Dawn was just beginning to tint the horizon with golden and violet hues when Richard and Elyndra started their descent down the rocky ridge toward the temple. Each step on the steep path felt like an irreversible decision, a deeper commitment to the inevitable.
Richard adjusted the small backpack containing their scarce provisions, feeling the weight of the Guardian's Seal against his chest and the carefully stored Vision Scroll. He also carried the Core fragment they had recovered from the first temple. They weren't so much physical burdens as spiritual ones; constant reminders of why they were there, why they must continue.
"Do you feel it?" asked Elyndra, her voice barely audible over the whistle of wind threading between the rocks.
Richard nodded. The air had changed. It was no longer just the cold mountain wind, but something more... intentional. Sometimes it seemed to stop completely; at other moments, it blew in impossible directions, as if defying physics itself. Small whirlwinds of dry leaves briefly danced around them before vanishing.
"Those are the temple winds," she continued, pausing to catch her breath. "The barrier is beginning to sense our presence."
Richard closed his eyes and activated his "Echo Vision." Energy lines revealed themselves to him like brilliant veins pulsing through the landscape. He saw air currents forming a complex pattern, a kind of network extending from the temple to where they stood.
"It's like... a spider web," he murmured, observing how the threads tensed with their proximity. "And we're the insects making it vibrate."
Elyndra looked at him, a mixture of pride and concern in her silver eyes.
"Your perception is improving. Before, you wouldn't have even noticed those patterns."
They continued their descent. The path narrowed so much in some places that they had to press against the rocky wall, with a dizzying void just inches from their feet. The rock under their hands was rough and cold, occasionally damp from small streams descending from the snowy peaks.
Richard noticed that Elyndra walked more slowly than days ago, her once fluid movements now more cautious and restricted. Although she had improved since the battle against the Society's agents in the gorge, her recovery was far from complete.
"You need to rest," he said, stopping at a small ledge that offered enough space to sit.
Elyndra shook her head, but the sweat on her forehead and the paleness of her face betrayed her.
"Time is not our ally, Richard."
"Neither is exhaustion," he insisted, pointing to the ledge. "Five minutes. Just... five minutes."
She finally yielded, leaning against the rock with a sigh that contained more pain than she admitted. Richard sat beside her, letting silence speak for itself for a moment. He took advantage of the pause to check his status:
[**Status: Veil Apprentice (level 2)**]
[**Mana: 23/25**]
[**Guardian Lineage: 45% awakened**]
"How does it work?" he finally asked, looking toward the temple. "This place, the Whispering Peaks. You said it creates illusions."
Elyndra closed her eyes, as if searching for the precise words.
"The temples anchor reality. They are... connection points between this world and the Other Side." Her voice took on a cadenced tone, as if reciting ancestral knowledge. "But each temple has its own nature. The Whispering Peaks were built where ancient air currents converge, currents that carry echoes from other times, other places."
Richard listened attentively, trying to understand.
"Those echoes... are they the illusions?"
"They're more than that." Elyndra opened her eyes, looking directly at Richard. "The temple doesn't create falsehoods; it reveals hidden truths. It shows what exists in other planes, other moments. Sometimes, it shows what could be, or what has been. And most dangerously..." she paused, lowering her voice, "...what you fear might be."
A shiver ran down Richard's spine.
"And how do we know what's real?"
The corner of her lips curved into a sad smile.
"That's the test, Richard. That's the challenge the temple presents. Discerning truth among the whispers."
They resumed their descent half an hour later. The path eventually gave way to flatter terrain, where sparse vegetation showed signs of life on the mountain: small twisted shrubs, tiny flowers clinging to cracks in the rocks, resisting the relentless wind.
As they approached the temple, the sounds changed. The wind was no longer a simple whistle; now it seemed to murmur incomprehensible words in Richard's ears. Sometimes he thought he heard his name; other times, warnings or promises whispered by ethereal voices.
"Don't pay attention to them," Elyndra warned. "It's how the temple tests your determination."
But ignoring them proved almost impossible. The whispers intensified, becoming clearer, more personal. Richard heard Emily's voice, calling him. Then Jake's, laughing. Elliot's, arguing about algorithms. Ghosts from a past that seemed to belong to another life.
Richard instinctively touched the Guardian's Seal hanging from his neck. The object vibrated slightly in response, emitting a weak reassuring energy. Since obtaining it through the chest ritual, the Seal had provided not only an increase in his mana efficiency but also a strange sense of guidance and protection.
Then he saw it. Between two rocky formations that formed a natural arch, the path opened to an esplanade. And there, carved into the mountainside itself, stood the Temple of the Whispering Peaks.
It wasn't large or ornate as he had imagined. In fact, from a distance, it could be mistaken for a natural formation. Only when approaching could one distinguish the details carved in stone: thin columns that seemed to flow like the wind itself, spiraled symbols reminiscent of tornadoes frozen in time, and above the entrance, a frontispiece with an androgynous face whose lips seemed perpetually about to speak.
"It's... beautiful," Richard murmured, overwhelmed.
"And deadly," Elyndra added. "Look."
She pointed toward the esplanade in front of the temple. Richard squinted to see better, and then noticed it: dark figures lying on the ground. Bodies. At least three of them, motionless under the morning sun.
"The Veil Society," whispered Richard, instinctively tensing, remembering the battle in the gorge just days ago.
Elyndra nodded.
"The temple has already claimed its first victims."
They approached cautiously. Richard kept "Echo Vision" active, constantly scanning the environment for threats. The bodies belonged to men dressed in black tactical equipment, similar to that worn by the agents he had fought using his Wind Shield. There were no signs of physical violence; their expressions, however, were frozen in grimaces of absolute terror.
"What happened to them?" asked Richard, kneeling beside one of them.
