The Bone Scroll: An Elemental Legacy Novel

by Hunter, Elizabeth

  “Who was a Zagwe emperor, right?” Ben asked. “But you two were sure the scroll was in the possession of the Aksumite dynasty.”

  “Ah,” Giovanni said. “But in some accounts, the first Zagwe emperor was chosen by Yodit—”

  “You mean by Saba?” Tenzin asked.

  Giovanni nodded. “And that emperor was eager to reestablish the Solomonic dynasty that stretched back to the Queen of Sheba, so he married a noblewoman from an Aksumite royal family, Terde’a-Gabez. Most accounts say she was the daughter of the last Aksumite king and that she was instrumental in the establishment and acceptance of the new dynasty.”

  “So the Zagwe emperors became the heirs of the Aksumites,” Beatrice said. “It’s not impossible that some of their treasure went with them.”

  Ben was nodding. “Okay, so the Zagwe emperors might have had some Aksumite treasure, but that doesn’t mean they had the scroll.”

  “Except that Hirut asked me to help with this newly discovered manuscript,” Giovanni said. “And there’s no real reason for me to do that. I am not an expert in Ge’ez scriptures. I didn’t understand why she would even ask me until the priest I’m working with made a small note about a passage in this new copy of the Gadla Lalibela that he hadn’t seen in other versions.”

  “Which was?”

  “Mention of a scroll,” Beatrice said. “This new manuscript mentions that Lalibela’s royal scribes had recently finished translation of a strange scroll of wisdom that had been passed to Lalibela by his mother. The scribe notes that the scroll was very old, made of ivory, and came from Persia.”

  “Ivory?”

  “But it was written in an unknown language,” Giovanni said. “According to this passage, an angel came and whispered the translation to the scribes in their sleep. When they woke, they could understand the language, and so they transcribed the scroll into Ge’ez on the back.”

  “That’s it,” Tenzin said. “That must be the bone scroll. What year was this written?”

  “It would have been in the early thirteenth century,” Giovanni said. “I’m not certain of the date.”

  “So the scroll was in the possession of King Lalibela,” Ben said. “And you think it’s still here?”

  Giovanni seemed to waver in his certainty, “If you wanted to hide something, there aren’t many places better than this city. There are secret tunnels that no living person has ever been in. There are ancient chambers dug into bedrock and hidden passageways. This city is full of secrets, and all of them are guarded by priests, monks, and nuns who cannot be bribed.”

  The optimism Ben had started to feel died a quick death. “Is that it? Okay, great, so it’s here, but it’s probably in a tunnel somewhere that no one even knows exists?”

  Giovanni and Beatrice exchanged a look.

  “Listen, we’re just researchers,” Beatrice said. “You two are the thieves.”

  Tenzin cleared her throat. “Excuse me—we are not thieves, we are retrieval specialists.”

  “Right.” Beatrice nodded. “That’s totally different.”

  “Obviously it is.” Tenzin was staring at the wall. “None of the priests can be bribed?”

  “No.” Doug piped up from the corner. “I really don’t think you should try bribery; that would not go over well. This is the second most holy city in the oldest Christian country in the world.”

  “Unless you ask the Armenians,” Giovanni said quietly.

  “I’m not touching that debate.” Doug looked at Tenzin. “Please don’t try to bribe priests.”

  “What about—?”

  “Or influence them with amnis,” he added. “There’s no guarantee that any of them would know anyway. A lot of these passages may be lost to time. They’re rumors, if anything.”

  “So…” Ben pursed his lips. “Daniel?”

  Giovanni nodded. “Daniel seems to have a very real affinity for the stone in this place. I think he’s your best option. And” —Giovanni glanced at Tenzin— “he was raised by a priest. He understands reverence.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Are you trying to say I do not?”

  Before Giovanni could speak and dig a brand-new hole, Ben decided to pipe up. “What about a tour?” he asked. “Maybe we should start there. Just a general tour to get a lay of the land.”

