Disclaimer: I don't own MediEvil. Griff's a character of my creation.
Author's notes: Wow, this one took a long time to write. Most of it's due to school and work. Inspections and Midterms are the worst! Still, if I can find a way to do it, I'll still write more, when I can. I'm starting to enjoy writing stories like this all over again. So, if you folks have a bit of time, please leave a review when you've finished reading. I look forward to them! But enough of that, on with the story!
-MediEvil: The Hero that almost Wasn't-
chapter 7: Doom on the Range
Daniel Fortesque couldn't believe his eye upon returning to the Hall of Heroes, the place sparkled. The crude furniture was varnished beautifully, the walls and the floor looked more brilliant in their natural texture. What didn't surprise him was the sight of Griff snoring lustily at the table. ".. That's what you get when you drink wine too fast." Dan shook his head as he walked towards the statues. Since Tim and Stanyer already received their tributes, only one statue was left on the first floor. Dan stood in front of this statue; a half-naked man, dressed only in what Dan imagined was a loincloth, and had tiny wings on his shoulders. It would have been a funny sight except this bald-headed man was poised to run someone through with a great broadsword in his right hand. As Dan offered his newest Chalice, a gift from the faeries, he wondered about this hero, whom he'd read about in the older texts of Gallowmere's history; Woden the Mighty.
"Fortesque, you jawless arrow magnet-" Woden thundered in a bellowing voice dripping with disdain. "what are you doing here?"
"Huh.. what...me?" Dan asked in confusion.
"What!?" Woden was inflamed by Dan's bit of cluelessness. "Call me MISTER Woden the Mighty! How I pity the people of Gallowmere- that their fate should once again be in the hands of a chump like you! The swordsman shook his head. "Still, I suppose it's not fair to take it out on them- take my sword- and do try not to stab yourself in the foot."
If Dan still had blood anywhere in his bones, he'd wager a pint to keg of ale that it was boiling right now.
"You know, I've always had my doubts about you, Fortesque-" Woden continued. "you're just not carved from hero material..."
In a flash, Dan pointed his own shortsword at Woden's presumptuous head. "I'll show you!"
As Woden's statue turned inert, the sword he offered appeared before an angry Dan. The blade bit into the stone floor, a few inches from Dan's metal-shod toes. As the dead knight picked up the heavy weapon, he noticed that the blade it self was almost as long as his whole body, and twice as thick as a standard weapon of its kind. The cross guard was golden, and well kept. Woden must have taken considerable care of it, for one of his arrogance. It took some doing, but Dan found himself cleaving the air with the broadsword with ease..
"ZZ... huh, wha... ohh" Griff groaned at the table. "I feel like someone's squeezing my head..."
"So, how's the wine?" Dan asked.
"Ugh, stop shouting!" Griff held his hands to his hooded head. "I'm trying to sleep here.. Hey, where'd you get that?" he asked, pointing at the broadsword.
"Woden the man-who-can't-dress-himself.." Dan answered with little enthusiasm.
The stewed Griff shook his head. "Funny, coming from a dead man. Hey, how many does that make?"
"Huh?"
"You've still a ways to go yet. Once you've proved yourself worthy enough as a hero, you can go upstairs. Though I can't see that happening anytime soon...woah, don't point that thing at me!"
Dan had his new weapon a few inches away from the keeper's hood, this was one annoyance too many. "Instead of cracking jokes, why don't you look for a hangover remedy?"
"...Touche', Daniel." Griff replied conceedingly. "You may want to see the witch again when you get back."
Dan thought about this and nodded. "Yeah, this is one thing I wanted to ask her." With that, he left the halls and found himself back at the Forest Witch's coven.
"Back so soon, Sir Fortesque?" the crone greeted. "What is it I can do for you?"
Dan thought back to when he first entered the forest. "Have you noticed anything... strange around here?"
The witch stirred her brew a bit before answering. "Well, if you're referring to the dead rising and the strange mutations going on around here, that isn't news to me. Zarok passed through here not too long ago..."
