“If you're over your human insecurities now, perhaps you'd like to come and take a look at this, Godhunter,” Eztli said.
We all looked to where she stood with Blue; both of the Aztecs staring down at a piece of crumbling wall that was at the lowest point of our location. Blue looked up and nodded grimly; his jade eyes flashing within the deep tan of his skin.
That was all the prompting we needed; we hurried over—across the foot-sucking sand—to peer at the spot Eztli was pointed at. The rock had been cleaned and the base of the wall excavated. A channel had been dug in the sand—down at least a hundred feet. Whoever had done it must not have had a water god with them; the ditch went straight down, without any way to climb down it. When you're swimming you don't need ramps, but we did. Persephone motioned with her hand and manipulated one wall of the channel into a ramp. We tromped down the sandy ramp to the bottom of the wall. The wall was about twenty feet tall; beneath a slab thicker than I was tall; I assumed it was the city's foundation. Between the wall and the foundation there was a crevice about four feet wide; just wide enough for someone to slip through.
“Re, would you mind shedding some light on the subject?” I asked.
Re crouched beside the crevice and set his palm within it. A glaring light emanated from his hand and illuminated a metal column. We gathered around Re and peered past the first column; into a cavernous space filled with more of the metal cylinders.
“Looks like someone found the hydraulics,” Blue noted.
“Can we disable them?” I asked.
“Perhaps if we could find the pressure lever,” Odin said.
“Can't we just blow the lifts to bits?” Finn asked.
“The resulting crash may be similar to an earthquake,” Torrent mused. “It could have dangerous repercussions on the entire world.”
“Fuck,” Brahma growled. “We need to handle this carefully.”
Brahma slid into the space.
“Brahma!” Sarasvati shouted. “What are you doing? You don't know if it's safe to go under there.”
“It's held for thousands of years, Sara,” Brahma said. “I think I'll be fine.”
“Let's get in there and help him.” Thor climbed down into the cavern too.
Re went in after Thor; casting his light across the ceiling of the cavern. The rest of us followed him inside and then stopped to stare around us as the enormity of the space was revealed. The metal lifts were set in orderly lines and stretched as far as I could see.
“How big was this city?” I asked Odin.
“Easily twice the size of Manhattan,” Odin said. “Perhaps twice that.”
“Sweet city of gold,” I whispered. “It's enormous; and these lifts have been supporting it for all this time.”
“The controls could be anywhere,” Mr. T said. “They could even be above this level. In fact; that would make more sense.”
“Shit; you're right,” Brahma said from a spot forty feet away. “Sara, do you remember anything about a Control Room?”
Sara frowned thoughtfully. “I don't, but knowing Krishna, it would be somewhere in his palace; that was located in the center of the city.”
“Why don't we just ask Krishna?” Morpheus suggested.
We all looked at Morpheus in surprise.
“What?” Morph huffed. “It's logical.”
“And so obvious that none of us thought of it. Well done, Morpheus,” Odin said.
Morpheus grinned.
“Does anyone know where we can find Krishna?” Blue asked.
We turned to stare at Brahma and Sara, but it was Karni Mata—Teharon's girlfriend—who answered.
“I do,” Karni said softly.
We all looked at her hopefully.
“You do?” Teharon asked in surprise.
“We were close once,” Karni said gently. “He wanted to disappear for awhile after Dvārakā sunk, and I gave him sanctuary.”
“Was that all you gave him?” Teharon's usually-kind face hardened.
“It was a long time ago, Teha,” Karni whispered. “We all have a past.”
“Yes; you're right.” Teharon sighed. “I'm sorry; I don't know what came over me.”
“It's called jealousy.” Brahma grimaced. “Take my advice and deal with it internally.”
“It's already gone.” Teharon lifted Karni's hand to kiss it sweetly. “I have you now, and that's all that matters.”
Karni smiled adoringly up at Teharon. “Good; because he's in my temple. He never left.”
“What?!” Teharon roared.
Chapter Nine
After Teharon calmed down, we headed back to Sekhmet's house and informed her of all our findings. She nodded and remained quiet, but it was obvious that she was shaken. The possibility of a god city rising from the sea just beyond your home would upset anyone, but it especially bothered an ex-goddess who would be completely defenseless against a magical attack.
“I'll stay with you,” Re said to his daughter. “I can keep an eye on the site and watch over you as well.”
“I don't need...” Sekhmet trailed off as Re gave her the golden stare of doom. “Yes, Father.”
“I can stay too, if you'd like,” Morpheus offered. “I'll be able to check on the ruins from the sky.”
“That's a good idea,” Re agreed. “Thank you.”
“Sure.” Morph smiled brightly.
“Okay,” Thor said. “Let's get to Karni's temple.”
“Um... will we be tracing directly into her private quarters?” Finn asked.
“Yes,” Karni said with a smile. “I'll just go over first and lower my wards; then you can trace in without having to walk through the temple.”
“Thank you,” Finn said with relief.
We were all relieved; truth be told. Karni Mata was the Hindu Goddess of Rats, and her temple was the home of thousands of the little furry fuckers. Sorry; I get a little unsettled when I think about my last visit to the temple. Think: Indiana Jones in that snake pit, except with rats. That's what walking through Karni's temple was like. Okay,
