Page 18 of Under the Iron Sky

“Ramapheal,” a girl in the front row finished. “He could move things without touching them. Talk to people in their minds. That sort of thing.”

“He could,” Raina said, “and as the only creature with such abilities, you can see why he had the following he did when he came here, and why it was so easy for him to manipulate Aleena’s council and rise to be her second-in-command.”

Raina dipped her chin and gestured for Soraya to change the slide to a photograph taken of Aleena giving a speech in the throne room early into her reign, Ramapheal’s hooded figure lingering behind her.

“Another thing to remember is that Aleena had a younger sister, Anthea.” Raina gestured a scarred hand to the young girl sitting in a golden wheeled chair at the back of this photograph, slight and frail, and so pale her skin looked yellow against her blue chiffon hooded gown. “From birth, Anthea was a very sick child. King Aleksander, Aleena’s father, did everything he could to cure her. He had this very temple we’re standing in built and dedicated to finding a cure for her, and summoned the best medics and physicians from all over Vordell, but the planet was very different back then. Everything was slow, and no matter what they tried, no one seemed to know how to cure the princess. Until Ramapheal. His powers could not heal, but he’d heard tales of a magical arch that, when assembled correctly, could grant magical requests.”

Soraya changed the slide to an artistic sketch of a stone archway. Either side of the frame was smooth black rock, full of intricate curling patterns and symbols that burned red and orange as though it’d been made from molten rock, joined by three smaller bow-like carvings that curved beneath and around the top slope in a pattern that vaguely resembled a cluster of pointed mountains.

“This is why we’re all here,” Raina explained, pointing to the sketch. “As Anthea’s condition worsened, Aleena agreed to search for this Arch with Ramapheal. Working together, they set out to find the five core pieces of the Arch and reunite them.” She pointed to the left leg, the first piece, then the right leg, the second, then each of the three pointed arches, third, fourth, and fifth. “But as they were searching, Aleena started to question Ramapheal’s intentions. Back home, his followers began rioting on the streets, saying that Ramapheal was more deserving of the Arch, and he should use it to create a new world for them. A civil war soon broke out between them and our ancestors. Aleena was torn, but Ramapheal pushed her to continue with their search. She did, but just before they secured the final piece, Ramapheal betrayed Aleena. His part in her court, telling her about the Arch, all of it had been a ruse to use her resources to gather the pieces so he could take it for himself. The following battle between Aleena and Ramapheal was bloody, as was the fight among their followers. Many died, but it was Aleena who emerged victorious. She reunited the Arch, but instead of curing her sister, she used her wish to banish Ramapheal and all who followed him into an inescapable prison beneath our feet—but not without a price.”

“The Arch needed a life to complete the ritual,” said one student. His voice shook slightly. “It did what Aleena asked, but only as long as she was alive.”

“That’s why the old relic did everything within her power to stay alive for as long as she did,” another added. “The sun panels, the technological advances, all of it was to extend her life for as long as possible, and ensure that the Dar’rak stayed trapped in their prison so we could prepare for the war that would follow when they were eventually freed.”

“Correct,” Raina said. “Once the ritual was complete, the Arch disappeared, and was thought lost until our soldiers found a piece of it at the base of the Fresurn Mountains at the start of the war. No one is really sure why. Our best guess is that it’s some sort of defence mechanism to ensure that only one person doesn’t have indefinite access and become all powerful.”

“Magic comes at a price,” the red-haired girl suggested.

Raina pushed a piece of hair behind her ears. “The working theory is that once the Arch has been used, it disappears, breaks back into five pieces, and distributes itself across the planet until someone reunites it again. Which is why our primary objective in this war is finding them all.”

“But we’re not the only ones looking for them,” said the Monothor boy. “Are we?”

A sad look entered Raina’s eyes. “No. Although the enemy did not die after Aleena banished them like everyone hoped, it was not without consequence. A side effect of the Dar’rak being imprisoned for so long is that they’re now unable to breathe above the cracks. They’re confined to their kingdom, Belvador, and must wear helmets when they surface, but they can only stay above for hours at a time before they’re forced back down below, and if they remove the helmets, they’ll suffocate within a few minutes. They’re looking for the pieces of the Arch too so that they can reunite it themselves.”

“It’s only the humanoid creatures that can’t breathe our air, though,” a dark-haired girl with deep blue eyes interrupted. “The dragons, stalkers, golems, things like that—they don’t need the helmets, do they?”

A girl with yellow braids raised her hand. “But if they reunite the Arch, they’re going to make it so they can breathe our air again, aren’t they? Then they will take over for good.”

“That’s Ramapheal’s plan, yes, but he only has three pieces. We have two—and that’s why our work here is so important. If we can steal back his pieces and reunite the Arch, then we can eradicate them all for good.”

Raina launched into an explanation, her voice a monotone hum as she methodically listed the events that followed Aleena’s death, detailing how the creatures had attacked Vordell’s major arteries the second they’d crawled out of the ground, first their army barracks, then their communication lines, then the power banks, and finally the healing centers. Leaving the once golden kingdom one exposed nerve.

Soraya remembered those first few weeks well—although they could hardly be called war. Extermination. Genocide. Pest control. Any of them fit.

Soraya changed slides when needed and stood in front of the class when it was time. She summarized the different divisions the recruits could be assigned: front line, mechanics, Sunrunners, technical support, and medics, and gave a brief demonstration of each weapon they’d be required to wield when their training was complete, never addressing the dark cloud that hung over them. The lie that Raina had told.

That at this stage in the war, their primary objective wasn’t keeping the pieces of the Arch away from Ramapheal or even gathering them for themselves.

It was staying alive.

6

The skies were eerily quiet tonight. Which should’ve been a good thing, except Soraya couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something was just … wrong. She had no idea why. The scanners weren’t picking up anything out of the ordinary, and she had more than enough weapons on her to feel comfortable. Nevertheless, nerves still dragged down her spine like fresh claws.

Or perhaps she was just so used to flying alone that having company set her teeth on edge. No matter how small he was.

“How long have you been meeting this mole?” asked the bird, the one she’d brought back from the brink of death two nights ago. He hopped across the jet’s torn dash, his new sleek body shining like a lonely sun against the darkness on the other side of the glass canopy.

“About two years.” One hand on the control stick, Soraya pushed the fighter jet into a steady climb, the engine a low hum beneath her thighs.

She’d flown this route so many times she could practically do it with her eyes closed. Her hands moved methodically, pushing the jet forward and tapping keys on the dash without her really thinking about it. Usually, she could let her body relax and use the flight to prepare herself, to plan what she was going to say to the man who’d practically pulled humanity back from the cliff drop of extinction.

The familiar, though, had other ideas. “It’s very dark out there,” he said, staring out at the stretch of blackness that seemed to roll on and on with no end.

“Well, it is midnight.”

“I know that. But I can’t see anything. How can you see where we’re going?”