I walked as fast as I could toward the central hub, the place where all the glorified golf carts called ‘transit cars’ were parked. And incidentally, the place where Pr. Ming-We told us to meet him. As I neared the hub, I saw Giiru flying in the sky, his phoenix feathers shining in all their glory. He seemed to see me, and went directly inside the hub.

I got inside to see Audrey stroking the fiery bird on the top of the head. It appears he was really humbled when she killed him, and really grateful when she offered to share experience. That, or there were some passives on the ‘Phoenix tamer’ and ‘Phoenix killer’ titles. Or perks? I don’t remember. I don’t really get the difference anyway. Titles are more powerful maybe?

I waved at them, and got closer.

“I didn’t think you would be the one late for a temple run. I even made sure to be there early, in case you had slept here.”

I flinched a little at the jab, even if she eased it with a smile.

“I had some unexpected visitors, and it took me some time to deal with them, then unwrap their gifts.”

Audrey raised an eyebrow at that, and Giiru seemed to look intensely at me.

“I’ll explain on the road, and show you some of it later. Let’s go.”

We climbed into a cart, and went off toward Pr. Ming-We’s parcel. On the way, I explained what happened, only keeping out Hel moment of weakness. After all, she deserve at least this much respect. Giiru then started ranting on how unfair this was.

“Heroes of old times had to fight for years, for decades! Just to get the attention of the divine! Getting privy to divine knowledge was the work of a lifetime! And I’m talking extended lifetime here! Let’s not even speak about divine spells. And you got two of them… In one day, you’ve already accomplished more than some of the strongest heroes in all their life.”

“Yeah I know. When I casted Hel’s one, I almost died, and I gained many titles and perks. And some levels too.”

“Speaking of levels, you shouldn’t let people know about Loki letting you punch him.”

“Why? I mean it’s humiliating for me that I needed help to even be able to deal him one damage, but still…”

The phoenix interrupted me with an exaggerated cry.

“How humiliating! A level 10 human needed help to deal damage to a superior god! How conceited can you be? He probably had to weaken himself greatly so you wouldn’t break your fist on his face, he’s a god! The point is, gods have an agreement. They can’t let mortals level up by those kind of means. It would be quite easy for a god to make anyone a monster of power by letting themselves be stroken. If Loki did it, it’s probably because he knows he can get away with it. After all, he’s a master of stealth, so maybe it went unseen by most. Still, talking about it is a great way to cause trouble for him. And before you say you want to cause trouble for him, remember he’s a god! You don’t want to have him mad at you.”

As much as I wanted to contradict him, his words made too much sense for that. Even if I would gladly see him in trouble, that manipulative trickster.

I took the left way at the next crossroad, and we got a good view of the temple. It bear a close resemblance to the mausoleum, with its low cylindric shape, dome roof, giant doors… On a smaller scale of course. I could see the doors had been broken by something in the past. Workers were still hauling the earth out of the building, but the light of projectors was shining inside. Outside the building, a small tent village was living his life. People going back and forth with pictures, two guys discussing over a photography, that girl reconstituting a broken pot. All kind of things we can’t do, because the inside of our only building is now totally empty, except for the bloody inscriptions. At least, the outside seems to have some kind of decoration, but I fear a lot of those statues were once real living creatures.

I parked in front of the main tent, and we got inside. A massive man with oriental features and a long grey braided ponytail was standing in front of a table, examining what looked like a broken plate, maybe porcelain. He turned around when he heard his assistant cough lightly, and came toward us with a wide smile. I already saw him twice, but I couldn’t help but be awed by his stature, once again. He stood at around 190 cm tall, and sported a large frame that should enable him to reach the 120 kg easily. I remember he often says he did sumo when he was younger.

“Pr. Ming-We, thank you again for letting us have a look here. This could really help us in our...”

“Please, please, please. You’re a rising star, of course I would help you. Maybe we’ll have more student in the next years, if people start idolizing you… Anyway, call me Hei, and look at that plate. What do you think of it?”

He interrupted me, and forced the broken plate in my hands. I could see a small tingle in his eyes, the same all archeologists have when they make a good discovery. I looked intensely at the plate in my hands. The weight and shine were typical of hard porcelain. The form in itself was really simple, a straight circle, without embellishment. There seemed to be a picture in the center, of a mountain. A red mountain, with something multicolored on top of it. Wait a second, I’ve already seen that mountain somewhere. Oh…

“I think it’s hard porcelain, but the quality seems too high for something this old. And if I’m not mistaken, this picture is of the Uluru, right?”

He practically squealed with glee, and started talking at a fast pace.

