The creatures watched the horizon, searching for the island. They were close now.
Maxxor and Chaor were each in their own minds; both had been taken aback by the news the Codemasters had shared.
The green Overworlder scratched his chin, "You've gone through a lot Tom," he wished he was there to protect the boy, but he was stuck in Perim for now. He prayed to the Cothica that they would be safe in their own world. It was the Cothica after all, they would be fine. Still, he couldn't believe the M'arrillians had almost caught them. He was also surprised they had managed to take Aval'par as a prisoner. How much would that help or change things for them? He had no idea. He sighed searched for the island.
Chaor had a small smirk on his face. He was proud of what Kazzy had done, "Turning into a fighter aren't you?" He had only brought Kaz out of necessity and to help against Van Bloot. Even he couldn't have foreseen a future where he would grow attached to the teenager like that. And neither would the influence that boy had on him.
The little times they had during the battle in Chaotic, he knew they were meaningless. He had the memories of their little bonding, but Kazzy didn't. The image of the boy just exploding into blue light and numbers served well to remind him of his failure. He clenched his hands and promised, "I will get them all."
Returning to his task, he looked far away and noticed an island, "We are here!"
The ship adjusted its direction. The creatures came to watch the island, except Mudeenu, whose seasickness got the best of him while his scales seemed to turn green.
Chapter 101: The Mysterious Island
The group saw the island in front of them, covered in green. At first sight, it already looked quite large for an island. That was only the first impression though.
Maxxor crossed his arms, "This must be the island we were searching for," he sighed. They needed to find the materials needed to fix the portal.
Chaor nodded, "They didn't find anything at the temple."
"None of the creatures found anything else about the big crystal. They aren't sure if they could break it, or if it would be safe to break it. It could blow up in their faces," Tiaane told them, then sighed "I wonder what we will find there. Other temples like what Theb-Saar found, or something else?"
Chaor grunted, "That is not important. We need to find something to fix the portal and beat the M'arrillians once and for all!" He gazed at the group, "There is no time to waste on the island."
"R-right," Mudeenu raised his hand weakly.
The other creatures observed the poor Mipedian who couldn't get over it. Still, they reached their destinations and soon, the prince would get better.
They soon reached the island and it was time to begin the search. They left the ship and walked onto the beach.
The other creatures joined them and the three marine creatures surfaced.
Gal'drad walked out of the water behind Nauthilax. The other one who came out gazed at Nauthilax, who glared at him suspiciously.
"Enough Vix'ben," the Chieftain ordered the M'arrillian.
Vix'ben crossed his arms and grumbled in annoyance. He was a dark red, Naga-like M'arrillian who wore coral armor on his back and upper chest. He had a pair of gray horns pointing at the side of his neck. He had four arms, two big and muscular ones, the other two smaller. His short black wings closed on his back as his four purple eyes gazed away from the marine Underworlder, "Fine. He just better watch his mouth," he coughed as he followed them.
Maxxor sighed. Just that little bit told him that trouble was up ahead.
Chaor saw the same. He showed his fangs and gave warnings to his soldier and the M'arrillian, "You two better not fight and destroy the very thing we need! It would all be for nothing if you do something like that!"
Mudeenu finally recovered from their journey and his scales were back to their original color, "We should investigate right now. There is nothing dangerous so far."
"You might change your mind when we reach the forest. We don't know what lies ahead," Tassanil commented.
"I have to agree with him," Tiaane nodded.
No one gave any other comments and proceeded ahead. The M'arrillians were in the middle of the group. It was clear for them that trust towards them was small. They weren't ahead so they couldn't do anything, and not in the back to backstab anyone. Gal'drad didn't care while his companion was uneasy with this treatment. He bit his tongue for now.
As they reached the forest, Vix'ben opened his wings and flew in the air to see what was beyond the woods. He noticed a large structure in the middle of it and a few smaller ones around it. Looking ahead of it, something at the top of the mountain caught his eye. His purple eyes shined a little more once he was certain there was something they could find at the other side. (I saw something,) he told Gal'drad. He then landed.
The Chieftain asked, "What did you see?"
The creature focused on his leader as he replied, "Traces of a civilization that once lived here. It's abandoned now, but there were traces of inhabitants from what I can see. Maybe if we get closer, we'll see more."
The other tribes clearly noticed that the M'arrillian was ignoring them.
Gal'drad sighed, "We are not alone in this."
"They want nothing to do with us. That's what I'm doing to them," Vix'ben growled at the other creatures.
"You cannot expect them to forget what we did during the war. We haven't proven anything to them yet. We also failed to protect the Cothica," Gal'drad reminded the creature.
Vix'ben offered no reply and instead crossed his arms and waited for them to proceed forward.
Chaor took the lead, "We've wasted enough time with that difficult M'arrillian."
(Difficult?) He growled into the head of the leader of the Underworld.
Chaor ignored the complaint. They needed to find a way to reach the Cothica quickly. Kazzy's life was safe for now, but he didn't know for how long. The sight of Kaz getting coded was still imprinted in his mind. He had already failed the boy once; he wouldn't fail him again.
The others followed suit.
(Vix'ben. Do not try them. Do not,) Gal'drad warned the other creature.
