RCM- The quest truly begins here, as our heroes find and enter their first dungeon… the Temple of the Elders. For those of you who know me from Aria Zephyr's work, you will recognize a familiar face later on… Who am I speaking of? Well you'll have to read and find out yourself! Disclaimer still in effect, by the way.

Chapter 5

Into The Temple of Elders

The winds whipped at their cloaks as the warriors came to the meeting place. Graham was waiting for them, his former proud stature once again in control. "Good job, boys. Your adventure begins here, in the Talon Peaks. I will accompany you to the summit."

"Where the crystal shard sleeps." Hugh drew his sword. "Let's get going!"

"Hey Hugh! Wait up!" Lance cried as his partner took off toward the mountain trail. "It's safer to stick…"

"Whoa!" A crash and a cloud of dust marked where Hugh had just tripped over a mountain rat, the rodent now scurrying away in fear.

"…Together." Lance tried his best to restrain from snickering, but failed miserably. "Smooth, man. Real smooth."

He and Graham helped the annoyed youth to his feet. "That was foolish Connor. Now it would be wise for you to restrain yourself and stay with us. The trek gets only more treacherous from here." Holding back his growing resentment, Hugh merely nodded. The winding mountain path continued spiraling upwards, until they came across a small ravine. "This doesn't bode well… even with your acrobatic skills, there is no way you can jump across."

"Wait, look." Lance pointed ahead to their left. "The path curves into the wall, then curves around to the other side. I think there might be enough of a foothold to sidle our way along the wall, around the gap."

"Aran, are you nuts? That'll never work!"

"What's the matter, Hugh? Are ya scared?" Knowing his words did the trick, he made his way to the narrow wall. Like he suggested, there was enough room to sidle over, but one wrong move would easily send them plummeting into the abyss. Despite the risk, Lance could see no other way to get where they needed to go. "Come on…" He led the way across, followed by Graham, with Hugh bringing up the rear. While it only took about five minutes to cross, the boy was a bit worn out upon reaching the other side. "That's a relief…"

As Graham set foot on the solid rock of the trail again, he inadvertently knocked a small stone over the side, right into the nest of a blue eagle. Its enraged screech startled Hugh, who nearly lost his footing. His recovery caused even more debris to fall, which really ticked off the avian. "What the hell?! Get this bird away from me!" The angry eagle dove for Hugh's head, the boy barely avoiding the blow. As the eagle tried to free its beak from the stone wall, Hugh lost his balance and began to fall. "Whoa… whoa no… ah shit!"

"Gotcha!" Graham managed to grab Hugh's arm just in time as the bird came around for another attack. "Lance!"

Not wasting a second, Lance picked up a rock and tossed it with amazing accuracy at the incoming avian. Taking the hit, the eagle's eyes seemed to flare as it switched targets, now focusing its attention on the blonde. It charged at him with a screech, but when it got close enough, Lance knocked it into the wall with the flat side of his sword. Now out cold, the bird was no longer a threat. "You okay, Hugh?"

Panting, Hugh said he was. Thankfully for all of them, the remainder of the trip was uneventful. As they came around the final bend, they couldn't help but feel a great sense of awe at the sight of the temple before them. "It's bigger than I expected…" Hugh said, though in his amazement it came out more as a whisper. While the sight amazed Graham as well, he urged the other two forward.

"It's almost nightfall. Let's go inside before some of the less savory mountain creatures come out to hunt." Looking at the sky, they saw Graham was right. The sun was indeed creeping toward the western horizon, already slightly obscured by the surrounding peaks. Lighting a lantern he had taken with him, the old teacher led the way into the dark reaches of the Temple of the Elders.

The first room was spacious, adorned with some peculiar looking statues on either side. The doorway forward was sealed with what appeared to be solid iron bars. "Oh, that's just great!" Lance said in frustration, "Now what do we do?"

"Hey, Master. Shine some light this way, I think there's something written here." Hugh ran his hand along the inscription next to the door, trying to feel the letters out.

Graham gently pushed him aside. "Let me see… I believe this is written in the Ancient Tongue, boys." He looked carefully at the old runes. "I can't make out all of it, but I think this one reads 'Beware.'"

