The Pretender
The Return to Chumon
"How far out d-do you think we are?" Iyesha's voice chittered against the cold air as Pontius gazed at her coiled arms brushing against themselves.
He'd tried to tell her how cold the mountains would get the further in someone went, but she was insistent on wearing her armor instead. "Warmth gave no protection against a sword," as she put it.
And his powerful friend, Tysius stood right next to her. Unlike her, he wore clothing more suitable to these conditions, though half his torso was completely bare, revealing his half-draconic skin.
Pontius remembered when that skin looked extremely different. When it was more demonic than anything. That was months ago, when the man still suffered under that king of hell himself.
Now, he had changed so much. Literally. There was no trace of that skin left, replaced only by scales in the likeness of a golden dragon's. A reminder of the new god he served, Pontius' old friend Gorok, or Bahamut as he was now called.
Pontius still hadn't responded when he noticed Tysius eyeballing him.
"Hey, Pontius, I agree. My scales look great. Mind answering her though?"
"We're getting there." It had been a long time since Pontius had last walked these mountains. Thankfully, he still held a lot of memories here. Memories that made each new environment they traversed through seem familiar.
"You sure there's actually a t-temple out here?" Iyesha asked, coming up beside Pontius as their feet still moved over the frozen mountainsides.
"There are only two places I've ever known," Pontius began, eyes always looking ahead of him, "Mirai, where I was born, and the Chumon temple where I grew up." He stopped, assessing their surroundings, then moved again. "Unless it grew legs and walked away..."
"A walking temple," Tysius daydreamed, "now that would be cool."
"Is n-now really the best time for that, d-dad?" Iyesha asked rhetorically.
"It's always the best time!" Of course, Tysius usually answered anyway.
The snowfall continued to crunch under their feet as the three of them traveled from one small mountain pass to the next. Pontius continually congratulated himself that he remembered as much of these mountains as he did, but didn't deny Iyesha was beginning to look visibly impatient... and freezing.
"Let's stop." Pontius said. "We'll sit and rest so Iyesha can warm up for a bit inside that alcove over there."
"I'm d-doing fine-" Iyesha's protest was stopped when Tysius gave her a light smack on the back of the head.
"Don't be stupid, 'Esh. All your fingertips look like they're about to break off."
Pontius had to admit, he was just a little disappointed. He'd wanted to see Iyesha pull through, but it just went to show that it took more than spirit to keep yourself warm.
Together, they ducked out of the snowfall and into the small cave Pontius had pointed out.
Tysius held a small torch out in front of him, and with his mouth breathed fire and lit it aflame like it was nothing. He laid it on the ground, making sure to keep it extra close to Iyesha for her hands and feet.
Moments passed. Then, with a frustrated face she looked away from the both of them. "Sorry for making us stop like this..."
Pontius was already clawing his way through his backpack as he pulled out a large winter coat. "Do not worry yourself Iyesha," he tossed the coat to Iyesha which she caught with thawed fingers, "if I didn't want to see yourself try, I would have made you wear that long before we even entered the Igoku Peaks. And if your father didn't either, he would have made me."
"God-father, Pontius." Tysius corrected.
Pontius didn't even look back at the man. "...Tysius, let's be honest. You're basically her father."
She didn't say a word as she begrudgingly threw the coat on.
Tysius rested his dragon's hand on her shoulder. "You may have helped us kill Ember. But mother nature will always be an undefeatable goddess."
"My thoughts exactly." Pontius agreed, already fishing a few rations out for each of them. "It can be wise to test yourself. But, often that means testing her too."
Tysius caught two rations and handed one to Iyesha. She looked it over like a kid looking over vegetables. "You sure you can't do that cool feast thing you normally do?"
"My heroes' feast takes a lot out of me, Iyesha." Pontius explained. "I cannot do it often. Besides, a time and place like this feels so wrong! It must be enjoyed in the warmth of a banquet hall or on the festival streets of Fukushu. A feast in a decrepit hole of a mountain just feels uninspired."
She rolled her eyes and mumbled. "A 'no' would have saved you, like, five minutes there."
