God Complex - Vol. 1

XXXIV. Revered Renegade-Part I.

Jun threw his backpack and bow to the ground as he plopped down on a nearby rock.

He was panting heavily, throwing his sweat-drenched black hair back. The night sky was absent of clouds that allowed the galaxy and sea of bright stars to easily be seen.

Him and Arkshan had hiked through the hilly grasslands that surrounded Perenykisk for the past two days. It was like an endless, unchanging of scenery that felt like forever.

And the boredom wasn't even the worst part.

His back and feet ached from having to carry his backpack for miles upon miles.

On foot.

Jun's entire felt body like it was trampled by a stampede of horses and thrown down a rocky cliff side.

Thankfully when they were leaving, one of the many towns they passed through, called Tevarest, where they thankfully ran into a wagon driver.

The man who drove the wagon was sending up some type of crops for selling in a city up north. Thankfully, north was where Arkshan and Jun needed to go.

Jun's back had gotten a break as they traveled the whole afternoon and into the evening with the man. They had asked where the city was and the man replied that it was called Krasdź and was located in the forests, that surrounded the Ten Claw Range.

Jun was happy at first that their journey, after dropping off in Krasdź, wasn't going to include any more walking. He was right, but not in the way he was expecting.

As now the entire jounery to the dwarves' mine in Kordegórmuni was going to have to be hiked instead of walking. And in extremely mountainous terrain that is littered with forest and cold peaks of Drake's Mouth.

The best part was that there was absolutely no path or trail to go into Drake's mouth.

So Jun had to endure branches and other pieces of foliage being smacked into his face by Arkshan.

The only unsettling thing about the mountainous forest was the amount of random ruins of wooden houses and wagons scattered throughout it.

Even though the cool breeze of the night air was welcomed by Jun, as he was sweating profusely while hiking, he still wasn't very happy about it.

He looked out into the montane forest of fir trees down below and the peaks that seemed to never end. It reminded him of the times when his mother would walk him around Koami and show him all the temples and forest trees.

A sad smile came to him as he thought of holding his mother's hand.

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Jun saw a large shrine that was made completely out of stone carved within the side of the mountain.

Its columns and walls were intricately decorated with designs to symbols. A huge statue of a dragon was carved with so much detail that it looked like a miniature dragon was in the temple.

Incense, bowls of various foods, and piles of coins were at the foot of the dragon.

He looked up to his mother, her long brown hair and luxurious robes flowing in the cold montane air.

"What temple is this?" Jun asked as he went closer to the entrance of the temple.

"This is the Sacred Temple of The Forest" His mother responded, calmly walking next to Jun. "It's dedicated to the ancient dragon Eirlong. It is where he collects his tribute from Kaomi nearby."

Jun looked at the dragon statue again and pointed towards it.

"Is that Eirlong then?" His mother nodded her head.