Lance walked to the other side of the doorframe. "Here's another inscription."

Graham crossed over to it, holding the lantern close to the symbols. "This one is faded as well, but I can distinctly make out… 'Stone Swordsman?'" As if in response to his words, an iron gate slammed down over the entrance, trapping the trio inside. They whirled around in alarm, and a stone idol crashed down from a hole in the ceiling. Towering over them, it held a sharpened marble sword in its hand. "Oh… I suppose that would explain it…"

The idol's eyes began to glow, and it slowly began to hop towards them. "What do we do?"

"What else?" Hugh asked with a smirk, sword in hand. "We fight!" He made a charging slash at the creature's head, but it blocked the attack with its armored fist. The next thing he knew, the idol had sent him flying into one of the statues. The impact caused the statue to topple over and shatter into pieces. Unfortunately for Hugh, it shattered on top of him. He was out cold.

"Hmph. Hothead." Lance drew his own sword, but paused when he saw what was happening in the mess Hugh had made. From the rubble of the statue rose what appeared to be a small red fairy. "What the…?"

"I'm free!" The little one cried, joy clear in her voice. "Thank you!"

Oblivious to the newcomer, the Stone Swordsman hopped towards Lance, sword extended. "Um, excuse me, Ms Fairy? I'm glad you're happy, but you wouldn't happen to know how to stop this thing, would you?"

The little fairy quickly flew to the inscription Graham had read right before the idol fell, appearing to be skimming the text. "It says 'The Stone Swordsman is best handled from behind.' Go for the tail, that's gotta be the weak point!"

"Got it. Master Graham, shall we?"

The old man smiled. "I'll distract it while you go for the tail." Maneuvering himself in front of the living statue, Graham watched and waited carefully. As the beast raised its sword, he rolled out of the way. "Now!" Having missed, the idol became completely disoriented in the dust cloud the slash had created. Lance took advantage of the confusion, dashing around the beast and severing the tail with a jumping slash. Without warning, the statue began jumping around wildly.

"Get out of the way! It's gonna explode!" Lance was about to comply, but he saw the psychotic statue start spinning in the direction of the still-unconscious Hugh.

"Oh man!" It had become a race, Hugh's life being the grand prize. Barely avoiding getting hit, Lance hefted Hugh over his shoulder and bolted out of there. The creature slammed into the wall, blowing itself to bits. The force of the blast sent the pair onto the floor. The explosion also seemed to shock open the entrance, the bars sliding back to where they came. "Hugh, you blockhead, get off me!"

Hugh shook off the haze clouding his vision and promptly whacked Lance upside the head. "Who you calling a blockhead, you dolt?"

"I dunno, the one who charged so blindly he got slammed into the wall?"

"Why I oughta…"

"CHILDREN!" As always, Baldwin's roar silenced the bickering. "We don't have time for this." Turning to the fairy, he gave a respectful bow. "Thank you for helping us. I am Graham Baldwin, of the town of Nidero. And these are my apprentices, Lance Aran and Hugh Connor."

The fairy fluttered about happily. "Oh, it's a pleasure! My name is Anarina, but please call me Anri. I hate to ask, but could you three possibly do me a favor?" They quickly glanced at each other before agreeing. "My brother Solaris was trapped in a statue like I was. Can you help me look for him and break him out?"

"Sure… but how do we get past that gate?" Anri looked to where the youth pointed, seeing the sealed passage.

"Maybe the inscriptions have the answer. They had how to kill the Swordsman." She flew over to the door, hovering in front of the carvings.

"Master made out a few of them, but they didn't help much."

Anri nodded absently. "This is ancient Telonian. Not many people know how to read this any more."

Hugh, impatient as ever, interjected, "That's all well and good, Anri, but can you read it?" The fairy scoffed at the remark.

"No need to be rude, Sir Hugh. I can read it. This one here says 'Beware of the guardians if you seek the element within.' The one on the other side of the door was how to beat the Swordsman."

Graham looked up and saw a third set above the door. "What about those?"

The fairy flew up to the runes and translated. "It says 'To open the way to go forward, make your wish here and it will be granted…'" She turned to face them again. "Wow, you think that'll work?"

