by L. R. Wolf
Aya turned her face up at the sky as the first drops of rain started to fall. “ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!?!” She was already higher than she wanted to think about, the path already treacherous, now it seemed that some higher power wanted to add a bit more danger to an already dangerous situation. Aya pulled her cloak tighter around her and flipped her hood up to protect her face from the quickly chilling air.
Elohwa followed suit with her own cloak. “We always get rain around this time of day during the summer months.” Elohwa chuckled as Aya muttered something unpleasant under her breath involving more than a few curses. As they continued to travel upwards, the path sometimes got narrower. Elohwa kept herself closest to the ledge as she wasn’t afraid of heights like Aya was. At one point the path ahead narrowed to barely being wide enough to fit one person. Elohwa had to reach out and grab Aya so she didn’t plummet over the sudden drop.
“Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!!” Aya yelled into the wind as she stepped backwards, losing her footing briefly. Elohwa’s hand shot out to steady her. “There has GOT to be a better way to do this!!” Aya’s teeth were starting to chatter, half from the cold and half from fear. Aya had placed her hand against the side of the mountain, the cold rain and the already cold ambient temperature of the mountainside causing her fingers to stiffen. An idea occurred to her, “Why didn’t I think of this before?” Elohwa turned to her quizzically as Aya closed her eyes. In her mind she pictured vines sprouting along the wall as a sort of makeshift railing at the same time using other vines to form a bridge across gaps. She pushed the power out into the wall and the earth beneath her feet. Strong vines bubbled up from the earth and out of the mountainside, a large vine ran against the wall, small tendrils dug into the rock giving the vine an anchor. When the vines, which acted as the railing, got to spots that were washed out, vines crept down the wall and into the earth before multiple vines emerged and intertwined with one another traveling to the other end making a suspension like bridge.
Elohwa grabbed the rail vines and pulled as hard as she could to see if the vines would dislodge, but they held strong. She then stepped foot onto the small vine bridge, it only spanned about three feet across so the vines wouldn’t be stretched thin. Elohwa marveled at the diversity of the vine spell that Trav had taught them so long ago.
A new notification appeared announcing the creation of yet another new spell. Aya glanced at it quickly before mentally swiping it away.
Congratulations Dreamer! You have created the Small Vine Bridge (Mountainous) spell! By modifying the Entangling Vines spell you are now able to form small bridges consisting of vines to cross small gaps. The vines used in this spell are stronger in order to support the weight of multiple adventurers and to be able to burrow into rock and stone. Rails consisting of strong vine have been added for your safety and convenience! Cost 10% mana. Duration 10 mins (base)
Aya drank a mana potion to refill what she’d lost forming the new spell and casting it. She dropped the vial and cork back into her satchel and then grasped the new rail with both hands as if to pull herself along. The path became easier now that they had a way to traverse the areas that had washed out. Aya kept her eyes down watching the path in front of her so she wouldn’t accidentally look out and down over the city. After what seemed like the longest hour of her life, the women finally crested the top of the path. Before them, built snuggly into the side of the mountain was the face of a very nondescript building. Two statues had stood guard at the entrance but had long since toppled and broken. The new clothes and cloak that Elohwa had made for her the previous day had done a good job of keeping Aya dry and relatively warm, but her hands were freezing as she they had been out of the protection of the cloak as she pulled herself along on the vines.
Elohwa moved under a small overhang that led inside the temple, she created small sparks on her palm to light ancient braziers set into recesses in the stone right inside the temple. “Welcome, to the Sky Temple.”
Chapter 19: Sky Temple
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The entryway to the temple was actually just a beautified cave entrance. Once within, they were surrounded by rough hewn stone. Blackened iron braziers lined the path leading to a small altar at the end. The altar was a simple slab of smoothed stone with a stone bowl set in the center for offerings. Nothing seemed to stand out, nothing that would indicate a Heart or anything like it. The women were surrounded by nothing but cold stone.
