Engines & Demons - The Undestined

Chapter 12i

Dak lapsed into a worried silence as they began to climb the road. Although it was not steep, the day was hot and she was soon panting with exertion as she tried to keep pace with Maddock. She was half a metre taller than him, but still she struggled.

The road was quite empty, many of the workshops they passed were closed and there was not the usual cacophony of activity.

"Why's it so quiet?" Maddock asked. "The Engineers don't celebrate the Ascension Day of Glok do they?"

Dak took the giving of her answer as an opportunity to stop and gain her breath.

"No," she panted. "It is not Glok's day in the Workshops. They are honouring Kvorta."

"Honouring what? Is it some sort of holy day? I didn't think you had holy days and gods and all that stuff."

"No, we do not. But we remember our ancestors that have gone. Those who have marked significant accomplishments in our past."

"Really?"

"For sure. Yeltov, for example, we hold in the highest regard, because of his many accomplishments, the greatest of which was uniting all Engineers into the Guild, but he is not a god."

"So what's so special about Kavorter?"

"Engineer Kvorta's accomplishments and Glok's are linked. Do you have knowledge of Glok's story?"

"Not really. He was a great knight who died doing something mad, wasn't he?"

"Some say that he was the first ever knight. He was a Communicant first, but was made a knight posthumously."

"Post what?"

"After he was dead."

"Oh. So what's his story?"

"He dwelt for many years at the temple in the Sanctum-fortress at Naddaran. It is said that one day he heard the voice of Fortak and it commanded him to ride west. This was centuries ago, when all the lands around Naddaran were yet to be tamed. The Admiral gave him soldiers and supplies, and he rode west. After many adventures, he crossed the river Siceria into these lands and found an Oracle."

"An Oracle? Like the one at the bailey temple?"

"Yes. The Oracle in the temple is the self-same one that Glok discovered all those centuries ago, because this is where he found her; on Klinberg's hill. A temple was built in her honour and later a fort was built on the hill's summit to protect her, but that was some decades after Glok's death."

"So where does Kavorter fit into all this?"

"Engineer Kvorta was the Guild's representative to the expedition. Glok had insisted that she accompany him because he valued her skills and her wisdom. Not much is written about her in the Order's histories, but without her, Glok would be somewhat less revered, because even though it was he that heard the voice of Fortak and was guided to the Oracle, it was Kvorta's knowledge that awoke her."

"Ah," said Maddock, though by the frown on his face, Dak made the assumption that he was not really understanding the things she was telling him.

"The first thing that the Oracle did was give Glok a warning. His expedition was about to be attacked."

"By who?"

"The herredna tribes that inhabited the plains. Though it was not understood at the time, it has now been discovered that the place where the Oracle was found was sacred to them."

"So they weren't best pleased then?"

"No, they were not. Glok and his soldiers climbed the hill and made fortifications. It is Glok who has been awarded the credit in the Order's histories, but in the truth of it, it was Engineer Kvorta who designed the defences. They were rough and hastily made, but they were enough to repel the creatures. Communicant Glok died in the fighting, but the hill was defended."