Anon Tae - Rebuilding -Chapter 7

PART I

Gunter did speak eventually. When he did, his voice was direct and held a vibration of anger tempered by friendship. "Why did you lie to me?" he asked the old man who was sitting next to the fire with his feet propped up on a log. His eyes opened slightly wider at the accusation then relaxed back to their normal size as he spoke. "Did I tell you an untruth? Did I omit something I should not have?" Gunter continued "You told me the Anon Tae was beyond that arch, yet the arch was ..well I dont know what that arch was.. but I know that it did not take me to the Anon Tae.. and that you told me it would. Why did you have to lie to me to get me to go into the arch? Couldn't you just have asked.."

Por thought about that for a moment.. then spoke carefully "What I said to you was the truth young man. I told you that 'you must pass through that archway to enter the Anon Tae'. I said.. then I went on to even warn you of the risk of turning back I did.. Every word true.. no deception. You cannot enter the Anon Tae without passing through that arch.. I did not say that arch leads to the Anon Tae." "Bah!" gunter spat.."You twist words into your own uses like a snake wriggles to escape!" "Where is the Anon Tae old man! Do not trifle with me further for I grow weary of this game." Holding his sword menacingly he looked at the old man, who didn't look quite so old now as he rose drawing his cane from somewhere beneath his tattered clothes. Por walked slowly over to the riverbed.. stepping into the water and walking toward the archway.. pointing with the cane, A blue light flashed from it's tip..spreading out in a circle around the old man. Gunter had seen that blue light before.. once before on his travels into a deep dungeon. It was used by a Wizard to find a secret item, hidden from view. The light of Deldrimore it was called.

"The path is only revealed to those that have been cleansed." A milky white blur stood in front of the archway now, and it seemed to rotate in a circle about it's center. Por stepped through it and they both dissapeared into the night.

PART II

It was in Ruins, the buildings lay in pieces all over the ground. The green grass courtyard oddly still looked as if it was fit for sword training, or other uses. There was a streambed that traveled from the inside of the archway past the front of the main temple building and out beyond the courtyard. The trees lining the stream were perfectly shaped and trimmed as if a gardener had tended it .. in fact everything looked in perfect shape exaept for the buildings that were in disarray, pieces of columns scattered about, statues toppled over.. but strangely not broken. Gunter noticed a piece of column that was next to the column base, the piece was large, and heavy looking and had a V shaped bottom that looked like it would fit perfectly into the inverted V shaped column base.

Gunter continued looking around. There were old sticks laying in perfectly arranged formation against a solid stone pedestal. Each stick carved of hard wood with a hilt. Training Swords Gunter thought. On the opposite side of the courtyard was another building in similar chaotic fashion. The door, shaped like a huge eye, had braziers that were toppled over, but again strangely not broken. "What happened here?" asked Gunter, in a loud voice to travel to the other side of the courtyard where Por was picking an apple from one of the various fruit trees lining the stream. He had just finished polishing it and was about to bite into it as Gunter spoke. Por looked regretfully at the apple, slid it into his pocket and answered back in another yell loud enough to be heard from across the stream and courtyard. "The Council of the Cherubim Closed this training grounds. The numbers were not enough to warrant keeping it open. There were barely enough Cherubim left at that time to help defend the Main Seraphim temple, so they closed this and moved to the Seraphim Temple to have strength in numbers there. They never returned, and it has been empty ever since."

Gunter reached down and gripped the toppled brazier with a bear hug, straining with his legs as he lifted the Brazier back into its original spot. The brazier seemed to click into place. It looked great there, the artistry of the buildings was amazing and it seemed a shame to leave it like this.. at least he could replace the items that were toppled but not broken.. he had a thought that tickled him in the belly when he thought if it.. and he asked Por "How much time do we have here before we move on?"

Por looked perplexed.. and replied .."until you have your answers dear boy.. until then and not a minute sooner."

Gunter grinned a wide grin at that.. and squatted down to get a bear hug on the other brazier. He lifted it and it snapped into place just like the first one.. at that..both braziers started to glow a deep red in their centers, and started to become warm.

