Gods of Alabaster

They say that the slopes of the Alabaster Mountains have twenty thousand steps carved into them. Reaching the cliffs by appropriate measures can take pilgrims several days and nights, as it is customary and tradition to stop at each statue of a god to pray. Though Diana Sabino was no pilgrim, she stood idly in front of a headless figure, a dozen feet in height, vaguely of human form, with what appeared to be six missing arms of seven-- the remaining pointing directly upward towards the thinning tree line above them.

“We won’t stop at this one, Miss.” A gentleman still favorably aged, acted as her guide. The man’s shoulder-length dark hair shimmered as silk, tinseled with silver locks, pairing well with his marble-like linens that draped against his bronze skin. With only sandaled feet, hardly covered by traditional robes, one would question how he could stand the terrain as they scaled the mountain these past few days.

Diana, for one, was becoming increasingly exhausted and hungry. She’d been looking forward to making her next stop, taking a breather, praying to some strange, unknown idol as she enjoyed a feast of dried meats, nuts, and broth… Instead, she found herself catching her breath before a disgraced deity, silently cursing what remained of them for keeping her from her much needed break.

“Perhaps we can make an exception?” Diana huffed, clearly frustrated. “Liu, my strength is not parallel to yours, I need some rest.”

“Not here, Sabino.” He shook his head, glancing at the anxious looking caravan behind them—supplies, tents, and about thirty men and women of varying backgrounds all eager to either settle down or continue onward. Those that volunteered their time from Liu’s village all seemed very, very antsy to keep moving.

“It’s a bad omen to stop before a kakahma,” He sighed, “A felled god.”

Diana’s russet braid caught a small breeze and brushed against her lower back as she stood idly, her freckles standing out as the setting sun glistened through the tree line, dappling the area in flakes of gold.

In a huff, she knelt down to tie her hiking boots, adjusting her khaki hiking pants over her knee in an attempt to let her skin breathe a bit. “Alright,” She mumbled, “How far away must we be to avoid this taboo?”

“Only around the next bend.” Liu smiled, tapping his index finger against his jaw as his dark eyes watched her, “There’s a shelter and a pit for a fire.” He only narrowly avoided chuckling as Diana let out an exaggerated sigh of relief.

“You heard him, Onward, then!” She yelled to the group behind her, pointing at the steps that continued around the edge of the mountain, “We’ll stop for the night there.” There was a chorus of thankful chatter that followed, several still-energized men scuttling ahead to get a jump start on setting up camp.

Diana fell behind, watching those in front of her dart ahead as Liu’s pace slowed beside her. Her own people had named these mountains Alabaster, but Emerald, she thought, would have been more appropriate. Though the peaks from a distance revealed a covering of snow, the paths to them were covered in beautiful, thick forests, with statues and ancient architecture dazzled with moss.

Oral legend spoke of a grand temple that was carved within the mountain, but Diana found no evidence of such remains existing. Despite this, she was hopeful to find some proof of it— a blocked entryway, perhaps. Something important she could bring back home and boast about.

“Is it inappropriate to ask who he was?” She looked to Liu, who’s relaxed expression remained unchanging. “The statue, I mean.”

“It is.” Liu smirked, “You seem to recall I mentioned that I don’t care much for the stiffness of my people.”

“You’ll share your knowledge with me, then?” Diana’s violet eyes caught the sunlight as she lit up, eager for anything to record for the expedition.

Liu looked behind the both of them, double checking if they were the only ones that remained behind. Staring back in the direction of the statue for a moment, he seemed to second guess himself. He chewed slightly on the inside of his cheek, before clicking his tongue. “Ah,” he sighed, “Well…”

The disappointment on Diana’s face made Liu feel rather guilty. He then inhaled before muttering something in his native tongue. Diana could hardly translate it—something about a woman’s sad eyes being like a devil? Or roughly something about some women should be made into soup? His dialect made it harder for her to understand.

“The god we passed by was known as Sek, once the god of directions and of deception.” He spoke, “When civil war broke out in our Kingdom one hundred years ago, it led to the worship of Sek being outlawed.”

“Why so?” Diana’s curiosity got the better of her, but she was quickly silenced by a gloomy expression on Liu’s face.

“Sek attempted to steal light from the people, and was banished to the underworld.” He frowned, “His likeness was then banished from the pantheon.”

“A shame…” Diana frowned, “Where I come from, we preserve our history, no matter how ugly we may find it. How can we not learn from history if we erase what we deem uncouth?” Liu’s lips twitched into a sad smile as he stared as Diana moved ahead of him, gently lifting the branches of a low-hanging tree for the two of them to move through.

“I admire your people, Sabino,” He sighed, “Sadly, I am compelled to agree with my own.” There was a slight bitterness in his voice as he carefully found the words to say. “Sek’s crimes… his influence tainted good, innocent people.” His voice choked slightly as he spoke, and he was forced to clear his throat. “Many believe Sek is best forgotten.”

