He pulled the weapon out of the serpentine creature’s severed neck, stumbling back as it slid out of the old wound with ease. The flames illuminating the chamber with ethereal, silver light dimmed suddenly as he willed the crystal embedded into the weapon to do away with the flames.
The dimming flames turned into ethereal wisps, losing their brightness, and rushed towards him – towards the weapon he was holding. They flowed into the gem embedded in it.
Midhir drew a sharp breath as it felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. His depleted spiritual power replenished somewhat as power flowed from the weapon towards him, rising up his arms, and flowing back to him.
He turned his gaze to the weapon in disbelief – the silver-white flames were unnerving enough already, but this was more than that. This crystal was clearly capable of more than just some odd-coloured flames and explosions.
The crystal itself wasn’t the only thing that was odd, the weapon in his hands was also foreign to him. It looked like a sword had been fixed to the end of a spear. The sword was ever so slightly curved, and only the curved part seemed to be sharp.
Odd runes decorated the shaft of the weapon, written in a language he couldn’t understand. In fact, he had never seen these symbols before. This wasn’t just one of the ancient languages that were used by tribes before the Empire was founded, it was either much older, or from some distant land.
He ran his fingers along the shaft of the sword-spear. The end of the weapon’s shaft was jagged, and it was too short to be used properly. It must have been much longer at one point, broke probably during its battle with the serpentine creature.
A shiver ran down his spine. The owner must have perished when the weapon got stuck between the creature’s scales and snapped in half. It was a terrible way to die – betrayed in a way by their trusted weapon.
He couldn’t help but glance at the remains of his sword before quickly averting his gaze.
“Right,” he whispered in an attempt to divert his thoughts. “I need to get out of here.” He had been down here for quite a while, probably. He wasn’t sure anymore – losing his consciousness had completely derailed his sense of time. He could only hope he hadn’t slept for more than an hour.
His gaze scoured his surroundings as he circled the chamber. The collapsed tunnel the stairs outside the temple led to couldn’t be the only way out of here. Clearly there was a water source above the cavern, and the water below the temple wasn’t reeking, nor was it stale. He had even felt something like a current when the creature dragged him down there.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Underwater?” he muttered as his chest tightened. He really didn’t want to dive into the underground lake. Not after almost drowning, and especially not when he wasn’t sure of what all the other moving things he saw down there were.
A shiver ran down his spine as he walked to the edge of the pool and looked down.
He couldn’t see the bottom of the lake. The columns holding the temple afloat simply disappeared in the dark depths. He couldn’t swim that far down – his breath wouldn’t last, and what good would it do anyways if he couldn’t even see?
He walked back to the entrance to the temple, though the rows of damaged columns, and looked at the stairs leading up on the other side of the bridge. Large rocks covered the top of the stairs, completely blocking off the tunnel they led to.
“Not through there, that’s for sure,” he muttered before walking back inside. With a sigh, he pressed his hand against his left eye. The sharp pain he had felt during the battle had dulled again, it was more annoying now than painful.
His heart skipped a beat as it reminded him of the blooming flower. He quickly reached for his pocket, only to feel the somewhat wet petals of the flower. With a tight jaw, he took the flower and raised it in front of his face.
The petals had crumpled a little, but they still shone vibrantly.
He had no idea how it survived his battle, or even somehow remained stuck in his pocket. He had completely forgotten about it as soon as the serpentine creature appeared. He was lucky that it survived… probably.
That reminded him of another object he had lost during the battle. He climbed over the rubble of one of the statues, and looked around for a while until he spotted a wooden stake half-buried under the feathery wings of the serpentine creature.
With a sigh of relief, he climbed down the rubble, and hurried over to the stake. Upon inspection, it didn’t seem too damaged – the golden crystal embedded atop the stake was pristine still, and the stake itself only had a few scorch marks and dents. It probably hadn’t lost much power if any.
He placed it back into the storage crystal that was his earring and turned his gaze back to the flower. It’s blue-crimson light was shining quite brightly, almost like a torch of some kind.
The surface of the pool was calm, and so was the water outside the temple.
He pondered a while. Waiting for rescue wasn’t realistic – even if someone had seen him fall when the pavement by the church caved in, they wouldn’t be able to find him. The chalk roots that collapsed beneath him when he approached the altar in the first cavern had returned to their original position. No one would guess he fell through the ground a second time.
Approaching the pool, he summoned his courage. The only two choices he had were trying his luck here or dying from starvation. He’d much rather do something rather than waiting to die.
With a deep breath, he leapt into the cold, dark water.