Enigma sat by himself, nothing on his mind. Iikin was
methodically attempting to sharpen his blades with a near
by stone. Concentration was etched in his face. His
blades wouldn’t sharpen, though they didn’t need
sharpening in the first place. Instead, the stone wore
away. 
  Ksid was having a quiet chat with Reenoco and Orpten.
There was a lot of laughter, signifying their admiration
for the old man. He was alway’s good with words.
  Power and Terrol were trading war stories - who killed
the most people, who made the most rescues, how many war
- lords they’d slain. The debate was chiild like. They
were always trying to go one better. Keeping their
frustration from one another was something they could
barely contain. Smiles were exchanged, nevertheless,
their voices told a different story.
  Ice was talking quietly to Arem. As her past became the
subject matter, she was reluctant to speak. With Ice
becoming more persistent, Arem became more uneasy. The
young princess looked up at Enigma in desperation. 
  ‘Ice,’ Enigma called. ‘Could I have a word with you.’
  Ice ceased her interrogation, moving on. Arem smiled 
nodding her appreciation.
  ‘What’s the problem.’ she asked in her now familiar 
voice. 
  He hesitated. ‘Um, I’ve been having the same dream 
lately, and I’m just a little worried about.’
  ‘How so?’
  ‘Well I’m not sure if it’s authentic, that is, if it’s
what my sub - conscious is worried about, or if it’s been
fabricated by our enemies.’
  Ice pursed her lips. ‘It could be both. Tell me if you 
have the dream again. Then I’ll see what I can do.’ She 
turned back to her previous task, but by that time, 
Arem had joined Ksid’s group. She gazed back at Enigma 
with a him a suspicious look.
  ‘I was telling the truth about the whole dream thing.’
he defended with a wry smile. 
  It was a long day with nothing much they could do. The
group eventually referred to means of entertainment. They
grabbed handfuls of rocks, throwing one at a time into
the energy field, and watching it as it was
disintegrated. This lasted the rest of the day.
  As the sun set, the fog rose around their heads, the
wind picked up, and once again, sleet pounded down at
them. The vision spell was cast once more, with the added
bonus of a warmth incarnation.
  The moons fought their way through the thick barrier of
cloud, indicating the beginning of what was thought to
be, a long couple of days.  
  Ksid threw a stone at the barriers. Unlike last time,
it broke past the invisible wall, disintegrating this
time in a ball of fire. 
  ‘Good!’ Ksid yelled. ‘We can go in now! Enigma, you’ll 
have to lead the way!’
  Enigma grasped the red jewel by the chain, spinning it 
faster and faster in the air. It whistled as it sped up.
Without a second thought, he slowly motioned forward
towards the wall of flame, his companions not far behind. 
  The barrier parted as he neared it. The group quickly
ran through. As the jewel stopped spinning, the barrier
returned, sealing them in. 
  It was quiet on the other side of the barrier. The wind
and sleet had no access, therefore creating a warm
atmosphere that was well deserved. 
  There was at least a hundred meter gap between the
barrier and the temple with lush, green grass, from wall
to wall. 
  ‘Where to now?’ Enigma asked, putting the priceless
rock away. His voice echoed as he talked.
  ‘There’s no direct opening.’ Ksid explained. ‘There’s a
catch. What we have to do, is look for markings somewhere
on the outside of the temple.’
  It didn’t take long for them to find what they were
looking for. The markings they found were in fact a pair
of hands, carved with the finest of detail. 
  Power looked at their finding with scepticism. ‘A pair
of hands? You sure that’s what were looking for?’
  ‘Trust me.’ Ksid replied. He studied the imprinting
carefully. Text had been chiselled into rock, an ancient
writing unknown to everyone except the preceptor.
  ‘What’s it say, Ksid?’ Iikin asked.
  ‘I’m not sure.’ Ksid mummed, concentrating on what it 
said. ‘I haven’t seen this type of writing in centuries.’ 
He began to mumble as his fingers ran over the top of it. 
‘The Psalm of the Ancients.’ Ksid read.
  ‘“The Psalm of the Ancients.”’ Ice repeated. ‘I know of 
that. It’s verses are the longest ever written.’
  ‘Well, further down the text, it say’s “Phoenix
stanza”.’ 
