2018, outside the Inn "cocked chicken", Shurima

The sun was setting, gliding down the horizone and sinking into a bed of dark orange before soon disappearing, as Dorian and Wang finally decided to leave the inn they previously conversed and ate in. Dorian had told Wang from his world and how confused he was as he first encountered the strange behaviour of the people in his surroundings, wielding weapons and killing each other in public and how the citizens seemed to be totally okay with it.

Wang finally came to understand Dorians lack of knowledge and was dieing to hear more about Dorians strange world, his curiousity getting the better of him so he kept bombarding Dorian with questions of the technology Dorian had mentioned and was completely stunned when Dorian mentioned that there were apparently countless numbers of gods in his world and yet there were people who actually doubted the existence of those beings and only believed in what they could proof through facts and science. This seemed to intrigue him the most and he couldn't understand how some humans, and so many at that, came to be so arrogant and to believe they became so wise and knowledgable to be able to proof the existence of gods, and it made him laugh really loud in amusement, triggering curious gazes from the people on the surrounding tables.

Dorian on the other hand could fully understand the atheistic philosophies and the doubt that came along with it. After all the existence of god and his prophets had triggered countless wars and cruelties all over the world for thousands of years. And yet in this world, the cruelties he had witnessed so far, happened in total agreement of the participants which appeared to him a higher worth then what a law could possibly dictate or control. After all the law was written by the people for the people, but if certain people decided that it was okay for them to act outside of the law even if that meant it could cost them their lifes, then who could possibly deny them their freedom to act independently? And on top of that it didn't appear to Dorian that those people died in cold blood, well maybe that fool outside the inn did, but not those warriors on the plaza. There was a kind of honor in how they acted and behaved towards each other which has been lost over the centuries on earth or maybe even never existed in the first place, which kind of made Dorian sad because this feeling had filled a void for the briefest of moments inside of him, which he didn't even knew existed, and yet it felt good to fill.

After they had felt satisfied enough concerning chatting and eating they left the inn. Dorian, as he stepped outside the inn, for a short moment marvelled at the cool breeze that the wind pushed softly onto his face and refreshed his slowly tiring mind. Stepping down towards Wang, who patiently waited for Dorian to follow up, he was wondering what was coming next.

"As I promised, I will lead you to the sons of Horus. Do you see that giant pyramid in the center of the city? From this street you have a good view onto it even though it is pretty far away." Pointing to his left Dorian turned into said direction.

What entered his eyes was a pyramid of relative size but he knew from experience that a thing already this big from all this distance away must be enormous when standing in front of it. Never having seen one in such a good shape before he marveled at its beauty and wished to enter it right away.

Wang apparently having perceived his burning gaze chuckled a little and then perceeding to walk in the direction of the pyramid Dorian hot on his heels.

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2018, giant pyramid, Shurima

After a 30 minutes march by foot Wang Fei and Dorian finally reached the pyramid, said headquater of the sons of Horus in this city. The pyramid was clad in white as marmor stone with a smooth surface and a peak glad in golden metal. 100 meters before the entrance began a pathway surrounded by flame basins that framed the pyramid in fire when coming up the street. Alongside the basins huge stone status of men with animal heads like the head of a falcon or a shakal looked down at the passerbys seemingly guarding this holy place of unwelcoming intruders.

They entered the pyramid and were greated by a small hall with a few receptions, each having an administrator sitting behind it taking care of the needs of the inquirers.

Wang and Dorian walked up to the one in the middle and Dorian heard Wang speak to the man in a quiet voice which made it really hard for him to hear anything at all.

After having listened to what Wang had to say the mans calm gaze came to rest on Dorian who suddenly felt something running through his body, observing every detail and cranny.

As the man turned his gaze away from Dorian the feeling disappeared and a drop of cold sweat ran down Dorians spine not sure what happened to him just now.

The man obviously was thinking for a few moments, Wang standing quietly to the side. As he suddenly stood up he turned to Dorian and said: "Follow me."

Dorian, a little confused, turned towards Wang to ask for his opinion who smiled and beckonned at him to follow the man. So he did. He speed up and reached the man who had walked ahead already seemingly the personification of stoicness.

