Time Is all that is left of me.

Surface like the sun Bright and beautiful Underneath A hidden ruination

“So,” she said, kindling the fire with her stick.“It was the third year of the Queen's reign when she decided that it was time to unearth the three eggs her ancestors had been gifted by the Sun God, sealed into an underground shrine. They were told to keep them buried until all the signs were there, and it was time for the eggs to start hatching. “ “Centuries had gone by, millenia even, but never were the signs right. The land they lived on was a desert, devoid of the huge trees and wide lakes the oldest legends only whispered about, and dried up rivers of red rock flowed between their settlements. But our Queen was an ambitious one. She was determined to lift her people from their poor life. So it had not been even her first year as a queen, when she declared the first signs had appeared. And it did not take long for the rest of them.” “So, as I said, it was the third year, and she went to the hills which grew far away, north to their city, so far that only the keenest of eyes could see them from the high towers of her palace. She traveled alone, drinking from hidden places of water, walking by night and sleeping in makeshift suncovers during the hottest time of the day. Finally she arrived at the sacred place that resided in a valley between the red hills she had climbed. A path made from obsidian stones, perfectly cut into six-sided plates that ran from the hilltop down to a gate that rose from the sand. A black door was guarding the temple, but she knew all of the right words and the gestures. The door opened, screeching against the sand that was everywhere, sliding sideways and disappearing into the wall. She stepped into the tunnel that led downwards and a faint glow appeared into the walls. She descended, and after traveling for what seemed a half of an eternity, the steps stopped. She stood in a cavernous hall that continued on and on in every direction. The ceiling was too high for her to see, although the glowing walls were brighter here.” “But brighter than them were three pits, far from each other. She walked to the nearest one and when she looked down, she saw an enormous golden egg. She dropped on her knees, tears swelled from her eyes. The glow was so bright she saw only the egg, and nothing else she wanted to see. For three days she sat there, watching the eggs, every now and then walking to another one, to stare at each and every one of them. “After three days she finally left. While she had been staring at the eggs they had already started to grow, and now as she walked out of the tunnel she heard the ground groaning in pain as the eggs began to grow faster. She ran up the hill. As she turned around at the top of it, she saw a huge burst of sand and rocks erupting from the valley. After everything had calmed down, she saw that the valley had opened into an enormous pit. And in the pit she saw three huge, dense balls of light, magnitudes brighter than the eggs she had been staring at. And near her was a vessel, big enough to host hundreds of people, and it was connected to the glowing balls with ropes that shone with white and blue light. She went back to her people. They took everything that was valuable to them, which wasn’t much, and traveled to the hills. Not everyone wanted to leave, but many did, and when they all had boarded the vessel, the Queen took her place at the front, and they sailed towards the nearest star.” “But her ambition was their downfall. The eggs weren’t ready yet, the Sun God was angered, and their journey was cut short. The balls of light dimmed soon after they had left, and the vessel crashed, killing most of her people, the rest left to survive in a hostile environment, instead of the paradise they had been promised. And that’s how our ancestors came to this land.” On that note she ended her story, and a solemn silence settled over them.