Page 48 of Dark Shaman: Eternal Hope (The Children Of The Gods #100)
The Elucians might have been nearly wiped out of existence during the two Extinction Wars, but they had fought ferociously, and even though the Sitorians won, their armies had been left in tatters and incapable of marching against Eluria.
By the time they'd recovered and rebuilt, so had the Elucians, and the cycle had started anew.
As the cable car began to slow, the outlines of Podana, the Elucian capital, grew clearer.
Unlike the large Elurian metropolises, which housed millions in high-rise buildings made of metal and concrete, Podana was modest in both size and architecture.
The capital sprawled across multiple levels of rugged mountainside, its older buildings made of local stone and the newer ones from a combination of stone and timber.
The city seemed to grow organically from the rock face, with narrow, winding streets connecting the different levels.
Most buildings were low-rise, rarely exceeding three stories in height, and had steep, slanted roofs, indicative of the heavy snowfalls at these elevations.
The walls were substantial, built to insulate against the cold mountain air, and many were whitewashed, reflecting what sunlight made it through the near-constant auroras.
Others maintained the natural grays and browns of their building materials.
"In the pictures, Podana looked much grander than this." I waved a hand at the window. "I guess it was photographed from more flattering angles."
Codric nodded. "It looks like a village that grew into a city over time."
"That's exactly what happened," Bendor said. "Podana was one of the first communities the returning Elucians established, and we continued from there."
"Was there nothing left from before?" I asked.
He shook his head. "The predecessors of today's Shedun demolished every last building and fed the ruins to their worms to grind into dust. They wanted to ensure that our culture was erased from the face of Aurorys.
There was nearly nothing left except for the ruined remains of the Citadel and Elu's temple.
" He leaned closer, his lips curving in a wry smile.
"Thank Elu that our shamans managed to save some of the dragon eggs.
They hid them so well that the demons couldn't find them even though they searched every cave and nook in these mountains for centuries. "
Theirs was such a sad history, and it was a miracle that any of those long-ago Elucians managed to escape and find refuge in Eluria. The dragon eggs that had remained hidden and survived for over a millennium were an even bigger miracle.
Some believed that they had been obscured by magic, but that was superstitious nonsense that ignorant people with no understanding of science believed in. The problem was that there were enough of them to give the rumor wings.
The reality was that if not for the resourcefulness and sacrifice of the Elucian shamans, the magnificent creatures would have gone extinct.
Most shamans hadn't survived, and the eggs they had hidden had either been destroyed or still remained in hiding.
Only one shaman still lived, Saphir Fatewever, and the eggs he'd managed to shield and later hatch had been enough to revive dragonkind.
A miracle to some. A plague to others.
As we drew closer, I could make out more details.
Small gardens were tucked into whatever spaces could be found, bursts of green amid the stone and wood.
Waterfalls created by melting snow cascaded down the rock face, their spray catching the light and creating miniature rainbows.
And everywhere, people went about their daily lives, tiny figures going about their business in this city in the sky.
"Look there," Codric pointed. "That's the famous Podana Academy."
I followed his gaze to a large structure near the heart of the city. While grander than the surrounding buildings, it was still built primarily of local stone and sprawled over several terraces.
"Indeed, it is," Mira confirmed. "The pride of Podana, where our brightest minds study and our scientists come up with wondrous new inventions in every imaginable field."
Her claim was a little boastful, but given how tiny the Elucian population was, their contribution to the sciences was impressive.
The Elucians revered learning, but the truth was that not many could afford to study in the academy, not because tuition was costly but because they needed to work to support themselves and their families.
Most of the students depended on grants from the Elurian Federation, which financed a lot of the research in exchange for sharing the fruits of their labor.
In another life, perhaps I could have studied there, learning the secrets of Aurorys alongside the Elucian scholars. But that wasn't my path. I had a different mission, a different destiny to fulfill.
The cable car began to slow as we approached the central depot, which was a bustling hub of activity carved into the mountainside like the rest of the city.
Bendor stood, stretching his long limbs. "Good luck on your pilgrimage. May Elu guide your steps and lift your spirits."
After saying goodbye to Bendor and Mira, we disembarked and followed the throng of people into the depot.
The cacophony of sounds and the press of bodies around us reminded me of the central transportation hubs back home, and the feeling of otherness that I'd been cultivating since our arrival at the foot of the mountains started to abate.
Elucians weren't all that different from Elurians when they were safe among their own and protected by walls and dragons.
"Come on," Codric said, tugging at my arm. "We need to find transportation to Skywatcher's Point."
