Sunbreak

Several hours passed before the music died down enough that Darius was willing to leave the cold rooftop for his much warmer room. Shivering slightly when he unwrapped himself from the blanket to stand up, Darius picked Fabien up, blanket and all, while Emmory gathered up his scroll and lamp. As Fabien was six and had entered a growth spurt, it was difficult maneuvering down the stairs, but going at a slow pace Darius managed to not trip.

“Where’s Lothar-,” muttered Emmory, just before spotting him when they passed through the atrium. He was asleep on the floor, leaning against a man with a gray, scraggly beard. A lyre was on his lap. Showing underneath his tunic was a silver-colored tag with letters indented into the metal, hanging from a chain. A few, Darius recognized. A capitalized gamma that the smith had stamped upside down, capitalized alpha, lower-case upsilon, something that looked like a capitalized rho, and capital epsilon, then a capitalized nu. Most of it was entirely foreign. Trying to read it made Darius’ head hurt.

Emmory nudged him with his foot. “Lothar, wake up,”

“‘M sleeping. G’ ‘way,” mumbled Lothar, curling into the man next to him and wrapping his bright red cloak around the two of them like a blanket, sighing peacefully. There was a burn mark on the fabric that hadn’t been present only a few hours ago.

“Seriously? Wake up,”

“Y’r n’t m’ m’m,”

Such a ridiculously expensive garment, and he doesn’t even take care of it? Darius frowned, feeling a powerful sense of reproach. The red was warm and almost orange. The color made Darius think of the saffron Irini kept safe in a bronze tin on the highest shelf of their home. She only brought it out during holidays.

Fabric dyed with saffron was costly. The orange hue of Lothar’s cloak would have likely required the stigmas plucked from an entire field of flowers. And he’s lying on the floor with it, with the dust and Gods only know what else. It should be kept safe, away from the elements. Not paraded around, thought Darius, attempting to not let the disapproval show in his face.

“I want to go back to the ship,” Emmory scowled, nudging Lothar harder. But when Lothar made no effort to move or wake up, he turned to Darius. “Could I possibly stay as well? At least until my brother wakes up?”

“Of course. We can all sleep in my room,” said Darius, adjusting Fabien. He didn’t want to let his brother out of his sight with as many strangers as there were in the house.

Walking quickly, he skirted around two slaves that were picking up empty trays of food. One of them, Sentia, he recognized. When she saw him, she raised her eyebrows.

“Darius, can I take Fabien for you?”

“I’ve got him. I’m just going to take him to my room.”

Sentia nodded, standing up with several heavy trays. She winced, her jaw tightening as she straightened. Darius spotted several bruises on her arm that were barely covered by the sleeves of her tunic, and smudged green paint staining the fabric. Her eyes were red, and so swollen she could hardly open them. When she saw Darius staring, she pulled a patched and faded green jacket on.

“Are you okay?” said Darius, alarmed. “Who hurt you?”

“No one. Tripped like an idiot while I was dancing. I’m fine,” said Sentia, waving him off, sounding like she had recently had a cold when she spoke. Her gaze turned to Emmory, “You’re Lothar’s little brother, right? He fell asleep about an hour ago. I doubt he’ll be awake until tomorrow,”

“Yeah, I thought as much,” grumbled Emmory, his face pulling into a deep pout, and his green eyes glaring hatefully at the ceiling. The earth beneath them shuddered slightly, like a large man was jumping nearby and making soft vibrations in the ground. Behind them, a hutch containing several shelves of old, finely decorated porcelain jangled, shaken by movement Darius could barely feel. Emmory jumped, looking at it with great alarm. Sentia watched it for a moment, lips tightly pursed.

“Another earthquake, probably.”

Was Uncle Menon right? Should we have left the city by now? Darius chewed on the inside of his cheek, the question burning his tongue. After a quick glance at Emmory’s unnerved expression, he bit it back before he could ask Sentia- doubt and anxiety like that shouldn’t be shown in front of guests.

“We’ll be fine,” Sentia assured them.

Darius frowned, not entirely able to believe her, but moved into his room. He set Fabien on his bed, then laid out several blankets for himself and Emmory on the floor. As he did that, Emmory began moving Darius’ heavy cedar chest in front of the door.

“What are you doing?”

“Dad has crazy parties all the time,” said Emmory, with a scowl. ”Drunk people like to wander. They’re usually harmless, but annoying. They pass out and piss on the floor all the time.”

“Gross,”

Then, unexpectedly, Emmory grinned so wide Darius thought his face might split in two. “Hey! Maybe when your dad goes to Berger’s Landing, you can come, too!”

