Es-huh smiled as she gestured to the guard. “Perhaps we can ask what Oloth thinks.” She took Aavi’s hand and walked over to the guard. Es-huh could have asked him in a loud voice what he thought, but she was enjoying the moment. She gestured toward Princess as they stood before him. “So, what do you think, Oloth? Is she beautiful? Do you like her outfit?”
Oloth, always alert for some sort of trickery, took a defensive stance by the door. Nevertheless, he did take a good look at Aavi and smiled as men do when they see an attractive scantily dressed woman. “Yes, yes she is very pretty,” when Es-huh prodded him to answer rather than stare.
“And the outfit?”
“It’s grand,” Oloth shrugged. “But I liked her just as well before she put it on.”
Es-huh gave him a playful swat on his burly arm as Aavi beamed at the compliment. Since she had awoken in the City, she had often been told she was pretty; but there was something about being told your outfit was special that gave her a warm feeling inside that felt as if she had done some task particularly well.
“Thank you, Oloth,” she said as she looked at the man.
Es-huh turned to face her and put her hands on Aavi’s shoulders. “There, you see - you are beautiful and High Sulgi will be pleased. Now we add a few final touches and then we must take you downstairs, Princess.” Es-huh then glued a thin glass gem on the spot where Aavi’s missing navel would be to further conceal the fact.
As they walked back toward the cage to make final adjustments to the outfit and pick up the rest of the fabrics, Aavi saw a new color glowing in Es-huh’s heart. It was a light purple and it seemed to reflect the same feeling of pride in a job well done that Aavi seemed to be experiencing. She couldn’t resist giving Es-huh a hug. “Thank you Es-huh for making me feel special.”
Es-huh hugged her back. “You are special. High Sulgi knows this too.”
Chapter 14 - The Quest and the Sacrifice
D’Molay ducked under the eaves of the boathouse as a brief downpour wet the dock. Despite the adventures he’d experienced after he parted from Aavi, he’d kept his promise to meet her when she returned from the Oracle. He peered through the sheet of pounding rain and picked out Mazu’s ferryboat approaching the shore. The goddess was a serene silhouette among other indistinct figures huddling under cloaks and blankets to escape the rain.
The cloud moved on and sunlight brightened the soaked shoreline. Those who had dashed for cover like D’Molay emerged from their hiding places and went about their business. A young couple with a little girl and a baby moved to the side of the dock and waved at the ferryboat. A few old fishermen and a musician with drums and horns slung over his back lined up with them. One of the boathouse men approached the aspiring passengers and directed them to step back until the boat was secured. D’Molay watched as Mazu tossed the workman a rope which he tied to a dockside post. Another line was cast in by a passenger in the rear of the ferry. Once that too was secured, the boat began to unload. Mazu’s passengers shrugged off their protective coverings and gathered their belongings. D’Molay scrutinized the travelers. He did not see Aavi.
Conflicting feelings of loss and relief welled up inside him. Her absence could only mean that the Oracle had been able to help her. Perhaps she had already regained her memory and gone back from wherever she’d come. D’Molay tried to be happy for that, but found he missed the girl. He normally did not connect so strongly with those he helped.
“Mazu.”
He hailed her as the last of her passengers made their way off the dock. She raised a hand to him and spoke briefly to the new travelers before coming his way. As the line of people climbed into the ferryboat, Mazu walked to him, her staff thumping the deck. Immediately, D’Molay knew something was wrong from the worried expression on her face. “Mazu, where’s Aavi?”
“She’s been taken.”
“Taken? What do you mean?” D’Molay was alarmed. It was not like Mazu to be so abrupt.
“Come with me if you wish. I am returning to search for her.” Mazu turned her back, leaving it to him to follow her or not. He hesitated, just for a moment. It would be so easy to leave this problem to the goddess. Then he remembered Aavi’s trust in him and chastised himself for even thinking of abandoning her now. A moment later he was impatiently waiting for the musician to stow his instruments so that he could take a seat in the ferry. As he stood in the boat, which bobbed slightly at the dock, he caught Mazu’s eye. She shook her head as he opened his mouth. “We will talk when we get to Buddha’s Retreat,” she said.
