• Chapter 6: The Purification of the Demeter Temple

    The four travelers soon went to the second tallest tree of Emerald Kavala, where the Duke’s Palace was (the tallest tree was reserved for the Temple of Demeter). With a special, almost crystalline elevator built with both science and magic, the two ascended to the throne room.
    There sat Duke Urbanis and Duchess Yalonda, the parents of Rouvin. Duke Urbanis was dressed in clothes colored pine green, dark teal, and sea blue, and a hat that was a lighter pine green than the rest of his clothes. Duchess Yalonda had a lovely gown and open-toed shoes that were all emerald green. Both had the same skin tone that their son inherited. Urbanis’ hair was a slightly lighter tone of brown than Rouvin’s, but was still brown, and had eyes that were pale teal. Yalonda had purple taupe eyes, and hair red as the sun at sunset.
    Near the throne also were Zanthe’s parents, the chief priest Silvanos and his wife Odela. Silvanos had a special olive wreath with designs indicative of his status, as well as a pale white robe with greenish tints on it, as well as pale tan sandals. Odela also had a lovely wreath on her, and had a pale rose gown with a violet rope belt, and she was barefoot. Silvanos had pale-peach skin, dark black hair, and almost indigo purple eyes. Odela had vanilla tone skin, golden blonde hair, and lovely mint green eyes.
    Very reverently, the four knelt before the rulers. When they were permitted to stand, Rouvin approached his parents.

    “Father, Mother,” Rouvin began. “Zanthe and I have found allies to aid us in our plight.”
    Urbanis immediately recognized Nauplius.
    “Hello again, Nauplius old friend,” chuckled Urbanis softly and pleasantly.
    “It has been a long time, Duke Koukounari,” replied Nauplius.
    “This human hero,” continued Rouvin, “is Valerius Magnitis. He too is in pursuit of that villain, Erebus Tonadi.”
    “The villain who is blaspheming our temple to Demeter?” Silvanos asked.
    “The same, Father,” replied Zanthe. “And we have learned that there is more than just our land at stake. Valerius has revealed to us that Erebus has stolen the stone tablet of the Forbidden Ritual.”
    The two pairs of parents both gasped in horror.
    “Yes, noble Koukounaris and Sfendamis,” replied Valerius. “And he has taken captive my beloved and the healer of Olympalantis, Delphinia Triantafyllou.”
    “So, things are worse than they appear,” said Yalonda.
    “We agree to help you cleanse your temple,” said Valerius. “For perhaps doing so can bring me and my friends closer to saving Delphinia and stopping the Warlock’s plot.”
    Odela then said, “I shall send word to the temple guards to escort you there. There are many traps in the temple to deter most intruders, but sadly, it seems they were not enough to stop Erebus from entering. May the gods be with you.”
    She then clapped her hands to summon some of the temple guards. Eight such guards emerged. These too were elves, and they were dressed in a mix of science fiction and Greco-Roman armor, with special beam cannons to fend off any evildoers. On their breastplates were symbols of their patron goddess Demeter.
    Silvanos said, “Escort these to the temple and help them brave the traps—they shall deal with the one committing the sacrelige.”
    The temple guards saluted the priest, and then one nodded the party to the correct direction.

    A strong sturdy bridge spanned the tree of the royal palace to the central giant tree, which served as the Temple of Demeter. The bridge was made of the strongest wood that was still pliable, with vines and spider webs mixed with nature magic to be the suspension cables, and other tree branches serving as the struts and supports.
    After the party had crossed the bridge, they then rode up another magic elevator into the first area of the temple.
    “Here we are,” said one of the temple guards.

    The first area of the temple resembled the inside of the tree that housed it, with curves of wood that resembled a natural wooden cave-like tunnel. Yet various magic and science made it so it would allow tunnels without damaging the tree itself. Glowing resin blobs served as the lights of the area.
    Unfortunately, because of Erebus’ evil, some of the spiders and beetles were now against the people who worshiped there. The magic of the Warlock made them enormous, and the spiders’ venom was now even more potent.
    “I get the feeling they want to make us the blue-plate special,” said Nauplius as he got his hammer ready. “I’m ready to do some swatting of these big bugs!”
    Valerius got his plasma sword out and added, “And I have my makeshift bug zapper here!”
    Rouvin got out his bow and Zanthe her staff, and they too were prepared to clear out the monsters inside.
    Zanthe said a few words in old koine Greek, and some of the resin shot out beams of light that incinerated some of the corrupted beetles.
    Rouvin shot a few arrows at the spiders as their jaws were open before they could spit out some of their spider web silk, but one of them was able to wrap some around his leg.
    “Rouvin!” cried Zanthe.
    Valerius heard the scream and raced to help his elven friends. With a quick swipe of his plasma blade, the web was severed. Nauplius then leapt toward the giant arachnid and crushed its head with one strike of his hammer.
    Eventually the remaining bugs skittered off.
    “Nothing like a bit of bug extermination to start things out,” chuckled Valerius. The rest of the party laughed as well.
    They soon delved deeper into the wooden tunnels and found a very big spider web in front of the door leading to the next part of the temple.
    “That door leads to the second part,” explained Zanthe. “There, rain basins and rivers of sap are said to flow to provide nourishment to the tree and temple.”
    “This web looks like it’d knock my hammer away and be a threat to us,” sighed Nauplius.
    “But I don’t think it’ll be a threat with my blade,” said Valerius. And surely enough, with a swipe of the blazing hot plasma, the web easily burned down. Luckily it didn’t ignite the wood, as it was still too moist to ignite.
    “Excellent,” said Rouvin. “We can now progress further.”

