Chereads / The Awakened Warrior / Chapter 16 - The Temple of Un'Vaga

Chapter 16 - The Temple of Un'Vaga

Amon: He found himself crouching in the heart of an expansive desert, where the sand was a deep, velvety black, and the winds whispered ominously through the dry air. Above him, the sky loomed heavy and oppressive, shrouded in an unnatural darkness that swallowed any trace of light. He turned his head slowly, his eyes falling upon the remnants of what was once a grand temple, tattered stone columns that were now crumbling and eroded by time.

"Un'Vaga's Temple… It is surprising that she succumbed so easily. However, during her lifetime, she produced one of the most powerful artifacts to exist within the Central Point. But, then again, her death was truly the only good thing to come from her existence I suppose." He rose to his feet, approaching the pile of ruin. As he approached the ruined structure, the familiar voice within his head spoke to him.

????: The voice whispered into his lifeless head, its deep and emotionless tone echoing, "Find the Scepter, use it to break the barrier of neutrality..."

Amon: "Yes Sire..." As he approached the ruins, he placed his hand on the ground, and a surge of black smoke shot out of his hand into the desert grounds. The place around him began to shake as the smoke spiraled around the structure and began to reform it, stones upon bricks slapped together as it rebuilt the monstrous Temple of Un'Vaga.

The smoke coalesced back into his body as he stared at the temple's entrance. He paused only when he heard thumping footsteps, something large was approaching. Suddenly, a massive, reptilian beast emerged from the darkness, its long claws dragging against the ground as it slammed its tail down.

A black liquid dripped from its jaws, and as it stepped further into the light, it became clear that the entire creature was composed of the same dark material as the temple itself. "Hmm... Did Un'Vaga create you to defend her temple?"

The beast roared at Amon, fixing him with a fierce gaze for a brief moment before unexpectedly charging at him with its mouth wide open, intent on attack. "You are in my way," Amon declared. He raised his hand, and a strong force halted the beast mid-attack; it could not move. Amon stared into the creature's lifeless eyes, and suddenly, his eyes flashed with intensity for a split second.

The beast roared in pain as its stone body slowly turned into actual skin, forming from the bones first and moving outward, it was confused as it went from an immortal rock to a mystical beast. "As I said before..." He closed his hand, the black sand began to spiral into a tornado as it burst towards the beast, the sand forcing its way into the creature's mouth causing its newly formed stomach to bulge.

He opened his hand, causing the sand to pull around the inside of the creature until it had ripped off each of its limbs and its head. "Her death was her only quality, and even that was pathetic...", he walked past the corpse of the creature, entering deep into the temple, searching for where the Scepter of Un'Vaga might be being held.

He found a large pedestal with a small circle in the middle, it appeared this was where the Scepter was meant to be. He stared over at a skeletal figure lying on the ground, the corpse looked to be wearing a dress made of black temple stone, etched and carved with symbols that gleamed a deep purple. He noticed a large set of holes in the figure's armor, "Lucium...of course, you would die at his hand, you weakling. But, unfortunately for you, I need answers..."

He waved his hands, the skeleton reanimated back to life, the figure's muscle and pale skin reforming back over her once-dead body, her long black hair formed over the top of her head as she gasped for air, firing herself up. "Un'Vaga, the keeper of neutrality..."

Un'Vaga: She looked around frantically until her eyes landed on Amon, she stared at him for a moment before recognizing something within his eyes, she tried to reach for her spear but a strong force was holding her in place. "You bastard, release your hold on me!"

Amon: He backhanded the warrior, knocking what was left of her helmet off. "Do not speak to me unless I ask something of you, your voice alone is spiking my hateful heart and it was already difficult enough reviving you. Now, I am going to ask you a very simple and easy to understand question and the only thing I wish to hear out of your mouth is the answer, where is your Scepter..."

Un'Vaga: She grunted, spitting on the floor in front of Amon, "Like I would ever tell the likes of you where it is, you negative scum!" She stared into his hateful red eyes.

Amon: He licked his teeth for a second, he held up his hand, and the smoke on his forearm shifted around until it had hardened into a red blade the size of his forearm. He sliced off her arm and pierced her leg with the blade before getting closer to her face. "Your confidence is both meaningless and pathetic, I told you to only give me the answer to the damn question!" He stared into her eyes for a moment, narrowing his gaze. "You don't know where it is do you..."

Un'Vaga: She panted frantically, fear overflowing out of her body, "N-no I do know where it is, I just don't want to tell you!" Amon punched the wall right next to her head, the wall slowly evaporated completely as if it had never been built, the thought of its existence had left her mind completely.

Amon: "Do you take me for a fool! Your fear spills the truth and your mouth tells nothing but lies, you do not even know where the Scepter is which means you have no more use. Perhaps that is what you fear, perhaps that is why you thought if you lied you would be spared?"

He chuckled, "Oh no, regardless of what you do. Your idea of character will be gone." A black sludge formed over his hand as he thrust his hand deep into her chest and ripped out a small glowing orb. He stood up, leaving her alone in the temple as everything began to shake. As he left, he crushed the small orb between his fingers and then the temple along with Un'Vaga turned into dust. "You are no more and have never been." 

He raised his hand up, and a large transparent black box formed over the entire planet of sand, before glowing a bright white and vanishing along with everything within it. "The void swallows what remained, and now there was never anything. Now if you excuse me I have to try and find the Scepter, but first I have to continue to fool the pathetic Primordial." He vanished into the deep abyss of space.