Chapter 5- Labyrinth at Home
It didn't seem to take much longer before they reached the edge of the forest before Abner's village. Some of the trees were a lot taller than Abner had imagined, a few of them brushed against the bottom of the ship, forcing Flight Gear to fly the ship at a higher altitude. Some trees he even had to steer around because they reached so far up into the open sky. A couple of branches managed to scrape away some boards in the hull, but they would eventually be replaced. Abner remembered that a certain forest civilization took refuge in this area, they often traded with them but their meetings had continually dwindled before Stribog attacked.
Just before sunset, they broke the edge of the forest and slowed down significantly over what remained of Abner's home. It was a bit heart wrenching at first, remembering the moments of fire and ash strewn about the air. However, something changed on his return. Houses had been rebuilt, shops replaced, and villagers roamed the makeshift road of dirt. Several groups lumber workers dragged trimmed logs away from the forest to be hacked up in to boards or posts. Abner was bewildered but at the same time curious. Abner ran into the bridge and got Flight Gear to set the ship down onto the plains where the encampment used to be.
Abner and Lark decided to venture into this new place. As they they wandered about, they saw familiar faces working frantically, rebuilding what they had lost. Abner brought nothing with him to keep suspicions lowered. He wondered why his father had not come back here and begun to rebuild, instead of staying in Ponyville. Unless he had, it was too soon to be making assumptions of any sort. After walking for a bit of time, they ran into a small set up of several structures clustered together where the meeting house once stood. To the left stood a few walls of the once brick house that Abner used to live in and to the right stood a rebuilt blacksmith shop.
One of the forest creatures emerged from the largest tent, standing well over Abner's own height. A large dusty orange-grey coat of fur covered in blotches of black and dusky gray. Around his neck he wore a necklace signifying the relationship between Abner's village and their feral tribe of the tropical forest, a necklace made of several sprigs of evergreen pine trees and a single ruby colored stone in the center strung together by the toughest piece of string their tailors could make. His eyes of piercing orange stared into Abner's, “Ah so you've finally returned, Abner. I was expecting your father to return with you, but it appears he choose to stay in Ponyville.” The leopard spoke his words with much coy and arrogance, but it was obvious he never meant harm. “I am Carvillius, leader of my kind, who reside in your near forests. This unicorn you bring, is Lark if I recall.”
Lark answered him, she seemed nervous, Abner knew that she hadn't met the leopard leader before, she had seen them roam within the village a few times before in her younger years. “That's correct. Carvillius, was it? A pleasure to meet you.”
“Yes, yes. Lark, do tell your captain that I need to speak with Abner, alone. I shall be done with him within an hour or two.” Carvillius slyly spoke.
Lark raised a brow, suspecting harmful intentions, “Why do you need him for that long?”
“If I were to divulge such matters to you, who've made a fateful oath to Abner. I would have to destroy what we've prepared. Now go.” Carvillius began to grow impatient with her.
Lark turned away and whispered to Abner that he should fight back if he has to, he nodded his head stiffly in agreement. After Lark was far past the village's entryway, Abner followed Carvillius into the largest of the clustered huts. Another one of the leopard race approached Carvillius and whsipered into his ear. Carvillius appeared satisfied with what his follower had to say. Abner was nervous, scared even, but his father trusted this suspicious character and perhaps he should as well. “Abner, follow along, closely now.”
Carvillius lead him to the furthest hut, away from the center of the village and closer to the forest. Carvillius asked Abner to stand in the center. The hut was extraordinary larger than the rest of the huts up front. Abner wondered what the suspicious leopard was pulling. Carvillius and some followers of his, dressed in ceremonial robes, joined him in a chant at the outer edge of the hut, initiating a glow from magic circles and symbols drawn upon the ground. Whatever light came in from outside became pitch black. Magic burst from ground a shattered the roof of the hut, revealing a pillar of royal purple light breaching into the clouds and through the sky itself. Suddenly, Abner felt a surge of wisdom that began to fill his mind with further knowledge of his own magic and others. As quickly as the magic bursted upwards, it faded away. Abner could feel his new found knowledge burn into his mind and when his vision became clear again, he saw a sword piercing the ground before him. It appeared to have broken the circles of magic.
