An: hi everyone, and welcome back to Standing Against the Darkness. In this chapter, the girls read chapter 6. This marks the halfway point of the tome's chapters. We're getting closer to the end.
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Disclaimer I in no way own Harry Potter or Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. I'm just having some fun.
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11: A Journey Into Darkness
The girls gather around Jasmine as she looks over the newest chapter page.
Daphne examines her. "So where in time does this chapter take place?"
Jasmine shakes her head in ignorance. "No idea", she says. "the only way to find out is to use the tome to read the chapter."
With that Jasmine inserts the chapter into the tome, causing an image to form in front of the girls.
The girls see PIOUS standing in the portal chamber summoning his Ancient once again.)
:Our Guardians have located the heart, master. Before the month is out, it shall be ours."
"Do not underestimate the power of Mantorok, warlock! Its power cannot be defined in terms you understand. For seven centuries its cause has corroded your Universe."
"And during those seven, the denizens of the region have been either destroyed or driven away. There is nothing, no one, to stop us from collecting it. Manotork, and its Essence, lie unprotected in the jungle."
"Then waste no more time. Retrieve it immediately, and pray to me that you do. Time is running short... And without me you are mere flesh and bone... Remember that..."
As the creature finishes speaking the image winks out. All 4 girls look at 1 another in alarm.
Jasmine shakes herself. "I guess we better see what happened."
The other girls nod and start reading the chapter.
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The Tome opens onto a picture of the City Temple, and 2 men)
A voice can be heard as the picture fills out. "The Ancients' influence was incredible. From all walks of life to all parts of the world, their tendrils crept and wrought their insidious damage. Their prisons decayed constantly, as their Guardian's work continued.
I discovered mention of a breakthrough in satellite RADAR imaging that revealed the presence of a hitherto unknown temple mound in the Angkor Thom region of Cambodia. An archaeologist of some repute, Dr. Edwin Lindsey, took it upon himself to investigate the area, to reveal the secrets of history. Unfortunately, the local government at the time thought differently, requiring that Lindsey find other means into the country, and to finance the expedition. He found these in Paul Augustine, a collector of rare items, who professed an interest in the discovery and agreed to help.
After a dysentery-riddled two week venture, Lindsey and Augustine located the remains of an ancient city temple, dating back to the twelfth century."
The picture comes to life as EDWIN LINDSEY and PAUL AUGUSTINE enter the temple.)
LINDSEY examines the area. "Yes, this is it. It has to be. I hadn't expected the information to pan out, but here it is... The satellite data was correct!"
Paul looks around. "For years I have searched for it without success, here, all along, clouded from us by the Great Ancient's insidious magick. I am very pleased with your performance, Dr. Lindsey... Very pleased... In fact... so pleased, that I will give you an early bonus."
Paul draws a gun and points it at Lindsey. Lindsey knocks him over, then takes cover behind a pillar. Paul fires, and Lindsey gets off a shot, hitting Paul in the arm. The bullet does nothing to Paul.
Lindsey gapes in disbelief. "My God!"
Paul continues to fire as Lindsey takes cover under a further pillar.
Paul's voice changes. "You are a scholar, Dr. Lindsey, not a warrior. In that regard, I have several centuries more experience than you... Don't be a fool, die quietly, and you will not suffer."
Lindsey fires another shot at Paul who sheds his disguise to reveal Pius. "You cannot escape me, Lindsey! This place will be your tomb, just as it is Mantorok's!"
A Reapelike creature enters the room through a door.
Pious turns to the creature. "Guardian of Ulyaoth! Kill him!"
The guardian spreads its wings and shrieks.
Pious leaves through the door the creature emerged from.
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Luna frowns at the creature as it flaps its wings. Tall and skeleton like she compares it to the dementors that had been placed around the school the previous year. The difference is that this creature seems to drain sanity instead of happiness. Not for the first time Luna wished they could help the people they watched go through this horror. Unfortunately, these were memories and therefore could not be altered. Luna watched in fascination as Lindsey battled the creature.
Lindsey began by pulling out a shotgun. Walking near the creature he waits for the creature to raise its wings. As soon as its head is exposed Lindsey fires a shot into its head. This causes the creature to fall back, close its wings, and summon a zombie. Switching the shotgun for a sword Lindsey slashes the zombie to pieces, before walking near the creature again. Once it raises its wings again Lindsey fires a shot into its head, once more causing the creature to fall back, close its wings, and summon a zombie. Lindsey goes through this pattern of killing off the zombie, waiting for the creature to open its wings, and shooting it in the head until it falls to the ground dead. Once the creature is unmoving Lindsey draws his sword and uses it to finish off the creature regaining all of his lost sanity.
