The light of dawn sprinkled down upon the frozen wasteland beyond where Arlandra Knight now lay. Wrapped in a blanket he sat huddled against the icy grey rock beside the fire, and from there he watched Juliet sleeping peacefully – for the first time since the accident he saw beyond her scar.
When at last through the snowy haze the light of day revealed the broken-down exterior of the mountain temple, Arlandra knew the path was clear, and he swiftly woke the others. In near silence the others ate, packed their things and then set off towards the path that would lead them to their goal. Like the day before it became a matter of wading through the snow; they moved in single file with a rope to connect them. Eventually Juliet moaned, “The temple looked much closer from the cave.”
Ashley looked over her shoulder and said, “The mountains have a way of playing tricks on our eyes, it makes them unpredictable and all the more dangerous.”
They forced their way over a small peak which revealed another path embedded into the rock and a deep and terrible ravine that seemed to come out of nowhere. Arlandra peered over the edge only to see a thick and ominous mist. Fortunately, the rocky pass led them on to a rickety old bridge where the ropes had frosted over and the wooden planks were broken or missing. Devin remarked, “Well that doesn’t look dangerous at all!”
Arlandra was surprised by his own capacity to make a joke at this time. “Anyone care to try it out? Looks like we’d be safer to slingshot ourselves across.”
Devin played along. “Maybe one day,” he laughed, but immediately set about checking the frosted ropes and supports. “It looks bad, but I think the bridge will hold. We’ll have to go slowly and one at a time.”
Arlandra volunteered to go first, but before he went he leaned towards Ashley. “Still want to see how much damage an anomaly can take? You might just get your chance.” The going was dreadfully slow, and the bridge shuddered and swayed with every misplaced step. They were lucky that the weather was not so fierce today. The others followed and the bridge held out. The entrance to the temple was just over the next slope.
Embedded into the side of the mountain, though still very far away, the temple stood majestically like some ancient monument; a thousand stone steps carved into a frozen path led the way. They observed a stone arch at the beginning of the path which loomed over them eerily, as if it were shouting a warning; turn back now! Arlandra’s eyes followed the path. “Ha!” he cried. “Steps!”
Juliet came up beside him. “Well, at least the temple was easy to find.”
“Let’s press on,” said Devin. They hadn’t quite grasped the sheer size of the ancient building until they were right on its doorstep. They had climbed higher than they thought when they reached the first step, and with the snowy mountain range once again stretching out before them, their way was blocked by the massive doors that marked the entrance to the temple grounds. The day was beginning to get colder and on the stairs they were exposed to the wrath of the mountains. Sam and Arlandra tried forcing the giant doors open but their efforts were in vain. Arlandra tried blasting them the doors down, with the risk of causing an avalanche, but his power was repelled and the assassin was knocked back onto the frozen stone. Consecutively, they agreed that the barrier was magic.
“It’s no use, we’d sooner bring the mountain down then blast those doors open. It has to be done from the inside.”
“Well that’s a problem,” said Arlandra. “We’re not getting over that wall.”
And then Ashley pointed out, as she observed the point where the temple walls hung over a sheer drop to their left. “What about around.” It seemed that damage from an attack long ago had ruptured part of the wall, creating enough handholds for a climber to reach the ledge on the sharp corner; beneath the ledge, desolate and discarded, was the remainder of a balcony that clung to the edge of the cliff.
Juliet stepped back. “Your mad! None of us should have to make that climb!”
And then Sam pronounced. “I bet Arlandra could do it.”
The assassin turned to him in alarm. “Why should I have to do it!”
“You can scale a building better than most men, and you have super powers.”
“Being an anomaly won’t help me when I fall to my death…” He was going to argue further, but decided better of it. One way or another they had to get inside soon, and he actually was the most likely of them to make the climb. Still, he felt a knot in his gut as he peered over the ledge, which was steeper and far more sinister than the one at the bridge. If I fall I’m dead, he thought. Don’t fall. Don’t look down. Don’t fall. Don’t look down…
There was no going back after the initial jump. He hurled himself from the ledge and fumbled frantically for a handhold as he crashed into the ruined wall, until he wrapped his arm around a wooden plank. Ice and dust fell away and drifted lazily into the abyss below, and the assassin could only glance down for a second before his heart fluttered and he edged himself closer to the wall. Don’t look down!
He heard a voice, and saw Juliet call to him. “Are you okay?”
The dangerous part was over, but Arlandra felt no sense of relief. “I’m wonderful!” he called back, but half choked on the words. Desperately clinging to the shambled wall, he edged his way further out over the abyss and felt a dismal wind claw at his body and howl like a rabid hound. His feet found support, allowing him to reach up to the next handhold, and then the next, until it seemed that his companions were far away on the snowy steps near the main gate. He neared the corner of the wall, and saw the frosty stone balcony that clung to the mountainside below, now all he needed to do was find a way down. It was easier – but tremendously more frightening – than he would have guessed. As soon as he released with his right hand a large part of the wall suddenly crumbled away as if it were made of sand, and Arlandra found himself screaming and plummeting into the abyss. His back struck a wooden frame with spine-jolting force and he tumbled down the wreckage of the wall, clawing desperately for purchase. At last his fingers hooked onto a small ledge. The assassin wailed in agony as a jarring pain shot through his hands and arms, and he dangled tremulously over the snowy crevice, swaying with every cold gust of wind. “Oh god!” he cried, as his fingers began to slip, his voice strained with the effort of holding on for dear life. “Don’t look down! Don’t look down!”
