A/N: And yep, what I'm adding to change things this time around are flashbacks, which are inexplicably told from a third-person omniscient viewpoint despite them taking place exclusively in Wander's mind! ...Just go with it. Also something you'll have to just go with: How he's having such vivid, accurate flashbacks in his dreams. Trust me though, this is a hell of a lot better than what it was before. Before, it was ham-handed so-called 'nightmare' scenes that were just... weird, and, I have a sneaking suspicion, more than a little narmy. Maybe if you're lucky (and if I'm feeling masochistic) I might post an old chapter or two once this redux is all said and done so ya'll newcomers can see how bad they truly were. MAYBE. I should probably also mention that none of these flashback scenes are in the game. One last thing I did is go back and change some minor details in previous chapters, like changing Wander's age to eighteen instead of seventeen, and giving him sixty arrows and not twenty-five.

Flashback scene changed on Sept. 19, 2017.

In The Shadow of the Beasts Redux

By: Rylek196

The Third: Earth Knight, Gaius


By the time Wander's unconscious body had reached the Shrine of Worship, it was nighttime. The two humanoid shadow creatures that looked down at him would have been nearly invisible in the gloom, had Dormin's light not still been shining down. It created a very strange dissonance, with an almost perfect circle of heavenly light to drive away the creeping shadows of night.

However, the light given off by Dormin was soon joined by a much greater, but much briefer radiance: that of the Idol of the second Colossus glowing. The shadow beings quickly sunk into the floor as it exploded, the loud sound startling Wander awake. "Waah!" he yelped, quickly shooting to his feet. Breathing heavily, and with his toned muscles sore from two arduous, back-to-back battles, he sat down, calling for Agro. Her hoofbeats were heard a few seconds later, and she ran into the Shrine, coming to a stop in front of Wander.

"Well, at least you're reliable at coming when called," Wander said with a hint of irritation in his voice. He removed her tack and placed it on the floor with a grunt, then removed his gear as well. "I think it's time we both got some rest. Lay down. You're my pillow until this is over."

Agro snorted, obeying her master's command. Wander sat with his back to her, getting as comfortable as possible before closing his eyes. As sleep began to take his mind away, he remembered how he first met Mono, on that fateful day. They were both only about fifteen years old...

The rabbit that had recently been caught in one of Wander's improvised traps squealed as he plunged his knife into its flesh. Wander just chuckled evilly, beginning to skin it. The poor animal kept screaming in fear and pain, its blood getting all over Wander's clothes. He took some form of sick pleasure from this, and felt no remorse. People had to eat to live, after all. Any life-forms lower than humans with meat on their bones just served that purpose.

However, Wander was not the only human in this forest. Behind him, the bushes rustled, and there was the sudden pitter-patter sound of feet. Wander's head jerked up. He dropped the rabbit to the ground, the thing wheezing for breath and just barely alive.

"Who's there?" Wander called. His eyes darted around the small clearing, and he switched the bloodied knife in his hand to a backhand grip, holding it in front of him threateningly. "Show yourself! If you don't, I'll drag you out, and you don't want that."

The bushes rustled more, and a humanoid form took shape in them. Wander frowned, tightening his grip on the knife's hilt, ready to pounce. All at once, however, the foliage parted, pushed aside by a pair of arms covered by white sleeves. The person they belonged to emerged not a second later, taking Wander slightly by surprise.

...It was a girl. Wander relaxed a bit, but still held his knife in a defensive position. The girl just stared at him, seeming to appraise him with her light blue eyes. He stared back with his own green-gray ones, doing the exact same thing.

She was pretty, that was for sure. She wore a rather elegant, yet plain, white dress, definitely unfit for a forest, and its whiteness stood in stark contrast to Wander's bloodstained shirt. Still, he could appreciate the way it clung to her body, flattering her developing curves. Her hair was brown and trailed down her back, stopping just above her rear end. Suddenly, the girl's eyes widened, noticing the dying, bloody rabbit behind Wander, and she opened her mouth to speak.

