Ancient Hunter
Chapter 37

I felt frustrated two whole days and still nothing made any sense. All we had were more mysteries and frankly I was getting sick of it. The results on the goo had been inconclusive. Then there was the suicidal attack by the Orsini on the Axon. Of all the ships in orbit it had been held back. Yet that was the ship that took most of the damage. So much that it would spend six months in space dock for repairs. To top it all, the shuttle that contained the purple crystal from the passage has been totally destroyed the crystal lost to space. It was unlikely to be found ever again. Then as to the Orsini ships none had survived the battle but the weirdest thing was the lack of debris. Just like the Orsini shuttle the Elafi had destroyed from orbit. Captain Kyrikia was adamant she had hit it with a missile. I was certain she had, I’d seen the crater the missile had left. Strewn about the site was the goo filled corpses. A team from Demeros City and one from the Confed ships were combing the area looking for clues. On another frustrating note a team of hazmat suited experts had gone over the town looking for those purple crystals and finding none. Joyce seemed to have taken that as a personal insult and had sent the team out again. I had a bad feeling it was all linked. Why did the Orsini attack this place, why not any number of populated towns? Like my first thought nothing was making any sense there had to be a common denominator. One of only upsides was that the bones of the fallen Landottir had been collected and buried with Sergeant Hollen presiding over the funeral oratory.

Stepping out of the Admin Building I glanced around at the changes. The cleanup teams Joyce had hired had done a great job of clearing the overgrown grass and bones. Underneath the debris was a floor of hexagonal stone tiles all of different colours and types of stone. It must have looked beautiful when it was new. A number of chalets (still couldn’t get the right words to describe the Valkyrie style of homes) had been cleared to their foundations and tents had spouted up in their place. Contents of the ruined chalets had been transported to a spoil site and several archaeologists were shifting through the heap. Their task to find artefacts that could be sent back to Alfheimir. Again organised by Sergeant Hollen, she was becoming indispensable with her help. I headed away from the plaza looking for a place to clear my head. There were too many distractions here. I wasn’t looking for anywhere in particular so imagine my surprise when I found myself by the dais. Since I had come all this way I might as well go on.

Reaching out I activated the panel and fell. Blinking in the total darkness I turned on the light function on my comms bracelet. It gave me light but not a much a flashlight would. Joyce had made no progress with her samples. She was certain the bones should have fossilised yet they turned to powder when touched. I was uncertain why but it had Joyce puzzled. I continued on a beginning of a plan forming in my head. I hated to say it wasn’t a good plan but I needed answers about this place. Answers only the Keepers could provide. I passed the barricade and the breach finally halting just on the inside of the waterfall. The sunlight was shining though it illuminating the passage entrance in a shimmer rainbow colours. I looked out at the sight and took a deep breath. Summoning my courage I called out.

“Moon Shadow!”

She answered instantly. “Mother?” her voice echoed in my mind.

“I need to speak to you in person.”

“Yes Mother,” she said appearing at my side.

I stepped back in shock. Saros was a heck of a long way from Demeros. I expected a First One to achieve that but not a Keeper. Then I shouldn’t have been that surprised. Mouse had found and talked to me in hyperspace. And there was how they transferred a part of me into Juliana’s body, a body they had created for me. And lastly there was the incident when they moved three Orsini ships to somewhere out of the way. Then I remember how Digger appeared twice. Once after the Guardians had implanted a device in me and then was I had been captured she’d heal me. So why was I questioning this now. All it showed was that I had too many things on my plate.

“How, why?” I sputtered when I should have accepted it for what it was.

“Mother?” asked concerned.

“How do you do that. Get here so fast?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

I wasn’t sure if she meant ‘can’t’ or ‘won’t’. “Ok I’m sorry I didn’t men to pry.” I made a gesture towards the passage. “I found a lot of Janari remains.”

“We know you did tell us.” Moon Shadow replied her voice neutral.

“I’ve been told the bones should have fossilised but these turn to dust when touched?”

“Sorry Mother. I can’t answer that one it isn’t my area of expertise.”

I jumped backward almost falling on my butt as Running Deer made a sudden appearance. “Running Deer?” I squawked,

“Just a moment,” Running Deer replied. She hurried into the passage emerging minutes later her face red with anger.

“You ok Running Deer?” I asked anxiously.

“Sorry Mother,” she apologised. “I got angry. I shouldn’t have.”

“Running Deer?” Moon Shadow said.

Running Deer fixed her with a glare.

“Running Deer!” I pulled her up short.

“It’s ok to be angry they were your people but please don’t take it out on Moon Shadow.”

“They stopped being our people when we stole your essence to make us.”

Moon Shadow walked away to the edge of the waterfall and made a chirping sound with her voice. That strange language I could never be able to produce with my voice.

