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“I’m getting tired,
Paisley. We’ve been walking forever. It’s hot and stuffy in here,” Murray
said.
“Stop your whining, boy. You don’t hear any of the
girls complaining. Be a man.” Mr. Wallace scowled.
“We’re almost there,” Millei said, turning to glare at
Leith’s father.
“Where? Where are you taking us?” Mr. Wallace sighed
and wiped his forehead.
She chose to ignore the man. They moved through the
tunnel; the air smelled fresh and a breeze blew as they stepped into a
domed room. “We’re here. This is the center of Atlantis and each of those
other tunnels leads to different areas. That one over there,” Millei
pointed to the left, “goes to the temple. The one right across from us
goes to the treasury and the one to our right leads to the power source.”
“I’m off. It was nice meeting you and I’m sure we’ll
run into each other soon,” Mr. Wallace said.
“Uh, Mr. Wallace; I’m not sure if you know this but
tomorrow is the last day Atlantis will exist. If you want to get back to
Scotland, you’ll have to find Leith before tomorrow night,” Paisley said.
“Right you are.” He saluted them and disappeared into
the tunnel.
“Let him be. He’ll have to come back here to get out.
What would you two like to see first, the temple?” Millei grinned.
“Yes!” Paisley headed for the left tunnel. “Come on,
Murray.”
“I think I should tell you a bit about the temple. You
don’t know much about it, do you?” Millei saw them shake their heads back
and forth. “Poseidon married a mortal, a Titan, named Cleito. He built
this temple for her on top of the mount and had the moats built to keep
her inaccessible and to keep her from leaving. Rather cruel if you ask me,
but that’s a Greek god for you. The temple is massive in size and
completely covered in silver. The pinnacles are covered with gold. Being a
god, he could afford the best. The whole inside roof is made of ivory and
decorated with gold, silver and orichalcum, which is a gold and copper
alloy. All the other things, like the pillars and floors are covered with
the orichalcum.”
“That metal must be particular only to Atlantis. We
don’t have it in our time,” Murray said.
“You maybe right. They use it for everything. There
are dozens of statues and there’s a huge one of Poseidon. He’s standing on
a chariot with six winged horses and surrounding him are Nereids. Do you
know what those are?” Millei looked at Paisley.
“Nymphs, right?”
“Right. It’s huge. There are also dolphins. All around
the outside of the temple are more statues made of gold. Did you know
about Poseidon and Cleito’s ten sons? They actually had five sets of
twins.”
“I’ve heard about the story,” Murray said.
“Me too,” Paisley added.
“Then I won’t repeat it for you. The gold statues
outside are of these ten sons and their wives. They used to let bulls
graze on the temple mount and once a year all ten sons met with their
parents to discuss Atlantis. Each son lived in a certain part of the
island and ruled over it. Atlas, ruled here. His descendant, King Mason,
is a pathetic man. He’s nothing like his ancestors.” Millei led them
through a maze of tunnels. “We’re here. We need to be quiet. If we get
caught, we’ll be thrown in prison. My mother won’t be too happy if she has
to plead with the king for my freedom; as if she’d do that for me.” Millei
scowled.
“It’s got to be around midnight by now. They’ll all be
in bed, won’t they?” Paisley gasped when she saw the statue. “Oh my gosh!
Look at that!”
The golden statue of Poseidon stood before them. “I’ve
never seen anything like that before. It’s in perfect condition,” Murray
said.
The three of them walked around the room, touching
everything in sight. The polished gold showed their reflections, as did
the floor and every pillar.
“You’re smudging the
statues.” Millei tried to wipe their fingerprints off. “These are sacred
statues; reminders of Atlantis when it was a great place.” They heard a
door open and ducked behind the statue. Two young boys came running into
the room. “It’s Apollis, and Poseenos,” Millei whispered, “the royal
princes.”
Murray had to fight back giggles. Both princes had
long golden hair, braided and tied back with golden ribbons. Both wore
gold-colored pajamas and slippers. “What are they doing here?”
“Shh.” Millei put her fingers to her lips to quiet the
others. They watched as the boys danced around the room and sang to the
top of their lungs.
Apollis, the older child,
climbed on the statue and sat on the back of one of the dolphins. “Look at
me, Poseenos. I’m flying with the dolphins.”
Poseenos ran to the corner
and picked up a bag. When he opened it, rubber balls rolled all over the
floor. He tried to gather them. When he had a few in his hand, he tossed
them at Apollis.
“Can’t hit me, Poseenos.”
Apollis laughed as the balls whizzed past.
“I will. Stay there while
I find more balls.” Poseenos chased the rolling balls, one of which found
its way to where Paisley, Millei and Murray were hiding. “Who are you?
Apollis, there are three people here.”
Apollis slid off the
dolphin and ran over to his brother. “Girls and a boy. Who are you and
what are you doing in the temple? Nobody is allowed in here except
royalty.”
“What are you two boys,”
Paisley said with a laugh, “doing up at midnight, climbing all over the
sacred statue of your ancestor, Poseidon? Do you think your mother and
father would approve of such behavior?”
The two princes glanced at
each other. “Tell us your names,” Apollis demanded.
“I am Millei, daughter of
Norindal. This is Paisley and Murray. They are visiting their Uncle Catt,
who is a fisherman.”