Carvillius approached Abner from the other side of the sword, “A marvelous success indeed. Without your help Abner, we would not have been able to summon this sword for you.” Abner immediately understood why he summoned the sword, it was to help him through the temple's labyrinth. “You will need it, it is also quite a bit lighter than Matan as well.” As the bright magic dust finally faded away, Carvillius told Abner that the sword was called Rembrandt; a sword of wisdom. Carvillius sent Abner away after assuring him that everything thing in the village would be reconstructed as it once was and awaiting his return.
Abner looked at the sword levitating it in front of him, noting its design and its engraving as he walked back to the Goshawk. The blade was notably shorter than Matans as well as a thinner width. A silver finish created a mirror effect on the rectangular blade, everywhere except the engraving. A lengthy engraving stretched from the base of the guard to a comfortable distance away from the flat end of the blade. It was like a green looped rope, that was laid out flat and twisted; forming a braided knot. The engraving itself was rough and dotted with black specs throughout and the twists never touched another one. The guard and pommel were much the same, elongated square dipyramids connected by a straight and narrow hilt wrapped with a rough rawhide. The sword wasn't exactly designed for fighting, but Abner felt that its power would be required. Adjusting the buckles of the empty sheathe to fit his new sword and gently placing in that openly design sheathe, he could feel the massive difference in weight.
Lark was the first to greet him upon his return, as she usually did when he came back from times of hunting. Abner showed her the new sword and assured her that he was fine. It would lead the way for them when they entered the temple. Abner remembered what his father said about the temple of Belisama, he never mentioned anything about a labyrinth beneath it. He did however, mention the creature that would awake provided something was disturbed. Unfortunately, his father never mentioned what or perhaps Abner couldn't remember.
To begin their venture into the temple, they decided that a small group would be best, less supplies to carry and less worry about unnecessary losses. Whisk, Lark, Cuffs, Wrecker, and Marina decided to accompany Abner there. Soon they found their way once again wandering into a forest bright and filled with life, a stark contrast compared to Everfree. Rembrandt would release a small plume of light from its engraving every time the group traveled underneath the thickest canopies, allowing for them to continue on without hassle. Using the map again as their guide, they eventually found themselves at the entrance to a dilapidated structure overgrown by flora. The canopy filled in the gap where the trees once stood and sunlight beamed through its openings. Avian species wildly chirped away amongst the trees and the calls of monkeys echoed throughout. A moat of water surrounded the square stepped pyramid with a single collapsed stone bridge branching outward from its foundation where it once crossed the moat. Two weathered statues representing Belisama were now unable to show her proper form and between them, the entrance inside.
Wasting no time, the group ventured in, greeted by small room with stairs leading further down. Rembrandt once again showed them the way with a green glow. Their steps echoed as the climbed down the seemingly endless hall and the air was musty. Cobwebs were quickly burned away with a little fire magic from Cuffs. Everyone was silent until they reached a large dome shape room with a single beam of light down its center reflecting of a triangular prism, illuminating the entire room. The room itself being constructed from stone painted white and held up by pillars of wood, constructed from the hardest oak trees. Cross beams stretched between them, dispersing the weight of the ceiling and from them hung sconces by a short length of chain and the sconces made from thin cast iron to cradle a ball of pitch. The flames of which, burned out long ago. Primitive drawings forming the shapes of those who worshiped Belisama here were scattered about the room on tablets appearing untouched by the archeologist his father mentioned.
There appeared to be no other halls except the stairway they traversed. Whisk spoke up, frustrated, “Okay, now that we're here, what do we do? Look at the fancy drawings on the wall?”
Cuffs interrupted him before he could say something else, “Whisk, calm down. If there's a set of clues, we'll figure it out. After all, it shouldn't be too difficult finding a clue or two in here.”
Whisk seemed to be a little impatient recently, as if he were wanting to head straight into the desert to find the Guardians. Then again, perhaps they all felt the same way. Abner wandered around the room for a bit, its untarnished floor showing very little wear but a good portion of dirt and dust that collected over the years. Suddenly a voice echoed from the pillar of light ad the group gathered around, curious. “Abner, I thought I heard the noise of stone under feet. I see that Carvillius was successful at his end, this is good.” Her voice was ghostly, echoing slightly throughout the room. “This was once a room to my worship, but those who lived here have moved on to greater things.” Abner looked on with great interest. “Abner, use Rembrandt's surface to reflect my light and ignite these fires once more. Then the path will be revealed to you.”
