Page 45 (1/1)
The burned out coht as they traveled on, but a profound sadness reate had indicated that the whole co, had been his: Josston Mills Complex 4 She did not think it was so s and industry that saddened hiy
"People died in that fire, didn’t they," she murmured
"It is the practice to nail the s shut, lock the doors, and chain the slaves to their looms They hadn’t a chance Hundreds of thean could only stare at him, but he dropped his face into his hands as if to blind hiainst the memories He must relive them every time he passed the coy And the cause," he said, his voice an recalled the slip of paper, the article, she had found tucked into a novel Mirria up industry for archeology, but said nothing of the fire Either it was a srace for the professor, or the deaths of hundreds of slaves was not noteworthy to this society She rather thought the latter
Sunlight flickered across the professor’s haunted features "Sos trying to tear h investigations Though the investigators were the emperor’s men, of course"
They sat in silence for soan wondered how Raven fared as he followed behind
"Where are we headed now?" Karigan asked to break the silence and the pall that had settled over theave her a bleak smile "To see even more devastation"
TWO OUT OF TIME
The carriage surged forward past e over the canal and then a second bridge, traversing the glistening strip of blue that was the north branch of the A that reminded her of her own Sacor City If she hadn’t seen the section that lay underground, she ht not believe this was the same place at all
Even more devastation? She pondered the professor’s words as the carriage thudded and jolted over rougher ground She shuddered with foreboding, beginning to guess what he was going to show her
The carriage began to rise, the road growing more bumpy Raven whinnied and snorted behind theave way to ras, rundown houses, and shanties with squatters sitting outside on steps and old crates, watching their passage with hostile eyes Was this the devastation he s," the professor e the city’s leavings but not low enough to be slaves They exist in forgotten places, the abandoned buildings and hidden alleys, and here on the edge of devastation The Inspectors round the theoodup illicit artifacts and sell them off to the likes of Rud up the dead"
As they continued to climb, all habitation fell away, and the landscape was streith rock and rubble, through which poked scrub brush and stunted trees To one side of the carriage, a rocky escarpment sloped down until it ular angles of buildings and streets and the shi froatehouses and da the river, and locks on the canals, and explained at great length how they controlled the force of water flowing into the mills to power the turbines, which in turn powered the an barely listened, her attention pulled to the view on the other side of the carriage, to the great ih beyond what she could see through her
When the carriage halted, the professor stepped out and extended his hand to help her down Her feet prickled when they touched ground The sensation traveled up her legs and into her spine as if the land were trying to send her aintensified Her breath caught in her throat Her rew dry
"Do you knohat this is?" the professor asked, gesturing to the mount
She could not see its sue She was too close The sloping uneven terrain was cluttered withShe looked closer to hand, just off the rutted track the carriage had followed Rotted, half-burned timbers Piles of rock shaped not by nature, but the tools of ht details, she found patterns--the foundations of walls, a well hole, a half-toppled chih it knew her, reached out to her
"Sacor City," she whispered
"Yes," the professor replied "What rean wailed and dropped to her knees, oblivious to the professor at her side and Luke looking down in alare On her many travels she’d seen the ruins of ancient habitations, not least of which had been the lands of lost Argenthyne She’d seen what abandonreat civilization in ruin She, however, never expected to see her own city in such a state
Not just ruin, but purposeful destruction This wasn’t just the work of time and nature on an abandoned city Sacor City had been defeated and systematically obliterated She could see it before her, walls being torn down by uni in terror She closed her eyes, tre What forces could have leveled the city? Altered the landscape enough to divert a river? What of the people? Her friends? The king? Perhaps that is what the land rele" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true">