Kumakros had grinned even more widely than usual when I had told him the news, which was, frankly, a sight I could have done without. We remained hunkered down in our little refuge for the remainder of the day, resting and giving our wounds a chance to, if not heal, at least stop actively bleeding. I was able to procure enough local foliage to provide a reasonable meal, as well as an herbal salve to prevent infection. Kumakros seldom stopped talking, and as usual I felt left out of the conversation. Kyle was absorbing everything he could about Dezzermon and the creatures that inhabited it, as well as about Spriggans and fairies and the like. He seemed to be enjoying himself, in spite of our sparse accommodations. Elizabeth was beginning to show signs of waning enthusiasm, however. I could tell that the novelty of being in a new world was wearing off, and she was missing the comforts of home, particularly her mother.

The night passed more easily than the last one. Even a partially collapsed building holds heat better than no building at all, and we had no shortage of fuel. Kumakros had a high, whistling snore that kept up most of the night. The next morning, we gathered up our few possessions, including a bucket filled with cookware, and set out into the city once again.

Kumakros demonstrated his techniques for avoiding notice in the city. We hugged the shaded side of the street, slipped through intact buildings wherever we could, and avoided climbing over the piles of rubble as much as possible. We pressed deeper into the downtown area, past the meager little stream that Kumakros had gathered our water from, and the terrain became progressively more hilly. Near the top of a particularly high hill, Kumakros shinnied up the side of a building that looked like it might have been a bank, and invited us to follow. There was no chance that the children could handle such a climb, but I was eager to try out my improved climbing abilities, and I soon found myself scaling the corner of two sheer brick walls, using no more effort to grip the tiny finger-holds between the bricks than I used to use to get out of bed in the morning.

At the top, I was rewarded with a truly magnificent view. Up close, the city had seemed rather ugly, with it's crumbling buildings and ubiquitous weeds, but from up here, I could see that the city was not only enormous, but beautiful. I could tell that much of what I had seen so far had been built relatively recently, but there were structures here from much earlier eras, many of which had survived neglect far better. This city had gone through multiple architectural styles over the course of its existence, just like Rome or Prague or any great, ancient city. I could now see the coastline, with the remains of a huge stone wharf, and the ocean stretching off into the horizon. I could see the mouth of a great river than fed that ocean, most likely the feature that had drawn the early settlers to this spot, hundreds or perhaps thousand of years earlier. Kumakros drew my attention to two structures in particular. One was the towering ziggurat that Kyle had pointed out earlier, which from my current vantage point looked even bigger than it had when it was looming in the distance. The other was a massive structure that resembled a medieval cathedral on the opposite side of the river, near the mouth.

“When this this city was alive and Perillunthia, those were its two great temples. The tall one here was dedicated to The Inner Flame, the force of life and vitality. The other, across the river, was dedicated to Tethys, a goddess of the Great Deep. The two temples were the centerpieces of two courts, two gatherings, one of proud onakarnu and scholars, the other of sailors and fadunci. I do not know what caused the two courts to turn upon one another. In my Hyllanthi, the mere fact that they lived near each other is usually marill. To aid in the battle, the priests of the Inner Fire created the Boduuharan, who cannot be burned, broken, or drowned. The priests of Tethys begged their goddess for Valliunthia, but received no answer. In desperation, they abandoned their dedication, and Kadduvaal their temple into a place of great evil. Their desperate prayers were answered. The swarm emerged from the temple and swept over the city. The two sides forgot their quarrel as they struggled to survive the cataclysm. But it was hopeless. Soon, every man, woman, and child in the city had either fled far away or been consumed. Once their priests were all dead, the Boduuharan become wild and unpredictable, willing to destroy any living thing that entered their vision.”

“And those flying creatures that attacked us, those were what was summoned?” I asked. I felt I was beginning to get a grip on this language. I understood almost all of Kumakros' speech.

“Yes, the Rhoduffydd, the smallest and ishikarnu of that court. As long as we stay far from that corrupted temple, we will not see their stronger fellows. I intend to enter the Temple of the Inner Fire, and find the precious things that were left behind there. Much of it may have been taken, but some will remain. The only villi obstacle in our way is the Boduuharan, who still hide in the temple by day and wander at night.”

“Wasn't it a Boduuharan who killed your gnome friend?” I asked.

“Yes, as I said, they are unpredictable. They ignored him for a time, and when he became at ease around them, they crushed him.” explained Kumakros.

“Then what difference do you expect me to make? Or my grandchildren?”