  Beatrice and Giovanni both looked at Doug. “A night tour?”

  “Is it possible?” Tenzin asked.

  “It might be.” Doug put the magazine away. “I think I know a guy.”

  They waited two nights so Daniel would be able to join them. Doug had arranged for a tour from a local guide whose brother was a priest and had good relationships with the church. He met them at the top of a hill overlooking the largest complex of churches.

  “I have been given permission to allow you inside,” their guide, Mula, said. “But you must understand that you may only go in the public areas of worship. I respectfully request you do not touch the altar while the priest is not there, nor may you ever cross into the holy of holies within the church.”

  “Of course.” Ben took Mula’s advice seriously. “Thank you for this. My friend’s condition makes day trips impossible.” He put a hand on Tenzin’s shoulder. “But we’re all very excited.”

  Tenzin looked up. “Yes. Very excited.”

  Her head was covered in a white scarf typical of Ethiopian Orthodox women. When Mula insisted that Tenzin’s head would need to be covered to enter the churches, Ben thought she might protest, but when Mula pulled his own white wrap over his head, Ben saw her shoulders relax.

  Their guide provided both Ben and Daniel with thick white kuti that mimicked his. They both covered their heads and cut the chill in the night air.

  “I am glad we are able to accommodate you in this,” Mula said. “Douglas is a friend, so I am accustomed to some… unusual requests.”

  Meaning they weren’t the first vampires to visit. Interesting.

  As they walked from the hilltop overlooking Saint George Church, the massive monolith carved directly into bedrock, Ben was suddenly glad that flying was an option. The edge of the rock dropped into black nothingness even as the carved top of Saint George appeared in the moonlight.

  “My God.” Daniel crossed himself. “The centuries of love and reverence here…”

  “Yes, this is a very holy place.” Mula handed both of them long yellow rope candles that smelled of smoke and beeswax. “Very sacred. Take these. There is a ramp just over here that will lead us to the foot of the church. There you must take off your shoes. It is holy ground here.”

  Ben didn’t consider himself particularly observant, but even he could feel the vibrant energy surrounding the churches. They walked down worn steps into an open trench that sloped down and cut around toward the front of the church. There was a tunnel ahead—one branch led straight and another cut off to the left, blocked by a wooden door.

  “There are many tunnels in Lalibela,” Mula said. “In fact, all the churches are connected by tunnels or passages.”

  “And how many churches in all?”

  “There are eleven rock-hewn churches in the town,” Mula said. “King Lalibela built them to create a New Jerusalem in Ethiopia.” He stepped into the tunnel, but his hushed voice was easily audible to their vampire ears. “The churches are separated into three groups. The first group is the six churches that represent the earthly Jerusalem; the second group represents the heavenly Jerusalem.”

  As they exited the tunnel, Ben looked up and up, the red facade of Saint George Church stretching into the night sky, framed by a halo of stars. “And this church?”

  “Bêta Giorgis,” Mula said, removing his shoes before he climbed the steep steps of the church. “The house of Saint George. This is considered the finest example of Lalibela’s architecture, a church of three stories, carved from a single rock.”

  It was magnificent. Ben walked around the church, taking in the steep angles and simple decoration around the windows. Daniel walked behind him, h
is shoes removed and his amnis alive even to Ben’s senses.

  “It’s extraordinary,” Daniel said. “But I don’t sense any tunnels or chambers below us.”

  “Keep walking,” Ben said, running his hands along the walls. “I can sense empty space in here though.”

  “Oh yes.” Daniel’s hands followed Ben’s. “These cliff walls are riddled with chambers and passages.”

  “Some of them are chapels,” Ben said quietly. “I was reading about them.”

  “Some are monks’ rooms as well.”

  “And there are mummies.”

  Daniel’s eyes went wide. “Mummies?”

  “Not like Egyptian ones,” Ben said. “But there are tombs, and the air here naturally mummifies the corpses.”

  Daniel looked distinctly uncomfortable. “We’ll try to avoid those chambers, don’t you think?”

