The day was coming to an end. Despite that, the creatures were ready to investigate the temple.
Theb-Saar was on his dragon. Taffial sat on the back and kept his distance from his kind.
Those who were chosen to accompany them were Frafdo, Takinom and Najarin. The others who previous came with them would remain on the back and be ready to help them if needed.
The five creatures held a small headset, as the Codemasters called them to keep in contact with chaotic. They didn't have a scanner, so it was the best they could have. They also had a bag with a few goods that would be useful for their journey.
"Can you hear us?" Crellan asked.
The creatures nodded at the blue Mipedian.
"Yes. We can hear you," the Mipedian king replied.
"Good. Do not hesitate to call if you need us. We will have some coordinates to send help quickly. Also, contact us the moment you hit the ground. We need to know if we are still in contact. If we are out, we will send help in two days."
"Understood."
The creatures prepared to jump down.
Najarin gazed at Theb-Saar, "Do you have any idea about what this temple might contain?"
"No. It has a pyramid form," the king formed a triangle with his two hands, "We didn't try to go inside so we could come back to you. No idea of what might be inside. It is worth checking out."
Takinom opened her wings, "Let's go. It's already getting late," she jumped down and flew towards the land below.
The others did the same. Theb-Saar joined the others with a light mind.
He spoke with Peyton before they left and just learned what they planned to do. He had nothing to protest about.
Chapter 90: The Mysterious Temple
The creatures quickly flew down.
Taffial held the best he could as he had no experience in mounting a dragon, "B-by the Cothica this is intense," he grumbled.
Theb-Saar chuckled. He really hoped he would help them and find out what might be hidden in the temple. He was the best they had with them for now. The others were still in Perim.
They eventually got close to the ground. The land below grew clear. Before they landed on the ground, they checked their surrounding.
"Most of the island is covered by a forest," Frafdo concluded. He crossed his arms, "If there was a civilisation, then it is gone for a long time."
Najarin grumbled, "I wonder which tribe they might come from. It is in the middle of the ocean. It could be the Overworld or the M'arrillians."
"Or another tribe," Takinom suggested and left that out of the air.
Theb-Saar took out the binocular and observed the temple and its surrounding, "I don't see anything dangerous around it. I also don't see any creatures or possible traps around it."
"Traps surely would be inside the temple," Taffial grabbed the binocular and checked it himself. He already had an interest in the temple. He wanted to find out its secret. Still, he knew he had a mission first. The forgotten history of Perim had to wait.
Najarin landed in front of the temple. The others followed him.
The two Mipedians dismount from the dragon. The king told him, "Wait here and made sure that no one else enters in here. We aren't certain if they are still habitants here."
The dragons groaned and remained in position.
Taffial took the lead and climbed the stairs leading inside the temple. He slowed down to observe the architecture carefully. He saw that the temple was made of stones. On the side of the stairs, there was a small wall with strange things sculpted on it. He didn't know what it was or what it meant, but his curiosity was picked.
"We don't have time for this," Takinom grunted at the creature as she walked pass him.
The others did the same. Najarin invited the Mipedian to come with them.
"Yes. We are on a mission," the Mipedian commented. He sighed at the fact that he was missing out a huge discovery, but the mission was important. Fixing the portal would allow him to directly see what lies in the Cothica. To witness the strange world.
They reached the entrance and stopped. There was a large rock preventing anyone from entering inside the temple.
Najarin took the lead and looked around, "The entrance is sealed."
Taffial walked by his side, "There must be a way to open it. It wasn't put there for nothing and I don't see anything that would cause that rock to block the entrance. It stood above the forest and if it came from the mountain, it would cause some damage on the ground," he checked under it and there was no crack. His claws pressed on the ground before observing more if there was a way to get rid of it.
"If Chaor was there, would have blow this up already," Frafdo commented as he went to the side. He tried to push him, but his feet slid on the ground and couldn't move it an inch, "L…Little help here?"
Theb-Saar helped him and did the same. Takinom chuckled and helped them.
Najarin sighed as brute force wouldn't work. He observed it, "There is something strange on the rock."
Taffial observed it and the ground, "Yeah. There is nothing that give a club about why the rock is here," he looked at the rock itself. He crossed his arms, "Yeah. The form isn't natural either. It has been creature made."
The High Muge noted, "Yes. There must be a way to push it aside."
Takinom had enough and used an attack and broke the rock in pieces.
The two creatures watched it quietly, jaw dropping.
Taffial grumbled a few things, but made no comment.
She raised her shoulders as the two looked at her, "We have no time to lose. We lost too much already," she went inside the temple first.
Theb-Saar raised his shoulders and followed her. He had to agree that brute force was the best way.
The other three followed them.
"That was much heavier than I thought," Frafdo commented.
They couldn't see anything inside the temple. Theb-Saar took out what was in the bag. Those things called flashlight. They had other things to produce light, but they didn't bring that in Chaotic. They all grabbed one and pressed on a small switch and the light came.
