Michael Manning - The God-Stone War

Less than half an hour later we were back in the Traveler’s Pinnacle, stepping away from the circle that Elaine had just teleported us onto. We had also gained a small honor guard consisting of two of Nicholas’ men at arms. James had declined to bring any men of his own, stating that Elaine and I, as his vassals, would serve as more than adequate protection. I decided that was probably a compliment.

Staring down from the highest balcony, Nicholas was obviously impressed. “How high are we?” he asked.

“Slightly more than two hundred and fifty feet,” I answered in a matter of fact manner.

His sharp brown eyes caught me, “Is there a purpose to such great height? Is it necessary for the magics?”

A good question, I thought to myself. “No, the height is purely a matter of defense, and perhaps some small vanity on my part. For such an important structure, I felt that building the world’s tallest tower would be appropriate.”

The foreign king nodded to himself, “I see. So what is the purpose of the central fortress, merely defense?”

“In large part, yes,” I said. “It shields the central crossroad, preventing those who will travel the World Road from exiting here near the capital if they are hostile. It will also house the troops that will be vital in protecting the road itself if it should come under attack from without.”

“Does a road need to be defended so carefully?” Nicholas asked with knowing eyes. He knew the answer already; he simply wanted to hear my explanation.

James interrupted, “Well of course…,” but he stopped abruptly, looking at me. “Go ahead and give him your rationale, Mordecai.”

I nodded, taking a deep breath. “The World Road will connect all of Lothion and enable free trade between every part of it. It will revolutionize commerce and become a vital part of our economy. If it were to be misused, it could transport an enemy army from any part of the kingdom to our doorstep in a matter of hours, or anywhere else for that matter. Because of this, the road will have immense military importance. This fortress will control and protect the actual road itself, although there will be only one egress and ingress here, that which leads from the center out to the capital itself.”

Leaning out between the merlons, I pointed at the road being constructed below us encircling the fortress, “The road itself will be entirely underground once it is finished. This will prevent those using it from exiting without passing into this fortress first. It will also make possible some of our stronger security measures.”

“Stronger measures?” said Nicholas questioningly.

I glanced at James and saw him nod before I continued, “We will be able to flood the entire road if necessary to stop an enemy using it against us.” Or simply a quarter of the road, I added mentally. There were four stone locks that would seal the road off into sections, allowing us to flood whichever portion necessary, while continuing to use the rest. I didn’t feel it necessary to give King Nicholas that much detail though.

In fact, the underground design would allow us to flood the road, in part or in whole, without causing water to spill out into the surrounding countryside… salt water. Four entry portals would connect to matching stone portals in the sea itself; portals that had been sunk to the appropriate depth to allow them to fill the World Road, without causing the water to rise above ground level if we were somehow unable to close them. When we desired to drain the water, they could be sealed and complementary drain portals would open at sea level along the coast, allowing the seawater to rejoin the ocean.

Even more interesting was the second set of portals that were never meant to be used. They were connected to a portal deep underground, one that led to a massive magma chamber. Opening that set of portals would fill the World Road with lava, effectively sealing and destroying it entirely, if our need were ever that dire.

“Your design seems to be extremely defensible,” Nicholas noted.

I smiled. “That was my intention. Not only will we be able to seal the road itself and submerge it if necessary, but each gate that opens onto it will be housed within a small fortress at its destination point. The guards at each of those locations will be capable of deactivating or destroying the gate their keep protects if they deem it necessary, to stop an enemy from entering the road.”

“No one can fault your thoroughness,” replied Nicholas.

“Why don’t you take us down to see the road itself, Mordecai,” said James to fill the pause. “You really get a feel for the scale of it when you see it up close,” he assured the King of Gododdin.

A short walk down the stairs took us to the circle, and a much longer flight of stairs then took us down to the fortress itself. It was unusual as castles go, in that it wasn’t built around a central keep. Instead it was built around a large, circular courtyard, with one main gate leading out to the north, toward the Myrtle River and the bridge that led across it to Albamarl. Above the gate was the massive bailey that Traveler’s Pinnacle was built on top of. The rest of the fortress consisted of a fifty foot thick wall that encircled the courtyard, punctuated every thirty yards by a small guard tower.

The central courtyard itself held two ramps leading down and under the walls. Those ramps each led a quarter mile out to the eastern and western-most points of the World Road itself, which was underground. Once we had reached the level of the courtyard itself, I led the two kings and Elaine out and down the eastern ramp.

I called it a ramp, but in truth it was a part of the road, paved and leading downward at a gentle grade. We were quickly enclosed in stone, but above our heads were enchanted globes providing a steady glow. The overall illumination level was less than full daylight, but bright enough to read if someone were keen to do so.

Nicholas was already impressed. “Those lights… are those magical as well?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Did you make all of these? If this road travels a quarter of a mile in each direction and then another mile and a half around the circle… there must be thousands of them!” he exclaimed.

“Indeed,” I answered smoothly, “though I did not make them all by myself. Elaine and her father and brother have all spent time helping to construct the enchanted globes.” In fact, I had chosen the eastern road because the lights weren’t finished yet to fully light the western side. George and his father would be working on some of those even as we spoke. We all took it in turns to produce some of the lights, and even so it might be another year before we had finished them all.

We continued onward. The distance along the eastern road was almost a quarter of a mile before we reached the point at which it joined, what I thought of as the World Road itself. A massive iron portcullis marked the ceiling above us about ten yards from where the two roads, or at this point, ‘tunnels’, met. Nicholas remarked upon it, “I see a portcullis above but no gate. Is that intentional?”

I chuckled. “There’s a gate, you just didn’t see it.” I pointed back along the road we had just trod. “Over here,” I said as I walked back twenty yards. “See these two parallel lines?” The lines I had designated were about five feet apart and crossed the entire road. They also continued up each wall and across the ceiling.

“Yes.”

“The stone in the floor can drop about two feet and the stone in the walls can recess a similar amount,” I indicated the area between the lines on the floor and both walls. “When that happens, the stone in the ceiling slides down at a rapid, but controlled rate, creating a sheer stone wall that fits into those grooves and completely seals the road. That is our ‘gate’, but we refer to it as a ‘lock’, since one of its purposes is to prevent water from flowing up this road if we decide to flood the World Road.”