“Why?”

“We could be friends!” said Emmory, his bright smile deflating slightly. He sat gingerly on top of the blankets, suddenly looking uncomfortable, “Well, we should write to one another, at least,”

“I only meant that I don’t know if Dad would be allowed to take me. He’s been teaching me to paint, but I can’t do any of the stuff he can just yet,” said Darius, hoping he didn’t offend Emmory. Talking to people was difficult, especially talking to people his own age. Emmory was rare; most children his age looked at him like he was an alien.

“I’ll talk to him. He’ll be hungover tomorrow, so if I bug him enough he’ll probably just give me what I want. Besides- I think he likes you,” said Emmory, speaking so fast that Darius could barely keep up. He shivered with excitement, his eyes practically glowing in the dimly lit room. “We’ll have so much fun together! I don’t have any friends back home- well, I do have friends, but Lothar says the librarian doesn’t count. He says my teacher doesn’t count, either. Or the kennelmaster. I like dogs, did you know? Well, and rocs, of course. But Father says that a roc is far too dangerous for an omega, and he didn’t like it all that much when I told him that most roc riders are omegas. We’re smaller, and rocs can’t carry much weight-”

Emmory said this all so fast that Darius could barely keep up.

“You have dogs? What kind? Dad doesn’t like them because he’s allergic...”

Emmory collapsed onto the pile of blankets and pillows, laughing softly to himself. “Hunting dogs, mostly. Though Gaius has a big hairy one named Lance that could probably kill a bear; she mostly sleeps by his feet and drools while Gaius does tax stuff. Oh, and Lothar has horses. And sheep, but those belong to the family, though Ava has a few she’s really, really attached to. Our sheep make the softest wool on Urus Island, actually! Your mother will love it there, I’m sure.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, I guarantee it,” Emmory turned on his side, then smiled at Darius. “You look like her, you know? Your mom.”

Darius yawned, then lay down next to Emmory. Soon, listening to Emmory ramble about Berger’s Landing, he fell asleep.

…

A dog was barking. Incessantly. Grumpily, Darius covered his ears, hoping it would stop. To make it worse, he could hear the birds screaming nearby, fighting over what he could only imagine was a territory dispute. Next to him, Fabien, who had crawled into bed next to him, whimpered. Darius yawned, then tried his best to fall back asleep.

Suddenly, the world around him jolted, shaking like he was in a box being roughly moved across the ground. Fabien screamed when the shaking grew to such a frenzy that he fell off of the bed.

Then, a loud crack followed by a shocking boom rang out. The house shook, like something heavy had fallen on top of it, or collapsed within. Darius grabbed Fabien and a groggy Emmory, shoving them both under his bed. He moved under a chair, curling into a tight ball until the shaking stopped.

“IRINI!”

Darius heard Marcus shout.

“DARIUS! FABIEN!”

Marcus banged on Darius’ door in a panicked frenzy, trying anxiously to open it. But the cedar chest was still in front. The frame around the door cracked with the force being exerted on the blocked door, and Marcus shouted again.

“Darius! Fabien! Are you in there?”

“Yes!” said Darius, crawling out from under the chair. He stepped around a heavy shelf that had fallen, and bits of the ceiling plaster that had shaken loose.

“What’s in front of the door?”

“Just the cedar chest. We moved it to keep wanderers out,” Darius moved the chest as Emmory and Fabien crawled out from under the bed.

“Go outside- there might be more. Stay away from the garden. The… The roof collapsed,” Marcus’ voice broke at the end.

“The roof…” Emmory trailed off, his eyes widening as understanding dawned. “Where’s Lothar?”

“What about Mommy? I want Mommy,” said Fabien, still hiding under the bed.

“She fell asleep in the garden. I’m going to go find her- get outside, now. Darius, stay with Fabien. Whatever you do, don’t let him out of your sight,” said Marcus, breathlessly. Darius scooted the chest enough so that he could open the door. He wished he hadn’t. Screaming, like an animal in a hunters trap, echoed down the hallway.

Pulling Fabien out from under the bed, Darius grabbed their cloaks and his satchel, shoving whatever clothes he could find inside of it.

“Outside, now,” said Marcus, with more authority in his voice than Darius had ever heard. “Emmory, last I saw, Lothar was in the atrium-,”

“I’m right here,” growled Lothar, inching down the hall, his tunic half pinned. His eyes were so bloodshot Darius could barely tell they were blue anymore. “What the fuck was that?”

