The gryos landed at the foot of a tall, thin spire by the shore. The winged creature opened its wings along the gravelly terrain, providing the Bronze Foxes a safe way to climb off. Each guild member worked together to drag the guards to the ground and beside the water.

Albert walked to the gryos again. When Albert reached his hand up, the beast reached for his hand with its rough beak. The martial artist whispered, "Thank you. You are free now." The beast closed its eyes and nodded. It leaped into the sky, growling. The gryos generated a white orb in its mouth. When it shot the ball into the sky, it exploded into a colorful spiral. When the beast flew into it, the two vanished in a bright, white flash.

The group stared at the unconscious guards on the floor. "We cannot just leave them here, can we?" asked Devon.

Albert laughed, asking, "Are you suggesting that we drag them with us to the temple?"

"Well, I... Uh... Sorry..."

Devon—being so easily flustered—made Albert laugh again. "Nonsense! You are apologizing for nothing," he insisted, lightly slapping Devon's back. "When they wake up, they will have access to clean water," he gestured to the crystal-clear water beside them. "Perhaps drinking some will help them overcome their mindlessness, as though Ilkama's elixir were a fine ale!" Charles chuckled at his friend's comment. Though there had been no reason to believe that, Charles could not deny there was also no reason not to.

"So it is settled: we will leave them here and come back for them after the quest!" Sarah cheered, letting go of the guard she had been dragging. The group, having come to an agreement, began hiking across the uneven terrain along the shoreline.

"Do we know what we are looking for?" Eli asked, having missed the conversation between Sarah and Devon earlier.

"No. All we know is that 'a spire by the water holds the temple,'" Devon read from his notebook.

Watching the numerous spires pass by, Eli scratched his chin, asking, "so we are looking for a spire large enough to house a temple?" At that moment, he could not see anything close to the correct size; every spire was either too thin or too short. He was thankful, though; it meant the group would not have to guess.

Within the hour, the spires grew in size. Many of them were wide enough to hold temples, but the majority were short enough to where they could see the tops. One such temple seemed like a promising candidate to Devon, who asked, "Could it be up there?"

Charles examined the tall structure, shaking his head and claiming, "I do not think so. This one is relatively steep; anyone building a temple on it would require a path up. Any path up a mound this steep would be visible, yet I see nothing." Devon sighed, continuing the walk.

As time passed, the spires became thicker and taller. The question, "is it this one?" became more frequent. The group, however, continued their walk until they found the tallest spire. Though it was steep, it had many thinner levels on the way to the top, which touched the clouds.

"Surely, this is the one, right?" Devon laughed.

Albert searched as high as he could for some human structure. But the levels of vegetation convinced him nobody had climbed up there before. He commented, "I do not see anything. Perhaps there is more on the other side?"

"Our informant could have given us false information," Sarah joined.

"But the other temple and Devon's puzzle provided there is something here. What do you think, Charles?"

Charles, snapping back to reality, pointed to a large group of boulders on their left, asking, "Do you see that, there?" Carefully trudging in its direction, he continued, "Those rocks look like they are being held up by those sharp protrusions. It looks unnatural. Like someone planted them there." The group's gaze followed Charles' path. Surely enough, they saw twenty boulders as tall as a Sopala held up by a small group of about ten pointed stones coming out of the ground.

Eli was fascinated by the sharp rocks, almost like it was calling to him. He rushed to it, tripping slightly on his way up. "Wait for us!" Charles exclaimed, trying to keep up. When the swordsman reached the protrusions, he tried peering between the cracks of several boulders. On the other side, he could barely see red-orange walls in the spire. "Careful, Eli," Charles quietly warned, "One wrong move, and the stones may crush you."

"I think we are here. Look, there is something back there," Eli explained. Charles peered in and looked around before cheering. Though, his excitement was short-lived when he failed to see a way into the room.

"None of us is strong enough to dismantle this," Charles said, looking up and down the wall. "Even if we were, it would be risky. If we are unprepared, the wall will kill us."

"Then we prepare."