  ‘I know of that.’ Ice replied. ‘I did a course on
psalmody when I was growing up.’ In a loud voice, she
began to sing the verse in a soprano voice. It was well
toned, and had a harmony all on it’s own. 
  ‘Nothing happened.’ Power stated the obvious. 
  ‘Maybe if you put your hands in the wall at the same
time.’ Iikin suggested.
  Ice’s hands fit perfectly into the opening, as if they
were moulded right off her own body. Her perfect voice
began it’s chorus once more, magnificently versed in the
most romantic like fashion possible. 
  ‘Still nothing.’ Power said disappointedly. 
  Suddenly, the ground began shaking. A large portion
surrounding the carvings began to move. It sunk inward,
away from the surface, and then sliding side - ward,
leaving behind a wide opening, big enough for the to fit
through. 
  Power peered into the dark opening. ‘Seems safe enough.
Lets go.’
  ‘No!’ Ksid warned. He dove into his pockets and pulled 
out a coin. ‘Watch.’ He tossed the coin into the abyss. 
Unexpectedly, as the coin hit the ground, the roof 
collapsed in on itself, sealing the door way once again. 
‘That could have been you.’
  ‘Then how else are we supposed to get in?’ Orpten
questioned.
  ‘You don’t really expect all that shaking and
disturbance to be created from just a single door way, do
you?’ Iikin answered.
  ‘So you’re saying that there are several doors?’
  ‘Not several doors,’ Iikin corrected, ‘try one other
door - plus half the temple. Look.’ He pointed his finger
to something above him. Half the temple had shifted,
leaving a whole section over - hanging. 
  They sprinted around the temple to the opposite side.
They were greeted with the entrance they so desired. 
  ‘A stair case?’ Arem asked. ‘The temple shifted to make
way for a stair case.’
  ‘Like I said,’ Ksid replied, ‘these guy’s have all
eternity to do what they want with this building. If they
want half their temple to move, that’s their business. 
  The stair case spiralled upward one quarter of the way
around. Another dark entrance met them at the top.
  ‘Now, I want everyone to proceed with caution.’ Ksid
demanded. ‘Don’t do anything stupid.’
  With Enigma’s vision spell once again turned on, 
Terrol lead them into the unknown. They headed directly 
forward before coming to a sharp turn left which 
eventually brought them to a large cavern. 
  The inside of the temple was hollow. Along it’s walls, 
another stair case spiralled downward, all the way down 
to the ground. Carefully, they went on.
  ‘I don’t like the looks of this.
  With no railings to support them, they had to be 
extremely careful of their footing. In single file, they
systematic made their way to the bottom where they were
met with a problem. 
  ‘This can’t be good.’ Power murmured. At the bottom of
the circular pit were twelve giant doors, each evenly
spaced.  
  ‘Which door do we pick?’ Ice asked.
  ‘Something’s not right.’ Ksid informed. ‘He looked more
closely at the doors. They were each numbered with an
ancient text that could only just be verified. ‘There are
twelve doors, but they are not numbered from one to
twelve. Instead it starts from zero. You’d think then,
that it’d be zero to eleven, but it’s not. There are two
zero’s. So, the numbered doors go zero, zero, one, two,
three - all the way up to ten. That just doesn’t make
sense.’
  ‘It’s probably not just one door were supposed to
open.’ Iikin interrupted. ‘Maybe were supposed to open up
several doors, like a code.’
  ‘Good.’ Ksid smiled, knowing they were getting
somewhere. ‘Good thinking.’ He walked from door to door,
examining them each time, and then moving on. ‘I want
everybody back on that staircase.’ Ksid ordered.
  ‘Why?’ Arem questioned.
  ‘Look below your feet.’ The floor was evidently in 
pieces. Long cracks ran in a spiral shape from the walls 
to the centre. ‘I have a feeling that if we chose the 
wrong door, we might be mere shadows at the bottom of 
what’s underneath this floor, for eternity. If we fall, I 
can’t save everyone of you.’
  With the group out of the way, Ksid walked over to the
door marked “five”. A gasped echoed in unison as he
carefully eased the door open towards him. Nothing
happened. Next, he opened the door marked “zero” the
closest one near ten. Pulling it outwards, he was safe.
  Cracking his knuckles, he took a deep breath. He
reached for the second door marked “zero”, and swung it
slowly on it’s hinges, squeaking as it moved. A click
sounded within the cavern as the door extended its full
length.