Dan's eye flashed."And what did he want?"
"This forest holds many secrets. Some of them dangerous." The wtich's cackling tone turned serious. "Long ago, Zarok had done something that we folks in the magic community have agreed to never touch.
"Such as?" Dan asked.
"There are tales of demons that come from the shadows. For centuries, various covens and wizardry circles sought to control them, but their wickedness and evil was too much to contain. At the height of their power, the Shadow Demons ran amok across Gallowmere, causing all sorts of trouble. But that was before that shriveled old prune came."
"Zarok?"
The witch nodded sadly. "With his army of the dead, Zarok was nearly ready to conquer Gallowmere, the demons were drawn to his power and offered themselves to his service. Had they fought at the Battle of Gallowmere..." now her features turned grim. . "..I fear we wouldn't have a kingdom to live in.."
Dan gulped at the thought. ".. So, what happened?"
"It was the day before the battle took place. The Witch's Coven of Cemetery Hill gathered their best and brightest to find a way to stop them." she paused to add a few frog eyeballs into the brew, which reacted with a puff of smoke. "I don't know all the details except these: the Shadow Demons were sealed in this forest somewhere, and the artifact that was used to imprison them was lost. If I had to guess, Zarok wants to free them again."
"Then I better get back to work." Dan looked towards the gloom of the forest. "Thank you for the information, but-"
"-don't worry about a price:" the witch interrupted. "This one's on me. Good hunting, now.
Dan put the coven behind him and journeyed deeper into forest. The path before him split two ways. Dan took the right path and found a gate sealing off part of the forest, courtesy of a green rune hand. Next to it was an open book that Dan examined at once:
Keep out! This gate leads to the tomb of the Shadow Demons.
Dan needed no second bidding, he took the other path, slaying wild turnips and treefrogs on his way. The clearing that followed had a small pond in its center, to his left, Dan saw a large stone with some kind of indention carved into it. It stood in front of a flight of stone steps with a pair of demon statues waiting on top. He thought to investigate, but as he approached, the statues fired a strange red beam from their eyes that seemed to suggest "No Trespassing."
Acquiescing to this barrier, Dan turned to the opposite road. Another book was about halfway down when he picked it up:
Like a giant Magpie, the Dragon Bird sits upon its hoard of stolen treasures. High above the trees you will find a nest; those eggs are worth their weight in gold!
DAN could feel his eye turn into a currency sign at the thought. He followed the road and found the large tree he assumed the dragon bird lived at its base, someone had set up a lift system of some kind, Dan could only imagine the one who built was also the person who wrote the book on the bird's eggs. "Wait a minute.." Dan just realized. It looked like it was too easy. As the lift ascended towards the bird's nest, Dan felt even more uneasy. A pair of treefrogs harassed the dead knight, but a quick chop of the broadsword put them out of their misery. The path to the nest was a series of tree fungus that have grown to considerable size. Possibly sturdy enough to support a person's weight. Dan scaled this natural steps and at the top off the tree was the dragon bird's nest. A big bed of sticks and grass that held three eggs the size of a cask. "Wow.." was Dan's first thought. But as he moved towards the nest, something caught his attention; a sound like howling wind... that bird must be nearby.. Dan felt himself shiver at what might happen if he got caught.. Putting his weapons away, he slowly climbed into the net when suddenly a great pair of talons lashed out at him. "AGH!" Dan squawked in surprise. The dragon bird had come. He couldn't get a good look at it, but Dan knew had had to hurry. He used his hammer to push them out of the nest, diving out of the way as the bird's talons lashed out. Upon cracking out of the nest, the eggs yield three effects: a bronze shield, gold coins, and even more strange, a green earth rune. Before the angry dragon bird could move in for the kill, Dan scrambled into the left and retreated to the safety of the forest.
