Bondage and Other Tales

The Temple, up close, was even more beautiful, a creation out of someone’s daydreams.

The doors in front of them were imposingly large, but as they paused there to appreciate them, Jessamine laughed.

“We were right, Ela.” She gestured to the crest at the apex of the arch framing the doors. “It is a Dusk and Dawn temple.”

“You were coming here anyway,” Symphony said, not sure how she felt about that.

Elavetha traded glances with Jessamine, and shrugged. “Jess is one of the highest-level clerics of Liaven in the game, which is probably why she got an actual vision of the new Temple and when it was over, she had a map in her inventory. It sounded interesting so we decided to come check it out.”

“As far as we know,” Jessamine said, “you’re right and no one else has been here. You’re still the first. I don’t know what the treasure is, but no matter what you see inside, do not attack it. Just greet it and keep going. If you start a fight, it’s not likely to kill you, but there are lots of other possibilities, like teleporting you outside and hitting you with a cooldown before you can try again. Go ahead. This is your show.”

“We’re just here out of curiosity,” Neon said. “If being the first increases your ability to make a living off something you love, then great. I don’t mind waiting.”

“That really doesn’t seem fair,” Symphony said. “I wouldn’t have gotten here alone.”

“We decided it’s fair,” Elavetha said. “Shoo, in you go. You’re our scout, so go scout already. Then you can show us around.”

Slowly, Symphony smiled, and dismounted from Autumn to face the great doors.

They cracked open as she approached, just far enough to let her through, then closed behind her.

She stood within a large semi-circular space. Corridors radiated outwards, alternating with stairways up to the balcony, which similarly had doors. Light golden as sunrise washed over the pale stone, nourishing the vines with their bell-shaped flowers in sunrise and sunset colours that somehow grew everywhere. The whole space felt warm and welcoming despite the size.

“Oh, wow,” she murmured. “Welcome to the Temple of Lost Souls, everyone. Finding one treasure in here could take a while. I don’t like making my friends wait, but I think they’ll understand if I say that rushing feels like exactly the wrong thing to do in here.”

A half-rotted zombie emerged from one side door, and shuffled across the floor. It paused midway to look at Symphony.

She swallowed hard, and decided to trust Jessamine, even though one solid blow from that thing could really do serious damage to her at the moment. To say nothing of the sheer ick-factor in being struck by something that had flesh literally sloughing off its bones. “Um, hello. I... I hope I’m not intruding?”

The zombie waved towards the rest of the room and resumed its shuffling walk.

Symphony let out the breath she was holding. “Okay. Let’s hope that’s confirmation of what Jessamine said. No fighting. No matter what’s in here.”

Each door led to a space more beautiful than the last. Indoor gardens, a library that seemed to go on forever, a fully-stocked kitchen, a room full of comfortable low couches and large cushions and the walls were hung with gauzy curtains, a vast marble pool with steps down into it... it just went on and on, and Symphony quickly became certain that despite all efforts, she wasn’t seeing anything close to everything this temple had to offer. It was just too much.

Although the occasional moments of alarm when she encountered guardians kept it from being monotonous. Some of the creatures lurking here were fearsome ones that would have been difficult for her to fight with any character.

She opened a final door and found herself face to face with an immense grey dragon.

The silver shimmer of the scales reminded her of Glitter’s coat, and the sky-blue and rose and violet of the crest along its spine looked like the unicorn’s mane; the alarming claws were as amber as Glitter’s hooves and horn.

Did that mean this dragon belonged to Liaven?

“Hello,” Symphony said cautiously.

The dragon dipped its head in a nod. “Hello, little cat.”

“I, um... could you answer a couple of questions for me?”

“Yes, I can.”

“What does the name of the Temple mean? There are no lost souls here.”

“There might be one, little cat. The Temple is not a place of ghosts. It is a haven for those who feel lost and want a peaceful place to be themselves.”

It would be an amazing home base, or a place to come for a vacation now and then, safe from both the real world and from Anterra’s more aggressive aspects.

“Is there really a treasure here?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have it?”

“Yes.” The dragon shifted position, drawing Symphony’s attention to a pillar of stone, white liberally streaked with black, in contrast to the silver-scaled tail wrapped around it. Something radiated soft golden light on top.

“Um... what do I have to do, to get it?”

The dragon’s head came down to Symphony’s level. Each eyeball was the size of her head. “Ask me for it.”

With any luck, the answer wouldn’t be “No” with a fast trip outside.

“May I have it, please?”

“You have not killed or committed any act of violence since you came to Anterra today in your current guise?”

Symphony hesitated, thinking back through the day. No, she’d been with Neon and the others since switching to Symphony, and even as Swan had only [Life Kissed] Neon with consent. So technically she was in the clear, but... it didn’t feel right. She’d fought several creatures before that, as Garnet and as Iphis and as Blight.

“I... did fight at other times, to get here. The Iron Mountains aren’t a friendly place, and I was with companions then who enjoy fighting. I’m not with them any more. Technically I could say yes, but it’s only true because of some... unforeseen complications.”

“There is a powerful cleric of Dusk and Dawn outside praying for you. Her blessing carries a lot of weight on the scales. Be worthy of that in the future. If you want the treasure, little cat, take it. But the only way to reach it is to climb up me. Do you have the faith and courage to come over my head and walk along my back to reach it?”

This was only a game. Death was inconvenient but not catastrophic.

On the other hand, there was something deeply viscerally scary about the massive head right in front of her, and her adrenaline levels were not listening to reason.

Symphony swallowed hard, and nodded. “I won’t hurt you?”

The dragon laughed, a booming sound as big as the source, and Symphony recoiled briefly from the teeth thus displayed. “Little cat, you could not hurt me if you tried. Which you will not.”

“No, of course not. Um, thank you?” Cautiously, Symphony approached, and set one foot on the dragon’s muzzle.

She tried to keep her giggle to herself as the dragon went cross-eyed to keep her in sight. The scales were smooth but there was enough friction for her to keep her footing.

That was a little trickier along the narrower neck, though she could rest a hand on the sunset-coloured crest for balance if necessary, then it grew easier again along the dragon’s back. This would have been just impossible as Blight; feline balance and rogue Dexterity made all the difference.

Actually, what had made all the difference was the party waiting patiently outside, who had already demonstrated that they were more genuinely her friends than the Guild members she’d known for much longer. And once she finished this, she had a lot of thinking and planning to do, her whole future shattered but potentially free to be reforged into something infinitely better.

And then, suddenly, she was at the pillar, and she could see the treasure lying there, just waiting for her to pick it up.