Immortal Darkness: Shadow Across the Land (4 page)

Through trial and error did Yofel twist his
sword—waiting for any traces of steam to show themselves. He
eventually brought himself up to a point where his blade stood
parallel to the temple and would not twist its way in either
direction. While he thought pulling it out of the ground would have
solved his problem, fear of the underground steam blowing his face
haunted his mind.

The fear of being burned by steam brought the
fear of him being stuck in one spot. The fear of being stuck in one
spot brought the fear of never making his way into the temple. The
fear of never making his way into the temple brought the fear of
dying along with his home.
What’ll I do?

It was at this point when Yofel realized,
If I can’t twist it, maybe I can slide it.
Because the sword
wouldn’t twist in any direction and was parallel to the wall, he
figured the temple must have been trying to tell him something. In
an attempt to prove this theory, he decided to draw his sword
closer and closer to the riddle on the left side of the temple.

He continued to draw his blade closer and
closer to the riddle—hoping to discover something about the temple.
At the same time did he hope with every being in his body for
safety along the way. Taken by surprise, the tip of his sword
pushed into what felt like an underground piece of the temple, and
a wall of leaping blue flames sprung out from underneath the ground
and caused a shock to run through his blood.

The leaping flames seemed to form a crevice
from the temple’s wall to Yofel’s sword. What came as a surprise to
him was how—at the same time—the hieroglyphic riddles to the left
of the temple disappeared. How so was done was by an apparent flip
of a tile the hieroglyphic had been printed onto.

I solved one of the riddles?
Yofel
wondered.
But what about the other one?

It was at this moment when Yofel noticed how
the flames in front of him didn’t seem to give off any traces of
heat. Curious to know what was going on with this fire, he crept
his arm closer and closer to the flames—hoping the worst wasn’t to
happen.
Please don’t burn me; I’m sick of getting
burned!

Just as he had hoped, the wall of flames
didn’t scathe his hand at all. Rather than burn, the flame soothed
the cracks and scratches his hand had undergone. Such a soothing
sensation made him wonder if the people of Tyko were wizards.

Why did my sword burn me earlier—but the
fire isn’t?
he asked himself. This thought dared to challenge
all the rules he had once known about fire. Never before had he
seen something with a soothing touch radiate through metal and give
it a burning feel. Its piercing-blue figure stared into his eyes,
begging for a friend.

An idea began to form in Yofel’s head at this
moment. He took a quick glance at the doors’ inscription and looked
back down at his flame-covered sword.
Can I fit my sword in
there?

Not a single speck of fear came unto Yofel’s
mind when his hand gripped around the hilt of his sword. The sword
held a glowing blue look to its blade. At the same time did a cloud
of steam followed his removal of the sword from the ground, making
a quick shiver run down his spine.

It was at this moment when Yofel locked his
eyes on the doors’ indentation. Such a sight was nothing more than
an invitation for him—and the party on the other side grew anxious
for his coming. Not a single flinch came unto Yofel’s arm when he
implanted his glowing sword into the doors’ indentation. As if by
magic, the glow this sword once held now made an abrupt
disappearance upon making its way into the hole.

A moment of silence penetrated his ears; what
could have been going on? Silence was quickly replaced by a small
click; this small click was followed by a loud bang—emanating from
the inside of the temple.

Another moment of silence came into play
before Yofel decided to pull out his sword from the doors. The
result of doing so allowed these doors to separate and create a
clear entrance into the temple. He backed away from the open for a
moment—making sure the coast was clear—and with a sigh of relief he
sauntered his way in.

At first Yofel was only able to make out
pitch darkness.
Is there any light in here?
Such a question
was drawn away from his mind when he slammed into a wall, his nose
pressing up against a cold, flat surface.
Ow! What’s going on
here?
he asked himself while rubbing his sore nose.

Now a total of
two
questions ran
through Yofel’s mind—none of which he’d expected to answer anytime
soon. With only a heartbeat to think about why any of these events
were happening, he took notice of a peculiar scent overwhelming his
bruised nose.