Following the signs, we walked out to where a fleet of hover-cars was waiting for passengers and joined the line behind those who had arrived before us.
An attendant approached us with a friendly smile. "Where to, gentlemen?"
"We need to get to Skywatcher's Point," I said.
The attendant's smile broadened. "Pilgrims, eh? Well, you're in luck. Torvan here is your guy," he waved to a grizzled man leaning against one of the hover-cars. "The standard fee is a hundred lumen, and a tip is expected once you reach your destination."
"Who should we pay?" Codric asked. "You or the driver?"
"Either one is fine. You can pay Torvan directly, and he will forward the depot's fee later."
I had no doubt that he would. Elucians adhered strictly to the original principles of Truth laid down by Elu, and those left no room for cheating or even skimming a little from the top.
Elurians followed the same Truths, but we were much less strict in the way we interpreted the original writings, which I was thankful for.
Without any wiggle room, Codric and I wouldn't be on our way to join the pilgrimage.
Torvan straightened, his weathered face breaking into a crooked grin. "So, you boys are here for the pilgrimage, eh? Hop in. I'll get you to Skywatcher's Point safe and sound and give you a tour of our beautiful countryside as a bonus, free of charge."
"Thank you." I pulled out my wallet, intending to pay him, but he stayed my hand.
"You pay when we get there. Not before." He opened the back door for us.
The interior of the hover-car was a little worn, but it was clean and smelled good, and two sealed water bottles rested in holders next to each seat.
"These are for you lads, and if you want to stop for a bite to eat, I can take you to a good eatery and wait until you are done."
"We are fine," I said despite Codric's hopeful expression. "We'll eat when we get to Skywatcher's Point."
"Very well." Torvan pulled out from the line of hover-cars. "The Pilgrims' Lodge has an eatery that is open at all times, but the selection is limited. You won't find any Elurian delicacies there."
"Are there any other eateries you can recommend?" Codric asked.
"Plenty." As the vehicle glided smoothly out of the depot, Torvan launched into a long sales pitch about every eatery in Skywatcher's Point. All five of them.
"So, what made you travel all the way to our remote country in the sky?" Torvan asked as we wound our way through the outskirts of Podana.
"Alar and I were always fascinated by dragons, and then we discovered that our great-great-grandmother was Elucian." Codric smiled at the driver who was watching us through the rear-view mirror. "After that, there was no stopping us. We had to join the pilgrimage."
Torvan nodded approvingly. "Good for you. Not many Elurians make the pilgrimage these days. Too scared of the Shedun attacking, I reckon."
Frankly, the Shedun hadn't even crossed our minds when we'd decided to go on this adventure. Not that knowing about the clear and present dangers these people faced would have changed our minds. We were determined to do whatever it took to become dragon riders.
"What's it like?" Codric asked. "Living here seems tough."
"You can say that again." Torvan laughed, a deep, rumbling sound. "It's not easy, but it makes us a family. We all care for one another because there is no one else who does."
I felt offended on behalf of every Elurian who had ever aided Elucians.
"That's not true," I said. "Elurians care. Your people found refuge among us, and when you decided to reclaim your ancestral lands, the Elurian Federation helped."
Without us, the Shedun would have probably wiped them out of existence the moment they returned to these mountains. Eluria armed the returning Elucians and provided backup.
"Truth," Torvan said. "Elucia owes Eluria a debt of gratitude, but now we are on our own and take care of each other. We deal with our enemies." He turned to look at us. "We keep the Shedun busy so they don't turn their attention to you."
I nodded because he was right, and I would not offend an Elucian by parroting the half-truths printed in Elurian newspapers.
There were advantages and disadvantages to our loosened adherence to the truth and our more moderate interpretation of Elurion's dictates.
That being said, according to Elucian scholars, abandoning the path of absolute truth would eventually lead to Eluria's downfall, but it hadn't happened yet, and our society was successful and prosperous, so I didn't expect it to fall apart anytime soon.
Then again, abandoning the path of truth was part of turning a blind eye to what was happening with the Sitorian Union and their global domination ambitions.
As we left the city behind, the landscape became more rugged with jagged peaks stretching as far as the eye could see, their snow-capped summits disappearing into banks of clouds. Forests of hardy pines clung to the lower slopes, giving way to bare rock and ice higher up.
"Do you see that one over there?" Torvan pointed to a distant peak. "That's Mount Fury. That's where the first riders made their pact with the dragons."
The thought of those first riders forging a bond that would shape the destiny of an entire nation filled me with awe and a bit of longing.
Those riders were legendary, their names forever etched into the fabric of Aurorys's history.
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