Unwanted Elements

Chapter Fifteen

The passageway was similar to the one at the entrance, a long, dark, twisting tunnel of tarnished yellow and ominous carvings dotting the weathering stones. Only this time, the light did not only come from Osomatsu, but from torches that were weakly attempting their duties. Every once in a while, the stone we passed was scarred with what seemed to be large claw marks, which sent shivers down my spine every time I spotted them.

"Okay, why does this temple have so many fucking tunnels?" I cursed under my breath, feeling temptation to kick the walls flood over me. I could taste my brothers' agreement through the air. "It should be illegal, if ya ask me," Osomatsu chimed in from in front of me. "Why is it all laid out like a maze, I wonder," Choromatsu interjected, but everyone ignored him. "Who knows? I just want out, preferably without being a wanted fugitive," Todomatsu grumbled.

What was more unnerving than the silence? We didn't know where we were heading. For all we knew, this was another trap. "Wait," I heard Osomatsu's voice, and suddenly I rammed into Karamatsu's back. "What's the holdup, niisan?" Jyushimatsu inquired, and Osomatsu pressed his index finger to his lips, indicating silence from us.

Quieting down, We all listened for something, but nothing was heard minus our own breathing. "Okay, never mind. I thought I heard footsteps," Osomatsu sheepishly admitted, rubbing the back of his neck in shame. I looked ahead of him, and saw something that somehow took me off guard. Stairs.

Or rather, stairs that matched the actual stone temple's layout. They seemed to be chipping away, weathered like the rest of the tarnished yellow stones. They seemed to be spiraling upwards, into a vast unknown. Vines decorated the walls around it, like tinsel on a Christmas tree. Torches fastened to the wall provided enough light to see up the ascending staircase.

The flame in Osomatsu's palm flickered out as we all turned to face one another, then back at the yawning staircase in front of our eyes. "I wonder where these stairs go," Choromatsu softly uttered, and Todomatsu's eyes filled with anger once again. "Well, wherever they go, it's better than being dead at the hands of these soldiers," Karamatsu added, spreading an arm in front of Todomatsu before he could explode once more.

"He's right," Osomatsu nodded, and we continued to face the stairs. It was impossible to tell how far upwards they extended, but we weren't getting anywhere soon if we didn't start climbing. Me and Jyushimatsu went first, Todomatsu and Osomatsu close behind, followed by Choromatsu and Karamatsu. With each step we went up, an unidentifiable feeling blossomed within my stomach. I was still anxious that we were walking into another trap.

The stairs seemed to last forever, each one contributing to an endless spiral of yellow stone. After a while, even the criss-crossing vines seemed to repeat, and leaves began to gently drop onto the stone. After what felt like hours, and what could probably have been like ten or twenty minutes, of climbing, my legs began to get sore. Each step caused fatigue and I felt like I was about to collapse.

Thankfully, it was about when my legs were about to give out when we reached the top, into a chamber like the one we'd just exited. Only this time, instead of a floor made of carved tiles, there was another yawning gape, except with circular platforms of rock jutting out from the dark mouth. A rope bridge climbed upwards onto the first, and another across the room descended to the other side. The platforms between seemed at least five feet apart, and looked like if you tried to jump, you'd fall into the abyss below.

I looked around as my brothers stood frozen in place, absorbing my surroundings like usual by now. Like the room we'd come from, there were lit torches and carvings all over the walls, only this room had different ones. Instead of dragons dancing through various emotions, this one seemed to have devils, similar to the mural we'd passed. Some had eyes made from jewels embedded into the stone, and some had carved holes. Some were horned, others weren't, just like the mural.