Chapter 9

Their breakfast was quick as the men prepared to leave as soon as the light guaranteed sure footing. Comparing the marks on Leniz’s arm one last time, they stepped onto the new trail, doing their best to set a reasonable pace that they could maintain. Although the wolves were long gone, the fear of them lingered.

The outcroppings were closer together on this trail, some of them towering over their heads. More trees were appearing as well, including some that Leniz identified as fruit bearing. He declared the trees were further proof of the ancestors traversing these lands in recent memory. “Take care of the land and the land takes care of you,” he said.

Zuri watched a pair of kites sweep the sky as they looked for prey. One tucked his wings in, falling into a dive with its talons stretched forth. A moment later the kite appeared again with a small animal in its claws. The raptor let loose with a skree of its kind.

By midmorning they were passing land with more trees than before as a small stream followed alongside the path for a while. Leniz pointed to several plants, explaining they were edible roots or grains growing wild. He pointed to a shaky line of rocks on the side of a hillock, suggesting the stones may have been a terrace at an earlier time.

“The Old Folk were here,” Zuri said. “Why did they leave and where are they now?”

“The answer could be up ahead,” Leniz said. “We must be close.”

They rounded another hillock and stopped. The trail led across a meadow to a stone wall. Inside the wall was a building, looking partially buried with sand and debris. Only the top third of a doorway was visible.

“We found it,” Zuri exclaimed. “Who would have imagined a stone building in the middle of a wilderness? I am looking at stone, am I not?”

“Fitted stone,” Leniz said. “Someone who knew how to knap stone and fit it with mortar built this place. The wall is basically intact, but the place is old, ancient even.”

“Yet Old Folk have come here more recently if we are reading the trees and plants along the trail correctly,” Zuri said. “We could defend ourselves from wolves in that building.”

“The walls could work like the boundary fence at First Homestead,” Leniz said. “Let’s poke our heads in the door and then seek out the necessities such as the water source. We want a secure bed before the sun sets.”

As they drew near, they could see that most of the wall was intact and where there were gaps, the fallen stones were still there. They approached the doorway slowly, concerned that a creature could be using the space as a den. They saw no tracks inside the wall, but they took nothing for granted.

Zuri was pleased. The windows were not blocked, letting sunlight fill the space. The doorway was partially blocked, but the rest of the room was simply covered in blown dirt and dead vegetation. They could not see the back wall though.

“Strange,” Leniz said. “The doorway is plugged but not the rest of the building. I wonder if someone filled the doorway on purpose.”

“We will learn the answer when we try digging out this mess,” Zuri said. “The easier it comes, the more likely someone helped put it there. What do we do first?”

“I saw a good solid tree branch on the ground two or three trees back that we can use to dig,” Leniz said. “I’ll go fetch the branch and you crawl through the hole and give the place a once over.”

Zuri nodded in agreement. He dropped his pack and got down on his knees. Using his sight, he did not spot any living creatures in the room, not even insects. He used his staff to clear away any webs in the doorway. With his staff in hand, Zuri stuck his legs in the hole, trying to slowly slip into the open space below. The dirt crumbled under his butt, and he dropped to floor immediately, much to his dismay. Rubbing his butt, he stood up and took stock of the long room.

The floor underneath his feet was as they surmised, loose dirt that could be easily tamed with a broom. The walls were bare. The ceiling was wood beams though. He walked towards the back, beyond the windows and their welcomed light. With his staff in front of him, Zuri stepped into the gloom.

He paused to let his eyes adjust. “By all that is good and holy,” he muttered, disbelieving what he was seeing. He tapped it with his staff just to be sure.

“What’s that?” Leniz called out. “What did you find?”

“The Anointing Chair,” he said. “This building is a temple.”

“Better than a sack of gold, Gura,” Leniz proclaimed. “Come get this branch and dig me a way in the room. I want to see this.”

Zuri came forward and leaned his staff against the wall. Taking the large branch, he rammed the end into the pile several times and then shoveled away the loose dirt and rock the best he could. After a half-hour’s work, the doorway was clear enough for Leniz to slide into the room easily, without straining himself.

Leniz held up his makeshift torch of a branch with grasses, a rag, and some black goop, bound in a braid of green vines. “I haven’t had to make one of these in years,” he said. “Good thing you took a while to dig that doorway because it took me a few tries to get this torch right.” He pulled out his sparker and lit the grasses.

They walked into the gloom together.

“My ears heard you, but I did not want to believe,” Leniz said. “Not only is that the Gura chair, I think the wood is solid and lacking rot. Touch it.”

Zuri grabbed hold of the arm and shook the chair. The chair was heavy, and its joints were firm. As Zuri inspected the chair, Leniz was running the torch across the back wall. He was flustered.

“I see the halo and the star over the chair,” Leniz said. “What are these other symbols? I’ve never seen them before.”

Zuri looked up from the chair. He blinked his eyes a few times, trying to confirm he was seeing what he was seeing. With his hands on his hips, he directed Leniz to hold his torch up to the upper left corner.

“These are glyphs,” Zuri said. “They are from the Ancient script. Each glyph represents one of the Arcane Dance movements. How many glyphs are there on the wall? There should be twelve.”

“I count twenty,” Leniz said.

“I paid attention during my lessons and learned twelve,” Zuri said, wishing he could flaunt his find before his classmates. “I learned twelve movements.”

“There’s a doorway on the far left,” Leniz said. “What do we have?” He walked over to the doorway and thrust the torch through. “Looks like a Gura’s cramped quarters with a basin for water. I guess we will find water here. Let’s go see if there’s another door.”