They entered a narrow tunnel that lead further downwards into the base of the pyramid. Adorning the walls in the tunnel were pictures and hieroglyphics of all shades and colors depicting humans fighting, giving birth, reaping the crops, praying. Then there were others of landscapes, filled with animals or monsters living in peace or fighting for supremacy.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Dorian had seen many hieroglyphics over the years, most of them being the drawn form of the old egpytian alphabet but this was different. He wasn't sure since he only had take a glimpse at most of them but those drawings seemed to depict the lifes and stories of different people and creatures, how they interacted with each other and how they dealt with problems differently then the ones before them did. It faszinated him and he would have loved to stay longer and study those pictures some more but something in the back of his mind urged him forward knowing that what lay before him was more important than what was written on these walls so he kept on walking.

After ca. 10 minutes the tunnel became broader and some more light flooded the tunnel which had only been lighted by the lights of the torches installed in the walls. As they entered fully into the fresh light the tunnel became a giant hall covered over and over by pictures just like the tunnel only way bigger. On the ground on the other hand nature had taken root and plants grew in a vibrant variety with lush trees and colorful flowers adorning ones view.

They kept on walking through the fields and forests until they reached another open space, a clearing you could say, surrounded but natures beauty. In the middle of the clearing was a lake, not big but something else struck Dorian like lightning.

The water inside the lake wasn't blue in color. Well it was blue, but not only blue. It had many many colors, maybe all the colors that ever existed. At some time it was blue and red, then it changed into orange, green and purple, swapping from one color to the next, making them merge and transform into a composition of myriad colors, lighting the clearing and illuminating it in a soft glow.

Dorian stood there, watching and unable to avert his gaze for what felt like an eternity to him. He had never seen something so beautiful in his life and he drowned in the pleasure of viewing it.

He was ripped out of his trance by a hand covering his eyes. Waking up in shock he looked at the man standing to his right who smiled softly at him.

"Do not look too long into the well of myriad colors or you will, as you are now, not be able to wake up again on your own and die standing here marveling at its beauty."

The soft smile of the man in combination with his words brought a cold sweat to Dorians back, just having felt deaths cold fingers glide over his neck.

"Th-Thank you." Dorian stuttered, a little overwhelmed of what just happened. Taking a deep breath he calmed down a little bit and looked questioningly at the man, wanting to know what they were here for.

"This lake is a manifestation of aura not freed of natures shackles, thus having this beautful and yet deadly appearence.

If you have not freed yourself of your own shackles yet and gaze upon this lake, you will never be able to wake up again."

"Then what are we doing here? I don't understand how this could help me become a warrior."

"The first step to become a warrior is to test if you have the natural disposition to channel astral energy and convert it into aura. In order to find out you will close your eyes and head out into the lake of myriad colors. If you are able to feel the shackles once you stand inside then you know that you have touched astral energy with your mind thus bringing forth a reaction from the shackles."

"How will I know when the shackles react if it is only in my mind?"

"Believe me, you will know once they do. There is no impression comparable to it." The administrator said with a serious expression.

Taking a deep breath trying to calm his nerves Dorian closed his eyes before heading straight into the lake. As his feet touched the water a cold sensation went up his leg but he kept his eyes closed heading further in. The further he went in the colder his legs grew until the beautiful water reached his waiste and with it the cold which started to numb him slightly.

Dorian waited, and waited, and waited, yet nothing happened. Just as he was about to curse about not being able to become a warrior something in his mind cracked. A metallic rattling of chains appeared in his mind and the cold from the lake crept up his torso until it covered him completely. Gripping his head in agony the pain grew only stronger and his conciousness started to grow blurry again. *rattle*rattle*rattle*rattle*rattle*rattle*

Nonestop the chains rattled until all he could hear was the metallic rattling of chains each rattle acompanied by a different emotion. First it was pain, then fear, anger, hate. They exploded inside of him and threatened to overwhelm him.

Outside of his body, the water in his surroundings started to turn pitch black with him as the source. A black fog was pulsing out of himself reveberating between himself and the water as if it was controlled by the beating of a heart to dictate its tact. After the whole lake had turned black the black color began to crack open in lightning like patterns through which a menacing dark green glow shown.

This went on for nearly a minute until finally the black color in the water faded along with the chains inside Dorians mind which nearly let him collapse on the spot from fatigue. As he swayed back and forth and nearly fell over a hand reached out and supported his back, not letting him fall into the waters embrace.

"Well done child, truly well done." the man spoke and that was the last thing Dorian heard until he succumbed to unconciousness.