The red trees faded away as they traveled along the shore of the lake. The land around them became steep hills broken by rocky outcroppings. They were sparsely grown with pines and tall mountain ash.
As they walked the mountains ahead grew larger standing out like a white palace on a backdrop of the gray overcast sky. The wind was a little stronger, and the water lapped on the shore, making a gentle sound.
All of them searched the land around them, looking for anything that might be out of place. It was as they rounded a hill they finally saw what they were looking for.
The entire slope of a large hill at the base of the mountains was carved out to form a vast plaza. Its courtyard was broken with trees and rubble, but they could clearly see it was one massive expanse of polished stone tiles. The plaza went right up to the wall of the hill where the stone had been carved into a towering temple that rose up a hundred paces into the sky. It once had three grand openings that lead deeper into the hill, but the left side of the temple had collapsed, and the once towering spire lay as rubble in the entrance. It was hard to make out detail from this distance, but it was obviously ornate in design.
Gersius studied the building as Lilly picked her way toward it. The plaza itself went to the water's edge where what looked like ancient stone piers once stood. The slabs of stone that made up the piers were partially sunk into the water of the lake.
As Lilly reached the edge of the plaza, they could see it was once ringed by white columns, but not a single one still stood. All were toppled and lay in broken lines across the once grand yard.
“Who built these remote places?” Thayle asked as Lilly stalked into the plaza.
“I have no idea, but the old dragon talked about a much bigger world,” Gersius said.
“The one that burned to the ground in the dragon war,” Thayle replied.
“I still can’t believe there were ever enough dragons to fight a war,” Lilly said as she approached one of the pillars.
The pillars had no discernible markings having long since weathered and aged. There were mosses and little plants growing in the cracks and pitting away at the surface.
“These are very old,” Gersius said.
“They’re just stacked rocks. There is nothing else here,” Lilly pointed out.
Gersius looked at the broken stones, many of which were as large as Lilly herself.
“It looks like human architecture,” Thayle said.
“No humans made this,” he replied. “These stones would have taken thousands of men to move.”
“Maybe they made them lighter like Tavis does?” Lilly suggested.
“There are limits,” Gersius said. “Tavis would tell you this was impossible.”
“Maybe it was dragons then,” Lilly said as she looked over a fallen stone.
Gersius looked around the yard. Now that they were so close he could see the tunnels on the far wall. The main tunnel was a gigantic vaulted arch. The tunnel on the right was the same only half the height. The left tunnel he assumed would also be half height if it weren't buried in the rubble. He noticed there were small entrances on the side. Small to where only a human could use them.
“My mother could walk down that tunnel,” Lilly said as she saw how tall it was.
“None of this makes any sense,” he said.
“Numidel said that humans and dragons had empires all the way to the ice sheets in the north,” Thayle said. “We are nowhere near the ice yet, so this must have been well inside one of those fallen empires.”
“So maybe it was built by humans and dragons,” Lilly said. “He did say they worked together.”
“He called it the age of wonders,” Gersius agreed.
Lilly picked her way around a fallen pillar and made her way to the center of the yard. Here was a strange site they didn't notice until now. On the ground was a symbol carved into the stone and filled with metal. It was broken in places where stones had cracked or moved, but the image was still there. It was a silver ring around what looked to be a curled up dragon. Around the ring were twelve smaller circles each with a different rune inside them. There were six runes on one side and six on the other. At the top was a circle that was larger than the smaller ones but much smaller than the central one. Inside it was the face of another dragon.
Lilly reached down and sniffed at the metal.
“Silver!” she said.
“What does this represent?” Thayle asked.
Gersius shook his head. “I have no idea. I can’t read those runes.”
“Can you read them, Lilly?” Thayle asked.
Lilly looked at the runes in the circles.
“No, they look vaguely dragon in nature, but I don’t know them.”
“I wonder what they mean,” Thayle said.
“They are probably names,” Lilly replied.
“Names?” Gersius asked.
Lilly turned her head around. “You write your name, don't you?”
“But what twelve names does that represent?” he asked.
Lilly tossed her head. “How should I know. I was only suggesting it.”
He studied the design and nodded. “Let us get closer to the main archway,” he said after no further insights became clear.
