As he strained against the wall in a final, desperate attempt, the massive sandstorm caught him. It was a maelstrom of sand and wind, spinning like a tornado, advancing with a deafening roar. The storm's power lifted Vladis's feet off the ground and tossed him into the air like a leaf. At that very moment, he heard that laughing female voice again; this time clearer, more mocking. And then, reality bent once more, and he found himself in a delusion.
In the eye of the storm, in the midst of the chaos, Nydra was floating. Sexy as ever, provocative as ever. With her hair and dress whipping in the wind, she looked like the queen of this destruction. "Oh, Vladis," she said, her voice drowning out the storm's roar. "Do you want me this badly, darling? Come to me... But you won't succeed by using such brute force." Her silhouette, which had appeared as a small dot in the distance, suddenly, in the blink of an eye, closed in on Vladis. As she approached, she grew larger, the storm itself appearing to be a part of her. When she stopped right in front of him, she laughed, opened her arms, and seemed to embrace him. For a moment, in the midst of that chaos and cold, Vladis truly felt Nydra's warmth, the scent of her skin. It was a familiar feeling, as irresistible as it was toxic.
Then the delusion burst like a soap bubble, leaving Vladis alone with the ruthless reality of the maelstrom. He was rising uncontrollably toward the sky, spinning on his own axis. Then, he stopped with a hard impact. He had hit the invisible wall, this time from above. With the force of the collision, the storm suddenly ceased, as if it had completed its mission. Vladis fell onto the sand like a lifeless stone.
He lay there for a while, he didn't know how long. His body ached, and his mind was numb from the shock. Finally, he pulled himself together, stood up, and walked toward the wall again. But this time, he wasn't angry. Nydra's words, "you won't succeed by using such brute force," echoed in his mind. Brute force hadn't worked. Perhaps the answer was the exact opposite.
He touched the wall, this time with a gentle motion. He slowly stroked the cold, smooth surface, as if caressing a lover. As he ran his fingers over the surface, he gently pushed and pulled it, as if kneading dough. Then, an idea came to him. He placed both his hands on the wall. And instead of pushing with all his might, he tried to slowly and gently part them to either side, as if trying to open a pair of ancient, creaking double doors. At first, nothing happened. But then, a strange, ringing sound came from deep within the wall. Vladis, focusing all his will on this gentle motion, pushed himself. And he felt it. The wall wasn't yielding, but it felt like it was splitting in two. An invisible gap was forming. Without hesitation, he threw himself into that narrow opening. The passage felt like squeezing between two different realities. His whole body tingled, and for a moment, his breath was knocked out of him.
And then, he was on the other side. When he turned back, the wall was still there, but it no longer imprisoned him. At that exact moment, he heard that laughing female voice again; this time, it sounded as if it were celebrating its victory. Vladis cursed the voice. Dawn was about to break, and he was in the middle of this cursed desert. He had to find the Mattuj Temple before morning. His hunger and stress had increased, but he couldn't stop now. He quickened his pace, running in the direction the map indicated.
After running for a while, he saw a tall, black stone standing alone in the middle of the sand. It was like an obelisk, but its shape was strange; it had no corners, as if it were constantly flowing and had solidified for just a moment. He went up to it and examined it. Its surface was smooth and cold. He didn't know what it meant, but it was clearly a sign. A little further from the stone, he noticed a massive, round, white circle on the ground. It wasn't made of sand, but of an unknown, smooth material, and it glowed of its own accord even in the darkness of the night.
Vladis advanced cautiously toward it. He paused when he reached the edge of the white circle. This could be some kind of portal or a trap. But he had no other choice. He took a deep breath and stepped onto the glowing white spot.
The moment he stepped, the world disappeared around him. The cold wind and smell of sand from the desert were gone, replaced by the still, old, and enclosed air of an indoor space. He found himself in a vast, dimly lit stone room. In a panic, he instantly took a step back. And he was back in the middle of the desert, under the stars. He was panting. He was frozen in astonishment. What was this? One moment there, one moment here. He just waited there for a while, trying to collect his thoughts. This was a threshold of some kind. Not a physical door, but a dimensional gate. Gathering his courage, he tried again. He closed his eyes and stepped decisively onto the white circle once more.
When he opened his eyes, he was indeed in that enclosed space. He was in a temple-like place, surrounded by high, carved pillars and walls covered in inscriptions written in an unknown language. He had found the Mattuj Temple. But this place was much stranger, and much more sinister, than he had expected.
The moment he crossed the threshold of the white circle, Vladis's senses were momentarily overwhelmed. The dry, windy cold of the desert gave way to a still, heavy air that felt as if it hadn't been breathed in millennia. The incessant roar of the wind in his ears gave way to a deep, tomb-like silence, so profound he could almost hear the flow of his own blood in his veins. The smell in the air was a thick scent of dust, cold stone, and a faint, sweetish odor of decay that smelled like time itself. As his eyes adjusted to the dimness, he found himself in a vast, circular hall, its ceiling lost in darkness like a starless night sky. The light came from moss growing on the walls and high pillars, emitting a pale, ghostly blue glow.
