Sky: The Travels of Nirabata

[5] THE TEMPLE

      Nirabata woke up feeling numb across his body. He stretched a bit as he looked around, finding the spirit sitting by the table making more candles. He exhaled wearily, stood up, brushed off his clothes, and walked out of the cave. There was no change, the fog was still thick, and no matter what, he had to continue on his way.

      He returned to what had blocked his way before, finding that now there was no need to touch the transparent surface to see the constellation on it. The day before he had not realized that the barrier was in the middle of two pillars, which made it a kind of gate.

      He lit his flame and brought it close to the thin barrier that slowly burned and vanished into small embers that flew in different directions. He stretched out his hand, making sure he could move forward; indeed, nothing stood in his way now.

      Nirabata took a couple of steps, scaled a rock, and walked on the rising surface; a staircase with steps that are too wide and long. At the end of the ascent, a winged light was guarded by a pair of rocks, each with a metallic bell on it. The metal looked worn and dull, but some engravings were still visible.

      Taking the winged light was the same process, as if his body had to adapt to the new energy; and right after, the bells of the temple resounded all over the Island again, only now they were heard closer.

      Excited, he tried to take a step, but later he realized that he was on the edge of the precipice and he fell, although it was only for a fraction of a second, because the next moment he was violently driven by the wind. He instinctively stretched out his arms and tried to keep his balance, his cloak billowing behind him and from time to time he felt him drop abruptly and then resume flight. It didn't matter if he kept his eyes open or closed either, the fog didn't allow him to see where he was going.

      Suddenly a rock appeared in front of him. He managed to duck and avoid it, but then the ground appeared in front of his face. It was a forced landing and very painful. What luck. He was a little thankful for that mask that covered his face, he was sure that if it wasn't for it, his face would have been broken from his first fall.

      After recovering a bit from the blow, he stood and looked up. The fog, being less dense, allowed him to see the huge temple that loomed like a giant in front of him, it was so high that he couldn't see where it ended. He also noticed that the sun was dimly illuminating the edges of the building, confirming that it was daytime.

      Nirabata saved the wonder for later and crossed the threshold of the temple, which was just as huge, and walked down a short corridor. If he wasn't wrong, the girl and the woman he saw with the spirit were heading to this place. Now he had to discover what purpose it had, the girl looked very happy with her fate.

      He entered an empty room. It was slightly dark, so he lit his flame to illuminate a bit. On the ground there was rubble and brush, it was a sad scene to see. He explored a bit, finding on the left side, some candles on a three-oared boat carved out of a rock. He turned them on and instantly the wall showed him a mural full of clouds where three temples appeared. That didn't tell him much.

      Nirabata headed to the other side of the room where he found more candles on another rock-carved boat. Those candles also showed him a similar drawing, three castles, only these seemed bigger and stranger; one of them looked like a simple complex as tall as a tower and the one at the top was only made up of several vertical bars. If asked, he would say that it looked ostentatious and perhaps indicated some kind of danger.

      The boy looked around and realized that several birds had been drawn on the top of the walls, perhaps at the time he lit the candles. Now everything was slightly illuminated, and that allowed him to see that at the end of the room there was a door. Oddly enough, it made him a little uneasy to think of what he would find on the other side, although he certainly didn't know what was there.