Morden squat down to see better the stone he just found. It was definitely deliberate but so out of the norm for a random forest in the middle of nowhere. It reminded him of the brick paved roads he had seen on his travels. He called over Karaia to see if she recognized the style or what it was from.
"I've seen similar markings in some of the preserved angel cities. But there isn't an angel stronghold for at least 2 months journey from here. What is it doing all the way out here?" Karaia was pondering when Morden started pacing. After a few seconds he said, "Only one way to find out I guess."
Karaia grabbed his jacket and scolded him. "Not a chance. Now is not the time for adventures. We said we were going hunting and thats what we are doing!" Morden pulled himself loose and replied casually, "You can wait here then. Not like anything will be passing by in the next hour or two. Plus, I AM hunting. Hunting for adventure!" He smirked and trodded off confidently into the forest.
Karaia quickly followed behind and shouted, "Well you don't even know where you're going! How will you find where, whatever it is you're even looking for, is?!" Morden frozen perfectly mid walk like a statue. 'I guess I really don't know what I'm looking for. But it has to be nearby.' He unfroze himself and continued along his journey through the leaves.
"You idiot. I'm not gonna let you wander off and hurt yourself! Get back here!" She chased after him but Morden darted off immediately. Unfortunately for Morden, Karaia was slightly faster than him, but he did his best to avoid her at all cost. She nearly snagged him several times during their chase. When she finally managed to catch up, she did not go easy, tackling Morden full force sending him flying into the ground.
Slowly getting up, Morden spat out the mouthful of dirt that made its way past his teeth thanks to a certain someone. Karaia walked over to him, out of breath and tired of the chace. She was clearly annoyed beyond what Morden expected. "Guess this is where the fun ends," he said lightly chuckling. Karaia slapped him so hard he was sent flying into a tree. This time, Morden was the one who was annoyed. No, he was angry. He stood up and screamed, "You're not my fucking caretaker! If you don't want to follow me then don't, I'm plenty capable of taking care of myself!"
"And yet here you are, three angel runes after six years of work! You've been forced to use so many its a miracle you're still alive!"
"You only have four! And I have four too!"
"Only because you got lucky and found one! Do you understand how stupid it is running into an unknown forest in the dark is? I don't care how strong you are, there are countless things we still don't know of and those same things can kill you! Don't be stupid and listen to me for once!"
Morden stormed away shouting, "I'll worry about me. Go back home. Next time you see me I'll prove you wrong." He continued down his path leading to nowhere, too angry to care where he was headed. He just knew that he needed some fresh air. The only thing that pissed him off more than a liar was someone who tried to control him.
Karaia, seeing his anger, decided to let him be. 'If he's going to be an ass, then let him be an ass. He'll calm down, find his way back (hopefully) and apologize because he knows he's wrong.'
-
A statue of stone shifted slightly. It hadent moved in years, but the shaking of the earth nearby stirred its circuits. The earth was cold and hadent been disturbed in many years. The minor disturbance, usually ignored, had sounded like loud drums after the many years of absolute silence.
-
It was already dark. The night was bustling with the sound bugs and animals chirping. Morden had been walking for about thirty minutes so he sat down to rest. His head was rattled by the hit Karaia had dealt to him. After collecting his thoughts, he decided to turn around and go back. 'Just because I'm wrong doesn't mean I have to be proud and stubborn. I'll apologize when I get back.' As he turned around, he noticed a glimmer in the distance between some trees. It was too high up to be on the ground, but there were no mountains in that direction, only behind him.
Morden jumped on top of a nearby tree and looked closer. He saw something he did not expect. 'Is that a building?' He hopped to the ground and jogged over. As he got closer he started to notice that the ground was paved, but completely unkempt. It was as if nobody had visited in many many years with vines and mold everywhere. The building was about thirty feet tall and was smaller than the colony. He ran his fingers across the wall and noticed that there were some eroded markings on the wall. Letters and pictures, but he couldn't make them out because of the wear. He wandered around for a short while when he came across a large double door that was in pristine condition. It was as though it had been built yesterday and attached to this shabby broken down stone structure. He pushed hard, but it didn't budge an inch. He pressed as hard as he could, and suddenly the door glowed with a slight blue hue.
