Memories (I)

For a full day, the small group that Snow led were endlessly walking through the maze-like place. There were times they fought battles, which only a handful of people that knew how to fight fought the brunt of the attacks. The majority were priests, and the priestess, who had to learn fast to defend themselves as Snow couldn't protect them all.

Even with the large number of skeletal monsters that Dairen had summoned, a few handful broke through the formation. Such monsters were dealt with specifically by Dairen, Mike, Levian, and Snow, breaking apart from the group to stop the incoming monsters.

The deeper they went through the maze, the more powerful monsters appeared with their slew of minions that they brought with them.

Sometimes, they weren't lucky as the monsters broke through, injuring a few priestesses, who were a step too late in protecting themselves.

Finally, there was a slight change of scenery from the broken city. It wasn't like the other buildings that she has passed. The building stretched to the sky, bringing with it a hollow chill as the wind blew through the broken holes. Some of the wind screeched in a high pitch followed by a long low hum. One would have thought it was a sound of a dying creature.

The desolate buildings weren't like the skyscrapers buildings back in their world. Snow could see that the buildings were reinforced with strange metals that were slightly dark blue and gold. Each one is slightly throbbing like a heartbeat as if it was alive.

A blast of howling wind blew by.

Snow shivered. She was used to the usual wind chills that the city life brought, but the cold that she felt burned through her bones. Even with the armor on, she could still feel it.

They continued onwards.

The priests and priestess huddled closely together. Some of the priestesses held each other's arms.

They came upon a tall stadium. Large intricate columns were present, standing tall with vines entangled around it. There were ancient hieroglyphics of pictures and symbols that Snow remembered seeing. Her feet pitter-pattered straight toward the building as her eyes became wide.

To see the same language again made her curious.

Snow stopped in front of the giant double doors that engulfed her size, making her seem tiny. Her neck was pulled back at an odd angle, giving her a slight headache.

Quickly, she started to read. As time went by, her eyes became wide. Her jaws dropped.

"What did you find out?" Dairen had come over. He was silently waiting for her to finish.

"It's...impossible." Snow mouthed. She couldn't believe what she had read.

"Like?"

"The Golden Raod." Snow mouthed. She had read snippets of this road through one of the books in the Dragon Express archives. Even though it was only mentioned once, she still remembered it.

"Golden Road?" Dairen asked, confused.

"Yes," Snow looked over her shoulder. "The Golden Road that connects our world and all the other worlds, you could say it's a link that allows passage to different worlds."

"So, what does this have to do with it all?"

"The dungeons emerging happen during these times, especially when the lining of the planets hits perfect circumstances. There have been dungeons opening in the past, but it's not this much. In the next few years, the alignment will be at its peak."

"Meaning?"

"The monsters from different planets that were long held back would pour out from the dungeon to completely overrun both our worlds and many more." Snow gulped, realizing the seriousness of this predicament.

"Where do they all come from?" Dairen asked. He was intently staring at the wall and the intricate stories that were written on it.

"Give me a moment." Snow reached out. She touched the cold wall that made her shudder. Suddenly, a blue light started to glow on the writings. Snatching her hand back, Snow stepped back.

The blue light became brighter and brighter. A beam of light flashed outward, blinding everyone in the vicinity. People raised their hands and closed their eyes until finally, it died down to a manageable level.

Snow blinked a few times. She saw white spots before her. Rubbing her eyes, she was finally able to see. A holographic image was floating in the middle of the room.

There she saw a majestic world of towering buildings that reached high up into the sky. It wasn't like the world she knew, but a world that she imagined what a very advanced civilization world would be like.

Lights lit up the skies as small car size aircrafts floated in the air, crisscrossing in different paths. There were even gigantic airships moving around in the sky moving along with the cars with traffic.

In the center of the city, there was a large square building. Covering a quarter of the town and in the middle of the building were a sizeable glowing dome. In the center was a giant ball of light. It was mesmerizing that she couldn't look away. There was something special about it.

Snow's heart throbbed with excitement and curiosity. She couldn't look away.

The scene changed to the room where intricate wires and lines connected to computers headed straight toward the white ball of light that swirled with power.

A middle-aged man in his late thirties with disheveled black hair was leaning over on a table, jotting down notes. His white coat hung loosely on his shoulder while he was biting a pen.

Behind him was an elderly lady in her late sixties with long white hair that came down to her side. Her features looked vastly similar to the young man, showing that they were related in some way.

They were diligently at work, sharing information.

"Aunt Kamilia." The young man spoke. He picked up the paperwork in his hand and handed it to her.

"Did you find the answer?" Aunt Kamilia looked over and grabbed the paper from his hand. She read it a few more times before handing it back.

"Yes."

"You sure, James? From calculations, it seems a high possibility, but there is a major flaw. If we connect to the wrong dimension, we won't be going straight to heaven but straight to our demise."

"I know Aunt Kamilia. I have reworked the equation for the past five years over and over again. We have been beta-testing this out for ages now." James rolled his eyes.

"Just making sure. We don't want to mess up." Aunt Kamilia chuckled. She started to walk toward a computer that was directly in front of the ball of light. "On the bright side, I have completed my end and got all the computers in sync. It took a bit of time, but we are finally all ready to go." She had said with excitement.

James placed the paper down on the table. He then headed next to his Aunt but hesitated for a moment then walked past her. He looked up at the giant ball of light that was in front of him.

"You ready?" Aunt Kamilia asked in excitement.

"Yes," James reassured her as he rubbed his hand together.

"We're going to make history. We might even find the answer to death and even find immortality." She chuckled.

With a quick press of her button, the machines whirled to life. A bright light escaped.

The usual blue skies they were familiar with were gone, and instead, a blood-red sky was painted with deep brush strokes. Dark grey clouds were quickly forming, turning into a thunderstorm. Lightning blasted in a hectic frizzle of patterns, creating a dizzying effect of light. Loud claps of thunder followed right behind, causing the air to tense with electricity.

It didn't take long for the thunderclouds to roll in, bringing with it heavy air.

Rain broke through the clouds, hitting the city with vigor. The intensity of the storm continued to brew, but the city lights flickered a few times. Red lights peeked sporadically through the clouds, giving it an uncomfortable and eerie glow.

As the lightning intensified, the building with the glowing white dome spat out a golden light. It hummed, glowing brighter and brighter until finally, a loud mechanical hum of machine-like sound was released.

The gold light shot up into the air, hitting the very sky into a beam of golden light. People streamed out to see the powerful source of light. Anyone who was watching it brought chills to their body. Even Snow could tell something extraordinary about this golden light that shot up into the sky.

Just as quickly as it came, the golden light wavered and slowly tapered off. At first, Snow wondered what the purpose of the golden light was. Before she could even say anything about it, the blast of golden light that was shot back to the sky and into space was brought back with a black light that hammered down onto the dome.

Both Kamilia and James were thrown into the back, sliding across the ground. Both were dazed and unable to get up.

The white ball of light shuddered, causing static gold and red electricity. All the machines were being destroyed as time went by. Potent fogs bloomed as smoke escaped, causing the room to become heavy with smoke.

Quickly the black ink of darkness was contaminating the light. Such quick action brought an uncomfortable change that shook and twisted the light to the point where it was being smothered.

A high pitch sound that sounded close to a female shriek resounded in the air, reverberating outward throughout the city. It went on and on until finally, the whole light orb was dyed pitch black.

An eerie silence could be heard as silence descended upon the city.