The sight of the grand temple made all Dall's prior fears dissipate. His grip on the daggers loosened. It was amazing, to see such a sight. However, also sad, to realize this is the only encounter with such a building he's had in multiple days, yet there was no sign of life outside.
As he surveyed the surrounding, it was empty. The snow was undisturbed, and the temple looked untouched. The surrounding labyrinth was everything except filled with life. It looked barren.
The temple was grand, made of white stone and a strange red wood that he had never seen before. It was a square shaped colosseum with an closed spire roof. Atop the peak of the gothic looking spire, was a gargoyle of sorts that was made in the image of an elf, holding a scythe in her right hand and the moon in her left. She wore a robe of fire, and had a halo floating above her head that was unlike any he had seen in western fiction. It took the appearance of a grand constellation, connected in a circular formation. This being looked astral. She looked evil yet tranquil at the same time. Dall was stunned.
He surveyed the building itself, the walls were etched with the same type of letters he had seen at the tower beforehand, they formed a perimeter that circled the outer wall of the entire palace. A grand mural stood above the entryway depicting something Dall couldn't make out from the distance he was currently at. There seemed to be only one floor of this temple, however you could make out a basement like floor due to the raised stature of the entrance.
The outside labyrinth was composed of winding paths that turned every other way, the walls seemed to have the grand symbols etched on them, most of which were ruined and destroyed. They weren't any higher than 10 feet, and each corridor ended up leading to the entrance anyways, it seemed like a diverging factor used to pick off enemies as they winded through the labyrinth towards the temple. For a religious type of building, having such an architecture was astounding. It seems this religion or cult wasn't widely appreciated among this world, seeing as how they made their temple in such a secluded area with such a secure and protected entrance.
Dall noticed that the nature of the opening was extremely serene, it seemed that the wind in the area completely stopped at the labyrinth's entrance, and there was no sounds anywhere around the temple. Snow was falling around the temple coating the ground in more and more or a white mound than was there originally. If one wasn't looking for it, it might have blended in with the environment surrounding it. Though, he was actively searching for it, so the massive sight was seen easily.
He began to make his way down the slope, it was pretty high up so he wasn't rushing as to not trip and go plummeting down the steep slope. He wanted to get to the temple, but he had time, he still wanted to explore a bit and see the nature of the labyrinth first. The closer he got, the more he noticed the lack of light in the area. It was subtle at first, but the more he approached, the darker the surrounding got.
He stopped his decline at one point and looked around. It looked like it had became night time in a matter of seconds. Magic? He wondered. He climbed back up to confirm his suspicions. At the top of the mound, there was a vast amount of light, apparent due to the fact that it was still midday; however, the more he descended the mound, the darker it got. It seemed as though the temple was shrouded in a darkness that never ceased up. It must have been the affect of the strange runes etched into the sides of the wall.
Dall began his descent, more wearily now--it appears that this outside portion holds more than what meets the eyes.
He stayed on guard, peering down with his grip tight on the daggers. Dall didn't have much experience fighting, he wasn't a trained warrior and had never really hunted in his past life. He usually fought with a pen and numbers, but that didn't matter here. He truly regretted not taking a martial arts seminar in the past now, as it would have came to have much use during this time.
He was naturally nearing the labyrinth, at this point it looked like midnight; illusory stars had even appeared in the sky above him and began circulating. Unlike the normal pattern of stars movement, these stars were moving rapidly in a circular orbit, spinning and connecting with bright iridescent lines forming constellations as they moved. An elf, a dragon, a rabbit, a deer, a fairy, and many more shapes were projected by the astral bodies above. Dall had to stop for a moment to study this sight.
He noticed that the closer he moved towards the temple, the more the constellations would begin to lower themselves. They seemed to be growing closer and closer to him, to the point where it looked like he could reach up and grab them; and when he had finally reached flat ground, the constellations were zipping around him, all at varying levels of height. They floated around him like an aura, shining a faint white light that illuminated the darkness around him.
Dall reached out to touch one, the rabbit; when his hand collided with it's furthest star, a surge of energy poured into his arm and circulated around his entire body. He quickly retracted his hand; it didn't hurt in the sense of the word, but it was a strange picky feeling that jolted through his whole body. It felt powerful, sort of like when he experienced the towers top floor. Is this what magic felt like? It was all so new to him. He didn't dare to touch any of the other constellations. While being magic looking projections, they all seemed to possess their own type of self-will and moved around him freely, conversing with one another and following him intently.
This was a spectacle that, in its own would have sparked the birth of new religions on earth. Though, Dall saw through these tiny beings as magic creations. Maybe fairies? Or were they truly representative of stars themselves? He didn't know. They were all a glowing white color, apart from one star that continuously hovered above Dall's head, seemingly ignoring the other constellations. It was a cyan blue, and shone brighter than the others, the constellation was in the shape of a flower, it looked like a blue rose, and was more clear than the others. It seemed authoritative and powerful. Dall didn't dare touch it. He continued onwards.
He reached the from of the labyrinth, the constellations were still freely spinning and dancing around him. The entrance was a grand gate made of a dark silver-like metal. It was illuminated by dark red lanterns, emitting a white fiery glow. The small flames lit up the dark area surprisingly well, however they weren't close the the level of the constellations light.
He approached the gate and walked in, on both sides were decrepit and falling white stone walls. The labyrinth was dark, and had a strange glow on the underside of the walls. There was no visible light source, however Dall could still see due to the constellations guiding help. He wasn't too fearful of getting lost, as when he looked from above, the labyrinth's pathways all led to the entrance. It was just darker now, so he feared he might end up running into a dead end on accident.
Now that he was actually inside the labyrinth, the walls seemed to be taller than he guessed. More like 12 feet tall and extremely thick. The winds and bends of the labyrinth were sharper too, it seemed like every wall was intact, which was different than what he perceived from above.
He started off right, making turns whichever direction he felt. There was many turns in this labyrinth that made him question if it was the same from above, but what really confirmed this theory was when Dall had walked to a dead end. He turned from the stone wall facing his way only to find another white blockade right the way he had came. He quickly turned to see that the previously stone wall was now a path that forked in three directions.
Dall cussed and continued forwards. The magic not only made it darker, it also changed the labyrinth. This maze was ever-changing and solid. It seemed like it wasn't one solid path to the front anymore, it seemed like he would now have to rely on intuition, luck, and charting skills to make his way to the temple.
Is this an effect of the insanity brought by the forests curse? Just, great!