The Hero

"Kosi! Are you hurt?" 

"Brenna! Kosi! Are either of you hurt?!" 

The voices of both humans overlapped. 

"I'm fine," Noble answered, tapping lightly on Kosi to let her go. 

Grunting, the Symncus shook his golden mane free of the dust and debris. 

It filled the air, causing Noble to cough wildly before laughing. "I think that means you are alright." 

Her smile faded slightly as she looked around.

"Did you know this was here?" she asked Counsel. 

Now that Counsel knew his companions were unharmed, he had also begun to study the strange cavern in which they now found themselves. The man hummed softly. 

"This specifically? No. But that book from the ancient king spoke of tunnels. I figured there had to be something somewhere." 

Noble had come to the same conclusion. The magic of the arena had not allowed her to use her special sight to check behind the walls, and even if she had, there were no living things that she could use for reference. The cavern was empty. 

That was not to say it was uninteresting. One of the natural walls had etchings that were difficult to examine in the dim light. 

Light that was quickly fading. 

"The wall!" Noble gasped. Behind them, the wall of the arena had begun to repair itself. Soon the trio would be entombed in this space. 

Acting quickly, Counsel widened the hole by chipping away at the freshly forming rock. With Kosi's help, they stalled the wall's healing properties. 

Noble spoke the Name of light and the cavern filled with a soft brilliance. 

The place was large but did not have any foreseeable exit. If the wall fully closed and they were unable to open it again, they would be stuck.

'I could possibly get out with the help of my little ominous friend, but I would rather not have to.'

Fortunately, with Kosi and Counsel standing in the breach, Noble was safe.

The curious professor floated slowly forward, making sure not to miss any traps that might be in such a strange place. The artwork looked like a lure, and she was the fish. 

When nothing was triggered, Noble relaxed and released the breath she was holding.

She touched the wall gently. 'Why would anyone put drawings here?' 

There were no runes to accompany the crude sketches, so she would have to make do with what was drawn. 

"What is it?" Counsel called as he continued his war of attrition with the wall.

"I'm not sure. Give me a moment." Noble squinted in concentration. 

She quickly realized it was a series of drawings and once the professor found the beginning, it was easier to follow.

The first showed a man in love with a woman. But her face was turned away. 

'Unrequited love.'

The next image showed the man meeting a nebulous mass. Above the creature's head was a black triangle. While it wasn't a name, Noble thought it must have been a marker of some kind. 

"I see a man being rejected by a woman and then going to see a being with a black triangle over his head." 

"A being? Like a creature or a god?" Counsel furrowed his brow. 

"I don't know, but it looks more like a human than an animal." Even though the picture was only one color and very faded, she felt like there was a humanoid shape to it. 

She moved to the next image and her confusion deepened. The man was being offered something by the godlike being: a black ball. 

"The Triangle Being seems to have given the man a gift of a black sphere. Whatever it was supposed to do or be, the man doesn't seem happy about it. Oh!" Noble had been tracing the images as she spoke and suddenly pulled back her hand.

The image after receiving the ball was the man looking at it in agony. His eyes looked wild as he stared at the ball in disbelief. That had been bad enough, but the next picture was even more harrowing. 

Now the voyager had gone to something that looked to be the size of a mountain. Except the mountain had a face and the only color other than black on the entire mural. A red mark on its chest. 

"What? What is it?!" Counsel nearly abandoned his place to go and check on the woman, but she held up her hand. 

"Sorry! The picture just frightened me. If I am following the story correctly, the man took the ball to the mountain with a heart or the heart of the mountain? Whatever it is, it is terrifying. 

"That would be the heart god. The God of Souls hasn't been seen in our area in many lifetimes though." Counsel grunted as he hit back another block of stone.

If he kept that up, the man would end up with broken bones soon enough. Kosi at least had the strength to make the smashing look easy. 

Noble tried to hurry to the end of the story. "It looks like the Heart God did something to the ball. It has lines through it now at least. But then the man goes and meets a....beast?" 

"How big of a beast?" Counsel squinted to see between his efforts.

"Big and with a circle behind it..." Noble noted that the circle was around the beast's head and not filled in. 

"Ah the circle is the moon and the figure is the Beast God. He is the patron god of Crestfall, after all. Kosi's father belongs to the Beast God. The people of the mountains would have been protected if they had simply followed our lead." Counsel nodded. 

'The people of the mountains?' Noble immediately thought of which ancient civilizations could go by that name. 

She had read about more than a few places that were tied to the Beast God. The Dream Realm was polytheistic, so every place worshipped all gods to some extent and had different patrons through their history. Noble needed more information.

'Could this Nightmare be taking place near Ender's Deep?' 

There were mountains near her citadel and Crestfall also had at least one underground cavern. 

'If this is so, I wish I had done more exploring. There cannot be that many cities this size. Surely they would have left some remains!'

That was assuming that the location was anywhere near her home in the Dream Realm. Noble had heard no rumors of a nearby Seed. 

Not that Song would have broadcast that news, but there would have been some sort of backchannel whispers at least! 

'Oh well…'

It wasn't worth mulling over what had or hadn't happened before entering the Nightmare. What did matter was what she did from here forward. 

Even if this would only help her future research, Noble was determined to discover what this wall had to offer. 

Her mouth opened slightly as she contemplated exactly what this story encompassed. 'Three powerful beings in the same mural. What kind of man was this? Was he a hero of old?'

"What happened with the Beast God?" Counsel urged. His voice was strained. 

The wall was becoming more committed to its cause to close. Kosi and Counsel were starting to struggle against the indefatigable magic. 

"I am not sure. The man passes the ball to the Beast God, and in return...he gets a creature...no...the creature!" Noble gasped. "It looks like the Tyrant! 

The image was severely distorted as if the teller dreaded revealing the truth, but the last image showed a flying monster bent on destruction. 

Did the Beast God usually give pets to those who earnestly sought them? Kosi was her protector, but she had no idea how that process had even occurred. Was the Beast God responsible for that pairing as well as the one in the mural? 

There was a lot to consider. 

'I wonder how...'

"Brenna!" Counsel shouted. "I cannot hold it anymore. We have to go." 

Noble turned to see the entrance closing...and fast