Attention: Shadow of the Colossus is property of Sony. This should not be considered canon, but is based off the game. Please forgive any mistakes made, as of my information is from wikias and watching play-throughs on

Chapter 11: Hunger of the Sands

I. Dirge

Dirge rested comfortably under the sands of his lair. He was doing what he usually did when resting in the sands. He was listening for food, not that a Colossi of his kind needed a lot of food. A good meal for one of his kind would keep them nourished for years. Most of what they needed to live was actually derived from the sun and the earth.

He was also mindful that this land he was in now was not as rich as the old land was in food. The old land had massive areas full of rich soil, and pure sunlight. The ground in the old land was so rich that the place replenished itself. His kind could burrow through acres and acres of land, and it would be just as well the next time they passed through. The animals that inhabited the land were always plentiful. His kind had all they needed.

Of course, that all had changed once his kind listened to Dormin. That particular Colossi had managed to convince them to get involved with the other Colossi. It wasn't something they usually did. They even agreed that amongst the various Colossi, they were the most animal like in actions. They were happy as long as they had their nourishment. It had been Dormin who told them that they were being kept from were the best food was. That had rallied his kind into joining Dormin.

It was also that which ended up sending them to this place. A world that was not as blessed in food as their home had been. Many of his brethren had died off; killed themselves actually. They could have been happy if the land was as nourishing as in the old land. They would have had to resort to eating animals, but the lands they were in were lacking in animals to eat. There was not enough for the number of their kind.

In the end, Dirge was all that was left, and that made him miss the others. It made him find the solitude of the place he called home now. It was the only place that seemed to have enough sustenance for him, so he wouldn't have to eat animals, at least not regularly. Occasionally, a stray animal would enter the lair, but those were few and far between.

He was brought out of his musings when he heard a message from Malus. "Dirge, you must be careful. Dormin has convince one of the little people to gather his essence back together. Nine of the Colossi have fallen to the man." Dirge took that news to heart, and knew there was only one way to handle the problem. He would have to devour the little person.

Because of this, Dirge submerged under the sand in his lair. It was the best way to wait for prey, and it was something he had done before, back in the times of Dormin. Just the thought of this made him wonder if he was being deceived again. Many years before, during the time of the little people, Dormin had told him that some of the little people were trying to kill him. He knew that it was not possible for those people to do it at the time, but Dormin had convinced him otherwise.

During that time, anytime he heard hoof beats, he would lunge up, and devour the little people and their animals. To his surprise, at that time, those attacks only led to them attacking him. It was then he found out how Dormin was trying to control and contain the little people. After the other Colossi turned against Dormin, the little people trusted him, to a degree, again. Still, the memories of that time did not set well with him. His kind would have never eaten sentient life. It was the only thing that ever separated his kind of Colossi from being mere beasts.

Hoof beats in the present brought Dirge back to the here and now. Something had started walking on the sand in his lair. No doubt, one of the pack animals that the little people used was walking through. That would mean that the little man was up there to, obviously too much in Dormin's limited control. If the little man had killed nine of the Colossi, there would be no reasoning with them.

Dirge monitored the vibrations the hoof beats made, and surfaced behind the figure. It was indeed a little person on a horse. No doubt, they would be wolfed down in one gulp. He started to pursue the figure. As he expected, the figure urged the horse to move faster. If Phaedra were still around, he would be upset about Dirge devouring the horse, but he had a good reason.

As he sped towards the little person, he saw the person stand up on the back of the horse. They were holding on to some sort of weapon, while also holding onto the things they used to control the horse. Dirge didn't understand why the little person was doing that. The little person must have known by now that such a small weapon would not work on Colossi.

All of a sudden, his lost vision in his one eye. It was as if something had flown right into it. Out of instinct, he closed his eyes, but he could not stop. He kept burrowing forward, not even recalling how soon he would reach the wall. He knew if he didn't open his eyes soon, he would crash into one of the rocky walls of the lair.

Just as he finished the thought, Dirge hit the wall. He hit so hard that the part of his body that was out of the sand fully was arched out of it. He was dazed by the strike, and paused for a few moments. With the threat that was there, however, he needed to recover, unless the little man had decided to run.

A sharp pain to Dirge's back told him that the little man had continued in his mad quest, having reached the one sigil. Dirge started to thrash about, trying to remove the little man from his back. Hopefully, when the man fell off, he'd be too stunned to move. He felt two more stabs to the sigil before he felt the little man was no longer on his back.

Thankfully, Dirge got under the sand quickly, but to his dismay, he felt the vibrations of both the little person running, and the horse. Soon the two merged, and he felt only one set of vibrations. He again used his senses to surface behind his quarry, but his vision was now impaired. He felt blind in his one eye. In time, the other would recover, but with the threat about, he wouldn't have that time for a while.

He was not surprised when the little person repeated the same stance as before. They were going to try and shoot at the blinded eye again. Dirge figured it would be a wasted endeavor, so he charged forward at that moment. This time, the little person would be eaten.

Just as he was upon the little person, he felt pain in his other eye, and all went dark. He was completely blind, and unable to slow down. He hoped, as he crashed into the rock face, that he had flattened the little person in the process. At least then he would have a lot of time to recover from the blinding.

To his horror, he felt the little person climbing up his back again. He started to shake his body, hoping to shake off the little person. No matter how hard he shook, the little person kept climbing. Eventually, the person had stopped moving. Dirge hoped he had managed to shake the person off, hopefully from a height that the fall would have killed them.

There was another stabbing pain, and Dirge felt his life force fading. It became harder for him to think as more stabbing pains hit him. The little pawn of Dormin was succeeding. He felt it one more time, and then he felt nothing as his consciousness faded. Dirge was joining the other Colossi in the death, and Dormin was going to be free again.

II. Dormin

Dormin sensed the death of Dirge as it happened. While the beast-like colossi was a tough one to stop, he was proud his pawn had defeated Dirge. More of his essence was being gathered in the little person, and after a few more Colossi, he would be free again. Free to take his revenge on those who had imprisoned him.

He then saw that the number of shadow being had increased again, and were bringing the little person back to the temple. They knew the little person was working for them, and their freedom. They also knew that Dormin would also free their queen, when the time was right. First Dormin had to get back to the home lands.

When the little person was laying on the temple floor, he put his focus on the next Colossi. The next was Celosia, who was one of the two smallest of the Colossi left. It would be tricky, since the Colossi would be hard to handle, and stab its sigil. Dormin even noted that Celosia seemed almost like the creature the little people called a cat. With the now added essence to the little person, he could help augment the little person's abilities, allowing him to keep up, and hold on to the Colossi. Of course, given how dark the lair of Celosia would be, maybe giving the little person a bit more night vision. He remembered, however, Celosia's one fear, and knew the might not work. Still, he would wait for the little man to stir, especially as the tenth idol exploded.

From the Author

To my loyal readers:

I'd like to apologize for my long silence in postings. After my last posting to one of my other stories on November 2nd, my family and I moved into a new location. On that day, I had also suffered a loss in employment, so I had been spending time trying various ways to use my writing skills to bring in money, as well as starting a job that caused me to work several hours overtime in December. Coupled with my work in another fic writing group, and my working on epublications, my free work has gotten a bit back logged. This is my first posting since the move, and to all the readers, please check my writing report, and you can get the link to my publications. Purchasing one would help me out, and since you've been enjoying this work, you know the quality I put into my work.

As always, I'll have a weekly blog you can check out to see how things are progressing. You can find the link in my profile.