Belford's Heart

Chapter 15: Milly

Grifford wandered the city of Dania as if he were born there. Following Milly's scent left on her father's trinket, his feet were as sure as ever as Belford and Evelyn kept pace with him. As the morning grew to midday, the streets became an ocean of bodies to weave through. With the scent to guide him, Grifford barely noticed a single one of them. He moved his beak high in the air for a few moments, halting his steps for a moment at times to redirect himself. The shipyard was long behind them as they worked their way closer to the Eastern borough. The vertical nature of the Southern borough became less and less severe. At last, Grifford signaled a stopping point before a temple. There was a courtyard before it with a small circle of grass grown into a man-made hill. Three rods of metal stuck out from the ground at different angles, and a near-perfect sphere of stone rested between them.

The ground beneath it carried a single flower, one Belford had only seen once on a cart of a trader in his village. It was a Black Jade - the only known flower in Avalonia to thrive in the shadows, and in the shadow of the sphere it displayed its dark petals with confidence. Grifford nudged his attention back to him, huffing twice in a serious manner and motioning toward the temple.

"The creator's mark," Evelyn said, pointing to the eyes with pinpoint pupils chiseled around the arch of the doorway. On the larger pieces of the temple's outer structure there was a mural of a forest mirrored to each side. The work was intricate, and the images brought peace to her as she traced them with her eyes. "You found her scent within here, Grifford?"

Grifford nodded, huffing three more times quickly. He moved forward to the shallow staircase leading to the entrance and ran his talons over the stone. He gave three more huffs into the air, and a quick turn back to Belford and Evelyn. Belford approached the doorway, tall enough for even him to walk through with his arms raised. The temple was narrow, but quite tall as the stone worked its way up to the pointed roof.

Belford turned to face Evelyn, and they shared a knowing look, and he said, "He is certain of this place. Stay close to me, Evelyn." Evelyn nodded, pressing up against him as Belford moved to open the heavy door leading to the chamber within. The door opened slowly, and the scraping of the stone beneath it echoed into the high-reaching and empty chamber. Above them hung braziers at the end of black chains that were unlit. The only light to accompany them came in a solid beam from the window held up by the high ceiling.

They entered slowly, Evelyn pressed against Belford's right side and Grifford pressed against his left. Even with careful footsteps they echoed into the voluminous chamber. Eight rows of long benches lined the walkway that led to a podium upon a stage. Everything within the chamber was built of the same dark stone. It was not full-black like the tower of Vathan, but it was much darker than the stone lining the streets of Dania.

One further step for each of them rang into the air, and a man emerged from a room branching from the main chamber. His head shined even in the low light of the room, and he stood just taller than Evelyn. His eyes did not hold anger toward them, but confusion appeared to cloud his mind for a moment as he scanned his eyes across the three visitors within his temple. As he stepped into the beam of light shining from the window behind them, they could see that he was a well-tanned man like many of the Southern Borough. His bald head protruded only a single thing tail tied at the top of his neck. He wore large robes with pads at his shoulders - the mark of the creator Avalonia was stitched into both sides.

"Temple is not in session," the man said. "Week's end is still away from us. I would ask you to leave."

"We shall leave right away," Evelyn said, taking one step in front of Belford. "But we must ask you a question."

"She answers all that call to her." He smiled, nodding in acceptance. "You may ask your question."

"We are looking for someone," she said. "A girl, around my age, by the name of Milly."