"They succumbed to the illusions." Elyndra examined one of the men without touching him. "They saw something their minds couldn't bear."
Richard felt a knot in his stomach. If these trained men had fallen so easily...
"The others must be inside," he said, looking toward the temple entrance.
At that moment, a choked groan broke the silence. One of the men they had presumed dead moved weakly. Richard quickly approached. The man's gaze was lost, his pupils almost completely dilated.
"Can you hear me?" asked Richard, leaning over him.
The man fixed his eyes on Richard for an instant, a moment of lucidity amidst madness.
"Don't... trust... what you see..." he managed to articulate, his voice barely a raspy whisper. "They... changed the... rules..." He grabbed Richard's hand with surprising strength. "The wind... lies..."
His grip suddenly loosened, and his gaze was lost again in emptiness, though he continued breathing. Richard looked at Elyndra, who had heard everything.
"What did he mean by 'they changed the rules'?"
Elyndra frowned, clearly disturbed.
"I don't know. But something tells me the Veil Society has done more than simply arrive before us."
Richard stood up, looking toward the dark temple entrance. The wind coming from it was cold, almost icy, laden with whispers that now seemed to mock them. He touched the Vision Scroll in his backpack, not knowing why. The object remained inert, its surface blank, but its presence gave him a strange sense of security.
"If they altered the temple somehow..." Richard began.
"Then the rules I knew no longer apply." Elyndra completed his thought. "We'll have to be extraordinarily careful."
Richard nodded, feeling tension accumulating in his muscles. He briefly closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing, on the flow of mana running inside him. When he opened them again, his gaze reflected a steely determination.
"Let's go in," he finally said. "Whatever awaits us in there, we can't turn back now."
Elyndra adjusted her cloak, her face a mask of resolution, although Richard could perceive the fear she struggled to hide.
"Remember what I told you about this temple," she murmured as they approached the entrance. "Question everything you see. What you hear. Even what you feel."
"Even you?" asked Richard, half-jokingly to ease the tension.
Elyndra's gaze turned grave.
"Especially me."
The wind increased its intensity when they crossed the threshold, as if the temple itself took a deep breath. The whispers multiplied, becoming a cacophony of overlapping voices that seemed to come from all directions at once.
And then, as if they had crossed an invisible barrier, everything fell silent.
A perfect, absolute silence, which was more disturbing than any noise.
The temple had received them in its embrace. The trials had begun.
The darkness of the entrance corridor was almost total, broken only by weak luminous veins running along the walls like arteries of pale light. Richard and Elyndra advanced slowly, each step carefully measured in that unnatural silence.
Richard could feel his accelerated pulse in his temples, the echo of his heart resonating like a distant drum. He activated "Echo Vision" again, but what he saw left him disconcerted: the temple's energy lines didn't form logical patterns. They crossed chaotically, bent at impossible angles, disappeared into nothingness to reappear meters ahead.
"It's as if geometry here obeys other laws," he whispered, his voice seeming too loud in that silence.
"The temple exists partially in the Other Side," Elyndra responded in the same low tone. "The concepts of space and time are... flexible here."
The corridor gradually began to widen until it opened into a circular chamber. In the center, a stone column rose from the floor to the ceiling, carved with countless faces that seemed to observe them from all angles. Around it, several identical doors led to different corridors.
"A crossroads," Richard murmured. "How do we know which path to take?"
The floor beneath their feet vibrated slightly. Richard looked down and saw how the dust moved, forming circular patterns, small whirlwinds that briefly danced before disappearing.
"The temple reacts to us," said Elyndra, observing the phenomenon. "It's evaluating us."
Richard cautiously approached the central column. The faces carved into it seemed to follow him with their gaze, though he knew it was impossible. Upon reaching it, he noticed that the stone surface was warm to the touch, as if harboring life of its own.
Suddenly, one of the faces moved. Richard stepped back, startled. The stone eyes of the face opened completely and the lips parted, letting escape a whisper that seemed to resonate directly in his mind:
"The path reveals itself to one who knows their own heart."
Richard looked at Elyndra, who had also heard the message.
"What does that mean?"
Before she could answer, the face spoke again:
"Three paths, three truths. Only one leads to the heart of the temple. Choose according to your nature."
Richard examined the doors. They were identical at first glance, but when using "Echo Vision," he noticed that each emitted a different type of energy: one shone with a cool bluish tone, another pulsed with a warm orange, and the third emitted a serene green.
"It seems we must choose according to our... nature," he said, repeating the face's words.
Elyndra nodded.
"The temple is testing us. Each door must represent an aspect of personality, a way of facing challenges."
Richard evaluated the doors, feeling a strange attraction to the one with the bluish glow. Since he had developed his Wind Shield and felt the affinity with the air element, this particular energy seemed to call to him.
"I think it's this one," he said, pointing to it.
Elyndra studied him with an evaluating gaze.
"Why that one?"
Richard thought for a moment before answering.
"Because it represents the analytical mind, observation. And those are my strengths. If the temple wants us to choose according to our nature..."
"Then we should follow our instinct," Elyndra completed, nodding slowly. "You're right."
They headed toward the blue-glowing door. Richard felt the weight of the decision with each step. Just before crossing the threshold, Elyndra stopped him, placing a hand on his arm.
"Richard, whatever happens in there, remember who you are. The temple will try to confuse you, make you doubt. Don't lose sight of your goal."
Her silver eyes shone with unusual intensity. Richard nodded, feeling a wave of renewed determination.
"I'll remember."
They crossed the door together, and the world around them began to dissolve like mist under the morning sun. The last thing they heard was the whisper from the column of faces:
"The test has begun. May the wind guide your steps, or may it drag you into the abyss..."
And then, darkness enveloped them completely.