Ways of the Spirits (3)

Thorjen POV

The duo continued their descent down the lower levels of the hall, most of the areas they passed through were deftly quiet at this time of the night. Only their footsteps seemed to make any sounds. Thorjen was at hand to suggest the best route for them to take in order to make sure they wasn’t discovered by any of the teachers, who usually patrolled the sect halls at night. Because of this, he and Julien both had a relatively uneventful short journey to the blessing halls.

“Say you heard from Threyja recently?” He asked his friend, Thorjen had only recently pieced together how long he had actually been immobile for. Which in turn helped him relive the memories just before he lost consciousness. ‘I hope Threyja hasn’t been worrying herself over my sake.’ The main reason he had endured the beating from Marco was to protect Threyja, despite his one sided loss. He was feeling a little proud knowing he had won their wager. Although, his biting wounds didnt make him feel like a champion.

“Er…I haven’t seen much of her in the past few weeks. Although I heard she was spending sone time around Varriel’s herb gardens.”

‘Mr Varriel’s gardens? How odd.’ Varriel was Marco’s father, and although he never really had much interactions with him like he did with his son. There were always negative rumors spreading about the sect whenever Varriel’s name was involved. Thorjen recalled one afternoon where a maiden was crying her eyes out to his mother, she was assured that Varriel had **** her using one of his special herbs. Only her memories were suspiciously foggy before and after the alleged incident.

“But now that I think about it, when I asked my father about that one time, he mentioned she was doing everything possible to find a body restoration potion. I guess she was…” Julien’s words trailed into a silence. Thorjen knew already what he was trying to convey.

‘Once again she was busying herself for my sake. She probably demanded that Varriel gave her what she needed to concoct the potion. I owe her a great deal as usual then.’

“The ingredients for those potions don’t come cheap! She probably used nearly all the sect points she accumulated over the years to get them. Not too worry though Thorj, once you’re both married you can make it up to her for all the years she’s been saving your ass!” Julien chuckled

Thorjen almost choked when he heard the words from his friend, he waved his arms in protest but ultimately couldn’t refute it. The older they grew, the more he thought about Threyja in a different light. Of course he wouldn’t be announcing his feelings anytime soon, considering they were still young and only just beginning on their adventure.

Thorjen raised his resolute gaze forward and saw a tall arch shaped stone door awaiting them at the end of the hallway.

“Look Thorj we’ve arrived!”

Thorjen stood beneath the 8ft tall towering doors. The front was covered in stringy vines and a peculiar black thorn almost trying to crawl into the gaps between the doors. This would be only the second time he arrived at this place. The first being when he was much younger, he remembered his mother holding his delicate hands whilst she brought him to this hall. For one strange reason, he still felt it was just as monstrously tall as he had done when he was still only so little.

“You still fiddling with that thing?” He asked Julien, whose face was covered in beads of sweat whilst he continued his futile attempts to activate the seal against the towering doors.

“J-just a minute…this stupid thing is probably as old as a great ancestor. I think you twist-twist, then push-twist-aha voila!” The stoned token locked in place, Thorjen heard the doors frame groan. Followed by the slithering sounds of multiple vines moving. Julien stood way too close to the door once the ancient mechanism started to activate, and ended up eating a mouthful of dirt. Thorjen took a few steps back and waited for the towering doors to finish parting aside from their locked hold.

The towering doors finally opened and the duo hastily entered into the spacious dome shaped hall. Thorjen carried a inquisitive look whilst he marveled at the glittering blue gem stones lodged into the cavernous walls. Beneath the walls themselves were a host of finely crafted chairs with soft red cushions. He turned towards the centre of the hall, and saw a beautiful fountain fashioned out of ivory with a shining blue crystal erected out from it. Surrounding the altar were five tall totems molded into the shape of the divine creatures that the Elven races prayed too.

Thorjen knew these faces quite well, for he had learned about the guardians and the role they played amongst his people.

