The Firelands

75 - Lost and Alone

16th day of the forth Month, Worth's Moon

2:00 pm

The Forgotten Temple

"What is wrong with mermaids?!" Kalen gasped as they collapsed to the ground, breathing hard, now far, far away from the water hall and thoroughly lost in a maze of underground caves.

As he spoke, Theth was quickly laid out on the ground and the others crowded around him.

He was breathing, normally from what they could see. Kalen pressed an ear to his chest, listening for any sounds of water in his lungs but couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary.

"I think he protected himself," he said, sinking back on his heels with a sigh of relief.

"What do you mean?" Zedkiel asked.

"When we were under water, there was an air bubble in his mouth. I think that was there so he could breath."

"You think?" Incendio said, leaning over Theth as he let out a groan.

"These powers react when we need to protect ourselves – or at least they react to strong emotions," Kalen said, "Theth was going through both, it's not that surprising then that something happened."

Zedkiel looked down at Theth as he slowly opened his eyes, coughing. Incendio reached for him and helped him sit up.

"I suppose it is just me then," Zedkiel said, looking down.

"What?"

"I have yet to prove I have any control over the earth," Zedkiel said. "...I wonder, as the original Knight, if my brother has any control over it," he muttered and Kalen thumped him on the head.

"Don't be ridiculous," he snapped as Zedkiel glared at him, "We get this far and you now question whether you're a Knight or not? You should have done that when we first met. It's not like any of us are that good at using our powers, we're not like Luther. I'm sure once we're at The Firelands, there will be people who can help us learn. So don't be depressing."

Zedkiel looked away, rubbing his head, something crossed between a grimace and a pout on his face and Kalen stood up.

"Alright, let's get out of here," he said, picking up his bag as Theth gathered Rune into his arms, hugging the dragon tightly. "This doesn't look like much of a temple; the actual structure must be around here somewhere."

The others gathered their things and got to their feet, Zedkiel taking the lead along the carved out stone corridor, Kalen falling to the back to listen out for anything.

For the most part, the corridor was straight. Every now and then, a corridor branched off it but they decided to stay straight for the time being, only briefly looking down the branching halls to make sure they didn't miss anything obvious.

Kalen stopped at what was probably the ninth one, leaning through the doorway and looking down the latest hall, which was dark and long.

"Do you think these are part of the temple structure or part of something else?" he asked, glancing up to the wall to see that there were torches on the wall – only they were ancient.

The others didn't answer.

"Guys?" he called, turning back to the main hall and stopped.

The others weren't there.

They were gone, even their footsteps and rustle of clothing.

And more than that.

There was a wall where the corridor had been.