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Dawn’s glow shimmered off the flat ocean as a colule trail, their voices hushed as they neared the coast and their destination, the new city said to have been built on the very surface of the sea

At the head of the group was the chief holy man, decked out in a colorful robe in defiance of the ever-present heat His skin was the color of jerky, and a sheen of sweat coated his face One of the few to have already e to the just completed palace near the western tip of Guadalcanal, he was now leading his flock to the site He gazed back at the procession with satisfaction—he’d collected the dom for the journey,islands, for the ceremony and festivities that were to last the remainder of the week

Slivers of light filtered through the overhead canopy of tropical trees as the group ale The islands were untamed, and the majority of the Guadalcanal tribes lived within a hundred yards of the shore, avoiding the inland areas that abounded with predators both real and iiants, ferocious creatures more than twice the size of a round caves and satisfied their thirst for hu the unwary or the careless Besides, there was no reason to brave the unknown in the interior of the island when a generous bounty fro

The shaman halted at the top of a rise Thefrom the waves where before had only been water He pointed at the impossible spectacle with his staff, ornately carved with reliefs of deities, and ’s na seemed like he’d descended froend in his own lifetime

This—King Loc’s greatest achievement—made all his others pale in comparison Loc’s vision of a series oflocal rock in the relatively shallow half-s would be used as the royal residence

The island’s holy men considered the compound sacred, evidence of Loc’s divine superiority His builders had spent a decade creating it, with thousands oflike it had ever been seen, and the king had assured his counselors that its co of a new era

Nobody doubted his word—Loc was a ruler who had transfor collective to a wealthy kingdo his people By organizing a priold, he’d made the island’s fortunes What had been just another stop on a lackluster trade route had become a hub of wealth whispered about on distant shores

Over the years, the islanders had grown to appreciate the value of their legacy Traders frooods for the treasures the natives amassed Gold was especially prized, and now there hole tribes devoted tothe precious metal in the mountains Their existence had evolved into one of relative prosperity, all under the encouragement and watchful eye of their benevolent ruler

The sha at the top of the hill, surrounding the holy man with e island to the south moved to the shaman’s side and pointed at a platfored slowly from an ornately crafted stone temple

“Is that Loc?” he asked, squinting at the tallest of the linted in the sunlight

The holy man answered, “Yes It is he”

“The tenificent,” the chieftain said “It sy of our thousand-year ascension as foretold in the prophecy”

It idely held that Loc’s reign syolden era for the islands, a tiion’s power center, revered by all, and prophesied to last twenty lifetiic that would accompany

the appearance of the “chosen one,” the earthly embodiment of celestial power It was believed that Loc was that being The massive treasure he had accumulated only solidified his position, as if the earth were validating his do its riches to its new master

The chieftain nodded Who could doubt that this was no ordinarythe throne? Any skepticisht have harbored vanished at the spectacle before hi with him miraculous news