smirked.
“That,” the dragon-kin said. Rio whimpered.
“I… didn’t have that problem,” I said.
“Only he does,” Levent answered.
I shook my head. “Why are you guys-“
“We thought you might need help,” Rio said. He stepped in front of Levent, staying as far away from the wall as possible. “Or that’s what we told King Julreus anyway.”
“Ah. Well. I’ve found it, I think,” I said, looking through the window to the shrine again.
We walked down the remaining stairs. Rio hugged the inside wall, but there were no more handprint lights. The shrine lit up the room well enough.
The statues in front of the pool were taller than me, a little larger than life. Almost instantly, I recognized three of the four smaller statues. Readimina, Ishralik and the winged Manavell held all their iconic qualities. The fourth, however, was unfinished. The stone was still rough, only the vague shape of a body distinguishable. I frowned. For some reason, the fourth statue was intended to have wings as well.
“What are you doing?” Rio said.
I looked up to find Levent climbing the steps behind the statues and looking into the pool.
“I’m pretty sure that’s disrespectful,” the half-blood observed without much conviction.
“Probably,” I agreed.
I walked forward and peered into the water.
Then I looked at the dragon-kin. He glanced from the water to me, his eyes particularly luminous in the blue light. He was daring me to touch the water as I had before, and judging by the situation with the lock, it was safe to assume that this pond was going to be exactly like the one in the Readimina temple. The half-blood looked at me, oblivious of the situation.
I crawled up to the side of the pool and looked at the pond. My eyes narrowed as I noticed a strange reflection in the water. I looked up at the ceiling. There seemed to be an opening there, a crystalline window like outside but without light from behind it – a dull mirror. I frowned. Whoever designed this place had indeed