A Page in Time – Chapter Seven.

Chapter Seven

Legends Alive!

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Writers
CharlotteCarrendar
IceTe3a

CharlotteCarrendar: – There is such a thing as running, and then there is flying, which is what Nadia practically did as Dante picked her up and flung her the bulk of the way along the sky walk path. She skidded chest first down the last part of the path bruising herself and crying out as she finally came to a stop well past the end of the small walk. The young lawyer grunted and coughed up a mouthful of dust, before trying to get to her feet – the gun still in her hand. Turning back, she could hear the roar of the Minotaur that was chasing the pair across the walk. What on earth released the hellish beast from its stone tomb? Was it them? Was this all part of the chamber’s security to stop humans from entering the sacred temple? For now it appeared to be working, as Dante fought vigorously against the mythical Ox creature. Nadia felt so useless, with only a gun which she knew would not stop the enraged beast from attacking further. But Dante, he was a powerhouse onto himself. Tackling the Ox head on and hurling abuse in Greek. Nadia wasn’t sure what was said, but she knew one thing – it pissed the Minotaur off to no end. Nadia was almost afraid to keep on running, but it was what Dante ordered her to do. Surely he would catch up, yes? One could only hope. There was a larger tunnel that she now entered that ran off the walkway, and so down the tunnel she ran, though it was hard going without much light – only the slight light of the flare that had been thrown before her. Picking up speed, the tunnel zigged and zagged in this direction then that, leading her deeper into the cave system. What would be waiting for her at the other end? :: In the original chamber that had the three tunnels, the moment that the walkway was destroyed, a large gate came down on the Minotaur tunnel, and another was lifted, as thought senses had picked up that those that entered had to deal with the beast. Jason and his two henchmen were trapped now along with Dante and Nadia, and with only one way to go, they had no choice but to take the newly opened tunnel. What they failed to see, was the large snake’s head that was at the top of the tunnel entrance. The three men were about to discover a rare beauty….with a terrible secret. :: Nadia’s journey through the tunnel finally brought her out into what looked to be a jungle like temple. Vines covering many statues and fresh water flowing around the base like a moat almost. The water was crystal clear and filled with all types of fish. It was like something out of a picture book for children. Exotic plants, large flowers, and the calls of wild birds, as far to the top of the cavern was an open hole that brought in shards of light. It was beautiful as it was mysterious. There were six stairs carved from rock that led to a temple doorway. Within it was dark. Nadia was unsure if she should proceed without Dante. <3>

