Prodigy Returns (book 3)

Chapter Forty-Six

Maxim felt powerful, and was exhilarated to be able to go hunting with his son. Equipped with his stealth suit, he explored with Kyodin, going further than either had ever gone before. By now, hunting was an afterthought. Both were content on exploring and spending quality time with each other.

"What do you think they are?" Kyo asked.

"I'm not sure," Maxim said.

The two hovered silently, staring at an open landscape that had several shiny spherical orbs protruding from the ground. The large spheres were mounted on thin poles as if they were giant pins stuck into the dirt. They were very large and numerous.

"I count twenty of them," Kyo said.

"Could be some kind of antenna from a forgone communications device," Maxim said, postulating a theory.

"Could also be a weapon," Kyo added.

"True. Let's steer clear of them and continue on our way. I think we're on the right path to discover something truly interesting."

The two went around the strange arrangement of orbs and continued across the plain. When they reached the other side of a ridge, they discovered something even more curious than the mysterious spherical objects.

"Now that is definitely not a communications device," Kyo said.

In front of them was an enormous monolithic statue — the kind one might expect to find on Easter Island. The figure depicted a strange face, presumably from the past civilization. The stone structure was taller than a city bus standing on its end, and was covered in moss and other plant life.

"Let's keep going," Maxim instructed.

Even further they pushed on. The next find that Maxim and Kyodin stumbled upon topped the previous two discoveries.

'Whoa!' Kyodin said. Maxim was speechless.

Neither one of them could believe what they were looking at. A large cityscape opened up in front of them. Elevated above the city on a mountain, the two looked down at the metropolis. The architecture was unlike anything either had seen before and was vastly different than the modern cities of Earth. The skyline resembled a sound wave, with each building seemingly rising from the ground like a reverse stalagmite. It was obvious that strict planning went into creating the layout. In the centre was a very tall pointy building that was easily taller than any skyscraper on Earth. The roadways spiraled outward in a very careful and ordered pattern, almost resembling a spider web.

The two stopped to marvel at the lost city. With their enhanced optics, they studied the city below and determined that it was a ghost town. There did not appear to be any inhabitants. It was quiet and calm, with not a single moving part.

"Should we go further?" Kyodin asked.

Maxim didn't have an answer immediately, but then decided to continue on. Guiding his son through the uncharted territory, he was confident they would be unharmed as long as they had their invisibility stones and stealth suits.

Approaching a long strip, Maxim said, "Looks like a runway. This could be an airport."

"What's an airport?"

"Airports are typically built on the outskirts of cities. They're places where aircrafts gather to take passengers from place to place via air transport. This long strip could be a runway — a place for certain aircrafts to reach the necessary speed for takeoff and also provide them a spot to land."

Moving passed the airport, Maxim and Kyodin entered the urban environment with a sublime fascination. There were no people, no moving vehicles, and hardly any sound.