Running over to the column he had seen earlier, he lifted it and placed the V into the V of the column base. As expected it snapped into place. He placed several more columns into their bases.. each one snapping into place as the others had.. it was almost like a puzzle. After the columns had been erected, he was able to find the capstone pieces for the columns inside one of the buildings, they fit into place the same way.. but required Gunter to ask Por for help setting them in their spots almost at shoulder height. After the Columns were completed, Gunter looked around and noticed the braziers were now emitting a dull gray smoke.

As Gunter worked to upright and find pieces of the various toppled items he started to notice a strange feeling that he was being watched. Por was busy inspecting pieces that might fit here or there.. curiously, always next to the fig tree he had found..

"What on earth are you doing?" it was a soft clear voice of a woman. And the tone demanded an answer. Gunter looked up to see the most beautiful Ranger he had ever seen. He could hardly speak, as he took in the total beauty before him. "We are.. uhm.. we are rebuilding the temple" he said..then realizing it was true.. he hadn't thought of it until she asked.. but that was exactly his intention. He felt better somehow now that he realized it. My name is Gunter, and this is Porphyry. Seemingly caught by surprise the old man made a flourish that would have been more at home in a kings court, but somehow fit him.

The woman courtsied perfectly in reply and introduced herself as the daughter of King Herodias. Having never heard of Herodias or his kingdom, Gunter promptly said so.. and was immediately attacked by dark daggers of eyes. Lady Herodias ignoring the existance of Gunter invited Porphyry to lunch with her, and appologized that there was not enough for three, which was probably to the best she offhandedly said, considering all the work there was still to be done. Gunter regretted his bullheaded manners immediately. But quick to learn.. he cleared a spot for the two to have lunch, and brought cold water from the stream in a brass decanter he had found in the great eye building, along with two cups that were made of a light material he didnt recognize.. ornately carved.

He left them to their food and continued finding pieces to reassemble the temple. After a few minutes, he had forgotten they were their and had begun work on the stutue of a Cherubim angel in the middle of a garden not far away. He still felt the eyes upon him.


Lady Herodias could not keep her eyes off of him as he strained with his muscular back in the afternoon sunlight. Sweat glistened off of each muscle as he moved the stone pieces into position, getting them wrong most times, but it was such fun to watch him try. She felt like a little girl again.. no one had ever made her feel giddy like that. She was a noble Lady after all, and Daughter heir to a King, even if it was only a small Kingdom. That thought reminded her of his comment earlier and it burned her again.. the nerve of this lovely, muscular, wonderfully handsome .. She stopped herself as she started to wander.. Reigning herself in, she called out to the young Warrior. "You really have a hard time seeing how those go together, don't you." Gunter was surprised by the comment, and if he wasn't exhausted by the effort.. might have responded differently. "Yes, would you care to show me how they go?" He said it in a challenging tone, which Lady accepted without a second thought.

Walking over to the pile of pieces he had, she quickly took stock of the situation. "That one doesn't belong in this pile.. remove it." She ordered. Having made the challenge he was now stuck with supporting her in the challenge. She couldn't be proved wrong if he didn't move the pieces where she said they should go. After removing the piece, she gathered a few others from piles around completely different statues, having him carry them as she directed. "There" she mumbled to herself.. lost in thought now as she worked the puzzle in her head much like the polytogo game she played as a child. She was unbeaten at it. She told him the first piece to place as she completed the statue in her mind. They were done a few minutes later.. with her handing him the last piece that snapped into place..The smoke in the braziers was billowing out of them now.. with a red glow lighting it as it rose..


Gunter felt a warm satisfaction at this.. somehow working with her felt right.. more than ever in his life..

~From the Cherubim Knights Archive
A record of Gunter and Lady Herodias' meeting.

Lol...my gosh...there is my name in this story! Gunter and myself now have romance going on! Now you have peeked my interest on where this story is going!

Lady

It's not going anywhere.. its simply listing the history archive's of the Cherubim Knights.

I would expect Jin, Aeternalia and Razel to appear sometime in the story soon.. certainly during some part of the rebuilding...

James

Aeternalia Tenite

Gunter,

Are you reading this?

Lady