Chapter 7 - In The Temple

An orb of light from the Rune of Light served as a lantern for the five Argents venturing in the cave. Su Ho felt the interior walls, but couldn’t feel any moisture. He commented that it was very dry compared to the wet tundra outside. Their footsteps echoed on the ground that was once earth, replaced with stone. Se Hun stuck with Yin, like a loyal dog, the latter grateful for his action.

Lay cautiously looked around him for any trap that could spring, thinking that it was too quiet for a cave. D.O rolled up his sleeves, prepared for anything. 

Yin felt an uncomfortable churn in her stomach, while the resonation in her arm gradually built up. It was the same anxiety she experienced when she first attempted to retrieve the Rune of Time. She could hardly acknowledge her footsteps unconsciously quickened until Se Hun grabbed her hand, wondering why she was about to pick up her pace at an unreasonable speed. He wiped a bead of sweat from the side of her head, worried.

“I’m sorry, Se Hun,” she said, “But I can sense some danger we’re approaching.”

“Hey, look over there,” D.O pointed ahead. It was door, but there was no knob or handle. To their surprise, there was the symbol of Light carved in the center - Baek Hyun’s symbol.

“This is creeping me out,” D.O shivered.

“What can this mean?” Lay wondered. Su Ho tried to touch the door but he recoiled when electricity engulfed the passage and struck him. He stumbled back and the healer held him steady.

“We can’t get it. It won’t let me open it, or even touch it,” he growled before taking a glance at Yin’s Rune in her hand. “Unless Yin should try.”

She looked at her arm and then at the door. She warily approached the door that once dealt damage to her fellow Argent and placed her artificial arm on it. Nothing happened, not a static. Taking the chance, she pushed it upwards and it lifted by itself, granting access.

“Good call, Su Ho,” D.O said, eyes widening. The group continued their path while Lay thought deeply to himself. ‘How could this be possible? If there was a place where our symbols would be featured, why didn’t we know of it? Is it possible a descendant of the twelve sages who built this place? What will there be at the end of this path?’

Se Hun took another step until his right foot landed on a spot that lowered - like a trigger of something. The rest of the company stiffened and felt the chill on their clammy necks. The mute Argent paled when there was still silence.

“Move away!” Yin shouted but it was too late for him. He was starting to sink into a wormhole at his feet. It was drawing him under like quicksand but the stone ground looked distorted and morphing. Se Hun struggled while panicking and reached his hand out. Yin grabbed his hand and asserted as much strength she could but the wormhole was too strong. The wind-user sank deeper and the amnesiac, along with others could not pull him out. When his hand holding onto hers went under, the wormhole disappeared and hardened.

“Se Hun!” She mourned and squeezed her eyes shut.

“This place is armed with traps. This is only one of them,” Lay hypothesized.

“Is he gone? For good?” D.O warily asked.

“I hope not,” he replied.

“We need to keep going, and we need to be careful too,” Su Ho warned. Yin stood up and gripped her sword tighter in her left hand. She nodded, agreeing with Su Ho and continued with the company.

They walked for another while getting increasingly worried about what happened to their fellow member until they stopped in front of multiple separate passages - one for each. On top of the doors were their corresponding symbols except for the one of the far left: Kai’s symbol.

“Well, this is a drag,” D.O drawled, slumping his shoulders. Lay stared at his unicorn symbol on top of his passage and the pin inside his jacket. “We don’t have a choice,” he reasoned. Su Ho his pendant and said, “We’ll have to split up.”

“If my guess it correct, not all of us are going to make it to the end. There are three symbols that Yin can’t open and she may be bound to run into one of them. We all have to surrender ourselves to the traps ahead of us. It may be the only way, I hope.”

Yin switched the two Runes and she took in a deep breath.

“Do you think Se Hun will be there?” She asked.

“Possibly,” Su Ho whispered anonymously.

“We can’t stick around here forever. We have to get to the Arctic Circle soon,” D.O said.

“This Rune that could be at the end of this cave is just as important as our mission. We can’t afford to have one less Rune for the war,” Lay defended. D.O sighed.

“Let’s go then. We don’t have much time,” Su Ho said. The others nodded and opened their own doors and went inside. Little did they know that more ominous obstacles were being created at the moment.

When Se Hun fell through the wormhole, the first thing he saw were bamboo stems below. With his quick reflexes, he emitted a small tornado to soften his fall and grab two of them, careful not to poke his head. He struggled to reach his feet to balance on another stem and let go. His feet were far apart and it was difficult to stand straight with him wobbling so much. He looked up where he fell through and pouted slightly. There was no way he could reach that high, even with the wind to carry him.

He looked below and through that it was a long way down if he fell, but the pain in between his legs started to increase. He took note that there was no door - as if he was inside a large box.

He heard an intense rumbled around him as he heard something rush through the walls. When a square hole opened near the ceiling, a stream of water flowed rapidly into the room. He panicked when the water rose up to the top of the bamboo stems. Soon, he was overthrown with the current and bumping into various spots on the wall and he could not think for a moment. He swam up to the surface and gasped for air as he held onto a stone that stuck out to him. As it rose higher, he tried to let his head stay above until he hit his head on the ceiling. He continuously pounded his fist on the spot where he fell through before the water finally overtook him.