Lilly made her way ever closer, and as she did, they became even more amazed.
The entire structure was carved from the stone of the hill, but it had once been ornately decorated with arches, pillars, patterns, and even faces. Much of it was faded from years of weathering and falling stones. Piles of rock fallen from the once majestic face now lay in the courtyard below. There were many windows into rooms above that were ornately carved with flowing patterns of lines and symbols.
“This must have been beautiful,” Thayle gasped.
“It must have taken a thousand craftsmen years to carve this,” he said as he looked over it.
He paid careful attention to the faces on the walls. None of them were familiar, but some areas had small layouts of figures carved. They depicted scenes where people and dragons seemed to be interacting.
“This temple must be for dragons and humans,” he said.
“Why is it in such disrepair?” Lilly asked. “Numidel’s temple looked fine.”
“Numidel was keeping a secret,” Gersius said. “He told us he couldn’t leave the temple. I suspect there is a magic at play protecting it and him.”
“He did say the divines protected a few dragons from the curse,” Thayle said.
Gersius nodded. “Maybe by protection, he means they cannot leave where they are. They may all be trapped.”
“That would explain why we never see any truly ancient dragons,” Lilly said.
“There would only be a tiny handful of them left, and they would be trapped in what every lair the gods hid them in,” Gersius said.
“What a terrible fate,” Thayle said.
They now stood outside the towering archway peering into a hall that was carved into sections separated by ornate pillars.
“I suppose we go in,” Lilly asked.
Gersius nodded. “Hopefully our answer is inside.”
“What answer?” Lilly asked. “We don't even know why Numidel told us to come here. For all we know, one of those ancient dragons is here waiting to kill us all.”
“Numidel seemed genuinely interested in helping you,” Gersius said. “Let us not forget he gave you a fortune in gold.”
Lilly glanced back at the bag tied to the rear of the saddle. It was larger than Thayle and filled with gold coins. She had to admit with a sigh that Gersius was right.
“I suppose it wouldn't make sense to give me such a gift if he meant me harm. A dragon giving a gift from its hoard is a mark of great respect. I doubt I could do it.”
“He said one day you would come to realize the gold wasn’t important,” Gersius reminded her.
She shook her head. “Nothing is more important than gold. I will never understand that logic. I would never trade my gold for anything.”
“So there is nothing you would give up gold for?” Thayle asked.
“I once told Gersius that a female dragon would rather barter breeding to a male for knowledge than use gold to pay for it,” she replied. “I still stand by that; no male is worth the gold.”
Thayle smirked at her and patted her neck. “Well, at least you don't have to barter that for us.”
Lilly laughed. “No for you, my love is freely given.”
“Let us go inside carefully,” he said.
Lilly stalked into the tunnel, and they were grateful to share the dragonsight as the darkness engulfed them. The tunnel wall was cut into twenty foot wide panels that were ringed by columns. Each panel was a scene of life with dragons and humans standing side by side. They marveled at one scene where it showed several dragons lifting a dome onto a building.
“So they did work with humans,” Thayle said.
“Look at the buildings in the background of the scene,” Gersius pointed out. “If those are to scale, they are taller than anything we have today.”
Thayle looked at them the image as a whole and gaped in awe.
Other panels showed dragons soaring through the sky with humans on their back. Some showed images of a dragon then what looked like a ball of wind, then a human. Above that image was dragon writing.
“What does it say?” Gersius asked.
“It says Estaisha’s gift,” Lilly replied.
“Who is Estaisha?” Thayle asked.
“I have never heard the name before,” Gersius said.
“Nor have I,” Lilly said.
The tunnel went on pressing deep into the hill and lined with scenes of dragons and humans. They stopped to look at several of them, and a few more had words, but they revealed nothing more about the place. They pressed on going deeper and deeper down the straight hall.
“We must be under the mountains behind the hills,” Gersius said.
“We have walked for a long time down the tunnel,” Thayle pointed out. “I wonder how far back this goes?” Thayle added as she looked over her shoulder to the tiny distant doorway outside.
“I do not know, but we have to be in the mountain.” He paused a moment as he had a thought. “This reminds me a lot of the day I met Lilly,” Gersius said.
