It took nearly an hour to locate the second tomb where the rest of the fallen Falmeri were interred.
The vegetation underneath the trees was teeming with life, but as they carried along through the jungle they saw nothing larger than insects and small birds. Most creatures scattered long before they got close enough. Yet every now and again, Taisen would have to rein in the creature's predatory instincts from distracting it from going after prey.
However, as difficult as it was from keeping the beast from racing off after its next meal, it was even harder to force it to approach the temple. After every few steps, it would try to veer to the side or suddenly shy away from its course.
Taisen couldn't see more than a few metres away but he knew it was close. The magick power given off by the tomb acted like a beacon. Otherwise, he wouldn't have known that his mount was trying to head in the wrong direction. Taisen wondered who died first; Yavanna or her people. Did they bury her or did she bury them and who was left to bury.
As he got closer, the power of the temple called to him from behind the impenetrable curtain of tangled vines, sleeping Myrkr trees and twisted branches. Taisen had to clamp down in order to crush the last of the beast's will to resist.
Suddenly, they broke through the forest into a clearing approximately a hundred metres across. In the very centre was a Falmeri tomb similar to the one that housed Yavanna's remains. This one looked more worn and had more growth on its walls so it was built first. The outer structure, rose nearly twenty metres to the sky. A monument of carved rock and stone. The only absurdity is that there were no rock formations anywhere on the planet. No hills or mountains but her stood a building made with massive amounts of stone.
There seemed to be only one entrance which was a broad archway at the peak of an enormous staircase carved into the outside wall of the temple itself. Its surface was less than pristine with clinging moss and climbing ivy but the ground surrounding it was a perfectly manicured carpet of soft grass.
Who was maintaining it?
The creature lowered itself for Taisen and Alita to climb down before scampering off to hide in the forest. The terrible cacophony of its desperate escape was overlaid with tortured howls.
Taisen took a trembling step forward before stopping short.
"Are you alright?" Alita asked as he clenched his forehead. The pain that he had felt since stepping foot on Boettia was still there and had become worse since he started using the soul stone.
Taisen waved off her concern even though he felt light-headed. For all he knew, this was a place of danger. He couldn't afford to stop now. According to the memories he had glimpsed from the stone, Falmeri typically protected their burial places with powerful energy shields but he didn't sense any barrier. Either it had become defective over time- which he doubted-or someone had taken it down. Either way, he decided that he would proceed with caution.
"Do you sense any presence here, Lieutenant?"
Alita had been around him long enough to know that calling her by her rank was his way of creating distance between them. She probed the area with her keen senses.
"There used to be safeguards but they've all been disarmed."
They crossed the surrounding courtyard and mounted the temple steps. The steps were steep but wide and the stone was worn and cracked. It ended at a small landing leading to the stone archway of the entrance about a third of the way up. Taisen paused at the threshold in anticipation of the thrill of discovery.
"Commander, this is no time to be awed. We need to hurry back."
That caused Taisen's excitement to fade.
Taisen searched for ours beginning at the top floor and proceeding deeper and deeper until he reached the bottom level. It was at the lowest level of the tomb, far below Argos's surface where his exhaustive search ended. Taisen and Alita stumbled into a room with a massive computer. It looked like a floating cube with a high powered lamp but Taisen couldn't find the source of power. The surface was etched with arcane symbols; the language of the Enjarians, perhaps. One of the sides began to glow.
It was subtle at first; a faint violet hue tracing the edges of one of the unusual symbols almost perfectly level with his eye. As he approached it, that side began to glow brighter. Taisen stepped forward with Alita cautiously a step behind. He reached out tentatively with his left hand. The light winked out, startling him into taking a step back.
"Maybe we shouldn't place our hands on things we don't understand," Alita warned. Taisen wasn't paying any attention. He reached out again, channelling his magic from his core to the tip of his fingers.
The etched characters flared to life.
Struggling to contain his eagerness, Taisen again extended his hand and pressed hard against the glowing symbols. There was the faint grinding sound of turning gears and mechanisms. A small beam of light projected out from the top, the particles scattered and diffused. They began to shift and spin, coalescing into a cloaked figure, its features completely hidden by the hood of its heavy robe.
Then a voice spoke, crisp and clear. "I am Demagol, the greatest mind in the galaxy. I have devoted my life to studying the higher mysteries of the galaxy and this is a repository of my knowledge. One of many."
The accent used to pronounce the name made it sound like the voice was saying 'Demon'
***
Taisen quickly discovered that the knowledge contained within this computer of unknown design and construction surpassed those of the UN Archives so he had it removed from the tomb and taken back to his ship for further study and the results were astounding.
There seemed to be no way to hack or copy the information on the computer. The protection system was an interwoven, self-encrypted digital matrix. The interface was even more impressive.
The only way to interact with the computer was to talk to an Avatar of its creator; an imprinted personality that served as a guardian of the recorded knowledge.
Inside the computer were star maps of worlds lost to time, the complete anatomy of alien species including the Falmer and descriptions for artefacts made with magic. Taisen suspected that the creator of the computer obtained the anatomies through unspeakable means.
Armed with this knowledge, Taisen began to plot against his new foe; Malkor.