Leviathans

Hanging from one of the city’s floating towers, she looked out towards the swirling mass of a sand storm. The spirals of the storm’s geometry were blurred by the distance, the billowing mass lit up here and there by gigantic arcs of lightning. She paused in her work for a moment, her gloved hands finding the ropes that held her safely in the air. The ropes thrummed with the movement of the machinery within the tower, and the vertical stone face she rested her feet on hummed along with them. She sighed and wiped the thick layer of grime off her face as she leaned back into her harness, patting some of the sand off of herself. The granules ran off the thick leather-and-fur coat that protected her against the surprisingly cold wind.

As she moved her arms she could feel the thin coils sewn into the jacket’s lining, and imagined that she could see the magic that served to keep her from overheating running through them. Her eyes wandered down to the city below her. The squat mass of buildings spread along the split mesa looked tiny from her vantage point. People flowed along the streets like tiny ants following some unseen force.

The wind bit into the skin of her face and blew a long stray lock of raven-black hair away from her head, specks of sand ricocheting off her goggles. She muttered her annoyance and redid her ponytail as the wind hit a lull. While briefly considering the option of cutting her hair short, she rested her hands on one of the metallic conduits that snaked up the tower. She could feel the deep chill of the raw magic through the insulated tubing. Thankfully it was always dry in the desert, otherwise they would need to clear the ice off frequently.

Her gaze wandered downward. One of the best things about being this far up was the view. The sand-swept stone and wood making up the homes and businesses surrounding the open marketplaces nearly lost in the mass of bodies. She followed the streets with her eyes. The homes lit up one by one as the sun began to end its dance across the sky.

She knew that if she waited long enough, the streets would begin to look like burning veins against the blackness of night. As she looked at the city, she found the start of one of the four chains that anchored the tower. It looked small, but she knew that if she followed the links to where they connected to one of the tower’s sides, roughly in the middle, they would be larger than she was across. Her focus shifted upwards, towards the sky.

Clouds spiraled into the top of the storm, the wall of sand advancing across the dunes. Again she could see lighting dancing within it. It was an awesome display. The brilliantly colored and tightly grouped alsamari, the skyfish that normally filled the air and were as varied as their oceanic namesake were nowhere to be seen. Bright purples and oranges bled out from the horizon into deep blue. She could see Airships painted by the colors of the setting sun.

Some of the vessels were sleek and angular, like the ships that sailed the seas, meant for slicing through the air. Usually, their crews hunted the alsamari. Others were rounder at the edges and made for carrying larger loads of cargo. Usually salt and a myriad of different kinds of stone. The only two features the airships all truly shared were the balloon that floated over each one, keeping them aloft against the inexhaustible forces that pulled them downwards and the great blades of the propellers which served to drive them onwards.

She looked at the tower directly in front of her, running her hand along its pockmarked surface. The stone and metal, stained and battered by the desert, holding within the main charge of the City’s Technomage Guild. Energy generators that ran off of wind, converting even the awesome power of the building sandstorm into magic that could be used by the people below. She suddenly realized that she hadn’t been doing anything for the past few minutes.

One deep breath and a gulp of water later and she was back to work. Her place in the guild depended on her ability to figure out what was wrong with the tower – one of five that provided power for the city. It was proving to be much more difficult than she had imagined. Her stomach rumbled. She’d been hanging here, hundreds of feet above the sprawling city for hours.

The approaching storm only made things worse. If she was still up here when it hit, she would need to wait until the guild could send someone after her while she hid inside the tower. She laughed out loud. “Like they’d even send someone after me” she voiced, shaking her head.

“Hey knucklehead, haven’t figured it out yet?” asked a familiar voice from above her. “No, Lucy, I haven’t. Whoever last inspected the tower didn’t even put down any observations. I’ve had to go over everything, just in case.” The other girl, strapped into her own harness, rappelled down the sheer vertical surface until she was level. “That… Might’ve been me. Sorry Ray.” She answered sheepishly. Lucy’s straight blond hair was locked into a tight braid. Rayne knew Lucy preferred her hair down, so that it could frame delicate features. Lucy’s goggles, their design mirroring Rayne’s, obscured her orange irises.