    Valerius and his friends soon made it to the second area of the Temple of Demeter. As Zanthe had decribed earlier, there were many large basins to contain rain water for the temple. And there were many rivers of sap that nourished the tree. More glowing resin lit the inside. Also, crystal structures were inside the area to indicate they were closer to the main temple.
    But other evidences of Erebus’ wickedness were also in the area. Miniature Water Elementals emerged from the pools to attack—some with scalding hot water blobs, others with ice shards. Blobs of corrupted sap also emerged from the sap rivers with the intent of suffocating the travelers in their large gooey masses.
    “Some more of Erebus’ sorcery I take it,” said Valerius.
    “I would dare say so,” replied Zanthe.
    Valerius evaporated the small Water Elementals with his Plasma Blade, while Zanthe used her magics to change the sap blobs back to normal sap, which slowly—but not too slowly—flowed back into the rivers.
    This sort of thing continued on until they found a large resin crystal blocking what should have been the doorway to the third part of the temple—which consisted of the main halls of the temple itself.
    “I do not recall a large resin crystal here,” explained Zanthe. “This is supposed to be the door to the main temple proper.”
    “Allow me, ma’am,” said Nauplius. After spitting on his own hands and rubbing them together, the dwarf swung his battle hammer at the resin, breaking it open.
    “Thank you, Nauplius,” said Valerius as he led his friends through the doorway.

    The main temple itself was quite different from the tree in which it was housed. It was made of crystal in various light tones of green and teal, yet even then, the crystal seemed almost organic. Very gentle pulses of light shone through the crystalline columns, walls, ceilings, and even tile floors, as though it were a heart coursing magic as blood through arteries and veins.
    But, some more giant bugs—this time, centipedes and hornets—emerged, threatening the visiting heroes. The centipedes’ front claws oozed out venom, the kind it desired to inject into the intruders. Likewise the hornets flashed their stingers, preparing to take down the ones who would cleanse the evil magic from the very place.
    “Time to do some more bug exterminating!” cheered Nauplius as he prepared his giant hammer once again.
    One of the giant hornets buzzed toward the Dwarf, ready to sting him dead. But Rouvin shot one of his arrows at the giant wasp, and it fell and lay still.
    Valerius then swing his plasma blade at a giant centipede that was skittering toward them, and his hot weapon seared through the monster, eliminating the venom as well.
    “Good work, friends!” Zanthe said as she prepared spells to repair any damages to the temple done in the battle.
    After about fifteen minutes of fighting, most of the giant bugs have been dispatched, but the party knew that more were waiting deeper within.
    “The source of the problem must be in the sanctuary,” said Zanthe. “I am sure of it.”
    “The sanctuary?!” gasped Rouvin in horror. “The very sanctuary of the goddess Demeter herself?!”
    “It would only make sense that Erebus would sink that low,” growled Valerius with indignation.
    “I’m ready to teach the forces of Erebus a lesson in piety!” Nauplius replied.
    “Then let’s press on forward,” said Rouvin. He turned to Zanthe and added, “Lead the way!”
    Zanthe nodded and pointed her staff down the hall, indicating where they needed to go.

