Everglow: The Trials Of Agaron

19 - The First Steps

Looking out the window, Fischer could see huge clouds of dust swirling outside as the jets kicked up the dirt. It looked like a mini sand storm of orange and yellow, a maelstrom of dust.

Eventually, the Endeavour's landing gear hit the ground and the ship came to an abrupt halt. 

Unbuckling, the crew sprung up and headed to the side of the ship, awaiting the door's opening.

"Wait hold on. . . how do we know the air here is breathable?" Fischer suddenly asked, the thought only now just entering his mind.

"Oh, we don't" Kori grinned.

The rest of the crew turned their heads towards him awkwardly, a look of confusion and fear on all of their faces.

"Relax, I'm kidding. Did a scan before we entered atmosphere. Air's totally fine," he smirked. 

Quin gave him a 'seriously?' look before turning her attention back on the door.

With a flick of the panel on the ship's wall, a hissing sound erupted from the door as it slowly retracted downwards before extending out into a ramp to the planet's surface. 

Almost immediately, the group was slammed by a wave of heat. The cool moist air of the ship was suffocated by the dry, hot air from the planet. The yellow sun immediately began baking them in rich sunlight, burning off of the sand.

"Oh my god. . ." Fischer's jaw dropped as he finally was able to take in the sights that the planet had to offer.

And it didn't disappoint.

The first thing that came to his mind was the grand canyon. Even from the air the whole planet seemed to be a maze of twisting ancient river beds and canyons all interconnected with one another. Huge towering monoliths of rock and stone rose from the ground like giants, reminding him of the towers back at the Lagoon Plaza on Xarder. 

The ground looked almost like the surface of Jupiter, a mix of red and light yellow streaks ran all throughout the canyons. The sky was a deep orange, two suns hovered just above the horizon, a moon hung around the middle of the sky. 

"Wow. . . this sure is something," Quin stated, as speechless as the rest of them. 

"I can't imagine either of you are too familiar with deserts," Fischer asked, looking over at the carcans. Both of them shook their heads, their attention still focused on the grand scenery in front of them.

Fischer looked over at Ko, who for the first time in a while, wasn't hidden behind her cloak. He could definitely understand why, it was way too hot for even a long sleeve shirt like the one she was wearing.

Something else caught his attention, Ko's mouth hung slightly open, her breath heavy and intense. 

"Ko, you ok?" He asked.

"It's. . . so. . . hot. . ." she panted, wiping away sweat that had already accumulated on her scales. 

"Right, yea. You haven't exactly experienced a hot climate have you? Closest thing is Xarder.  Kori do we have any bottles of water or anything?" Fischer asked. 

"Lemme check," he said, walking back up into the Endeavour. While he was busy, the rest of them continued their sightseeing. 

Suddenly Fischer felt a tapping on his shoulder. He turned to see Quin pointing behind the ship, off to a rather unnatural looking rock formation not too far from where they had landed. 

"Look, over there. . . is that what I think it is?"

Squinting his eyes, Fischer could start to make out what it was she was pointing at. It looked to be some sort of structure carved into the wall of one of the canyon ridges. But it seemed to be half buried beneath the sand. The rock was a similar shade of red to the rest of the planet, however it was a little deeper. The clearly man-made angular features of it helped to distinguish it from the rest of the red terrain.

"Ko. . . you might not be going crazy after all. . ." he stated after grabbing her attention. 

She looked over to where they were pointing. Her heart suddenly skipped a beat. "This. . .  this is it. . . this is one of the places I saw in my dream. T-that temple over there was in it. . . The voice kept telling me what I needed to find was buried in there somewhere," she explained with a slight whimper. 

Kori walked down from the ship, breaking the group's concentration and handing each of them a small flask of water. 

"Here, use it wisely, we don't exactly have a whole lot of it. Had I know we were headed to the middle of a furnace then I would've packed more."

"Kori, look," Quin said. 

The carcan grabbed a pair of binoculars from the belt he wore and peered through them. A few seconds later, he lowered them and a shocked look overcame his face. 

"It. . . it's real. The temple of Agaron. . . it's not just a myth. It's real."