The Temple of Rock Lake

Battered. Ragged. Barely standing.

Griffin of Valleyfell stared up from his stump at what he imagined was once a proud, powerful beacon of hope to his right. The dense, soupy fog his people had nicknamed 'SoulSap' seemed to dance around it, rather than consume it.

A withered old lighthouse.

Black, marbled stone.

The cap of the lantern room sheared off on one side, as if one of the Stone Giants from the Onyx Peaks had taken a swing at it.

From the other side of the fire, Erkel sprang to attention.

His dark fur matched the black of the tower, but he had also been blessed with his own, permanent war paint. Erkel had been struck by the edge of a radiant light spell as a pup. The blast left streaks of white across his face that looked like jagged streams of tears under his eyes, and a sharp slice cutting across the left side of his head.

“Easy Erkel. It’s probably Maji.”

The wolf looked across the fire and huffed.

The dense fog swirled around their camp like a shell, obscuring everything except for the lighthouse. It was a putrid aquamarine with veins of black smudged throughout, like smoke caught in some kind of toxic syrup. Griffin was relieved to finally see the familiar ball of light parting the fog, like a spoon scooping through Felleran Porridge.

“Well?” Griffin asked impatiently.

“Oh, I’m sorry, was ensuring your safety taking too long?” Maji was no longer just a little bubble of light, Griffin could see the snarky look on the fairy’s face.

Her puttering wings shifted her body towards Erkel, “Does he talk to you that way when you’re trying to help?”

The wolf simply puffed a shot of air out through his nose and flicked his snout in the direction of his friend.

Griffin threw his arms up in defense. “Whoa! Easy there pal.”

Erkel unenthusiastically licked his lips and rested his head on his paws.

“WELL….” she began, her little voice drenched in sarcasm, “There’s definitely nothing in it, and I couldn’t detect any spells or auras. But…..”

“But….. what?”

“The staircase is…. crumbling to say the least. Non-existent in some spots. I flew up to the lantern room and, as you’d expect by the look of the tower, nothing.”

“So, is it the ‘Blade of Light’ or not?”

“The cap, or what’s left of it, does seem to be designed to release light straight into the sky like a sword. No windows or gaps for light to escape. Or at least, none that were intentionally put there. I am fairly certain this is the ‘Blade of Light’ Mayleena spoke of.”

Griffin picked up his bow, set it across his lap, and gazed back into the fire at his feet.

“Is it night yet? I’ve lost all sense of time in this fog.”

“The sun has dropped behind Mount Vaylaur. I flew high enough to know that for certain.”

The fire danced in Griffin’s eyes, and across the shadowy fur of his best friend.

“Then, light or not, we row North from here.”

————————

Two moons earlier, the fog, which had come to be known as ‘The SoulSap,’ began creeping its way down the mountains around Valleyfell. Nobody knew what it was, and nobody knew where it came from. Peebles, Griffin’s bowcrafter, was the first to try to investigate it. When he didn’t come out, Griffin sent Erkel in after him.

The Peebles that Erkel brought back from beyond the fog line was a shell. He walked like a broken toy. Staggering, stuttered movements that stopped if he wasn’t pushed or guided along. His eyes were glazed over with the same black-streaked aquamarine from the fog.

Peebles was only the first. As it crept across Valleyfell, each person who entered it, or found themselves swallowed by it, became a soulless husk. Hence, the nickname.

Everyone except Griffin.

He couldn’t understand why he was unaffected by the SoulSap, or what to do about it, so, for the first time in his life, he turned to Mayleena for guidance.

“The Untamable arriiiiiives.” She croaked. “You have never visited before. Ironic that you come now, at your most desperate hour, to the thing you have the least faith in.”

Griffin’s face betrayed his irritation, but he couldn’t deny the point. “I…. Yes. I apologize….. I just…….”

“No matter,” she smirked. “That is the way with most people. You….. see the light, now, so to speak.”

She cackled at her own attempt at humour, and waved her hand in a twisted motion towards the glowing jar at the center of her table.

“This is Maji.”

The jar disintegrated.

“I was uncertain of her purpose here when she arrived, but I believe that she is here for you.”

“You tw—three,” she stuttered as she noticed Erkel standing in the doorway.

“Your message….”

Mayleena’s eyes rolled back as her head titled upwards.

A purple dust swirled up and around her like a cyclone, and she spoke in a deep, guttural voice.

“Tread the lake in the dead of night, north from the ‘Blade of Light.’ Banish the Bane and raise the Rock before dawn. Be not afraid of loss, fear will only guarantee the cost.”

————————

Griffin shook away the memory and rose from his stump, wrapping his quiver and bow around his chest. He had no idea if they would be of any use, but he never traveled without them. Suddenly, the bubbly amulet that hung around his neck was torn away, the chain snapping as though it were made of spider silk. It hung in the air, as a jagged, pitch-black apparition revealed itself. Its menacing orange eyes smouldering like embers.

It was not alone.

Two popped into existence behind Griffin, lashing out for his bow and quiver. Erkel sprang from his spot across the fire towards them, only to be caught in midair by two threatening to tear the wolf in half.