“Anyone who enters the temple will be surrounded and crushed by the Boduuharan. They are slow and clumsy things, but they are many. We must draw them out of the temple, and keep them wandering about while we slip in and get the treasure. If there were more of me, this would be easy. With my companions gone, I had given up hope until I saw you. You humans are not as crafty as we Spriggans, but you are quick enough to outwit the Boduuharan. It will not be easy. Before we can make the attempt, we must spy out all the city around the temple, until we can find our way through in the dark. We must make plans, and set traps, and know where to go and what to do.”

I could see now that my skepticism about this little man was well founded. He intended to use us as distractions, to take the horde of monsters on a wild goose chase while he sneaks in and steals everything. I don't believe that he would shed a single tear if we all were crushed to death. After all, he was technically immortal, so to him I was barely older than my grandchildren, and none of us could be expected to live much longer anyway. He was a chilly sort of creature, in spite of his funny-looking grin. Still, I didn't believe he was lying, and the grandchildren seemed to agree that this cockamamie plan was the best way forward.

Kumakros' plan was not executed that night. Our group spent the next several days searching through the ruins for necessary equipment, exploring the streets surrounding the temple, and making our plans. I tried many times to share my misgivings with Kyle and Elizabeth, but they were too exciting at what they called the “heist” to pay much attention. I was beginning to realize that even Elizabeth didn't truly think of me as any sort of authority figure, not when someone as charming and knowledgeable as Kumakros was available. I suspected that she was trying to distract herself from missing her parents and friends by throwing herself into a project. Maybe I was doing the same, to some extent. Kyle was the only one who really seems comfortable here, he and Kumakros were becoming thick as thieves.

We rarely saw any of the flying monsters that everyone was calling the Rhoddyffid. Kyle helpfully translated that for me as “Bloodsuckers”, although judging by how Kumakros employed the term, “Blood Thirst” might be a better translation. We had found an assortment of kitchen knives and blunt implements in our scavenging that left us much better prepared for any more violent confrontations, although Kumakros warned us forcefully that we should not attempt to use them on Boduuharan. Those big things did indeed wander the streets at night, and although the children were eager to go out and try to get a look at them, it was always too dark at night to get a good look. We hid in the building that I had initially taken as a bank, which seemed to have survived its neglect fairly well by virtue of being built almost entirely from stone. It had dozens of rooms that looked like offices and conference rooms, all in ruins and often with skeletons scattered around. At night, we could hear the heavy footfalls of the Boduuharan trudging up and down the streets outside.

The day of the heist arrived. We started bright and early, having spent much of the previous day resting up from the dress rehearsal we had performed the day before that. I checked the children's wounds and changed their bandages; all three of us seemed to be healing nicely. Kumakros had bent all of our ears explaining his master plan over and over so that no detail would be missed. I took up my position high atop a set of what looked like apartments situated across the plaza from the ziggurat. In addition to being deeply satisfying, the ability to scale almost any building in less than a minute was proving essential to our plan. Indeed, it seemed like the only thing I could do to make a positive contribution to the proceedings. Elizabeth was already in hiding several blocks away, ready to execute her role in the plan. I didn't like leaving her alone. Indeed, I liked very little about this whole scheme, in spite, or perhaps because of, the repeated reassurances of Kumakros that the whole thing would go off without a hitch.

My chosen perch gave me an unrestricted view of the temple, the plaza, and the bank building that Elizabeth was hiding on. Kumakros was beside me, crouching and trying to remain as still as possible. I had equipped myself with two large carving knives, and I had discarded the flimsy iron bar for a heavy-duty rock hammer. The days of scavenging had also rewarded me with a sturdy pair of boots, a dun-colored leather arming shirt (my poor old pink sweater was now so torn and dirty that I discarded it without ceremony), and a backpack which would be used to contain our plunder, or “loot” as Kyle and Elizabeth cheerfully described it. Never before had the idea that this was all a bizarre sort of video game seemed so plausible. A sense of unreality hung over everything around me. I only hoped that I hadn't been a damn fool to go along with this plan instead of just grabbing the two children by their ears and dragging them toward the horizon. Both children assured me that “Stealth” had been one of their chosen talents, and they certainly did seem able to slip through the city without making much noise, so I had that limited reassurance to lean upon. Kumakros and I watched silently as Kyle approached the great gates of the temple.

As Kumakros had repeatedly explained, the temple had two entrances: a large one at street level to allow worshipers in for public ceremonies, and a smaller door further up the structure, to allow the priests to climb from the main sanctuary at the base to the sacrificial altar at the summit of the tower without leaving the building. There were stairways leading up to the tower inside, but the presence of the Boduuharan would make the path unusable. Unless someone could get their attention and lure them out of the temple. The upper levels would be where the treasure would be stored.