(Fine. I'll just shut my mouth and be in my mind,) he replied.
The group went on their journey, the forest growing denser and the visibility was becoming terrible.
"I can barely see what's ahead," Mudeenu commented. He then grumbled when a branch smashed his face, "Who did that?"
"Sorry," Tiaane replied nervously.
The Mipedian prince sighed and went on. He would rather argue with any of the creatures from the other tribes for smashing a branch in his face.
It took them a long time, but they eventually passed the forest. They reached their first destination and stopped at the entrance of a village.
It was in ruins. The houses, all made of rock, were broken down, every structure crumbling into disrepair. There was nothing to prove that creatures lived there long ago, with one exception. At the center was a large structure, still intact. Compared to the ruins, it was sculpted and carefully built.
It looked like some kind of temple.
"What is that?" Nauthilax asked.
"A temple, I guess. It has a strange triangular shape," Tiaane replied. He crossed his arms, "It would have helped if we had someone knowledgeable like Najarin."
"You think that will help?" Chaor grunted in disbelief, "They don't even understand what was written in the other temple. Besides, we just need to find something to fix the portal so we can get those M'arrillians!"
Maxxor gazed at the two M'arrillians who were standing impassively.
"I can't disagree with Chaor. We need to find it quickly and save the Cothica," Gal'drad replied.
The creatures split up and investigated the village. They tried to enter a few of the ruins before they checked the large structure, but a quick investigation showed they offered nothing.
"The only thing I found was this battlegear," Tassanil showed them.
It was a primitive sword that looked more like a saw, serving to tell them this civilization was much older than expected.
"Then it's only the temple left to explo-" Maxxor stopped when he noticed the Underworlders already going there, "Don't break anything! We might need those!"
They entered the temple. Chaor called fire to the palm of his hand and illuminated the inside. The creatures stopped when they noticed what the interior contained. Covering the walls were many partially erased drawings and a few images sculpted on the rock. Unfortunately, the flame wasn't enough to illuminate everything.
Mudeenu turned around and checked outside, "It will take a bit before the sun is high enough for us to see better inside."
They had to wait. The creatures then noticed the two M'arrillians entering the structure.
Gal'drad decided to return to one of the broken structures, the least damaged one. He then turned towards Vix'ben, "Don't cause any trouble while I go inside."
"Can you even go inside?" Maxxor asked.
Mudeenu chuckled as if it was even a possibility.
"Yes. I can go inside, but not with my armor and-" he grabbed his armor, "Don't look at me. I need to strip off my armor to go inside."
"Your body isn't a solid one," Tiaane remembered.
It reminded Maxxor of the report when Aval'par blew up. That M'arrillians didn't leave any organs, just fluids. At least until it combined together and formed a body once again.
Gal'drad sighed. He went to the other side of the structure where no one could see him and took off his armor, "I'll check inside."
His body managed to pass through a hole large enough for him.
None of them witnessed what or how he did it.
Vix'ben made sure no one tried to check the other side of the ruins, "Don't even think of trying anything."
The other creatures rolled their eyes.
"Vix'ben. You shouldn't be hostile towards us. We are in this together," Tiaane told him.
A few creatures gazed at him with a bit of disbelief, though Maxxor didn't show that kind of reaction.
"Are you crazy? The M'arrillians are the enemies. We cannot trust them," Nauthilax replied angrily.
It was what Chaor thought too, but he kept it to himself.
"Sure. You want me to be less hostile with that attitude?" Vix'ben pointed at Nauthilax. He frowned at them while his eyes shined brighter, "I betrayed my family and my friends to protect the Cothica. As we speak, they are all in the Cothica fighting the humans, and I do not want to think about that," he gazed at them, "The only reason I'm doing nothing is because Gal'drad told me too. I have much more I can tell you that's in my mind, but this isn't the time. The only reason I'm helping you is because I want to protect the Cothica from the other M'arrillians under Milla'iin," he directly faced them, "And you. Don't even think that you won't try the same as them. I mean, you were ready to fight each other to reach the Cothica and claim its power."
Mudeenu took a step forward, "Why you-"
Maxxor interrupted him, "I won't deny your claims Vix'ben. We tried to claim the Cothica for our tribe. It was what we always did. We all want to protect our tribe."
"A situation that is inevitable. It was always destined to reach that point eventually. Then… the M'arrillians came and those we cared for came under grave danger," Tiaane concluded.
There was an uncomfortable silence between the creatures. Not all of them. Some didn't care about what the M'arrillian had just said and what Maxxor admitted. If they felt like they weren't better than the M'arrillians, they didn't say it.
Gal'drad came out, allowing the creatures to see a bit of his head. "Hold on," he then put his armor back on and joined the creatures with something in his hand, "I found nothing interesting in the house except this tablet."
He showed it and the creatures looked at it. They were all in shock.
On the tablet, there was a human sculpted on it.
"D-did another human come to Perim… before the Messenger of the Cothica?" Tiaane asked in disbelief.
AC: This is the end of chapter 101. A mysterious tablet on that mysterious island.
Next Chapter: The Secret Of The Temple.
After they analysed the tablet, they went to observe what was in the temple with the light of the sun.