Into the Temple of Fire 15AUG20
20
AUG/20
Follow the tracks into the sand:
Oni woke up as the sun started to set. He preferred the sunrise but, in the desert, this was how they had learned to travel. He climbed out of the hidey hole to look down on the camp. He was shocked. He had expected that the templars would have attacked in the day, but they had kept their word. Oni’s rage for them calmed a little. He had wanted to work with them without bloodshed. Maybe it was still true.
Mar’iya was talking to Paulu and few others, “we need to kill them all.” Oni slowly walked up. He had much of the tribe convinced but Paulu was not yet sure. Oni interrupted their mildly heated conversation, “We should go in and try to talk to them.” Soot spoke up, “that will never work, we should just kill them all to get Rain.” Oni looked at Soot with a little sadness. He had been reborn into a new person. He wanted to bring something different to the world. The five and their abuse were not the only way of things.
Oni moved to look a little taller. The tribe started up know this stance. Oni was about to try to talk them from a place of authority. He stood there, now tall in the glow of the setting sun, “I have one line of thought that might convince them. I want to go in by myself and try.” Mar’iya looked at him with a crocked smile, “I will go with you just in case it goes bad.” He Watched the tribe move from nods of “no way” to nods of agreement. Soot broke the murmur, “It won’t work, but we can try.”
The tribe quietly packed up the camp. Oni noticed the missing Rain. They needed him. He needed him. There is no way they could move forward without him. He decided to meditate while the camp was packed. He found a spot to sit and breath. He wished it was the sunrise, but this would have to work. He brought in air through his nose. With his breath, he brought in his Ki. He moved that Ki through his body, specially his poisoned side. Picking up the poisons, he moved the Ki out of his body with his breath. He breathed out through his mouth. Resting his tongue on the top of his mouth the breath and poison flowed out over his teeth. He felt better and stronger.
Mar’iya and Oni moved up the stairs. The Yavapai waited in the courtyard beyond. There were now six guards instead of the two the day before. Oni saw this as a bad sign. He was hoping they had not gone into a defensive manner. Two of the guards moved down to meet them. The other guards shifted to better block the entrance. Oni looked at Mar’iya, hoping he was not offensive. The veteran guard spoke first, “what do you want?” Oni bowed a little as he found his calmest voice, “we were hoping to talk to the High Priest. We would like to Parley.” The guard just laughed out his words, “they left.” With a long pause he added, “with the waterbringer.”
Mar’iya started to talk in Oni’s head, “well I guess we need to kill these guys.” Oni looked at Mar’iya with his big eyes. He started to respond, but remembered it must be in his mind, “maybe Joe and Paulu can follow the tracks.” They spoke to each other within their heads for a long time. They had come up with a plan and would leave these guards alone. They could fight them, but that would take time, and Rain might not have time. The guard started to get fidgety. Oni smiled to them, “thanks, we will be back.”
The tribe was ready for action. Mar’iya explained to Joe and Paulu that they had left with Rain. They started to subtly find the tracks. They all looked around a little confused as they wandered off. Oni looked up at the guards. One of them was watching him. In battle they look all the same but this one was watching him now. Their eyes met. Oni could feel his hatred. They had met in that battle. Oni wanted to go to him and try to make amends. The guard looked through him, hate pulsing through Oni as it did. Oni knew they would sadly meet again, and it would be another fight. Oni would try to not fight him, but Oni knew the fight was coming and he could not stop it.
Joe and Paulu lead the tribe out into the sand. Pakku was starting to follow them. He wanted to learn from them. He loved hunting, but tracking has always been his weak spot. He moved up behind them without a word. That was his way. That is the way. He silently copied every step. He wanted to know what they saw and how they saw it.
Joe and Paulu were discussing the tracks. Joe thought there had been a small battle, Paulu did not. Pakku looked around. Trying to see in his mind’s eye how a fight could have gone. Like Paulu, he could not see a fight. It looked like folks were mildly walking in circles. Pakku was trying to understand but it made no sense. He decided to look in a bigger circle. He rushed up on sand dune then another. He saw what had happened. He had not spoken much but now was the time. He called up to Joe and Paulu, “hey, take a look at this. I think they slit up.” Joe looked and answered, “fuck, which one to follow.” Mar’iya walked up pointed to the tracks off in the distance and spoke in the most prophetic voice, “I would follow the ones they tried to hide. I would have taken Rain that way.”
