Editing Kanimaeli - Spirit of Air (section)

==A Champion's Choice==

As he reached into it, he saw (whether it was real or a vision was not clear) three symbols floating: a hammer, a sword, and a star within a circle. He had to make a choice. Not that we knew this at the time. We waited for half an hour with no sign (or sound) of Xlotl returning. Growing impatient, we decided to head back but just as I turned around I caught a flash of a rainbow hawk in the sky to the south. Glancing back, I saw it flash over the cliffs, and when I looked to see what reaction there had been, it was clear that Pi (I assumed) was distracting the horde.

Antinniera and I exchanged a quick look - we had to choose between running above or climbing from below. We preferred to climb, but needed to hurry. We made best speed along the base of the cliff until we were just north of the temple. Antinniera used dweomer to make us as light as a feather, and we quickly hauled ourselves up the cliff to the top. As we rolled over the edge onto flat ground, I heard the twang of bows and watched the hawk dive away, expertly dodging the arrow fire.

We approached the mist, but wary of some kind of transition between worlds, we held hands so that we would enter together. As soon as we stepped forward, though, it was as if we were alone. The symbols of a hammer, sword, and orb floated in the thick mist before us, just as they had for Xlotl. I could barely see my own hand and there was no sign of Antinniera. This felt like a religious choice, but with only the most ancient of Gods to choose from. I didn’t favor either the Maker or the Unmaker, so I really only had one option; I reached out to the orb, intending to touch it.

The symbol moved towards me until I was engulfed within it and I head a voice in my head say: "welcome, champion." Oh shit, I thought, I'm a champion now? I wasn't sure this was a good thing. Meanwhile, quite separately, Antinniera was having quite a different interaction. She always seemed to lean toward the unpredictable, and decided to choose at random, reaching out to the Hammer. One could not choose the path of Order by chance, though, and as soon as she did so it became the symbol of the Sword. Although wary, she eventually reached out to touch it and then was engulfed as I had been, receiving the same message in her mind.

Part of the message I received was unique for me, though; the voice said: "the Unmaker is dominant, and balance is required or our observations will be biased. Support the Maker while the others oppose him. Bring order, for now, but do not be the one who decides the fate of the world, or I will be forced to observe you." I'm not sure how "observe you" is a threat, although it was a bit creepy, but the words made sense - this place was out of balance.

Suddenly the mist and symbology was gone, and I could see normally. The rainbow hawk (Pi) appeared in front of me, although still flapping hard to climb, and Antinniera was next to me once more. She was excited about what she had seen and chosen, and it was clear that she had favored the Unmaker and chaos. I called out to Pi, but my voice was drowned out by the deep chime of a resonant bell, and the horde that was still just outside the east of the temple, turned to look back.

Having noticed that the horde seemed to be looking at us, I turned to ask Antinniera if we should run, half expecting her to charge at them. At the same time I heard Xlotl's voice (he was still invisible) saying: "what are you still doing here? Run! You’re going to be chased." Well that was reassuring! The Saloroc blew a horn, and the horde started moving towards us as we ran forward towards the walls. I called at Pi to join us on the wall, hoping he heard me this time.

Antinniera sprinted past me, reaching the base of the wall first, and Pi screeched down in a dive towards me, landing on the ground just ahead of me. Antinniera climbed up using the plants covering the wall for purchase, and I did the same after Pi settled on my shoulder. We reached the top quickly, seeing nothing but the dilapidated temple within its courtyard inside. I noted that the gateway to the east was open, so we were likely to be joined inside fairly quickly.

Antinniera hadn't stopped, swinging over the other side and quickly climbing down, so I followed her although I was a bit clumsy with a large hawk on my shoulder! I was still worried that the gates were open, with nothing to stop the pursuit, but then Xlotl screamed from somewhere above us: "Up and at them, friends, hold the east gate"! He also called on the undergrowth to rise up and grasp at the foes, helping to block the gate and catching the first few dog-like creatures that tried to enter. Once he did that, he became visible in the Air ahead of us. I ran to join him, emboldened by the foes being held.

Xlotl kept moving towards the temple entrance, and Antinniera ran forward to join us from the undergrowth she had sought cover in. Xlotl noticed some Saloroc climbing the walls to the north, and they were calling back down to whoever was below in their coarse language. More shouting could be heard from beyond the gateway, so we knew that they were being told to pursue us. Pi flew up to get a better view from above, while I ran below, also heading for the temple doors.