“Earthquake,”

“The last one was fun. This one was scary,” said Fabien, sucking on his thumb worriedly as Darius pulled his cloak on and pinned it around his neck. He rubbed his head. “I want Mommy. My ears hurt,”

“Mom is busy,” said Darius, trying to listen to Lothar and Marcus speaking in hushed tones just outside. Then, he heard someone shout in alarm.

“The mountain! Smoke is coming from the mountain!”

BOOM!

The ground shook once again, but so did the air itself. Like a crack from a whip, but a thousand, thousand times louder. It felt like the wind had formed a solid force that tore through his ears. Fabien screamed, clutching his head and curling against Darius.

“Gods, no,” said Marcus, “That can’t be…”

Quickly, Darius pulled his own cloak on, then left the room with Emmory, picking Fabien up when the boy started crying too hard to move.

“I want Mommy!” said Fabien, clawing at his ears.

Darius didn’t answer. He stared at the horizon, too shocked to say anything.

Mt. Bantine was erupting.

…

“Darius?”

Emmory looked at him, as if he suddenly expected Darius to come up with a plan on what to do right then and there.

“I don’t…” Darius set Fabien down, shoving him toward Emmory. “I need to help Dad find Mom. Can you watch him?”

“Yeah,” said Emmory, taking Fabien’s hand.

“Fab, stay with Emmory!” said Darius, running back inside.

“But Daddy said-,”

“Just stay here!”

Compared to right now, the previous night was as orderly as a regular day at the basilica. Half-clothed men and women were running for forgotten belongings in a panic, and shouting for friends they lost from their sight the night before. Darius ran through the rapidly darkening hallways in a half daze until he got to the garden. Or, as he quickly found out, what used to be the garden.

Where there were once roses, honeysuckle vines, with a pergola filled with hanging pots of moongrass there was now a pile of rubble. Marcus and Lothar, along with several other men, were hurriedly digging at it. Roots and vines were tangled amongst the stone, sticking out at odd angles. Blood seeped out along the bottom, staining the tile floor red.

“Irini! Irini, can you hear me? If you-,”

From the corner of his eye, Marcus spotted Darius. Fury swept over his dust covered face. He grabbed Darius’ arm, shaking him.

“I told you to stay outside! Where’s Fabien?”

“He’s with Emmory. Where’s Mom? Where’s Uncle Menon? I want to help,”

“I don’t know where Menon is, and I don’t care. You can help by staying with your brother and keeping him safe!”

“I’m almost sixteen! Let me help!”

“Irini is-, “Marcus choked, not looking at Darius as he rapidly moved plaster, cement, and tile, “I can’t lose you two-,”

“If I might interject,” said Lothar, smoothly. He had a generally bedraggled appearance, but was now wide-awake. “I have a ship in the harbor. Allow me to take your sons and any one else in the house to it- I can ensure they’re evacuated to Berger’s Landing, alongside my brother. Once I’ve escorted them there, I’ll come back and continue helping here,”

Marcus paused, his eyes pained. Then he nodded, furtively.

“You won’t be able to leave through the sea,”

It was Sentia. Lothar sneered at her.

“Who do you think you are-,”

“My mother told me stories of past eruptions. If we’re lucky, the sea won’t swallow us whole. But even if we escape that fate, the waves that Vatya’s rage brought will tear the ships from the docks. By the time they settle, the sea will be coated in pumice. It will float in the water, so thick and deep that ships won’t be able to get past it without their hulls being shredded. The only way out is on foot, through the mountains, on the old moongrass path,”

“Old wives tales. My ship is made with the best technology money can buy,” said Lothar, so confidently that Darius almost believed him. But then he heard it falling around them.

Tink. Tink. Tink.

A pitter patter like rain, only instead of water it was ash that felt like sand. Sentia stared at Lothar, her face entirely expressionless, save for the barest fleck of revulsion in her eyes.

Marcus breathed heavily, then went back to digging at the rubble. “Sentia…”

“Master, I only want to keep your children safe,”

“Take the money in my studio safe and go to the stables. If there are any horses left by the time you get there, buy one. Just in case.”

Sentia nodded. Wasting no time, she ran out the door.

“It’s a waste of coin,” said Lothar, grabbing Darius’ shoulder and storming away. The pumice rained down harder, smashing against the house so hard that Darius thought it would chip the concrete. Gray, gritty ash floated down like burning snow. Confidently, he laughed, “My boat can handle anything.”

We’re going to die, thought Darius, trying to stuff down the panic rising inside him. He pulled away from Lothar long enough to dart into his room, grabbing the unfinished tunic he’d left the previous night, stuffing it into his satchel. He had a terrible feeling that he wouldn’t be able to come back for it. Then, as a final thought, he ran back into the garden. Avoiding looking at the bloodied tile, he grabbed a snarled mess of a grape vine that someone had freed from the rubble in their bid to dig Irini out.

