Close to the Edge 

"There is in every true woman's heart, a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity." 

- Washington Irving 

The inner door to the dome's airlock slid shut with a loud hiss.  

Sweden untangled himself from Antigua, who had fallen on top of him and cast about anxiously until he found his sword. 

A row of three lockers containing environment suits lined the left side. The opposite side was dominated by a large reinforced glass viewing port that looked into a small docking bay where Argentum was stabled. The war-horse was on standby and connected to the dome's power supply by two connectors that plugged into the bottom of the hooves on his hind legs. 

Sweden stared at the robot in awe. He had assumed that his vision of Antigua riding an iron horse had been a dream. 

"How do I get in there?" he asked Antigua excitedly. 

She looked up at him, surprised that he seemed so keen to ride something that must have seemed so strange to him. 

"Untie me, you fool. I mean you no harm," she said in exasperation, "we need to get suited up before we do anything." 

Sweden knelt beside her. 

"There is no 'we'," he said, gripping her hair and pulling her head up towards him, "I don't know who you are, or where you came from. I have no need for the dead weight of a woman." 

Antigua stifled a scream at the pain he was causing her.  

"You do need me," she replied through gritted teeth, "I know what happened to your brother." 

"Denmark?" Sweden felt a curious burst of vertigo, almost like nausea, as his body was reminded of the loss of its twin. His subconscious was reaching out, attempting to bond, but the Skyforge was too formidable a barrier. He had never felt so alone. 

"What has become of him?" he roared, gripping Antigua by the throat and shaking her violently. 

"If you have harmed him, I will strangle you with your own entrails." 

Antigua choked and spluttered, but managed to get a response out, "he's fine... ack... I can take you to him." 

Sweden stopped throttling her and let her head fall to the floor. She gasped and coughed, taking huge gulps of air before continuing. 

"He's safe, behind the Firewall." 

She turned to look at the lockers, all three notification panels showed full charge on the internal power supplies for the enviro suits. For a moment, she considered showing Sweden the way out without having him suit up but she changed her mind and decided to see where this turn of events would take her. 

"You will have to put on one of those suits first." she said, indicating at the lockers with her chin. 

Sweden walked over to the first locker and peered in at the suit. 

"Why?" he asked. 

"They will protect you from the light." she answered, "we're very close to the edge of the Firewall. If you went outside without wearing one you would be dead inside of five minutes." 

Sweden absorbed this for a moment.  

"What is this 'Firewall' you speak of?" he asked, "I know of only one wall of fire and that cannot be what you are referring to." 

"That is exactly what I am referring to," she replied, rubbing her neck. "This dome is within the Firewall's radiation halo. If we go outside, without those suits, we will be burned alive." 

Sweden shook his head. What she was saying did not make sense. He knew that she must have found him out in the hearthland, but she appeared to be implying that they were now holed up somewhere behind the veil, the almost mythical area the separated the hearthland from the core of the Skyforge. 

He had seen what happened to those who were reckless enough to venture too deep into the hearthland and touch the veil. The leather gear they wore had protected them from the heat of the veil, however, once anyone ventured that close and returned to tell of it, they would suffer a horrific wasting sickness. First, they were blinded by a white cloud that formed in their eyes. Then their skin would start to bubble and blister. Eventually, great swathes of flesh would begin to melt from their bodies and they would have to be killed to spare everyone in the camp from their agonizing screams. 

He shook his head again to clear the memory. No time to dwell on it, this woman was clearly a babbling idiot. Nevertheless, he yanked open the locker and pulled out a suit.  

"If I put this on you will take me to my brother?" he asked. 

"Sure, why not," Antigua replied, rolling her eyes at his back. 

The synthetic fiber felt strangely alien to his fingers. He examined it closely for a minute trying to decipher precisely how he was supposed to put it on. Eventually, he figured out that you had to climb into it legs first. He set his sword aside and with some difficulty climbed into it. The suit detected his presence and hummed to life. For a moment, Sweden was helpless as the suit's internal actuators held him rigid and the suit sealed itself while it ran preprogrammed start-up diagnostics. 

"I can't move!" he shouted, his voice muffled by the suit helmet. 

"Just relax. It's adjusting itself to your body type," Antigua said, "It'll be finished in a few seconds." 

Sure enough, after a few moments, the actuators relaxed and Sweden felt the tension holding him release. He swung his arms and legs about and was surprised by how well the suit fitted him and how free his range of motion was. 

He picked up his sword, bent down beside Antigua, and cut the bonds that tied her feet. 

"Get up." He commanded as he stepped back to give her room. 

She scrabbled awkwardly for a moment before she managed to push herself to her feet. 

"You'll have to untie my hands." She said holding them out to him. "I won't be able to get the suit on otherwise." 

"I'm not bringing you with me," he stated matter-of-factly, "now show me how to get to that horse." 

"You can't..." she paused. 

She had been about to explain that the horse wouldn't work for him but she thought better of it. 

"Fine." 

She walked over to the airlock hatch. There was a small circular indentation on the surface of the hatch.  She turned her back to it and with some difficulty placed one hand over the indentation and pushed it in slightly and twisted her hand to the right. A scan-line traced the surface of her palm and the hatch opened with a hiss. 

A fierce, white light filled the room. Antigua turned away from the glare as the airlock quickly began to heat up. 

"Hurry," she said, "you can open the dock from the outside. There's a big red handle. You can't miss it." 

Sweden stared in horror at the light beaming in through the hatch. Maybe she was not crazy after all. If his eyes did not deceive him, then he was staring at the Emberlight. The true source of the warm glow that bathed the hearthland. He turned to Antigua and was surprised to find he could no longer see her. The suit's visor had reacted to the light streaming in by turning opaque. He could make out details through the hatch but everything inside the relative darkness of the airlock was blacked out. He took a deep breath and ducked out through the hatch into the light of the firewall. 

Antigua closed the hatch behind him and moved to the viewing port. This ought to be amusing, she thought. 

Chapter 30

Art  by Daniel Sheldon https://www.facebook.com/speednperspective & https://twitter.com/Beatroute