Onryx Temple

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The miasma of dark Manara swirled around her, suffocating in its pervasiveness, and Mira had never felt so alive. Eyes closed, hand pressed against a cluster of crystals, Mira shivered as energy flooded into her. She opened her eyes, quickly adjusting to the growing light. She sighed deeply. Her smile had a sharp, self-satisfied edge that made her narrow features look more predatory.

Layla and Sam returned from their trek through the long hallways, finished with lighting the torches and candles. After nearly ten years, the three of them knew their way in and out of the Onryx Temple. However, none of Mira's followers knew the secret to harnessing the Manara crystals. She planned on keeping it that way. He had told her how to, and Mira wasn't going to share.

The flickering light from the torches reflected off the jagged crystals, casting mottled light over the three. They had come here for a routine check (and for her Manara), so none of the other followers were present.

"There were a few monsters lurking at the corners," said Sam quietly. Despite his caution, his voice echoed off the stone walls. "We should be careful when we leave."

"But they don't like coming so close to the center. We should be fine!" Layla added. Her bright laugh had just a hint of nervousness; even after all these years, she was still terrified of the dark creatures that lurked in these depths.

Mira, on the other hand, had no fear. These monsters wouldn't dare touch her. They recognized Mira as a far greater one.

"Is there anything else you'd like us to do?" As usual, he focused his eyes on a distant point beyond her shoulder, never looking directly at her. His hands twitched, and the longing gleam in his eyes betrayed his desires. Ah, yes, the crystal. Ever since Mira had given him a taste of raw energy, Sam had always wanted more.

"Not now." She smiled again, this time mocking and just a bit cruel. Mira paused, making her features exaggeratedly thoughtful. "In fact, I think we might as well leave early."

He tried, but Sam couldn't hide his disappointment. Mira, though, was much more successful at hiding her smirk. She stepped closer to the crystal, pipe twirling in her hand. Hope reappeared in Sam's dull green eyes, tempered only by longing. Oh, Manara. It made others so easy to control.


̗́͋̒ ̬ ̷͌ͯ͗̋s ̪̯̤̯ͅ ͚͙̮̰͕̪ ̘̼̮̱͇̀̅̓͗̓̕ ̼̪̰̖͗ ̟ͦ ̠̹̞̔ ̳̤̹̰̔ͪ ̜͎̒͒̂̔͠ ̼̝̱̦̳́̽̾ t ̥͈̗̯ͨͦ̒̽̅̿ͦ ͖͖̭͍̘̜̤̓̔ ̨͇̓͗̄ ̣̘ͨ̊ͨ ̡̯͓̉̑ͅ ̮̪̮̀ ̳̜͉͉̞ͪa ͆͌͋ͭ̇̕ ̱̰͖̗͗̿ͬ̔ ̬ͨͧ ͉͍̹̭ͨ̀͒ͯͅ ҉͙̗̭ ͍̟̺̫̟͂̈́̊ ̒ ͚͊̓͒ ̵͔͗ͨ̃͗̂̔ y ̵͖͙̃͂ͨ̄ͦ ̦̜̩̫͑͊ͤͣͬͅͅ ̮̙̲̃͗̉ͬ ̄͒͊̚ ̹͆ͤ͐̽ͮ ͇ͧͩͥ͌ ͇̌ͬͧ̄̎̐͑ ̖̦͈̝̆ ̸̭ ̱̪̰ͯ̓ͩ̽̐ͫͬ ͕͐͗̓ͪ̇̍ ̇̔͐̓҉͉͙̙̞̤̬͎ ͎̥ͧ̎̽̈ͥͯͪ ͚͇̳͙̻̃ͪ̍ ̰̪̿ͩ̉͢ ̹̻̙̍ͪ̑̏ͣ ş̰̺̥̼͍̺ͨ̌̃̇͊̆t̲ͤͦ͌̒ͧ́a̰͈͙̅̈́̍ͯy̺̗̫̠͛̓̀̐ͥͥ͘


The rasping, distorted whisper reverberated in her mind, halting Mira in her tracks. She shuddered, feeling his grasp pulling at her thoughts. His presence, even so diminished, displayed his power. Power that she craved.

