He turned his attention to Leila, still being able to feel her icy cold hand on his chest. She was visibly shivering but there was nothing he could put over her to keep her warm. Except himself.
Carefully, he lay beside her. When she didn’t pull away, he moved closer, letting his body press against hers. She snuggled closer herself, letting her back mould to his chest. He placed his arm over her, creating a pocket of warmth for her to sleep in. They stayed that way for the entire night.
When morning came, with it came the sun. Jerome removed his arm and stood, careful not to wake Leila. He stretched and tried his wings, they were fine. He was looking forward to spending the day at the temple, getting to the bottom of the riddle. But first, Leila would need to eat. When she awoke, she would be hungry and it had been hours since she had a full stomach.
He decided to leave her alone while he tried to find her some food, but only for as long as he needed. He didn’t want her out of his sight for a moment longer than necessary.
There were no shops in the town, all had been long destroyed. Jerome sprinted through the rubble, hoping to spot something edible. He had read that humans could live completely off the land if they knew what to drink and eat. Something about edible berries, plants, roots, and grass. If he could find some, then she would be able to have breakfast. Perhaps even lunch and dinner too. Who knows how long they would be at the temple, she was going to need fuel to keep going.
Jerome slowed his pace when he reached the edge of town. A house stood in the middle of a field, a light on in the second storey. He skirted the fence, trying to see what the residents were living on. Planted in the fields appeared to be vegetables and fruit of some kind. There weren’t many, but it was something. He knelt down and took a few pieces. He didn’t want to take away their food supply, he only took what Leila would need for a day. He could always return.
He hurried back into the town and to the abandoned office building. Leila was still asleep. He washed the fruit and waited for her to awaken.
Just over an hour later, they were standing at the Temple of Ananke, shovels in hand. They had located the tools in a shed from the same property that Jerome had sourced the food. The residents seemed well stocked, nearly unaffected by the war.
“So where do we start?” Leila asked, thinking the shovel was already too heavy in her hands and they hadn’t even begun digging yet.
“At the feet,” Jerome sighed, looking at the long line of statues. “You take the right side while I take the left?”
“Deal.”
They headed off to their respective sides and began the onerous task of digging in the ancient soil. Within minutes, the exertion was warming Leila. She didn’t need to worry about being cold now, it would only get hotter as the day went on and the sun rose to its peak.
The hours ticked by, it was back breaking work. The ground was hard and filled with stones. It had lain undisturbed for centuries, allowing the dirt to pack in tight. Jerome moved with ease, the shovel light in his big hands. Leila, on the other hand, was finding each movement painful. Her hands were covered in blisters, splinters sprinkled amongst them. Add to that, the heat of the sun, and she was almost ready to drop. She took a break, sitting on the edge of the temple. She looked like a miniature by the oversized statues.
“Are you okay?” Jerome asked, noticing her stop for the first time. He questioned whether he should have made her stay in the tiny apartment. Perhaps it was too much for her.
“My hands are killing me,” Leila sighed, taking a long sip from her water bottle. “Have you found anything?”
“Nothing but rocks. You?”
“Same. What about if it’s not here? Whatever we’re looking for, what about if someone has already excavated it? It could be sitting in a museum somewhere.”
“It’s not. It’s here.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“There’s no coincidences, remember?” Jerome took a break and sat in the gap between the statues beside her. “We were meant to come here and find whatever is hidden. We just need to keep looking.”
“You’re very optimistic.”
“It’s not optimism, it’s faith.”
Leila smiled, at least someone had faith these days. She had long lost her faith in everything. It died along with her family. However, there was one thing she did believe in. And that was Jerome. Ever since he had landed in her life, she felt like he belonged there. His belief in solving the riddle was enough to inspire her to continue too. She wouldn’t give up until he did. And she doubted he would ever do that.
“So how far down do we need to go?” Leila asked. “Perhaps I’m digging too shallow.”
Jerome was wondering the same thing. They could go deeper, but how far would they need to go to find the truth the riddle was referring to? It was impossible to tell, it wasn’t like they had a treasure map to follow.
Another thought occurred to him, he had been repeating the riddle over and over again in his head. The truth always lies, liars never cheat, the mouth of Ananke, is hidden at the feet. Something was wrong with their understanding of the riddle, perhaps they had been taking it too literal.
“What about if we’re going about this the wrong way?” He looked at Leila, she just looked confused. “We’ve been looking at the feet of these statues, but what about the first two lines of the riddle? We’ve been ignoring them.”
“Because they don’t make sense.”
“What if they do?”
Leila thought it through, repeating the lines. Truth. Lies. Liars. Cheat. They spoke of truth and lies. She finally understood what Jerome meant. “The riddle is a lie. The mouth of Ananke isn’t hidden at the feet.”
“And what’s the opposite of feet?”
“Heads.”
They both looked upwards at the heads of the statues. The Gods all stared into the distance, frozen in place for more than three thousand years. Standing, they moved excitedly towards the front of the temple. There was nothing above the heads except a single strip of stone leading back to the opening of the structure.
