Chapter 13: Victory, of a Sort
Finished, unfinished.
The tentacles are no more.
Neither the statue.
~ Miyara Miwa
To my horror, I saw Kyosuke pulled beneath the mud by a swarm of tentacles. I started towards him, but could not break free of the tentacles that surrounded me. I redoubled my efforts: I had to get to Kyosuke before he drowned in the mud. But only a few seconds later, I myself was pulled under, and I remember nothing else.
I awoke in an area I had not seen before, Ravena concentrating over me. I glanced around, but saw Kyosuke to one side, alive. I lay still, allowing Ravena to continue her healing. It is an odd feeling, almost as though something is crawling around inside my skull, and at the same time I can feel the strangest sensations from any injuries. Not pain, not an itch, not a tickle, nor really a touch of any kind. It is neither pleasant nor unpleasant, and I find myself unable to describe it in any meaningful way. It is certainly like nothing I have felt before. Perhaps healers within our temples at home heal thusly: I have never had an opportunity to see.
The place was actually where the other doors had led. Res Li had explored it while we battled the monster, he said in hopes of finding the "stone of stones" the White Faerie sought. Cowardly, of course, although I could see no use for him in any kind of fight anyway. At least he had been safe so that we were not required to take care of him or rescue him.
There was no "stone of stones", although Ravena seemed quite interested in the contents of several jars on a table, and two scrolls. One of them described entering some place by walking around in circle, then plunging through flames. Apparently that is how one enters the temple of the Druidess we had been headed towards earlier. I can only assume that this Druidess is extremely secretive, perhaps like the monks who prefer to live solitary lives in remote places, meditating and praying far from the distractions of ordinary life. The other one was faerie, and I did not catch its meaning.
There was no sign of the statue. Only the ogres above were left.