The inside of the temple was even more alien. The walls were a dark faded blue, and lines of energy criss-crossed along its surface in strange otherworldly patterns. The hall they walked down was fairly narrow but very tall. Three Sentinels stood behind the family, and three stood in front, any thoughts ideas of escaping now were out of the question. The group marched down the hall, behind the sentinel who had opened the entrance to the temple. Suddenly he stopped, the other five sentinels stopped an instant later, almost as if a command had been given.
The boy’s mother held him close, the sentinels didn’t speak, but it seemed obvious they could communicate with each other in other ways. The lead sentinel turned to face the wall. There did seem to be a strange pattern in the energy lines in that particular place. He held out one hand, not quite touching the wall. Transfixed, the boy watched him closely. Did his hand just glow? He only had a grief instant to ponder what he saw then, like the front entrance to the temple, the wall seemed to retract before his very eyes, to un-build itself and quickly spread outwards from the strange pattern the energy lines made. In seconds a doorway stood where there had once been a wall.
The lead sentinel faced the family and spoke in his cold voice, “Follow me”. The remaining sentinels had wandered off down the corridor and the lead one had taken a step through the door, waiting for the family to follow him through. The Boy looked down the hall, back the way he had came. Can I escape? He looked at his parents, both obviously petrified. His father was ashen faced, his eyes were wide. He was trying to look brave but was failing badly. His mother was openly weeping. For somebody who was normally so serious, that was a bad sign. No… they were in no shape to run. Despite his parents obvious distress the boy didn’t feel afraid. He was curious, maybe a little worried, but not afraid. He turned to look the Sentinel, who was staring right at him. Looking into his shrouded hood into the dull glow of the red eyes, the boy swore he could almost feel the sentinel’s thoughts brushing against his own. He got a sense that the sentinel wasn’t going to harm him.
Now completely unafraid the boy stepped through the open doorway. His mother sobbed and his father gasped, but they followed there son through. As soon as they had completely cleared it, the ‘portal’ that was once a wall, became a wall once again in much the same way it had become a portal. It ‘re-grew’ to once again consume the space it had created. As they walked down the passage to where-ever they were going, the boy was sure the sentinel preceding them was smiling. “What is this place…” he wondered to himself. After walking for a short time, the hallway opened into a large room. The Room was completely round and had energy lines running all the way up the walls and through the floor. All the energy lines congregated in the centre of the room where a large alter protruded from the floor. The alter housed what looked like a large crystal ball that was completely clear. Standing alone next to the strange sphere was what appeared to be another sentinel.
This sentinel though, was clearly different to the others the boy had seen. His black robes were covered in strange lines of energy, similar to the ones that covered the walls and floors of this room and the rest of the temple. Unlike the temple, where the energy lines appeared to be mostly random with the occasional pattern, his entire robe had different patterns leading into each other. The lines of energy pulsed lightly, much like they did in the walls and floors. “Leave us” the strange sentinel said, in a voice that was a lot more human then one he had heard any sentinel use before. The one who guided the family to the chamber went down to one knee for a brief moment before quickly rising and departing from the chamber. The strange sentinel slowly turned, and the boy could see that his face was hidden in a shroud like any sentinel, but his eyes unlike the others, glowed blue instead of red. “Finally we meet, Anthony. I’ve been expecting you for quite some time…”, as he spoke the sentinel reached up and pulled back his cloak. As he slowly pulled back the fabric, the shroud which seemed to almost be part of the clothing, retracted as well revealing a face that was completely human.