Everyone looked at Mar’iya. He was likely right. Joe, Paulu and Pakku slightly behind started to lead the tribe again. They followed the tracks in the sand. This was clearly a smaller group. Oni hoped that they were not walking into a trap. That is what he would have done. Split the group and moved the followers into an ambush. He also hoped that this was the right direction. Soot spoke up, “hey there is a silence bubble over here.” Oni moved around the bubble of silence. He walked the edge for several minutes, trying the find the size. He also used it to find a little silence in his own mind. Like the circle the silence, the silence within Oni started to shrink. he walked it over and over as it shrank until it was gone. Finally, Oni just stood in the center and spoke as it disappeared completely, “Rain left this for us.” Oni paused a long time as if the silence had come back, his lips mouthing his next words several times before speaking. “Rain left this for us to find his tail.”
The tribe moved faster now, knowing they were close.
The Underground temple:
Joe, Paulu and Pakku moved over a rise. Oni thought they might be spreading out. Oni knew this was not a great sign. Oni climbed to the crest of the sand dune. About hundred footfalls from him the ground turned from sand desert to defiled. They had found a defiled section of the desert. Oni did not know how long the scars of defiling lasted but this felt recent to him. He started to follow them with careful steps.
Oni watched as the three scouts spread out. Joe headed right, Paulu left and Pakku right down the center. They knew this had to be a trap, but they could figure it out and stop the ambush. Moments before the sand exploded next to Joe and Paulu, they both slid to the side, and had weapons to bare. Mar’iya yelled out, “we need one of them alive,” just as Joe removed the head from his ambusher. As Paulu and the tribe attacked and killed the other one, Oni watched as his eyes follow his friends head fly through the air. The dervish dropped dead. Paulu with a slight joke in her voice, “well I guess we are not questioning them.”
Joe stepped into the defiled area. What was left of the grass crunched under each step. The rest of the tribe waited just outside the defile zone. The breeze coming from the defiled area seemed different. It had no smell at all. It was like anything that could have a smell was dead and that smell removed. Joe raised his hand up and in the air as fist. He pointed to Pakku, who ran up to help. Joe had found a secret trap door. Pakku bent down to examine it. With Selise gone he was the one that checked this stuff. He brushed his hand at Joe, and Joe backed off. Pakku pulled out some tools and started to work the lock. Pakku opened the door revealing a ladder below.
Pakku silently moved down the ladder. He found himself in front of another double door. He yelled up, “I need a light.” He continued to examine the door until light arrived. He pulled out his tools again. Oni came up next to him. Pakku looked back and said, “seems like another sunken temple.” He moved the tools around. Both he and Oni heard an audible click. Pakku looked back at Oni and smiled.
The Yavapai moved into the entrance chamber. As it opened the tribe moved in. Inside they found four guards. They hit the tribe hard. They tribe moved around them to gain advantage and managed to kill them. This fight hurt them more then expected. The guards in the sand above made them think these guys would be easy to take out.
The tribe went to the far reaches of this room. They moved to guard each door. They took a minute to talk about how they would move into the temple. They needed the extra time to catch their breath. They looked at the two doors. They decided to go right. Oni tried to remember something from readings. Going Right was wrong. For some reason he knew that you should always go left. Pakku opened the door. Paulu moved into the chamber beyond. Oni looked down to the left as he walked through the door.
This was a small chamber with four statues in it. These were perfectly carved statues. As Oni looked closer, he could see Faststaff turning a little gray. These statues were not carved, they were created the same way he was. They were turned to stone. Faststaff looked a little stiff as he looked at the statues. Pakku and Paulu lead the group through the room and into the chambers beyond.
Mar’iya and Pakku moved into a chamber straight ahead. Joe moved right into another chamber. Oni slid left down a hall. He did not want to move very far, he just wanted to be a guard on that flank. Joe found another chamber off to the Right. It had another person statue. He moved on to the hallway beyond. The rest of the tribe moved between the two statue chambers. Flagstaff found a little corner and started to cast detect magic from his book. Oni looked left again and thought again they should move left.
Mar’iya and Pakku started to search the room. The room had a desk in it with some papers on one side. It had a bunch of crates along the other wall. Pakku started to go through the crates. He wanted to find supplies. This could be his moment to be a hero. He could find food, water, or some other great supplies for the tribe. As he looked into them, they were empty. Mar’iya started to look through the desk. He found a scroll on the top. To him it was clearly magical. All restraint left him. As Pakku looked over he was starting to read it. Pakku knew it was a trap, but before he could yell out, the paper exploded in the room. The sound echoed through the entire temple.
