Chapter 192: Temple Grounds and the Barracks

“Look at these glyphs!” Bren cried, running up to the gates. “I cannot read any of it! None of them are pictographs, so this must be an ancient written language! Ann, can you read any of it?”

“Nope,” Ann said, walking up next to him. “Oldest language I know about is Sanskrit and that was just little lines in a ton of different configurations. This looks way different.”

The writing was all loops and swooping lines. Every now and then, a loop would have a dot in the middle, or a line bisecting the pattern. They didn’t follow a straight line, either. Text flowed in waves, sometimes swirls, as it meandered over the surface of the gates. It was beautiful in the artistry it must have taken to create these metal surfaces.

“How open?” Lucia asked.

“Right. Looks like there’re hinges on either side. Might just be able tae push?” Kat guessed.

“Cannot hurt to try. Go ahead,” Bren said, standing aside.

Kat walked up and put her hands on either side of the seam.

“Uh, guys?” Rosalyn said.

Kat pushed.

“Kat!”

Kat dodged back just in time as a twisted halberd slammed into the space she was occupying a moment before with a loud clang. Rumbling came from what they’d thought were statues, but were now clearly guards. Peaked helmets with carved faces beneath them stared down at the party. They sat atop armoured bodies made of stone and metal, and a faint golden glow now emanated from the seams of said armour.

“Can’t hurt tae try?”

“Clearly, I was mistaken,” Bren shot back.

“They don’t look like they’re moving anymore,” Rosalyn observed. “Maybe they just keep the door shut? Gate guards! Just like Korvas and Graven Keep, but stone and metal and clearly magical. How are they still working?”

“Well, if they’re in a Seed, probably something to do with the Warped,” Ann thought out loud. “Wonder if there’s anything else to them.”

They all took a very cautious look at the pair. One wielded a spear, while the other had a halberd. Each had identical helmets engraved with the same type of writing on the gate. None of them dared to get close enough to examine where the glow beneath their armour was coming from, but Bren tried his best.

Lucia took a closer look at the area around the gate, combing through moss and overgrown stone rubble.

Ann marvelled at these things. They were like creations out of fantasy. Stone golems! Not like the Hebrew ones, but living statues. Their eyes didn’t move, didn’t track her as she got closer, nor did they breathe. Why would they? Her ears perked up as she heard a faint humming the closer she got to the things. Almost like an electrical current was coursing through them. She hadn’t heard that sound in months, or technically thousands of years, but still. Were they robots? Ancient stone robots? Holy shit, that’d be so cool! But no, there was something else. A slithering sound that didn’t make sense. It was wet and slimy.

“Found something,” Lucia called, distracting Ann from her excitement.

Everyone walked over to a pillar that the Thrundol had wiped clean. More looping, swirling writing, but this one had pictures as well. It depicted the gate and the guards. A man stood between them, his hand glowing as he raised it high, and the gates were open.

“A trial?” Bren asked. “Or maybe a key to access the area?”

“Maybe? Has anyone found one lyin’ around?” Kat asked.

They all started digging through the rotting leaves and loam that had grown over the ground. Ann was the first to touch rough cobbles beneath, her claws helping, but she kept looking. There had to be something here that’d help.

“I’m gonna look closer to the gate,” Kat said, walking near the statues.

Lucia also moved out, expanding their search. After what felt like thirty minutes to an hour of digging, they came up with nothing. Tired, sweaty, and covered with bugs, Ann gave up.

“There’s gotta be another way. Bren, what was the picture again?”

“A man holding his glowing hand aloft before open gates.”

“Right, and if that’s not an item?”

“This… wait, this world would have had magic. Rosalyn, try channelling something. It could be wind, lightning, whatever. Just call the magic into your hand, but don’t release it.”

“Um, ok? But what if I get squished?”

“That’s what we’re here fer,” Kat said, patting her shoulder. “Bren an’ I’ll keep ye safe. Go on. Give it a go.”

Nervously, the Druid stepped forward. Her head was on a swivel as she approached the twin guardians, but neither of them moved. With a blur, her staff appeared in her hands, the twisting black wood caressing the green gem at its head. She gingerly raised it aloft, and the thing started to glow.

Both statues’ heads swivelled to face the staff. Not even Rosalyn, but the staff itself or, more accurately, the magic within. Each stood, straight as a rod, and with creaking movements, they marched toward the centre of the gate and pushed it open with a deafening squeak. Once their task was complete, they returned to their posts, planting their weapons at their sides, and the magic faded.

“A test,” Bren whistled. “You must prove you possess magic to enter these gates. Fascinating. Shall we?”

Kat was the first, shield up and ready for anything. She passed the threshold unmolested. Then Bren, Lucia, Rosalyn, and finally Ann all stepped into the courtyard beyond.

Everyone jumped as more creaking movement sounded behind them. Two more massive stone guards slammed the door shut behind them, then returned to their alcoves.