Abner could feel her presence fade away from the pillar of light. Following her guidance, Abner quickly pulled
Rembrandt out from its sheathe and placed underneath the light, directing it towards each one of the torches. He could feel the immense heat begin to seep through to the sword's hilt. Resisting its burn, Abner continued on until the last ball of pitch was set aflame. The pillar of light suddenly vanished but the room stayed lit. Without warning, the walls around them cracked and pull themselves under the floor revealing a massive hall that had taken its form within a ravine. As the hilt began to burn Abner's mouth, he sheathed Rembrandt away and immediately walked forward into the ravine. The rest of the group followed after him, with the bright glow from Rembrandt illuminating the way.
Wandering down the narrow ravine, cold and damp as it was, they found themselves coming to the edge of a cliff. A dead end perhaps or maybe this was a test for them. Belisama's voice rang out again, “Abner, my child. The way before you is an empty labyrinth, Rembrandt's wisdom will guide your way. Be wary, the beast that wanders these paths still lives, should you manage to kill it this entire forest within certain measure will turn to stone and will petrify all life its touches.” With that she raised an incredibly winding flight of stone stairs leading down into the labyrinth.
Hours passed by as they traversed the halls, they could hear the snoring of the creature dosing away echo heavily off the walls. The sound was enough to drive them insane, but with a simple flick of magic from Cuffs horn the sound faded away as he casted a barrier to cancel out the sound. Avoiding pitfall and traps that could've very well led to dismemberment of each one of them, they eventually found themselves in a room exactly the same as the one that they started in.
“Um, did we just go in one massive circle?”, Whisk asked aloud.
“I don't think so. The map says we're well away from the entry point of the labyrinth.” Marina remarked.
“Maybe we should wait for whats her face to show up then, eh?” Whisk joked.
“Your humor is amusing, mortal.” Belisama showed her true form before them, gleaming in bright yellows and golds like the sun. Wings of copper in the shape of a a peacocks covered a large portion of her sides. Her size easily dwarfed Wreckers. Having the claws of a lion and the head of a wolf she opened her mouth again as Whisk backed away from her with much surprise. “Welcome to my home, young ones.” Abner approached the large hybrid animal and presented Matan before her, placing it upon the ground. “Ah yes, the sword that calmed the Guardians. They were once heroes, you know but then they wanted to become something more. Drystan knows far too well the cause of it and the unfortunate results.” She raised a single claw of her foreleg off the ground and gently placed it on Matan. It then set itself aflame in a fiery light of gold, absorbing her power until she pulled away from it. “The deed is done. Matan is once again enchanted.” She winced slightly as if she had noticed something. Gazing into the labyrinth behind them, she realized that the creature had awaken and was slowly approaching them. “I will meet you outside, the beast has awoken. The exit is your entrance.”
Abner quickly sheathed Matan, immediately feeling the immense power of light magics breaching its new form. Belisama quickly vanished. Quickly and carefully the group made their way back through the labyrinth, ensuring that they would not attract the beast's attention, whatever it was. Successfully, they found their way to the stairs from the ravine and began ascending. Suddenly they heard a miraculously loud howling roar, the beast had found them and was positioning itself to charge at them. A massive red bull with five horns appearing to swivel in any direction and dozens of broken spears protruding out from its back, blew smoke from its snout like dark dust from coal. Abner and the others stepped up their pace and headed through the ravine at full speed while quickly setting up barriers and magic traps to slow down the bull. Another successful run, they made their way out of the temple to see the sky almost at sunset. Belisama reformed herself in front of them, congratulating them on making it out alive. Unfortunately, their feeling of success did not last for long, the massive bull busted through the entrance and gave Belisama a grievous wound from which stunned and shocked everyone. The bull tossed her limped body aside into a large tree and refocused its murderous intentions on Abner's group.