"It would be simpler if I use my fire ability," Takinom commented.
"Yes, but we don't know if there are any traps that react to fire," Taffial warned her, "I have seen a report of one trap that reacts to fire unless a few specifics things were done first. It was a dead trap."
"They are restraining us if there is one of those traps here," she replied.
Najarin observed the walls. He saw a few hieroglyphs on there, but couldn't understand what it meant. The Mipedian went by his side and did the same. He carefully observed everything and had no result.
Taffial nodded negatively, "I don't understand what it might say. This isn't even ancient writings of Perim. None of this made sense to me."
"Even less than humans writing. Thought they are pretty simple when you understand it," Najarin commented.
The creatures turned their attention away and went deeper in the temple. They climbed down stairs, carefully watching the ground and the walls for any hidden traps that could endanger them.
They heard a suspicious sound and froze. They looked down and tried to see who caused this, if it was them.
Theb-Saar realised that his foot pressed on a switch, "By the Cothica."
"No one move!" Taffial ordered. He listened closely, trying to hear if any mechanism had been activated. He went to the wall and listened to it. He frowned when no sound came after they pressed on the switch, "I hope it's broken, because something might happen the moment you left your feet my king."
"Go ahead. I'll join you when you are further down," the king ordered calmly.
The others nodded and went down. The Mipedian hesitated a few seconds, before he got a nod and followed them.
Theb-Saar closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He focused on his breathing and prepared to run away for his life. He didn't know if nothing would happen or something would happen. The uncertainty was a large problem.
He knew he waited long enough. He raised his foot and quickly climbed down the stairs. He trusted his instinct when he heard a loud sound coming from behind. He knew something was coming after him. He accelerated as the trap approached him. He didn't turn back and continued to climb down. He saw the light of the other creatures let on his path. From a single gaze, he knew he could jump at the left. The angle of the light was proof enough of that. The way the light of those flashlight took form on the ground.
He reached the light and jumped on the side. Whatever was after him passed and it crashed at the end of the corridor.
The king pant for a few seconds. He could have died in a second if he had been too slow.
Taffial sighed in relief when the danger was gone.
"Let us continue," Theb-Saar ordered.
They continued forward. They saw a large rock that was in the wall and many cracks around it. Thankfully, there was no door behind it as the path continued to the right. They followed it for a while, carefully watching their steps. They didn't want to activate another trap. They wouldn't be that lucky next time.
They reached the end of the corridor and ended up in a room. As they moved their flashlight in different directions, they noticed it was a rather large room. They were more of the strange drawings or writings of an ancient language.
The humanoid chameleon watched carefully the hieroglyph. He gently put his claws on it and wondered what it might mean. He had no way to understand it. He sighed, there might be nothing to help them reach the Cothica. Still, it might have something.
Frafdo noticed something, "I found an exit. Follow me," he went towards the door. He stopped and studied outside, just in case it was the one they came in. He saw it wasn't the case and went on.
The group went on another corridor. It was the same as before. However, they noticed something strange. There was a little bit of blue in their light.
"Close the light," Najarin told them.
They closed it and weren't in total darkness. There was a bit of blue light forward.
"There is something working in this temple," Takinom commented as she went forward, "Maybe it is something about the portal," she hopefully declared as she accelerated her pacing.
"Wait. Don't go too fast. There might be traps," Taffial reminded her.
The group went forward. They cautiously continued until they reached the end and reached the other room.
The five stopped at the sight. The source of blue light shined brightly and made their flashlight useless now.
Najarin carefully observed the source of the light, "It does look a little like the item uses for the portal… But I'll say just look like."
There was a large blue crystal in the middle of the room. It was put in some kind of pedestal. It emitted a blue light through the room. The light seemed to come out from three sections that spun around the room.
"What is that crystal?" Najarin muttered the question that was in the mind of the other creatures. He approached it, but didn't touch it.
"No idea," Taffial replied as he carefully scrutinized it from a safe distance, "Maybe we got an important clue for the portal, or about the source of energy of the portal. Still… that crystal here made no sense if there is nothing else affected by it," he then focused his attention to his surrounding.
Frafdo noticed something on the ground. It looked like some cable. It was broken. He observed where it went from a saw it was once connected to the crystal. He grabbed the thing and guessed it was some kind of wires like some battlegears had. He grabbed the two parts, "Najarin. I found something. Maybe we can fix this."
Najarin came and observed it, "Hum… We are going to need something to fix it. I don't think it will be safe to use our power to fix that."
"Everyone! I found something!" Taffial said loudly with urgency in his voice. He was in another room.
The group went and joined him. They stopped when they saw what he was illuminating with his flash light.
They found a large portal that was similar to the one in Chaotic. It had many cracks and many pieces were missing on it.
AC: This is the end of this chapter.
Next: The Sea Expedition.
The other Expedition began and the group went by sea. They wondered what they would find on the island.