‘That one with the bird like helm was called Nishi, the one with the beasts mouth is Tof, the veiled lady is Kei, so by default the bald turtle like one is Moto, which leaves the guardian of storms, Zaza.’ The blessing ceremony was a rite of passage for all the Elven warriors. Each blessing carried its unique element and bestowed upon the warrior an affinity towards that element. His mother carried 3 blessings, which made him understand just how special his friend Julien was to be able to receive all 5. He couldn’t help but crease a proud smile as he thought about Julien.

‘I hope one day you’ll become one of the strongest Elves the world has ever seen. Which means I need to also try my best and not be left behind.’ With a resolute gaze he cautiously made his way towards the altar.

Julien moved towards a different area of the hall. Where he was currently stood was beside a small furnace with smoky coals still simmering from the last ceremony not too long ago.

Thorjen paid close attention to what his friend was doing.

“Don’t we need a maiden of the 7 flames to start the process?” He asked Julien.

“Screw that, we’re under borrowed time Thorj, and there’s no telling when one of the elders might arrive. Long as you awaken a blessing it’ll be worth whatever trouble we get into.” He was a little distant away so Julien needed to raise his voice just a bit more.

“Ok-ok I hear you try to keep it down and not get us caught so quickly.” He playfully spoke.

Julien spent a few minutes in silence whilst still attempting to get the flames to ignite. Thorjen had already taken his place on the altar. He stood in the middle of the surrounding totems. They were at least 7ft tall and looked just as menacing as he would expect them to look. ‘This is my chance to finally make something out of myself. I need you all to have faith in me and grant me a blessing. I’ll be fine even if its just the one. So please guardians of my ancestors grant me a blessing.’ He spoke honestly through his heart and placed his hand against his chest to conclude his prayer. At that moment.

“I did it! Haha who needs a maiden of 7 flames when you’ve got me!”

Thorjen barely held time to respond when he was hit by a wave of heavy air surrounding him. He saw a green flame ignite from the corners of his eyes where Julien stood. Then this same ominous flame moved as though it carried a will of its own, and spearheaded towards the altar. It struck the first tome igniting a pair of green eyes to appear on the first totem, then it moved towards the second, the third, fourth and fifth respectively. Five pairs of fiery green eyes gazed down upon him. Thorjen heard a hum in the air, he also felt his heart beating wildly. He was incredibly nervous so he quickly placed his two hands against the glowing cyan crystal. Just as he had seen others do during their blessing ceremony. A brilliant glow appeared in the middle of the crystal, a smile appeared across his boyish features knowing this was the sign he was communicating with the guardians. The light started to grow brighter and the humming sound loudened. He closed his two eyes and felt and incredibly warm sensation spread forth from the crystal.

The whole hall started to shake. With so much noise occurring Thorjen already knew it would be hard to hide what they were doing from the elders. But right now he didn’t care. This was his time, his chance to become great. His heart was filled with turbulent feelings but excitement was the one he held onto. The whole area around him had become so distorted he couldn’t see pass the encircled enclosure he was trapped in. He softly opened his eyes after a while and widened his stare once he realised what had happened.

The five totems were covered in a golden light so profound looking that he was lost in their beautiful forms. The guardians were here. They had all awoken to his call. Every one of them. His mouth murmured into a wide smile as his excitement was building by the seconds.

‘I-i…I did it?’ His knowledge told him the forms of the guardians wouldn’t appear unless a worthy one awoken them. Everything was going just as he had read in the scrolls. Seconds turned into minutes and Thorjen was a little confused as to why he couldn’t hear anything. ‘They were supposed to speak to me? Isn’t this when they grant me the blessing’ he thought inwardly. He started to grow a little uneasy just watching these golden statues expressionlessly watching him. Like a bolt of thunder he felt something different from the crystal beneath his palms. He lowered his gaze and saw a violent flame birth from the centre of it, before immediately bursting through the crystal and gushing forth into the atmosphere.

Thorjen was shaken and involuntarily released his palms from the crystal, his eyes rattled uncontrollably as he witnessed the purple flame materialize into what he could only describe as w winged serpent? No…this was a dragon. Thorjen felt a baleful aura almost consuming him. An ear splintering screech sounded and the golden statues suddenly raised their heads.