“The day you met me?” Lilly asked. “How is this like that day?”
“Do you remember the cave I took you through?” he said from her back.
“I do remember the cave. I also remember slipping and falling on the rocks outside it, the ground there was terribly broken.”
“Yes, you scraped your knee. It all feels like so long ago,” Gersius said in a somber voice.
“And now you call her your wife,” Thayle said from in front.
“That day, when she first changed, I could not believe what I saw.”
“I can’t believe you humans have no idea we can change,” Lilly said.
“No, what I mean is, I saw this cloud of white mist so thick I could not see into it, and then out walked the most beautiful woman I had ever seen,” He shook his head as he remembered it. “I almost told you right there that you were beautiful.”
“Oooh,” Thayle said with a squeal.
“You were so angry those first days. I was afraid of you at first,” Lilly said, looking down the long straight hall.
“Lilly, I never expected to live. In my mind, I had failed my mission already. I had lost all my men, and I was the only one left. I had to fight so hard even to get permission to go on this mission.” He shook his head again and sighed. “I was afraid to go back empty-handed, to admit I failed and that I had wasted the lives of those men. I went into your valley to die. I knew you would easily kill one man. I thought I wasn't coming back.”
Thayle turned around in the saddle and wrapped him in her arms.
“You never told me this!” she said in a shocked voice.
“I was very mean to her, Thayle. She made a simple mistake, and I lost my temper.”
“You called me a fool girl. I am a dragon, that was an insult I could not tolerate,” Lilly said.
“I am very sorry about that, Lilly. I tried much harder after that to not lose my temper with you.”
“You did, and I appreciate it. I could see the change over the next few days. I too tried to change.”
“You changed once you got to the farmhouse,” Gersius said, smiling. “The food changed your mind.”
“The food did help, but you left me at the mercy of that woman. She talked so fast I didn't understand half of what she said, and she practically smothered me in that dress.”
“This is where Lilly got her plain cream dress,” Gersius said to Thayle.
“Oh, the peasants dress with the white ruffle,” Thayle stated.
“Yes, it belonged to the farmers eldest daughter.”
“So you went into her valley to die?” Thayle asked, going back to the point.
“I did. I know I cannot win the war with the forces I have, and I knew I could not defeat Lilly alone. My choice was to go back in shame, and die losing a war I cannot win, or go on and die a hero.”
“Either way you die,” Thayle said a sour look on her face.
“Either way.”
“I am glad you pressed on. I would be dead if you went back,” Lilly said.
“I don’t like this conversation,” Thayle said. “To know just how close the people I love came to dying is upsetting.”
“Yes, let's talk about something else,” Lilly agreed.
They all went silent instead and walked on the sound of their footsteps their only companions.
They eventually entered into a grand chamber with a ceiling that went up twice as high as the tunnel and ended in rough stone. The floor was made of great panels of polished stone whose edges were woven with a crossing line pattern. A single panel was larger than Lilly was, and they spread out across the expanse.
“This is amazing!” Thayle exclaimed as they saw the scope of the space.
The tunnel went down a ramp into the room. The walls were carved with archways and in each were more scenes of dragons. The arches only went up as high as the tunnel, however and above them was rough stone. The entire space was as large as the outer plaza. It was broken up by massive stone pillars that went from floor to ceiling to support the weight above. They were as large as the red trees they passed outside. So big around in fact that Lilly could have hidden behind on. They were carved with weaving patterns and inlaid with more metal, this one a vibrant gold color. They didn't need Lilly to smell it to know what it was.
“This is the most amazing space I have ever seen,” Thayle said.
“This is what humans and dragons were able to do together?” Gersius asked.
“But what is this space?” Lilly asked.
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Gersius shook his head. He had no idea. He also noticed that along the walls by the ramp were smaller human-sized doorways. The temple was clearly meant to be used by humans and dragons.
Lilly made her way into the space, and there in the center was yet another depiction carved into the floor. It showed the sun with a curled up dragon inside. Above it was the ring with the dragon face and down each side were the rings with the symbols. But this picture had two more elements. There was a sphere beside the sun that was made of mosaic tiles. It was green and blue and had a word under it in dragon. Beside it was a smaller sphere also green and blue with a word under it.