  Everything started to vibrate violently. The floor, as
Ksid pointed out, began to move outward and downward,
leaving an ever growing gap in the middle, with the
ancient man on the other side. 
  ‘Run Ksid!’ Enigma yelled.
  Ksid made an attempt for the stairs, but the persisting
hole got bigger and bigger, and he fell.
  Enigma’s heart sunk as he disappeared into the 
darkness. When the shaking finally stopped, all that was 
left of the floor was a narrow platform in front of the 
twelve doors. 
  With anguish, the group stood silently, simply staring
into nothingness. 
  A fragile hand suddenly grabbed the ledge.
  ‘Ksid.’ Terrol laughed with relief.
  Ksid pulled himself the rest of the way out. As his 
friends came to greet him, he dusted himself off, an
irritated look becoming his face.
  ‘What’s the problem?’ Orpten asked.
  ‘I’m an idiot, that’s what.’ Ksid scolded himself. ‘I
used my powers to save myself from death. It wasn’t
needed though. Look.’
  Peering down into the hole, they were met with a second
floor, only about eight feet down form the surface. In
the centre of this new floor was a door, exactly the same
as the others, marked “five hundred”.
  ‘Our enemies are sure to know our exact location now.’
He shook his head in regret.
  ‘How did you know that the number was five hundred?’
Terrol questioned.
  ‘I didn’t know,’ Ksid explained. ‘I guessed. This
temple was prepared to keep unwanted people out, but to
let the people that it was prepared for, in. The number
“Five hundred” related to how long the Phoenix lived, so
I just took a crack at that.’
  ‘How about we get moving.’ Enigma suggested. ‘We only
have seven day’s.’
  They plunged into the hole. ‘Do you have any idea how
far we’ve got to go, Ksid?’ Enigma asked, taking Arem by
the hips instinctively, as she came over the ledge,
helping her down.
  ‘I’ve never been here before Enigma.’ Ksid mumbled, 
opening the door in the floor, revealing a marble 
staircase leading further into the depths of the unknown. 
‘Everybody set to go?’
  ‘Hold on a moment.’ Power halted. ‘What’s that on the 
inside of the door?’ An inscription had been carved on
the inside of the wooden door. It wasn’t hard to miss.  
It was still pretty much intact, though the craftsmanship
was poor and thus, only readable with some scrutiny.
  ‘You figured out what it say’s yet?’ Enigma pressured.
  Ksid paused, then nodded his head. ‘It says “Stratagem
with - held”, followed by the numbers “two”, “four”, and
“six”.’
  ‘That’s the combination to turn off all the traps.’
Iikin realised.
  ‘That’s rather stupid.’ Arem admonished. ‘Their just
practically letting intruders in by putting that there.’
  ‘There are certain little things that one must do to 
get this far,’ Ksid rallied, ‘especially with these
doors. For starters, they’d have to know one of the most
ancient texts long forgotten to read the numbers. If they
can do that already, they’d have to know that the doors
have to be open in a clock - wise direction - the same as
the shadow on a sun dial moves.’
  ‘But, the shadow on a sun dial moves anti - clockwise.’
Terrol said.
  ‘Not if your facing south. The word “south” was written 
above the numbers. Anyway, if they get as far as we, 
they’d have missed the little message on the inside of 
the door. I missed it, and if I missed it, it was only 
with luck that Power didn’t.’ Ksid climbed out of the 
pit. He opened the specified doors with much more 
confidence. Another heart stopping click sounded, but 
nothing collapsed or fell or moved this time.
  ‘Now we’re ready.’ Ksid said, rejoin the others.
‘Terrol, you lead the way.’
  His eyes went wild. 
  ‘It’ll be fine.’ he reassured. ‘I’ll be right behind
you if something happens.’
  With Enigma and Power at the back this time, they
cautiously edged further down into the mountain. 
  The stairs spiralled once before a fork in the path
leading off in two opposite directions. 
  ‘I was afraid of this.’ Ksid muttered. ‘No matter what,
we stay together.’
  Following the left path blindly, an eerie presence
welcomed them. 
  The corridors were roomy. They had been carved right
out of the mountain itself. Torches with eternal flames,
lined each side providing adequate light, and equal
shadows. 