“Rejection! Rejection! Rejection! Rejection! Rejection!” Their chants were as loud as the storms. And Thorjen felt as though his heart had been broken. A cackling laughter filled his ears to only further his torment, it sounded slightly feminine but nevertheless brought a terrible feeling of dread upon him. He was **** to shut his eyes tightly. He even held his head in his two arms whilst his body crumbled to the ground.

In a blink of an eye, the golden lights ceased as well as the purple flame. And then silence befell the hall.

Thorjen opened his eyes and found himself staring at the ground. His breaths were laborious and he was covered in cold sweat from head to toe. He removed his two palms away from his helm and stared at them. He couldn’t stop shaking, his mind felt so lost and his heart felt so cold.

“I…I failed?” The realization was perhaps the heaviest blow he had ever felt. A Qi filled attack nor the bite of a sharp blade, had ever made him feel this way. He had actually failed the ceremony. Just like Marco and others had predicted. Tears slowly trickled down the side of his cheeks. It was only from the sounds of a hysterical nearby voice that he was awoken from his fall into depression.

“Thorjen! Thorjen wake up! Are you…wh-what happened?” Julien arrived in the centre circle with him. He lifted him up by his arm. Thorjen allowed himself to be carried upright. But he couldn’t shield away the pain languishing within his heart. He turned towards his most beloved friend with a face covered in sweat and snot.

“I failed.” Juliens eyes widened then quickly fell into a saddened and pained look. Thorjen had seen that look many times before during his childhood. It was the look of pity.

“Shit! What the actual fuck! But...we can’t stay here, that was way too loud to go unnoticed, come on lets get out of here! ”

Thorjen composed himself, he nodded in agreement and finally found the strength to walk on his own. Both he and Julien didn’t bother reactivating the towering mechanism against the door. And scurried away as quickly as they could, far away from the scene of the crime.

Other POV

Moments after both Thorjen and Julien had left. Three Elven elders clothed in silver and azure garments appeared by the entrance of the hall of blessing. Two of the three Elders carried a full head of white hair. The other was a brown haired Elf who looked considerably a lot younger than the other two. The woman amongst the group stepped forward and grimaced at the sight of the opened doors.

“Who would dare to disrespect the hall this way?” She said.

The other pale haired Elf ignored her and casually walked into the hall of blessing. The woman turned around and gestured for the brown haired Elf to follow. He respectfully made a bow before proceeding.

There had been a noticeable change to occur within the blessing hall, one that rendered all the three arrivals completely stunned. The entire cavernous walls were covered in veiny blue runes. The five guardian totems had also changed. Each one was covered in an oozing violet liquid.

“What has happened here?” The brown Elf spoke

The older two shared a worrying glance before sighing deeply.

“The guardians…the guardians have been corrupted.”

“What! B-but how? Did someone do this, how could an intruder get pass the…”

“They didn’t because it wasn’t an intruder that done this!” The elf with white hair growled

The young faced Elf had only become an elder not too long ago, so he kept quiet and decided to listen rather than speak.

The Elven woman was flying from wall to wall inspecting the blue runes and the totems respectively.

“Yes…how intriguing. These runes activated in a bid to contain and seal whatever power had been unleashed. The patterns should be able to withstand even a flurry of my strongest weapons. Its not a surprise considering they had to be drawn by one of the most powerful talisman masters that had ever lived.”

“Suffice to say I only know of one rank that could’ve threatened a centuries old inscription like this to react?”

“A monarch rank!” The two aged elders spoke in unison.

The younger elder was shocked, he stood in disbelief whilst trying to work out if it wasn’t an intruder, then whom within this mountain could release a fabled power so strong that the elders trembled.

The three of them remained in complete silence for a while.

“Elder Moon come and look at this?” Said the Elderly Elf with white hair. The Elf woman had been levitating so she swiftly moved towards the altar where the two elders were standing. A cold glazed look appeared on their faces, the approaching Elder arrived by their sides and even she breathed a short gasp of fright. The once azure crystal was shattered into countless pieces, but that wasn’t the object of their shock. For within its centre was something they were not expecting to see. A crystallized black egg lay in the rubble.