Component 12: TEMPLE ANTICS

"Where in the frozen abyss am I?" Buster grumbled after making a choice at another fork in his path.

The Belltower dwarf had been lost for some time, and grumbling all the while. Finally coming to a stop, Buster kneeled down to catch his bearings.

"Been wandering bout for an hour now at least!" Buster grumbled yet again.

And that he had. Not because he was entirely lost, but because every time he came to an intersecting path, he had stopped and knelt down to pray. Buster's obsessive need to ask for help from Sheeva was quickly becoming his downfall.

This time Buster entered a large chamber. Not unlike the others, this room covered in ice—the walls, floors, and ceiling. However, there was a significant difference. In the center of the room stood a pillar of crystal.

"What be this?" Buster whispered.

As he had done for the hundredth time, Buster stroked his beard, wiping away the forming ice crystals. He wondered if should pray for the meaning of the crystal pillar. Sheeva would surely answer his question now, he had to be getting close. But then again, Buster knew he hadn't killed the Orcs from the outer caves. If they had entered the temple, they could be right on his heels.

A paranoid itching came to Buster's chin. He scratched it and turned back, looking over his shoulder. Behind him was only the path from which he had come. Nothing stirred, save the water droplets dripping down the walls. And that was something the dwarf worried about. Why would the ice be melting? Combined with the absence of Sheeva's presence from his every day life, he knew it could not be a good thing.

"Oh Sister Buckles." Buster whispered, "I wish ye had come with me. At least you would know what to do."

Summoning up courage, Buster marched toward the crystal pillar and placed his palm right on the surface. It was cool to the touch, but not nearly as cold as ice.

"What are ye?" Buster asked, running his hand along the smooth surface and circling the object.

As Buster stared into the crystal pillar, voices began to enter his mind. At first they were but a few whispers, which Buster ignored as if they were his own thoughts. But when they began to swirl, and grow louder and stronger, the strong willed dwarf began to waver.

"Where has she gone?" One voice echoed.

"She has escaped." Another shouted, again echoing.

"We must find the Ice Goddess." A third voice said.

But then the newest voice, a fourth, dark sounding one, came from the shadows of what felt like the deep recesses of his mind.

"She can not tell of our plans!" The authoritative voice roared, "If the others find out, everything will be ruined."

"Wait..." one of the previous voices whispered, "I feel her presence."

"Where?"

"She's left our realm. She has gone to the world of Anhsook."

"Wounded—she won't get far." The dark voice said, and then began to laugh—a laugh that tore through Buster's consciousness and filled him with the deepest of fears.

The dwarf ripped his hand from the pillar and stared in a mixture of horror and confusion.

"What was that?" Buster whispered, "Surely they couldn't mean me Sheeva..."

Buster's mind wasn't sure this was the case, but in his heart he knew—he knew Sheeva was the one they spoke of—and if that were so, then she was wounded—possibly even dying. No, that was ridiculous, gods couldn't die, right? Especially not his Sheeva.

"I have to hurry!" Buster said, reaching onto his back and gripping the handle of his Hellsmasher hammer.

As Buster ran toward the exit on the other side of the room, he could only wonder—if something as powerful as a god had injured Sheeva and sought to kill her, then what on the face of Anhsook Del Iris, could help Buster against such a force?

---

Not far within the entrance of the sacred Ice Temple, Gonzeelda skins walked quickly. She was trusting her loyal Orc companions to track the wretched dwarf that had duped her so. Knowing this was folly, the Orcess could do nothing but hurry with her hairpin, trying to remove the shackles Buster had placed on her.

"Hmm." Budge said, as he stopped and scratched his noggin.

"No know where to go?" Weiggs asked as he scratched his behind.

Gonzeelda stopped and looked up at the cavern they had entered.

"Fettering arse wipers!" she cursed.

The chamber they'd entered was a wide one—one with three doorways. Each held a different symbol above them, carved in intricate detail. The left hand door had a circle; the middle had a snowflake, and the far right a triangle.

"We know no..." Weiggs said, looking up at his tall mistress.

"Well figure it out!" Gonzeelda said, reaching forward and punching Weiggs in the back of the head.

"Okay dokay." Budge muttered, "No hit me and I'll think."