Hugh laughed at the notion. "Oh please! Wishing for the door opening will make it open?! That's ridiculous!" Without warning, the iron gate withdrew itself into the wall. Confused, Hugh turned to find Lance kneeling as if in prayer.

Noticing his partner, Lance smirked and quipped, "Oh, ye of little faith…" Still incredulous, Hugh followed him through the door. As Anri led them through the labyrinth of hallways, Lance asked, "So how did you get stuck in that statue in the first place?"

The fairy seemed to fidget in embarrassment. "Well… to be honest, I'm not entirely sure. I was flying around the halls when I saw Solaris racing away from the inner chambers, the Spiked Lizard chasing him. The Lizard roared and Sol was frozen in stone. I turned and fled, but when I got to the entrance, there was a blinding white light… The next thing I know, you came and freed me." The boys look at each other, realizing what very well could've happened to them in the central square. As they made their way down a staircase, Anri flew ahead and stopped in midair. "Sol! He's in this room! I can feel it!"

Hugh scanned the surroundings, but all he saw were a trio of torches in the room's center and a group of no less than 20 large bats sleeping on the ceiling. "Where? I don't see any statues."

"Hey, guys." Lance ran his hand along the wall, where more runes lay. "Maybe this will have the answer."

The red fairy quickly floated over and read the inscription. " 'To unlock the unseen, dispel the darkness…'" She turned to Lance. "Any help?"

"Lance… Hugh… look up." Graham's tone of voice immediately grabbed their attention. Noticing that their teacher's sword was in battle position, they followed his gaze to the sleeping bats, where a pair of red eyes looked back at them. One of them had awakened, however it was not an ordinary bat.

"Uh… why does that thing have a cannon on its face?" Hugh's question went unanswered as the creature fired a small rock from its cannon-like snout. Though the shot missed its target, the clacking sound of it hitting the floor roused the other sleeping bats. "Oh, perfect…"

Within seconds, the air was filled with a barrage of projectiles. Slashing at the rodents proved futile, as they evaded each blow with surprising speed. Battered and weakening, Lance found himself pushed into a corner with five Cannon Bats taking aim. As they fired, he made a desperate final slash, hoping an old trick would work again.

Instead of a rock shower, Lance got lucky. The horizontal swipe struck the incoming projectiles, knocking each back to its source. If the impacts alone weren't enough to dispose of the bats, the resulting crash into the wall did the trick. Every one of Lance's assailants had vanished in a puff of smoke. "Hugh! Graham! Knock back their shots!"

Fuming that Lance figured out the way to beat the flying pests before he did, Hugh slashed wildly at the stones, even kicking up old ones that had already come to rest on the ground. In his rampage, he annihilated all but three bats, which Graham calmly disposed of. Turning to the younger warrior, he spoke sternly. "What has gotten into you, Connor?! You are letting jealous rage consume you! Cease before you bring Chaos back yourself!"

Calming down, Hugh sheathed his weapon and hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry Master… Lance…" He looked up as Lance put a hand on his shoulder, smiling despite his injuries. Hugh couldn't help but chuckle as Anri poked her little head out from the hood of Lance's cloak.

"Um… thanks…" The fairy floated out, looking around the room. With the last of the bats vaporized, all that remained were the torches. "Wait a sec… 'Dispel the darkness?' …Of course!"

"Yes, that would make sense…" Graham took his lantern and walked over to the torches. Taking a piece of tinder from one, he lit it aflame with his lamp and tossed it back into the torch. After repeating the process for the remaining two, a triangular beam of light erupted in the space between them. Lance had to shield his eyes against the brightness, but he could barely make out a statue sitting in the center of the beam. His view improved quickly as the beam dissipated, leaving the stone prison Anri's brother was sealed inside.

"Okay, so how did we open Anri's?" Noticing the look on Lance's face, Hugh immediately got a sinking feeling. "Oh no… you gotta be kidding…"

End Chapter 5

RCM- Yes, that's right. The familiar face was my fairy, Anarina. Once she and Solaris finish their work in the temple, they will be joining me in the Author's Notes. Now that this chapter's concluded, I ask that all of you who read this review it. I should have the next two chapters ready in a few days… no promises though. Don't forget to review!