Dungeon Hunters

All Hail the Sun

"I'm still not sure this was a good idea," Eden said.
"If you didn't think it was a good idea you could have stayed back in the village," Daemeon retorted.
"Oh, please. Riley, I wouldn't worry about, but you two bone heads would't last a minute without me."
"Awe. Daemeon, did you hear that? Eden cares about us," Michael said in a very sarcastic voice. "I'm touched."
"Shut up," Eden replied.
Michael and Daemeon both started to laugh.
"Knock it off you two," Riley said. "You know Eden doesn't like to be reminded that she cares."
"Oh, come on Riley not you too," Eden said.
"Alright, alright," Michael said. "So, how much farther is this cave?"
"Can't be that far. Mr. Fournier did say it was only five miles."
"Do you think we could have gotten a ride?" Daemeon asked. "They clearly had vehicles to spare".
"Oh it seemed like a waste. It was only five miles after all," Riley said.
"Still seems like a lot," Michael said.
The four kids we, once again, walking through the vast expanse of desert. Just then, a silhouette of a person appeared.
"Hey, is that a person?" Michael asked.
"Can't be, no one else is stupid enough to be out here," Daemeon said.
"Not exactly true," Michael said. "The old man we ran into at that booth said that plenty of people walk out here."
As they got closer to the person, they could make out that is was a man. As they got even closer. They could start to see his details. He was a tall thin, man with blonde spiky hair. His skin was smooth and pale. He was wearing a long red coat that was buttoned all the way down to his waist, but continued, open, almost touching the ground and under this he was wearing a pair of black pants. He also had on a pair of thin, circular, wire rimmed glasses. On his left shoulder had a light brown pack that he had a grip on.
"Okay, so what's with the guy in red?" Eden asked.
"Dunno," Michael said. "Let's ask him".
"Are you dense? He could be dangerous," Riley said.
"Oh please, it's four against one," Michael said. "Besides, we're pretty dangerous too."
As they got closer and closer to each other, it became apparent that this guy was a lot older then the four sixteen year olds. At one point, Michael thought he saw a quick flash of silver at his right hip, but he brushed it off as nothing.
They got closer and closer until they were about five feet away. It was the man who called out them first. His voice wasn't as deep as Michael though it would be.
"Oh, hello kids. You know, it's awfully dangerous out here. There are some religious guys out here, and they are pretty crazy."
"Says the guy walking in the desert in all red," Michael said. "Plus, I'm pretty sure we can handle it."
"Oh sure, won't take advice from a guy in red, but you travel with a guy in black."
"What is it with everyone pointing that out all of a sudden?" Daemeon said.
"Fair point. Those religious nuts you spoke of, where are they?" Eden asked.
"Oh, they're just a mile from where we're standing. There's a large sand dune where the sand will begin to harden. After that, there's a large rock wall with a rock that clearly doesn't belong there with a sun drawn on it and a red gate in front of it. You can't miss it."
"Ok thanks. But why are you telling us this?" Michael asked. "Didn't you say it was dangerous?"
"Oh did I?" He got a confused look on his face and scratched the back of his head. "Hmm, nope don't remember, must have slipped my mind."
He let out a laugh that was, quite possibly, the most fake laugh any of them had ever heard. The kind of laugh you give your friend when you want to indirectly tell them the joke they just told was terrible.
"Uh, well, thanks for the advice mister," Michael said.
"Don't mention it kids. Just play it safe and if anyone asks you, you didn't see me."
"Wait, what?" Eden asked.
By that point, the man had walked past the four of them. Just as he passed Michael, he noticed the grip of what appeared to be a strange looking gun. As soon as he passed Riley, who was the farthest back, he began to walk at a more brisk pace.
"Well he was a tad unusual," Eden said.
"Well so are we," Daemeon said.
"True," Michael said. "Oh, wait. Hey mister we didn't get your..."
Michael and the others spun around but the man had vanished.
"...name."

