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“Is that… a statue?” asked Ash, his voice barely audible.
"Only one way to find out," I answered, moving forward, hand resting on the hilt of the knife at my belt.
I edged closer to the figure, and as I did, the details sharpened under the flicker of torchlight. It wasn't a sentry or a wayward ghost—it was a statue, rough and almost primitive, but human shaped with indents for eyes and mouth, rather than a sculpted face.
"Clay," I murmured, running a finger over the statue's surface.
I glanced up and ahead, and saw another a little further down the street, and possibly one beyond that.
“There’s more,” Theo said.
"Creepy," I said, unable to shake the unease that skittered down my spine. I scanned the line of statues disappearing into the shadows. "They're everywhere."
A gust of wind stirred above us, and I glanced up just as Sariel descended, her wings folding gracefully at her back.
"Alastor," she said, and I tried to ignore the way my heart skipped, remembering the way she’d moaned my name this morning. "The roads here... they all lead to one place—a central garden and what looks to be a temple built into the back wall of the cavern. It’s huge."
"Show me," I said, motioning for her to lead the way.
"These are so strange," she said, pointing at the statues as we passed by. "They stretch throughout the city - hundreds of them."
“No bodies, though,” said Ash, moving up next to me. “In a cave carved from salt rock, I would have thought we’d have found some, but there’s nothing.”
“Bodies would have rotted by now,” said Carlisle. “If they’d been packed in salt, then maybe, but I think the only bodies you’d find here would be if they had a graveyard.”
“Why’s that?” asked Theo.
Carlisle nodded at the buildings. “These are houses, shops, business, but if you look inside, look through the windows, there’s nothing there. Some large items of furniture, but nothing personal. They’ve been emptied. I think you’re looking at a citywide mass evacuation.”
“Because of the fire and brimstone?” asked Theo.
Carlisle shrugged. “Maybe, but look.” He walked over to a nearby building, running his hand over the smooth wall. There was a curved depression in the wall. “These are everywhere, and of varying sizes. I think if the angels did sink Sodom into the ground to protect it, the fire and brimstone was already raining down.”
I stepped closer to another depression, mimicking Carlisle’s action as I ran my hand over it. “It's smooth - would the fire have melted the salt rock?”
Carlisle nodded. “Yes, but I don’t think that’s what smoothed it out. I think the city was sunk during the asteroid shower or whatever it was. Maybe by the angels, maybe there was an earthquake that opened up the earth and pulled the city down - we are right on a tectonic plate boundary, so that’s plausible too. but I think the smoothing happened later - if you look at the carvings on the buildings, you can see they were highlydecorated, but much of it is worn away and smoothed. I think the cavern flooded, and it’s the water that’s done that.”
I looked at him, starting to understand. “They knew the cavern was flooding so they evacuated, taking their personal items with them.”
“I think so, yes. It explains the lack of belongings in the houses. The tunnels down to the city may have stayed waterlogged for some time, so they simply moved on, and the layers of the tell above our heads formed over time.”
“Are you saying this cavern could flood at any time?” demanded Theo. “Cause we left all our dive stuff back with the freaky killer bats.”
"I think it's been a long time since there was enough water in this area to flood a cavern this big,” grinned Carlisle. “And if by chance it might happen again, I’d put my money on it happening during the rainy season and not at the height of summer.”
“Fair point,” grumbled Theo.
“All very interesting, but let’s keep going,” I said. “We’ve found the city; I just want to grab the scroll and get out and back to the surface. I’m starting to miss that burning sun. Are we still heading right for the garden, Sariel?”
“Just a couple of blocks ahead,” she said. She didn’t take flight again, though her wings hung down behind her back as she walked next to me, the lower feathers occasionally brushing the ground. I felt like I should say something, but couldn’t find the words as we moved down the last street. With the others so close, I didn’t think it was a great time for a conversation, but the need to know what she was thinking burned away inside me as we walked.
The street ended, opening out into the garden Sariel had told us about and the whole team came to a stop, staring ahead at the wonder before us. The scent hit me first, the air thickening with the scent of greenery that had no right to flourish here. Thegarden sprawled before us, an impossible oasis. Bushes, plants, trees, and even flowers filled the wide semi-circular space in front of us, a riot of colour against the dark grey salt rock of the buildings and the cavern walls.
"How is any of this alive?" I asked, my words directed to no one in particular.
“It’s not… not possible,” murmured Carlisle, stepping forward to brush his fingers over the leaves of a bush that bore tiny purple flowers. “It’s real,” he said in surprise, stepping back closer to me.
“Don’t plants need sunlight and water?” asked Theo. “This can’t be natural.”
