Indigo's Story
Chapter II: The Spirit King
By: The Firebending Frog
(In Game Name: HaxusBloodbane)
Disclaimer
I do not own Dungeon Boss, It is the property of Big Fish games and Boss Fight entertainment.
Waking up from being knocked out is nothing like I imagined. Not only did I have a throbbing headache but every muscle in my body throbbed like I had been running all day long except I only felt the pain not the tiring feeling on my mind. I spent several minutes lying there hoping something would come along and rip my throat out before I realized just how cold I was. I was so cold it felt warm. I cracked open and eye and almost died from shock. The sun was setting and I had no idea where I was.
I was on my feet in a matter of seconds. All pain forgotten in fear. To make matters worse a wolf howled somewhere in the distance. I was shaking and shuddering. Unable to think straight. Only one thing came to mind. Fire. I needed a fire. Maybe an artificial light was as good as the normal one. I looked around to find lush forest around me. But not too far from where I was standing knee deep in the snow was a large rock moved by the avalanche. It has a large dip in it that could keep a fire off the ground. I rushed too and fro grabbing small twigs and built a little teepee of twigs before digging into my pocket and pulling out my flint. I eyed the woods around me warily. I felt like eyes were staring at me from all directions. Some even blinking as if the moment the sun vanished I was free game.
With a slash of my hunting knife the flint sparked and the kindling caught. I grabbed the branch above me and ripped it down stripping the needles away and tossing the small twigs into the fire. As the sun sank I began throwing bigger and bigger chunks of wood on it. I salvaged what had been knocked down by the avalanche and dried large chunks near the fire as it grew larger and larger. By this point I had illuminated a circle and around that circle things kept moving. It was unnerving. They moved so strangely it was obvious they weren't human, animal, or tree. They were something else. Even the shadows seemed to move more than they should have. I felt unnerved and like eyes were upon me. I kept looking around and that's when my eyes fell upon it.
It was the figure of a man out of my range of vision. He just stood there. Two massive red eyes. I began to breathe quickly. It was almost like he was made of rocks. So large and massive. I started to think it might be a rock when it blink and walked away. That just about did it for me. I was going to die out here. Eyes began to appear around my fire. One by one. Not in pairs either. Just one eye at a time like they were trying to keep me from leaving. I was surrounded by things that didn't make sense and were scared of my fire.
That's when the growling began I stared ahead of me to see a wolf enter from the ring of trees. It was clearly not frightened by the fire. I had a hunting knife and no idea where my bow was. So I had two options. Become an animal's dinner or run.
I chose run.
In hindsight I should have thrown a burning log at it but instead I bolted as fast as I could through the snow. I could hear the howling behind me and the panting of their mouths and even the crunching of the snow so close I could almost feel their hot breath on my ankles. I didn't look back for fear of slowing down. I was so engaged I only realized where I was headed when I felt air beneath my feet and fell down a cliff. The world spun and I made contact with snow before falling unconscious.
So I'd been buried in snow, lost my father and couldn't find him, been stared at by spirits, and then fell off a cliff. One would think my day couldn't get any weirder but would that make sense at all? Awaking from unconsciousness a second time was not nice at all especially when I'd already gone through it once. I let one of my eyes open and my face fell int a neutral and wide eyed expression as I stared at the man over me. I was in a cave made of pure ice and I felt like my back was part of the cave floor. But I couldn't move. I was too preoccupied with this strange man's face.
Every single inch of his body was made out of a swirling vortex of snowflakes. His beard was darker and more clouded but everything else was just a swirling mist of snowflakes with an aura of cold around him. His eyes were like an Aurora, constantly shifting colour from a small dot to the wider part of the eyes. It was almost hypnotic. I didn't know what to say, I had no idea what he was, for all I knew he wanted to eat me, use my skin for warmth. Although being made of snowflakes kind of defeated the purpose.
"Human!" His voice boomed very gravelly, "I have saved you from death by giving you the elixir of winter. In return you owe me your life."