“What does that say?” Gersius asked.
Lilly looked at the words.
“The bigger spheres word is Harlortha. The smaller one says Sollortha.”
“Does that mean anything to you?” Thayle said.
“Sol is the word my people use for the moon,” Gersius said. “I have never head the other word before.”
Lilly looked at it with her head turned to the side.
“Don't you humans call this world Lortha?”
“We do,” Gersius said.
“So then this might be the world.”
“Why does it say Harlortha then?” Gersius asked.
“It has to be our world,” Thayle said. “Maybe it’s the old dragon name for Lortha.”
“Har Lortha,” Lilly said slowly as she understood. “It makes sense. But why is it second?”
“Second?” Thayle asked.
“Har is dragon for second, Sol means first.”
“What does lortha mean?” Gersius asked.
“It means world,” Lilly said.
“So they are named first world and second world?” Thayle asked.
Lilly lifted her head and turned to look back at them. “In dragon they are.”
“Why are both worlds green and blue?” Gersius asked. “Our moon is not a world like this one.”
“And where is the other moon?” Thayle asked. “This only shows one.”
They considered that a moment as they looked around the floor. The dark moon was indeed missing from the layout.
“The more we learn, the more we see how little we understand,” Gersius said.
Lilly looked about the room and then back to the image on the floor.
“I have read about this place,” she said.
“You have?” Thayle asked.
Lilly nodded. “It was in that book I was reading the night Gersius was taken. It was talking about a man who went on a dangerous journey to find the God Vellis and plead with him for a cure for his daughter.”
“I remember that book,” Gersius said. “I have read once many years ago.”
Lilly looked back at him. “Do you remember the part where it says he arrives at the room of tall stones and looked upon the map of the worlds that were lost?”
Gersius nodded as he thought back. It had been in his youth when he had read the book. He did recall it mentioning lost worlds and a diagram written in the stone.
“So the pillars are the tall stones?” Thayle asked.
Lilly tossed her head. “Maybe, I didn’t know what any of it meant. It was written in a fancy way.”
“It was meant to be a happy story for children,” Gersius said. “A story of a father who goes on a great journey to save his daughter.”
“So this could be the room the book describes?” Thayle asked.
Gersius chuckled to himself. “I suppose it could be. Especially considering the man made most of his journey by paddling a small boat up a river.”
Thayle laughed. “Why didn’t we think of that?”
“So where do we go from here?” Lilly asked.
Gersius looked about the room and saw several tunnels on the far wall. The center tunnel was as large as the entrance, so he pointed to it.
“Let’s stick with the largest passage,” he said.
Lilly nodded and made her way to the back wall and into the tunnel. The walls here were smooth and carved with images of the sky. There were no dragon or human forms and no new writing. After a few minutes of walking the tunnel abruptly ended at a natural cavern. A partial collapse of the roof let in the rays of the sun and gave the space a magical luminance. The floor was cracked and uneven. What was once a stone road now buckled in places as it traced a path across the floor to a partially collapsed bridge that spanned a large fissure.
“This place has been hit by an earthquake,” Gersius said as they walked out into the room.
“I don't see anything important,” Lilly said, looking around the large chamber.
“We must need to cross the bridge,” Thayle said as she leaned over from the saddle.”
“There is a tunnel on the other side,” Lilly said as she peered across the space.
The chasm in the floor was only as wide as Lilly was long, but the bottom was so far down it was shrouded in the dark even with dragon sight. Lilly made them all uncomfortable when she stood on the edge and looked over.
“That is a long fall,” Thayle said, sitting back in the saddle.
“The bridge does not look safe,” Gersius commented as he studied it from Lilly’s back.
The bridge was made of stone joined together with mortar and layered several times. It formed a straight slab across the narrow gap with a width of ten men wide. It was damaged in the roof collapse, and parts of it were missing. All that remained was a narrow strip in the middle. It looked terrifying as they gazed into the unknowable darkness below.
“I do not like the idea of crossing that,” he said as he eyed the narrow span.
Lilly looked over it and huffed. “I will go across it first. If it can hold me, it can certainly hold you two.”
“And what happens if it can’t hold you?” Thayle asked.
“I am big enough to reach the other side. If it collapses, I should be able to grab hold of something.”