    The footsteps of the party made an almost fast pop beat of battle as they ran down the corridors. But instead of giant bugs, some crystalline golems emerged in another large room. One golem looked like a large troll, but made entirely of medium green crystal. The other golem looked like a Greek warrior made of dark teal crystal.
    “Where did these come from?!” cried Zanthe. “These couldn’t have been fashioned from the crystal of the temple!”
    “Erebus must’ve fashioned them from elsewhere and brought them here!” replied Valerius. “That’s the only explanation I can think of!”
    “Whatever the reason,” said Nauplius, “it’s time to turn them into rubble!”
    Valerius raced up to the teal golem, dodging its spear thrusts as he swung his plasma blade. But the shield proved to be a strong defense, as the plasma just barely digs into it.
    “Erebus sure knows how to make a strong golem!” said Valerius.
    Rouvin shot some arrows into the green troll-like golem, but his arrows seemed to do little to the monster’s thick body. The elf Ranger was barely able to dodge a club swing in time.
    Then Zanthe soon raised her staff and started chanting in koine Greek. A few ring-like ripples of magic, in various green hues, shone out. The golems soon started to show signs of slowing down. What’s more, they crystal they seemed to be made of started to ripple like gelatin. Even the shield of the warrior-like golem started to get cloudy and have the appearance of marzipan on a birthday cake.
    “Try attacking now, gang!” cheered Zanthe.
    At that, Rouvin shot into the green golem, and it melted into a pool of slime.
    Valerius then plunged his plasma blade into the warrior—its shield no longer an obstacle to the high-technology weapon. It too melted into a slime puddle.
    The slime then evaporated into smoke, and the stench was that of moderate strength lye.
    “Ugh!” grumbled Zanthe. “I need to bring some extra incense the next time Father and I bring an offering to Demeter!”
    “I can’t blame you there,” said Valerius, also disgusted by the stench.
    The path to the sanctuary was clear. The battle with the golems made Zanthe forget where they were at first, but after relaxing, the memory returned to her.
    “We’re near the sanctuary,” said Zanthe. “It’s just beyond those two large doors.”
    Zanthe and Rouvin reached for the door rings and pulled them open. Then everyone entered in.

    The inner sanctuary of the temple was made of the same green and teal organic crystals, but the designs carved from them were far more elaborate and more resembling a beautiful garden in eternal daytime.
    Under normal circumstances the very center of the chamber was a sentient holographic image of the goddess Demeter.
    But instead, the once pleasant garden setting looked like a dead forest under an eternal night of the full moon. And an image of Erebus was in the center, mocking the party.
    “So, Valerius,” said the hologram. “You think you can stop me from becoming the new god of this realm?! I’d like to see you try!”
    “Mark my words, Erebus,” yelled Valerius, “I will ensure that Delphinia and ALL of Olympalantis will be free of your bane!”
    “Just try and stop me!” mocked the image. “Assuming, that is, you can survive THIS!”
    The holographic image of Erebus faded, and in its place, a portal opened. From it emerged a Lamia, a creature with blood thirst similar to a vampire, but was still of the living. The head and upper body was that of a voluptuous woman, but the lower half of her body was that of a large serpent. The human portion’s skin was pale yellow, with blood red hair and violet eyes. Her bikini top was made of wildcat hides and was medium tan. She had on her head a crown of ivy with pale white berries on it. Her serpent lower portion was that of a giant version of a pit viper. In the Lamia’s hand was a bow similar to Rouvin’s, but it was completely jet black. Whenever the Lamia plucked one of the berries from her ivy crown, it would transform, as though out of molding clay, into an arrow with a poisonous tip. She’d then load it into her bow to shoot at the heroes.
    “There is no way you’re going to stop Master Erebus!” said the Lamia in a moderately high-pitched cackle.
    The party then dodged the arrows shot at them.
    “That’s right!” laughed the Lamia, “this ivy isn’t the poison ivy that causes you to itch, but the berries ARE poisonous enough to be the venom of my arrows! Once I take you down with them, I’ll have a nice drink of the life juices from you!”
    “That’s a mental image I do not need!” said Nauplius.
    “I’m not sure how long we’ll be lucky in dodging these arrows!” cried Valerius. “We need to take her down quickly!”
    “I have an idea!” said Zanthe. “Friends! Shield your eyes!”
    Her friends did so.
    Again, she spoke in the ancient language, and a bright light shone from the sphere and blinded the Lamia!
    “Augh, my eyes!” screamed the Lamia. “I can’t see a flipping thing!”
    Luckily, the heroes were not blinded, since they heeded Zanthe’s warning.
    “Get her now, Valerius!” shouted Zanthe.
    “Right!” replied Valerius.
    With a quick swipe of his plasma blade, he decapitated the vile monster. The plasma also cauterized the fatal wound, thus preventing a nasty mess of blood from ruining the sanctuary. After a few seconds, the head, body, and weapon of the Lamia vanished into smoke.

    The sanctuary soon became like a sunny day garden again.
    The image of Demeter soon returned to its proper place.
    The party soon knelt before the goddess.
    “You have done well, heroes,” said Demeter. “Erebus was using my temple as a sort of, how you say, test run of his powers, should he achieve his mad plot.”
    “Goddess Demeter,” said Zanthe. “My friend Valerius is making it his mission to thwart this vile blasphemer.”
    “My fellow deities and I are well aware of his plot to find the parts for the Forbidden Ritual,” said Demeter. “The majority of them are in the islands of the sea. Your father shall tell you more.”
    “Thank you, great guardian of nature,” said Rouvin.
    Before vanishing, Demeter said, “The gods of Olympalantis are with you, and will guide you and protect you on your quest.”