the garden within the wasteland

ACT 2, PART 5

As I continued my path away from the shanty town, carrying Jamukha's twin blades with a rope attached to my back, I had many questions to ask Baldwin, and each question I demanded to know, he deflected or gave even more vague answers than usual. one of the many lessons he instilled within my mind. "A knight knows what tasks can't be solved with his abilities and thus turns his blade away from it," and I enacted the advice and stopped my questioning. The road underneath my feet had grown more into a concept than a physical thing; it's all I've known these past hours, and if it's the only thing I knew my entire life, I wouldn't have minded either, but every path must eventually end, and before me stood that tall mountain, a small city laid inside of it. The buildings of it appeared hidden at first, before the moonlight had invoked them to glow and shine from the accessories placed upon them, and the path leading from where I stood to the inside of the city seemed nearly formed. I remembered the guiding words of the alchemist; he had yet to lead me astray, so I followed his word once more and carried on to the gates that read proudly Azthryua. The moon stood tall and proud; it was clear it wouldn't leave the sky for another couple of hours. The silent wind around me, blessed by the everlasting coldness of the moon, appeared to place the entire town in a lullaby, for even the guards appeared to be asleep. As I entered the town surrounded by all the buildings made of stone and rocks and superimposed jewels and puffs of paint and color, a sense of calm fell over me. the calmness that infected this city and devoured it whole. It bothered me that no one was present, no one to greet me or guide me, and no one to stop me if I had the intention to go into each person's house and rob them blind, but in truth I was starting to grow annoyed. I hated traveling at night, and here is the final destination of my journey, with no place for me to rest or clear my heavy mind. I looked up to the moon, hoping to borrow whatever mass calming factor it entrapped this city in. And when that proved to be as worthless as staring at the moon to solve my problems, I decided to find a place to sit at least. I was no stranger to long nights under the moon without sleep. And so I began to walk. I felt no different wandering the streets of this massive, strange yet comforting town than when I was wandering the barren waste that lay outside the mountains that served as a veil for the city, but as I walked, I came across an uncommon sight. a light, not one gifted by the moon. But a human-made light, the light emitted out a signal from a nearby temple, though I'm unsure if temple is the correct word, in contrast to all the buildings built from stone, this building was built into the mountain itself. The door to the temple wasn't closed. Due to the lack of something to close it with, I approached it with caution, and as I reached the door, I heard a voice echo from inside.

"Leave your shoes by the door, traveler. Shoes attract evil demons, and this is a house of worship."

"I'm just looking for a place to rest for the night." I returned my call as I stood still in my place.

"And my temple is home to all. Do not worry about the evil spirits; they will perish the second they enter this place." The figure called out once more, appearing to be in a daze, stopping him from appearing before me.

"If the temple kills all evil spirits that enter, then why not bring my shoes indoors and kill the demons following me?" I decided to question him with his own logic. and he responded with a simple chuckle.

"to give them a fair chance to fight back."

He sounded more confident and proud with his second statement. I found his logic idiotic, with my best intentions to the man offering his house to a stranger. and delusional at worst, but deciding to avoid more conversation, I left my shoes by the door as I entered.

"Must I also leave my swords outside?" I questioned once more as I stared around the area. The temple was empty. just a single long carpet divided into lines by the lines and images imprinted on the carpet itself. And on the other end of the door, a single podium and a door to the far right of the wall next to it. The man stood cross-legged with his back to the wall. He was dressed in a long white thobe as shiny and pure in color as his eyes that he glanced at me with. His eyes were a pure, shining white, with no pupils or any other details. just a pure shine of holy white color.