Sitting in the back of a car, Theodore found himself yawning and resisting the urge to fall asleep. He took a quick glance down at his pocket watch on the belt, and the time read 8:04. That means that in their current location, the time is actually 10:04, so they should be arriving soon.
To feed his curiosity, he tapped on the back of the driver's seat and asked Trevor;
"Excuse me, Mr. Trevor, how much longer until we get there?"
Trevor responded in a low tone that was hard to hear over the roaring engine. "We just passed Violet rock, we are pulling into the site location now."
Theodore couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, kind of impressed with how accurate the prediction of travel time was. That's something that is hard to measure, especially when it comes to multiple vehicles traveling together.
The next few minutes were rather uneventful, as the cars pulled up to the current site, and parked underneath two large canopies that were set up.
Everyone got out of the cars and began to stretch, immediately a few of them went to the portable toilets that were set up, and began to use the bathroom. This left just Theodore, Whitney, and Duvun there, as they began to unpack the wagons behind the cars.
Theodore helped to the best of his ability, but once everything was actually in position, he was already done. Only Duvun understands how the SSA's telegram system can be set up. He's also the one in charge of setting up proper containers for artifact preservation.
Along with the containers and the telegram system, there is a weird device with 5 colorful lights on it, two antennae at the top, and a metal body beneath the lights that is filled with visible gears that aren't yet turning.
Theo couldn't help but ask Mr. Duvun "Hey, Sir, what is this machine?"
This small box? It's a well detector. If natural energy levels go bonkers, the lights will begin to light up. Once the last light goes on, that means we need to be long gone." Duvun the dwarf explained in a husky voice.
Theo nodded his head in acknowledgement, but he was suddenly randomly distracted by the sudden words he remembered.
"Beware of the well"
He was reminded of a familiar voice, but he struggled to remember everything except this vague warning.
As he was spaced out, he saw a flash of scarlet red hair in his vision, as Whitney had stepped into his line of sight. His head was tilted down slightly, so he saw the end of her hair right next to her shoulders, as well as the embroidered golden hilt of a sword in an old leather scabbard.
"Hey kid, you just gonna stand there? Grab your supplies, everyone is waiting." Whitney looked at Theo with a judgemental eye.
"Kid? You're probably not even a year older than me…" Theo thought to himself as he quickly regained his attention.
He walked over to the rest of the group, where Trevor was filling hiking packs with supplies such as water, rations, rope, and medical supplies.
Dahlia waved at him, and eagerly grabbed one of the bags, offering it to Theo.
Theo grabbed the bag, feeling the sudden weight and regretting it, as he put it on. He didn't want to look weak in front of a cute girl. He wasn't going to say that out loud though.
"Hey, Theo. I just wanted to apologize for what I said in the car…" Dahlia nervously spoke, twisting her boot against the dirt as a fidgeting method.
"What? I'm sorry, remind me again-" Theo had long since forgotten, since he was never offended by anything she said.
"I said you reminded me of a hermit- but I know you don't hide away all day"
Theo couldn't help but cover his mouth and stop himself from laughing.
"No, Dahlia you're fine! That never offended me, in fact I was rather happy to hear it. Hermits are known for their wisdom and excessive knowledge. That's the kind of person I aspire to be like."
Dahlia couldn't help but get embarrassed when he started trying to hold back his laughter. It seemed like he was making fun of her, but she quickly realized that wasn't the case, and began to smile instead.
"Well in that case, keep it up Hermit!"
The two shared a laugh together over the silly nickname, but they were cut short by Expedition Leader Duvun.
"Attention! We are walking the trail now! Everyone stays close and in formation! Whitney and Daniel in front. Theodore and Trevor in the middle. Me and Dahlia will stay in the back. Dahlia has the most medical supplies, so if something happens seek her help!"
With the announcement out of way, the small 6 man expedition team began to walk.
They followed a recently paved trail. One marked with wooden posts with red flags on them, and signs claiming SSA ownership and armed security. Though, the only security here is the expedition team it seems.
As they continued to walk down the trail, Theo began to wish he exercised more, because his back started to hurt profusely.
To distract himself from the pain, Theo began to look around the environment, walking past trees and marked wooden posts.
The further they got, the more entangled the flora seemed to get, making him understand how this area remained hidden for so long. It was obvious that the currently made trail had to cut through many vines, and remove large rocks. The question he wanted answered is; where did these rocks go?
"Surely someone didn't carry them out by hand." Theo laughed to himself and chalked it down to the usage of heavy machinery.
Along the path, Daniel the "Magician" began to sing a playful song to the group. Nobody seemed to enjoy it though, except Dahlia.
"Oh History~
"Oh History~
"We hear you~
"We see you~
"We live you~
"We make you~"
He continued these same few lines from a popular musical poem multiple times over, until even Dahlia seemed to start to get annoyed.
