Temple Of Fate

• Stanley Tran, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2009

It was very dark and noises were coming from deep within the cave the only light was at the mouth of the cave. At the entrance sat a hiker named Dave, it was only yesterday that he was in a horrific incident. He was hiking in the mountains with his mate John. But they were chased by a bear twice their size. John unfortunately was unlucky and fell into a trench and passed away. Now Dave was sitting and was drowning in his misery after he could not help his friend.

Day by day Dave sat and heard voices of death echoing from deeper into the cave. It was like the voices are asking him to follow them. Dave had decided that he could no longer walk this Earth and so he fetched his things and headed deeper into the cave. First the cave divided into two tunnels Dave went to the right one without hesitation he didn’t care if he lived or died he just didn’t want to live any more. After the tunnel ended Dave was more miserable than ever. He then came to an end where the tunnel separated into five separate tunnels. Dave just trudged on hoping he would die faster. He staggered on to what felt like an eternity.

After a while Dave started to make out a faint light illuminating the tunnel ahead. Dave felt light hearted that he was soon going to die. Once he finally reached the end of the tunnel he found himself in a largely lit room with torches and a large stone door. The stone door had many magnificent details and many industrious carving that would have taken a whole century to carve by hand. On the side of the stone doors was a little ornament set into the door. Dave approached the little ornament and inspected the detail and the figure. The ornament was and angel holding what looks like a crystal or some jewel. Dave lifted a finger to touch the angel he pressed to hard and the angel sank in and was suddenly sealed by two pieces of stone. The ground shook violently and then the enormous front doors opened to reveal what ever was inside it was pitch black.

Dave took one of the torches and took a deep breath and trudged on. As Dave was walking he realized that the floor was really dusty. He kneeled down on one leg and blew a section of the dust away.
On the stone pavement were words carved in ancient writing.
They who wander these walls,
Will never walk the Earth again,
They who steal the treasure,
Will have their lives stolen from them.

Beware!

Dave looked at the sign and saw what a coward and fool he was but now there is no turning back so Dave had no choice but to continue on his way. After a while walking Dave found himself in a room more like a chamber filled with sparkling crystals and marble. In the centre of the room stood a statue of the angel Dave saw before. I was the most beautiful thing Dave had ever seen. The statue had shiny eyes which were made from crystals. The angel had delicate wing which were spread gracefully, the angel wore a white silk dress and in the smooth hands were holding a crystal ball. To Dave it was the most delicate thing he had ever seen. It is a pity that he was going to die either way.

Dave’s hand etched towards the crystal, admiring its shimmering light. Dave trembling hand touched the crystal. All of a sudden the angel moved and the eyes started to glow even stronger. Now it was twice as beautiful and twice as bright the crystal now stored cracks in its centre. Then the crystal shattered and the ground started to tremble the angel as Dave had realised that the angel was singing not in a normal language. Dave was starting to feel dizzy and his visions were fading. He was starting to lose his consciousness and the angel sang on. Then all was silent.

From that day on many onlookers were afraid to go anywhere near the cave and from that day on the cave was known as the Temple of Fate and the legend of Dave was past down through many centuries.