Chapter 23: Temple of Aena

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Perspective: Seyari

Nelys woke me for my watch before the sun rose. I’d been lucky: no dreams last night. I watched the sun rise and did my best to keep my thoughts positive. Zarenna really was rubbing off on me, whether I wanted her to or not.

Aretan had given me no reason to doubt him. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to trust him and I couldn’t tell myself why.

Aretan talked of the other Navanaean Gods over a breakfast of trail rations, but I didn’t pay much attention. Nelys, on the other hand, seemed to soak up the information like a sponge. I realized part-way through that I was waiting for Zarenna to jump in and ask a question.

Despite the seriousness of our trip, the scene was comfortable and friendly. I stayed on the edges of the conversation and pushed us to pack and get going as soon as we were all finished eating.

The mood grew somber by the time we reached the base of the rocky outcropping. Aretan showed us a path of steps worn into the rock. Hundreds of years of travelers had worn the stone smooth to the point of slickness.

The path wound up along the side of the rock. The plateau was layered, and the path moved between relatively flat places and stuck mostly away from the edge. I’d caught enough of a view of the top to see at least one rather large sandstone building, but now that we were upon the rock face, I could only guess what awaited us at the top.

Nelys darted around nimbly. I worried they’d fall, but assumed they could take care of themselves and didn’t call out.

Halfway up, Aretan stumbled next to me. I caught him and managed to maintain my own balance.

“Thank you,” he said, looking toward where he would have fallen.

The drop wasn’t serious, but I didn’t doubt it would have injured him.

“No problem,” I replied.

He looked at me as if he wanted to reply. Before he could perhaps think better of doing so, he did anyway.

“Something else is bothering you besides Zarenna’s injury, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Oh.” Aretan paused for a long moment. “I do not understand, but I will not ask. If it is anything I have done, I am deeply sorry and will do what I can to correct my behavior.”

“It’s not you.”

He nodded and quickly looked back toward the path ahead.

It’s me. It’s always been me, but why do I care now? A year ago, I wouldn’t have thought anything of something like this. Has meeting Zarenna changed me?

I shook the thoughts from my head and we ascended the rest of the way to the top of the plateau.

Up top, the wind was strong. Outlines of buildings were visible from short remains of their walls. Toward the center, the rock depressed and I could still see some scrub bushes clinging to life. Set behind this, toward the edge we faced when we approached the rock, was the only structure in good repair.

The style was simple sandstone. The roof of the main chamber was domed, and the building was painted in faded earth tones streaked with bands of green and blue. The building must have at one point been surrounded by gardens, but now only few hardy desert flowers still clung to life near the base of the structure.

I wondered if the flowers survived due to Aena’s influence.

Together we walked up to the door, its wood wind-worn and ill-fitting. Beside me, Nelys stared at the pale purple flowers.

Aretan put a hand on the latch and turned back to us. “The temple has a basement. I have only been here once before when I was very young, but I believe tunnels from the old fort connect to it and the outside. I think we should start our search there.”

“Can I pick a flower?” Nelys looked toward Aretan for permission.

“I don’t think Aena would mind just one, Nelys.” Aretan smiled back.

Nelys returned with a bright smile of their own and plucked a single pale purple flower. Deftly, they reached around and stuck it at the base of one of my braids. I turned to look at them.

“I think it looks pretty with your eyes, Seyari!”

I reached up and felt it carefully. After a moment of hesitation, I made sure the flower was secure on the side of my head and removed my hand.

“Thanks, Nelys.”

“Welcome! Now let’s go catch a scorpion!”

Aretan let out a short laugh and opened the door. Inside, the temple was barebones, but structurally sound and surprisingly clean. Windows of thick stained glass let in light colored into soft reddish-gold hues blotched with blues and greens.

The front door led immediately into the large central chamber. Several doors were closed to the rear and sides. A statue of a well-proportioned Navanaean woman painted the colors of her Temple looked over the room from a small raised base at the rear of the otherwise empty chamber. The ceiling above was covered in a faded mural expertly made look like the view inside a lush jungle.

“Do you two mind if I take a moment to pay my respects to Aena?” Aretan broke the silence.

“Go for it,” I replied.

“I’ll start looking!” Nelys moved toward a side room.