Her language, it seemed, was not as pretty as she was. "What the fuck are you doing!?" she shouted, running right past him and pushing him to the side with surprising strength. She knelt down next to the rabbit, blood and dirt staining her dress, comforting it by whispering sweet nothings to it. Soon, the rabbit breathed its last, and while Wander didn't bat an eye at this, but the girl turned her head up to him, her eyes showing nothing but rage. She shot to her feet, getting right up in his face as she yelled, "What the hell was that, you bastard!? You piece of shit!"

Wander barely flinched at her outburst. "I was hunting," he said blandly. "Who the hell are you?"

"Don't you fucking dare lie to me, bastard!" the girl growled, ignoring his question. "That wasn't hunting- I've seen hunting! That thing was being skinned alive!"

"And so what if it was?" Wander said. "All it is is food. People need to eat to live, after all. What do you think, food just magically rains down from the sky? No, for the good of everyone, some need to die." He knelt down and picked up the dead rabbit, holding it by the ears. He grinned savagely as he put his knife to its throat. "Just like this." He then slit the rabbit's throat open, blood streaming out. The girl got a queasy look on her face, then spun around after giving him a gaze of contempt, vanishing into the foliage once more. Satisfied at having gotten rid of that annoyance, Wander went back to skinning his catch. Winter was on its way, and both the meat and fur from this rabbit would be needed in the coming months.

The next day, Wander was sitting on his animal pelt bed in his hut, sharpening his hunting knife with a whetstone. This felt-and-wood construction, called a yurt, was a fairly typical home for most who lived in his village, albeit his was far more sparsely furnished than most. Wander lived alone, therefore needing few amenities.

There were three rugs on the floor, the most elaborately decorated (though that really wasn't saying much) placed in front of his bed, while the other two lay near the yurt's central support beams, with his woodstove and its metal pipe that stuck out of the roof (which was basically a chimney) in the centre of the room. His extra clothing was placed both in a dresser and in various chests on the floor along the walls. Directly across from him was a pile of neatly folded animal pelts that he intended to sell to traders who occasionally came through. They would then in turn take said pelts to sell for a profit on the Silk Road.

Wander was actually far wealthier than his spartan living conditions would suggest thanks to his fur trading, but having little use for the money, he mostly just kept it in a locked chest and rarely looked at it save to count it from time to time. It was just one of those things that became invisible after getting used to it.

What did not become invisible, though, was the knife he was currently sharpening. Though the blade really only saw use during the autumn months- the Great Khan had forbidden hunting during animal mating seasons, and Wander had no desire to bring the punishment for breaking that law down on his head- he savoured each kill he made with it. There was something about being a bringer of death that he found immensely satisfying and empowering.

Suddenly, the door to the hut opened, and his superior, Naranbaatar, walked in, followed by the girl he had met yesterday in the forest, breaking him out of his rather disturbing train of thought. Naranbaatar was a tall man in his thirties, well-built and fit, with brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He wore a more ornate version of Wander's uniform, befitting his higher rank.

Wander sheathed his knife and got to his feet, standing at attention. "What is this about, sir? And why is she here?" he asked, eyeing the girl. She simply stared back with a grumpy look that said she didn't want to be here.

"Truthfully? That's exactly what this is about, Wander," Naranbaatar said. "Mono here told me what you were doing in the forest yesterday. Why, after you've been told time and again not to, do you continue to act in that way when hunting?"

Mono, Wander thought. Mono. So that was her name. He realized he had neglected to tell her his name in the forest, so this was her first time hearing his name, too. Pushing that thought to the side for the time being, he answered Naranbaatar. "Sir, with all due respect, you really should know me better by now."

"And perhaps you should be more mature by now, you insolent little child," Naranbaatar snarled. "Do not test my patience any longer, Wander, or I'll sentence you to so many lashings that your back will be nothing more than shredded strips of flesh by the end!"

