War of Six Armies (Thirteenth of The Blue)

IV

GEIKI CANNOT TAKE HIS eyes off his best friend who was marveled about the place. She was like a kid who poses at different angles while Geiki gamely took pictures of her as they toured in and out of the main temple complex. If she is not posing for a shoot, she is the one taking photos of almost everything.

It is hours since they began the tour and they found themselves wandering towards an artificial lake at the very front of the main building complex. Seeing Leigh caught in a marvel of joy, he forgot what they are here for. He almost believed they are ordinary tourists until it came back on him.

He looked at his wristwatch, '3PM.' It is nearly sundown and nothing is still happening. He knows there is a need to collect the second gem just to jump on another plane towards somewhere on the globe for the next piece.

"Any ideas what the second guardian looks like?"

"Its called Lyphhe," Cherry gamely answered as they stop near the water where Leigh took more photos around.

"A leaf?" Geiki gave a silly grin. "And it thrives via photosynthesis? I wonder how it will kill those who attempts to get their hands on the gem it guards. It throws plenty of leaves towards its opponents and they die because of annoyance of being thrown about?"

"Silly," the angel stepped near and gave her a soft slap. Geiki noticed that her hand stayed on his check longer than a usual slap. He felt an electrified knot that formed in his chest and wished the palm does not go away instantly. But then, Cherry pulled it back. "It's Lypphe, L-Y-P-P-H-E."

"Oh," Geiki acknowledged. "What does it do? Curse or bores enemies to death?"

"Its the water gem guardian and is faceless and formless like its element. It takes any form and typically does a lot of things. It can be big at a time then small the next."

"This Lypphe, have you seen it?"

"Not yet, but information about the guardian of the gem have been studied since the Grand Apocalypse was shattered. We have bits of information how each guardians will look like but I will be blunt to tell you that aside from that little data we have, we can offer you nothing."

"So how do you collect your intel?"

"For how many years, we captured those who circled around you. Some of them gamely gave information in exchange for freedom. A slow progress indeed, but we managed to patch all the informations to picture out what we, or you, will be facing. What gem each creature guards and how do they function when armed at the pommel of the sword."

The group decided to move on and Leigh decided to consult internet to look what more Angkor Wat region has to offer. She was swiping and tapping on her mobile phone with excitement erupting from her eyes. She was looking at photos of the Siem Reap that are posted on the internet.

The place has a stucture that resembles a long building, more accurately, ruins of what used to be beautiful structures in the formation of an "L." In one of the structures, the longer one, an old tree grew through it, destroying a parts of the building. From the looks of the tree, it could be more than two centuries old sustained with the evidence of monstrous roots that broke through the concrete structure. What was once a structure that houses key persons in the hindu religion was now decimated into ruins. But the old air around it with the haunting feeling, plus the overgrown tree that thrived in what may be the wrong place, made the spot ab attraction for tourists for unknown reasons. Maybe it is the tree that attracts them.

"Wow!" Leigh said sticking an index finger between her lips and softly bit on her nails. "Angkor Wat has this? I think I have seen this place."

Geiki started walking towards her and noticed at the corners of his eyes that the angels scatter about the place. He gazed on Leigh's phone from her back and stare at the photos as his friend swiped in between the photos. "Isn't that the place were Lara Croft chased the wandering spirit of a girl in the first Tomb Raider?"