Thayle looked at Gersius, who nodded. “Alright, but let us get down and let me get a rope off the saddle first.”
“What do you want a rope for?” Thayle asked.
“I am going to tie it to you and then to me, then you go across it first, if it collapses I can hold you,” he said.
“And what if it collapses when you cross, I doubt I can hold you.”
“Lilly will be over there with you. She will help hold it.”
“I am sure I could lift both of you,” Lilly remarked.
“We don't have any other choice,” Thayle said as she moved to get down. Once on the ground, Gersius ran a loop of rope around her waist.
Lilly carefully crept out onto the bridge and slowly walked to the narrow spot. There was barely enough room for her to step across it, but she made it over without so much as a loose stone falling.
“I think this is actually very sturdy,” Lilly called over.
Gersius nodded to Thayle and followed her to the edge. He gave her a reassuring nod and then watched her walk out into the bridge. She quickly crossed the narrow gap and looked visibly relieved to be with Lilly. Gersius followed and joined them on the other side.
“This bridge is at least five layers of stone thick. It was made to support dragons,” he said, looking down at the hole.
“It held, that’s all I care about,” Thayle said untying the rope.
“The tunnel here goes down several steps,” Lilly said peering into the gloom.
Gersius joined her with the rope in hand. “Look how large the steps are. These are made for dragons.”
The tunnel here was different from the others. The stone was cut, so it was level, but the surface was rough and pitted. The steps were broad, twice as deep as a human step, and cut from the rock itself. Gersius and Thayle had to hop down them while Lilly casually walked behind them.
What they found at the bottom of the steps made them all take pause.
“This is not a dragon temple,” Gersius said as they entered the large room.
The room was round with distant walls made of polished black rock. The ceiling was a dome of the same black rock and etched into it were what appeared to be stars. Little points of light that glowed overhead so far up that Lilly would need to fly for several seconds to reach it.
Evenly spaced around the wall were stone pillars of green marble with black streaks. The pillars were twice as big around as Gersius and went up ten times his height. They held up a stone ring that linked them all arching from the top of one to the other, forming a continuous loop around the room. The pillars were simple and smooth, with no distinctive markings. All in all, they formed thirteen archways, not counting the doorway in.
Under each archway was a statue. What the statues were made of varied, and so did what each statue depicted. The floor was polished black tiles, but a silver ring ran around it under the arches, and in the ring was a writing none of them could read. In the center of the room, a beam of white light shone down where it struck the floor, a blue, glowing ring formed with a sort of star in the center. It had fourteen points, one pointing between each pillar, including the doorway.
There was a strange hum in the air, it was distant and faint, but it seemed to grow in intensity and then suddenly fade away only to return.
“This is a place of great magic, something larger than just divine blessing,” Thayle said as they approached the light shaft.
They looked around the room again and realized that it was illuminated and that the dragon sight wasn't why they could see so clearly.
“The sound is coming from the light,” Lilly said as they got closer. “It gets louder as you approach it.”
“She is right, it is louder in the center,” Gersius added.
When they reached the center, they stood around the beam of light just outside the blue ring.
“It is large enough for Lilly to stand inside of,” Gersius said as they studied it.
“Why would you stand inside it?” Lilly asked?
“I am just making an observation. I have no idea why I would stand inside it.”
“This might be dangerous,” Thayle said. “What is causing the light?”
Gersius looked up and tried to study the ceiling that looked like a clear sky at night. “Nothing is.”
“It’s designed to resemble starlight,” Thayle said. “The ceiling is painted to look like the night sky.”
“The lights up there even twinkle,” Lilly pointed out.
“What force could be doing this?” Thayle asked.
“I have no idea, but we are standing in the presence of ancient power,” he replied.
They walked around the ring, studying the night sky above them for several minutes.