The party continued on until they reached the cave the man had talked about.
The the soft, light sand they had been walking on had pact together to form a hard, dark rock surface. The rock wall was the same color as the ground, with the exception of a large, dark black rock in the center of it with a yellow sun painted on it and a red gate in front, just like the man had described.
"So, what do you guys think?" Michael asked.
"It looks like a death trap," Eden said.
"Oh, come off it already would you?" Michael said, "This will be real easy. We go in there, politely ask they stop harassing the towns folk, and if they refuse, we beat the all holy Hell out of them. Sound good to everyone?"
"Sounds like a good plan to me," Daemeon said.
"Let's do it," Riley said.
"Aright, fine. Don't listen to me," Eden replied.
"Okay then so it's all settled," Michael said. "Eden, if you would be so kind."
Eden let out a long sigh. She walked over to the black rock a placed both of her hands on it.
"I'm not getting any magic readings from the rock itself. Inside, there are three medium energy levels, a lot of lower levels, and something big. Not as in energy, as in size." She pulled away from the rock. "That's all I can get. I think the stone might be interfering with my reading."
"No biggie, that should be all the info we need," Michael said. "Riley, would you like to do the honors?"
"With pleasure." She cracked her knuckles on both of her hands and a wicked smile crossed her face.
She stopped herself about twenty yards away from the black rock. She slowly mover her left foot in front of her right. She pushed down on her right foot. The ground underneath it cracked and broke. She took off with lightning speed towards the door.
"HeeeuuuuuuuuuuuuAAAAHHH!!"
Her fist collided with the rock. The rock cracked and then smashed into a hundred pieces. The four of them ran into the cave and this was the sight that greeted them.
The room they had run into was a large circular design. On the left and right sides of the room, there were several lamps that lit up the whole room. At the very front of this room there was an alter. Three people stood on this alter. First there was an older looking man dressed in priest's robes. He had grey hair, and was holding a book in his left hand and a staff with a sun at the top of it in his right. The book was open and he was reading from it. Next to him, there was a younger looking man sitting down, dressed in a white, loose fitting whit shirt, a pair of grey pants with a light brown belt, and he had sandy, blond hair. He looked generally disinterested in what the priest was saying. On the priest's other side was a man dressed in a black short sleeved shirt and black long pants, and he had black hair that flowed down to his neck. Around a hundred or so people were all kneeling around the alter with their heads bowed. No one seemed to notice the fact that the rock had just been smashed except for the guy who was sitting down and the one dressed in black. The priest was reading aloud from his book.
"...For he was the first being in existence, the source of our life and light. And without his greatness, we would all be lost in the dark," He closed the book and raised his staff. "All hail the sun."
The group raised their hands into the air.
"All hail the sun!" They chanted unanimously.
The priest looked back at the four kids in the back.
"Well, my followers, it seems we have some visitors. What brings you here children? Have you come to join the religion of the sun?"
"No, thank you," Michael said. "All we want is for you to leave the nice people of that village alone."
"Ah, but you see, we simply cannot do that."
"And why not?" Michael asked in an irritated tone.
"Why, they are sinners. They must be reconciled for their sins, their sins against our lord the sun."
"You're joking, right?" Daemeon said, "You worship the sun?"
"The sun is our great giver of all things. He gives us life, light, he fuels the earth and all things on it. We must give it praise, or else it will extinguish its greatness from us."
"Look, hate to burst your bubble," Michael said, "but the sun isn't a god, it's just a mass of hydrogen."
"We have put our faith in our great giver of all. But you have spoken blasphemy against our religion and for that, you must be killed. Christian!"
The man dressed in black took a step forward and stuck his hand out. A black orb began to form in it.
"Shadow Call!"
The black orb expanded suddenly, filling the entire room.
"Bail!" Eden yelled.
The four of them all took a large jump backwards, to the outside of the cave.
The darkness the man had created continued to expand to the edge of the cave, and as soon as it reached the entrance, it vanished. Everyone who was inside the cave was gone, only the alter the priest had been standing on was left. In the back, four wooden doors stood.
"Well this is a no-brainer," Michael said.
"Clearly," Eden said. "All of us go down one doorway and save the trouble."
"Noooo," Michael said. "We each go down one door. Four doors, four of us. It's perfect."
"You are an idiot. Seriously. Why the hell would we do that?" Anika asked.
"It's actually not a horrible plan," Riley said. "We need to clear out the cave and it would be much more efficient to go one to a door."
A horribly loud roar was heard from somewhere in the cave.
"Almighty help whoever gets that door." Daemeon said.