Ruins

"There’s something you should see before you go."

Davion looked up from his bowl of stew. "Hm? What’s that?"

Sarah gave him a soft smile. "It’s better to be shown than told."

A star appeared between them. The sphere of light expanded to reveal a serpent with rainbow-feathered wings.

"Lao is gone," said Sarah, "but Quetzal has agreed to take you. It’s about a day’s walk north of here, but I promise it’s worth it."

"You won’t tell me what it is?" asked Davion.

"I don’t want to spoil the surprise," said Sarah. "Trust me."

Davion furrowed his brow and looked at the fire. "I do trust you. I’ll go."

"You won’t be disappointed," said Quetzal.

They left at dawn. By midday, they had to leave the trail. It was a difficult slog through brush and brambles. Davion hoped it was worth it.

They came to a ravine. A river flowed at the bottom, fifty feet down. Before them lay the remains of a massive stone bridge. Behind it lay a ruined city.

Davion stared in awe for a moment. He turned to Quetzal and asked, "What is this place?"

"The city of the cyclopes," said Quetzal.

Davion looked at him with wide eyes, then scampered up the bridge.

The middle was gone — collapsed into the ravine.

"Make a hole," said Quetzal. "Like we showed you."

Davion took a deep breath. "Okay," he said. "I’ll give it a shot."

He focused his mind and calculated the space before him and the space beyond the bridge. He linked the two. A glowing ellipse sprang forth. He could see the ruined city on the other side. He poked his head around the portal and saw the other end beyond the bridge. He stood and stared through it.

"Not going through?" asked Quetzal.

Davion sighed. "I’ve opened small ones — even put my hand through for a split second — but I’ve never actually gone through one before."

The portal winked out.

"You’ll be fine," said Quetzal. "I’ve done it a million times."

Davion took a breath. "Okay," he said. "Here goes nothing."

He reopened the portal, took a deep breath, and stepped through. He found himself in the ruined city. Quetzal flew over to join him.

Davion strolled forward, his head craned in all directions. The cyclopean structures had stones so large that they must have been built by giants. They looked to have been built for giants, with every door at least fifteen feet tall. Even the streets were made of stone. He saw a tower — a sprawling pile of rock with stairs twenty inches long and fifteen inches high. Vines and vegetation covered every building. Wildlife roamed about. He walked on, marveling at it all.

"How old is this city?" asked Davion.

"It’s been abandoned for over a thousand years," said Quetzal, "so it’s at least that old."

They came to a temple. Inside the massive hall, enshrined above the pulpit, hung an ornament: a golden eye inscribed within a silver triangle.

He strolled through the ruins for an hour, taking it all in.

"Come," said Quetzal. "There is more."

Quetzal led Davion to a hill in the center of the city. On the hill stood a monolith: six great pillars of stone, twenty feet tall and five feet in diameter, arranged in a hexagonal pattern. Davion ascended the hill.

He walked past the massive pillars into the center. He felt something.

"This place feels strange," said Davion. "It’s like there’s too much…​ space?"

"This is a coterminous point in spacetime. A place where this world overlaps with that of the cyclopes."

Davion looked at the tiny flying serpent. "What does that mean?"

"It means you can open a portal to their world from here."

Davion raised his eyebrows. "Really? I could visit their world?"

"If you wish," said Quetzal.

Davion stared at the ground. "Sarah was right," he said. "It is better to be shown."

Davion looked around. He looked at the massive structures, the aqueducts, and the wildlife. He listened to the world. He looked back at the ground, then up at Quetzal. He took a breath, turned toward the center of the monolith, and opened a portal to another world.