“Guess we’re in here for a bit,” Ann said, taking a look at their surroundings.

The central focus was the tower, but there were several other points of interest. A small compound off to their left, the wooden roofs rotten and sagging, but their stone walls still stood firm. Doors barely hung on metal hinges, looking like a gentle push would tear them free. To the right was another, larger building with some kind of heraldry carved into square stone plaques set into the walls. Maybe a garrison of some sort? The space between these and the tower was covered in the usual swamp muck, dirt, slime, and water. Even with this, Ann could pick out where stone paths once guided foot traffic and larger stones that were used for decoration. Maybe there had been gardens here in the distant history.

“No hostiles,” Lucia reported.

“Aye, don’t hear anythin’ either,” Kat confirmed, relaxing a bit. “Woulda thought this would be around the Core, it bein’ so obvious.”

“Guess we’ll have to deal with the Guardian later,” Ann sighed. “The tower’s the obvious part, but do we want to bother with the other buildings? Might be something interesting there.”

“I would vote for the larger stone building. The compound appears to be significantly decayed, and I doubt we will find much there,” Bren voted. “Then we investigate the tower.”

“That sounds good to me,” Rosalyn said, staring up at the edifice of the central building.

With that sorted, Kat led the way as they walked over to the mouldering doors of the right building. Ann found she’d been right. Under the mess were neatly laid cobbles. While they’d been pushed out of place by either the sinking earth or long years of use, the craftsmanship was still evident.

As they drew nearer, a few things became evident. Firstly, this was a barracks. Two stories of stone and relatively clean, the building had small windows lining the upper floor. Even the roof looked mostly intact, though it was covered with the same gunk as the rest of the Seed. Lucia sniffed and informed the rest that she smelled metal, rotting wood, and oil within. Neither Kat nor Ann heard anything moving, so they gingerly pushed open the door. The thing hung to its hinges by luck more than anything, and they filed into the first room.

It was large, pretty much the whole floor, with some partitions on the sides meant for either private offices or whatever else the barracks would have needed. The ceiling was stone, a single unbroken slab. Some supports still remained, but they looked unnecessary. Tables, broken and whole, were scattered throughout the room, along with chairs and other detritus too decayed to identify. Once they were in, the doors slammed shut behind them.

“Shite, trap!” Kat called as blue torches burst to life one by one around the room.

Everyone watched, tense, waiting for an ambush that… didn’t come? The final torches ignited, and nothing happened. Another tense minute, and they relaxed.

“Maybe it’s broken?” Ann said.

“Could be. Do not let your guards down,” Bren cautioned.

“What’s broken? I must see to it that there is no disrepair! God forbid the weapons have rusted. I keep telling the recruits to properly care for them,” a voice called out, making everyone jump.

“The feck, where are ye?” Kat yelled at the room.

“Um, I’m not entirely certain. It’s rather dark. Oh my, this must be part of the mess. Would you be kind, lords and ladies, and help an old master at arms out?” asked the voice.

“Another trap?” Rosalyn asked, scanning the room for any signs of the speaker.

“Probably,” Lucia grunted. “Find. Figure it out.”

“Agreed,” Ann nodded. “Whoever you are, keep talking so we can find you!”

“Oh, right, it has been so long since visitors deigned to visit our burial temple. I must apologise if things have become, well, disused and dishevelled, but I will set it right for glorious guests. Almost there! I can see your auras getting closer. Such mighty and… divine presences? I must have a proper look at you.”

Kat found a bookshelf that had toppled over, split in half, and was in the process of crumbling. She lifted part of it, but another part just snapped off, so she got to pushing pieces off.

“Oh, good heavens, thank you, kind woman,” the voice said, making Kat yelp.

It was a skull. A skull with no bones, and its eyes were glowing the same insidious black that the black and white Guardian’s had.

“Do not be afraid. You could free my body, I would welcome you properly.”

“Um, well, you kinda don’t have a body anymore,” Rosalyn said. “Just a white bony skull, nothing else, not even ligaments. At least your teeth are still there?”

“No, no, no, that will not do!” the skull cried, his teeth clattering. “My body is gone? How will I fight? I cannot defend these walls as is. Oh, wait… yes, very well.” If Ann could sense the expression of a skull, it seemed distracted. “Apologies, I have been informed I am to guide you through this portion of the Keep. Worry not, I will not harm you.”

“Ye won’t, but what about whoever the feck told ye tae guide us?” Kat asked, plucking the skull up by its cranium.

“Well, they won’t. Rather, can’t, but there are dangers here, make no mistake.”

“Who are you?” Ann asked.

“The Master at Arms!” the skull proclaimed loudly and proudly. “The rest… hm, that’s odd. It’s a bit of a blur. I must say, you all do take good care of your equipment. I would be proud to have you in our regiment. Now what regiment was that? Strange, how do I not remember that?”

“So the skull has amnesia,” Ann sighed. “Can’t tell us anything about who gave you instructions, I’m guessing?”