The stone doors were clean and unblemished, which didn't fit at all with the rest of the temple. A hammer symbol was on the left, a sword on the right, and an orb spanned both doors in the centre. Xlotl tried pushing on the left door, but it didn't budge. The dog creatures were starting to cross the wall to the north, and Saloroc had climbed the walls to the east. The Saloroc were calling down behind them, and we knew that we didn’t have much time until they were upon us. They also had bows, and I was struck by two arrows and scraped by a third. Barely able to keep my feet, I used my mind to heal myself before the pain became overwhelming. The pain eased instantly, but I was forced to slow down and only just reached the door with the others.

Pi landed hurriedly, transforming into his human form - I noted that it still included his bright yellow and red armor. Xlotl stepped away for a moment, chanting, and the stone wall exploded below one of the Saloroc, the shards slicing into him. Arrows were still flying, and I was struck again. We were about to be mobbed if we didn’t act quickly, and I ran to the door shouting at Antinniera to push on the sword, desperate to get in and out of immediate danger.

Pi tried to help, healing some of my wounds, and shouted at the attackers to stop or face Admir's wrath. One of the Saloroc responded with a defiant "Fuck Admir"! Desperately, we pushed on the door, and I foolishly tried pushing on the orb. I shifted my focus to "support the order" (the hammer) quickly, as that balanced the party better, as Pi summoned a stone and dropped it on a Saloroc, knocking him back - he fell off the wall backwards with a cry. With arrows and now swords aimed at us, we pushed together for the first time and the doors finally swung open.

We stepped inside. Well, I sort of fell inside, not able to keep my feet anymore, but thankfully the foes were repelled by an invisible barrier at the threshold and the doors swung closed behind us. Inside was in a worse state of repair than we remembered, but at least there were no visible foes.

The dark void still sat at the far end of the raised platform, but as we watched it shimmered and turned white. Pi began chanting, although a sudden rush of air toward the far end forced us to brace ourselves. Xlotl shifted slightly as he moved his coils around, but managed to stop himself.

The sun moved rapidly across the sky and then we were plunged into darkness. The Air was leaving the room so quickly that everything became a blur to me, and I admit that I felt panic set in as I realized we were losing the Air! The Air became so thin that I could barely breathe, but just as suddenly the flow of air reversed and an arctic blast filled the room, the temperature dropping rapidly.

Four figures flipped through the portal, twirling in the air, and landed solidly in front of the white circle. They were about four feet tall, each holding a knife and wearing a belt, with multicolored shining spheres in their other hand. Antinniera removed her crown, in case the flames were seen as a threat, but still shouted at them to stand back, notching and half-drawing an arrow to emphasize her words. Pi rooted around in his pack and pulled out fur gloves, taking a moment to put them on, while Xlotl chanted some words but didn’t move.

I moved through a form, shaping the wind around me for protection, although it was somewhat disrupted by the strength of the wind. Despite the rapidly dropping temperature, I was relieved to have Air back with us. I tried greeting the "guardians of the elements", asking whether they would mind easing the wind slightly, but received no response.

They seemed excited that the temple was "open", declaring it was theirs now! But their tone shifted quickly to fear, saying: "He is coming! Going to kill us!" Xlotl shouted that Artemis was coming too, which did seem to worry them even if it was an outrageous bluff. Antinniera asked Pi to light her arrow, which he did; what was she planning to burn now?! More of the creatures followed behind the first and eventually a dozen advanced on us.

Antinniera fired her arrow into some detritus on the north side of the temple, following that up with a second until a small fire started and she moved forward towards it. I moved up on the south side, but the wind was making it hard going. Pi advanced with me, and I tried to get in front of him to use the Air around us for defense. Xlotl flew up into the Air, riding the storm with his wings out to lift him, such that he barely had to beat them at all.

A tall, broad human figure ducked through the portal at that point. He was about six and a half feet tall, wore red clothes trimmed with furs, and fresh blood stained his garb. He had clawed hands, and it looked like the claws were literally driven into the flesh. He shouted: "Feed me... bring me their flesh!" The smaller creatures responded by moving forward quickly, and Antinniera used dweomer to make fire explode from the flames near her, lancing through one of them and leaving it dead and smoldering on the floor. I noticed she had returned her crown to her head, having decided that we were going to have to fight.

One of the foe closed on Antinniera, throwing two of the shiny balls at her. One struck her side, and the other missed, but both exploded sending shards of metal flying out. I suffered a similar fate as more closed on us, so I decided to run into melee range because it seemed safer! I cut one down and hurt a second with my fans, then Pi moved up next to me and finished the injured foe off with a powerful hammer blow. Xlotl threw conjured spears from above, killing another. More spheres exploded around us, though, and both Antinniera and I passed out.

