"Perhaps an old friend would like for you to pay a visit," Rein said jokingly. His eyes went to Ari's in an instance, but Ari had no words to offer him. Ari did not want to go down there. However, his curiosity was eating away at him.

Ari looked down the deep chasm of a temple. It was much larger than what it looked to be from the outside. The darkness seemed to go on forever. "There is something ominous down there. That is all I know for certain. But we cannot know what it is unless we go down there and see for ourselves." Ari focused on the sounds coming from inside it, but all he heard was the incessant tapping of water on the cobblestone from last night's rain.

"I will go first," Rein said as he put his hand out in front of Ari." If something happened to you under my watch, Freir would never forgive me and I could not live with myself if that were to happen."

"Because he means everything to you?"

"He is my everything," Rein corrected.

"And that is why you have disliked me for so long? Because I mean something to him so that somehow takes away from you?"

Rein did not bother with his question and started down the pillar. He carefully placed his feet into the notches as if he were descending down a mountain. Once he began to disappear into the darkness where light could not reach, Ari followed him down remembering each notch Rein used. It took a moment for Ari's eyes to adjust to the darkness. Gradually, Ari made out a corridor in great disrepair to the left of them. Its doorway was not caved in like the rest. They could make their way down from there.

"To the left, Rein. Do you see it? A hall." Ari looked around some more. There is no way Rein could make the jump now that he was below the threshold. He would have to find something for him to use. Vines were growing from the sides of the stone. It looked sturdy enough to hold a grown man's weight. Although Ari was wary of the idea, it was the only viable option left other than to make Rein climb back up. "There are some vines. It is close to you. Can you reach it?"

"I see it." Rein reached for a vine and tugged on it for good measure before shifting his body all the way onto it.

Ari leapt from the pillar and onto the stone floor. As he rose, Ari looked around finding some familiarity within those eerie halls. The inside was large and spacious, too wide, Ari thought, for what seemed to be built for humans. There were many pillars; some fallen some upright with vines hanging from their edges and sides. A couple of massive ones held what little roof was left from above. Moss blanketed some stone walls but the corridor Ari was in was free of it. There were markings there. Markings similar to the ones he had seen on Auovin. When he took a closer look at the ground beneath his feet, he noticed there were runes carved even into them. Ari went to touch it, but Rein's grunts stopped him from inspecting any further. He quickly rushed over to the side and helped Rein up the rest of the way.

"I cannot see a thing. Give me a moment to fetch my tinderbox. In the meantime, go find me a stick or some other thing to light."

Ari nodded and took off into the doorway. His curiosity was quelling down all thoughts of fear and caution. His boots kicked over small stones and debris from the ruins as he slowed and walked down the stairs into a room filled with much light from the crack. The small broken window still had bits of its painted glass still intact. It caused of sea of colors to swarm around the sill. Ari walked closer trying to see the kind of figure or picture painted on it, but he was distracted by a snicker.

He closed his eyes trying to hone in on the sound. All he could hear the water dripping from the edges and hitting some fallen stones. When he looked down there were bones and remnants of swords and broken wooden shields. The blade was rusted beyond recognition and the wood smelled of mold. Ari did not want to think much of the bones and what fate befell the person resting here. He shook his head and looked around for more pieces of wood that were not dampened from the rain.

When he bent down to look at a promising piece, Ari saw something skittering through the shadows. Slowly, Ari reached for his dagger before picking up a long piece of wood. It laughed and snickered. Soon Ari heard its footsteps as it traveled further down the stairs which made him release the breath he had been holding. There were things down here as Rein had suspected. Ari never turned his back to the stairs it had taken until he was near where he had entered. He skipped up the stairs and found Rein in the same place where he had left him already having a fire made.

"You found one? Thank the gods. Give it here."

Ari handed it to him and watched as he tore a piece of his shirt off and wrapped it around the stick. As the torch emanated with light, the ruins surrounding them showed them the gargantuan temple that they had found themselves in.

