Page 63 of The Gilded Ones

“Desperate people,” Adwapa replies quietly. “People who don’t want their families devoured, their children slaughtered. People who want their children to be gods.”

“I don’t understand.” Britta’s forehead scrunches as she turns to Adwapa. “What do you mean by that?”

Adwapa shrugs. “Ever wonder how exactly our kind came to be?”

“The goddesses birthed our ancestors – I already know that,” Britta huffs.

“Yes, but how did they birth us? If we’re mixed with both human and demon, where did the human part come from?”

I gasp, finally understanding what Adwapa is trying to say. “Whoever built this, whoever worshipped the Gilded Ones – they’re the ones the Gilded Ones mated with. Our human ancestors.”

“Exactly,” Adwapa nods.

“But this temple is clean – cared for,” Britta says. “Whoever did this, they’re still around. Do you think they’re still around, the worshippers?”

“You mean blasphemers,” Belcalis corrects her. “That’s what the priests will say, won’t they?”

I don’t pay any more attention to them, my thoughts suddenly whispering to me again. The knowing is calling me towards something else: the pond in the middle of the cave. Like the goddesses’ feet, it’s been surrounded by candles and flowers. A strange blue light shimmers inside it, shifting and changing every few seconds.

Something is inside it…

My entire body tingling now, I walk slowly towards the creature in the pond, careful not to make any sudden movements. It’s almost as if the knowing is guiding me, the subconscious White Hands told me of whispering distant instructions in my ear.

“Deka, what are ye doing?” Britta’s voice seems so far away.

I ignore it as I look down at the pond, which is much deeper than I’d realized. In fact, it’s not so much a pond as it is the tip of a deep underground lake. Strangely, I can see clearly to the bottom, and something is swimming there – something reptilian, slithering over a series of large, shimmering, boulderlike objects, each one almost golden in colour.

My breath catches in my throat, and I watch as the creature spirals towards the surface, a shifting, changing animal, almost serpentine in form. It stops just under the surface of the water – watching me. Dimly, I make out two intelligent black eyes, a short, almost feline snout, and what look like membranous ears, fanning against the water. It looks like a drakos, one of those aquatic dragons that can go from land to air, but I know that’s not what it is. This creature is something no one has seen before – I’m certain of it.

It stares at me as intently as I stare at it. It seems to want something from me.

The answer comes to mind almost instinctively, a rumbled command from the dark ocean.

Reach down…

I immediately obey, reaching down into the water and gasping when a cold far more piercing than I’ve ever felt before freezes my blood. As I look down, the creature opens its mouth, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth.

It bites into my arm, digging in until gold begins to dot the surface of the water.

“Deka!” Britta gasps, running over, but I’m already lifting my arm out, the creature still attached to it.

It seems to be shrinking now, taking on an almost feline appearance as its blue scales become fur and its ears shrink into velvety smooth triangles. Within moments, it has unwrapped from my arm and is scrambling up so it can curl itself around my neck. It’s transformed into what looks like a large bluish kitten, except it has nubby white horns on its forehead and those intelligent black eyes, which look up at me so solemnly, I can’t help but nuzzle its cheeks.

They feel velvety to the touch, but I can still feel the scales under the fur.

Mine… The knowledge surges up from the depths of my mind, the dark ocean whispering secrets, knowledge I don’t yet understand.

Even then, I know it’s real, know that it’s the truth. White Hands told me to trust this voice, trust the power hidden inside me, and I do, which is why I know that whatever this creature is, it has nothing to do with the deathshrieks or the humans outside, nothing to do with anything we’ve encountered this past day. It was here long before them and will likely be here long after, as will whatever it is that it was guarding in that lake, those large, shimmering boulders.

Mine. The knowledge vibrates under my skin.

I scratch the creature under its chin, smiling when it chirps at me – almost like a cat. “Do you want to go home with me?” I ask, smiling when it chirps again, an agreement this time.

“Deka,” Britta repeats, her voice finally breaking through my daze. She points at the creature. “Wha is that?”

I turn to her and Belcalis, who now both have their weapons drawn suspiciously.

Alarmed, I press the creature close to my chest. “This is Ixa,” I say, the knowledge flowing into my head. “He’s mine.”

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