The Gates of Memory, стр. 62
Ren shared the same concern. Brandt saw it in the careful step of his friend.
They eventually turned into a narrow hallway carved deep into the mountain. Guards stood outside. Torches, placed at long intervals, lit the way. Ren relaxed once they were in the hall.
They followed the hallway into the mountain, eventually coming to a branching path. Ren walked the tunnels with easy familiarity, and Brandt found some of the warrior’s relaxation creeping into his own posture. The tunnel itself drew his attention, and in time, he asked Ren to pause for a moment so he could examine the walls more carefully.
He and Ana ran their hands along the walls. Script decorated the stone, carved with a precision no chisel could achieve. It almost looked as though the stone had been melted away by a calligrapher’s brush. “Does this look like the same script?” he asked.
Ana knew he referred to the caves outside Landow. She squinted. “It does, but that’s no surprise. Who else could have built these?”
Brandt turned to Ren. “Can you read these?”
Ren shook his head. “It is the language of those who came before. The study of such script is forbidden.”
The warrior looked more uncomfortable than Brandt had ever seen him.
Out of sympathy, Brandt motioned for them to continue. “Why?”
“Some knowledge is better left buried. It is why none but elders and their guests are allowed in these tunnels.”
Ren took them through several more turns, straining Brandt’s memory. He remained certain he could leave this place on his own, but the task became more challenging with every turn.
The air here was cold and damp, the torches doing little to disguise how deep under the mountain they traveled. In places, holes brought in fresh air, though Brandt could see no light through them.
Their journey ended in a large antechamber, perhaps two dozen paces wide. Torches ringed the circular room, and Brandt was surprised to find Regar already there.
If Regar was nervous, it didn’t show on his face. He greeted Brandt and Ana warmly. “Were you summoned, as well?”
“I was,” Brandt replied. “To what end, I’m not certain.”
“You are my Senki. Your word will carry nearly as much weight as my own in there.”
Brandt looked to Ren, who confirmed the prince’s statement.
“What do I say?” Brandt asked.
“The truth,” Regar replied. “The burden is still mine, Brandt. You are just a tool they will use to judge me by.”
Brandt wasn’t sure he appreciated the label, but before he could complain, a woman summoned the prince.
“Fight well,” Brandt said.
“Always,” said Regar.
With that, Regar stepped into the next room, leaving Brandt and Ana with little to do. Brandt felt woefully underprepared for the task he was now called for. “What is it I’m expected to do in there?” he asked Ren.
“Obey your warleader. Tell the truth. Do not think of this as some battle that must be won, Brandt. That will happen only among the elders. But they see with wisdom. Simply be present as you are and leave the rest to them.”
“You hold your elders in high regard.”
“The highest. The individuals each possess strengths and weaknesses, as do we all, but there is a higher wisdom that emerges from this chamber. They have guided us well for hundreds of years, and they have earned our trust.”
Brandt looked around the antechamber, clearly worked with a skill beyond the ability of the current Falari masons. Beyond the ability of all living masons. He thought out loud. “I do not understand, Ren. Your elders meet in this space, made by those that came before, yet you do not permit the study of those same people. Why not?”
“You have no such prohibition?”
“Quite the opposite. Our first emperor destroyed as much history as he could, so little is known of the times before the rise of our empire. Our current emperor desperately searches for clues from the past.”
This information seemed to trouble Ren. “Our legends tell us that those that came before possessed an incredible power. A strength that brought them untold wealth and ease, but also attracted powerful enemies. It is said their power almost broke the world. Our elders meet in these chambers to remember what is possible, and to avoid that same outcome.”
“They are frightened of the power of those that came before?”
“Very. Are you not?”
Brandt shook his head. “Think of the good that could be done with abilities like these.” He gestured to the room.
“Good easily matched by the possible harm.” Ren stepped closer to Brandt. “Tell me, if that power was offered to you, would you accept it?”
“I would.”
Ren gave him a sad smile. “Then I am sorry to say that I hope such power is never offered to you.”
Ren turned away, ending the conversation. Brandt watched him make his retreat, feeling more like a foreigner than ever before.
In his confusion, he barely noticed as the door opened and Regar stepped out. Brandt couldn’t tell a thing from the look on his face. “Your turn,” the prince said.
Brandt stepped through the door to the chamber, then froze as he looked upon the expansive space. Though he’d had no particular reason, he’d expected the chamber of the elders to be small. Instead, it was far larger than any underground space they’d passed on the way here. Like the antechamber, it was a perfect circle, except the ceiling was three times his height.
But the size wasn’t all that caught his attention. Both the floor and ceiling were covered in the symbols Brandt now recognized as the language of those that came before. The ones above glowed with an otherworldly blue light that reminded Brandt a little of the glow of the gates. An involuntary shudder ran through him. The impossible light was all that lit the space—no warm or familiar torchlight flickered here.
Standing around the edge of the circle were dozens of men and women,