They found Alina at the entrance to a large stone building. “There’s something here you two should see!”

  “What is it?”

  “Come and look.” She invited them into the building. They followed her along a wide corridor and entered a room with a raised platform at the center. The room was lit by sunlight, its roof having gone long ago.

  As they approached the raised platform a black wall came into view. The wall was striking because it was covered with inscriptions. It was massive too, the size of a sailing ship.

  The inscriptions were made of gold lines and angular symbols that covered the black stone. His eyes followed the gold lines that seemed to shift in the light, their golden glow appearing the flow like liquid across the black surface.

  “We are the first colonists to see this!,” Alina said.

  Temon gazed at the wall, his mind racing with questions. He stared at the symbols, wondering if they held a secret that would unlock the mysteries of the old Ashok.

  They stood in silence as the light filled the room.

  “What do the symbols mean?” he asked.

  Alina pointed to a symbol. “This one means ‘river.’ That one there means ‘settlement.’ These lines are travel routes.”

  “It looks like they had a big civilisation once,” he said. “I wonder what happened to it? ”

  It was hard to take his eyes off this golden map of the Ancient World.

  Alina was delighted by the discovery and looked more alive than Temon had seen her before. The memory of the burning outpost seemed to be quite forgotten for the moment.

  Rejah pointed to a symbol. “That looks like one of the things on the construct.”

  She was right. He recognised it as the same glyph from the back of the construct they had just been fighting.

  “Where are we on this map?” Rejah asked.

  “I think we are on the western side of the map. I need to study it before I can say for certain.”

  The engravings made no sense, and frustration built within him at his lack of understanding.

  He needed to pursue Eyeman as soon as possible and hoped Alina would soon decipher the symbols, but she seemed in no rush.

  She stared at the wall. "There are many symbols I’ve never seen before.” She sighed and shook her head. “It will take time to find out what these symbols mean.”

  Temon, too, was curious about the symbols and the stone map. There may well be other places like this - that no colonist knew about.

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  “Anyway, we need to go. This is just a history lesson” he said. “Eyeman needs to be caught.”

  “Yes, but the past can tell us much,” Alina replied. “Give me a little longer.”

  After a short while, he pressed her again. “We need to get moving.”

  “I’ve worked out what these symbols mean." She pointed. “This is a map has the capital at its centre. The lines represent directions to other locations — not just temples but vaults.”

  “Interesting,” he said. “Can you make a copy of this map so that we can take it with us?”

  “Yes, I can. ”

  Taking a stick of charcoal, she sketched the engravings onto a piece of parchment she had been carrying and began marking positions symbol by symbol.

  “The colonial authorities will be very interested in this,” Temon said.

  She stopped drawing and pointed to another symbol on the wall. “There may be more,” she said, gesturing at an angular shape. “This symbol could represent a fortification."

  “We should hope there aren’t any more constructs out there,” Rejah said.

  Temon agreed. “They could pose a grave danger to us.”

  “The Eternal Sun shall watch over us, ” Alina said. “It will protect us.”

  “I hope you’re right,” he said. He understood the basic tenets of her faith, though he believed in fate, not divine intervention. Since fate ruled everything, then nothing could be changed, in his mind anyway. He respected her beliefs but could not imagine living an ascetic lifestyle like hers.

  “The Eternal Sun asks much of its followers,” Alina said. “Yet it also gives much in return.” She held out her hand to indicate he could take it, in a gesture of fellowship.

  He declined to take her hand. “I’m not ready to join your Church,” Temon said.

  She shook her head sadly. “The Church will welcome you, when you are ready."

  “Maybe, someday.”

  She nodded and smiled at him.The cleric then returned to her work. She continued to draw and make notes as she studied the golden lines and symbols on the wall.

  “So. How much longer do you need?” Temon asked.

  “It'll take a day.” She was clearly irritated by his insistence on leaving. He tapped her on the shoulder, but she shrugged it off.

  Her lips moved silently as she mouthed the translated symbols, her brow furrowed, yet her expression alight with the thrill of discovery.

  Still. His mind remained fixed on pursuit.

  “Why don’t you go on and leave me here?” she suggested. “You and Rejah do what you have to do, and I’ll stay with Urdo and we can catch up with you when I’m done.”

  It would have been easier to let her stay while he and Rejah went after Eyeman.

  “No. This land is full of dangers! We must keep together!"

  “I can’t rush this, you know.”

  “No. We can't split up. Anyway, this place will still be here when you want to come back."

  Alina's shoulders slumped. The vibrant energy she had found in the ancient wall seemed to drain away, replaced by a resigned quietness.

  “I understand.” Her eyes met his, and, for a brief moment, he thought he saw something more than disappointment there. This golden map wasn’t just a history lesson to her; it was a connection to something beautiful and lost.

  He reached into a leather pouch on his belt and pulled out a folded piece of worn animal hide. It was a map he had taken from a tribesmen a couple days ago. "Here. Take this,” he said, holding it out so she could take it. “This might be something you can help us understand.”

  Alina took the hide from him and unfolded it. The map was very much simpler than the one on the wall.

  Her eyes widened. “This is interesting ,” her fingers traced the lines on the hide. She looked back to the stone wall and held up the smaller map to see them side by side.

  “Look,” she said, pointing with one finger at the animal hide and then pointing at the wall.

  "There is the Sacred Valley." Then she pointed to another spot. "This is where we are now. See this symbol?"

  "Yes."

  "There is a Vault in the Sacred Valley."

  "A Vault?" Rejah asked.

  "Yes. I have just learned the symbol, " she said with a sense of excitement.

  Rejah added her thoughts. "If there's a Vault, there could be valuables in it."

  "Or answers."