D’Molay found the lengthy journey almost unbearable. The fishermen would not stop trading tall tales and the musician’s flute was out of tune. The baby started crying halfway across the lake and the child’s parents soon began arguing about how to make it stop. Their little girl, thankfully, slept the entire way, winning her place as D’Molay’s favorite traveling companion.
When they reached the end of the voyage, D’Molay and Mazu remained in the boat as the others headed toward the shrine. D’Molay practically had to bite his tongue to keep his questions at bay. Finally, Mazu spoke to him.
“Aavi was gone when I returned to bring her back,” Mazu began. “Nianzu told me she did visit the Oracle, and that his students took her to a room to sleep. But one boy who was out in the night catching frogs saw a flying bat thing grab something that might have been Aavi from the forest. He showed me where.”
D’Molay listened grimly. “Take me to that place.”
After being given special permission to enter the grounds of Buddha’s Retreat, Mazu led D’Molay up the path toward the Oracle’s shrine, turning down another stone-lined walk that led past some smaller huts. They stepped into the shadow of the trees. Mazu pointed to a small open space. “The boy said it happened there. He could see from the pond.”
Turning, D’Molay saw a small body of water about thirty yards away. The moon had been bright the last few nights. Something happening where they stood could definitely have been observed from that place. D’Molay began to scan the ground, looking for any evidence that Aavi or, he hoped, some other unfortunate, had been snatched. Almost immediately he saw an area where the leaf-carpeted undergrowth was disturbed. He knelt down, finding something which made his heart sink.
“It was her,” he said, as he picked up the object. He held out his hand and showed Mazu the small green leather bag he had given Aavi. Most of the coins were gone, but a few still remained.
Mazu gazed back at D’Molay with a pained look. “I thought she would be safe here.”
“She should have been. I can’t understand why she ran out into the night. We’re lucky that boy saw the bat.” D’Molay looked up at the sky, a sad and frustrated look on his face. “She could be anywhere in the realms by now.”
Mazu took his hand with both of hers in sympathy. “You are a tracker D’Molay. You will find a way. You always have.” Mazu stepped away and started to pace. “I’ve seen a bat creature flying over the lake at times, though it may be only one of several.” Mazu tilted her head as she tried to remember details of when and where she’d seen it flying.
“Anything you might recall could help, Mazu. You’re on that lake almost every day. If anyone might see something like that, it would be you,” D’Molay said.
Mazu thought carefully. Things flew over the lake all the time. She’d seen great banner-festooned airships, harpies, and even winged serpents as she ferried pilgrims in her boat. Still, she was confident she had seen bat creatures carrying what might have been people perhaps four or five times in the recent past. She looked into the distance, up at the empty sky. “I think the last time I saw it was a few weeks ago. It was flying at sunset, away from the City and off to the north. Once, perhaps a month ago, I remember it was carrying something large that I thought was prey, but it could have been a person. I paid it little heed.”
D’Molay’s hopes rose a little bit. “Perhaps some other denizens of the lake will remember this bat-thing as well. Maybe some
even know where it lives.”
“Come, D’Molay. I can take you to some of those I know who spend even more time at this lake than I do. It is the least a pathetic old goddess like me can do to help this poor child. I feel like this is my fault in many ways. I should have stayed with her.” She gestured to the waiting flat boat as she leaned against her long walking staff.
D’Molay bowed to Mazu as a sign of thanks and respect. “Don’t blame yourself. You did as I asked. Sometimes, bad things just happen and there is nothing to be done but let it happen and pick up the pieces.” D’Molay realized as he said those words that it had taken him a long time to learn that lesson.
As Mazu pushed the boat away from the dock, D’Molay wondered if Aavi had at least gained some answers about her missing identity from the Oracle. He hoped she had. Maybe something from her past would help her out of her current troubles. They traveled along the shore of Lake Otsumi for a few hours, passing by small temples and monuments to various water gods. D’Molay had gotten used to the sight of these structures scattered all over the realms. Most of them were used only a few times a year for special ceremonies. Some were inhabited by priests who took care of the building and surrounding grounds. Yet in the time he had been in the City of the Gods, D’Molay had seen some of these places fall into disrepair. Some gods had slowly faded away, gone mad, been killed by other deities, or, rumor had it, had surrendered their godhood for a mortal life somewhere on Earth.
