The Flame Seer

Chapter Two

An insect scuttled along the frozen ground, aimlessly searching for somewhere warm to hide. It would pause where the sunlight gleamed off the gold brick street, but the blowing wind rattled its tiny frame and sent it scampering once more. Earlier that day, it only knew of humid heat, tree leaves, and dangling fruit, but it had stowed away in a crate on its way to the city that floated on air.

The streets shot out in all directions from the center of town, where the earth and rock held strong and stationary. Support beams held up the expanding metal platforms, where buildings made from limestone slabs and mortar stood tall. Beneath the city's streets, pipes and wires twisted around one another and meshed together at boilers and circuit boxes.

Angela had arisen unusually fast that morning. By the time the sun's light poured in through the bedroom blinds, she had already showered and taken to the sofa for a quick chapter in her newest survival book. A courier had informed her the night before that she was being sent out to Earth for a brief mission. He was lax in the details and wouldn't tell her anything beyond that it was a simple reconnaissance mission, and that made her anxious and eager at the same time. But Dingir made her feel alive.

The murmurs in marketplaces, the pangs and dings of metalworkers, and the salutes she threw across her chest to passing soldiers fueled her. She crossed the golden thoroughfare and grass lawn surrounding the Ascendancy with long strides. The cathedral-like structure of sandstone slabs, pillared archways, needle-like spires, and diamond-shaped windows of stained glass was a symbol of the Anunnaki government and the central point of the city.

Angela glided up the whitewashed steps and entered through the dark double doors. The floor shined under the yellow glow of bulbs in the main lobby, and the stale smell of paper gave the place an aura of lawfulness. Padded chairs sat on both sides, and a secretary's desk stood at a T-intersection of hallways. The left hall led to the wing that housed most of the provisions of the Uri Gallus, a division of Ascendancy operations that involved the direct defense of the city. Angela took the hall on the right, which led to where the Etlus, the offensive over-lookers of Earth, were based.

Brass plaques marked the simple wooden doors on both sides of the hallway. After passing the armory, the infirmary, and various rooms used for classes, Angela came to the office of Kushiel Valadine, the Grand Etlu. The door squeaked as she pushed it open and stepped inside, and as she turned to close it behind her, his voice called her name.

"Angela," he said. "You're early."

Kushiel, an older man with wrinkles on his forehead and gray hair that reached his shoulders, smiled politely from his seat behind his maple desk. As Angela took the seat across from him, he shuffled papers out of their way, some of which were maps, long equipment lists, and after-operations reports.

"Just ready to go, sir," she said.

Kushiel nodded, his copper eyes looking her up and down. He pushed his chair back and said, "Well, not yet." Bending, he searched through a drawer and placed a folded wad of brown- and tan-colored armor on the desk: her cuirass, molded specifically for her size, gauntlets and greaves, followed by her bulky pauldrons. Lastly, he retrieved a thick belt dangling with her tools of trade and placed it on the desk, too.

"Your armaments," he said.

Angela pulled them closer, then immediately went for a small bag that hung from the belt, pulled the drawstring, and stuffed her hand inside. Two blue and green crystals glowed in her palm. One of the blue ones pulsed, as some shards naturally did.

"No red?" Angela asked.

"No," Kushiel said. "You're on reconnaissance, remember?"

"Well, yes, but it would be nice in case I run into trouble."