This foreign scent seemed to grow worse and
worse within time. The increase in the scent continued until Yofel
noticed something wrong with his blade.

Unsure whether or not the new scent had
anything to do with his blade, Yofel took a glance over to his
blade and noticed how his blade glowed with a vibrant blue flame
attached to it once again.
How did this come back?
he
wondered with a spark of confusion blowing his mind away.

While completely and utterly confused by this
occurrence, the flame his sword emanated gave a bright enough light
to liven up the inside of the entire temple.
Oh—I get it!
he
thought while wrinkling his nose.
That smell is causing
this!

Despite having been earlier flabbergasted by
the temple’s inside scent, Yofel brought himself out of a small
trance before actually taking any notice of the area around him.
The images before him brought a hint of wonder to flare up in his
mind.

A damp, dark area surrounded the Easi—full of
nothing but slippery walls and a slightly wet floor, all of which
was made from stone. Upon realizing this place’s wet atmosphere,
Yofel allowed a speck of caution to enter his mind. One foul move
could spell an injury—or even death, for that matter.

Wonder was brought up to Yofel’s mind when a
cage-like door with a lock stood in front of his gaze. Such was
strange to see after finding nothing else but wet stone. Turning
around, he noticed two floor-based levers—both of which sat left
and right of the door—and another riddle on the wall, this riddle
slightly shorter than the last two he’d come in contact with.

After seeing this strange puzzle, Yofel
turned his head toward a lever to the left of the door.
Does the
riddle have anything to do with the levers?
On the handle of a
lever left of the door read a hieroglyphic in the form of a
crescent. When he pulled this lever down, he heard a strange click
spreading through the air.

Twitching with surprise, Yofel’s ears took in
the click as it echoed throughout the temple. It was at this moment
when an idea popped into his head. Such an idea was put into action
when he wrapped his one open hand around the opening of the door
and gave it a small tug. The result was the entrance to a new area.
The lever unlocked the door?

To begin what would become a puzzling series
of events, Yofel stuck his blazing sword out as far away from his
body as possible. The result of doing so caused him to realize
there were sixteen other levers in the room. Sitting right by his
side was a third lever—and in front of him was another barred
door.

In an attempt to figure out exactly would
this lever could have done, Yofel gave it a tug and took hearing of
another click. He had, however, expected the door in front of him
to click open. Unfortunately for him, tugging the door didn’t cause
anything to happen; the door wouldn’t budge.
What’s going on
here?

Scratching the back of his head, Yofel began
to wonder exactly
why
the lever caused a click without
unlocking the door in front of him. It was at this moment, however,
when an idea lit up in his mind:
What about that other
lever?

A rush coming to his feet, Yofel backed up to
the two levers at the start of the maze. Taking a look to the
right, he took notice of the one lever he hadn’t pulled. “Hmm—” he
mumbled. His left hand holding his glowing sword, and his right
hand gripping onto the lever, Yofel pulled his right hand as far
toward him as possible.

And what happens when I pull
this
lever back to where it was?
Glinting in his eyes was a spark
of jubilance; jubilance, however, was followed by disappointment.
Pulling the lever—rather than open a new opportunity—locked the
door to the room Yofel had just exited. As a result, he pulled the
lever back to where it was before.
What happens if I pull that
other lever back to where it was?
This thought in mind, Yofel
stepped back up into the room with the third lever and pulled the
lever back to where it was originally.

The result in pulling this lever caused an
enormous aura of lights to suddenly flicker throughout the entire
room. The result in this display allowed him to see exactly where
he was. As a result, he put his sword back into his scabbard.

Standing in front of Yofel was a maze made up
of an enormous series of bars, levers, and locked doors.
Oh
no,
he murmured with a sense of disappointment knocking on his
head.

This isn’t going to be good
, Yofel
noted.
How long is this going to take? Where am I going to go
from here?
These questions running through his mind, Yofel took
a look at the door to the left of him and noticed it was now
unlocked.
I
hate
puzzles!

