Chapter 7: Cults and Deities
Calythé filed after Bryn into a room in the Archers' Guild. Its occupant sat up and stared at them. It was a teenaged boy, small in stature, with a strange robe and pure white hair.
"I shan't tell you anything," he huffed. "I shall not besmirch the glory of the great Queen Ixia!"
"We didn't ask you to... besmirch your queen," said Bryn firmly. "We have a few questions, and if you don't tell us the answer, Calythé here may be blind but she can look in your head."
"I'll read your thoughts with my mind's eye," she said coolly. "So, first things first, what is your name and position?"
The boy gulped. "My name is Eytan," he said. "I am the Queen's primary aide."
Calythé fingered the edge of Eytan's robe. It was pale gray, bordered with strange symbols. Atop the hood was a circular symbol, with four colored dots and a glyph depicting an ancient deity who resembled Cthulhu. "When I was in the Summoners' Guild, the robes were very different from this. Why the change?"
"Our Queen is a vengeful ruler," said Eytan proudly. "Her goal is to strike down the other Guilds and become the queen of all Terraria. So she has been researching unbelievably ancient technologies and deities to heighten her powers. She outfitted the rest of the Summoners' Guild in these new robes to increase our collective power."
"What kind of deities? Technologies?" asked Bryn suspiciously.
"Very ancient technologies," said Eytan. "She knows of an ancient cult that worshipped a deity of the moon. Apparently those who worshipped the moon were imbued with unbelievable power: warriors with the power of the sun, rangers with the power of the vortices, mages with the power of the nebulae, and summoners with the power of the stars. I found a notebook in her quarters in which the word 'STARDUST' was scrawled over and over and over again."
"What did you say about a cult?" Calythé said slowly.
"An ancient moon cult," Eytan repeated. "Queen Ixia knows the last of the cultists live by the dungeon. One day she will find their leader and learn all the secrets of the cult, so she can summon the celestial deity and gain untold power!"
"Thank you for your time, Eytan," said Bryn quickly, standing. "Now we need to go to the dungeon."
Later...
Bryn, Calythé, and Eytan stood at the gaping mouth of the dungeon and glanced around. The ground was littered with blue-robed bodies.
Bryn gasped. "We're too late. She got here first."
"There are voices from the top," said Calythé. "Take us up with those lightning boots of yours."
"Good idea." Bryn took Calythé on her back and brought her and Eytan up, one at a time.
Eytan gasped. "My liege!"
