The city had been an ancient ruin before the Great Elders had stumbled across it and hacked it free of the primeval forest. There was even evidence to suggest that the mysterious Archons had not built the city, but had simply occupied the deserted glass-and-gold buildings, which dated from the Time Before Time. When the Great Elders relocated to the newly created Isle of Danu Talis, the unnamed city had been abandoned once again to the forest. Now the gleaming metal spires were wrapped around with thick vines, and the glass walls and glittering black stone streets were covered with creepers and trailing roots. It was deserted-no animals moved in the tumbled city, no birds flew overhead and the usual jungle noises were completely absent.

“This place frightens me,” she said aloud.

Her huge red-haired, red-bearded companion remained silent. Shading his eyes from the sun, he slowly looked across the city, searching for any signs of life or movement.

Zephaniah unrolled a map etched onto a piece of skin from a long-extinct lizard and pressed it against a green glass wall. Tilting her head to one side, she tried to make sense of the squiggles and arcane script. “We’re here,” she said doubtfully, pointing at the map.

An enormous hand reached over her shoulder, flattened the map against the wall, then slowly turned it upside down. A blunt-nailed finger pointed. “We’re here, sister!”

Zephaniah took hold of the coarse red hair that covered the back of the man’s hand and tugged hard.

“Ouch! What did you do that for?” Prometheus demanded.

“Because.”

“Because?”

“To remind you that not only are you my little brother, I’m in charge of this expedition.”

The warrior in the rust-colored leather armor grinned. “That’s only because Abraham likes you more than he likes me.”

Zephaniah’s smile faded. “To be honest, I don’t think Abraham likes either of us,” she said softly.

Prometheus rested his hand on his sister’s shoulder and brought his head down close to hers, strands of his graying red hair mingling with hers. His solid green eyes were troubled. “I know you like him, but be careful, sister. I have heard rumors that he is mingling Archon technology and Elder magic in ways that have never been used before.” He saw something shift behind his sister’s green eyes and cupped her small chin in his hand, tilting her face upward. “You knew this…,” he said accusingly.

“A little,” she admitted. “He told me that he is creating an encyclopedia of the entire world’s knowledge. He is calling it a Codex.”

“That must be a big book,” Prometheus said with a smile.

“He believes he can get it into twenty-one pages.”