Kyle was utterly silent as he slowly made his way toward the gates. They were three and a half meters tall, and inlaid with bronze. Kyle carried two iron sauce-pans in either hand. He knew that the creatures within would respond to the slightest sound, but he needed to be sure that all of them would hear him. I tensed in readiness as I watched, ready to run to Kyle's defense at the first sign of trouble. He moved slowly and silently until he was standing just to the left of the massive doors. We all held our breaths.

Kyle began banging his two pans against the bronze gate. Even though I had expected it, the loud metallic clang made me jump a little. Kyle also shouted at the top of his lungs, in English so that only I would know what he had said. I wasn't thrilled at his language, but it was nice to know that Charlotte had not deprived her children of the holiday classics.

“I'm right here, ya morons! Come and get me!”

The Boduuharan were only too happy to oblige. The great gates swung open, so quickly and so forcefully that Kyle had to jump backward to avoid being slammed between the door and the brick wall. From the opening stepped a massive figure. It was shaped roughly like a well-muscled man with a heavy brow. It was a ceramic sculpture of a human figure three solid meters in height. It stood straight as a soldier as it marched forward, and it wasn't alone. Kyle ran out into the plaza, and more and more of the walking statues filed out of the temple, all trudging toward Kyle with identical, unhurried steps.

Just as Kumakros had said, their steps were slow and clumsy. Kyle had all the time in the world to avoid them as they steadily advanced. They seemed to have no faculty for thought or planning, they simply pursued the source of the noise, and Kyle kept slamming his two pans together to keep their attention. He paced back and forth in the plaza, letting dozens more of the massive monsters stream out of the temple and form a crowd that slowly swelled outward. The crowd became larger and larger as Kyle wove back and forth, always staying about ten meters away. There were dozens, maybe hundreds, of the huge figures filling the plaza before Kyle decided to run down the main thoroughfare and away. I don't believe that an entire Roman Legion could have taken on that crowd of clay giants, but they had one fatal weakness: a steady walking pace. At no point did it look like Kyle was straining to escape. If anything, he had to pause every so often to let the horde catch up. I still wasn't reassured of his safety. I could see the utterly expressionless faces of those statues as they pursued Kyle. I knew that if they caught him, they would fold, spindle, and mutilate him, and it would affect them no more than if they had gone apple-picking instead.

Kumakros and I remained perfectly still as Kyle led the mob of statues away from the temple. The footsteps of the army vibrated the rooftop under my knees as they finally stopped emerging from the temple gates. We waited as the mob's tail of stragglers left the plaza. We waited as the rhythmic thunder of giant footsteps began to fade. Then Kumakros tapped my shoulder, and it was time to go to work.

We quickly descended to street level and headed across the plaza. Staying well clear of the bronze gates, we ascended the wall of the ziggurat. It was much taller than any building I had attempted to climb before, and it was constructed of massive stone blocks that provided almost nothing in the way of handholds. My fingers locked into place on the tiny gaps as usual, but my fingers were tired and sore by the time I reached the top. I didn't relish thought of attempting a climb like that carrying a heavy load (well, a heavier load. Before I came here, the rock hammer alone would have been heavy). When I reached the top of the first terrace, Kumakros was waiting to help me up. I shouldn't complain, but it does not seem possible for anything to climb that quickly.

The second terrace should have been an easier climb than the first, but I had no time to catch my breath and recover. Sweat was beading on my forehead, and my fingers were beginning to feel slick. My climbing abilities hadn't let me down yet, but if they would, this would be the time. But I had to continue. Even slowing down would have cost precious seconds that my grandchildren were risking themselves to give me. Kumakros could climb as though his body weighed nothing. I didn't know if that was more magic or just something Spriggans are really good at.

At the top of the second tier was a sort of dais or platform that looked like it was once used by a person of some importance to give a speech to the crowd below. I wondered briefly who had been the pope equivalent in this “Inner Fire” religion. Behind the the dais was another door of richly decorated bronze, nearly as large as the one on ground level. On either side of the door were two bronze statues of hawks, seated on sconces. As Kumakros and I approached the gate, he reached into one of the many little pouches he kept among his fur loincloth, and produced a little roll of cloth. He unrolled it in front of the gate, revealing a set of lockpicks. He went to work on the tiny keyhole, trying and replacing one lockpick after another. After nearly a minute of struggling with it, Kumakros seemed to give up.

“No time. Use the hammer!” he instructed.

