FSE

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Chapter 5

"And this one? And this one?" Flare exclaimed, pointing at another statue depicting yet another one of the Ancestors, claw and paw waving wildly, as if he believed that uncountable amounts of shaking at the same object would make his case the most important thing in the world

Coriza took a small sip from the basin that held the clear water flowing through the temple's canals that found its way to the Catacombs for its final accumulation. The little bowls are a recent addition, attached to every column near the statues, with a small, maw opened, draconic snout shaped and carved above each basin.

A magical, dim, tiny flame like that of an awakening elemental strike of fire burned within each of them.

There was never use for bowls like this before, people came here, lit a candle, paid their respects in silence and left. Currently the prayers not always remain personal and quiet, the fervent praising of the Ancestors sometimes rippled the very water.

Hence the water to wet those devoted throats.

She licked her lips, spreading the refreshing coolant over her mouth and tongue, both that worked hard in the last couple of, most likely, hours. Never before she led a tour so long, never before she answered so many questions.

She remained true to her duty, answering question after question, topic regarding faith and religion were her favorite, she could talk about it a whole day.

Or so she thought.

Turns out that even the most delicious of treats becomes tiring after a whole day of feasting.

She was however too polite to mention it.

"Impesar" Coriza replied with her brilliant, enchanting to listen voice, masking every sign of weariness

She eyed the marble statue with great reverence. It represented a dragon cladded in a massive armor, sitting on his haunches, front paws raised in the air and directed at each other as if they would be holding an invisible ball.

Magically lit fire cracked in between them.

The other characteristic detail about this piece of art were the dragon's horns, big, rough, sharp and menacing, protruding directly up like horn's of some demonic fiend. A line of fire burned in between them.

"First fire dragon that graced this earth who mastered the power of Fire Fury, protagonists and mentor of that branch of elemental mastery. Originator of the move popularly known as Fire Dash. Legends say that fire sparkled like an arc of electricity in between his horns, a separate entity, Fire itself living in harmony with the dragon it was connected with. Neither dominating the other. This bond opened the gate for future generations to use fire in our daily lives, without the risk of feeling It's wrath. The dominant red hue that appears on the horizon every cycle of day is called Impesar's Mark. Soft and not overwhelming, like the bond between dragon and element"

"Wow!" Flare exclaimed, shocked as always

"Flare" the cleric addressed the excited drake, her voice remaining melodic despite a rather stern note hidden in between the lines

"Voice" she tapped a claw against her lips

The fire drake cringed, the fire radiating from his body dimmed in shame.

"Sorry" he brightened up real quick "It's simply amazing that you remember so much stuff! We already finished one row on the other side and are in the middle of this one and you didn't even stammer! There's like hundreds of statues here!"

Coriza smiled a toothless smile, lips stretching into a kind line of reserved joy.

"Thirty four to be exact"

"It's still amazing! I would forget two, let alone this many! How do you do it?"

"Because dude. she is a boring, stiff nerd" Sparx whined, from the top one of the dragon's head he used as a bed "She would be like those soulless, old, paper pushing librarians if I didn't show up"

Flare frowned, looking the cleric up with a deep, thoughtful frown.

"I don't understand. What do you mean?"

"I like to study to put it plainly" Coriza explained

"Me too!" Flare's body spat out enthusiastic flames, he jerked towards the dragoness as if he wanted to hug her

"Dude" the dragonfly eyed the dragon incredulously "You can't read"

Coriza's gold eyes sparkled with sympathy.

"That's not true!" Flare defended himself, seeing the cleric's look he covered himself behind his fiery wing, hiding his embarrassed blush

"I know how to read flower" he mumbled bashfully

Sparx clapped his hands in fake triumph. His yellow glow exploded intensely with brighter illumination.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a genius among us!"

"Sparx" sounded the admonishing tone of the cleric, even if silvery "Your insight into this peculiar state of bane is distasteful"

"This!" he dashed down, hands reaching for the light blue clip holding the cleric's mane

"This is why you better be happy you can't read" the clip clicked, he grabbed the silver hair, dropping flat in between her horns he dragged the mane down, making it rest on the nose of the girl, stretching it farther than it usually goes

"Or you start talking like this" he growled through clenched teeth

"Don't listen" she said, keeping the form of graceful, kind cleric even despite her eyes were covered entirely by the mane, peeking from a strand here and there like sun from leafy tree crowns

"Rich vocabulary is not a burden"

Sparx reached down, grabbing at the edge of the mane that flopped down from the head and pulled it up, grooming it gently with his hand.