Rayne was always amazed at how easily Lucy navigated the mass of anchors, wires, and conduits that were set into the tower. Lucy was tall and lithe, seemingly incapable of the strength she had to possess to move with such natural confidence.

Rayne sighed, a slight smile on her face. “I know. Do you have any idea what this could be? The geezers sent me out here without even telling me what was wrong. Took me an hour to find out.” she said, tapping two fingers against her forehead as she thought. “At first I thought it might’ve been the conduits, but they’re within regulation and the sphere itself was tested two days ago. It’s fine too” She continued, seeing the runic capacitor commonly called the sphere in her mind’s eye.

At first glance it would appear like a ball of intricately carved metal, straight lines and curves all over its surface, rotating smoothly. If you looked more closely, you would find large holes set into the metal, and could see into it and to the other layers underneath, seemingly identical but for their size. If the holes in each layer lined up, as they often did, you would see the writhing mass of ethereal magic in the center. It was an amazing sight. She realized that it might cause confusion, to call it a “sphere” when there was another component that was traditionally called the conversion sphere. People tended to call that the convertor instead. Rayne shook her head as she realized her friend was staring at her, waiting.

Lucy smiled “always lost in the clouds huh?” she chided lightly, and Rayne shrugged before looking towards the storm. “Literally, if we don’t get this done soon.” She responded. Lucy frowned as she looked at the mass of metal conduits obscuring the sand-colored stone in front of her. “There was wear on some of the gears on the lower face, but I submitted a request for those to be replaced. Have you taken a look down there yet?”

“No. I was hoping to avoid it. We both know it’s dangerous to check.” Rayne commented. “Nothing for it though. It’s the one place left. Let’s get going fast before the storm hits. It looks bad.”

“They’ve been getting worse every month.”

The two girls descended, the thick ropes suspending them above the city creaking as they swayed from side to side. The leather harness pulled tight against her jacket and her thick brown pants as Rayne came to a stop near the place where one of the massive chains she had seen earlier connected to the tower. She followed it with her eyes as it arced downwards and away. They anchored the structure to the city below. Thick cables ran along the chains, supplying the energy collected by the tower to those with enough money to pay for it. She looked out at the city, her harness groaning a complaint as she twisted against it.

The chasm below her sliced the city in two, leaving a deep gash across her vision. She saw the other four towers. Floating at their places above the city, wind rushing through the great blades set in their faces to power the arcane machinery inside. Rayne could hear the dull whomp whomp whomp of the ones above her when the wind permitted. The conduits that wrapped around the towers bunched up to look like a shiny metal cap at the bottom of each of them, thinning out towards the top. Each of the constructs was a testament to the Guild’s understanding of what they called Runic Technology. A mixture of magic and science.

The rest of the city now, lit either by oil lamps or the energy generated by the towers, sprawled out to either side of the chasm. The city sat, looking almost like it was hunched against the oncoming storm. From up here, she couldn’t even see the dust and grime that covered most of the buildings. She knew that beneath the layer of accumulated filth most of the city was built with pristine white stone, colored glass, and shining metal. The angular shapes of the buildings fit neatly into each other. Some square, some crosses, others large L shapes. Some had courtyards, some had a second story. They would have been beautiful, once. But now, the stones were gray, the glass was yellowed, and the metal was rusting.

Docks thrust themselves into the chasm. Flying machines held up by gasses that were lighter than air, with the help of magic, tied to them. Rayne imagined she could see the workers who even now had to have been climbing all over their hulls, securing them against the rushing wind by bringing them into warehouses. Earlier, she had seen a school of skyfish fly past, chased by a particularly adventurous airship and her crew.

She turned her attention back to the tower above her. Lucy was already ahead. Rayne unlimbered a set of hooks. She quickly found the lines that ran underneath the structure and attached her harness to them, unhooking herself from the line that ran down the side of the tower afterwards. She used her grapple to pull herself forward using anchors that were set into the tower’s underside.

The two girls navigated the mass of tubing until it suddenly turned upwards into the structure, leaving the rest of the face bare. Rayne caught up to Lucy, who was staring up at a set of revolving gears. Or she would have been if they were there.

“I told them that this would happen if they didn’t replace these. They never listen to me.” Lucy groaned, a mixture of annoyance and worry on her face. Rayne examined the empty space, the gears on one side spinning freely. It looked like this is what was causing the tower to not generate any power. They would need to climb back up, to disable the tower from within and avoid unnecessary wear.

