The Cydonian Pyramid (Klaatu Diskos) by Pete Hautman

Author:Pete Hautman
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780763663766
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Published: 2013-01-30T22:00:00+00:00

LIA LANDED ON HER FEET. SHE KNEW INSTANTLY THAT she was on the frustum of the Cydonian Pyramid. It was night. She spun around, checking for danger, but she was alone. A new moon hung low in the dark sky. The black stone altar was bare. No priests, no torchères, no crowd filling the zocalo. No Bounce. No Tucker Feye. No Reverend Feye.

Only a single Gate. And the sour smell of wet ashes.

Had Tucker and his father arrived at some point in the past, or were they yet to come?

Lia walked slowly around the perimeter of the frustum, looking out across the empty plaza. She might be a Yar now, but no one was there to declare her so. No one to celebrate her return. The buildings fronting the zocalo — even the priests’ temple and the Palace of the Pure Girls — were dark. The only sound was the whisper of wind over stone.

Beyond the zocalo, the city of Romelas rolled out to an indistinct horizon. A sprinkling of orange and yellow lights — candles, torches, and oil lamps shining through windows — dotted the sea of buildings. The city was not abandoned, only the zocalo — but why? Even at night, she would have expected to see people here in the heart of Romelas: street cleaners, lovers taking the night air, vendors sleeping beneath their carts. . . .

Step by step, Lia descended the pyramid to the plaza. The cobblestones were littered with sticks, leaves, rocks, bits of paper, and articles of torn clothing. Midway across the zocalo was what looked like the charred remains of a fruit vendor’s cart, surrounded by several scattered round things that might have been shriveled oranges. The cobblestones themselves were marked with angry black streaks of something burnt, as well as dark stains that made her think of blood.

Something bad had happened here. The hairs at the back of her neck stirred. Someone, or something, was watching her.

She crossed the plaza toward the Palace of the Pure Girls. Maybe she could find Yar Song. Or one of the Sisters, someone who could tell her what had happened. She was passing near the priests’ temple when she heard a slight scraping sound from within, followed by the hiss of low voices. Lia stopped and looked at the dark openings of the windows.

She said, “Hello?”

No response.

Realizing that she had spoken in archaic inglés, she spoke again. “Hola?”

In answer, she heard a soft metallic click. Instinctively, Lia dove to the side as a searing bolt of blue fire blasted the cobblestones where she had stood an instant before. Lia hit with her shoulder, rolled, and came up running. Another jet of flame from the arma raked across the zocalo, nearly catching her as she reached the corner of the temple and entered the long colonnade that ran from the temple to the Palace of the Pure Girls. She wove in and out through the columns, in case they were pursuing her, and did not stop until she reached the end.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.