Torrential downpour

     When we caught up to UOPETA, he had stopped again, and was staring off into the distance. Had he spotted something again? Squinting past the rain, I tried the same technique that UOPETA always applied, and tried to allow my eyes to see movement in a sea of movement. I focused on something off in the distance, which was difficult due to the fog, and then allowed my peripheral vision to spot anything. But I couldn't see anything at all; the driving rain made it impossible to pinpoint any form of movement other than the rain itself. Eventually UOPETA stood up straight again.

"I think we should go to the East first... It would make more sense."

"I was about to suggest that. The portal to the North is closer, but the one off to the far East would require backtracking needlessly."

With one last look to the North, UOPETA moved off to the East towards the edge of the map where one of the farther portals was located. I was beginning to worry about UOPETA; first AMPHIS, now him. Maybe there was more to SERVERE being alive than we had initially thought... Either that, or an overactive imagination within AMPHIS had sparked off paranoia in UOPETA. Seeing shadows where there was nothing. I just wondered... Who would be next...?

     With the constant rain and thick fog, it was hard to gauge how far we had to go to reach certain locations, which made the journey that much more tiring. Not only that, but we were drenched to the bone and beginning to feel the chill. We would need to find somewhere to settle soon, even if it meant sacrificing the last few hours of the day. Luckily we found the next portal location on the cusp of the map, right along the Eastern coast. The sandy shore gave us an indication we were close, and a short wade across knee-deep water brought us to the right location. Upon arriving, we more or less instantly found the portal. Well... Some of it. A small portion of the portal was visible above the ground, but it was difficult to tell whether it was the top of the bottom.

"Well, there's only one way to find out, and that's to dig!"

Joining together, we managed to remove large quantities of sand away from the edges which would tell us whether it was the top or bottom, and before we knew it we found out. The iridescent purple light began to shine through, along with the eerie dripping sounds, which seemed to echo more, maybe because of the rain, or the densely packed sand... We had found the first active portal of the journey, however from the looks of it, it was only a standard portal. Oh well, it was better than nothing. Any progress was better than no progress at all. After extracting as much sand as we could with our hands, the head of the pickaxe and other items that came to hand, UOPETA jumped down into the newly formed hole and asked for THEROS to throw him the glowing stone. Reaching inside his bag, THEROS produced the glowing stone, which lived up to its name by emitting an intense orange glow that bathed the area in a warming hue. Placing the stone on the base of the portal, UOPETA backed off and we all watched as the magical destruction of the portal took place. The eerie green glow of the portal began to replace the purple and orange light, casting stark shadows across the sand, making it feel otherworldly. After a few moments, the sickly light intensified, before dulling down and fading completely. UOPETA waited for the stone to reappear, before climbing out of the hole.

"Two down, a lot more to go!"

     From where we were, we headed West North West, towards the next and probably last portal of the day, according to the now reducing light. The rain hadn't eased off a bit since it started this morning, so we were still in a rush to get somewhere dry. Unfortunately the open fields seemed to stretch for miles, with no sight of a tree or overhanging cliff for shelter at all. It may mean having to travel a little further to find somewhere, however the next location seemed to be on top of a large hill. Maybe there was somewhere close by that we could use as a shelter. As we reached the half way point - more or less - the rain began to ease off, finally. The ground beneath our feet had grown slick from the churned up mud, so we now had to travel carefully in case we fell over. Not that that was a major issue, but more that is was embarrassing. Adding muddy to the list of current issues was not something we wanted to do. UOPETA stopped again at the top of a small rise, and once again began staring out across the land below. The fog had lifted slightly, allowing us to see better, but I still couldn't make out anything that had intrigued him so much.

"UOPETA? What do you see...?"

"I don't know... It's like there are patches of ground scattered across this place where it isn't raining. But only for a few moments at a time... It's like something is blocking the rain from hitting the ground..."

"It's probably just a mixture of things. It's hard to see as it is, and you're likely to be on edge because of the faulty wiring back at the house..."

"Maybe..."

UOPETA didn't sound so sure, but continued anyway. We eventually reached the hill that was marked on the map, and like before, we found the right place almost immediately. Then again, with there being a large hole in the ground leading down, it was hard to imagine where else the portal could be...

Heading down the steps, THEROS led the way, lighting up the dark with torches. The steps wound around for some time, and I was beginning to wonder if we had stumbled upon something a little bigger than just a portal. But the steps eventually doubled and split off, leading to a small passage with purple light emanating from ahead.

"Looks like we just found the last portal of the day... And the shelter we needed!"

Heading down into the small chamber, THEROS readied the glowing stone, whilst me and UOPETA place the bags down in the corner. Whilst THEROS destroyed the portal, UOPETA began to start a fire with some waste material he had in his bag.

