Unknown corner of the Great Desert, Southern Realm

Five years. For five years Devin, a below average enchanter, has been searching for the temple described in an old tome called 'The History of the Lost Gods'. The book had given him hope, describing an artifact that bestows immortality, created by a god of old as a gift to his high priest.

It was nearly six years ago when a healer had informed him of the magic based disease that his beloved wife, Lorett, was effected by and the despair he felt as he was told that it was terminal.

The only known cure was an alchemical concoction which included blood of a wyvern and help from a Master Alchemist, both ridiculously far beyond reach of someone of his status and wealth, considering that even a king of a small realm would need to spend a fortune to obtain.

At the time he was devastated, he was about to lose the most important thing in his life and he was completely helpless. With all the feelings of fear and frustration welling up in him, he started to desperately search for anything and any possibility to at least prolong her life by a few more years.

It was then that a stranger approached him with an old history book claiming that the answer he is searching for lies within its contents. Oddly enough now that he thinks back, he can't remember anything about the stranger or even why he believed the story to be true.

After he read the book, he became obsessive, frantically searching for the temple described in the tome to the point of even shutting his wife out as she insisted that he should forget about the cure and simply stay by her side till the end, because she was afraid of dieing alone.

After that his memories become jumbled and faint, he can't even remember the last time it was when he saw his wife.

Was it last month? No, a year? Why haven't I seen her in so long? What have I been doing all this time? No matter how hard he tried to remember, all he felt was confusion and a sense of loss.

It doesn't matter. Once I obtain the Immortals Medallion, I can spend all the time in the world with her. We can even finally take the time to have the children Lorett has always wished for.

“Sir,” a particularly rough looking dwarf grumbled, interrupted his thoughts, “ the scouting group that I sent out earlier has returned with news of a buildin' made of obsidian, hidden towards the center of the Jungle.”

“Was there any statues of snakes by the building?” Devin asked in excitement with a crazed glint in his eyes.

Wollts, the leader of the group of dwarven mercenaries, paid to protect Devin, flinched at the sight of the insanity and obsession in Devin’s eyes that had been growing ever more pronounced these last few weeks.

“Aye, two large stone sculptures are guarding the entrance to the god forsaken place, not to mention all the toe-biting snakes that litter this jungle, nor shall we forget the cursed snakes that would just pop up out of the sand in the desert surrounding this unholy patch of elf rock.” complained the suffering mercenary in an increasingly irritated voice.

“Five of my men are suffering from various poisons and just this mornin' Yolgrin found the spawn infesting our mead! Now we can't even drink our mornin' beverages out of fear of food poisoning!”

Who?

“Yes, yes, I will be sure to compensate you all as soon as we return safely to the adventurers guild in Galindale. But first have your men clear a way to the temple, we are nearly finished with the expedition.”

The dwarf grumbled to himself some more with an expression on his face, clearly showing his doubts that any amount of money is worth being denied his morning alcohol. “Alright you unsightly lumps of rotten stone, forget the mead and get your arses ready to travel. We're headed toward the center of the hearth and if yer' not payin' attention to where you put yer' feet you'll get bitten. Tonight we'll just have to make due with the ale.”

The group of dwarves groaned in unison as they got up to get ready, most still chewing the leftovers of their breakfast.

There was a flurry of activities, small men packing up their tents and burdening the small wagons with barrels, as the mercenaries got ready to enter the jungle at the edge of where desert and jungle meet. Devin had nearly nothing on him except a sleeping mat and a leather bag that held a few coins, a map, the History of the Lost Gods, and a key, shaped as a skull eating a snake, curled up in a particular manner.

The key and the map were the most recent discoveries that Devin had made, which had led him to this oversized oasis, or small jungle if you will, here in one of the largest deserts known in history.

The group, led by Wollts and the scouts that had left at the break of dawn in search of the temple, fully entered the forbidding canvas of elf rock, as the dwarves so wisely name any gathering of trees.

The jungle itself was ominously quite, with only the occasional hiss of one of the many snakes and the deeper they went, the darker it became, leaving the dwarves unsettled as the light should be shining much more through the leaves than it was.

After only a few hours of fighting their way through the underbrush of the jungle, often stopping to fend off the occasional serpentine monster, they had finally arrived at the temple to the joy of the whole party even if the dwarves were mostly happy about finally opening the ale and building a camp to repel all forms of snakes, both normal and magical.

The temple was a large, black structure with engravings carved all over it and two large snakes acting as pillars at the entrance.