At the entrance was a flattened triangle positioned over an arch. It stood high in the sky, even taller than Jerome. It depicted several humans walking across the scene with symbols surrounding them. They were similar to the ones on the small statue they found at the museum, but they could have resembled any of the symbols from Ancient Greece. There was nothing special about them.
“The truth that we’re looking for has got to be up there somewhere,” Leila commented, wondering what on earth they were actually looking for. The entire thing could be the truth of Ananke for all she knew. They stood there for a few minutes, taking it all in. Finally, Leila wanted to get moving. “Well? What are you waiting for? I certainly can’t fly up there for a better look.”
“Oh, right,” Jerome said sheepishly, he forget he was the only one with wings. He was so used to being in the angel village where wings weren’t special. They would bet each other to see who didn’t have to fly to complete a task rather than think it was a special ability.
He outstretched his wings and let himself float up towards the triangle of stone. He came to rest on the top, sitting on the edge and letting his feet dangle downwards.
Running his fingers over the surface, Jerome could feel almost a hum coming from the stone. It vibrated with its centuries of memories and history. So few people over time had the opportunity to examine it as closely as he was at that very moment. Nobody would be game enough to sit on the stone, let alone touch it so carelessly. It was a privilege, and he knew it.
He moved over the wall, examining it inch by inch. He didn’t know what he was looking for, but knew he would know it when he saw it. The temple of Ananke was erected for a reason, it wasn’t chance that it had stood for so long. It had to serve its purpose before it could crumble into the pages of a history book.
Then he saw it, or felt it with the tips of his fingers to be more precise. Hidden in the very corner of the wall at the to
p right hand side, were a series of symbols. They were similar to all the others carved into the stone, except for their order. It matched the ones on the miniature version perfectly when it was opened.
“I’ve found something,” he called down.
“What is it?”
“Symbols.”
Leila sighed, she had been hoping for something more. There were symbols everywhere, it wasn’t exactly the discovery of a lifetime. “Is that all?”
“Yeah. Stand back, I need you to wait next to the road.”
“Why? What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to break this thing apart.”
“Are you sure that’s wise?” Destruction didn’t seem like a good idea, not when everything else was destroyed already. She looked up at him, just to make sure he was serious. The determined set to his jaw told her he was. She quickly moved to the road, prepared to run further away if needed. She had no idea what kind of mess he was going to make or what kind of ancient dust would be released by the temple when he took it apart.
She watched in silence as Jerome tore the wall apart with his hands. She felt a pang of regret at seeing the ancient temple be damaged in such a way. Future generations would never know how beautifully it stood. Leila tried to remind herself that there may not be future generations unless they tore it apart. It was bitter sweet.
Jerome had to use all his strength to break into the wall. At times, he had to use his feet and legs for leverage to shift a particularly stubborn piece of the temple. It was no wonder how it had managed to stand so grand for so long. The thing was made to last.
He made a large circle of holes around the symbols he had found. When they finally joined up, he pulled the circle from the wall. He let it fall to the ground, listening to it shatter as it hit the stone below. He crouched over to see what it left behind.
The wall had been solid, nearly. Underneath the circle was an open space. Jerome reached in and felt around in the dust he had created. His fingers gripped something and his heart leapt. There was something built into the wall. Something solid and something heavy. He carefully pulled it out.
In his hands was a tablet made out of stone. It was absolutely covered on both sides in writing – Greek writing. He blew off the dust, using his hands to lightly brush away the more stubborn flecks. He could hardly believe what he was looking at.
“I’ve found it,” he yelled, so excited he almost fell off his perch. “It’s here.”
Leila came running over, desperate to see what he held in his hands. “Come down so I can look.”
Carefully, Jerome let his wings extend and glide him down to the ground below. He walked onto the grass, away from the debris he had caused to fall.
He showed Leila the tablet, letting her examine it for herself. When she handed it back, she was still none the wiser. “What does it say?”
“It’s a prophecy.”
“Like a prediction for the future?”
Jerome nodded. “That’s it. You see this symbol? It’s the author’s mark. It was written by Tiresias, he was called the Blind Prophet of Thebes.”
“Well, what does it say then?”
Jerome took a deep breath and translated it:
Eternity is but a mere scale,
Only a slight shift causes a fall,
The time for the Protectors draws near,
When a war is waged to end them all.
One mortal shall have all the power,
If they choose to meet the final call,
A person born to a beater of gold,
Yet an orphan they will be,
The dark night will valiantly fight,
After the miracle they shall see.
Marked by the creator’s touch,
An innocent will set them free.
From Cadmus’s hand a weapon was taken,
A sword forged from precious metal
Buried deep within Hallows Gallows,
Between rocks, leaves, and nettle,
The battle to end all pain and sorrow,
For once and all will finally settle.
