236 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
236 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
Syrus couldn’t get any form of sleep
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inside those small Monk cabins. Drowsy,
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Syrus wakes up. It’s a little chilly outside in
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the morning. It’s just after dawn.
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Syrus crawls out of the hut. His back
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and neck are sore. Syrus joins the Monks
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down at the garden. The Monks are very
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talkative in the morning. They are speaking a
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strange foreign language. A word commonly
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used when a Monk joins them is the word
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“Shorah.”
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Syrus slides in closer to the Monks.
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They are gathered around a barely lit fire
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eating strange exotic fruits and berries. A
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Monk looks up at Syrus.
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“Shorah! Thoe kenem?”
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“What?”
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“Oh, sorry. You’re not from around
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these parts, are you? We are speaking in
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the Veronican language. Some of us call it
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the Monsterish language, but it’s the main
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language around here.”
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“Oh.”
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“Yep. I’ll teach you the basics. The
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word ‘Shorah’ means ‘Hello.’ Thoe kenem
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is ‘How are you?’”
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“Okay. Shorah, Monk! Thoe kenem?”
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“Good. You’re catching on.”
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“Heh, okay.”
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“If you want something to eat, go into
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the forest and pick some berries.”
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“Okay.” Syrus gets up from the group
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and walks into the forest. He picks a few berries
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and fruits. Syrus hears a strange sound come
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from the garden. He can’t explain what it
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sounds like.
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Syrus goes slowly to the garden. He
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hides behind some bushes and watches. He
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sees two humans in the garden. Synan and Zoe!
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Zoe is holding a purple book, like the
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one Syrus saw in the temple. Zoe is also carrying
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a key.
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Zoe uses the key to unlock the door
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in the volcano. After Synan and Zoe vanish into
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the darkness of the mountain, Syrus moves in.
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As he enters, a few, maybe three or four, Monks
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run out.
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Syrus sneaks inside. The garden inside the
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volcano looks even better than the one outside.
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Syrus hears Synan’s and Zoe’s voices. Soon, he
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hears the strange sound again. He begins to run,
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and sees Zoe holding the purple book. Synan is
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gone. Syrus walks up to Zoe.
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“Zoe. Can I warp back, too?”
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“No way!” Zoe yells.
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“Well, too bad. You’ll drop the book
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when you warp, then I can pulverize Synan!”
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Zoe holds the book out over the lava.
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Zoe glances mockingly at Syrus. Zoe looks
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back at the book and puts her hand on the
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animated panel. Soon, she vanishes and the
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book falls into the lava.
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“Damn you!” Syrus runs toward where
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Zoe was standing. He looks through the odd-shaped
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hole where Zoe dropped the book.
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“There!” Syrus sees the purple book.
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It’s closed. It is balancing on a small ledge. One
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wrong move and it will fall into the lava. Syrus
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looks around through the hole on the wall. Above
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him in the crater-shaped area he sees a giant massive
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rock held in the center by chains.
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There is a rope bridge connecting the rock
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to the platforms around the side. On the bottom of
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the rock is a pure black cage.
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Syrus is startled when he hears the flapping
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of wings. Shortly after, a strange gray monster
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flies down to the other side of the river. It has an
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oddly-shaped head with a horn in the middle. It
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has wings extending from it’s shoulders, flapping
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softly to keep the monster in the air.
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It looks at Syrus for a few seconds,
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studying him. It then flies lower. It’s wings flap
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a gust of air, knocking the book off of the
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ledge. Another one of these peculiar monsters
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flies down swiftly and grabs the book with it’s
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arms.
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It flies up to the window. Syrus attempts
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to communicate with them.
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“Excuse me. Can you hand me that
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book?”
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“This book? Well, it did fall into the
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volcano, you know. We’re the guardians
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of the volcano. This book is our property.”
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“Then, who are you?”
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“We’re of the Koda species. We
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know more about the volcano than Mr. I
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even.”
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“Who?”
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“Oh, I guess you haven’t met Mr.
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I yet, have you? Oh well.”
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“Just give me the book!”
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“Why should I?”
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“Because... It’s mine.”
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“Oh? Then why did you let it fall
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into the volcano?”
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“A, umm... a Monk kicked me
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and I accidentally dropped the book into
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the volcano.”
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The two Kodas glance at eachother.
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They then look back at Syrus.
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“Okay then. Here, kid. You can
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have it then, if it’s yours.” The Koda hands
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Syrus the book. In golden text, the book
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title reads “Book Temple.”
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“Thank you, Koda.”
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“Yeah, don’t mention it. Now get
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away! This volcano is my territory!”
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“Okay.”
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