Khollo thought hard, trying to remember more details, but already the dream was fading. He swore and pounded a fist against the floor. Another night, another useless vision. If one of his visions would just be a map marking the fortress he was supposed to find, this would all be over by now. But no, he had to make do with cryptic clues, disorienting images, darkness, and monsters. And a voice whose vocabulary seemed to be limited to different variations of ‘free me’.
Khollo growled in frustration and untangled himself from his bedsheets, then climbed back into bed. I’m not letting these visions get to me anymore, he vowed. I will sleep by night and I will build by day. I will make the West Bank impenetrable and fight vertaga. I will not waste time on this folly any longer.
When Khollo woke in the morning to sunlight streaming through his open window, the vision was already a distant memory. First and foremost in his mind was the idea of a dome, and plans for the day’s construction. The mysteries of the voice would just have to wait.
Chapter 22
Time continued to pass. Days turned to weeks, weeks to a fortnight. The construction continued smoothly, with new living spaces finished every day, new caverns expanded and reshaped to suit the needs of the villagers. And, so far, it was all still standing. Another village from the Renlor Basin had arrived three days after the council meeting, having fled their homes when one of Leon’s men brought word there were vertaga on the way. They had only just gotten away, and hours later they had seen great plumes of smoke rising from the direction of their village. It seemed the vertaga were planning to ransack the remainder of the Basin, ensuring that no living humans remained to oppose them south of the West Bank.
The news was not all bad, though. Word was there were refugees from Ardia returning to the South to help defend the West Bank as well. Khollo had detailed teams to begin work on the new outer wall to the north, and every day the wall grew longer and higher.
Khollo grew stronger every day, and was able to practice with his weapons for longer periods of time. He regained his skill with the bow, and kept training. If not for the demands on his time from the construction project, he would have made far more progress with his weapons. But the people of the Renlor Basin came first, and Khollo owed it to them to keep the construction safe and on schedule. In another few months, it would be spring and that meant planting season. He wanted the northern wall finished by then, and there was still much to be done before the fields would be accessible and ready for plowing.
Nothing had been heard about the vertaga, the capital, or the mysterious fortress for a long time. None of this worried Khollo. If Ishkabur had fallen, they would have heard. If there was trouble in the capital, it would not reach them for a while yet. And as for the fortress in the Fells, Khollo was beginning to wonder whether it was really worth the effort to find. He’d had no more visions or voices since the last one, nearly three weeks ago now. He had no idea what that meant, if anything. He rarely devoted thought to it, save when Leon gave him another negative update after each council meeting.
Two months after his last vision, Khollo turned over plans for the top level to the foremen in charge of the underground construction. He had spent the entirety of the previous night making adjustments to his plans, correcting dimensions and making small modifications, adding a few additional supports to be on the safe side. This level would be the final one, once the other three were completed. And that day was coming soon, faster than Khollo had expected. With more than a thousand villagers at work, the West Bank was changing rapidly.
Having finished his business with the foremen, Khollo climbed back up into the central courtyard, blinking owlishly. As he did, he heard someone calling his name from the direction of the keep. He looked up, squinting against the light of the sun, and saw Sermas waving to him. Khollo sighed. He’d been hoping that maybe he could retreat to his tower room and catch up on the sleep he had missed the previous night. But it looked as though Sermas had other plans. Maybe sparring practice? The younger warrior was always eager to pit himself against Khollo and the Sen-teel.
Khollo waved in acknowledgement and started moving towards the keep. Sermas joined him quickly, his face lit up with excitement. But his eyes betrayed him. His eyes were clouded, full of apprehension, and even uncertainty.
“Leon wants to see you,” he announced. “In the council chamber. It’s urgent.” He hesitated. “Khollo, I think one of his men may have found it.”
It took several seconds for Khollo’s weary mind to understand what Sermas was trying to say. Then, he figured it out.
“The fortress?”
Sermas nodded. “Yes.”
Khollo sighed. “Now? I’ve been up all night, and there’s a lot that needs doing. The outer wall isn’t finished and there’s still a ton of caverns to – ”
“Khollo, it wasn’t that long ago you were trying to convince the rest of us that this was important,” Sermas reminded him. “This fortress, it could mean you finally find the voice. The one that saved your life,” he added, as though Khollo might have forgotten.
Khollo knew Sermas was right. He owed it to the voice to at least look into any leads on the fortress. But he had finally been getting used to living a somewhat normal life
