Thornblade Chronicles - Volume 1

Chapter 16

 The gryos landed at the foot of a tall, thin spire by the shore. The winged creature opened its wings along the gravelly terrain, providing the Bronze Foxes a safe way to climb off. Each guild member worked together to drag the guards to the ground and beside the water.

Albert walked to the gryos again. When Albert reached his hand up, the beast reached for his hand with its rough beak. The martial artist whispered, "Thank you. You are free now." The beast closed its eyes and nodded. It leaped into the sky, growling. The gryos generated a white orb in its mouth. When it shot the ball into the sky, it exploded into a colorful spiral. When the beast flew into it, the two vanished in a bright, white flash.

The group stared at the unconscious guards on the floor. "We cannot just leave them here, can we?" asked Devon.

Albert laughed, asking, "Are you suggesting that we drag them with us to the temple?"

"Well, I... Uh... Sorry..."

Devon—being so easily flustered—made Albert laugh again. "Nonsense! You are apologizing for nothing," he insisted, lightly slapping Devon's back. "When they wake up, they will have access to clean water," he gestured to the crystal-clear water beside them. "Perhaps drinking some will help them overcome their mindlessness, as though Ilkama's elixir were a fine ale!" Charles chuckled at his friend's comment. Though there had been no reason to believe that, Charles could not deny there was also no reason not to.

"So it is settled: we will leave them here and come back for them after the quest!" Sarah cheered, letting go of the guard she had been dragging. The group, having come to an agreement, began hiking across the uneven terrain along the shoreline.

"Do we know what we are looking for?" Eli asked, having missed the conversation between Sarah and Devon earlier.

"No. All we know is that 'a spire by the water holds the temple,'" Devon read from his notebook.

Watching the numerous spires pass by, Eli scratched his chin, asking, "so we are looking for a spire large enough to house a temple?" At that moment, he could not see anything close to the correct size; every spire was either too thin or too short. He was thankful, though; it meant the group would not have to guess.

Within the hour, the spires grew in size. Many of them were wide enough to hold temples, but the majority were short enough to where they could see the tops. One such temple seemed like a promising candidate to Devon, who asked, "Could it be up there?"

Charles examined the tall structure, shaking his head and claiming, "I do not think so. This one is relatively steep; anyone building a temple on it would require a path up. Any path up a mound this steep would be visible, yet I see nothing." Devon sighed, continuing the walk.

As time passed, the spires became thicker and taller. The question, "is it this one?" became more frequent. The group, however, continued their walk until they found the tallest spire. Though it was steep, it had many thinner levels on the way to the top, which touched the clouds.

"Surely, this is the one, right?" Devon laughed.

Albert searched as high as he could for some human structure. But the levels of vegetation convinced him nobody had climbed up there before. He commented, "I do not see anything. Perhaps there is more on the other side?"

"Our informant could have given us false information," Sarah joined.

"But the other temple and Devon's puzzle provided there is something here. What do you think, Charles?"

Charles, snapping back to reality, pointed to a large group of boulders on their left, asking, "Do you see that, there?" Carefully trudging in its direction, he continued, "Those rocks look like they are being held up by those sharp protrusions. It looks unnatural. Like someone planted them there." The group's gaze followed Charles' path. Surely enough, they saw twenty boulders as tall as a Sopala held up by a small group of about ten pointed stones coming out of the ground.