As Lindsey catches his breath he looks around the room he and Luna are standing in. To the north and south are doors that appear to be sealed. Walking over to the west side of the room Lindsey finds a statue of some kind of goddess.
Lindsey examines the statue closely. "Hm, the discoloration around the wrist and neck shows some kind of jewelry belongs here." Lindsey examines a scrape on the statue's wrist. "based on the scrapes left behind it looks like I need a bronze bracelet and a neckless for this statue."
Returning to the center of the room Lindsey notices a tyle caked in dust. Pulling out his Archaeologist's Brush he carefully wipes the dust away, to reveal a bronze bracelet just sitting there. After blinking for a few seconds he picks it up.
Luna facepalms. "How did that dust hide a bracelet so well? It didn't look that deep." Deciding not to think about it too much, Luna follows Lindsey back over to the goddess statue.
Once more reaching the statue Lindsey places the bracelet on the statue's rist. With a grinding noise, the door to the south opens. With a nod, Lindsey walks over to the newly opened door. Luna follows right behind him.
As Lindsey is about to step through the door the world around him shifts and he finds himself in a long hallway. The floor is made up of screaming faces and the path is lined with statues of people.
Luna notices that 2 new statues have appeared since the last time she has seen this hall.
Lindsey walks up to the last statue on the right and examines the plaque at the bottom. It says, "Karim, 565 A.D". On the left side, and farther along the path he finds another statue that reads "Dr. Maximillian Roivas, 1760 A.D.".
After reaching the end of the hall Lindsey picks up a tome from a hand made of bone. Luna recognizes the Tome Of Eternal Darkness just before she and Lindsey find themselves back in the first room of the temple. Lindsey shakes his head for a moment, before shruging and entering the next room.
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Lindsey and Luna walk into a small room. Luna recognizes it as the room from Ellia's journey through this temple. The candles that Ellia lit back then are still burning.
Lindsey examines the candles on the table. "How are these candles still lit? After all this time you would think they would have burned out."
Luna notices that this time the tyle in the center of the room is not covered by dead bodies. Supposedly time took care of all the zombies from back then.
Looking around Lindsey spots 3 candles sitting on an altar. He blinks at the sight. "How are these candles still lit? By the looks of the dust, nobody's been here for centuries."
Lindsey walks over to the tile in the center of the room. Examining it he sees it shows the setting sun. "This must show the height of humanity's progress. Just before it all comes crashing down."
After looking around a bit more Lindsey walks over to a door on the west side of the room. Luna follows him as he walks into the next room.
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Lindsey and Luna walk into a hallway that looks similar to the 1 between the entrance and the room they just came from. The walls have some vines growing on them. Luna notices that the hall is slightly darker than when Ellia passed through here all those years ago.
As Lindsey steps into the hall he pauses. Pulling out his pistol he aims at something just out of Luna's sight. Pulling the trigger he shoots a small creature standing next to a discolored tyle. As Lindsey steps forward he notices the discolored tiles, and stepping carefully avoids them.
As Luna follows behind Lindsey she sees what he shot. A creature she recognizes as a trapper from Karim's journey lies in the middle of the path.
Lindsey draws his sword and stabs the Trapper in the back. Although Luna can't imagine why. Lindsey's green bar was full, so why did Lindsey need to stab the Trapper when he did?
While the 2 walk the hallway turns south, then west, then north, before turning west again. As Lindsey and Luna approach the middle of the hallway while walking south they both spot an alcove on their left. As Lindsey examines the alcove he spots a pedestal that holds a metal bracelet. After picking up the bracelet Lindsey continues following the hallway while avoiding the discolored tiles. Luna follows right behind him.
As Lindsey approaches a corner of the hallway, where the hall turns north, he spots spiderwebs out of the corner of his eye. Using his Archaeologist's Brush he removes the spiderwebs to reveal a smalll stone tablet with a rune scrached into 1 side.
Luna nearly jumps up and down in excitement. Lindsey had just found a codex. Witch meant he would probably be finding a new rune soon.
After picking up the tablet Lindsey continues to follow the hallway as it leads him to another door. Without hesitation, luna follows him into the next room.
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As Lindsey enters the next room he nearly craps in his pants. In 1 corner, surrounded by a shimmering field is a large 3-headed creature.