Even Wander's eyes widened slightly at that, Mono giving a small, almost inaudible gasp. Naranbaatar did not let this advantage go, and pressed it. "Scared now, hmm? Willing to listen to what I have to say?"

The boy looked down and to the left, then refocused his gaze on Naranbaatar. "...Yes, sir," he said. In the past, for his stubbornness and general insolent behaviour, his punishment was very difficult extra conditioning, but to the shock of his superiors, he actually seemed to enjoy this to a certain extent.

Though he kept the reason for this masochism a secret to all, it was because he knew that by enduring the tough physical workouts, he would get far stronger and therefore better than his fellow recruits. The exhaustion and stiffness in his muscles was a small price to pay, in his book. Lately, however, they had just switched to tying him down and whipping his back five times, which Wander hated, but had endured two sessions of already. It was enough to keep him in check- at least for a while- but this was the first time Naranbaatar had threatened to have him outright killed. Clearly, Mono was here for a reason.

"Good," Naranbaatar growled. "First of all, I should probably explain what Mono was doing out in the forest yesterday. She was there to meet you and make your acquaintance- before she left, that is." He looked down at the girl by his side. "Which is something she should not have done, by the way."

Mono only scoffed and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.

"Anyway, her job is to... help you with your attitude problems, for lack of a better term," Naranbaatar continued. "She's training to be a priestess, but like you, she's a bit of a problem child, thanks in no small part to her... vulgarity when she speaks."

Wander could have sworn he heard Mono mutter, "I am not a fucking problem child," under her breath. He smirked thinly.

"So," Naranbaatar went on, "The hope is that you two will be able to help each other work through your flaws. Mono, I should not have to remind you that if you refuse this task, you will never become a full-fledged priestess, and Wander, if you do not do what Mono says, not only will you be expelled from the militia, you will be executed. And I'll make sure it's painful. Am I clear?"

Both teens nodded begrudgingly.

"Good," Naranbaatar said. "I'll leave you two to get acquainted, then." He left the yurt, closing the door behind him.

A cold silence that lasted a full minute followed as Wander and Mono simply stared at each other. Finally, Wander broke it, another smirk stretching his lips. "Is this all we're going to do each time we meet? Just stare at each other?"

Mono narrowed her eyes. "Perhaps. Perhaps not. You're still a bastard, by the way."

"Oh, you're still hung up on that? I do that as annual pastime-"

"Oh, yes, because skinning animals alive is such a good pastime..." Mono shot back with biting sarcasm, interrupting him.

Wander just rolled his eyes and continued. "-And besides, like I said yesterday, the village needs the meat come winter. You can't tell me you haven't felt the chill in the air lately."

"Given how I always wear dresses with long sleeves, no, I haven't. I'm kept fairly warm all year long," Mono answered, walking towards Wander's bed. "Anyway, this babble is all meaningless. I think we'd best start getting to know each other. Since when did you start killing animals like you do?"

Wander gave a dismissive shrug, moving to stand beside her. "I forget. And even though I'm fairly sure that wasn't an empty threat Naranbaatar made, I think I can get away with doing this just once..."

Without warning, Wander's hand whipped forward, smacking Mono on the backside. She shrieked, both in surprise and at the unwelcome stinging pain the left cheek of her derriere. Quickly, she dropped to one knee, grabbed Wander's discarded knife off the bed, and in one smooth motion, unsheathed it and stabbed directly upward at Wander's crotch. The boy just barely moved to the right in time, avoiding his testicles getting turned into shish-kebab. Mono did not stop there, however, and before Wander knew it, she had the blade pressed against his throat, in a prime position to slash it.

"You do that... ever again..." Mono threatened, "And I'll be the one killing you! Fuck what Naranbaatar would do, I'd make it ten fucking times worse! I don't care what it would do to my chances of becoming a priestess! It would be worth the satisfaction of watching you die! I'm trying to help you, you son of a bitch! So the least you could do, is show me some fucking respect!"