Scratched up from the bugler y, Dan spotted an ecto-spring at the just under the life, and rested his bones for a moment as its energies revitalized him. "Phew! I'm never doing that again.." Putting that horrifying incident behind him, Dan returned to the pond and thought out his next move. The only road he hadn't taken led to a tall hallow tree. Dan took a look inside, but there was nothing of interest. Shrugging to himself, Dan returned to the gates and inserted the earth rune. The doors swung open, revealing a mash of islands and swampland. Carefully jumping the islands across, Dan came to what looked to the tomb entrance; A stone entryway carved in the shape of an owl,with it's wooden doors firmly shut. No sooner had he stepped toward the tomb when a voice rang out-
"None shall enter."
Dan recognized the voice. A gargoyle head was carved into the nearby stones. No doubt to warn anyone unlucky enough to enter this area.
"The Shadow Demons are entombed within, separated from the world of goodness and light until the earth cracks open. No one, not even the dark lord Zarok , can release them without the Shadow Artifact. Leave now or share their doom"
Dan could already Zarok trying to open the doors: First he'd zap it with that over-sized trident of his, then sicced his undead soldiers to ram it down, only to fail. The last image was pleasant; Zarok trying to open the doors himself and tiring out. Then the old miser would grumble out of the forest. Which appeared to be evident in the faint trail of ectoplasm leading out. Dan followed suit, hoping to catch up with his ancient nemesis.
As the forest held a dead end at present, Dan decided to check out the farmland areas. The first stop being the Scarecrow Fields. The trek was boring and uneventful by the time Dan reached the dusty roads leading to his next quarry. Dan hopped climbed over a wooden fence that outlined the borders. Dan could see mostly hayfields for the most part. There farm houses dotting the area, though they didn't look inviting. As Dan continued his trek, a lone scarecrow turned towards this stranger in the distance. Its pointed hat added to the objects menacing nature it watched with eerie glowing eyes and chuckled in a wicked manner.
Dan drew his weapons again when he came to the larger areas of the fields, the road was straight forward, and most of the crops were fenced off. At the first sycamore tree he came by, Dan saw a book waiting to be read:
The scarecrows are almost unstoppable so don't be a hero! Try trapping them while you make your escape.
Dan felt himself turn chicken at the moment. Those scarecrows looked scary enough without being nevertheless, he continued down the road, passing a few farm houses along the way. That was when they came: a pair of scarecrows, one from the front and the rear. Dan turned his eye to keep tabs on them, but it was wasted, a mess of crows flew out from both the evil straw men, then they began to spin towards Dan with their arms whipping out. "Oh great.." Dan cursed as he slashed with his broadsword, which only pushed them back. The scarecrows grinned in satisfaction, but if there was one thing Daniel Fortesque knew, he knew when to run. He ran into towards a nearby haystack and was almost ready to dive in when a plump, evil-looking something jumped out, brandishing a pitchfork. "Um, hello?" Dan greeted nervously. The creature growled and slashed at the dead knight in front of him. With a scream of surprise, Dan sliced the enemy until it died. Dan took a close look an saw what it was; demons disguised as farmers, more than likely to be Zarok's doing.
Dan wanted to figure out the mystery further, but one of the scarecrows from before caught up to him. Dan ran way towards the farmhouses when another demon farmer ambushed him. Swatting the scarecrow away and slaying the demon kept Dan on pins and needles. He retreated until he was able to catch a breather. "Man, this Zarok's getting serious if he's left monsters like these running around. He peered around the corner until he saw the scarecrow had left. Dan saw another haystack across the yard and a fire near his location. It was doubtless more demons waited in ambush, but Dan had an idea. He took out his club and set the tip on fire. Then he ran up to the haystack and set it ablaze. Two demons jumped out, screaming in pain as the flames licked their bodies. It was a sight too terrible to bear, so Dan turned away just as the creatures burned to nothing."Eww, what a horrible way to go, but it had to be them or me..." Dan followed a nearby road, leading to a small haystack and an energy vial lying around.
"Hey there, city folk. Need something?"
Dan pointed his weapon at the sound of the voice but saw a greedy gargoyle built into the shack.
"No need to get hostile, buddy. I'm just selling my wares.. So what can I do ya for?"
