Chasing Legends

Part 5

Izara looked at the blinking dot, feeling her pulse quickening again. She walked slowly towards the white table. Its surface was still empty of anything else. No writing or signs, only the bright blue dot on its center.

She started reaching for it with her hand, but then she paused. She remembered what had happened last time, when she had touched the Human skeleton. For all she knew, touching the table could provoke another such display, maybe even a more destructive one. She had read of some old civilizations covering their tombs in traps to defend them from thieves. Perhaps the Human were also mistrustful like that.

And yet, there was nowhere else to go. Only forward.

Forward.

She steeled herself, and placed her hand on the surface.

The dot disappeared.

Nothing else happened.

She looked around, at the giant arches and walls. Everything was still. Nothing had changed. The countless bodies still staring at them with their missing eyes.

Then, she noticed something was different about the table. The empty space over it was quickly filling in an eerie, spectral blue light. Both she and the squad took a couple of steps back.

Floating over the table was a small blue orb of light. Slowly, its surface started morphing, flowing like it was made of liquid. Two eyes appeared, then a protruding feature, similar to a snout, a mouth under it… a broad, large alien face, made of light.

A Human face, Izara knew.

She stared at it with her jaw dropped for what felt like an eternity. She wondered what to do. Nothing in her past had prepared her for this moment. A moment where she was, face to face, in front of a Human. But she had to do something, anything. She couldn't let this chance slip away.

"H… hello?", she stammered

The alien eyes turned at her, studying her. Then, it spoke with a calming and serene voice. A warm voice that felt out of place in the sterile environment around them.

"Hello, Izara. I was waiting for you."

She froze. What? How? Before she could reply, one of the soldiers spoke:

"How can you know her name? Hell, how can you know our language?!"

The alien looked at him and smiled.

"I've been watching you", he replied.

Izara took a step ahead. There was something she had to know, she needed a confirmation.

"Are you a Human?"

"Human...", the alien repeated, savouring the sound. "That is a word I haven't heard in a long time. But yes, I guess you could say I am one."

Izara took a deep breath before the next question. She feared the answer.

"Are you the only one left?"

"No, I'm not", the Human said in its calming voice, "do not mind these relics."

Izara looked around.

"Well, where is everyone else then?"

The alien smiled.

"Oh, but you already know, Izara. You know where to find them."

And with that, the light faded away, the face disappearing into the air. The white table was, once again, completely inert.

You know where to find them, Izara thought. Was that a riddle? A test? Was she being judged? Was she supposed to prove her worth by figuring it out?