Act II: Adolescence
Chapter 12: Gods Beneath the Sand
Party: Ryu, Nina, Trinil
Without needing to wake up for a watch, the party slept easily until shortly before sundown. Ryu was the first to rise, exiting the guest tent as quietly as he could. The fading light of the day wasn't nearly as harsh as the midday sun was, so we found the temperature to be quite pleasant when he first got out of the tent, though he immediately noticed that the air was cooling rapidly. It was difficult to like the weather patterns of the desert.
"So you're awake," came a voice form behind Ryu. He turned to regard the speaker, who happened to be the same man that had been setting up the tent for them the night… day… before. "All rested?"
"I feel much better, naturally."
"Good; it's not a difficult journey from here, but the Temple… well, have you been to any of the other Temples?"
"Yes, I have," Ryu replied succinctly.
"Then you know how they can be a chore in and of themselves, though in a much different way than a trek across a desert." Ryu did, and so he nodded. The man continued, turning away from Ryu to face back out toward the sun, which had been reduced to a mere glow on the horizon now. "There's a crypt a good hour's walk south of here. Inside there can be found the entrance to the Temple, though it's considered a rite of passage to find your own way to the entrance."
"You've been there?"
"Yes, I have," the man replied, turning to show a smile to Ryu. "I can promise that the entrance is indeed there, even if I don't tell you where it is."
"Fair enough," Ryu replied nodding. "Ladon does odd things like that sometimes."
The man raised his eyebrows. "You think he doesn't have a reason for what he does?"
Ryu raised an eyebrow. "I don't doubt he does. It's just never one that makes sense to us lowly mortals, sadly."
The man laughed. "Too true!"
"Thank you for your help, um…"
"I'm Harvey," the man said, inclining his head slightly. He turned and made his way off to wherever he needed to be going.
"Nice to meet you, Harvey!" Ryu called after him after a moment. Then he shook his head. Crazy. He stretched upwards, noticing that the only remnants of the sun's path across the sky were some light blues and violets on the western horizon. It made for a rather gorgeous sight, and Ryu looked at it smiling. The sky was one thing that he certainly appreciated during this trip through the desert. The lack of it while in the forest probably was the main reason for this, but Ryu thought that the sky was something that the desert had going for it, given that the horizon continued nearly unbroken on all sides. The only place he thought it might be better is on the ocean.
And he may even get to see that sight before he was all through, as well. He breathed a contented sigh.
"It's not over yet," came Nina's voice from behind him. "Don't relax too much."
"You have to enjoy it as it comes," Ryu replied, not looking as Nina stood beside him to watch the last of the blues vanish and the purples continue to fade.
"Hey, he's learning," Nina giggled, nudging him gently. "I'm glad you aren't being too morose about all of this. The hard part's over."
Ryu winced. "That's always a dangerous thing to say." He did turn to look at her now, the pretty purples becoming harder and harder to see. "I'm hoping the Agents are waiting for us when we get to the port town… and I hope that the port town is easy to find."
Nina smiled at him. "It'll be fine, really. The next step is the Temple and Shrine. Do you know how to get there yet?"
"Yeah," Ryu replied. "That man, Harvey, told me. Once Trinil's up and we've refilled our waterskins, we can head out."
Nina nodded. "Alright, I'll go take care of the waterskins and check our supplies. If I come back before Trinil wakes up, we get to wake him."
Ryu chuckled. "Fine; don't hurry, though."
Nina giggled as she set off behind him.
It was only about a minute later that Ryu noticed Trinil coming out of their tent, yawning. "Hey, sleepyhead!" Ryu greeted him, earning a disgruntled look from the Woren. "You ready to take on the Temple?"
"Give me a minute, will you? I just woke up." And he wandered off. Ryu looked back at the sky, which now didn't really have much to look at anymore, so he returned to the tent to help Nina pack up the stuff. She had a fairly smug look on her face, but Ryu didn't ask what that was about.
About fifteen minutes later they were all set to go, and they set out to the south with the well-wishes of the watch. It was a quick jaunt compared to the other treks across the desert that they had both behind and in front of them. It was even shorter than they thought it was going to be, as they nearly stumbled into the crypt, as it was hidden behind a dune. Finding the entrance was easy, though, once they knew that the building was there in the first place.
The inside of the crypt was a single vast room, filled with sarcophagi that were lined up in neat rows and columns across the floor. They were made of the same stone that the walls were made of, creating a uniform appearance. Even after circling the room twice and splitting up to look around, the party could not find any other features to the room. Ryu regarded the sarcophagi warily and cringed visibly. "I don't like this."
