Deva, Temple of Treachery

Chapter 10

The days seem to repeat themselves as Vihaan and Amara did the same thing over and over again. They woke up, ate, went exploring, came back, ate and went to sleep only to wake up and do it again. The place was filled with dark, stone hallways to grand golden temple rooms, but nothing gave any new information. All it seemed to do was lead them around as their slowly expanding map seemed to cave into itself like it was a maze.

"This place did not look this big from the outside, what is going on?" Amara grumbled as they entered a grand room filled with large columns filled with reliefs of Asuras and Devas fighting. In the center was a giant bronze sculpture of a four-armed man, carrying a man, with a large mustache, clothes of a king and the grin of a devil. Unlike many of the other Asura's though, this one looked mostly human but Amara recognized him as Andhaka's uncle and previous king, Hiranyakashipu. The father of Prahlada who was killed by Vishnu to save Prahlada from his tyranny.

"Another Asura," Vihaan muttered, looking around as he pulled out his gun.

"Why are you pulling out that thing?" Amara asked, her voice sounding degrading but her heart beat like a runaway horse. Vihaan nodded to something on the floor. A extinguished campfire. Amara walked slowly over, her eyes peering behind the large collumns of enemies before she reached down to feel the coal. "It is cold, the camp is-"

She silenced when she reached over to snatch up a piece of paper. It was crumbled, clearly ripped out of a notebook. "Vihaan!"

Vihaan hushed her, but walked over to watch what she was reading. "Anything interesting?"

"It's Amos!"

"How can you-"

"I recognized his penmanship," Amara eagerly pulled out her own notebook, pulling out a page written by Amos and compared the two. It was his, without a doubt. Those stern strokes with a dramatic swirl at the end. That was him. "He must be here, Vihaan!"

"Why would he be here?" Vihaan asked, his word hinting on his disbelief but his eyes was already searching for the professor.

"There would be no way he would leave me buried in a tomb. Not after..." taking a deep breath as memories flooded back to her. "Not after my father being buried."

Vihaan's eyes flickered for a moment as hesitation overtook him before his eyes hardened, "This place is huge, let's split up. Try not to call out since we aren't sure that professor Graycrest is okay. He might be captive and we don't want to signal the mercenaries to our location."

"Or something worse," Amara muttered but Vihaan didn't seem to hear her as he walked of to the right, while Amara walked to the left. The room seemed to be endless as Amara couldn't see the end of it. Sculpture of horrid creatures, Amara assumed was Asuras, adorned the pillars. Many of them broken after years of eroding.

A sound echoed in the hallway and Amara hesitated for a second, before raising her voice. "Amos?"

She winced when her voice echoed along the walls, not having meant to shout. "Vihaan?" Her voice was now shaking as every fiber in her body told her that this was no place to be alone. The darkness seemed to enclose her and without hesitation, she turned to run only to stare into two grey eyes and a gun barrel against her face.

"The lost lamb is back," Silas said coldly. His eyes already scouring the area for her companion.

"The mercernaries are her, Viha-" Raising her voice to shout as loudly as she could, the empty space carrying it far, but a hand muffled her mouth and anger flashed in Silas's eyes.

"Are you mad, woman? You will bring down demons upon us," he hissed between clenched teeth. Now being close enough to see that he was covered in scotch marks. He didn't seem harmed, but his clothes was dirty with ash, and he had a scratch mark on his face. Amara also noticed that he seemed to be alone.