It was late in the day as the whole caravan was alerted by the city-bells, even from the distance we had set up camp the rumble of the closing gates could be heard.
Most members had already headed to bed as the chaotic ringing ruptured the calmness of the approaching night.
Our own alarm bell rang as well, whatever had caused the city to call for a lock-down may also endanger us. All the guards went for their gear, the lookouts bolstered by at least three times their initial number. With no source of information we could only watch from afar as torches flickered on the far-away walls.
“Shut down the bell, those city dimwits are searching someone or something inside, look how the torches move! GO back to bed but keep the lookouts stocked up we don't want any surprises!” Samuel had instantly quelled the rising unrest restoring order to our camp.
With tension quite high the night passed with less rest than we had hoped for but we were thankfully spared of any trouble. The city however did not open its gates even after the sun began to rise, whatever happened must have been severe.
Perked on my mothers head I accompanied my family as we went to say goodbye to Samuel. The short conversation turned into a full hour as the two women simply could not separate. I nodded off a few times, even finding myself petted in Samuel's lap once but honestly it was extremely boring for me.
Samuel gifted us a small medallion telling us “if in trouble show them this” and also stocked up our personal rations even further. We got a cheery goodbye from the other caravan people which had already accepted us as one of their own. Gale took the longest to part with the caravan, her master had imparted her a small sigil-ring and a written letter of recommendation if she ever felt the need to visit any of the schools in the kingdom.
As the road split the caravan and us took different routes towards our own future.
The condition of the road got poorer the further we traveled, even the semi-regular dwellings at the side of the road turned to ruin and stopped completely after a while.
That was the sign we had waited for, with civilization sparse and no travelers in sight my improved war-saddle came to use again. It ended a bit tricky to find the right size for the massive thing but after a short while we set off again. The road began flying under my paws, the familiar breeze once again welcomed me back.
Even with our improved speed the distance towards our goal would take us at least a week. Those that had constructed the temple, had placed the location over the need of easy access for the masses.
It was the third day after departing the caravan as the idle talk around the campfire began turning serious. Gale was resting on my head as she dropped the bombshell.
“I have a question Kai, back as we were stuck in the frost why did you not use your knowledge or runes?”
“Simply because I could not.” Confusion was plastered across of Gale's face. “Did you notice that my mind-palace was missing the first time you came into my mind-space?” Gale nodded “I did not know that you could lose your mind-palace, how can that happen?” I sighted deeply as I prepared to tell her something I had hoped to hide for longer.
“You cannot lose your mind-palace, you can however repress or seal it. In my case it was a combination of both. You see there is something inside it that I had hoped to bury as deeply as I could.”
Realization erupted on her furry face,”Is it memories you did not want to remember?” “Close, you know that some people can develop a second personality inside of them when they are under pressure?”
“Like old Cain back in our village?” her mention of the village brought a small throb of pain towards my hearts. We had been unable to confirm the fate of Gale's and Ere's family which still weighted us down.
After a short silence I went on,”Similar, in my case I have not a weird different person inside me but a different aspect of my own. It is not a separate personality but an aspect of myself.”
“How is that different?” “Well, hard to explain but it is basically a accumulation of feelings and memories that I have split from myself.”
“Why have you gotten rid of part of yourself? I cannot imagine not to be whole!” I could not refrain from grinning upon her remark.
“You see I was forced to, when a soul gets blessed by a being part of their power latches onto the soul and only leaves once the soul reincarnates again. Even then bits can still survive the process resulting in random effects clinging to the newborn. In my case it is worse, whatever makes my soul different the reincarnation does not get rid of these bits of gods strapped to me.”
Gale only kept looking questioningly,”The gods only lend power to people, they intend to get it back! Our short life in their playgrounds is but a moment to them. I used this aspect of mine to store all those foreign fragments. I have been hunted by different entities across multiple lives which tried to regain their lost pieces. Even worse, if the pieces have access to energy they begin growing, which in turn alienates them from their source. The gods are in danger of being permanently wounded and that may even endanger their existence.”
“So your aspect holds these god fragments and by burying your mind-palace you can somewhat throw off their tracking?”
Her answer made me grin toothily, “Congratulation the candidate has 100 points!” Suddenly a shadow crossed her face, “But that means after you helped me your mind-palace came back! Does that mean the seal or whatever is growing weaker.
Are we in danger of random gods blasting us away?”
Her question made me slump down,”Yes somewhat, as you said a being yearns to be whole again, my aspect is permanently trying to restore itself. If it breaks free they can once again track me and I am very sure that this world will stop existing if they find me here. I have multiple gods of creation and many smaller ones on my heels.”
“So does this visit to the temple have anything to do with what you have told me?” “Yes, if I am correct the ruin or whatever is left should hold a way to communicate with one of the gods of our species. With a bit luck it may even find a way to get rid of those remnants.”
Silence began to gather before Gale dropped the last bombshell fro today,”When do you plan to tell the pack? I have promised not to tell but they deserve the truth. Especially with the danger of a god appearing.”
“That depends if we find anything in that temple. I promise I will tell them but not today.” Like this we returned to a restless sleep as the fire slowly began to burn down.
In the next morning I told my parents that I would take Gale and Ere for a bit to which they readily agreed as long as we returned before the night fell. Gale was already awake but our long-sleeper Ere was still in the dream-lands as we set off. Gale had simply strapped her sister to the saddle like a bedroll which still did not wake her up.
A few minutes away from the main camp we found a suitable clearing for our purposes it even included a small pond in which we dumped the heavy sleeper to wake her up.
