“What is that?” I ask Nero, whose back I’m riding on. “Another house?”
“If my memory serves me correctly, this area was once riddled with temples.” The slide of Nero’s scales between my thighs nearly drives me mad as he twists and looks at me over his shoulder. “If I had to guess by the pillars, I’d say it’s one of those.”
Sure enough, as we near, I can see what were once intricate carvings in the sides of the pillars and walls, as well as small indents showing where jewels or mosaics might have once been nestled. Nature has long since taken the temple back, as it does to all things abandoned. There isn’t even much evidence left to indicate which deity it might have been dedicated to. We could have just gone past, but something tells me to step inside, so I tap Nero on the side and he pauses.
“Hold on a second,” I tell everyone, sliding from his back.
The orc king growls in frustration. “We don’t have time for petty explorations.”
Grimus glares at the king, boldly stepping in front of me as if to protect me from his words. “Keep in mind what she’s agreed to do for our world. If she wants to see the temple, then she can.”
I ignore their bickering and walk alongside Nero into the crumbling temple, looking around at the vines covering the walls. There’s no longer any ceiling, the pieces having long since collapsed, but within the temple, there still seems to be some evidence of the past—a statue broken off at the neck in the corner, a few stone stages, some mosaic tiles that barely sparkle in the low light.
“I bet this was once beautiful,” I muse, trailing my fingers over the small tiles left behind. The dust brushes away, revealing a sparkling red underneath the dirt.
“The temples of the olden days were often spoken of as the jewels of this world,” Nero agrees. “I never saw them myself but—”
“They were beautiful,” Zetros interrupts, trailing in behind us as he looks around. “I never visited this one, but the ones I did were works of art.” He touches his fingers to the same tile I did. “It saddens me that we can no longer bask in its beauty.”
Watching him sadly, I tilt my head back. “Perhaps, one day, we can build temples again, and the jewels of this world will shine just as brightly.”
Zetros glances at me. “Ah, but you are the jewel now,measma, shining brightly for all to see. What need do we have of temples in comparison to that?”
I flush at the compliment, standing on tiptoes to press a quick kiss to his cheek. He blinks down at me in surprise and then strokes his fingers along my jaw, a caress that makes me want for more, but we’re not in the right place for that.
Turning, I intend to lead us out of the temple, but instead, my eyes catch on a design on the opposite wall. The tiles there aren’t as decayed as the others, and in the very center, there’s a large jewel that hasn’t been taken by nature. Despite the dirt and vines covering much of the other parts, this jewel shines as if dust has never touched it, the bright red drawing me closer. Around the sparkling red jewel, the tiles and other small jewels form a strange circular design, something other that I’ve never seen. It speaks of magic in a way I can’t explain, and I’m drawn closer and closer until I’m right before it.
“I’m surprised this hasn’t crumbled,” Nero comments, staring at the large jewel. “That’s a rather large diamond.”
I jerk my gaze to his. “It’s the size of my fist.”
“And?” he asks, staring at me quizzically.
The amount of money something like that could bring in the Shadow Lands…
I reach out, something drawing me to touch it. Whether it’s because I don’t believe it’s actually a diamond, the types of jewels only reserved for those in the Gilded Lands, or because I want to see if it’s loose, I don’t really know. Still, my hand is reaching for it before I’m conscious of it.
“Parum anguis,” Nero warns, hesitation in his voice, but he couldn’t stop me from touching the red diamond if he tried.
My fingers touch the surface a moment later, and the reaction is instantaneous. I’m not sure what I expect, but what happens certainly isn’t it. The moment my flesh touches the stone, my fingers almost feel as if they lock in place and a burst of wind blasts me, forcing my head back.
“Cora!”
I can no longer see the world around me. Nero is no longer there. Zetros isn’t beside me. I’m looking up at bright stars, and then I’m whisked away on…a memory? A vision? I don’t really know.
I’m looking at the king’s old castle, but the gray world that I know is now bright with magic and color. There’s intrigue and beauty. Just as quickly, I’m led to a divide, witnessing the monsters standing on one side and the humans on the other, as if someone drew a line between them—war. Each is standing on the side they’d fight on. The monsters come in peace, standing tall and pushing a treaty. The humans are armed and declare war, denouncing the treaty brought forth by the monsters, wanting the magic they claim for themselves. They rush forward, two sides of the same coin, their weapons raised high. I gasp as the two worlds collide, preparing to watch the bloodshed, but I’m turned away from that vision and instead shown a scene I know all too well.
The wall between the Shadow Lands and the Dead Lands is growing, brought by magic. Reaching into the sky, it twists and slithers together. Cutting off all hope, all friendship, all connections. Dividing us.
The next scene is of the wall crumbling, decaying, and two worlds collide again. The wall I’ve known and seen my entire life disappears, and the monsters that the humans fear are revealed. My monsters. Many others. The humans’ faces are stricken with fear and fury. There’s no more wall. There’s nothing separating the Shadow Lands from the Dead Lands. There will be no more hunts.
Standing before the monsters, I see a single glowing woman in a crown leading the charge.
Just as quickly as the visions came, I blink and find myself back in the temple, staring at a panicked Nero and Zetros. The others are around me with worry on their faces, but the orc king is staring at me in wonder.
“What the fuck was that?” Grimus demands as I’m pulled away from the stone.
“I…don’t know,” I murmur, blinking to clear the confusion. “One minute, I was here, and the next, I was being shown… I think I saw a vision of the war.”
