Chapter 89: The Cradle Beckons

Chapter 89: The Cradle Beckons

The brightly lit fractal path stretched impossibly through the thickness of the foliage, bathing everything in an uncanny silver hue. Natasha and Alison became extremely careful and alert all through their movement. The jungle had become even more calm compared to its usually noisy ambience of birds and insects chirping, squeaking, and buzzing, respectively.

"This doesn't feel right," Alison grumbled under her breath with his hand on the grip of his sword.

Natasha also agreed; she was looking at the trees intently. "It's too quiet. Malrik must know we're coming.

The path turned then and brought them down to a rather shallow gully. There was a small wooden walkway running across the splitting—it creaked and seemed flimsy. Further down, the precipice opened into a black hole; this part of the ravine cannot be seen.

"Of course," Alison sighed. "It's never easy, is it?"

The young woman, thinner than the man, stepped onto the bridge first, enjoying its solidity. This, she did, and the wood floor creaked beneath her bulk but did not give in. "Stay close," she said over her shoulder.

Alison followed, moving silently and almost languidly in his approach. He stepped further, and the bridge swung with each step, the board squeaking beneath their feet.

Half of the distance across the river, a bad startle raised the hackles on the back of the neck. Natasha stiffened and put her hand on the Emberstone.

"Did you hear that?" Alison asked, his voice low.

Before she had time to walk away, we saw shadows rise from the ravine and merge into grotesque figures. They had the wicked look in their eyes and sharp claws, black as night.

"Run!" Natasha screamed and started running all the while.

The creatures attacked wildly, and their claws scraped at the ropes and planks of the bridgework. A second jumped before them, standing squarely in their way. Alison unsheathed his sword in a moment and attacked the creature. It hit, and the shadow faded away into mere ribbons of darkness.

"Carry on!" he shouted as he resisted the others from attacking.

Natasha had to concentrate on the Emberstone, and she raised an unfamiliar light wave throughout the bridge. The darkness slowly went away, receding just long enough for them to make it to the other side.

As soon as they were clear, the bridge crumbled, and the rest of the creatures fell with it. Both of them stood, gasping for breath, with their backs leaning against a huge tree.

"That was close," Alison panted, removing his sweat-stained handkerchief from his pocket.

"Okay," breathed Natasha, holding the Emberstone respond and squeezing it tightly. "They're getting bolder. We need to move faster."

and went on along the well-lit trail: the interlocution left all the companions rather awake. The environment turned as they travelled—that was dense forest—trees with distorted trunks and luminous leaves above were observed along with the humidity of the atmosphere slightly increasing and giving out a sort of short that could be felt.

"Maybe we are already there, Lena," Natasha whispered low.

Further on, it broadened to an open space. In the middle rose a massive stone platform with hieroglyphs glowing dimly on its surface. Surrounding it, the air was charged.

"The Cradle of the Souls," Alison said, reverently.

Natasha slowly approached the structure, burdened with great attention to the object. "It's more than that. This one actually is the center of the jungle, which is a very good place to be in." It all begins here if that's what Malrik wants."

They came in slowly, and the whole terrain rumbled, then the wavering light became the wall. A hollow and warm voice that seemed to speak in the vastness of an invisible chamber surrounded them.

"Who is there that dares to cross the threshold of the holy temple?"

Natasha and Alison looked at each other. Natasha moved towards the other family and raised the Emberstone high above her head. 'We have arrived here to defend this environment from Malrik." Let us pass."

This was met with a deep hmmm of skepticism and curiosity from the voice. The Emberstone carries the truth, but truth without action is sin. Prove your worth."

The barrier vanished, which was replaced by a round platform with a series of stone platforms. On each pedestal there was an object—a rusty sword, a shining chalice, a piece of petrified tree, and a shiny crystal.

"What is this?" Alison asked, approaching further.

"A trial," Natasha said. She did not sense the atmosphere coming out from the artifacts, but every artifact hummed in tune with the entire jungle.

The voice spoke again. You know the rules: Choose the artifact that represents the road you've taken. Only then may you proceed."

Natasha glanced at Alison. "What do you think?"

Staring curiously at the artifacts, Allison was frowning as he looked at them. Choosing signifies not only an agreement but knowledge as well. The wrong decision may lead us to the worse."

Natasha too agreed, her eyes following the light of the chalice. It seemed to mirror the Emberstone, yet the light was soft but most certainly steady.

This she pointed to, 'I believe that's what it is.' Very gingerly she touched the chalice part of the exhibit.

Just as soon as she contacted it with her fingertips, the earth changed. These pedestals are gone, and in their place appeared an enormous stone guardian rising from the ground.

"Of course," Alison grumbled under her breath and unsheathed her sword.

Its eyes seemed to be the same as the chalice—full of fire and slowly moving, as if ever so carefully calculating a possible approach. They lifted a huge arm, swung it with a feeble energy sufficient enough to make the ground rumble.

Natasha moved to the side, aiming the beam of the Emberstone all in one place. The light hit the guardian's arm and broke off a piece of stone, but the guardian did not cease.

"Natasha, aim for the eyes!" Forcing out the words, Alison yelled and swung at the guardian's feet. His blows had managed to reduce the pace a little, but it appeared the creature could hardly be hurt.

Protecting her eyes from the bright light, she aimed lower, firing another stream of light right at the guardian's glowing eyes. It shouted savagely, tripping backwards while red lines began to appear on its skin.

Catching the moment, Alison climbed up on its back and stabbed a gap in the stone with his sword. The guardian quivered and then turned into dust.

The atmosphere calmed down and became lighter once more in the jungle.

"Well," Alison said, cleaning his armor with her hands, and catching himself, they both laughed. "That was a warm welcome."

Natasha clenched the chalice firmly; its light now stronger. "This was just the beginning. If it is Malrik's troops that are here, it will be worse."

The road in front took one straight to the grey structure. In its tones, it was jumping much faster now as if to answer to the glimmer of the chalice.

"Let's finish this," Natasha said; her voice did not tremble.

Altogether they moved forward, for people who were they were ready to face anything in the Cradle of Souls.