"A 'no' wouldn't capture the full beauty and philosophy behind the magic I possess!" Pontius argued.
"A 'no' would have captured plenty for me!" Iyesha and Pontius both ground their teeth at each other. Already picking at the scraps of his rations, Tysius stepped between them.
"Iyesha, I raised you better than that. Pontius, you're wiser than to pick a fight with my 'Esh. Now eat, and let's get moving."
"Hmph," Iyesha looked away and folded her arms just as Pontius did the same.
"Fine." They both said.
Tysius kept an eye outside the alcove while the two ate. Then, when they were finished, they picked up their feet and started moving again.
"This is it." Pontius said as the three of them gazed up at the far reaches of the ruined gateway that still stood somewhat tall against the side of a Mount Masa. All around them, rubble and old stonework lied in pieces. Pontius barely recognized anything that still stood here.
"Really?" Iyesha questioned. "Are you sure this is it? I was expecting, you know... a temple."
"I'm with 'Esh on this one." Tysius said, scratching his head.
"Well, Chumon was not like other temples." Pontius' gloved fingers ran across the broken stone that used to be a column of the main archway in front of them. "For starters, it didn't build up like Mirai or Gunji does, it dug down."
"And this is the only way in?" Iyesha's hands started following Pontius'.
"It is the easiest way, at least. Though, when me and Gorok had to flee this place, we used one of the temple's secret veins, formed because of this dormant volcano."
"A volcano..." Tysius realized.
"So, what exactly happened?" Iyesha asked.
Pontius stopped, turning to face Iyesha with a half smile. "Well, to tell you the truth, I don't really know myself. For time immemorial, these mountains have been a divided place between two tribes, the Masa and the Lanteng." Pontius weighed his left hand then his right. "The metallics and the chromatics."
His eyes looked over a piece of the archway that used to be in the shape of a dragon's tooth. He could still see some of its old scripture carved into it. "I was born in Mirai, but the earliest memories I have were among these people. You should have seen how alive this place was back then. Truly, there was nothing like it."
When Pontius looked back, Tysius and Iyesha were both perched on knee-high rocks, earnestly listening to him, eager to hear him go on. So he did.
"I spent most of my many years studying all the history about the Masa that I could. From the ancient Masa Dynasty, to the tales of the Draconic Exile, to even the Dragon of Order himself. It was also how I met Gorok, because we seemed to share the same interests." Pontius' eyes looked down to where he was standing, and for a moment, his memories of this place became crystal clear.
"Me and him were both standing in this very spot the day the attack came. I remember he was telling me how much he'd like to be a father one day. Then, we were running for our lives. In the panic, the platinum egg fell in danger of being taken from our people. So as we both escaped down Masa's veins to safety, he took the egg with him... I never saw Chumon again until now."
"And how is it making you feel?" Iyesha prodded.
Pontius' eyes glanced through the archway inside to the vacant interior. "Honestly? Confused... it's strange to see this place so empty."
"I'm sure the Lanteng wouldn't just sack this place and leave." Tysius said. "The survivors of Masa have always assumed the Lanteng took this place for themselves, and we're here on Graydon's words to investigate everything we can about them."
Pontius grew worried at the mention of Graydon's name in that moment. The man had seemed off when he'd talked to them nearly a week ago. Not to mention he'd never shown such a keen interest in the Lanteng before this. Perhaps it had something to do with the civil war?
Right now, Pontius couldn't answer that. He'd just have to keep an eye out for Graydon's safety in the coming future, for whatever reason.
"You're right, Tysius." Pontius affirmed, escaping from his thoughts. "Cover our back while Iyesha and I head inside."
Tysius gave a single nod as he hunkered down in the archway out of sight. In the meantime, Iyesha and Pontius both looked into the archway as they prepared to sneak in.
"Welcome home." Iyesha muttered.
"Please, don't." Together the two of them snuck inside.
To any normal human, it would be pitch black inside here. But thankfully, Iyesha's elven eyes and Pontius' half celestial heritage made seeing in it much easier.
Columns ran by the dozens like a grid through this room. Pontius knew this was the nexus that led to every other part of the temple. He was surprised by just how many of these pillars were still standing after all this time.
