Chapter 10: Bringing home the gods

I was on the far side of the oldest part of the graveyard. The ridge had steepened into a stone cliff with mostly graves of the poor below it. What I was looking for used to be a carved relief in the cliff for a tomb. I looked at the pile of stones against the cliff that had fallen from above. A tiny shadow between large rocks was what had told me the tomb was here.

I sighed and started lifting and moving rocks. I had thought to enter in the morning but that was not going to happen. I started stacking the stones into a makeshift wall around the tomb. It was several hours before I had cleared the rocks away and stood looking at the tomb entrance. I carefully looked at the door, long ago they were made to never be reopened ... supposedly.

I smiled at the tiny hidden hole, people are human and the person that built this tomb had left a lock incase they needed to reopen the tomb. These type of locks were common with some of the old tombs and I had come prepared. I opened my pack and pulled out a long thin brass rod. I slipped it into the door crack where the hole was.

I slowly pushed until the rod stopped and took a breath before pressing harder. There was a sound of a stone grinding as the rod pushed deeper and then it stopped. I moved to the other side of the stone door and pushed and slowly it began to turn and pivot until the way was clear. I knew better than to enter and sat back to wait.

After awhile I lit a twist of straw and tossed it in. It flicked and a moment later continued to burn brightly. I glanced at Dragon, “Slowly.”

I stepped into the sloping hall and moved forward slowly as I lifted the mage lantern. It was not long before the hallway turned and spiraling stairs began descending down into the dark depths. The three cats slipped past me and moved down ahead of us. At the bottom of the stairs was a large entrance hall with stone lanterns on each wall.

I glanced at Dragon, “Call the children and have them bring the phoenixes.”

She looked back and gave a shifting whistle. Several moments later the drakes flew in followed by Griffin and the pair of phoenixes. As they settled around the room the phoenixes landed on the far end above what looked like a stone fireplace. The fireplace burst into flames and then each torch started to burn until the room was brightly lit.

I smiled as I checked the room carefully before walking towards the fireplace. I knelt to look through the flames and into what looked like a tunnel. I knew what I had to do and sat back to pull off my pack, “Everyone in.”

Dragon crawled over my shoulder and looked as the drakes flew to me and crawled in and then Griffin. She looked into my face before slipping into the pack. I held the pack and took a breath before crawling through the flames and into the tunnel. Once through I stopped and opened the pack, “Okay, we are through.”

That was the second test, the fire did not have magic attached to it so crawling into what I knew was real fire had been really hard. Dragon came out followed by the others and I smiled, “Move to the side so I can use the lantern.”

I pulled the lantern out and opened it before starting to crawl. I only had to go a dozen paces before there was a room, I checked before moving out and standing. Dragon flew up to my shoulder as I lifted the lantern to look around the room. Every wall was filled with carvings and murals.

It was a couple of minutes before I headed across the room towards a mural of people working in a field. It was the only one that did not have a god or goddess or a temple. I examined it closely before touching a woman holding sheaths of grain up to the sky. I felt it before pushing and it sank into the wall as there was a click.

I stepped back as the section of wall swiveled to show another passageway that seemed to turn and angle up. I nodded to one of the drakes, “Fly in but do not land and then return.”

It leaped into the air to fly into the narrow twisting tunnel. I waited and a minute later it was back and landed on my shoulder beside Dragon. It murmured and chirped and Dragon touched my cheek before nodding and pointing in. I crouched and held the pack as I started up the tunnel. It emptied out into a small room after going up fifty feet.

The room almost seemed to absorb light as I used the lantern to look around. There was nothing on the floor or walls, not even cracks. I looked up at a round hole in one corner and glanced at Dragon and then Griffin when he landed on my other shoulder, “I need to know if there is some way to anchor a rope.”

They nodded and leaped before flying up the hole. I glanced around as the drakes crooned back and forth to each other on the floor. Dragon appeared and dropped to my shoulder before patting my cheek. I opened my pack and attached a small but thick hook to one end of the rope Silver had made and enchanted for me.

Dragon called out as she grabbed the hook and jumped into the air. The drakes came to grab at the rope every few feet as it unrolled out of my pack. It was a couple of minutes before it stopped and a minute before Dragon returned. I shouldered the pack and attached the lantern to my belt before testing the rope.

I started climbing into the pitch black hole and it seemed like a life time before I felt the rope against one wall and then the lip of an opening. I slowly lifted myself and opened the lantern to see I was in a hallway with stone statues of gods. The hook was around one and hooked around the rope.

I carefully undid it and put it away before looking at the god statue, “Sorry great lord.”

I blinked when the statue seemed to smile and nod. I looked around carefully before starting down the hallway with Griffin and the drakes flying ahead. I bowed to each statue as I went past them until I came to the doorway into a large room. On the opposite wall were three narrow slit windows that seemed to glow as they gave light to the whole room.

In each corner was a statue with piles of gold and treasure in front of it. I slowly crossed to look out and realized the windows were high in the cliff. I moved to one corner and looked at the statue and blinked when I saw the face removed. Dragon turned my head and I glanced in the direction she pointed me.