'Defense runes. Whoever left this here didn't want any visitors. But to still be active, it was either tremendously powerful, or someone is still here.' He stepped away from the door and looked around the area for something to break the door down with. He found a large boulder twice his size, picked it up and wandered back to the door. About twenty feet from the door, he cocked his arm back and launched the boulder towards the door, causing an explosion twice the size of the Boulder to occur.
'Damn, that was one hell of a rune! But whoever set it up didn't expect this.' Smiling, Morden walked up to the door which was flung open but still on its hinges. The Boulder almost covered the entrance but he simply pushed it aside. As he entered the building, Morden realized what the building was.
'Well no shit it had a rune, this is an angel stronghold!' He looked around and there were many well preserved carvings and statues everywhere. the walls were a dull white with gold trimming everywhere. They all depicted angels and demons fighting each other to the death. The angels looked similar to humans but there faces were more elongated and eyes further apart. They had four arms and a sword in each hand. They also had two wings spanning twice their body size and covered in feathers.
The demons on the other hand were much taller, around eight to twelve feet tall, and had two arms. They usually held a two handed bastard swords. They were far more physically dominant. Their faces were extremely handsome with defined jawlines and cheekbones. Their teeth were sharp and their fingers had claws on the tips that extended out about two inches. Their feet were large and brutish, extremely useful for kicking. They were built for physical combat.
As Morden admired the scenery, he noticed that there was a story being told with these statues and paintings. There were paintings of grand battles and also the invention of the races. Angels were seen creating humans, elves, dwarves and several other races. The demons were seen creating goblins, trolls, and many sorts of magics to raise the dead or change life.
More battles were depicted, then came the fall of the humans. The humans were one of the angel's most prized creations. They were similar to the demons in structure yet did everything in their power to destroy them. It was the reason that the demons hated the humans more than any other race. The demons were proud of their stature and superiority. The only thing they lacked was numbers, and that is something the humans did not lack. The humans, despite their smaller and weaker state, were what the demons would be if they were perfected. They were created by the angels during the war not only as dedicated warriors, but also as a show of intellectual superiority to the demons.
A giant city was depicted in flames as it was surrounded by the demon's forces. Hell rained down from the sky and the earth ruptured swallowing entire landscapes. The next painting showed a number of broken humans on their faces before the angels begging for retribution. The next showed the humans going toe to toe with demons, despite being half their height.
The walls on either side of the building came together at this point and there were three paintings. Underneath them was a mosuleum. It was unlike anything he had ever seen, large enough for several hundred people to be stored. 'This must be a burial grounds' Morden thought to himself 'but why was it protected by a rune of power?'
On the left painting, a beautiful angel, more beautiful than anything in existence, was freezing the battlefield with each step she took. It was the leader of the angels, Aurora, goddess of the coming cold. Facing her was a demon more handsome than any other and ruler of the demons and their land, Gorgon. running forward with fire bellowing below him from his steps. The second painting was of the two merging as one is terrible pain. All the angels were crying and the demons struck in fear. The two beings were turning into a statue of the angel goddess from the feet. It retold the famous story of the goddess sacrificing herself to seal away Gorgon as he was far too powerful to be defeated.
After the sealing was completed, legends say that every angel and demon were pulled into another dimension within the statue and fight to this day. The belief is that one day the victor will return to bring peace to their followers and eradicate the other side's creations. But this was just speculation.
The final painting however, was something Morden did not recognize. It showed the angels creating what seemed like an incredibly complex angel rune. The rune was depicted as absorbing all of the energy around it. It glowed like a rainbow and seemed to distort its surroundings.
While studying the images, Morden heard something small fall behind him. Turning around, he didn't notice anything aside from what he saw when he walked in. "Karaia is that you?" He said hesitantly. His instincts were on edge and something was telling him to leave as soon as possible.