We’d all taken sacks and jars for the capture as well as thick gloves. I took a door next to Nelys and got to looking while Aretan kneeled in front of the statue of Aena.

He only took a few minutes before joining us in our search. The upper floor was empty of furniture and the type of scorpion we were looking for, though not entirely devoid of small life.

I half expected Nelys to ask to keep the desert mouse we found in the old kitchen as a pet.

Soon enough, we found the door to the basement and the probable tunnels and catacombs below.

“I should mention the feeling I received from Aena,” Aretan said as we stood by the angled frame of the basement door.

“Was it a bad feeling?” Nelys asked.

I refrained from speaking. Saying I had a bad history with deities was putting it mildly, but I wasn’t about to start an argument.

“Aena seemed distant, but I could feel, of all things, anger. I think something is wrong here.”

“Like a monster in the tunnels?” Nelys seemed excited more than nervous.

“Potentially. Something, living or not, is here that is unwelcome.”

I frowned at Aretan’s statement. “What sorts of things are unwelcome to Aena?” My tone was acidic.

Aretan studied me for a moment before replying. “The Gods of Navanaea are embodiments of their domain. If something is unwelcome, whatever it is must go against Aena’s domain. Nothing else would be unwelcome.”

“Demons included, right?” Nelys asked.

“Aena does not align with demons or angels, so yes.”

“But some Navanaean gods do?” I asked.

“Yes. Zud aligns with the Demonic Realm and Eorr with the Celestial Realm. Zud is not widely worshipped, but as a member of the Eight, he is respected nevertheless.”

From Nelys’ expression it was clear this had already been explained by Aretan previously. It’s not like I made much of an attempt to hide that I wasn’t paying close attention this morning.

“Did you not listen this morning, Seyari?” Nelys’ tone was playfully accusative. “Zud is why demon binding is practiced in Navanaea!”

“Are angels bound the same way?” I asked with genuine curiosity.

“Not in the same way, but mutual agreements can happen, yes. Although they are exceedingly rare and among the angels involved, few stay in Varra,” Aretan explained.

Angelic contracts in Navanaea were news to me. Something to think about later. Knowing this put some perspective on practices within the Church.

“So there’s a chance there’s something down there that’s bad for the soil of the plateau?” I tried to summarize.

“Close enough, yes,” Aretan nodded.

“I’ll be ready for a fight then.” I checked my gear and felt for the familiar presence of my magic.

Beside me, the other two performed their own checks. Aretan was equipped with a longsword and buckler while Nelys pulled a pair of knives out from somewhere. Aretan looked determined and Nelys’ excited.

***

In the basement of the Temple, nothing awaited our descent. The air was cool and less dry than above. The first room was like those above, but further down the hall the rest of the lower floor was simply carved out of the rock.

Aside from the remains of crates and barrels, the first room was empty. Down the hall, however, light shone in from a small slat window carved into the rock wall of a side room.

It was in this room where Nelys spotted a twindeath scorpion. They pointed to its shape barely distinct in a crevice of the rock wall.

I crept forward carefully. Both hands were covered in thick gloves and I doubted it could sting through my boots, but I didn’t want to take any chances.

With a swift motion, I threw the sack over the crevice. The scorpion didn’t fall into the sack, however. It probably clung more tightly to the crevice. Despite this, I could see a sharp, rapid shape in the sack, showing it had tried to sting.

I wished I had four hands for this. I motioned for someone to come hold the top of the sack. Nelys bounded over and reached up on their tiptoes to hold it in place.

With my free hand, I grabbed one of my daggers. With the sheath still on it. I pushed against the thick fabric and flicked upward through the crevice. A small, thrashing weight fell into the sack.

Nelys and I quickly retreated to the hallway with our prize, which we carefully pushed into a jar. The small thing stung anything that came near it viciously and rapidly. Thankfully, no one was hit anywhere they weren’t protected. We left airholes at the top of the jar and set it back by the exit to the basement.

No sense in risking a fragile container with an angry, deadly arachnid inside it if we had to fight something. Still, we needed to find more in case the one we had didn’t survive or have enough venom.

The passage turned ahead and the air grew noticeably moister. However, carried on it were faint traces of a sharp pungent scent. Alert, and with hands on our weapons, we advanced down the hall to the single side room which had no door. Further on, the hallway narrowed and tilted down into the rock.

