The Life I Gained From Dying

Chapter 8 - The Guardian of Aestus

"So this is the gate of pride?" Damien asked. "It's much closer to Aestus than I thought it would be."

The gate is embedded into the side of a cliff face that was just outside of the mountain range that surrounded Lake Aestus. The frame of the gate reached just about two stories tall and had the width of a two lane street. Peculiar markings and shapes covered the frame and a diamond shape blue rock was sticking out of the frame. Elder Treya approached the blue rock to examine it.

"The rune is still intact." She said. "Everything is as it should be here. If the young man wishes, he can undergo this trial upon our return to Aestus."

"If you don't mind me asking Elder Treya, but how does this work." Ty asked.

"To be honest, I don't know. I've never seen it been used before. All I know are the stories. People that enter came out a broken version of their former self. They lose all of their ambition, motivation, confidence... they lose their pride. Out of the seven gates this is the one that is feared the most."

"It does no harm to you physically but the mental toll seems to be quite frightening." Elder Faye added. "Are you sure about letting him do this sister?"

"It's best for him to do this one first so we can appropriately tend to the damage that's done before he leaves Aestus." Treya replied.

"Alright, I'll trust your judgment sister."

"So where to next?" Treya asked.

"The Redwoods. I believe we can find whoever used the lake of Lazarus there."

.....

Meanwhile in Aestus. Droplets of water rained down from the lake above and showered the village.

"It rains down here?" Kaden asked.

"Randomly the rune that keeps the lake suspended above would weaken and allow some of the water to fall like this." Mai replied.

"It doesn't happen often but we enjoy when it does." Kuria added.

"Doesn't it scare you?" Kaden asked looking up.

"Why would it?" Kumori questioned.

"What if one day that entire lake came crashing down onto the village. The people have nowhere to escape to, and I doubt they'll have anytime to react. The thought of that would keep me up at night if I lived here for a long time."

"Thankfully we don't have to think about that since it isn't an issue." Mai replied. "The lake's being held up by a rune that was placed by one of the ancient deities. It's more than strong enough to function for an eternity without breaking."

"Those deities again huh?"

"You don't believe it?" Mai asked.

"Everything I've seen in this world has been hard to believe, but ancient beings that can create a sun and stop an entire lake of water from falling is absurd to me."

"Well then I guess we can show you." Mai stated.

"Show me, what exactly?"

"Ouuu, can I tell him the story Miss Mai?!" Kumori asked.

"Sure Kumo, you can tell it while we're walking. Kenzo we're ending early today."

"Understood. I have to catch up with the other guards so I'll be leaving you."

"No problem Kenzo, thanks for your time." Mai replied.

He doesn't do anything but watch anyway. Kaden thought.

"Follow us stranger, we're going to show you something special. You can start the story Kumo."

"What's this story about?" Kaden asked.