  Junction’s weren’t scarce in the maze. Each time,
though, they all way’s took the left path. 
  With a door here and there to distract them, it was
hard to keep track of where they’d been - they weren’t
sure if they were going around in circles, or if they
were still heading into unchartered territory. 
  As they moved on, Enigma became more and more 
uncomfortable, as if something was watching them. Often, 
he thought he saw something creeping in the shadows, but 
shrugged it off as his imagination. Nevertheless, he knew 
what he saw.
  ‘Something’s following us.’ he warned Ksid.
  ‘Non - sense.’ Ksid ignored him.
  Still, they moved on, overlooking doors and side -
paths. 
  Enigma continued monitoring the shadows. 
  Reenoco turned. ‘Enigma -’ she began. Her face went
white as she squealed her lungs out, pointing to an
object behind Enigma’s head. 
  ‘I knew I wasn’t imagining things.’ Enigma said.
  A giant creature stood before them. It wore mainly 
black; black boots, black trousers, black chest - plate. 
It’s enormous arms were bare with the exception of gloves 
that reached half way up it’s forearm. One of it’s 
extremely muscular limbs, grasped one of the biggest 
swords that any of them had ever seen. Enigma estimated 
it to be at least nine feet long, from hilt to tip. The 
man himself would have had to have been about fifteen 
feet tall. A lengthy, flowing black leather cape draped 
to the floor, dragging helplessly behind. Connected to
the breastplate were spiked shoulder pads, each
dangerously sharp. Beneath it’s extensive black hair, a
face tattooed with hideous designs stared with big, black
eyes.
  Slowly, it began to lift it’s weapon. 
  ‘Run!’ Ksid shouted. 
  Enigma scampered out of the way as the blade struck the
ground with a spark. 
  They bolted out of harms way. The giant beast was a 
slow runner, but it had long strides, and therefore was 
able to keep up with the pace of his targets. 
  As the group began to lose their stamina, the creature 
started gaining. 
  Enigma’s arm lit up a dull red, sending a bolt of
energy crash into its breast plate, allowing his friends
a little more distance between them and it. ‘We have to
do something fast.’ Enigma said under his breath. ‘As we
slow down, it catches up.’
  They came to another fork and turned left. Not ten
metres along the new path, they were abruptly halted.
Another giant creature like the one pursuing them from
behind, blocked their way. It had exactly the same
features and attire, except instead of black, everything
was in red. It’s eye’s even glowed a bright red. 
  Running back to the fork, they took the right path with
Power and Enigma now in front, as the black monster
lumbered after them. It was joined by the red creature
and together, they charged mercilessly. 
  The corridor twisted and turned, and eventually came to
a straight.
  ‘There’s a light up ahead.’ Power said over his
shoulder to the rest of the group. 
  The corridor ended with a massive dome shaped room.
Another ledge lined the walls. 
  Again, no railings. In single file this time, they
crept onto the ledge with their backs pressed tightly up
against the wall.
  ‘They weren’t chasing us the last time I looked.’ Ksid 
informed them, trying to catch his breath as he side - 
stepped onto the ridge.
  ‘Did we loose them?’ Orpten asked.
  ‘Apparently. They should have caught up by now.’
  ‘But they were right behind us.’ Enigma said.
  ‘I think we’re better off without them on our tails.’
Ksid reasoned.
  ‘You think?’ Power sarcastically replied. ‘They were
huge. Who where those two?’
  ‘I think I have a fair idea who they are. I’ll tell you
all once I’m sure.’ 
  The dome was nicely shaped. The vastness of it amazed 
them. Iikin estimated their comparison to the room to be 
equivalent to that of a cockroach to a kitchen. Bonfires 
flared in crater like void’s within the wall. Their fuel 
was everlasting, and it’s light was brilliant. Huge
columns held the dome from collapsing in on itself.
Hideous carvings had been etched intricately into them -
ugly, giant figures with sick, grotesque features. In the
very centre of these columns, two great, circular cracks
were carved in the floor leaving two pieces; a solid
inner piece and an outer ring. If it was anything like
the cracks with the twelve doors, then these pieces of
stone were bound to move. At the base of the dome, four
dark passage way’s stood opposite each other. 
  They sat down on the ledge, letting their feet hang
over the sides. A well earned rest was what they all
wanted.
