Page 42 of Kingdoms of Shadow and Ash

The elephant dropped onto one knee, and Scorpia scaled her leg, climbing lithely up onto Sanya's back. 'Coming?'

Fyia didn't have to be asked twice, and followed Scorpia with lithe movements of her own. The elephant stood, lurching them forward and back, but Fyia balanced easily, used to riding with no saddle. She heard a laugh, a delighted, child-like sound, then realized it had come from her own lips.

'She's quite something, eh?' said Scorpia, somehow directing the elephant towards a path deeper into the jungle.

'She certainly is,' said Fyia, staring in wonder.

'Just watch out for snakes,' said Scorpia, 'and pretty much anything else that moves; it'll all kill you.'

'How reassuring,' said Fyia, although she couldn't find the will to care, entranced by both the elephant and her surroundings.

They passed trees with incredible, blooming flowers, brightly colored birds making all manner of strange noises, and then a tiger strode across the path in front of them, pausing, staring with eyes of liquid gold.

'Beautiful, isn't she?' said Scorpia, the elephant not seeming to notice the cat.

'She is,' said Fyia. She'd only ever seen tigers in paintings, and they'd failed absolutely to capture this majestic animal's brutal beauty.

Fyia reached out with her Cruaxee bond. The tiger snarled, but Fyia felt intrigue alongside the cat’s wariness, even if there was no synchronicity between them … tigers, alas, were not a part of her Cruaxee. It wasn't surprising. That she had a Cruaxee at all was remarkable. Having two animals was virtually unheard of, even throughout history. Three would have been downright greedy. The tiger moved on, melting into the jungle.

The land tilted upwards as they continued, and they climbed beside a tall waterfall, the water misting the air as it hit the plunge pool at the bottom.

They kept ascending until a stone building suddenly popped out of the trees, and they came to a halt by a pair of stone pillars that marked the entrance.

The jungle had claimed the temple, vines running up the pillars, branches reaching over, casting it in shade, plants poking out from cracks in the steps and walls. The temple had a tranquil beauty that took Fyia's breath away, despite the ruin—or maybe because of it—and the feel of the place was overwhelmingly calm.

'I can see why you like it here,' said Fyia, as she and Scorpia dismounted.

'You ain't seen nothing yet, girl,' said Scorpia, with a wicked smile.

Scorpia took off up the steps, once again leaving Fyia with no choice but to follow. They entered an atrium with a large bathing pool in the center, people sitting in the water, chatting, playing board games, lying back and floating. Dappled light illuminated everything, from the day beds to one side, to the pool, to the walkway that led deeper into the temple.

Unlike the temple where Starfall had lived, nothing about this place was sexual. Men and women both shared the water, some even giving each other massages, but it wasn't charged, it was … plutonic, companionable.

'I thought this was the Temple of the Whore?' said Fyia, quietly.

'It is,' said Scorpia. 'It's full to the brim with recovering sex workers. You thought it would be like the Temple of the Night?'

'The Temple of the … The Temple of the Goddess, you mean?'

'Is that what your people call it these days?' she said with a scoff. 'It's the Temple of the Night Goddess, and always has been, as surely as this place is the Temple of the Whoring God.'

Fyia was going to have words with her aunt. Starfall had failed to divulge the temple she'd called home was one of the original seven. 'You're right, it's not what I expected.'

'Come,' said Scorpia, leading her past the pool, into the temple's depths.

Scorpia led Fyia into the very center of the temple, to where an enormous tree grew from the middle of a circular space. It punched through a perfectly round hole in the roof, its large canopy shading the room below. Vines had crept in, wrapping the pillars that circled the tree, each pillar itself encircled by a small channel of water.

'You have a clock?' said Fyia. She approached the small, almost hidden mechanism set into a pillar. She watched as a ball zigzagged down the tiny runners, then plopped into the water.

'Of course,' said Scorpia, giving Fyia an odd look.

'Only one?'

'We're at the end of the world. One was all we needed.'

Fyia raised an eyebrow, not sure what she meant. She walked the perimeter, running her hand across the pillars, their carvings mostly hidden by vines. 'What is this place?' said Fyia.

'It's a place of healing and protection,' said Scorpia. 'Healing for those who need it, and protection for …'

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