He stood back and gave me plenty of room. I was pleased to finally have a useful role to fill. I took the hammer in both hands and brought it down with all my strength on the seam between the two doors. A resounding ring vibrated my entire body, and rang out so loudly I couldn't be certain that the statues wouldn't hear it. The two hawks on either side of the door immediately sprang from their perches and went flying into the air, letting out an oddly metallic-sounding shriek. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that the statues could come to life after seeing a parade of them minutes ago, but it gave me a turn all the same. I turned and raised my hammer again, and Kumakros began making an odd turning gesture with his hands, as though he were churning imaginary butter. The hawks traded sides as they turned around in mid-air and swooped down toward us, repeating their unearthly shriek. Kumakros mimed throwing something, as I had seen Kyle do when he cast his headache spell. I hadn't been looking the last time Kumakros had created a whirlwind. It was all but invisible, but I could feel it's power as it ripped through the air toward our attackers. Unfortunately, whatever was holding those birds aloft had nothing to do with aerodynamics, and they sailed through the wind as if it wasn't even there.

The hawks streaked toward us, and I knew their metal wings could go straight through us like blades. One was bearing down on me, the other on Kumakros. I was able to set up my stroke just right, and my hammer struck the bird and sent it spinning across the terrace with another loud clang. Kumakros had avoided the worst of his hawk's attack, but it was now hovering over him, swatting at him with its wings and menacing him with its sharp talons. The little man was writhing around on the ground, thrashing about to try and avoid being torn to shreds. Another blow of my hammer sent it spinning away as well, but by that time, the first one had recovered and was swooping in for another attack. Kumakros cowered behind me as I fought the creatures, beating them back again and again until they were so dented and misshapen they could only drag themselves slowly on the ground, still shrieking accusations at us. By the time I had finished beating the great gates open as well, I was again gasping for breath, I wasn't sure how much more exertion I could handle today.

Inside the gates was a small landing with stairs spiraling upward and downward. The steps were quite dark, but Kumakros ran upstairs undaunted. I followed as quickly as I could, but I couldn't possibly keep up with him under the circumstances. I fell further and further behind as Kumakros sailed upward, his feet hardly seeming to touch the steps. I slowed to a walking pace, trying to get my breathing under control as I climbed. The stairs kept going upward, growing ever darker as I continued. I was really beginning to wonder what the point of all this could be. What business did my grandchildren and I have helping this strange little man? It had seemed so clear and obvious when he had been talking to us, and now I wondered if we had just gone along with it because we had no other obvious course of action available. I wasn't even really sure what Kumakros expected to find up here.

Before too long the stairwell began to grow lighter, this time the illumination was coming from above. I saw now that the stairs were lined on both sides with shelves. On the inner side, the shelves displayed neat stacks of dozens of scrolls, dry and ragged with age. This looked like it might be treasure, or at least items of great historical significance, but Kumakros had run right past them, so apparently they were not the object of our search. On the outer wall were displayed row upon row of mummified corpses, all carefully wrapped in linen bandages. The sight of them gave me quite a fright, especially considering that I had already been walking past them unknowingly for some time. What was more, I knew for a fact that they might just stand up and announce their displeasure with me for daring to tread in their sacred place. But they remained where they were. I continued upward.

I reached the top of the third tier, the spiral staircase opening out into the blissful sunshine. The peak of the tower was still hundreds of meters above me, and there were dozens of flights of stairs still separating me from the top. I could see Kumakros climbing the steps of the tower. Apparently there were limits to the little man's stamina, because he too was clearly struggling now. I was tempted to stop and rest before attempting the climb to the top, but that was when I heard the sound of heavy footsteps behind me.

It could only be the Boduuharan, the walking statues. Either Kyle and Elizabeth had failed to keep all of them busy on their wild goose chase, or...well that didn't bear thinking of. What mattered now was that they were behind me, climbing through the third tier, and all my delays had allowed them to catch up. Tired as I was, I had no choice but to force myself up the steps. Those big fellows may be slow, but I'll bet they don't get tired. I sure am glad I chose “Fast Climber”. I'd be in quite a mess now if I had picked “Headache”.

After the first few flights of stairs, I was so exhausted I was crawling up the stairs on hands and knees. That was when I spotted the Boduuharan emerging from the stairwell behind me. He seemed to be alone, at least for now, but I was not willing to bet that my strength would be any match for even one of those huge things. The way it trundled toward the stairs with that calm, unhurried gait made me insane with terror, and I redoubled my efforts to climb faster. The pain in my muscles, in my joints, the blood taste in my mouth, none of it mattered. I kept climbing like heaven was above me and hell below.