"Hmm, maybe some crossbow bolts.." Dan handed over the money.
Just as the gargoyle spewed out his merchandise, something caught his attention. "Say there, that thing you're holding; that wouldn't be Woden's Broadsword, by any chance?"
Dan nodded. "What of it?"
"For 100 gold coins and can recharge it? That sword's enchanted, you know. Woden used its magic to whup demons but good back in his day. So what do you say, partner, interested?"
Dan thought about it a bit, it would be worth it just to see what the gargoyle meant. "Okay."
The greedy gargoyle scowled at the blade, then it's orange eyes flashed. When this strange ritual ended, the blade of the sword was glowing bright and golden.
"There you go, one enchanted broadsword. This spell only lasts a while, but you'll be able to deliver more pain to your enemies while it lasts. When the enchantment wears off, come see me again. Y'all take now, hear?"
Dan marveled at the sword, it did have a strange glow to it, but he decided that it would be best to try it out on the next enemy in his way. Sheathing the sword, Dan ran back to the fields and saw something very strange. A great metal... statue. "Huh?" Dan asked himself as he started to grow curious. He turned around and took another look at the farmhouses when he saw something that he missed from before: one of these houses was sealed by a blue rune hand. Next to it was a book. Dan found it an interesting read as it related to the large metal structure nearby:
Beware of mischief makers in the metal machines! Who knows what dark sorcery brings their meal limbs to life! It would be good to see the backs of such menaces!
Armed with this new interest, Dan walked towards the metal machine. As he stood in front of it, Dan could feel a sense of awe, it was made to look like a giant imp. One that would have been satisfying if the gates had not closed themselves up. Dan was trapped! The metal machine g rinded to life, taking one step forward, than another. Dan could think of nothing that would stop this creature. He did however see a sizable gap between the machines legs. He dashed through it and came up behind the monster. Turning around, Dan saw something unexpected: an imp was standing in front of a series of dials, gauges and pipes, pulling and pushing a pair of levers. "...Is that how this thing works?" Dan asked himself? Unimpressed with the results, Dan wordlessly took out his crossbow and fired at the machine's head. A few darts later, the head was destroyed. The machine stopped in its tracks , then after a little provaction from the imp, walked at a more rampant pace. IT didn't stop the imp or its creation. Dan saw little alternative but to shoot the controls. After a few shots, Dan heard a series of sizzling and crackling sounds. The imp was fried by whatever energies powered the machine, just before the mass of metal fell over with a loud crash. Out of the rubble, Dan saw something glowing inside the twisted metal. It took a bit of prodding an poking, but Dan saw a blue moon rune inside. "This must be what powered that metal beast?" Dan said to himself.
Dan hurried back to the sealed farmhouse and opened it up with the rune. As the knight stepped inside, he was greeted by a flight of bats. Dan swung his broadsword wildly until he could hear most of them being chopped to bits. Dan looked around and found a club inside the lonely chest. Near a pile of hay, Dan picked up a green earth rune.
No need to figure this one out. Dan ran back to where he destroyed the imp's machine and opened a road leading to a working windmill. The blades were spinning, which may have been a good thing, except that the way this mill was set up, the blades would spin across directly over the road. "Well this stinks.: Dan cursed. He waited, watching the blades spin until he figured out their timing, At the first opening Dan knew to be right, he dashed through before the blades could catch him. On the other side of the windmill, there was an ecto-spring, from which Dan partook immensely after the scarecrows, bats and the machine. It was a rough trip so far. Following the road further, Dan saw golden hay fields nearby, but in front of his eyes was another farmer demon. Dan took his newly enchanted broadsword ans sliced the monster to bits with two slices. Unfortunately, two scarecrows joined the fray, so Daniel ran to a nearby area which, to add to his misfortune, housed another of the imp's metal machines. "Not again.." Dan groaned as the abomination came to life. Crows began pecking on his head, and this machine was armed with some sort of fire-spewing weapon. Dan had no time to lose; he dashed behind the machine, sliced away the crows, then shot at the machine's head, which in answer, turned around to shoot at Dan some more. The result, however, was the same as the first machine: Dan destroys the head with the crossbow, finishes up the controls and the machine crumples to a mess of fried mechanical innards. Dan sifted through the rubble and looked pleased with himself. There was a red chaos rune powering this machine, which was convenient since the rune hand that required it was a short walk away.