Luna recognizes the creature as a Horror.
After calming down Lindsey examines an urn standing near the door he and Luna just came through. Sitting on this urn is a bronze necklace. Realizing this would be useful Lindsey picks up the neckless. Then after discovering the other door out of this room is sealed shut, Lindsey makes his way back to the entrance hall. Once there he places the bronze necklace on the statue. With a rumble, the door on the northern side of the room opens. After taking 1 last look around Lindsey steps through the door. Luna follows right behind him.
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Lindsey and Luna find themselves in another small room. In 1 corner a statue of a naga sits. The center of the room is covered in dust.
Walking over to the center of the room Lindsey brushes the dust away revealing a tile that shows a rising sun. "Interesting. The rising sun here seems to represent the birth of humanity in this universe."
After examining the tyle Lindsey walks over to the statue in the corner. Examining it he finds a silver bracelet hanging on 1 of the statue's limbs. After examining the bracelet Lindsey removes it from the statue.
Without warning the doors leading out of the room slam shut and the Naga statue comes to life. It starts launching darts at Lindsey while hissing "Give it back!". After dodging darts for a few minutes Lindsey pulls the metal bracelet from his pocket and places it on the same limb he took the silver bracelet from.
As soon as the bracelet is in place the statue stops moving and the doors reopen. After taking the time to catch his breath Lindsey walks through the door leading north. Luna follows him, excited to see what else would now be found in this temple.
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Lindsey and Luna found themselves in another long hallway. Just like the last 1 Lindsey's torch revealed several discolored tyles. The major difference between this hallway and the last was the zombies that shuffled their way down the hall.
Each of the zombies was a purple color. As each zombie neared Lindsey he swang his torch at them, setting them on fire and causing them to burn away. Before a zombie completely burned Lindsey stabbed it in the back, refilling some of his green bar.
After all the zombies were taken care of, Lindsey stepped back into the previous room, before returning to the hallway. Luna saw this caused the traps that the zombies had set off to reset.
Lindsey and Luna traveled down the hallway. Avoiding the tyles that would set off a trap. Just before they reached the door to the next room Lindsey paused.
Turning to the corner near the door Lindsey pulled out his Archaeologist's Brush and brushed away spiderwebs from the corner. This revealed another stone tablet, with some kind of rune scratched into 1 side.
Luna was getting excited. That was the second codex Mr. Lindsey had found, and that could only mean that they would be getting 2 new runes in this temple.
After collecting the tablet Lindsey entered the next room. Luna hurried along behind him.
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As Lindsey and Luna entered the next room Lindsey's green bar took a major hit. The reason, a lot of zombies spotting Lindsey and moving toward him. Among the mass of zombies was a massive zombie. This zombie had a rune shining out of its chest.
Lindsey pulled his shotgun and taking a stand waited. As soon as the zombies were all grouped together, Lindsey pointed the shotgun at the group and fired a massive blast.
Luna watched as the entire group of zombies were blasted apart. As the large zombie dropped to the ground the rune in its chest broke free and floated over to Lindsey. As Lindsey reached out to touch the rune, it was absorbed into the Tome of Eternal Darkness. As the rune entered the tome, 1 of the codexes flashed. The rune now had the words "Nethlek, Dispell" written next to it.
After collecting the Nethlek rune Lindsey walked around the room stabbing zombies in the back to recover his green bar. Once that was done he walked over to the tiles in the center of the room. Examining them he frowns. "This night sky most likely means the decline of humanity into nothingness and torment. In other words, our current time."
Luna frowns at Lindsey's words. She couldn't help but wonder when humanity just laid down and took it.
After examining the tyles Lindsey heads for the door in the southern part of the room. Luns follows him as he enters another hallway.
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As Lindsey enters the next hallway A zombie begins walking toward him. While walking the zombie steps on several discolored tyles, setting off several blade swinging traps. Before the zombie got even halfway to Lindsey it was cut down by the swinging blades.
As the zombie dies he steps back into the last room, then walks into the hallway once again. As he enters the previous room the traps reset themselves, so when Lindsey reenters the hallway the traps were still.
Walking slowly Lindsey makes his way along the hallway avoiding the discolored tiles on the floor. Reaching the middle of the hallway Lindsey spots alcoves to the east and west. Turning east Lindsey spots a sealed door, along with dust and spiderwebs covering 1 corner of the alcove. Using his Archaeologist's brush Lindsey clears away the dust and webs, revealing a scroll.
