HOME | DD

Description
Quick illustration meant to accompany The Empress’s Ace, Part 8

Captain Sphinx is owned by MercenaryBlade
Sanga is owned by me

The Empress's Ace - PT8 - TraitorsNyata was leading Sphinx through the dimly lit halls and corridors, wall-mounted torches casting long shadows in the sunset.“Mirage?” Sphinx asked.“At the Amber Honeyed Lotus,” Nyata whispered. “She’s a contact of mine. The high priestess, Miket, has been speaking with me about her visions. That, and a sole spy returned recently from the Ikris Sea, bringing records on brass discs about happenings in enemy territory. You and Webster saw him the other day. The yunoak, Tilyn. The empress and I, along with the Arch Chronicler, Araji, have been reviewing those records.”The ace pilot followed courteously whilst he recognized Nyata was leading him toward the palace entrance. “I’m listening,” Sphinx said, though the way the feline woman whispered out of earshot with the palace’s own guards, made him wary.Nyata continued, “According to those records, the ‘human’ in Ikris has been talking to the enemy about a specific place in the city that we’ve traced to be near the Amber Honeyed Lotus. When the Ikris attack, we suspect they’ll pay a great deal of attention to this area.”Sphinx nodded and asked, “What’s near the Amber Honeyed Lotus that the Ikris want?”“That’s what the empress and I want to find out,” Nyata answered. “Nothing is supposed to be there.”They made it to the entrance, where Sphinx saw two jackal-like men standing at the ready. Waiting at the door was also Kebalt, the scarred feline who was Sanga’s fiance. Kebalt turned to Nyata and Sphinx with a bright grin.“Ready captain?” Kebalt asked with a bow. “The Empress has asked me to escort you to the Lotus.”Sphinx pondered a brief moment before answering. “I suppose I am, General Kebalt.”***Sphinx’s steps on the paved streets echoed against the walls and other buildings so clearly. Phenat took on a different enchantment after dark. It was quieter, more solitary. The two moons shone as crescents just barely peeking over the city walls.Down a few avenues and Kebalt lead the ace pilot toward a building lit by many torches and decorative lamps. The sounds of a crowd were heard inside. The aromas from phenats culinary dishes floated in the crisp desert breeze, and festive music was playing.Sphinx took a gander around the area.“Wait a minute,” he said. “This is where Dimitri apprehended that Ikris scout.”Kebalt nodded, flashing a feline grin and wincing his lazy eye. “Isn’t it odd? You’d think the Ikri were attacking us out of jealousy for our entertainment.” He let out a humored chuckle. “A shame about the guards who fell here. Had it not been for Dimitri, more would have. Some of the locals want to rename this street in his honor.”Sphinx raised a brow, “Is that right? Heh, Dimitri would certainly get a kick out of that.” He thought of the man smirking and gloating, he wondered if the rest of the Misfits would start trying to get other streets and landmarks named after them. It was an amusing thought. Kebalt went on, “In any matter, this is the Amber Honeyed Lotus. Mirage will be searching for you after her number.”Sphinx held the invitation in his hand and was about to walk toward the entrance when Kebalt stopped him short with a pawed hand.The feline leaned in very seriously whispering, “Do not mention the empress in any way shape or form to anyone.”“I thought it was permissible to mention her respectfully in public,” Sphinx asked with concern. “I know she isn’t supposed to be seen by commoner eyes, nor is any commoner meant to hear her voice.”Kebalt’s wily grin widened and he nodded. “Oh for certain, Captain Sphinx. And remember that well. Please.”After he said this, Kebalt and Sphinx stepped up toward the door, where a feline woman with a blade and spear in hand was keeping watch. She turned and seemed quizzical, speaking aloud. “General Kebalt. And you…” Her eyes narrowed to a slit, vertical pupils scrutinizing.Sphinx bowed. “Captain Sphinx of the Misfits.”The woman opened her eyes a little. “The leader of the Empress’s allied Earth men. The Mirage said she wanted to invite you. I didn’t think she would, given you should have more important business in the palace.”Kebalt nodded, “He has the blessing from her highness.”“Really.”Sphinx handed the feline woman guarding the entrance his invitation. She opened the scroll and looked it over.“This is her majesty’s insignia on the invitation,” she let a quiet mew of surprise. “Very well. Enjoy your stay captain. She is set to perform shortly.”She offered him passage.Sphinx looked to Kebalt, who signaled him inside expectantly. “You heard her,” he said.“You’re not coming in with me?” Sphinx asked.Kebalt shook his head and rested his paw on the captain’s shoulder. “Oh, no no.” He whispered another time, “I get private showings.” With a gleam in his eyes and tooth he pranced away on his own, before Sphinx could have any say about it.