"If you don't think, I'll kill you!" Gonzeelda threatened.

Budge's eyes went wide, and he looked at each pathway. The middle door's symbol was the most confusing to the less than intelligent Orc. So that would surely mean it was the right path, or at least that was his way of thinking.

"I think middle one." Budge said, holding up a finger matter-of-factly.

"No, no, no." Weiggs cut in, "Right door. Me sure."

"You sure?" Budge asked him, "Cuz me sure."

"Me sure. You sure?" Weiggs asked his counterpart.

"Both of you are idiotic ingrates!" Gonzeelda said and kicked Budge in the behind, sending him falling flat on his face—she then spun her leg around and brought her knee into Weiggs, giving him the same result.

"Owwwww!" They both whined as they rolled around in the icy dust of the floor.

Gonzeelda finally gave in. The last thing she wanted to do was waste one of her only spells, but she had no choice.

"Slither Shade." The tricky Orcess whispered.

Beginning from her toes, her skin slowly began to turn a solid black. This continued to spread across her feet, and then consumed her ankles, running up her legs, hugging her shapely hips, and all the way up to her rounded chest. Soon she was absorbed into shadow entirely, and the shackles fell to the floor as if they had never been holding anything physical at all.

Where Gonzeelda had once stood, a shadow sat on the floor, exactly the shape of the thin woman. That shadow slithered like a snake across the cavern and to the nearest wall. It ran up the wall, and from the shadow, stepped the restored figure.

Gonzeelda stretched her neck, and a it gave a loud pop.

"That never feels good..." she muttered.

Budge and Weiggs dover at the ground before Gonzeelda's feet and began kissing her toes. In between slobbery kisses, they each chanted.

"Oh Mistress!"

"We thought you were gone forever!"

Gonzeelda could only roll her eyes at their inability to comprehend magic.

"Enough!" she snapped, kicked Budge in the chin, then promptly doing the same to Weiggs.

"Sorry Mistress!" Both Orcs cried at once.

Again she rolled her eyes.

"I've decided what we must do." Gonzeelda said, walking over and wiping her foot on Weiggs side to remove the drool.

"What is your divine guidance, Mistress?" Weiggs asked.

"We will split up." She said—and she said this knowing full well such a course was usually a bad idea—but she also knew they had little time to find the ugly little dwarf before he made it to his goddess.

"Me go with you, Mistress!" Weiggs cried.

"No!" Budge jumped in, "Me will!"

"We all go alone." She said promptly shutting up both whiny Orcs.

Budge and Weiggs both raised their eyebrows. Not only did they not like the sound of such a venture without their mistress, but they didn't like being separated from one another—in fact they did everything together. They were like family after all—although they looked nothing alike.

"But—" Weiggs started to argue, but Gonzeelda's eyes flared with such violence that he bit his tongue so hard he tasted his own blood.

"I'll take the snowflake." She said, "You two decide which way to go. But be quick about it. The dwarf cannot get far."

With that said and done, Gonzeelda strutted past her Orc lovers, and straight down the center pathway.

--

Budge and Weiggs looked at each other. Inside of their simple minds, they didn't know what to do—how to decide who went where, and if they should even do so.

"Um..." Budge said, "Which way you want go?"

"I know no..." Weiggs whispered.

The wide Orc looked up at the middle pathway and for a moment truly thought about following his Mistress. Something inside his gut faltered, and he knew if he did so, he would receive a severe beating.

"I decide..." Budge said, "I go... triangle."

Weiggs watched as Budge slowly edged toward the chosen doorway, holding his obsidian battle-axe in his hands.

Weiggs watched him go and wanted to cry. Not because he was sad, but because he was terrified. Soon, Budge disappeared behind the door with the mountain symbol, and the scared Orc was on his own.

"What I do now?" Weiggs whispered, and stared at the door with the circle symbol.

What if he found the dwarf? Was he to kill him? Bring him back to Gonzeelda? Or should he hide and just say he never found the burly opponent. He had already been defeated twice and wasn't looking forward to another beating.

Weiggs swallowed hard as he drew his battle-axe and walked toward the path, hoping and praying to Torchwood that he would not find that wretched Dwarf.