IceTe3a: Adrenaline coursing throughout Dante’s body which in turn allowed him not to feel the pain that was caused to his body during the tussle, his stitches now ripped from the manhandling as his hues watch as the giant mythical beast falls down into the darkness leaving a trail of horrific roars almost sounding like the Minotaur was cursing Dante for its ill fate. Reality set in as the pain shot straight to him “ARRRGH!!” he bellowed out as it echo’d throughout the cavern, his hues flick over to where he tossed Nadia, she was nowhere in sight good so she listened and ran for it; he started to walk across the small pathway slowly in an injured pace as he grunts slightly “That woman will be the death of me” he said with a slight smirk across his face, his face had received a new gash across his forehead slightly from the earlier fight with the Minotaur touching the area he feels the slightly bloodied skin and groans “Another one” reaching the edge of the small path way It seemed to have opened up to a larger tunnel system which was a good thing since Dante would not need to crouch to get through. Picking up the pace a little he commenced a casual job knowing all well that Nadia should not be left alone in a place like this for too long he wanted to catch up as quickly as he could, he had no time to glance around looking for more clues of human activity in this new tunnel as he continued down the path as it twisted and turned constantly, he could feel the blood tricking down his skin from his torn stitches and his forehead the pain was there but he had to focus on more current events first. After a while of jogging he notices the tunnel started to widen slowly over time as a light beamed at the end of the tunnel. Walking out to the new chamber he had to shield his eyes quickly from the change of running in the dark to this now brightened room, after a few seconds of allowing his eyes to adjust he glanced around noticing this place showed work from man, a temple in the middle of a cave system? Not unheard of but pretty rare to see firsthand, as it looked structurally sound built to last the damage of time; coming to a walk further in he notices broken statues scattered around the place obviously this was more confirmation that this tunnel system was built by a bunch of Greeks, they always had a good eye for design or at least Dante thought so. His hues flicker to a familiar sound, running water; a river system this deep in the caves how unusual and it didn’t have that thick smell of salt water, it must be a fresh water stream no doubt it was filtered and purified from the limestone build up in these rocks as he noticed how crystal clear it was. Walking down to the water he kneeled down as he cupped his hands and washed his face before taking a drink of water, it was cold to the touch and really refreshing which confirmed that the limestone had acted as a filtering system, this water was pure, movement in the water showed there was life in this cave system as he noticed the small fish and plantation growing under the water a self sustaining ecosystem how interesting this in itself was a great find. Coming to a stand he looked around as it appeared there were more signs of life in this cave as plants and large flowers were growing all over the place, parts of the ground was covered in a green thick moss kind of plant almost like grass but not exactly..He was unsure as to what that was exactly as he heard the beat of flapping wings he looked up to see wild birds flying around as his ears pick up the music of the ecosystem the running water softly In the background, the call of the wild birds talking and arguing with each other, there even seemed to be a slight breeze which rustled the leaves of the plants, how peaceful this place seemed, it was almost tranquil. But one thing was off.. Where was that demanding woman who earlier pinned him down twice firstly to sow him up stating he was like a blanket and secondly to force him to rest on her lap as she played with his hair. Walking around slowly as he continued to admire his new found scenery he hollered out her name “Nadia… Nadia where are you” he bellowed at the top of his lungs as he tried not to stretch his muscles too much, his back and forehead slightly throbbing from the pain as he stood still next to the flowing water, eyes darting around looking for Nadia.

CharlotteCarrendar:- Nadia had already started exploring the wondrous cavern that was like something out of a dream. After the terrible fright of the Minotaur attack, this temple cave offered a false sense of security, as there didn’t appear to be anything dangerous lurking within. The gentle babble of water as it poured over a rock waterfall was a delightful sound; and the mist like spray cleaned the air with water droplets cooled Nadia’s skin. Such colourful flowers that opened up to reveal large centres that were a food source for birds and insects alike. Some types of the flowers she had never even seen before. This would have been a botanist’s dream come true. Finding species of plant life; that had long since become extinct on the surface of the planet. The cavern itself was enormous, and the carved columns were clearly done by human hand. At least that is what she thought. Was this a temple that had fallen into the mountain from above, like Atlantis was claimed by the sea? Nadia had so many questions and she truly wished her father was there by her side to explain all of this. Then again, she had the journal and if he had been this way before surely it would be noted. The yelling of her companion broke her chain of thought, and she came out from behind a large broken statue of a Cyclops. Seeing Dante was wounded again, the smile that she was wearing fell from her face. “You’re hurt.” Well that was obvious, and Nadia ran down across the moss covered stones to his side, reaching up to touch the wound on his forehead. “What happened to the Minotaur?” She asked. <3>

