As their journey went on the landscape changed, low mesas giving way to a rising escarpment.

  Progress was slow with the cleric and amnesiac sharing one horse. They chose the name of "Ceda" for the horse, because it was the name of a star in the horse constellation.

  "Tribesmen can easily follow our tracks,” Temon said. "They're obvious."

  “Yes. We're leaving quite a mark,” Rejah agreed.

  He looked back to see if anyone was following, but there were no sign of anyone.

  “We'll need to go over that ridge up ahead” Alina said. “That route takes us to the sacred valley.”

  They began to ascend a steep incline with loose scree that was very hard going, but eventually, they reached the top sweating and tired. At the summit was a cliff face with a narrow gorge cut through it.

  As they rode inside, Temon first, the sides of the gorge closed in. Large boulders stood precariously close to the top of the cliffs.

  “Watch out for falling rocks,” Temon said and they proceeded through the gorge.

  He wondered if this route was too risky.

  A boulder fell from the cliff face down towards Temon. He reined in Paleboy and managed to make it retreat just in time as the rock crashed down in front of him. At that moment many other large boulders plummeted to the floor of the gorge. The rockfall threw dust and debris up into the air. The was deafening.

  The dust cloud blocked his vision and filled his lungs and he coughed violently. He feared the others might have been crushed by the rocks. “Is everybody alright?” he shouted, but the noise from the falling rocks still rang in his ears.

  Gradually, the dust cleared and he saw Rejah, covered in pale dust. “That was close,” she said.

  "Are the other two alright?" He was straining to see through the settling dust. Each shadow between the boulders could conceal a crushed horse or body. Rejah shouted"Alina are you all right?" Alina's reply came back."We're fine!" He was able to see her and Urdo back the way, also covered in dust.

  He was relieved to know everyone was alive but the rockfall had caused changes in the gorge and now a pile of boulders blocked the route forward.

  “There's no way ahead now!” he shouted back to the others.

  “What about going this way?” Alina suggested, pointing to a gap in the cliff that had seemingly just opened up.

  “We'll try that way then,” Temon said.

  Temon and Rejah rode back to the place where Alina was pointing. “This way is really narrow,” Rejah said. "We should lead the horses because the rockfall has spooked them.”

  The new route was narrow and only just wide enough for him to lead a horse. Any more rockfalls could trap them or worse. They led the horses along this narrow way with the sound of loose rocks crunching and cracking beneath boots and hooves.

  As they continued the light in the gorge dropped until they were walking in only a dim light, with bright daylight and the strip of blue sky high above them.

  He hoped they would be through and out into the open soon. Their footsteps echoed unnaturally in the confined space. He began to dwell on the possibility of another rockfall, of being trapped in this rock corridor with no way out. The horses whinnied softly behind him. He found himself straining his eyes for the first glimpse of daylight, desperate for the reassurance of open space. Temon did not like to be in confined spaces. He disliked it less than his fear of heights, but it was still an annoyance and a worry.

  There was a growing light at the end of the gorge and as he drew nearer and a sudden flood of brilliant sunlight made him squint. A sharp wind blew as they emerged into a wide space, with a circular stone structure and one towering pillar in the center. The pillars bore Ashok engravings.

  “What is this place?” he asked the cleric.

  “It looks like a ruined temple.”

  Alina went over and began examining the symbols closely. “I would like to study them,” she said. “Maybe I can find something here.”

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  “We must keep going,” he said. “We are trying to track Eyeman!”

  “Yet I want to stay,” she insisted. “If there’s something to be found here then I want to find it.”

  “We’ve got enough to deal with right now. Let’s go on.” He did not want to argue with her but it was looking that things may go that way. He also got the strange feeling something was watching him, but there was nobody there, just the temple ruins.

  “This place feels strange,” he said to Rejah. “It feels like I’m being watched.”

  Then pillar seemed to move and it resolved into a tall figure that must have been standing behind a column, hidden, until it moved into the light.

  This tall figure was a hulking grey metal figure with blue gems for eyes. It was twice his size and looked at least double his strength. It fixed its eyes on him, its feet crunching on rocks as it advanced, and he drew his sword and prepared to fight.

  Their tactical situation was bad, as Rejah urgently tried to get Alina and Urdo to safety as their horses bolted and ran away. He stood alone before the advancing metal fighter, his a sword feeling inadequate against the creature's massive frame. Its blue gem eyes glowed wit an ancient intelligence. He had never seen anything like it before, a metal machine that could fight!

