Zeus 25 - Praxis

15 - HaziKan's tour

"That's easy," HaziKan said, appearing in the doorway. "We want you to become Zeus 25."

"That's why Izador was sending us to AvoDar," Praxis said, "to persuade him to enhance us, to help us on that path."

"Who else has sought out AvoDar and come back enhanced?" HaziKan challenged them.

It was a logical question. None of them had an answer.

"SaTaan wants to persuade you that science is the future of Atlantis, not the Words of power. As you've partially seen, science can duplicate the effects of all the Words of power, and accomplish other miracles besides."

"It's true you disabled me with something like the lightning of an Orb of Pain, but much more quickly," Praxis admitted.

"And you control the light in these globes and on your devices in ways beyond what our master mages can do with the Word of Fire," Eudora agreed.

"Let me show you the life of the Risss-LuKal, and you can draw your own conclusions about the value of science," HaziKan said.

#

They followed HaziKan into the corridor and then through what seemed like several stadia of passages. Off some of the corridors there were rooms that looked like dens, sometimes with pairs of the ssKar-people who turned to stare at them as they passed. Occasionally, a hiss or Click directed at HaziKan met with an abrupt Click-Click that ended the conversation.

In many of these encounters, Praxis noted that most Risss-LuKal clan members did not have translation necklaces. Those devices must only be for ssKar-people directly dealing with Atlanteans.

Then they came to a doubly-wide corridor, taller than the others as well. The broad way was paved with the same tough material as the path they'd been following. "What is this?" Praxis said, pointing at the floor material.

"Harzas," HaziKan said, "You might call it flowing stone that hardens."

"We call that lava," Spyro said. "I've heard there are pools of lava deep under Mount Olympus, but ours is black when it cools and certainly not smooth. We have stories of lava running on the surface from the volcanoes of the Hook."

"Harzas is not lava," Hazikan said. "It's cold when it flows and barely warm even as it hardens."

"Your clan dug these tunnels and made the harzas flow?" Eudora asked.

"No, this clanspace and pool were made by the RazluT. Their quest stones line the walls," he said, indicating the haphazard rows of tablets imbedded in the walls of the giant tunnel. "Each of these plaques documents a once-in-a-lifetime quest across the surface of ssKar to join another pool or to find a mate."

"Sounds dangerous," Praxis said.

"One in five return."

"Why not pick a mate from within the clan?" Eudora said.

"LalaT decreed the quest, both RazluT-Tinnar, Risss-LuKal, and all other clans on ssKar follow LalaT's wisdom."

"But losing so many to sssuK..." Eudora said.

"Only one or two to sssuK, sometimes the clan that is approached kills the questor, sometimes the questor stays without risking a journey back home. The clan bestows great honor, however, on those completing the quest. Sometimes, when Gra-sssuK destroy a whole pool, those still alive quest as a clan and war with another pool until one clan triumphs. That is how we came to this RazluT-Tinnar pool six thousand years ago."

As they walked the giant corridor, the immense history of the clans came home in the numbers of plaques they passed. After a while the floor sloped up, and Praxis sensed they were nearing the surface of ssKar.