“ENOUGH!” The tiniest of voices shouted.

Maji whizzed into the center of the chaos, illuminating the camp with a light that tore the elementals to shreds like the claws of a Teak Bear ripping through Honeybark.

Erkel fell to the ground, as did Griffin’s amulet. Though giant clumps of Erkel’s fur had been torn out, he was not hurt. He was, however, furious.

“Well…. You needed a trim anyways!” Griffin proclaimed, rubbing the underside of Erkel’s muzzle. The wolf gave a sarcastic moan in response.

“Thank you Maji. Mayleena was right. It’s your light we need.”

Then he looked up at the lighthouse. “Do you think…..”

Griffin didn’t even need to finish.

“I don’t know, but I can certainly try!” The little ball of light took off towards the lighthouse.

Moments later, an intense beam of light shot straight up and out of it, cutting through the SoulSap. Then it stretched out horizontally, illuminating a path through their camp into the middle of the lake.

Griffin could see the tip of the rock, the catalyst for the lake’s very literal name, jutting out of the water. Just above it, in the sliver of sky that had been cleared, was the full moon.

“Well,” he glanced over at Erkel. “It appears to be night. And that appears to be our destination…. Shall we?”

Grffin lifted his amulet from the dark sand, shook it off, and tied the broken ends of the chain together around his neck. Then he and Erkel wandered down to the overturned boat waiting for them at the shoreline.

————————

Maji watched from the top of the lighthouse as the little rowboat gingerly made its way out towards the rock, eventually bumping up against the craggy stone and stopping in place.

“They’ve made it,” she whispered to herself, “but…..”

The fairy continued to watch, quickly growing impatient. “Why is nothing happening!? Absolute dunce. If only his dog could talk. I’m sure Erkel has already figured out what Griffin can’t….”

Maji dispelled her radiant light and took off towards the center of the lake. As she did, the sea of blue-green haze returned to cover everything. It seemed darker than before. Swirling with violent slashes of black. What concerned her most though, was the vile screeching coming from within the fog, and the shouts she could hear up ahead.

————————

All of a sudden they were surrounded. Erkel began to bark and thrash violently, jumping from one end of the boat to the other.

Elementals. Dozens of them. Swimming around in the haze.

Then, a voice came. A deep, mutilated growl.

“Pathetic mortal. You believe you have the power to stop a God? You are nothing.”

A new form began to take shape. An enormous, black, amorphous shadow. Like looking at a floating cloak, with fiery eyes the colour of the SoulSap.

“I have feasted on so many. Each soul under my sway grants me the power to take more. You believe your puny arrows might save them?”

A laugh, like metal grinding through stone.

Several of the wispy elementals came screeching out of the haze. Erkel leapt to Griffin’s defense, biting and tearing at the shadows. Griffin was astounded by the fact that Erkel’s bites were doing damage. It was like watching him tear the straw ‘guardian’ from their neighbour’s garden to pieces. Something he was, unfortunately, prone to doing.

But this meant that they could be hurt. Could be killed even.

In one smooth motion, he pulled his bow, ripped an arrow from his quiver, and loosed it towards one of the shadows. The amulet around his neck sparked to life as he did, imbuing the arrow with a sheath of light. As it whipped through the shadow’s chest, the thing disintegrated as though it had been a mill-sack set ablaze.

Suddenly, a surprising blast of light broke through the haze. Reinforcements. Maji had arrived!

Several shadows melted away while others retreated to swirl around behind the larger form. Griffin nocked another arrow, which gleamed to life, and aimed it directly at the glowing eyes of the spirit, or God, or whatever it was.

“Apparently all it takes to destroy a ‘God’ and their little companions is light.” Griffin smirked.

A piercing, disgusting screech caused him to drop his bow in order to cover his ears.

Erkel was lifted into the air by…. seemingly nothing, and plunged into the lake. Griffin scrambled to the side of the boat to watch his best friend sink like a stone into blackness.

“MAJI!” he cried.

“I’m on it!” she responded, diving towards the lake.

Before she could even break the water, she found herself trapped in a transparent box no bigger than she was. She called out to Griffin, but it was no use. Griffin watched the box slowly, silently sink into the lake.

The voice addressed him again.

“You have ventured here on a foolish mission. A wish. A miniscule hope that you, somehow, could depose a God. What hope have you now?”

Griffin held his bow in his left hand, touching his amulet with his right.

“You’re right. I have no way to match your power. But, I would still face you, and I would wager my soul. The soul of ‘The Untameable.’ Against everything else.”

“You think you are special!?” the apparition laughed. “If you DO have a soul, I shall just claim it like all the others.”

“But you can’t!” he shouted. “Isn’t that obvious? This fog…. mist…. Your spell doesn’t affect me! My wolf, until you drowned him, was bound to me, so his soul could not be claimed either.”

“A contest then. Where you will lose everything. I will even give you hope, archer. Your arrows against mine.”

Griffin stood in the boat and pulled an arrow from his back. “So be it.”