Every so often, Mazu would stop at a temple or building and ask those present if they knew anything about the bat-like creature. No one really had any useful information. An ibis-headed priest had seen the creature carrying someone a few weeks ago, but he didn’t know where it went or where it had come from. Others reported seeing a large bat at one time or another, but that was about it. Most people had noticed it around dusk rather than in the middle of the night. As they continued around the lake they passed a small girl sitting on a rock, fishing. D’Molay’s thoughts turned again to Aavi, lost in this huge place with no memory, surrounded by powerful gods. He dreaded what might become of her, silently praying to himself that she might somehow emerge safe and sound. He vowed to himself that if found, she would never leave his side until she had her memory back.
As they traveled along the lake, D’Molay remembered a question he’d wanted to ask Mazu for a long time, but until now the time had never seemed right. “Mazu, over the years I’ve heard many different stories about why the gods abandoned Earth. What really happened?”
She tilted her head and looked at him knowingly. “Did we abandon Earth, or did Earth abandon us? Sadly, my friend, I’m not permitted to discuss it with mortals. It is something only we gods can share. Even if I wanted to tell you, I couldn’t. Silence is part of the promise every god in this world made to allow us entry. You would be quite surprised if you knew just how many stipulations we have to agree to. They fill a book.”
“What happened to gods who wouldn’t make the promise, or ones who break their word?”
“They are stripped of their godhood. Permanently.” Mazu turned away from him to gaze out over the lake. It was obvious she did not wish to discuss the subject any further. They traveled on, neither speaking for the next half an hour or so.
They navigated along an outcropping and entered a lagoon. Mazu broke the silence and pointed to a temple in the distance. “Here we should find Glaucus. He was the protector god of this lake until he resigned. He rarely leaves his temple. Glaucus prefers the company of the lake creatures, so he may have met the bat creature at some point.” She began to guide the small boat towards the stone steps leading up to the god’s temple. There was an unusually large number of fish in this lagoon, breaching the water to leap out of the way as the boat came near.
Beyond the steps, D’Molay could see a columned Greek temple against the water’s edge. It was in a state of disrepair, nature itself slowly reclaiming the marble porticos and ionic columns with ivy, moss and weeds growing wherever they could find a place to take root. Crickets chirped deafeningly. Untold numbers of them had taken up residence in the numerous gaps and cracks in the temple walls.
“I truly appreciate you helping me like this, Mazu,” D’Molay said as he got out of the boat and tied it to an old gnarled tree that grew out of the steps at the water’s edge. “We’ve stopped at many places today. Perhaps here we’ll learn of some news that will help find Aavi.”
“There are still many places we can visit, so do not despair if Glaucus cannot or will not help us.” Mazu felt she should caution her friend against becoming too optimistic about their chances here. “If he knows something that might aid us, Glaucus will want something in exchange. That is his way.”
D’Molay watched as Mazu turned into a pillar of water, flowed into the lake, and then reformed on the shore. It was always disconcerting to see her do this, but over the years D’Molay had gotten used to her shifting from solid to clear liquid form. “I’ll give him whatever he asks, Mazu.”
She leaned on her walking stick and gave him a wry smile. “You had best not tell him that, or he will ask for even more. You need to be delicate in asking him anything. Time has not been kind to Glaucus, and he is often moody. Let me talk to him first.” D’Molay nodded his agreement, and Mazu slowly turned toward the temple and walked up the steps ahead of him.
D’Molay had seen many Greek and Roman buildings in his travels, but there was something different about this one besides its state of disrepair. It was more primitive, as if it had been erected with little thought to its design. The columns were less intricately carved and the marble had been laid almost haphazardly. Turtles inched and crabs scampered along its steps. D’Molay made sure not to step on any as he caught up with Mazu. “Are you sure anyone is still here?” he asked.
Mazu looked up the remaining steps towards the columns and entrance ahead. “Yes. He is here. I feel him nearby.” They walked together up to the dark entrance.
