Progress along the cliff edge of the nexus was painfully slow. On several occasions, they had to deviate from the edge, sometimes spending ten minutes fighting their way through the undergrowth just to come out on the other side of half a dozen trees. Russell seemed nonplussed by the frustrating detours they were having to take. While the others weren't getting as anxious as him, Lewis could sense them getting tired.

'Do you believe we can stop him?' Lewis asked Edward as they pushed aside a heavy curtain of moss.

'I believe we have to try; Arden made that much clear, even if some of the rest of it went over my head,' he said. 'I've heard bits and pieces of the history and from what Russell has told us, I don't think it will be easy for sure.'

'You think we can do it then?'

'His sole aim will be to conquer everything before him where he failed before. We have something to fight for: our freedom,' Edward said. 'Throughout history, battle has usually favoured the defending army, even if they are perceived as weaker. They know their land, and that is what they are fighting for. To the invaders, it is just another milestone in their strategy. Right now, though, we only have a dozen precursors on our side and a handful who haven't mastered much more than the most basic skills.'

'We have more than them, though,' Lewis said. 'Surely now would be the time to make those numbers count?'

'He will have followers who have been lurking in the shadows for a very long time, waiting for this moment. How many is anyone's guess.'

Before Lewis could press him any further on how they might be able to recruit more precursors, the rest of the group ahead of them came to a stop, with Louise pointing at something further around the edge of the nexus. 'Behind the waterfall, it looks like an opening.'

'An eagle eye, well done,' Russell said, clapping her on the shoulder as he set off again, a renewed vigour in his step. For a moment, the others glanced at one another. Lewis could tell they weren't sure what to make of Russell on their first encounter with him.

Thankfully, progress towards the waterfall was much quicker than it had been along the rest of the cliff edge. With only one brief detour, they found themselves before it. It was like nothing Lewis had ever seen before, glistening like water in sunlight but thick like ice that still managed to move ever so slowly except, rather than falling down into the nexus below, it was rising upwards. Within touching distance of it, the hairs on the back of his neck and arms stood up on end.

'Make sure you don't touch it,' Russell said. Whether he had been speaking directly to Lewis, having sensed his thoughts about what it would feel like, or the group in general, he didn't know.

A narrow pathway led behind the strange waterfall, with Russell taking the lead once more as he slipped behind it carefully. 'Why is it flowing upwards?' David asked as he cast the lantern over it.

In the pale light, for a brief moment, Lewis saw thousands upon thousands of tadpole-like creatures swimming and jumping through whatever it was that made up the leyline. With a shout, he and David both jumped backwards, a maw filled with sharp, dagger-like teeth lunging through towards them. He couldn't wait to be out of this place and back on the surface, where he could see everything, especially the things that wanted to attack him.

'A cluster lantern fish,' Russell said when he saw the creature, gesturing to the several small balls of light that dangled from two antennas protruding from the top of its head. 'Fascinating creatures, supposedly quite rare after they were hunted for their blood, which has some minor healing properties.'

'Is there anything you don't know something about?' Captain Caldwell asked, eyeing the fish, which was still snapping in their direction despite seemingly being stuck in the leyline waterfall.

'I'm sure there are some things,' he said. 'When you've been alive a couple of hundred years with very little to do but read books, you pick things up.'

'I know better than to ask,' Captain Caldwell muttered as he looked around the small chamber recess, they found themselves in. 'What now?'

Lewis wasn't sure what he had been expecting to find, but a dark, narrow alcove wasn't it. 'The lantern,' Russell said quietly, holding his hand out expectantly. 'Knowing where to look is sometimes all it takes. On other occasions, knowing how to look is more important.’

David handed the lantern over, the cluster lantern fish and tadpole-like creatures fading from their visible existence. As Russell turned it on the wall, there was a flash across the stone, with golden glowing symbols appearing from the ground on both sides and rising up. Slowly they began to stack up, glowing lines carved into the stone appearing to weave their way amongst them like the climbing tendrils of a plant until they met overhead, forming an archway.

At the apex, they melded together, creating a roiling mass of light that flashed like a thunderstorm cloud with lightning inside. With a crack, the cloud broke, sending glowing golden water cascading down the stone, flooding across the floor, and disappearing over the side into the nexus far below. The light retreated, the symbols etched in the stone remaining as the centre of the archway they created vanished, revealing a dimly lit chamber amongst red sandstone.

