What is this place?” Emyra asked Haida in wonderment. Serin had disappeared behind them some time ago, to talk to the miners. Quite possibly, she was inquiring after the mountains and a safe way to get to Nazren, instead of looking around. Serin knew much and had seen much, but Emyra hardly thought she ever saw anything that didn’t have anything to do with bloodshed and murder. She couldn’t see beauty, because her eyes had seen so much of hell. Emyra, however, looked around and gasped at the wonders hidden underground. They had passed ravines of which one entire side was taken up by a face carved in the stone. It must have been incredibly old, but none of the details had been lost. There had also been gems beyond imagining, and clear rivers like glittering glass, reflecting a light that seemed to come from inside. Not at all like the Sreme back home, that was muddy and dirty from all its use. These waters flowed right through the mountains, almost untouched. There was so much to see, but the miners didn't look at it twice. Then, she never looked twice at anything in Merrón, and that was as beautiful. Different, but beautiful. And home. I should never have left. Berren! Berren, I'm sorry. We should have seen this together. You and me, travelling together, forever. We should see this together. Your eyes deserve this. Another voice in her head shut this one up, and made her brain see everything. Guilt came later. now, there were things to see and people to talk to. Allen had said that once. They'd sneaked out of the house together and gone exploring. She'd been five at the time, and Allen had taken her to see the ships, even though their mother had told them to stay at home.
The miners were very open and very kind, but more than a little odd. Sometimes they'd start talking and stop doing so in the middle of a story, or they'd smile mysteriously and not say anything when asked what their name was. Emyra nudged Haida again. "What is this?"
They had reached a room, glittering with jewels, crystals, again with that mysterious light. All the colours of the world were displayed upon the wall, in perfect harmony. Looking at them, they drew her into another world, so deep and clear they were. Rubies, diamonds, sapphires, amethysts, reflecting their own light and that of the torch behind. The shadows they cast were queer, evermoving shapes of dreams, made even more strange by the candles that stood around the little pool in the middle of the room. Water fell into it from a ceiling that was lost in the darkness, splashing into the pool at the exact middle of the round room. It was only about seven metres in diameter, but the decorations somehow made it seem much larger. Even Haida seemed to have trouble keeping a bored face. Emyra could guess she'd been here before, but only once or twice.
"It's where the gods live. It's where we marry. It's where we do the funerals. The gems are said to be the eyes of the gods, watching us. They pay tribute to the dead and the married, see if we keep the ttraditions alive. It's also where we pray." Haida explained.
Emyra looked up at the invisible ceiling. It must have symbolized heaven, the high place where the gods were. She turned back to Haida. "What gods are they?" She asked. It might well be the Thénish gods, as this was, after all, a settlement of Thénish slaves.
"The gods of the mountains. The gods of stone." Haida said, and without another word, she walked back down the column, presumably to her mother and Azer. Emyra sighed and walked back as well. She found Haida talking to her mother, a comely woman of around thirty, with a kind smile and the same hair as her children.
"What kind of gods are they, Haida?" she asked. The girl glared at her. Emyra couldn't help but feel sorry. The gods must be ridiculed by every visitor. Thén was very religious, and people were probably more than sceptical about any other religion than their own. It suddenly struck her as odd that so many people from so many different cultures could share a religion. It was also strange that the masters allowed it to happen. Not that there seemed to be any masters around here, but there must once have been people to restrain the slaves. Whoever they'd been, they were long gone, or such a religion couldn't have formed itself. There was a whole culture here, as elaborated and complete as that of Thén. These slaves were fully independent. She wondered what had happened to the masters. Maybe they had forced their beliefs upon the slaves so often they couldn't bear it any longer, like they did in so many other places. They'd indoctrinated the gods of Merrón in northern Thén, so surely they had done so here. Or tried to. The slaves'd freed themselves. Why were they still here? The mountains were said to be terrible, a horrific place to live, so why stay? Also, where'd they get the food? Haida had said their father had been killed. How did that work, then? Condidtions couldn't be good, then. But what about this cave. What about the calm of the other miners, the bursts of laughter from behind them?
YOU ARE READING
The Tellanon
FantasyNo one had ever seen that day coming from someone so ordinary. Emyra is a girl who enjoys books and dreams, a girl who thinks everything is beautiful. No one seems to think she is, though. Her colouring is different and she is feared and hated by so...
