Author's Note: Howdy.

All right…I KNOW it's been a while since I updated…But now, after a month of cramming, 3 final exams, two months of writer's block, writing a rough draft and forgetting where I put it, leaving copies at school, playing Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, training for upcoming Super Smash Bros: Melee and Naruto: Ultimate Ninja contests, and just plain laziness…it's finally here.

Flames about me not updating regularly will be allowed.

Also, I must send out a thank you to -Zabuza's girl08- who drew a picture of the Wanderer and Dormin's first encounter, as well as the Wanderer first seeing Valus. I've never had anyone draw a picture of a scene from one of my fanfics, so I'm quite honored and feel it must be mentioned. You can find the work on Deviantart, and her username is SensuiGirl

Well, without further ado, here's the new chapter!

Finally!

Dormin Speech

Sound Effects

'Thinking'

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He was riding Agro across a barren wasteland spanning underneath the stone spires of the Bridge, locating the next colossus. The sun beat down heavily upon them as they rode, providing an uncomfortable warmth onto his back. As they crossed underneath the Bridge, the sand beneath them suddenly opened up, swallowing them. Unaware, they plunged into the abyss, Agro whinnying in fear and him shouting in shock. They fell, falling, falling, until…

"Ah!" the Wanderer jerked awake, gasping for breath and covered in a cold sweat. It took him a little while to realize that he was in the Shrine of Worship. He let out a great sigh of relief, slowly rising to his feet.

(A/N: Okay, this is in…well, you could say tribute for a popular glitch in locating this particular colossus. I myself never experienced this glitch, but I HAVE seen it on Youtube)

"So, thou art awake from thy slumber…" Dormin mused, a hint of amusement in Their voice.

"Yeah, and?" the Wanderer asked.

"…Thou talks in thy sleep"

"SHATAP!!"

Dormin chuckled to Themselves. "And snores…"

"I do NOT snore!!" the Wanderer snapped, getting nothing but laughter as a reply. He sighed. "Just get on with it!"

"Thy next foe is…" Dormin began, "A being which snores and talks in its sleep…"

The Wanderer yelled out, shooting an arrow at the hole in the ceiling.

Dormin chuckled, then continued. "An alter overlooks the lake... A guardian set loose... It keeps the flames alive…"

"Eh? Flames?" the Wanderer asked. "Is it some kind of dragon?"

"Nay. Celosia is not a dragon" Dormin said.

"But what other kind of thing keeps fire–"

"Celosia is not a dragon! Now begone with thee already!!" Dormin ordered; They had had enough of their vessel's complaining.

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"Where the hell IS this thing?!" the Wanderer asked aloud.

He and Agro had been circling around the sandy wastelands that resided north of the Temple, spanning underneath the Bridge. They had been searching for well over an hour, trying to find this damned colossus, but to no avail. (A/N: Anyone else have problems locating this one, or was it just me?)

The Wanderer led Agro to a nearby oasis, letting the horse have a drink, as did he, also washing his face in the cool water. They were tired, and the sun beating down on them wasn't helping much.

As they took a small break, the Wanderer noticed something; this was the exact same spot where his dream occurred. He looked by one of the stone spires and noticed the same spot where the land opened up underneath him and swallowed Agro and himself. His gut gave a sudden lurch of fear, and he took an uneasy gulp.

Slowly, he got up and walked over to the spot. As he neared, his steps slowed, and he walked closer to the spire. He stopped and kneeled down. So far, the ground was solid.

Cautiously drawing his sword, the Wanderer poked at the ground just ahead of him. The ground withheld.

The Wanderer let out a sigh. Slowly standing up, he confidently walked over the sand. Nothing happened.

"Agro!" he called out, and after a moment, his horse skidded to a halt next to him. Still nothing. Grinning to himself, the Wanderer mounted Agro, and then the two were off again.

"Now, where the hell is this guy…" The Wanderer mused to himself, looking around. "I swear, we passed this place a while ag-AAAAH!!"

Agro whinnied, rearing up as they appeared at the mouth of a wide chasm. The Wanderer, unaware, was sent careening over Agro's head and now dangled just over the edge of the chasm.

Had his arm not gotten tangles in Agro's reigns, he would have been sent flying down to his death.

"Holy shit that was close…" the Wanderer said, letting out a sigh of relief. He looked up at his horse. "Agro! Back up!" he yelled.

Agro, wanting to be freed from the extra weight dangling from his head, shook off the reigns.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!"

SPLASH!!!!

Lucky for the Wanderer, there was a small pool of water just at the bottom of the chasm. He surfaced, coughing unexpected water from his lungs and headed over to the shore.

Agro, free of his reigns, trotted off towards the oasis.

"Fucking horse…" the Wanderer growled, twitching and wringing water from his tunic. He drew his sword, pouring water from the sheath. As he did this, the Wanderer noticed light bounce off the sword, pointing towards an old, temple-looking structure.

Go figure.

As he walked over to the temple, the Wanderer noticed a ramp-like ledge leading up and into it. He climbed it, following the path into the darkness of the temple. He followed it silently, all the while thinking to himself 'Who in their right mind would build a temple HERE!?'

