Read Gamers' Quest for Free Online Page B

during important ceremonies, while ordinary people stood on the stone floor below.
    Monks in hooded robes knelt on the flagstone floor, chanting and occasionally prostrating themselves.
    A monk in red robes stood silently at a raised altar. Brocaded drapes of bronze and purple adorned the wall behind it. The monk that had shown them in indicated to Tark and Zyra that they should go forward. They walked quickly up the aisle of chanting monks, Tark still pulling the cart containing their stash.
    ‘Place your keys onto the altar,’ boomed the red monk's deep, gravelly voice. ‘So that the Oracle may see if you have permission.’
    Zyra placed the two stolen keys onto the smooth stone surface of the altar. It lit up from within, the top glowing a pearlescent pink.
    ‘Place your palms onto the altar,’ continued the monk, ‘so that the Oracle may see if you are worthy.’
    Zyra took a deep breath and placed her hand, palm down, onto the altar next to the first key. Tark hesitated, wondering if his thoughts about Zyra were enough to make him unworthy in the eyes of the Oracle. Thoughts were not against the Designers’ rules, he told himself, only actions. Zyra glared at him sternly. He hastily reached out his hand and placed it onto the altar, next to the second key.
    The colour of the light segued to green.
    ‘You are worthy,’ said the monk. ‘The Oracle will speak to you.’ Then he turned his back to them and knelt.
    Tark sighed with relief and snatched his hand back. Zyra also withdrew her hand. An image of their faces appeared on the stone surface of the altar.
    ‘Identity confirmed,’ said a soft, androgynous voice. The voice did not seem to have a point of origin, rather it echoed from all around. ‘Base level contenders. Appropriate pathway being assigned.’ There was a brief pause, during which Tark and Zyra looked at each other expectantly. ‘Pathway assigned. Entry point allocated. Door 162. Location: City area designation –’
    Suddenly the Oracle stopped speaking. Different colours flashed across the surface of the altar.
    ‘New information being downloaded and assessed. Please wait!’
    ‘Huh?’ said Tark.
    Zyra noticed the red monk move slightly, inclining his hooded head to one side. Was something wrong?
    ‘Additional elements required for contenders. Pathway reassigned. Entry point allocated. Door 323. Location: sewage tunnels.’
    ‘Crap!’ said Tark.
    Zyra elbowed him to be quiet and respectful. If they antagonised the Oracle, they may be given an even worse pathway – although Zyra found it hard to imagine something worse than the sewers.
    ‘Displaying pathway now.’
    A map appeared on the surface of the altar, just as a loud crashing sound shattered the calm ambiance of the Temple.
    Tark and Zyra whipped around to see the Temple doors torn from their hinges, a dishevelled Vera standing in the opening, fragments of rubble and dust caught in her hair and clothing.
    ‘Not happy!’ she screeched, as she began to advance up the aisle.
    The red monk stood and turned.
    ‘The Temple of Paths is home to the Designers’ Oracle,’ boomed the monk. ‘It is not a place of conflict.’
    ‘Quick,’ hissed Tark to Zyra. ‘Memorise the map.’
    As Zyra turned back to the altar and studied the map of the sewers, Vera took another step forward and bellowed, ‘Gold. Mine. Take. Now!’
    ‘Why's she chasing us for one lousy bag o’ gold?’ asked Tark. ‘With ’er strength, she coulds smash ’er way into a treasury and runs off with a king's ransom.’
    ‘Dunno.’ Zyra shrugged without looking up from the map. ‘Sentimental value?’
    As the red monk nodded, the other monks all stood. As one, they moved to block Vera's path.
    ‘Do not defile the Designers’ Temple,’ said the red monk, his voice booming through the temple.
    Vera answered by backhanding the nearest monk. With the jangling sound of bracelets and bangles, he was flung back into one of the television screens. Sparks