Tilly hurried to catch up with the others, moving through the front entrance of the temple carved into the side of the mountain with hardly a thought for the things he had faced here on his two previous visits…
Well, that wasn’t exactly true. Some of those grizzly memories tried to surface as they moved down the front passageway and assembled in the anteroom of the temple. But Tilly kept them tamped down, continually singing “the final countdown” under his breath in a semi-successful attempt to distract himself.
The group formed in a half circle in the central chamber, which had become a cafeteria-sized room with a high ceiling and softly glowing walls. Hiro turned away from the center of the room and addressed Tilly in a formal tone.
“Jonathan Tillman, Champion of the God Origin. We plan to activate our nation's Sovereign Crystal in this first room. Will this displease the patron of this temple in any way? Do you not have the ability to speak for your God in this?”
Tilly took in the stares of everyone present who turned to see his answer. He wasn’t sure how formal this was or if there was a right answer, but he went with his gut, which hadn’t killed him so far. Then again, it had come pretty close...
“Honestly, I think He will be fine with this. I'm not sure about other Gods but He doesn’t seem to think about this stuff in the same way as the other deities I've heard of. It's not that He doesn't care... I think He does, but more like he... is looking to do good by us. Well, the honest answer is I don't know. But I do have a good feeling about this." He finished lamely, not really prepared to represent a being that he hardly understood himself.
Hiro bowed formally, acknowledging his answer, and then turned to look deeper into the temple. After a moment he declared, “It is with open intentions we seek to tie this nation's fate with Yours and enact a covenant. We will align ourselves with your cause and in turn, we ask for your blessing and protection in the face of the coming threat. You are unknown to us, but the darkness we face is known well enough. No deity has done as much for our people since our own patron gave up her power to grant us this legacy. We share enemies and allies alike, let us be bound together in the eyes of Nephesh and all who dwell within it.” He intoned formally, before bowing again.
His words echoed through the glowing chamber, and nothing seemed to happen. This did not ruffle Hiro, who nodded to Ichiro and stepped aside. His son stepped forward and pulled out a cloth bundle from under the banded sash holding his sword against his robe. He unwrapped the bundle carefully and revealed a golf ball-sized crystal faceted with hundreds of flat planes.
The shape was difficult to pin down and seemed to change as light danced within. Ichiro held it up and a small stream of white energy flowed from the center of his forehead to the crystal, which took it in and then began to hum. Ichiro slowly pulled his hand away and left the crystal floating in the center of the room, rotating slowly.
The humming intensified and the glow became brighter as the crystal began to spin faster. Tilly couldn’t help but look over at the others especially the Lapins who had been planning for this moment for generations. He couldn't imagine what this moment would mean to them, but as he turned his head, he was struck by a sudden deafening silence. The humming had cut off completely. He whipped his head back to the crystal and found it still shining brightly but completely frozen in place, hovering a few feet off the stone floor.
He turned to the others and found them all frozen in place wearing some mix of awe and trepidation on their unmoving faces. Looks like Time was getting weird around him again... but at least he wasn't stuck in it like his second visit to the temple. Tilly looked around in confusion, trying to figure out what had gone wrong.
Maybe something had tripped the temple’s time-dilation defense? Perhaps he had been wrong about how the magic of the crystal and Origin’s power would interact. He walked through the group and around the crystal but found them to be completely frozen in the grip of time, but otherwise unharmed.
Tilly sighed deeply and moved towards the entrance of the lower hallway. If there was an answer as to why this was happening, he would probably find it in the altar room.
He moved slowly this time, not quite able to summon back the ability to block out the terrifying memories of his first two trips down this hall. Something about time being frozen robbed him of his earlier defense mechanism. No song came easily to mind and he was once again left alone in this place to face his thoughts. The farther he walked, the more his pace slowed as he found himself strangely reluctant to discover whatever waited for him in the center chamber.
The fine dark gray dust, or more specifically ash did not stir as he stepped slowly into the light of the much larger central chamber. There, silently burning, was the deep blue, almost white flame. It rested on the rough-hewn stone altar and had tripled in size since he had left it, and it seemed to still be growing.
Tilly hesitantly approached closer as the flame continued to burn higher, its light fierce and everchanging. There was a palpable sense of eagerness emanating from it, as if it was ready to spread, or… consume, no that wasn’t it either… destroy? That was closer but still not quite the word for the desire that was vibrating off the altar…
Purify.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
That was it. It was kindled, and ready, longing to be unleashed on the world and do its work.
The warmth in Tilly’s chest bloomed to a full and intense heat in response to his recognition of the feeling radiating off the Flame. Except as soon as he recognized the Flame's desire, he found a mirror of that desire igniting within himself. He wanted to vent this energy, to consume and destroy that which had poisoned his days so far on the plane. He needed to Burn This INFECTION OUT.
