N'ren's sun beat down on the steep, scorched walls of Storm Canyon as the N'renyans, the Doctor, Rose, Jack, and Solaris made their way down the narrow cliffside path. The trail was too restricted for the amailias to safely navigate down, so they had to be secured up at the top of the gorge, leaving the group to head down to the Ancient Ruins on foot.
As it turned out, the trail leading down to the ruins was even hazardous for a person to walk down. Whenever someone took so much as five to ten steps along the rocky path, the ground beneath their feet would crumble slightly, and they had to regain their balance once again to avoid falling a fatal distance of over 300 feet down. At one point along the way, an entire chunk of rock severed off from the side of the cliff, and Rose and Lulez nearly fell completely off the path. They were only saved by the last minute actions of Jack and Kairivan, who had grabbed their arms at the last possible second. The hazardousness of the trek down the cliff made their progress slow-going, so by the time they reached the entrance to the Ancient Ruins, it was well into the afternoon.
The entrance itself was one of the most amazing things Rose had seen on her travels on the TARDIS. An elaborate archway had been carved right into the rocky face of the gorge wall, with intricate designs etched into the stone pillars that framed the archway. The area inside the ancient temple was even more breathtaking, with a high, towering ceiling and a spacious entryway. The floors were covered in stone tiles that had been arranged into an incredibly artistic design, and the walls featured even more of the designs that appeared at the archway. There was no question that the Ancient Temple was an architectural marvel, considering that it had been constructed with no advanced technology.
"How could anyone say the N'renyans are a primitive culture?" Rose asked in wonderment. "Nobody primitive could carve out something like this into a cliff."
"Well, they could have added in some form of light," Jack noted, looking around and seeing that there were no torches or any other form of light.
"We're not quite sure how the Ancient N'renyans managed," Gaya explained. "None of the old writings that survived the N'renyan Massacre ever reveal how they generated light for the temple."
"So, that leaves us with the problem of how we're supposed to find our way around," the Doctor mused, taking out his sonic screwdriver in order to provide at least a little bit of light. As he started to try and look around, the light from the sonic screwdriver fell upon some old petroglyphs that he couldn't stop himself from taking a moment to examine.
"Did you find something?" Rose noticed the Doctor was intently studying the petroglyphs, and came up to his side to look at them as well.
"I'm not sure," the Doctor replied, not taking his eyes off the ancient markings. Etched onto the stone wall was a drawing of some sort of fearsome monster with a great serpentine body and ragged wings. Its mouth was gaping wide open, revealing rows of jagged, sharp looking teeth. Rose couldn't stop the impulsive shiver that washed over her body when she glanced at the eyes of the terrible creature that had been drawn there. The N'renyan who had drawn them had managed to make those eyes seem almost alive, and they appeared to be filled with evil and malice. They were like something out of a terrible nightmare. Somehow, Rose managed to tear her gaze off of those terrible eyes, and looked at more of the carving. The monster was shown to be facing off with a group of robed figures, and above the monster were five different orbs. Each of the orbs had been pained over with a different color, with the used colors being red, green, blue, silver, and white in that order
"What do you think it means?" Rose's question was mainly directed at everyone, but she looked down at the Doctor when she spoke.
"Probably nothing," the Doctor turned to her with his wide grin. "Most likely part of some old N'renyan myth that was lost though time. No matter; there's still the belt to find in here, so we best get to it."
"But how are we supposed to find our way around?" Lulez asked. "That tool of yours doesn't look like it'll be much help, Doctor."
"Actually, I think I've found the solution," Jack announced, suddenly finding some wooden poles that had been strewn around the floor by the entrance of the old temple. "These look like they could make good torches."
"But what are we goin' to light them with?" Rose wondered.
"I think I can take care of that," the Doctor headed over to Jack. With his sonic screwdriver, he divided the poles into six separate pieces, then, after changing the setting, started a small fire on the ends of the poles, creating some makeshift torches.
"Hmm," Solaris smirked, arching an eyebrow at the Doctor's trick. "If I were you, Doctor, I wouldn't show off the special features of that thing like that. It might just tempt me to try and steal it again. For the briefest of moments, the Doctor found himself fighting back a grin at Solaris' joke, knowing she was only half-serious about stealing it again.
Before long, with the aid of the Doctor's improvised torches, the group started exploring the Ancient Temple.