Again the beast snarled and roared, willfully twisting its horns to target the one who stood the closest, Whisk. Whisk quickly pulled out one of his hand crafted explosives, lit the fuse and threw it with all his might at the bull's face and then making a run for it. Bursting into a fiery ball of fire and shrapnel that pierced through the bulls face and eyes. To avoid the explosion, Abner quickly summoned a barrier to protect his companions and himself. The bull pulled away from them, tripping into the deep moat. Abner and the others quickly rushed over to Belisama, Cuffs immediately began administering what first aid he could, stopping the bleeding of the deity’s glittering yellow blood. Still half conscious and heavily breathing, she reached out to Abner and began pouring her knowledge of the Guardians into to him.
Another roar from the bull, now bleeding heavily from the shrapnel, began to charge with all its fury. Marina took water from the moat with her magic and forced it under the feet of the beast, causing him to collapse, it wasn't long before it managed to get back up on its feet again.
“We need to get out of here, now. Cuffs, have Abner help you carry her. Lark think of some song to help slow this bastard down or to help us. Marina, keep doing what you're doing.” Whisk quickly and decisively ordered.
Each of them followed through, Lark casted a song to reduce Belisama's body weight, making her much easier to carry. With a tactful retreat and numerous uses of explosives and barriers casted, they made their way through the forest. Abner quickly forced trees aside to make way for Cuffs who carried Belisama on a magic hammock. Lark kept mumbling the song to keep the spell active as Whisk through his last and strongest explosive at the ravaging bull. Ultimately putting it out of its enraged misery and as soon as he did, the beast dissolved into the ground and began transforming it into stone. The entire group quickened their pace, Abner began to pull entire trees out of the ground and toss them aside with little effort. Marina caught up to Cuffs and helped him carry Belisama and Whisk stayed at the back of the pack. The petrification was quickly catching up to them, some of the animals the fled alongside them were unfortunate, turning to stone themselves. Even the birds that shot through the air were affected and crashed violently to the ground. Suddenly the animals stopped running away, the spell had stopped its spread.
Abner turned around having noticing it, a feel of devastation quickly over came him as he saw Whisk slowly begin to turn to stone. He had broken his promise with Rosamond. “I guess this is it for me.” He let out a short laugh trying to keep his cheerfulness. “Abner,” he said as the petrification began to climb into his torso. “I'm gonna miss you, friend.” He smiled as a single tear dripped from his cheek. He had mentioned that Prudence showed him his fate, but he never knew when it would occur. His butter yellow coat with white spots along his back, rust red beard connecting to a blonde mane, a sage green tail and eyes the same, all turned to stone except his long scarf striped dark brown and light gray. Abner stood still in absolute shock as Marina and Cuffs moved to cast spells of their own to try and break the petrification. Every spell failed, bouncing off the surface. Belisama demanded them to stop to save themselves and to prevent Whisk's new form from shattering apart.
They hesitantly back away from Whisk. Abner stayed where he was, looking on, confused and all of his thoughts were lost. “Come on, Abner.” Marina choked on her words. “We need to get back to the ship.”
Belisama spoke up, short of breath, “We can stay here tonight, I can set a fire for your companions. You all deserve some rest.”
“But we need to get you to some place better than this for your wounds.” Cuffs argued.
“I know you wish for that, but I can only stray so far from the temple, no matter its state of being.” Belisama retorted.
“Very well then.” Cuffs sighed. “I'll take charge for now. Marina, refill the canteens. Lark and Abner, start a fire. I'll tend to your wounds Belisama.”
As the sun finally dropped under the horizon, the party resided in grief and sorrow, mourning Whisk. Abner continued to stare at Whisk, trying to get his thoughts together. Despite only spending about three months together, Abner hadn't realized how attached he grown to him. The exaggerated tales he told boastful and jokingly were something everyone enjoyed. His ability as a chef was always top notch even when he tried new recipes, he always seemed to get them right the first time around. Might be part of the reason he was such an excellent craftsman with his explosives. Being people smart was something very rare among the society he grew up in.
The crackle of fire was quiet to everyone's ears. No one spoke, although there was a feeling of wanting to change the subject to something else other than Whisk was heavy. Being a core part of the group, Whisk was a major part of all of their journeys. With the full moon shimmering off the grass and stone, Abner remembered that his father mentioned something of an antidote, a cure, for this petrification, but Whisk said that he had it covered should the event occur.
