Chapter 61: A Ruined Temple
Meanwhile, after pushing open the massive stone door, the four stepped into a place that seemed abandoned not merely by people, but by history itself.
Ancient air greeted them first, and for several seconds, none of them spoke...
Their boots echoed faintly against ancient stone as they stared at the sight before them...
Valmyr was the first one to break the silence. "What in Aetherium name is this?"
His loud voice sounded unusually small inside the vast chamber.
The moment those words left his mouth, the others slowly began taking in their surroundings...
The structure beyond the doorway was enormous. It resembled a template... No! It was a temple; an ancient one. In fact, it looked like the graveyard of a civilization long swallowed by time.
Rows of towering marble columns stretched into the distance on either side of the chamber. Once proud and magnificent, they now stood scarred by countless centuries of decay.
Some had collapsed completely; their shattered remains littering the floor in massive heaps of broken stone.
Others leaned precariously at dangerous angles, as if a single strong wind would finally bring them crashing down. Yet despite their ruin, traces of former grandeur remained...
Faded carvings still adorned many if the surviving pillars, depicting images of armoured warriors, winged beings descending from the heavens, strange celestial symbols, ancient scripts, and stories frozen in stone.
The craftsmanship was so exquisite that even after untold years, the engravings retained a haunting beauty.
Above the quartet, the ceiling had also not survived the passage of time. Huge sections had collapsed entirely with jagged gaps opening toward the crimson sky overhead.
Through those openings, shafts of vermilion light poured into the hall. The red illumination painted everything in ghostly hues...
Dust drifted lazily through the air like tiny stars suspended in an ocean of forgotten memories.
Between the broken arches, enormous crimson-leaved trees could be seen beyond the ruins. Their branches stretched inward like curious fingers reaching into the temple. Their leaves rustled softly whenever the wind passed through them...
The sound felt oddly peaceful, yet beneath all that tranquility lingered something else; something ancient, and forgotten.
The surrounding walls had suffered no better fate also; entire sections had collapsed outward, exposing the vast crimson wilderness beyond.
Thick roots and twisting vines had invaded the structure, as though nature sought to reclaim what civilization had lost.
Cracks ran through every surface, moss grew between stones, and flowers bloomed from fractures in the floor. The temple seemed trapped between life and death in a half ruin, half wilderness state...
"Amazing..." Vaelorin gasped, his fiery red eyes carrying genuine awe as he looked around the place.
"I honestly thought the Nether Lands was just about endless monsters and death traps..."
"Same." Valmyr replied, scratching his scalp. "But this?"
The failed Vanguard gestured broadly at the colossal structure. "This looks like something out of a lost legend. Just what kind of people built a place like this?"
"I have no idea..." Vaelorin said.
"Actually..." Kaeloris suddenly crouched near one of the cracked marble slabs.
His Lantern’s golden light illuminated the strange markings carved into the stone...
The failed Gnost adjusted his spectacles, before tracing one of the symbols with a finger.
"...I think a human built this place."
His statement immediately drew everyone’s attention as the duo moved closer to him.
"Human...?" Vaelorin blinked. "...And how can you tell that?"
Kaeloris pointed toward the faded inscriptions. "You see these markings..."
He brushed away centuries of accumulated dust from the surface before continuing. "They resemble Taegaryean."
The other two stared blankly at him before Valmyr folded his arms and asked confusingly.
"And what the hell is a Taegaryean? Is it some kind of person, kingdom, or what?"
Kaeloris gave the failed Vanguard an unimpressed look before turning back to the strange symbols.
"Taegaryean is a language." He stated simply. "According to historical records, it is believed to be the oldest language ever spoken by mankind."
"Hold on a second." Vaelorin interrupted. "Do you mean this language is even older than modern Valorian?"
Kaeloris nodded. "Right. However, most scholars consider it extinct. Though, some remote kingdoms across Aetherium still retain fragments of it."
Valmyr whistled loudly. "So you mean this place might be built by the ancient of the ancients?"
"Yeah." The failed Gnost stood up, then his eyes wandered toward the surrounding murals.
"Unfortunately, many of these inscriptions are damaged..." He said, his voice laced with unspoken regret.
"But can you still read any of them?" Vaelorin asked curiously.
Kaeloris shook his head. "A few words maybe, but it is not enough to form complete sentences."