Diana shrugged. “Can’t really add much, since you and I are…” She hesitated, “Spiritually different.” There was a hint of shame in her voice. There was some widely practiced religion back home— one that, no matter how hard she tried, she simply could not will herself to believe it. Despite it causing friction between her own kin, Diana believed only in what was in front of her, what could be proven, and simply what was. Liu was one of the few who did not judge her lack of faith—In fact, before their journey he spoke kindly in which he embraced her differences. He was a wonderful companion on this journey, and she was thankful to have him as her guide.

“Though if I must,” Diana added, “I do wish he hadn’t stolen light so that we could have rested a bit.”

Liu laughed as he walked ahead of Diana, becoming mindful of the stairs ahead of him. “Please watch your step,” He spoke, “The path ahead is loose.”

“What?” Diana called ahead to him, the wind drowning out his voice.

“I said-“ Liu turned around and time seemed to slow. Watching in horror as her foot caught the loose step, his hand quickly stretched out to her as he nearly dove down towards her.

“Sabino!” He yelled, far too late to catch her attention. Diana’s arm stretched outward as her body succumbed to gravity. She swore she simply twisted herself and fell sideways, but her vision was swallowed by a dark cavern, yelping as branches of long dead tree snapped against her spine, cutting at her face. Some strange foliage cushioned her fall with a thud, and she groaned as a warm liquid dripped from her temple. With the last remaining glimmer of sunlight gracing the tiny opening in the ceiling above her, she felt a wave of exhaustion overtake her. Just a rest, she thought, just a small rest…

---

There was a strange rattling sensation that stirred her back to consciousness. It was only a moment she was out, it had to have been. Weakly, she stood up from the bush that caught her— and thank goodness she could. With little energy, she reached into her satchel and pulled out a small hand lantern and matches. Her trembling hands struck the match a few times before successfully lighting it, giving her just enough view in front of her to see where she was.

There were strange, manmade tunnels—four, maybe five? Counting was a challenge as the room seemed to be tilting along with her body. Diana barely managed to prop herself up against the cavern wall by her shoulder, trying to stabilize.

“Concusion…” She muttered, trying to keep herself awake by all means, “I have to try and focus…” Holding up the lantern she saw there was a tunnel in the direction of their camp. Perhaps there would be stairs that would lead her back to her party. They definitely were looking for her, she realized, as she could hear their distant yelling.

Inhaling, she made her way towards that tunnel, when something strange caught the corner of her eye against the wall of an opening to her left. It was only a glimmer, but as she held her lantern out, she witnessed a glowing symbol, carved into the wall. Stepping closer, she couldn’t quite comprehend it. She argued with herself it could merely be her spinning head— but she swore it lit up like fire. Surely it was simply some sort of reflective stone, her still recovering eyes tricking her.

With a bit of hesitation, she peered into the tunnel, finding herself bewildered by a path entirely lit by similar looking sigils. Upon observation, she realized they were not carved in any recognizable language, but as her fingers traced their delicate outlines, she wondered what words were formed in front of her.

Diana’s exhaustion was put on the backburner as she stepped into curiosity and hope. Pressing on, the symbols lit up a spiral stairwell. Summoning her strength, she continued hugging the wall, ignoring how her knees wobbled with each step. Slow and steady, she thought. It was impossible to tell how much time had passed since her descent into the cavern, but nevertheless she continued to press onward.

The glowing lights that lit her path soon faded from her view as she stepped into a dark, open corridor. Her steps echoed against the floor as they became more prominent, but still, there seemed to be nothing in front of her. No more walls to balance against, she brought her lantern lower, gazing down to where she stood.

The moment she noticed the same glowing carvings that lead her here, the floor lit up in a wave, spanning out to reveal floor-to-ceiling shelves four stories tall, piled with strange artifacts, scrolls and books. In the center of it all, stood a grand mural carved into the wall, which portrayed an image of all the gods of the pantheon. Trembling at the sight of it, Diana fell to her knees upon reaching it, staring up at it in awe. It too nearly reached the ceiling, and not only that, seemed to display a familiar figure—this time with all of his limbs and head intact.

“Incredible…!” Diana could not help but allow her breathless voice to escape her lips. With shaking hands, she removed a journal from her satchel, attempting to sketch it to the best of her ability on a page much too small for something of such grand scale. After making an effort, she simply began to scribble down notes and ramblings that she knew she’d later find illegible, desperate now to capture the moment.