“Do you see anything?” Aya was shivering as the temperature within the cave had dropped dramatically. With a quick gesture she cast Fire Shield around herself and Elohwa to help ward off the cold and dry their clothes.
“It is polite to leave an offering when one visits a temple.” A light came bobbing up behind the women as Va'lore floated towards the Altar.
“Oh, I’m not quite sure what an appropriate offering would be.” Aya frowned as she opened her satchel looking for something she could leave in the offering bowl. Most of what she had were herbs she had picked and junk loot she had planned to sell to a vendor or give to her husband when he was able to get back into Infinity.
Elohwa approached the altar and paused for a moment before reaching into her satchel, she pulled out the box containing the Shadow Bloom that Aya had given her a few days prior and gently placed it within the offering bowl. Elohwa raised a hand with her palm up summoning a spark. She dropped the spark into the bowl, the flames quickly engulfing the bottom of the bowl, shadows fled before the light within the Altar. The Shadow Bloom Elohwa had added to the bowl did not burn, but as the flower grew warmer it emitted smoke which carried with it an incredibly pleasing smell. The scent filled the air. Both women closed their eyes inhaling the Shadow Bloom. Behind them, Va'lore smiled as he had recognized the flower that his sister had placed within the bowl, he nodded to himself.
Behind the altar, the stone wall began to shimmer and eventually disappeared revealing a long hallway. Elohwa and Aya looked at one another before Elohwa stepped through the new opening, her Fire Shield illuminating the area. Aya followed close behind Elohwa. The hall extended back twenty feet before coming to a T intersection. The mini map in the upper right corner of Aya’s vision showed only black. “What the hell is with our maps being blacked out the last few days?!” Aya kicked a small pebble in frustration it clinked against the back wall. The pebble started to vibrate as the ground started to quake beneath their feet. “Earthquake?”
“Guardian!” Elohwa shouted as a massive form took shape from the loose rocks and pebbles strewn about. The loose dirt around them swirled as the guardian took on a humanoid form. Two glowing embers from a nearby brazier acted as its eyes. Aya quickly examined the golem.
Temple Guardian-Made from the rock and stone of the mountain itself, this Guardian’s purpose is to protect the temple from any would be thieves and looters.
???
When it spoke, it’s voice was a deep rumble akin to thunder, it boomed through the hallway causing both women to cover their ears with their hands. “WHO GOES?!”
Va'lore floated between the women, “I am Prince Va'lore, second son of Emperor Jadon and Empress Ekewi. We humbly stand before you and ask that you grant us permission to seek out the Heart of Eventide Falls.” He bowed his head in deep respect. The burning embers of the guardian flickered as it examined the trio debating on whether or not they were worthy. Its gaze locked onto Aya, the burning embers blazing into two fiery orbs as their eyes met.
Aya heard a whisper in the back of her mind, it shared the same voice as the Guardian, but on a much lesser scale. Even in her mind, she could almost hear the rocks grinding together to produce the sound of a voice. “Why are you here human? Have you come to desecrate this sacred temple?”
Aya sighed both inwardly and outwardly, “You know, I’m actually insulted right now. Why is it no one even bothers to get to know me for who I am and what I have done? Or is it just easier to blame humans for everything other humans have done?!” She meant to think it towards the Guard
ian but she found that it had escaped her lips. Elohwa and Va'lore both looked back at her, shame causing Va'lore to look away from her eyes while Elohwa tilted her head to the side wondering who she was talking to.
The Guardian emitted a deep rumble almost like laughter, the fire in its eyes died back down to just embers. “You may pass, but know this, the Heart can not be claimed by just anyone. The Heart will know if you are worthy. If you are deemed unworthy then death awaits.”
“Of course.” Aya was used to such trials due to her vast amount of rpg experience. The Guardian pointed down the hallway to the right before it lumbered its massive body down the hallway to the left.
Va'lore floated over to the hallway the Guardian had indicated and stood beside it extending his arm down the hallway. “Ladies first.” Elohwa rolled her eyes at her little brother.