"If only the Ancient N'renyan knowledge survived," Gaya voiced, running a hand over some more petrographs. "Perhaps then, we might have been able to see if these old writings could direct us to the belt. It could be anywhere in this…" Gaya's words were cut off by a startled cry from Lulez, who had wandered a short distance ahead of the others. When they had joined the young N'renyan, they found him in a large cloister-sized room with a domed ceiling. Lulez was half-sprawled out on the floor in front of a towering statue of an armored N'renyan. From the looks of it, Lulez had been taken by surprise by the statue, and had dropped to the ground in his fright. It was no wonder the he had been startled so badly, the Doctor noted. In the flicker of the torch fire, the statue almost looked as if it was moving.
"You okay" Rose asked as she and Solaris helped Lulez to his feet.
"Ye...yeah, fine," Lulez nodded, still staring at the statue with wide eyes. Jamada, meanwhile, had started to examine the statue closely, while Gaya and Kairivan found an old narrow fire pit carved into the walls, which circled the entire perimeter of the room. With their torches, they started a fire in the pit, illuminating the chamber.
"It looks as if this must be the legendary N'renyan warrior, Thek QaRothig," Jamada noted, running a hand over the statue's base. "He's a popular character in our children's tales; said to be the one who first founded the six N'renyan tribes, with each tribe consisting of his offspring from a different wife."
"Doctor," Jack interrupted the examination of the statue of Thek QaRothig. "I think we might have a problem. The hall we used to get into this room; it's the only entrance. There aren't any other rooms in this place, and we still haven't located the belt. It might not even be here anymore."
"Actually," Kairivan stepped into the conversation, glancing up at the domed ceiling, "we've already found it." The group followed Kairivan's gaze upward. In the center of the dome above their heads, someone had firmly secured what clearly was a belt. Glinting back at them, like a beckoning star, was a rough, green stone embedded into the belt buckle, which was bordered by eight smaller stones.
"Right, one problem solved," Rose chuckled dryly. "But how are we 'posed to get up there for the belt? Don't suppose there's a lift in this place?"
"I can get it for you," Lulez announced as a pair of butterfly-like wings sprouted out from his shoulder blades. Noticing the looks of confusion that had appeared on Rose, Jack, and the Doctor's faces, Lulez explained. "I was born a member of the N'renyan Flower Clan, remember? All the tribes on N'ren have a unique talent or gift that sets them apart from the other tribes. My entire tribe was well known for their gift of retractable wings. Just like members of the Air Clan, like Gaya, are noted for heightened spiritual and healing abilities."
"Fantastic," the Doctor grinned as Lulez began to fly up to the domed ceiling, where he hovered underneath the belt.
"It's been fastened up here with some kind of metal hooks," Lulez called down to them. "The hooks are all rusted up, too. Gonna take a while to get the belt out." For a few moments, Lulez struggled with freeing the belt. Finally, after what had to have been three minutes, Lulez managed to free the belt, putting all his strength into prying one of the hooks open. Returning to the ground, he passed the belt over to the Doctor.
"Thank you so much, Lulez," the Doctor smiled in approval. His smile faded when he spotted that the younger Alien's hands had been sliced open in his struggle with the belt, and were starting to bleed. "'Ere, let me," the Doctor took hold of one of Lulez's injured hands, hovering the sonic screwdriver over the wounds. Almost immediately, the torn skin knitted together, healing the cuts.
"Wow, thanks," Lulez grinned in gratitude.
"There will be some scarring, however," the Doctor announced as the group prepared to leave the temple. "I'm afraid I can't help with that." Lulez nodded in understanding, rubbing his healed hands. Seconds later, the Doctor felt someone take his hand, and smiled instantly, recognizing the feel of the hand as Rose's. Instinctively, he squeezed her hand, moments before flashing her a grin.
"Two down, two to go," Rose noted cheerfully.
"Let's not keep them waiting, then," the Doctor agreed with equal exuberance.
However, their high spirits were short lived. As the group started to walk out of the chamber, a low rumbling was heard. When they turned to see what was happening, they instantly froze, completely gobsmacked. Lulez's removal of the belt must have triggered some sort of ancient bobby trap that had been fashioned to keep anyone from leaving with the belt. The statue of Thek QaRothig was not a true statue, but some sort of advanced robot, which had came to life the moment the belt had been removed from the domed ceiling. The Thek Robot moved forward, towering over them. For a brief moment, the Thek Robot was motionless, but then it drew out a large sword and prepared to strike the group.
"Uh…." Solaris started to back away, the others mirroring her actions. "So, you got a plan in that large brain of yours, Doctor? 'Cause, I'm open to anything you might suggest right now."
AN: Major cliffhanger alert. The next chapter will be worth the wait, I promise. Please R and R.