About an hour later, we arrived at a small cave in the side of the mountain.

"Finally... Alright. If what I've been told is correct, the entrance to the temple is within this cave."

"Well, lets get to it then."

Traversing the cave, I took note of a number of etchings carved into the walls.

"This place feels like home."

"You've got a strange sense of taste, Mord."

A few moments later, we reached the entrance to the temple. Adorned with large pillars and a very peculiar doorway, I knew we'd come to the right place.

"This is it. I can feel the disturbance, stronger than ever. Lets make our way inside; stay on your guard."

"Are you REALLY so eager," I ask grabbing Mordeuis by the scruff of his neck. "that you are blind even to those obvious traps you were about to walk into?"

"If you were feeling, hearing, and seeing the things I am you would not need to ask." With a grimace he quickly pulls free of me and with only the briefest glance bends to disarm the poorly hidden floor spikes.

"Your welcome..." I mumble as we proccede to the doors, this time with a little more caution.

Before us is a giant circle divided right down the center by twin lines of gold that continue around each sides edge as well. However, it is what the gold circles that is the truely odd piece we now face.

"Mord, I see wood like Ash that has been through a fire..."

"...and yet it swirls before our eyes like clouds lost in the shadows we've shared our lives in."

As he finishes almost 'ver batim' my very thoughts I realise how completely possessed he is by these final steps to our destination. He looks at the door as if that strange object alone holds all the answers, yet I know he is seeing more of what is beyond it than whats right before us.

"We should move on... This is only one of many elaborate doorway's we'll have to pass through.

Passing through another doorway just as elaborate as the first, both of us feel a disturbance in the air around us.

"Get down!"

Pulling my cloak over myself, I tear a page from a small book attached to my belt and slam it against the cloak, turning it to stone.

Seconds later, orbs of energy smash against my cloak and into the nearby wall behind which Athentix is hiding.

Over the sound of the impacts, I call out to Athentix - "Do you have any ideas?"

"Not particularly... Wait until they pause, and let's share a few daggers with them."

Shortly after Athentix finishes speaking, the firing stops. Jumping to our feet, we launched two daggers from our hands and into each of the attackers. Mine is perfectly on its mark, and takes the figure square in his head.

Bringing my arms to my sides, the page inside my cloak falls to the ground, and quickly burns away.

"What the hell was that? And since when do you use magic?"

"I don't. Brueson made a book of cantrips for me before I left the guild hall. And as for those two, I'd say they were cultists."

"Perfect... Channeling cultists AND a force that threatens all of existence - this couldn't get much better."

"Stay on your guard. There are bound to be more."

Passing over the bodies of our would-be attackers we come to a fork in the tunnel. In either dirrection there is yet another set of these strange doors, but my traveling companion pays them little heed now. Instead, he turns quickly to the right and the door that bars our way, and pauses only long enough to disarm the still plain traps.

Stepping through the door we find ourselves in a round chamber lit by evenly spaced globes of blue incandesence like I've never seen. Across the room, and seperated by about five feet, are two smaller doorways that seem to let out onto balconies and into the darkness beyond. The room itself however appears to remain unoccupied, and with little in the way of treasure or use.

"Wait." As I start to head for the door at the far left Mordeuis stops me with a whispered command.

"What the bloody hell now? This place gives me the creaps old friend, and I would rather follow your lead at this point by rushing into this just that we might find its end that much sooner."

"I know, but we are not alone here... There is ... something."

As the shiver runs down my back from the almost haunted way he said those words, I start to get the feeling we are being watched.

Even before I could turn around completely, I felt the ground shake beneath my feet. Just in front of the doorway we had just passed through stood a large, gruesome creature. Its eyes red like blood, claws and fangs dripping with some kind of goo, the beast stood on two feet like a human, but was far from such.

"Bastards..."

"What is it??"

"I'm not really sure... My best guess would be a chimera. A creature twisted by alchemy. It was probably one of the cultists... Sacrificed to guard this place in the event of an intrusion."

