Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 3

Nakt

"Thank you for doing this."

"Anything for you."

Sunny squeezed his shoulder as he slowly lowered them through the clouds, the shuttle rumbling lightly around them as they descended.

"Besides, Adam continued, this is important for you, so its not like I am just going to blow it off." He looked up at her hands moving steadily on the controls despite him not bothering to look, "Anyway, might as well do this while we aren't busy with a bunch of other garbage. It's been quiet lately, which I am sure means that shit is about to up and hit the fan."

She had to agree with him.

Sunny dropped her hand, leaving it to rest just above his knee as they continued to descend.

"So, what do we know about them."

"Not much." She admitted, "They are the northernmost clan on Anin, and their isolation has made it.... difficult to contact them. We have had teachers reach almost every Drev clan on Anin to teach them the new ways, but they have been notoriously difficult to contact, much less to convince we are worth talking to."

"Shoot first ask questions later."

She nodded.

Admittedly, Sunny felt a mild pang of guilt upon talking about the Nakt Clan. As a saint it was her duty to know almost everything about almost every clean in order to serve them better. And while she had spend months learning about the different clans of Anin, she had had trouble finding very much information about these strange northerners. She knew their enviornment had been harsh, and war was common, though it was in most Drev clans. From what they did know, the Nakt had survived in the chilled north by way of thermal heating inside active volcanic mountains, much as the hidden tribe had survived on the borders of the fertile belt. She didn't know where those cave entrances were however, and knew only of their most recent settlement, hunkered in a crater at the base of a mildly active volcano.

They had tried to send representatives in to speak with them previously, but every time the terrain had proven too much. The shallow crater and high walls of the mountains had stopped them in their tracks, not to mention the snow which had fallen before their last attempt. Snow was rare on Anin, even in the north, but the presence of volcanic ash on the dense cool air made it difficult to see even in the summer. Volcanic winter was almost perpetual in the north.

Hopefully, with the snow gone, and the ash cleared, Adam would be able to find his way to their home crater, so Sunny could bring them the teachings.

The clouds around them cleared, and Adam plunged down through the clouds maneuvering them through a serious of impossibly tall, high peaks arranged in jagged formations. Looking down into the narrow canyon below, Sunny saw only fog and ash. The walls of this canyon were so steep and sheer that she knew it would have been an impossible pass if she did not have Adam, and the shuttle.

Pockets of low pressure and thermal updrafts made flying difficult, but If anyone was going to be able to do it, than it was Adam.

They cut around another tall peak before rolling in low over a rocky barren slope.

The sky above them was a sort of dusty blue. The day was bright and there were no clouds, but the perpetual ash in the air still blocked out much of the sun, leaving the waste before them barren and untouched by life.

Looking over at one of the slopes, Sunny saw a heard of Ramhorns nosing their way through the rocks looking up as the shuttle buzzed low over their heads. Spooked, they began to run down the side of the hill, vanishing into a forest of boulders at the base of one of the slopes. A massive glacier dominated much of the scene, sitting side by side with a landslide of volcanic rock, cooled and hardened there over thousands of years.