  ‘Where exactly are we?’ Arem said in a quiet voice.
  ‘We’re at the heart of the mountain,’ Ksid answered, 
‘and exactly where we want to be.’ 
  ‘So where’s this object we’re after?’ Enigma
questioned.
  ‘Hopefully around here somewhere.’
  The room began to rumble. 
  ‘Not again.’ Ice wined.
  A slow beat filled their ears. From the passages
beneath them, and to the left and right of them, the
mystery of the disappearance of their pursuers was now
revealed.
  The black beast marched from the left tunnel, whilst
the red beast marched from the right. A third beast, one
they hadn’t previously encountered, marched from the
tunnel beneath them. He was somewhat bigger. It’s cloths
were the same as the rest, but they were blue and much
more vicious and deranged. Instead of a straight edged
sword, it’s edge curved and jagged, the same shape a
snake takes when it slithers across the ground. It’s
shoulder spikes were moulded in the same fashion. As was
accustomed with the other two creatures, the third
species had blue glowing eyes.
  They walked in step with one another, swords held
straight out in front of them. They came to a halt
several meters away from the outer ring in the middle.
Still, in perfect unison, they dropped to their knees,
placing their swords in front of them, then fixing their
heads on the back of their hands on the ground. 
  ‘What are they doing?’ Power dared to speak.
  ‘It some sort of ritual.’ Iikin replied for Ksid. ‘I’d
say they’re worshipping the Phoenix. Am I right?’
  Ksid nodded. ‘That’s what I would have said.’
  A murmured chant replaced that of their footsteps. 
  Enigma and his companions sat in silence, watching with
interest. 
  ‘What do you suppose is going to happen?’ Terrol 
whispered.
  ‘That is absolutely none of your business, my friends.’ 
an unknown voice answered. From below, three red figures 
rose. The beating of wings interrupted the chanting.
  ‘Guardian.’ Ksid spoke casually, the name of creature
confronting them. 
  Enigma couldn’t believe Guardian survived the fall. 
  Guardians friends were almost identical, except for a
few minor features in the face. They were each as strong
as each other, but they look like nothing compared to the
burly men on the ground.
  The leader gave a great howl. The chanting ceased, as
the giant men replied the call by returning to their feet
and taking arms. They turned towards the intruders. 
  Enigma summoned up his strength, and prepared for an
attack.
  ‘No Enigma.’ Ksid stopped him. ‘There’s another way to
do this. I want to get out of here with the most minimal
number of deaths and injuries.’
  He relinquished his focused energy, and allowed himself
to be captured. 
  Another call came from the blue leader, and was replied 
in the same manner. 
  ‘Please come with me.’ Guardian said. ‘Not that you 
have a choice.’ 
  They were picked up and flown to the forth door. There
was some resistance, especially from Power, who fought
them no matter what any body said. He wasn’t accustomed
to surrendering.
  They were taken through another maze of corridors until
they came to a great metal entrance. Behind the entry way
were several cells. They were clean and well looked
after.
  ‘As you can see, we haven’t had many visitors.’ the red
leader joked.
  A cell each was handed out to the captured group. They
were locked in with metal bars on three walls except the
back wall, which was rock. They could clearly see one
another.
  It was a plain room with about the same height as
corridors they first entered when they were being chased. 
  ‘You are the Conscripted family chosen since all
eternity.’ Guardian said.
  ‘Tell us something we don’t know.’ Enigma rudely
interrupted.
  ‘It is our job to protect the stone which you seek from
the foul hearts of those it was not meant for. It is our
job to protect it with our lives.’
  ‘Is this going somewhere?’ Power asked.
  ‘It is said, by Holy, that the chosen are powerful 
enough to defeat us in combat. You are not the chosen 
until you prove yourself to be.’
  ‘How are we then supposed to prove ourselves to you?’ 
Terrol questioned.
  ‘By combat. The evil minds are strong, but the chosen 
minds are stronger. We are immortal and only those 
aligned with the chosen can kill us. If you defeat our 
ranks, then shall we know which faction you are aligned 
with. The first battle begins tomorrow against Sentinel.’ 
he pointed to his red friend to his left. ‘Chose your
fighters wisely. There shall be a battle once per day,
each fighter getting stronger and stronger. Prepare
yourselves. On the battle field, annihilation may be your
only friend.’