'Welcome to Avalkan,' Russell said. 'This is a sight that has been unseen for centuries; it's like nothing else in the world.’

It was certainly nothing like anything Lewis had ever seen. Intricate pillars were carved into the walls of the cavernous room, curving over the ceiling. From somewhere high above, crystal-clear water tumbled down into an almost unmoving lake that spread out before them. Along the sides, trees and shrubs grew from the deep red sand, their foliage a deep, thriving green. It was like a pristine oasis that had been completely untouched. At the water's edge sat a pair of curved sandstone benches with an intricate statue between them, one hand raised with a golden orb cupped in its hand.

'Is that…gold?' David asked, pointing out into the sand.

Around the edges of the cavernous room, the red sand was pockmarked with spots of gold. Now that they had been pointed out, Lewis saw them everywhere—hundreds upon hundreds of gold coins. 'There must be a fortune here,' Louise said, stooping to pick up one of the coins and examining it. 'It isn't like the ones back home but it's definitely gold.'

'I can't believe how well it's been preserved here.' Edward said, strolling out further into the room and inspecting the statue. 'You would never suspect it had been lost centuries ago.'

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Lewis looked around the space, the feeling that they were being watched still lingering from when they had been traversing the forest on the other side of the waterfall. With a squark, a large, purple-feathered bird swooped from one of the nearby trees, landing on the head of the statue just as Edward made to touch it. It was almost as though it had come to defend it from him. Ever since they had stepped into the leyline, Lewis had found himself seeing more and more things that were like nothing he had seen before.

Edward withdrew his hand slowly as the bird ruffled its feathers. Slowly, it began to settle, keeping a careful eye on him. 'Who goes there?' A low, rumbling voice echoed around the chamber. The ground beneath them trembled as the trees began to part on the far side of the lake.

'I thought this place had been lost for centuries,' David said, a handful of gold coins in his palm.

'Thieves! You seek what is not yours to take,' the voice roared. Where the trees had seemingly parted on their own accord, there was a shimmer of light, and an enormous, deep blue, scaled creature stood on four legs before them, wings unfurled.

'We're not here to steal,' Russell said quickly, glancing pointedly in David's direction. In an instant, he dropped the gold coins he had been holding. 'We only seek passage to the temple. We know better than to even think of stealing from a dragon's hoard.'

'This one speaks wisely. Others would be best to listen to him,' the dragon replied with a menacing growl in David's direction.

'I wasn't going to take it; I was just curious; it's different from the gold we have where we're from,' David said quickly.

'Liar!' the dragon breathed, a spray of dark blue sparks shooting in his direction.

'He meant no harm, I promise,' Lewis said, stepping up next to David. 'Who are you?'

The dragon's head snapped around to Lewis, its eyes narrowing as it moved closer to him until it was almost nose to nose with him. 'Well, there is a face I did not expect to see after so long and still so fresh and young. Hello again, Arden.'

They were all, Lewis included, stunned into silence. 'I'm sorry, I'm not Arden,' Lewis said, stumbling over his words slightly. For the second time in as many weeks, he had been mistaken for Arden by someone who had once known him.

If it was possible, the face of the dragon changed to one of disappointment and sadness. 'I see. In that case, I think it's best you leave while you still can.'

'He's not Arden, but he is related to him. He's Lewis Vandemark, the current king of The City of Tristan,' Louise said quickly.

The dragon paused, considering both Louise and Lewis closely. 'Is this so?'

Lewis nodded. 'It's a very long story, but, yes, it is true. Before Arden died, he sent Koen into the stars with this sword so that he could deliver it to me along with a message that Tristan Bergstrom would be trying to return and that he must be stopped. He showed me the remains of Oldiron and how to find the leyline so that we could travel here.' He offered up the sword for the dragon to inspect. 'We don't mean you or this place any harm; we are only here to stop them from reaching the Temple of Ruins.'

The dragon reached out, pinching the sword between two claws and holding it up to examine it closely. 'Convergence, a once great weapon long thought destroyed at the end of the war,' carefully, the dragon relinquished the sword back to Lewis. 'I do not know how you managed to acquire this if not through the means you have told me, so I will entertain you a little longer.'

'Do you have a name? You recognised me as Arden; I take it you knew him?' Lewis asked, sheathing the sword once more.