"Perhaps Sarah has a summon for this?" Charles asked.

Sarah, who had just arrived, raised a finger as she paused to catch her breath. When ready, she replied, "I would rather save the summons for the revolution. We will need all the help we can get against Ilkama."

"Right. Then what do you suggest?"

As the two threw ideas at one another, Eli walked to the protrusion, looking closely at it. Albert walked beside him, kneeling and paying close attention. "Do you see something?"

"A Mienard did this," Eli gasped. Walking a safe distance away, the swordsman drew Repeiletus on his sword. Plunging it into the ground, sharp stones rose. Albert looked closely at Eli's attack and compared it to the spikes holding the boulders in place. From the general thick-to-thin shape to the small rings around each spike, the boulders seemed to match near-perfectly.

"So a Mienard hid the artifact? I suppose that makes sense," Albert scratched his chin. "How else would anyone else gain access to a Mienard's enchantments? Am I right, Eli?" When the swordsman did not respond, Albert called him again.

Eli's mind flooded with questions; he was on the verge of possibly finding new information about the kingdom. Not able to think straight, the swordsman froze. A single tear streamed down his cheek. Among the questions was "how do I get in this second?" Knowing only the glyph's stones were holding up the boulders, Eli walked toward the wall, asking, "Can you punch through rock? If so, be ready."

Without waiting for an answer, Eli drew Bursor and slashed at the protrusions. Sarah—who had been conversing with Devon and Charles on the best approach to break through—yelped as the rocks began tumbling down. Eli drew Bursor once again and stood ready as the rockslide approached while Albert braced himself for the same. Eli had no time to move out of the way; he began slashing through boulders immediately when they fell. However, a boulder would occasionally get past him and be crushed by Albert's punch instead.

Within a few minutes, Eli cleared the path for the guild. Peering in, they noticed a circular room with a ring of magma around a central platform. In the center of the room was an elevated platform with an obelisk containing a red, heart-shaped container laced with silver branches. In addition to looking too large for only one person to carry, the artifact was held in place by dark-purple rods. Its containment did not stop Sarah from rushing into the room.

"Sarah, wait!" Charles yelled, failing to reach out to her.

Sarah froze and turned to her friends, excitedly asking, "Why are you not more excited? This is what we have been searching for!"

"This feels too easy. It is just sitting there. I expected things to be... harder."

"It is a hidden temple in the Craglands with a secret entrance and a barrier to the artifact. We have faced enough trials, have we not?"

"But what if there is something more than that?"

"What more cou—" Before she could finish her question, a loud roar echoed through the massive room. Looking up, the guild members failed to locate the sound's source, only darkness. Squinting, Charles could barely make out a cavern entrance in the wall. Sarah froze at the foot of the obelisk, hoping to make a quick escape. However, the moment she touched the container, the creature screeched.

Walking towards the cavern's entrance, the creature's footsteps sent a shiver down Sarah's spine. She proceeded to run back to her friends. They watched in horror as large, sharp claws appeared in the hole. A low growl sounded as a large head peaked out. The giant creature made of purple scales slowly escaped its home and entered the main room. It had two slightly curved horns and golden eyes. The dragon locked eyes with Albert and growled again.

"Get ready!" Albert yelled. Charles and Devon unsheathed their swords while Sarah reorganized her potions, and Albert raised his fists for battle. The dragon shot three fireballs at the guild members below. Each was large enough to take out two people.

Immediately, their battle-ready stances fell apart as they jumped out of the way. The beast growled as it flew in circles high above their heads. Eli tried to get its attention by drawing Vertila and slashing at the dragon. When the projectile collided with the creature, a puff of smoke hid the beast from the attackers. Sarah cheered for a moment but quickly stopped when the clearing smoke revealed the unphased beast.

Making eye contact with the dragon, Eli quickly understood it was after him. "Get the artifact! I will distract it!" he ordered.

"What about you?" asked Sarah.

