17

There was no fanfare as they left Kyokami, but everyone they passed paused in what they were doing to watch them go, sometimes giving Lyra a respectful nod or waving at Kel. Before long, they had left the little village behind. The red dirt road led them into the dappled shade under the trees that surrounded the village, and as soon as the road curved and the buildings were out of sight, it felt as if they were utterly alone in the world. The sounds of life—conversation and laughter, the ringing of a hammer, the occasional bark of a dog or cluck of chickens — all of that faded as the dense forest surrounded them, and soon only the lingering scent of wood smoke reminded Lyra that there was an entire village less than ten minutes behind them.

Those sounds were replaced by the sounds of the forest, but far from being comforting, the unfamiliar birdsong made Lyra feel even more alone. She didn't recognize any of the birds she saw flitting between the branches, or the plants that fought for the scant sunlight at the forest floor.

At first, her eyes darted to each new thing, but even the unfamiliar birds and plant life could only hold her attention for so long. Sure, it was interesting to see things she had never seen before, but as pretty as they were, songbirds didn't matter. What mattered was where the road led and what she would find at the end of it.

"So," she said, breaking the silence between them for the first time since they left the village. "How long do you think it will take us to get to Heliotheopoli, exactly?"

She had heard the word enough times that she didn't stumble over it anymore. Kel turned his head slightly, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "It would take me two weeks of steady traveling, give or take a couple of days depending on the weather."

She didn't miss that he had specified it would take him that long. Frowning, she said, "How long will it take with me tagging along?"

He shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. "We'll see." He was drawing ahead, so she broke into a trot to catch up.

"Do you think it's going to take a lot longer with me here? Like, am I holding you back for some reason?"

He didn't answer right away, and she had to jog to catch up to him again. Only then did she notice him raise his eyebrows pointedly, as if waiting for her to notice something.

"What?"

"No offense, priestess, but you do not walk as swiftly as I do. I do not know how long this trip will take us, but it will be longer than two weeks. Are you accustomed to traveling?"

She quickened her pace to catch up a third time. Only then did he slow down, matching his pace to hers. Frowning, she admitted, "Not exactly. I didn't stay in the same city my whole life, or anything, but at home most people don't walk to get places unless they're going shopping at a store just down the street. We had these…" She searched for the word but couldn't find it. Frustrated, she tried to explain, "They were carriages that moved on their own without horses. We fueled them with oil and we could sit inside and steer while they moved. That's what people used to travel between towns and cities. It was a lot faster than walking."

"If you are not accustomed to walking long distances, then we will need to stop and rest more often." He didn't sound annoyed by the idea; his tone was perfectly matter-of-fact.

Still, Lyra bristled. She didn't like the thought of being the reason why they had to travel slowly. "I can keep up. I know I'll be sore at the end of the day, but I can't spend a bunch of time resting and recovering. I need to figure out how to get home as soon as possible. I don't care how hard it is. I'm going to keep going."

He made a noncommittal noise, and she figured she would just have to show him how determined she was. She wasn't going to hold them up.

She could rest when she was home, not before.

The road rounded another curve, and she realized belatedly that it was following the path of the river to their left. That side of the road fell off into a gentle slope, and while she couldn't see the river through the greenery, she could hear it now that she was listening for it. That was good; it meant they would have easy access to water. She had filled her metal flask at the river that morning, but she would need to drink more than that, especially in this heat.

As they rounded the curve, she saw that the trees ended in about a hundred feet, where the shadows gave way to bright sunlight. She tried to build a mental map of the area.

"Are we going to be walking through the forest the whole way, or does the land open up?" she asked.

"This part of the Helioclades is mostly forest, but that changes the further west we go. Right now, we are coming up to the barley fields. The path to the old orchard the shrine is in will take us through them."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

As they stepped out from under the cover of the trees, the day's heat hit Lyra full force. She wished she could wear shorts and a tank top, not a tunic and jeans, and she also wished she had sunscreen. If she had to spend more than a few minutes under the sun, she was going to start burning.

She untied her flask from her backpack and took a sip of the lukewarm water as she took in the new scenery. The road cut directly through the barley fields. The forest surrounded the fields on all sides, but these were much larger fields than the little acre plots she had seen in the village. The dry stalks of grain seemed to whisper as a warm breeze brushed past them.

"The path to the old orchard is to your right, priestess," Kel said, as she reattached the water flask to her backpack. He pointed out a narrow, overgrown footpath that led between the barley field and the tree line. The path was narrow enough they had to go single file, and she was content to let Kel take the lead as she looked around. She didn't want to be here, but that didn't mean she couldn't appreciate how beautiful the area was.