Oni prepared for a fight. Paulu moved into the chamber with the single statue. She started to examine it. She had watched Mar’iya and Rain examine things and wanted to learn how they did it. She started to run her eyes over every curve of the statue. She did not touch it, but her finger was out as if to touch it. That finger followed the curves of the robe worn by the statue. Her eye focused in on a groove. She had found something. She now saw a cubby within the statue base. Her eyes could no longer not see it. It was as if a light behind her beamed upon it. She called to Pakku, “Pakku can you check this out for me?”
Pakku still a little charred ran over to her. He followed her finger to find the cubby in the statue. He smiled at her and started to examine it as well. Paulu whispered in his ear, “Can you share with me what you are looking for? I want to learn about this as well.” Pakku’s smile grew, but his eyes had confusion within them. He never looked up but responded, “I am not sure what I am looking for. I have found that when something seems wrong, like a crack in the wrong place, you can see it.” He bounced back, looked at her, reached his hand in and said in his boldest voice, “Looks safe to me.” He pulled out a dagger. The weight was incredible. It was metal. His eyes almost glowed as his said with great excitement, “it is a metal dagger.” He slipped it into his belt.
Oni was standing guard by another double door on the left end of the known temple. He waved back to the tribe. The word was passed back to Pakku and Paulu. Pakku looked at Paulu and said, “uh, Oni wants me to check another door. I really miss Selise. Do you want to check this one?” Paulu moved her head slowly telling him no. they started to move towards Oni. Faststaff was starting to examine all the rooms with a glance. He peered at Pakku as they were walking by. That dagger is magical. Pakku did not a say a word, he just started to swagger his shoulders as he walked by.
Pakku started to examine the door. Paulu moved into the hall just above Oni. Oni stood right in the middle of the chamber intersection. Faststaff was staring through the holes in Joe clothes across his back. At first, he was just thinking that Joe needed to fix those rags, but then he saw the tattoo move. It was telling him a story. He touched Joe, and with his index finger asked if he could look at his back tattoo. Joe slightly annoyed just nodded okay. Pakku was pulling out his tools to start to open the door. Faststaff yelled, “stop.” He started to point to Joes back and explain how the tattoo was telling him the future. Going through that door was certain death.
No one could see what Faststaff could see. The intensity of his words made them all believe his abilities. He had talked about his forewarning in the past and this might very well be another. Joe started to move in circles, just hoping to see a glimpse of the tattoo. He already knew they changed. He looked at Pakku the original artist who just shrugged. Paulu feeling the warning to be true moved down her hallway. She moved around the corner and tried to push the group forward.
Paulu in her eagerness moved too fast and alerted the guards on the far side. She yelled out in panic, “it’s a trap.” Oni moved up to her so they could do a fighting retreat. Much of the tribe in a panic fled. Oni and the group backed her down the hallway to their original spot. Pakku and the others were fighting in the tee intersection fending off the templars from two directions. Much of the tribe had already ran back to the entrance.
Pakku looked at the door. The room beyond was likely empty now. They could rescue Rain and escape. He quickly moved his tools up to open the door. The lock made that click of opening. Pakku grinned to himself, but then he heard the second click. Panic ran through him. He now knew he had missed this trap. All of Faststaff’s warnings became clear. Door opened as the hallway exploded into flames. This was the second time Pakku had been burst into flames in this temple. He was really beginning to hate it. Worse yet, the chamber beyond was not empty
The room was larger than any of the other room in the temple. The room was filled with green plants. It was an amazing sight. If it was not for the danger of the Laseda and the three giant lizards, it would have been nice. Pakku scanned the room really quick. Rain was there. It was still possible to save him. Oni stood his ground blocking the path. Pakku dove in to cut the ropes holding Rain. Rain was in the middle of another silence bubble and had a bag over his head. He was shocked as Pakku pulled the bag from his head. They both ran from the room.
Laseda had been waiting for this very moment and blast the hallway with his fireball. Luckily Rain was now there and was able to heal those that needed to be healed as they moved out of the hallway. They all ran in panic. They did not notice that they had left one person behind. Mar’iya was not with them and was left by himself in a most precarious spot.
The Tribe goes into Panic:
Oni now moving out of the temple. He knew he had left Mar’iya. He had possible traded Rain for Mar’iya. That was not a trade he ever wanted to make. The veterans within the underground temple had been more than they could handle, but still needed to fight on. He was going to save Mar’iya now if he could. He had to rally the tribe and bring them back in to fight. He watched Paulu close the door behind him. He did not want to block the path for Mar’iya but knew it was needed to protect them.
