The Blood Moon Killer

Chapter 11: The Temple

"Hang on!" Jet yelled as he dove into the cracks, Whiteout latching onto him and trying to make herself as areo-dynamic as possible as he used his fire and superior senses (smell from his Mudwing half) to know where everything is and avoid any obstacles.

Very soon, he tilted his body backwards and slowed their descent and landed on the floor "and they stick the landing! Thank you thank you, you are all too kind." He said, bowing to some unknown dragon. Whiteout slid off his back and looked around. "Here, I have some night vision so I can guide us a little." "Perfect!" Jet said, blowing another small flame to have some sight. He grabbed her front claw and held it. "Let's go find the others."

Whiteout led them trough the small cave-like hallway "they must've went ahead to find an exit. Thankfully, Kelp can see in the dark so he and Aardvark would be fine... For the most part." She noted to herself, "my dude can see in the dark? Neat! And all I can do is cook and fly fast." "Aaand have really hot fire." Whiteout added, tilting her head towards him even if he couldn't see. Jet puffed up his chest and grinned "haha! Yes! Hot fire! All the best cooking is mine! I'M SUCH A BIG STAR!"

"No, that would be your ego." Whiteout retorted with a snort, causing Jet to laugh "call it whatever you want. But this is who I am!"

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After a little bit of walking, Whiteout stopped them "Aardvark! Kelp! Can you hear me?" She called out, but there was no response. Whiteout yelled for the boys again, but there was still nothing. Jet grumbled at Whiteout's feeble attempt and ushered her out of his way with his wing. "they're not gonna hear you like that. Watch this." Walking forward and taking a deep breath, Jet screamed as loud as he could:

"CAN I GET A 'HOYYAAAAH'!?"

After a few seconds of only hearing the echo, they heard a response "hoyyaaaah!" "That's Aardvark!" Jet said, grabbing Whiteout and putting her on his back "guide me." Jet went into the air and flew as fast as he could as Whiteout navigated them around rocks and debris. "Stop! I see them! They're right up ahead!" Jet stretched his wings and put his claws on the ground to help him screech to a halt.

Jet's talons scraped the ground as he stopped. When the noise quieted, he heard some heavy breathing "Jet? Whiteout?" Kelp asked, looking at them. "Thank the moons we found you both!" Whiteout said, getting off of Jet's back and running to the boys to hug them "we're alright. Just a bit shaken." Aardvark said, wrapping his wing around her and Kelp did the same.

"Jet, I found a torch that you could light." The Sea/Rain hybrid announced, grabbing the thick wooden stick and brought it to his friend. Kelp grabbed his friend's claw and placed the torch there and Jet was able to feel it and the light it. The flame grew very bright for a moment before dimming down and lighting up the small section they were in. "Much better." Jet said, smiling at the fire.

 Looking around the room, he noticed an old door at the end of the hallway "let's go." He said, pushing past the rest as he led them to the large door. It was very grand and looked like it had been carved from the rocks. There was the same rune on the front of the door but the background looked like a mural of a bunch of Nightwings looking up at said symbol.

"Definitely some kind of religion." Aardvark said, putting his claw on the door "so they were... Moon worshipers?" Whiteout voiced, turning her head to Aardvark "but then why would it need to be hidden?" Kelp asked. "Not sure." The Sandwing answered as he put both his claws on the door and began to push. Whiteout and Kelp helped too while Jet provided words of support.

With a mighty heave, they got the door open. They entered the room and Jet looked on the walls and noticed the torches hanging from the celling and lining the perimeter. Blowing fire at each one, the room it up. It was big enough to hold about fifty fully grown dragons. There were rows and rows of seats one after the other that led to the front where some kind of altar was. At the back of it was another mural but it looked more like stained glass. The glass mimicked the door but it was in greater detail.

"It's... Very neat." Whiteout remarked, looking around "it's like it's been perfectly preserved for the past.... Ever." "Yeah." Kelp agreed, walking around. On one wall, there were a multitude of shelves with scrolls on them. Taking on and gently dusting it he opened the scroll and began to read.

"Sermon recording. Moon Drop: Clearmind, Starchildren: Ceres, Cometcatcher, Suneater, Stargazer. All present." "'Moon Drop'? 'Starchildren'? 'All present'? What in the mountains does that mean?" Jet asked, reading over Kelp's shoulder. 

"If it is some kind of religion, then I'm assuming a 'Moon Drop' is the priest and the 'Starchildren' are the servers? Then that would mean that everyone was there when mass started," "Okay, but then what kind of religion is this?" Whiteout asked, as she began to examine the stained glass mural.

Aardvark walked over to the alter and looked at it. The first thing he noticed was that the top of the alter was faded. Compared to the legs that were dark oak wood, the top looked like it had been a maple tree and it looked stained. Leaning down, he sniffed it but quickly turned his head back "ugh this reeks!" Jet quickly ran over and pushed Aardvark aside and examined the table "there's a bunch of red stains." The Sky/Mud hybrid leaned down and took a big deep breath. "Blood." He whispered. "There's blood on this, layers and layers of blood. Could this be some kind of cow sacrifice?" He questioned to himself, looking at Aardvark who continued his search of the altar.

He stopped once he noticed a drawer. It took some force, but once he opened it he noticed some cobwebs around a scroll. He grabbed it and dusted it off. Taking a deep breath, the young Sandwing opened it and began to read. Once he got to a certain paragraph he called out "listen to this!"

"And when the moon began to bleed, and stars shown no more, out from the crying ground came Our Savior. He swallowed the sun and ate the light, and allowed the darkness to rule the night. When blade meets flesh in this sacred rite, we pay our tribute to Our Savior: Scarletnight."

"That's deep." Jet said "but what does it mean by 'the moon began to bleed'?" Continuing to read, Aardvark came across the symbol again. He looked at the symbols all around the room and noticed the difference in the Nightwings in the paintings and on the murals. Instead of the silver scales they had lining them, they were replaced by blood red scales. He then looked back at the symbol and where it stood. Then he read the poem again. 

"'Moon began to bleed'... The moon." He said as he realized. "This is a religion about the moon but a very specific one. The Blood Moon. And judging by the blood stains and the small pictures of the rituals here.... They were sacrificing something. Or worse, someone."