“Let your men rest for another hour, but then we head in. I've been searching for this place for years, I refuse to wait any longer than that.” commanded Devin to Wollts as he excitedly inspected the carvings on the walls, reassuring himself that this really was the temple he had been looking for.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“No need, I'm sure that my men want this to be done with as soon as possible so that they can return home. This journey has been rough on us all. First the endless deserts that had us up to the waist in sand and now reptiles in an already uncanny jungle. I'll have half follow you in and the other half will stand guard at the entrance, keeping both the wagons and our back free.”

Wollts gathered his men together and after a quick conversation, he split them into two groups, leaving only those behind, that he trusted not to start drinking while they were gone. The remaining men gathered their weapons and a few torches, made of dry branches from the edge of the forest and some rags drenched in tree sap.

Lighting the torches, they climbed the stairs leading to the entrance and then passed the two statues, as their group entered the temple. For a moment all they could see was darkness, but as their eyes gradually adjusted, they beheld a large hall with pillars distributed evenly throughout the room. The pillars themselves were amazingly intricate, as they looked like multiple snakes coiled around each other and covered in scales.

Devin, too impatient to wait any longer, grabbed a torch from one of the dwarves and without caution or any hesitation, took large quick strides into the depths of the hall.

Wollts, not wanting his source of income to be eaten, made haste in having his men follow Devin, leaving the occasional torch behind to light the way back.

As Devin made his way deeper, a large stone archway slowly became visible, distinguishing a pathway that led to a staircase, leading into the depths of the earth.

“This is the pace I've been looking for! Finally, after so long, I've finally found it.” Devin panted while rushing down the staircase, leaving the mercenaries to scurry in behind him.

“Goddammit fool! If you rush us like this you'll get us all killed! We don't know if some monster or magical beast has made it's nest in the depths of this place!” Wollts said as he grabbed onto Devin, preventing him from running of into the unknown that the darkness of the stairway hid from them.

“Improbable. This temple still has the blessing of its god. Have you even seen a mouse or spiderweb since we entered? Not even the snakes that live in this jungle have entered. I can still feel the thrum of magic from the walls and pillars. The temple is still under the protection of its god, so no creature or magical beast will be able to live in here without being driven insane by the divine power imbued into this place.” Devin scornfully replied. Nonetheless he adjusted his speed to allow the short men to keep up with his longer stride.

Wollts mumbled to himself with a dark expression on his face, cursing Devin and regretting taking the mission from this maniac. Still he couldn't just leave Devin here to die, his reputation and the reputation of his team would go down as the Mercenary guild takes note of all missions and their completion. As long as they survived this he could even notify the guild of Devin’s unstable behavior, preventing less experienced mercenaries from taking his missions and getting themselves killed with him.

As they step down the staircase, inexplicably, the dwarves start to feel claustrophobic. The feeling of the darkness slowly closing in on them as even the light of the torches dims ever so slightly, the deeper they climb. The silence is deafening, as even Wollts, the hardiest dwarf among them, has to repress the urge to flee. As if there is a predator just out of sight, slowly stalking them and the darkness itself is seeping out of the walls, reaching out to grab them and devour them. The very temple itself hates them and want's them dead. The only one not effected by the darkness was Devin, as nothing but eagerness was to be seen on his face.

Just before the dwarves give in to their fear, the staircase suddenly ends, opening up once again to a similar hallway as by the entrance, but on a smaller scale. Although the hallway was similar, there was still a few large differences. The pillars were lined with many small golden snakes with ruby eyes glinting in the firelight of the torches and the walls were line with small holders filled with a blue powder. From the entrance you could already see the other side of the hallway and the floor was littered with various trinkets and gold coins.

At the sight of the treasures, some of the dwarves were ecstatic, rushing in to grab what the can, letting their greed get the better of them.

Wollts, afraid of possible traps, shouted to them, “Stop, you stone headed idiots! Don't touch anything until Devin has checked everything for traps or curses!” The few dwarves about to grab the spoils, immediately stopped and with an apologetic look turned back to their boss when they suddenly froze with a blank look, horror creeping up their faces, eyes directed at something right behind the group at the entrance.

Devin, seemingly not caring about anyone or any thing, simply kept walking while stopping to investigate all the oddities of the room.

Wollts on the other hand was terrified of how his comrades were reacting. Pulling out his war axe, he jumped forward, did a roll then twisted around ready to fight. The other dwarves reacted in a similar fashion, if a tad bit slower. But what Wollts saw truly terrified him as it was something he didn't expect.

