The Santara Commentaries (Book 1-5)
Chapter 5: The Black City
Chapter 5: The Black City
I shall now speak of the Nodians.
When the Sons of Yakob returned to Santara, they found it dominated by the Nodians – so called because they are the children of Nod, the older brother of Yakob. But they were a far cry from their ancestor. Despite the circumstances of his flight from Santara, Yakob remembered his older brother fondly. According to the writings Yakob left behind to his sons, now preserved by the Yakobinians, Nod was a pious man, but also brash and impulsive. It was that brash impulsiveness that Yakob too advantage of to steal away the blessing and inheritance that their father had meant for Nod.
Readers who are interested in the life of Yakob and the Twelve Patriarchs should peruse the Annals of the Yakobinians. Though I will speak more on this topic in later chapters.
The Nodians encountered by the returning Yakobinians had turned away from El Shaddai, the God of the gods. Instead, they had given themselves to the worship of the dark gods, the chief among them being Baal, the Dark Lord of the Underworld.
Under the command of El Shaddai, the Yakobinians went to war to cleanse Santara of the dark gods. It took centuries, but it was finally done. The Annals said that once the last Nodian stronghold, Mocasar, was conquered, the Nodians disappeared.
For centuries, the disappearance of the Nodians was Santara’s biggest mystery. But Livia’s revelation shed a light on what had happened to them. They went underground – to the Black City, for one.
Speaking of which, I shall now speak of our first journey there.
I was out for hours after I blacked out at the end of the previous battle. When I woke up, I found myself inside the tent for the wounded. Lord Aron and Drusus was there too. Out of concern for my wellbeing, they had been checking up on me while I was out.
They informed me that they found me unconscious right at the edge of our encampment. Furthermore, Livia had been taken by the Nodians. We knew of this from a Dunadinian soldier who saw all that happened from afar. I surmised that a Nodian assassin must have struck the back of my head; that same assassin was most likely responsible for kidnapping Livia. Fortunately for us, the Nodians left behind footprints and Arphaxad and his riders were able to track them down to where the Black City was.
I was eager to take part in Livia’s rescue, but Lord Aron forbade it. I can still remember the look of calm fury he had.
“It is too dangerous,” he told me. “You’re lucky you are still alive. The assassin cared more about running off with Livia.”
I began to plead, “Lord Aron, please! Livia knows something about me, about who I am. About my purpose. I can’t just sit here and do nothing. Not when everyone needs my help.”
“That’s presumptuous of you,” Aron chastised. But his tone soon became gentle, fatherly. “Get some rest, Yu. We’ll take care of this. We will get Livia. And you will learn about your past. Rest assured.”
My heart dropped when I heard my lord’s words. He was always a stubborn one. I had nothing to say that could have convinced him.
Thankfully for me, Drusus interjected. “He’s right, Lord Aron. The boy had proven himself to be a capable tactician. If he wants to help us, let him help! The Black City is a complete mystery to us. We have no reason to be sure of our success.”
Drusus had the sway over King Aron that I did not have at the time. And he soon agreed to let me become a part of Livia’s rescue team.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but I really owed a lot to Drusus. This was the second time that he had vouched for me. Yet, he never brought it up. Ever. Nor has he ever expected anything out of me in return. He was a true and humble servant.
And we went off in pursuit of Livia’s captors.
As it turned out, the Black City was close to where our encampment was. Nanmadol was a small island, after all. The entrance tunnel leading up to the Black City was unassuming. When I first saw it, I thought it was just an ordinary cave. But as we kept traversing through the tunnel, it became apparent to us that what we entered was not a natural formation; the Nodians had dug this tunnel. They also had technologies that the Yakobinians did not possess, such as fireless lights powered by lightning magic.
We must have walked for about an hour when we finally reached the Black City. And when we gazed that Nodian city for the first time, we were amazed, and frightened.
The Black City sit at the base of the gigantic cave; it was a precarious position as an avalanche could put an end to this city very quickly. But I’m sure every one of us were more focused on the architecture.
As the name suggests, the Black City was black (apologies for this). Every single building in that city looked like it was made out of coal. They were actually made out of steel and black metal (which could only be made by the preternatural arts).
What really struck me about the Black City was its towers. There were so many of them, jutting out of the city, soaring over all the houses. The city could house the entire population of Mocasar and still have enough room for the Puncakians.
Little did I know then that despite its size, Black City did not have a lot of people. They were very empty because the dark practices of the Nodians – infanticide, ritual sacrifice, and many other perversities – never lend themselves to fertility. And all this despite their obsession with their fertility demon goddess Astarte, she of the seven breasts.
That aside, the size of the Black City was nothing short of intimidating for us all. Neither King Aron nor Drusus knew where to start, but I did. I don’t know how to describe it, only that I was able to get a feel for the city in ways that no one else in the army could. With what I know now, it made sense how I was able to do what I did. But at the time, I was more concerned with rescuing Livia.
Through my strange knowledge of this city, I knew that Livia must have been held in a prison, to be sacrificed to Baal or Moloch (another dark god). But we needed to know which one. There was also the issue of navigating around this huge city.
The answer to our problem was found as soon as we made our way down to where the city was. We ran into a guard, a lowly sentry. It happened so suddenly, there was bit of a pause between us all. Aron was the first to act; the king rushed up to the sentry and incapacitated him with one punch.
It was a good thing that it was Lord Aron who attacked first instead of Drusus because the warrior without equal would have killed him on the spot.
We interrogated the sentry as soon as he came to. Our conversation went as follows:
“Who are you?” asked Aron.
The sentry gasped. “I should ask you the same question. How did you find our city?”
I then interjected, “We’re looking for one of yours, an escapee.”
“You’re talking about Livia,” the sentry said.