Vladis began to move forward cautiously. The stone floor beneath his boots muffled his steps, making almost no sound. As he explored, he came face to face with the statue standing in the exact center of the hall. His breath caught when he saw it. It was a statue of a woman, larger than life, carved from white, veined marble. And this woman was none other than Nydra—the impressive, goddess-like beautiful Nydra he saw in his delusions, before the shadow of betrayal had fallen. The statue depicted her standing, one hand extended slightly forward, a mysterious smile on her face that was both inviting and melancholic. The folds of her dress were carved with an incredible fluidity despite the coldness of the stone. On her head was an elegant, pointed crown that looked as if it were made of moonlight and frozen tears. As Vladis looked at this stone visage, he felt an old wound ache within him. This was the statue of the woman he had worshipped, an immortal monument to her form before she had turned into a monster.
Tearing his eyes from the statue, he moved on and saw the altar just behind it. Carved into the floor, again in a perfect circle, this area had a smooth, indented hollow in its center, just large enough to hold a body. Was it for sacrifices? Or some kind of ritual bed? Along the edges of the walls, doors of various sizes opened into dark chambers. Giving in to his curiosity, he began to explore these rooms one by one. Most were empty; echoing cells bearing the dusty fingerprints of time and abandonment. Some contained strange crystal vessels and rusted metal tools, reminiscent of broken laboratory equipment. Another was like a mausoleum, its walls filled with empty niches stretching to the ceiling.
When he exited the last of the rooms and returned to the main hall, his blood froze. The massive statue of Nydra was gone. The pedestal where it had stood just moments before was now empty. "What game is this?" Vladis called out, his voice echoing back to him in the vast hall. "Show yourself, whatever you are!"
As he approached the altar cautiously, he heard it. Click. Clack. Click. A rhythmic, sharp, and challenging sound. The sound of a woman's high-heeled shoes walking on the polished stone floor. The sound echoed in the hall's acoustics, its direction unclear. Then, that familiar, damned laugh came. Mocking, melodic, and infuriating. Vladis looked around, but saw nothing among the pillars and shadows.
"Did you miss me that much, Vladis?" said the voice, now closer, coming from right behind him. Vladis spun around quickly. And he saw her. Nydra. But this was no delusion. This was a living being of flesh and blood. She wore a stunning, slit dress, woven with red, black, and gold threads, that left her neck and shoulders daringly bare and clung to her body like a second skin. Her slit revealed one of her legs with every step she took. Her face bore not the innocent beauty of her statue, but a sharper, more dangerous beauty, born of years and perhaps of pain. In her eyes was that mocking glint that Vladis hated.
A wave of rage instantly surged through Vladis's veins. His hand instinctively went to the hilt of "Midnight." But Nydra was completely indifferent to this gesture. She began to walk toward him with slow, swaying steps, and spoke.
"You finally came," she said, her voice soft and deep, as if welcoming a long-lost love. Her gaze was as if she were looking at a lover she had awaited for centuries.
Vladis was filled with disgust at this false warmth. "Cut this disgusting charade, Nydra," he hissed, his voice like ice. "After all the evil, all the betrayal you've committed, how dare you look at me like that?"
"Calm down, my love," Nydra said, pouting her lips flirtatiously. "You don't know anything yet. What you've seen, what you've heard... it's all just a small, dirty piece of the picture."
"Stop lying!" Vladis shouted. "Tell me how to get rid of this curse that brought me here! I don't care about anything else."
"Don't be in such a hurry," Nydra said, wagging her finger as if to say 'no'. "Let's chat a little first. It's been centuries, hasn't it?" Her calmness infuriated Vladis even more.
"You and yours," Nydra continued, slowly pacing in the center of the hall. "You've always known me as the evil one, haven't you? Nydra the monster, the betrayer, the power-mad." She paused for a moment and turned to Vladis, a false sadness on her face. Then suddenly, her expression hardened like steel. "And what about that girl? That queen of the Chain-Skull... Do you think she's so good? So innocent?"
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Vladis roared. "Do not speak of Xara with your filthy mouth!"
Nydra smiled, as if enjoying his reaction. She slowly slunk closer to him. As the distance between them closed, Vladis could smell her perfume; a dangerous mix of night-lily and ozone. Nydra slowly raised her hands and placed them on Vladis's armored shoulders. She looked deep into his eyes. "I'm going to ask you a question, Vladis. Be honest when you answer. Have you ever heard of something called Ahmeron?"
Vladis paused for a moment at this unexpected question. "It's a curse," he said. "Mentioned in the old records. One of the darkest spells, one that binds the soul and keeps it separate from the body."
Upon hearing this answer, Nydra deliberately brushed her leg against Vladis's. This sudden, sensual contact caused Vladis's entire body to tense. "Hah! That's what you think," Nydra whispered and moved a few steps away from him. The hem of her dress left a red wave behind her as she moved. "Oh, Vladis... you truly know nothing."