“Heavens above, no. I do not dare impinge upon their machinations. May I at least know your names?”

They all went through introductions.

“My my, and three of the women have been touched by the Makers. You, my tall lady, are particularly affected by their designs. Fascinating.”

“How do you know that?” Ann asked, more confused than anything else.

“What, you can’t? All should be able to conceptualise auras. That you can not is an outlier most curious.”

“All people of your time could?” Bren asked. “Was it a learned talent or something innate from birth?”

“Ah, what excellent diction you have, young man. A warrior must also be a scholar, yes, yes. To answer your question, I do not know what you mean by my time. Second, we are born with the ability.”

“It appears much time has passed since your death,” Bren tried to explain. “Our peoples may not be anything alike.”

“No? The one holding me is an Elf. The tall one and the fluffy one are both Beastkin. You are Hyur, and the green one is a Troll. All very normal species.”

“Son of a bitch,” Ann laughed. “So that’s where we got the names? They weren’t just made up?”

“The chronology of this conversation is fascinating,” Bren laughed merrily. “So, Master at Arms, what were your duties?”

“Plenty and constant! I was in charge of maintaining and supervising the care of all weapons and armour with my apprentices, training recruits, and overseeing the training yard for all others. Naturally, this all came with significant slate work, but that is calming in its own way.”

“Busy,” Lucia nodded.

“Fantastically so. Now, we’ve spent enough time with introductions. We have a warrior with nascent magic she has not awoken yet, a magical brawler, a witch, an… I’m not sure exactly what you are, Troll, and a healer. Fantastic group composition. You do need a strong front liner as well. Consider recruiting when you get the opportunity. Now, I believe I know where and how to guide and test your mettle. If you would proceed out the back door to the training yard, you will face your first challenge of this realm. Oh, sorry, second trial. Apparently, the trees outside have become rather hostile. Fascinating.”

“Who is speaking with you?” Bren asked, trying to get the skull to give it up.

“Nope! Sorry, young man, but my teeth are sealed. Young elf, would you kindly carry me out to the training yard so we may proceed?”

“Can ye call me by name?”

“Oh, apologies, I’ve seen so many come through our garrison, I stopped remembering names. Katlyn, would you do me the honour?”

“Fine. The door’s not gonna attack us, right?”

“Not unless it’s grown teeth since the last time I saw it,” the skull said.

“Could ye… give us a minute? Need tae decide if we trust anythin’ ye’re sayin’.”

“Of course. I’m not going anywhere, now am I? Oh, and I must say your accent is wonderful. Where are you from?”

“I’ll answer in a minute,” Kat sighed, putting the skull down. “So, do we trust this shite?”

“Absolutely not!” Rosalyn squeaked. “He’s a talking skull, and someone’s telling him to do stuff! That’s suspicious even if he was a whole person! He is pretty friendly though, and Xirali’s not giving me any hints about this one.”

“Don’t trust,” Lucia said flatly.

“I’m pretty sure none of us are going to trust it,” Ann said. “Thing is, he’s been told to guide us. Those doors are closed, and I’m betting we can’t open them until we do whatever’s in here. Do other Seeds do this kind of thing?”

“Yes, but not this one. It was supposed to be a reasonably straightforward Seed full of swamp creatures. This was beyond any records about two hours ago,” Bren said.

“Hey, at least they’ve got non-combat stuff elsewhere. Might as well treat it like one of those and see what happens. If it goes to shit, we get the fuck out, right?”

“If we can,” Kat muttered, eyeing the door.

“Right. Better not fuck up, then,” Ann sighed. “We all agree to follow the skull’s directions until we get out?”

A round of agreement was held, and they turned back to the skull.

“Alright,” Ann started. “We’ll go along with this if you tell me one thing. Where does this end? How many trials are there until we can get out?”

“Hm… ah, thank you, there are three. One here, one in the living quarters, and one in the temple itself. I cannot provide any details, nor answers on how to solve the ordeals. If there is a clear goal to the trial, like the one out in the training field, I can provide that. Otherwise, I am merely a guide. A bit of a step down from my previous post, but since I’m dead, I can’t ask for much.”

“Right,” Kat chuckled, retrieving the skull. “Here, let me get ye a good look o’ what’s happened.” She held the Master at Arms up and swept his gaze over the ruin of the barracks.

“Ah,” the skull sighed forlornly. “This is all that is left. So many years within these walls and none to remember them. A tragedy. The room over to your left, second door down, was my office. I must have perished while visiting a nearby officer. This would have been a Captain’s assigned meeting room. Alas, I cannot remember who.”

“Sorry for your loss,” Rosalyn offered.

“Quite all right, Rosalyn,” the skull sighed. “Time slithers on without listening to anyone else for input. I will be alright. Now, my good men and women, let us make our way to the first trial, shall we?”

The group nodded and filed through the wide back doors into whatever awaited them.