Chapter 11
“Can your magic heal sore feet?” All these hills are killing me.
“I suppose that is one potential application,” Khazak chuckles. “Tell you what: if you manage to continue behaving today, I will do that before bed tonight.”
“I always behave,” I lie.
It’s Ignisday, our third day in the forest and second full day on patrol.
It’s late afternoon and the sky is grey, covered in a thick layer of clouds that hides the sun’s position, but we shouldn’t have a problem making it back to camp before it’s dark.
Just like yesterday, all of today’s patrols have turned up absolutely nothing.
I know we have four more days out here, but I was really hoping we’d have found something by now.
We’re heading northwest, which explains all the fucking hills.
I can see the mountainside off in the distance ahead of us.
Other than all the extra bodies and walking, this patrol week hasn’t been that different from the last one.
Just with a lot less free time. Which has been fine, because after me, Khazak, and Orim had our bout of fun in the tent, it’s been hard to make eye contact with Arik and the officer who overheard us.
We haven’t had a repeat, mostly because I haven’t gotten as desperately horny again yet, but I guess the possibility is always there.
After our play time, I was feeling a little worried that things might change between me and Orim.
It’s not like he’s the only friend I’ve had sex with since being here (Hello, Brull, Nylan, and Ragnar), but he’s the first one I made on my own instead of someone I met through Khazak.
I’m happy to say Orim’s been acting like his regular old self, which makes me feel like I can do the same.
“Have you noticed where we are yet?” Khazak asks casually.
“What do you mean?” I look around. Am I supposed to know this place?
“Look closer.” He smirks. “You and your friends were here six weeks ago.”
“What? This isn’t...” I look around us again as we continue to walk. Those mountains do look kind of familiar. “Are we close to the ruins?”
“Yes, very.” Khazak nods. “Follow me.”
We climb down the other side of the hill we are on and finally find some solid flat land.
The mountainside is just ahead of us, a small dirt path along its base going east to west. Wait, now this place is starting to look familiar.
Sure enough, as we move around the mountain and another comes into view, I realize this is the path my group took to get to the ruins.
Coming up, I see where the mountains give away a little and reveal a small alcove with the entrance.
When we finish turning the corner, there’s just one problem: I don’t see a cave.
“Wait, where’s the entrance?” I halt in my tracks, staring at the solid rock ahead of me.
Khazak ignores my words, only gesturing with his hand for me to keep following.
“Your group actually managed to avoid tripping any of our alarms right until you strayed from the trail and moved north to get to the entrance.” He almost sounds impressed.
“Of course, the only way to avoid them completely would have been to not to break in to ransack the place like thieves in the first place.”
“Hey, we’re not ‘thieves,’ and we didn’t know we were ‘breaking in’ anywhere!” I maintain that we’re at least innocent of that.
“What would you call yourselves then?” We come to a stop in front of the mountainside.
I pause to think. “...Treasure hunters?”
He looks very unimpressed with my answer.
“We’re all very sorry,” I tell him flatly. I know he’s not asking me to apologize again, but it still feels like I’m supposed to. “Are you sure we’re in the right place?” The mountain looks...mountainy? I still don’t see a cave anywhere. I am very confused.
Wordlessly, Khazak takes two steps forward—and disappears into the mountainside.
Goddammit, it’s another illusion. I walk forward myself, coming face to face with a smirking Khazak and the cave in question, the entrance blocked by several boulders.
Boulders that I seem to remember being around the cave the last time we were here, not inside of it.
“It does look very different with the illusion,” he reasons while looking at the cave.
“Yeah, especially if you haven’t seen the illusion before.” Of course, it looks different. “I guess the boulders are a good way to keep people out if they get past it.”
“Yes, we replaced them after your group removed them from the entrance,” he tells me, looking at me funny. “What do you mean you have not seen the illusion before?”
“Exactly what I said. I’ve never seen this. This wasn’t here before.” What is he talking about? “What do you mean about my group moving the rocks? Those weren’t there either.”
“Yes, they were.” He looks between me and the cave. “Or at least they were supposed to be. What exactly did this area look like when you first arrived here that day?”