The entrance and staircase were gone. The wall was as smooth as any other part of the room.

Shocked and with slight panic, the dwarves rushed to the wall, hoping that it was only the high class magic type 'Illusion' , a magic that utilizes immense knowledge of how light works along with well honed magic control. But the attempts to pass through were in vain, as the wall was as solid as any other rock. With the dwarves innate knowledge on stone work they could tell that it wasn't just a thin barrier but solid rock of at least a dozen meters thick.

As the dwarves were panicking, Devin, as if he was in a trance, was just staring at the wall an the other side of the hallway. With slow, deliberate movements, he reached into his bag and took out the key he had tucked away since the beginning of his travels into the desert, in search of this very temple.

It was at this moment where a soft 'tink' sound of metal hitting metal was heard. The dwarves in their panic, simply ignored the sound, thinking someone kicked one of the many small treasures on the ground. Only when once again, then more such sounds started echoing out from all over the hallway, did the dwarves realize what was happening.

The golden snakes were falling off the pillars. The snakes were about the length of three fingers and just as thick. Wollts, already suspecting what was about to happen, quickly gave his men orders, “Line up against the wall! Get your weapons ready! We fell into a trap! Devin! What the hell are you doing! Get your ass over here!” Despite Wollts and the other dwarves shouting, along with the loud sound of numerous metal snakes hitting the ground and each other, Devin remained in a trance, not moving and just staring at the wall, the key softly glowing in a red light, unnoticed in his hand.

After the last snake fell down, there was a sudden silence. The dwarves stood in a line with their backs against the wall, waiting nervously for something to happen. Wollts, with great foresight, kept his gaze directed at the piles of golden reptiles scattered across the room and thus, was the first to notice as they started to squirm and twist, becoming ever more life like.

The golden snakes moved as a giant mass, headed directly for the dwarves, their ruby eyes faintly sparkling as if these constructions made of magic and metal were excited about what was going to happen.

Oddly enough, Devin was completely ignored by the snakes, as they launched their attack on the struggling dwarves. The dwarves fought desperately, using every trick they had, from small explosives to fire magic of one of the few dwarven elemental mages. But all was for naught as the snakes gorged themselves on the dieing men, eating out holes and burrowing into their flesh, the scales absorbing their blood, slowly turning from gold to a deep crimson.

After all the dwarves were dead, including poor Wollts, who in his last moments regretted ever following the broken and insane man known as Devin, the now crimson snakes slithered away from the dried out remains of the fallen mercenaries and traveled to the other side of the hallway.

As they converged in front of the blank faced Devin, they twisted together to form a small archway. The archway, full of the blood, and more importantly, the life force and remaining energy from the dead dwarves, started to thrum and vibrate from the collected energy.

Utilizing forbidden magic and complex enchantments a doorway to a pocket dimension was opened. That in itself was not rare or special, but the stability and the thickness of the barriers that held this space apart from normal space and the energy needed to open its protective seals were.

Devin stepped through the portal and only when he reached the other side did he regain a portion of his awareness. There he beheld a room, not much bigger than a bedroom, filled with gold and treasures to make even a king feel poor, artifacts filled with powerful enchantments and even piles of high quality mana stones. The whole room was densely packed with magic of all kinds and it was all-together enough to even buy himself a kingdom.

But what caught his attention was a gray stone altar at the opposite side of the room, or more specifically the small silver amulet laying on the surface of the alter.

Devin woodenly walked directly towards the altar, as if his body were numb or not completely under his control. With an empty smile, he reached out and directly picked up the one thing he had been searching for this whole time. He then proceeded to activate the enchantments buried within the amulet, not quite knowing why or how he was doing it.

Then for a brief moment there was clarity. He remembered everything. His insanity, the acts of cruelty that he committed in order to fund his search and even the horrifying truth. His wife had been dead for over two years now, the news coming in form of a letter from his wife’s remaining family.

After that brief moment where he was free of the force driving him to search for the Immortals Medallion, also known as the Liar's Pendant, an unimaginable pain wracked Devin’s body and even his very soul, as an unknown force invaded his body and bit by bit devoured all that was left of the broken man. In his final moment, all Devin could feel was relief that he could finally join his wife in the afterlife.

Devin’s body, sprawled on the floor suddenly opened its eyes, as the new owner of the started laughing in pure joy, delighted to once again be free to serve his god, who was cast away and sealed, as all the other gods feared his god might. Looking around he was satisfied by the offerings and the temple, that was built in his name, the high apostle of the God of the End.