Hammerheart once again felt like he woke up with a serious case of morning sickness. He felt light headed and his vision was rainbow static, but it all cleared up after a few seconds.
"I feel like I'm gonna keel over and drop dead from all these walks down memory lane." He said. Hammerheart shook his head, and returned his attention to the floating obsidian that looked back at him with Zaurus' eyes.
Zaurus' voice spoke again. "For another two and a half years, I traveled the globe in search for the Temple of Drakon Selac. Only its vast, historical, and mystic landmarks could uncover the truths I needed to find the chosen one's, the Harmonic Bearers', and the fallen god's identity."
Hammerheart brought his wing hand to his chin. "The Temple of Drakon Selac?" He said. "That place was said to have been buried a millennia ago. How did you find it, Zaurus?"
The obsidian glowed white again, engulfing Hammerheart's vision, and Zaurus began to narrate all that transpired before him.
"When I finally found the sacred temple, I could not help but stare in astonishment at the ancient ruin, but my task to find answers had to come before any means of sightseeing."
"Upon entering the temple's inner oasis, I could already sense something malevolent taking root. Fortunately, it was not the dark one I encountered before, but they were still a threat to my investigation."
"If I was to close my case once and for all, I would have to clear out any and all defilers that desecrated these ruins, as well as search for the four Twin Monuments of Harmony. Though it would be easier said than done."
The temple itself on the outside was not much to look at. Its crumbling walls, broken pillars, and other busted exteriors pretty much made it look less than appealing. But of course it was not what was outside that mattered, it was what was inside that did, and inside was breath taking.
The ruined temple housed a vast and beautiful oasis that many tropical plants and animals inhabited. Every variety of tree from the southern tropics grew inside this temple. Beautifully fragrant flowers grew near the trunks of the trees, and near small creeks. There were even supposedly extinct plants, like annularias, cordaites, araucarioxylons, and archaeamphoras.
Birds of Paradise flew in the air, catching the mysterious and strange insects that also lived here. What was more, was that some of the insects were a tad larger than normal. The oxygen level of the oasis caused them go grow bigger. And the mammals and reptiles have yet to be seen, but they would most likely be a sight for sore eyes.
"What an undeserving honor, it is, to be inside the very temple of Drakon Selac, the hero of the Dragon-Pony War." Zaurus said. "Were it not for the friendship he formed with the Alicorn Sisters a millennia ago, we all would have burned the Earth to ashes. It was Drakon himself who founded this rainforest, and sought to protect it against anyone who would seek to harm this sacred land." Zaurus grew solemn. "If so, then why do I sense dark presences within this ancient home. If I am to find the answers I seek, I must find something that will give me a connection to the past and future, and exterminate whatever desecrates this oasis."
Zaurus ran into the forest. The large, wide trees made a full-front view nearly impossible, as they were slightly compact enough to obscure the horizon. Zaurus simply zig-zagged through the trees like water through soil. He eventually came to an opening. A lake with what appeared to be a sort of monument in its center. Atop the monument were two large Dragon statues: one held diamond orbs in its claws, the other held orbs of obsidian.
"A twin monument to the Dragon Gods, Elafry and Skoura." said Zaurus. "The fact that they are polar opposite elements bound in undying friendship symbolizes complete harmony between the two. Surely, it could give me insight of the prophesy."
He jumped into the lake, swam for the monument, and placed a talon on its base. A purifying surge of healing bliss relieved him of any pain or stress he felt from traveling around the world, nonstop.
"The monument is emitting emotional sensations." Zaurus thought. "I feel... fear... and despair... through salvation?"
A sudden sound wave pulsed through the water, alerting Zaurus of something. He looked into the distance, and piranhas swam towards him. Zaurus quickly turned tail and bolted for the shore. The piranhas were fast, but Knuckers were faster. Zaurus crawled onto shore and to safety. The piranhas schooled near the edge of the water before swimming back into deeper water.
Zaurus clenched his fists and cracked his tensed knuckles. "There are three more twin monuments that I must make contact with if I am to decipher the prophesy, and my questions."
He headed towards the western portion of the forest, in hopes of finding another monument in that general direction. If the monuments were most likely symmetrical of each other, then it was a chance he would take.