"That depends on the mouth that vocabulary is coming from" he clipped the hair clip in place again "And I hate to break it out to you bro" he rearranged the hair clip neatly before darting up in the air, looking confidently at the young fire dragon "But you ain't pretty" he nodded at the cleric "She wins by a mile"

Flare scratched the back of his head, snout wrinkled by a thoughtful frown.

"So basically you mean that I need to be a cute girl to be able to learn?"

"Yes!" Sparx exclaimed, pointing a finger at the drake "You got it dude. The dressing room is right up those stairs" thumb jerked to the right at the main and only staircase in the temple

He looked in the direction the dragonfly was pointing at, confusion deepened his expression.

"I don't know how can I be a girl. Is there some magic or something that can help me?"

"Sparx is joking Flare" Coriza said, taking pity on the bewildered and naïve drake "No means exist that open even the probability of changing your sex. You come to this world as either male or female, intervention on that ground is an interference in nature itself. Absolutely no healthy explanation exists and is valid that would serve as an argument in forcing a case to change your sex"

She cleared her throat, in that soft cough was heard all the exertion her throat came through, throat dry and hoarse after the extensive workout.

Her neck once more craned towards the basin, tongue lapping gently and respectfully at the water.

"What she means is..." Sparx shook his head, watching the cleric, annoyed "...that you ask too many questions"

"What?" Flare balked "I didn't hear her complain"

"Because she is too modest and frightened to say anything. Man think, I know it's hard, but focus. You've been tugging at her tail all the time since we got here, you dragged her across one side and now you're doing the same thing with the other"

The flames around his body dimmed slightly.

"Is it true Coriza?"

The cleric's mouth stretched into a kind smile.

"N-"

"Yes!" Sparx cut her out, pushing with both hands at the top of the girl's mouth to clamp it shut "You're overstraining her" she patted the nose sweetly "She's too nice to admit it"

Flare gulped, his fiery aura nearly extinguished "If that's true I'm really sorry Coriza, I didn't mean to hurt you" his eyes sparkled "It's just that everything you said was fantastic, all of those legends were so cool that I feel like there could be a different story written about every single one ofthem. Also your voice is so beautiful and sweet, I really like listening to you"

"Damn, dude" Sparx hissed irritated "Do you even stop for a moment to think, or you simply wag that tongue like there's no tomorrow?"

The fire drake shrugged.

"I dunno"

Coriza freed herself from the pressure on her upper jaw with gentle shake of her head. With that of the way she bowed respectfully.

"I'm flattered by your compliment" soft sun like eyes touched with their grace the hovering dragonfly "I thank you for your support Sparx, but I poses the ability to speak for myself"

Sparx smirked.

"We all have our illusions doll"

"Coriza, my child?"

The cleric's whole petite form balked at the sound of the weak, raspy voice, eyes brightened up like the very sun pulsing with new energy. One of her paws immediately shot towards her robes, rearranging and grooming it as straight as possible.

Then as swiftly as the wind she rose on her haunches, applying quick corrections to her mane, front legs working sharply as mandibles of an insect. She gasped faintly when she got a look at the inside of her paws, remembering fervently her accident with pink dye.

She dropped on the ground instantly, giving herself one final look over before swallowing.

"I'm right here Seeker"

She gave Sparx a single, pleading glance before stepping out from behind the columns.

She stopped in front of the mole dressed in elegant white robe with gold sews, he was leaning over a simple wooden cane. Nearly completely milky eyes enlarged by the glasses he was wearing. He was wearing several rings, all of them glowing brightly to somehow make seeing more possible for the old mole.

"Ancestors guide you" the dragoness bowed deeply

As she lowered her head she spotted several pilgrims staring at the mole with tears filled eyes, so big that they nearly popped out from their sockets. Reverence was radiating from them, the feeling was so potent that many looked like hungry addicts finally lying their eyes on their treat.

They stared at the head cleric as if he would be a living incarnation of an Ancestor.

As if purposely emphasizing that thought some dropped on their knees, pressing their hands together and putting them against their mouths, rocking back and forth slightly.

As if Faith would be their sense of whole life and the mole, a creature of blood and bone like everyone else, a divine being that makes that sense the only mean worth existing for.

