There was no way to be certain what the pyramid looked like when initially built, but majesty emanated from it even in its current half buried state. Sand and time had failed to blunt the walls and edges of the monumental structure, then proceeded to bury it instead. Looking at it, Dallion could recognize the three distinct balconies on the façade. In the past, they must have been places from which important dignitaries waved to their people. Now, they were the only means of entry into the building.

Sliding a finder on the smooth gray surface, Dallion concentrated.

Hello? Anyone there? he asked.

There was no response to be felt. Just like everything else, this too was lacking a guardian. Next, Dallion took out his Nox dagger and struck the stone. Not even a dent appeared.

Indestructible, he thought.

“Nil, you said that nobles liked to buy indestructible bricks?” Dallion put the dagger away.

That wasn’t remotely what I said, the old echo sighed. However, I agree with your logic. This would be a good source of guardian-free materials. Not this temple, naturally, but—

“Was this the place that invented sphere items?” Dallion asked.

Ah. I see. Nil seemed to take the question rather well. There are theories on the matter. Some, indeed, claim that all sphere items were created by the Star, which is why they are deprived of proper guardians. The standard logic is that the Star cannot create anything, but just transform whatever has already been created. Half a century ago, there was an entire scholarly movement that was convinced of that notion. Interestingly enough, it’s the Order of the Seven Moons that opposes that view.

“Why?”

Because they claimed that the Order created the first sphere items, Nil let out a slight chuckle. Why else?

That was an interesting hypothesis. Sadly, Dallion wasn’t inclined to believe it. He knew that the dryads and the copyettes had created sphere and world items, but it was allegedly thanks to the Star’s gifts that they had done so. Still, given that it happened so long ago, and all those that were directly involved were forbidden to discuss it by the Moons themselves, there was no way to know for sure.

We’re here! Lux shouted in a cheerful voice as the kaleidervisto and the whip blade arrived from the sky.

“Good,” Dallion said. He wanted to say that the timing was perfect, but that would have been a lie. He had spent a while waiting for their arrival. On the positive side, that had given him time to think. Since cutting his way in wasn’t an option, his only choice was to go down from the balcony. In turn, that means that he had to constantly assess the situation very carefully. If at any point it looked like there might be trouble, Dallion was going to stop and follow his tracks back outside.

Two options were presented to him: use the rope in his backpack to create a makeshift grappling hook and climb up to the smaller balcony, or use the one that was almost at ground level.

“Nil, any advice you can give me?”

Unfortunately, dear boy. I have not built many temples in my long and prosperous life, the echo replied, each word drenched in sarcasm. Maybe it would be a good idea to send someone in and check?

“No.” Dallion was adamant. “I don’t want to risk Lux or anyone else.”

Oh, for Moons’ sake! Gleam snapped. Climb to the upper balcony. If things look bad, just jump down and use the lower one.

All of a sudden Dallion felt stupid. He was overthinking things again.

“Okay, that’s what we’ll do,” he said, then burst into instances to quickly find the rope in his backpack. “Ruby, you and the rest stay outside. If I need you, I’ll call you.”

The shardflies kept on fluttering in place. A strong sense of curiosity emanated from all of them, making Dallion doubt that they were going to remain still for long.

Tying the rope securely to the straps of his armadil shield, Dallion then threw it like a discus at the balcony. As expected, he hit exactly what he was aiming for. A little help from Lux, and the shield was in such a position so as to allow Dallion to climb up. Rather, it allowed him to run up the wall of the pyramid while holding a rope.

The backpack was left behind, naturally. After some thought, Dallion used the rope-shield contraption to pull it up on the balcony, then told the shardflies to guard it. There were a few valuable items there, including food and water.

A large doorway led to the inside of the pyramid. In better times, the temple must have been brightly lit up by light crystals. At present, it was so dark that Dallion couldn’t see a thing, even with his perception.

“Lux, you know the drill.”

The kaleidervisto floated forward, surrounded by blue flames.

The immediate chamber was rather small and, thankfully, completely empty. If there had been any creepy furniture, it had long been destroyed or carried away by the moonlight that had poured in every night.

One unexpected feature of the place was that the walls were covered in carvings depicting what appeared to be important events of the country: the creation of the first tower, the creation of the first city, the creation of the pyramid-temple, and a figure facing the Seven Moons.

Still Seven Moons? Dallion wondered.

Carefully he looked over every inch of the walls, but there was no hidden Moon to be found. Apparently, five thousand years ago—or possibly ten—the Moons had been still seven. Or, could it be that Dallion was witnessing the creation of an Eighth?

“Nil, the copyettes were the first race that tried to take over the world, right?” Dallion asked.

That’s right, the echo agreed. Followed by the nymphs and dryads.

“And humanity had never made an attempt in the past?”