The orchard was tucked away behind the barley field, and was filled with old, gnarled apple trees. The too-sweet scent of rotting apples filled the air, and she had to dodge a few that had turned to mush on the ground. There were still a few apples left here and there in the branches, and Kel grabbed one as they passed, biting into it without hesitation. She helped herself to one as well, but turned it around and around in her hands as she looked for evidence that bugs or birds had been chewing on it.

"Tell me if you see anything, priestess," Kel said. "The shrine is near. I truly think this god has long since faded, but if the children have found the shrine and have been worshiping at it, then that is no longer guaranteed."

The words reminded Lyra why they were there and brought her attention away from the apple and back to the overgrown orchard. The hum of bugs and the rise and fall of birdsong filled the air around them, and her eyes darted toward every movement. If Nira's innocent prayer had been behind all of this, she might have to fight not to strangle the girl, but at least she wouldn't have to travel all the way to Heliotheopoli to find her answers.

But she didn't see any evidence that whatever god the shrine belonged to was still around. She didn't know what exactly she was looking for, but she assumed it would be something like Towr — a semi-transparent being, clearly not human.

But nothing stood out to her. Unless the god she was looking for was that bright yellow butterfly or that fat bumblebee, then the orchard was empty.

The shrine was at the very back of the orchard. She didn't even see it at first—she was so busy looking for signs of the god that she almost stumbled over it. Kel had to catch her elbow to stop her before he crouched to clear some tall, dry grass away from the pile of stones.

"This is the shrine, priestess. And that must be the apple Nira left as an offering."

"I told you, just call me Lyra," Lyra muttered as she looked down at the shrine.

It was a stack of flat stones as high as her waist, each maybe twice as thick as her hand and varying in width from the size of a baking tray to the smallest one at the top, which the size of a saucer. A bright red apple sat atop the smallest rock.

It was a nice-looking apple, she supposed. The skin was ruby-red and shiny, and it looked untouched by worms or birds. It hadn't started to shrivel yet, even though it was sitting under the sun's glaring light.

She didn't think the apple had brought her to this world, no matter how perfect it was.

"Do you see anything, pries... Lyra?"

She looked around. The orchard was peaceful. Dappled sunlight streamed through the leaves of the gnarled trees. A few bees flew back and forth, looking for late-season flowers, and overhead, two songbirds got into a squabble that led to one of them fleeing into the forest while the victor sang from his perch in the tree.

"Nothing," she said, feeling a surge of bitter disappointment in her chest. "I don't see anything. You don't know the god's name?"

"It has long since been forgotten," Kel said as he stood up and looked down at the shrine. "This is an old Aketian shrine. Their tradition is an oral one. They wouldn't have written it anywhere. When the last person who worshipped this god died, the knowledge of the god's name would have gone with them." He paused. "Lora said that the gods' names used to hold a deeper meaning, and one of them told her if you knew the trick to it, you could uncover the names of even forgotten gods, but if that is possible, I do not know how to do it. I do not think the god was able to tell her how."

"Towr said something similar," she said as they turned away from the old shrine. "That her name used to have a deeper meaning. But that doesn't really help me. I guess we'll just have to go to the city like we planned. No matter how long it takes." She knew she sounded depressed and whiny, but she couldn't help it. This had been her last hope that she might be able to get back home before her disappearance affected her jobs or her family.

"The journey will not be a miserable one," Kel said. "Tonight, we shall camp under the stars. Tomorrow we will come across another small village, much like Kyokami. And after that is Ersgath, a larger town where we will stock up on supplies. This stretch of the Western Road was designed during the period of colonization that began four hundred years ago. Unlike the less central areas of the province, the spacing of villages and towns along the main road was carefully planned. It takes no more than a day to travel between them by horse, and slightly longer by foot. It is likely that you would be able to make this journey without a guide, though of course, it is my duty and honor to escort you to Heliotheopoli."

She had been envisioning weeks out in the wilderness without seeing another soul, so the news that they wouldn't need to spend much more than a night at a time away from civilization was a relief. She would get through this. She would make it to the city, she would find the Temple of the Great God, and she would figure out why she was here and how to get home. The only thing standing between her and her goals was a lot of walking.

They spent a few minutes gathering apples, then left the orchard behind. As they made their way back down the path to the main road, the warm breeze curled around the back of her neck and for a moment, the touch felt like fingers trailing across her skin. She paused and looked back, but she saw nothing except for the overgrown orchard, the fat bees bumbling between the trees, and overhead, the bright sun gazing down on everything beneath it.