That glimpse was the reminder why she stirred away from the mole. Faith is a personal matter, it should be respected and cherished individually, not displayed and forced upon everyone.

If behind those magical portals exist a world with at least two religions where believers of one see their own as superior, allowing written word dictate their lives, depriving them of morals and typical sense of life...

She pitied that world, because the only way of saving it is by making one faith triumph and that can't happen without destruction.

No other way exist, but to fight fire with fire.

"And you too child" Brill responded, making a single tap with his cane as he shuffled away from the staircase, putting his opened palm on the nearby columns, patting it reverently "However from all the noise echoing from this walls I suspect the Ancestors guided you here a while ago"

Coriza winced, her lowered her pushed even more down, nearly making her nose touch the ground. Her tail too sought safety, covering in between her legs in shame.

"My sincere apologies Seeker. I always try to keep my intentions far from wounding the Ancestors. Inexperience of youth I believe is to blame for my failures in this matter"

"Who is she talking with?" Flare threw a confused glance at the dragonfly before making his way after the cleric

"Wait a sec man!" Sparx hissed through clenched teeth, darting up where the columns connected with each other by a solid, marble arch

He went down as quickly as he ascended, momentarily putting both of his hands on the red dragon's nose, stopping him in his tracks.

"Just stay put dude, before you do something stupid"

He obeyed, but before his head disappeared behind a column he noticed a well dressed mole to who Coriza was bowing to.

He spent enough time around purple dragons to recognize figures of authority and that mole was undoubtedly one.

The difference between him and some purple dragons he knew is that this particular mole is the real deal, not delusional like some purple drakes.

He was sure that the mole was aware of his power.

The king of the den ruling over small worms that devour everything.

The king enemy of his friends.

"It's him" tiny flames sparkled within Flare's eyes, he was looking at the column that he was hiding behind as if it would be a one sided mirror

Ok man, just calm down, alright?" Sparx shyly stroked the fiery mane, it was getting hotter and hotter with each second "You remember what I told you about worms right?" he withdrew his hand with a hiss, looking at his heated, red flesh nervously "We don't want to chase them off, yeah?"

"He is responsible for everything. I can stop him, he won't hurt my friends anymore"

"No, no, no" the dragonfly shook his head, making a single, muffled clap with his hands "We won't be doing any stopping, okay man?"

His burning body parts pulsed with more intense flames.

"A little burn can end everything"

"Hey, hey, hey" Sparx snapped his fingers several times in front of the drake's eyes "Realms to crazy dude, we are not ending anything. You would only bring more suffering to the ones you care about. You can't touch that guy do you understand?"

Flare blinked, the sparks in his eyes twinkled.

"Flames erase permanently every problem"

True, but they also permanently scorch everything they touch and trust me that this is not a guy you want to turn into a crisp. The stink would get on all of us, we would have never get rid of it, people would really want to kick out our smelly butts"

"So what are we supposed to do?" Flare whined, smacking his paw into the thick columns, sparks shot from underneath his leg

Sparx looked around, making sure nobody is watching them.

"That rodent is a fanatic see? A crazy dude that sees Ancestors farts everywhere, nothing interests him besides the voices he keeps hearing, coming from whatever afterlife he imagined"

Flare's eyes widened, the fire nearly extinguished from his pupils.

"He hears voices from the afterlife?"

"Not literally man, what I mean is that he is..." Sparx put a finger against his temple, rotating it as if wanting to drill inside his skull "...insane. Ancestors are dead dude, they don't talk to people. That old guy came through a similar portal like you did, guess his old brain couldn't handle the stress"

"Crazy or not we can't let him hurt our friends!"

"That's why we need to whack him subtly. A crazy guy like him has to have some ugly stuff hidden somewhere, who knows what rattles in that insane skull of his. We just grab it, expose it and the Guardians will do the rest. He becomes the bad guy, we become the nice guys. Easy"

"Perhaps it's not inexperience to blame, but airiness" Brill's raspy voice echoed in the temple, it was kind and stern, that of a understanding yet still of a higher rank superior

One of the swaying people let out a whine.

Coriza looked up, feeling as if the clip on her head wouldn't be clamping her mane, but the very brain.

"I'm afraid I don't understand Your Reverence"

Brill approached the kneeling worshippers, putting a hand on each head, whispering something, something undoubtedly powerful for those people since momentarily they started sobbing.

She has seen all sorts of devotion, some believe harder, some weaker, but never before she has seen someone behaving like their life depended on the nod of another, depriving people of true meaning of existence.

