Hera took a moment to see the dragon-shaped roots before focusing on the wooden tablet. The roots were wrapped around each other, almost like someone would do when braiding their hair in a way that helped to give the formation some scale-like texture. Looking to the bottom of the roots, there was a pair of small lizard legs, and the tail was coiled in a very similar way to how a snake would lay down. However, the rest of the body stood up, going almost all the way to the ceiling where the other two legs were located. The neck continued for a while, moving down, making the head stay directly in the middle of the room. Hera got closer to the head, trying to see if there were any hidden details in the sculpture. Kirouhebi had a long snout and had his mouth closed, but unlike some versions of a lung dragon, there wasn't anything under its chin. No hair or whiskers, just the scales. The eyes were close together and pointing forward in a way similar to humans, meaning that this creature was a predator, and in the back of its head, about a dozen branch-like horns were coming out on each side. It was hard to tell if this was just because of the vines or if this was actually how Kirouhebi looked like. Another interesting thing that Hera noticed was that the sculpture was perfectly symmetric. If she placed a mirror in the middle, be it horizontally or vertically, there would be no change in the statue at all.
"Is it just me, or does the pose make it look like an hourglass?" Alex asked.
Hera took a step back, and she had to agree with that comment. The sculpture was wider near the floor and the ceiling, but the body would gather in the middle hiding behind the dragon's head.
"I wonder if that has anything to do with what we are looking for," Hera mumbled.
"This isn't it?" Alex turned to Hera.
"Not quite. Like, yeah, we were looking for this because the instructions to get to the temple should be around here," Hera explained.
"It's probably on the wooden thing down there, right?" Alex turned to the wooden tablet on the ground.
"Yeah, but I wanted to make sure there was nothing in the statue first," Hera crouched in front of the sculpture and started translating the seemingly natural engravings.
'A dying rose on the table, a blood-red soul,
gone with the wind, yet I remain whole.
Upon us may the bottomless pit come,
For he who remembers the cherry plum.'
"Does that make any sense for you?" Alex asked.
"No…" Hera frowned. According to Johnny, once she found this, she would have everything she needed to go to the temple. The guide explicitly said that after seeing the inscription and figuring it out, she wouldn't even need to take another step to reach her destination, "I think these are instructions somehow. But we don't need to leave here to complete them."
"How can you be sure? Is it that thing?" Alex was staring at the weird poem.
"Yeah. Basically, the answer I got was that after finding this place, I could go straight to the temple without even getting out of here. Now that I think about it sounds a bit weird," Hera scratched her head.
"No shit, are you sure that this was about a temple, not a mausoleum?"
"I'm positive. I'm not going to make that mistake."
"OK… then what is it then? What do we have to do?"
"This was supposed to be instructions to get to the temple… so… I don't know. Maybe…" Hera looked back to the sculpture. Do you think those branches behind the Kirouhebi head are from a cherry tree? I mean, it says 'He who remembers' I'm assuming that the reference of memory is a hint for the head, and the branches are right there."
Alex looked at the statue, "Maybe, but what about it?"
Hera stopped to think again. Johnny told her that getting here would be key to entering the temple. What if he was being more literal with that phrasing? To enter the temple, she might have to make a key.
"What's with that face?" Alex asked after noticing Hera's weird expression.
"I had an idea. I think we need to make a key to enter the temple."
"OK… and how do you expect us to do that?"
"With mana, maybe. I mean, I doubt this is asking for actual blood."
"So that would be the element?"
"Yeah, that's what I thought. It can also be just the color, like deep red since it talks about both roses and blood."
"Can we even change the color of our mana?" Alex asked.
"I never tried, but I don't see why not. I mean, worst case, I can try to make an illusion to change the colors. It's all about refraction anyway," Hera shrugged.
"OK then, what would be the shape?"
"I don't know. Maybe it doesn't even have to have a shape."
"How can a key not have a shape?"
"How can a statue of a dragon grow naturally?"
"That's just your assumption. I'm sure that someone with a few wood spells could make this thing."
"Anyway, let's try to figure something out," Hera started using her mana to make a key. It was the first time she tried to make her raw mana visible and change its color. Just doing that already took her a couple of hours. Alex tried to help, but she couldn't control her magic to change those kinds of details. Still, she was assisting Hera to figure out what exactly that key was.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
More and more time passed, with Hera and Alex stopping to eat after hours of trying to make the key work. This time, instead of the usual power bars that they would take during trips, they got some wraps that came in packages made to last for a few days, and they shouldn't even need them for that long. While eating, Hera pulled 20 thousand mana from her bracelet and picked Yarnball, "What are we doing wrong with the key?"
The screen flickered, and the answer appeared, 'Wrong Element.'
"Wrong element?" Hera asked.
"So we need to change not just the color but the element as well? That's annoying," Alex sighed.
"Yeah. So grass and blood? Or do you think it's better to try with flower element? That should be a thing, right?"
"Maybe, flower and blood for the red parts, wind for the rest? What is the bottomless pit? Ground?"
"I was assuming that was the keyhole," Hera replied.
"That could be it. But at least we know what we are missing."
"Yeah, and worst-case scenario, I can ask Yarnball again. In a few hours."