"Well... Lanteng certainly didn't want to just destroy this place. Otherwise, this room wouldn't be standing."
"I don't think I've seen so many columns in a single room." Iyesha marveled.
"A necessary addition to keep from the roof falling on our heads." Pontius made sure they were keeping their voices down as he guided Iyesha through the room. He knew everything else in the temple lied below this chamber, so if this was still standing, he had a good idea to believe everything else hadn't caved in yet, either.
"There are hallways everywhere I look. Where do we even start, Pontius?"
"Like any temple, it's always best to check its most important place first. The reliquary, where the platinum egg once rested." The two of them were nearly to the other end of the room. "If I remember right, this hallway ahead will lead to a stairwell that will take us right to it."
Pontius began to hear footsteps behind them. When he looked back, he saw Tysius approach them just as he tossed a lifeless body to the ground. The black scales covering its human-dragon body was unmistakably Lanteng.
"Our suspicions were right," Tysius said, "looks like we're not alone. Jerk nearly got the jump on me."
Pontius gave a nod. "Either we didn't do well enough at staying out of sight, or they've been expecting us the whole time."
"So this could all just be a trap." Iyesha sighed, kicking a pebble.
"Perhaps, but it makes me all the more curious to see what they've done to the place. And find out what they're hiding." Pontius gazed ahead into the distant hallway. "We keep going."
"I think they were definitely expecting us!" Iyesha shouted as she dashed across the room, letting loose three arrows that all hit their marks on three separate black-scaled Lantengs. When they simply broke the arrows and stayed on their feet, a feeling washed over Iyesha, and it certainly wasn't confidence.
"Stay back!" Pontius yelled those words at the three enemies just as much as he did her as he outstretched his arms, manifesting his magic and weaving a powerful force of fright into the air at the Lanteng.
The three of them were charging Iyesha when his magic caused two of them to back down in sudden irrational fear. However, the last one merely shrugged it off.
Iyesha tried to run, but she was not as fast as it. She braced to catch whatever blow it dealt, but was saved when Tysius' massive body barreled into the Lanteng with his shoulder, sending it flying across the room and into a pillar. It collapsed, crushing that foe to death.
"Stay away from 'Esh." He warned.
Pontius' hands still focused on the magic that was affecting the other two, keeping them at bay in the fear that surrounded them. Just behind the two was the pair of large stone doors that separated this room from the reliquary.
He could still see the frame of the Dragon of Order burned and etched into the doors like a painting.
Like Pontius had remembered, the hallway led to the stairwell that took them here. But, they had been mere inches from the door before three more of these things had leapt out from the shadows to strike.
And judging by the way they were fighting, their main objective was to keep him out.
He ducked out of the way just as one of them shot a lethal breath of acid his way. A couple drops caught his coat that left small holes where it dissolved.
Thwing! An arrow burning with hot blue color sang right past Pontius as it struck into the body of one Lanteng. The body staggered, but that dragon thought nothing else was to come of the arrow. Except Pontius knew that color all too well, and he shielded himself from what was to come next.
There was a heavy blast, one which knocked against Pontius and nearly sent him off his feet. When it stopped, he looked to see only a few pieces of those two left.
"Try and break that arrow." Iyesha dared.
"Nice shot, 'Esh." Tysius complimented while Pontius dusted himself off and approached the door.
"Well, whatever is on the other side will definitely know we're coming now." Then again, Pontius was sure it had known they were coming for a long time based off these few encounters.
"That makes four of these black-scales we've faced." Tysius observed. "I think the San are at the bottom of all this."
The San were one of the five chromatic tribes that made up Lanteng. And as the hierarchy went, they were usually at the bottom.
"Maybe," Pontius thought, "but they could also just be doing the dirty work of another tribe instead."
"Like, guard the other relics inside the reliquary?"
Pontius shook his head at Iyesha. "The only relic that ever rested inside was the platinum egg, but that was no longer true after Gorok and I fled." He steadied himself as he placed his open palm on the door. "If they are guarding something behind here, it's not a relic."