Keeping the knife pointed toward Wander in a backhand grip, she walked to the door, opening it and stopping in the frame. Now follow me. I think a walk would do us some good." She then threw the knife at the ground where it buried itself point-first with a dull thud. She then stormed out of the hut.

Wander sighed, partly in relief, partly in exasperation. He had a feeling this was going to be excruciatingly annoying, but at least, from the brief touch he had gotten of it, her bottom did seem to be the right mix of soft and pliable, yet firm and toned. He pulled his knife from the ground, giving it a quick once-over to inspect for damage (it was a very cheap knife, and while Wander could easily afford another one, he was too lazy to do so), then sheathed it and put it on his belt, following Mono.

Meanwhile, Naranbaatar walked through the village at a relatively brisk pace. He wasn't in a huge hurry, but Lord Emon did not to be kept waiting any longer than necessary. The village he lived in was a fairly small one, all things considered, but it was well-stocked with needed amenities. Most of the huts were arranged in a roughly circular formation around a larger temple-like building constructed out of wood. That was his destination. To the north were targets set up for archery, as well as a few more yurts. The conflict with another empire to the west had left the village with few actual troops, putting extra pressure on the militia for defense. About an hour's ride by horse to the west was a sprawling area of forest. To the south, about a week's ride away, was an intimidating mountain range, though going there was forbidden on Emon's orders.

The hunt this season had been good, and the village would be well-prepared for winter. Arriving at the temple, Naranbaatar ascended a flight of stairs to Emon's quarters. He knocked on the door, and a muffled voice told him to enter, so he did.

Lord Emon was a rather unassuming-looking man in his early forties, not particularly tall, but not short, either. He wore long, hooded blue robes with a very elaborately woven tabard that almost reached down to his ankles, with red adorning the sleeves. His face was peppered with graying stubble, and he had a head of short, gray hair.

"Ah, Naranbaatar! I take it you fulfilled your task?" he asked as he rose from his sitting position on the floor.

"Yes, My Lord," Naranbaatar said, nodding. "But they don't seem to be taking too great a liking to each other. I do not doubt you... but are you sure this is going to work? Will they actually help each other to overcome their flaws?"

"I have faith that they will, yes," Emon replied. "When Mono came here, I saw immense potential in her as a priestess. Though she proved... rough around the edges, I think trying to calm your troublesome recruit will do her some good."

Naranbaatar's eyes looked down and to the left for a second before he spoke again. "And if they end up, say, falling for each other?"

"All the better," Emon smiled. "After all, there is no more powerful motivator for change in someone than love. Don't worry, my old friend. Everything will work out. You will see."

"So... what is it exactly you do?" Mono asked Wander as he let loose another arrow, striking the bulls-eye for the third time in a row. "I mean, I know you're a militiaman, but what does that entail?"

The 'walk' Mono had dragged Wander along on had led them to the archery training grounds, where several wooden targets were set up at varying distances for people to shoot at and hone their skills. Wander had immediately strolled in that direction, and with no weapon to threaten him with this time, Mono had been forced to follow him.

Wander nocked another arrow to his bow, using the ring on his thumb to pull back the string. "Well, we train hard in case we need to defend the village from outside attack, but more likely now, we'd be called to attack that western empire, though so far that hasn't happened yet. Kind of pisses me off, if I'm being honest." He let the arrow fly, hitting the bulls-eye yet again. Mono raised her eyebrows when she looked at the target. His grouping was impeccable. This did not escape Wander's notice. "Impressed?" he smirked, putting his next arrow to bow. "That is exactly why I said I could get away with what I did. They know I'd be picking enemy soldiers off left and right if I was ever sent into battle." He let go of the string, and even though he was running out of room on the bulls-eye, he still managed to hit it.

