Thousand Year Sword: Part 9.03: Trials of the Goddess

    “Hold on,” says Lukatara as they exit the forest, “the temple doors are always open. Its where fiends come and go from them all the time…so why do I need these orbs to get in?”

  “The orbs,” says the fairy, “aren’t for the main entrance, they are for the central door deep inside the temple. Inside you will find the crystals that are the source of the Soul King’s power. Smash them, and you will reduce his powers from those of a mighty god to a mere mortal wizard. Each temple is different, in ancient times where each of his temples now stand was a sacred spot where humans could communicate with the ancient animal gods…one of which, one of the lower ones that hid from him, you have already met, the spider goddess. The north was home to the Snake Turtle goddess, East to the dragon goddess, west to the tiger goddess, and south to the phoenix goddess. There shouldn’t be a temple at the center. He built that one to disrupt their sacred land’s connection with this world using dark magic from an abominable source so he could build his temples on top of their sacred lands, sealing them beneath them, and using his crystals to drain their power for himself.”

   “Woah,” is all Lukatara can say, he had never heard this tale before, of course why would the Soul King admit that his god powers are stolen from other gods their ancestors used to worship that he has sealed away.

   “The Soul King,” continues the fairy, “made sealed doors to the center rooms where the crystals are…as well as a monster inside each one that is the seal its self and holds the crystal inside it for protection, hence the need for the sword, there are other sacred weapons around as well to find. The Soul King made a mistake, one that works to your advantage, he hid the keys in pre-existing places, using the golems to guard the keys just like they used to guard the sacred ancient weapons, which he thankfully never found. I don’t know how he was able to pull off making these guardians do that, but it’s likely the source of his dark magic is involved somehow.”

    ******

    *slice*

    The snake fiend is cut in twain and vanished in blue flames. It is but one of many Lukatara has had to fight in the grassy plains outside the marble ruins of the temple. Inside is picnic either, between the various fiends and the odd puzzles to open passageways Lukatara has his work cut out for him.

   “stop, look,” says the fairy as they are heading down the passage towards the treasure room.

   “to the right,” says the fairy, “a secret passage,”

   Feeling around Lukatara finds a loose stone, pressing it a passage opens up. While the rest of the temple is white marble with vines and tufts of grass growing everywhere this passage is golden. Deep inside they enter a dome room, in the center is a pedestal alter surrounded by a ring of water that is constantly moving gently in a circle. Floating above the alter is a golden bow.

  As Lukatara approaches a woman’s voice sings out, “If ye are of a dark heart, the holy light will strike thee dead, if thee be of a kind and noble heart, the bow will be yours.”

    A wall of blue light shoots up from the ring of water. Lukatara *gulps* and reaches through the light, it’s just a gentle warmth. He grabs the bow and steps back, a soft music plays through the room.

    “Oh noble hero,” says the woman’s voice, “be thee not afraid as your heart is pure…even if you did screw a spider…”

    “What?” says Lukatara as the voice continues, “with this mighty golden bow, no evil, or seal made by evil will stand in the way of your noble quest.”

   The voice is silent and the music stops. Lukatara looks around confused and steps back holding the bow, “how am I supposed to carry this around and my sword?”

   “listen,” says the fairy, “you will get several magical items on this quest to aid in defeating the Soul King and his dark army. To assist you I will give you a gift.”

   The fairy pulsates brightly and then a little burlap bag plops out onto the ground.

   “What is this?” asks Lukatara picking it up.

  “A magic sack,” says the Fairy, “it will magically draw in any items allowing you to carry many things at once in a pocket di….in a magical space.”

   Much to his surprise the bow is slurped down into it as he puts it above the sack, which now has a look to it as if filled with water or air, as it has a rounded shape and sits upright.

   “To retrieve the items,” says the fairy, “simply reach inside and think hard about which one you want, and it will come to you.”

   A moment later they are back in the hall heading towards the main treasure room.

    ******

    The room is very much like the one the bow was in, except twice the size and with a giant blocky built golden golem with an orb embedded in its forehead standing in the middle. As Lukatara enters the room the door closes behind him and the golem awakens. He rolls to the side as it slowly slams its fists down. The golem is very bad at broadcasting its swings, however Lukatara knows with one hit it could either kill or badly injure him.

   “Lohln’s web,” says Lukatara summoning the magic sigil and the web that shoots forth hitting the golem in the face.

