Turi : Mysteries Unfold

Chapter - 2

Evan wakes to a bright light being shone directly into his eyes, finding that it was the man's staff and not the sun's rays.

"Wakey wakey boy, sun's a shinin'!" says the old man ironically.

The boy bats away the glowing staff and rubs his rested, yet tired eyes.

"The star's not up old man, why should I be?"

"Wanted to catch a glimpse of the rising sun atop the Shrine, it's a beauty you must witness. Let's get moving."

They move onwards, into the woods before dawn. The old man leading the both of them.

As they near the entrance of the forest, varieties of signs can be seen on the trunks of the massive trees reading "Be wary travellers, if the path ahead is unknown, let it remain the same.".

Evan, with suspicion, "What's with all these nonsensical signs? I thought this was supposed to be some kind religious or holy haven.."

"Oh it is, only to those who are true to the Gods." says the old man, smiling.

Evan rolls his eyes, as he always does at even the slightest mention of something biblical or religious by his father.

As they walk further down the path, Evan's growling stomach forces him to stop. He bends and hurls terribly, the duo hadn't had good nor much food at all for the past few days. The old man couldn't pack much for them given their financial situation.

Evan's father quickly gathers some berries from his satchel and hands them to Evan. "These should help, try and hold out for some more time son." he tells him, reassuringly.

The path narrows and leads them to a small and ancient looking cottage, covered by a late stone wall from behind. The cottage seems rather well maintained from the outside as compared to its inverse inners. Dust and cobwebs lay scattered around in each nook and cranny within the cottage.

Three out of the four walls are filled with nothing but empty shelves and creaky cabinets. The odd wall has a large ornate gate in the shape of a circle with a large religious cross placed at the center.

The cleric takes out an overused and worn out book as he approaches the gate. Briskly reads a few scribblings in his book and begins chanting with a blank expression. The gate makes a large creaking noise and begins to glow warmly. It slides open, exposing a wide passage.

"Come, come. The sun's on the cusp of rising." says Evan's father as he briskly paces across the room into the passageway.

Evan follows, the passageway is pitch dark in itself but is illuminated by the light from the end of it.

They eventually reach the end of the short, but wide passage. At the end of the passage, a translucent layer with many holy symbols, almost like a shield, lies between them and the inside of what seems to be a luxurious cathedral which seems to be encapsulated by the walls being the miniscule cottage.

Evan's father walks through effortlessly, but the boy faces resistance while trying to cross the layer. He gets through, but his right heel gets lacerated on the way in.

He cries in agony and falls. His father, helps him up. The wounds weren't much of a problem to heal, given his experience. He mumbled a few words with his cross out, the cut slowly vanishes.

"What was that?" Evan asks in bafflement.

"Nothing unexpected." his father replies without even the slightest feeling of surprise.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd be less vague about these things." Evan says, agitated.

His father ignores him and takes a look at the magnificent cathedral. He takes a deep breath and exhales. "Ah, still in shape eh?" he says as he feels the details carved onto one of the enormous walls.

Paintings of Gods, Angels and the Holy Heavens look down at the duo.

Evan follows his father up a long set of spiral stairs. They skip what Evan makes out to have been 3 floors and get straight to the terrace. A massive shrine sticks out atop the building. Built of only gold and one enormous jewel socketed at the top.

Five Elders lay kneeling beneath the shrine. Evan and his father cross them with no interest and get to the east facing side of the cathedral.

The monotonous grey across the east is broken by the light of the sun, revealing the mountains of Noerr and cleansing the skies of its grey.

"Wow." says the teen, in astonishment.

"Keep watching." says the elderly man smiling proudly.

As the sun goes higher, a few rays break past the mountains and hit the Shrine's jewel. Causing it to scatter light across the entire region.

Evan's eyes widen in amaze. "I don't feel so good.. I think.." Evan mutters before he passes out from the hunger and fatigue.

Evan's father acts swiftly and catches his mindless body and rests him upon the sill. By then, the five Elders rise, post-ritual. One of them approaches the two travellers and whispers
"Herschel, it's been a while since you've shown your face around these parts. What's the problem?"

Evan's father smiles and replies "Great to see you too Nulfgaar. Can't an old acquaintance stop by without reason?".

Nulfgaar's expression remains unchanged and Herschel's smile wears off.

"It's the boy. Organise the Elders, I have much to discuss."

***