Using his inherent knowledge through the Cosmiglyph inside him, Pontius spoke in the draconian language, "Bah-baham." Order, he commanded, and the doors opened on their own.
A mix of dust and ash spewed out of he room that made Iyesha and Pontius cover their noses and cough. Tysius simply walked into the doorway, unfazed by it.
The three of them gazed across the chamber, taking in its features.
"Whoa." Iyesha breathed.
It was almost exactly as Pontius remembered it. Aside from some dust and a few chips in the stone from seeing no caretaking, it was as if nothing had happened to it.
The room was like a cylinder, and out in the center of the floor it dipped down stairs like an amphitheater that led to a bottom podium. This podium was what had once held the platinum egg.
As the three of them stalked deep into the room, Pontius made his way over to those stairs.
"How old is this place?" Iyesha wondered.
"Likely over a thousand years old." Pontius replied as he gazed down into the central basin. When he did, his eyes widened.
Mounds of coins from all ages and materials rested at the bottom. Artifacts he didn't recognize, heirlooms from families he'd never known, armor of designs he'd never seen. It was a hoard that likely held prized possessions through all the dynasties.
"Well, now, we just hit the jackpot." Tysius spoke as he came up next to Pontius.
"Perhaps they were guarding relics." Pontius resigned. "The wealth here could feed a whole city for a year." Even still, something did not feel right to him.
"Well, while you two look around, I'll start gathering some of this up for us."
"Be careful," Pontius cautioned, watching Tysius skip down the stairs to the hoard, "I feel uneasy right now."
"Now that's a lot of money." Iyesha's eyes twinkled.
Tysius stopped inches from the coins as he leaned down to examine an obsidian gem nearly four times the size of his head.
"Lanteng... dragons... treasure..." Pontius puzzled together. Then, it struck him as his eyes locked onto Tysius. "Ty', get away from there!-"
Suddenly the gem in front of Tysius... opened! It wasn't a gem at all. It was an eye. The man barely had time to leap back and land in front of Iyesha just as the mounds exploded and something emerged from it.
"Well, that just takes the fun out of this." The creature hissed in a feminine tone as the rest of the treasure slid off its gargantuan body. It stood on four legs with a long body like a serpent. Its long tail suddenly collided into the three of them and sent them onto their backs across the room. "And here I was ready to surprise your little friend and eat him in one bite."
Its wings unfurled, nearly twenty feet on either side. "I see someone knows what comes with dragons and treasure."
"Who are you?" Pontius called.
"Don't you recognize me, Aku no Hana?" The dragon chuckled. "It is I, the empress you killed a year ago."
That was impossible. Usotsuki, or Ember as she had started calling herself, had been killed, no, obliterated. Nothing could possibly stand to reason why that woman would breathe in front of them now. And at the same time look like a dangerous black dragon!
"It truly has been a while, hasn't it?" Ember joked.
Before anyone could answer, the dragon spat a torrential blast of acid their way like a gushing river.
Pontius' wings emerged just in time to carry himself out of the way. Tysius grabbed onto Iyesha and leapt with all his strength to dodge it. But, Iyesha's left leg was not so lucky. It was caught in the stream for only a second, but she let out a terrible pained scream.
When Tysius let Iyesha down, she could barely stand on it, and her eyes were constantly wincing with agony.
Ember laughed in their direction. "Bow before your empress!"
Pontius felt something was off about her. He fervently believed there was no way the empress could possibly be alive. She'd been more than killed, she'd been erased from the cosmos.
"You're lying." Pontius challenged.
"What?" She barked.
"You heard me. You're not that woman." There was a moment when the dragon didn't move, just stared down Pontius in a contest of intimidation.
Surprisingly, then the dragon conceded and sighed. "I see you cannot be fooled. For someone about to be a snack, you're wiser than most."
"Wait... what?" Tysius was dumbfounded.
"My real name is Kamanaki, not that it will matter to any of you."
"Yet you call yourself the former empress," Iyesha asked, "why?"
"Power begets a vacuum, small child. The people of Gunji have lost their queen, as have us chromatics lost ours." Kamanki's head bowed low to the floor like a lion preying on its food. She took step by step closer to the three, and each time they took equal steps back.