Xlotl kept throwing conjured spears, killing another one, as Pi moved to help Antinniera. More of the balls exploded around Pi, but his armour was at least keeping most of the metal shards from harming him. I was being dragged off to be eaten, though, with two more creatures hurrying to help carry my body! Pi reached Antinniera and managed to heal the worst of her wounds, though she still didn't look great. It was left to Xlotl to save me, throwing more spears and killing two of those moving me, slowing their progress.

Pi spent more time healing Antinniera, and as her strength returned she leapt up, screaming her thanks to Pi, and ran forward. Something shot from her crown, and the far end of the room exploded in a massive blast of fire. The big guy tried to dive away, but the power of the flames, enhanced by Antinniera's crown, was too great and he lay twitching for a few moments before dying from the burns.

Xlotl dived down and bit one of the creatures carrying me, wrapping his coils around him. The last three foes looked at the smoldering body of what might have been their leader, then the big snake next to them, and decided to just run for the portal. Everyone let them go, instead concentrating on searching the bodies for something that might aid me. They did find plenty of exploding spheres, but only the large human-looking foe had carried anything else of value.

The thing that got Pi's attention was a bag that was bigger on the inside than the outside, and which thankfully contained healing supplies. I'm sure my soul was on its way to wherever death takes it when they applied an ointment that jerked me back to consciousness in the room!

The full contents of the bag and what the person had been wearing were:

A bag of holding (250 lbs) - the bag itself, which I kept

A 6' gnarled wooden staff - this became Pi's staff of curing

A 1.5' slender wand made of white wood with a band of gold - which Xlotl claimed as a wand of frost

A pouch of 16 small blood red rubies (shared)

A red cloak - a cloak of protection against cold

Fur-lined boots - boots of the north

It was still extremely cold, so we took the furs and started stoking the fire, sitting close for warmth. Xlotl and Antinniera investigated the portal while Pi and I huddled by the fire. They found a gaping hole leading to a snowy wasteland, which was clearly where the attackers had come from. I heard a voice in my head saying: "The choice must be made. The temple must be aligned." which I relayed to the others, presumably one of the major deities had to be chosen for the temple to be dedicated to. On the plus side, Antinniera did find the missing shard of Antiva and was  able to pick it up without harm.

We debated for a long time about how and who to consecrate the temple to. Eventually, Pi conceded that consecration to the Maker would be temporarily acceptable, given that the choice could be changed in the future. As soon as he conceded this point, the temple began to remake itself without us having to do anything. The portal returned to a glossy black again and the temperature started to rise.

Now we knew that we had a safe haven protected by the Maker, and we were finally able to rest. Once we were ready to continue our journey we gathered by the doors, unsure of how much time had passed and what we might find outside. Xlotl turned invisible in anticipation of trouble, and then pushed the doors open. Just outside stood a flaming, armoured figure standing motionless before us. When I say he was flaming, I mean that he seemed to consist of flames, not simply being covered in flames. His breastplate bore an impressive 8-pointed design, glowing with an inner fire, and he towered over us at some ten feet tall. He was a sight to behold!

I greeted the figure, but he showed no interest in me. His only concern was to speak with the Lord of this place. Xlotl appeared, deciding that he needed to speak without pretense. The flaming figure addressed Xlotl as the "Water Lord", inquiring if he was the master of this domain. Xlotl answered that he was not, but served as a conduit for the Creator. The figure acknowledged this with a nod and introduced himself as Hinoshi, Lord of the Fire Lands. He said that the restoration of "The Sanctuary" had changed everything, and that he sought refuge within its walls with Xlotl's blessing.

Hinoshi carried with him Korrim, the Fire Stone, a massive ruby. He intended to hold onto it until the others returned so that the stones could be set correctly back in the temple. He also noted that Antinniera wore his crown! Though the crown was his, he said that he would allow "the slave" to wear it for a while, as it amused him, but reminded us that all were equal in The Sanctuary. He also cautioned us that the "Oroc", beings of Darkness, had been summoned from the depths by their master.

Xlotl stepped back inside to try and commune with the temple's spirit so that Hinoshi would be welcome, but the connection eluded him. He spoke out loud instead, asking that Hinoshi be given sanctuary by the Creator. Hinoshi, looking somewhat hesitant for the first time, entered through the doors. His flames became subdued as he did so, but he seemed content and expressed gratitude to Xlotl for the sanctuary.