“He is one of the royal
fishermen who brings you fish every day,” Murray said, sticking out his
tongue. “I didn’t know you had rubber here.” He opened his hand in hopes
that one of the young princes would give him a ball.
“Silence.” Apollis
disappeared and came back a few minutes later with a rope.
“You don’t actually
believe we’re going to stand here and let you tie us up, do you?” Paisley
burst out laughing. “You two princes aren’t stronger than the three of
us.”
Apollis pulled out a
dagger and held it to Murray’s throat. “Sometimes strength isn’t needed.
Now stand still or the boy dies” He wrapped the ropes around the three.
“You are our prisoners. Help me, Poseenos. We have to tie them tight.”
Once Millei, Paisley and
Murray were tied securely to one of the Nereids, the princes threw balls
at them, pinched them and bit their toes. They gathered cups of water from
one of the fountains and tossed them in Murray’s face.
“Knock it off,” Paisley
said. “You’re nothing but spoiled rotten brats. You’re a disgrace to your
ancestors.” She hesitated. “Oh my goodness. I sound like Mr. Wallace,
don’t I?”
Just then Mr. Wallace
appeared. Murray saw him creeping towards the princes and did what he
could to keep them looking at him. Mr. Wallace snuck up from behind and
grabbed both boys by their necks. “Did I hear my name being called? What
do you two think you’re doing?” He took Poseenos and Apollis and held them
with one arm. With the other he untied the kids. “Tie them up,” Mr.
Wallace said. Once the princes were wrapped in the ropes, Mr. Wallace
strung the rope across Poseidon’s chariot and raised them until they
dangled in mid-air. He turned to Paisley and the others. “Come on. We need
to get out of here.”
They followed Mr. Wallace,
leaving the two princes sobbing and kicking their legs in an attempt to
escape. “Down this tunnel; and we’d better run,” Millei said.
“What about those boys?
They’ll die.” Paisley stopped for a moment to look at the two boys. “I
guess it has to be this way.” As they dashed to their freedom, Paisley
asked Mr. Wallace, “Did you find the source of power?”
“Yes. It’s solar energy,
but on a much grander scale. During the day they open up a portion of the
mount and gather the sun’s energy. It provides light at night and also
powers any equipment they might use. Quite amazing,” he answered. When
they burst out of the tunnel, they relaxed. “Where’s Leith?”
“He went to the sea to
find some boats,” Murray said.
“I’m off to find him.
Master Tait, would you care to accompany me?”
Paisley nodded for him to
go. After the two males had crossed the bridge, Paisley and Millei sat on
a bench. “Millei, does your mother know how to travel in time?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“Someone took a special
book from the library. Of course, if Norindal didn’t die in the
destruction, she could have easily taken it after they had built the
library, or before they’d built it,” Paisley said, talking to herself.
“This gets complicated thinking about what did happen and what will happen
if we change events.”
“You’re right about that.
If Mother doesn’t leave the island, your book is safe and you won’t have
any need for it because Taygetus, the wizard guy you were telling me
about, won’t exist. You do realize that I’m his descendant too, don’t
you?” Millei leaned back on her arms and gazed at the stars.
“I do realize that, but he
doesn’t come through you, so there’s no need to worry.” Paisley laid all
the way back. “The stars are so peaceful. It’s so quiet here at night and
there are zillions of stars.”
“I don’t think my mother
can travel in time. She mostly casts spells and tortures animals. She’s
even caught our house on fire before doing her stupid spells.” Millie
chuckled.
“We’d better go and find
Leith too. He’ll be worried about us.” Paisley stood and pulled Millei up.
“It will be fun having you around. We can be sisters. I know my mum will
love you.”
They strolled down the bridges, gazing into the domed
tunnels. The water flowed gently through the canals, reflecting the moon
and stars. Most of the houses and businesses were darkened with slumber. A
few dogs barked and cat fights were heard in the distance, but aside from
that, all was at peace. Paisley glanced down at Uverlu Canal. “Why are all
those ships heading to the sea?”
“What ships?” Millei looked down. “Those are our naval
vessels. That’s strange. They must be heading for battle. There’s always
something going on. One year the Athenians attempted to attack Atlantis.
They didn’t succeed. The Egyptians, Greeks, Trojans and Carthaginians have
all tried to capture our lands, but we’ve always won.”
“But there are a few boats who are stocking up right
now, preparing to leave tomorrow night. The navy vessels won’t bother
them, will they?” Paisley watched the mighty ships sail past.
“There are always ships docking on the outer beaches.
We don’t always have room for them inside the walls. The navy doesn’t
bother with such things.” Millei kept walking.
They reached the outer wall and walked across the sand
to the docks. They found Mr. Wallace and Murray lying near some bushes.
“What are you two doing?” Paisley nudged Mr. Wallace with her shoe.
“Everyone is asleep and we didn’t want to bother them.
I can’t believe a man of my stature and position has been reduced to
sleeping in the sand.” Mr. Wallace brushed the grains from his shirt.
“I think it will build character, Mr. Wallace. We’ll
join you.” Paisley lay next to Murray and Millei slept next to her. Soon
all were asleep and the only sound was of the naval ships raising their
sails as they headed towards the Pillars of Hercules. |