Rayne pat her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. They don’t like me either. Well, maybe two of them do.” She shook her head. “There’s no way we can fix this without bringing up an entirely new set. Let’s get it shut down and then leave. We don’t have long before it gets dangerous.”

“Yeah let’s get out of here.” Lucy answered, still pouting. The girls advanced back towards the edges, transferring themselves back to one of the tower’s faces. They clambered upwards along the web of conduits, one anchor to the next, towards a trap door in the side of the tower. The small wooden square opened easily on oiled hinges, clanging against one of the conduits to the side. Rayne pulled herself into the icy darkness inside, and then extended a hand back outwards to help Lucy.

The two girls stood in a narrow passageway. Stone flanked them on either side. The chains holding the magic-powered lanterns to the ceiling creaked above them. The soft yellow light illuminated a diagram set into the wall at the end of the hallway. Rayne pulled her goggles up, her breath fogging up in the air in front of her. Her nose was already going numb. Rayne pulled up a glove, revealing a small gauge sewn into the cuff of her jacket.

Rayne adjusted the temperature control upwards, and after a few moments her jacket began to warm up. She tucked her pants into the work boots she wore, and pulled at what began as an exposed coil on the front of her jacket. It extended, and she connected it to a coil that stuck up from the leggings underneath her pants. She gave a sigh of relief as her legs started to warm up.

Lucy followed her example, adjusting her temperature as well. She pulled her goggles off completely and hung them from a hook on her belt. “I always hate coming in here, it’s always too cold.” She complained, the puff of ice crystals from her speech filling the air in front of her.

Always eerie, too Rayne thought, the echoes of her footsteps competing with the deep thrum that permeated the tower. The mass of cabling and tubing that stretched across the walls haphazardly only added to the sensation of being underground. They reached the diagram, a map of the innards of the stone construct they were in. They examined it for a minute or so. “Here it is.” Lucy pointed at a circular space. “The control room.” She said, the words on the diagram confirming her statement.

They moved quickly, wanting to be done as quickly as possible. It would only take a minute or two to reach the control room, and then another couple to shut down the tower. “Stop” Rayne said suddenly, holding out an arm. Something was wrong, she could feel it somehow. One of the conduits had caught her eye. “What?” Lucy asked, “let’s go, I want to get out of here” She groaned wearily, pausing. “That conduit, it’s going to burst.” Rayne pointed.

Lucy examined it from as close as she dared. “It looks fine to me, Ray. Come on.” She said, pushing past Rayne. “Lucy no, wait!” Rayne warned, as the conduit she was looking at bulged outwards as her friend passed in front of it. Rayne dove on top of Lucy, hoping her coat would protect her. A hollow pop sounded, followed by an eruption of magic. The jet slammed into Rayne’s back, instantly freezing the outer layers of her jacket before the conduit sealed itself.

She rolled back over off of Lucy. “Listen next time.” She chided, the ice now on her back cracking against the floor. She felt the cold through her coat as Lucy sat up, looking at Rayne sheepishly. “Sorry, I keep forgetting you’re miss ‘in tune with the machinery’” Lucy answered, and Rayne aimed a half-hearted punch at her arm. She didn’t like it when people said that. It made her feel like they were saying she was more machine than person.

A few minutes later, after pulling the correct levers, and retreating back to the entrance they had used, they listened to the dying thrum of the giant blades above them. “Time to go” Lucy said, as she hooked herself back onto the safety line that ran outside and dropped outwards. Rayne followed suit, and they headed towards one of the chains.

They would need to go down one at a time, and while Lucy transferred herself to the rope that would let her descend Rayne searched the skies. She looked off at the clouds. Or what she could see of them anyway. The light of day had died, and the sky was lit by constellations as well as by Iva, Shia, and Mia, the three moons. She looked over towards the storm. It was much closer now, she realized. They would need to move fast. Rayne looked back up at the clouds.

She was imagining what it must be like to soar above them like a bird when she saw it. It was huge. Way too big to be real. Rayne blinked, and the massive… She couldn’t describe it. A deep breath filled her lungs, and she leaned outwards to try and get a better look, without the conduits blocking her view. She pulled out a set of binoculars and brought them to her face. She vaguely heard Lucy asking her what she was doing. It sounded urgent, but Rayne blocked the thought.

