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"Why… I just wanted to go home!" Lyren Blurted out loudly as more tears fell from his eyes. He could not help but recall her face as she was seeing him off. Then he recalled the nightmares he had had of him losing her.
His mother was a special woman to him. She was the one who had told him to awaken. He had been skeptical when she told him to do so but after she had insisted, he had h no choice but to agree and it had actually turned out to be the most special moment in his life.
And she was the one who had encouraged him. Now he had had hopes of seeing her again after a very long time only for it to be crushed. How was she? She was the most worried after his disappearance. Who knew how far she went to look for him?
What if she came looking for him in the woods? This was the worst-case scenario and if it occurred that way, he was not going to forgive the creator of this place. It was not given but it was also not impossible.
His tears started drying up and even the lump on his throat suddenly disappeared taken over by anger. He raised his head but it was just in time for him to hear the laughter that followed from behind him. It was dry laced with no emotion and the only thing that he could tell from t was amusement.
Lyren at first was caught off guard but when he finally registered what it meant, his anger boiled once again threatening to spill all over. He clenched his fist and did not bother looking behind as he stood up as he stared at the ground far below.
He wiped the blood from the side of his mouth with the back of his hand and spat some blood. His lips were swollen from the biting when rolling. He wiped the blood from his mouth too as his gaze cleared as a clear view appeared before him.
As he looked at the serene sight below him, he realized something that he might not have been able to discover anytime soon. Just from the glow from the patterns, he could tell that it was incomplete. This came as a surprise for him.
From his vantage point though, it was obvious from the triangle-like structure that glowed below that it was incomplete. There were other faces on the sides and maybe that was the key to climbing the stairs to the end.
When he thought about it, the fifth row which had only one pattern probably had more weight to it than he had given it credit for. Also, if there were other faces, it meant that he was far from done.
"A drag."
Lyren said angrily as he walked down the steps. One could not tell anything from his face because his eyes were already covered by his white hair. He was calm though as he analyzed his situation with the new information he had.
He finally reached the last step and went to the fifth row. The patterns were still alit as he went to the opposite side of the fifth row. And there, he found the answers to the questions to his mysteries. Right in front of the fifth row were to patterns. Their structure resembled that of those he had lit last.
But that was not all because looking at the right were two other patterns both following the same structure. He looked to the left and saw two other patterns. Now it was his turn to laugh. He laughed so hard that his ribs ached and he had to bend down unable to stand straight. His hand on his belly.
His laughter turned from amusement to a certain cold that could send one shivers. His laughter died down slowly and one could see his eyes as the hair made way for them. They were a chilling cold that resonated with his voice.
When he suddenly stood straight, anger overcame him as he wanted to vent. He looked around and right before his foot a meter away from him lay a statue's head. He grinned as he stretched his foot in a way that would put a modern-day striker to shame as he kicked the statue head with all his might.
His foot and the statue made a perfect contact and he gave the head a perfect hit that made it curl and disappear into the darkness. There was no falling thud and it was skeptical whether it even landed,
The feeling was exhilarating as he looked around and saw more statues around him. His grin widened as he rushed towards another statue head and did the same sending it flying away with a curl and a thud that never came.
Again, he felt he had released some pent-up frustration but that brought him to want to release more he moved from one head to another kicking them away. He was at the tenth statue when he suddenly felt a chill on his back and some pressure that came with a roaring voice.
"STOP!!!" the voice came out as a roar probably trying to intimidate him but Lyren heard a different tone. It was like the voice was begging him to stop. This made him laugh loudly as he kicked the statue head probably even further than any other. Then came an arrogant voice from him.
"Beg me," Lyren said his eyes darting around and landing on a statue head. He was sure the statues were probably important to the voice and right now, he had the upper hand. Venting on the statue heads was relieving but with the voice reacting, he felt all his frustration being carried away.
"Fine by me," Lyren said as he started charging towards the eleventh head and he was about to make contact when the voice came again. Fearful and desperate.
"STOP!"
"Wrong response," Lyren said as his foot and the head made contact sending the head flying away. "You must beg me!" Lyren said triumphantly as he started running towards another statue's head.
He raised his foot and he felt that this kick was going to make even better contact. Just when he was about to kick the head, the voice came again. This time, it was only desperate.
"Please…"
Lyren chuckled as he went ahead and hit the head sending it flying towards the hall.
"Oops, my bad. I just couldn't take back my foot. It's your fault for being indecisive," Lyren said in an innocent voice that made one feel that it was the hall's fault.
"Ha! I like you even more you damned brat. Your decisiveness is a very good quality for an array master…"
Those were the last words the voice said as it disappeared once again. Lyren who was just feeling relieved to have a conversation after a very longtime suddenly felt his world turn up-side down and his blood freeze with what the voice had just said.
"An Array Master?" Lyren fell on his knees as his world crumbled. As for the voice, it let out an even more satisfied laugh that echoed throughout. It had gotten the last laugh with Lyren facing a total defeat…