The Avethian Temple: Sky is the Limit

Breath in and breath out. Hold and release. Feel the air flow, become one with it, then use your will to guide it. Shape it around itself, let it spin, faster and faster. Let the air come towards the center, let it grow in power on its own as it spins faster and faster.

The wind had grown strong now, it was close to sucking even Rowen in towards it. The wind had become a spinning sphere in front of Rowen and was growing quickly as it sucked in more air. The vacuum sphere was working, he’d mastered the spell.

For the past three days Rowen had been practicing, spending every waking hour practicing Aeromancy and even working it into his daily routine. Now he’d mastered the spell he needed to get past the poison gas. He was finally going to see the rest of the temple.

Rowen gathered his supplies from the tent. He was dressed in a white sleeveless tunic and white linen shorts, a bit minimalistic but all he really needed. He tied his short sword to his waist and a hoisted a backpack with the tablet and a few essentials and his back. Finally, he grabbed his cloak. It didn’t serve him any practical purpose in the temple but it was a decent tool for his Aeromancy training so it may come in handy.

Now sure in his preparedness, Rowen marched into the temple. Once again he set foot in its dusty decaying halls, again he revealed the secret passage in the floor, and again he descended the spiraling staircase where skeletons waited at the bottom. Beyond the skeletons was the hall where the owl statue laid, the statue that would release the gas as soon as he entered.

Rowen took a breath, he had to get this right this may be his only chance. He cast the spell again, the wind whirled in front of him until it formed a perfect sphere of wind. He could still cast the spell okay. Rowen willed the sphere in front of the statue and passed through the archway. The statue’s beak opened, and a low hissing rung in Rowen’s ears. He waited, staring carefully at the vacuum sphere for signs of the gas; while the sphere would glow green with magic the gas would remain transparent and colorless.

The sphere swirled with green but became more transparent as it swirled more and more. Rowen could breathe again. Thank the gods, he did it.

There was still the matter of disposing of the gas. Rowen reached into his backpack and pulled out a bucket of clay. Taking control of the winds he pushed the gas back into the statue. When the gas was safely returned Rowen wasted no time climbing up to the statue and gumming up the owl’s mouth with the clay and sealing the gas in. Rowen then checked at the base of the statue where the motor was still humming. Using his sword as a lever to remove the covering Rowen revealed the motor underneath. Jamming a few gears and taking out a few parts was all it took to shut off the motor.

Rowen laughed. He beat the gas trap. He could beat this temple. He could unlock its secrets.

Jumping down from the statue Rowen eyed up the doors, wondering which one to open first. With a laugh Rowen decided, all of them. He snapped his fingers and let out gust of wind spread out through the room and push open all the doors. It also kicked up a massive cloud of dust, a good chunk of which smacked all over Rowen, getting in his eyes, nose, and mouth. While choking out dust and crying lint Rowen thought that perhaps he was a bit overzealous.

Rowen brushed the dust off, using another spell to assist. This sky magic sure was convenient, he certainly preferred it to the water magic his mother had attempted to teach him years ago. Maybe a bit too convenient, he probably shouldn’t be using it for personal grooming at least.

After he finished getting the rest of the dust off himself Rowen finally checked out the doors. Stairs, stairs, stairs, six sets of stairs all leading downward. The one exception was the door over the owl statue, therein contained an empty altar with an empty frame which the tablet fit into perfectly. Returning the tablet to the altar did nothing. Down the stairs then.

Rowen descended the stairways with little incident. The most notable thing was the simple carvings on the walls of an Avethian stretching out its wings for a downward plunge. Amusing, but hardly anything substantial. That’s what Rowen thought till he reached the bottom. The stairs led to a stone platform elevated over a large chasm that seemed to stretch down endlessly. Those carvings weren’t just for show, they were instructions.

Rowen looked down the chasm, his next great challenge stretching out before him. With his owl-like eyes he was able to make out other platforms leading to doorways, likely where the true treasures of the temple lay.

Only an Avethian like Rowen could possibly navigate this area, and all they had to do was take flight. If only Rowen could take flight. No wings after all. Rowan sighed as he stood at the edge of the platform, staring down at the shadows of discovery below. It took him all he had not to jump down to one of the lower platforms. What a foolish idea that would be.

Rowen rummaged through his backpack. He did have a few grappling hooks and about fifty feet of rope, but that would never be enough. Why he might need all the rope in Koiroko just to reach the bottom of the chasm. He pulled out his cloak, not exactly useful at the moment. Rowan decided to bemuse himself by putting it on and holding out the cloth like it was wings. He stood there, pretending to glide around the room like a real Avethian.

Glide, he remembered when his family passed through Vinci city several years ago they encountered an gliding invention. With just a piece of cloth on some rods the inventor was able to soar through the skies on his glider. Rowen had begged his mother to let him try it for himself but neither her nor the inventor were very forthcoming. Besides the glider didn’t let him fly higher, at least not very much higher. But with Sky magic, perhaps…

Rowen ran up the stairway back to his campsite, an idea already cooking in his head. While he hadn’t gotten to fly the glider he had been allowed to sample the inventors notes and he had devoured them in his week visiting Vinci city. He could do this, and he had all the material he needed.

It took only a few hours but after tearing apart the tent, the material worked much better than his cloak, Rowen had built it. Rowen strapped the contraption to his back, it made it look like he had a pair of wings. After climbing up to the top of a pillar Rowen jumped in the direction of the wind. He pushed forward, flowing with the wind. It worked, he was gliding. But he was slowly drifting to the ground. Not yet, Rowen conjured a gust of wind below him and was shot spinning into the air. To much power. Rowen was upright now and falling towards the ground.

These next few seconds were vital. Rowen hastily positioned himself sideways, letting the wings of the glider catch the air. By the moment Rowen’s decent slowed and the wind pushed him forward, soon letting him glide with grace. Rowen could see the top of the temple, he could circle around it by leaning himself left and right, he could even fly right over it. He was flying, Rowan was actually flying.

He’d done it, he thought as he glided down the mountain, taking in the desert’s sea of sands below. He’d fly down the mountain and then with his wonderful new glider and amazing sky magic he’d ascend the mountain again. Then he could conquer the next challenge the temple held, and all that came after. He could fly, him the wingless birdman, he could fly.