Dust of Dreams

skill, on such a scale, Taxilian?’
    ‘No, it surpasses . . . it surpasses.’
    Sheb stepped in between two of the talons, slipped into shadows and out of sight.
    There were no obvious entranceways, no formal portals or ramps, no gates; no windows or apertures higher up.
    ‘It seems entirely self-contained,’ said Taxilian. ‘Did you notice—no evidence of outlying farms or pasture land.’
    ‘None that survived the interval of abandonment,’ Rautos replied. ‘For all we know, after all, this could be a hundred thousand years old.’
    ‘That would surprise me—yes, the surface is eroded, worn down, but if it was as old as you suggest, why, it would be little more than a shapeless lump, a giant termite tower.’
    ‘Are you certain of that?’
    ‘No,’ Taxilian admitted. ‘But I recall once, in a scriptorium in Erhlitan, seeing a map dating from the First Empire. It showed a line of rugged hills inland of the city. They ran like a spine parallel to the coast. Elevations had been noted here and there. Well, those hills are still there, but not as bold or as high as what was noted on the map.’
    ‘And how old was the map?’ Rautos asked.
    Taxilian shrugged. ‘Twenty thousand? Fifty? Five? Scholars make a career of not agreeing on anything.’
    ‘Was the map on hide? Surely, no hide could last so long, not even five thousand years—’
    ‘Hide, yes, but treated in some arcane way. In any case, it had been found in a wax-sealed container. Seven Cities is mostly desert. Without moisture, nothing decays. It just shrinks, dries up.’ He gestured with one hand at the stone façade before them. ‘Anyway, this should be much more weathered if it was so old as to outlast signs of farming.’
    Rautos nodded, convinced by Taxilian’s reasoning.
    ‘Haunted,’ said Breath. ‘You’re going to get us all killed, Taxilian. So I now curse your name, your soul. I will make you pay for killing me.’
    He glanced at her, said nothing.
    Rautos spoke. ‘See that hind foot, Taxilian? It is the only one on a pedestal.’
    The two men headed off in that direction.
    Breath walked up to Asane. ‘Spin that cocoon, woman, make yourself somewhere you can hide inside. Until you’re nothing but a rotted husk. Don’t think you can crawl back out. Don’t think you can show us all your bright, painted wings. Your hopes, Asane, your dreams and secrets—all hollow.’ She held up a thin spidery hand. ‘I can crush it all, so easily—’
    Last stepped up to her, then pushed her back so that she stumbled. ‘I grow tired of listening to you,’ he said. ‘Leave her alone.’
    Breath cackled and danced away.
    ‘Thank you,’ said Asane. ‘She is so . . . hurtful.’
    But Last faced her and said, ‘This is not a place for fears, Asane. Conquer yours, and do it soon.’
    Nearby, Nappet snickered. ‘Dumb farmer’s maybe not so dumb after all. Doesn’t make him any less ugly though, does it?’ He laughed.
    As Rautos and Taxilian drew closer to the hind limb they could see that the pedestal was rectangular, like the foundation of a temple. The vertical wall facing them, as tall as they were, bore the faint remnants of a frieze, framed in an elaborate border. All too eroded to interpret. But no sign of an entranceway.
    ‘We are confounded again,’ Rautos said.
    ‘I do not think so,’ Taxilian replied. ‘You look wrongly, friend. You search out what rises in front of you. You scan right and left, you crane your sight upward. Yes, the city encourages such deception. The dragon
invites
it, perched as it is. And yet . . .’ He pointed.
    Rautos followed the line of that lone finger, and grunted in surprise. At the base of the pedestal, wind-blown sands formed a hollow. ‘The way in is
downward
.’
    Sheb joined them. ‘We need to dig.’
    ‘I think so,’ agreed Taxilian. ‘Call the others, Sheb.’
    ‘I don’t take orders from you. Errant piss on you highborn bastards.’
    ‘I’m not highborn,’ said Taxilian.
    Sheb sneered. ‘You make like you are, which is just as bad. Get back down where you belong, Taxilian, and if you can’t manage on your own then I’ll help and that’s a promise.’
    ‘I just have some learning, Sheb—why does that threaten you so?’
    Sheb rested a hand on one of his daggers. ‘I don’t like pretenders and that’s what you are. You think big words make you smarter, better. You like the way Rautoshere respects you, you think he sees you as an equal. But you’re wrong