Aya and Elohwa proceeded down the corridor. Braziers lined the hall lighting themselves as the women passed. The Secret indicator in Aya’s vision was flickering red, indicating a secret hiding nearby at the same time she saw the tell tale shimmer of something hiding in the alcoves that lined the walls behind the braziers. The temptation for loot caused her to pause by one of the alcoves. She used her peripheral vision to scan the area. The shimmer she saw seemed to solidify itself into very obvious humanoid shapes. “What are those?” Aya pointed into the alcove she was standing beside.
Elohwa had stopped when she had noticed Aya standing still, her eyes shifted to the side as if she were looking at something out of the corner of her eye. Elohwa stepped back towards Aya, her eyes looking into the alcove. “I am not quite sure what…” She trailed off as she looked back at Aya and then shifted her eyes so she could see out of the corners as Aya was doing. “Oh, more Guardians. These will collapse the entire cavern to prevent the Heart from falling into the wrong hands.”
Aya nodded, her curiosity now sated, she turned her attention back to the hall. It was difficult to resist the urge to stop and check every alcove just in case one might turn out to be some nice shiny loot, but she managed, barely. The secret icon flickered red the entire way down the one hundred odd feet of the hall where it abruptly ended. In front of them was an incredibly obvious hidden door. Aya blinked in disbelief. Things were never this easy. For the Guardians to be hidden better than this door practically screamed IT’S A TRAP! Aya stared at the faux door. The wall just to the left was shimmering, she shifted her eyes to the right and saw it shimmering there as well. “Well, this,” Aya gestured at the wall in front of them, “is obviously fake.”
“Obviously.” Elohwa and Va'lore voiced the statement at the same time having already come to the same conclusion.
“Ok, so which way are we supposed to go? I’m assuming that one leads to the heart and the other one to,” Aya paused dramatically before finishing, “certain doom.”
Va'lore threw his head back and laughed, “I was wrong about you, Aya!!” He then turned to Elohwa, “Oh, I think I am going to like her!” Elohwa shook her head, but the grin she was displaying diminished the annoyed gesture.
All three of them kept glancing back and forth between the two walls, even just opening the wrong one could be disastrous. “Ok, sooo, any ideas? How would you two set this up?” Aya knew it was highly unlikely that either Elohwa or Va'lore had been involved with the construction of the Temple or any of its traps, but there had to be some trick or such that would have been passed down amongst the royalty at the very least.
“I think I remember something from some of the old tales Father used to tell.” Elohwa opened her satchel to look for something, when she couldn’t find what she was looking for she turned to Aya. “When we first met in that dungeon and I killed you...”
Va'lore interrupted her, “Wait, you did what now?”
Elohwa waved him off and resumed, “...you had an orb with you?”
Aya nodded as she reached into her satchel. The orb was the first piece of loot she had obtained back in the tutorial dungeon where she had met Elohwa. She hadn’t even pulled it out again after that first death as she hadn’t had a need for it, and then when it had gotten dark the previous night her flame spells had kept the area adequately lit. Aya pulled the orb from her satchel, the stone began to glow in her palm pulsing to an unheard beat. “Oh…” Aya held the orb up to the shimmer to the right, the pulse seemed to slow down, but when she held it towards the left the pulse quickened. “I guess we go left.” Elohwa nodded in agreement. Aya once again held the orb up to the left wall, the pulse quickened once again. The closer Aya got to the wall, the shimmer faded revealing a rather plain door, it’s only adornment a single keyhole in the center. Aya looked back at Elohwa, both women were thinking the same thing, Aya reached back into her satchel for the key that had come with the orb. She held it up, examining it. There didn’t appear to be anything outwardly special about the key. It was as plain as they could come and looked like it would fit in just about any lock. Aya held her breath as she gently slid the key into place and then turned it. She half expected an enormous rock to fall on them, but all they heard was a soft click as the the door mechanism unlocked. Placing a hand on the door, Aya pushed it inward slowly.