   It reaches up to pull at the web leaving its self open to attack. Lukatara slices at it with his sword, slicing into its body. A few more times like that and the golem can no longer support its own weight and collapses. The orb rolls free to his feet as the golem magically vanishes in blue sparks.

   Lukatara picks up the orb and puts it in his magic bag.

   “Good thinking,” says the fairy, “inside the bag neither the soul king or his monsters will be able to sense that the orb has left the temple with it hidden in there.”

    ******

   It did not matter which temple he went to in what order of the three holding the orbs. The fairy however wishes he had gone to the water temple first, however Lukatara claimed he wanted to go there after dark as there is a town built on top of it and wants to avoid people who might alert the skeleton and zombie guards. The reason the fairy wishes he had gone there isn’t anything major, just a minor nitpick, as the Silver Spire temple despite being a spire and having silver walls, feels an awful lot like the Grass temple. Similar puzzles, similar monsters, and the golem holding the orb is a silver version of what they already fought. The only upside being that the relic hidden in this temple is a magic bottle that transforms water poured in, into a potion that cures any poison or venom.

    ******

    The water temple is a whole other story, despite his increased strength Lukatara finds himself placing his sword into the magic bag so he isn’t weighed down and drowned in the massive water puzzles. Sneaking into town, going down into the sewer system, fighting a few underground fiends, he would never have imagined that this massive blue walled temple was hidden even further down. Luckily the hidden relic here is a device that allows for breathing underwater. Unfortunately it’s found after most of the puzzles where he might have drowned, and fortunately before facing off with the golem that is swimming around underwater.

   It is a fearsome thing, very different from what he has faced thus far. Its body is a turtle shell with cones spikes on it. It has webbed feet, a celestial dragon’s head, a celestial dragon’s tail, and its entire body is made of aquamarine. The fairy cracks a joke about the name fitting even if it shouldn’t be able to swim. Lukatara is too busy dodging the cones as they shoot off, and shooting them down with the Light Bow, which thankfully creates arrows of light which aren’t as hindered underwater as normal arrows would have been. The biggest threat is when the golem shoots a beam from its mouth that freezes a column of water. Thankfully once more it only took about six shots to its head with the golden light arrows to make its body crumble and melt like ice in the water releasing its orb; which oddly floats to the surface rather than sinks.

   Surfacing Lukatara says, “that’s the last one, now we can get into the central door of the temples.”

   “temple,” corrects the fairy, “these only open the central door of the northern temple, luckily the other temples have easier keys to find, just this temple is one you want to go
to before them.”

    Lukatara just shrugs it off, as earlier the fairy mentioned the northern temple being closest.

    ******

    Tall as the sky, for the sky descends here, half embedded in the veil that is the dome that has covered his entire world his entire life. Rising like a black monolith, a black tomb beckoning only death for those that would step inside its polished walls. No guards stand at the gate, for there is no gate. Only a giant rectangular entrance, so large one could imagine a beast large enough to swallow a man whole could walk through and still have room to shrug his shoulders. Inside this palace, the Soul King proclaimed a temple is but a labyrinth of despair. A mystic light shines here, like the shimmering from unseen and unfelt water. In one passage a dryness, and monsters befitting the hot breath of wind that blows through. In other passage a stifling humidity, and monsters befitting the mugginess.  Foul polluted beasts that make Lukatara glad he has the Poison potion bottle. Here and there, there are springs to be found, their purpose lost; as lost as the reasoning for stairways to nowhere, long halls that lead to dead ends with treasure chests, and doors within doors, and rooms that look as one should rest there beside rooms fit only for the most foul of prisoners. All lost to the memory of some ancient mad architect.

    Deep within, lead by the fairy who yet again magically knows which way is north and projects into Lukatara’s mind a map that forms as he travels; they find the door. The door has on it the face of a monster, some unspeakable thing made of writhing tentacles, and three holes for eyes. The orbs are interchangeable, no special placement, no special puzzle to be found in this. For it can be reasoned that the task of retrieving the orbs was deemed difficult enough; or else what horror lies beyond the gate terrible enough that there would be no reason to bar entry at this point.

    Indeed within is but a circular room, in the middle is a giant turtle shell. Music begins to play from an unseen magical source, startling music intended to make one’s heart pound and one’s mind to panic. Where a head should be a massive eye appears from the turtle shell. The sides rip open unnaturally, the belly held on by some mucus, as many thick green tentacles emerge and prop the monster up. The monster that speaks.