"What do you suggest we do now?"

The beast, rearing for a fight, stepped back onto his hind leg, as if about to pounce on us.

"Run."

Taking what advice was offered I quickly spin bringing rope to hand, and as we both run toward the windows I toss Mordeuis an and.

"What am I supposed to do with this you fool!" Not realizing what I have planned I catch a look of confused outrage flash across his face before I turn to my goal.

"You take good damned hold if it and jump!" Following the only instruction I have time to give, I shove him toward the right window mid step and leap out the left one. Looking over my shoulder as I fly into the darkness beyond I see the creature come up short with only a small scrap of cloth once belonging to my friends cape.

"This is all very fine, but I don't suppose you thought of a way to get back up?"

"I didn't think that far ahead."

"Right. Well, we'll have to go up at the same time, lest the weight of one of us pulls the other over the edge."

Turning ourselves against the wall, we mounted our feet and began to climb.

A few seconds later we reached the top of the ledge. Dusting myself off, I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could, a great screech come from the bowels of the hole.

"Of course... We need to find the summoning area and get the hell out of here."

"Lead the way..."

As we ran from the drop, faint scratching and crumbling noises could be heard from below...

Backtracking, we quickly make our way to the fork in the tunnel and procede through the door we've yet to try. We find ourselves in another room much like the last, but where the windows were there are now two more doors. Allong both walls there are racks with an assortment of weapons, but apon quick inspection we note that there is nothing of value or real use to be found.

"That thing still follows Mord - what way?"

Looking back over his shoulder at the door we'd just come through, my companion thinks quick... "It is hard for me to tell with everything else flowing through me, but after that run-in I'll make the judgement call and say we keep to the left."

Letting his decisions lead our way, I follow Mordeuis through the door at the left into another hall. This time we find better lighting, and two smaller doors on each side before yet another door at the end of the hall.

"Lets just check these four rooms first. Better safe than sorry, and there is no telling what we might find here."

"That thing isn't that far behind - it may find us if we take the time here now." Looking over his shoulder once again, he shrugs and heads for the first door on our left. "Ahh, what the hell..."

Comming up right behind him, I nearly crash into Mordeuis as he is forced to stop short or plumet into the dark abyss that greats us on the other side of the door.

"What the hell Mo..." Catching sight of what lays just over my old friends shoulder I catch my words. "Interesting."

"There is a small stair here on the left, but I beleive I can say with fair certianty that this is not the way we seek." Turning, Mordeuis brushes past me proceeding to the next door. "There IS something in one of these rooms Athentix - I can feel it"

As a faint howl of rage comes to us throught the two doors that seperate our persuer from its pray, we rush on quckly. Suddenly, just as he's about to take hold of the second door, Mordeuis stops short again, pivots, and shoots across the hall to the oposite door.

"This is it, there is something here." With that said, Mord reaches for the door.

Frantically searching for some way to open the door, I called out to Athentix -

"There's no damned door knob! It must be sealed."

"Well, can you get through it?"

"Me? Aren't you the one who brought some of those bombs that Predain makes? I saw them on your saddle on the way from the village."

"It's worth a shot. Though I doubt that a simple bomb will do the trick. That door is solid stone, it must weigh over a ton."

While the explosive didn't have a very large effect on the door, it did chip away enough that we could grab hold and pry it open with a few improvised tools, namely a very sharp set of scythes that Athentix always carried with him.

"Quickly! Shut the door! The chimera is almost inside!" - We both called out, as if of one mind.

Just as the door ran flush with the wall, the chimera slammed into the door with hurricane force, emitting a loud thump and jolting Athentix, who was propped up against it, trying to keep the foul beast from tearing us to pieces.

"So... What do you suppose we do now? Wait here to die?"

"Your sarcasm falls on deaf ears, Athentix. Obviously you haven't surveyed the room, lest you would have noticed the summoning circle engraved in the floor."

Looking down at his feet, Athentix paused, dumbfounded, for a moment.

"What did you have in mind?"