Destruction

Erech woke before dawn on the third day with a strong sense of impending doom. The atmosphere seemed strangely still and oppressive. Beside him, he could hear Wolf whimpering, paws over ears as if trying to block sounds Erech could not hear. The animal's keening was the only noise to break the eerie silence. The Prince strained to hear any of the more normal morning sounds, but there was nothing. Just silence. He felt his skin prickling; his hair crackled with electricity when he brushed a hand through it. As far as he could see in any direction, nothing was moving. No birdsong nor twittering was to be heard anywhere. No flutter of wings disturbed the lightening of the cloudless sky. Followed by the still-whining Wolf, Erech climbed the stairs to speak to Herakles. As he emerged onto the roof he could see, towards the distant mountains, strange balls of light dancing soundlessly, in apparently random patterns -- in the sky, along the mountainsides and across the plains. The active volcanoes' glow seemed to have increased in both number and intensity. In the still air he now heard far off in the Imperial Stables the sound of horses sqealing as they fratically kicked their stalls. “What's going on, old friend?” said Herakles. “What are those lights?” “It's happening!” Erech had hardly spoken when, with a suddenness as stunning as it was stupendous, he felt the first quake strike. This was definitely not one of the nuisance tremors that had made life uncomfortable in Poseidia for the past year but a full-blown, violent earthquake. For a full half-minute Erech and Herakles struggled to stay upright, holding onto the sides of the observatory dome for support as the ground undulated as far as they could see. It seemed to have been transformed magically into ocean rollers. They could hear screams of alarm and terror rising even above the terrible rumble of tortured Earth. The enormous stone block making up the walls of the Temples and most of the inner city groaned but seemed to absorb the shocks. The silence when the quake subsided was absolute for only a few seconds. Wolf, still leaning for support against Erech's leg, started howling. Then the screams started. He heard a crash as the roof of the servants' quarters collapsed and saw flying debris strike the House of Crystal and the Temple. So far as the Prince could tell, the airborne wreckage caused no serious damage, but from the ensuing screams he knew several occupants of the quarters must have received major injuries. Gazing about he could see that some of the white marble statues in the Temple grounds had been shaken from their pedestals, the exquisite carvings shattering on the courtyard's granite paving. Erech watched fine dust rising to shroud the inner island, the entire city, and even the mainland beyond. He could see that the older buildings of the city, all constructed of huge, mortarless stone blocks fitted together with astonishing precision, had resisted the quake like ships riding out a storm. Bridges connecting the islands and the mainland held, although he could see minor damage. But newer buildings on the mainland or the outer island that he could see from his viewpoint were not so fortunate. Made of baked bricks or smaller stone blocks bound with mortar, they had been unable to withstand the violent motion and collapsed, burying anyone inside. Erech could hear the screams of injured and terrified horses in the stables mingling with the screams of injured and terrified people in streets and buildings.