"Why are we here, Gloria?" I asked, standing on the temple steps. I could feel her hesitate, shivering against a chilling breeze.

"Here is as good as any place to begin."

"That's a bit cryptic. We're not going to join the sun cult are we? My grandmother would be rolling in her grave," I laughed, her silence stilling me.

"...No of course not. That would be pointless," she muttered, eyes fixed forward. "We are here for a greater purpose."

We took a step closer, towards the Mantle, the temple of the sun. I had heard the rumours of the branched off cult. The stories of outsiders being skinned alive and burned as sacrifices, were enough to cause reluctance.

"Care to share what that is? I told you I'm with you now, we're in this together."

"We're here for the sun," Gloria said, starting up the steps. An image of the sun standing over the archway. I gasped at her answer, the first verse of the song repeating in my mind:

Begin the end, the watchman shouts

Destroy the sun, he sings

Blackout the sky and all the stars

Erase the pain it brings

"For the sun….like we're going to destroy it?" I asked.

She turned back, giving me a casual shrug. "In a sense."

"Okay, but how are we supposed to do that?" I muttered. My eyes drawn to the entryway, a man with a band of cloth over his eyes, waited for us at the top.

"Not without help."

He stood as if stone 'staring' out towards us. I fought the shivers crawling down my spine. Peppered white hair and beard, he wore a taupe cloak wrapped over his shoulder.

We stopped in front of him, Gloria carefully studying him. "You know why we're here," Gloria said, her voice only in my head.

The man turned, "Yes, Gloria heir of Omen, I know."

My mouth fell open. "How did you-"

"Hear her? What I lack in sight of the physical world, is compensated by what I can experience of other realms, Alexander Wren."

So he knew who I was too.

He tightened his fists. "Let's get this over with, shall we?" The old man hobbled forward, I was amazed at how easily he moved for someone who couldn't see. "I've sent everyone else away, they wouldn't disturb the process." He turned back for a moment, walking through the archway and into the courtyard.

Around the courtyard was a covered walkway, a couple steps down was a square open to the sky. An outline of a circle etched in the center, it stood in front of a tower with large doors. A fountain, to one side, water bubbling up. Series of glass pipes wound together, opening above it.

"Do you know how to create spells?" the old man asked, stopping in place.

"No, I-"

"I have an idea," Gloria interrupted, raising her hand.

"Ah so the princess knows magic, very unorthodox," he chuckled.

"Just a little." She smiled, oozing pride.

I took a step back. "Where did you learn magic?" I asked her.

Gloria shrugged, "Carrick taught me some."

Carrick? I couldn't picture him taking the time to teach anyone, anything. How did I not know about this?

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"He was kind to me when I was little," she added, noticing my frown. "He still had some of his heart left back then."

I rolled my eyes, "Carrick never had a heart."

"That's not fair, Alex." She put her hands on her hips.

"Not fair? He-"

"You can continue bickering once I'm gone." The cloaked man shook his head at us. "For now just watch." He scooped some of the water in his palms, the drips tracking as he poured it into the circle, the water tracing it.

"A spell requires a loop, a circle by which it can flow. To remain the connection must not be broken," the strange man instructed, water dripping off his finger tips.

"And we need life power, blood is used most commonly." Gloria knelt by the circle.

The old man stood stiffly. "Blood magic...Did your teacher tell you that?"

She nodded, "He mentioned it but I learnt more on the other side." Gloria locked her eyes on the man, a hostile intensity.

My brain was spinning, things connecting. "Wait a second what are we talking about?" I asked, stepping forward. This didn't sound like a good idea.

His hands shook. "You shouldn't ask questions, you don't want answers to."

Gloria stood, walking over with a reassuring smile. "You do trust me don't you, Alex?"

"Ya…" I muttered, darting my eyes between both of them. "But can't you just tell me the plan straight out?"

"I've already told you the plan." Gloria turned, A frustrated look in her eyes. She headed towards the huge doors of the center tower. What did Gloria mean she told me? She barely told me anything.

I turned to the cloaked man. "Why are you helping us?" I asked him.

He clenched his jaw. "To stand in resistance will only increase the cost."

I gawked at his answer, watching him follow after Gloria's soul. He didn't look back.

I didn't understand what he met. What cost? I forced my feet to go forward, feeling an internal pull. An itch to follow this plan forward. It was necessary, I knew it must be done. Was this how Gloria felt? I was torn in all this, compelled and afraid. There was no going back, only forward.

I walked up the steps, pulling out the parchment I took. I started writing out every detail I remembered, since I got Gloria back. The gateway, the song, any cryptic phrases about plans, this place; I needed to remember it all. I would write down everything.

I hid the paper, back in my coat. Slowly slipping through the door, I entered the room at the top of the stairs. The room was a circle, an empty space except for four slots in the floor channeling together towards a wall face of gold coloured gears.

The old man with bandaged eyes, hung his head, A sorrow on his brow. Gloria stood beside him, walking closer to me. "I'm going to have to take control for a second, Alex. I'll leave you present, I promise," she assured me.

I nodded, reluctantly holding out my hand. She took it without hesitating, the violent cold rushing back. Shivers that messed with my thoughts, I found myself stumbling forward.

We stood in front of the four slots. Gloria pulled out Avis's dagger, a couple specks of blood on the handle, she scraped them off into the first slot. Avis. Turning back the dagger, she cut off a corner of my cloak stained with red. The piece placed in the second slot. Carrick. She rolled up my sleeve, picking part of the scab off, putting it in the third slot. Alex.

The spell required four. She stared up at the old man. "Sir?"

"My name is Morgan," he said dully, pulling out a small dagger. He pricked his finger, pressing it against his thumb till a red drop fell in the fourth slot. Morgan.

Morgan turned a crank, the gears shifting, the tower shook. The roof panels shifted, a sliver of light shining through a large magnify glass attached to the ceiling. A focused beam of light, burning into the intersecting paths.

Morgan stepped back, picking up a pitcher. He handed it to me, or rather Gloria. Gloria poured out the pitcher into the slots, filling up they flowed together in one pathway. The liquid disappeared from view, my mind fighting the desire to chase it.

Morgan's expression was still low, we ignored it. Turning on our heel, we ran towards the steps. Both Gloria and I, fueled by the same desire. Bounding down, we swung back open the doors out into the courtyard.

Clear liquid, tinted red, ran through the pipes. Twisting around each other, the excilor dripped off hitting the top of the fountain and into the water.

Pitcher still in hand, Gloria filled it from the fountain. Carrying the full pitcher, one of us hummed a tune. I couldn't tell if it was me or her, but the sound of Gloria's strange song slipped out of my lips.

The power building in my veins, no direction to it. Energy filling my own movements, I stepped in rhythm, pouring the pitcher out along the circle. A strange heat building from the ground, the water swirling, moving in a fast current.

I stepped into the center, looking up towards the sky. The sun standing right over us. I squinted, staring up at it. Slowly it grew easier to look at it. A black haze, pushing past the shine. Growing more potent, it created an unnatural eclipse. Blocking out the light, the dark completely covered the sun. Black as night, a sky without stars.

The current stopped, the liquid glowing up at us. The sun and blue sky still reflected in the water. The very might of the sun, fallen at our feet. This was only the beginning. Soon we would find the world at our feet.