Picking up the scroll Lindsey blinks as the tome flashes. After blinking his eyes Lindsey glances at the tome. In the spell section, a new spell had appeared. That spell was the "Dispel Magic spell".
After collecting the scroll Lindsey exited the alcove and walked across the hallway to the western alcove.
Upon entering Lindsey spots a second goddess statue. Examining it Lindsey sees traces of silver around the statue's neck and wrist. Realizing he already had 1 of the items for this statue, Lindsey pulls out the silver bracelet he had found earlier and slips it around the statue's rist. After the bracelet is in place Lindsey waits for a couple of minutes, but nothing happens. Realizing he needs the silver necklace, Lindsey walks down the rest of the hallway, entering the door at the end. Luna skips along behind him.
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Upon entering the room that has tyles that show the sun high in the sky, Lindsey examines the creature still trapped in the shimmering field. Noticing the creature is red he opens the tome and flips to the "Enchant Item" spell.
Luna watches as Lindsey enchants 1 of his guns under Ulyaoth. Next she watches as Lindsey examines the runes that make up the shimmering fielf. Upon noticing the runes are also red, Lindsey casts the new "Dispell Magic" under Ulyaoth.
As soon as the spell takes effect the creature roars at Lindsey, draining a good amount from his green bar. Not stopping to worry about it Lindsey raises his shotgun and fires 2 shots into each of the creature's heads. After the third shot, the creature drops to the ground dead. Putting away his shotgun, Lindsey drew his sword and stabbed the creature in the back, recovering the green meter he had lost when the creature roared at him.
With the creature now dead Lindsey walks over to the corner it was guarding and picks up a silver necklace that had been hidden by the creature's bulk. With the necklace in hand, Lindsey heads back toward the western hallway. Luna skips along behind him.
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Stepping carefully so as to not trigger any traps, Lindsey makes his way back to the western alcove. Upon reaching it he moves over to the goddess statue and places the silver necklace he found in the last room around its neck. As the neckless settles into place Lindsey hears a click and looking out he sees a door across the hallway open with a groan.
After looking around the hallway for a few minutes, Lindsey walks across to the eastern alcove and walks through the door. Luna follows as Lindsey enters a staircase leading down to the next floor of the temple.
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As Lindsey starts down the stairs Luna looks around. This doesn't look like the floor that Ellia dropped into when she fell through a trapdoor. For 1 thing there wasn't a staircase leading up out of where Ellia dropped into. For another, there wasn't any of this red mist. "Oh no!" Looking around as Lindsey slashes zombies, she spots 1 of those reaper-like creatures that Lindsey had to fight when he started this journey. Not for the first time Luna wished she and the others could warn the person they were following of danger when it was near.
Thankfully it seems Lindsey remembered the mist from when he first entered the temple just as Luna did. After killing a large zombie and retrieving an unknown rune from its corpse, Lindsey pulled out his shotgun once more, and after making sure it was fully loaded and enchanted under Ulyaoth, walked closer to the guardian. As soon as he got close enough the wings opened, revealing its head. Quickly taking aim, Lindsey fires a blast into the guardian's head. The blast causes the guardian to close its wings, and send out a blast of its own. After dodging the guardian's blast Lindsey once again gets close enough to cause the guardian's wings to open. A second blast from the shotgun into the guardian's head, and it falls to the ground dead. After taking the time to stab the guardian in the back with his sword, Lindsey hurries along to a door at the bottom of the stairs. Luna skips along after him.
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Lindsey and Luna step into a large hallway heading south. As soon as they enter Zombies begin shuffling their way over to Lindsey. Along the way large swinging blade traps are activated, killing several before they reach Lindsey at all.
When Lindsey's green bar dipps below half, Lindsey casts a 3-point recover spell under Xel'lotath to refill it. Once all the zombies are dead Lindsey makes his way south past some unavoidable traps, until he reaches a new door. Luna follows him as he enters the next room.
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The first thing Lindsey sees upon entering the room is a life-size statue of a human standing where it can see another goddess statue. Heading over to the goddess statue Lindsey sees something blittering from under her lowered arm.
Exploring the room Lindsey finds a round tile in the opposite corner from the goddess statue. Standing on the tile Lindsey and Luna watch as the large statue begins turning to face Lindsey. It takes a few minutes while Lindsey stands still but at last, the statue stops turning and faces the round tile. Looking over at the goddess statue Lindsey notices the statue's arm is raised revealing another bracelet.