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IceTe3a: He watches as a beautiful red and green bird sours through the air almost playfully, such freedom “I doubt there’s any predators down here to bother you little fella” he said with a smile as he watched the bird fly off to the distance. Where was she? Obviously she had wondered off to explore, that much Dante knew. Checking the gear was still attached and ready to go as he searched through a dry bag to pull out a packet of smokes, lighting a cigarette as he took in a deep drag he let out a refreshing sigh of relief after a few moments. Finally she appeared out from behind a rock her smile dimmed as she walked over to him extending an arm, he watched as she touched the wound on his forehead claiming he was hurt; that was to be expected when fighting a mythical creature he thought to himself … “Wait.. Do I even call them mythical creatures now? I mean I was just attacked by one” he said a loud to himself as he came back to reality “Yeah I tore my stitches too, sorry about that” as he pointed to his back he arched a brow when she asked what happened to the Minotaur “I threw it off the pathway, He won’t be bothering us for awhile, Although I get this feeling he was cursing at me while he was falling” he shrugged slightly as he glanced around “Looks like your father was onto something with this one huh” he stated it as he pointed at their new found scenery, coming to sit down on the floor to rest for a moment he sighed as he looked up at her “I just need a moment, what’s the journal say?” as he looked around them he was still alert and always on the lookout for more dangers after a few moments he glanced over to the temple and nodded in its direction “whatever all this is about I’m sure we’ll find something in that temple over there” he looked over the temple it was old but impressively built since it was still standing, the plant life down here had all but taken over the walls of the temple as flowers and vines grew across the wall. Looking back at Nadia he took another drag of his Cigarette as he passed her a bottle of water “Drink it all up, it’s been awhile since we rehydrated and while we are near a fresh spring I want to utilize it, never know how long we need to make that water last” he said as he started collecting empty bottles from the dry bags with the intention to fill them up with the fresh water from the stream, he grabbed a full bottle of water and guzzled it all down in one go letting out a sigh of satisfaction before glancing back over at Nadia.

CharlotteCarrendar:- The loud caw of the exotic red and green bird had Nadia glance skywards up to the very small opening that allowed the light of the sun to filter through. It was a godsend in a way. They weren’t that far from the surface. Being before Dante now, and hearing his stitches had been ripped open again made the young lawyer scowl. All that work, undone by a Minotaur; who would have thought? Last thing he would have wanted was to have her working on his again. The best thing to do, was enjoy this moment where at least there appeared to be nothing savage that wanted to end them in this temple. The Minotaur had been defeated on the small walkway so Dante had said, and Nadia let out a sigh of relief. “I thought those things were just myths, I guess not.” She was starting to wonder just what was real and not. She couldn’t have imagined what had been down the other two tunnels that had been gated off when she stepped on the pressure plate. Little did she know that those following her were about to find out. Sitting down on the moss covered hill, Nadia gratefully accepted the bottle of water, unscrewing the cap and bringing it to her lips to replenish herself after the dive and the sprint through the caves. She tipped the bottle up as she emptied it effortlessly, handing the empty back to Dante so he could refill it from the stream. She eased back on the palms of her hands that were pressed down behind her and tilted her head from side to side stretching out while she had the opportunity. It was a needed rest stop in her view, after everything that had happened to them so far, however Dante wanted to know what the journal said. Sitting back up, she fished through the dry bag and took it out; opening it to a new page that did in fact show a marking of the Cyclops. Nadia turned her head and looked back over at the broken statue that was of the Cyclops creature and then said. “If you look here, it shows this symbol for Cyclops, so that must be on the map.” Taking the map she spread it out, and then she ran her finger along a trail on the paper, till she reached the same Cyclops marking. “We must be getting close.” She assumed, knowing the temple was somehow a door way to the next level. :: Down the Snake head tunnel, Jason was holding up a flare as the two muscle bound brutes followed. The floor of the tunnel was littered with small broken bits of rock, and made it hard going till coming out to a new cavern area that looked like a graveyard. Massive statues of all kinds, but they were all of men. As Jason walked past one, it looked as though the statue of the warrior feared what it was seeing. One of the two guards, called out. “I don’t like the look of this.” Jason was starting to agree. Hundreds of these statues were all facing the same way. Then…they heard it. The laughter…of a woman. <3>

