If they are, why don’t they just speak to me? Why this invitation passed through others? Auraya found herself wondering, not for the first time. Maybe because they want the Siyee to note it. Had the gods simply spoken into my mind the Siyee would not know, or would have to trust that I told the truth. And if the gods appeared in the presence of the Siyee that takes some of the holiness out of this place, since it’s where they go when they commune with Huan.

They drew closer to the peak and Auraya began to make out details. The highest point was oddly shaped—cylindrical and rounded at the top. She saw a sliver of sky within the shape, and realized that it was hollow. Suddenly what she had glimpsed in Sirri’s mind made sense. A small pavilion Temple had been carved out of the stone peak.

She wondered how it had been built. Below the circular base, on all sides, was a near-vertical drop. Perhaps if a hollow had been made first, the structure could have been gradually carved from the inside. None but Siyee could have reached such a high, inaccessible place, however. She had not realized the Siyee stone-carvers were so skilled. As she drew closer she could see that it was a simple, undecorated structure. Five columns supported a domed roof. The proportions were flawless, the surfaced polished to a shine.

Sirri flapped her wings to gain a little more height, then tilted them so that she landed neatly between two columns. Auraya abandoned all pretense of being subject to the forces of wind and the pull of the earth. She straightened and stopped, floating in midair, then moved herself forward until her feet met the center of the Temple’s floor.

Only then did it occur to her that the Temple had been made to landwalker proportions. She did not need to duck her head to avoid the ceiling.

“This is the Temple,” Sirri said quietly. “It has always been here. Our records say it was here long before the Siyee were created.”

“The Siyee didn’t create it?”

Sirri shook her head. “No.”

“Then who did?”

“Nobody knows. Huan, perhaps.”

Auraya nodded, though she was still mystified. The gods could only affect this world through humans, and then only through willing humans, so at least one human must have been involved. Perhaps Huan had given a stone-carver the ability to fly in order to have this place created.

“This is a sacred place. Even those of the Temple Mountain tribe, who keep watch over it, rarely visit.” Sirri gave Auraya a quick smile. “We don’t want to distract Huan from her work unnecessarily.”

Auraya ran a hand over a column. There was no sign of wear or age. “It is amazing.”

“I have one question, before I leave,” Sirri said. “The Speakers wish to know when you want to depart for Borra?”