"Oh, yes, since Naranbaatar sounded so insincere about having you whipped until you died," Mono said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I could just tell him you what you did, and I'll bet he would not be pleased. But still, how long have you been training to do that?"

"Why are you asking so many damn questions?" Wander said, aiming his last shot on the bulls-eye. After this, he would start going for the other rings on the target.

"Well, if I want to help you, I have to get to know you, much as it pains me to do that," Mono replied. "So do me a favour and answer the fucking question."

Launching the arrow and predictably hitting the bulls-eye, Wander shrugged. "Since I was about nine, I think. My father taught me how to shoot- it was one of the few things he actually bothered to teach me. I was just kind of good from the start. I remember I hit the bulls-eye with the first shot I ever took."

"Wait- back up," Mono said. She had the feeling she was about to get somewhere. "What do you mean archery was one of the only things your father taught you?"

Wander lined up yet another shot, this time aiming for the second-most inner ring, firing and hitting it precisely. "I mean my parents just... ignored me most of the time. They weren't really... abusive, I guess you'd say. I got more scars from whipping than I did from them, that's for sure, but they never seemed to care whether I was around or not. They up and left one day when I was twelve, and I never heard from them again. I don't know if they're still alive, and to be honest, it makes no difference to me." He looked at her for the first time since picking up the bow. "But enough about me. Trust goes both ways, doesn't it? So why don't you tell me a bit about yourself? What were your parents like?"

Mono's neutral expression throughout his explanation suddenly turned dark. "We don't need to discuss that." she almost growled.

Wander just smirked. "Oh, so you've got some bad blood with them, hmm? I'm not stupid, Mono. How bad were they?"

"I said, we are not talking about that," Mono repeated, narrowing her eyes. "I think that's been enough for today. I'll visit you tomorrow, so don't make any plans."

With that, she began to walk away. Wander didn't bother following her- what was the point? He was in no rush to change. Still, he furrowed his brows. She was hiding something, that much was obvious. He then shrugged and continued his archery practice, going until he had exhausted the quiver of arrows.

The warm light of the morning sun hitting his face in the Forbidden Lands roused Wander from his sleep. That was something he hadn't noticed until now- Dormin's light gave off no heat, bright as it was. He stood up, wincing as his muscles complained from his strenuous activity the day before. Toned and strong as they were, fighting two giant monsters in a row was still more than they could take. Dormin at least had the courtesy to stay silent as Wander stretched to loosen himself up.

However, as soon as the being apparently felt Wander was done, he spoke. "Thy next foe is... A giant canopy soars to the heavens... The anger of the sleeping giant shatters the earth...

The guttural voice faded, leaving Wander to puzzle out his next clue. Luckily, finding where to go was easy, as the morning light provided plenty of illumination for the Ancient Sword to feed on and put into the beam. Wander quickly found out he had to go northwest, but his stomach rumbled as soon as he lowered his arm to his side. That's right, he thought as Agro sauntered up to him, Haven't eaten since I crossed the bridge. His keen eyes scanned the plain that stretched out in front of him, squinting into the sunlight. Soon, he saw the tree he had passed on his way to the first Colossus. That seems promising, he thought. Maybe there's some animals living near that tree I can kill.

He walked back inside, but noticed there were two white birds pecking around the altar where Mono lay. He gasped, whipping his sword out of his sheath and running towards the scavengers. He swung blindly at the doves, but missed, and they scattered, flying away. "Hopefully that scared them off," he grumbled. "Piece of shit bottom-feeders."

He turned back to his horse."Come on, Agro," he said as he mounted her. "Let's go get some food. Can't have either of us dying of starvation."