Nearly two minutes later, Zaurus picked up on a foul scent of burnt hair. When he came to another clearing in the west, he discovered horrendously scorched beasts slamming against the western monument. Zaurus swiftly scurried in and slashed one of them in the back. The beast roared in pain and turned to face its assailant. Zaurus then jabbed two fingers in its eyes. The monster gave a high pitched roar before dropping to the ground.
Zaurus then recognized the animal as a bear, but a badly burned one, except its lips were gone, and its teeth bared. Its claws were twice as long as a normal bears. Even so, it reeked with the unwelcoming presence he felt upon entering the temple, and he stomped on its head.
Another bear took a deep breath, and blew what looked like living shadows from its mouth, but they sounded and felt like fire. It began to slowly spread along the grass. Zaurus quickly held his breath, and sprayed water from his mouth, which he stored in his body, upon the dark flames, dousing them out.
The bear then charged at Zaurus, and rammed him to the ground. It was about to pound its front paws down upon him, but Zaurus spat venom right into its face. The bear violently shook it head and rubbed its paws on itself, trying to get the venom off of it, but Knucker poison does not come off so easily. Zaurus got back on his feet, rushed up, and slashed the bear's belly. The beast held its paws to its belly, and fell to the ground bleeding to death.
Zaurus wiped sweat off his forehead, but he was not done yet. The other bear came in and bit his left arm. Zaurus roared from the pain. The bear then started to cough shadow flames, with burned against his hide. Zaurus then bit the bear's neck, it released its grip on him, and he let go. The bear backed away and roared, angry from the inflicted pain. It charged again, but Zaurus spun and smacked it in the chest with his tail. The bear fell to the ground. It tried to get back up, but was feeling weaker with every passing second. What it did not know was that a Knucker's bite is like the bite of a venomous snake. The bear's struggling slowly decreased, until it finally went limp.
With the blasphemous beasts dead, Zaurus returned his focus to the monument. It consisted of a Dragon statue covered in vines and flowers from the neck down, and a Dragon statue with perches filled with bird nests. "This one praises Geiosi and Anemou." He said as he placed his talon upon the base, and the purifying surge of bliss replenished his body again.
"The second twin monument of harmony." Zaurus thought. "I feel... friendship... happiness... and anger.
Zaurus was getting tantalizingly close to solving the mystery. He ran back into the forest and headed for the eastern twin monument. The jungle was starting to sound like its inhabitants were getting riled up by something.
Then suddenly gorillas dropped from the trees above in Zaurus' way. They looked seemingly normal, except for they had no flesh on their heads. Their skulls were as bare as there hairless hands, which were covered in what appeared to be the same dark fire that the burnt bears breathed. They pounded on their chests and howled like the deranged apes they were, challenging Zaurus to a fight.
Zaurus immediately rushed up to one of the gorillas, coiled his body around it, and constricted it with all his strength until it exploded into putrid dust. Zaurus coughed from the revolting stench. Another gorilla suddenly came in and punched him right in the back of his neck. Zaurus nearly gagged from the blow, but did not allow himself to falter. He wrapped his tail around the assailant's neck, squeezed it tight, and then ripped its head off along with its spinal column. Both it and the body dispersed into dust upon the death, further vexing Zaurus' sense of smell. The last gorilla began to beat on his chest, and then pounded the ground, creating small waves of dark fire that grew bigger with every hit. If he were to keep it up, he could set the whole jungle ablaze. Zaurus would not allow it. He conjured a ball of venom, and hurled it at the beast. the venom orb blasted the gorilla a few feet into the trunk of a tree.
Zaurus slowly approached the dying animal, and then stabbed his claws into the center of its chest, grabbed its sternum, and held it in a painful hold.
"What are you?!" Zaurus demanded. "Why are you here desecrating this land?! And whom do you serve?!"
The gorilla simply roared in his face, spraying saliva on him. Zaurus wiped the spit of his face, tightened his grip on the beast's sternum, and ripped it out of its chest. No blood came out, like the others. Instead, the gorilla simply disintegrated to dust. Zaurus held his breath and tried to fan the disgusting ashes away from his face.
