The Lumen Caligo by Lawrence C. Cobb

Author:Lawrence C. Cobb [Cobb, Lawrence C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781665744454
Publisher: Archway Publishing
Published: 2023-06-28T04:00:00+00:00

11

The Atrium

ORI CRADLED CYRUS, AND WITH a whoosh, accelerated into the air back toward the beach. Ori whistled as they flew over and the other Lumens launched into the air with Kimo and Auli’i. It was a sight to behold.

Auli’i was carried by a tall Lumen while four Lumens carried Kimo by each of his limbs. He looked like a tied hog. Cyrus chuckled.

As they flew over, Cyrus heard a commotion. Cyrus could just make out Maurício running back towards his boat, three Lumens chasing him.

“Cyrus! CYRUS! CYR—” They swarmed Maurício.

Panic filled Cyrus. In all of this, he had neglected Maurício.

“Stop! Don’t hurt him!” screamed Cyrus. It was futile over the wind.

Maurício fought the other Lumens as the scene faded from view. Cyrus squirmed in Ori’s arms, trying to catch another glimpse but the darkness engulfed the scene.

“What will happen to him?!”

“Just what they said … He will be assigned to a taskmaster and put to work.”

“Work? What kind of work?”

“Crop yielding, weaving, tool making, fishing … Those tend to be the usual tasks assigned.”

“What’s the unusual?”

“Maintenance on the spire,” he responded with a serious look.

“Do I even want to know?”

Ori shook his head.

“When you say taskmaster … Is Maurício a slave now?”

“Lumen Caligo. Cyrus … May I suggest you prepare yourself emotionally and mentally to enter Aeolia. Shortly, you will be summoned before the three dukes of Aeolia. Arch Duke Winston Weatherford will be most pleased to receive you to our city.”

Cyrus’ tongue caught in his throat, and he started coughing. Ori patted him on the back.

“No dying in my arms, OK?” said Ori with a smirk.

Cyrus recomposed himself.

Ori ascended at a gradual angle. They entered a cloud and Cyrus shivered as the moisture gathered all around him. Cyrus wrapped his wings around his body. The sound of moving water grew softer as they flew higher.

“We’re about to arrive, hang on tight.”

As they exited the cloud, Ori barrel rolled and flapped his wings in quick succession. Discombobulated, Cyrus looked forward and gasped. The cloud had cleared revealing what looked like a mountain in the sky. On this mountain was a city that seemed to have been cut out of stone. Giant bonfires illuminated the extremities of the mountain on each side. Gazing upward as high as he could crane his neck, Cyrus saw what looked like a lighthouse at the top of the city. An enormous bonfire filled the center of the tower as clouds circled like vultures.

They continued to fly upward into the higher part of Aeolia where, even in the moonlight, you could tell it was better taken care of and more illustrious than the lower part of the island. Underneath the lighthouse were an array of beautiful buildings sculpted from the mountain. They reminded Cyrus of the Ancient Greece section from 6th grade.

Guess public school isn’t completely useless.

Cyrus could see a couple blurs of white circling the city. Suddenly, Cyrus heard a whoosh and on their right appeared another Lumen. He wore a contraption around his eyes that looked like goggles.

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