Page 28 of Spectral Seas (Spectral Worlds #2)
B EFORE MORTALS DISCOVERED the Bubbles and the planes they linked to, Abby was a university professor—an archeologist—and it was his knowledge of religion, mythology, and ancient cultures that made him an asset to the Bureau. He was quick to connect the dots between the ancient artifacts, murals, and structures of the Homeland to the new-found Planes and the planar races that inhabited them. The Indici Monastery was such a structure, similar in design to the gothic and romanesque structures of the Alpha Plane, but thousands of years older. Abby had spent time in the complex a century past, and was familiar with the layout—the cloisters, the residential cells, the prayer hall, and the two towers that flanked it on either side. The flight deck, as he remembered, was at the top of the north tower, which meant they’d pass by the morning prayer to reach it.
The raspy echoes of the praying monks filled the passage that led from their guest apartment to the prayer hall’s second story gallery, and as they drew closer, the louder the indiscernible prayers became .
“Ah,” gasped Leta as they entered the gallery overlooking the grand hall.
Wide swaths of blue light brilliantly beamed through the high wall of glass onto a writhing sea of indigo fabric which, beneath the rays cast down upon it, took on a rich, royal quality.
Abby’s opticals blinked augments over the monks below as they performed their individual invocations, supplications, and devotional prayers. Some fully prostrated themselves by lying completely flat, others were kneeling and bowing so low that their heads touched the indigo rugs, while some rapidly repeated the bows between their hissing proclamations. With a twitch of his eye, he captured the images so he could upload them to the Archive on his return to the Alpha Plane.
Near the end of the walkway, their escort opened a door that led them into the stairwell of the north tower. The valley worn and pitted stone steps spiraled the outer edge of an octagonal shaft around a circular well through which dangled the ropes to the belfry.
The door to the outdoor terrace on the first landing was open. “Excuse me,” Abby said to their escort. The monk stopped, and his hood veered back. Abby gestured to the open door. “May we?” The monk lowered his hooded head in a deep nod to the side.
“Great,” said Abby, stepping from the landing to the rooftop terrace. Though the sky was overcast, the dusky daylight still bled brilliantly through the misting fog. He took the opportunity of the open aired space to breathe in a balmy, moist breath.
“Who are they?” asked Leta.
“Who?” asked Abby.
“Them,” she said, pointing to the stone figures scattered around the roof. “I don’t have a readout. ”
“Ah,” he said, then led Leta and Soren toward the two sculptured figures at the near railing, looking out into the mist. “These grotesque figures are ornamentation, the Indici version of the gothic stone gargoyles and chimera in the Alpha plane.”
“This one appears to be an Indici,” said Leta, “but the other a Viridian.”
“Yep,” said Abby. “Sss’kyrone explained to me that the sculptures represent a time when the two races worshipped together.”
“That’s interesting. They can barely tolerate each other now, but there was a time they appreciated their cooperation enough to tribute it.”
“Well. Their original purpose wasn’t just ornamentation. The Ancient Ones demanded constant devotion, so these statues were carved to ensure their gods would be satisfied.” He gestured toward a balcony on the roof of the prayer hall where the morning mist caressed other stone onlookers. “There are about fifty more spread around the roof tops and towers.”
“Are they all Indici and Viridian?” asked Leta. “Some appear to be horned.”
“Mostly. The svelte horned sculpture leaning forward on the balcony is a Maro.”
“The Maro were here that far back?”
“At least one tribe. The statues don’t have clan markings, but all of the horned sculptures are of the same variety, which leads me to believe an alliance with a single clan. The ridges on the horns and the way they curve back and twist suggests they’re ancestors of the Narha.”
“The foot soldiers.”
“Well. Ancestors of.”
“Cuh-um,” rasped the monk. “It’sss time.”
“Okay,” said Abby .
They returned to stairs and climbed the rest of the way up to the belfry, where a series of large and small bells hung harnessed to yoke fitted wheels. They continued up into the bell turret, then up onto the roof.
There in the rolling mist, their escort left the three to wait.
From far in the void, they heard the familiar flap of wings, fwhop … fwhop … fwhop , the same beast that had flown above them the evening before, growing louder as it flew closer, FWHOP … FWHOP … FWHOP . The mist rolled and curled as the unseen creature hovered near. FWHOP … FWHOP … FWHOP .
“There,” said Soren.
Abby and Leta turned in the direction he pointed in time to witness the fog being blown away from the rim of the south tower and the appearance of the massive, flying blue beast.
“It’s an Indigo dragon,” said Abby. As they watched, a rider adorned head to toe in studded leather armor approached the large winged reptile. The beast’s scales shimmered an oily dark spectrum of blues as it spread its grand webbed wings wide to measure its perch.
A whisper rasped through the mist. “They will be our escortsss to the gardensss.” The three spun and searched the empty roof and surrounding mist. Then, from beyond the edge of the roof, the mist swirled and the top of a glass dome slowly rose above the rim to reveal three robed figures within it.
“It’s Sss’kallion,” Abby chipped silently.
The Indici floated up parallel to the rooftop, then toward them. The fog rolled thick at their feet then fell away to reveal a large hovering disc, near the size of the tower roof, domed in glass.
“Theater,” chipped Leta .
The door to the stairs opened and, as Sss’kallion had promised, Abby, Leta, and Soren were reunited with Uhggwa and his guards.
The flying disc glided across the surface of the roof, then the canopy dome slid open. “Pleassse,” said Sss’kallion. “Cuh-limb aboard.”
~*~