The ride to the tree didn't take too long, and soon Wander had dismounted Agro and was staring up at the tree. To his slight dismay, there didn't seem to be any animals lurking about, but there were, dangling from the tree's branches in a manner he swore was meant to taunt him, several huge fruits. They were an orange-yellow colour, looking ripe and filled with juice. Thankfully, thick moss had grown the full height of the tree on one side of it, so Wander used it to climb up. He shook the branches once he was at the top, many of the fruits falling like huge, edible, delicious raindrops. He climbed down again, grabbing a piece of fruit and digging in along with Agro.

The fruit was quite tasty, sweet but surprisingly tart as well. Juice ran down Wander's chin and made his fingers sticky as he took another bite. There were five fruits in total that Wander had shaken off the tree, and many more still on the branches. He ate two full fruits down to the core, licking his fingers clean of juice. Agro gobbled down the rest.

Their hunger sated, horse and rider took off yet again. Wander held his sword up to the light to remind himself where to go. The beam still pointed northwest, so to get to where he had to go, he had to retrace his steps up to a point. He took the same natural bridge he had crossed last time to get to the second Colossus, but this time, instead of going down the path to the cove, he kept to the left, riding into a larger area of the Forbidden Lands.

However, when crossing the land bridge, something caught his eye. At first, it looked like just another rock, but he had a feeling it was far more than that, so he stopped Agro to get a better look. Even from hundreds of feet away, he could make out recognizable shapes in the 'rock', and to his shock, he realized it was the corpse of the second Colossus, now just a mound of earth and stone. So that must be what happens to a Colossus after it dies, he thought. But... they can't be made of stone, they have fur and blood, like an organic being does. What are these things?

Thoroughly puzzled, he got back on Agro, and rode across the remainder of the bridge. The light beam was leading him toward a few fairly tall rock faces not too far away from the bridge, but Wander wasn't fooled. Knowing there had to be a way through, he turned Agro slightly to the left, and sure enough, saw a darkened path between the rocks. As soon as he entered the path, the shadows killed the sword's light, but at that point, it was unneeded anyway.

The path led him on a slight upwards incline for about three minutes, before spilling them out into the shore of a vast lake. This was not what took Wander's breath away, though. Rather, it was the utterly enormous circular platform that rose hundreds of feet out of the lake's surface on a slight tilt. How such a thing was even possible, Wander couldn't begin to fathom. There was also a long, curved walkway supported by tall pillars next to the platform, one that was presumably connected to it.

"Well... I guess this is the place," Wander said, swallowing back a thick lump of saliva. "I don't think now would be a bad time to get water, either."

He dismounted Agro, taking a waterskin out of her saddlebag, and filled it with lake water. Then, dipping his hands into the lake, he took several handfuls and drank them all. When he looked up, he noticed something he hadn't before, reflected in the still water of the lake: Giant pillars made of light, two of them, that shot up into the clouds and twisted them like a frozen tornado. Stranger still, the pillars were in the same places where he had fought the Colossi.

This just gets stranger and stranger, he thought. First their corpses turn back into earth, and now light pillars shoot up when I kill them. But why? For what purpose? He pondered on this for a second, then shook his head, refocusing on the task at hand. Whatever the pillars meant was irrelevant, and didn't matter.

Unfortunately, the only way to get to the walkway was to swim to it, and while Wander did know how to swim, he wasn't looking forward to taking a dip in the semi-cold water of the lake. He sighed, stowing the waterskin away.

"Here goes nothing," he said, double checking that his quiver was closed before walking into the lake and letting it soak his shorts, before fully immersing himself in the water and beginning the long swim to the walkway. The temperature of the water wasn't what he would call unbearable, but he still had a strong desire to get onto dry land as fast as he could.

Reaching the walkway with nothing more than a few shivers, he began to run up it, but as he got higher up, he saw the walkway was not connected directly to the platform. Rather, it stopped abruptly, and there was only a single stone block held up by a pillar in front of him. There did appear to be small ledges on the block that he could use as handholds, but overall, only one thing could be said: "Fuck."