The hallway was the same as the previous one, hidden guardians lay within the recesses in the wall, though from the shimmering outline that Aya caught out of the corner of her eyes these were much much larger. The orb within the palm of Aya’s hand flickered faster and faster as they proceeded down the hallway where it ended in a strong door made of a purplish colored metal. The door shifted and flowed almost as if it were alive, but when Aya placed a finger upon it, it felt solid. Aya was enthralled by the effect, “What is this?”
“Shadow Steel, it is the strongest metal in Marod. It is incredibly light but at the same time nigh indestructible. A single ingot of this could buy entire kingdoms.” Va'lore placed a hand on the door, but rather than pass through it, his hand was firm against the door. He turned back towards the women. “The entire door is made from it, I cannot pass through, but I sense tremendous magic radiating from within.”
Aya was holding back the drool that threatened to escape her mouth at the thought of the kind of loot that could be made with the metal in this door. She struggled with her inner pack rat, shoving it out of her mind, albeit temporarily, the urge to try and tear the door from its hinges and melt it down teased the edges of her mind. Aya placed her hand on the door. Cold washed over her body, her breath crystallizing in front of her face. “Why is it so cold?” Aya still had her Fire Shield surrounding her, but the intensity of the sudden cold was penetrating her shield. Unconsciously, she raised the power of the Fire Shield to try and counteract the cold.
“Cold?” Elohwa raised her hand and placed it upon the door, she yanked her hand back as a bolt of lightning raced across the door aiming for her hand, the hairs on her arm standing straight up. “What cold? It feels like a storm is about to break.”
Aya glanced back at Elohwa, she had been looking straight at the door, but hadn’t seen the bolt that nearly struck her Companion. “You don’t feel it…?” Aya turned back to the door appearing to be in a trance, she placed her other hand on the door as she poured more and more power into the Fire Shield to counteract the increasing cold, trying to push it back. Elohwa and Va'lore looked on in surprise as the blue fires surrounding Aya grew stronger turning a deeper blue as they got hotter, the spell pushing out extending the radius. The braziers lining the walls, burst into blue flame as the fire surrounding Aya flowed down the corridor inch by inch engulfing everything in its path. The Guardians lining the walls groaned and came to life, stepping out of their alcoves and peering towards the three interlopers, but not attacking as the flames didn’t seem to affect them since they were considered friendly. The Guardians seemed more curious than anything.
“How is she doing that?” Va'lore’s eyes were wide with awe as he watched the flames rolling off of Aya. “Where is she getting that much power?”
“I do not know.” Elohwa shook her hea
d, watching the flames roaring at the door. Elohwa noticed that even as Aya’s mana dropped, it was refilling as fast as it fell, replenishing itself somehow. The door began to glow red as the flames heated it up.
Aya was still entranced by the movement on the door, her hands seemed to get colder even with the amount of heat she was producing. The metal of the door started to give way, her hands beginning to push into the door itself. She started to move forward, continuing to push her hands through the door, which eventually disappeared, followed by her wrists and then up to her elbows. Elohwa stepped forward to grab Aya’s arm and pull her back but the second she tried, a bolt of lightning shot out from the door blasting the cave floor in front of her feet as if to warn her to stay back. Aya kept pushing forward, the metal flowing away from her, not quite solid, but at the same time not quite liquid. Aya disappeared within the door, the flames immediately dying down and the door shifting and flowing back into its original form.
“AYA!” Elohwa rushed to the door, lightning be damned. She pushed a hand to the door trying to shove her way in, this time no bolt rushed to meet her hand. She started pounding on the door with the palms of her fist. She balled her hands up into fists slamming them into the door over and over again, pain shot through her wrists and arms as panic rose within her. She heard the subtle click of a door unlocking. The door started to open inward, her fists still in midair ready to strike the previously unyielding metal.
Aya stared back at them, a smile across her face as she swung the door open the rest of the way. Elohwa lowered her fists as she stared at Aya in surprise she didn’t even notice the blood that was trickling from the palm of her hands where her nails had dug into the flesh. Aya bowed and gestured towards the room beyond inviting them in.