Dan stopped in his stride and looked up to what was possibly the biggest barn he had ever seen. It dominated the landscape almost like a castle does the capital city of any of the major kingdoms. "Hm, so that's the welcoming committee." Dan mused as he spotted two farmer demons patrolling the barn doors. He took his broadsword, charged into them and hacked them to oblivion. At one corner nearby, Dan cringed. Two scarecrows were standing watch; they didn't noticed him, but he didn't like what would happen if they did. Rounding the other side of the barn, Dan stopped at another book and read it carefully:
Kul Katura the Serpent Lord yearns to fight along side you but has been captured by Zarok and sealed within a chest. Free this mighty spirit and earn a powerful ally!
Dan's eye bulged at the notion that someone powerful wanted to help him. Circling the barn, Dan saw the a vast cornfield before him, a path on his left led to a book, guarded by a scarecrow, but Dan waited until it came, then sliced him into the corn. Dan read this new book and became aghast:
Death waits in the cornfield. Pick your route carefully and do not linger in the corn.
As if to add an emphasis, the scarecrow that Dan forced into the corn was thrown back, completely annihilated. The cowardly dead man gulped as to what might have happened if it was him instead...
Dan took a good look around his surroundings and spotted a few things; a haystack, a wagon, another book, and a chest with the skull-and-crossbones marking. "Maybe that's it?" Dan thought as he darted past a farmer demon and sliced the chest open.
A great roar emitted, one that Dan was convinced that he'd soil himself if he was already releaved of the necessary effects. A striped orange serpent emerged and regard the quivering knight in front of him. "Sir Daniel Fortesque, I presume?"
"Y...ye ... yes." Dan bowed. "And you're Kul Katura?"
"Indeed. What is your bidding?"
"HELP!!!!"
Katura saw the monsters and understood. He flew around the area, biting into the demons in his path. They were no match for the mighty serpent lord. Dan watched dumbfounded as his new ally made short work of them. Dan led the serpent down the many routes of the cornfields, the demons there felt the same sting as the others before. Dan helped himself to the spoils of an energy vial and a bag of gold.
"The demon's have been cleared." Kul Katura proclaimed.
"Uh... thank you, my lord." Dan bowed again. "I appreciate your help."
"Think nothing of it. It is time for me to go."
"So soon?" Dan asked, taken aback.
"I go now to see how the rest of Gallowmere fares, but do not fear. If I nearby in your travels, smash open more chests like the one you've destroyed, and I shall help you again. Farewell."
With that, the mighty Kul Katura took to the skies and vanished.
Dan marveled at the idea of having such a strong ally helping him, but he had to get back to his own task. Scouring the cornfields some more, Dan spotted a windmill in the distance, he made his way towards the structure and saw that like the first one, this was rigged into a booby trap. This time the blades spun really fast."Huh?... there's only three blades on this windmill.." Dan realized upon further inspection. "So..." Dan waited for his moment, then it came, he dashed through just as the blades came to its gap and came out on the other side of the building. This road led to a large, stone building, whiche Dan ran to quickly to avoid being attacked by another scarecrow. Before Dan entered, he saw a giant stone wheel pass by. :"Oh no.. this must be the grindery." Dan jumped inside and his suspicions were confirmed. The machine was made, using the windmill to move the large grindstone. There were many gaps built into the floor to store the grains. Ones that Dan had an idea how to used. He crouched into one of these gaps so that the grindstone passed over him harmlessly. Then he jumped from gap to gap until he snagged a bag of gold and made his way to the other side of the dangerous machine.