Stepping off the tile Lindsey notices the large statue begin to turn back toward the goddess statue. Believing that the goddess's arm would lower back down and cover the bracelet when the statue finishes turning, Lindsey runs across the room to the goddess statue and grabs the gold bracelet lying there.
After catching his breath Lindsey heads over to the southern wall. Examining it Lindsey finds a large round button. Unsure what it does, Lindsy is hesident to press it. However, curiosity finally causes him to press the button. Nothing seems to happon and Lindsey shruggs before heading to the eastern exit. Luna follows him into the next hallway.
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Lindsy steps into the next hallway and right onto a discolored tile. Lindsy freezes, expecting a trap to activate. However, no traps spring to life.
Luna looks back at the previous room. "Did that button turn off the traps in this hall?"
Regardless Lindsey hurries down the hallway, until he comes across a purple barrior with red, green, and blue sigils woven into it. Behind the berrior Lindsey could see some rubble blocking another room. Examining the rubble Lindsey spots a small hole.
"No way a human can fit through that. I'll need to find something small to enter the hole."
After stepping away from the barrier Lindsey hurries down the hallway to the next room.
As Lindsy enters the room luna hears a click from the tiles in the hallway. Deciding to not hang around Luna hurries after Lindsey.
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As Lindsey enters the room he spots a blue zombie wandering around. Pulling out his sword Lindsey slashes at the zombie's head until it falls to the floor. After slashing both of the zombie's arms off, Lindsey slashes the zombie's torso until it dies. After the zombie falls to the floor, Lindsey stabs it in the back to recover some green meter.
After killing the zombie Lindsey notices a pedestal surrounded by a blue shimmering field. Lindsey realizes this field is the same type of field that blocked the 3-headed creature up on the previous floor. The only difference was that this 1 was blue, while the last 1 was red.
Standing in front of the field Lindsey opens the Tome of Eternal Darkness and turns to the spell section. Finding the "Dispel Magic" spell Lindsey taps the spell. When the 3 alignment runes begin to glow, Lindsey taps the Xel'lotath rune. With a flash of light, the shimmering field disappears.
Luna's view shifts to the purple barrier in the previous hallway. She watches as the Ulyaoth rune fades from the barrier. She can see the Xel'lotath and Chattur'gha runes remain. Once the rune completely fades Luna's view returns to Lindsey.
After dispelling the field, Lindsey walks to the south wall of the room. There he finds an empty circular basin with a button on 1 side. Curious as to what this button does, Lindsey presses it. At once the basin is filled with what he recognises as acid. After only a few seconds the basin drains, leaving it as empty as when Lindsey first found it.
Walking to the eastern wall Lindsey finds a button just like the 1 in the last room. Deciding it couldn't hurt, Lindsey presses the button and leaves through the northern exit. Luna hurries after him.
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Lindsey steps into another hallway. This 1 runs nort to south. Hurrying along Lindsey stops when he catches sight of another goddess statue. Examining it Lindsey sees that this statue once held a gold bracelet and gold necklace.
Since he already had a gold bracelet on hand, Lindsey placed it on the statue's wrist. Once done Lindsey hurries to the end of the hallway and enters the next room.
Just as Lindsey steps through the door Luna hears a click from the floor tiles. She hurries after Lindsey.
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As soon as Lindsey steps into the room, 2 zombies start attacking him. Instead of taking the time to switch to another weapon, Lindsey swings his torch at each zombie. Causing each 1 to catch on fire and burn quickly. As soon as a zombie drops to the floor Lindsey finishes it off with a stab from his sword in the back. Once both zombies are out of the way Lindsey walks to the center of the room.
Here Lindsey finds a platform surrounded by a shimmering field. The field is similar to the 1 in the last room. The only difference is that this field is green instead of blue.
Standing in front of the field Lindsey opens the tome and turns to the spells section. When he finds the "Dispel Magic" spell he taps it. When the alignment runes start to glow, he taps the Chattur'gha. The red-colored spell washes over the field, causing it and a rune that was sitting on the platform, to disappear.
Once more Luna's view shifts to the purple barrier in the first hallway. She watches as the Xel'lotath rune fades from the barrier. She can see the Chattur'gha rune is the only rune that remains. Once the rune completely fades Luna's view returns to Lindsey.
After dispelling the Xel'lotath field Lindsey walkds over to the northern wall. Here he finds another of the buttons he has been finding in these rooms on the second floor. Without hesetation Lindsey presses the button, then leaves the room through the western exit. Luna follows after him.
