3.11 The Dark Altar

The view from the balcony was devastating, Halios and Atalon stood in silence, too overcome with distrust, hate, fear and envy to speak, nor could they tear themselves away. It wasn't turning into a good day at all.

         "What's happening?" Halki finally arrived.

         "LOOK!" Atalon pointed to the scene unfolding.

         Halki had heard rumors, he had heard the noise but from the balcony he could see for himself as the whole picture emerged; this was a disaster. "Mighty Medel...." He spotted the salon team entering the gates, right away, they stuck out like a sore thumb. "You sent Torus in there?" He didn't like the looks of it at all.

         "Torus is the only one who can sort out this mess of which you ought to have warned us about!"

         "I don’t hang out in Lemuria" he reminded the king. "How would I know what they’re up to? I know someone who would, however, I think you should ask him instead!"

         "And so you do know he's up to no good?" Halios grilled, fanning the flame. Halki didn't reply. "Your lack of Intelligence is showing" the General hissed.

         "Shut up!" Atalon broke up the spat. "I'm the ONLY one who knows what ANY ONE of you is ACTUALLY up to!"

         Dion opened one of the filing cabinets in the back room of the Salon and flipped through the Serpent Year folders until he found the one he was looking for. "Josh… Born for the tabloids..."

         He studied his profile and leafed through the reports, in the back of the folder were DNA samples. He opened the blue envelope and retrieved a sample of hair, held it up to the light and examined it, thinking... Josh's hair had strong iridescent qualities… Which eyes were designed to recognize these subtle features? He placed it on a handkerchief, folded it up and slipped it into his breast pocket, wrapped his Crystal Skull in a towel, placed it in a bag and closed the salon.

         He paused on Main St. to absorb the sounds and smells from the Grand Courtyard before heading up to the temple, the invasion was quite powerful, surely Atalon would be quite rattled by now?

         The temple was also deserted, he turned down the path along the side of the building. Behind the temple there was a break in the laurel bushes, concealing a narrow pathway hidden beneath the giant hedges. At the end of the path was an old gate. He reached his arm into the branches and released the latch on the other side, opening the gate into a magical garden, a Secret Garden, an outdoor escape from everyone below the line.

         The Secret Garden was a sacred place, a historical complex which housed some of the ancient Solarian artifacts used for divination. In the center stood an old polished obsidian altar, carved like an octagonal post it was embedded into the ground, placed at the source of a hot spring, steaming with warmth from the depths of the earth, which was channeled down through the garden into a rocky pool, suited for bathing. The altar was rumored to be some kind of magic wand, but none of the gods really knew the extents of it's powers as the Knowledge had been lost over time.

         Dion was gradually figuring it out. He pulled out the hair sample, laid it on the altar and weighed it down with a gold bead. Then he took the Crystal Skull from his bag and held it in his hands, closed his eyes and began to channel the energy of his thoughts into the obsidian post. He began to chant as the energy accumulated, whispering words into the wind. The sun slipped behind a cloud, then a gust of cold wind blew in from the north, sweeping the ground, lifting the leaves into a spiraling vortex around him. As if summoned, a crow dropped down from the heavens, perched on a branch nearby and let out a loud cry.

         Dion didn't need to hear his announcement, he could feel his presence, smell his pheromones, feel the energies around him already, he had suspected the obsidian and crystal together had exponential powers and he was right! The Crystal Skull made it so much easier to harness! He chanted louder and the wind blew harder, the wall of leaves was now whirring around him, then, with a loud cry the crow swooped down from the tree and perched upon the Dark Altar, snatched the hair sample in his beak and flew off.