I can see what you’re going for, but there is no evidence whatsoever to support your speculation. While it is impossible to say when exactly the Star-touched came to be, a major event such as this would have been recorded.

“Not unless the Moons didn’t want it to be,” Dallion said. “You told me yourself that the Moons determine what people remember and what not. What if this was the greatest secret: the creation of a Moon that was later cast out?”

You’re asking questions that hundreds of scholars have been arguing for centuries. Yes, I’m familiar with the Moon Star theory. That the Star was once a Moon that was cast down by the Seven. I’m also familiar with the theory that the Star was the thirteenth sun that was cast down, along with all the skills that are now lost.

“Skills?”

The power of decay and disease, as well as the ability to create cracklings.

That was remarkably close to a sort of necromancy. It was tempting to assume that to be the explanation, but there were still too many things that didn’t fit.

A single corridor continued from the chamber further in. Splitting into half a dozen instances, Dallion went on. Nothing out of the ordinary occurred. The walls were decorated with carvings, although these were of a more artistic nature.

After about a dozen feet, the corridor widened, reaching a stone platform. This was somewhat surprising. From Dallion’s knowledge of pyramids back on Earth, he knew that they didn’t weren’t hollow, at least not anywhere near this extent. However, the even more startling event was that the moment he stepped on the platform, the inside of the pyramid suddenly lit up. Light crystals that must have been dormant for millennia came to life, filling the vast space with a combination of white and yellow light.

This shouldn’t be happening, Dallion thought. Several of his instances rushed back, instinctively. Thankfully, nothing else followed.

Before Dallion’s very eyes, the whole interior seemed to come to life. Symbols of various colors lit up, like neon signs. Someone must have put in a lot of effort to create light crystals in that form. Reading the words that were composed was easy, though not because of Dallion’s writing skills.

“Nil, is that the language of the Star?” Dallion asked.

It’s difficult to be certain, but that’s one belief, the echo replied. There’s always a lot of uncertainty when dealing with ancient languages. There have been cases in which unknown languages that had nothing to do with the Star have been discovered, and still—

“I can read it,” Dallion interrupted.

The reason he could was because the symbols were in English. This wasn’t the local human language that Dallion knew upon coming here. A linguistics professor might have claimed that the “human” language in the awakened world shared characteristics of Sumerian and Indo-European. The writing was outright different, having nothing in common with English, or any other language Dallion had seen on Earth. The signs he was looking at were precisely the English he knew from school… well, almost the English he knew. In the middle of the vast space, hanging from the ceiling, was a set of large square signs attached together so as to be visible from anywhere: All are favoured by the Broken Star.

If there was any lingering doubt, it was not gone. The Star had come from Earth, and had brought with him knowledge that this world wasn’t supposed to have. Dallion had long suspected that, of course, but there was always that grain of uncertainty poking at him.

Taking a moment to wrap his mind around everything, Dallion moved his attention away from the sign and into the rest of the vast chamber. Impressive buildings filled a large part of the space, placed along the walls, as well as the very middle of the pyramid. Most of them were similar in shape, each with their own signs, providing instructions. A single glance was enough to show that the pyramid was a temple system, aiming at preparing priests, or at the very least, awakened. If the signs were to be believed, there were several libraries, training facilities, “meditation spots,” and three “paths” of enlightenment. Judging by the numbers on the signs, one could assume they represented an equivalent of awakened shrines that allowed followers of the Star to advance to certain levels.

“Four, eight, and twelve?” Dallion asked.

Would typical for the Star to come up with a classification that was different from the Moons’, Nil grumbled. I hope you’re not thinking of going there to “check it out.”

“Mhm,” Dallion replied. He had no intention of trying any of those. However, there were a few other buildings he wanted to check out. The libraries were a good first stop, as was the only cube shaped structure in the distance. The reason it was so notable was because the sign on it read Armoury.

A series of steps went down each side of the stone platform, leading to the floor and other platforms and walkways along the walls of the pyramid. The place was undoubtedly huge, probably the size of a small skyscraper. Dallion could only imagine the amount of effort it had taken to have it built, even if all the builders were awakened. Given the meticulous precision with which everything was built, the person overseeing it had to be pretty strict or feared.

Dallion… Concern could be felt in Nil’s voice. Be careful, there are some paths you can’t come back from.

The warning was heard, but completely ignored, as Dallion spotted something shimmering in the distance. Forgetting most of his concerns, he rushed down the staircase. The shimmer was something that Dallion was quite familiar with. He saw it every moment he was with Eury—the indication something was from another world.

“Gleam, get the shardflies and come in here,” Dallion said as his instances ran down the stairs, making sure that no traps were present.

What’s so special about this place? The familiar asked as she proceeded to fly back outside.

“I think I found something,” Dallion replied. Something from my world.