“You know her then,” Aron stated.
“How can I not?” responded the sentry. “For a scion of House Delapore to abandon the Black City… I simply couldn’t believe it. That is, until I saw it for myself.”
“Where are you holding her?” Drusus asked; there was strong emotion behind his voice. “Tell us now!”
Drusus went so far as to grab the poor guy by his shoulder.
“Peace, Drusus!” cried Aron. “Let him go.”
The warrior did. And as it turned out, his display of anger was what led the Nodian to divulge what he knew.
“The Great Spire,” the sentry said. He then pointed to the tallest tower in the Black City. “That’s where you’ll find Livia. At the top is a dark altar. The elders will sacrifice her to Baal, Moloch, and Astarte. As price for her treachery and as the means to propitiate the gods.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Drusus declared.
“When are they going to sacrifice her?” I asked.
But before I was given an answer, I heard the loud sound of a gong coming from one of the towers in the Black City – its top had the circular shape of a sundial. The gong went off again… and again… and again until it did so eleven times.
“Soon,” the sentry said, finally giving his answer. “You have an hour before noon.”
“How are we going to get there in time?” Aron asked. “There’s no way we can traverse that city on foot and reach Livia in time.”
“Perhaps we can fly our way there,” I suggested.
“Yes, my wyvern should be able to carry enough of us,” Drusus said. He then turned to the sentry. “Would the Nodians detect us if we fly over the city?”
“No,” responded the sentry. “They didn’t think any outsider would ever find this city to begin with.”
“If you are lying,” I said threateningly, “then your life if forfeit.”
But the sentry was unperturbed. “I actually want to join you guys. Honestly, I sympathized with Lady Livia.”
We certainly did not expect that answer from our hostage. But with Livia’s life in jeopardy, we had no time to sort this issue out. So, we had Arphaxad take the Nodian to our encampment. Before that, he was kind enough to give us his name: Rus Delapore. Had we known the significance of his surname, we would have given him a king’s welcome. Instead, he was our prisoner of war. But more on that in a later chapter.
The team to rescue Livia consisted of three people: King Aron, Drusus, and myself. It was a small force, but Rus had assured us that there will be little in the way of armed guards. As long as we were quick, we should be able smash into their little blasphemous party and grab our prize.
We flew towards the Great Spire so quickly that I could barely resist the urge to throw up. Such speed was necessary, though. The dark ceremony was well on the way when we reached our destination.
The roof of the Great Spire was flat and had very little room to maneuver. At the center was a huge rock altar, Livia was chained naked at the center. I saw a Nodian dark priest holding up his knife, ready to slice open her neck.
I had to act quickly. From atop Drusus’ wyvern, I shot the Nodian with my pistol. It was a clean hit to the head.
Once we were atop the Great Spire, Drusus and Aron jumped off our ride and began to engage the enemies in melee. It only took a short time for the two to clear out the roof – the enemy were few and weak. Meanwhile, I was able to break off Livia’s chains by shooting them with my pistol. Then, I realized Livia’s clothing – her lack of one, to be accurate – and became flustered.
Thankfully, Drusus came to the rescue; he gave his coat for Livia to wear. And I could rest easy.
For the sake of clarity, I must stress that my feelings for Livia are never like that. Perish the thought!
All that was left for us was to escape. But our hopes for an uneventful getaway was dashed when we see a squadron of flyers tailing us. They rode neither wyvern nor pegasus nor gryphon. The flyers were mechanical like one of those helicopters that the dwarves of the World’s Roof would ride.
Those things were fast, and they outnumbered us about five to one – and by one, I mean our overburdened wyvern. I thought we were done for. But suddenly, most of the flyers were engulfed what I can only describe as blackness that soon disappeared with what it absorbed.
I was dumbfounded with what I saw. “What was that?”
“Black hole,” said Livia calmly, though she was panting with exhaustion.
I immediately caught on to the implication. “You did that.”
“A preternatural art,” Aron interjected. “Though I can’t say I’ve seen anything like that.”
“Some call it dark magic,” Livia said. “Don’t give me that look! I’m well aware it’s a terrible term, makes it sound demonic. But dark magic is simply a category of elemental magic, though it makes use of the deeper elements of time and space.”
“You have a lot of explaining to do, Lady Livia,” Aron said.
That was the extent of our conversation in which we learned something more of our mysterious Nodian girl.
Once we were outside, we spent as little time as we could in Nanmadol. We knew that we were in enemy territory. As soon as Lord Aron was informed that our ships were all fixed, he immediately ordered the troops to embark. It was time for us to go to Leste anyways.
Aboard the Leviathan, Livia surprised us once more…
“You need not take the trip to Leste,” she told us.
“And why not?” asked Aron. “As we speak, a Tionghoa fleet is heading there.”
Livia smiled. “That fleet will not make it. For it will be destroyed by the Komodo Dragon in the sea. She always comes in Leste’s hour of need. I’m sure Lord Drusus knows all about her.”
Drusus was rendered speechless by Livia’s words.
Instead, it was Lord Aron who spoke up: “I thought the Komodo Dragon is just a myth.”
“It’s more truthful than my lord gives credit,” Drusus finally said. He then gave Livia a sharp look. “And that is all I will say on the matter!”
I remember being shocked at what I had just heard. That Drusus, of all people, would have something to hide was simply inconceivable. Yet, there was no denying it based on his reaction to Livia’s words.
I remember being even more shocked when we learned from allied Sea Peoples that the Tionghoa fleet sent to conquer Leste had been single-handedly destroyed by a great white dragon.
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The Black City reminded me a lot of Menzoberranzan, from R. A. Salvatore's "Dark Elf Trilogy'. Especially the black towers jutting up from the houses, and the occult practices.
Another great entry.