Mom is probably hurt. She’d want to know her grapes will survive, at least in some form, thought Darius, not entirely sure how he was going to keep it alive. But it felt like his thoughts were a muddled mess. All he could do was try not to think of her buried and suffocating under the weight of their house. She wanted to take her vines. I have to make sure-,

“We don’t have time for this. It took me twenty minutes to get here last night, from my ship,” said Lothar, angrily pulling him out of the house just as Darius shoved the vine, roots and all, in his satchel. Darius ignored him, looking at Mt Bantine when they reached the outside street once again; glowing red fire poured from the top.

It’s true… There’s a dragon inside the mountain, thought Darius, able to see glaciers that closely resembled wings in the flickering shadows of the false night slipping over the horizon.

“Dari!” Fabien pulled away from Emmory, grabbing his arm and huddling close to him. “I can’t hear Mommy,”

“She’ll be fine, Fab,”

“But I can’t hear her. I can always hear her, like the angels in the water. I can’t hear her!” said Fabien, patting his ears. Then, he gasped crying out in a painful, high pitched, gasping wail. “There’s another one coming,”

“Another what-?”

The ground shook, though this quake wasn’t as powerful as the one that woke them up. Darius dove, pulling Fabien’s head underneath him as he curled into a tight ball on the ground in an effort to keep his balance.

“Let’s go!” said Lothar, roughly grabbing Emmory’s bicep once the shaking stopped and leading him away. Darius threw his hood over his head, trying to get any protection he could from the falling ash quickly gathering around them. By the time they reached the docks, the falling debris was so deep it covered their feet, and the ash was mixed with pumice the size of peas.

Relieved at the shelter, Darius, Fabien, and Emmory ran to join the other citizens that had gathered there.

“Fuck!” Lothar yelled, then kicked a support beam inside the covered docks. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

“What is it?” said Darius, stepping away as eyes from other citizens trained on them. The he started as he surveyed the docks, realizing something was deeply wrong. The ships… They’re all gone…

“The ship…” said Emmory, quietly. He pointed to a boat about three times the size of a trireme, and had what looked to be a small house built on its deck, with a copper tiled roof that he could barely see. A massive cloud of heavy ash covered the sky, turning the bright, late spring day to night as smoothly as if the gods had snuffed out a lamp in a windowless room. “There. It’s floating in the harbor.”

“Why the fuck-?” Lothar growled, pacing back and forth. One of the dockworkers approached.

“Did you have a boat here?”

“Yes,” snapped Lothar, swallowing the anger he’d been displaying so fast it was unsettling. Darius felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, and he held tighter to Fabien.

“Please, forgive me. I lost control of myself for a moment,” said Lothar, his voice like oil on a squeaky gear. “Where are all the boats?”

“Waves kicked up by the earthquake broke most of them free. We’re trying to evacuate people with the ones that are left, but with the waves and debris we’re having trouble getting them to the docks.” The dockworker’s face was tight and pinched. “We got lucky, though. There’s no sign of the sea receding, so I doubt we’ll get a tidal wave. That’s the last thing we need right now.”

Darius looked at the water, noting the frothy waves filled with silt, and large chunks of floating pumice.

“Damn it,” Lothar paced, looking out at the boat that appeared to be trying to pull back into the dock. Then he gazed at the sky, eyes wide, and almost fearful. “Fuck it… Hopefully they’re close enough.”

From his pocket, Lothar pulled a small, glowing stone. Sparks appeared around his hands, and he spoke softly.

“Kimon, can you hear me? It’s Lothar,”

It’s a Sounding Stone, thought Darius, surprised. They had been recently developed by mages working in the Grand Basilica in Rostithar, though they were extremely limited on how far communication could travel. Usually only a few hundred feet before it became draining for the mage using the stone.

From the looks of it, Lothar’s boat was hovering about five hundred to a thousand feet away.

And the ash is covering the sun, thought Darius, chewing on his nails. Mages couldn't do magic without the sun. Not for very long, at least.

<-get the boat back-> A voice came through the stone, but it was as choppy as the sea.

Lothar growled, hissing violently at the stone. “Don’t bother with the docking the ship. Get out of the port and away from the eruption.”

