The night has come.
Ermis and Silas are ready to start finding Lamia. Ermis and Silas go to the Forbidden Temple. It is located outside Xuthos but still close to Xuthos. They only need around one hour to get there. The temple is very dark and cold. Some of the temple’s walls are already cracked, and it seems quite dangerous to enter. That temple has 2 levels. Ermis goes to the second level, and Silas explores the first level.
Ermis hears a voice that calls his name, and he follows that voice. He kept following that voice until he reached a room that had so many pillars. He saw a beautiful woman there. He came closer to her and held a mirror in his hand that he stole when escaping from Xuthos. His leg started shaking when he took the first step. At first, he steps carefully. but the closer he got, the more he lost his guard. That’s Lamia’s act. After three steps, he drops the mirror as he enters his imaginary world. Ermis feels like he has already finished his mission, and he goes back to Roxandross, seeing the Queen already cured. Ermis falls down in his imagination. When Lamia almost sucked his blood, Silas was coming and shouting.
[Silas] “Captain!!”
Lamias stopped for a while, and Ermis gained consciousness. Silas ran to get the mirror from the floor and threw it to Ermis before Lamia ran away.
[Silas] “Take this, capt!”
Ermis caught the mirror and held it in front of Lamia's face. Lamia’s lower body turns into a snake slowly as she enters her imaginary world forever. Ermis then takes Lamia’s hair and leaves the temple quickly because the wall starts to ruin.
[Ermis] “Let’s get out of here!”
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The sun starts to go up when they leave the temple. Then they move to Nemean’s Forest in a hurry.
When they have arrived, Silas sees a lion's footprints and then follows them until he stops in front of a cave. Then he went to Ermis’ position.
[Silas] “Capt, I found the cave. What should we do now?”
[Ermis] “Where is it?”
[Silas] “That way, capt.”
Silas pointed north.
[Ermis] “Let’s enter the cave. Remember! Be careful and stay alert! Its claw can tear you into pieces.”
[Silas] “Ok, Capt!”
They are about to enter the cave. There are three hallways inside the cave; Ermis enters the middle one, while Silas enters the left one. They continue to move in silence, fearful that the Nemean may hear them. The hallways came to an enormous hub that linked them all.
Just as Ermis turned to face Silas, suddenly they heard a lion roar approaching them swiftly and leaping over to scratch him. Ermis is unprepared, he even can’t move. Silas runs and stabs Nemean with his sword and is stuck in Nemean's back, making Nemean shake its body. Silas, who was still holding his sword, was blown away and hit by the thorny cave wall.
[Silas] “Fi…nish i..t, capt!. Th..this is o…ur only ch..chance.”
His voice was growing softer and more shaky.
Ermis took this opportunity without doubt to kill Nemean and take its claws. He then ran into Silas, picked him up, and held him, his hands full of the blood from Silas' back. He can’t control his emotions. Panic, sadness, and anger can be seen on his face.
[Ermis] “Hang in there, Silas! You’ll be okay.”.
[Silas] “I.. I’m sorry, c…capt. I think I…I can’t …j..join sol..soldier’s pa..pa..party af…ter th..th..is mis..sion”
Silan started to close his eyes and his body started to get cold. The sound of his breathing was slowly inaudible.
[Ermis] “Silassss!!!!!”
He held Silas’ body so tight and cried over it. But in his sadness, he still had to be strong and get up quickly to rush back to Roxandros. He left Silas there and placed his medal as a sign of respect for Silas, his partner during this mission.
Ermis returned to Roxandros alone, using the fastest path. When he arrived near Roxandross, he was shocked by what his eyes saw. War had broken out, the city was in total chaos, and Xuthos' flag was flying as a sign that they had taken control of Roxandros. Ermis suddenly remembered his dream. He only looked in silence at his ruined city.