Malachi Gregor
The sound of the galloping horse pulsed in Malachi's ears as he leaned against the inner wall of the tram. His eyes looked through the window, observing the black sun in the grey sky that shone with an eerie glow. A soft breeze blew his long brown hair that fell to his shoulders, giving him an ethereal appeal.
'When the black sun aligns with the yellow sun from opposing cardinal points, the temple of the Old religion will surface.' Malachi sighed, recalling the lines from the Archives of Mozes.
"Let me guess, you're thinking about the thesis and the temple, right?" A youthful voice sounded beside Malachi.
Snickering, Malachi nodded, hearing one of his research partners' laughter and accurate guess. He turned to Edvin, who sat beside him inside the cramped tram.
Edwin's cinnamon skin gave a youthful glow of a lad in his mid-twenties, his large, brown eyes contouring his round face. His short, messy black curls matched his unruly mouth that wouldn't stop disturbing the peace in the tram.
Next to Edwin was Luna, their third research partner, clad in a dark, velvety robe. Her chalky skin and medium - length ponytail stood out, stacked with her short height and the brooding air around her. She kept to herself, ignoring Edwin's antics and Malachi's glare. Her long face buried in her palms.
"Yes?" Malachi tilted his heavy, round glasses, sending Edvin a questioning look.
"Hey, don't give me that look." Edvin's snorted.
"And what if I do?" Malachi arched his brows, his eyes colour matching Edvin's — a shade lighter.
Just as Luna was about to reprimand the two bickering young adults, no longer finding their chatter bearable, the tram bumped into a tiny rock in its track, throwing the three young fellows off their balance.
"The heck is Sir Robert doing outside, huh?" Edvin frowned.
"Shush! He can hear you." Luna hushed him, displeased, and glanced outside to see if their driver could hear them.
"So? It's not as if he's doing it for free — we paid." Edvin adjusted his long, dark robes, the same as what others wore.
"Hey, if you want to ruin your thesis, don't drag me along with you." Malachi narrowed his eyes in annoyance.
He had been working on his Philosophiae Honours thesis since he was twenty-two, one of the greatest honours in academics, second in rank to the Erudite Honours. Three years later, and this talkative bastard wanted to ruin his efforts.
Luna also nodded in agreement. She was depending on this thesis to get her sick mother properly treated, and she wouldn't sit down and let someone ruin it with their wild mouth.
Fortunately for them all, Sir Robert, the grumpy driver pulling the tram, didn't hear them. Otherwise, with his personality and strong connections in the central academy, making things difficult for them was just a casual flick.
"We're here. "
As though he could tell they were talking about him, the hoarse voice of Sir Robert rang from outside the tram, making the three students tense up with mixed feelings. Exchanging one long look, they all hopped out of the tram.
They were in the middle of a forest with hills, and giant trees surrounding them from all angles, like an ancient, impregnable fortress. The morning chirping birds welcomed the strangers, while the rodents and reptiles hid in their holes, making the leaves rustle as the forest burst into life in response to the strangers.
The smell of decay and dampness attacked Malachi's nose, making his face crease. It wasn't as though he didn't perceive the smell before — now that he left the tram, though, the stench just seemed to be more piercing.
"Whew, after several weeks outside the border." Edvin screeched, jerking his knees.
Luna, on the other hand, swept her gaze through the perimeters of the forest as she unpacked their camping bags, as well as their rifles, still avoiding idle talks.
Before they came here, they had taken a few lessons on wild life survival. After all, they were going deep into the jungle to find a lost temple. Now that they had arrived… it was time to set into action.
"Sir Robert, what next?" Malachi asked, picking a rotten twig from the ground.
"Camp at the foot of that hill." Sir Robert pointed to a hill in his ten o'clock.
"Here used to be inhabited by red jaguars." He added, walking towards the hill where they'd camp.
Malachi stumbled, hearing what came out from Sir Robert's mouth.
Red jaguars? The biggest and most aggressive animals on land with a bite force of several thousand PSI. Not only that but also the red jaguars had abnormal adaptability. They can dive in the waters to hunt, climb trees, and even hover for a few seconds at great height. They had another name… the emissary of death.
"T-the red jaguars?" Edvin paled, feeling chills down his spine even though two suns glared at him from the sky.
"Tsk… I said they used to be here, it's not as if they're here now." Sir Robert snorted and increased his pace.
"But what made them vanish?" Luna asked, fumbling with her robes, her eyes constricting with every step she took. It was as though the red jaguars would appear any moment from now, snapping her neck.
Even her brooding self couldn't ignore the threat and infamy of the red jaguars, making her take long strides so she could join Sir Robert.
'Don't jinx yourself.' She let out a heavy breath, still fumbling with her robes.
"No one knows… a report reached the capital on their sudden disappearance.The authorities dispatched several experts and researchers, but to no avail."
"Anyway, we're here now, you can set the tent." Sir Robert's stern voice resounded in the youngsters' ears as they set into motion.
A few minutes later, the tent was up, leaving the three explorers sweating under the scorching suns.
"So…" Edvin glanced at Luna and Malachi, his eyes beaming with excitement.
They had come this far from the capital, and now they were at the border, looking for an ancient temple for their joint thesis.
Being students of theology and classics currently taking their Philosophiae degree on the Old religion, a mythical religion believed to be practised during the Dark Epoch, finding the ancient temple, one of the relics of the Old religion would be a massive boon to their thesis.
Hence, under the supervision of one of the experts on wildlife, a former Erudite — an eccentric old geezer, they had all come here with one purpose.
The temple of the past.
Letting out a cold, sharp breath, Malachi unfolded the scroll in his hand, tilting his heavy-frame glasses as he read the cartogram on the old, brown parchment.
'We're currently southeast of the supposed location.' He strained his eyes.
The tiny glyphs and inscriptions on the old parchment were difficult to read even with his glasses, fortunately his knowledge of classics could make him guess some characters with little effort.
"The black tree over there is our destination… but I can't find anything noteworthy there." Malachi frowned.
"That's weird." He murmured, walking towards the giant tree, regardless.
However… he stopped.
"Um?" He had been speaking since, but everywhere seemed too quiet. He could even hear his own heartbeat, and what's that strange but dangerously too familiar metallic smell….
"Edwin?" He called, yet an austere silence answered him.
Turning his neck in a slow but rhythmic cadence, Malachi froze, his face aghast.
The first thing that came to his view was the figure of Sir Robert's body some metres away, hanging upside down from a tree branch. His arms were cut off, and the thick thorns from the branches impaled his legs as blood oozed out like crawling tendrils.
Luna's body was split into two. One part had turned black with black worms feasting on it while the other one looked like a fresh corpse.
Edvin's body was nowhere to be found. Only his head remained. His eyes were no more impaled by two branches. His mouth was wide ajar, as though screaming for help during his last moment.
Malachi forgot how to breathe, his body turning cold and weak. However, that only lasted for a few seconds as he heard a low growl — the language of the reapers.
Turning his eyes toward the sound. He saw it.
The emissary of death.