-The Gods; 8 Plixam, The God of Mechanisms. This god used to be worshiped as the god of golems. As a human, he was the first person to imbue items with actions. He invented many creations that are used today. He developed the base items that would become gears and cogs. In the current world, he is prayed to by repairmen mostly as a last-ditch effort to fix enchantments or other delicate mechanisms. He isn't always proud of this.-
Erust and Chester sat quietly rubbing their hands together. Erust had never been much for small talk. He lacked the ability to pick that one topic out of thin air that could keep a conversation going. It was social awkwardness at its finest.
Chester on the other hand was quietly debating whether to leave and run as quickly as he could down the mountain or to wait and see what happened. During the time they traveled from Ark City to the mountain he had thought about the last words Hector had told him. He was supposed to be dead according to the wishes of his Captain. He was very strongly considering using the small savings and buying a farm somewhere. He would then find a mediocre wife and call it a day.
The awkward silence was filled with the sounds of the wind rushing off the sides of the mountain. The occasional snowflake would flutter in through the door and melt slowly on the granite floor.
Ashra walked out of the darkness carrying an armful of logs and shivering. "Where is Rennish?" she asked looking around the empty space.
Erust looked over at her and blinked. "He went to help you when you called out from back there. Is he not back there collecting wood?"
She shook her head and put the wood unceremoniously in a pile in the fire pit. "I never called him. You must have heard the wind."
Chester timidly spoke, afraid of interfering. "We all heard you call from the cave. He took off to help."
Ashra rubbed her hands together and searched through a bag that they had carried up for the tinder box to get the fire started. "You are all delusional from the cold." She dismissed their words, the cold would do things to your mind.
Erust was getting concerned. They had all certainly heard her call. "Are you sure he isn't back there?"
"Don't you trust me?" She was hurt at the implication that she might be lying.
"Without a doubt. But I am certain we all heard you..." Erust was running scenarios through his head and the idea that this rogue god was playing with them had started to enter his head.
As soon as he was going to ask what she had heard the wind from the mouth of the cave slowed down significantly. The snow stopped trying to drift its way into the cave and a slight ray of light could be seen spreading across the floor.
Chester's time on the water meant he was no stranger to freak weather but even that was abrupt. "Well, I think that answers that..." he muttered, superstition and tradition were strong on the ocean so seeing this just confirmed that it was something divine.
Ashra had stopped mid-strike on the flint and looked from the tinder box to Erust. "It just stopped?"
Erust nodded and stood up. He walked to the entrance and looked around. The snow was melting, the temperature was climbing and it was becoming rather pleasant. He walked back into the cave and shook his head. "This stinks of a trap."
Ashra put the tinder back into their bag and walked towards Erust. "First Rennish disappears chasing a voice that isn't there and now the weather changes. What do you want to do?"
Erust smiled, "Well let's spring the trap and see who comes to collect the prey."
Chester shook his head and stood up, this change in events had made his mind up for him. "No, I'm done with yalls crazy adventure. I am going back down the mountain. Thank you for watching over me but I will be in the town. If you survive let me know." He shook his head to emphasize his decision.
Ashra walked over and put his hand in hers. "Thank you, We wouldn't expect you to risk your life for ours. Please be safe and may you be blessed in the future."
Erust stuck his hand out to shake Chesters. They sealed the deal and Erust nodded to the man. "What she said. Go live a happy life and stay away from the ocean for a while." A smile spread across Erust face as he tried to make the young man feel better about what was happening.
Chester collected his things and nodded as he walked out the mouth of the cave. Erust was going to stop him but he decided to let him go first. It wasn't to see if he would spring whatever trap was waiting for them but to make sure the young man made it around the curve. This confirmed to Erust that whatever was playing with them was sentient enough to understand retreat and that it was certainly there for him and Ashra.
She must have been reading his mind because as soon as Chester's head disappeared down the trail safely she put her hand on Erust back and patted. "I guess this means the rest is on us. Do we go up or in after Rennish?"
