More than I bargained for...

     I stared at the wooden bowl for some time, trying to think what the next step was... Was there someone still in the room...? I put down the book I was holding and walked towards the bowl. Placing my hand just over the it, I withdrew it quickly; it was still very hot, which meant someone had been here within the last few minutes! I checked the stove quickly, but the fire had been extinguished, and the top was not hot enough to maintain the temperature of the soup! Heading towards the door, I opened it and peered out; the rain was still coming down, but the trees planted into the top of the small dirt hovel were protecting it. Taking the dagger in hand, I walked forwards, leaving the door open, and heading off to the left, where the cobblestone lead upwards. The cobble stairs hugged the wall the entire way up to the top of the hill, with torches placed at regular intervals. Not knowing what to expect, I took my time getting to the top, expecting someone - or something - to drop on top of me from above! Getting to the top, I was soaking wet, but glad of the rain; it obscured my outline slightly, and also dampened my footsteps. No-one would hear me coming... Looking around, I saw that I was indeed on top of a hill, possible a hundred metres above sea level! Looking back down from where I had come; the two trees acted as perfect camouflage to hide the small dirt hovel. The cobblestone stairway was the only giveaway, as was the small waterfall that trickled into a small hole in the roof of it. Going out under a tree, I took the map out of my bag and studied it. From where I had been in the chamber, I had traveled due West for long enough to be on a separate island! That meant I must be on the small island in the North-West corner of the map!

     From where I was, I couldn't see any other island that I recognised, and so I decided to return to the dirt hovel. That, and it was raining and starting to get dark! Chances were, whoever had been here moments before, hadn't escaped this way. As I descended the stairs, I thought about how they could even hear me! It was raining full pelt and there were no windows in that small place! There wasn't any other exit or entrance that I could see of, so they must have left from the front entrance before I went around... Getting back to the dirt hovel, I went back in and closed the door; if they came back, I wanted to hear them! I went over to the bookshelf again, and picked up the book I had in my hand before. It was a little battered, and was the reason that I had been drawn to it first; I thought it might be a diary of the person living here. Instead it turned out to be a book about flowers that grew in certain areas of Minecraftia... A very old book. I went through the rest of the bookshelf, looking for any sign of the person's identity, but there was nothing. They either didn't keep a diary, or kept it on their person the entire time... A little like me if so... Feeling slightly defeated, I sat on the bed and thought about the next stage... What would I do...? I had found a small hovel which was obviously owned by a person, possibly a miner! Instantly I thought about contacting HoN Co. about it, but that meant two things: 1. going all the way back to the house, and 2. scrapping my plan of ignoring them! Besides, chances are they knew less of this place than I did! As I sat there, I began to listen to the rain as it hit the trees above and trickled onto the dirt roof. Whoever had made this had done a good job, especially for making it from mud! It didn't appear to be leaking, and there were barely any traces of tree roots coming through... It was getting late, and I was tempted to have a sleep, but it seemed rude, despite the current situation! I was exhausted, and the lack of sleep and food was definitely affecting me; I had begun to hear weird sounds beneath the floor. I put my fingers in my ears reflexively in the hope they would go away, and I curled up on the bed, now not caring about who it belonged to!

     I must have dozed off for a small while because when I awoke, it was pitch black outside, and still raining, but only a sort of slow drizzle... I felt a little better after the nap, but the sound I thought I had heard whilst drowsy continued beneath me... I kneeled down on the floor, and put my ear to it, expecting to hear the sound of water underneath, but instead I heard the sound of crackling fire from deep below. It sounded as though there was a fire raging beneath the floor! But that was impossible... There was water down there! Remembering all of the hidden panels, levers and passageways I had found in the past few days, I began to look around for any sign of another in the small room. I moved the bed, the chests, I pulled on the torches and searched around the floor, but I couldn't find anything... Defeated, I kicked the tool box in the corner, only for it to shift slightly, exposing a small hole... Dragging it to one side, I saw what I had been looking for; a hidden trapdoor, leading down a very long way, from the looks of things!

     Lifting the latch of the trapdoor, I opened it and swung my legs down to meet the ladder. I then pulled myself into position and began climbing down... It was a very long way down; I stopped every now and again to see how long left, but in the end it took about five minutes to descend to the bottom. The whole vertical shaft had been illuminated with torches, so it was unlikely to be a natural phenomena. I stepped from the last rung, and turned to my left where the only corridor started. I barely got a few steps into the corridor, before it expanded on all sides to the size of a huge darkened room with the most sinister and evil thing I had ever seen! There in the centre, was a huge pyramid which seemed to be constructed from bones and flesh! The corners of the pyramid were on fire, leading upwards towards the centre, which ended in a giant golden cap!

     There was a foul stench in the air; that of rotting flesh and sinew! I held my sleeve in front of my face as it was overwhelming! Even with my nose practically buried into my arm, I could still smell it, very strongly! I could almost taste it; it made me gag! Approaching closer, I noticed the smell start to dissipate, and the flesh started to look less real. When I was within a few feet of the pyramid walls, the smell had almost gone entirely, and the flesh was not real; instead it was stone! It was hard and smooth to the touch as stone is, but it had been stained with different dyes to give the impression of rotting meat! As for the origin of the stench, I couldn't work out, and frankly I didn't want to know! I advanced through a small entrance set into the front, which I had noticed earlier, and instantly my senses were assaulted by another phenomena! From all around I could hear the familiar sound of a portal... But it was as though they surrounded me! Continuing through the entrance and down a short corridor, I spotted the familiar purple hue of the rift of a portal straight ahead! Maybe the pyramid distorted the sound of the portal to make it sound more numerous than in reality...? As I continued forwards, I became aware of two other corridors which split off to the left and right from the main one. As I got level with one, I noticed something terrifying! In each direction there was a portal... Three portals! All of them were active! I stood in horror at the sight of all three! How could there be so many! These had to be destroyed now!

     Checking in my pockets, I searched for the stone, and suddenly realised I had left it upstairs with my bag! Rushing back out of the temple, I covered my nose as I ascended the steps that lead down to the pyramid, to stop the stench from getting to me! I ascended the ladder, taking a little over five minutes this time because of the hurry! I took the stone from my bag, which lay on top of the bed where I had left it. Hurrying back down the ladder, I made it back to the portals! I placed the stone on the portal to the left, hoping that it would suck all three portals in at once! The letter made reference to this being the case; "...anything that is nearby which is part of the two is sucked into the void!"... Waiting the usual length of time, the stone began to drain of colour, whilst the rift mutated to the sickly green hue again! The sides of the portal began to crumble and collapse just as before, but nothing happened to the other two portals... I waited until the entire portal disappeared, but still the two other portals remained... Maybe it was because the obsidian was still present to supply the rift with the energy it needed, thus maintaining the symbiotic bond! I waited a few minutes until the stone became visible again before picking it up. It wasn't fully charged yet otherwise it would be glowing bright yellow because of its proximity to two portals! The moment to be worried would be if the stone didn't glow! This would mean either the stone had stopped working and needed more time to recharge, or the portals weren't unstable... They had been activated through the use of electrostatic discharge! From the length of the ladder, though I doubted that heavily! As a reminder, my stomach began to growl in protest, and I thought now would be a good a time as any to get some food. I had seen some meat in the chest, and the soup was still there! I rushed back to the ladder, ascending it again, with the stone in my pocket. I wasn't letting it out of sight!

     I've just got to the top of the ladder, and I've heard a noise at the door. There is also a shadow... I'm getting rather freaked out now, but I've got my dagger just in case... I think I'm going to investigate... I mean, what's the worst that could happen...?

Syeonyx signing off