The Time of the Titans

Chapter 27: The Ride of a Valkyrie

I woke, I saw the whiteness, and I heard the quiet hum of the ocean of eternity. I tried to move my fingers, but I could not feel my body. Someone, or something, was near.

"Who's that?" I asked, or rather thought. "Is it Moom Lala?"

Something stepped closer. It had Moom Lala's ethereal gown, but the Asian face of Prince Sen, the dead boy and the gatekeeper of Elysium.

"Where am I?" I asked. "Am I dead?"

The boy did not answer, but I felt rather than saw that he smiled at me benignly. The white light of the temple chamber dazzled me.

"Is this Heaven?" I asked. "Are you an angel or a demon?"

"So that still means something to you", remarked the Naga.

"It has always had a decisive meaning for me." I wondered my response myself. I wondered why I was so calm, and why I felt all this had happened exactly the same way sometimes before. Sometimes ages ago.

"How much do you remember now?" asked the dead boy. He still smiled. His eyes were closed. He saw me with his mind, not with his eyes.

"I don't remember anything", I said, and I didn't lie. I didn't remember. Words just came from my lips like they had perhaps once come, or like they would come one day.

And then I saw, more clearly, the room around me – the one that was located in the Temple of Riël, where the Great Old Ones lay asleep. It was not the switching-on of the lights that made me see more clearly, but the switching them off, or more precisely, the dimming of them.

It was then that I saw the boy had no body. Instead, several slowly pulsing, organic-looking tubes were connected to his head, and they looked like pale snakes. His eyes suddenly opened, and there was nothing behind them.

And I saw three tall figures standing at a distance and staring at me. They wore long gowns, and hoods covered their heads. One of them was black, another one was white, and the third one was carmine red. And behind them, many grey ones stood as a group.

They were no longer statues. They had woken up.

*   *   *

I felt my body again when a wave of pain hit my side. I tried to jump up, but a determined leather boot pushed me back on my back to the humid earth of the cave.

"Wake up", ordered Giovanna. "The rain has ceased."

She gave a sign to two mahi warriors, who came to me, first timidly, then more aggressively, and seized my arms. They lifted me to stand up. My wrists were still tied up, but they were now in front of me, so I could sleep better. The mahis opened the ropes of my ankles but wrapped one around my neck and another around my waist. They took no risk of me making a sudden rush and getting away.

"What does it mean?" I asked. "That the rain has ceased?"

One of the mahis poked me with a stick, as if telling me to shut up, but Giovanna gave another sign for them to let me speak. I was pushed and pulled to the mouth of the cave and outside. The breeze blowing to my face was a welcome refreshment after the musty air of the distressing cave.

It appeared to be early morning. Clouds in the sky still seemed gloomy. The forest dripped and rustled with water all around us.

"It means we're making a move", answered Giovanna, seriously. I noted she didn't seem to find it repulsive to talk to me.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Wherever I say", she said. "Your friends will start combing the island as soon as the weather allows them."