Erust sighed and then looked over at Ashra. He smiled at her and leaned in to kiss her forehead. Erust remembered vaguely being Ed, he knew the feelings that he had felt back then but since he had been attacked things felt firmer. He was more driven to complete the task set ahead of him and cement the future of this world. It was a compulsion and a strong one at that. He chalked it to a sense of revenge, a desire to see the world pay for trying to stop him.
"Well someone has laid out the welcome mat for us. Let's go up. I am certain that if we make it in we will find Rennish. Besides if he was back there you would have found him coming back out. I feel as if they have magicked him up and away somewhere."
Ashra nodded. The logic was sound, even if walking knowingly into a trap was a little bit intimidating.
They gathered their bags and smiled at each other before holding hands. They stepped out into the light and headed up the mountain. Someone was waiting and they wanted to find out who.
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Rennish was dizzy from the lights and following the sound of Ashra's voice. It had become fainter over time and could just barely be heard.
He had been walking further into the forest of crystal trees when he noticed something on the ground. He leaned down to inspect it and realized it was his own footprints. But instead of going forward and back, he had intersected them. He cursed the room and in a fit of anger yelled out at the top of his lungs.
He had only been gone 5 minutes but he should have expected a trap of some kind. The fact that nothing had happened while they went up the mountain should have been warning sign number 1.
"Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!" He screamed in the air. He slapped the dirt once and stood up. This meant he no longer knew the way back out. He would find the wall again and hope it was a large circle but he expected that no matter which way he walked he would still always be in the center of the room.
Rennish sighed and looked up at the roof. The large ball of light was still moving as if it was alive. The light wasn't harsh to look at but it was intense. The longer you stared at it the more you wanted to squint. He shook his head and cussed one more time, "Asshole gods!"
Rennish really hated the divines and their games and this only further cemented his opinion. When he was alive he had felt a sort of nostalgia for the old tales of gods and humans. He had wanted to have adventures with the gods and be a hero. He knew now that there were no heroes, only puppets.
Rennish looked at the roof and scratched his head. He was surprised he got caught so easily.
Rennish put his hands on his waist and then had an idea. He pulled the bag of instruments from his waistband and smiled. He opened the bag and loudly declared "Instrument of Escape!"
The bag shook for a minute and then stopped. Rennish smiled to himself at his own genius and pulled out a spoon. "What the actual hell is this?" He screamed in frustration. "Am I supposed to dig my way out... Even this stupid bag has a sense of humor."
He threw the spoon back in the bag and cursed, "Stupid divine powers. I want a USEFUL instrument of Escape..."
The bag shook again this time and then went still. Rennish sighed to himself and put his hand into the bag. He was expecting another gag gift but this time his hand felt something useful. As he pulled the bag shot out a ladder onto the ground before him. He eyeballed the ladder, most items that came out were normally no bigger than the size of a watermelon. This ladder was much taller than even him and he found that surprising. It made him wonder what the upper limit of size for the bag actually was.
"Well, that's a little better I suppose," Rennish said and walked over to the ladder. He lifted it up onto his shoulder and walked forward towards the light in the middle of the room. He was looking for a tree that didn't have too many branches or one he could crawl up and get a good view of the room.
He walked towards the light, using it as a beacon to keep his bearing, knowing that the room was already out to trick him. He stopped when he realized he was looking directly up at the blue mass of living light above his head. He examined the trees until he found one that looked like it might work. Rennish was afraid of the crystal leaves. Normally glass could cut you when broken, these leaves might be more deadly than their fragile beauty suggested.
He put the ladder up against the tree and began to climb up through the branches. He finally found a nice limb that would let his head poke up through the leaves. He took his jacket off and wrapped it around his head to protect from the clear leaves. When he finally got his head through the leaves he said a little prayer to himself that the crystal in the branches would hold his weight long enough to look around and then opened his eyes.
The room was a perfect circle of crystal trees. The rainbow lights from the refractions shined across the walls and ground. He sighed. From up here the exterior wall only looked to be a few hundred feet. This confirmed to him that the room was a creation, not a natural trap.
"Okay, so no caves or holes I can see..." he muttered to himself. He looked up at the blue glowing mass. He felt like from this height he could almost touch the bottom of whatever was creating this light. As he stared at it he had an idea. It was crazy but it might work.