Most knew only that nothing could survive inside the Empty and to stay far from its bounds.
“A little,” I answered. “Why?”
The Archon pushed the book closer to me. “Read this, then.”
Approaching the desk, I scanned the passages, but I was already familiar with its contents. Life dispelled the Empty. Most people lived in the great cities, hubs of life that kept them safe. Roads were populated with countless outposts; people surrounded you even when you departed the gates, for the wilds were dangerous, pockets of stillness that invited the Empty’s embrace.
A thousand years ago, the goddess Brizo sundered the eternal Empty and summoned the boat that ferried humanity from the still waters to the Merchant Isles. We lived in an endless cycle; when the Empty once again consumed the world, the Maiden would reappear and guide us to a new life, a new land.
A story the religious believed, at least.
Stepping away from the book, I turned back to the Archon. “What does this have to do with me?”
“We ride to the eastern farms,” the Archon said. “This answer is easier shown than said.” He nodded at Seraphim. “Fetch the horses.”
* **
We rode from the palace under the cover of darkness in an unassuming wagon driven by a lone guard. The Archon was trying to keep a low profile, but was he hiding us from the city or the royal family?
I received no chance to voice my myriad questions; we traveled in stiff silence until we passed through the eastern gates onto the sprawling fields pressed against the city as though clinging to its skirt for safety.
Seraphim sat beside me, and the noble Eleos called ‘Perse’ reclined opposite us, boots kicked up, hat tilted down. The Archon watched me, his dark gaze unwavering.
Eleos grabbed a lantern from the wagon floor and struck a fire inside, handing it to me before lighting his own. Holding the flame up to pierce the night, I searched the fields for what we’d come here to see.
Wheat waved under a gentle breeze, windmills creaked against the night, and farmhouses stood silent, their lights doused. Something churned in my heart, as a sense of unease mixed with aching nostalgia. I pressed a hand to my chest, bewildered by the strange sensation that grew stronger with each passing minute.
Disturbed by the discomfort, I flinched and looked down. The night seemed to darken around me, as though all stars had been doused.
The wagon abruptly halted; the horse drawing it reared and refused to go any further.
“There,” the Archon announced.
Looking up, I gasped when I saw it.
An abyss consumed the fields before us, a sphere of darkness so deep the night seemed bright by comparison. A thin red halo surrounded the void, shimmering like freshly drawn blood. Where once had been sprawling farmlands, now a gorge plunged into the depths of the earth, where still waters rested deep below the surface.
This was the Empty. I’d seen it once before.
“How. . .?” I stuttered. “But the Empty cannot appear near cities.”
“No. It should not.” The Archon agreed, leaning forward. “Our time runs short. If the Empty can appear within the capital, it can appear anywhere. It is only a matter of time before it consumes us.”
Swallowing, I stared into the empty void, a great sphere of nothing where life had once been. “But the Maiden Brizo will appear, right?” I glanced at Eleos. “She’s supposed to rescue us.”
“Should we trust that?” Eleos said. “Should we wait for her to arrive, only to realize with our last gasp she had never been real?”
“The Bloodstone is proof she’s real, isn’t it?”
Seraphim reached into her pocket and produced the precious relic. It glowed red beneath the fire of her lantern. “Or it’s just a rock. And, as you said, it’s yours, no?” She tossed it to me, and I caught it clumsily.
Running a thumb over its smooth surface, I stared at the gem that promised me freedom, hardly able to believe it was in my hands.
“You said a job for freedom.” I gestured to the abyss. “What am I supposed to do about that?”
Eleos answered calmly. “If there is a means to stop the Empty’s spread, we are to find it.”
“This is Seraphim’s venture,” the Archon said. “Whenthisappeared, she convinced me to aid her.”