"It's a good job I come prepared. If we had relied upon some foliage from nearby we would never have a fire going. I just hope it stops raining by tomorrow..."

     We've decided to sacrifice the last few hours of daylight in favour of the shelter this small chamber provided. THEROS went back and removed a few of the torches closer to the entrance to prevent drawing any attention to our position. Sitting around the fire eating the basic supplies we had brought with us, it wasn't long before we were fully dry! The chamber trapped the warmth, and it wasn't long before we began to feel drowsy. The only good thing about being cold and wet was it kept us alert. Now we could relax. We would set out again as soon as one of us woke up again, but I couldn't see that happening too early in the morning. Setting the bedding a sensible distance from the fires, we settled in for the night, warm and snug in the chamber. Odd... I felt secure again... I can't for the life of me think why...

Syeonyx signing off

Day 131: Job half finished...

     After further discussion, we put the strange occurrences with the doors and opening secret room down to faulty wiring; I had to admit, the age of this place was enough to induce these types of glitches, especially with the lack of maintenance. It just meant we would have to be careful about using them if that was the case. However, I wasn't still one hundred per cent convinced, but I kept that to myself. I still think AMPHIS feels the same way too, but with me, UOPETA and THEROS setting out tomorrow, I won't really have time to talk to him about it. Hopefully we will have forgotten about it by then...

     Getting up early, me, THEROS and UOPETA wanted to set out as soon as possible, and make a head start on the portals. THEROS had managed to append as many portal locations to the map as he could, but with the day for us to set off here, the amount we had would have to do for the moment. In the meantime, AMPHIS is going to translate more of the books, allowing us to come back and instantly add more to the map. I was thinking that we would need some form of tent to sleep under, like the one I had back when I was trying to find this house, but UOPETA assures me that it' not necessary.

"Provided we have a fire set up in a location that's sheltered from view, we can settle anywhere really. However, I think any type of cave we find should be a port of call first if we're close enough."

If we could find a cave halfway between SERVERE's house and the rest of the portals, then great. It wasn't necessary, but it would shorten our day somewhat having to come back to it. However, camping out directly under the stars, and exposed would allow us to go on a little further without us having to retrace our steps each day. I suppose it would depend where we start. Judging from the map, we'd head North, clear the portals on this small island, head over the ice that bridged the gap to the other side, and work our way West. Then we would head North again along the Western side, and then head East to the far right corner of the map. Once we've done that, we'll head back to the house and pick up more coordinates. It's likely that we'll repeat the same journey, so wherever we can, we'll take out any and all portals we find along the way, regardless of whether it's on the map or not.

"We better set off now then if we're to get a good start..."

UOPETA finished briefing AMPHIS on the protocols when night fell; no visible light son in the house, retreat to the library etc. etc., and we then headed out of the door. It would be a few days, maybe a week before seeing this house again. As soon as we stepped outside of the mossy walls surrounding the house, I felt on edge again, and realised how safe that house made me feel.

     Great... It's raining... Again... Almost as if on cue, the rain began to pour as we left the house far behind. It wasn't long before the house was completely concealed by a rapidly engulfing mist and fog, that seemed to appear from nowhere, and suffocate the flat fields and plains before us. From where we were, we would head off to the North East, where the first portal was located close to a small pool, from the looks of the map. We just hoped it would stop raining by then, but we didn't have high hopes for that. We were fully prepared for almost any eventuality apart from rain; blowpipes for guards and Creepers, and there was the glowing stone from the Nether to destroy the active portals. Failing that, I had my diamond pickaxe for those portals not activated, but I doubt there were going to be many of them. SERVERE seemed to only mark the ones that were active as he didn't possess the Solus stone at the time to destroy them, nor did he know of the stones present in the Nether. So we were only likely going to need the glowing stone, but it didn't make sense to leave the pickaxe behind. Aside from those things, we had a few rations, with the hopes that we could procure more along the way (THEROS had this idea of attempting to fish in the large body of water to the North), the sleeping bags and blankets, torches and obviously the map. I was talking freely to THEROS about SERVERE, and what he was like back when everyone knew him; as we were still traveling on flat open plains and fields, UOPETA's scouting job was considerably easier, even with the rapidly descending fog. At one point though, he did stop us, and spent a few minutes squinting into the rain...

"UOPETA? Have you seen something? Are there guards up ahead? Creepers?"

"I don't know... I saw... Something... I thought I saw... Never mind..."

Me and THEROS were a little freaked out by this, and THEROS probed further. We wanted to know exactly what UOPETA had seen, regardless of how outrageous it could sound.

"It's nothing, probably... It just looked like there was a small patch of grass where rain wasn't falling... It was probably a trick of the light or something... Let's move on, we're close to the first one."