Steeling himself, he backed up a good ten feet to get some good momentum, then ran and jumped for the pillar. For a solid three seconds he was suspended in the air as the block grew closer and closer, then gravity took over and he began to fall. For a split second he thought he was going to miss and fall into the lake, but he just managed to grab a hold of the ledge with one hand. He stayed there, hanging literally by his fingers, until he swung his other arm up to get a more solid grip. Taking a moment to steady himself, he then started shimmying along the ledge to the back of the block. He then repeated what he did to get to the first Colossus, pushing off with his legs to get to the lip of the platform.

Now on more solid ground, he walked around the edge until he came to a flight of stairs leading up onto the main part of the platform.

The first thing he saw there was what seemed to be a giant pile of rubble. Wander was not so naive to believe it was, though. His feelings were confirmed as he drew a bit closer to it, and suddenly a loud, throaty rumbling was heard, and the stone pile began to move, standing up from its prone position on the ground.

For the second time that day, Wander's breath was stolen from him as the Colossus rose to its full height of nearly a hundred feet tall. The monster was a lanky, bizarre humanoid, with asymmetrical arms, a furry belly, and fairly short legs that ended, oddly enough, in spherical globes. It had no hands to speak of, with the left arm ending in a ball of fur with stone blocks sticking out of it in a way that resembled very crude fingers, and the right arm ending in a massive stone pillar, almost akin to a sword, if one wanted to look at it that way.

Not letting his fear root him in place, nor repeat his mistake from the second Colossus, Wander held up his sword, moving the beam around the creature's body to search for weak points. One was highlighted almost immediately on the beast's belly, and the other was located all the way up on its head. However, like before, revealing these Sigils caused the Colossus's eyes to glow orange, and it began to stomp toward him even more aggressively.

Suddenly, the Colossus stopped, beginning to take a step back and moving its sword arm in a way that suggested it was winding up for an attack. Wander's eyes widened. Oh, shit. He immediately began to sprint to the left faster than he ever had as the monster dropped its stance to steady itself on its globular feet and raised its weapon far above its head, then brought it down with unimaginable force. The impact made a noise like an explosion, creating a crater in the sandy surface of the platform like one, too.

Wander, for his part, was well out of the way of the pillar-sword when it made landfall, but still felt the bone-shaking impact. Adrenaline now coursing through his veins, looked towards the Colossus as it ripped its 'blade' from the ground. Dormin's voice sounded in his head to guide him. "The Colossus's sword shall be thy path..." Wander had a pretty good guess as to what that meant. The beast's rectangular sword-pillar made a sort of ramp when slammed into the ground that could be climbed. However, he saw a flaw in this. The Colossus had a stone ring around its right forearm that barred him from going beyond it. However, part of it was black, crumbling, and brittle. To climb the beast, the ring would have to destroyed, somehow, someway.

The Colossus was now bearing down on him, so Wander took off running again. This time, he ran towards the monster, trying to think of something on the fly. The Colossus apparently was ready for this, though, as it again dropped its stance as the tiny human approached, angling its sword down in a stabbing motion. Wander just ran faster to avoid being squashed into the dirt. He just barely dodged death by mere metres, but the force of the impact still knocked him off his feet. He scrambled back up, now directly underneath the Colossus. Knowing he needed to get the hell out of what was unquestionably a kill zone, he ran away from the beast as it slowly began to turn around, and saw something unusual.

There seemed to be a gray circle of solid stone in the middle of the platform, like an island in a sea of brownish-black soil. The beast at his back, Wander made for this, intrigued. The Colossus attempted another stab attack, but Wander was well out of range, and that only gave him the time to inspect the stone dais. He knelt down and tapped it with his knuckles. As he suspected, it was solid stone. If I can get that bastard to hit this with his sword, that might be enough to break that ring. Wander thought.

The Colossus was bearing down on him. Seeing an easy kill, it wound up its sword swing again, lowering its stance and raising its arm.