Perhaps Daniel was self aware though, because by the time he stopped, mossy, wooden, old palisades suddenly entered everyone's view.
"There it is!" Dahlia shouted out, her eager tone causing the group to pick up pace.
The trees here seemed to have been cleared out long ago, but inside the boundary of the palisade they seemed to have regrown.
The front gate was broken down, and had long rejoined with the earth. It was obvious it once existed due to everyone's knowledge of historical structures.
As the group slowly passed through the gate, Theo observed the wooden spikes that make up the perimeter. He stalled the group for just a few seconds to observe them.
They were held together by long wooden strips with metal nails through them, while also being staked into the ground.
"Nails? Tempered metal? Or cruel smithing? What era is this from… is this an old human settlement?"
Theo found himself absolutely invested, but that quickly changed with the shout of Daniel the Magician.
"Oh oh! Lookie here my friends! It seems as though we have stumbled upon much more than just an old settlement!"
Theo felt rather annoyed, but that feeling quickly changed as he diverted his attention straight ahead.
Before him, amidst the trees that were inside that palisade, were beautiful stone walls covered in moss. A large structure that is partially submerged in the ground stood like a mighty temple before them.
"I thought… I thought this was supposed to be a battle site!" Theodore exclaimed, his heart beating in intense excitement.
"Yes… this is very strange. No mention of this structure was in the report. Only the palisades and pagodas… that indicated an old human kingdom war structure-"
"But this is a temple from the war era." Whitney quickly cut off Duvun, walking forwards and leading the group towards the temple.
Duvun quickly unstrapped the well detector from his belt, and held it, but nothing seemed to happen.
The group walked forwards with anticipation, and tightly squeezed through the trees, and walked up a set of mossy stone brick steps.
They could clearly see what used to be a grand entrance, but it collapsed in on itself, stone rubble blocking the way, and removing any sign of what used to be a doorway.
Daniel and Whitney quickly led the group to the left, where the rubble wasn't blocking their way. They continued around the edges of the temple, until the tree line eventually grew thin.
They reached a clearing, where behind them is the old collapsed temple now, and in front of them are signs of an old settlement.
There is a large old stone tower that spirals upwards, with the top half collapsed like it was diagonally cleaved.
Surrounding the area are old, rotted wooden houses with collapsed roofs that make up a village.
Extending from the doors of the houses are overgrown stone pathways connecting buildings, and making up a central route that leads towards the temple, connecting to the stairs they stand on.
Looking around it was obvious this was a functioning society at some point. The distinction between homes, and communal buildings was pretty obvious, especially with a temple at the end of the place.
"This… this is an ancient settlement." Trevor, the quietest of the group, spoke up.
"Yes… yes it is. It matches the description of the old human villages during the dragon's reign with humans-"
"but the temple matches the temples dedicated to giants…" Theo spoke, and his sentence was finished by Dahlia.
Every single member of the group was surprised, but suddenly their thoughts were cut short by the sound of grinding metal, as a light flicked on the machine in Duvun's hand.
"A spike in natural energy has been detected, everyone stay cautious." Duvun warned the group with a stern voice, snapping them all out of their daze.
Whitney gestured forwards and they began to walk down the steps, along the stone pathway.
The strangely quiet Daniel visibly shuddered, and let out a low mumble.
"The energy here is strangely thick for man made objects… it's desolate though… there's a lack of life, so it shouldn't be like this… I can't even determine its color…"
The group all looked at the natural energy expert Daniel, and Theo recalled what he was taught about natural energy.
Natural energy is like a bundle of threads that are everywhere, and made of different colors. The color of the energy determines what it can be used for. It is technically not actually colored, due to not being perceivable by the eyes, but the minds of people naturally apply color to it, allowing them to associate its capabilities with corresponding colors. For example; red would be fire, blue would be water. The more complex a color, the more complex the effect can be. An area with many colors could be picked apart into specific colors, an area just like this.
Theo was forced to think on this for a moment, as the thought flashed into his head again; beware of the well. This caused him to practically jump out of his skin!
"Beware of the well!" Theo suddenly shouted out
Suddenly he remembered his entire dream, and simultaneously the machine in Duvun's hand began to churn faster, all the lights atop of it lighting up.
"Everybody! Run the way we came from! Stay in formation! Go go go!" Duvun shouted, turning around, now being in the front line as they all began to run.
The air around them began to luster with color. Thin lines of various colors floated past them like threads, filling the area with energy that normally only trained individuals can perceive, yet it became thick enough to be visible to the felt by all.
The group ran, making it through the thin tree line, towards the steps they came from that lead to the thick tree line.
The rubble around them began to shake, making them fear the remaining parts of the temple were going to collapse, so they hurried down the steps.
