God of Snakes (Part 1)

The group, now whittled down to a mere seven, trudged westward through the night under Bishop's lead after their encounter with Raaz and the ogres. They quickened their pace, knowing their pursuers were on their tail. Allendra, the weak link, was slowing them down until the priest ordered an ogre to hoist her onto its broad back. When she protested, the beast silenced her with a vicious slap that left her senseless.

"Did your ritual work, priest?" Raaz queried.

"As well as it needed to," Bishop replied.

"Did the girl find us the way?" Raaz pressed.

"The ritual was a test. Let's say she passed the test. The priority now is to follow this path and locate the temple. The girl might come in handy at the temple. Shah Maran could be requiring a virgin sacrifice."

A repulsive grin spread across the man's face, exposing his yellowed teeth. Sis, the elven warrior, responded with a similar expression. Baz, who had been eavesdropping silently, remained stoic.

The group was tracing the newly-formed rivulet, its currents reflecting a resplendent blend of golden-orange tinges, stemming from the amalgam of crimson-hued soil and glistening sand. Though Allendra had regained consciousness, she continued to put on a show of being comatose, believing that this was the river she had been dreaming of for nights. The end was nigh, and with trembling hands, she looked back in trepidation, aware that the ford was lurking around the corner. Her fate was inescapable.

The dawn's onset was imminent, the hour plunged in deepest shadows. They treaded the path without any source of luminescence, the mist elves and ogres possessing inherent night vision. The priest, on the other hand, whose eyes were no use in the pitch-black surroundings, was guided by Raaz.

"The water's flow is ebbing," Raaz observed.

"We must be in close proximity," Bishop responded with fervor.

As they descended the hill, they followed the sinuous curves of the stream that meandered down the side of the elevations, creating diminutive cascades and sculpting natural stone staircases into the golden sand dunes. Each step they took was wider than the last, and Baaz immediately perceived that these steps had always existed, unearthed by the current of the water. At the end of the natural staircase, they arrived at a spacious plain nestled among hills of varying sizes composed of crimson rocks. Here, the water had generated a petite pond, and the flow terminated beyond this point. The streaming water had swept away all the sand from the surface of the craggy hills encompassing the pond, leaving behind crimson cliffs that resembled fortresses.

"Behold, the crimson fortresses," Allendra murmured in a voice too low for anyone to hear.

"Here it is," Bishop hissed.

"At this point, the water disappears underground," Baaz observed, listening intently to the ground.

"Indeed. The temple we seek has been buried in the sand for centuries, and there was once a river delta surrounding it. According to legend, the red river that originated from the Bloodwall Mountains flowed into this area in the distant past," he declared.

As daybreak approached, the priest's zeal grew, and he issued instructions to all.

The mist elves scoured the area, seeking a pathway. Bishop directed one of the ogres to wade into the pond. The waterline rose to his knees and elevated to his midsection. The ogre basked in the coolness, taking refuge from the oppressive sun. Abruptly, a resounding snap sliced through the air.

"Augur, remain immobile!" Baaz's voice echoed.

The ogre stood frozen.

"What's the commotion?" Bishop questioned.

"I assume Augur set off a snare. The clamping stones must be submerged beneath the pond," Baaz responded.

"Are you confident?" Bishop skeptically queried.

"Traps are my area of expertise, priert," Baaz asserted sternly.

"What's the next course of action?" Bishop reluctantly inquired.

Baaz withdrew a rope from his backpack and fashioned a noose.

"Everyone ascend the hill at the rear and vacate the premises. I'll endeavor to hoist him out," he instructed.

The others obeyed his command. Baaz adeptly aimed and ensnared Augur's waist with the noose, with a distance of approximately fifteen meters between them. However, just as he prepared to draw the ogre out, Bazil perceived the swishing of an arrow. The missile struck Augur's chest, and the colossal creature plummeted to the ground, lifeless.

As Baaz had foreseen, the mechanism sprang into action with lightning speed. Successive reverberations emanated from the locking stones resting at the bottom of the pond. Just as the soil was collapsing into a bottomless pit, Baaz raced at full throttle and clutched a jutting ledge on the hillside at the eleventh hour. He dangled in mid-air for a moment before gently lowering himself to the ground once he felt confident he was out of harm's way.

A crater of at least fifty meters in diameter had opened up where the pond was, and the cascading water continued to pour into it. Raaz, attempting to discern the arrow's origin, spotted the Galanadel elf about four hundred meters away.

"We must descend at once, Bishop. They're approaching," Raaz exclaimed.

"Right ahead of us, Raaz. See it? That's the temple's entrance," Bishop exclaimed with enthusiasm.

The mist elf gazed at the designated spot. Across from them, carved into the rocks, stood a structure resembling the head of a cobra snake. The snake's head fashioned the entrance portico, with exquisitely carved eyes peering directly at them. The door, reminiscent of an open serpent's mouth, was wide open, and water flowed in that direction. Leveraging the rocky heaps formed by the crumbled boulders, they found a route down and rapidly descended.

Baaz, who had already reached the entrance and was scrutinizing the threshold, issued a warning to the others, "It's suspect that the entrance is devoid of any doors. Traps could still be in place. Wait for me to inspect the serpent effigies."

"Time is not on our side," Bishop retorted, seizing Allendra's hand and tugging her towards the opening. The little girl put up a fight, but they took a few steps forward and heard a distinctive click.

A viridescent plume of dust emanated from a cobra statue at the entrance. Bishop had inhaled the smoke and started to cough uncontrollably. Raaz aided the poisoned priest, who was struggling to resist the toxin's effects.

The minute detail that only Baz had perceived - who had pulled Allendra back with remarkable celerity, saving her life when the trap was sprung - was that Allendra had triggered the mechanism. The young girl had fought with all her might while the priest was dragging her, and had touched every nook and cranny of the snake statue at the entrance.

And the detail that only Allendra had taken notice of was that she had undergone a bizarre sensation upon touching the serpent effigy.