The Brevaran Chronicles

CHAPTER ONE

Carelle was outside the protective boundary. She was scavenging for her favourite foods – and anything else that might prove useful. How she had managed to get outside the boundary was unknown to all but a small handful of resourceful teenagers. It was a sojourn she had made more than once, and one that was always fraught with danger. She stopped and scanned the horizon every few seconds like a startled rabbit that had heard a man-made sound, and strained her ears for any mechanical or non-natural noises. She sniffed the air for signs of danger. The Brevaran had a keen sense of smell.

Carelle was Brevaran, and at just over a metre in height, she was considered tall for her race. She had jet black eyes, as did almost everyone else she knew, but she had a golden brown mane as opposed to the dull dark brown that everyone else possessed. When the sun caught it, it glowed with a bright auburn red sheen, which has given away her position on many a forage. Her hair ran almost fifteen centimetres wide all the way from her forehead, across the top of her head and down her shoulders; looking very much like a red-Indian feather head-dress, but without the brightly coloured feathers. The grey and brown spots on her cheeks indicating that she was from the Trellis clan. Today, her hair was tied up in a dull green scarf so as not to give her away. She turned to her companion Eldyn, and smiled, confidently. He smiled nervously back at her, moving the green and blue Teltris clan spots on his cheeks as he did, but his pale grey eyes were ever alert for danger. Although she never told him, Carelle envied him the colour of his spots. She would have loved to have those colours to contrast with her beautiful mane, but unfortunately, no one had a choice in that. It was just something you were born with . . . or not, as the case may be. Of all the six Brevaran clans, she loved the colour of the Teltris clan spots the most.

The Wild Ones were the only real enemy they had ever encountered. No one had ever managed to converse with one, so they never learned the name of this savage race, hence they had made up one of their own. Yes, there were some dangerous animals in the forests surrounding Hunter’s Mountain, but nothing compared to this centuries-old enemy of the Brevaran people. They were everywhere, and had to be avoided at all cost. They were huge and powerful, but more than that, they were vicious. On occasion, they had been known to eat Brevaran’s without cooking or even killing them first. Standing well over two metres tall, with huge, powerful muscles and a seriously bad temper, they posed a massive threat to the Brevaran, and the threat was growing by the day.

Carelle and Eldyn mounted their terrapods and together they set off again, slowly. Today they were looking for wild mushrooms that grew close to the south side of the Hunters Mountain. Terrapods had a terrific sense of smell that outmatched even the Brevaran’s own and could find almost anything once they knew what they were looking for. Just hold something to their sensory organs and let them do the rest. Terrapods were basically giant caterpillars and for some reason, were drawn to the Brevaran like dolphins or dogs to humans. They seemed to enjoy their company as much as anything else and had an almost telepathic connection to them.

A sudden rustle alerted them to the presence of someone . . . or something. Quickly they dismounted and sent the terropods off to safety with a slap. If they were lucky, it would be a rabbit. If they were unlucky, it would be a war party of Wild Ones. Today, they were unlucky. They had stepped back into the cover of nearby bushes just in time. The Wild Ones could normally be heard a long way off, but this time they had moved with great, and unusual stealth until very close. They had also approached from upwind, so no smell had reached them. That in itself was extraordinary enough to cause concern. They held their breath and waited. The smell hit them hard after only a few seconds. The Wild Ones were filthy, with long, dirty, straggly hair and a wild look about them – hence the name awarded. Wearing ragged clothing made of animal skins, and shoes fashioned the same way, they looked Neanderthal in appearance, and communicated with about as much skill. They knew from experience though, that they were brighter than they looked. Each one carried a spear in their left hand, and a bone-handled knife tucked in their belt. They communicated with grunts, hand signals, and gesturing most of the time. Carelle and Eldyn stood very still and hoped they would simply pass them by. But they did not.