It took all his strength to haul himself back up, his arms burned with the final effort, and he shimmied his way to the edge of the wall where he let himself fall like a ragdoll onto the lower balcony. Made it!
It was hardly a moment to celebrate. From the side of the mountain Arlandra caught a peculiar sight far off in the distance. The sight was invisible to the normal eye, but Arlandra could see with more than just his eyes and he sensed Louis Cole’s presence deep within the snowy pass. Arlandra was bemused at how quickly his enemy had traversed the mountains. He hurried into a large degraded courtyard and it was clear that over the years the mountain had slowly reclaimed this ancient and holy place. Arlandra unlocked the gate and saw that his friends were rubbing their arms and shivering on the other side. “Took your time,” Devin remarked. “Let’s get inside.”
Arlandra recounted what he saw of Louis Cole and the advancing troops on the mountain pass.
“It seems they’re making more ground than we thought,” said Sam.
“Then I suggest we quit lollygagging and get inside,” Devin replied.
Their first hindrance was the sheer size of the temple; the main hall was spacious enough for hundreds of men and all about there were tunnels and passages leading into an endless number of rooms. Even with five people they didn’t have enough time to search the entire temple. The main hall was littered with wood and dust from the crumbling ceiling, as well as discarded pieces of ancient robes, wooden bowls and platters, candles, and other small reminders of the people that once abided here. There were four mysterious stone monuments placed at different ends of the hall, and Ashley discovered on accident that a stone panel lay at the foot of each one – as she was observing the marking on the northern statue the floor groaned and slid under her feet. This drew their attention to a fifth panel in the centre of the room. Unlike the others – which were square – this one was round. Each panel bore a strange symbol, like a character from an unknown language. Everyone present observed these things in wonder.
“I sense a puzzle,” said Arlandra. “Do you think this is where they are hiding the Stone?”
“I’m almost certain,” Devin replied with excitement, he loved puzzles. “I recognise these characters from the codex, though I’m not sure what they mean.” He withdrew his notebook and flicked through the pages. “Five panels and five characters. There is a vault somewhere here; all we need is the combination!”
Try as he might Devin was unable to solve the puzzle of the room. He deduced early on that the panels needed to be pushed in the correct order to open the vault – though he didn’t quite know where the vault was – and yet he could not think of any clues as to what the correct order would be. In the end he resorted to pressing the panels at random while Arlandra and Juliet searched the temple. They arrived to a balcony on the eastern side of the temple that looked out over more mountains. “This place is so isolated,” said Juliet, as she pulled her hood over her ears to fight the cold wind. “It’s a wonder that anyone found it at all.”
Arlandra’s eye caught onto a foreign object nestled against the wall. Upon closer inspection he found a worn discarded helmet and a spear hidden beneath a heavy jacket. “That didn’t belong to the monks,” he murmured. “But it looks old.” He went back inside and had another look around until he came upon a locked door. The brittle wood gave way on the first kick and Arlandra thought he had stumbled into a treasure trove. “Hey guys,” he called. “You need to see this!” Inside was a store of supplies, crates of travel food, a number of tattered muskets and swords, kegs of rum and gunpowder, and a sack of gold.
Devin smirked when he saw it all. “Maybe Donellan Baffie used this place to store his supplies while he ventured further north. Goodness knows he wouldn’t have been able to carry all this! The winds are horrid and icy!” A sudden revelation struck his brilliant mind, and without another word he rushed back to the hall, taking up his notebook and shouting with joy. “I have it! I know the combination!”
The others joined him as he read the riddle he had taken from the codex:
“Once came the winds laden with ice,
Then storms of sands blistering thrice,
Twice did the winds soar through the leaves,
Once did the winds roll from the seas,
To again meet her fair sisters,
There in the centre of the world.”
“Northern winds for the northern monument.” Devin checked his compass. “Ashley, would you kindly step on that panel.” He turned to Arlandra. “Blistering sands of the desert, to the south. Arlandra, press the southern panel three times.” He faced east. “That leaves east and west. Winds soar through the leaves of the Eldar Forest to the east. Juliet, that panel twice, please.” Ashley was ready to finish the puzzle. “The sea to the west. Press it once.” Suddenly the walls and floor around them began to groan and creak and tremor, but nothing else happened. Devin paced over to the final circular panel. “To again meet her fair sisters, there in the centre of the world.” He pressed it and then stepped back and watched as the floor around the panel creaked and opened up with the sound of sliding stone. The fifth panel then became a monument, a great stone cylinder, within which rested a circular gem of the purest blue, sparkling and radiating in its own magnificence. “There it is,” Devin whispered. “The Air Stone.”