They continued eating while Hera recovered her mana. She didn't want to use the mana in her earrings since they were there in case of emergency. A few more hours passed, and according to the time, the sun should already be going down outside. Hera ended up using the remaining 10 thousand mana in her bracelet to ask what was the element refereed in the line, 'gone with the wind yet I remain whole.' Unlike what Hera and Alex were assuming, it required the leaf element to work, which also meant that Hera had to figure out yet another way to use that element. Her saving grace was the elemental mote that Bonnie created. Since the spell, by definition, would ask for an element, Hera could use it and add the element she wanted. It wouldn't work every time, and understanding the difference between grass, leaf, and flower mana was extremely complicated. Still, after what felt like an entire day of work, Hera and Alex finally felt confident enough that this next attempt would work.
"Ready?" Alex asked.
"Yeah," Hera nodded and started to make the key again. Using red flower mana she formed the legs, then green leaf mana to form the body, and the red blood mana in the face. Everything matched the sculpture as best as she could. To end things, she used shadow mana to create a keyhole behind her construct and then placed the key inside it. Just as the two shapes got together, a loud locking noise echoed through the chamber.
"Did it work?" Alex asked.
The key slowly turned to the side, and the shape of the dragon shifted. This image of Kirouhebi that Hera created unraveled itself and formed a large ring. At the same time, a white light covered the entire area inside the ring.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You have opened the way to the Temple.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I guess we just walk over it," Hera looked back at her friend.
"If you say so. I'm completely lost here," Alex said.
Hera nodded and touched the glowing light. Her hand passed through without a problem. There was even some wind on the other side. She put the rest of her arm and then her face before crossing the portal completely. On the other side, she was greeted by a view like no other.
Massive pillars of white and green rose to the sky until they reached a darker cloud that blocked some of the sun rays from reaching the ground. Small flower beds covered the area outside the marble path leading inside the building. Beyond the pillars, they could see the inside of the temple, and looking to the sides, it seemed like they were in the middle of the sky. Alex joined Hera right away, and they started exploring the temple. Walking to the sides, they reached what should be the end of this place. The ground suddenly stopped, almost like this was on the top of a mountain. However, when looking down, Hera could tell that this wasn't the case. For one, her head hit an invisible wall that stopped her from going past the edge of the floor. Despite that, she still could see the things on the ground. They were currently overlooking the entire room. She could see the jungle village in the middle, the Waperath Kingdom in one corner, and an endless vast jungle to the other side. If that was all, Hera would think that this room was much bigger than it actually was, but even from this height, she could see where the invisible wall divided the room from whatever was beyond it.
"This shouldn't work like that…." Alex stared at the world below.
"How so?"
"We are too high. A plane wouldn't be able to see a room this size like that. If we are going by earth's standards, we are getting close to the stratosphere. And I'm pretty sure grass can't grow there."
"Are you sure?" Alex just nodded in response, "OK, this is really weird."
A couple of minutes passed with them just staring at the ground, amazed by the sight, then it was time to explore the temple. Everything had the same color mixing white and green, and all the ceilings seemed to be made out of clouds. There were also a number of paintings, murals, and texts spread around every wall inside the temple. As they walked, Hera realized that this place was much bigger inside than it seemed outside. Curious about what this all meant, Hera started translating everything she saw.
"Hey, quick question. How does coming here help you find the Blademaster?"
"Well, the last piece of information I have is that they came to the temple. So there might be some clue about them somewhere around here," Hera explained.
"I guess that's fair," Alex started looking around while Hera translated one of the murals. She turned to a few corridors and eventually found a place with several paintings, murals, and drawings of the room. It took a moment for her to realize that all those art pieces were actually maps or depictions of the room through the ages. Near the entrance, she saw only a picture of a large green jungle, then there was another with a small village being created at the feet of the rib-like formation. As she kept looking at the pictures, she saw the city develop, create the ziggurat and the structures around the tall rocks, but she stopped about 8 images in. Every single one of the drawings in this place was surrounded by the green forest. However, the 9th picture was very different. This picture wasn't an aerial view but just a single image of what a part of the room should look like. Instead of the verdant jungle, she could see white trees that towered over the mountains, a thick purple mist coming out of its trunks whit swirls of black and red mixed everywhere. The ground looked like a purple swamp that bubbled in the heat, and in the sky, large lime green crystals of ice were floating ominously, almost as if they were overlooking what was happening. Alex couldn't take her eyes out of this picture and unconsciously started to step towards it.
"Stop," a voice echoed through the temple. Even Hera, who was in a completely different corridor, was able to hear it. But Alex was enthralled by the painting. Everything else vanished from her mind. All she wanted right now was to get closer to the picture.
"I said STOP!" the voice now turned into a roar, and a massive blast of wind pushed Alex out of the map room. She didn't stop outside but was carried by the current through the corridors she passed by, and eventually, even Hera was caught by the same force, only stopping when both of them were outside the temple.
"What happened?" Hera asked, pushing Alex's feet away from her head.
"I… don't know," Alex felt light-headed. She just remembered entering the area filled with maps and then… nothing.
"Do not approach that painting, Human. It will bring you nothing but suffering," a louder voice came from beyond the cloud ceiling of the temple. Something pushed through the clouds, "While I am in this place, no one shall come close to that cursed painting again."
The owner of the voice appeared. It was a creature with a long snout but no war or whiskers on its face. Both red eyes faced forward, and branch-like horns came out of the back of its head.
"Are… are you Kirouhebi?" Hera asked with wide eyes.