Casters point of view.
Soul Reaper strikes again.
"You! Lightning slayer! Attack the damn great terror already!"
I lift my jian and i rush forward striking at the tree. It reminds me of something changing star told me of back on the forgotten shores. The soul devouring tree. It would appear this is the real guardian of the citadel. A great terror with a mind attack, that does explain why saint elderwood is here. My sword slides off the tree. Fuck its too low of rank. I lift my hand, speeding up soul reaper. I slow down morgan, Saint dread and saint elderwood before they can recover.
"Hurry up soul reaper, they'll break out soon, they'll likely attack us!"
She sighs loudly
"oh just another essence sink"
she keeps swinging. With a scream it finally dies and I collapse. A pressure on my mind I didn't even know was there disappears like smoke in the wind.
"God damn...."
it breaks apart, crashing to the ground
"well. That thing definitely has a lot of essence for me"
soul reaper walks over to me.
"So whats up with you?"
I look up at her confused
"you know, not being controlled and all that."
I think for a minute
"i think.... its because of a charm i have."
She nods then kicks a chunk of ice.
"Well, this is the shadow temple citadel from that report ■■■■ made right?"
I nod slowly
"judging by the fact you all are you that plague wants you to take it over."
She puts her hands up
"and frankly i dont want to be its enemy."
I nod slowly again
"yeah."
She frowns poking me in the head
"hey what's up with that haunted look"
I slap her hand away
"i almost got sacrificed"
she shrugs
"do you want me to go or?"
I shake my head
"no no. Please stay"
being alone with people who almost sacrificed me doesnt seem very nice.
About 3 hours later we sit in a circle. While soul reaper is eating some of the shadow spawn like a animal. Morgan seems used to it, Saint dread doesn't seem to care at all about it and saint elderwood is not paying any attention.
"So.... uh what did you learn from the murals?"
Saint dread looks up
"oh yeah those. Well from what I can tell they seem to tell how things like the-"
"emotion eater"
"that, where made. From what it shows it seems shadow god used the shadows of dead creatures to create new living things. Thats all I got from it"
we all go silent for a while
"hey caster thanks for the ice shards. They seem pretty useful, ill probably use them to make something"
i nod
"yeah. It was just something to do"
again another ling awkward silence, until saint elderwood speaks up
"we still need to find the gateway"
the three of us let out a collective groan. Soul Reaper looks up from the food.
"How long have you all been trapped?"
"5 days now."
She waves her hand with a smile that reads as sarcastic
"wow, being out here so long must suck. I wouldn't know a thing about it."
I sigh heavily
"can you please help us find the gateway?"
She looks me up and down then shrugs
"I'll do it, for morgan"
she quickly finishes and stands up.
After a few hours of looking around this time without a great terror messing with my head. I find the main painting. This one shows the temple. I slowly run my hand over the whole thing. I put a little force into it, to check for any that are part of a puzzle. I was almost sacrificed, I can't believe it, or I really dont want to believe it. But thats the truth of the matter. Mind attacks truly are a horrible thing. We had been taken out so easily, without knowing. Imagining how strong Asterion must be is terrifying. A supreme with that much power is something else. Above all but past changing star in raw power. I do think with heat seekers aspect, as I saw, they win in a direct confrontation. Its comforting in its own way, but just as harrowing. The skill thats needed to do that is immense, but how are they resisting the mental attacks? From what im aware of it doesnt matter how strong you are it always gets you in the end, we are proud of such a thing. I feel a divot in the stone, I lift my light memory closer to where it is, its where the emotion devouring tree was. Its a perfect square that lines up with the lines i saw under it. I quickly start walking towards the square.
I find morgan standing in the square looking at something in her hand.
"Morgan"
she looks up from it
"yeah?"
I rush to the spot, tapping on it, yeah its hollow under there
"I think I've found the gateway"
she lights up
"I'll go get the other two"
"the other two?"
She nods quickly
"i made a deal with jet, she got a memory from it, i traded for it. Its a charm memory"
i nod and she quickly leaves. I crouch running my hand on the lines around the main square. It seems to be a puzzle, what its based on I'm not too sure yet
"Caster!"
That was fast. Saint elderwood and saint dread appear with morgan not far behind.
"It seems to be a puzzle"
saint dread walks forward as elderwood lifts her staff, she starts talking
"I'll ask seer of the infinite how to sol-"
the square is lifted from the inside as vines push it up.
"Oh"
I enter the hollow. Its... a odd place, like one of those places someone would dance inside of. Doesn't matter, what matters is...
"morgan come claim this damn place so we can leave"
she jumps down
"dont tell me what to do, but yeah I'll do it"
she walks forward and.... finally!
"We can go now."
We all hear a loud noise, that of a dreamgate being opened.