The Corruption in his side started to writhe painfully, and Tilly coughed down a groan as its tendrils raked disturbingly against the interior of his torso. Tears flooded his eyes from the sudden onslaught of pain. It knew what he was considering, and suddenly, he found it difficult to care about the consequences.
He hated this thing.
The anger that was rising in him wasn’t the mind-numbing rage that Corruption’s influence had fed him to incite violence on the streets of the capital. Instead, the discontent that was kindling in his chest wiped away the doubt and fears that constantly buzzed around him like flies. Even in the face of this literal gut-wrenching pain, he knew he was ready to do whatever he had to, to get rid of this invader.
The flame inside him howled hungrily at the thought of its wrathful judgement. He would purge it from his members then move out into the world, wiping its taint from the plane.
These thoughts cut through the pain wracking his body with a burning clarity. He couldn’t help but laugh, his abs contracting around the sickening contortions writing under his skin. It was all so clear now. The Seed was scared. It was scared of Him and what he was becoming.
He almost vibrated with a need to try cutting himself open again with enflamed strikes from his hatchets. He knew he could do it, and he suddenly didn't care what happened to him. He was tired of letting this thing hide in his body, and he knew he would burn it alive, no matter what it cost.
His hands shook as he reached down to his belt loops allowing the flame from his chest to flow down his extremities.
“You will destroy it that way… But you will die in the process.” A voice spoke quietly from behind him, and in shock, he spun as it continued unconcerned,
“A different way has been revealed to you for a reason.”
Tilly finished grabbing for one of his hatchets as a handsome woman wearing dark robes came into view. She was standing in the shadow of the arched entrance with her eyes focused on the altar. The shifting light of the flames highlighted faint reflective motes of white on her otherwise night-black voluminous clothing.
“Who are you?” Tilly asked, slowly lowering his weapon. The flame in his chest remained steady, not at all reacting to her presence.
Her eyes hadn’t left the flame as she had spoken, and for a moment she seemed to have forgotten he had even asked her a question. Then she spoke again, but this time her words emerged along with a disturbingly deep harmony causing Tilly’s chest to vibrate along with the syllables of her non-answer,
“The first lost, buried in time.
The second kept safe in memory's embrace
and the third perched as a jewel on the crown of the world.”
Then her eyes cleared and she finally looked away from the flame and took in Tilly, looking him up and down as if considering him for the first time.
“When the Flame reemerged from the Weave, the enemy twisted much to gain a foothold in this area first, mangling its plans in some places to marshal a presence here. I thought I was too late to stop it, and yet here it stands, free of its captor and with a new champion! The changes allowing you to intervene were so subtle and minute that I missed them at first. Even I forget sometimes who first taught me how to read the threads,” she said with a rueful shake of her head and a small self-deprecating smile that made her sharp distinctive features less severe.
'Great, another mystery power that seemed to know exactly what was going on, but only speaks in riddles.'
“Hello, I’m Jonathan Tillman, nice to meet you.” He said, putting on his most congenial smile. An itch was developing between his shoulder blades and he felt sure that some sort of calamitous event was going to interrupt the conversation before he could learn anything useful. Whoever she was, she also didn't seem to be affected by the Flame’s time dilation.
“Of course.” She said with a smile, “Wonderful to meet you, Jonathan Tillman. It has been quite some time since He has had a champion for this particular Facet. But my counsel stands. Despite its nature, I highly doubt you are meant to consume yourself in fire in order to destroy your infection. There is another way I believe, although its path is unclear to me.” She watched him as she spoke, seeming to weigh his reactions as if they could tell her something that he himself didn't know.
“The Flower…” He said with a sigh sliding the hatchet back into its loop.
“Yes… I can see how the bloom would work. But why are you being sent there?” She asked, her eyes drifting off away from Tilly as if following some sort of pattern. Then she suddenly winced and her eyes snapped back to Tilly’s face,
“It has been a long time since I last saw Thunder. Send him my regards.” She said, suddenly ready to leave. The shadows around her began to deepen alarmingly as they mingled with her robes.
“Wait! Who are you and can you do anything to help us? We are about to get teleported or attacked or something! We could use the help!” He shouted, after her fading form. In response, the shadows stopped moving around her, leaving the impression of a floating head, the only part of her body not swathed in the dark robes.
“I am called Wisdom and you must not fear. Your people have chosen rightly in seeking His aid. He seldom gives what you expect, but it is always what you need. I have already done my part, and after an unexpected detour, I was able to retrieve my gift for your new nation. It will be waiting outside the temple.” Then with a nod of farewell, the shadows completely enveloped her and he was alone in the room.
A thunderous crack broke the silence behind him, and he whirled to see words forming out of the Flame on the altar.
HIDDEN QUEST COMPLETE. RESTORE A NATION TO THE PATRONAGE OF ORIGIN’S FLAME
COMPLETION REWARDS DISTRIBUTED ACCORDING TO CONTRIBUTION