“Curiouser, and curiouser,” Sphinx muttered.Just what did Kebalt mean he had private shows? Who was this Mirage, and just what sort of show was this? At least he assumed it was a show. The aviator felt a twinge of apprehension being left alone in such a place, but the other assembled beings in the crowd merely gave him cursory glances of curiosity before turning their attention elsewhere as Sphinx looked for a good spot. The amber honeyed lotus’s interior seemed exquisitely comfortable. Soft carpets, incense fogging the air, platters set in front of many of the patrons with the city’s cuisine. A stage was set with bright flames in back, the light of which was colored in gold, rose, lavender, and violet when shining through thin dyed satin sheets. On the stage several musicians rested or tuned their instruments, most of them of the feline icaith and two jackals.“For your refreshment, captain,” a low voice boomed from behind Sphinx. He spun around to see a giant reptilian eptoroc kneeling in a nearby corner and offering treats of sorts on a tray large enough for him to carry. Fried honey in decorate shapes, each housing something therein. Lotus petals, creatures not unlike scorpions, locusts, and many simply plain.Sphinx nodded politely as he grabbed one of the more plain looking treats. He was never keen on eating insects. He took a bite hoping his treat didn’t have any ‘surprises’ in it. The eptoroc was so uncannily reptilian indeed that if Sphinx hadn’t noticed him breathing, he might have thought him a very fine painted sculpture.“The Lotus is a place where those in Phenat can come to rest and renew their spirits.” The eptoroc explained. “Sunrise to sunset all must work and contribute to the strength of the Empire. But tonight is for pleasure.”Drums began to beat and heads turned to the stage. Voices were quieted. Oil lamps were dimmed as a musician caused a strange wired-strung instrument to hum vocally in the strokes of his paws. Flutes tremored and three brass gongs of a Phenatian sort were slowly revved to hum. Sphinx listened carefully and it sounded like the vibrations were resonating in such synchrony that they layered and weaved between each other in his hearing. It was enough to make him almost lose his sense of direction.What was more, nine baskets set along the stage had their lids lifted slowly from strings in the ceiling, presumably pulled by stage hands. From each basket Sphinx watched a snake curl up with synchronized curves and curls. Some patrons edged back, while others remained boldly comfortable where they sat.Several broad satin curtains were pulled swiftly from the stage with one more broad veil shrouding a shape that swerved up lithely and gracefully, a silhouette that Sphinx nearly mistook for the stretched shadow of one of the serpents on the stage. Pointed ears stood up from a head however, and a feline tail swayed from the silhouette.Sphinx watched, unable to help but feel entranced —as no doubt the other patrons— from the weaving vibrations of the gongs, the rhythmic drums, the flutes, and strings, dimmed lights, and new incense mixing in the air.The last sheet of satin was pulled away, revealing a feline woman dressed in scarlet fabrics not unlike those of a bellydancer, which floated and waved in lofty textures as she stood up, like an adder curling higher upright. The woman turned her veiled face to look over her shoulder and gazed into the eyes of those among the crowd.The whispering of maracas joined the instruments as well as other deeper pipes and chimes. The feline woman, Mirage, danced. Sphinx heard voices cheer and express other notes of celebration to see her as the performance commenced. Mirage moved sultrily, layers of hip shimmies and circles, arcs, spine arches, and fluid shoulder and arm waves. Even her cat’s tail was part of the dance and her articulate ears. The satin robes she wore trailed in her graceful mesmerizing motions, the folding fabric like the choppy waves over a fiery sea. The gold bracelets, collars and necklaces, and rings she wore on her fingers and toes streaked with dazzling reflections in the light, including an impressive shimmering diamond set within her navel.The nine snakes slithered round her. Sphinx had forgotten the snakes were there on the stage until they circled Mirage clockwise. Sphinx’s reasoning told him it must be the work of the instruments guiding the animals’ behavior, and perhaps mirages dancing even controlled their movements with the most impressive snake charming human eyes had ever witnessed, but he nearly believed outright that the snakes knew they were one in the number.,After a few minutes of the mesmerizing performance, the patrons cheered again, expressing their glee and love as she posed after the music had finished its melody. The snakes were returned to their baskets, guided by hooked staves from stagehands. But the beat and rhythm of the drums continued and the patrons expressed inquisitive notes and utterances.Mirage rested as a stagehand threw her a scimitar, which she caught by the handle. A second sword was tossed to her and she caught this in her other hand. Slowly she raised her arms with more hip shimmies as she glared down at the audience.Sphinx looked into her eyes, not quite yet able to discern their look or color...but he was growing increasingly curious and suspicious indeed. There was something truly familiar about this Mirage from her visage alone.The music kicked back up and strummed up a second melody. Mirage sprung off the stage, bringing her swords down! The crowd gasped and heads ducked. Mirage now was mixing her bellydance with synchronized swings and arcs of the twin blades among the crowd! Sphinx stirred a bit apprehensively where he stood, watching as the patrons froze or ducked, bowed, sometimes outright prostrating themselves in fear. Not a soul was harmed as Mirage danced. Her calculations were so precise…Mirage was drawing nearer to Sphinx, making sure to give attention to every patron on the floor personally. The ace pilot nearly backed away before the feline weaved to the side and brought both swords forward, crossing her blades behind his back as he found himself locked in her arms. The music came to its end.He was face to face with Mirage, their eyes locking. Sphinx had been suspecting it during the performance, and yet he was still shocked. Mirage was Empress Sanga.