“I know, it’s impossible! This quality in porcelain should only exist after the 13th century at best, and there is no record, not even a tale or anything about a contact between aborigines and chinese people! And this is no mere reproduction from memory, or from description. I checked, any difference with the actual one can be explained by erosion. So this is based of a drawing, or something similar! This plate alone can turn history on its head! And I have a whole cabinet of them, even if this one is one of the most readable.”

“And what do you think of the multicolored ribbon on top of the mountain?”

“I think it’s a depiction of the rainbow serpent, a central figure in oceania mythology. He’s supposed to be the one who created the world, and its guardian, if I remember well.”

He then proceeded to pack the plate in a protective layer, before putting it down in a small wooden box.

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re on time. Let us proceed. Follow me.”

We went out of the tent, and right toward the temple. As we entered, I was able to get a better grasp of its architecture. The temple was made with the central dome as its center, and several smaller adjacent domes acting as altars, and seemingly randomly placed. The spots were revealing complex mosaics on the walls and ceiling, depicting mythological scenes, thought I would be hard pressed to recognize one.We walked toward the center, while the Pr. Ming-We explained.

“We are still trying to understand most of those depictions, but some sort of timeline seemed to appear. Apparently, the side domes were not built at the same time as the main one. I think they made a new one each time they wanted to celebrate an important act of their god. The new way language works helped us a lot, since we’re able to read their inscriptions. They had only one god, which isn’t named anywhere I’ve seen. On the walls, you have their history as a civilisation, on the ceiling their creation myth, and on each side altar an important evenement. The reason I was happy to have you here, is to confirm something. This way please.”

The professor walked toward the last altar, after which the mosaics were interrupted. Inside was the statue of a man who could have made Heracles cry in shame, as he was literally covered in muscles, to the point it was almost sickening. There was something primitive and brutal in his furrowed brows, his half grin, in the way his stance made every muscle bulge like they were trying to escape throught his skin. Once again, I was impressed by the realism of the sculpt. I wonder if every artist is going to become that good.

I read the inscription at the bottom of the masterpiece : ‘Attu Makordax, slayer of monsters, carrier of His will’. The name struck a cord.

“Giiru, is he the one that killed you?”

The phoenix had toroughtly ignored the scult to focus on some part of the mosaics around it.

“Yes, yes, but more importantly, look, I’m here!”

He was pointing his foot toward a 1 square meter picture, which seemed to be a rather big one based on some of the others around. On it, we could see a small Attu Makordax with two swords and a light armor, facing away from us, toward a cliff. And on top of that cliff, a gigantic flaming bird, drowning everything in light and fire. The artist even took the trouble of depicting heat waves as small distorsions on the clouds in the background. The inscription read : ‘The battle of the Hero against the False God of Flames lasted for forty days and forty nights, before the Hero slayed the impostor, and trapped him inside a depiction of itself.’.

Audrey was looking too. She seemed almost fascinated by it.

“You’re really going to be that big?”

Giiru took her fascination as an opportunity to flaunt a little, and raised in head in pride.

“Hmph, as if, I was even bigger than what is shown here! I just used to shrink down, in order to interact with mortals. They always complain, ‘I can’t see your head’, ‘You crushed my barn’, ‘Our lake is dry since you took a bath in it’...”

I tuned him out as he proceeded to stroke his ego a little. A lot. Anyway, I turned around to notice the professor was taking notes. He lifted his head, and when he saw I was looking his way, he nodded.

“Thank you, I wanted to be sure it was it. To be frank, this altar was somewhat perplexing to us. Their god always seemed to promote peace, exploration and assimilation. This Attu Makordax fellow, is the first time he glorified a hunter. The only other hero known for killing in this temple is a general that defended this city against some deep sea creatures. But I suppose even gods can change their mind… Maybe it had something to do with the meeting of the gods you found. There’s some mentions of the preparations in the last mosaics, before everything stops.”

As he went away, examining an older mosaic, I looked at the statue. Now that I knew who he was, he seemed almost, predatory… It’s quite a coincidence. First this god change his stance about killing, appointing a murderous brute as Hero, just before he hosts the meeting of the gods, then all the gods get trapped. I would love to ask him what was going on, but I suppose he would have shown himself. Maybe if I call him out?

After a very embarassing minute of trying to call a god whose name I didn’t know, without success, I changed my approach. I’ll try to find another god that knew him. Or maybe memoirs from someone of Atlantis? I think someone found a library…

I shook awake Audrey that was dozing off as Giiru was still peroring about his own magnificience, and we went out after I thanked the professor. I was thinking of where to go, before I remembered I had a majordome at home that was waiting for me. So we went off to get him, before we would grab something to eat.