"Rein, there are... things here. Strange things... that snicker... and hide in the shadows."

"I had told you there are reasons why we do not come into these temples. Things that are not worth the knowledge it promises. But we are here now, so do not look so afraid." Rein nudged him and went on ahead into where he had just come from. Ari was quick to follow behind him, but his curiosity was slowly beginning to fade under the danger it presented. Strangely enough, Ari did not regret coming down here. Yes, he was weary of what could be found there but the idea of knowing and the knowledge it presented him outweighed his fears entirely.

"Are you not afraid?"

"I have been slaying demons since I was able to hold a sword properly. What is there to be fearful of?"

"Death," Ari murmured.

"Because you are a damned soul when you die by the hands of demons?" Rein shook his head. "You are damned only when you die in fear of them."

"But, death, does it not scare you?"

Rein spared him a fleeting glance. "Not for myself, no."

Rein looked around the room seeing it as he had seen it, Ari was sure. When Rein cast the light onto the ground, Ari saw many human-looking bones scattered around the room. Some still had skin with gnaw marks decorating their bones while others looked like they had been there for thousands of years and could see their bones in the pile of dust.

"Some of these are fresh... " Rein mentioned. Ari looked at Rein as he bent down to touch one of them. "This one seemed to have his throat ripped out. That one over there looks as if something has been gnawing on his bones."

"Demons eat the flesh not gnaw on bones. There is no sustenance for them there," Ari said with furrowed brows.

"Perhaps it is one you are unaccustomed to."

Rein rose and carried on down the next flight of steps.

"There are more I do not know of?"

"There are many things you do not know." Ari did not like the meaning behind those words. "Has Freir told you yet? About how you came to be with us?"

"This order had killed my parents and you and Freir took me in only under the condition that you could be together."

"Killed your... " Rein scoffed. "Do you think we, as humans, possess the capabilities to kill one as old as he? Those are lies and you are so gullible to believe in them."

They went back out into a corridor filling with the humid air of past rain. The light from the torch cast long shadows that turned into grotesque shapes before they shaped back into lines. Ari thought his mind was playing tricks on him, but every so often it would change and form some other thing as if taunting him or baiting him closer.

"So then tell me. What is truth and what is not?" Ari said, wanting to distract himself with other things.

"Your mother... she was... different-- as much as they always are. It is the only way you came to possess such forms. As for your father... we had no idea who it was that had fathered you. Nolan nor anyone else did. He did not know, at first, what you were even until he had already brought you to the order. The markings on your back were the only way he came to find out."

Ari was finding it hard to stomach those words. No matter what anyone said, Ari knew Nolan was using him. He would never forgive him.

"In truth, we do not know who your father is or was, Ari."

Birds flew up above and outside towards the light when Rein's voice echoed through the empty space. It was then that he felt a bony hand grabbing onto his ankle. He reacted too late. It pulled him down onto the ground. Ari landed on his arm. He kicked at it, but in a moment it was gone, but the snickers. Ari heard its footsteps pattering across the vast space. There was too much echo for Ari to figure out where in particular it was. However, Ari could make out multiple pairs of feet and voices growing closer, surrounding them almost. Or was it all in his mind? Ari was beginning to doubt himself.

"Why are you on the ground? Get up."

Ari quickly rose and dusted off his pants. He looked around, seeing nothing but the fog coming through the chasm. Something felt odd about this place. There were eyes on them. Pairs and pairs of them. Ari could feel it. The familiarity Ari felt with the place was slowly being replaced with a foreboding feeling.

"I may know who he once was, but you would not believe me... I will tell you now of the old demon's pains and why they bear such hatred against humans, if only you will open your mind to the possibility," Ari said, trying not to let his shaky nerves consume him.

Rein stopped in the middle of the corridor and looked at him.

"Auovin... he was a god once... cast up above all others. But the ones who raised him high cast him back down." Ari paused to gauge Rein's reaction, but he was silently listening much to Ari's surprise. "They branded him with the name Daevas and shunned him."