“Glad you could make it, Captain,” her voice spoke from behind her veil.She released Sphinx from the cage of her blades and the musicians played again, something more mellow, presumably to unwind. Heads began to carefully come up from ducking and kneeling in fear, daring to behold the dancer again. Though she stood as a beauty among the crowd, Sphinx had the impression no one wanted to come near her after the graceful sword play she had demonstrated.“A pleasure, Mirage,” Sphinx answered, “to meet you at last.”Somehow it was easy to feign this as a first meeting among the patrons. Sphinx half-believed Sanga was indeed a different person in this disguise. It was more than an act, he thought. It seemed too genuine.Sanga smiled, as indicated by a delightful squint of her eyes before beckoning him.“Likewise,” she spoke. Half to Sphinx’s alarm her head came to the side of his ear. She whispered, “The northern alley,” and turned to leave, springing back onto the stage, giving the audience a bow, twin swords at her side, before looking up again with a smiling squint. Patrons cheered—at least for those who’s shock had subsided.Sphinx flashed an amused grin. Ironic, he thought. Empress Sanga returning a bow to her people. He wouldn’t have thought it was even remotely like her.He turned and decided he ought to take his leave from the venue and meet Mirage in the northern alley. Along the way, he heard voices muttering among the patrons, especially between three male felines who talked like regular’s at these performances.“She’s never danced with swords before! I thought she was gonna slaughter us!”“Be still, my heart for Mirage…be still…”“You guys don’t think this’ll be the last night we’ll ever...see her? You know?”“Let’s not think about the falling rock, or the ikris tonight.”“Or look at it this way! Maybe she was rallying us to keep fighting. Send a message she’s on our side and not to be afraid. That’s what artists do in the Empire. Inspire, you know? Like the empress says, everybody can do something…”***Sphinx arrived at the entrance to the back alley, but he didn’t immediately go in. However the glimmer of starlight on jewels showed she was there.“Quickly, Captain, ensure no one sees you,” Mirage told him.Sphinx checked his surroundings vigilantly before boldly entering. He stopped in a bit of alarm when he saw a smaller cloaked figure beside her. The figure looked between him and Mirage before also beckoning the captain.Mirage looked down at the figure in the cloak. “Any word?” She asked.Sphinx watched as a beak opened, protruding from under the hood of the robe and began speaking into two different voices…“‘I told you we’re not being followed.’ ‘I’m sorry, it’s just hard to tell. With those eyes watching us.’ ‘Just dig. We’re almost there.’”The figure with the beak under the hood mimicked the distant sound of shovels and picks at work. Sphinx listened with intrigue.“Two men. Both Icaiths,” Mirage spoke with a slight feral growl. “Digging from inside their own home?”The hooded bird nodded and made a quick gesture with his arms, mimicking the sound of a lock being picked.“Good work,” Mirage whispered, offering a bag of money to the figure, who fleetly took his leave.Mirage then looked at Sphinx. “He’s a petty thief. But I bribe him to spy for me. His skills as such redeem him enough in my sight. Nyata informed you of everything?”Sphinx answered, “That the Ikris have a tactical point of interest in this place.”“And I fear there’s two individuals who’ve disgraced themselves at that,” Mirage growled, shifting her eyes. “Follow me.”Mirage led Sphinx to the exit of the alley, before a feline male, dressed in grungy robes, stood in front of her, drawing a short sword. He put out his hand as though to keep her from crying out for help. Sphinx instinctively reached for his sidearm, but quicker than he could finish a thought, Mirage furiously disarmed him with a trick of sword play, before violently dismembering him from several important fingers! With the butt of her offhand sword she knocked him out cold before he could so much as howl.Sphinx ran up to her side. “Is this one of them?” He asked, looking over the pathetic sight the assailant lay in.“He could be hardly anything more than a wretched mugger on these streets. He’s not the first I’ve punished as Mirage.”They continued only around the bend before they arrived at a house.Mirage gestured to Sphinx. “The door should be lock-picked,” she said, as she watched their surroundings.Sphinx had one hand on his pistol as he turned the latch. The door opened. The interior was dark as could be.Sphinx reached for his torch and set it on, browsing the room with its bright beam. There was no one home, but mounds of sand and dirt and clay piled the inside of the living spaces, with bits of bone-pale chips mixed within them. Then his beam fell on a wide stone block that had been misplaced on the corner of the room, leading into an earthy tunnel.