"Well," Mira said, recovering her composure—concealing her trembling. "I've changed my mind. We're staying."


̰͖̹̜͆̔ͣͫ̏̍͋ ̜̹̜͗̓̄̊ͮ͠ ̰ͮ͘ ͤ̈̉̈̇ͨ̚ ̭̭̙̟̦͔͚ ͠ ̷̥͗̀̇ͯͫ ̯̫͍̹̿̋ͥͦ͛͜ ̙̻̺̼̀̕ ̂̓͋ͩ ̴̦̰͖͔̺̅̾̏̈́̚ ̃͏͚ ̥̥͇͍̺̃ͭͮ̎͌ͬ ̳͕ͮ̎̑̓͢ ̘̣̤̼͊͒̽̑ͨ ͈̻̣̯̜̥̮͐̿̇ ̸̮̝̭͈̝̳̝̇̌ͬ̒ ̫̠́̇ͅ ȋ͖̳̱̳͍̳͕ͨ͑ͣt͖̟̱̰̙̉̒͊ͥͅ ̛̮̪̼͎̦̍̉͑͆ͪ̔͌b̭̰͍̜͚ͯͪͪ͆ͧe̗̜̳ͅg̣͖͉̪̗̠͍ͮ͂̌̿ĩ̭̦̰ͧͪ̑̂ͪ̚n̳̘̫̪̩̫̰͐͑ş̘̰͖ͩ̇ͪͥ


She turned away from her companions, cheeks hurting from the smirk that stretched her face. Mira had waited for this. She had waited a long, long time.

Her answering murmur was soft enough to be drowned out by the crackle of flames.

"And I am ever at your command."

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Zephyr was racking his brain for something... Anything! Anything that would remedy the situation. He honestly hadn't thought there would be a guard tonight. Especially one as uptight as Cron's sister... However, he was left in awe as Cron dispatched his sister so easily! Although, that didn't leave the group much time in terms of exploring...

"Cron you're a genius! Let's go everyone!" Zephyr called out. He turned towards Anton and grinned.

"Formation? Naw, let's just go," he replied dismissing his rather valid inquiry. Zephyr led the way through the tunnel leading to the main gate. Down and down they spiraled until finally the path opened up to a decent sized cavern. Large stalagmites hung from the ceiling looking intimidatingly sharp and small noises and echoes could be heard around them. At the back of the cavern lay the massive obsidian gate of Onryx Temple. Stairs of polished crystal led up to a rather intricate door with a mural of a ferocious black dragon.

Marina couldn't believe her eyes. The temple must be massive. The gate alone seemed to be larger than her family's home. The massive pillars and detail work were absolutely beautiful, and yet... a sinister aura hung in the air like a miasma. Something was horrible wrong. She was half tempted to pipe up and suggest we abandon this quest and go home, but Zephyr was already up the stairs and at the large intimidating door. He gave it an experimental nudge, but the door remained firmly locked in place. He tried again except this time using his wind for additional force. Nothing.

"Hmm... odd." Despite Zephyr's idiotic activities, he loved a good puzzle. He thoroughly enjoyed mulling over a challenge until he had successfully solved it. This temple was no different.

"Perhaps there's a mechanism somewhere..." Zeph was in full thinker mode now. None could stop him until that door was opened. Glancing around, he saw a waist high pedestal standing about twenty paces away from the massive door. He approached it and found a strange round disc embedded into the top of it made purely of crystal. An inscription lay below it in an unknown language. Marina came up behind Zephyr curious as to what he was looking at.

"What an odd language... If that's what it is. I've never seen anything like it before. Too bad we can't read it... Oh well, might as well head back. Great trip everyone now let's get-" She was cut off by Zephyr's glowing eyes and the sound of him translating the sentence.