The Wild Ones stopped in the clearance right in front of their bush, and sat down on the ground. They had chosen this spot to rest. They took out their food and water, and consumed it noisily and messily, right in front of them; eating the meat raw, by tearing it with their teeth and swallowing it without hardly chewing it at all. One of the males stood up and urinated on the bushes they were hiding in, the warm liquid pooling around Carelle’s left foot, the steam of it almost causing her to gag. If he had not been too pre-occupied with spraying the insects on the lower leaves, they would surely have been noticed. Clearing his throat, he spat past Carelle’s left ear, turned and re-joined his group. After an hour, the Wild Ones stood and left the clearing, the remains of their lunch clear for all to see. The couple let out a long slow sigh of relief, and decided to cut their hunt short, and head for home; they had had enough excitement for one day. They would have to walk home now, as they had already let their ride go. Watchful and alert! cautioned Eldyn. Ears listening. Eyes scanning. Understood. She replied, nodding in agreement.

It was late when they finally reached their individual dwellings. As Carelle opened her door quietly and entered, her father was waiting for her. Angrily, he asked where she had been – even though he already knew the answer. An argument ensued. Eyes open Carelle, ears heeding. said her father. She knew it was forbidden to venture outside the shield, unless you were part of an expedition sanctioned by the Elders. Punishment was awarded to anyone found to have done so. It was a safety rule designed to protect the village and the villagers. She and Eldyn were among a group of eight young bloods that had recently graduated from school, and were just wandering about with nothing to do. I have found a way to stop you being bored and breaking the rules. I have found you a job! In ten days’ time you are apprenticed to Joban in the market garden. He grows carrots. But father! I don’t want to be a turf-turner . . . ! No buts, daughter-mine. Ears heeding. You are apprenticed, and that’s an end to it! Carelle’s mother stood quietly by, anguish and concern on her face. Once her husband had left the room, she went to Carelle and put her arm around her. Ears heeding. Heart accepting. If he didn’t care, he would not have said anything, daughter-dear. And with that, she kissed Carelle on the forehead and followed her husband’s earlier retreat. Even as she did so, she knew it would make no difference. Carelle was not the kind to be tied down. She liked to be out in the open countryside and taking risks.

Hunter’s Mountain had been designed by the Founders at the end of the Great War, a thousand years earlier, or so the history books claimed. When there is no other race to contradict you, you can invent whatever history you liked. Truth is that very little literature survived from that period to be certain – all they had was word-of-mouth, which tends to get distorted somewhat in the telling and re-telling. According to historical records, it had been burrowed straight into the side of a mountain through the rear wall of a cave that had been found half way up the south slope, and sealed behind them using the earth they had excavated. Essentially, they had buried themselves inside, but it was safer than taking their chances outside with the Wild Ones.

Basically, their troglodyte village was centred around a large circular cavern on the lowest level, known as the Assembly Hall. Around the walls of this great hall were twelve circular walkways, stacked one above the other, creating twelve floors, from which rooms and corridors spiked horizontally outwards into the earth. The circles, or Rings as they were known, measured over one hundred and fifty feet across. A handrail followed each Ring round, protecting people from the drop into the Assembly Hall below. Twelve doors stood around each Ring, evenly spaced. The doors at two, four, six, eight, ten and twelve o’clock were dwellings for the more senior members of the community, while the doors at one, three, five, seven, nine and eleven o’clock were simply corridors leading back deeper into the mountain. After following these corridors for one hundred feet, more doors led off alternately to the left and right. These were the dwellings for the lowly, manual workers. As the colony grew, the corridors were extended outward, and more dwellings were added. In total, they numbered just over seven hundred people at present. Strolling Rings were also created by joining the corridors at intervals as they were extended outwards, thus creating corners for enterprising people to set up a barrow to sell their wares.

Each Ring was joined, upwards and downwards, by two opposing staircases, at three and nine o’clock, and a sliding pole at six and twelve o’clock. These poles descended through the centre of the walkway to the level below. Carelle’s home was on level seven, down the eleven o’clock corridor, dwelling K, for which the address was simply 7-11-K. Rings one and two were different from all the other rings. The ground floor held the only authorised tunnel to the outside world, the library, the sports hall, and the Council Leader’s dwelling. The second Ring was entirely given over to industry; food processing, engineering, manufacturing of tools and clothing, etc.