  “Probably a good idea,” Ben said. Mummies didn’t freak him out; he’d seen too many of them from around the world. Still, if they could avoid human tombs, all the better.

  “We’d better get back to Tenzin and Mula,” Ben said. “God knows what questions she’s tormenting him with.”

  But when they rounded the corner around Saint George Church, Mula was staring into the distance and Tenzin was nowhere to be found.

  Until Ben looked up. “Tenzin!”

  She was floating two-thirds of the way up the church, peeking in the windows. “Ben, you have to see this.”

  Taking a short sweep of the area, he launched himself into the air. “What did you do to Mula? You are not supposed to use amnis—”

  “On priests!” She held up a finger. “You said no amnis on priests. He’s a tour guide. Completely different.”

  Leave it to Tenzin to find a loophole when it came to amnis. He looked into the dark window, holding up the yellow rope candle. “What are we looking at?”

  “Look.” Her smile was bright. “There are doves nesting here. Isn’t that beautiful?”

  The doves fluttered and cooed in the dim candlelight, clearly unhappy about having their rest disturbed, but Tenzin’s expression reminded him of Sadia’s the other day when she’d seen a butterfly. Delight and wonder, all because she saw a bird’s nest.

  Who are you, woman?

  “I love you.” He barely resisted the urge to pinch her cheeks. “We probably shouldn’t wake them up though.”

  “I know.” She peered into the window for a moment longer. “I don’t think the bone scroll is here. This was the last church built. I think Lalibela, if he had the scroll, would have secured it someplace earlier.”

  “That fits with what Daniel said.” He nudged her down from flying. “He says there are no passages beneath the church, just in the walls around it.”

  “What are we going to do if the scroll is in the holy of holies of one of these churches?”

  “I don’t think it would be,” Ben said. “The priests go in and out of there regularly to get the tabot for ceremonies.”

  The tabot was a replica of the Ark of the Covenant, and every Ethiopian church used it for ceremonies throughout the year. It would be covered in elaborate, rich tapestries and paraded around the church while worshipers sang and chanted.

  “That makes sense. It would be someplace more isolated. Like a treasury.” She briefly touched Mula’s hand, and the man woke up. “Thank you for showing us the church.”

  Mula looked confused for a second. “It is extraordinary, is it not?”

  “Very.”

  “Mula?” Ben asked. “Was Lalibela known for his riches?”

  “Oh no.” Mula shook his head. “He was a priest as well as a king, and all reports from the time say he lived a very simple and humble life.” He gestured up to the church. “Lalibela did not leave us castles or palaces as you see in Gondar. He left us churches.”

  Ben nodded. Great.

  So no obvious treasuries.

  “Fascinating.” Tenzin’s lips were pursed together. “What about books? Did he have a big library?”

  “The manuscripts of the church are gathered in a library now,” Mula said. “But traditionally, the books of scripture were also kept in the church.” He motioned them back toward the old wooden door. “Come, there is much more to see.”

  Ben saw an old woman wearing the garments of an Orthodox nun sitting in a corner near the wall, staring at Tenzin with eyes the size of saucers. Her lips were pressed shut, but she slowly made the sign of the cross, never taking her eyes off them.

  He decided not to alert Tenzin that she’d been watched. With any luck, the woman would think it was a vision.

  “So Mula…” Daniel was following the human back into the darkness. “Tell us more about these tunnels.”

  31

  “This is what I have so far.” Daniel spread a large, poster-size piece of paper out on the table the following night. “These are the publicly marked tunnels.” He pointed to passages indicated with solid lines. “These trenches connect the churches to each other in the first group. There are passages and some tunnels that go off the main trenches.” He pointed to various tunnels and chambers marked in dotted lines. “But from what I can tell, they’re pretty well traveled. Lots of human markers in all these places.”

  “What about Saint George?” Tenzin asked. “The rock around that felt like a honeycomb.”