Lilly grew bored and began to look around. She studied the statues while Thayle and Gersius were occupied with the light. She noticed something that looked familiar and stalked over to stand before it. It was a large white crystal bowl with wide gently slowly sloping sides. It looked in every way like the bowl Thayle used to make her mirror. It stood as part of one of the statues, resting at the feet of a towering woman who had flowers growing in her long curly hair. Her face looked delicate and kind, and her eyes looked up as if looking off into the distance. In one hand she held a bundle of grain. In the other, she held what appeared to be a small human child. Her clothing was a simple robe that fit her body loosely and was tied around her waist with a vine that sprouted leaves and flowers. Her feet were bare, and the bowl rested between them. The whole of the statue was over three times Lilly's height and made of perfectly polished green stone so rich in color is made Lilly want to touch it.
“Thayle?” Lilly called out as the two still studied the light.
Thayle looked over to Lilly and answered, “What is it?”
Lilly turned her head around on her long neck to look at Thayle and pointed at the statue, “Is that Ulustrah?”
Thayle finally looked past Lilly and saw the form behind her. She lost all interest in the light and slowly walked to Lilly's side, looking up into the only image of her Goddess she had ever seen.
“We have no artwork of Ulustrahs form, other than the green doe she appears as sometimes. It’s the silver bowls we use as our points of reverence. Every temple has a silver or crystal basin as its point of worship. The grand temple in Mordholm has a huge basin of blue crystal. It is our holiest site, and every priestess must make a pilgrimage there to drink from the water that pours from it. It’s how we gain the aura sight.”
“So you don’t know if this is Ulustrah then?” Lilly asked.
Thayle looked up into the face of the statue and fell to her knees. “I have no doubt in my heart; this is Ulustrah. Oh, my Goddess, I have been blessed to see your beauty before my time!” Thayle cried.
Gersius came to stand behind her and looked up at the statue.
“She is beautiful,” he said.
“So if that is Ulustrah then who is this?” Lilly asked as she walked around the pillar to look at the next statue.
It was a tall man in a robe with many patterns on it. His head was completely bald, and his brow was furrowed as if in deep contemplation. His eyes were closed his mouth a tight slit with narrow lips. He held his hands out and with his palms up, in one hand was an apple, in the other a jug. Around his waist was a cord tied in a knot with two tassels hanging down. He was made of a dark blue stone that seemed to have golden flecks in it.
“That is Vellis, the god of healing.” Gersius said in a somber voice. “They have statues of their god. It is unmistakably him.”
Thayle stood and joined them to look up at the statue while wiping her eyes.
“He is considered the great healer. His order can cure the sick of any disease.” Thayle added.
They walked around the next pillar; none of them needed an explanation for what they saw.
It was another man but with broad shoulders and a sturdy frame. This statue knelt, bent to one knee in supplication. He had a Head of long hair that fell to his shoulders, and a sharp beard covered his face. On his head was a metal band with a single star with eight rays. He wore a suit of armor that covered the whole of his body except for his head. In one hand he held the handle of a sword, point driven downward into the stone. In his other hand, he held a balance with two cups, both perfectly level. The entire thing was made of red stone with striking white currents running through it like lightning in a sky.
“It’s Astikar!” Thayle said in a gasp.
Gersius just stood there and scowled.
“Why does he hold that strange device?” Lilly asked, pointing to his hand.
“Astikar is the God of Mercy and justice. What he holds is a balance; he is always said to weigh the hearts of men. He always does what needs to be done, no matter how painful.”
“So this is your god then?” Lilly asked.
“Was my God,” Gersius said.
“Gersius, Astikar has never abandoned you, even now when you refuse to pray to him or give him an ounce of your devotion he still answers you when you call out for power,” Thayle said.
“Yes,” Gersius said. “Just like he answers Dellain and the Father Abbot.”
Thayle felt a spike of pain across he bind, and she looked at Lilly who was overcome with it.
Lilly lowered her head to look him in the face. “I don’t know your God Gersius, but I know you used to sing so beautifully to him. I am angered at him for hurting you so, but I am willing to bet he misses your singing.”
Gersius nodded and smiled at her. “Thank you, you and Thayle are what I live for now.”
Lilly turned to look at Thayle and then reached a clawed hand out and practically swept the woman off her feet, pressing her to Gersius and then carefully hugged them both to her scaled chest.
When the moment was over, they looked on at the next statue. It was a stern man with short hair and strong creased face. He had a curly beard all around his broad mouth that grinned with wide teeth. He had on a what looked like an animal skin clasped to his shirt like a cloak. His chest was covered in shining mail, and his arms and legs were bare and rippled with muscle. In one hand he held a short-handled hammer and in the other an iron rod bent and twisted.