From each level you could stand at the handrail and look down to the ground level, where the Great Symbol could be seen in the centre of the Assembly Hall. Looking up from the Assembly Hall, the only natural light allowed in could be seen through the protective shield. It was high in the centre of the domed ceiling, through which sunlight shone down onto the Great Symbol for four hours each day, charging the Blue Crystal at its heart, and providing energy for the lighting, heating, ventilation, and to power the shield that protected them all from the horrors of the outside world. The symbol itself was shaped like a large silver tree called the Tree of Life. Along the branches ran the transparent tubes that carried the energy pulses sent by the Blue Crystal every five seconds to every level, to provide all the energy they needed.

Carelle and Eldyn went down to 1-10. On the way down she told Eldyn of the job her father had found for her. It is a noble and worthy trade, Carelle, he said. Don’t! You sound just like my father. You know I want more than that. I want to be a Forager, I’m already better at it than most of them are! My father is also trying to find a job for me, now that I am of age too, although I have no idea what he will come up with yet. 1-10 was the only recreation facility. It was a very large area used for the purpose of sports, and the favourite game was Twin-Ball; a fast moving game played with two canvas bags filled with beads. The idea was to score them in your opponent’s goal. The player who managed to place the first bag was also the only one who could place the second bag. Once you managed to score bag one, the rest of the team were then responsible for protecting you and assisting you in placing the second one. The defenders on both sides were allowed to use both hands and their batons to fend away the balls. It was played at a fast pace and was very tiring. There were several good teams in the league all vying for the top position. Carelle loved to watch Eldyn play. He was one of the top players of all time, and had won the ‘Best Player’ title several times despite his youth. As soon as they walked in, Eldyn was roped into the game. Carelle went to the benches and sat down to watch the fun.

The game had been originally designed at the end of the wars as a reminder of the awful things and crimes that are committed in its name. The batons were fitted with a scoop on one end in order to throw rocks and grenades further and with greater ease. There were four trees, three bushes and two land mines included. These items were placed randomly by the adjudicator prior to the commencement of play. They were electronically implanted holograms that were barely visible with the naked eye. Penalties were incurred by colliding with these objects. The most severe penalty was attached to the mines. Of course, these were not real land mines like in the war, but if triggered, they released a small quantity of paralaxia; a neurotoxin that rendered anyone unfortunate enough to be effected, in a state of paralysis for about twenty seconds. The idea was to try and remember where they were and steer your opposing team into them.

The green light lit up, indicating the start of the game. Eldyn eyed the opposition. The large ugly guy who led them was Terradain. He and Eldyn had been sworn enemies since they started school, many years earlier when Eldyn made him look foolish by selling him insurance against going to hell when he died. Terradain was not the brightest of people and he suffered from a hyper secretion of growth hormone, which causes Gigantism in children. As a result, he stood almost forty centimetres taller than most Brevaran.

Someone threw the first ball to Eldyn, while they moved off in the other direction with the second one. The attackers from the opposing team moved forward menacingly, waving their batons as they went. Two attackers went toward each ball, effectively blocking their way. Suddenly, Eldyn threw his ball high over their heads and dived between them, sliding through on the seat of his pants. They attackers collided with each other behind him. One of them was Terradain. (He was not pleased with being made to look foolish again, especially as Carelle was there. He had a secret crush on her that everyone knew about, including Carelle). This was known as the Slipper Manoeuvre. Quickly, Eldyn jumped to his feet, caught the ball as it came down, and sprinted towards the defenders. He easily dodged around the first one, but the second brought him to his knees. Instantly, he threw the ball across to a fellow attacker. This meant that the defender had to let him go – you could only attack someone who had the ball. As he was released, he nipped smartly between the defenders just as the ball descended toward him once more. He caught it in his left hand, turned, and threw it directly at the ring that was the opponents’ goal, scoring a direct hit. The defenders rallied round him. He was fair game now as it had to be him that scored with the second ball. If it was not, then the first ball came back into play, and the whole thing started over again. Eldyn backed away from the goal with the second ball in his hand, before turning and sprinting straight for his own goal. When he reached it, he stopped. Two players from the other team were on him immediately, and slammed him into a bush before his own team could rally round to protect him, but he held tightly to the ball, and re-emerged from the bush. He re-grouped with his team and, forming a battering ram, they headed directly at their opponents, crashing in to them. Eldyn had not taken part in the charge. Without them realising it, he had ducked out the back, ran around the outside and scored with the second ball. The crowd went wild with delight!

