Chapter 14: The Temple of Nharos
The forest swallowed sound.
Once they left the village road and entered the eastern woods, the world changed. Wind no longer moved naturally through the branches. Birds did not sing. Insects made no noise. Even their footsteps seemed softer than they should have been, as if the earth itself wanted them unheard.
Kyūsei stayed close to the center of the formation.
Not because Kazuto told him to.
Because every tree looked like it was listening.
Mira led several paces ahead, weaving through roots and moss without disturbing either. Garron followed behind her like a moving wall. Lena walked with map and compass in hand, though both had begun behaving strangely. The compass needle spun lazily in circles.
"That's encouraging," Rufus muttered.
"It means strong interference," Lena said.
"It means cursed nonsense," Rufus replied.
"Both can be true."
Kyūsei glanced at Kazuto beside him.
"You've been here before?"
Kazuto nodded once.
"When I was younger."
"You're barely older now."
"I was more stupid then."
"That narrows nothing."
Kazuto almost smiled, but it faded quickly.
"This forest wasn't like this."
"What was it like?"
"Alive."
Kyūsei looked around at the gray bark, hanging vines, and dark moss.
"It still is."
Kazuto's eyes hardened.
"Not in the right way."
They walked for hours.
Sometimes they found signs of the missing villagers.
Footprints.
Broken branches.
Discarded shoes.
A dropped child's doll half buried in mud.
Every track led deeper east.
No one spoke much after that.
Near midday, Mira raised a hand sharply.
Everyone stopped.
She crouched beside a patch of soil and touched two fingers to the ground.
"Fresh."
"What?" Garron asked.
"Not villagers."
She stood slowly.
"Watching us."
Kyūsei's skin prickled.
From somewhere in the trees came a faint clicking sound.
Then another.
Then many.
Kazuto drew his sword.
"Up."
"What?" Kyūsei asked.
"Tree line!"
The creatures descended all at once.
They dropped from branches like black spiders, except each was the size of a wolf and shaped like twisted men with too many limbs. Crystal fangs lined circular mouths in their chests. Their skin glistened like wet bark.
Rufus screamed first.
"THAT'S FAIR!" he yelled while throwing light barriers around himself.
One creature slammed into Garron's shield and bounced backward with a crunch.
Garron grinned.
"My turn."
He charged.
When Garron moved seriously, the ground noticed.
He smashed shield-first into two creatures, flattening one against a tree and launching another through brush.
Mira vanished upward.
Moments later black limbs rained from branches.
Kazuto cut through three attackers in a single motion.
Kyūsei nearly died admiring it.
A creature landed directly in front of him.
Its chest-mouth opened.
Kyūsei thrust out his hand.
Fire burst too wide.
The blast scorched bark, missed the monster, and lit a bush.
"Smaller!" Kazuto shouted.
"Helpful timing!"
The creature lunged.
Kyūsei remembered footwork.
Pivot.
Step outside line.
He turned as it passed and drove wind into its exposed side.
Compressed air cracked ribs with a sickening snap.
The thing rolled, shrieking.
He finished it with a controlled flame this time.
Cleaner.
Faster.
His breathing steadied.
He was learning.
Another monster sprang from above.
Lena's rapier flashed past his cheek and pinned the creature to a trunk through the skull.
"Focus forward," she said.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet."
Three more emerged.
Wonderful.
The fight lasted only minutes.
It felt like an hour.
When the last creature fell, black blood steamed into the soil.
Rufus was leaning against a tree dramatically.
"I was brave."
"You hid behind me," Garron said.
"I bravely chose cover."
Mira cleaned her daggers.
"Reasonable."
Kazuto looked at the corpses with visible disgust.
"Temple spawn."
Kyūsei wiped sweat from his neck.
"Meaning?"
"Guard beasts. They shouldn't be this far from the ruins."
"So the temple is waking?"
Kazuto didn't answer.
Which was answer enough.
By late afternoon, the trees thinned.
Then the forest ended.
Kyūsei stopped dead.
Before them rose a valley of black stone carved into a perfect circle, as if a giant hand had pressed into the earth. At the center stood ruins older than any city he had seen.
The Temple of Nharos.
Massive stairs descended into the crater.
Broken pillars ringed the outer edge, each covered in symbols that hurt to look at too long. The temple itself was half buried underground, built from dark metal-like stone that reflected no sunlight. Towers leaned at impossible angles. Great chains thicker than houses stretched from the surrounding cliffs and anchored into the structure.
Some had snapped.
Hundreds of villagers stood motionless around the lower stairs.
Silent.
Waiting.
All facing the temple entrance.
Kyūsei's mouth went dry.
"They're all here…"
Lena's voice was low.
"More than all three villages."
Additional figures moved among the crowd.
Travelers.
Merchants.
Even armored adventurers.
Anyone taken on the roads.
Rufus whispered, "How many people can that thing control?"
Kazuto stared at the broken chains.
"Too many."
Mira narrowed her eyes.
"There's movement on the roof."
A figure stood atop the highest tower.
Tall.
Wrapped in dark robes that shifted like smoke.
Face hidden behind a smooth black mask split by a vertical silver line.
Kyūsei felt immediate recognition.
The same style as the construct in the dungeon chamber.
But stronger.
Far stronger.
The figure spread both arms.
Every villager below dropped to their knees in perfect unison.
The masked figure's voice rolled across the valley without shouting.
"Welcome home, Keybearer."
All eyes turned to Kyūsei.
His knees nearly buckled.
Kazuto stepped in front of him instantly.
"No."
The masked figure tilted its head.
"You return with stolen breath, broken blade."
Kazuto's grip tightened on his sword.
Lena looked sharply between them.
"You know this thing?"
Kazuto answered without looking away.
"It knows me."
The figure raised one hand.
The snapped chains around the temple began to move.
Metal screamed across stone.
The ground shook.
Rifts opened along the stairs.
From them climbed armored corpses wrapped in black crystal.
Dozens.
Then hundreds.
Garron rolled his shoulders.
"Good."
Rufus looked offended.
"How is that your reaction?"
Mira stepped forward.
"Orders?"
Lena drew her rapier, silver mana igniting.
"We break the crowd free, hold the dead line, reach the temple."
She glanced at Kazuto.
"Can you kill the speaker?"
Kazuto's smile returned.
Cold and dangerous.
"Eventually."
Kyūsei swallowed hard.
"What do I do?"
Everyone looked at him.
Then Kazuto said quietly:
"You decide whether to keep running from what you are."
The masked figure pointed directly at Kyūsei.
And the army charged.