“This one is Gorrin,” Thayle said.
“Gorrin?” Lilly asked?
“The God of strength, and smiths,” Gersius replied.
The next statue was of a woman with a hooded robe. Her eyes were big and glaring, and her mouth was open as if she was about to laugh. Her robe hid everything about her and even obscured most of her face in shadows. In one hand she held a strange metal object, it looked like a series of lopped rings that wound around one another. The other hand she held behind her back. She was carved out of a dark purple stone that had black marbled through it.
“I have no idea who this is,” Thayle said, looking up at her.
“It is Asmigaris Goddess of Magic and Mysteries, she has few followers, mostly weavers and shapers. She is known to test her followers with complex magical weaves. She is said to offer them a secret if they can figure out how to untie her magical knots.” Gersius said.
The next statue was a man in fairly simple clothes. He had short hair and a sly look to his clean-shaven face. He stood tall with one hand straight down at his side, and the other held a single coin between two fingers. He was made of a dull gray stone, polished and flecked with clear crystals.
“Is that Youthan?” Thayle asked.
“I think it is, the sly god of luck, and master of tricks.”
“Does anybody even worship Youthan?” Thayle asked.
“He has a few temples, but he does not require a formal religion. He has many a shrine hidden away in the cellars and closets of those people who like to leave their lives to chance. He is also popular with carnival tricksters and bards.”
The next space was even more of a mystery.
This space held a statue, but it had once held two. One statue was nothing but broken yellow rock scattered about the feet of the other. Something remained of the face, however, and they could tell it had once been a dragon. In what remained of a broken had were three smaller statues of dragons reaching out.
The other statue was a woman tall and graceful. Her hair was long and hung down to her waist. It was beaded in places, with small stars tied at the ends. On her head was a crown that looked like stars the points touching and forming the band but in the center over her eyes a moon.
She wore a robe of simple cloth that did not cover her arms. Her waist was belted with a braided cord, and her feet were bare. Her face looked loving and kind with a small delicate nose and gentle smile. She held her right hand up and curled back so that a single finger touched her head. Her left arm was extended out with the palm up. In her hand were three smaller statues of men reaching out as if to the missing statue. She was crafted of a light blue stone with silver streaks in it.
Unlike all the others, this statue had a backdrop. It was the same seal as in Numidels cave. A great golden disk whose left side was overlaid with a silver crescent moon.
“This has to be her,” Thayle said, looking up at the woman.
“Who?” Lilly asked as she studied the statue.
“Lilly, this is Balisha,” Thayle replied.
Lilly scrunched up her face in doubt. “Balisha is a dragon,” she said.
There was a long moment of silence as they all considered it before Gersius broke it. “How do we know that?”
Thayle and Lilly both looked at him with no answer.
“We have no idea what Balisha looks like. All we know is she is the queen of dragons and the Goddess of the moon. Does she need to be a dragon to be the queen of them?” he asked.
“I guess she doesn't,” Lilly said, letting her eyes wander the statue. “It just makes sense that she would be.”
“Think about it this way, Lilly. All Thayle knew of her Goddess was an image of a green deer with flowers on its back, yet here we see a beautiful woman.”
“I hope Ulustrah hears you calling her beautiful,” Thayle said.
“I am still angry with your goddess for marking you,” Gersius said, shattering the mood.
“So Balisha is a human?” Lilly questioned.
“None of the divines are human,” Gersius replied. “The form you see is what they have chosen to look like. Maybe your Balisha can change into a dragon like you can be a human. Astikar is known to appear as a great red hawk.”
“That might be why there are humans in her hand, and dragons in the broken statue's hand,” Thayle added.
Lilly thought about it a moment. “Numidel said Balisha gifted us our human forms, didn't he?”
“He did say they were a gift,” Gersius agreed.
“He said dragons came first though. So why wouldn’t she be a dragon?”
“I don’t know,” Gersius answered.
Lilly looked around the room. There were more statues in more colors. One of them, surprisingly was of a man who had no legs; instead, he had the tail of a fish. Gersius and Thayle stared at this for a long moment before they both gave up; they had no idea who that was.