The lights flickered for a moment, dimmed again and went out for several seconds, before returning once more to full power. This was happening more and more frequently, and gave concern to all. Suddenly, a shout went up, and people ran to assist. There in the Assembly Hall were five Wild Ones, fighting with several of the villagers. Two Villagers already lay dead. Unbeknown to the villagers, the Wild Ones had left a small war party near their entrance waiting for just such an opportunity. The new arrivals took up their weapons and fought with all their heart. Eventually, the Wild Ones were overcome by sheer numbers and slain, but it was a hard fight. How many did we lose? asked Teltran, the Village Leader. Seven souls were lost, was the reply. And many more injured. Heart saddened. How did they manage to get in? another voice asked. We lost power again, just for a few seconds, and they seized the opportunity. The lights went out and the shield was down. We were defenceless, and the Wild Ones must have been watching for it. Eyes open, they must have noticed that it had happened before and simply waited for another opportunity. We must be more alert to this kind of attack. The bodies were removed and disposed of, and a council meeting convened within the hour to discuss the problem. The Twin-Ball match had been disrupted, and no one felt much like resuming it after this disaster.

Order! said Teltran the village leader, addressing the other council members. Ears heeding! Minds focussed! Let us bring this meeting to order please. The room quieted, and everyone waited for him to speak. After a short while, Teltran began. "As is usual with all our council meetings, the information discussed here is restricted. No-one is to discuss anything said here, outside of this meeting, unless they are completely alone, or only in company authorised by this council.

"Firstly, I want to discuss the attack today. Heart saddened. We lost seven souls in this attack. The Wild Ones have shown that they are not as stupid as we had thought them. They were waiting to take advantage of our shield failure. That indicates that they knew it had happened before. We need to set a guard, and some kind of primary alert system.

There is a second point we need to discuss. We have a great and urgent need for new people to train as engineers. We have to start looking for a new source of energy to power the shield. It is proposed that we create an engineering Think Tank. I want volunteers from Young Bloods recently come of age, and experienced engineering Old Bloods. They shall be told nothing of the power problem, although all have probably guessed it by now, only that a new and more modern source is sought to update the old and redundant one, in an attempt to bring us in to the eleventh century. No-one spoke for several seconds. Then a voice asked, Just how serious is the problem? Ears heeding. It is serious enough that we should have looked to this idea and others like it, much sooner than we have. We have been foolish and unwise in our omission to do so. replied Teltran.

Mind anticipating. Are there any others issues that a council member would like to voice concern over? asked Teltran. We need more food and material for clothing, came a reply from the production member. Give a list of your requirements to Procurement, and we will try to comply on the next excursion outside. Anything else? he replied. A group of us have trying to come up with ideas to raise the spirits of the villagers. Next month, it is one thousand years since Eldered Hunter led our people to this mountain, created our village and gave us his name, and we thought we might like to celebrate it. A good idea, said Teltran. Are you also prepared to be the official organiser for this endeavour, Selemar? I am, she replied. Then permission to proceed is formally given. Please keep this council informed. Anything else? When he received no further comments, he formally closed the meeting with the usual words, ‘Peace and Vigilance’, and dismissed those assembled. Teltran started off towards his office and to document the events and decisions made, as was his usual procedure at the end of council meetings.

