The Last Guardian Heir

Chapter Four

The Hidden Temple

Kai could not stop thinking about the stranger. He kept wondering who he was and why he had reacted strangely after noticing the symbol on Kai’s clothing. His grandfather’s warning only made him more suspicious. There was something about the stranger that did not feel right.

Even more troubling was the symbol. Kai had seen it before, but he could not remember where. The more he thought about it, the more familiar it seemed.

A few days later, while hunting deep in the forest, Kai noticed something unusual on the ground. There were strange tracks leading away from the path and deeper into the forest.

Kai stopped and studied them carefully.

There was something familiar about the footprints. They reminded him of the strange tracks he had discovered when he was a child—the same ones he had never been able to explain.

His curiosity grew.

The tracks led toward a part of the forest his grandfather had always warned him to stay away from. Kai remembered the warning, but he wanted to know where the tracks led.

He followed them.

The deeper Kai went into the forest, the stranger everything became.

The birds that normally filled the trees with their songs suddenly became silent. The wind grew colder, moving between the trees with an unusual whisper. The forest seemed to grow darker around him.

Then Kai noticed something half-buried beneath the leaves.

An ancient stone.

He moved closer and discovered more stones scattered throughout the forest. Some were covered with strange markings. Others appeared to be the remains of broken statues.

The place looked forgotten and abandoned, as though no one had been there for many years.

Kai continued forward.

He noticed strange symbols carved into the trunks of several trees. They looked old, but one of them caught his attention.

Kai froze.

He knew that symbol.

It was the same symbol he had discovered on the ancient stone when he was a child.

His heart began to race.

What was this place?

He followed the tracks farther until he reached an enormous stone wall almost completely covered by vines.

As Kai pushed the vines aside, he discovered a doorway hidden beneath them.

He stepped closer.

Ancient carvings covered the stone around the entrance. Some showed warriors, while others appeared to tell a story that Kai could not understand.

Then he saw it.

Beyond the doorway stood a massive ancient temple.

Kai stared at it in disbelief.

He had never heard anyone in Kingston speak about such a place.

Slowly, he stepped inside.

Dust covered the floor, and the air was cold and still. The walls were covered with ancient paintings and carvings.

One painting immediately caught Kai's attention.

It showed a warrior standing before a great army, holding a mysterious sword in his hands.

Kai moved closer.

The sword looked strangely familiar.

He continued deeper into the temple and discovered another carving.

This one made him stop completely.

The figure carved into the wall looked remarkably like him.

Kai stared at the carving, unable to understand what he was seeing.

Why would someone have carved a figure that looked like him inside an ancient temple?

Nearby, he discovered an inscription that spoke of a guardian, though much of the writing had faded with time.

Then Kai noticed something else.

A large stone door stood at the end of the temple.

It was sealed.

But there were fresh marks in the dust around it.

Someone had been there recently.

Kai slowly looked down.

There, leading toward the sealed chamber, were fresh footprints.

They were the same strange footprints he had followed through the forest.

Kai's curiosity suddenly turned into fear.

He was not the first person to enter the temple.

Someone—or something—had been here before him.

Kai noticed fresh footprints in the dust, leading directly toward the sealed chamber.

He stared at them for a moment, his mind racing.

The temple appeared to have been abandoned for generations. The walls were covered in dust, the carvings were ancient, and everything around him looked untouched for many years.

But these footprints were fresh.

Kai slowly looked toward the sealed chamber.

If the temple had been abandoned for generations, who had been inside recently?

He took a cautious step forward, wondering what—or who—was waiting beyond the ancient stone door.

Just before approaching the chamber, Kai heard a faint sound coming from behind the sealed door.

He froze.

There was a movement on the other side, followed by a strange scraping sound against the stone.

Kai slowly looked down at the footprints in the dust. They seemed familiar. They looked almost identical to the strange footprints he had seen earlier in the forest.

His heart began to beat faster.

Who had entered the temple before him?

Kai cautiously stepped closer to the sealed chamber. Then something caught his attention.

Carved into the ancient stone door was a symbol he knew very well.

The same symbol he had discovered during his childhood.

Kai stared at it, confused and frightened by what he was beginning to understand.

The temple, the stranger, his childhood, and the mysterious sword were not separate mysteries.

They were all connected.

And whatever was behind that sealed door might finally reveal the truth.