The exit leads to a long hallway leading west. Lindsey hurries along, using his sword to kill some zombies that get in his way. After a short time, Lindsey reaches the next door. He and Luna hurry through it.
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As Lindsey enters the third room of the second floor he spots another creature just like the 1 up on the first floor. The 1 that was trapped in its own shimering field. This 1 was green, so Lindsey enchants his shotgun under Chattur'gha, before blasting each of it's heads with 2 shots.
As the creature falls dead Lindsey stabs it in the back to recover some of his green meter. Then out of curiosity he opens the Tome of Eternal Darkness and turns pages until he finds a creatures section. Looking through the list of creatures and their descriptions, he at last comes across the Horror. Its description matches what Lindsey has had to fight twice. Now. Knowing the name of the creature he just killed, Lindsey walks to the center of the room.
Lindsey finds himself standing in front of another shimmering field. This time the field is colored red. Lindsey can also see a red rune in the center of the field. Just like the last 2 times Lindsey opens the tome and turns to the spells section. Finding "Dispell Magic" once again, he taps it. When the alignment runes start to glow, Lindsey taps Ulyaoth.
A wave of blue magic sweeps across the shimmering field. It causes the field and rune to disappear.
Once again Luna's view shifts to the purple barrier in the first hallway. As she watches the last rune disappear from the barrier, the barrier disappears as well. The doorway is still blocked by rubble, but the purple barrier is no longer there. Once the barrier completely fades Luna's view returns to Lindsey.
Once the field disappears Lindsey walks to the northern side of the room. Looking around with his torch, Lindsey at last spots some spiderwebs covering something on the floor. Using his Archaeologist's brush, Lindsey clears away the spiderwebs, revealing a necklace. Without pausing Lindsey picks up the revealed necklace. "This necklace is covered in layers of dust and dirt. Probably from lying in this room for so many years. It is really caked on. I'll need to find something to burn off all this garbage."
Remembering the basin 2 rooms back Lindsey searches the room for the button to press. Upon finding it he presses the button and hurries out through the eastern exit.
Lindsey, with Luna following him, runs along the hallway until he reaches the Northeast room. Once there Lindsey locates the button and presses it again. After pressing the button Lindsey hurries into the eastern hallway. Without stopping Lindsey hurries along the hallway until he reaches the southeast room.
Once back in the southeast room, Lindsey locates the basin he found on his last visit here. Stepping up to the basin Lindsey places the necklace into it and presses the button. The basin once again fills with acid, completely submerging the necklace. After a few seconds, the acid drains out of the basin, revealing a gold necklace. Collecting the now gleaming necklace from the basin, Lindsey presses the other button in this room and makes his way to the eastern hallway.
After traveling to the mid-point of the hall Lindsey once again stands in front of the goddess statue. Pulling the gold necklace from his pack, Lindsey places it on the statue's neck.
A sound causes Lindsey to whip around. A door, that Lindsey had not noticed before, slides open. Through it, Lindsey can see stairs leading down. After thinking about it for a few minutes, Lindsey walks across the hallway and through the door. Luna skipped along after him.
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As Lindsey stands at the top of the stairs leading down to the third floor he can see a green zombie, a blue zombie, and a red horror. Both of the Zombies are attacking the horror, who is firing its magical attack at the breen zombie. The green zombie gets close enough to the other zombie that it triggers its explosion, taking the blue zombie out and dealing some damage to the horror.
As soon as the 2 zombies are dead, Lindsey walks down the stairs pulling out his shotgun. As soon as he is close enough, Lindsey fires a shell into the Horror's remaining head, killing it. After stabbing the horror in the back Lindsey walks through the door at the bottom of the stairs. Luna follows right behind him.
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Lindsey finds himself in a hallway leading north. Pulling out his torch, Lindsey carefully follows the hallway, looking for discolored tiles. He is able to evoid most of them, except 1 that extends across the entire width of the hall.
Shrugging to himself Lindsey steps onto the tyel. Then watches as part of the wall just ahead pushes out toward the opposite wall, before retracting. After watching the wall slide out, slam into the opposite wall, then retracting twice more Lindsey hurries past the wall just as it is retracting.
luckily Lindsey is able to avoid all of the other trap tiles. Allowing him to enter the next room.
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As soon as Lindsey enters the room he is attacked by several zombies. Using his sword he is able to dispatch each of them, stabbing each in the back as they fall to the floor.