With a splash her large build impacted, the water was too flat to fully submerge her as she laid face down in the murky water. The seconds stretched, I was already considering that she was drowning as she rose over the surface coughing out water. “Not funny! Why a pond would a ball of water not have been enough? I have dirt everywhere in my fur!” “Welcome back to the waking world sister, our time is limited so I chose a faster method of waking you up.” It only took a few moments until Ere deflated visibly, “Sorry sister you know how I am as I wake up. Have I insulted someone this time?” I could only grin at her question, our shy and timid Ere always ended as grumpy bear while waking up and anyone close would suffer her temper until she got a grip on herself.
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“Not this time, be happy that mother was not close she would have chastised you if she heard some of the things I have heard you say during last week.” Ere unconsciously covered her nose as she undoubtedly remembered her older punishments after insulting mother or father. With time running shorter I took control of the situation. “Both of you, this day will be training day! Get in position!” Long ingrained behavior made them hurry to stand before me. “Today we will focus on physical training, Gale your job is to master the movement of your obelisks and to integrate them into your fighting style. They are made from material that can survive the direct hit from a dragon, especially after what I have done to it they can act as shields. Ere your job is to perfect your movements, while you hold great power in your strikes, your footwork and kicks are beyond sloppy.” Both of them nodded, signaling me to go on.
“Gale you are only allowed to shield with your obelisks, basic spells are allowed but anything larger is off limits. Ere, once you have completed this session I need to see you in private, Gale you are allowed to tell her about mind-space and -palace get her prepared for their opening this evening!Start sparring, 20 minute sessions I will heal you in the five minute breaks in between.”
Gale was the first to react, her obelisks hovering out of her bag, lightning bundling around her left paw. Ere was barely in time to avoid as the streak of energy passed by her face.
A feral grin spread on her face as she launched off, dirt spraying as her paws propelled her forward.
The fights were intense, I spent a good deal of energy to fix burned skin, ruptured muscles or cracked bones. Especially Ere's paws needed frequent treatment when they had once again collided with one of the Obelisks. As the night began getting closer both had made great improvements. Gale had even started to not only use the Obelisks defensively but had quite a few times managed to leave Ere with a bleeding hole from one of its pointy ends.
Forced to adapt to her new fighting style Ere had made drastic improvements to her footwork, especially sharp turns and rolls had taken hold in her standard fighting style. To my surprise she had also begun to use some fairly good kicks to pressure Gale. In the end both had suffered quite a bit but nothing a quick heal could not fix.
Once I called the training done both nearly collapsed onto the earth. With a few words of praise I was rewarded by bright smiles as we headed back towards the camp. The sibling-bickering on my back once again made me appreciate the close bond my family shared.
Mother and father welcomed us back with a freshly cooked meal. Like this we continued our travel towards the temple, one day travel, one day training.
Slowed by our own style of travel it took us nearly three weeks to reach the first signs of the temple. Large cut stones began to show out of the thick vegetation, the road had already been entirely consumed by the forest.
My worst fears came true a day later, the entire complex laid in ruin! Large broken pillars showed where once had been great halls and rooms dedicated to the worship of a god.
Slowly we began searching the outer perimeter of the central buildings, broken down temple-wardens and long decayed golems were all we could find.
As we got closer to the center the sound of combat alerted us. As we reached the room we found Ere in combat with three moss covered temple-sentinels, old war golems dedicated to defend temples. The decayed stone monstrosity's were barely holding against Ere's relentless attacks. Stone fragments shattered in all directions as she proceeded to decimate the golems.
Only seconds later the fight was over and three more pile of stones decorated the broken down complex. “Kai what are these stone-man?” “Those are manufactured guardians placed in temples, like a doll with the power to move they can barely follow simple commands. Their main advantage is their robust form and the ability to withstand long periods of time without tiring or idling in their tasks. A golem will follow commands until it is unable to do so.”
That got me a nod from Ere and we proceeded deeper into the complex, for safety reasons we stayed together from now. In the center we found the only not decayed structure, a small pagoda made from a white material.
Cautiously we opened the perfectly intact door as a loud voice thundered in our heads.
“Welcome mortals, I see you have brought a sacrifice for me! Your dedication will not go unrewarded!”
A humongous presence descended onto me as my senses shut down under its overbearing pressure.
A foreign presence has invaded your body!
The presence is trying to take control!
Fallen god Esoi, goddess of the Moon repelled
status: disorientation,stun,weakness applied, duration : 20 minutes
“What sorcery is this? Golems eradicate this threat protect your master!” I was still groggily trying to regain my senses, I was unfit to respond as doors rumbled open and Golems began pouring out. Like the pagoda they were in perfect condition and steadily approached us with glowing eyes.
Father was the first to respond, muscles bulging he tackled the first golem that was in range, the stone colossus tumbling backwards smashed smaller of his kin as it fell onto its back. Gripped by battle fever Ere joined my father as they began rampaging through the stone hordes. Mother began to cast supporting magic and buffs to keep our two vanguards in shape while Gale began to take a closer look at the fallen golem.
There were simply too many golems, even metal-golems had begun appearing as we were slowly forced to retreat. The thick entrance doors closed audibly behind us.
“You unfilial mortals will not leave this place alive! Die so I can live!” Injuries began to accumulate as the pressure increased again. The golems simply ignored their fallen brethren as they shambled across broken limbs and shattered bodies.
Our range of movement got smaller and smaller as the golems closed their encirclement.
“Looks like this is it! At least we will go down fighting!” With feral glee in his eyes Father prepared our last stand.
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Another chapter i hope you enjoy the small cliff ;)