'I am Arsuneo, Commander of Waves,' the dragon replied. 'I did indeed know Arden. If you have seen the remains of Oldiron, then you have witnessed what was once my home. From its ruins, Arden rescued me, no more than a hatchling. Dragons are solitary creatures by nature; he brought me to this place, somewhere remote from all else, to protect me. He did the same for my kin, Brolrynth and Pythyr, although I do not know where he took them or if they still survive.'

'Would you help us? If Tristan destroyed your old home, surely you wouldn't want to see him walk this world again,' Lewis said.

Arsuneo considered it for a while—so long that Lewis considered asking something else just to break the silence. 'I would not take any joy in seeing him breathe once more, but the quarries of mortal men are not for me to intervene. Had you been other than the descendent of Arden, you would not have left this place. Many who have ventured here have never left. I cannot help you though, Lewis Vandemark.'

'He destroyed your home, though; he threatened your kin,' Louise said. 'Surely, after all that, you want to make sure he couldn't do it again.'

'You speak boldly, young one,' Arsuneo breathed, leaning down to her. 'That is a mark of youth and innocence—not being afraid to speak when you should. I value that.'

Arsuneo looked between them, as if weighing up who they should be speaking to. 'If you don't want to help us fight him, then I understand,' Lewis said. 'We need to find our way to the temple; are you able to help us with that?'

Again, Arsuneo left a long pause before answering, sizing Lewis up. 'For many, finding the temple should be a journey of their own undertaking. Like a pilgrimage, it is only meaningful if achieved by oneself. That is not why you seek the temple, though. This is something I can help you with.'

Between two long claws, Arsuneo plucked the golden orb from the hand of the statue Edward had been inspecting before the dragon appeared. 'I offer you this artefact of the lost city of Avalkan.' With a tap, it glowed. Blue light, much like that of the leyline, pulsed from cracks in the outer shell as it broke apart, hovering in place. 'This is a Spiritbound Stone, one of the few to ever exist. When bonded to it, it can lead you where your heart desires, even if you do not know where that is.'

'So, it could lead us to the temple?' Lewis asked as the orb bobbed over to him, hovering in front of his face.

'If that is where you wish it to take you,' Arsuneo said. 'You need only touch it and the Spiritbound Stone will bond with you.'

Lewis hesitated for a moment. He had no idea what it would mean to be bonded to this thing or how it worked. Would he be able to unbind himself from it if he wanted to? 'Don't be afraid; you will be able to release yourself from it at any time,' Arsuneo said as if he had been reading Lewis' thoughts.

With Arsuneo's encouragement, he reached out, the tips of his fingers coming into contact with the floating, fragmented sphere. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but being icy cold wasn't near the top of the list by a long way. It seemed to almost vibrate against his skin, with tiny static shocks tingling the tips of his fingers.

The Spiritbound Stone pulsed brighter and brighter, the gaps where it had fractured expanding and contracting like it was taking breaths. With each expansion, it grew larger, the fragments separating until Lewis stood at their centre.

The pale blue light faded, replaced by a radiant gold, as the fragments contracted one more time, pressing gently against his skin. In the places they touched, he felt a warmth as they melded slowly into his skin until they vanished. He could feel the warmth inside him spreading through his veins, something gently tugging at him to move forward.

'If you wish to unbind yourself, you have only to will your separation, and it will begin,' Arsuneo said. 'Should you do so, I would be grateful if you would return it to me; this is where it was first created and where it belongs.'

'Of course,' Lewis said, allowing the Spiritbound Stone to lead him forward a couple of steps. 'Are you sure I can't persuade you to help us?'

'This fight does not belong to me,' Arsuneo said with a shake of their head. 'I will watch your path with great intrigue, Lewis Vandemark. You have a lot to live up to if you are to continue the Vandemark name that Arden etched into history.'

'I'll do my best. If I ever find out what happened to your kin, would you like me to send word to you?' he asked.

Arsuneo paused for a moment. 'That would be an acceptable reason to disturb me in my sanctuary,' they said, stepping aside so that Lewis and the others could pass. 'May Arden's spirit live on in Convergence and may it guide you on your journey.'

Lewis bowed his head to Arsuneo, allowing the Spiritbound Stone to guide him onward. As the others passed, they nodded in the direction of the dragon. 'I think this is the most bizarre day of my life,' David muttered to no one in particular as they walked around the edge of the oasis.

'You're not the only one,' Lewis said as he took the lead from Russell, guided by the artefact he had bonded with. 'I hope that's all the surprises this place has out of the way.' As much as he wanted to believe it, he knew better than to hope when it came to somewhere as ancient as this.