And... NOW! Wander mentally yelled, running with everything he had in the opposite direction as the pillar descended, the air screaming in its wake as it picked up speed...

The Colossus realized too late what was about to happen. It tried at the last second to adjust the trajectory of the blade, angle it to the side, maybe tilt it ever so slightly, but its weapon smashed right into the stone circle, and deflected off with enough force to considerably crack it. That damage was nothing compared to the simultaneous damage to its brittle amour, though. Part of the ring around its forearm shattered, as well as half of a spiked stone collar on the back of its neck.

Wander sighed in relief, though the battle was far from over. It had swung very much in his favour, though.

He managed to bait the Colossus into swinging its sword again, this time to get it to stick into the dirt. He clambered up the sword before the beast was able to yank it from the ground. Beginning to climb the beast's furry right arm, he discovered one happy byproduct (for him, at least) of the Colossus forearm ring breaking in half: The other half could be used as a sort of rest stop, where he could catch his breath in relative safety. He took a short break of about thirty seconds here, then took a leap of faith over to the beast's furry belly. The Colossus had a cracked but sturdy stone ledge all the way around its waist, but Wander grabbed hold of the monster's hip, and began to climb around the front to its belly, where the Sigil awaited.

Just as Wander readied his blade to stab the Sigil, it occurred to him just what this creature resembled: A solider, armed with a sword. A soldier, like he never got to be. The thought enraged him, and he stabbed the Colossus in the gut with extra strength and zealous bloodlust. And blood was exactly what he got, as the sticky, inky black substance sprayed out, catching him right in the face, but he paid the gore no mind.

The monster shook its body side to side, trying in vain to dislodge him, but Wander just held on and plunged his blade into the creature's belly again, another spray of blood coming out, further gluing him to the beast's stomach. The Colossus then began to walk, and oddly, the small, constant vibrations from its footfalls were actually far more of an impedance to Wander's stabbing progress than the larger movements of the Colossus shaking its whole body. No matter what he did, he just couldn't seem to get a stab in. However, it couldn't keep up its futile Sunday stroll forever, and when it stopped, Wander finally got in the third stab needed to make the Sigil vanish.

Now there was only the perilous climb to its head. Wander pried himself loose from where he was stuck on the beast's fur, landing on the ledge around the its waist. From there, he jumped back to the Colossus's forearm band, then began the long climb up its arm.

The Colossus, to its credit, was now doing everything in its power to rid itself of the human it now knew beyond a shadow of a doubt was trying to kill it. It swung its arm backwards, shook its body, but still, Wander climbed higher and higher, finally reaching the beast's head. He plunged his blade into the glowing mark atop the monster's skull, and a geyser of black blood spewed out. The Colossus roared in pain, dipping its head and shaking it side to side, causing Wander to flail about, but he regained his position and with one final stab, it was over.

Wander clung on for dear life as the Colossus fell to its knees, then face-planted into the dirt, lifeless. For the third time, the black shroud covered the beast's body, and the tentacles pierced him through the chest. Just like the massive creature, Wander fell to his knees, the world going black. The white light was there to greet him in the blackness yet again.


A/N: I'd like to end things off this time with some thoughts on the hopefully-canceled movie adaptation for SotC. (Yes. It (was?) a thing. Look it up). First of all: What the hell were they thinking? Second of all, how in God's name did SotC even get picked as a possible movie? What were those window-licking retards (AKA studio executives) even doing back in '09? Was it just a drunken game of darts, which probably was actually the case? That's gotta be it, why else would they choose one of the most intentionally artistic and minimalistic games of all time to be a goddamned movie? I really, really hope it doesn't get made. Yes, with an underline and everything. That's how much I don't want it to happen. By the way, what's in the news on The Escapist..? Something about a... Minecraft... movie..? *mouth twitches* You've gotta be... kidding me... And the Uncharted movie has a completed screenplay now. Well, you know what they say about the definition of insanity...