Draiks and Angels: Survivor

3 - Altar

There was a path to the village where they were headed, but not large enough for a car, and Osmin, the middle-aged man, didn't own one anyway, so they walked. The air was moist and warm, even in the spring air, and it wasn't long before they were sweating. The jungle was lush and green, with tall trees. At least they blocked the sun from beating on them, Ava thought.

They walked for a couple hours before arriving in the clearing of the village. It looked very much like the town they had just come from, but smaller, and more enveloped in the jungle. The children here didn't run up to the strangers, but instead took one look and ran away. A few adults came out of the buildings and approached the group.

Osmin began to speak to them in another language. Ava caught Tadeas' name a couple times. One of the women walked back into a building and returned with a young man maybe 25 years old.

"Old Man here says you are looking for Tadeas," he started.

"I'll 'Old Man' you, you upstart," Osmin said, half-smiling.

The young man grinned, then lost his smile as he turned back to the Angels, "Tadeas is family. If he is in danger, we want to help. What can we do?"

"We need to know where he was last seen, and if there is anything suspicious happening nearby: maybe places that feel scary or cold," Satiya explained.

The young man turned to talk to the other adults, and they began discussing.

Ava whispered to Husani, "Why scary or cold?"

"That's a common feeling the Shadows induce, though it is worse the more magic you have. Humans may not notice. I don't feel it that much, actually," he shrugged. "But for Satiya, it's pretty terrible."

Ava didn't realize Satiya had that much magic, "Does that mean she is good food, too?"

Husani got serious, "Yes."

The young man turned back, "No one has noticed any cold places. The last time anyone here saw Tadeas, he was headed for the altar in the jungle, we think."

"You think?" Ava asked.

"It is a ways into the jungle, so he could have gone somewhere else, but it was that direction someone saw him going. Not much else to be headed toward."

"Can you tell us where it is?" Satiya asked.

A man came up behind the group and said in heavily accented Anglian, "I can show them." He was maybe in his forties, with a flat nose and small eyes.

"Gilmar..." the young man said with distaste.

"We must put aside our differences to find Tadeas, no?" the older man said.

The young man shook his head, "No, you are right. That is the most important."

Gilmar motioned to the Angels, "Come," and started walking into the jungle without using a path. Satiya thanked the young man and Osmin, and the trio rushed to follow.

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Ava realized there was just the barest semblance of a path through the underbrush. Just enough that it was minimally easier to walk there than to elsewhere. It meandered through the jungle in a northerly direction until they arrived at what might have been considered a clearing. There was a space about thirty feet wide and tall without trees, though it was covered in green plants. There was a stone altar in the middle, almost growing out of the foliage. Gilmar stepped to one side and let the Angels explore the area.

All three were immediately drawn to the stone shape in the middle of the clearing. The top was flat, and about eight feet by four feet large. It was three feet tall, made of sandstone, and carved with designs that couldn't be recognized anymore. It stood on a base that was another two feet wider than the main body.