From the side room, a rapid tapping sound could be heard. Aretan, despite only wearing the chain shirt from his armor set, took the lead. I followed behind with Nelys, my magic and short sword at the ready.

Carefully, we snuck a glance into the room. A well, or at least what had once been a well, sat in the center of the room. Around it was a noisome morass of remains and leavings. Nestled amongst the filth, a large, dark brown, sinuous insectoid body shifted.

The monster quickly perceived our presence, and a giant centipede as big around as my torso lunged forward. The front few pairs of legs were aimed squarely at Aretan’s chest like a set of knives. He managed to block one side with his buckler while his chain shirt seemed to stop the others.

He took a swing in retaliation and cut deep into the centipede’s carapace. Calling upon my magic, I fired a blade of wind further down the thing’s body. With limited space I had to make sure I didn’t hit Aretan or Nelys.

Our diminutive friend avoided the thrashing tail and its wicked looking spikes with a leap. They drove one dagger into its head before the monster’s thrashing threw them away.

Aretan kept its front locked in battle, but the rear and body of the creature started to thrash around the room. I had no idea which of its pointy bits were most dangerous so I tried to stay away from all of them.

Another blade of my wind took off the spines by its tail end. Nelys kept up their dodging and bounded off the wall to drive another dagger through its thick carapace midway down its body, having just narrowly missed the head.

Aretan took off yet more legs, and the chittering clacking, hissing mass, recoiled. With a yell, the man took the opening granted to him and thrust his blade between the monster’s mandibles. The entire body convulsed and twitched, scattering filth across the room and the three of us.

As quickly as I could, I conjured wind to blow myself and the others clean and push whatever was in the air back down before we could breathe it.

After a few more moments, the thing died. Nelys removed their daggers and all of us rushed back into the hallway for fresh air.

“What. The fuck. Was that disgusting bug?” I heaved out between breaths.

We’d run all the way back to the room with the window and I was cycling fresh air in from outside.

“I don’t know,” Aretan barely managed to avoid retching when he took a breath in. “It could have been a, ugh, magical monster or a known species I have not heard of.”

Nelys tried to say something, but only succeeded in gagging. The poor thing had already vomited in the corner when we ran in.

“At least it’s fucking dead,” I coughed.

Nelys gave a thumbs up.

“Seyari,” Aretan addressed me after a few moments. “Could you use your magic to clean that room? I do not think it could be any clearer that thing was what Aena wanted gone.”

“You don’t say. And yeah, I can. I’ll need to find something to cover my face first.”

After repurposing one of my least-favorite shirts as a face covering, I set about blowing the well room clean. Needless to say no living twindeath scorpions were in the room, but Nelys and Aretan managed to capture two more in other side rooms further in and get them safely jarred. Nelys also thought to capture some food for the scorpions, so the two of them spent several minutes chasing insects around the rooms before taking some of them in a fourth jar.

Unfortunately, my magic was ill suited to clean the well itself. We had nothing to purify the water, but Aretan bravely sacrificed his rope for us to use an ancient pail from an earlier room to haul the worst of the filth out of what little water remained at the bottom.

After an hour, the room was tolerable to be in again. Desperately wanting a bath, I and the others left the temple on our long walk back. Comfort would have to wait until Zarenna was safe.

“Do you think it was a demon, Seyari?” Aretan asked as we walked carefully back down the plateau toward the dunes.

“Are either of your weapons magical?”

“No,” Aretan answered.

Nelys shook their head.

“Then, no, it wasn’t a demon. At least not a proper lesser demon, or your attacks would have done little to nothing.”

“Some kind of magical monstrosity then?”

“I fucking hope whatever that was wasn’t a normal bug.”

“Agreed.”

Clearly, Aretan was bothered by that thing showing up out here. I was too, but not in the spiritual sense. First the scorpion, and now this thing. The impending war with the Desertkin was clearly pushing Navanaea’s defense away from its interior. Hopefully, that was all, but even then, these events did not bode well for our journey to Liseu. We’d have to cross close to Desertkin territory.

That, however, was a problem for much later down the road. Our job now was to make sure Zarenna got the antivenom she needed to recover.