"I'm just playing my cards right to rule over them both."
"I don't understand-"
"Enough words! Kamanki roared, cutting Iyesha off as the dragon charged towards them. Tysius readied himself to fight but Pontius tugged him and Iyesha backwards.
"We can't fight this by ourselves! We're leaving!" Tysius and Iyesha quickly fell in with Pontius as they raced out of the reliquary, the clawed steps of Kamanaki echoing close behind them.
The minute they were out of the room, Pontius shouted, "Ba-baham!" The doors began to close, but just before they shut Kamanaki rammed into the open gap. The doors cracked violently, until to Pontius' horror, he saw the doors shatter completely.
"Dear Bahamut." He said in nervousness. Just how powerful was this dragon?
The three of them sprinted up the stairwell while Kamanaki continued to pursue. Pontius knew if they didn't do anything, Kamanaki would catch them.
"Dad!" Iyesha shouted. "Piggy back!"
"You got it!" He said and Iyesha hopped onto his back before she looked back and readied one of her arrows at the dragon.
They had just reached the top of the stairwell into the hallway when Iyesha felt her arcane magic pulse into the arrow. "Whatever you do, don't look back for a second!" She yelled before letting it fly.
The arrow flew too far above Kamanaki to actually hit her. But Iyesha was never actually aiming for her. She closed her eyes shut right when the arrow struck the ceiling and felt a burning flash of light come across her eyelids.
Kamanaki roared in temporary blindness as the trio gained a little ground on her. But when Iyesha looked again, Kamanaki's dagger-shaped eyes were staring right into Iyesha.
She gulped.
"Quick thinking, 'Esh!"
"Just keep running!" Iyesha cried.
The hallway ended as they found themselves once again in the main atrium surrounded by pillars. They could see the light far up ahead where the main exit was. Kamanaki barreled towards them close behind.
Tysius barely jumped with Iyesha out of the way of another line of acid as it shot past them. It landed into one of the pillars in front of them as the stone quickly dissolved. The pillar began to crumble before them.
"Watch out!" Pontius called, and used more of his strength to weave the crumbling rocks to lock in mid-aid before they all passed by. It took enormous strength given the size of it, but when they were clear, he let the stones fall.
The rocks landed on Kamanaki, but it didn't hinder her even an inch.
"We've got to do something!" Iyesha shouted. "Otherwise she'll follow us outside and we'll never escape her!"
"Hey, Pontius," Tysius called, "how much do you care about this place?"
"Tysius, what are you-"
Bash! With a solid punch, Tysius' fist collided with a pillar they ran past. It shattered beneath his force. Then, he broke another. Then, another.
With every pillar he broke, the room around them began to rumble more and more as the weight of the stone overhead became too much to bear.
"Run with all the might you've got!" Tysius roared as he demolished the last pillar that sentenced this entire room to start caving in.
Rocks fell all around them as they made a mad dash for the archway.
"You won't escape!" They still heard Kamanaki close behind them. Dust filled their vision as they hoped they were all still running the way they needed to.
Then, the wintery cold daylight broke through and filled their eyes just as they stepped foot outside. In that same instant, the archway behind them crumbled into a heap. The whole atrium caved in, and Pontius watched the main entry become a pile of rock.
There was a moment as everyone caught their breath. For a bit, all they heard was the whistling wind of the peaks.
"We all survived!" Iyesha triumphed, falling backwards into the snow.
But, deep inside the atrium, Pontius could just barely hear the bellows of a deep and terrifying roar. He narrowed his eyes in its direction. They all were safe for now, but...
"Yes... we all did." Pontius turned to the two of them.
"Kamanaki is masquerading as a reincarnation of the empress." Neither of them liked the sound of that. "Given the circumstances, all of Lanteng likely believes her. Not to mention, she's probably the foundation behind the civil war in Gunji at the moment."
Iyesha's eyes filled with worry. "You're saying..."
"The Lanteng dragons and loyalists of Gunji are united against Graydon, because of a lie. And he must know quickly."
They left without wasting another moment.
This day, Chumon was forever buried.
Cover image:
Dragon Eye
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