As she reminded herself to breathe, she pulled herself back up, becoming dizzy at the sight of the towering bookshelves. With nowhere wrong to start, she made her way to one at random, gently pulling a weathered tomb off the glowing shelves. Upon opening it, she once more did not recognize the language, turning the pages carefully while looking at the symbols lighting up the room. Despite similarities, she couldn’t find any that visually matched. Even if she had, she realized, there’s no way of reading it. She pulled another off the shelves, and then another, discouraged to find the same unreadable words.

“Kamouha,” A voice behind her made her jump, dropping a small handful of books on the floor of this grand library. “It is the language of the gods.” Diana swiftly turned around to see Liu standing before her, and a relieved sigh and laugh escaped her.

“Liu,” She gasped, “I’m so glad to see you.”

“And I you.” His smile warm as he placed his palms upon her shoulders, his brows dropped as he focused on the stain of blood that caressed the side of her face. “… You were hurt.” He muttered. “You’re alive though. I’m glad to see that.”

Diana squinted at him, a peculiar smirk appearing on her lips. “I’m fine,” She stated, her tone in the form of a question. “More importantly, look around! What is this place?”

“If I had to guess,” He gestured to the mural that stood proudly over the room, “This was once part of a grand temple carved into the mountain, long ago. It collapsed from within when the mountain shook many hundreds of years ago…” Liu’s hands brushed aside vines that covered the figure of the many-armed god, “Yet here, the library stands.”

“This is incredible,” Diana breathed. “This is exactly the kind of discovery I need to bring home—A lost language, restored history, artwork carved into natural stone…!” She caught her breath as she spun around the room, “Not to mention these lights! How on earth…?”

Liu’s hand gently grabbed hers, carefully stopping her before the mural. Without much force, he took the journal from her grasp before stepping back from her. “I’m afraid I must ask you to leave this place as is.”

Diana’s heart sunk. “What?” She shook her head, choking out a laugh, “I don’t understand… why?”

“Proof of the old pantheon remains here,” Liu’s attention was fixated on the mural. “Should this place become widely public knowledge, I’m afraid it will be torn down.”

Diana sighed, frustrated at the idea anyone could simply destroy something so grand simply because someone did not agree with some part of it. For a moment she asked herself it it being torn down would truly be that bad… After all, her logs would be detailed. A perfect replica could be made back home. Books could be smuggled and salvaged and translated. It would be disrespectful to the country she was touring—One who’s ideologies clashed with her own. She wondered if she could justify bad behavior… Until she met Liu’s dark eyes, stern and unyielding to her begging expression.

Disrespecting authority was one thing… But she could not disrespect her companion.

“I…” Diana sighed, “I’ll leave it then.” Defeated, she could feel herself slump before her body gave way into Liu’s arms. Without even realizing, her legs had given out, and he had caught her. As her arms made their way around his shoulders, she felt his arms sturdy themselves against her waist… and also her ribs. Two more hands cupped her face, and another pair seemed to lift her off her feet by cradling her. Before she could process what was going on, she met the eyes of Liu once more, she noticed his irises had become a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes, quite literally spinning in opposite directions towards his nose.

“I… believe.”

A cold sensation ran down her face. Diana’s eyes shot open upon realizing a wet rag was being run down her face, standing above her was nothing more but the darkness of night and an older gentleman who she quickly recognized was part of their traveling party.

“Oh, she’s awake! She’s awake!” He called over to a couple of men who were standing idly by with medical supplies, she could hear several relieved sighs from around her. Diana sat up slowly, noticing she was laid out on a cot. Their camp had been set up around the shelter that she didn’t quite reach—She must have been pulled up from the cavern she fell down.

“Where—” Diana began, but was quickly interrupted by the man wiping her face down.

“Day three and you’ve got some nerve getting the wind knocked out of you just over some crummy old step! Guess it was enough to scare the faith back in ‘ya.” Diana rolled her eyes, gently wincing as she touched the stinging cut by her right temple.

“Crummy old step?!” Diana hissed at him, “I fell half a mile down onto rock!”  

“You must’ve hit your head harder than we thought…” His voice softened, “It was only about a few feet down.”

Diana shook her head. “No… that’s impossible.” She gasped, reaching into her bag and fumbling for her journal. It was there! Quickly turning through the pages, she opened to where she had begun to take her notes… The page was blank.

“There was a library—it was massive. It had to be part of the temple…” She rambled, desperate and in disbelief. “I saw it with my own two eyes! I was right there!”

“That mythical temple, eh?” The old man sat back down with a slump as he handed her a jug of water, watching her take a drink from it. “Sorry to say it’s not real, Sabino. It’s going to drive you crazy.”

Diana looked around her bustling camp at all her crew… There was no drastic search to find her, no curious stone stairwell, no glowing lights that lead her to the discovery of a lifetime… It was all in her head. How could it be, though, when something so bewildering felt so real—When it made her question her own beliefs about the world she knew?

“Liu,” She finally spoke after searching for him through the crowd, “Where is he?”

“… Liu who?”