UOPETA moved off ahead, whilst THEROS turned and gave me a worried look. I was freaked out by this as well. 'Rain wasn't falling...'? What did that mean? It was raining everywhere around us! There was nothing in the sky or close to the ground to obscure it... We joined UOPETA, and THEROS confirmed that we were within a few metres of the disclosed location.

"Spread out, and search the area. It could be anywhere, so look for any underground access routes or surface caverns."

I went to the left, whilst THEROS went right and UOPETA continued on ahead. After what UOPETA had said he had "seen", and now that we were apart, I felt unnerved, and removed the pickaxe from my back. Feeling the handle between my hands made me feel a little bit more secure... But not a lot...

"I've found it! I think..."

Me and UOPETA went over to where THEROS was, and stood where he was standing, only to see a small portion of the portal. Well, this wasn't what we were expecting at all...

"Yes, that's a portal all right... Well, what's left of one. It seems SERVERE might have managed to destroy it after all... Maybe it wasn't active. Either way, he didn't destroy it completely. Syeonyx? If you could do the honours?"

Moving forwards, I struck the obsidian forcefully with the head of the pickaxe, sending sparks flying, despite the almost torrential downpour. After a few more strikes, large chips of obsidian began to ping off in different directions, scattering into the pool close by. I continued this until there was nothing left but obsidian fragments, which I kicked into the water...

"That's one down... I suppose... On to the next one..."

UOPETA began to lead the way off to the North East again, whilst I remained with THEROS as he crossed off the first portal from the map. It wasn't technically a start as it wasn't a whole one, but it felt good to be back into a stable routine again!

Syeonyx signing off

Ghost in the wire

     Both of us just stood motionless, staring at the parted bookshelves before us... How was that possible...? They only worked if someone stood upon on the pressure plates, either on the inside or the outside. But there we were, standing and looking at the inside of the library, with no-one standing on either of the two pressure plates...

"Do you think there's a fault with the wiring or something?"

I honestly didn't know... All I knew was that those doors should not be open. Slowly an carefully, I approached the doors, squinting at the floor where the pressure plates were, to see if there was anything resting atop any of them. My first had been that we had possibly dropped a bone whilst transferring the remains to the house. But as I got closer to the door, I couldn't see anything on the floor at all... There was nothing close to the pressure plates on the inside or the outside, so there wasn't anything actually resting against them... Puzzled, I stood up straighter, still looking at the floor, whilst UOPETA came and stood beside me.

"Can you see anything unus..."

UOPETA never finished his sentence. Right in front of our eyes, the two sides of the bookshelves slammed forcefully shut, causing me and UOPETA to jump back in fear! There was a distant clicking sound, and then there was silence once more! After a few moments, I exhaled my held breath, quickly followed by UOPETA. We looked at each other, terror evident on both of our faces.

"What... The hell... Was that?"

I didn't know, and I didn't want to know! Was it possible that the wiring was faulty, causing the doors to open randomly, appearing glitched...? If that was the case, then this might also be true for the walkway that was suspended above the lava trench. This could also be dangerously faulty, which could end up with one of our deaths! After a few moments of silence aside from laboured breathing, trying to determine what could be the cause in our heads, UOPETA stepped forward towards the doors, and stepped onto the pressure plate. The bookshelves slid aside slowly and noiselessly. UOPETA then stepped back off them, and strangely enough, they met together in the middle, with no force or sound at all. Odd... Why hadn't it slammed shut just then...? Actually, that was its normal action, so the real question was why had it slammed shut a minute ago? UOPETA seemed as equally freaked out as me, and stepped back onto the pressure plate. This time he stepped inside the library, and I followed close behind him. Looking in, there was no-one here... Except...

"Erm... Syeonyx? What's this?"

UOPETA pointed to a now open entrance way that led into a small room. I hadn't told them about this before, and obviously it had surprised him, but what surprised me was why was it open! I was the only one who knew how to open it, and I was the last to leave the library, so I would have known if it was open or not... I quickly explained to UOPETA that I found this room when I had first arrived at SERVERE's house under the instructions of THEROS. I pointed out that in the chest before him was the diary of the supposedly last moments of SERVERE which was why I had assumed that the skeleton was that of SERVERE's. He seemed to accept this, until I told him that only I knew of it, and it was closed before we had come in here...

"What about AMPHIS or THEROS? Did they know of it?"

I think THEROS may have been aware of it through what I had said, but there was no way that he would know how to open it. And even if he had, what would he gain from inside here...? Only SERVERE's diary was in here, and there was little in that everyone didn't already know... Reaching into the chest, UOPETA pulled out the diary, and began reading at a random page... It sounded as though it was before HoN Co. had found him.

