Death After Death

Simon was awoken in the middle of the night by two men wearing white robes, clay masks, and a lantern. Though he was startled at first and almost lashed out in anger at the thought that the Whitecloaks had somehow found him. He restrained himself when he realized that all of this was part of some elaborate ceremony. He donned his brown robes and then followed them down another hallway that led in the opposite of the one he’d traveled in previously.

The hallway led past a long colonnade of dark volcanic pillars on one side before it ended at a winding stairwell that led further up. It had no lights, and they made no move to climb it. Instead, one of them thrust the glassed lantern into his hand, and the other gestured to continue on without them.

Simon did just that, and as the stairs looped at random through what was probably a lava tube, he wondered exactly where this oracle might be since he didn’t think this passage could continue for very long. As it turned out, it continued for longer than he would have thought, becoming a passageway that dipped down again before becoming stairs once more. Halfway down the passageway, there was a rent in one side large enough for him to see the volcanic lake far below him. He was definitely moving along the rim of the crater. Somehow, knowing that made the whole thing seem that much more precarious despite being surrounded by stone.

After a few minutes, he finally reached the end of the stygian maze. There, in a steaming crag, was another smaller temple. Three large pillars held up a small roof, making the whole thing feel almost cave-like, and the delicately mosaiced floor was rent in half by a crack that glowed angrily from somewhere far below. Besides his lantern, it was the only light in the room, which was empty save for the veiled woman who sat Indian style, just on the far side of the crack.

He approached her, then sat down on the nearside, opposite her. Only the thin layer of sulfurous fumes and the thin glowing line separated them.

“Greetings to you, Simon. That was once such a rare name in the world but now, if the stories are to be believed, it is becoming quite common,” she said smoothly. “It has been a long journey for you to reach me, but I knew that one day you would sit here beside me.” Her outfit showed him little of her body, though he could see her mouth as she spoke.

One thing was for sure, though. She didn’t look nearly old enough to have advised Elthena’s grandfather about anything. The woman that sat across from him was not a wizened old crone; she was a woman in her twenties or thirties.

“It’s an honor,” he said, meaning it. “Though truthfully, I didn’t expect all of this. ”

“They never do,” she smiled sardonically. “And that is why the number of my visitors is so few. It is a necessary evil, I am afraid.”