Leaving Paradise - Christopher Pastrana (free ebook novel .TXT) 📗

     The sun had already set upon the Valley of Gales by the time Lemine and Faro arrived. Not sure what the exact time was they hurried along the edge of a stone path through the moonlight. Twigs snapped under their feet softly as they ran. A cold breeze sent a chill through their faces, but their long cloaks managed to keep them comfortably warm.
          Having done their research, the couple knew the Duzee air temperature had begun to drop drastically. Winter months in the wind burdened country could kill somebody if they weren't careful. As far into the country as they were it wasn't a surprise that they hadn't encountered anybody along their path, and the few they had almost run into were soldiers.
         Faro stopped moving suddenly and grabbed Lemine's arm, holding him to her side. Turning her head to listen for a sign that somebody was nearby they waited. Pulling the man further off the trail they sank to the ground near a tree and waited. As three armed guards appeared over a nearby hill Faro could hear Lemine whisper 'Thank you' into her ear.
         She answered him with only a faint, almost nonexistent, nod. Unlike the younger, more immature Lemine, Faro had prided herself on her ability to sneak, and steal. When she partnered up with the ambitious Fatir runaway it had been as a last resort. Many of the other thieves she had encountered hadn't wanted anything to do with the much less experienced thief. In an attempt to earn some credit the two decided to pull of a job that nobody had dared attempt, or survived to tell about.
         Faro had been a native of the Duzee nation from birth, and the oldest memory she had was of her sitting in front of her grandfather, and him retelling a story his grandfather told him. If any of those stories were true than she would get a payoff so large everybody would have to accept her skills.
         With the guards finally out of hearing range she stood and waved Lemine to follow. Soldiers were the only problem they were going to have. There was only one way into this valley, and it was guarded by men with orders to turn everybody who entered away. If she was spotted this close to her goal they wouldn't hesitate to pursue and execute them both.
         Continuing down the road the two rounded the corner the guards had appeared from, and found themselves looking down upon what they had both come to find. The cliff face was steep but it would be possible to climb down. Protruding from the earth was the massive Temple of the Six. A smile spread across her face as she pointed to it. Lemine nudged her with his elbow playfully.
         Starting their climb down to the temple they moved slowly, fearing to set rocks falling to the ground below, and alerting any guards. It took almost an hour for them to reach the soft grassy ground beneath the cliff, and their arms were screaming in pain. It hadn't taken long for Lemine to begin flopping his hands around wildly, probably in an attempt to regain feeling in them.
         A movement from nearby stopped Faro's heart. Two guards rounded the corner casually and were moving in their direction. Grabbing her partner's arm she slammed him back against the cliff face and fought to hold him their. Struggling against her grip she drew a slender knife from within a sleeve and held it to his neck. Normally she wouldn't have drawn a weapon in fear of it reflecting the moonlight, but before leaving for the temple it had been dyed black, just in case.
         Feeling his resistance stop, she lessened the tension between the knife and his neck, but didn't remove it. Now only a few steps away, Faro could smell the two men, and wasn't happy about it. Hoping they wouldn't put a lot of effort in to searching for intruders so close to the Temple paid off when they didn't look in her direction as they passed.
         A few minutes passed and she dropped her knife and gave Lemine a punch in the face as payment for almost getting her killed. Dropping closer to the ground they began to run in a crouch. Following the two soldiers that had walked past them, the two thieves watched as they made their way around the temple, and eventually, reached the front. With only one way in or out of this massive building she knew it was only going to have a few guards patrolling the area.
         As they approached the front, two guards stood besides a small fire, warming themselves against the chilly winter air. Exchanging a casual greeting as they passed, the men they had been following disappeared into the darkness created by the fire. Giving Lemine the signal to drop quitly, they slowly put themselves onto the ground and crawled towards the entrance.
         Firelight blinded the two men and, even though while looking at the entrance, they couldn't see the two shadows inching their way inside. Not wanting to draw attention they stayed on the ground till completely sure they wouldn't be seen. As they rose from the stone floor they both smiled widely, and shook hands.