“If you can evacuate civilians, do it. Then meet me in Rensworth. I’m not waiting on a boat. Emmory and I are leaving on foot,”

Rensworth. The village was a two day trip from Chutwater on foot. Most people took the local ferry, but if Darius squinted he could see the large ferry floating near Lothar’s ship, torn from its holdings by the earthquake. There were other villages scattered between them, but it was the only one that Darius knew had a port. The others were small, and located further inland, separated from the sea by the Devil’s Spine.

Does he mean to go south? Darius chewed on his cheek, thinking that north would be a far safer trip.

Emmory thought the same thing, but was bold enough to voice it.

“Are we going to be hiking through a rainforest?” said Emmory, skeptically.

“The boat can’t dock. Besides, I need to go to Rensworth- there's a solidarity there who can help us. Come on- let’s go back and get supplies,” said Lothar, pulling Emmory back away from the docks. Before they left the limited cover, which was quickly being filled with an ever growing amount of desperate pedestrians, he grabbed a lid from a box, handing it to Emmory.

“Cover your head,”

“Fabien needs it more than me,” said Emmory, handing Fabien the lid, and balling up his cloak to cover his head from the falling stone. Darius did the same.

“Gaius would be so proud,” said Lothar, in a slightly mocking tone, glancing at Fabien with a mild amount of derision. Sparks flew from his left hand over the bronze arm plate. “I’ll take care of Fabien and Darius. You, worry about yourself and take the lid.”

Understanding dawned in Emmory’s eyes, and he grabbed the wooden lid back from Fabien, fingers grasping the handles tightly when he ran back out into the hail, holding it like a hat.

“Hey!” Angry, but unsure of what he could do as Lothar was older, bigger, and also a mage, Darius pulled Fabien closer and tried to cover the boy's head, gritting his teeth as he ran out into the falling ash and pumice. They were larger now, some the size of fava beans and small plums. Then Lothar grabbed Darius from behind. The bronze plate around his skin was moving; for a brief moment, it looked like it was made of folded paper. Then, right before Darius’ eyes, he was holding a large shield that glowed as a pulsing force moved just above the surface of the bronze metal that was melding together. Lothar’s long black hair floated upwards, standing on end as static moved over his skin.

The frizz died quickly once the shield finished building itself. Stooping to pick up Fabien, Lothar said grimly, “Stay near me, and walk quickly,”

Not just a mage… He’s a Soulbreaker, thought Darius, a bit stupefied as he studied the large shield. It was made of battered bronze and rectangular, with rounded edges. Intricate knots decorated the rim, and twin horses danced in tandem over the surface. There was not much space. While Fabien took up very little space, and Darius was short and small, even for an omega, Lothar’s broad shoulders risked being assaulted by the raining pumice, and Darius had to press tight against Lothar in order to fit his entire body under the shield.

Soulbreaker, thought Darius, mystified. They weren’t common. Candidates were almost always chosen from the patrician families, as they were the only ones who could afford the necessary gear. They were required to be alpha’s, and also required to have the magical aptitude necessary for battle magic. Out of the several hundred alpha’s who competed with each other every year to be chosen by the Order of the Crescent Moon, the largest Soulbreaker solidarity, only a handful were actually chosen.

The walk home only took fifteen minutes, but it was the longest fifteen minutes of Darius’ life. By the time he saw the familiar white concrete walls of his home, painted with bright green moongrass paint, he felt as if he had spent the last several minutes being beaten up by a gang of children he’d unknowingly upset. Everything smelled like sulfur, and his nostrils burned every time he breathed.

Someone roughly grabbed him, pulling him inside. They began tying the pillows that used to be on the rooftop altar around his head and arms with strong linen cording. When Darius opened his eyes after wiping away the gritty ash from his face. Fabien was no longer crying, but was now as silent as a mouse, which was almost more upsetting.

“That upstart little slave of yours was right,” snapped Lothar, irritably. “Did she manage to get a horse?”

“Yes, but it’s a pathetic one. It was the only one they had left, and bound for the glue factory,” said Marcus, wrapping a scarf loosely around Darius’ mouth, then doing the same to Fabien. Then, he handed Darius a heavy backpack that felt like it had been stuffed with rocks.

“I suppose beggars can’t be choosers,” said Lothar, practically spitting out the words. But the edge fell away when he laid eyes on the horse. It was tall, and despite the padding from blankets that covered its head and the possessions tied to its body, Darius could still see that it seemed frail, like a strong wind would push it over.

Lothar stared at the tall, skinny horse in shock, his lips forming a thin line as his nostrils gave a deadly, righteous flare. Then he bit out. “My boat was torn away from the docks, and the captain can’t get it back to shore in this nightmarish storm. Get my brother and I to Rensworth, and I’ll make you so rich that your children’s children will live the rest of their lives in luxury.”