Chapter 64: Chapter 63: A Psionic helps with a ritual.

Under the afternoon sun, Carol was placing the laundry she had just finished along the clothesline. Part of the deal she made with Petele to stay at his home was to undertake some chores around the place. While his personality was not the best, he at least was reasonable to deal with. Petele gave his bed to them, and he slept on the couch.

In a short time she finished attaching the linen and clothes and thought about taking a short break. Mianda was over with Diasne, apparently Diasne wanted to show the village to her. Petele was having a nap, like he always did, so she was going to hang outside for a little bit longer.

As she was about to sit, she got a message from Jack. "Hey Carol, I just wanted to let you know a few of my Users are coming through town. They are headed to a nearby ancient temple. I would like you to help them out. It shouldn't take all day. It's really close to the village."

Thinking about what she needed to do, Carol said "I have the time."

"Great, I send you a quest for it." A blue window popped up.

Heading to the front of the cottage, Carol looked down the road and observed a group of four people walking towards the village. In the lead was a weary looking man, with a short chipper looking woman hanging by his side. Two dwarf women who looked identical except for the hair color followed behind.

The man came up to Carol and asked "Hello, Are you the User Jack said would be meeting us?"

"That would indeed be me. I am Carol. How do you do?"

"Alright, this is Frankie, my best friend. The two Dwarf twins are Debra and Denise. I'm Nicholas. Jack said you would be able to direct us to the waterfall?"

"Yeah, I saw it recently when I went to the pond nearby."

"According to the notes I collected, the ancient temple is supposed to be behind the waterfall."

"Really? Cause I could have sworn it was solid rock behind the waterfall. Maybe it was talking about a different waterfall."

"Let's hope not."

"So Jack told me you were trying to break a curse?"

"Yeah my friend Frankie was cursed to be a woman. We are hoping to appeal to the gods to help break the curse."

Carol looked at Frankie who was looking elsewhere at the moment and she picked up a few surface thoughts coming off her. Frankie seemed to be conflicted about changing back, what she genuinely desired was to be with Nicholas. Deciding it was not for her to interfere in, she said "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes"

While they were walking Carol found Debra was a Blacksmith. "When we are done with this temple, could you stop by our cottage? Petele has several broken things that need repairing. He would compensate you for your services."

Debra said "Sure, I can do that if we don't have somewhere else we need to head?"

"No, the next temple we have to head to is two days away. We will probably spend the night at the village then set out sometime tomorrow." Nicholas said. "So you should have time to fix a few things."

"Great, I've been wanting to get some practice in."

"So Carol, what class are you?" Denise asked.

"I am a Psionic."

Frankie looked confused and said "I've never heard of that. What is that?"

"I can achieve things with my mind, I can read people's thoughts, and lift things like this." Carol reached out with her mind and lifted a rock off the ground.

"Cool, is it like magic?"

"No. It takes mental effort to do. The system somehow changes my MP into the energy I use."

They were walking down the path to the nearby pond, as they went they could hear the waterfall growing louder, till they rounded a bend and could see it. Water was cascading off a ledge twenty feet high and slamming into a pool below. Like Carol thought behind the waterfall she could only make out a pile of rocks.

"Are you sure this is the Waterfall Nicholas?" Frankie said.

"I am, look at that pile of rocks."

Carol looked and saw that a pile of rocks vaguely reminded her of a wolf lying down.

"It says the waterfall by the wolf laying down. We just need to find the hidden path it says."

They split up and began to look for the path. Carol was walking towards the side of the waterfall, when she noted something odd. Moving back and forth she observed the rocks along the edge of the waterfall didn't look right. Going closer she found the rocks had been positioned in a manner to conceal a path.

"Over here!" She called out, and the others came over. In order to go through the path, they had to crawl on their hands and feet. The moist surface made their clothes damp. As they went, they could hear the waterfall pounding on the other side of the rocks.

The path was fairly dark and filled with cold puddles. As they went deeper, a light suddenly came on, and looking back Carol saw a floating glowing orb next to Nicholas. Before long they reached an area where they could stand, at the end of the path. In front of them was a large stone door with an image of a howling wolf carved into it.

"How do we open it?" Carol asked. The sounds of the waterfall were dulled in here, and they could hear each other without the need to shout.

"Unfortunately none of the notes mention how to open it. What it does say is that they only managed to unseal it because they had a few lessons. Of what I don't know."

Carol began to examine the door with the others. Under the carving she found a series of notations, they resembled the marks she had seen on the musical notes that Mianda was forced to learn. "I think these are for some music. Maybe we have to perform the song in order to open the door."

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"What? Oh, I guess that does make sense for a goddess of singing." Nicholas said.