From the shadows of the warrior God,
They’ll emerge to fight the war,
Skyward Archers witnessed the birth,
And the world was changed forevermore.
As the end approaches,
Evil will come to their shore.
They both stared at the tablet, barely able to take in all the words. Tiresias, the Blind Prophet, didn’t exactly spell things out for them. Leila asked him to read it again, several times, before she could start to make sense of the writings.
“The time for the protectors draws near,” Leila said. “That’s got to be about guardian angels. They protect humans.”
Jerome nodded, completely agreeing. “It’s about our war with the demons. The war to end us all.”
“But there’s a mortal that can stop it. They can set angels free,” Leila pointed out. Most of the prophecy was about a person, a mortal, that would have the power to end the war. “We need to find that person.”
“Then we’ll find them.”
Jerome started walking, his work done there. He knew there would be nothing else to find. The riddle said they would find the mouth of Ananke and they did. Now, they needed to move on, decipher the prophecy so they could end the war of the Protectors.
Leila followed, a silent understanding of his reasons. She was glad to leave, the wind was starting to pick up and her entire body was screaming with fatigue. She didn’t exactly relish the return to the village, but it wasn’t possible to stay at the temple overnight.
They returned to the town via the field where Leila picked some fruit for her dinner. Just like that morning, they only took what she would eat in the next meal. Wartimes may be everyone for themselves, but she couldn’t do it. No matter what had happened over the last eighteen months, she couldn’t just abandon her humanity all together.
As they walked, their minds turned to their next move. Jerome slowed his pace to match Leila’s smaller steps.
“So do we stay in Greece?” She asked, considering if the prophecy was hidden there, then perhaps the mortal would be found in the same country.
“We can’t stay here, it’s too dangerous. We don’t know enough about our surroundings.”
“But you aren’t familiar with any surroundings. Where do we go?”
Jerome smiled, she certainly was blunt. He couldn’t bear to be offended by her, she was far too cute in the way she didn’t realize she was doing it. “We’ll go back to Aron. You know your way around very well.”
“But we need to find the mortal.”
“And we’ll find them. But we need to plan and think it through. We can’t blindly fly around the globe.”
Leila couldn’t argue. At least in Aron she had her apartment and knew where to get supplies. Once again, Jerome was right. His reasoning was starting to get to her, surely he was too good to be true. She wondered if all angels were like that. Were any of them stupid and carefree? She doubted it.
“When do we leave then?”
By the ache in Jerome’s arms, he didn’t feel like making the journey that night. “Tomorrow. We should sleep tonight and then head off in the morning.”
“Any chance we could go by boat?”
“Sorry, we have to fly.”
“I thought you’d say that.”
They continued to walk in silence, lost in their own thoughts for different reasons. Already Leila was dreading the flight and the horrible feeling it brought to her stomach. Jerome was repeating the prophecy in his head, trying to look at each line in isolation. He was carrying the tablet but it was too heavy to take back to Aron. He would need to find some paper and pencil to write it down before they left. He made a mental note to keep his eyes open for some supplies.
They reached their makeshift hotel and settled in for the night. Jerome made sure to check the building for any other guests that may have crept in during the day. It was empty, just as they left i
t.
Just like the previous night, they slept together on the floor, cuddling for warmth. Jerome didn’t even hesitate that night, even before Leila was asleep he had his arm leaning over her. He didn’t need the heat, but he liked having her so close. There was something comforting about having another being pressed against you. It was like you weren’t alone. And Jerome had felt alone for a very long time.
When morning came, with it came the inevitability of their journey. The human and the angel walked up towards the Temple of Ananke for the very last time. Not to see the ruins, just a little more ruined since their visit, but for a takeoff. Jerome encased Leila in his arms and left the actual takeoff as a surprise again. That way, she didn’t tense up because she didn’t know it was coming.
He ran at the cliff’s edge and leapt at the last minute. His wings bounded through the air, catching the updraft and throwing him skywards. He felt Leila hang on tighter – if that was possible. He tightened his grip on her too, it wasn’t necessary but it would make her feel better.
They flew through the sky for hours upon hours, Jerome gliding to rest his wings where he could. Overall, the weather was quite nice. Once he cleared the clouds, the sun shone in the distance and cast them with its bright orange hue. He thought about telling Leila to take a look at the beautiful scenery, but he doubted she would. Most likely, she would realize how high up they were and freak out. He didn’t need to put added stress onto her.
As they crossed over timelines and the day turned into night and back again, they started to approach Aron. It looked familiar to Jerome now, almost like he was coming home too. The very idea only made him think of his real home and miss it even more. Not the hostel where he was living in the village, but his real home when his family were still alive. That was a home like no other, so warm and inviting. It was safe too, the safest place he had ever lived. Unfortunately, it was only an illusion.
He touched down on the roof of Leila’s apartment building and unwrapped her from his arms. He had to tell her several times they were on solid ground before she would open her eyes.
“Was that so bad?” He asked, seeing the distraught look on her face.
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