The cargo ship carrying Seth descended into the atmosphere of Irkheor. Normally, either the cyclones raged or it rained caustic acid above the immense plains of the dead planet, but that one time the travellers got lucky. A suspicious peace prevailed over the landing site, foreshadowing the oncoming tempestuous storm.
Piercing through the thick clouds in the colour of rotting mud, the vehicle flew lower. Finally, the view of the surface of the planet emerged to Seth. The crannied desert extended many metres below, and the fortification remains and celadon green sulphur lakes disfigured it. Filling them was a boiling liquid, exuding swirls of toxic vapour. Covered in white sediment, brightly yellow scum encircled the basins. Resembling a frayed mass of orange metal, rusty parts of ancient war machines protruded out of the ground like the claws of buried monstrosities.
The semi-circular chain of mountains and volcanoes towered over the wasteland. The majority of volcanic peaks were extinct a long time ago, but some of them still manifested their devastating power by releasing subtle wisps of smoke. Within the semicircle, on the foothills of the mountains, soared a gigantic structure in the shape of a pyramid with a flat top. Fighting with the intensifying wind blasts, the ship was heading towards it. The machine flew over the massive, hundred metres high wall and approached the small landing slab sticking out of the ziggurat and touched down on it.
“Wear your mask and coat,” said the Kehrian pilot. “The toxic rain may begin at any moment.”
Seth threw the thick coat on which reached up to the ground. He put on a dust-mask and pulled the hood over his head. The pilot did the same and pushed the button to open the door. As soon as the hatch opened, the gross, rotting smell of sulphuric acid filled the ship’s interior. Seth could smell it even through the mask. He gulped and held his breath. He followed the guide keeping a fast pace in order to flee from the obnoxious environment right away.
Only when he left the cargo ship, he got a chance to marvel at the magnitude of the ancient fortress. Brown-yellow megaliths appeared even more majestic up close. Surrounding the armoured gate, a portal was carved in one of them. Standing before the two closed doors, Seth felt like one of those worthless grains of sand, hurled in all directions by the storm.
He walked closer and spotted something resembling bas-reliefs on the stones, but he could not discern what they signified. Since the fortress had been abandoned, no one had renovated them in recent times. The acid raining for hundreds of years ate away at the stone, and the blowing winds crumbled the surface of the artworks. The relicts of the old days, in which the most notable artists put their whole hearts, became contorted and scraggy caricatures of the ancient warriors and their deeds.
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“This way, please,” called the guide, his voice muffled by the mask.
Seth took his eyes off the megaliths towering over him and followed the pilot.
Leading him, the man touched his LiqWatch to the dusty reader. He opened the door and together with Seth, he walked inside. He took off his mask and goggles and let Seth do the same. The chill and smell of the wet stone filled the interior, but the air was filtered and devoid of sulphur. The guide led Seth through the corridors. He slowed down at regular intervals to keep a close eye on his guest, who kept stopping near the walls and admiring the bas-reliefs, precisely laid mosaics and scraped murals embossed on them
Seth had been fascinated by history since his childhood. He spent his every free moment trying to deepen his passions until he got a job for one of Azhi Dahaka’s collaborators. Since then, he had no time for scouring the libraries and galleries. He missed those long, solitary hours of wandering the museums and admiring the forgotten artefacts that no one cared about nowadays. He considered them to be a far more interesting companion than the always focused on his daughter Delian and the spoiled Cerridwen. Seth was bored by their continual talks about Delian’s job or Cerridwen’s passions – weapons, the newest technologies and useless gadgets, on which her father did not hesitate to waste quite a modest fortune.
He was glad he’d broken away from home, where nobody cared about him. The day he received the message that Dahaka was going to meet him in person was, for him, like getting his freedom, the key to his cage in which he had been trapped for many years. He knew it would mean even more work but in the name of independence and future career, he was ready to take up this challenge.
They stopped in front of the newly repainted door on the last floor of the ziggurat. Boxes, tins and ducts lay all around, and fresh, bright beige paint covered the walls. The owner had started to refit the building as if he wanted to stay there longer.
“Please wait. Mister Dahaka will open soon,” informed the Kehrian and walked away.
Wandering down the corridor, Seth viewed the scratched and renewed paintings in peace. Finally, the door opened, but no one stood at the doorway.
“Come in,” invited someone from the depths of the shady chamber.
Looking around, Seth stepped inside. The room was narrow and long, but the windows mounted on the entire wall enlarged it optically.
Who wants to see a disaster area like this? he asked himself, gazing at the distant peaks, enveloped in brown clouds.
A red carpet lay on the stone floor, and a large, elliptical table with its top made of synthetic crystal and standing around it, chairs filled the majority of the space.
Seth slowed down when he noticed somebody sitting on the broad, black leather armchair at the end of the room. The blue light of the LiqBoard illuminated the person’s silhouette. The man in the black tailcoat raised his head, turned off the device and stood up.
“Seth Felvennis, right?” asked Azhi, walking towards Seth. He reached out his hand and smiled. “Welcome to Narjahanam.”