The security officer called him to one side as the assembly departed. Tell me what your thoughts are about the entrance guards, Teltran. Heart open. Be honest with me. He said. Teltran pulled him to a quiet corner, out of earshot of those around them, and replied, To my mind old friend, it is already too little too late, but we must try. I suggest we watch the entrance twenty four hours a day, with at least two people keeping vigil, and six more asleep nearby. The best weapons we have should be close at hand. May the powers that be, protect us . . . we are going to need their help before much longer passes. And with that, Teltran turned and left, leaving his security chief with a worried look on his face.

News of the impending ‘Founders Day’ celebration spread quickly, creating much excitement and villagers were soon contacting Selemar with ideas and offers of assistance. She duly noted all the ideas and formed a committee from the volunteers, who then set about assessing, organising, arranging, and planning. They made a long list of requirements and sent it to the council for authorisation and allocation. Selemar was very surprised to find all her requests approved. Not only was she pleased, but she was also worried. Not often was such frivolity given so freely. She felt as if the elders were just trying to keep everyone preoccupied . . . which in truth, they were.

CHAPTER TWO

Carelle awoke in the night. It was cold and dark, and she was having difficulty breathing. She sat up in panic. The silence deafened her and the darkness threatened to overwhelm and consume her. She struggled out of bed and fumbled her way to the door, calling for her parents as she went. They answered, and she made her way toward their voices. She stood there holding her mother close, while her father fumbled around for matches to light his candle. Just as he lit it, the generator could be heard kicking in again, and the lights flickered back on a few seconds later. Very soon after, it became easier to breath as the ventilation system kicked in at the same time as the light pulses re-commenced along the delicate glass tubes.

Carelle was unable to go back to sleep after her fright, and went down to the library to read. The library was at 1-12 on the ground floor. She carried a candle and matches with her, in case there was another problem. Carelle entered the library, and closed the door behind her. She lit her candle and placed it on the reading table, and then went in search of a book. She walked up and down the bookcases, reading the spines in search of something to take her mind away from the worrying times at hand. In the darkest corner of the last bookcase, she found something of interest. An old book, bound in brown leather and containing yellowed pages. She blew the dust away and carried it back to her table. Settling herself down, she opened the book and started to read.

The book told how the ancient city builders went about building and burrowing, and contained many pictures as well. She read on until breakfast time, and then, tucking the book under her arm, she signed the ledger allowing her to remove it and headed for home. Breakfast over, she went directly to her room to read some more. Some of the book was written in the ancient language, and she was unable to decipher much of it.

At noon, there was a knock at the door. She opened it to find Eldyn smiling at her. She welcomed him in, and showed him the book she had found. He had no interest in books, but indulged her. When she had finished, he asked if she would stroll the Rings with him. It was a common form of exercise here. She put the book down, and left the dwelling to accompany him. As they walked, she continued to talk to him about what she had read in the book, but Eldyn showed little interest. Eventually, she stopped talking about the book and Eldyn changed the subject. My father has found me a position within the new Engineering Think Tank that is currently being put together. I have a few more free days while they get organised, and then I am to attend. And where have they found to hold it? she asked. I don’t know yet. I will be told shortly. At least it’s better than farming! she said.

After he had left her and returned to his home, she revisited the library – hungry for more information. She found two more books of interest and spent the rest of the day there, reading them. The following morning, she was back in the library, still hungry for more. At lunch, Eldyn came to the library in search of her. He brought dinner with him, which they sat and ate together. As they ate they talked, and slowly, he gained a basic interest in her studies. He mentioned a book held by his father. A book that he had seen, but never read or even touched before. Her curiosity was roused and she asked to see it. Eldyn knew her father would never agree to anyone handling it, so he suggested that they go to his dwelling when his father was in council. His father was one of the Elders, and they lived at 3-10.

That evening, when Eldyn’s father left to attend the council meeting, Carelle was waiting in the shadows. As soon as he was out of sight, she approached the door, and was admitted. Eldyn went in to his father’s study, and took the key from its hiding place. He opened the locked drawer and removed the