Her breath caught in her chest as she found what she was looking for. It looked almost like a massive whale but with three pairs of insect-like wings. It appeared to undulate across the sky, just for a moment. Its stone body looked dull, and in disrepair. Leviathan. She didn’t think they were real. The storm reached it, but it seemed to remain unaffected by the winds as it sunk back above the clouds. She was completely dumbstruck. They weren’t supposed to be real. “stories for children” he had said.

Rayne leaned forward trying to get a better look, her eyes locked onto where it had disappeared . “Rayne no!” Lucy’s voice finally broke through her concentration. Rayne had less than a second to realize she had leaned too far. Her words were lost in a scream as she flipped upside down, all but one of her hooks coming undone.

She grabbed wildly, managing to grasp the rope that ran along the chain. Some of her tools spilled out of where they were stored. “No no no!” Rayne breathed quickly, trying and failing to grab them as they spiraled into the chasm below.

“Give me your hand Ray! Your hand!” Lucy screamed, her arm extended. Rayne reached for her, and a minute or so later she was right-side up again. “Are you crazy?” Lucy asked breathlessly. “What? No! I saw something up in the clouds.”

“What, Rayne? What could you possibly have seen that made you almost fall to your death?”

“I… I saw a Leviathan. “

Lucy’s expression became touched with fear, and she shook her head.

“You could get exiled for saying that Ray, or worse. You know that. Let’s just get out of here. We need to tell the Guild Masters what’s wrong with this tower.”

“I’m serious Lucy, I saw one.”

“Right, Ray. And this is the last of the storms. Drop it.” Lucy finished. Her tone made it clear the conversation was over. To say that you had seen a leviathan was worse than blasphemous to the Exarch.

The rest of the time they spent slowly moving down the chain was uneventful. Rayne lamented her lost tools. Most of them were the Guild’s property. They would be taken out of her pay. The rest she had made herself. It would be a while before she had the money she needed to make them again. She tried to push the Leviathan out of her mind.

A myth in flesh. But that’s all they were said to be. Myth. Anyone disagreeing with that view in her city was handled… aggressively. She sighed, picking up the pace. She wanted to be over and done with her duties as quickly as possible.

They walked through the city. The few people that still walked the streets did so in an almost furtive rush, with not so much as a glance in their direction. The wind was much hotter now that the two of them weren’t suspended above the city. The storm was close now, and Rayne’s goggles were firmly affixed to her face, her hood up against the abrasive sensation of the granules that rode the gusts.

She walked more slowly than she should have, Lucy trying her best to speed up their pace. Rayne liked walking around the city at night. The emptiness was soothing. She looked around. Lit windows surrounded them. Sounds of laughter and the scent of food filled the air. She looked almost longingly through the windows at the families inside, and then pushed down the feeling. She took longer steps.

An hour or so later, Rayne was in front of the largest of the city’s buildings. The octagonal structure reached ten stories into the air, and since it was the only one above four it was quite a bit bigger than its competition. A large moat separated what Rayne could only think of as “the tower” from the rest of the city.

It was accessible only on one side by a bridge, and by a small dock on the ninth floor. The bottom half of the fence was stone and the top half seemed to be the only iron in the city that wasn’t rusting. The fence, nearly a barricade, stood tall around the moat. The sign above the heavy studded wooden gate reading “Magi Mechanicus”.

Rayne thought it was pretentious. Still, she knew it was impressive. The Guild was not a political entity, per-se. However, when the person who kept every piece of technology in your city functioning told you something, you tended to listen. Most of the population called them technomages. Not that she felt too many of the things they did qualified as “magic”.

Sure, she had seen it before. Older members of the guild conjuring fire out of thin air, or channeling lightning. It was said that ages ago, before the great wars, master mages were capable of bringing forth massive thunderstorms, gigantic waves of water. Everything that she had seen other people do felt like cheap tricks by comparison. The only things she could say had truly taken her by surprise were the mechanical arms that the Guild Masters used occasionally.

