Syrus couldn’t get any form of sleep

inside those small Monk cabins. Drowsy,

Syrus wakes up. It’s a little chilly outside in

the morning. It’s just after dawn.

Syrus crawls out of the hut. His back

and neck are sore. Syrus joins the Monks

down at the garden. The Monks are very

talkative in the morning. They are speaking a

strange foreign language. A word commonly

used when a Monk joins them is the word

“Shorah.”

Syrus slides in closer to the Monks.

They are gathered around a barely lit fire

eating strange exotic fruits and berries. A

Monk looks up at Syrus.

“Shorah! Thoe kenem?”

“What?”

“Oh, sorry. You’re not from around

these parts, are you? We are speaking in

the Veronican language. Some of us call it

the Monsterish language, but it’s the main

language around here.”

“Oh.”

“Yep. I’ll teach you the basics. The

word ‘Shorah’ means ‘Hello.’ Thoe kenem

is ‘How are you?’”

“Okay. Shorah, Monk! Thoe kenem?”

“Good. You’re catching on.”

“Heh, okay.”

“If you want something to eat, go into

the forest and pick some berries.”

“Okay.” Syrus gets up from the group

and walks into the forest. He picks a few berries

and fruits. Syrus hears a strange sound come

from the garden. He can’t explain what it

sounds like.

Syrus goes slowly to the garden. He

hides behind some bushes and watches. He

sees two humans in the garden. Synan and Zoe!

Zoe is holding a purple book, like the

one Syrus saw in the temple. Zoe is also carrying

a key.

Zoe uses the key to unlock the door

in the volcano. After Synan and Zoe vanish into

the darkness of the mountain, Syrus moves in.

As he enters, a few, maybe three or four, Monks

run out.

Syrus sneaks inside. The garden inside the

volcano looks even better than the one outside.

Syrus hears Synan’s and Zoe’s voices. Soon, he

hears the strange sound again. He begins to run,

and sees Zoe holding the purple book. Synan is

gone. Syrus walks up to Zoe.

“Zoe. Can I warp back, too?”

“No way!” Zoe yells.

“Well, too bad. You’ll drop the book

when you warp, then I can pulverize Synan!”

Zoe holds the book out over the lava.

Zoe glances mockingly at Syrus. Zoe looks

back at the book and puts her hand on the

animated panel. Soon, she vanishes and the

book falls into the lava.

“Damn you!” Syrus runs toward where

Zoe was standing. He looks through the odd-shaped

hole where Zoe dropped the book.

“There!” Syrus sees the purple book.

It’s closed. It is balancing on a small ledge. One

wrong move and it will fall into the lava. Syrus

looks around through the hole on the wall. Above

him in the crater-shaped area he sees a giant massive

rock held in the center by chains.

There is a rope bridge connecting the rock

to the platforms around the side. On the bottom of

the rock is a pure black cage.

Syrus is startled when he hears the flapping

of wings. Shortly after, a strange gray monster

flies down to the other side of the river. It has an

oddly-shaped head with a horn in the middle. It

has wings extending from it’s shoulders, flapping

softly to keep the monster in the air.

It looks at Syrus for a few seconds,

studying him. It then flies lower. It’s wings flap

a gust of air, knocking the book off of the

ledge. Another one of these peculiar monsters

flies down swiftly and grabs the book with it’s

arms.

It flies up to the window. Syrus attempts

to communicate with them.

“Excuse me. Can you hand me that

book?”

“This book? Well, it did fall into the

volcano, you know. We’re the guardians

of the volcano. This book is our property.”

“Then, who are you?”

“We’re of the Koda species. We

know more about the volcano than Mr. I

even.”

“Who?”

“Oh, I guess you haven’t met Mr.

I yet, have you? Oh well.”

“Just give me the book!”

“Why should I?”

“Because... It’s mine.”

“Oh? Then why did you let it fall

into the volcano?”

“A, umm... a Monk kicked me

and I accidentally dropped the book into

the volcano.”

The two Kodas glance at eachother.

They then look back at Syrus.

“Okay then. Here, kid. You can

have it then, if it’s yours.” The Koda hands

Syrus the book. In golden text, the book

title reads “Book Temple.”

“Thank you, Koda.”

“Yeah, don’t mention it. Now get

away! This volcano is my territory!”

“Okay.”
