Argurios of Tartessos climbed onto the ledge, he looked into the mouth of the cave and, to his surprise, saw nothing. Realizing he had further to go, he continued. He climbed till he felt rich soil and grass under his fingers. He heaved himself onto the plateau and stood. Once he was able to focus on something other than his pounding heart, he heard birds singing. He saw luxurious greenery and flowers of every hue, and far in the back of the garden, a little hut.

Then he saw it, laying on its side under the shade of a tree, as if sleeping. A woman- a woman’s body, soberly dressed in a white chiton with an embroidered hem. The impression of modesty was heightened by the wing covering the left side of her body, which Argurios reasoned was meant to protect her while she slept. The woman had arms that seemed to be good for working in fields, her skin bronze from days in the sun. Argurios approached, he could scarcely believe the Easterner had killed her. As he came close to the corpse, he noticed that pooling from the stump of her neck was shining blood. The pool spread not as blood, but as a creeping thing, swarming.

Startled, Argurios looked up and about him, and saw statues, better than any he had seen, whether images of gods or grave markers for their chiefs, they looked alive, he could see veins and muscles, some were standing still, some had one foot ready in front of the other. He walked over to the edge of the plateau, to a statue that seemed about to walk backwards. Argurios looked down and saw a small wooden box. He lifted it, opened it, and saw a tablet with writing on it, he read, “To the one who finds this, I am dead, I go to face the monster, and I leave my wife and son, but I am doing what I must.”