         "Where too know?" Lemine whispered in the darkness.
         "I'm guessing we need to get into towards the center of the temple, and probably up a few more stories." Faro didn't really know where to go from there but it was the best bet she had. Whatever was being hidden within the temple wouldn't be on the same floor as the entrance. Beginning their search, she walked casually down the hallway, making sure to keep a hand against the wall as a guide.
         "What do you think is inside this place? Something this size needs to have a purpose." His voice was filled with the promise of gold, and she couldn't deny that her mind was beginning to follow a similar path.
         "There as lots of different theories as to what lies within the walls of the Temple of the Six. Some think it's just a monument displaying the power of the ones who created it. Others think it's a place they keep millions of pounds worth of gold."
         "Why would they put that much money in one place?" Lemine laughed at the idea, and even she thought it was a bit ridiculous.
         "Well, It's been said that during the Great War all of the Elemental Masters placed a bet on who would win the war, and the money they bet was kept here."
         "Wouldn't they want to keep it in a neutral place, and not within one countries borders?" Lemine had a point, but nobody really knew what was within the temple. Everything she had heard was just speculation and rumor.
         "Like I said before, it's all just rumor. If somebody really knew what was here than our jobs would be easy." Turning a corner Faro tripped on a step. Grunting in pain she picked herself up and began climbing the steps. Without being able to see it was impossible for her to tell how far the stairs climbed, or if they were even going in the correct direction.
         Hoping she had picked the correct path they just continued to walk. With time the stairs ended and they emerged into another hallway. Guessing they had been searching for almost an hour now she was amazed how large the temple actually was. Thinking back on their journey since entering the building something made her feel off.
         "Lemine, have you felt any other passageways since we entered this place?"
         "No I haven't. I've kept my hand on the opposite wall from where you are and I haven't felt anything."
         "Does that strike you as odd? A building of this size couldn't only have one way to go."
         "What else do you think it could be?" Concern filled his voice and she didn't need that at the moment. Deciding it would be better to just drop the subject all together she just let the silence answer her.
         The hallway narrowed and the thieves were forced to walk in a line. Silence dampened the air around them. Faro didn't want to think about the meaning of the temple anymore but it kept pulling at her thoughts. During her grandfather's stories he had mentioned a man who had fought during the Great War. He was so powerful that when the masters had finally managed to defeat him they entombed him deep within the earth and forgot about him. It finally clicked in her mind and she realized that she was standing inside a prison.
         Having an enormous building of solid stone would make it impenetrable from the outside. With only a few guards it would be possible for them to hold off a much larger force until reinforcements arrived. Realizing that, even if the stories were true, the man would have to be hundreds of years old by now, and would be dead. Pushing the though from her mind she laughed at herself for even thinking it.
         A light in front of them pulled Faro out of her thoughts and she began walking faster, in an attempt to find out what it was. Lemine was close behind her and humming to himself playfully. Emerging from the long hallway their mouths dropped open. Having been within the darkness for so long neither of them had expected what they now saw.
         Hundreds of torches lit the room from all sides. A marble walkway rose up from the floor and towards a platform about fifty feet above. Lining both sides of the walkway were massive statues of five men and a woman. None of them wore similar clothing, and from what Faro could tell, none held the same lineage either.
         "What is this? I hadn't expected this to be inside the temple." Lemine was awestruck, and so was she.
         "I don't know, these statues are strange too. I can tell that one is a master from how he is dressed, but I don't know about the others."
         "That one over there is a Fatir Master as well. I've seen his picture before. He was one of the Six who fought during the Great War."
         "So I'm going to guess that all of these are Masters. We need to get to the top of that walkway and find out why they're leading up to it. Whatever is up there has to be what this place is hiding."
         "I agree, let's go find out what our prize is." Making their way up the platform the eyes of the Six followed them, judging them, and warning them. As they walked a large blue ball had become visible in the distance. With every step, more of the strange mass could be seen, until they were standing in below it. Between them and the opposite side of the