Once all the zombies are taken care of, Lindsy walks over to the northern wall. Here he examines a mural that takes up the entire wall. In the mural Lindsey can see people bowing to a god. "I don't recognize this god. Though the people sure seem happy with it."
Luna standing near Lindsey blinks in surprise. She recognizes the god as Mantorok. "Shouldn't Lindsey know Mantorok from the tome?"
After examining the mural for a few minutes, Lindsey turns away and heads to the center of the room. Here he finds a large head made of stone. It has fire coming out of its eyes and mouth. Lindsey also notices some spiderwebs near 1 end of the head.
Using his archaeologist's brush to remove the spiderwebs, Lindsey finds another stone tablet. As he picks it up it reveals the rune Lindsey had found after killing a large zombie on his way down from the first floor to be the Aretak (creature) rune. After collecting the tablet Lindsey walks through the western door.
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Lindsey finds himself in another long hallway. Using his torch he steps carefully. Doing his best to avoid any discolored tiles. After a long walk he reaches the next door. Luna follows him through to the next room.
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Upon entering the room, Lindsey is attacked by a lot of Zombies, Using his sword and pistal, Lindsey kills all of them, making sure to stab each 1 in the back as it falls to the floor.
Once all the zombies are dead Lindsey looks around the room. He finds another mural. This time he sees men leaving tribute to the god. In exchange for the tribute, the god gives the people lots of crops.
"I still don't know who this god is. However, this mural seems to represent the golden age of man."
After examining the mural Lindsey leaves the room through the south exit. Luna follows right behind him.
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Lindsey finds himself in another long hallway, this time running north-south. Just like last time he uses his torch to examine the tiles ahead of him as he walks down the hall. Unfortunately 1 of the discolored tiles extended across the entire width of the hall and Lindsey couldn't see any way of dodging it.
Luna tired of watching these fighters against the darkness gestured with her hand. To both her and Lindsey's surprise Lindsey is levatated over the discolored tile, allowing Lindsey to skip the trap intirely.
After shaking off whatever happened to him, Lindsey walks down the rest of the hallway and enters the next room. Luna hurries after him, still amazed she had been able to affect Mr. Lindsey like that.
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Upon entering the room Lindsey spots several zombies scattered around the room. As he takes them out 1 buy 1 with his sword, he notices 1 of the zombies has a transparent chest. Killing that zombie causes a rune to float over to Lindsey.
As the rune enters the tome, it lands next to a stone tablet. That tablet lights up, revealing the rune to be the Tier (summon) rune.
After dispatching the zombies and collecting the rune, Lindsey approaches a yellow barrier that had a sigil that matched the Teir rune on it. As he walks into the barrier the sigil glows and the barrier disappears, revealing another door leading out of the room. After glancing around to make sure he hadn't missed anything, Lindsey exits the room. Luna skipped alongside him.
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As Lindsey steps into the hallway Luna gesturees once again and levatates him over all the discolored tiles. Once near the end of the hallway Luna lowers Lindsey back to the floor.
Lindsey is quite shaken after his inpromptu flight, and glances around to see if he can find what ever floated him through the hallway.
Seeing nothing nor no one, Lindsey hurries through the nearby door. Giggling Luna follows after him.
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As Lindsey steps into the room he spots 3 zombies spread throughout the room. Drawing his sword Lindsey sets about the task of killing these zombies again. Once all of the zombies are dead Lindsey looks around the room.
The first thing Lindsey notices is a third mural on the north wall. This mural shows the god from the first 2 murals being bound by a skeletal demon. What look like 9 pillars are use to restrain the god.
As Lindsey examines the mural, images appear in the tome showing Mantorok's binding at the hands of Pius. "Deer god! That's Paul Augustine. And I led him straight here. But what does he need here now?" Feeling sick to his stomach, Lindsey turns away from the mural and searches the room.
On a ledge near the center of the room, Lindsey finds a scroll. As he picks it up the Tome of Eternal Darkness flashes, and a new spell, "Summon Trapper", appears in the tome.
As the knowledge settles into Lindsey's mind, he remembers the doorway he couldn't enter back on the second floor. Guessing his new spell would help with that, Lindsey begins backtracking to the southern hallway on the second floor.
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After dealing with the traps on the third floor, and navigating through the rooms and trapped hallways on the second floor, Lindsey finally arrives at the doorway that the purple barrier had been blocking when he first entered this hallway. The barrier was now gone, but the doorway was still blocked mostly by rubble. Spotting a small hole near the base of the rubble Lindsey looks at his new spell. After reading the description, Lindsey casts "Summon Trapper". A small red dog-like creature appears. Lindsey noticed that his green bar was draining at a constant rate.