Marina approached Abner, quietly speaking up, “You know Abner, Whisk calling someone a friend means a lot coming from him.” She tried to sound happy to hide her sadness. “Despite the numerous ponies he knew, there are only a few he regarded as true friends. The rest of the squad, Flight Gear, and you. One of his favorite lines he used to say, 'it could be worse'. Always got us thinking how good we have it compared to others. To be honest, he could've had something worse happen to him.” Abner thought about what she said for a moment, he figured that she was right. Yes, Whisk wouldn't be able to accompany him any further, but there's still the potion that can be made to treat this problem. How to craft it was something that they had no knowledge of however. “I hope he's not conscious, who knows how long it'll be before he gets out of there.” She sighed. “Come on Abner, lets get some sleep.” Abner politely refused, “Very well, say your goodbyes at least before you do.”
Marina walked away, it was clear that Whisk's sudden departure had the most effect on her. Perhaps she was falling in love with him, but that would be something that would get in the way of their line of work. It appeared to be a matter that the two of them discussed at some point well before Abner came along with them.
With the moon rising higher into the sky, cirrus starkly dotted across the night sky. A cold and gentle breeze blowing across the ground. Abner remembered a song of mourning Lark once sang for one of the villagers that passed away, it took him several tries to figure out the right tune on his own, silently humming away in his head. He couldn't remember who the song was sung for, but it tugged at his heart. He choked on his breath for a moment, not sure if he should let himself cry or hold it in.
A strong gust of wind came from behind Abner, he turned to see Belisama standing alight in her magic that graciously wrapped around her neck and ankles. “This mortal is important to all of you isn't he?” Abner confirmed her question, rubbing one of his eyes. “Most other deities would not even consider this. Very well, I shall protect this mortal's fragile coil with the utmost until you return from your journey.” Belisama stepped foot onto the petrified ground and she herself began to turn to stone. By the time she had become entirely encased in the stone, she looked like a statue keeping watch over Whisk. Her voice called out to Abner like a whisper in the wind, “Seek out Howlite. He will have more answers for you.” Abner acknowledged with a simple nod and walked toward the flickering campfire, on its last few twigs of wood.
Morning came quickly and the party headed back to the Goshawk with heavy hearts. The mood was much the same as it was the night before. Abner felt as if his shadow had faded a bit, but he shook off the thought, focusing on Belisama's last words to him. He thought about the numerous ways he could've saved Whisk. If he had known that Whisk was going to get caught up in the petrification spell, he would've try and saved him. It was regretful, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Losing his focus, sought out Prudence in his mind to see if she had any guidance for him, but she appeared to have locked herself away further in his subconscious.
At mid-morning, the party boarded the Goshawk and relayed the news to everyone about Whisk's petrification. Flight Gear broke down, immediately mourning for his only friend he probably ever had, a friend who remained true to him. Although at first, he was in disbelief. He had, after all, helped him test a good portion of his inventions before they were forced to part ways. Albedo had come along during their departure from Clackerton, she held him tight and reminded him of the stories he would always tell her of their tribulations testing their homemade equipment. Consequently, Flight Gear kept the ship grounded for a good portion of the day until he got his thoughts together well enough to pilot the ship again.
Abner rested some more, blankly staring out the window of the room assigned to him. The ship's engines were at a low hum,slowly gaining speed in their revolutions. As the engines began to stir up to their proper lift speed, Abner felt a presence enter the room. Drystan had entered from beneath the door and had taken form as a hoof of the ship. Reshaping his body into a more suitable form as a shadowy clone of Abner. He pulled a scarf out from a section of his own body, the same scarf that Whisk always wore, except when he was working his bartender or chef duties. Tossing the scarf on Abner's back and revealing a sheet of paper with some sort of recipe written on it. “Whisk wanted you to have this, Abner. It's the cure for the petrification spell, but it also means that one or two of you will have to fetch it at some point.” Abner was somewhat confused, but came to his own conclusion that Whisk's conscious had remained active after his petrification somehow. “Our next destination is Howlite's home, correct?” Abner nodded, confirming is question. “Can't say I'm unfamiliar with the concept of losing someone close to you. As unfortunate as it is, you'll grow from it and learn that death is another part in the cycle of life. You have to keep going, even if it all goes to shit.”