Once the pale golden radiance before him faded, Gawain found that he had already left the mountain overlooking Agondor. The vast gilded murals and magnificent columns of the upper sanctuary now stood before him.
The corridor leading to the sanctuary hall stretched out ahead. Temple guards stood silently on either side like statues, while Heragol, the High Rank Dragon Priest, stood beside him as the powerful Magic Fluctuation around him gradually subsided.
"Was that some kind of spatial teleportation?" Gawain looked at the high priest in surprise. "Have you already mastered the technology to distort time and space?"
"That is the domain of gods. I merely imitate it poorly," Heragol said mildly.
"Looks like dragon priests also borrow power from their gods," Gawain said thoughtfully, nodding before looking down the broad corridor ahead. "I can just go straight in?"
"Yes, please follow me." Heragol started forward as he spoke, leading Gawain onward. This time, however, he only took Gawain to the end of the corridor before stopping at the entrance to the hall. "From here on, I am afraid I cannot accompany you."
Gawain raised an eyebrow in slight surprise. "Don't you need to attend your god?"
"This is a private meeting," Heragol said with meticulous seriousness. "His Majesty Gawain Cecil."
This was getting interesting...
A strange feeling and several suspicions immediately surfaced in Gawain's mind. Yet he said nothing. He simply stepped past Heragol, who stood guard at the door, and crossed boldly through the open, magnificent gates forged from some unknown material, covered in enormous reliefs more than ten meters high and golden inscriptions.
Gentle, comforting light illuminated the sacred hall. It remained as empty as it had been during his last visit. Aside from a ring of pillars and crystal drapes hanging from their tops, there was