Then again who is she to decide that her point of view is the correct one?

Those sobbing people got up, offering their last prayers to the Ancestors with smiles on their faces before heading out into the world.

She never seen anyone happy when following her rather rebellious, yet subtle path.

She remembers only her own laughs.

The cleric took this moment of silence to look behind her shoulder, in desperate attempt looking for her friend who's cause made her question the path of her temple.

He was nowhere to be seen.

The only eyes watching her were the stony gazes of the Ancestors.

She swiftly looked away, paw scratching at the robe, the beating with guilt heart underneath.

"Ancestors are watching child" Brill straightened up, supporting his weight on the cane, he spoke the moment the last believer left with joy plastered on his face

The mole didn't turn around, head held up high, eyes observing the row of statues ahead.

"They evaluate us, their servants and caretakers, as their subjects it is our duty to spread their memory, to share the truth. Show the love they have for our people, every specie included. You child, are a member of the divine race, under the counsel of the Holy, there are only a handful of you serving this temple, through you people see the will of the Ancestors. There is nothing more glorious, more fair and true than a dragon representing dragon. Don't you agree child?"

Coriza bowed, even if the mole wasn't looking her way she felt as if she was being observed.

"Your words are true Seeker"

Brill turned around, cane making a single tap against the temple floor.

"Then where have you been? I haven't heard, neither did I see you sharing the Ancestors will with our flock. These walls lack the representation of their glory by your presence, the water doesn't ripple with your sweet voice glorifying their name. Child, you have responsibilities, you have a duty"

Coriza swallowed, she felt as if a small fire ignited itself inside her body. She impulsively tugged at her robes, creating whatever breeze possible to chill herself.

"Seeker I-"

The mole's hand rose sharply in the air.

"I have no interest in your personal life, what you do in your free time is only your matter" he looked down at the girl's risen leg that jerked the clothing covering her body, the sharp moves made the robe slid down the paw, revealing a hint of pink dye

"However it would make me extremely content if you would respect your divine body, your draconic heritage represents more than just flesh on this soil. It's the symbol of the sacred"

Her gold eyes widened, clearly understanding the look and hint in the mole's response. She momentarily dropped her leg on the ground. Her other paw grabbed the earlier pulled up edge of the robe and tugged it down. She put so much strength into it that her whole body bent down under the pressure of her robe pressing against her back.

"I worry about you child" Brill said softly

"Y...Your concern honors me Excellency" Coriza mumbled, licking her lips, she suddenly had a powerful craving for water "Yet you worry for no reason, no plight has a hold over me"

"When it comes to plight we all aware of our enemy tactic, it assaults us with the intensity of a brushing feather. Taint has many ways of influencing us, I wouldn't be surprised if the vile monster would try to sneak into our midst. Use us and draw power from the Ancestors"

Her fear sprouted wings, grabbing her heart in its talons.

"This...suggestion Seeker is hurtful, I would never allow-"

"Shhh child" Brill cut her off with a single jerk of his hand "I didn't suggest anything priestess. If my words wounded you then perhaps it is a sign?" he waved at the rows of statues "It's your personal matter to decide what exactly that means. You answer to the Ancestors and they are always watching"

Milky eyes focused on the cleric, wrinkled, old hand grabbed the sewn eye on his robe, reverently rubbing the gold pupil.

"Always watching"

He approached the dragoness, the moment he put a hand on the cleric's shoulder she shivered.

"And we always listen" with those words he threw a glance behind the girl's back, looking at the row of thick columns

Coriza observed his face, gold eyes shimmering with fright and real tears. He was looking directly where her companions were hiding.

Something told her that he precisely knows where they are, this is his temple after all. Why however he isn't calling them out was beyond her understanding.

Old eyes remained locked in that direction, a long glance that the priestess simply couldn't miss.

"Good day to you. Ancestors guide you child" he squeezed her shoulder warmly before smiling lovingly, like a grandparent the moment when giving a treat to his grandchildren

With those words he turned around, slowly making his way to the stairs.

"Ancestors guide you" her lips moved, but the sound that came from her mouth was quieter than a whisper

If Ancestors are truly watching then they are the only ones who can understand the spoken words if they possess the ability of reading from lips.

The head of the temple disappeared upstairs.

Coriza whined, biting on her fist to muffle an incoming sob.