As they entered under the roof supported precariously by decaying columns, a flock of seagulls was startled by the presence of newcomers and flew off into the distance. Mazu and D’Molay were also taken by surprise for an instant, and stood tentatively at the entrance, peering in. D’Molay could see that the square shaped temple was lit only by a smaller square opening in the roof that let in the sunlight. Just beyond the main entrance, another set of marble steps descended into the area the sunlight reached. But despite the room’s access to the sky, it was still very dark and murky in the temple. D’Molay breathed in the stale, earthy smell that only comes when standing water has been left in a pond or fountain for too long. A humid mist, warmed by the sun coming in from the roof, filled the temple and obscured the details of the room. A few more birds flew out of the opening at the top of the temple as they stood there.
Mazu’s voice broke the tension that hung in the air with the mist. “Glaucus? It is Mazu. I ask to speak with you.”
There was silence for a few seconds before a long-unused voice creaked out of the misty darkness. “I know who you are, Mazu. I have no wish to talk to any gods today. Leave me.”
D’Molay spoke next. “I’m no god - I’m a Freeman. I come for your aid in time of need.” D’Molay had kept his agreement with Mazu. She had spoken first, but he would not be dismissed before they’d even started. D’Molay was always like this, determined to succeed, trying to help whenever he could. He had been a crusader even before he had come to the realms of the gods.
The voice from the dark came again, “A free man? There is no such thing as a free man, for no man is truly free. But a man, you may be. I have not seen a man in many a year. They stopped coming to me when I ordered them never to return.” A watery, splashing sound could be heard from the darkness.
Mazu stepped forward into the humid gloom. “Glaucus, stop this, please. We need to ask you if you have seen anything unusual in the sky. Please, a woman’s life hangs in the balance.”
“What care I for some mortal’s life? Let her di
e. It means nothing to me, unless you have something to offer for my help. Otherwise, be gone!”
“All right then. If you have knowledge we can use, I will exchange something for it,” D’Molay dared to offer. “Do you know anything about a bat creature that takes people? It flies over this lake all the time.”
The voice of Glaucus drifted up from the misty darkness, “I know of the creature.”
Mazu and D’Molay exchanged a look as their hearts beat a little faster. “May we approach, Glaucus? Let us discuss this face to face,” Mazu proposed. D’Molay nodded his head in the affirmative. Though the humid air and stagnant water was repugnant, he was quite curious to see what Glaucus looked like, and they might make better progress if they could look him in the eye.
They heard a sigh and more splashing. “Come down if you must. Be prepared to get wet.”
As they neared the bottom of the stairs, they saw that the temple floor was filled with stagnant water to a depth of several feet. Apparently, Glaucus had let the room partially flood and had never bothered to empty it. Perhaps the water came through the roof from a heavy rain, or the lake water had risen enough to overflow the temple entrance and collect down here at the lowest point. Small fish were swimming in the dark waters.
Mazu had no compunction about stepping right into the murky black water as she could change herself into water anyway. D’Molay hesitated for only a second before marching on ahead. His boots got soaked and he felt water sneak in to chill his toes. He would need new boots soon.
“Glaucus, it is good to see you again, my old friend,” said Mazu as she waded past the misty beams of sunlight toward a shadowy figure seated on a throne of some sort.
“We were never friends Mazu, but we were never enemies either,” Glaucus grunted.
D’Molay slogged into the patch of sunlight. As he passed through it, he realized why they hadn’t been able to see Glaucus. This was caused as much by the sunlight as it was from the darkness. Glaucus was hidden by the sunlight’s beam as it passed through the misty air. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he began to see the old god more clearly. He was a large bearded man with the lower body of a fish. His scales were metallic blue and his tail was long and pointed like a webbed, flexible pitchfork. Even the scaled skin on his upper body had a bluish tint. His hair was white and stringy and gills split his neck. Dripping wet, as if he had just gotten out of a bath, Glaucus lounged sideways on a long throne that was darkly stained and nearly overgrown with moss. D’Molay wondered if Glaucus had been the first merman. He had heard stories of merfolk when he lived on earth, though he had never seen one then.
CITY OF THE GODS: FORGOTTEN Page 13