"Day 343... The time is coming... It has been foretold, and we must, as a group, put a stop to the evil that is causing such an event to unfold. If they succeed, all that we know, all that we love and hold dear, will perish in a maelstrom of evil and corruption. We have but one chance to stop them, and there is nothing of higher stakes than this. They must be stopped... He must be stopped... Before it is too late..."

UOPETA looked at me puzzled slightly, before looking back at the book again...

"Who is 'he' supposed to be...?"

Puzzled, I asked what he meant; UOPETA read out a small extract that seemed familiar, before reading more with references to an specific person. I shrugged... It seemed that SERVERE might have known more than the rest of the Lone 7. What also puzzled me was that during the incident with the Creepers, SERVERE mentions "their house"... I was led to believe that the base was already established at this point...

"It had, but it served as a greater deterrent for HoN Co. to think we were all spread out across the place. The wouldn't use so many guards to explore a single region, therefore making it easier for us to defend ourselves. Fortunately, it never came to that; they never found us, and to this day they still haven't... I hope..."

UOPETA was still missing the point though. This secret room was open when no-one else knew how to open it aside from me... Leaving UOPETA alone, I went back through the passage and asked AMPHIS and THEROS. They didn't seem to know what I was talking about. I led them down to where UOPETA was, and with the room still open, THEROS seemed to recognise what I meant.

"Oh yes, I remember you mentioning this. There's a lever somewhere, isn't there...?"

Reaching up above the entrance, I flicked the lever, and a bookshelf slid into place, closing UOPETA within. Flicking it back, we were greeted with an upset-looking UOPETA.

"So it only opens from the outside...? How odd..."

I then told them about the doors opening without anyone stepping on the pressure plates.

"Well look at the incident with the front door; this place is old, so there are likely to be a few issues with some of the things here..."

Yes, but a suddenly opening door, pressure plate-operated doors remaining open with no operator and now an open secret room which no-one knew about! Something was wrong here!

"It's like THEROS says, it's probably the age of the place. The wiring is likely to be old, so it can't be relied upon..."

I still wasn't sure, and judging from the look on AMPHIS's face, he wasn't either. Glad to see I wasn't alone in this...

Syeonyx signing off

Odd jobs

     Closing the door behind me, I joined the others at the table, and sat in silence. I gathered that despite the lack of knowing who we had just buried, it had struck an emotional chord within us all. But we had to push on, push past this, and get on with bringing HoN Co. down! AMPHIS stood up and went over to his bag, removing all of the books held within, and sat back down in front of a piece of paper and a pencil. He kicked everyone else into gear by doing this, and THEROS followed suit next; retrieving the map, he began to use the already translated coordinates and plotted them individually in their respective locations. From the list he had, we were a long way off finishing just yet, but it meant we were remaining active, to distract ourselves from the current issues. Myself and UOPETA had nothing really to do at this point as we couldn't use the map until THEROS was finished. We needed enough points on the map first before heading out, otherwise it wouldn't be worth it...

"How many portal locations am I putting on before we can go ahead?"

"Well there's no point in heading out today. Just get as many as you can, and then we can start tomorrow. AMPHIS can continue with the translations, hopefully finding more portals for us to locate and destroy."

"Fair enough. What are you two going to do in the meantime?"

"That's a good question. Is there anything you need doing?"

"Actually, yes. It's another link to SERVERE, but I was wondering if it is possible for you and Syeonyx to go through some of the books within the library and try to find any link between these ones we found in the wooden shack, and SERVERE's...?"

"I think we can manage that!"

I followed UOPETA down into the basement, to begin searching through the books. AMPHIS says that there could be a link between SERVERE's books, and the ones he's translating, but even if there wasn't we might learn something anyway. Passing over the lava trench, I felt the apprehension leave me as I crossed over to the other side. Stepping onto the pressure pads, I looked into the room, and at shelf after shelf of books. We had a lot of reading ahead of us...

     We had been going through the books for a long time. Without natural light, or windows to look out at the sun through, it was hard to determine how long, but judging from the pile of books we had gone through, we'd been a few hours at least. UOPETA is a stickler for order, so we both started on opposite sides of the room, and worked from right to left, top to bottom. It was time consuming, but it was so much easier tracking our own progress. After a large portion of the shelves were empty, and getting nowhere in finding anything that might help us, I suggested we go up and check on AMPHIS and THEROS.

"Yeah why not. Can't hurt to have a rest and something to eat. I think we've earned it."

We headed back out into the passage, and over the lava trench, before going up the ladder into the house. AMPHIS and THEROS seemed to be still hard at work, and didn't even notice us entering the house from the basement.

"Made much progress in our absence?"

"Have a look for yourselves. I think that will keep us busy for sometime. Meanwhile, AMPHIS can find more of the portals and write out the coordinates."

