I woke up the next day, worried. Grandfather seemed relaxed, probably excited to be able to return to the spirit world if I manage to save my mother. I had not even checked where the exit was or whether or not it was open. Although I had many worries weighing me down, I had nearly reached my end goal, which was to save my mother. If I did this, I could prove everyone who said bad things about me wrong. The first thing that needed to be done was clean up. So I quickly put everything away. Afterward, I leaned down, touching the forest floor, and managed to get moving. I had not heard anything when I ‘saved’ the celestial being previously, so there might be no way out, which would be alarming since I had finished the task at hand. I decided to see where the boundaries were and go along them until I found an exit. I started walking south until I found a wall.

"Wynne," Grandfather said.

"Yes?" I asked.

"The exit is on the roof," Grandfather explained.

I looked up and quickly saw that there was a beautiful pattern of glass that needed to be shattered. I used the cloak to get a closer look, but as soon as I placed my fingertip on the glass, it shattered, making a deafening noise.

"Wynne! Protect the cloak!" Grandfather shouted in a panicked voice.

I realized that the cloak would be torn to pieces if the glass shards scraped it. So as a last resort, I took off the cloak and hugged it close to my body as I fell quickly to the ground with the multi-colored shards of glass all around me. To survive, I put the cloak back on just as I was about to reach the ground and used its power. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I quickly took the cloak off again and ran to the shelter of a nearby tree. As I watched the rest of the glass for a few more seconds, I realized my clothes were cut up, and so was my skin, so I needed to clean up and get ready to leave. Although I was confused as to how I had not seen the glass when I first entered the trial, I walked over to a nearby stream and used the water to clean my cuts, along with some bandages I had saved. After a bit of time, I was able to put the cloak back on and fly toward the exit. As soon as I saw the real sky again, I was grateful I had not died, and when I landed on the frame of the glass roof, I looked towards all the temples. The blue sky perfectly shaded the old, withered temples. The stone was stained gray with a bit of dark green. Each temple had whatever god it was worshiping on the front of it—a massive statue greeting you at the front of the temple. All the temples had unique designs to make them more homey for each god. All the small temples were circling the largest temple, which had the three most powerful gods. Pax, Uxaldir, and Khubus are the most powerful. Pax wore a beautiful silk dress with their headdress; Uxaldir was pictured meditating, holding everything in balance; and Khubus was pictured with their typical armor and mace. I flew towards the largest temple, not paying attention to the smaller ones. As I approached, the full scale of the temple and statues hit me. I was questioning how whoever built the temples got the resources for it. I landed in front of Uxaldir's statue and started walking toward the other side of the statue. After a while of walking, I reached the other side and took in the beauty of the inside of the temple.

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"It is truly breathtaking." I muttered, looking at the sheer detail and beauty of the temple.

"I was wondering how long it would take before you spoke." Grandfather stated.

"Oh, please," I said, not wanting my grandfather's remark to dull the beauty of the temple.

There were platforms scattered through the center of the temple, showing that you needed to use the cloak to get anywhere. Patterns, stories, and pictures were sketched along the walls. Oddly, the temple was also circular instead of box-shaped. Time and punishment seemed to go hand in hand, while the depictions of Uxaldir or anything related to them stood alone, with time and punishment depictions sneaking in some places. All in all, I was wondering if Qyphy, the goddess of art and illustrations, had helped whatever beings made this temple. It was so perfectly carved, polished, and painted that I could not help but wonder what beings made it and how they managed to get the depictions so accurate and beautiful. As well as where they found all the materials. I assumed magic played a large role in the making of the temple. I decided not to linger any longer and headed up to find the Ageless Garden.

"Grandfather, your depiction of the Elder Temple was wrong," I said as I jumped from platform to platform.

"I'm aware that the center is a staircase, probably with the Ring of Ending and the Ageless Garden branching out somewhere around the top. Uxaldir's light, if not at the center, should be at the top." Grandpa said, knowingly.

"If you say so..." I said that, and a hint of nervousness colored my voice.

"Wynne, you cannot afford to be nervous; you must hold yourself together." Grandpa pointed it out.

"It's not easy knowing this is life or death," I muttered.

"Your whole journey has built up to this." Grandfather said.

"You're not helping," I sighed.

As I climbed, the depictions got bloodier and sadder. Wars colored the walls, and deaths, sadness, and cruelty flooded the depictions. After some more climbing, the showing of Pax and time became more and more prominent; soon, solely Pax and time depictions were shown, and I soon realized I had come to the doorway of the Ageless Garden.

The Ageless Garden was carved into the tree that served as the arch that led you inside. All different kinds of plants, trees, and flowers colored the inside of the garden. Everything seemed eerily quiet, as if the garden had not made a noise since the beginning of time. Which made sense, as it was ageless. As I stepped on the platform, my shoes disappeared.

"What on Alaria?" I said that when my shoes just disappeared.

"According to legends, you must walk barefoot through the forest to show you are not scared of nature." Grandfather said.

"What an odd way to do that," I murmured.

Soon, as I walked into the Ageless Garden, I looked back to the archway, and it was gone, as though telling me I could not leave until my mission was complete.

"Well, now I am trapped," I said.

As I walked through, I heard the first screech of my mother. It sounded horrific, and I had to cover my ears quickly.

"By Khubus! You're going to need to pray to Siorr to silence them!" Grandfather said this after the shock of the screech had passed.

"Siorr won't help me! This is way too loud!" I shouted over the next screech as I covered my ears again.

The screeches seemed to stop completely as I continued walking. I reached a stream, where Pax appeared in front of me...