Shadow Honor - Book 1 of The Trial

Shadow Honor - 19

"By life itself!" Grim exclaimed in awe as they stepped into the room. "Do you know where we are, Dogo?"

The supports for the tunnel they stood in had been set by an expert at the craft. As if the architecture wasn't impressive enough on its own, the walls were decorated in intricate pictures depicting various scenes. The largest was of a bat-winged humanoid with two large horns extending out of the back of its skull, with an urn of water that it held upturned, with the water flowing out and becoming a great river. The two sides of the river were distinctly different from each other, with one showing cities and villages populated by cheering people, and the other side showed strange beasts who seemed to be cursing those on the other side. As Maxthane searched the beasts his eyes settled on one in particular; a large, bipedal creature with bull-like horns and four eyes. The resemblance to the demon that Maxthane had been bonded to was uncanny.

"Enlighten me, Grim," Dogo replied. "I have no idea what this is, though it is certainly fascinating."

"This is the lost Temple of Naxthul, the Shadowtide," Grim explained reverently, as he approached the painting and ran the fingers of his good arm gently across the surface.

"Lost Temple of Naxthul?" Dogo asked, sharing a look with Maxthane who shrugged at the question. "What is Naxthul?"

"He was once revered as the God of our world," Grim replied, resting his hand on the face of the bat-winged horned humanoid. "Before I became involved in the demon disaster, I studied ancient cultures extensively. Look here," he gestured to a portion of the painting that showed a humanoid figure standing at the base of a pillar, with several much smaller humanoid figures standing beside it. "I'm betting the golem down below us was protecting this place, possibly even from demons, if the rest of this picture is any indication. It was said that Naxthul became a god by fending off a demon invasion."

"So this isn't the first time that the demons have been to our world?" Dogo asked. "Why didn't you bring that up sooner?"

"This is the first time I've ever seen proof of it," Grim explained with a reverent sigh. "I searched for a long time to learn if it were true, but the location of the Temple eluded me for all of those years. To think it's been here this whole time."

"I'm just as surprised as you that this has been above my head my whole life without me knowing about it," Maxthane said in wonder, "I've never heard of Naxthul or anything like this place."

"Before your time I suppose," Grim mumbled as he looked over the painting with a smile. "I wish we had the time to explore it more thoroughly . . ." he trailed off as his smile became sad before fading altogether. He composed himself and looked back at the group before clearing his throat and saying, "Let's move on. We have no more time to waste."

"Hang on," Maxthane said as Grim stepped away from the painting. "Let me take a look at that arm. I know a thing or two about healing."

"I can take care of it myself," Grim replied simply, "but thank you."

"Then why aren't you?" Maxthane asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We don't really have time for this conversation," Grim replied with a frown and started walking away. Maxthane moved between him and the exit from the room, crossed his arms, and gave Grim a stubborn look. Grim sighed and said, "But I can see that you're not going to drop it. I could heal the wound immediately," he explained with an impatient sigh, "but that takes more energy than healing it over time."

"I could heal it right now if you'd let me look at it, and then you wouldn't have to spend energy at all," Maxthane replied smugly. Dropping his hint of arrogance, he begged, "Come on, I'm sure you've helped everyone in this room, won't you let me return the favor?"