  His limited options were were either a direct assault that would be suicide or a retreat that would leave his companions exposed to the construct's danger.

  The metal construct swung its right fist at him and he jumped aside to dodge it. The metal fighter then swung its left fist and he ducked under it. He thrust his sword at it, but the construct parried his jab with its right fist and he barely avoided having his head smashed open.

  He dodged and jabbed for a short while, all the time trying to come up with a plan. There was no obvious way to defeat it and this fight would end soon if he could not avoid the construct. He hoped that he was faster and would be able to run away if it came to that. He had to get away before it was too late. At least he had managed to keep its attention away from the others, but this was getting serious.

  "Temon!"

  There was a rocky outcrop not far off and if he could get to it, he may have a chance. The rocks were tall but openings between them that he could use to hide in.

  He ran to the outcrop, climbed it and jumped down into a hole which then opened into a rock tunnel.

  Rejah was there with the others and she shouted. “Follow me!” She led them outside to a narrow ditch and jumped down into it. The construct could not follow them into it, because the ditch was too narrow.

  The construct came after us. Once we were hidden in the ditch it moved off, its massive form turning away with mechanical indifference, the blue glow of its gem eyes dimming slightly as it trudged back towards the ancient temple.

  Temon sighed with relief and sat down against the rock wall. The gully offered little room to move and they were a squeezed into a tight spot.

  “What was that thing?” Temon asked.

  “I don’t know,” Alina replied. “Those ruins were special. Those engravings on the pillars may mean something! If I could go back, I could study them. ”

  “That sounds like a great idea,” he said sarcastically, “apart from the metal killer problem!"

  He had never seen or fought such an opponent. Every opponent he'd faced in his years as a bounty hunter and soldier had been flesh and blood, breathing creatures that bled when cut. This thing was cold metal. Its joints emitted a low, rhythmic grinding as it shifted position, and the blue gems serving as its eyes seemed to calculate his every move with cold, unfeeling logic. The construct showed no sign of fatigue, no pain when struck, and no fear.

  “We have to try and get our mount’s back,” Rejah said. “We won't go far without them because they’re carrying our supplies!”

  “Is it safe to go out now?” asked Alina.

  “The thing seems to have gone," Temon said, “but it can come back and kill us.”

  Cautiously they got out of the ditch and looked around. The construct had gone and they went to look for the horses. There were hoofprints in the sand that lead away from the ruins and they followed their horses’ tracks all the while being vigilant.

  The hoofprints eventually led them to their mounts who were all uninjured.

  “Let’s go back to that temple,” Alina said. “I want to study those engravings. I can’t miss this opportunity.”

  “We don’t have time for that,” he said.

  Alina insisted, “I can’t afford to waste this opportunity. You must understand how important this is.”

  Temon wondered if she had gone mad from the heat or something.

  She continued, her voice gaining a fervent edge, "The temple symbols can say a lot about the old Ashok culture, more than you realize. I saw patterns that could explain why their civilization fell, why they abandoned such magnificent structures for a nomadic life. Understanding their past could be crucial to understanding their present, and why Eyeman would commit these acts against colonists."

  “What happens when that thing returns?” he asked. “We’re not strong enough to fight it! We all saw how dangerous it is. This will not happen. We’ve got to get out of here before it finds us.”

  “This place was unknown to us."

  "It’s not important right now," he said. He couldn’t believe what she was saying. “It’s a ruin! There’s nothing here.”

  “You do not know,” she insisted. “It could be the key to understanding the Ashok’s past.”

  "Right now that doesn't matter!" He considered binding and gagging her but dismissed the idea. She was a scholar and her interest was genuine. Yet she ignored the clear threat.

  He put a hand on her shoulder, “You saw it, Alina. That thing wanted to kill us. It probably still wants to kill us. There’s no prize in that ruin that’s worth your life.”

  She wasn't listening. Her mind was lost in a world of symbols and secrets.

  He turned to Rejah. She was looking at Alina, her expression thoughtful, not angry.

  “She has a point. Temon,” Rejah said.

  His head snapped toward her, disbelief warring with a rising tide of betrayal. “What is she right about? Getting us all killed? Because that’s what will happen. That thing isn’t going to let us walk around here. We don’t know what makes it work, what its limits are, or how to even scratch it!”

  "I'm not asking you to fight it," Alina said. "Just to give me the chance to study the engravings from a safe distance. The knowledge there could explain everything."

  Temon threw his hands up in exasperation. "Safe distance? There is no safe distance!"