Each figure was clothed in a shimmery blue robe with a silver mask over the face that resembled an eagle's face. In their right hand each figure held a torch that blazed forth with a green flickering flame.
The natives drew back in terror and fell to the ground in homage of the manlike eagle beings with the green flaming torches.
Passing through the camp the eagle beings headed for the decaying stone structure at the edge of the clearing. The last two figures on the wings of the formation peeled off and turned to face the groveling natives.
The natives stared in mute terror from their prostrated positions on the ground as the remaining three figures walked through what appeared to be a solid rock wall. As they disappeared within the stone structure the villagers howled in dread at the supernatural sight and commenced to moan fearfully as they lay on the ground.
I took my mask off grateful that I was now able to scratch the bites on my neck once more. The scratching gave only a brief moments respite from the itchiness. Turning to Seth I laughed upon seeing him. Being the nut that he was he had taken some feathers he had found from somewhere and stuck them in the creases of his elbows and was moving his arms in the imitation of a chicken complete with the hopping.
I glanced at Father John and my laughter died as I noted his disapproving face. He hadn't been happy about the whole eagle costume superstition idea. Oh well it had worked beautifully and it was far preferable to being in a cannibal's cook pot.
Getting back to business I turned to the room we were in. It was devoid of ornamentation and was a singularly boring square of stone walled room in appearance. I stepped into the middle of the room and pressed my thumb to the gem of a ring that Thaddeus had given me.
The walls disappeared like curtains falling to the ground and we were surrounded by a gallery filled to the ceiling of strange and amazing items of every imaginable description. To say we were surprised by the foreign looking scene around us would have been putting it mildly. I had been under the impression that the repository of the ancestors was entirely made up of an extensive collection of books, not actual relics of the knowledge.
There were pathways through the jumble of artifacts, which we made our way through. Mesmerized by the treasures around me I was almost afraid to reach out and touch the strange inventions that littered the room from floor to ceiling.