Suddenly, he felt the side of his right shoulder pulse with a dull ache as a green light engulphed him inside the water. Below his feet, a magical circle with his symbol glimmered and a crystal bursted to reveal a white lynx with bandages and a bandana with a scythe acting like a witch's broom. He swam to the lynx and held onto it, hoping that it would help him.

Se Hun's Crux was finally released.

Lay froze when he took exactly three steps from the entrance. He spotted translucent wires stretched out at his feet. Fearing that it may be another trap that awaited him, he took out his canteen and sprayed all of the contents ahead. The droplets of the liquid uncovered the wires and became visible to his eyes. He stayed on the balls of his feet while taking careful steps.

Suddenly, there was something that scratched his cheek and land near him. It was a needle. Before he could heal the cut, more needles shot out through the narrow gaps on the wall either side. Abandoning all his worries about the wires, he jumped through and rolled below away from the gaps. While panting, he realized that nothing happened when he stepped on them. ‘It was a false alarm,’ he thought. When he reached the end of his path, he stopped thinking for a split second when he suddenly felt nothing below his feet: a trap door. He tried to reach for the edge but the fell through, his screams echoing above.

D.O groaned at the maze he had to go through. “This is just great,” he said to himself. He unsheathed one of his knives and stuck it in the wall. As he ventured through, he let his blade continuously carve to make a track of breadcrumbs for himself. He exasperatedly threw his hands up in the air every time he reached a dead end. He turned around to backtrack but his face fell when he couldn’t find any of the markings he made on the wall. He also didn’t recall the passages he saw.

“This is gonna drive me crazy,” he complained as he made a dent in the wall in annoyance. He kicked the wall but felt something crawl up his leg. He yelped at the critter that climbed and shook it off. He zoomed in on the bug and realized that it was a scorpion. Before he could walk any further, two more scorpions scrabbled towards him. Feeling grossed out, he created a small earthquake to make them fall through but it was his big mistake. Two turned into two thousand emerging from the ground. He backed away, unsure of what to do next.

D.O suddenly felt the ground rumbling again, and another crack formed. However, there were no scorpions coming out if it. He saw his upper left arm glowing orange and a gradual pain as if something was coming out of his skin. An orange circle lit up by his feet with his symbol of the beast drawn in the middle. An orange crystal burst out of his arm and shattered itself in mid air. A large giant made out of the hardest clay landed on its heavy feet with a loud thud and repelled the incoming scorpions away.

"This thing came from me?" he wondered for a moment then grinned. "This is awesome!"

Su Ho kept calm while walking through his passage, but he couldn’t help but feel nervous. The tunnel gradually widened into a large chamber with a lake in the middle. There was a path that was made for crossing. His conscious told him that this looked too easy. Suddenly, he heard a mumble ahead. He did a double take on the bridge and grew suspicious. He also heard a thump. The more steps he took towards the tempting path, the more he was sure that the boards wiggled. To surprise them, he sharply slashed his arm across from him to manipulate the water to flood the path. Squeals of giant worms drowned in the water and wrung their bodies. He drew his whip and smashed them down.

Satisfied with his attack, he walked across the path towards the next exit. Just when he was about to take another step, the door closed and locked itself to the ground. Behind him, the water began to boil louder and louder. From above, lightning bolts struck into the lake and formed thunder phantoms, similar to the ones the company encountered outside. He tried to move the water cells from within the phantoms but they continued to come. Readying his whip, he prepared to fight them back.

Yin stopped in front of a door with Lu Han’s symbol carved on top of the arch. She switched the Runes again and opened the door. She was immediately greeted with axe pendulums swinging from left to right, rotating lasers and gaps leading to the oblivion. Taking a deep breath, she rolled through the first pendulum before it could slash her. She hopped onto the next, her feet on the blunt portion and leapt across the first gap out of three. When she stood up, the laser burned her arm and she winced in pain. She drew her fist, punched the pillar and threw it into the gap. She did the same with the other. 

After using the Rune of Healing to fix her burn, she stared at the straight path leading to the next door. She took two steps back and then dashed towards it. She skidded a stop in the middle when iron bars suddenly barricaded the door. She couldn’t react in time when the passage behind her closed off too. The walls started to narrow and close in on her. She pushed it as hard as she could but it continued to move. She used the Rune’s power to move the walls but she spotted the bars budging just the slightest. She slid towards the protected door and concentrated on lifting them up. Sweat broke out of her pores and drenched her neck. When they lifted just an inch, she used all of her strength to lift it higher and roll through before the walls crushed her. The door fell shut behind her as she caught her breath.