"Don't like what?" Trinil asked, inspecting a crack in the wall in one of the corners of the large room.
"I don't like the idea of opening up these caskets."
Nina shuddered.
Trinil rose and turned to regard his companions. "I don't think we have much of a choice in the matter. I think the key to the entrance to the temple has to be in one of these… things. There's no way around opening a few of them. Hopefully we'll get the right one on the first try, but…"
Ryu sighed. "Help me with the lids, then, Trinil? Nina?" Trinil nodded calmly, and Nina followed suit, if reluctantly. They gathered around the sarcophagus in the corner of the room where Trinil was and lifted the lid to find… an empty casket. "Odd," Ryu mused, searching through the thing with his hands. It was featureless, and his hands found no interesting marks or niches. "I thought there was going to be a body. Or bones. Or at least, you know, something."
"It's better this way," Nina stated forcefully.
"Not gonna disagree," Trinil said. "Next one, then?"
They eventually had to open about half of the caskets. The sarcophagus on the far right side of the row just closer to the door than the center row contained nothing as well, but it also had no bottom… and the blackness extended beyond the party's sight. Ryu cast a spell of light and lowered his glowing sphere into the inky blackness. It seemed to reveal nothing for a good three or four paces, then it suddenly was illuminating the floor, which seemed to be covered in green roots.
"Plant life?" Ryu said, confused. "Aren't we in the desert?"
"We're dealing with the Gods," Trinil reminded him. "There are a lot of things that don't make sense when the Gods put their hands into events."
Ryu couldn't argue with that. "Nina? Could you do the honor of going first?"
Nina was silent for a moment. "If your light goes out while I'm still the only one down there, I will kill you."
"It won't," Ryu assured her. He cast another two spheres and put them down into the casket's abyss so that Nina could better see what kind of room she had to maneuver herself downward with her wings. She gave one more look at Ryu, then launched herself carefully but quickly through the gap. She managed to hover in the darkness for a moment before touching down lightly on the roots. When she did, an unearthly green glow overpowered Ryu's light spheres. Aware of Nina's warning, Ryu left his lights on as he leaned down to look at the revealed cave.
"It's a soft landing," Nina informed him. She seemed to be breathing hard. "I don't think you have anything to worry about if you hang from the edge of the casket and let yourself down. I'll help you out."
Nina cast a wind spell that allowed both Ryu and Trinil to drop down into the lower chamber and roll upon landing to not be hurt by the fall. Once they were all down there, Ryu and Trinil joined Nina in looking around the chamber. There was one exit to the chamber in the same direction as the exit was for the crypt above them, but the exit was to a winding corridor, lit by the same green roots that were glowing throughout the chamber.
"Wow," Trinil said, looking around. "Can't say I was expecting this."
"Extensive plant life in the middle of the desert," Nina said, shaking her head as she stared around at the walls. "Go figure."
"I imagine there's more to see down here," Ryu said, peering at the corridor that wound out of sight. "Shall we?"
The three Ascents moved into the corridor and followed it into another room. The roots were everywhere and their glow was bright enough to make them think they were lit by sunlight. "How are all these plants here without sun?" Ryu wondered aloud.
"We didn't see any growths outside that could support a root network at all, much less one this vast," Nina said.
The room had only one other exit, so the party continued into another winding corridor that spat them into another room, this time there were a pair of plant-like monsters inhabiting the room, and they were hostile. They didn't pose too much of an issue to the Ascents, but the attack made them wary. "For a moment," Trinil informed his companions, "I hoped that there wouldn't be any of those in here." This room also had only one other exit, and the party continued on the very linear path.
There were several more rooms and several more corridors connecting them. The corridors, Ryu noticed, seemed like they were just big enough for a tall person to walk in. The rooms generally had some sort of very thick roots at the center of the ceiling, and the roots mostly seemed to come from there. Ryu certainly didn't know what to make of it, but it did make for some interesting and beautiful sights.
Eventually, they came to a room with a giant plant that took up a good portion of said room. Upon a closer inspection, it seemed that this plant was connected to the root system. "Do you think that's the source of all this?" Ryu asked.
"It's far too small," Trinil said. He jumped when the plant moved. It seemed to… regard the party for a moment. Then one of the buds opened and sprayed something out toward Nina, who dodged nimbly to the side.