  Daniel was impressed. “It was. The rock is thick, so I’m surprised you felt it so clearly, but there are a massive number of chambers around there.” His finger moved to a different part of the map where only one church was marked. “Now, some of those are hidden or seem abandoned, but like you said, this was the last church built in the complex.”

  “We think Lalibela would have secured the scroll before then,” Ben said. “I checked with Giovanni and Beatrice. They agree with me.”

  “That brings us to the second group of churches.” Daniel re-centered the map on an area south of the river that cut through the town. “There are five churches in this group, and they’re more spread out.” Daniel raised a finger. “They also exhibit a distinctly more Aksumite architecture style than the rest of the churches.”

  “When were they built?” Tenzin asked.

  “There’s some argument about that, but they’re earlier than Saint George. And this area?” Daniel spread out his hand. “This second grouping is a warren underground.”

  Ben looked up. “What do you mean?”

  “There are tunnels on top of caverns on top of passages in this section,” Daniel said. “Some of them are marked. More of them are not. There is also a monastery here, as well as a school where they teach a particular type of music that the priests sing. There’s a bakery where they make the holy bread for the churches. There are also a number of architectural digs.” Daniel straightened and put his hands on his hips. “I think if Lalibela hid a treasury chamber somewhere in this town, it’s going to be in this section.”

  Ben nodded. “Okay. So this is where we focus.”

  “The problem is, it’s a maze. When we went with Mula, we only saw half of these churches. I need to go back.”

  “So we go back,” Tenzin said. “You’re the one who said that they’re farther away from the main part of town. It sounds like it’ll be easier to explore without human attention.”

  “But a lot of the tunnels will also be closed,” Daniel said. “We don’t have the keys like Mula does.”

  Tenzin and Ben exchanged a look. “Dan,” Ben said, “you do realize who you’re exploring with?”

  Daniel nodded. “Right. Thieves. So the locks on the churches and tunnels—”

  “Not really a problem for us.” Tenzin patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’re not going to steal any holy relics.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I made a promise.” Tenzin rolled her eyes. “The bone scroll only.”

  Daniel still looked unsure.

  “What is it?” Ben asked.

  “What if we’re not meant to disturb it?” Daniel asked. “If you�
��re right, it’s been hidden here for centuries. No one has found it. It’s become more rumor than anything else in our world. Why not just leave it alone?”

  “Because Arosh is hunting it,” Ben said. “And while I trust that King Lalibela put this scroll someplace safe, I don’t think anything is safe as long as the Fire King is after it.”

  Tenzin ran her fingers along the map. “The people in this town don’t know anything about the bone scroll, and they shouldn’t have to. It’s a foreign artifact, and one that would bring nothing but violence and evil to this place. Arosh would flatten this town with no remorse to gain power over all four elements. We have to get it out before he loses patience with the careful approach.”

  “The last thing we want,” Ben said, “is for Arosh to have an excuse to unleash his anger when humans are nearby.”

  The following night, they went deeper into the second group of churches, walking through a long, pitch-black tunnel connecting the churches of Bêta Amanuel and Bêta Merkorios. When they exited, it was near the partially crumbled church of Merkorios, whose irregular facade marked it as different from the other Lalibela churches, even the more unique ones in the second group.

  Daniel said, “I read that they found shackles below this church in the sixties, during an archaeological expedition.”

  “Shackles?” Tenzin said. “Doesn’t sound much like a church to me.”

  “There is speculation that it was an assembly hall at one point,” he continued. “Or some kind of court.”

  “That would fit with shackles.” Ben was staring at the church that seemed dug into the hill beneath the large shadow of the protective cover sheltering Bêta Amanuel. Daniel was right—there was something different about this place. “We need to get inside,” he said. “I want to explore.”

  It was simple to break the lock securing the door to the churches, but Daniel pestered Tenzin and Ben until they had their heads covered and their shoes off.

  “We’re breaking into the church,” the earth vampire said. “You can at least respect the traditions.” He’d bought more of the rope candles that Mula had given them the first night, and he lit all three of them upon entering.