---

Buster walked at a brisk pace. He needed to hurry—and that was all he knew. He continued telling himself that he could somehow protect his Goddess.

But when the ice caves began to tremble, so did his heart. He knew something was wrong—whoever's voices he heard, they were coming for Sheeva.

"Please be okay, please be okay." Buster continued to whisper.

The caves began to tremble so hard, small chunks of ice started falling from the ceiling, pelting Buster in his balding head.

He couldn't take it any longer. He needed to run. Buster took off as fast as his stubby legs could carry him.

"I'm coming Sheeva!" Buster cried.

He ran—he ran so very hard. His feet slammed down with each step. Tears began to well in the corners of his eyes. He needed to hurry—he would never forgive himself if he couldn't defend Sheeva.

WHAM

Buster slammed into a wall—a wall he hadn't seen coming. The strike was so sudden and strong that he bounced back, his head spinning.

"What da hell..." Buster whispered, rubbing his big nose.

The cave continued its shaking, and the narrow hallway was quickly filling with ice chunks. He stared ahead; screwing up his face, trying to figure out where the wall was he had ran into. The tunnel ahead looked clear, and just feet beyond it opened into a large chamber—one with a staircase and a throne made of the blue ice. Upon that throne sat a figure, and even from where he stood, he could see the red blood trickling down the stairs and forming a pool at the bottom.

---

Budge walked along path he had chosen, very much alone, and very much scared.

"Mistress, why you make me go alone?" he whined.

Little did the less-then-intelligent Orc know, that the symbol above the door was not a triangle at all, but the symbol represented a mountain.

Budge continued on, as the path began to become a climb. Soon he found himself putting his hands out to the side and bracing each step up the path. Once his hand slipped, and he cried out, but was barely able to stick his knee to the wall and himself before tumbling back down at least a hundred feet.

"Phew!" Budge said, "That close. Too close."

He took a deep breath and maneuvered his foot back to the floor, and was able to brace his arms.

It was jus then that the cave shuddered, and once again, Budge found himself nearly slipping. Once again, he braced his body with his knee. This time he grabbed a dagger from his belt and dug it into the ice wall.

"I no fall now." Budge said, "Ha ha. Stupid cave."

And then there was a screaming far up ahead. It was a tiny sound at first, but within seconds it grew louder, and louder. Budge looked up the tunnel and was more than confused.

"Huh?" Budge said, narrowing his eyes.

The screaming grew to its crescendo and then the unlucky Orc saw the missile coming toward him. He didn't have time to make out any details before the screaming object slammed into him.

Down the two bodies tumbled, skidding through ice, slamming into the walls, and bouncing about. A tangle of limbs, they continued to slide. Budge tried desperately to grab the walls, but it was no use. They slid right through the cavern with three doors and into the caves beyond.

Finally, just near the cave entrance they came to a halt. Budge shook his head, as he tried to sit up.

"What hit me?" Budge whispered.

His head lolled and landed looking to his left—and there laid an elven man with short blonde hair. He looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't get his head on straight.

Laying beside the Orc, Gavin's world was also spinning.

---

Weiggs was walking along his own path. And of course, he too had no idea what the symbol above his door meant. But he was soon to find out.

It wasn't long before Weiggs walked into circular chamber. Right away he should have noticed the nests in each corner. But he wasn't so perceptive. In each of those nests sat three round objects—not unlike the design above the door.

Weiggs stopped as he came to the center of the chamber realizing there wasn't a door leading anywhere else.

"What going on?" Weiggs whispered.

He slowly turned around as he finally spotted the nests with the round objects—which for once, he was smart enough to recognize the objects.

"Eggs?" Weiggs said, cocking an eyebrow.

If he had been any smarter, he would have ran from the chamber right then as fast as he could. The cave began to tremble and he still ignore those killer instincts within screaming at him to flee.

Each of the nests had at least three eggs, and there were more than enough nests. In that feeble mind of his, where he should have seen a warning, he saw a meal. And it had been a while since he had eaten anything. Hours and hours at least. Something else in the chamber saw a meal too.

Just then the loud flapping of leathery wings came from somewhere above his head.

"What dat?" Were the only words Weiggs could speak before the mother Ice Dragon descended upon the unfortunate Orc.