For an undetermined amount of time did the
young Easi trot in, out, and about the puzzling area. Through trial
and error did he confront his faceless opponent—pulling levers,
pushing levers, growing more and more frustrated with every motion
he made.

He wasn’t sure how long it had taken; he
wasn’t even sure if he were at the end.
Someone
please
make this come to an end!
All this changed when Yofel opened
the maze’s final barred door and made his way into a dimly-lit
room. Freedom brushed past his fingertips, making him feel
weightless as joy carried him onward.

Upon opening the door, Yofel felt a rush of
ancient air brush past his face. This sensation blowing throughout
the room, a storm of questions blazed through his mind.
How long
ago was this temple built, and why hasn’t anybody been able to come
inside until now?
Did a lost ancient civilization create
this place long ago without passing on their history to the rest of
Eas? If that’s the case, was it really Tyko who made this
temple?

Nevertheless, Yofel silently counted to
himself,
Three—two—one.
Just after silently counting, his
eyes took sight of a long wall of the ancient writings. These
hieroglyphics stuck out on a stand; on top of the stand was what
he’d hoped was the treasure he’d been looking for. Such a treasure
was a stout, royal-blue blade.

Yofel’s eyes flashed with success as his
heart took a leap up to the bottom of his throat.
Is it really
that easy?
he suddenly hesitated, forgetting how well Tyko was
at making traps.
What if something shows up and—as Baphonsey
said—crush every bone in my body?

With an outstretched arm, Yofel prepared to
curl his three fingers and one thumb around the immortality blade.
His spine tingling, his fingers twitching, and his heart pounding,
Yofel felt every heartbeat as precious as the time he’d spent as a
child.

However, before the skin of his fingers could
have taken a single touch of the blade, a loud blast vibrated in
his ears. Hearing the blast best in his right ear, he turned his
head in that direction—only to see a large cloud of dust masking
over what he believed to be a creature of some sort.

Pulling out his still-glowing sword in front
of his face, Yofel waited for whatever it was which caused the
cloud of dust to make its appearance. Within a heartbeat, his eyes
caught the sight of a creature of monumental proportions.

The creature was red in appearance, with two
large arms—each holding four fingers that had been tipped off with
sharp, yellow nails. This creature’s head was given two pointed
ears, a pair of rather small yet bright-red eyes, and a mouth of
many sharp teeth. Judging by this creature’s ears, this was a
male.

Just below the creature’s waistline was a set
of eight, arachnidan legs pushing him up from the ground. Behind
his legs was a giant, curled tail—a tail the size of Yofel. And at
the tip of this tail was a bowl of venom. Poisonous to the touch,
this creature was known to all of the Easi as a scorpan.

The creature made a deafening roar just
before driving his venomous tail into the ground. Fortunately for
the frightened Easi, Yofel was able to evade out of the way before
the tail’s venom had any chance to spread into his blood. As he ran
for cover, he noticed how the scorpan could not seem to pull out
his tail from the spot where from which Yofel had just fled.

With a quick tug of his tail, the scorpan
noticed a large chunk of earth continuing to hang onto the tip of
his tail. Taking sight of Yofel, he swung his tail in a throwing
motion, causing the rock to fly towards the littl Easi. With
another quick evasion, however, the rock crashed into one of the
temple’s walls.

Panting, Yofel sprinted over toward a wall
just behind the scorpan. Noticing Yofel’s futile attempt at escape,
the scorpan crawled up to him with his skinny, thorny legs. Once he
came to a corner of the room, Yofel asked himself,
Why didn’t I
pick up the immortality blade when I had the chance?
Had he
done so, this scorpan wouldn’t have been any problem at all!

In the midst of his thoughts, Yofel noticed
the scorpan standing directly in front of him—his red eyes blazing,
his legs squatting in preparation for snatching Yofel up in his
throat. His heart beating with terror and anger toward himself,
Yofel took notice of the scorpan’s chest. Just as he had feared:
this creature’s torso was expanding with air. This could have meant
only one thing.