The Copper Women Upon The Battlement [Chain/Alma Torran]

The pale moon hung upon threads of starlight, illuminating the road below. Trundling along this road inside a horse-drawn carriage was the purple-haired Zubaidah. She was flicking through the pages of her new book, but her frustration made it evident there was something wrong. The pages were all blank - every page save one, which had written:

Here is the final account of Alma Torran, within which one shall find the works and lives of its peoples - both tragic and marvellous. These pages hold the last vestiges of that land, and its tales shall make clear their plight.

Zubaidah had exhausted her mind figuring how she might fill these pages, and reading the tales they told, but each attempt had failed. Deciding to make her bed for the evening, she placed the book aside and slowed the carriage. But as she made these preparations, Zubaidah noticed a small symbol upon the book; something new but familiar. A six-pointed star, glowing upon the front cover. Confident that this was a sign of her success, she opened the book - and there it was. Bold and inviting, the pages were filled with golden writing; a tale had finally appeared. Though she did not know what tale it would tell, she was confident was the first clue towards unravelling the mystery of the world. So she prepared herself and began to read, and this was the tale:

This is the eighth chapter of my recount, comprising my continued journey with the kindly Sheyk I had earlier met, alongside the army of Emir Musa.

The kindly Sheyk and myself accompanied the Emir Musa, son of Nuseyr, to his tent, whereupon he summoned the Wezir Talib, youngest of the Emir Fahl, and asked news from the Saltan. And Talib handed him a letter, which the Emir Musa read and understood and rejoiced. He declared that there were new orders for the army, an expedition he would lead, leading to somewhere distant. However, I could tell that there was some concern regarding this same expedition, on account of his unfamiliarity with lands abroad. Sensing this, Talib called forth the kindly Sheyk and myself, saying,

"O Emir, if thou desire some man who might guide thee to that place the Saltan has bid us go, have recourse to this Sheykh. He is a knowing man, as is his fellow Furcas - for they have travelled much, and are acquainted with the deserts and wastes and the seas, and their inhabitants and their wonders, and the countries and their districts."[/color]

And the Emir Musa accepted our aid, and bade us mount our horses so that we might start the expedition. I thought it might be a long journey, but it was not even two weeks later that we came upon our objective - a great citadel guarded by a high ring of walls. I asked the kindly Sheyk of its name, and he replied,

"Friend, thine eyes behold the Cyclopean capital, Trinaks by name."

The expedition (or so I later gathered) was to surmise why this city had ceased trade, having been a previous hub of commercial spendour, and attentively viewed the town which lay outside its walls. And, lo, it was devoid of inhabitants, destitute of household and occupants; its courts were desolate and its apartments were deserted. The gardens strangled the stone and wood, and the vines grew over their tender’s yards. In the midst of the gathering green were four hundred tombs. To these tombs the Emir Musa drew near and, behold, among them was a tomb constructed of marble, whereupon were engraved sweet verses stating bitter words,

"Here was a people whom, after their works, thou shalt see wept over for their lost dominion.

Beyond this place is the last information respecting lords collected in the dust.

Death hath destroyed them and united them; in the dust they have lost what they gained and gained what they had lost.

As though they had only put down their loads to rest a while - quickly have they departed."

The soldiers proceeded, with the kindly Sheyk before them showing them the way, until all the first day had passed, and the second, and the third. They then came to a high hill, at which they looked, and, lo, upon it was a horseman of brass. In one hand it held a spear, with a wide and glistening head, that almost deprived the beholder of sight and on it was inscribed,

"What directs is thy direction."

And I noticed its other arm straightened, like a streak of blinding lightning, which faced a different direction from that in which we were travelling. So pointing this out, the Emir Musa congratulated me and ordered that we move forwards in that same direction. And we ceased not to proceed until we arrived at the city. And, lo, it was lofty, strongly fortified, rising high into the air, impenetrable. The height of its walls was eighty cubits and it had twenty-five gates, high and large if ever one had seen, none of which would open but by means of some artifice. And there was not one gate to it that had, within the city, another quite like it - such was the beauty of the construction and architecture of the city. We stopped before it, endeavouring to discover one of its gates, but we could not.

 Then the Emir Musa ordered our company to mount their camel and ride round the city, in the hope that he might discover a trace of a gate, or a place lower than that to which they were opposite. So one young man mounted, and proceeded around it for two days with their nights, prosecuting his journey with diligence, and not resting. And when the third day arrived, he came in sight of his companions, and he was astounded at that which he beheld of the extent of the city, and its height. Then once he came back to the troops, they passed the day devising means of entering the city. The Emir Musa approached the Wezir Talib, saying,

"O fairest Silat, how shall we contrive to enter the city, that we may see its wonders?"

Then, his thoughts sparking with genius, he called the carpenters and blacksmiths and ordered them to fetch some pieces of wood, welding and constructing a ladder covered with plates of iron. And they did so, and made it strong. They employed themselves in constructing it for many days, and many men were occupied in making it. And they set it up and fixed it against the wall, and it proved to be equal to the wall in height, as though it had been made for it before that day. Then the Emir Musa said to the people,

"Which of you will ascend this ladder, and find some way of opening the gate?"

And one of them answered that he would - a man of exceeding ambition, meaning to ingratiate himself to the Emir Musa. Accordingly, the man ascended the ladder until he reached the top of it. And he stood, his eyes fixed towards the city, clapped his hands, and cried out with his loudest voice, saying,

"Thou art beautiful!"

Then he cast himself down into the city, and his spirit left his broken body. And the Emir Musa, aghast at this display, questioned his sanity. He forbade others to ascend until they determined whether the ladder had been shaken, or his mind had. But a second thought himself more steady than the first. And he ascended, and a third, and a fourth, and a fifth. They ceased not to ascend by that ladder to the top of the wall, one after another, until twelve men of them had gone, acting as had the first. Seeing that there seemed none who could reach the top without this same end, the Emir Musa demanded that none should ascend.

But I, encouraged by the kindly Sheyk (who thought I had a mind sounder than the others), volunteered myself for this service, asking that the Emir Musa grant me this chance. With great reluctance, he agreed and allowed me to ascend by the ladder. When I reached the top of the battlements, I beheld ten damsels - dazzling like moons - who made a sign with their hands, as though saying,

"Come to us."

And it seemed to me that beneath me was a great sea; I desired to cast myself down into this sea, as our companions had, and swim to these damsels. But then I beheld our companions dead. They had cast themselves down the battlements and fallen to their deaths, their bodies broken upon the stone below.

There was no doubt that this was some ward - an artifice which the people of this city contrived in order to repel those who should desire to invade. The damsels were not women borne of flesh but made from copper; poor facsimiles smithied with enchantments. By these enchantments, our companions now lay dead.