at the valley and the castle complex as a whole.

“What’s that area down there?” Captain Ishki asked, pointing to a smaller courtyard that they hadn’t entered yet.

“A wing built later in history,” Master Ligish said, “after the castle’s original construction. It was supposedly built around a cave, presumably used for storage or something along those lines. It’s long since collapsed. The cave I mean. I can show you.”

“Please,” the captain said.

They climbed down through the tower and went through more corridors until they reached the small courtyard they’d just viewed from above.

Master Ligish pointed to an area where a huge boulder rested against the side of the mountain, surrounded by piles of smaller rocks.

“See?” he said. “It was like that when I arrived. I’m curious what lies beyond, if there’s anything at all. But moving that boulder would require the use of skilled engineers, the type you can only get from the capital. And frankly, I can’t justify that expense. I can hardly maintain the castle as it is, let alone do random excavations.”

“Interesting,” Captain Ishki said. She stepped up to the boulder, reached out, and put her hands on it.

As she did, Xerxes took a closer look at the area but didn’t notice anything particularly noteworthy.

They went to a few other out-of-the-way locations in the castle after that. There were a few corridors that were walled off or boarded up. Master Ligish offered various explanations, and said the captain was welcome to inspect any of the areas beyond, even if it meant breaking down brick walls or tearing down the boarding. He politely added that he hoped they would clean up after themselves if they did that. Captain Ishki said she’d worry about it in the morning.

It was late. Master Ligish offered to provide more food and entertainment, but the captain declined, saying that they’d been traveling all day and needed to rest. She did ask permission to take the mages up to the high tower to look at the stars, and the master of the castle agreed without hesitation. Then he bid them good night.

A few minutes later, Captain Ishki and the two mages were alone above the castle, with the soldiers having been dismissed. There were no clouds, allowing a clear view of the endless starscape overhead.

“What do you think?” the captain asked. “Did your mage sight pick up anything unusual?”

“Not mine,” Xerxes said. “But… I have an odd feeling. Something here seems strange.”

“I agree,” Bel said. “My sight didn’t reveal anything, but I did notice some unusual things. For instance, there are areas where furniture has been moved around recently. You can tell by the markings on the floor. Especially in the kitchen.”

“I saw that too,” said Captain Ishki. “As if something big had been shoved up against the wall up until a few days ago. And his story about the boulder seems strange.”

“Oh?” Bel said.

The captain stepped over, leaned up against one of the crenelations, and looked down into the courtyard below. The mages joined her.

“There were three things I noticed,” the captain said. “First, the boulder doesn’t look like it’s been there for as long as he claims. It’s not sunk into the ground enough. There’s no moss or lichen at the base. What’s more, from up here looking down… do you see any sign of where it might have come from? A rock slide? Something like that?”

Looking down, Xerxes immediately realized what the captain meant. Although it was hard to say for certain because of the dim light, there seemed no sign that the boulder had fallen down the slope from above.

“You think he put that boulder there to hide whatever’s in the cave?” Xerxes asked.

The captain shook her head. “I don’t know. By the way, look over there.” She pointed to a specific section of the courtyard. “See that area where there’s less grass? It’s hard to say for sure, but if I was to guess, that boulder used to be sitting there. And not too long ago. Either way, what Ligish said is absolutely correct. It would take nothing short of a team of engineers to move a rock that big. Either that or a group of mages. Would you agree to that assessment?”

“Definitely,” Bel said. “It would probably take three or four High Seers. But it would be a lot easier for Ligish to hire engineers than to get a fifth of all the High Seers on Mannemid to come out here and move that rock.”

After gazing down at the courtyard for another minute or two, Captain Ishki said, “Something doesn’t add up, but I suppose we’ll have to think about it more tomorrow. It’s only getting later. Oh, look.”

Above them, a flare of light streaked across the sky.

“Another meteor,” Xerxes said, staring at it.

“If I was superstitious,” the captain said, “I’d say it was an omen.” She stepped away from the battlement and toward the ladder leading down. “Why don’t the two of you go find Seer Gandash. Maybe he found something interesting in the library. If so… the three of you can feel free to investigate further. Just be careful. After what happened in Kisiga, I don’t want any other mishaps.”

“Yes, sir,” Xerxes said, with Bel echoing his words.

They followed her down into the castle proper, then parted ways as she went to her room. Gandash was still in the library, sitting at a table with a handful of books spread out in front of him. When he heard them enter, he waved them over.

His voice in a near-whisper, he said, “You guys aren’t going to believe this.”