Inside the Fire Temple, Vira was still panning her eyes for more movement under the Magma. The attack on Kuzunoha had happened without a sound. Unless they were speaking, only the roar of moving rock could be heard in the cavern.
Beyond the statues, patches of what looked like Bloodgrasses could be seen, though, they were on fire but not burning away.
Kuzunoha pulled one of the grass clumps up by the roots and found that it quickly shriveled and died. "I don't know if we can harvest this." She held up the withered herb.
"If you can't pick it out of the soil, take the soil too." Vira saw another and demonstrated. They were both digging with their hands, it felt so natural.
"Ahh, it did it again!" Kuzunoha was getting upset. Another of the plants had died in her hands.
Vira wanted to know what the problem was, she sauntered over to Kuzunoha and smacked her in the bottom then asked, "What exactly are you doing?" Dusting her hands off, she noticed the muddy hand print on Kuzunoha and tried not to laugh.
"Its not 'that' funny. This is the second one I've picked that died. The first time I dug out the roots and it died. The second time, I dug out the soil too and it still died." Kuzunoha had a blacked expression but after she finished speaking, she couldn't be bothered with digging further. She went to find other things to take her attentions.
Vira looked a the soil and noticed a long taproot, it was searing to the touch. The grasses that Vira had picked were much closer to the lava pool. "I think I figured it out. You're cutting off a long portion of the taproots, I think that the plants are directly living off the heat from the flow.."
Wu Hai was busy looking over the statues, there was something off about them, all of them had auras like the carvings on the first floor. Placing his hand on the large dragon statue, he could feel the presence of enormous energy that was hanging on by a thread. 'Exactly what is this? Were these carved?'
A spray of molten rock in the distance shot up and peppered the ceiling, small bits of molten rock fell down like rain below it.
Checking the statues on the other side, Wu Hai found that they all had fire auras. 'So this really is some sort of Fire Temple.' Each of the statues had its own unique aura and Wu Hai did his best to memorize them, though, there were many. The eyes of the statues seemed hollow but somehow able to follow his movements.
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Outside of the Temple, Vector was busy watching the clouds. It had been more than half of the day and he was content with the energy that flowed around him. The sounds of insects he couldn't identify were loud but melodic after the light changed to its amber dusk color. When they stopped making noise, Vector knew he was no longer alone.
He retracted his energy levels to make himself smaller, there were fewer predators on the second level but those that they had run across previously had been beaten by using the groups coordinated efforts. Alone, Vector wasn't sure if he would be enough.
A group of soldiers were coming around a rock formation that wasn't too far away.
The leader, a human in a much nicer suit of armor, stopped in his tracks. He put his hand on his sword. "Who's out there! Show yourself!" 'I bet this doesn't even work, no one's that stupid.' As he thought to himself, a rustling came from the grasses beside the road.
"I didn't think you could detect me, what are you all doing out here?" Vector rubbed at his head and tried to smile but there was already a spear headed toward his heart. 'Fuck, these assholes aren't playing around.' Vector flew into the air. "Why are you attacking me?"
"I knew it! what have you done? A Dragon takes roost outside a temple, blocking the way and it dares to question 'our' motives? Kill that pathetic flying lizard and roast it." A bow was taken out of their cart, the Leader held it in his hands. "Dragons, you greedy bastards have no right to take our prize." An arrow formed in the leaders hands.
He fired.
The Bow shook wildly after the arrow was released.
Vector spotted the arrow soaring toward his face, he dodged but the arrow shifted at the last second. It scratched past Vector's face and cleaved several scales from his cheek. 'Che' Clicking his tongue, he wondered, 'What the fuck?!' Vector cursed in his mind and soared higher, at least he would have more time to react.
As he was flying to a higher position, he noticed two of the guards rushing toward the entrance to the Temple. 'They want to use this time to sneak in? Like hell!' Vector pulled out one of his experimental potions, took off his ring and swallowed the potion.
All of Vector's gear broke apart, his treasure had been spared but only if he survived the battle. As he was beginning to expand, he was forced to drop the ring. Vector wondered if he would ever see it again but those thoughts were dismissed as soon as they appeared. He sent out a breath attack and sealed the Temple entrance. It would take more than a few strikes from anyone to break through. "I thought you said you wanted to kill me! So it turns out that you're actually just finger pointing charlatans."
Smashing onto the ground outside of the Temple, Vector dug his claws in and charged a beam in his mouth. Motes of energy were everywhere within his vision and a loud, 'HONG' noise spread with the beams extension. The beam froze everything in its path but only in its path and there was no escape. Seven of the Human Warriors who had come had been frozen to death in that moment.
