Earth Faires

Chapter 8: Temple

Harmony got up and started packing everything up. "Harmony, tell me what happened. Harmony, listen to me. You can't just go out in the middle of night," Dante protested.
"Fine, I will tell you what happened. I had a nightmare where we fought the Dark Lord and lost. It was all because of me. I shot the arrow that killed you because I was selfish. I killed you. You! It seemed so real. I'm going to put you and myself  endangered if I stay. That's why I'm leaving," Harmony explained.
"It was just a nightmare. That's not a good enough reason to leave, Harmony. Why don't we talk about this in the morning," Dante tried to reason with her.
"Nope, I'm leaving right now. Sapphire get your saddle we're leaving this place," Harmony told Sapphire.
Sapphire got up from her slumber and went to her saddle. "I'm not letting you leave this place if that's the last thing I do. There's poisonous snakes, scorpions, cacti, and quick sand. You could die from either one of them," Dante said as he grabbed her arm.
"Let go of me!" Harmony yelled.
"Sorry, Harmony. I have to do this," Dante apologized.
"Dante, what are you going to do?" Harmony asked.
Dante looked at the ground and went silent. He lifted his and looked into her eyes. Before she could react Dante tackled her to the ground. Harmony struggled to break free but Dante was stronger. He grabbed some rope and tied her arms and legs together. He threw her over his shoulder and carried her back to her bed. "I told you we would talk about this in the morning. Now get some sleep Harmony," Dante said as he walked to his bed.
Dante crawled in his blanket and slept. Harmony tried to bite through the rope but it didn't work. She gave up and went to sleep.

<<<~~~~>>>

"Wake up sleepyhead. Time to wake up. The sun is about to rise. We need as much light as we can get to travel. I'll take those ropes off if you promise not to run away?" Dante asked.
"Fine, I will do anything," Harmony begged.
"Okay, kiss me and I'll take them off," Dante joked.
"Pucker up lover boy," Harmony said as she puckered up.
"Hahahahaha," they laughed together like Dante didn't tie her up.
"But seriously, take these off me now," Harmony shot a stern look.
Dante took his dagger and cut the rope. Harmony stretched her legs and arms out. "Let's get going. We keep on going north," Harmony pointed out.
Dante, Harmony, and Sapphire got their stuff and hurried off. They walked until the sun was at the highest point. Harmony collapsed into a big pile of sweat. "Dante, I can't walk any farther. Look at my wings, they're crinkling. And I can't feel my legs and I'm dehydrated. Can I have some water?" Harmony complained.
Dante gave her the canister that held the water. Harmony tilted the canister over her lips. Nothing came out. "It's empty. How else can I stay cool?" Harmony asked.
"Let me see, you could take your jacket off. It's super hot out and you're still wear a jacket," Dante answered.
"I am not going to take my jacket off. I will get sun burnt. Here am I just really hot not getting burnt. And there is you cool but getting totally sunburned," Harmony explained.
"Get up and start walking. I sure there's water somewhere," Dante promised.
Harmony got up and started slowly trudging over the hill that laid before them. Dante was faster at climbing but always waited for Harmony to catch up. At the very top of the mountain Dante yelled, "Harmony look! There is a river which means water!"
They ran down the mountain as fast as their feet could carry them. Harmony tripped and fell. She landed on Dante and they tumbled down the mountain into the river. They laughed and splashed each other in the river. Sapphire bucked in the water happily. "I can't believe that we found water," Harmony laughed.
Harmony scooped up some water and drank it. "We should get out or we will get all this good water sandy," Dante explained.
They got out of the water soaked. Harmony squeezed some water out of her clothes. Sapphire shook herself dry. They went past the river and kept on walking. "So, Harmony how are we going to defeat the Dark Lord? We are just two people with weapons when he has magic and an army. It's like one in a million chance," Dante asked.
"Actually, I haven't thought that far. Now that you mention it, I have an idea. There is a secret trail in one of the mountains that we could go through. The kings and queens made that tunnel when they forced the Dark Lord from the normal world. It goes to the prison where we can free the Meif'was. While you free them I'll go poison all his food. He'll grow weak but not die. That sounds like a good enough plan, right?" Harmony told Dante.
"That sounds like a good plan. One thing is, where will you get the poison from Harmony," Dante questioned.
"We'll have to catch the most poisonous snake. The Slitheren Vilpi. It lives in the Galo Temple where the Sun Fairies lived before they became extinct. The temple is in this exact dessert. Let's get going to that temple. The temple is west from where we are. Come on, let's go," Harmony said.
Dante and Sapphire followed Harmony through the desert. After walking for awhile a stone path started to show.  They walked a little farther to see the Galo Temple. The Galo Temple had bricks falling off the walls. It was covered in sand and it was tilting to one side. "Here it is. It's worn down but we can still access it. I'll take the upstairs you take the downstairs. If you find the snake call out to me," Harmony explained.
"Got it. Let's get exploring," Dante agreed.
"Sapphire, you stay here and guard the door," Harmony ordered.
Sapphire nodded. Dante and Harmony went into the Galo Temple. They departed ways so they could cover more ground. Harmony walked through the hallway of the upstairs. Spiders crawled all over the walls. Harmony held the lantern over a painting. The painting was of the fairies pushing the Dark Lord out of this world. "Whoa, that's harsh. I better keep moving forward," Harmony judged.
Harmony hiked across the rumble as she just looked at a painting. A creak from a piece of wood came from behind Harmony. She spun around quickly to see where the sound came from. "Hello. Is anyone there?" Harmony asked.
A ginormous snake head popped out from a pile of rubble. Its eyes were foggy and had razor sharp fangs. Harmony screamed and ran away from the snake. She jumped over a pile of junk but a hole was on the other side. Harmony fell through the hole onto the main floor."Hahaha! I found this dead snake skin downstairs. Are you alright? You took a big fall," Dante laughed.
"I'm alright, but something's wrong. I can sense it in the air. I'm going to check it out," Harmony said worriedly.
Harmony left Dante and went to the main entrance. Wind blew the sand into the temple. Dante came over to Harmony and questioned, "What's happening?"
"A sandstorm. These can last ten minutes or one to two days. By the looks of it, were going to be here awhile. Sapphire come on in, it's not safe to be out there," Harmony explained.