The Phantom Riser

CHAPTER NINETEEN - THE EIGHT

Little goblins chased Kiro and his team down the path they had just come from. They had even run past the point they dropped without even noticing. “What the hell are those things!” Victor cried. It took everything he had to keep moving.

“They are goblins. Low-tier, but without our powers, we can’t deal with those numbers.” It was quite baffling how those goblins got there in the first place. It was supposed to be a neutral zone. There were not supposed to be any surface creatures lurking around. Much less that many… it was too much to be a coincidence. Could it be… no, it couldn’t. Kiro warded off the scary thought that lingered in his mind.

“You said it was a neutral zone. Are you sure your knowledge isn’t outdated? Or in the case, yet to be updated?” Karenia had less trouble running away from the goblins than the others did. But she couldn’t exactly leave them behind. At the end of the path they followed, stood a giant door. It had a lot of strange small markings that mainly comprised of circles and triangles. And these smaller marking made up bigger markings and the bigger markings made up even bigger markings. These markings extended all the way to the borders of the door. While the other two were completely oblivious of what the markings meant, in fact they probably took little cognisance of them, Kiro knew exactly what they were; sage markings. Even he was unaware that such a place existed. As they reached the foot of the door, the goblins slowed down their pace, keeping their distance. For some reason, they looked afraid and this frightened Karenia and Victor. “Is it wise to go in, or even be here? These creatures are clearly afraid of it,” Victor asked.

“That’s because this is a sage temple. It’s one of the few places that have a direct link to the Eight. I never knew such a place existed here.”

“So, what are these markings?” Karenia felt her way through the markings on the door. She couldn’t help but be drawn to it.

“You shouldn’t touch that carelessly. It could mean something,” Kiro said. Sage marks were a language he couldn’t read, even during his time as a ranger. They were very particular to which member of the Eight they were connected to. Since the Phantom cared little for such things, he didn’t have much experience with them.

“You don’t know what they mean? Karenia asked, withdrawing her hands immediately.

“No, I don’t. But I think we should check it. Maybe we can find something that’ll be useful against those goblins outside. Because the map we came for is on the other side.” Kiro and his team had quite the job of pushing that door open. It was heavy and their powers still hadn’t returned. After a couple of seconds of trying to force the door open, it finally gave in. The loud, creaking sound it made meant that it probably had not been open for a very long time. Thousands of years? Or maybe even more. They tried to push it open a bit more, but the door remained adamant. Eventually, they made due with the space they had created for themselves and walked in nonetheless. It was big enough to slip through, but if they had any reason to run out, it was far from the ideal escape route.

The inner workings of the temple were wonderful. The sage marks stretched deeper and deeper, encompassing the entire temple in one big sage mark. At the centre of the temple, stood eight gigantic statues. Kiro knew who they were, they were the Eight. Although the Eight statues formed a circle and were all in physical contact with each other, there was a wide gap that made the circle incomplete.

“Woah! Are those the Eight?’ Karenia asked in excitement. Without a thought, she began running around the temple.

“Be careful Karenia, it could be dangerous.” Kiro could never quite understand why she was always so free spirited. Their situation could switch up to deadly in a matter of seconds. It only took upsetting the wrong artifact. But generally, sage temples were safe places. A place of refuge and solace. Mostly, they only accepted one or two Eight origins, three at most. Never had he seen all the Eight statues stand together and, in a circle, much less.

Victor scanned the temple for anything that could help. He was anything but curious. He really just wanted to leave. Hopefully, Karenia wouldn’t set off a death trap before they left. She never could contain her excitement, even if the face of possible danger.

“Which one is the Beast?” Karenia asked. But somehow, she knew. She was standing right in front of him, her guts telling her who exactly it was. He was huge, huger than all the rest, his muscles were well toned and he left his arms bare. He had a such a well-crafted face. So well-crafted, that he could be called beautiful. Yes, beautiful! He had long hair and his eyes – his eyes were enchanting. Karenia was lost in his sight. Kiro didn’t bother too much about it. As long as she wasn’t touching them, he guessed it was okay. – Karenia! – No sooner than that thought had come to his mind, Karenia went about touching the statues, hoping for a reaction.

“What the hell are you doing! Are you trying to get us killed?” Victor jumped straight at her, wrestling her off the statue she had been hogging on to. Kiro’s jaw almost completely dropped. How could they be so lax! Didn’t they know where they were and what could happen!

Victor succeeded in pulling her off. She noticed that the circle was incomplete. “Why is there so much space? A missing statue?” – she ran to fill up the space, acting as one of the statues. – “Look guys, I’m a statue too!” she teased. Victor ran over to pull her out once more and she ran, giving him something to chase. Kiro felt himself drawn, drawn to the space that was empty. He couldn't tell why but he did. Almost as if he was in some sort of trance. Before he knew it, he found himself within that space that could probably take a statue itself. Victor and Karenia were frightened to see him there. It was almost like he was possessed. "Kiro?" Karenia beckoned at him, but he didn't respond. Better said, he couldn't respond. He wasn't with them anymore. As Kiro placed himself in the middle of the space, the temple was flooded with blinding light. The source of this light; the statues' eyes... and Kiro's.