"Cor?" a shy voice came from behind the columns, only after a while the owner appeared, glowing and hovering in the air near his hiding spot

She turned around, Sparx' usual glimmer lost its intensity at the sight of the cleric's snout and her glistening with held back tears eyes.

"Oh no love" he huffed devastated, momentarily dashing towards the cleric, stroking her mane gently "Hush, hush"

She whimpered softly, nose and upper lip shaking.

"Aren't we going after him?" Flare ran from behind the columns, towards the duo yet his eyes were focused at the staircase

"We're leaving" Sparx said sternly

"What? Wh-" his voiced shock disappeared, silent bewilderment taking its place when he spotted his depressed new friend

"He hurt you" Flare rasped and his fiery body parts burned more intensely

His head jerked back at the staircase sharply, completely ignoring that people could see his increasing in intensity burning aura. His body heated so badly that tiny tongues of flames started to twirl from his burning parts, so similar to the sparks his wings created when flying.

With heavy steps he made his way towards the staircase.

"Where are you going Flare?" Sparx growled

"I'm going to fix this" the drake responded, without stopping, voice adopting a more lower tone, nearly otherworldly grunt of a blood hungry beast

"No. Get over here" the dragonfly darted towards the drake, stopping right in front of the burning eyes, bravely fighting off the aura of heat

"Get back to Coriza this instant, set your priorities straight man, perhaps from where you come from violence was the only solution, but it is different here. I have one job man, one rule I follow and that is making sure that dragonflies of this family stick together. You can do whatever you want when you're by yourself, you will do something that will bite us in the ass sooner or later, but it won't happen on my watch. So dude, tuck that fiery tail in between your legs and turn around, you won't be doing anything stupid"

Burning eyes narrowed on the flashing dragonfly.

"I won't be held back"

Sparx crossed his arms, challenging the dragon's stare.

Unexpectedly Coriza whimpered, forcing down another sob. She was farther from the spot she was left alone. Cutting the distance to the massive door.

Both boys looked in that direction, their expressions wrinkled by worry.

"There is more important stuff to do right now"

With those words he left the fire drake, flying towards the door, through which his cleric friend slipped when new group of believers entered the temple. He sped up, passing through the doorstep just in time before they closed.

"Cor listen" he said softly, hovering in the air just some meters away from the tail of the priestess that was dragged across the ground

She didn't respond.

"Cor"

The priestess shambled forward without any reaction.

"Cor" he repeated, maneuvering through some group of people

Nothing.

"Coriza!"

"What do you want Sparx?!" she yelled, spinning around, her voice cracked into a emotional squeak, two wet streams were stretched down from the corners of her eyes that a pair of teary drops created as they slid down the moment she shouted, unable to hold them back any longer

He jerked back with a gasp like an escaped prisoner who stopped just at the edge of a huge crater that suddenly came into view on his escape route.

"Pay my respects, as always" he replied, ignoring the stares people were giving him

She turned around, walking off the main path, his words not making anything easier.

He flew after, respectfully keeping his distance.

"Whatever that guy told you don't let it get to you, you know how well he can waggle that tongue"

Coriza stopped near the closest pond, looking down at her devastated reflection. She didn't know if this was some cruel coincidence, or if the Ancestors are showing their disappointment, but the fish seemed to avoid her reflection.

All those vibrant fish were like swirling, colorful eyes.

Ancestors.

They were watching and listening.

They know about her thoughts about the Seeker, their icon and speaker of their will.

They knew about the needles she stuck into the dedication in the Faith that was practically her whole life.

They told her that, using the mouth of the Seeker.

"Cor" Sparx followed her, leaving her personal space untouched "You confronted your thoughts today, such things will happen plenty of times when your views are different than that of majority. You need to find some strength to breathe courage into yourself and fight for what you think is right, otherwise you're going to be tossed from one side to the other and everyone will seem to be right. You need to fight for what you believe in, trust me, you're going to survive"

"I need a bath"

He balked, he felt as if a dagger pierced his heart. Her usual melodic voice was empty, she gave him a response completely unrelated with his words. He was the observant type, it was clear for him that she didn't listen to him and whatever she is currently thinking about is right now her only focus.

He could force her to talk with him, she would obey, it's in her nature to avoid confrontation, because of that cowardice she is now depressed like this.

That mole knew that too, he had to, no one becomes the head of a temple without knowing his subjects.

The question is what he gets from sowing doubt into his clerics.

For a moment he regretted stopping Flare from following the mole.