Oni moved through the room and in the entrance chamber. Soot and Yas were holding the line on the other end of the chamber. Oni stood at the edge of the room on the far side. Beyond Yas were three vetrans and Laseda. Oni looked up just as magical force hit him in the chest. He stood strong. Oni wanted to make it out to gather help for Yas and Mar’iya. Another bolt of magic force hit him. He could not see the magical force, but he knew Laseda was doing it. Another bolt hit him, and everything went dark.
Oni opened his eyes. He was no longer in the underground chamber. He was standing on a plane of broken grass. He scanned around and could see the ruins of some great fortress. The only part of the of the fortress above crumbling foundations was a black spire. He bent down to feel the grass. It was mildly dry but held firm in his hand. This was the softened grass he had ever felt. It was not the desert hardened grass from his hometown. It was not the soft grass from the oasis. It was something in between. He knew he was not in his own world.
He looked up to the spire. It was made in magic stone and rose four stories out of the ground. Unlike the rest of the ruins, it looked untouched by time. He could feel magical energy radiating off of the tower. Oni moved closer to the tower. He saw a ghostly image on the far side. It was an image of a human dressed in blue gray clothes. It made no sound. One of its arms gently waved in the air asking Oni to come close to the tower. Oni moved up and could now see an entrance into the spire on that far side. The magical ghost was waving Oni into the tower.
The ghost looked kind. Oni stepped up to the arched entrance. He could see a staircase that went up into the tower. He wanted to go in. it would be easy. The top of the tower on the inside was dark. He could just step in and be within the tower. He was not ready for this tower. This tower of release. He turned and stepped away from the door and finally the ghost.
Oni stumbled. He was back in the temple entrance chamber. That last magical bolt had hit him hard. He wavered on his own feet, but he had to stay on them, for Yas. He had to stay on his feet for all of them. He stood strong and straightened a little. He looked at Laseda with spite. Laseda growled and another bolt of magical force hit Oni.
Oni eyes closed and opened again. He was standing on a set of stairs. He looked up into the calm, wonderful darkness above him. It was calling him. Again, it would be so easy. He could just gently place a foot in front of the next and head up into the black. He could hardly remember why he was here. He turned to look down. Pain flowed through him. It hurt him. His side that had been feeling better was on fire. He could see the lit archway entrance below him. The light hurt his eyes, but he could see the ghost beyond. He did not remember walking up the stairs but must have.
He charged down the stairs. He ran out into the ruins past the ghost. He looked back longingly a little. As he ran past the ghost he was back in the entrance. Oni stumbled again, but somehow stood his ground. He looked out across. He thought he yelled but his voice barely left his mouth, “Yas, it is time to go.”
Rain ran by and healed Oni. He felt reborn again. Oni looked across to the Laseda with the greatest distain. He through a fire bolt at him. It flew down the hall, past the Yas and the three veteran’s and hit him in the chest. Oni thought to himself, “fuck you.” Oni waited for him the drop, but Laseda took the bolt. He was hurt and pissed off, but still in the fight.
Oni wanted to get help more than ever. He charged towards the entrance.
Oni climbs out of the underground temple. He looked around in rage, blood still flowing from wounds all over his body. His clothes burnt on the edges. He stood there waiting. He watched the flying guard to see what they would do. Are they helping or hurting? He became enraged. As he glared at Faststaff the only thing that came to his mind for Chickenstick. For Oni that was now his name. Oni thought, “no my friend you have not joined the tribe yet, so you get this pass.”
Oni was stooped over trying to catch his breath. “Ahsha, please help up kill the defiler below. We think they are all heretics and we think their leader is a defiler.” Oni looked up at him with pleading eyes, hoping for help. He thought back to the central room. He was also hoping it was still green and filled with supplies. He stood taller. He started to gather his own reserves of power. He knew he was hurt and that he might even die. He spun to Rain, “get to healing or get to running.” Oni had friends in harm’s way, and he needed to get back in there to help them. He looked over to Faststaff, and yelled, “Hey Fast…staff, get in this fucking fight.” His breath broke as he said his name. He almost said his name wrong, but he needed him in the fight.
It looked like Ahsha was going to down the ladder. Oni needed to give him one last warning, “Ahsha, be careful of the big lizards, they can make you turn to stone.”