“Come on Ray, I want to get home before the storm hits.” Lucy said, almost dragging her friend over the bridge. “Yeah. Sorry.” The two girls crossed the threshold into the Guild tower, a wall of cooler air meeting them. The entire tower had temperature control. The deep red stone that made up the floor of the wide open atrium was streaked with orange and yellow.

Ahead of them was a desk. A brown-skinned man sat behind it, flipping through the pages of a book. He glanced at Rayne and Lucy, and motioned them forwards. “Identifications?” He asked, and Rayne groaned “you know who we are, Kai.” She complained.

“Hello to you too, Rayne.” He sighed, looking over at Lucy, who held out a small card with her picture on it. “at least one of you follows protocol” he muttered, looking at it briefly before returning it. “Busy day?” Lucy asked, and Kai shrugged. “Not as much as you’d expect with a storm. Not even one person came in wanting something fixed. It was all routine checks. Tomorrow will be a different story though.” Came his answer. “Sounds like a good thing to me” Lucy smiled, as Rayne looked at the floor. Kai smiled back, the lines in his face crinkling, “Yes, I –“

“Talk to you later, Kai. Have to go give a report” Rayne interrupted, pulling at Lucy’s sleeve. Kai’s smile turned to a frown as Lucy tried to apologize over her shoulder as she walked. Rayne continued to pull her friend away. Lucy’s exasperated voice filling the air. Rayne felt a tinge of jealousy as Lucy looked back at Kai and waved. She did her best to ignore it. They started to climb the stairs, moving past the work rooms on the lower floors, the repair shops, the apprentice quarters, and finally the permanent living areas. Eventually, at the top of the tower, the passed into a waiting room.

A lush carpet decorated the floor and single ornate chandelier hung from the ceiling high above them, with other light sources spread throughout. Comfortable chairs lined the walls, small tables in between them. For those who were waiting for an audience. The two girls walked along the carpet, towards the one door. They stood in front of it, with a man off to one side of the entrance. “ ’ey Rayne. Lucy. You two’re filthy.” the man grinned, waving. “ ’ere to give your report, yeh?” he asked, his familiar accent colored with humor. It had always struck her

“Yeah. They said they wanted it in person, so here we are. And I’ll shower later Oliver, screw off.” Rayne responded, Lucy shook her head at their familiar banter. Oliver was one of the few people Rayne had warmed up to somewhat.

“Alright. I’ll let the Masters know you’re here.” The dark-skinned man chuckled, scratching at the stubble that was growing in on his face.

He opened the door, and went inside. Rayne looked over at Lucy. “You know they’re going to make us go back up there to fix it.” Lucy shrugged. “Not with this storm coming. We’d both die. Just make sure not to tell them you think you saw a Leviathan or they’ll need to report you. You could get the brand.” Rayne glared at her friend. “I saw what I saw Lucy.” Lucy sighed as the door opened again to allow them in. “whatever you say Ray.”

They walked inside slowly, reverently. Whatever Rayne thought of the Guild Masters, they were the reason she wasn’t dead. And if she wanted to stay that way, she had to keep them content with her existence. Oliver sat at a desk to the side of the room. He was the Guild’s scribe. He recorded every meeting with the Masters as they happened. He pulled out an ornate fountain pen, a single black feather sprouting from it, tested it against the paper once or twice, and nodded to the five men sitting behind a large metal table. The Guild Masters.

They were all old. The youngest was in his mid fifties. The oldest in his late sixties. As had happened every time she was in this room, Rayne found herself admiring its aesthetics. A thick circular rug sat in the center of the room. It was covered in geometric designs of all kinds, and in many different colors. She was entranced by the table. It’s angles were so precise, its curves so beautiful. Carvings adorned it, ancient symbols of the technomages. It’s dark wood seemed to shine with a soft, otherworldly glow in the light of the room. The men, who wouldn’t have looked ordinary no matter where they sat, absolutely dominated the room.

The one on the far left had a thick shock of silvery hair. His violet eyes in stark contrast with his ebony skin. He wore a cloak of thick velvet embossed with the guild’s symbol. A golden spark rushing across a night sky. His thick arms were crossed in front of his bare chest.

The one beside him was a gaunt-faced elder. The youngest of the Masters, though he certainly didn’t look it. The man’s high cheekbones and flighty eyes did nothing to betray his immense intellect. His dark eyes appeared to be sunken into his face thanks to deep bags underneath them. The Guild’s symbol found itself as a patch on his right sleeve.