She raised her head, suddenly aware that there was someone in the room, but it wasn’t any of her friends. The stranger sat on a throne with his legs crossed. One of his hands was resting on his lap. He had a strong jawline and a small head. His eyes were enigmatic and sharp, as if he was a noble lord. He was clad in grey with a line of fur from his left shoulder to the bottom of his chest. His head was resting in his palm before he sat up straight, alert about Yin’s presence. She spotted a scorpion symbol on his neck glistening under the luminous glow of his chamber. She clutched her arm, certain that a Rune was in the room.

The stranger continued to stare at her as she stood up and slowly approaching him.

“That symbol?” She wanted to ask but she could utter a proper sentence. The stranger raised his eyebrow at her.

“What about it?”

“Who are you?” She asked. He didn’t answer. “You’re an Argent?” That got his attention and his face hardened.

“What if I am?”

“You’re a descendant of the twelve sages, aren’t you?” She raised her voice.

“So my family tree say,” he mysteriously mumbled, “What brings you here after overcoming my temple?”

“Your temple?” She repeated. “Where are my friends?”

“You were not alone?” He asked. “I am surprised. I applaud for you, but I will mourn for their deaths.”

Yin’s blood froze when he made that assumption. “Dead?” She breathed.

“None who venture here ever return to the outside world alive.” He gravely explained. He didn’t have a chance to take a breath when she suddenly appeared before him, roughly grabbing his shirt and raising him above the ground.

“You lie,” she snarled.

“I wish I did,” he smirked as he laid his hand on her arm, sending electricity to her body. She grunted and let go of him. The stranger kicked her in the chest and sent her flying to the middle of the room. She coughed from the impact.

“What brings you here, outsider?” Before she answered him, she finally found the Origin Rune of Lightning embedded into the middle of the wall. When he followed her gaze, his face darkened.

“You will not take it from this temple.” He transferred electricity to the ground and many phantoms appeared surrounding her. She switched from the Rune of Healing to the Rune of Earth and dug her hands into the stone floor. She dredged up the bricks buried underneath and hurled them to the phantoms. They howled and faded away when the earth that was stuck on the bricks touched them. She slashed them with her sword at one point but got minimally shocked from their static in the process. She barged out of the army crowding around her.

The protector blocked her kick and grabbed her leg. She threw a punch and he held her fist in his other hand. She held her breath and swung her left leg to hit his head. He growled in pain and let go of her. She kicked at his legs to trip him but he jumped away and shot an electric bolt at her shoulder. She skid backwards and watched him touch his mark on his neck, bringing out a yellow crystal in the shape of a scorpion.

"Let me introduce you to my partner, Thor!"

From the crystal he struck with his lightning, there appeared a lordly lion with the most beautiful mane she had ever seen. Its roar echoed through the chamber and pushed Yin backwards just slightly.

“Such a pity,” he mused. “You were strong, but not strong enough.” Yin clenched her teeth in anger.

"You're not the only one with a Crux. Pegasus!" She called on her turquoise feather crystal and crushed it in her hand, releasing the winged horse for her to mount on. She drew her sword as Pegasus did a drawback for a moment.

“Let me make this quick and painless for you.” Before they both charged in with their Cruxes for a devastating blow, there was a crash to their left and to her relief and his astonishment, a drenched Se Hun hanging on his newly attained Crux, Sylpheed the Lynx, stumbled out of the hole and created a hurricane with the water that flowed with him. Another crash from their right was Lay riding on Kirin, and immediately took a staff from one of the statues surrounding the room and swung it at the phantoms.

Another loud impact from above came from Su Ho and D.O, landing in the middle of the army with their own Cruxes: an azure swan and an earthly giant. As the phantoms dispersed, Yin and the stranger resumed their combat. She pushed him back with her raw strength and he broke his throne when he was thrown. The amnesiac took the chance to grab the Rune from the embedded wall and tore it off. The surge of the energy burst into a force that threw off everyone in the room. The phantoms disappeared and the only sound of static came from Yin’s body.

Lay sat up straight on Kirin in relief that the fighting was finished with their victory. Se Hun coughed out all the water that entered his lungs and smiled afterwards while petting Sylpheed. D.O scratched his back and salvaged a stray scorpion and stomped it flat.

“I’m never gonna do anything that involves scorpions again.”

Su Ho watched Yin as she ejected her newly acquired Rune from her arm and stored it in her knapsack.

“She’s got it.”

“She’s got what?” D.O cluelessly asked.

“The Rune of Lightning,” he answered without looking at him.

The stranger was still on his hands and knees in defeat, ready to face death but he saw a hand outstretched for him - Yin’s metal hand.

“Come with us,” she offered.

“What?” D.O yelled in outrage. “Why?”

“Shut it,” Su Ho chastised.

“Why, outsider? Is this my punishment?”

“No, this is my request. The outside world is in more danger that you think. Although you are the protector of this temple, it will affect you too.”

He thought to himself for a moment to contemplate whether or not to take her offer. “It may be for the best,” Lay gently suggested. There was a pregnant silence before he took her hand and stood up.

“What will I receive in return?”

“When this war is over, you will be free to your desired path,” she answered. He stared at her and his lips eventually curled into a slight smirk. “As long as this temple is still hidden from all the maps of this world, I will go with you and your company.”