Controling the trapper Lindsey sends it through the small hole leading into the center room. Luna finds herself being drawn in along with the trapper.
In the secret room, there are 2 red horrors. Both ignore the trapper as it enters the room. In front of the trapper, there is a thin suspension bridge. This bridge spans a large gap between the room's entrance and a platform with a circular tile that has a strange sigil carved into 1 side. Lindsey makes the trapper walk across the bridge toward the platform. Once the trapper steps onto the center tile, there is a flash, right before the trapper self-destructs.
Luna finds herself back with Lindsey.
Lindsey turns around to see an alcove has just opened in the wall across from the secret room. In that alcove sits an unknown rune. Without hesetation Lindsey walks over to the alcove and picks up the rune.
As soon as Lindsey picks up the rune, A horror bursts out of the rubble blocking the secret room. Lindsey pulls his shotgun and enchants it under Ulyaoth. Taking time to dodge the horror's magic blasts, Lindsey fires into each head of the horror twice, causing it to drop to the floor dead. After stabbing the dead horror in the back to regain some of his lost green meter, Lindsey decides to explore the room the horror came out of.
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Upon entering the secret room Lindsey sees a singgle horror standing on the platform with the sigil tile on it. Pulling his pistal, and enchanting it under Ulyaoth, Lindsey shoots each of the horror's heads 4 times. After the twelvth shot to the head the horror drops to the platform dead.
Lindsey walks across the suspension bridge to reach the platform. After stabbing the horror in the back, recovering some of his green meter, he turns his attention to some spiderwebs covering the platform. Using his archaeologist's brush, Lindsey clears the spiderwebs away, revealing a stone tablet. Collecting the tablet Lindsey realizes he has found the Mantorok alignment rune.
Now finished with everything he can think of on the second floor, Lindsey makes his way back to the room he found the "Summon Trapper" spell scroll in. Luna follows along behind him. Using her magic to help him get over the trap tiles in the hallways.
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LINDSEY enters the tomb of Mantorok and approaches the statue in front of it.
From behind Lindsey, a voice speaks up. "The power of Mantorok is not easily controlled!"
Turning Lindsey spots Paul standing by the door ot the chamber with 2 of the creatures that tried to kill him at the start of this adventure.
Lindsey gives Paul a strange look. "What makes you think I want to control it?"
Paul laughs. "Arrogant man!"
Paul's form shifts to that of Pious. looking to the creatures, "Kill him! And make sure you succeed this time!"
Purple light forms at the statue in front of Mantorok, and expands into an energy blast that shoots across the chamber, destroying the creatures, and knocking PIOUS down. PIOUS stands shakily with his staff for support.)
Pious scouls at Mantorok. "The Darkness shall prevail!"
Pious disappears in a swirl of Colored light. Purple light continues to flow from the statue. It flows towards the door in the back of the hall, opening it.
Lindsey runs around the room, finally reaching the newly opened door. He passes through it. Luna follows him.
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As Lindsey enters the sealed chamber he sees what looks like a young woman in the arms of the statue. As he approaches the statue, the woman's eyes glow.
"Do not touch the heart, flesh and bone, lest you become like me, a dead rotted husk. I have waited many centuries for you. It was not easy hiding from the dark ones as they searched for me. At first, they passed by not thinking that the heart was inside my dead body, but I was forced to find refuge here. You must seal the heart so it never contacts your flesh, and take it to the Gathering of Light."
Lindsey receives a vision of a mansion in Rhode Island.
"Take the heart there or the world shall fall under a reign of Eternal Darkness!"
Ellia's bones glow purple and she begins to move.
"The veil of reality can only be pulled back so far, mortal! Take your stand, and fight the darkness!"
As Ellia removes the heart from her body, she disintegrates and the heart floats to the floor. The scene fades to the heart in a glass case, as LINDSEY gives the heart to EDWARD ROIVAS. EDWARD hides the heart in his bookcase.
Luna's view pulls back revealing a study and the tome closes, as the picture fades to black.
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An: at last, this chapter is done. It is the longest chapter I've ever written, as well as the longest writing time spent on a single chapter.
Next time 1 of the girls needs rescuing, and the seventh chapter page is found.
As always if you have a comment or questions leave me a review, or send me a PM. I hope you are enjoying the story, and I'll see you all next time.