"I don't think it's friendly," Nina informed the boys unnecessarily.
All three drew their weapons and shifted into combat stances, warily watching the large moving plant that was blocking the exit of the room that was their destination. The plant fired more spores at Nina, but she was able to get out of the way in time. While the plant seemed to have a singular focus on Nina, this allowed Ryu and Trinil to get close. Ryu sliced off one of the larger buds, making sure that it could not release spores as well. This caused the plant's attention to turn to him, and he found himself with a face-full of spores before he could react. Coughing, he withdrew, unable to see clearly.
Trinil didn't have a cutting weapon, but he fired bolts of electricity into buds, which made each one that he hit shrivel and blacken. Taking this as a good sign, Trinil continued, trying to make each of the buds that hadn't opened yet unable to. His accuracy suffered because the plant was moving far too quickly for him to keep a good bead on his targets, but he did well enough for the plant to turn attention to him as Ryu withdrew. He dodged away, trying to avoid the same fate as Ryu.
"Purify!" Ryu called, casting a healing spell on himself, hoping that the incredible pressure in his head would ease, and he found that it did.
"Heal!" Nina called, and Ryu felt completely refreshed. He sheathed his sword and charged his power. He glowed red for a moment.
A bright white light blinded all of the combatants for a moment, and then Ryu was suddenly the fire dragon. Seeing this change, both Nina and Trinil disengaged from the plant to give Ryu a clear shot. Ryu exhaled a blast of extremely potent fire from his mouth, which consumed the plant completely. Or at least, it seemed to. When Ryu was done, the plant still stood there, though it certainly looked the worse for wear. It folded something that was on the side facing away from the party over so that it was now facing them… a giant bud. Before they could react, it opened, revealing a flower that was just as big as the rest of the plant. And more menacing.
It caught them staring, blasting spores throughout the room, making it very difficult to dodge. None of them took a face-full, but Nina and Trinil's eyes were watering. Nina immediately disappeared in a flash of light, the little bird that she became fluttering out of sight before the light had completely faded. The winds that began to flow through the room were collecting a majority of the spores in a corner of the room. There was also now a general sustained flow of air from the entrance of the room toward the giant plant. Trinil caught Ryu's eye.
"Let's do it again!" Trinil called, grinning predatorily. Ryu expended more magical energy, creating a ring of fire around Trinil. "Firebolt!" Collecting the fire and adding his own magic, Trinil let the creation fly. The bolt of magic struck true, directly in the center of the giant blossom. There was a screech of pain, though it has difficult to determine where the screech was coming from on the plant. It shriveled up, which made another grating sound and it turned to a blackened husk.
Ryu and Nina returned to their normal forms, watching the remains of the giant plant warily. Trinil didn't move from his ready stance. Several beats of silence and stillness passed. Trinil was the first to relax. "I think it's dead." He poked it with his staff. It didn't move so much as break into two pieces.
Ryu and Nina took this as confirmation that it was safe, and relaxed as well. The plant was no longer blocking the exit of the room, but there wasn't much of a corridor beyond the opening. The grey metal door made a stark contrast to the deep green and brown of the roots that surrounded it. The symbol in the center was brown soil with a single powerfully green shoot.
"Found it!" Nina said brightly. The three Ascents approached the door, but it opened long before they reached it. Out came a female priest with a kind smile on her face.
"Well done," she said softly. "I apologize, but…"
"Trinil and I can't come in," Nina interrupted teasingly. "Yes, we know."
Trinil put his hands on his hips. "I'm not yet used to being denied entrance to the Shrine, you know."
Nina giggled and stuck her tongue out at him. "Get used to it."
Ryu managed, barely, to refrain from rolling his eyes at his companions as he stepped forward. When he was next to the priest, he said quietly, "Keeping them company?"
The priest raised her eyebrows as she responded just as quietly. "Why, are you afraid they'll hurt each other?"
"No…" Ryu replied, "I want to make sure that they don't get bored enough to hurt me when I'm unconscious."
The priest shook her head, smiling. "Oh all right." She walked toward the other two Ascents, leaving Ryu to catch the door. As he was about to move through the portal, his attention was called back. "You know," the priest said, "I would have done that even had you not asked."
"I needed to ask," Ryu said lightly, and then the door was closed between him and his companions.