I just blinked completely unsure what was going on exactly. What did he mean Elixir of winter? Where was I? What kind of debt did he mean?
"I am the spirit of the seasons. I have no knowledge of human ways or needs. You must help me find out what's wrong with my daughter," He explained and I cocked an eyebrow and sat up. I looked around to see a plain cave with a simple throne made of rocks. The throne was coated in a layer of ice and was way too big for this man to sit in. Besides that all the cave was filled with a layer of ice that made it sparkle. Across the room was a pool of blue liquid that was so bright I almost couldn't look at it. I couldn't see the cave opening either so I was worried about being stuck. That was until I noticed something in the water. I clambered to my feet and rushed to the edge of the water. In the shallow part was a baby who couldn't have been more than two months old. Probably born the last few days of summer.
"Why is your daughter floating in a pool of water?" I demanded turning to the spirit.
"She has perished daily and the spring of seasons revives her. She is part spirit. It can do that without harming her physical form. So I have now left her in the elixir of winter so she will not enter the void again," The spirit explained, "She is susceptible to human issues, what is wrong with her."
"Have you fed her?" I demanded turning to the spirit.
"She should not need more than the elixirs of the seasons," The spirit said.
"Well can I get some berrires or something?" I demanded, "Humans need to eat food."
"She is not human, she is part human," The spirit replied crossing his arms.
"Also she needs heat," I added taking my cloak off and picking the baby girl up. She had a tuft of brown hair on her face and stared at me like I was going to hurt her but she didn't have the energy to fight back. I wrapped her in my cloak and stepped onto the shore of the pond she had been floating in. I stopped in shock to see several strange swirling snow people exactly like the spirit but not as fantastic in appearance. One held food and the other two held wood as dry as could be. I put the cloak wrapped baby on the ground and grabbed the wood making quick work of it and lighting a fire in it with a swift flick on my knife.
"What is this red flower you make?" The spirit demanded.
"It's called fire. Humans need it to be warm," I replied pulling the baby close to the flame and looking over the berries, "Ugh she can't eat this."
"She is part spirit. She feasts on the elixir of winter of sustenance." The spirit stated almost without emotion.
"Fine!" I exclaimed walking to the edge of the pool looking for something to put the water in that this spirit claimed was the elixir of a season. I picked up a rock with a massive dip in it that made a crude cup. I filled it with elixir and the spirit was on top of me within seconds.
"Why do you steal the elixir from the pool?" He demanded like he couldn't figure it out. I just side stepped and walked to his daughter who had started to stir next to the fire. I sat her up and raised the cup to her mouth and held her head up before massaging her chest and neck forcing her to swallow. She shuddered and gave a wail of pain.
"She's going to be fine," I sighed moving another log to the fire.
"You care for her like her mother," The spirit stated.
"Where is the mother anyway? Did you steal this child?!" I demanded.
"No, she is the offspring of a beautiful maiden I fell for. After the maiden died in childbirth I took her to my cave and let her live with me. She enjoys it," The spirit explained, "For I am king of all spirits who inhabit this mountain."
"What?!" I gasped in shock stepping back suddenly feeling afraid of this beast.
"You will make a good caregiver for the child." The spirit stated.
"Wait. Wait. Wait. Who said I was staying?" I demanded narrowing my eyes at this Spirit King.
"You have partaken of the elixir of winter. You are no longer human." The spirit king declared and jerked my head back and out of the corner of my eye I saw it.
I snatched a lock of my once very dark hair. Almost raven actually. I mention this because it was white. White with a fragment of blue as if the black wanted to be showcased in some form still. Even the texture had changed. It seemed almost like it was more straight and chilling. It seemed to absorb the cold and hold it in place.
"You are part of our culture now," The spirit stated suddenly swirling larger and larger and I stared up as the Spirit king rose to a massive height and sat in his throne, "Welcome Indigo, to the spirit wastes."