“Like I said, there was no illusion, and I guess the boulders had already been pulled out.” I mime pulling one with a rope. “They were already where you found them when your group followed us in. We just walked right into the cave when we got here.”
“That is...concerning.” Khazak looks at the cave again uneasily. “We should to get back to camp, so I can discuss this with the others.”
“How would we have moved those boulders anyway?” I ask as we start the walk back. Adam and Liss are strong, but not that strong.
“We assumed one of your mages had a hand in that.” Khazak shrugs. Could Nate or Corrine do something like that? “Did you notice anything else strange about the temple once you were inside?”
“Other than the huge murals and magical torches?” I remember the way everyone jumped when I lit the two braziers. “There was one thing. Whatever is under that lead box, it was making some kind of a ringing or buzzing noise in my head that no one else seemed to be able to hear.”
“That is odd, especially considering what is under the box.” He looks confused.
“What’s under it?” And will it make my head explode?
“A basin that has been carved into the altar.” His brow furrows. “It is made from unknown metals and is certainly magical, but tests revealed no obvious purpose. The lead box is there to prevent the magic from being detected by anyone passing by and deter looters.”
“That’s...weird.” All that headache for nothing? “What is that temple doing all the way out here anyway? I don’t think you guys built it.”
“Correct. That distinction belongs to a group of elves that lived in these mountains thousands of years ago.” Makes sense. It was full of elf stuff. “However, its existence was a mystery to the current elves in the area.”
“It was uncovered by an earthquake?” That’s what the people in Holbrooke told us.
“A thunderstorm, actually. A very powerful one.” A storm did that?
“It caused a small rockslide above the temple. When rangers went out to scout the next day and make sure the mountainside was stable, they noticed that behind some of the rock was an area that seemed hollow. After that, the city excavated and uncovered the temple entrance. My father, Orlun, was captain at the time and one of the two rangers sent in to scout the temple.”
“Was it booby trapped?” I ask a little excitedly as we climb a hill together.
“No, it was not,” he laughs his answer. “They determined that the temple had been constructed by elves. Additionally, next to the altar, they found a sword.”
“A sword?” That sounds way cooler than booby traps.
“That is what father said.” He nods. I wonder if he’s seen it himself. “After that, a decision was made to contact the leaders in Pákannon.”
“Where’s that?” I can barely remember the name of this place.
“Not too far in the north, a city with a fairly large elven and human population. It is where Nylan is originally from.” That’s right.
Nylan moved here when they were all still kids.
“Given their current location, we felt it likely that they might share a connection with the elves responsible for constructing the temple.”
“Did they?” That’s what he said at least.
“Not one they could find.” Khazak shakes his head.
“The temple is at least 4000 years old, and from what I understand, even the elves do not have many surviving records from that era. There was nothing to indicate the temple ever being constructed or utilized. But that is not the most interesting part of the story to me.”
“What is?” I have to admit I am pretty drawn in. Rockslides, ancient ruins, a cool sword.
“What is a 4000-year-old temple dedicated to Zeus doing halfway across the globe?” I never thought about that, but I also don’t know that much about religion in general.
“There is not one recorded instance of even a single Olympian worshipper anywhere near this part of the world before a few hundred years ago. The elves in Pákannon themselves thought that if their ancestors were Olympian worshippers then there should be some proof that would have survived until today, and they could find none. So, who built the temple, and why?”
“...I don’t know.” I realize he isn’t actually waiting for an answer.
“Nor does anyone else.” He looks over at me and shrugs, smiling.
“What did the sword look like?” Always asking the important questions.
“Long and curved, made from the same magical metal as the basin.” It’s a magic sword?
“Since the two were obviously connected, the group investigating the temple ran all sorts of tests and attempted many different Olympian rituals. Though the temple is obviously focused on Zeus, there are actually numerous references to the rest of the Olympian pantheon. From what I understand, that is not out of the ordinary. In Olympian dogma, Zeus has a tendency to pull focus away from the other gods.”
“Bit of a drama queen?” I remember hearing about Ragnar’s nickname for Nylan.