Sadly for Dan, this was the fist part of a series of machines that the farmers used in their work, the next room Dan entered housed a turntable of blades and beams of wood thrusting in and out. Possibly a primary corns talk cutting apparatus. The hapless knight darted out of the way of both blades and wood to emerge to a safe clearing. An ecto-spring awaited him, which was good since there were still more dangerous machines to be crossed.
Dan was worried when he saw it, the grains were sifted towards a grinding drill bit in the middle of the room, with exhaust holes lining the walls. "This must be where they produce the the fine-grained flour, then." Dan dashed from the entrance the the exit before he could think about what happened if he failed.
The forth machine was much like the second, but instead of wooden beams pushing in and out, there were four bins sealed off with metal dividers[possibly to store left over material for mulch later on. A spinning turntable holding three spiked pieces of wood spun over head. Dan crossed each bin carefully while avoiding the wooden widow makers and escaped safely.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Dan despaired as he saw the last machine; a turning machine of sorts, with blades swinging out from the walls, Dan could only imagine this was used for. He had to run but also not get caught by the blades, it took some doing for Dan but he made it to the far end of the machine, where he found a chest of gold and a small metal key of some kind...
"Huh?... what is this?" Dan thought it against his better judgment , but he reluctantly ran through the gauntlet of machines all over gain and retraced his footsteps back to the barn. More specifically, the book he missed before freeing Kul Katura:
These fields are home to many mad machines, yet the most bizarre of them is house within this barn.
"Now they tell me.." Dan grimaced. "Now how does one... hello.." he looked behind the nearby cart and found a hole in the barn's side. He jumped over the corn bordering the immovable wagon and walked inside. There were a few bats that needed exterminating, but compared to what Dan faced a few minutes ago, it was nothing. There was a book waiting inside, and Dan gazed at its contents:
The Corn-cutting machine is missing a part. A cog fell of this miracle of modern agriculture and it hasn't worked since.
Dan thought about the strange metal piece he found . "That thing must have been it." Looking around, Dan saw no ladders or stairs leading upwards, but a series of stacked boxes and a bale of hay. The boxes proved to high to climb, so Dan moved the hay next to it and discovered the solution quite easily. He found a bag of gold waiting on top, as well as a copper shield in a chest. The last object was a switch of sorts. Dan pushed over and saw a platform lowering on the other side. On it was what Dan could surmise was the machine: six-legged buggy with a threshing engine in front. Dan looked at the odd machine and saw where the part might have gone. The harvester key, to be exact.
The machine came to life, it's legs lifted the buggy upwards and the thresher began to spin, its might was such that it burst through the wall and moved on its own into the fields!
Dan followed the machine and saw a new route, cut in through the corn. "Yikes, it's crazy what some folk can create, these days." he entered this route and saw another ecto-spring nearby, but since he was feeling 100 , he stopped only to fill what empty bottles he carried. The end of the corncutter's rampage led to a bridge, where on the the face of a stone wall was another greedy gargoyle, and another of the Chalice of Souls. But this one wasn't ready to collect. Dan decided to talk to the greedy gargoyle about it.
"What, this chalice? It's almost ready, but you need to kill more monsters. Enchant your broadsword and slice them up, that should do the trick."
Dan paid the gargoyle for a recharge and left to find his new marks. It was simple thing to find the scarecrows again, and the enchantment of the broadsword trended them asunder. After killing a few of them, Dan returned to the chalice and found it copereal. He grabbed it and grinned. Another trip to the Hall of Heroes awaited him! But Dan's smile melted when he realized, he had to go through all those machines again. With great reluctance, Dan darted, ran, and dived his way out of the gauntlet again. At the last machine, Dan took a way out he missed. One that led to a trial of ectoplasm, and a gargoyle head, fixed to a tree. It came to life as Daniel approached:
"Pumpkin Gorge dead ahead, the nursery to Gallowmere's favorite side dish. Step inside and understand the true horror of fruit gone bad!"
"... How bad can that be?" Dan asked himself as he walked down the trail of ectoplasm, hoping to find more clues about Zarok's whereabouts...
