Read Online 5: The Holy Road by Ginn Hale - Free Book Online

so he’d seen the fortress before. John gaped at the two gray ridges and the strangely black mountain that rose between them. A dull haze seemed to hang over it, punctuated by tiny flickering fires. They spiraled up the black mountain with the perfect uniformity of skyscraper windows.
    “Are those watch fires?” John asked.
    “They’re barrack lamps.” Alidas smiled fondly at the black mountain. “Those at the top of the fortress are the kahlirash’im barracks, armories, stables, and practice fields. Below them are the servant quarters, infirmaries, and kitchens. And last are the smiths’ and miners’ barracks.”
    “That entire thing is a fortress?” John stared at its black mass and the haze of smoke that surrounded it. He could make out its seven massive, walled terraces as he studied it. In a way, they resembled the terraced farmlands of Amura’taye, but black iron walls encircled every rise. Hundreds of watchtowers rose up from the walls at regular intervals. It was obviously a single structure, but one on the scale of a mountain.
          “A fortress but also a temple,” Ravishan clarified. “The rashan’im there are priests and the most devout of them are the kahlirash’im. They worship Parfir in his vengeful aspect, the Rifter.” Ravishan stared ahead with a look like longing. “Once the Usho ordains me Kahlil, I will be counted as one of them—the holiest of them.”
          Alidas, too, regarded the fortress. “The Bousim house sent me to train at Vundomu in preparation for becoming Fikiri’s attendant.” John expected Alidas’ expression to betray either relief or regret that he had not fulfilled his duty. Instead he simply continued to gaze out at the black fortress and said, “A rashan there is a different kind of man.”
    “Three eyes different?” John asked. To his relief, Ravishan smiled and Alidas laughed.
    “Compared to some of the rashan’im working for the gaun’im they might as well be.”
    “Certainly their filed teeth are unique,” Ravishan opined.
    “Yes, but the rashan’im at Vundomu are also a sacred brotherhood. They’re literate, honorable, and sworn to uphold Parfir’s laws.” Alidas sounded wistful. “A womanizing drunk like Commander Tashtu would never have been tolerated in Vundomu, much less promoted.”
    “Tashtu?” Ravishan cast a glance in John’s direction. “Wasn’t he the rasho that you beat up at the last Harvest Fair?”
    “The very one,” John replied. It still angered John to think of how the man had accosted Laurie.
    Alidas smiled slyly. “Now that we’re away from Amura’taye I can tell you how much I envied you when you did that.”
    “Thanks,” John replied. But he didn’t feel proud, so much as disturbed by the fact that Tashtu was still in the Bousim house with Laurie. There was nothing he could do to change that; he simply had to pray that Pivan would keep his word and protect his friends.
    “I take it, you don’t like your Commander Tashtu?” Ravishan asked Alidas.
    “Hate him, really,” Alidas admitted. “He can’t do anything in moderation. He’ll have the men out on maneuvers for weeks, then he’ll change his mind and no one will be allowed off of the Bousim house grounds. He’ll want full formal dress, then get sick of it and demand to know ‘just who do you think you’re going to impress in this backwater?’ We never knew what to expect.”
    “It sounds like he doesn’t know how to lead his men,” Ravishan said.
    “He’s just a drunk,” Alidas pronounced firmly.
    “You’re as glad to be leaving Amura’taye as I am then?” Ravishan asked.
    “I’m glad to be going but not so happy about the reason.” Alidas’ fingers only brushed his right leg. “But perhaps my leg will improve after treatment in Nurjima.”
    “I hope it does,” Ravishan said. “Will you stay with the Bousim household there?”
    “I have to. I was tithed to them, so it will be at least another ten years before I can