There were quite a few points now on the map, and with them all being spread out quite far, I could guarantee that would keep us going for some time. UOPETA began to go through the bags to find something to cook, whilst I looked at the map. I noticed a portal location to the East of the house and pointed this out to the others. I had been here before, and to the East was a small mine which SERVERE had obviously opened up and found a portal. I had found it and destroyed it though, so that one could be removed immediately.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. I was one hundred per cent sure! It had been enclosed in a mossy walled chamber, with a small set of steps leading up to it. I think it was the first portal I had used the Solus stone on. It was then that I realised that the stone works by glowing brighter the nearer it is to a portal activated with thermal energy rather than lightning. UOPETA finished off cooking the meal, and we all sat down to eat, laughing and joking, as though a large time scale had passed from this morning, and the unfortunate thing we had to do.

     Finishing off the meal, we sat around talking for a little while longer. We discussed many things, including what OROTHO was likely to be doing, joking that he was probably annoying Amie, THEXIS, Joe and COLUS with his "antics"! After a while, we got up, getting ready to go back down into the hidden library, when the front door burst open! Immediately we all jumped to attention; I held my pickaxe in hand, whilst everyone else had gone for their blowpipe! Standing motionless for a few moments, we wondered how that had happened. But seeing the door flap back and forth slightly, we assumed it must have been from a strong gust of wind!

"That scared the life out of me! I suppose that's one thing you have to get used to living in the middle of an open field... No protection from strong winds."

That was true, but it had never done that before... Lowering our offensive stances, me and UOPETA headed down to the library beneath the house. Reaching the end of the trench, I stopped and stared. That wasn't right... UOPETA came across, and looked at me puzzled.

"Syeonyx? You all right?"

I didn't respond. I just stood there, and pointed towards the far end of the passage, where the sliding shelves stood open, exposing the library within...

"What the..."

Syeonyx signing off

Day 130: Funeral for a friend?

     After settling down in the basement beneath the house, with a table and bedding for the night, we headed back out to where the skeleton lay in the passage. Carefully, we moved the remains back up to the house, and laid them carefully upon the bed, before extinguishing all of the torches and heading back down into the hidden basement area. Tomorrow we could properly establish ourselves here, as I had a feeling we could be here for some time. We would need more portal locations plotted on the map, so tomorrow, AMPHIS would be translating them, and then handing them over to THEROS who would be placing them onto the map. Meanwhile, me and UOPETA will be laying to rest the remains of the person upstairs. We were still unable to prove if they were indeed the remains of SERVERE, an so we couldn't treat them any differently out of disrespect to the dead. We needed a good night's sleep to get through tomorrow.

     I had slept amazingly well last night considering the circumstances; the warmth of the nearby lava trench and the combined heat of all of our bodies was enough to make last night a restful one! I had a feeling that the increased feeling of security had something to do with it. Ever since the lockdown on the base that was enforced by COLUS, I hadn't felt secure at all. But being back here... It had been some time, but it felt good to be back. Once we were all awake, we went back through the passage and into the house, setting immediately into our separate tasks.

"We've got some way to go, but whilst you bury the remains, we can get a head start."

AMPHIS and THEROS sat down together at a table, whilst I went into one of the chests, and fetched out a slowly rusting shovel. We would need it to dig the grave. UOPETA remained behind in the house for some time; picking the items from one of the chests, he then began to drag it to the door.

"It's better... Urgh... Then just dumping... The bones... Urgh... In an open grave..."

Putting the shovel on top of the chest, I picked up the other end and helped him carry it out. It wasn't that heavy, as the remains hadn't been placed inside yet. We had thought about it, but due to the state they were in, and the distance we would travel, they would likely end up in one corner of the chest. A little disrespectful. Instead, we moved the chest outside, and headed right out of the archway and to a spot we had already designated. It was a small spot beneath a tree, overlooking a serene field of animals and wildflowers. It was ideal. Placing the chest close to the tree, UOPETA went back, telling me he was going to make up a sign. Remembering the inventory of the other chest before leaving, I called for him to bring some slabs back with him as a gravestone. Once he was out of sight, I took the shovel from atop the chest and began to dig pretty much directly beneath the tree. I hope you're at piece, SERVERE... Wherever you are...

     UOPETA had made a sign, and came out from the house holding it carefully in his hands. With a single blow on each nail, he drove both forcefully into the tree with the hammer, before stepping back and checking the angle. After ensuring it was to his liking, he helped me out of the new hole I had dug, and we repositioned the chest.

"Right... We just need to get the remains and place them in the chest. Is there any cloth or something we can use to wrap up and carry the bones in?"

I was pretty sure there was, and we headed back to the house. Going through the other chest, we eventually found some left over scraps of cloth, enough to comfortably wrap the bones in. Carefully, we took them outside, not wanting to go too fast in case we stumbled. We eventually reached the chest, and placed the wrapped up remains inside.

