Honor and Glory | ATEEZ

031

"The Emerald of Narava," Yeosang mumbled, repeating my words before breaking out into a smile and nodding approvingly at the name as if he was indeed very satisfied.

"What's the plan once we get it, then?" he asked, turning to me as his eyes searched mine.

"We're going to District 1, after I find the others, of course. I can't just leave them here."

"What about me, then?" Yeosang pouted, coming to a halt as he crossed his arms defiantly over his chest, he turned his back to me

"What do you mean? Oh- wait, do you want to come as well?"

"Pfft, 'do I want to come?'" he said, mimicking my voice in a mocking way. he whipped head around, his green eyes practically glowed, matching perfectly with the overgrown plants inside the temple.

"Of course I want to come."

We finally reached the center of the temple, and I had to crane my neck in order to look up at the high ceiling above us.

my mouth fell slightly open I awe as I admired the many lianas that reached for the floor below.

All along the sides of the room, open windows let rays of sunlight shine onto an old tree which trunk had twisted and turned itself around the pedestal, leaving only the symbol of the hand and the nature elementals at the top.

The tree looked magical, but it may have been because of how close it had been growing to the pedestal.

A green light shone from within the trunk itself, making it look almost magical.

I suddenly realized why I had been drawn to it; It bore an almost painful resemblance to The Great Willow just outside of Agora.

"So," I said, tearing my eyes away from the tree in order to face Yeosang, "What we need to do-" I began.

But my words faded out into nothing as Yeosang simply ignored me and walked toward the pedestal.

He looked determined, purposeful as if he already knew what to do and how to make it happen.

Yeosang crouched down in front of the overgrown pedestal, barely blinking as he studied the symbols showing images and long-forgotten memories of nature itself.

I joined him, watching carefully as he moved his hand up in front of the symbol and aligned it with the hand that had been cut into the old stone.

Like always, light flooded the entire room, though this time it was a beautiful green colour that bathed both Yeosang, me, and the old tree as a familiar sound of a click cut through the silent air.

Inside the crumbling pedestal lay a dazzling green gemstone; The Emerald of Narava.

I blinked a couple of times, tearing myself out of the daze as I remembered what was about to happen.

Yeosang was reaching out for the emerald, only to stop in confusion as I grabbed him before he got the chance to touch it.

I clutched a handful of fabric from his shirt before yanking him along with me, grabbing the gemstone as well.

We booked it down the hallway.

"What are you-?" Yeosang began, but he cut himself off as we almost stumbled over an overgrown liana that had snaked its way across the stone floor.

I kept running forward, trying as hard as possible to breathe in and out at regular intervals so we could keep going.

We had no time to slow down.

Yeosang stumbled along with me, and I curled my hand tighter around the emerald as we rounded a corner, slipping a bit on the floor in the process before picking up speed again.