The vault turned out to be not a treasure warehouse, but a sanctuary. In the center of the hall, under a dome dotted with a star map, a creature sat on a stone pedestal. It was made of polished, dark wood and pale, bone-like porcelain, with the thinnest silver wires instead of tendons. His face was devoid of a mouth, and his large, almond-shaped eyes of frosted crystal were closed. It resembled both an ancient sage and an elegant puppet.
The hall disappeared. He was standing on a sunny street in an incredible city. Towers of white stone and silver soared into the turquoise sky, not ships, but graceful platforms hovered between them. The air was filled with laughter, music, and the scent of exotic flowers. He was a little boy, and his mother, a woman with kind eyes and a scorpion sign on her clothes, was leading him by the hand, pointing to the ghost whales flying in the sky. He felt her love, her warmth, her boundless sense of security.
За каменной дверью открылся поразительный вид. Целый подземный город, высеченный в громадной пещере. Купол светился мягким искусственным светом, имитирующим солнце. Дома, тоже вырезанные из скалы, образовывали улицы. Повсюду были видны следы древних технологий — те же светильники, что и в Храме, механизмы, управляющие потоками воды и воздуха. Но все это было старым, ветшающим, едва работающим.
At the foot of the black crystal tree, there was a translucent silhouette of a woman. She didn't look at them. She was looking up at the sky, her mouth open in a silent scream. Fragments of feelings hovered around her—overwhelming horror, chilling longing, and then — a sharp, absolute emptiness. The echo lasted for a few seconds and dispersed like smoke.
У подножия черного кристаллического дерева стоял полупрозрачный силуэт женщины. Она не смотрела на них. Она смотрела в небо, ее рот был открыт в беззвучном крике. Вокруг нее витали обрывки чувств — всепоглощающий ужас, леденящая душу тоска, а затем — резкая, абсолютная пустота. Эхо длилось несколько секунд и рассыпалось, словно дым.
Morwen rushed into battle like a wildcat, her blades flashing, finding gaps in their defenses. But there were too many opponents. One of the masked men broke through and pointed his weapon at her. A crimson bolt buzzed through the air, aiming at her back.
Chaos ensued. The sailors were rushing around the deck in horror. The captain tried to turn the ship around, but the metal ships were much faster. One of them boarded. Figures in ragged uniforms, with their faces hidden behind steel masks, fell from its side onto the deck of the Swallow. Their movements were abrupt, mechanical, and in their hands they clutched not sabers, but strange devices that emit short, paralyzing discharges.
Two ships sailed out of the fog like verbal ghosts. They were smaller than the Swallow, but their hulls had an unnatural metallic sheen, and instead of masts, complex structures of spiked antennas towered. Battering rams, like the stingers of giant insects, creaked out from the sides. Steel Sharks .