"Right, I'll fill the hole in, whilst you go and get AMPHIS and THEROS. Even if this wasn't SERVERE, they deserve a proper send off!"

Helping UOPETA lower the chest into the fresh hole, I then went off to fetch AMPHIS and THEROS to allow them to pay their respects to the deceased.

     With all of us gathered around the humble grave of the unknown person, we bowed our heads out of respect. It was hard to really gauge what to do, what to say... We didn't know if we were paying our respects to SERVERE, or a member of HoN Co. who might have been trying to kill him! At the least, we had to class SERVERE as missing in action, which felt a lot like him being dead as well. He wasn't here with us now, and we could only hope that he was safe and happy wherever he actually was. Even if he now lay at the bottom of a grave before us...

"Anyone want to say a few words...?"

"Erm... Yes, okay... I don't really know where to start... Or how to start... The remains of this person may or may not be SERVERE, but what is clear is that this is till a human being. They lived like we did. They may have had family. They had the same feelings and emotions as all of us, and no matter what they did... There is no justification to treat them any differently. I hope that the memory of whoever lies before us lives on in the hearts and souls of those they touched. And let them never be forgotten. Let us hope that, regardless whether this is SERVERE or not, wherever he is... He is happy, and at peace..."

There was silence for a few moments, allowing each of us to pay our respects to this person in our own way. After a few minutes, UOPETA stepped towards THEROS, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"That was beautiful THEROS. I bet whoever we have before... They would be more than happy for the send-off you just gave them..."

One by one, we began to head back to the house, to get back on with our own lives. The world couldn't come to a standstill because one person is buried. The last to go, I looked at the message etched into the wooden plaque... "Departed Soul"

Syeonyx signing off

Respect for the deceased

     After we had all rested up, we set off again, this time towards the North so we could rejoin the coast and begin following it Eastwards again. We still had a decent distance left to cover, but with the end almost in sight, we continued on with the same level of enthusiasm. As we rounded the cliff, we spotted the next landmark of our journey... Well, actually it was a landmark for me anyway, as I had passed it many times before. The next noticeable area for us would be the stone beach, and even it was only an indication to begin heading due North towards SERVERE's house. We had stopped behind another tree to allow UOPETA to determine if the route ahead was clear for us to progress onwards, and it was then that he mentioned something which we had all apparently forgotten about...

"At the stone beach there is an incomplete portal chamber that we have already visited, remember? That is where we recruited Joe to our cause. Well, we're going to have to be careful about approaching that place when we get close. HoN Co. has likely found out about what has happened there by now, and will possibly have set up security."

"Oh, yes of course! It had the obsidian blocks piled up outside the front! Do you reckon it's worth having another look inside? You know... See if there's been any development, or if HoN Co. have re-purposed it..."

"We can risk doing that. We have to remain on the course we've set. If AMPHIS translates any more coordinates that point to portals close by, then maybe we can check it out. Until then, we need to remain clear of that place. We can't needlessly endanger ourselves."

That was fair enough I suppose; COLUS and the others were relying on us to complete the assigned task, which was to seek out these new portals stated in the encoded books written by a mysterious person, and destroy them, therefore removing the threat of HoN Co. activating the master portal and merging two dimensions together for their own financial gain! As we continued past the large waterfall that cascaded down the cliff-side, it suddenly began to rain quite heavily, forcing us to speed up quite a bit to prevent getting wet! Dashing from one tree to another had become the new method of quickly getting to the house, and it was working so far. I was more concerned about the books getting wet, as it might impair AMPHIS's ability to translate them. At this brisk pace however, it wasn't long before we reached the stone beach. Thankfully the rain had eased off a little, but we were sufficiently drenched as it was for it not to matter much anymore.

We scaled the beach, trying not to get too close to the actual chamber entrance itself for fear of drawing attention to ourselves. However, from the looks of things, it didn't look like HoN Co. had done much to this place since we had visited; the obsidian blocks were still positioned in the same place as they had before, and the chest was still there as well, although looking a little more sodden than usual. Heading due North now, we heading directly towards SERVERE's house, and almost as if on cue, the rain began to fall heavily again! Protecting the bag as much as I could, I managed to a casual jog, keeping pace with the others. After a few minutes of this, we came to a hill which we scaled, and stood atop to get our bearings. But we didn't need to; there, just in sight to the North was the mossy stone of SERVERE's boundary wall, surrounding the house. We were there!

     Moving around to the Western side of the wall, we found the entrance, and passed beneath the archway. Everyone stopped and stood there for a moment, letting the rain wash over them... Maybe as a sign of respect... I don't know. I wasn't even sure if they had seen this place before, let alone been inside. I was likely to be the only other member of the Lone 7 to enter into this house.

"Impressive build... SERVERE did well for himself... Found a lot of clay to be able to build this entire house with bricks..."