“There’s definitely been digging,” Sphinx whispered.“That light,” Mirage, spoke with intrigue. “It isn’t fire…”“More modern marvels from Earth,” Sphinx acknowledged. He approached the hole in the floor and cast the light down therein. The digging went far.It was here that Sphinx felt a wall of cold hit him. A palpable intimidation.“It’s likely they were digging into the catacombs beneath the city,” Mirage said, proceeding down into the tunnels.“You have catacombs too?” Sphinx asked, following close behind, his thoughts drawn to the catacombs of Paris, France.“Phenat is a city that has been built atop the graves of our dead,” Mirage explained. “The ideology during those ages was for every generation to follow the victories and step over the failures of the last. And grow mightier. Stronger. Taller...every dynasty building us a layer closer to the heavens. To see us go backward would be sacrilege.”Sphinx noticed that as he shone his light along the walls, there were indeed remains of previous generations. Bones filled the dirt within the walls, so much at times that the passages felt it was dug through piled skeletal corpses rather than dirt or clay. To think Phenat, such a marvelous and lively city stood not far above all this.Then his flashlight came upon something that stopped him cold.“What is it, Captain?” asked Mirage.“There’s something carved here,” he said, showing her as she came to see for herself. An etching of a dark toothy maw.“One of your hieroglyphs?” Sphinx asked.Mirages shook her head. “No. I’ve never seen any iconography like this.”A sound from further down the caves caused Sphinx to jolt. It was like a terrified gasp.“Someone’s here!” a voice screamed, beginning to pant and gasp for breath. “Someone is coming!”Footsteps came scrambling up the cave. Mirage held aloft her swords and Sphinx watched as a thin feline figure with bloodshot eyes came charging, his body soiled grey with soot and bone ash. He sprinted clumsily through the caves in a wild panic, holding aloft a pick on a long shaft. He was about to bring the pick down on Mirage in a manic frenzy. She crossed her swords and parried, but she wasn’t ready for the force with which the feline brought down his tool. Her blades rung! She tried kicking him back, but to Sphinx’s surprise, he didn’t seem to hardly falter given his thin physique and the Empress’s strength.Sphinx brought his pistol out and clubbed the feline along the ear to subdue him. It took three clubs before he finally succumbed to weakness.A second figure came hustling up the passage, drawing a short sword. He swung as Mirage bent back lithely out of the way. Sphinx grappled the feline with the same maneuver he had used to best Sanga. Unlike with the Empress, this feline man did not yield, even as his arm was sprained. He fought and resisted more as Sphinx tested the cat’s tolerance for pain. For at least ten seconds, the feline struggled before at last he whined and hissed and gave in.Mirage brandished a sword on the feline, who like the other, seemed grayed by soiled fur and eyes reflected red in the light of Sphinx’s torch.“Tell me what you’re doing down here!” Mirage hissed. “Speak!”Sphinx watched as the feline quivered wretchedly . “I…” he began to say. Sphinx wasn't sure if he was mistaken, but this feline seemed glad to see them both! It was like he was being grounded in his senses of what was natural. Sphinx had recognized the same tranquility in Miket’s eyes after her vision. “I don’t know.”“That’s a pitiful lie,” Mirage growled, skin along her back wrinkling as her ears curled. “Tell us the truth! I’ll turn you in to the guard! The Empress will see you both tortured madly for treason!”“I swear on the name of the Empress I don’t know what we’re doing down here!”The feline held his sprained arm and began weeping. “I nor my brother know how it started! We just...knew we had to dig! We thought it was crazy too, but the more we prolonged digging the more they kept nagging us!”“Who’s ‘they?’” Sphinx asked.“I don’t know! I swear I don’t know!” the cat yowled. “It feels like eyes on us. Eyes everywhere! Watching us from everywhere we turn. Through our windows round every corner, in the dark of our house, in our heads when we close our eyes in our dreams when we’re asleep! They won’t leave us alone! Digging this tunnel appeases them, but my brother and I don’t even know why we’re digging!”Mirage listened. Sphinx saw from her body Language that she was intrigued, but there was no doubt she was still furious. “Come!” she barked. She grabbed the feline male by the ear and dragged him up the cave. Sphinx watched as the other feline he’d knocked out was coming around, and he helped him up and followed. Mirage pulled him all the way out into the street and pointed at the eye hieroglyphs on the walls. “The only eye watching you should be the Heaven’s Eye. You’re going to give a full account to the governor of your district of what youve been doing! Pray she doesn’t find enough reason for you to see the Empress!”With those words, Kebalt showed up with a small troop.