I hurried over to her worried. She was staring at the pool.

“All this time and it’s still here,” she said to me as I reached her.

“What is?” I asked and yes it was a dumb question.

“The Joining Pool,” Running Deer answered coming up to stand beside.

It was what the data rod had translated. “Joining Pool?”

“Where a couple pledged themselves and were mated for the rest of their lives.” Running Deer sounded bitter at that.

“Running Deer?” I asked her anxiously.

“My mate gave his life so I could live.”

“Sorry,” I apologised not sure why.

“You weren’t responsible,” Running Deer said.

“If it not too much trouble can you tell me about this place?”

“I can do that!” Moon Shadow volunteered.

“Are you sure about that?” I was concerned by Running Deer’s silence she was staring at the pool.

“We might have been changed because of you but we still remember the past.”

“Will you be ok with that?” I directed my question to Running Deer.

She glanced at Moon Shadow and nodded.

“These are the waters of life.” Moon Shadow indicated the pool. “The couple would enter from the Stepping Stone.”

“Stepping Stone?”

“There is one between the surface and the fake computer on the world you know as Saros.”

I thought of the dais and put two and two together. “That’s a Stepping Stone?”

“Yes, well you take the Stepping Stone into the darkness.”

“So the dark in the passage in deliberate?” I asked.

“It’s supposed to be symbolic. Emerging from the darkness and into the light. If you time it right, a rainbow illuminates your entrance. All really romantic.” Moon Shadow continued. “The couple stand in the waters of life and pledge themselves to each other. Then they exit through the Gateway.” She indicated the door standing on its own not attached to anything.

I filed her words for later Joyce would want to know.

“I’ve never seen it myself.”

I saw her glance at Running Deer. “She was joined to her mate here.” Moon Shadow’s voice faltered.

“There is a city that the Gateway links to it’s in ruins.”

“That’s…” Moon Shadow said the last bit in her language.

“Sorry I didn’t understand that?” I said to her.

“It’s not easy to say in your words. It means the place where they serve and give rest. The place of a peaceful sleep and a joyful awakening.”

Or hotel if I got I right. “Well it’s certainly a mouthful.”

“Stepping Stones and Gateways are always linked to cities,” Moons Shadow stated.

I blinked hard my mind trying hard to process what she had just said. “Wait a minute you said there was a city here?”

“Not here,” Moon Shadow replied. “The one it connects to.”

I was stunned the Landottir had built over the top of a Janari city. Could that be the link? I struggled to reconcile my arguments. “The one on Saros links to the cavern and is surrounded by ruins?” It explained the Gateway beneath the apartment block. Parts of the ruins showed above ground. I had to ask. “Are they Janari?”

“No we lived amongst other races.”

“What other races?”

“The Azarac and the Builders.”

“The what?”

“The Azarac and the Builders two races that originated on what you call Saros.”

I would have thought Joyce or Marcella would have told me about them? “So how come no one knows about them?” I asked.

“You do now,” Running Deer replied the bitterness still in her voice.

“Were they killed in the war?” I was referring to the war that wiped out the Janari.

“A plague destroyed the Azarac. We lived with them while we tried to find a cure. We failed they died out before we were able to do anything. We tried to get the First Ones to help. But all they said it was the way of things and we should have not interfered we only made the situation worse.”

Moon Shadow nodded in agreement. “We inadvertently helped spread it.”

There was nothing I could say to that but I pressed on. “And the Builders?”

“Just disappeared even the First Ones didn’t know where they had gone. Then the First Ones didn’t take that much notice of these things anyway. Which we why we were all but extinct before they noticed.” Anger coloured Running Deer’s words.

“Did the Builders create the Stepping Stones and the Gateways?”

“Oh those were here long before us. We just took advantage of them.”

“I know no one else can use them,” I knew Xenai tried and failed. Had I known that lock would keep out others Jervic would not have been hurt. Hindsight was great but it never amounted to anything the past could not be changed.

“The First Ones made it so as a reward for serving them. They knew how to use them but not who created them. I was told the Gateways were here when the First ones were young and that there were a lot more of them,” Moon Shadow said.

I took in her comments that would have to be a discussion for another day. I turned to see Running Deer staring morosely at the pool. “I’m sorry I brought you here I didn’t know it would cause you pain?”

“My heart aches but it is a good ache it reminds me of happier times.”

I knew she was lying and I knew she knew I knew.

“If you don’t need us any further Mother, we want to go home we need to tell the others that this place survived.”

I waved my hand at the pool. “Thank you for your time you’ve given me a lot to think about.”

The two Keepers vanished. I took one last look at the pool and headed back to the dais. I activated the panel. There was a flash of light and the sensation of falling.

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