"Jutar's Sight..." Zephyr had the rare gift of Jutar's Sight. A unique Aeromancy ability that allowed one to see the unseen. As Manara channeled through his eyes, the ancient words slowly began unraveling until he could make out the sentence.

"Only those born of the gods may traverse here. Prove thy heritage upon this altar. Huh. Well, if that's the case that's pretty self-explanatory." Zephyr blasted the pedestal with his wind, and Marina immediately interjected.

"Um, Zeph.. Not to burst your bubble or anything, but nothing's happen-" she was once again cut off by a loud click and the sound of grinding stone. The unmovable door was pulling back to reveal an elaborate, and rather wicked looking, entry hall. Zephyr grinned at Marina and blew her a kiss as he sauntered through the door and into the temple. Marina reluctantly followed seeing as the others were following after him. As soon as the last person stepped through, the door immediately shut behind them bathing them in darkness. Marina yelped.

"Where are the torches! Quick! Pyrrha! Cron! Give us some light! I can't see- Oh. Oh wow..." Marina's panicking was quickly forgotten as the room took on an iridescent glow from hundreds of clusters of light blue crystals. Pillars and statues lay lined up on either side of the Guardians; their features highlighted by the ethereal glow. Zephyr marveled as well at the scene. How could the Council keep us from such a magnificent place... He took one step before stopping dead in his tracks. Somewhere, down below, moans and growls and unholy noises drifted through the halls of gods only knows what. He turned to Mei and clapping a hand on his shoulder tapped his forehead in a silent request of assisting him with telepathy. With some mild concentration, Zephyr established a group mind conference link with the whole group.

"If you didn't hear, there are loud noises coming from unknown beasties. So, with Mei's help, we're going to be talking through telepathy from now on. I suggest you be careful what you think-I heard that!" With a nod of his head at the other Guardians, Zephyr led the way down into the spiraling labyrinth that is Onryx Temple.

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When the door open Leon simply shrugged off the sounds that emerged from the temple which made him curious growing up wild he knew about quite afew creatures but none made the sounds that came from this place. "Guess we're not going to be alone down there." he said ignoring what Marina had said while fighting back the urge to move ahead of every one else. Instead he moved up to the door and began sniffing the air 'damp earth various fungi nothing special on the surface but it seems things will change when we go farther in.' he thought looking around.

Met with crystals lighting the entrance of the temple Leon could see far enough to notice that the walls seem to have been naturally carved out with some damp moss lining the cracks and the crystals lighting up most of the tunnel making it easy to see probably better then what the torches would have provided. "Looks like no one's even opened this place in a century, maybe even longer." he stated before moving through the door doing his best not to disturb what ever ecosystem has been developing over the years while still keeping up with the rest of the group.

Hearing Zephyr in his mind Leon looked back after passing him shortly when he stopped. "Since we have no clue what's waiting for us in here might I suggest a scouting party. Which should consist of myself, air head, metal man, and fire pit." He said pointing at Zephyr, Pyrrha, and Anton individually. "Every one else should follow after but keep a good distance back." he added before adding onto his train of thought. "These three have a better chance of not getting caught then every one else here. Although air head here is pushing that line." he stated adding sarcasm to the last sentence while tapping Zephyr on the forehead with the knuckle of his left hands index finger.

"As much as I respect you rain drop I honestly don't think you could keep up, Fire breath there doesn't exactly look ready to be sneaking around, Stone face makes too much noise with the armor he carries with him at all times, and we need the mad scientist here to make sure you guys get the message that it's safe to move." He stated picking up a small stone and juggling it in his palm afew times before putting it in his back pocket. "I'm just throwing that out there, I may not be one for parties and such, but I know a thing or two about survival." He said moving farther into darkness before his form vanished. "But if that's too much to ask I can go on ahead and scout the place out myself." Leon continued waiting to see who would pick up that he just made himself invisible. "All you'd have to do is follow the markings I leave behind."