"For what reason would that be?"

"What?"

"Why they would cast him back down?"

"I do not know... One told me it was because they had found out that they were not so immortal and that they could bleed, but he is manipulative."

"One?" Rein questioned.

"One called Ylanan..."

"Ylanan..."

"Auovin gave the name Oliya to the humans and Ylanan... Ylana..."

Rein's lips drew tight.

"And my father... my father... he may be Clius."

"Clius was a saint and a god. A martyr to a cause that had tainted him. Why would he-- this is nonsense."

"Choose to believe it or not... but it is the truth."

"They had told you nothing but lies," Rein hissed and walked onward.

"And we both know how to story ends with Clius. They say he sleeps now, do they not? Lost and forgotten by time. Does that not sound familiar with how you put to sleep blood demons? The truth is there in the stories buried under all of the embellishments and lies."

"Then that must mean one of the two of them did that. Did you not say they were friends? In what stories had they ever been mentioned together, Ari?"

"Stories the Khaeo chose to embellish with their own truths to create order from the chaos that ensued, I am sure." Ari's brows furrowed as he thought of Auovin and the guilt he saw on his face whenever he would look at him at the mention of his father. Ylanan would never do a thing to harm him. He said he was sleep.

"So why was he put to sleep?" Rein asked aloud.

"Is that not where the story ends?" Ari asked in response.

They both looked at each other with wide eyes filled with questions, but at the same time with knowing somehow this all connected and tied into one another.

Rein pursed his lips and looked around. He shuffled on his feet and sighed.

"Let us go further down. I do not think we should stay in one place too long."

Ari walked closer to Rein as they entered into another corridor. However, Rein stopped and shined the light on the water filling inside.

"It is flooded. We can go un--"

Ari balked at the idea. He shook his head no and took several steps back.

"Then what do you suppose we do? Climb down?"

"I can find another way." As soon as Ari stepped out the entrance, demons blocked the entirety of the bridge.

Their eyes held the glow of nocturnal animals as they stared him. He looked at their jagged rows of teeth and long skinny limbs. They swished their tails and sank their claws deep into the stone, ready to lunge. Ari stood motionless. Slowly, he reached for one of his daggers. When his eyes met theirs again, Ari noticed the old tattered pieces of clothing that were left on their bodies.

Rein came out and shined the light onto their faces, revealing the scaly skin and ghastly faces. They backed away and hissed at the torch.

"They will not stay back for long. Jump."

"Jump?"

"Where else would we go? Aim for the bridge below us. Go!"

Ari loitered around the edge before Rein gave him a push. He ducked and rolled the moment he hit the ground. A thud followed close behind him before he felt a hand wrap around his wrist and brought him forward.

"This way!" Ari barely had the chance to get himself onto his own feet with how fast Rein was running. They ran down steps covered with old bones and dead things Ari did not know the names of. More and more rusted blades were found littered on the ground. Some broke under the pressure of their feet, they were so brittle.

As they came out of one of the inside halls and back into the outside ones, they came across a four-way path.

"Which way?" Rein looked to Ari for an answer and as if some deeper part of him was filled with knowing, Ari pointed to the right. They took off there. It was warm inside there, Ari quickly noticed. Much warmer than anywhere they had been so far which unnerved him.

"I cannot see a thing here, so the choices are yours to make."

Ari looked down noticing quickly the ground was made of wet soil that sank him down a little if he stayed in one place too long. He took Rein's hand and brought him on a slab of stone away from the mud.

"If we walk through here, we will quickly be taken under, so we must run."

"In what direction must we run in?"

"Another right... where the warmth is coming from." Ari grabbed a piece of Rein's shirt and led him in the direction that he wanted to take. Before long, they entered into a room piled high with bones and fallen statues with eyes that seemed to bore into his very soul. More of the rune markings were etched into the stone slabs decorating the large room. The ceiling was covered with a painting that spoke of a world that once was. As he looked around the story became longer and the depictions more grotesque than the last.

