“Does anyone know what a priest of the Tree God’s temple would have worn?” I asked everyone.
They all, unfortunately, shook their heads.
“Shit. Well, look at the scraps of clothing around the skeletons. Tell me if you find anything that looks, well, priestly.”
We all sifted through the piles of skeletal remains. I had no idea whether we would find any clues since most of the skeletons’ clothing had rotted off long ago. Only a few tattered, faded scraps of cloth and leather remained scattered among the piles of bones.
Instead of touching them with my hands, I used a broken spear I picked up off the floor to move the bones around; I didn’t want to experience the disorienting visions of the dead again. Not unless circumstances required it. No doubt this ability would become easier to master with time, when I gained more power as a god.
“I found something!”
I looked up and saw Elyse holding a strip of faded fabric, her big blue eyes sparkling with excitement.
“What is it?” I asked.
“A strip of a robe,” she answered, “with a faded but visible pattern of oak leaves printed on it. It may be part of a priestly garment!”
That was good enough for me. I walked over and had a look at the fabric. I too could discern a faint pattern of oak leaves on the ragged strip of rotten cloth.
“Let’s look for more of this around here,” I said.
We continued to search, and among this clump of skeletons—who were all adult men, it seemed—we found a few more rotten strips of the same fabric.
I gritted my teeth as I grabbed a skull, split at the crown, belonging to one of these men. Immediately, I was transported back to the sight of the battle, with the monster thudding into the barred-door of the entrance. In front of me was a gilded altar with floral effigies of the Tree God etched into its marble surfaces. I looked to either side of me and saw a number of robed figures, all incanting some spell at the base of the altar. Green energy flowed from their fingertips as they stretched their hands to the altar. My mouth was open, and my hands outstretched as I, too, joined the enchanting chorus.
Suddenly, the floor beneath me started to give way, and a sound like the earth being torn asunder echoed around the hall as I slammed into the ground, my skull cracking on the stone.
Then, I was no longer inside the priest’s body but back at the present, inside the ruined temple hall.
“These are the priests,” I said. “They were doing something at the altar when the monster came to destroy the temple.”
I turned to the ruined altar, huge stones from a collapsed wall atop it. I walked over and knelt beside the pile of rubble, examining it closely. Then, I felt it: a very light, almost imperceptible trickle of cold, stale air, coming from a crack at the very base of the altar. I dropped down onto my stomach to get a better look and saw that there was a hollow opening beyond the crack, wide enough to fit a few fingers through.
“Elyse, your mace please,” I said.
She unhooked her mace from her belt and handed it to me. I got up onto my knees, took aim at the crack, and gave a good swing. I hit the stone and took a big chunk off, knocking it into the hollow. I heard the stone bouncing down what sounded like a set of stairs, and the sound echoed under the ground, followed by the frightened scurrying of rodent feet.
I handed her back the mace, grinning triumphantly.
“This is it,” I announced. “This is the entrance to the labyrinth.”
I had found it, but the problem now was how we would get through the hole. It was barely big enough for my head to fit through. I had taken one swing at it, but another could just as easily cave-in the floor beneath our feet and forever close off the labyrinth.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Rollar, your helm,” I said to the former sergeant.
“What are you planning, Vance?” Rami asked.
“The helm allows the wearer to communicate with animals and to control them,” I explained. “And I heard rodents down there in the labyrinth.”
Both women smiled knowingly as what I was intending to do dawned on them.
Rollar returned after a few minutes with the helm. He was about to put it on himself, but I stepped over to him and gripped his forearm to prevent him.
“Hold on, Rollar,” I said. “I want to try this myself.”
“Of course,” he said, handing the helm to me.
As soon as I touched the metal, I felt it heating up. It didn’t become painfully hot, but it was definitely warm enough for me to know that something was happening. I put it on, and it was as if someone had just slipped a plate of magical glass in front of my eyes.
Suddenly, I could see half-visible trails of light, glowing amber wisps, emanating out from my forehead and extending in all directions. Most of them were heading out of the ruined temple, but a few traveled into the hole leading to the labyrinth. I realized that each trail of amber light was connected to the heart of a living animal–in this case, the rats and mice in the labyrinth.
I figured any rat would do, so I reached up and curled my fingers around one of the trails of light. I hadn’t expected it to feel like anything, but, weirdly enough, it was as solid and tangible as a physical rope.
“Can you guys see these?” I asked.
“See what?” Elyse answered. “You look like you’re gripping something, but there’s nothing in your hands. Is it a new spell of yours?”
That answered that question. As soon as I gripped the trail of light, a strange sensation filled my head. It was like I’d invited another person into my mind, a complete stranger… and