“Ahhhh,” the mass of corruption sighed. “You are afraid. Wonderful. Hope and fear. A soul marked with both is all the more delicious.”

“Being afraid doesn’t mean I am lost. My fear means I care about the outcome. That makes hope matter even more.”

Griffin nocked his first arrow, which sprang to life just as the others had.

The massive shadow faded into the haze.

Waves began to swarm the boat and rock it violently. Griffin couldn’t see anything beyond the SoulSap that surrounded him. No hint of where a target or object might be.

**fwhit**

A crooked arrow flew from the haze behind him and struck him through the chest. He stared down at the phantasmal shape sticking out of his sternum, sinking to one knee and whirling his bow around.

Still nothing.

He closed his eyes and thought of Erkel. At the bottom of the lake, but…. he could still feel the wolf’s soul. Which meant he could borrow his senses.

The boat rocked and spun. Griffin remained poised, eyes closed, listening, smelling the air.

“THERE!” he cried, unleashing his arrow.

A streak of light cut through the haze, carving a tunnel to nowhere.

The roar from end of the tunnel resembled a rockslide, and the haze around Griffin began to weaken, as though it were being blown away. The waters underneath the boat became clearer. He could see that the rock was actually the top of some kind of structure. Towards the bottom, he could also make out what appeared to be an entrance.

Another arrow from the distance. This one hitting the lower right section of his abdomen. The force of the arrow knocked him forwards and off-balance, allowing the waves shaking the boat to throw him sideways and overboard.

He hit the water and, too exhausted and injured to swim, immediately began to sink. His lifeless body landed beside Erkel, and the box holding Maji. All three of them had come to rest on a set of stone steps, naturally ornamented with the kaleidoscopic colours of corals.

Maji watched in horror from within her prison. Statues on either side of the steps that the dead archer and his dog were lying on appeared to be carved in the image of Rogeyla, the Guardian of the Natural World. Maji could also see some kind of dais, with a small urn chained down on top of it, just inside the arched entryway.

She glanced back up towards the surface of the lake.

How low the moon had sunk? How close was the rest of Valleyfell to their Forever Curse?

To her surprise, a glow began to brighten the murky waters. The corals lit up like crystals.

Griffin’s amulet, glowed in response. A bubble of light grew and encapsulated him. His eyes shot open and he gasped for air, somehow finding it inside of his new shelter. As the bubble engulfed the wolf, its eyes flew open as well, and it began to bark and jump at Griffin.

Maji cheered from the inside of her silenced prison, but had no way to explain that she believed the Guardian Rogeyla was locked inside of her own temple. She could only point. So she began frantically swinging her tiny arms towards the temple’s opening, and bouncing herself off of the invisible barriers that held her. It was Erkel who spotted her, of course, not Griffin.

The wolf nosed in the direction of the dais, and Griffin finally noticed the urn. They cautiously walked towards it together, ensuring they both remained inside the light barrier. The urn had an indent carved into its front. A shape that was immediately recognizable to Griffin. It was the exact same shape as his amulet.

He looked down to Erkel as he grasped the heirloom around his neck. “I’m not sure what happens to us once I rip this off. But I think it has to go in here.”

The wolf narrowed his eyes and nodded.

Griffin inhaled as deeply as he could, then tore the chain from around his neck and slammed it into its place on the urn. He closed his eyes, expecting the water, or even the entire temple to come crashing in on him, but it didn’t.

When he opened his eyes again, first the left one, to peek at his surroundings, and then the right, the temple was above the surface.

He was still holding the amulet. The urn was gone.

He looked down again at Erkel, who had also closed his eyes, but hadn’t opened them yet.

He tapped the wolf on the top of his head. Erkel also opened his eyes cautiously, one at a time, then tilted his head to the side in confusion.

Outside of the entrance, Maji floated free of her prison.

The sun had just begun to rise over the Eastern shore.

The voice remained.

“The night is past. Your efforts have been in VAIN!”

The sky darkened. The SoulSap filled the space between them so densely they could not even see each other. Shadows swarmed. Taunting. Reaching. Slicing. Screeching.

“DAYLIGHT OR DARKNESS. WE WILL BANISH YOU!” A voice cried from above them.

A bolt of light struck the ground beside Griffin’s feet. The SoulSap, along with the shadows writhing within it, were incinerated.

Rogeyla.

The Goddess’ silver-green armour, reminiscent of dragon scale was adorned with criss-crossing lines of jade stones on the breastplate, shin, and forearm guards. Her red-orange hair flowed back from her like a mix between seaweed and fire.

“Rogeyla. Your freedom means NOTHING. I have your realm, and its people now….”

The agonizing screams coming from within the SoulSap grew in response to his claim.

Rogeyla’s massive, translucent wings dissolved as she touched down beside Griffin.

“Your confidence is misplaced. The Untameable One is here. He will be your undoing.”

She held out her hands towards Griffin. In it, his bow materialized once more.

“Will you not?”

Griffin gently lifted the bow from her arms, clenching it in his left hand.

He looked down to his wolf, who growled and bared his teeth at the sky.

That was all he needed.

He turned back to the Goddess beside him.

“Let’s Go."