Dawn of the Epoch

Chapter XXIV - Valhalla

The slope was not easy to climb, but they climbed it. They arrived at the entrance covered in dirt and out of breath. The opening was not wide. It was, however, extremely tall. Hunter walked through the opening first. He expected darkness, but found a warm, inviting glow. A stone staircase with deep steps dipped and expanded before them. The path started out narrow, but widened until it reached great proportions.

“That’s beautiful.” Tiyana remarked.

She was staring at two small rivers flowing from fountainheads at the top of the staircase. The water burbled up and ran down the length of the steps on the sides of the staircase.

“It is absolutely fascinating. The whole room is illuminated by it. What is that effect? I mean, what is causing it to do that?” Hunter asked his scientist wife.

Hunter watched as light radiated from the water flowing down the steps. The water painted the walls and ceiling with sublime colors. The colors seemed to fade and change ever so slightly with the rippling and burbling of the water. The effect was almost iridescent.

“I don’t know dear. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Tiyana said.

For once in Tiyana’s life, she did not scientifically analyze the situation. She simply drank it in. Hongo kept silent as he warily fingered the hilt of his carbon-steel utility knife.

“Well, I’ll be darned.” Hunter said as they reached the bottom of the staircase.

The stairs opened up to a great, lithic hall with the glowing water dripping, burbling, and flowing everywhere. The water flowed down the walls. It spurted forth in fountains. It ran in little rivers down the sides of the room. It even dripped from rounded stalactites far up in the ceiling down into luminous pools. Hunter, however, paid no attention to the water. The walls drew his attention. The walls were covered in permanent sandpaintings drawn in meticulous detail. No frames covered them, the multicolored bits of sand just stuck to the rock walls.

The paintings depicted Vedic beings in mythological scenes. Hunter recognized some. He saw the ruddy-complexioned Indra, with four arms, carrying the Vajra septre, which gave him control of lightning bolts, along with a giant mace, a diamond-studded net, and a great bow. He saw familiar scenes like Indra slaying Vritra, the tyrannical dragon who stole the world’s water supply. He also saw very unfamiliar scenes. In one, Agni, the fire Deva, fought Vritra’s brother Vala, the stone giant, in a monumental coliseum built into the natural landscape of a valley surrounded by Himalayan mountains.

One painting caught Hongo’s attention. It showed Indra’s net in exquisite detail. In the picture, the net expanded limitlessly across the far reaches of outer space. A reflective gemstone sat in each link of the net and each gemstone reflected all the other gemstones. More impressively, however, each reflection reflected every stone again in an infinite series of reflections. The luminous water flowed down over the picture in a thin sheet, creating the effect of a prism on it and causing a clinquant rainbow of colors to emanate from each gem.

“This is too much.” Hunter exclaimed. He went on, “These walls are incredible. Where are the Egyptian gods, though? I don’t get it. There’s no overlap in here.”

“We can always get a spectroscope in here. See what we can see.” Said Tiyana.

“Yeah, we can. Let’s keep going and see what we find.” Said Hunter.

The trio walked and walked. Periodically, they saw ornate doorways guarded by pillars and statutes and incredibly detailed artwork. Eventually, they reached the end of the hall.

• • •

The trio walked out of the hall and into a vast circular chamber. A pool of luminous water lay below platforms that comprised the floor of the room. A platform circled the outer edges of the room. Another, wider one stretched out across the length of the room. An opening to the water lay in the center of this platform. The floor platform rose up around the edges of the chamber.