"He was always the better builder. We all had our strengths... His was building. He built a massive portion of our base, if you remember correctly. No wonder he had this setup for himself. I can guarantee he's set up quite a fortified position beneath the house as well..."

That he had indeed! From memory, I could remember a pit of lava with a trap door system erected over it, and then a pressure-plate activated sliding bookshelf. He was very good at building actually!

"Right, let's get inside before it gets dark."

UOPETA stepped forward and opened the door, with the rest of us filing in behind him. Stepping through the doorway, I was greeted with an instant feeling of security and relief... It almost felt... Good, to be back!

"Right then. We need to set up before it gets dark. If we work from up here, we'll likely attract unwanted attention. We're moving down into the hidden library beneath the house. It's close to this lava trench that Syeonyx tells us of, so it's likely to be warm and dry. Also, it will look as though no-one is using it."

"Fine by me... I'm feeling rather exposed up here... Too many windows... And the positioning of the house in general... Way too exposed."

I went over to the picture on the wall, and flicked the switch, causing a section of the floor to slide out, exposing the ladder beneath. One by one, we all descended into the basement section. After everyone was down, I went across the lava trench first to prepare the others for the next sight. The skeleton still lay in the same position, but knowing that it was possible that it didn't belong to SERVERE, I lost a little respect for it. Granted it was still the remains of a human being, but still... I had not connection to it... UOPETA came across next and saw the skeleton close to my feet. Bending down, he remained silent for a few seconds, before standing up swiftly and letting out a long breath.

"Let's just hope that's not SERVERE... Even if it's not, we need to pay it the same respect. We'll... Bury them tomorrow... It's too much to leave them here... It leaves the issue too... Open..."

UOPETA stepped past me, and activated the sliding bookshelves and stepped into the hidden library. One by one, AMPHIS and THEROS repeated UOPETA's actions, before heading through to the library. Going in last, I stopped on one of the pressure plates, turning back to look at the remains. I really hope they didn't belong to SERVERE...

Syeonyx signing off

Day 129: The journey

     I slept well last night, and it's a good job I did too; with me, AMPHIS, UOPETA and THEROS heading East to SERVERE's old house tomorrow, and then going in search of these portals, we were all going to need the energy! I wasn't the first to wake up however. Despite having very little sleep over the past few days, AMPHIS was sitting down at the table, eating a hearty breakfast, and I decided to join him. Favouring fish this morning, I started asking AMPHIS about the books that he had been translating, as I fried my breakfast.

"I've stuck to translating the books with the red covers as they all seem to contain information about the portals. I've found quite a few more more coordinates that THEROS can add to the map, and judging by the number of books with red covers left, we've got some while to go too" It's a good job I'm going with you!"

Well that was good to hear! We needed as many leads as we could gather about the portals to prevent HoN Co. establishing any more of a head start. Taking my breakfast to the table, I sat down and we started talking about HoN Co. and the damage we had done so far. All we had to do was knock out enough secondary and standard portals that were linked to deactivate all of the primary portals within the chamber. That would leave the master portal vulnerable to attack. It seemed that AMPHIS had had an idea about how we could destroy the master portal, and it seemed good enough to me.

"Once we're confident that all of the primary portals are offline, we bring the tower crashing down on top of it! Enough TNT beneath the tower within the chamber would do enough damage to seriously reduce its integrity, and providing enough power to bring the foundations down, along with the tower! We would be burying it as well, making it virtually impossible to salvage!"

It seemed an ideal method to me; crack open the shell with TNT and squish the insides with the tower... So to speak... However, it would definitely be worth checking it with OROTHO and COLUS first to ensure that we were allowed to do it, and that it was achievable. Even Amie could give us an insight into how we could accomplish this.

"Actually, that's another thing that's been bugging me. We've all been told to seek different names to hide our identities. Even Amie was, and yet she's still using her real name. How come?"

According to COLUS, Amie wanted to retain her real name for reasons pertaining to "retainment of personality, independence and reasons of personal revenge...". She wanted HoN Co. to know that she was partly responsible for their demise when we eventually crushed them, and I didn't blame her! I still had my original name, but I was never impressed upon by COLUS to change it. I don't know why, but I got the feeling my name had already been accepted by COLUS, but I couldn't understand why...

"I reckon Joe, OROTHO and Amie will have finished the security door by about now. I never saw them come back, but I can only assume so. Want to go and have a look?"

I did indeed, but for reasons involving safety, I determined that it would be easier to check when everyone else was already awake. Besides, we would have to leave that way to head towards the East in search of SERVERE's house. We couldn't use the cliff mine entrance or the base hatch because of the lockdown COLUS had initiated. We could check it out then.

