Strena Adventures With Cerpheres Part Seven

 The Adventure In The Temple 

They had been walking back to the camp and were walking at a good pace. Yet Strena could not help but rub the wrist where her cuff had been. It still felt strange not having there and still feeling it. However she knew that she would have to get used to it. She hoped that the sensation of it being there would wear off before she missed it.

However her thoughts turned over what Cerpheres had said. That there was someone out there that, as far as she knew, had nothing to do with her that wanted her dead. Whoever it was, she suspected, had something to do with the man that she keeps seeing herself kill on her recurring dream. Maybe that man was real? If so, then why would he be in her parents’ bed?

“Ma-”

That was when the ground opened up underneath her. She screamed as she fell. That was when Cerpheres dove in after her. He wrapped her arms around her and looked at the ground. Suddenly she felt their fall become slower and slower and slower until they gently landed.

“There we go!” He sang.

“What?”

He smiled as he put a finger up.

“I used my magic to slow our fall!”

She nodded.

“Where are we?” She asked.

“Aren’t you going to thank me? I did save your life!”

“Thank you. Where do you think we are?”

They looked around to see that they were in a large room. It was filled with rows and rows of the dead in their rectangular bed.

“A crypt?”

That was when she turned back to see a creature with a goat head and a man’s body with bat-like wings.

“Who’s that?”

“A god of death.” Spoke a skeleton with an empty bottle in his hands.

“Who are you?”

“A tomb raider that took a wrong turn and right now death I yearn.” He sang, sorrowfully.

“Why?”

He looked at the bottle.

“Oh! I tried to steal from this tomb and I could not solve the riddle of my predecessor!” He sang like depressed and soppy drunk.

“And what are those riddles?”

“Oh! You had to ask! And you’re so young! What a pity!” He sighed as he looked at his bottle longingly.

“I go on and on,

Never to go back,

Once lost,

It never comes back!”

She narrowed her eyes as she thought about it. Yet she could see the statue’s head moving towards them.

“Time?”

The head stopped.

“Come on! It’s time to go and guide you to the door!”

They nodded as Strena pulled out her journal and quill.

“What’s your story?”

“When I was alive, my name was Augoth Monirogh.”

“So that’s what happened to you!”

“Yes, I’m afraid. I was one of the best tomb raiders!”

“What’s the difference between a Quester and a tomb raider?”

“One has a license.”

She nodded.

“Yes. I could not be bothered so I did it and wanted to keep my loot too!”

He turned to Cerpheres.

“I am red and life,

I run through growing rivers until noon,

Yet shrink as the sun turns to evening,

At night I am still and my life gone,

I disappear at midnight.”

“Blood!”

“Come. I can show you the way out. Yet it still does not mean that you will be able to leave! No, I am afraid!”

Soon they were walking to a corridor and after that a flight of stairs. Then they came to a stone door. 

“Find out how to get past this door and defeat the monster at the end of your journey. Then go on.” He sang as he turned back.

They looked at the door as she looked all around the chamber. She saw large teal glowing stones in front of her. And nothing more. She looked at each and every one and spotted that there was a gap in some of them but not others.

She placed her hand on one of those and pushed the stone in and the door started to open. She did the same to the next one to her and the door opened further.

“Cerpheres! Get the ones on your side!”

He opened his mouth.

“Please!”

“Okay!”

He did and the door opened and they rushed in only for him to pull her in. She then looked down to see a pool with schools of different types of piranhas! Yet as she looked on her blood ran cold to see the floor of the pool was littered with bones.

She looked up at the pillars in front of them and at the other end was a rocky face and at the top was the entrance to the next chamber.

“Looks like we’re going to have to hop across.”

He nodded.

“Seems so!”

So they jumped to the pillar that was closest. That was when it started to rock. Cerpheres giggled when they stabilised. So they jumped to the next one and the next one. As they did, each became rockier and rockier until she jumped on one. Then it started falling forcing herself to jump to the next one and that too started to fall. She had to do this again and again and again. Then she fell off, only for Cerpheres to grab her and throw her on. She only just grabbed the ledge 

She looked back as Cerpheres landed beside her and climbed onto the ledge and there they burst out laughing as the pillars reset and the doors closed.

“That was close!”

“I know!”

“I’m hungry.”

“Food then!”

Soon they ate and then started to climb the wall and she noticed that the wall started to move. The moment that they took hold of a notch, they had only a limited of time until they had to move onto the next. So they did all they could do was climb and climb as fast as they could up the wall. Yet as they got higher and higher the time became less and less. Soon they had to climb up lightning fast.

“Thank you Uncle Zaryb!” She exclaimed breathlessly once she sat on the top of the ledge.

They looked back.

“Time to go?”

She nodded.

“‘Time to go’.”

They turned around and walked in the chamber where they saw a royal purple bow with a golden string.

Cerpheres looked at it in excitement of someone looking forward to something that she did not want to ask about.

Well, at least I can give something to match with the dragon scales.

She went to walk in and then spotted a wyvern. She pulled out Orion and Darkector and ran on and to it. She saw the fireballs and she dodged out of the way. She quickly jumped and sliced the head clean off. She looked down to see that the neck was wrinkly and his face was coated in scars.

“My! Did you just kill an old wyvern?”

“No wonder it was so slow!”

Then she saw the exit. So they grabbed the bow and after leaving the temple and handed in the head they were soon on their way.