Another female priest stood in front of the dais with a look of approval on her face. On the dais were two figures. One was easily recognizable as Ladon, while the other had a green tint. Gaia wasn't wearing the robes that the other Gods seemed to favor, but was instead was wearing something that looked distinctly plant-like, though the green was not limited to this part of her. She was frowning, while Ladon was smiling gently.
"Who enters Gaia's Shrine?"
"I do; Ryu Gensu of the Dragon Clan."
"Welcome, Ryu Gensu to the test of Earth," the priest said. "…but there are no set speeches or rites to handle our situation."
"Which we should probably change," Ladon said thoughtfully. "This is the second time it's happened to Ryu alone." Gaia laughed demurely while the priest looked scandalized.
"And he's on his third test?" the priest asked Ladon, no longer facing Ryu.
"Yes," Ladon replied before looking above the priest to regard Ryu. "I must apologize for such hang ups, Ryu, but just like last time, Gaia and I have designed a test for you that will take an adequate measure of your skills."
Gaia had a disapproving look, but her voice was soothing. "I don't know where your originally planned partner went, but he is not here now. And thus, cannot be a part of this test."
Ryu was confused. "He hasn't prayed to you?"
"We're not here to discuss it; I'll handle my wayward disciple," Gaia reprimanded Ryu. "You are here to take an examination."
"The Water of Life is probably necessary for your success," the priest said as she walked away from the dais. Ryu drank from the basin and felt completely refreshed. He then walked forward to the edge of the dais.
"Step forth, warrior, and face your test," Gaia said softly, but with an undercurrent of steel. As Ryu stepped onto the dais, Ladon and Gaia faded into a white light. The light coalesced into a giant dragon. One of the more famous dragon forms, the Behemoth had a distinctive look. Four stubby legs, a round body, spikes sticking out of the main body as well as a pair of giant horns on its head. Oh, and enormous.
Ryu was all the way across the dais, but he was still basically craning his neck to see his whole adversary. "Aw, crap." He wasted no more time, transforming into the fire-based Wyvern form, then immediately having to dodge and roll to the right to avoid the breath weapon unleashed by the Behemoth. The Wyvern was agile, something that the Behemoth definitely wasn't, so the speed advantage was easily Ryu's, though there was a power discrepancy.
Ryu kept moving, dodging quickly and darting in to strike at weak points in the Behemoth's defense when he could. It didn't seem like he was making much in the way of progress, but the Behemoth complained aloud with each strike, so Ryu kept at it. He unleashed his breath attack. He powered his claws with powerful flames. He cast searing fire magic. He bit, he tore and he slashed his way through skin wherever he could find the opening to do so. He was finally making progress when he ran low on energy.
Being forced from an Ascended form was not a fun experience. Being shunted sideways through your own body into another. Crying out in pain, Ryu flew across the dais. He was barely able to land without hurting himself, rising quickly so that the Behemoth couldn't take advantage of his weakness. He quickly drew his sword and held it in a guard position. The breath attack hit him squarely, but he managed through it. Tossing a vitamin in his mouth, he charged, using his speed advantage to manage more strikes at places that his Wyvern form had already broken through the thick hide of the Behemoth. Ryu's normal form was much smaller than the Wyvern. Though the Wyvern had more speed, Ryu's size enabled him to dodge just about as easily as the more clunky dragon form did.
Ryu was just about out of energy; he was leaning on his sword and taking a breather as the Behemoth struggled to turn around to unleash another breath attack. He knew that another one of those would do him in. One last ditch effort was probably all he had in him. Lifting his sword, he ran straight toward the beast, who attempted to exhale sandy death at him. Ryu leapt over the danger cleanly, landing on the Behemoth's head, where he merely bounced. His destination was the center of the dragon's back. Crying out, he slammed his sword into a gash that he had made earlier, as deep as he could. The dragon roared and shook with the pain, throwing Ryu clear.
Ryu hit the ground hard, but not quite hard enough that he was knocked out from the blow. It was a near thing though, he struggled to rise, and only getting partially there before falling back to defend himself against the bright light that was suddenly with him on the dais. Then the Behemoth was gone, and Gaia and Ladon's figures shimmered back into sight. "Well done, Ryu."
Ryu didn't respond, merely staring back at Ladon, who chuckled. "Not an easy test, sure, but you passed. You will find the next shrine with the help of those you already know to seek. I will see you then."
"And you have earned my power, young man," Gaia said warmly, spreading her arms and being encompassed in a tan light.
Just as the light made up the entirety of his vision, mere moments before he passed out, Ryu murmured.
"Goodnight…"
