The sea beast reached the shore. Muli took Philomina and Bart into the woods to scout, while the others began dismantling the "house" on its back, both to let the sea beast get some proper rest, roll over on the seabed and scratch an itch, and to repair and remodel the "house."
Half an hour later, the three returned. Their expressions were not exactly grave, but neither were they relaxed. They seemed to have found something.
"Captain, there's a rather unusual place in the center of this island."
"Did you see any natives?"
"No, but people must have lived on this island before. They left quite a few traces of daily life, though that must have been a very long time ago."
"All right." Kallen hesitated, then ordered, "Everyone, combat formation. We'll go take a look together."
Kallen left no one to guard their things on shore. It did not matter if the "house" went missing anyway. Everything important that they could carry was in their backpacks. As for the sea beast, it could play in the sea on its own for a while.
Splitting up in unknown territory often only led to unnecessary losses. If nothing happened, posting guards made no difference; if something did happen, the people left on guard were often the ones who met with trouble.
The group moved through the woods. The deeper they went, the more stone steles and man-made implements they saw, all with a very primitive feel.
The unusual place Muli had mentioned was a deep pit. Unlike the lush greenery outside, the soil inside was black, without a trace of vegetation. Only humanoid sculptures stood in rows around the pit.
At the very center of the pit was a well, with a water-drawing apparatus made of stone above it.
"Memphis, Mars,