Description
Quick illustration meant to accompany The Empress’s Ace, Part 8

Captain Sphinx is owned by MercenaryBlade
Sanga is owned by me

The Empress's Ace - PT8 - TraitorsNyata was leading Sphinx through the dimly lit halls and corridors, wall-mounted torches casting long shadows in the sunset.“Mirage?” Sphinx asked.“At the Amber Honeyed Lotus,” Nyata whispered. “She’s a contact of mine. The high priestess, Miket, has been speaking with me about her visions. That, and a sole spy returned recently from the Ikris Sea, bringing records on brass discs about happenings in enemy territory. You and Webster saw him the other day. The yunoak, Tilyn. The empress and I, along with the Arch Chronicler, Araji, have been reviewing those records.”The ace pilot followed courteously whilst he recognized Nyata was leading him toward the palace entrance. “I’m listening,” Sphinx said, though the way the feline woman whispered out of earshot with the palace’s own guards, made him wary.Nyata continued, “According to those records, the ‘human’ in Ikris has been talking to the enemy about a specific place in the city that we’ve traced to be near the Amber Honeyed Lotus. When the Ikris attack, we suspect they’ll pay a great deal of attention to this area.”Sphinx nodded and asked, “What’s near the Amber Honeyed Lotus that the Ikris want?”“That’s what the empress and I want to find out,” Nyata answered. “Nothing is supposed to be there.”They made it to the entrance, where Sphinx saw two jackal-like men standing at the ready. Waiting at the door was also Kebalt, the scarred feline who was Sanga’s fiance. Kebalt turned to Nyata and Sphinx with a bright grin.“Ready captain?” Kebalt asked with a bow. “The Empress has asked me to escort you to the Lotus.”Sphinx pondered a brief moment before answering. “I suppose I am, General Kebalt.”***Sphinx’s steps on the paved streets echoed against the walls and other buildings so clearly. Phenat took on a different enchantment after dark. It was quieter, more solitary. The two moons shone as crescents just barely peeking over the city walls.Down a few avenues and Kebalt lead the ace pilot toward a building lit by many torches and decorative lamps. The sounds of a crowd were heard inside. The aromas from phenats culinary dishes floated in the crisp desert breeze, and festive music was playing.Sphinx took a gander around the area.“Wait a minute,” he said. “This is where Dimitri apprehended that Ikris scout.”Kebalt nodded, flashing a feline grin and wincing his lazy eye. “Isn’t it odd? You’d think the Ikri were attacking us out of jealousy for our entertainment.” He let out a humored chuckle. “A shame about the guards who fell here. Had it not been for Dimitri, more would have. Some of the locals want to rename this street in his honor.”Sphinx raised a brow, “Is that right? Heh, Dimitri would certainly get a kick out of that.” He thought of the man smirking and gloating, he wondered if the rest of the Misfits would start trying to get other streets and landmarks named after them. It was an amusing thought. Kebalt went on, “In any matter, this is the Amber Honeyed Lotus. Mirage will be searching for you after her number.”Sphinx held the invitation in his hand and was about to walk toward the entrance when Kebalt stopped him short with a pawed hand.The feline leaned in very seriously whispering, “Do not mention the empress in any way shape or form to anyone.”“I thought it was permissible to mention her respectfully in public,” Sphinx asked with concern. “I know she isn’t supposed to be seen by commoner eyes, nor is any commoner meant to hear her voice.”Kebalt’s wily grin widened and he nodded. “Oh for certain, Captain Sphinx. And remember that well. Please.”After he said this, Kebalt and Sphinx stepped up toward the door, where a feline woman with a blade and spear in hand was keeping watch. She turned and seemed quizzical, speaking aloud. “General Kebalt. And you…” Her eyes narrowed to a slit, vertical pupils scrutinizing.Sphinx bowed. “Captain Sphinx of the Misfits.”The woman opened her eyes a little. “The leader of the Empress’s allied Earth men. The Mirage said she wanted to invite you. I didn’t think she would, given you should have more important business in the palace.”Kebalt nodded, “He has the blessing from her highness.”“Really.”Sphinx handed the feline woman guarding the entrance his invitation. She opened the scroll and looked it over.“This is her majesty’s insignia on the invitation,” she let a quiet mew of surprise. “Very well. Enjoy your stay captain. She is set to perform shortly.”She offered him passage.Sphinx looked to Kebalt, who signaled him inside expectantly. “You heard her,” he said.“You’re not coming in with me?” Sphinx asked.Kebalt shook his head and rested his paw on the captain’s shoulder. “Oh, no no.” He whispered another time, “I get private showings.” With a gleam in his eyes and tooth he pranced away on his own, before Sphinx could have any say about it.