Genesis (Erityian Tribes Novella, #7)

08 : ҁѫҩ•Ϟͽϫҁ

08: The Past

Amidst the rough and huge waves in the Atlantic, an artificial islet gradually emerged after a ship tried to anchor near it. The ship lurched hard and almost got capsized by a wave, but the captain was determined.

"I must disembark here," she said. "Sail back to Ribeira Grande and wait for my orders."

"But Chief—"

Edda's stare was enough to silence the crew. "I shall only bring Hagen and Morgan. The rest of you must survive if things do not go well. Now, go!"

She and her two attendants jumped off the ship landed on the megalithic ground of the islet. The place had nothing but a round stone table surrounded by four stone chairs at the center.

"How did you do this, Chief?" Morgan asked in awe.

Edda's lips curled in glorious pride. "It is a quite complicated mechanism that involves my blood reacting to the rocks below the water. For comparison, it works like a lever and fulcrum, but underwater, with a bit of chemical reactions to initialize everything. I want to make it less ostentatious, but I'm afraid I'm limited by this century's methods and techniques."

"I did not comprehend any of that, but this is beyond any renowned scientists' works," he said to which Hagen silently agreed.

"This must be the reason why you are missing for months for the last few years," Hagen added.

She had spent years being an espion, but Edda had always loved researching and tinkering things. Building a hidden, artificial islet was her secret pleasure for a while.

Their conversation was put to a stop when another series of waves hit the islet. They were slammed with hundreds of gallons of water and almost thrown into the ocean.

Hagen coughed out the water that he had swallowed. "Why must it be here?" he asked, yelling, as it was getting harder to hear each other due to the tumultuous storm. "You can meet them anywhere else."

"But I want our first conclave to be here," she responded. "We must meet here at the center of the world."

Another series of waves was threatening to crash into them, a crackling sound enveloped the place. Before they could react, a wall of ice got erected where the waves should be.

"Is this truly the center of the world?"

A strip of ice had appeared in the middle of the ocean and Yllka, along with Ivankov and Krudj walked through it. Suddenly, the waters surrounding the islet seemed to calm down.

No. They were frozen.

"The lord of the harjas," Morgan remarked. "You have arrived."

Yllka had a lot of second thoughts about the invitation. She couldn't completely trust the other harjas, let alone some strangers. Still, she wanted to see what kind of people they were.

This was the longest journey she had ever taken and being away from home distressed her. What's worse was pirates had been ransacking the nearest island from here, making it hard for them to travel unnoticed.

She saw the red-eyed man who intruded into their village, and another who seemed to be gauging them, but what caught her attention was the woman standing between them.

"Are you the master he speaks of?" she asked.

Edda smiled. "Indeed, I am."

The two sat at the stone seats while their attendants quietly stood behind them. Thanks to Yllka's ability, the storm wasn't a problem anymore.