The man on the far right was of a different sort. He seemed to have a permanent smile on his face, like someone who knew that no matter what happened they would come out the victor. His brownish skin was dull in the light. Never losing his smile as he smoothed out the symbol on each of his gloves.

The man directly to his side seemed to not even be paying attention to the proceedings. He was muttering to himself, constantly scribbling… or was it drawing? In a small notebook in front of him. He glanced up for a moment, smiling at Rayne before going back to what he was doing. The man looked very frail, his clothes almost too big for him. Rayne knew that he carried the Guild’s symbol on the back of his buttoned shirt.

The man in the center, however, commanded most of her attention. He seemed to emanate an aura of power and intimidation that overshadowed all the rest. He looked sternly at the two girls in front of him. The Guild crest was tattooed over his heart. He was the Guild Leader in truth, and he sat at the head of his council.

“The tower, girl?” he asked, and Oliver scribbled. “The tower itself is operable. Conduits are within regulation, as is the Conversion Sphere. The Runic capacitor has minor wear, but is otherwise fine. The problem has been narrowed down to a missing set of gears on the underside of the tower. I was told that replacements were requested but have yet to be provided, sir. We shut down the tower as a precaution against further damage” Rayne answered, looking above the man’s head.

“I see. So, the tower is currently nonfunctional?” asked the man with the permanent smile. “Yes” answered Lucy a little shakily, standing stock still. She was always nervous around the Guild Masters. To be fair, most people were. “This will not do. It must be repaired before the advent of the storm. The heavy winds involved will produce a large quantity of energy. We must send them back at once with replacements.” Said the gaunt-faced one.

“Impossible. You would be sending them to their deaths. We all know that even taking to the streets during a Sand storm is inadvisable. Much less attempting a climb to one of the towers.” Said the one with violet eyes.

“Hmph. I concur. The tower will stay as it is for now. We will send out a warning to those affected by its malfunction to not expect it to be repaired until the storm has passed. You both are dismissed.” The Guild Leader said with a wave of his hand. Oliver quickly stood to escort the both of them out of the room.

Immediately after ushering them outside, Oliver waved them away with a smile, and closed the door behind them. “That was shorter than I thought it would be” said Lucy with a yawn. “You’d really better get going home. It’s a good thing you live nearby or you wouldn’t make it.” Rayne commented. “I’ll leave as soon as you promise not to bring up the Leviathan to any one of the Guild Masters. Some of them might like you, but if anyone found out….”

Rayne smiled, looping her thumb through her tool belt and wiping some more of the soot off her face. “Yeah, yeah. Hell to pay. I know. Don’t worry. I won’t say anything to anyone that would report me. I’ll submit our report too, so go ahead.” Lucy looked back at her sadly. “You sure?” she asked her friend. “You can spend the night at my house, there’s really no need to write it up right now is there?”

Rayne shook her head “I’ll be fine, Lucy. Really. Besides you know how they get. I’ll hand it in tonight just to make sure they can’t be mad at us.”

“If you say so Ray.” Lucy answered as they both walked towards the steps. Rayne said goodbye to Lucy three floors down, on the seventh floor. This is where she lived. There were quarters for those journeymen that didn’t want to live in the city or couldn’t afford it. Rayne was an orphan, though she didn’t like thinking about it. Picked up off the streets by one of the guild’s members after she had fixed one of the energy conduits using a roll of twine and scavenged metal bits.

It was illegal for anyone not initiated into one of the technomage Guilds to attempt to repair, or sometimes even touch, runic technology. The guilds could repair and in some cases even repurpose it, but the knowledge of how to create most of it was lost to time. And so the young orphan found herself imprisoned and questioned, until two of the Guild Masters had managed to convince the others that she would be a boon to the guild. After all, if she had figured out how to fix a conduit by herself, what would she be capable of when she was properly trained?

As it turned out the answer still eluded them. Rayne felt that she was fairly average, despite her occasional flashes of insight into the workings of the ancient machines. Regardless, she knew there was one person she could talk to about her sighting of a leviathan. But first she thought, looking down at her filthy clothing, a shower.