Gwin's eyes darted to the serpent which was now closing in on them. It seemed like they wouldn't make it. Exhaustion was taking its toll on the group and the woman was now carrying the girl in her arms. The girl dangled in her arms limp and unconscious.
'Come on!'
He pleaded with his legs to go just a bit further. It felt like they had been running for hours. In fact it was a miracle he could even move still. He had never run that hard for that long in his life. Since the beginning of this nightmare he had been running at full speed.
'Just a little closer!'
Gwin dived into the temple's entrance and fell roughly to the ground. Behind him the entryway thundered and he was showered in stone dust. His ears were ringing and the world spun. He looked back dazed and saw the figure of the woman stumbling by him still holding the girl. She shouted something at him but he couldn't hear her.
The serpent was ramming its large head into the entrance. Its massive body tried to coil itself inside to no use. The hall inside was not designed for a humongous serpent to se it seems. The blades lining its body grinded against the tough stone in a grating cacophony of sound. A net of cracks began forming and debris was launched in every direction as shrapnel. A speeding rock connected with Gwin's forehead sending a shock of pain though his body.
'Ah...ah'
Blood gushed from the cut on his forehead. Adrenaline numbed the pain for now but he could tell it was bad.
He felt a vicelike grip on his shoulder. He turned in horror believing another abomination was behind him only to see his "father" grabbing his shoulder and shouting something.
Gwin looked at him in a daze before the man yanked him up and began dragging him deeper into the temple.
Behind them the serpent was burrowing deeper into the temple. Gwin was horrified. He didn't need to be dragged anymore. He found strength he didn't have and started limping deeper in. His leg had gotten injured sometime during the chaos but he didn't know when. He limped on ignoring the dull ache in his head and the ringing of his ears. Each step felt like torture on his raw and blistered bare feet.
Farther ahead he could make out the shapes of the other two men kneeling while holding their knees and panting.
'Why are they stopping?!'
Gwin panicked and scanned their surroundings hoping it wasn't a dead end. That would mean they would have to fight the snake. He didn't know what rank it was but it had to have been a devil.
The spell ranks people and nightmare creatures based on how far on or far from the path of ascension they are.
Humans as well as memories and echos are rated from Dormant, Awakened, Ascended, Transcended, Supreme, Sacred, and Divine. Aspects followed this same ranking system. Aspects are magical abilities given to people who pass their nightmares. Each aspect depends on natural affinity and what you did in your nightmare. You have access to a part of your aspect as well as your attributes from the start.
Nightmare creatures are ranked from Dormant, Awakened, Fallen, Corrupted, Great, Cursed, and Unholy. Nightmare creatures are also ranked off of their class going from Beast, Monster, Demon, Devil, Tyrant, Terror, and Titan. Devils had access to profane and unexplainable powers. Humans are rated as beasts on this scale.
That must be what this creature was, a devil.
'How the hell am I supposed to beat that?'
The spell was cruel but not unfair. It always gave its own cruel version of fairness in these trials. Gwin already had an advantage. He had numbers. He was also sure that at least one of these people were awakened judging by how little exhaustion his father was showing. That wasn't a good thing though.
An awakened level ally meant the nightmare creature must be stronger than dormant.
'An awakened devil? What the hell!'
Awakened devils were extremely dangerous. They needed at least an experienced group of awakened to take even one down. Awakened were the hardened and tempered people who survived their first nightmare and survived their trip to the dream realm after the winter solstice. Weak awakened did not exist because they would have died before reaching that. The spell did a good job of thinning out those who were weak and untalented.
He was having to fight a devil as a regular human with only one other awakened to help him fight though! He wanted to scream at the spell for this unfairness but the sound of the temple collapsing in behind him made him forget about his indignation.
The two men ahead were standing in front of a gaping hole in the wall. The hole seemed intentional however as if the designers wanted it there. The torch light reflected the sweat from their bodies showing how truly exhausted they were. The rest of the group approached them.
"We must take shelter in the nursery"
His fathers order was met with grim acceptance from the other men. They turned and faced the gaping hole. They grabbed one of the wall torches and stepped inside. Behind them the temple shuddered as the serpents made its way even closer despite the countless tons of stone weighing it down.The rest followed them into the tunnel ahead. They left the ancient and beautiful halls of the temple behind.
The tunnel seemed to have been carved into one of the roots. It was lined with broken and old mounts for torches. It seemed at one point it had been used frequently. Gwin noticed this detail but couldn't help feeling uneasy about the serpent.
'Will the root be able to stop it?'
They stopped a ways away and watched the serpent. It burrowed through the ancient temple with surprising ease before crashing into the entrance of the tunnel. The floor shook up under them making Gwin wince from his sore and bleeding feet.
The serpent however did not seem to be able to damage the wood. Its blades slid harmlessly off the steel bark on the root and its attempts to coil inside were met by unmovable indifference from the root.
As Gwin confirmed it was not going to give way at all he let out a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground.
He was exhausted and yet surprisingly he felt his strength returning to him already. It was now that he finally decided to summon the runes describing his aspect and attributes. He focused on summoning the runes just like he had been instructed by his fathers training