"Hey, that's cool, we're going to find some cozy place with a hot spring inside and then we're going to do some funny stuff. We can try that mud race you always wanted to check out"

She remained silent, the pause was so long that he wasn't certain if she ever heard him in the first place.

"I need to be alone" the priestess stated and straightforwardly leapt into the air, with ungraceful flaps of wings gaining altitude and flying away

Sparx remained hovering above the earth, sadly observing the moving away dragoness.

"Where is she going?" Flare asked, catching up with the dragonfly eventually

He sighed, yellow aura blinking weakly like a dying light of a nearly burned out candle.

"Where is a simple question to answer, why is way harder"

The drake didn't understand what he meant by that, it didn't matter however, with a shake of his head he focused his attention on the only important thing and that is his new friend.

"Come on" he spread his fiery wings "Let's go after her"

"She wants to be alone"

Yellow eyes widened, burning wings folded back tentatively.

"We're going to leave our friend alone?"

Sparx shook his head confidently.

"Not a chance man, people wouldn't call me annoying if I always did what they told me. I won't let anyone mess with my family"

"Coriza is your family?"

"No"

Flare cocked his head, confused.

"I don't understand"

"There's a shocker!" Sparx faked a surprised gasp, grabbing at his heart with both hands before with a dismissive wave of his hand ending his little charade

"A day when you add some valuable insight will be a day when we both celebrate and get drunk. Do you have anything maybe? Because right now I would really use a drink"

"Well...that Seeker...you know, the mole Coriza talked with?"

"Thanks for refreshing my memory dude, I already forgot what happened five minutes ago" the dragonfly rolled his eyes

Flare nodded happily, oblivious to the sarcasm "Exactly, that one. That guy smells funny" to force his point across the drake tapped hi claw against the tip of his nose

"The crazy, delirious rat stinks, we're saved!" Sparx exclaimed, throwing his arms up in a fake pose of victory

"No, no" the drake shook his head "Dirt has nothing to do with it. He smells like some people that I was stuck in a cell with. My cellmates explained to me that those funny smelling ones aren't themselves, that they are very, very sick"

"Man, that mole is ancient, he's older than the two of us combined, no wonder he's sick. Old people usually are sick"

"No" Flare frowned thoughtfully "It has nothing to do with age"

"Really man, stop" Sparx snarled, wincing as he rubbed his slowly aching forehead "I don't have the head now to figure you out"

"You really didn't smell anything? That smell always itches my nose in that weird way, those sick guys were-"

"Cut it out dude!" the dragonfly snapped, making the drake jerk his head back in surprise "What the hell is wrong with you? A girl you like got insulted and hurt and all you talk about is stench?!"

"You're right, sorry. Let's go find Coriza, cheer her up and then we'll ask her if she smelled anything. She has a draconic nose and stood close to the guy, she had to smell something"

"We won't be asking her about any smells!" he shouted at the drake, his yellowish aura exploding with a fierce light "In fact, WE won't be doing anything! You're going to stay here, sniff some butts if you are so keen on smells, or whatever, I don't care. I have a friend to take care of"

"She's my friend too! I want to help!"

"No!" Sparx cut his protest short, raising in the air "Can you really not see this? How you act you mean? It's like you can only focus on one thing and when you do everything else becomes trash, just like Coriza's feelings when you started to talk about sniffing that old mole. Really dude, perhaps the only guy that is sick here is you? Have you ever thought about that?"

Flare shrugged nonchalantly.

"Not really"

"Then perhaps you should, normal people don't think about murdering someone and their eyes don't glow. Something to think about"

And with those words the dragonfly flew away.

Flare remained on the temple's grounds, staring in the distance, following the quickly disappearing glowing dot in the sky. With the option to help his friend barred from him, his mind impulsively started to think about the way the mole smelled.

When the dot vanished from his sight his nose suddenly wrinkled itself, and started moving, sniffing.

He felt scratching within his nostrils, every sensitive nerve hidden inside twirled around, as if it every was a different, living organism, a worm wiggling around, poking and touching sensitive walls with their many slimy, hairy bodies.

The smell he sniffed was very close and very potent.

He looked around, sniffing, unable to locate the origin point, then suddenly with all options depleted and nowhere else to turn to he looked at himself. He rose his leg to his nose and sniffed.

The none-existent worms inside his nostrils chirped and wiggled more fiercely.

His nose started to itch in that familiar, weird way.