Arlandra suddenly felt something, as if an invisible fire was spreading, and his every instinct screamed at him to find cover. He recognised the sensation and yelled, “Get down!” The assassin dived over Juliet and used his body to shield her from the blast.
Three tremendous fiery explosions ruptured the temple’s grand hall and spread raging flames throughout. Arlandra helped Juliet to her feet and when he saw that his friends were mostly unharmed he ran into the courtyard, only to see that two dozen armed men were storming through the fractured gate. He faced his companions as they rushed to his side. Devin slipped the Air Stone into his leather pouch. “It’s Cole. He has caught up to us!” They dived to cover behind pillars and pieces of rubble when the bullets started flying.
Ashley frantically pointed out, “There’s no way out of here! What do we do?”
Sam took up a rifle. “We fight back, for a start.”
Arlandra and Juliet collected their rifles and returned fire, and Devin and Ashley each carried a revolver. The opposing volleys forced Cole’s men to cease their advance and take cover around the courtyard after four of their men were instantly shot down. The rich aroma of gun smoke filled the cool mountain air and splinters of wood and stone exploded as the quiet serenity of the mountain was filled with the din of battle. “We can’t keep this up forever!” Sam shouted.
It was then that the bulk form of Louis Cole appeared like a wraith. Arlandra fired a shot into Cole’s shoulder but the man hardly reacted as the bullet ripped through his body with a spray of red mist. Arlandra sighed, “Damn anomalies!” Cole’s sinister eyes glowed yellow and his meaty hands ignited with flame. He intended to roast them alive. “Fall back!” Arlandra shouted, as an infernal blast devastated the roof above them, causing it to collapse. “Into the temple!”
They retreated to the hall, coughing from the dust of the wreckage. “Cole is going to tear the whole temple down. We need to escape.”
Juliet suggested they go to the eastern balcony. “We can rope down onto the ridge and escape into the mountains.” They were somewhat alarmed by this idea and its consequences. “I’ll admit it’s not the best plan,” she went on, “but we have a better chance of surviving the mountains than we have of beating Cole.”
“There’s no cover down there,” said Sam. “Their rifles will pick us off one by one.”
“Not if I delay them,” Arlandra suggested. “I’ll hold them off long enough for you to get away, and then, well, I’ll catch up.” Naturally the assassin left them no time to argue when he rushed back against the enemy. From the entrance of the hall he fired a few more shots from his rifle and then drew his sword and found a place to hide in one of the nearby rooms. Here he found Juliet waiting, armed with Devin’s revolver and a combat knife. Arlandra looked over his shoulder and said, “What are you doing?”
“Helping you. Don’t argue, we don’t have time.”
Submissively Arlandra hid behind the door and waited for the enemy to enter the hallway – which was large, but only capable of fitting two men side-by-side. They stormed through without caution and Arlandra lashed out like a snake, severing a hand and impaling the first opponent in two savage strokes. He cut through the next man with equal ease, knowing that Juliet would hold her own by his side. As the fight grew on his stokes became faster and more powerful with battle rage, until from the end of his sword he conjured a blast of dark energy that blew his opponents back; they littered the hallway, stumbling and screaming.
Once again Louis Cole seemed to manifest from the flames that were enveloping the rest of the temple. The great man raised his sword and struck at Arlandra without mercy, and each clash sent a wave of fire into the air. The wild flames clawed and licked as if they were alive, spreading and devouring everything in sight. Juliet stood and watched helplessly, knowing that her weapon would not harm a beast such as Louis Cole, but she became increasingly aware that the flames had ravaged the temple all the way to the eastern balcony. Meanwhile Arlandra was gradually losing his duel. Cole had him backed against a wall of fire, and with a powerful blow knocked him into the inferno until his clothes singed. Arlandra’s last resort was to unleash the last of his power; he screamed in agony as a dark and mystical force swept over them, blasting Louis through the far wall, snuffing out most of the flames, and knocking Juliet to the floor. She cried out as the charred ground burnt her hands, but her only concern was Arlandra, who now climbed to his feet and staggered towards her as the temple rumbled and the ceiling began to collapse.
They saw the light of day at the end of the hall, glistening down over the edge of the eastern balcony. It was now that Arlandra remembered the massive store of gunpowder stashed in the room at the end. If that goes off the entire eastern wing will be destroyed! He quickened his pace and took Juliet’s hand. “Hurry!” The flames were spreading savagely, tearing the entire building to pieces, devouring everything relentlessly. A horrid sense of dread filled Arlandra’s body and he pushed himself harder. The smoke and the heat burned his eyes and clotted his throat. They passed the storeroom as the powder ignited and together they threw themselves over the ledge, forgetting the ropes, as the tremendous eruption engulfed everything, obliterating the building behind them and launching them onto the mountain side.
Arlandra curled Juliet into his arms as he rolled through the air and at last crashed into the snow and tumbled down the slope, kicking up white misty snow as they went. The shock of landing knocked the wind from his lungs, and the jolting pain shot through his body, temporarily paralysing him. He lost his grip on Juliet and ended up on his back halfway down the slope. Suddenly everything was quiet. Arlandra saw a blue sky tainted with thick smoke, and then he closed his eyes.
ns 172.70.100.155da2