The Luna Temple: Earth #1

The Entrance

~~~SILAS~~~

Half an hour to go till we reach the temple and an hour before sun down and there's not even the sound of birds. Every second that passes we get closer to that Earth Temple. Every second that passes I get more and more paranoid. I feel eyes drilling into the back of my neck. This is the first time I wish not to have my question answered. I hear something far ahead and my fingers tighten around the reins, which I didn't think was possible only a few seconds ago. I can tell Ryder heard it too. He is far more relaxed. Luna doesn't seem bothered and a few minutes later I understand why. A waterfall.

"Are you both good at riding?" Luna asks, it's the first anyone has talked for almost an hour. A record for me.

"Good, it was part of our training." Ryder says with a huff.

"I think we should speed up. We are getting close." Luna's words make me think that we are being watched. All three of our horses start galloping as fast as they can. They set off so fast that I can't help but wonder if they sensed something dangerous close by. We reach a stream and slow to a stop, Luna jumps down and puts her hand in the water.

"I think the waterfall is about ten minutes away." She tells us.

"And the temple?" Ryder asks.

"The temple is somewhere near the waterfall, I want to get there before the sun sets so we can spend the next day looking." She explains as she mounts her horse again.

"We'll keep riding at a fast pace until we get there. Maybe we can start the search today."

And with that, my hopes crush. My back is aching badly and my legs are much worse. This is the worst I've ever felt. I had thought these two hours would be better then staying at that village, I was wrong.

We enter a clearing after ten torturing minutes. About three hundred yards ahead is a rock face casting a long shadow to the right, about ten kilometres high and, by the looks of it, difficult to climb. There is a lake right in front of the mountain size rock with a roaring waterfall creating a white mist over the lake. The place would look beautiful if I wasn't scared for my life, I feel less paranoid then I was before but I can't seem to shake the feeling off. Calm down. I keep repeating in my head but it isn't working.

I just hope the entrance is on this side of the lake, I don't want to be on the dark side of this place. The sun is already beginning to set. No time to look for the entrance today. Thank god, I think as I get off the horse.

I collect some wood, Ryder looks for some rocks to start the fire and Luna feeds the horses. I put the wood in a little pyramid and Ryder lights it. The horses are left near the bank of the lake as Luna comes back with three blankets and the maps. We all study the maps with the faint light from the fire.

"I don't think we'll find anything. Each map shows the same thing." I say.

We decided to give up and take turns keeping watch. I'd be the last to keep watch though I'm sure I'll be awake most of the night. I'm positive that if something was going to happen on this trip then it would have happened.

~¤~¤~¤~¤~

"Silas." I hear someone whisper in my ear, shaking me awake. Who's disturbing me now? I think in my head before rolling over and mumbling a string of curses.

"What do I have to do to get some sleep once in a while?" I mumble to the person above me who snickers at me in reply.

I feel cold fingers touch my forehead gently and words whispered into my ear. After the person is done, the area is filled with a painful silence. Which is then filled with the familiar sound of my nightmare. A beast. A jellyfish...

"Ahhhhhh...!" I shout getting up from my nightmare to see Luna standing above me, arms crossed, with a smirk plastered on her face.

"OMG! How's those jellyfish working out for you?" Ryder asks after he finishes laughing beside me.

"Shut up!" I reply, hitting him in the stomach before standing up and looking round. "Why'd you wake me up?" I ask them. If glares could kill, they'd both be on the floor, dead.

"Come on jellyfish, Luna thinks she knows where the entrance is." Ryder says, chuckling to himself as he gets up off the floor and stands beside me. I get up and walk past them as if nothing happened.

"So, where is it?" I ask Luna as she walks past me and heads towards the waterfall. Ryder follows her silently and I behind Ryder.

"According to most of the maps the entrance is supposed to be behind the waterfall so we should look there first." She replies. We followed Luna to the waterfall, please let us not have to go through the water. Obviously, Luna had to follow the path that led under the waterfall...