Suddenly, Daniel Brein, who's now in the back of the group due to their flipped formation, suddenly collapsed to his knees, gasping heavily.
Whitney ignored him, and kept running, but everyone looked back, and Dahlia suddenly ran back towards him. She grabbed him and tried to pull him along, causing Duvun to shout out.
"No! Leave him behind! You'll get crushed, girl!"
Theo suddenly had his two dreams flash in his head yet again. The line "Only you can save them" repeatedly played in his head.
Trevor watched as the young man next to him began to turn back. He attempted to grab and stop him, but was narrowly avoided, allowing Theo to reach Dahlia and Daniel.
He found his legs moving faster than they ever had, numbly slamming into ground and he squeezed past trees, and ran back up the stone steps.
He reached his hand outwards, and grabbed onto Dahlia Freisco, causing her braided orange hair to sway aggressively as he pulled on her, and threw her down the steps with all his strength.
He saw her eyes widen as she fell backwards, and landed in the arms of Trevor, who tried to stop Theo. Theo then grabbed onto Daniel, and tried to do the same for him, but suddenly the ground below him shook.
"Theo! No!" Dahlia and Trevor both shouted out, as Whitney and Duvun simultaneously looked back.
Theo saw the four others running towards him, as a large amount of shade covered him, as if a storm had appeared above him.
Theo turned his head, and he saw large stones falling towards him.
A massive wall of stone slammed down, narrowly missing him and separating him and the group by crushing the stairs!
Another bundle of stones then fell, surrounding Theo and Daniel in rubble!
Behind them was a large wall of stones, and in front of them was a narrow gap created by the collapse. Unsure what else to do, Theo quickly dragged Daniel and himself through the small gap.
Bright sunlight filled his eyes as he stood atop collapsed roof remnants of the temple. Before him was a large statue, no, two statues!
His eyes widened, only to forcefully be shut by the sun. He quickly adjusted to the strain of the bright sun, and confirmed what he was seeing again.
Before him was a statue depicting a massive humanoid with a large ring resembling the sun surrounding her. She wore an elegant dress that flowed smoothly down and hid her figure, which was being basked in the radiant sun currently. Her arms reached upwards, and grasped onto a large lizard-like head.
The large snout resting in her hands extended back into vertically slit eyes, a spiked spine, two pairs of wings that wrap around her, 4 legs with claws at the end, and a spiked tail resting by her feet.
Though the winged lizard wasn't familiar, there was a sense of familiarity in the woman.
This is a statue of a dragon, and the Giant Eireenis! A statue of two opposing factions embracing each other!
Theodore took in the information rapidly, a smile covering his face.
"Daniel- look we found something amaze-" Theo was speaking, when suddenly he felt a force against his back.
THUMP!
Suddenly he felt himself hitting the ground with significant force, Daniel landing beside him, unconscious.
He quickly turned his head to see what happened. The wall behind them had collapsed and slammed into his hiking pack, knocking him over.
He pressed his hands against the stone rubble below himself, trying to push the stones off himself. He found himself lacking the strength though, as he began to call out.
"Daniel! Daniel wake up!"
"Help! Somebody help us!"
"Please! Help!"
He tried his best, repeatedly pushing, as the rapid swirls of natural energy filled his senses. They were like strings trying to grasp at him… Strings… Thread?
"Follow the thread, follow the stream…"
Theo thought to himself, and quickly traced the energy. It seemed to be going downwards, so he kept trying to grab at it, but to no avail.
He found himself beginning to feel hopeless, and began to slam at the ground, his eyes filling up with tears of frustration, as he felt like he was going to die.
As he hit the ground repeatedly, some rubble moved to the side, revealing a crack in the floor. He didn't think anything of it, until he saw the energy pouring into the crack.
"D-Daniel! I'm going to save us!"
Theo yelled out to the unconscious man, and reached down into his waist beneath the rubble.
He kept twisting and turning, until he got his short sword loose. He then kept lifting the sword up, and slamming the pommel down against the crack.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The crack began to grow wider, and the flow of energy became more violent, like the crack was absorbing it all.
A large suctioning force began to fill the area, causing Theo's hair, which had long since come undone, to fly around wildly, and his body to be forcefully pinned against the ground.
He heard the ground begin to crack more and more, until eventually a loud crumbling sound filled his ears.
In an instant, he felt the stress on his back get relieved, but suddenly he felt himself being pulled downwards.
He gazed downwards, where he saw a large gaping hole with natural stone walls around him. He quickly realized he and David were falling into a cavern.
He began to scream, as he fell further and further alongside countless pieces of rubble from the old temple.
He fell for quite a few seconds, but it seemed like minutes in his head.
THWAP!
He felt himself hit the ground, and heard the sound of pieces of stone shattering one by one as they followed suit. The disgusting sound of bones breaking filled his ears, as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and everything faded to black.