Another statue of black stone was shattered and broken. It had a shield of some kind, and its face looked masculine.
The remaining four were more humans, two men, and two women, none of them were known to Thayle or Gersius, but one of the men held a single flower in one hand while the other was outstretched and empty. The first woman had wavy pillars around her feet, and her outfit seemed to be tatters and tears, it wasn't until Lilly looked at it and said it looked like fire that they all agreed that was what it was. She too was a red stone with orange flecks.
The last man stood straight and tall. In one hand was a feather pen, in the other a piece of paper. His face was hidden in a heavy cowl, and his only other distinguishing feature was an orb of white at his feet that was intentionally broken.
The last woman was a dark purple stone. She had long wavy hair, and her eyes were closed. She stood on one foot with the other foot pressed to her knee and hands clasped together beside her head as if she was sleeping.
“So this is some kind of temple to the divines?” Thayle asked once they had seen all the statues.
“I have never heard of a temple dedicated to all the divines before. I have heard of your order sharing a temple with Vellis,” Gersius added.
“Vellis and Ulustrah are very close at heart. He heals the body, and we heal the land. Together we bring prosperity and health to the world,” Thayle remarked.
“So what then is this place? Why is it laid out like this?” Gersius said as he spun around.
“And what purpose does the light serve?” Thayle asked.
Lilly pondered the thought a moment. This all seemed familiar to her. She looked around the room and up at the ceiling where the light shone down from and remembered the book.
Her eyes went wide as she turned back.
“Gersius, It’s the book!” she said.
“What about the book?” he asked.
“This space! The book described it!” Lilly said.
Gersius shook his head. “I read that many years ago, Lilly. I do not recall most of the details.”
Lilly sighed. “It said this man went to the place called a divine nexus. He went through the hall with the lost worlds on it and then to the chamber of archways!”
Gersius's eyes went narrow as he began to see where she was going.
“So what did he do when he got here?” Thayle asked.
“The book said he offered up a prayer to his God from the archway,” Lilly said.
“And then stood in the light of the stars,” Gersius finished for her.
“Yes, that’s what it said,” Lilly agreed.
“So what does that mean?” Thayle asked.
Gersius turned to her with an angry look in his eyes. “It means we are standing in that nexus, and we can make them answer us!”
“How can you be so sure?” Thayle asked as the look in his eyes frightened her.
“I agree,” Lilly said. “It was just a storybook for children like you said.”
Gersius looked around to consider the room, “Each god has its own archway. And then there is the light,” he added gesturing to the beam coming down from the ceiling.
“So we can talk to our Gods here?” Thayle said, her mind suddenly swimming with possibilities.
“There is only one way to find out,” Gersius said, storming off to the statue of Astikar.
“Gersius, no! Do not take your heart full of anger directly before Astikar!” Thayle begged.
“A long time now have I wanted answers, this is my chance to get them!” he barked as he arrived at the archway.
Thayle was at his side in an instant, her hands coming to his arm. “Gersius please, this isn't right! You cant demand answers from him. What if you offend him?”
“Let him be offended! I do not care what he thinks.”
“Gersius, please,” Thayle begged. “Let this anger go. I will train you personally to be a priest of Ulustrah if you want. You won't have to go through an acolyte period, or all the temple nonsense. I will take you on as a personal ward. With your understanding of faith, you will be a full priest in months.”
Gersius put his hand to her face and looked into her eyes. “You are a loving woman, Thayle. I am proud to call you my wife, but I have to do this.”
Thayle looked at him with wide eyes, “Gersius no!”
He stepped between the pillars and called out in a loud voice, chanting a prayer to Astikar and then walked defiantly to the light in the middle of the room.
“Thayle what is he doing?” Lilly asked, noticing the frantic way she was responding to him, and the anger boiling from him over the bind.
“Gersius, you can’t do this!” Thayle begged.
She grabbed hold of his arm and tried to pull him away, but he walked directly into the light and was gone.
“Gersius!” Lilly cried, running to the light and passing through it like it as nothing more than air.
“Thayle, where is he?” Lilly called frantically. “I can't feel him anymore more!”
“I can’t feel him either,” she said her face going white.