"These monsters clearly serve the fallen god." Zaurus said. "If these gorillas and those bears could manipulate the shadows like that, I have a feeling it might be Skoura who is the fallen one. But that is merely a hunch, and I must continue my search for the truth."
Zaurus put the pedal to the metal and sprinted through the trees at a cheetah's speed. He casually scanned his surrounds, in case more servants of the fallen god decided to get the drop on him. After an hour of running, he soon came to another monument, which was surrounded by three more twisted creatures of evil intent.
They were wild boars that walked upright, and had hands instead of hooves. They wielded axes, and even had a plethora of what looked like porcupine quills on their backs. Their tusks grew about a foot in length, and were sharpened to the point where they seemingly shined in the light. They had rolled up whips on their belts. They wore armor made from various bones of animals, and leather skin tunics under them.
Zaurus took a stance and was ready for another battle, though he was still hurting from the last one.
The boars charged. One came in and swung his axe down on Zaurus, but he caught the axe blade with his bare talon. The boar then tried to jab him with his tusks, but Zaurus grabbed one of the tusks and held him back. Another boar attacked from the left, and swung his axe horizontally. Zaurus quickly dragged his current assailant into the axe's swinging range. The axe lodged into the boar's back, and he squealed in pain. Zaurus pushed the boar away and kicked him in the gut. Both boars fell backwards onto each other.
The third boar came charging in, and tried to gore Zaurus with his tusks, but Zaurus grabbed both tusks and held. He then pulled the boar in towards him, and smashed his head into the boar's skull. A loud crunch and crack briefly echoed in the air, and the boar back away completely disorientated and weakened by the devastating blow. Zaurus then rushed in, grabbed it by the shoulders, and blasted venom in its face. The boar squealed from the rancid poison, and then dropped dead.
The boar who got his axe stuck managed to free his weapon from the now dead boar he chopped, and charged after Zaurus. It swung its axe down to chop him in half, but Zaurus caught the blade with a clap of his talons. Zaurus then twisted the axehead until it broke off the handle. The boar stepped back in surprise and stared in disbelief at his broken weapon. It looked back at Zaurus, who threw the axehead right into the boar's left shoulder. The boar dropped the handle and held his shoulder in pain. Zaurus rushed up to the beast, hooked him from the left, then the right, and delivered an upper cut that was strong enough to break one of the boar's tusks off.
The boar backed away, shook its head, and regained its composure. It then drew its whip and cracked it on the ground. Zaurus flexed his claws and growled. The boar twirled the whip in the air and threw it at him. Zaurus held up his left arm, and the whip wrapped around it. Both pulled on the rope, trying to drag each other to the ground, until Zaurus gave it a hard yank that pulled the boar towards him. He then shoved his claws into the boar's belly, and crushed its liver. The boar squealed in pure agony from the loss of a vital organ. Zaurus pulled his hand out and struck the boar's snout hard enough to cave in its skull. The boar flew back and fell to the ground, flipped over itself, and landed face-first.
Zaurus rubbed his arm from the sting of that whip. With the boars dead, he could resume what he was doing. He slowly approached the monument, which was surrounded by a small moat with an equally small bridge that allowed one to get a closer look at it. The two statues above were a Dragon made entirely of metal, and a serpentine Dragon with water falling from its hands into the moat.
"This gives praise to Keravnon and Thalassia, the Dragon Gods of Lightning and Water." Zaurus said as he went up to the statues and placed a talon on its base. The blissfully replenishing energy healed Zaurus' pain.
"The third twin monument of harmony." He thought. "I feel... excitement... and fear... hidden by subtlety."
Three down, one left. Zaurus took a sip from the fresh moat and then headed for the northern part of the oasis. The evil essence he sensed was dwindling. He had already slain three packs of voracious beasts. It seemed very few were left. He would have to hunt down the rest before finding the last monument.
Zaurus sprinted through the jungle at top speed. He could sense the defilers gathering at a single location, and he was heading there to put them down. He crawled under roots, leaped through twin-linked trees, and dodged past plants. After minutes of traversing the jungle, Zaurus finally found the last twin monument, which was surrounded by burnt bears, half-dead gorillas, and anthropomorphic boars. Zaurus roared and caught their attention.
Now he was in for the fight of his life.