“Curiouser, and curiouser,” Sphinx muttered.Just what did Kebalt mean he had private shows? Who was this Mirage, and just what sort of show was this? At least he assumed it was a show. The aviator felt a twinge of apprehension being left alone in such a place, but the other assembled beings in the crowd merely gave him cursory glances of curiosity before turning their attention elsewhere as Sphinx looked for a good spot. The amber honeyed lotus’s interior seemed exquisitely comfortable. Soft carpets, incense fogging the air, platters set in front of many of the patrons with the city’s cuisine. A stage was set with bright flames in back, the light of which was colored in gold, rose, lavender, and violet when shining through thin dyed satin sheets. On the stage several musicians rested or tuned their instruments, most of them of the feline icaith and two jackals.“For your refreshment, captain,” a low voice boomed from behind Sphinx. He spun around to see a giant reptilian eptoroc kneeling in a nearby corner and offering treats of sorts on a tray large enough for him to carry. Fried honey in decorate shapes, each housing something therein. Lotus petals, creatures not unlike scorpions, locusts, and many simply plain.Sphinx nodded politely as he grabbed one of the more plain looking treats. He was never keen on eating insects. He took a bite hoping his treat didn’t have any ‘surprises’ in it. The eptoroc was so uncannily reptilian indeed that if Sphinx hadn’t noticed him breathing, he might have thought him a very fine painted sculpture.“The Lotus is a place where those in Phenat can come to rest and renew their spirits.” The eptoroc explained. “Sunrise to sunset all must work and contribute to the strength of the Empire. But tonight is for pleasure.”Drums began to beat and heads turned to the stage. Voices were quieted. Oil lamps were dimmed as a musician caused a strange wired-strung instrument to hum vocally in the strokes of his paws. Flutes tremored and three brass gongs of a Phenatian sort were slowly revved to hum. Sphinx listened carefully and it sounded like the vibrations were resonating in such synchrony that they layered and weaved between each other in his hearing. It was enough to make him almost lose his sense of direction.What was more, nine baskets set along the stage had their lids lifted slowly from strings in the ceiling, presumably pulled by stage hands. From each basket Sphinx watched a snake curl up with synchronized curves and curls. Some patrons edged back, while others remained boldly comfortable where they sat.Several broad satin curtains were pulled swiftly from the stage with one more broad veil shrouding a shape that swerved up lithely and gracefully, a silhouette that Sphinx nearly mistook for the stretched shadow of one of the serpents on the stage. Pointed ears stood up from a head however, and a feline tail swayed from the silhouette.Sphinx watched, unable to help but feel entranced —as no doubt the other patrons— from the weaving vibrations of the gongs, the rhythmic drums, the flutes, and strings, dimmed lights, and new incense mixing in the air.The last sheet of satin was pulled away, revealing a feline woman dressed in scarlet fabrics not unlike those of a bellydancer, which floated and waved in lofty textures as she stood up, like an adder curling higher upright. The woman turned her veiled face to look over her shoulder and gazed into the eyes of those among the crowd.The whispering of maracas joined the instruments as well as other deeper pipes and chimes. The feline woman, Mirage, danced. Sphinx heard voices cheer and express other notes of celebration to see her as the performance commenced. Mirage moved sultrily, layers of hip shimmies and circles, arcs, spine arches, and fluid shoulder and arm waves. Even her cat’s tail was part of the dance and her articulate ears. The satin robes she wore trailed in her graceful mesmerizing motions, the folding fabric like the choppy waves over a fiery sea. The gold bracelets, collars and necklaces, and rings she wore on her fingers and toes streaked with dazzling reflections in the light, including an impressive shimmering diamond set within her navel.The nine snakes slithered round her. Sphinx had forgotten the snakes were there on the stage until they circled Mirage clockwise. Sphinx’s reasoning told him it must be the work of the instruments guiding the animals’ behavior, and perhaps mirages dancing even controlled their movements with the most impressive snake charming human eyes had ever witnessed, but he nearly believed outright that the snakes knew they were one in the number.,After a few minutes of the mesmerizing performance, the patrons cheered again, expressing their glee and love as she posed after the music had finished its melody. The snakes were returned to their baskets, guided by hooked staves from stagehands. But the beat and rhythm of the drums continued and the patrons expressed inquisitive notes and utterances.Mirage rested as a stagehand threw her a scimitar, which she caught by the handle. A second sword was tossed to her and she caught this in her other hand. Slowly she raised her arms with more hip shimmies as she glared down at the audience.Sphinx looked into her eyes, not quite yet able to discern their look or color...but he was growing increasingly curious and suspicious indeed. There was something truly familiar about this Mirage from her visage alone.The music kicked back up and strummed up a second melody. Mirage sprung off the stage, bringing her swords down! The crowd gasped and heads ducked. Mirage now was mixing her bellydance with synchronized swings and arcs of the twin blades among the crowd! Sphinx stirred a bit apprehensively where he stood, watching as the patrons froze or ducked, bowed, sometimes outright prostrating themselves in fear. Not a soul was harmed as Mirage danced. Her calculations were so precise…Mirage was drawing nearer to Sphinx, making sure to give attention to every patron on the floor personally. The ace pilot nearly backed away before the feline weaved to the side and brought both swords forward, crossing her blades behind his back as he found himself locked in her arms. The music came to its end.He was face to face with Mirage, their eyes locking. Sphinx had been suspecting it during the performance, and yet he was still shocked. Mirage was Empress Sanga.