DESPITE THE FACT that they were the most massive structures that he had ever seen in his life, Zefer stumbled across the Spiral Gates without at first noticing them. He had never been that far from the Ko'iron precinct before, and everything was a wonder to him as he walked through the wide, pristine, statue-lined boulevards.
The streets themselves were paved with marble, and the colonnades stretched magnificently into an only barely visible ceiling. Bright lamps burnt on elegantly twisting poles, filling the wide spaces with brilliant light, which bounced and reflected gloriously off all the marble structures. People thronged through the arcades and pergolas, dressed in luxuriant, plush fabrics, bustling with colour and fragrant with exotic toxins.
Zefer had stumbled through the sights in a blur of amazement, spinning on his heels as each successive beauty passed him by. He was in a spell, enchanted by the sights and sounds of the Spire that he had hardly even noticed whilst cooped up in the dusty seclusion of the Ko'iron librarium, glorious as that was. If anything, these avenues and concourses leading to the Spiral Gates were even more magnificent than Gwen-tria's Palace, which had been majestic beyond Zefer's wildest dreams.
Before he had even thought about finding his bearings, Zefer was standing in the middle of a vast piazza, gazing back down the grand Helmawr Boulevard, along which he had just drifted. The crowds were thinner in the huge open space, and they got sparser as Zefer backed his way further into it, gazing back along the regal splendour of the boulevard as he went. At the end of the boulevard, at the point where it spilt into the plaza like a great river into the ocean, rose a fifty metre tall statue of Lord Gerontius Helmawr himself, Guardian of Necromunda in the Holy Name of the Undying Emperor.
While he had been strolling in Helmawr Boulevard itself, Zefer had not even noticed the huge statue. But now, walking backwards through the grand piazza and staring back along that street into the Spire, Lord Gerontius seemed to tower over the scene and dominate the vista, his long sword brandished heroically in the air. The shadow of the great man lay across the resplendent scene behind him like a veil over the face of a bride.
Taking another step back as he gazed forward, Zefer's heel crunched into something behind him. He lost his balance immediately, his arms flapping wildly at his sides as he fought against his own momentum, trying to lift his body on wings that he didn't have. But his efforts were futile and he fell, succeeding only in twisting his body around so that he fell straight onto his face.
Still lying on the flagstones, with blood trickling out of his broken nose onto the white rock, Zefer lifted his head and, through the blur of pain-induced tears, he saw the Spiral Gates for the first time. He was barely ten metres away from them.
The arched double-gates rose nearly one hundred metres into the air, supported by vast golden hinges on each side. Their surface gleamed with spiralling pillars of silver and gold, each intertwined with the other into a single, giant plait. Where the threads of precious metal wove together, there were gemstones inset into the structure to fill the gaps. The light that poured out of the Spire crashed against the glorious gates in explosions of colour and blinding brilliance, as though a dazzling star had been harnessed into the structure of the Wall.
Zefer lay prostrate on the ground, with blood gushing out of his nose and tears running down his cheeks, staring at the most incredible sight he had ever seen, almost forgetting to breath.
'Oi! You can't bleed there. You'll stain the marble.' Something was prodding him in the ribs.
'Oi, you! You can't bleed there. Are you deaf? Get up.' The prodding became more insistent and then it was suddenly replaced by hands that gripped his shoulders and dragged him to his feet.
'What's wrong with you?' said the guard. It was not a question.
'I'm... I tripped,' said Zefer, still gazing at the gates. 'Are those the Spiral Gates?' As soon as he said the words he felt stupid.
'Yep, that's them,' said the guard, apparently not noticing the inanity of the question.
'They're... they're breathtaking,' managed Zefer, wiping the blood from his nose with his sleeve, and then wincing in pain as the broken cartilage ground against his nose-bridge.
'Yep, they're pretty nice,' replied the guard, nodding.
'Are you one of the guards?' asked Zefer, finally looking at the man. He was shorter than Zefer, but broader in the shoulders. He wore ceremonial armour that might have been made of gold, on top of a green under-tunic. Around his shoulder he had slung a brown leather satchel. By far his most prominent feature was the good natured smile that creased his face from one ear to the other.
'Yep, I'm the guard,' replied the guard.
'The guard?' queried Zefer, looking around for the others,
'That's right. Until Hedred get's here in a couple of hours, that is. I'm the afternoon guard, you see' he explained earnestly.
'I see,' replied Zefer, not quite sure that he did. 'Listen, I'm not being rude or anything, but I thought that the Spiral Gates were... well, well guarded.'
'Oh yes, I see, sir,' said the guard, not at all insulted. 'Thank you, sir.'
'No, no,' said Zefer, conscious that he was making himself understood. 'I rather thought that there'd be more of you.'
'No need, sir,' said the guard cheerfully. 'Nobody ever wants to go through the gates from this side,' he added, laughing happily. 'Now, if you were on the other side, sir, that would be a different matter entirely. There's lots of guards on that side. Lots.'
'I see,' replied Zefer, looking around. The guard appeared to be right. The piazza was virtually empty on this side, with nobody at all near the gates themselves. 'So, if I wanted to go through the gates, would I have to talk to you about it?'
'I'd say you should talk to a doctor about it!' laughed the guard good naturedly. Then he stopped laughing. 'You serious, sir?'
'Yes.'
'Well then, sir, you'd better come with me/ said the guard, a smart formality snapping into his manner as he turned and marched off towards the side of the gates.
CUT INTO THE adamantium of the Wall itself, hidden behind one of the huge pillars that supported the great golden hinges of the Spiral Gates themselves, was a tiny, buckled and patched cast-metal door.
'You'd better go through there, sir,' said the guard, indicating the little door. We never open the big ones.'
'I see,' said Zefer, adjusting his nose and peering at the incongruously shabby metal. 'And when I come back, do I come back through here too?'
'No, sir. People coming up into the Spire go through the Spiral Gates themselves, sir/ said the guard, puffing out his chest proudly.
'But, didn't you just say that you never open those gates?'
'That's right, sir,' nodded the guard affirmatively.
'I see.'
The guard pulled an oversized key from his satchel and stooped down to slot it into the keyhole in the little door. 'You're sure, sir?'
Zefer just nodded wordlessly, clenching his jaw and exhaling through his nose in an attempt to muster his courage. The key clicked round in the lock with a resounding clunk making him start abruptly, his nerves suddenly shot.
Salvation by C S Goto
Necromunda Omnibus 1 p. 243-245
Excited to have a contest that I feel I have a real chance in!