The horde charged at the Knucker Shaman, with bare teeth, claws, and blades. Zaurus flexed his claws, and readied himself for the battle. He slashed the first monster that came close, a gorilla, and it turned to dust upon death. He spun and slashed through a line of boars that held their axes above their heads to attack, leaving their bodies wide open. A bear tackled him and pinned him to the ground, pushing him into the dirt. Zaurus spat venom into its face and it reared up and away, trying to wipe the poison off its face. Zaurus rolled forth and slashed the bear in half with one clean upper cut of his claws.
A quarter of them were slain, and more still lived. Zaurus lunged at a boar and drove his claws through its chest, piercing its lungs. The boar squealed and wheezed as it tried to breathe. Zaurus then spun in a three sixty degree spin and threw the boar against a gorilla, who just received a nasty poking from the dead boar's quills. It pulled the corpse off and charged at Zaurus, who gut punched it upon contact. The gorilla coughed up bile from the blow. Zaurus then grabbed its skull, and snapped it off its body. The gorilla turned to dust, and Zaurus charged through it towards the remaining beasts.
For over an hour, Zaurus slashed through bear after bear, ape after ape, and boar after boar, until the horde was diminished to nothing but one remaining boar with a brandished whip. It twirled the whip in the air, flicked its wrist, and cracked it on Zaurus' chest, opening a sizable cut. Zaurus then lunged at the boar, slammed an open talon upon its head, and smashed it to the ground. He clutched the boar's head tightly, lifted him up off the dirt, and then repeatedly pounded him into the ground with powerful force. After dozens of head slams, the boar's skull crunched under Zaurus' strength, and he dropped the dead monster.
The evil presence was now completely gone, and the final monument was clear. Zaurus approached it and stared at the two statues on top: a Dragon holding balls of ice encased in glass orbs so that they would not melt, and a Dragon with great flames in its claws.
"This praises Pagos and Pyrkagias, the Dragon Gods of ice and fire." said Zaurus. He got to the foot of the monument, and placed his left talon on its base. The replenishing energy flow that he received from the last three pulsed through him, but it was weaker than the others. It was enough to heal his cut on his chest.
"The fourth twin monument of harmony." He thought. "I feel... sadness... bravery... and death."
Suddenly, the statue of Pyrkagias' fire died out. A surge of wicked energy rushed down the statue, and started to infect Zaurus' left talon. Zaurus grabbed his forearm tightly in pain. He tried to use his own powers to prevent the foul energy from spreading through the rest of his body. The energy began to build up in his forearm, until it soon dispersed, and blew it to pieces. Zaurus roared in pain from the loss of his forearm, and further tightened his grip on his arm to suppress the bleeding.
"What happened?!" Zaurus grunted, "Why did the monument just destroy half my arm?!"
The flames that were in the Fire Dragon's statue's claws returned, but they were black as night. Zaurus saw the change on the statue, and tried to extinguish it with more water stored in his body. The flames disappeared upon contact, but reappeared just as fast.
"This must be..." Zaurus dropped to his knees in pain from his arm. The black flames grew bigger and bigger. But then, a blue light from above rained upon the dark blazes, and they diminished into nothingness. Zaurus watched in awe at the sight, and was further shocked to see a spirit descending from above before him. It landed in front of the monument.
"Greetings, brother. I speak to you from the heavens." It said.
Zaurus gasped upon hearing the spirit's voice. Even more so, he recognized the soul as the one who found this jungle. "Drakon Selac?" He whispered loudly. "But, you passed away a thousand years ago."
"Perhaps," said Drakon, "but my soul remains as this temple's guardian. However, my powers have been weakening as of late by another power more omnipotent than my own, and horrific monsters have come to desecrate this beautiful land."
Zaurus looked down in anger. "The fallen one, no doubt." He looked back up to Drakon. "Please, Great Guardian Selac, I seek your wisdom. A fallen Dragon god seeks to bring ruin upon the very world we love, and the only ones who can stop him are a Wyvern who is the chosen one, as well as these Harmonic Bearers. But I know not who they are."
Drakon took a deep breath. "Yes, I felt it the moment we met. You wish to know who they are, and I have your long awaited answers. I shall start with the fallen god."