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IceTe3a: He watched as Nadia drunk the entire bottle down, thirsty little thing she was; as she handed him the bottle he grabbed the empty bottles and leaned over to the river as he started to fill them up one by one he watched the fish swim by “Fresh food” he said smirking slightly at the thought “And if you don’t like fish there’s always I can’t believe it’s not chicken” as he gestured to the birds with a laugh. Filling up the last bottle he screwed the lid on tight and placed them all into the dry bag with a nod “That’ll do us for at least 4 days” his survival skills kicking in as he knew how much water was needed to last two people a day. Leaning back upright he glanced to Nadia who was now flicking through her father’s book, he followed her eyes as they both looked over to the Cyclopes statue “I don’t think I can go a second round with another mythical creature” he stated as he laid down onto his back the cool feel of the rocks below him touching his skin “If that Minotaur was real, what else could be real and waiting in the dark shadows?” as his mind raced through a short list of the Greek Mythical creatures he stopped thinking about it “Yeah fuck that!! There’s too many giant fire breathing un-killable Greek Mythical creatures for my liking” as he nodded softly “Indeed we are on the right path, Do you think we should go investigate the temple? See what it has in store for us?” pulling something out of the dry bag it was wrapped up in old newspaper as he unwrapped it to show two loafs of Vienna bread, some cold cut smoked meats, a small bottle of Olive oil and some Cyprus cheese. Pulling her to lay down next to him he rested the platter on his chest as he broke one of the loafs in half passing her a half of the Vienna he knew they should eat now while they were safe so they could get their energy up “Like this” Dante showed her how to eat the Vienna bread Greek style, as he pulled all the soft white dough out from the middle leaving a small amount on the inside and the crust almost like a bowl, he poured in a decent amount of Olive oil and dips a piece of the soft dough into the olive oil and pops it in his mouth “See? Just like that, than you take something else like a piece of cheese of meat and eat it” he smiled as he broke up the Cyprus cheese into smaller more manageable pieces, placing a piece in his mouth it was rich with flavour strong with a vintage taste to it, there was never anything subtle about Greek cheese or their food for that matter as everything they made was rich and full of flavour.

CharlotteCarrendar:- The young lawyer hadn’t meant to finish off a whole bottle by herself, but she was parched from the trip thus far. She casually tossed a glance at Dante’s backside as he went to refill the remaining water bottles so they had enough supplies to keep them going for a few days. The cavern temple was giving the pair something of a reprieve from the dangers they had encountered so far, and she had to agree it was a good idea to stop and refuel both with food and water. The broken statue of Cyclops didn’t look to be a threat – yet. In her tour of the temple so far, she had not wandered onto any pressure plates, nor had she touched anything, aside from Dante’s wounded forehead. It was safe to say that for the moment, they were okay, but it paid to be on her guard, just the same. When Dante said, he was not in a fit state to take on another mythical creature, she could hardly blame him. The Minotaur was the stuff of legends, and a fierce opponent for man or an immortal. The fact Dante made it across that narrow walkway which had now been destroyed, meant there was no going back that way. The only way to go, was via the temple. They were on the right path, and Nadia agreed that when they had concluded their rest that they go on through the temple, and see what lay within its walls. :: Over in the chamber of fallen warriors, the menacing sound of a woman’s laughter had all three men stiffen. One held up his rifle and swung it around, as the voice of the woman was now bouncing off the walls. “Zeus be praised, for he sends me new lovers.” There was an odd hissing sound, then a slithering that could be heard coming closer. Jason didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out just who the voice belonged too. “Medusa?” His voice almost a whisper as his second guard looked at him oddly. “That’s bullshit…she is a myth!” But his statement only brought the danger closer as the great snake reared up behind him. The beautiful head of a woman, whose hair was that of asps all hissing violently; smiled as she tapped him on the shoulder. “Boo!” The guard turned around and gazed up into the bewitching eyes of the Goddess Medusa. The veins in his skin thickened as his entire body started to stiffen and change to rock. The other two – Jason and the remaining guard started to run through the fleet of statues, the guard with the gun firing shots back willy nilly over his shoulder as the massive serpent spun round and gave chase. :: Back in Cyclops temple, Nadia was learning the finer things about Greek food, as Dante gave her a lesson on how to eat Vienna bread with olive oil, meat and cheese. She had to admit the fare was delicious and she took her fair share, lying back and munching contentedly. In the distance however, she heard gunfire. Sitting bolt upright, she cried out. “What the hell was that?’ <3>

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