Ari rushed over to a part that had bits and pieces of old wood scattered in a corner. He picked up a couple pieces and rushed over to Rein.

"The pieces... I found more..." Rein took it without a word and began to take out his tinderbox.

Ari breathed, trying to ignore the wind that was like breath blowing onto his face. It was like before, the moment when they were above. Truly, it was as if they entered into the belly of a beast. He wiped the sweat from his brow and touched some of the markings and carvings on the walls.

"These markings... they are as old as Auovin, I can tell."

"And did he tell you why those markings came upon you in the first place? What they mean?"

Ari looked at Rein as he lit the stick. He nodded and focused back on the paintings. There was an endless row of dark figures bowing with palms laid out in front of themselves. The god was eating the humans offered up as sacrifices in one. In the other, he made the fields rich with soil and caused rain to come from above. Ari moved on to another. One of which was of a god pleasuring himself with a woman. As he moved on it became filled with more and more women, causing Ari to look away.

"Do you know why we never say a demon's name? It is so our souls will not be damned." Ari looked at the dark figures again, seeing them as human and then gradually seeing them as demons. It made Ari gasp and move away from the mural.

As Rein approached, the markings became more apparent and the pictures more graphic than Ari first realized. The color had worn from the passage of time, but it used to be hues of blues, reds, and yellows. Imagining this place to have been once filled with life was a haunting thought in of itself. It reeked of death.

"Ylana and Clius... they were much in love with one another... And Oliya... he seemed to be an outside lover of a sort. Something had happened between them. A power balance. An argument. Anger. Hate. I do not know which, but whatever rift was created between them resulted in this."

"And in you." Ari looked at Rein before his eyes went back to the grotesque picture of a demon biting off the head of a human. "You can try and blame us for what possibly could have happened between them, but the blame will only shift from our perspectives," Rein muttered.

"I do not think he cared for me... if these drawings speak of his doings... there was not much love to be had from him."

"You think this was his temple?"

"It is somewhere Ylanan wanted me to discover, so I am sure it must relate to him in some way." Ari dragged a finger down the mural of the god with horns that spanned across each corner of the room. His eyes were painted gray and his hair black once before. The ink had faded, but a bit of it remained.

"He was a good god," Rein said.

"Once before, but he was put to sleep for a reason. And his voice... I am sure it is his voice who is calling for me and in the shadows that light creates."

"What are you speaking of?"

Ari fumbled with his hands and nibbled on his bottom lip. He did not want to seem insane to Rein but there was no other way of explaining this connection he felt to this place.

"I have been hearing things and seeing things. Things that appear as if I had imagined them, but... no... It is him. I feel his breath on my face and his warmth in this corridor. And his hands..." Ari touched his throat. "He is here. Forgotten by time, as Ylanan said."

"Then we should go."

Rein grabbed Ari's arm and dragged him down the steps that only went deeper into the temple. Ari could hear water dripping from the ceilings and the hot air on his face. No matter the direction Rein chose to take, it only led them closer to it. Ari felt as if the temple was alive in some way, distorting each corridor to lead them to where it wanted them to go. Ari could hear its breath, feel it breathing when he touched its walls. With it, he felt its anger and rage, but Ari ignored it all thinking it was all inside his head.

Why would he ever think he would help a thing such a terrible thing as him? So what if he had given him life. Ari owed nothing to him. Those were the thoughts sifting through Ari's head. Each time he had a thought such as that his head would ache. Ari followed Rein blindly as his eyesight worsened. His legs were numb and felt like lead, growing heavier with each step he took.

Ari saw as Rein dropped the torch that had been in his hand and stared, mouth agape, at the bulbous blue light emanating from a coffin carved from stone. The ground they stood on was wet, but hot, which made Ari take several steps backward. Before he could make it out, an arm shot out from the ground and grabbed him by the ankle, dragging him to the ground.

"Rein!"