   “Who is this tiny gnat that intrudes upon Obocshell the Old One, ruler of the beasts of the water and land?”

    “It is a lie,” whispers the fairy, “he is only a minor horror, not worthy of…I mean a minor threat, his weak point is obvious.”

   “The eye,” whispers Lukatara as he produces his bow.

  With a mighty *smack* the monster smashes down with its tentacles, a splash of green sludge magically appearing as it contacts the floor. The stink alone tells Lukatara it is poison. Taking aim with the golden bow he fit Obocshell’s eye. It rears back and roars. It pulls the tentacles in and closes up its shell. The monster then levitates and spins about the room. Easy to dodge as it cannot see where it is going. In a moment it stops and opens up again; a process that is repeated seven more times before its eye cracks like glass with a red light shining behind it. The eye pops out, a strange blue symbol shoots forth.

   As the monster thrashes about wildly a massive blue sigil forms on the floor. With a sound like a tsunami a giant snake head shoots up from the sigil grasping Obocshell in its jaws and vanishes, pulling the monster with it, back into the sigil. A mere few seconds later the sigil shrinks and a great light shines up from the floor. A new monster appears, stranger than Obocshell. This creature has the body of a turtle, the clawed and webbed feet of one as well. It however has the tail of a dragon, red tuft of fur standing out on the end. A long bluish neck extends from the front of the shell, it however does not have a turtle’s or a snake’s or a dragon’s head. No, this beast has a human shaped head with long stringy blue hair behind a white mask whose only features are two slit eyes glowing blue and whose general curve and shape gives the impression of a woman’s face.

   “I am the snake turtle goddess,” says the creature in a woman’s voice that echoes off the walls and in his head, “I thank you for destroying the living crystal embedded in that monster, that has held me still for all these millennia. Now free the Necromancer shall no longer have access to my power, come into me so that I may reward you properly.”

    Before Lukatara has time to fathom those words, the mask vanishes, revealing not a face but a black hole in the neck line with the stringy hair, that is revealed to be more like tendrils as they wave about. A blackness cyclones from the hole enveloping Lukatara. When it fades he finds himself standing in a grassy field, a blue alien sky above him, clouds, and chirping birds.

   “Sit please,” says a voluptuous woman with long silky blue hair and wearing a long green see through dress that despite recent events makes Lukatara blush. Perhaps it is the hint of mystery or the illusion of modesty.

   Lukatara sits down. The woman walks over and leans over. He closes his eyes not knowing what to expect, and feels those warm lips touch his forehead and kiss him. Then nothing. He looks to see her smiling at him and waving at something in the direction of a pond. Two creatures emerge, bipedal turtle creatures with long beak faces, and with what appears to be a water filled indent on the top of their heads lined with short black hair. They are carrying between them a green shield with a turtle shell pattern on it. They look go of it in front of the woman who merely touches it with the tips of her fingers as if inviting a bird to land on them. It levitates as she directs it and walks over to Lukatara.

   “Here,” she says, “this is the turtle shell shield, or simply turtle shield if you like. It can absorb almost any blow, absorbing the force so well that you may not even be knocked back by the force. With this shield you need not fear the blades or arrows of your enemies. Take it with my thanks brave warrior.”

     All turns black again and Lukatara is once more in the temple room. The snake turtle goddess there once more with the mask on. Lips form on the mask and she smiles, flexing the mask in what should be an impossible manner. She blinks out and is gone. The temple shakes for a moment, and where the sigil had been a pool with lillypads forms, and a bright orb appears on the ceiling, just as grass and flowers grow about the room, vines too, overtaking it.  The temple is slightly changed as he walks out, there are now glowing streams with grass and fish in them along the edges of the walls, magically flowing as well as glowing. Dragonflies, birds, it’s not as ominous as before. Outside he sees the true change and gasps in wonder. The temple is now a white marble, vines and trees growing from it everywhere like some ancient ruin. The veil of the dome blinking around its edges allowing brief glimpse to what is beyond the other side of the temple.

   “we must hurry,” says the fairy, “the goddess won’t fall for the same spell twice, so she’s safe from the Soul King trying to seal her again. But that doesn’t mean he wont send troops to see what happened.

   Lukatara nods and they are off.