“Glad you could make it, Captain,” her voice spoke from behind her veil.She released Sphinx from the cage of her blades and the musicians played again, something more mellow, presumably to unwind. Heads began to carefully come up from ducking and kneeling in fear, daring to behold the dancer again. Though she stood as a beauty among the crowd, Sphinx had the impression no one wanted to come near her after the graceful sword play she had demonstrated.“A pleasure, Mirage,” Sphinx answered, “to meet you at last.”Somehow it was easy to feign this as a first meeting among the patrons. Sphinx half-believed Sanga was indeed a different person in this disguise. It was more than an act, he thought. It seemed too genuine.Sanga smiled, as indicated by a delightful squint of her eyes before beckoning him.“Likewise,” she spoke. Half to Sphinx’s alarm her head came to the side of his ear. She whispered, “The northern alley,” and turned to leave, springing back onto the stage, giving the audience a bow, twin swords at her side, before looking up again with a smiling squint. Patrons cheered—at least for those who’s shock had subsided.Sphinx flashed an amused grin. Ironic, he thought. Empress Sanga returning a bow to her people. He wouldn’t have thought it was even remotely like her.He turned and decided he ought to take his leave from the venue and meet Mirage in the northern alley. Along the way, he heard voices muttering among the patrons, especially between three male felines who talked like regular’s at these performances.“She’s never danced with swords before! I thought she was gonna slaughter us!”“Be still, my heart for Mirage…be still…”“You guys don’t think this’ll be the last night we’ll ever...see her? You know?”“Let’s not think about the falling rock, or the ikris tonight.”“Or look at it this way! Maybe she was rallying us to keep fighting. Send a message she’s on our side and not to be afraid. That’s what artists do in the Empire. Inspire, you know? Like the empress says, everybody can do something…”***Sphinx arrived at the entrance to the back alley, but he didn’t immediately go in. However the glimmer of starlight on jewels showed she was there.“Quickly, Captain, ensure no one sees you,” Mirage told him.Sphinx checked his surroundings vigilantly before boldly entering. He stopped in a bit of alarm when he saw a smaller cloaked figure beside her. The figure looked between him and Mirage before also beckoning the captain.Mirage looked down at the figure in the cloak. “Any word?” She asked.Sphinx watched as a beak opened, protruding from under the hood of the robe and began speaking into two different voices…“‘I told you we’re not being followed.’ ‘I’m sorry, it’s just hard to tell. With those eyes watching us.’ ‘Just dig. We’re almost there.’”The figure with the beak under the hood mimicked the distant sound of shovels and picks at work. Sphinx listened with intrigue.“Two men. Both Icaiths,” Mirage spoke with a slight feral growl. “Digging from inside their own home?”The hooded bird nodded and made a quick gesture with his arms, mimicking the sound of a lock being picked.“Good work,” Mirage whispered, offering a bag of money to the figure, who fleetly took his leave.Mirage then looked at Sphinx. “He’s a petty thief. But I bribe him to spy for me. His skills as such redeem him enough in my sight. Nyata informed you of everything?”Sphinx answered, “That the Ikris have a tactical point of interest in this place.”“And I fear there’s two individuals who’ve disgraced themselves at that,” Mirage growled, shifting her eyes. “Follow me.”Mirage led Sphinx to the exit of the alley, before a feline male, dressed in grungy robes, stood in front of her, drawing a short sword. He put out his hand as though to keep her from crying out for help. Sphinx instinctively reached for his sidearm, but quicker than he could finish a thought, Mirage furiously disarmed him with a trick of sword play, before violently dismembering him from several important fingers! With the butt of her offhand sword she knocked him out cold before he could so much as howl.Sphinx ran up to her side. “Is this one of them?” He asked, looking over the pathetic sight the assailant lay in.“He could be hardly anything more than a wretched mugger on these streets. He’s not the first I’ve punished as Mirage.”They continued only around the bend before they arrived at a house.Mirage gestured to Sphinx. “The door should be lock-picked,” she said, as she watched their surroundings.Sphinx had one hand on his pistol as he turned the latch. The door opened. The interior was dark as could be.Sphinx reached for his torch and set it on, browsing the room with its bright beam. There was no one home, but mounds of sand and dirt and clay piled the inside of the living spaces, with bits of bone-pale chips mixed within them. Then his beam fell on a wide stone block that had been misplaced on the corner of the room, leading into an earthy tunnel.