Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 161535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 161535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)
“The tides here must be crazy,” I comment to a firefly that flickers past. It floats nearby in the air, lighting up and going dark before flicking to life again. It seems to be hovering, and I hold a finger up to try and offer it a perch, since it wants to hang out.
That’s when I see it—the faint outline of what looks like some sort of building off in the distance. Multiple fat spires blot out the night sky, like fingers reaching toward the moon. This must be the place. With a sigh of relief, I pause in my walking to rest for a moment. Slogging through mud takes a lot out of a gal. But I’m close now. This has to be the location that I’m meant to be at. Getting stuck in a swamp is just…a speedbump. This temple must be where they’re going to keep the god of disease.
Ugh. Just thinking about someone ruling over that, wanting to push diseases out onto an unsuspecting people, makes me want to stop them. That’s what I’m here to do, right? To make sure the Apathy guy stays in charge so no one more aggressive takes control of the situation. I need the one that has trouble getting out of bed. That’s what I traded my life for.
I think of my brother, and how I’ll never get to explain any of this to him. A vague sense of despair moves over me, but I push it away. I smile or I break, and I’m not going to break. Not today. Lachesis told me because I keep on going, no matter what, and that’s my plan.
Even in a big nasty swamp.
“I love your swamp,” I bellow out at the mosquitoes even as I wipe more mud onto my arms. “Bring it on!”
It takes a while to get to the temple as it rises in the moonlight. It’s not as close as I thought it was, and as it gets bigger and bigger as I continue to struggle through the swamp, I ponder at how difficult it must have been to build it here. There’s very little solid ground that’s not covered in three feet of muck, and a big stone temple the size of a small city seems like a very ambitious project. It reminds me a lot of the photos of Angkor Wat, the massive ruin in the jungles of Cambodia. I’d done a research paper on it for one of my college classes before I had to drop it to take care of David.
“Well, I did always want to travel,” I joke at my humid surroundings.
As I approach the temple, there are more dead trees to navigate, and crumbled stones and rocks. The swamp becomes more of an obstacle course, and the foliage grows thicker together. Broken stone streets start to show up and disappear into the murk, covered with vines, and I realize that this temple might be older than I’d anticipated. Maybe no one lives here, and the reason why it was built in a swamp is because the swamp came after the temple?
Which worries me, because I’m getting hungry and tired. I’m also pretty sure that I’ve been bitten by bugs on every inch of skin, both exposed and not. My shoes aren’t made for slogging through mud and feel like bloated boats. My fingers are prunes. The smile I’ve kept pinned to my face is fading fast.
But then I feel it. Underneath my feet, there’s a stone step.
Immediately, my mood lifts. I climb onto the stone platform that surrounds the massive temple, my clothing dripping and smelling of swamp, my shoes squishing with every step. I stare around me in wonder at the massive temple complex, at one domed building after another that I wander past. There are vines and moss on everything, choking every bit of rock and wearing away any paint that might have been on the surface. Everything seems deserted.
I creep along as quietly as possible, because even the bugs are quiet now. Maybe I’ll find a nice place to sleep and tackle exploring again in the morning.
You’re doing this for David, I remind myself. There’s a point to all of this. You’re not just wandering in a swamp.
Soft flute music and a drum beat drifts through the air. Okay, that’s a good sign that someone’s here. I turn in that direction, following it across the crumbling temple complex. As hazy sunlight starts to break through the early morning twilight, I catch glimpses of flower petals, strewn on the weathered brick. They’re practically leaving a trail for me.
I follow it, and it leads into the largest of the strange, tall cone buildings. I step through the small doorway, and I’m assailed by the scent of incense, flowers, and smoke. Braziers are set along the edges of the interior room, which is as enormous as a ballroom. Orange light and heavy shadows illuminate everything. There’s a large altar set at the back of the room across from the entrance, and there are people sitting in rows on the floors, all facing the altar. Bowls of offerings are set in front of each of them.