     All nine of us walked towards the end of the tunnel, towards the new security door. Partly to see the new door itself and how it operates, but mainly to see me, THEROS, AMPHIS and UOPETA off as we head towards SERVERE's house. With all of us there, the distance between the base and the tower didn't seem that long, but we all knew that it was. The tunnel only made it faster because there was no need to constantly check out the area ahead, and keep stopping. Reaching the end of the tunnel, we could see the end blocked up, so it was obviously effective. Climbing the stairs, I passed a lever to my right, which OROTHO rushed forward and flicked before I got the chance.

"Voila!"

Large chunks of stone slowly and silently moved aside, and another large one settled into the ground, throwing dust and dirt everywhere. Once it had stopped, I emerged and looked back down into the tunnel; it looked perfect! AMPHIS, THEROS and UOPETA joined me before COLUS came out to give us a final pep talk.

"Right, now when you get there, try not to draw attention to yourselves. We need to do as much damage to HoN Co. whilst they still believe we're in hiding. By the time you get to the house it'll be getting close to night, so start a fresh tomorrow. Don't do anything I wouldn't do, and... Good luck!"

Shaking COLUS by the hand, each of us in turn, we watched as he descended back into the tunnel, and OROTHO flicked the lever. The stones moved back into place, making it virtually impossible to tell an entrance was hidden there at all!

"Right then! Let's get this show on the road! On the map I've drawn out our route. It's not the most direct, but remember we have to avoid the tower, the entrance to the base, Syeonyx's house, and we cannot go by boat as we would be too exposed. It's going to take some time, but it's better than nothing."

With the route firmly known, we all set off towards the East; the looming tower gradually retreating behind the treeline as we progressed ever forwards.

     We had been walking for a few hours now, and in the spirit of things, UOPETA had decided against resting to eat. This wasn't much of an issue for me or THEROS as we were used to it. AMPHIS however was not, and it was visible on his face that he was beginning to struggle. I could see why UOPETA wanted to get there are quickly as possible; with HoN CO. being a major security risk, we couldn't really afford to give them the chance to find us, so constantly moving seemed a good option. However, everyone had their limits, even if UOPETA's were considerably higher than most others. We eventually stopped though, close to a location that we had been to quite a few times before, myself especially. Sitting beneath a tree, we ate and drank what little we had brought with us, favouring the "traveling light" option.

"How far have we come then?"

"We're about half way there... Still some distance to go though, and we've got to go past Syeonyx's house."

"It feels like we should be closer than that... We've been walking for ages!"

"Well unfortunately SERVERE was smart to create his outpost far away to prevent any leads being tracked to us. It worked, and for that we have to thank him."

We sat in silence for the remainder of the rest, whilst we finished off our food, and got ready to had out again. Moving through the trees, the sandy shore came into view, along with the little stretch across the water that we were going to have to cross.

Crossing over to the other side, we continued along the Northern edge of the coast whilst progressing East. We would do this for some time until we reached the stone beach and would then begin to head North inland towards SERVERE's house. As we continued, I became curious as to what THEROS had marked on the map already.

"What, the new map? Take a look. There are only a few I've plotted so far, with quite a few left to go. But AMPHIS has quite a lot more to go as well. That's what that bag full of books is for. It's been weighing him down, so that's likely why he's so tired. that, and he's not used to the distances we've walked so far and that we've got left to go..."

Looking at AMPHIS, it was visible that he was straining whilst trying to maintain a strong outlook. He had even stopped talking to Hermes and Chiron, who had been following him, whilst partly playing around. Going up to him, I offered to carry the bag of books.

"What? No, it's okay. I need to get used to being more active anyway..."

The wince on his face made it even more obvious that he was struggling, and I forced him to stop, and took the bag from his shoulder.

"Thanks, Syeonyx..."

I just smiled at him warmly, and watched as he walked further ahead behind UOPETA, rubbing his shoulder. I waited for THEROS to catch up to me before continuing myself, and he just looked at me and laughed.

"You know, if the world was filled with people like you, we wouldn't be in this position."

I laughed as well, joking that if the world was like me, we wouldn't have progressed so far technologically, having a go at my own lack of self confidence at certain times. Repositioning the bag, I asked THEROS if I could see the map, and after fishing it out of his bag, he handed it to me. We had a long way to go... Especially as this was only a minute portion of the portals located...

     We had once again reached another location that I was familiar with; the place I had found when first trying to find SERVERE's house. The two pools and overhanging cliff I had scaled to get a better look at my surroundings. We were getting close now, and it felt good that we could soon rest. The sun was drooping into the Western sky, casting rays of orange, bathing the land around is in an eerie glow. UOPETA decided that now would be a good time to stop again, obviously thinking about AMPHIS's welfare this time. Dropping the bag of books to the floor, I scaled a small hill and looked out over the pool of water. We were close.

Syeonyx signing off