“There’s definitely been digging,” Sphinx whispered.“That light,” Mirage, spoke with intrigue. “It isn’t fire…”“More modern marvels from Earth,” Sphinx acknowledged. He approached the hole in the floor and cast the light down therein. The digging went far.It was here that Sphinx felt a wall of cold hit him. A palpable intimidation.“It’s likely they were digging into the catacombs beneath the city,” Mirage said, proceeding down into the tunnels.“You have catacombs too?” Sphinx asked, following close behind, his thoughts drawn to the catacombs of Paris, France.“Phenat is a city that has been built atop the graves of our dead,” Mirage explained. “The ideology during those ages was for every generation to follow the victories and step over the failures of the last. And grow mightier. Stronger. Taller...every dynasty building us a layer closer to the heavens. To see us go backward would be sacrilege.”Sphinx noticed that as he shone his light along the walls, there were indeed remains of previous generations. Bones filled the dirt within the walls, so much at times that the passages felt it was dug through piled skeletal corpses rather than dirt or clay. To think Phenat, such a marvelous and lively city stood not far above all this.Then his flashlight came upon something that stopped him cold.“What is it, Captain?” asked Mirage.“There’s something carved here,” he said, showing her as she came to see for herself. An etching of a dark toothy maw.“One of your hieroglyphs?” Sphinx asked.Mirages shook her head. “No. I’ve never seen any iconography like this.”A sound from further down the caves caused Sphinx to jolt. It was like a terrified gasp.“Someone’s here!” a voice screamed, beginning to pant and gasp for breath. “Someone is coming!”Footsteps came scrambling up the cave. Mirage held aloft her swords and Sphinx watched as a thin feline figure with bloodshot eyes came charging, his body soiled grey with soot and bone ash. He sprinted clumsily through the caves in a wild panic, holding aloft a pick on a long shaft. He was about to bring the pick down on Mirage in a manic frenzy. She crossed her swords and parried, but she wasn’t ready for the force with which the feline brought down his tool. Her blades rung! She tried kicking him back, but to Sphinx’s surprise, he didn’t seem to hardly falter given his thin physique and the Empress’s strength.Sphinx brought his pistol out and clubbed the feline along the ear to subdue him. It took three clubs before he finally succumbed to weakness.A second figure came hustling up the passage, drawing a short sword. He swung as Mirage bent back lithely out of the way. Sphinx grappled the feline with the same maneuver he had used to best Sanga. Unlike with the Empress, this feline man did not yield, even as his arm was sprained. He fought and resisted more as Sphinx tested the cat’s tolerance for pain. For at least ten seconds, the feline struggled before at last he whined and hissed and gave in.Mirage brandished a sword on the feline, who like the other, seemed grayed by soiled fur and eyes reflected red in the light of Sphinx’s torch.“Tell me what you’re doing down here!” Mirage hissed. “Speak!”Sphinx watched as the feline quivered wretchedly . “I…” he began to say. Sphinx wasn't sure if he was mistaken, but this feline seemed glad to see them both! It was like he was being grounded in his senses of what was natural. Sphinx had recognized the same tranquility in Miket’s eyes after her vision. “I don’t know.”“That’s a pitiful lie,” Mirage growled, skin along her back wrinkling as her ears curled. “Tell us the truth! I’ll turn you in to the guard! The Empress will see you both tortured madly for treason!”“I swear on the name of the Empress I don’t know what we’re doing down here!”The feline held his sprained arm and began weeping. “I nor my brother know how it started! We just...knew we had to dig! We thought it was crazy too, but the more we prolonged digging the more they kept nagging us!”“Who’s ‘they?’” Sphinx asked.“I don’t know! I swear I don’t know!” the cat yowled. “It feels like eyes on us. Eyes everywhere! Watching us from everywhere we turn. Through our windows round every corner, in the dark of our house, in our heads when we close our eyes in our dreams when we’re asleep! They won’t leave us alone! Digging this tunnel appeases them, but my brother and I don’t even know why we’re digging!”Mirage listened. Sphinx saw from her body Language that she was intrigued, but there was no doubt she was still furious. “Come!” she barked. She grabbed the feline male by the ear and dragged him up the cave. Sphinx watched as the other feline he’d knocked out was coming around, and he helped him up and followed. Mirage pulled him all the way out into the street and pointed at the eye hieroglyphs on the walls. “The only eye watching you should be the Heaven’s Eye. You’re going to give a full account to the governor of your district of what youve been doing! Pray she doesn’t find enough reason for you to see the Empress!”With those words, Kebalt showed up with a small troop.