"Here let me take a look." Frankie said.

Frankie went to the door and traced the notations and began humming a tune. She nodded and said "I think I got it."

"You can read it?" Nicholas said.

"Yeah, I was pretty into music when I was younger. Then things happened and well you know. Maybe I will get back into music. Anyway, I think I recognize this pattern. It's very similar to an old folk song that used to be song back in the taverns. But I think it only needs the tune, not the words."

Frankie began to sing a few notes, as she did so the door began to let out a glow. When she finished the door began to slide up into a hidden recess in the ceiling. "Good Job Frankie." Nicholas said and Frankie blushed a little.

The Tunnel behind the door was covered in carvings of wolfs in play and several songs were carved in as well. They went down the dry tunnel, and Nicholas took the lead to light the way forward. Carol took a look over the carvings and found it was often a pair of wolves moving together.

It seemed to tell a story of two wolf lovers and their struggles to be together. In a minute they reached a large chamber In the far back was a massive statue of a wolf that was lying down facing an altar in front of it. Looking around Carol could see more carvings in the wall and two strange trails carved in the ground.

Nicholas headed forward and pulled out a statuette of a wolf carved in moonstone. He placed it on the Altar, and Carol could hear it seem to snap into place. It let out a glow, and the temple began to light up around and Carol got a better look at the murals in the wall.

"Is that all we needed to do?" Carol asked.

"No, this is just the first part, unfortunately. We need to call her back. She's apparently lost and needs a beacon to find the way back." Nicholas said.

"How do we do that?"

"We need to perform a ritual associated with her. That will capture her attention and help her back. Let's look around we might be able to find something."

Along the walls Carol could see a single wolf on each side with musical notations for a song to go with them. Looking at the altar, she saw a pair of wolves together in song. Stepping back to the entrance she recalled the strange illusion at the front. Carol crossed her eyes and made the two sides come together and then she saw it.

Using the tracks on the floor, she could see the murals started at two points and then came together at the altar. "Hey I think the ritual for this place is combining these two murals together." Carol said.

Frankie looked at the two murals, and studied the floor and nodded. "I think your right. This appears to be a duet. Nicholas I will need your help to sing this."

"I guess I can help you sing."

"Alright, I will need to examine this song in depth." Frankie went around and pulled out a piece of chalk and made several marks along the wall as she studied the mural. "Hmm this doesn't make sense, unless...I see." She then made several marks along the tracks in the floor.

"I have it figured it out" Frankie said several minutes later. "It's not just a song. It's also a dance. See how the two tracks come together? We start at each end and then we come together in a dance."

"What kind of dancing?" Nicholas asked.

"It's not specified, so just move your body to the beat of the song." Frankie then looked at Carol, "Speaking of a beat, I'm going to need you to keep the beat of the song. Here is what I want you to perform. Clap in this pattern." Frankie paused then clapped, then paused, and then did two quick clapps. "Just repeat that over and over."

Carol did a few tries, and Frankie guided her until she got it down. "Good. Now Debra and Denise, do you see those two horns attached to the wall? When Nicholas and I get to the middle, I need you to both blow the horns at the same time."

The two dwarves nodded and went to the horns and waited for them to start. "Okay Nicholas come here, this is where you will start. You will be taking the role of an Alpha wolf seeking its mate."

"What?" Nicholas said deadpan to Frankie.

"It's about two wolves who fall in love, they call upon their goddess to bless their love and help them face their challenges in life."

"So it's a love song?"

"Yes basically."

Nicholas took a deep breath and said "Okay, so what do I need to sing?"

"The lyrics are kinda odd, as it's meant for wolves to sing. So it's a set of basically howls, growls and barks. You just need to do it in a singing fashion."

Frankie went over with Nicholas on what he needed to sing for several minutes and then said "I think we are ready." Heading to her spot, she said "On the count of three, start the beat Carol. One...Two..Three!"

Perhaps what followed was the strangest thing Carol had ever seen. While she clapped out the beat, Nicholas and Frankie began to dance and letting out wolf howls. Nicholas howls seemed lonesome until Frankie started howling, and soon they joined their voices together.

It felt somewhat romantic in a sense though it was pretty funny to watch. Though as it went along, Carol began to feel as if she was watching two wolves engage in some sort of mating dance. She began to swear she could hear howls emerging from the walls as they sang.

Then they reached the middle and embraced each other, and the twins blew into the horns. Two immense howls ripped through the chamber as they danced in the middle. The pair let out a series of romantic howls and the statue began to light up.

A long howl seemed to come from the statue and a female voice resounded through Carols mind. "An impressive performance children of men. I thank you for calling me back to the world. I had been lost for so long, I feared I would never return.

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