It was an abnormal attack, even for Vector but his heart was racing. He could feel the temperature rising around him and flames appeared to surround him in the next moment.
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The second level of the Fire Temple was large for a cavern, Wu Hai flew around but couldn't stay in the air for long, the vents with warm air would push him toward the ceiling that was covered with rows jagged spikes like they too had been carved with a purpose. He chose not to touch any of them, since they were carved, it was likely that the spikes themselves were part of some elaborate trap. Knowing better, he drifted as far as he could for about twenty minutes, there was a booming sound behind him that echoed throughout the Temple but it could have been anything since they were underground.
In the corner of his eyes, using Pistis Gift, Wu Hai was able to see a shimmering light. It reflected every beam of light gently, if anyone else had seen it, they too would have wondered what it was. Landing beside the flickering and shimmering light, he saw a cage. It made him think of the Crusher and the secret that was locked within, there was an energy pulse that was extremely strong within it and surrounding the light were several short and covert looking totems.
The pillar-shaped totems looked like they were carved from bone and charred black with fire. Etched patterns across their exterior was proof enough that he was standing in the middle of an Array. It should have alarmed him but he wasn't afraid. Instead, an overwhelming desire to touch it was cementing in his mind.
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Vector continually threw out blasts of ice and those that were able to dodge continued to dodge. 'Uggh, this is so frustrating. I wish I had a hammer.' Then it dawned on him and Vector yanked a tree from its roots and sprayed it with Ice. It wasn't a hammer but it was definitely a weapon in his hands.
"BIG HAMMER!, THE HAMMER FALLS!" Yelling it out, Vector slammed the Frozen weapon down at the largest concentration of soldiers. They were forced to scatter and the dead hung from the frozen tree like decorations pinned to the branches.
The ground crashed and the area shook.
A whirlwind of fire surrounded him and Vector leapt into the sky to avoid it. He concentrated as best he could and summoned a storm overhead, Ice shards began to rain down in every direction. He could sense that around the battlefield and below, lots of energy was being exchanged. Another powerful fireball whizzed past Vector's body.
Only fifteen of the soldiers, including the blue leader remained but they were all extremely agile and likely the security force tasked with babysitting the others who were completely unable to dodge.
A blue flame passed by Vector when he swooped down and grabbed two of the Mages. They were chanting like they would go unnoticed in the rear but from above the distance was nothing. The blue armored leader was using his hottest fires and it wasn't enough to stop Vector from collecting two bodies.
In the true and wild spirit of Dragons, Vector ate them both.
It was strange for him to have done so in his mind but as a Dragon, it bothered him less than he originally thought it would during his daydreams. The Fire Temple entrance was still blocked with Ice, there was little chance of them breaking through but Vector couldn't risk it. He sent another breath out, it reinforced the seal over the doorway and Vector landed, swiping his tail toward the few who had come too close.
There were only five left, He charged the beam in his mouth and fired. Vector felt himself receive a strike in the back, it slammed him into the ground, the beam missed all but one of the remaining five.
Though their number had decreased to four, Vector was in pain, he spun on his belly and spread Ice in every direction. He could tell that the enemy had already gone but with Ice below him, a close combat situation was less likely. Running on Ice, especially unprepared, was dubious at best during a battle.
"RETREAT!" The leader in blue ran off, directing the few that remained to escape.
"You think I'm some chump you can just attack and then run away all 'fuck-you ' like?" Vector flew ahead of the soldiers trying to flee and mowed down two more. Only a porter and the Blue Armored Leader remained.
The Leader in blue didn't know what 'fuck-you' like meant but he could tell it wasn't good. Frost accumulated in the air around Vector, a fog spread out. Its lingering moisture crept into the armor of the porter and then he collapsed, dead and blue like his armor.
"AHH!" The blue armored leader was furious, he was the only survivor. In his tribe, to come home alone was unacceptable. He would be put to death as a deserter, he screamed. His eyes billowed with fire and he was so furious that his body made him spit up blood from his revulsion.
'PAK' The blood spattered across his spear and it burst into flames like the Devil's Trident. "DIE!" He charged, there was zero chance of his arrival at Vector's body, yet, he still charged.
Vector knocked the spear from the Human's hands, it was flung into the grasses and they were set ablaze.
Pinned to the ground, the Leader cried out "KILL ME! KILL ME! I'm already dead.." His voice trembled and trailed off like he was waiting and had already screamed out his last words.
The Full Dragon transformation would last for a while, he stared at the man angrily. He was prepared to kill him but it was now what the man wanted. Defiant to the end, Vector started to wait out his transformation. When it was over, he would freeze him to the ground and collect his ring.
Looking around, Vector couldn't find it. "M▓therfu▓ker!"
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