Then he pointed toward a series of massive wall carvings. "But judging from those depictions..." His voice became thoughtful as he spoke further. "It appears the temple was dedicated to some sort of deity."
The duo followed his finger and saw murals depicting figures kneeling toward a single central winged silhouette...
"It is not a deity..." Regaleon’s voice suddenly interrupted the conversation.
The trio turned toward him... The Forgotten Knight had wandered farther into the hall; with his golden eyes fixed on something at the center of the hall.
"It is a knight." He said simply.
The trio exchanged confused looks, then they followed his line of sight and immediately, they understood his words...
Standing at the heart of the temple was a colossal statue; even amid the temple’s grandeur, it dominated everything else.
The structure towered nearly thirty meters high...
It was an immense figure carved from pale marble; but time had weathered its surface, while water had worn away most of its details. Vines climbed its legs with moss spreading across its armour...
Yet even now, it still radiated an overwhelming sense of authority.
The statue depicted a knight... An enormous one. Its armour was intricately sculpted; ancient sigils decorated every plate while layer upon layer of openings covered the marble.
Six magnificent wings stretched from its back... Or rather, they once had as only three remained fully intact. The others had been brutally severed, leaving only broken stumps protruding from the statue’s back...
Huge fragments of shattered wings lay scattered across the floor below... But that wasn’t even the most unsettling part.
The statue had no head...
Its neck ended in a jagged fracture and the head was nowhere to be seen. The destruction done to it seemed deliberate, as though someone had wanted to erase the Knight’s identity forever.
The statue’s massive hand rested atop the pommel of an enormous sword. The blade was planted firmly into the ground but like other things in the hall, time had also transformed it.
Moss covered much of its length, vines spiraled around the cross guard, and tiny flowers bloomed from the cracks in the stone weapon...
Nature had slowly consumed the ancient armament, and yet despite everything, the sword still seemed imposing.
At the statue’s feet stood a golden altar... Or what remained of one. The altar had long since surrendered to decay; its golden surface was tarnished, green corrosion spread across its sides, cracks ran through the structure, and several sections had collapsed entirely.
Yet traces of its intricate craftsmanship still remained visible beneath the damage.
The trio slowly approached and Vaelorin glanced toward the silver-haired Knight.
"Regaleon, do you perhaps recognize him?" He asked curiously.
The Forgotten Knight remained silent for several seconds and his gaze never left the statue. Finally...
"No, I don’t." His answer was firm...
Yet something in his expression suggested uncertainty, because although he did not truly recognize the knight, something inside him did.
A strange sensation stirred deep within his chest; it felt like recognition... Familiarity... Connection...
The feeling was almost impossible to put into words. It was like seeing the face of a relative one had never met before...
Or like hearing a forgotten song remembered by the soul rather than the mind.
Honestly, the feeling unsettled him greatly. His fingers tightened slightly around his Halberd...
Why did this statue feel somehow familiar?
Why did looking at him make something within him resonate?
The feeling grew stronger the longer he stared, as though the knight was silently calling out to him across countless centuries.
Kaeloris noticed his expression and asked. "Regaleon, is something wrong?"
The Forgotten Knight hesitated, then shook his head slightly. "No. Nothing’s wrong."
But even as he said it, the failed Knight wasn’t convinced.
The atmosphere grew quiet once more and only the distant whisper of the wind moved through the ruined temple. Then...
STOMP!
The ground suddenly trembled. Everyone froze...
Dust fell from above, while tiny pebbles bounced across the floor...
The vibration lasted only a second, yet it left a lasting impact.
Every member of the group immediately reached for their Soul Essences...
Silence returned, but this time, it was tense as the group became much more aware of where they were. Then...
STOMP!
This time, the tremor was stronger. One of the cracked pillars groaned ominously while dust cascaded from the broken ceiling...
Valmyr looked around hands tightening around his Shield. "That couldn’t have been the temple, could it?"
Regaleon’s golden eyes narrowed. "No. That was something else..."
Then...
ROAR!!!
A deafening roar exploded across the jungle. The sound struck like a physical force as the ruined temple shook violently.
The roar echoed endlessly across the wilderness; it was ancient, savage, powerful, and most importantly, impossibly close...
For a heartbeat, nobody spoke...
Then Vaelorin slowly turned toward the others. His face had gone pale as he remarked fearfully...
"Please, tell me that wasn’t what dragged away the Drake..."
Nobody answered because they were sure that very soon... They would find out...