Drakon placed a ghostly hand upon Zaurus' head. Zaurus closed his eyes and could see a vision in the blackness of his own.
"As you already know, eight Dragon Gods created the world, and all living things, millions of years ago through the power of the eight Elements of Nature: Fire, ice, water, energy, earth, wind, light, and darkness. Everything was ideally perfect. There were no conflicting troubles, no hatred, and no fighting. But as time flowed, one of the Duwiau Ddraig fell prey to the infectious sense of boredom, and decided to bring more excitement to the world. When he found out that his powers could destroy as well as create, he brought nothing but destruction to his abilities. His desire to destroy began to rot his mind, and blacken his heart. Soon, he felt nothing but the need to destroy. He forged twisted monsters and demons from his flames of creation, and unleashed them upon the world's lives. He would have succeeded, but unfortunately for him, the other seven Gods rose up, outnumbered, and outmatched him in a new art form they unwittingly created themselves: War. After defeating their once greatest brother, the seven Duwiau Ddraig banished his creatures to the fiery prison of Tartaurus, and felled the Dragon God of Fire, Pyrkagias."
The vision ceased, and Zaurus opened his eyes wide in shock. "Pyrkagias?! I could've sworn it would have been Skoura who was the fallen one! The natural element of Darkness is a very frightening one to wield."
"Darkness may be fear provoking," said Drakon, "but fire is the most dangerous and deadly natural element to be gifted with. Pyrkagias learned quickly and mastered the art of destruction with his flames of war, but if he were to use his flames today, he would be discovered in short time. So, in order to act subtly, he recolored his flames to that of Skoura's shadows. If the Dragons were to blame the Duwiau Ddraig, Skoura would be singled out amongst them all, and demanded to be forever thrown from power."
"But how is he still alive if the other seven Duwiau Ddraig slew him?" Zaurus asked.
"Even though he was killed, many of his followers survived and hid themselves, and continued to worship him in an effort to keep his legacy alive. Thus, by their acts of evil, Pyrkagias now lives again."
Zaurus sighed and shook his head in shame. He almost fell into Pyrkagias' hands by blaming Skoura as well, but no more. He looked back to Drakon. "And what of the Harmonic Bearers?"
Drakon placed his hand back onto Zaurus' head, and another vision was seen when he closed his eyes.
"That story begins a millennia ago, months after my passing." Drakon said. "The Alicorn Sisters, my friends, swore to continue my dreams of harmony between our species, but they also had their duties to attend to. The Solar Princess Celestia brought forth the day with her magic ability to control the sun, and the Princess of Night and Dreams Luna summoned the moon during the night. But as time went by, the Night Alicorn's heart became darkened by envy and bitterness, turning her into a malevolent monarch. Celestia was forced to stop her once beloved sister by using six ancient artifacts, called the Elements of Harmony. With them, she exiled the former Night Princess to the moon, and foiled her schemes. But, it was predicted that on the longest day of the thousandth year that she would return to Earth, and bring eternal darkness upon the world. However, six common pony mares rose up, formed a bond of friendship, found the Elements, and purged Luna of her corruption. The six mares were Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter, Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, Rarity, the Element of Generosity, Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, Applejack, the Element of Honesty, and Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic."
Zaurus could hardly believe what he heard. "Six ponies are the Harmonic Bearers?" He said.
Drakon nodded. "Yes, and it is they who will align with the Chosen One, and stop the coming Armageddon."
Zaurus remembered one more important question. "And who is this Chosen One?"
Drakon chuckled. "You should already know. You have met him before, have you not?"
Zaurus grew wide eyed. "Hammerheart! He is the one who will stop the Armageddon?"
Drakon nodded. "Yes, and if he cannot stop it, should we all fail, this will be our fate."
Drakon then spread his arms wide, and a future vision played before Zaurus' eyes. Bearing witness to the Armageddon and watching everyone die from an inevitable losing war was just to much for him to take.
Zaurus squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see any more. "No! Stop! Please!" He implored, "I cannot withstand this terrible vision! Make it stop!"
Drakon sighed. "I am sorry, Zaurus, but if Hammerheart and the Bearers do not stop Pyrkagias in time, you will all cease to exist..."