Chapter 14

Both creatures extended their right feet as their heads bent down to examine Zuri. For an instant, he felt like a tiny morsel of prey, but he had traveled too far and for too long to simply acquiesce. He held up his staff in defiance.

“I dare,” he yelled. “There’s no one else here but me.”

The right head bent down further. “What right do you have to pass into Ungjin?”

Zuri thought for a moment as the creature continued to stare at him with unblinking eyes. “I have completed the rite of transformation,” he said. “I can see the aura of all living things and I can animate my staff.”

“Not enough,” the creature said as it opened wide its beak to strike at Zuri. Zuri expected as much, knowing he was not a master of these ancient people. He cocked his staff and swung it into the beak of the creature as soon as it was in range. He dove underneath and took a swipe at monster’s leg, only to have his staff rebound as if it was striking solid rock.

The creature shrieked in pain. Zuri rolled to the side and prepared to dodge or strike again, whichever came first. Instead, the creatures were cocking their heads, staring at him with their piercing eyes. Silence filled the space in which they stood.

“I declare,” the one on the left began.

“ ... that the first geas is fulfilled,” the second one finished. “A child of the Masters has returned to Ungjin. Come, child. Follow us into the holy precincts you seek.”

The two creatures turned, and one by one, walked up the open path, not bothering to look back to see if Zuri was following. He collected his pack and set out after the graceful creatures. They floated across the surface rather than lumbering as he expected for their great size. Neither said a word.

On the other side of the hill, a small plain opened before him. The top of a building with a dome sat in the middle while suspicious piles, far too regular to be natural, surrounded the building. Zuri saw no grass and no trees nearby.

The creatures continued forward, skirting around a rectangular pile and then another as they aimed for the middle of the area. They stopped before they reached the building though. Each of them circumscribed a half circle, coming back together to face Zuri.

“Child, you stand in Ungjin. Two thousand years we have waited for you to return. In the meantime, the sands have reclaimed the area, and much is buried.”

“What am I to do here?”

“You must prepare for the Ascension,” the creature on the left said. “When you are accepted for the Ascension, our final geas will be complete and we can be released from our vows. We hope you are quick to learn.”

“What are your names?” Zuri asked, understanding that he was sidetracking.

“We have no names, we are servants of the last Grandmaster, no more and no less.” A wind was passing through the land, whipping up little sand devils. The whirls spun around for a few minutes and vanished, as more popped up and vanished as well.

“Oh,” Zuri said. “You mentioned I had to learn something. What do I have to learn?”

“The first forecourt is buried in sand. The lessons are inscribed on the floor and on the walls of the court.”

Zuri scratched his head. “If they’re buried, how am I to access them?”

“You command us to clear the sunken court.”

“You make it sound obvious when I know nothing of you or your nature,” Zuri said, looking intently at the two. They said nothing. “Fine, I command you to clear the court.”

The two beings walked over to the large rectangle and began digging with intent. Using their front hooves, they aimed the sand through their back legs. In a few hours, they had the forecourt cleared, a sunken rectangle that was divided into two rows of squares. In each square were runes, while on the corresponding wall, glyphs were incised.

The two creatures ceased their work when the sand was gone, and the court was clear. “Are there more courts?” Zuri asked. They responded that there were more. “Are there other buildings and places I will need?” Again, they responded there were. Zuri ordered them to clear what he would need first and then move on to the rest of Ungjin. They started their tasks without another word.

Intimidated and curious, Zuri jumped down into the forecourt. He recognized the glyph as the same one he learned in Seminary and chiseled into the wall of the found temple. Examining the runes for a few minutes, Zuri realized they acted out the dance steps. Setting himself in the first position of the first movement, he danced the Arcane Dance steps. When he finished the movement, the glyph flashed once.

Glancing down the row, he counted ten movements, which meant there were twenty movements in this court. He had only learned twelve, leaving him eight more to learn from scratch. Of course, there was a good chance that some positions within the first twelve movements had changed or been lost over time, which was another worry. He had even more reason not to trust his Seminary teachers. Almost everything that came from Ungjin must have been lost.

The afternoon was waning, and Zuri’s stomach growled. He went searching for the two creatures, finding them easily by the sand blooms cascading in the air. He bade them to stop for a moment, asking them about food and shelter. One creature pointed to the entrance he was excavating, explaining he would find a place to lay down his head inside. Its companion rose on his back legs to scan the vicinity. He indicated there was food nearby and quickly departed. Zuri sat down on the edge of a cleared wall and watched the creature excavate the sand from his new home.

As the last of the sand magically floated out of the exposed room in a thin ribbon, the second creature returned. Opening his chest cavity, he pulled out an assortment of fruits, pods, roots, and leaves. Zuri recognized many of the choices offered, silently thanking Leniz for all that he taught during their journey together.

Taking a flat rock to pound on, and another one that fit well in his hand, Zuri pounded several of the pods and roots to make edible paste. He scooped the paste into two of the larger leaves and rolled them up like he would a flatbread sandwich. After gobbling both leaves down, he felt his hunger ease away. He finished off the last of his water though.

Asking where he would find water, the second creature who had completed excavating the room explained water was available inside, both for drinking and for bathing. Without further conversation, Zuri picked up his gear and ducked into the room. Unlike the tiled temple whose items were preserved, this room was barren. There was a raised stone platform for a mattress on his left and niches for his belongings on his right. In the back was a small basin and a large one, both filled with water. Next to the large basin was a large flat square with a drain in the middle. Looking in the far back corner, he glanced at the large niche that was obviously a toilet.

“All the comforts of home,” Zuri said. He stripped naked and bathed himself. Still wet, he took all his clothes he had left and washed them in the large basin. As the light disappeared, he made a makeshift bed and drifted off to sleep.

When Zuri emerged from his room in the morning, he was taken aback by the number of buildings and sunken courts that had been cleared overnight. When he found the creatures busily at work, they explained they needed neither rest nor food for they were not living creatures in the same manner as he was.

He returned to the first forecourt, and after his stretching exercises, Zuri made his way through the first four movements without incident. In the middle of the fifth movement, what he knew as the correct step was a misstep upon the square. The wall adjoining the square flashed red. Studying the runes on the floor, Zuri slowly pieced together what the next position should be only to realize that the shift would cascade through the rest of the movement. He had a long, frustrating day but he did finish the fifth movement.