"No need to worry, I will be fine," he insisted before running away from the group. "Come at me!" he called to the beast, using Vertila again. The dragon huffed through its nose before charging a fiery attack from its mouth. Eli watched the flames in its mouth grow. He glanced at his friends, who were too fascinated by what would happen to move. He glared at them, bothered they were not doing their part.

When ready, the dragon launched a beam of fire at Eli, who drew Refliro to block the hit. Upon impact, he watched as some collided and rolled off the barrier while more launched back at the beast. Unfortunately, his resistance did not last long as the shield began cracking. As the shield shattered, Eli jumped out of the way. Upon impacting the floor, a burst of smoke clouded the arena. The swordsman coughed, having already inhaled some of the smoke. He closed his eyes while covering his nose and mouth.

"Eli!" Sarah cried, unable to see her friend. The swordsman roughly drew Profecti on his sword, quickly expelling any of the smoke in his vicinity. Though he could not stand straight, Eli was determined to keep fighting. Noticing his disoriented state, Sarah almost ran to his side, but Albert held her back. "Let go!"

"We must do our part," Albert explained. "Hurry!" The other guild members ran to the artifact, trying to free it from its enclosure. However, the dragon noticed when they touched it and turned to face the group. "Come on!" Albert groaned. The dragon shot some fireballs at the group, forcing them to retreat.

When Eli regained his composure, he tried to formulate a plan to deal with the beast. Though all they could do was dodge, the others kept the creature distracted to buy their friend some time. Recognizing their lack of special attacks, the dragon thought they were easy prey. It charged a blast of fire to launch at them. In an attempt to confuse it, the team split up. However, it simply targeted Albert, who it saw as the biggest threat.

The Mienard ran towards Albert, quickly chaining Bursor before Profecti. The dragon launched its attack, clashing against Eli's burst of air. Though he nearly fell back, Albert caught him. Eli's counter was strong enough to push the flaming attack back at the dragon. When the blast finally connected, a small explosion sent it rolling backward. Sarah, who had been watching the dragon, noticed a strangely-shaped scar on the top of its head, wondering what had caused it.

Understanding its attacks were ineffective, the dragon changed to a more direct approach. It charged at Eli, slashing its massive claws at the warrior. Eli blocked it with ease but found the creature's skin too thick to slice through. Thinking quickly, he drew Bursor to prepare for another strike. But when the beast's claws did not dent, he became perplexed.

"What in the...?" Having been caught off guard long enough, the dragon sent him flying away with a clean punch. Landing beside Sarah, he groaned in pain as he began passing out. Knowing Eli was their best hope at defeating the dragon, Devon slashed at it as a distraction.

"Eli, quick, take this!" Sarah scrambled to grab a health elixir. Uncapping it, she fed her friend. Eli laid there for a moment as his strength returned. When the ringing in his ears stopped, he opened his eyes. He stared at a small opening to the sky above them.

A tear rolled down his face. As though in a trance, Eli whispered, "We have no chance. Bursor did nothing against it. The dragon is Mienard."

Sarah looked up and watched Devon narrowly dodge a strike from the beast. "It must have a weakness," she whispered. "Someone previously injured it."

"How can you tell?"

"A strange scar on its head," she explained.

"A scar? If my attack was useless, what would be strong enough?"

"And with such a shape too, it must have been a precise weapon. It was like—" Sarah crossed her index fingers while connecting her middle fingers below. "How would someone even reach there?"

As Eli stared at the scar she had made, a glimmer of light appeared in his eyes. "Memory," he muttered, barely loud enough to be heard.

"Hmm?"

"The dragon was brought here by a Mienard, which is why I cannot hurt it with Bursor. The stones holding the wall outside in place are proof of that too. And the scar on its head is a glyph! It is a clue on how to defeat it," Eli reasoned. He carefully stood up and readied himself to charge at the dragon. "This will tell me everything I need to know." Eli sprinted at the dragon, who was still distracted by Devon. Though he knew the memory would be corrupt in some way, he was running out of options. He quickly chained Bursor with Memory before placing the sword against the dragon. "Let me see your past."