Temple Exodus

I looked to Merlin and his face seemed pale and tired. His shoulders were tense as he exhaled heavily. Cautiously I reached over and took Merlin's hand in mine. "I'm sorry, brother. I should not take my hurt out on you when you too are hurting."

Merlin looked down at me and gave a small smile. "It truly is nice not being alone."

Edgar gave a little huff. "Well, I think you were never really alone. You had me... and then you had the Pendragons as well." Merlin looked at Edgar oddly as Edgar's nose twitched. "Anyway, we must get moving, this temple makes me feel very uneasy."

The gray fog that hung in the air never really dissipated, but instead floated about in thicker and lesser quantities like clouds. We eventually found our way to a stone wall and followed along its cracked and unstable surface until we found a doorway. Once we found the giant wooden doors, halfway falling off its hinges, we paused. There was a sound of wind that rushed through the holes and the splinted pieces of the wood, creating a sound of a mournful spirit.

Jasper had been following behind us with Edgar riding upon his back, which was quite a site to see. Merlin turned to look at Edgar. "Is it even safe out there?" Merlin asked. "What if this is a trap and we all die?"

Edgar looked at Merlin for a short moment before responding. "Merlin, you are the most powerful magician among your people, why should you bother being afraid of the unknown?"

"Edgar is right, brother. Together we can do anything, even open a door." I said with a smile. Merlin nodded and I reached ahead and pulled at the door's handle. The handle came half-way off the door as it came tumbling inward, a hideous smell crashing into our presence. Jasper reared back on his hind legs, nearly throwing Edgar off, as the door threw me back into Merlin. I coughed and gagged, trying to get away from the repulsive smell which reeked of the nightmares that previously haunted my dreams.

After a minute of coughing the air seemed to thin out, and the smell became more bearable. Standing up slowly I glimpsed outside of the doorway. Outside was even more darkness, only, if you squinted your eyes, you could almost make out the light of stars in a sky filled with the darkness of space. There were no trees or bushes, the only thing visible was a low fog hiding whatever may be on the ground.

We all glanced about at one another, no one making a single sound. Slowly, we all took steps into the unknown world of lost magic. Merlin was the last to walk out, his face becoming hardened by the reality of his past life. With his final step outside of the temple the door slammed shut behind him, a bright light bursting out from the door way. Merlin jumped back into me this time, just barely keeping his balance. The light seemed to be a mixture of reds and blues and gold. There was a king of peacefulness about it, and it made me feel like I was witnessing a part of myself that I had never seen before. It made no real sense, but I guess it must have meant something... it was just something I could not yet fully understand.

Not long after the light had struck a terrible quake began to take hold of the land, causing stones to fall from the temple as the whole building began to crumble. Edgar hopped off of Jasper and nearly tackled Merlin. "What are you doing? Run!" Snapping back to reality, Merlin and I realized the frantic sounds emanating from Jasper as figures began to emerge from the darkness, shrieks of anger filling the soundless void we had previously been in. One creature reared up on it's hind legs, long clawed limbs reaching to the sky, as it let out an ear-piercing screech.