Skylands Legends

16.2 A Broken Temple

Upon splitting up to cover more ground, Jet Vac had immediately headed to the back of the temple. He found the great stairs at the end of the central hall and activated his jet pack. He kept low to the steps to remain out of sight and circled up towards the top. He figured that if the Ancients had stayed anywhere in the temple, it would be at its highest point.

After fifteen minutes of silent flying, he finally reached his destination.

He landed softly on the highest step and strode onto the terrace. He ran his hand across the railing, picking up dust along the way before shaking it off. He looked down at the area below and spotted a tiny blue dot running between the aisles of bookshelves. A dot that he assumed to be Pop Fizz.

Returning his attention to the task at hand, he pulled a glow bulb out of his pack and activated it. The light flickered on, illuminating the surrounding terrace that circled around the top floor. A great door stood beside him at the steps, at least fifteen feet in height.

Jet Vac held the glowbulb up to it, revealing an engraved image of a man on the door. He wore a large duster over a tucked in button up shirt. Boots edged with spurs covered the hem of his pants, stretching up just shy of his knees. A short rifle and a whip were attached at both of his hips and a wide brimmed hat adorned his head. He was a handsome man, with a comforting smile and a relaxed feeling in his eyes, like he was a man in complete control of his surroundings. Jet Vac immediately had the feeling that his presence alone commanded respect.

He took a step past the door and looked further along the terrace. Doors just like this one circled all around the floor. Including the one he was in front of, he counted twenty in total. One for each of the Ancients.

Jet Vac began circling around, checking the engraved images on each of the doors. He saw an elven woman with her hair done up in elaborate braids, another woman with wavy hair that went down to her shoulders and a great halo of light over her head, two men that looked exactly the same on consecutive doors, the only difference being one had dark hair while the other had blonde. And a dark furred beast.

He lingered on the Night Squatch's door for a moment. The engraving didn't make him look that monstrous or even angry, instead he seemed... happy. His eyes looked wise rather than rage-filled, his bared teeth looked more like a smile one would have while out with friends rather than his usual sneer.

Jet Vac felt the anger welling up within him again and quickly turned away. He took a deep breath and continued on down his path. He no longer paused to study each door, instead taking hurried glances to see which was Crimson's.

He passed another four doors before hearing a loud clang from within one. In an instant, his vac gun was drawn and aimed at the door. Everything was quiet. The door in question had an image of a large jackal headed man holding a great crescent tipped staff.

After a moment, Jet Vac hesitantly stepped closer to the image and pushed on it. The heavy door slowly swung open. Holding up the glowbulb, he entered the large room.

Jet Vac peered around for a moment before deciding nothing was inside. It was then that he actually noticed what decorated the room. Everything was made of gold. The floor, the tables, the chairs, the bed frame — everything in the room was either pure gold or gold lined.

"Clouds," he muttered. "This room is worth a fortune."

He lowered his gun and strode back out onto the terrace. Looking towards the next one, he saw red lining its door frame and rushed over to it. Stopping outside the room, he looked over the image engraved on the door. The creature depicted on its surface looked almost like a dragon. There were just enough differences, though, to tell it was something different. First of all, his arms and wings were connected, having a point where his hands extended from a joint halfway down the wing's edge. His face protruded forward as a long and slender beak. And a great crest balanced his head out from the back.