He soon found himself in a square, dimly-lit room, with an opening on the far side overlooking the chasm. There were four grooves in the wall, which housed four podiums, each with a fire lit at the top.

The Wanderer took a step forward. As soon as he did, a low growl rang out through the room.

At first, the Wanderer expected the torches to start moving or something, but then heard movement above him. He looked up, and as he did, he saw something leap off from an upper ledge. It ran a bit ahead of him, skidded to a halt, then turned around, shaking itself off.

It wasn't a dragon. It was…

"…a pig!?" the Wanderer asked aloud.

(A/N: All right, before anyone attacks me for this, I have to say; to me, Celosia looks like a pig. A pig with claws. And enough ramming power to knock over a small house)

He didn't have time to make up a smart-assed comment, either; right as he said that, the 'pig' suddenly booked it, running right for him.

"…Meep"

The Wanderer yelled out, diving to the side just as Celosia barreled past him, trying to ram him with its tusks. The Wanderer scrambled up, running for one of the pedestals of fire. The colossus was right on his tail, and as he dove for cover behind the pedestal, Celosia rammed its head into the wall, unable to fit in the small space.

The Wanderer turned, looking at the beast. This thing was the polar opposite of all the other colossi! It wasn't bit and slow, it was small and fast!

Celosia circled the pedestal, waiting for the Wanderer to emerge, but after a while, began to walk away. The Wanderer took a few steps forward, but soon realized that that was a big mistake; as soon as he stepped out, Celosia's claws raked out across his chest.

"AAGH!" he yelled out, falling behind the pedestal. He looked down, seeing blood. The Wanderer had been scared in the past, but this was different; this thing could actually kill him!

"Celosia fears the flames…" Dormin's voice echoed into the Wanderer's mind.

"Yeah, you mentioned that before, but that doesn't help me!!" the Wanderer yelled, standing up while using the wall as a support. "This thing'll KILL me if I go out there!!"

Celosia, having grown bored of the Wanderer, was now curled up on the floor, half watching him, half falling asleep.

"Calm thyself, and think." Dormin said sternly. "Perhaps thou can use the flame pedestal…"

"…eh?" the Wanderer looked up at the pedestal. He noticed a few grooves in its sides, just enough for him to climb. "Hmm…"

He leapt up, grabbing onto one of the grooves. Slowly, he climbed up the pedestal. Celosia raised its head, now watching more intently.

When the Wanderer reached the top, he looked around. "Now what?" he asked, unsure of what to do.

WHAM!!

The pedestal was suddenly hit with a tremendous force as Celosia rammed its head into it.

"AAAH!" the Wanderer lost his balance, flailed, and fell to the ground. "Oof!" he landed hard on the stone floor. He heard Celosia growl, and curled up into the fetal position, awaiting the final blow…

…it never came.

"…huh?" the Wanderer looked up, seeing the giant pig slowly backing up, suddenly afraid. He looked to his side, seeing a stick that was ignited on one end.

A cruel grin appeared on the Wanderer's face. He scrambled to the stick, picking it up and flailing it at Celosia. "HA! Take that!!" he yelled.

As he did, the stick burnt out.

"…crap"

Celosia charged, and the Wanderer yelled, diving behind the pedestal again.

After climbing back up to the top of the pedestal and re-igniting the stick, the Wanderer leapt down, and once again Celosia was struck with fear.

"Heh heh heh…" the Wanderer laughed. "Not so tough now, are ya, Mr. 'Oh-lookit-me-I'm-so-fast-and-scary-but-I'm-scared-of-a-little-flame'!" he mocked, swinging the stick. Celosia let out a feeble growl, swiping at the Wanderer in fear. The Wanderer was having so much fun he didn't even realize they were walking to the giant opening in the wall.

Neither did Celosia.

The beast suddenly lost its footing and slipped. It tried to dig its claws into the ground, but couldn't get a good hold. The beast slipped, falling down the cliff-side, smashing its back into the path below with a loud crunch. The force flipped it over, and it fell on its front.

"Wow…" the Wanderer said, looking down. He then noticed that Celosia's armor covering it had cracked, and now revealed its very hairy back. And shining brightly on its back was a nice big sigil.

Grinning, the Wanderer dropped the stick and drew his sword. He dropped down to the first path, just above Celosia's position. When the beast didn't move, he leapt off from the ledge, sword pointing down.

"Hi-YAH!" he yelled, driving his sword into Celosia's back with the force of his fall. Celosia roared out, scrambled to its feet, and started running.

"Whoa!!" the Wanderer yelled, hanging on for dear life as the beast ran around the chasm. It paused, trying to shake the Wanderer off, then took off again, nearly accomplishing its goal.

"Somebody stop this crazy thing!!" the Wanderer yelled out. He readied his sword, and as Celosia stopped, he raised it and stabbed it into the beast's back again.

Celosia let out a final yell, then fell to its side, dead. It knocked the Wanderer off as it fell.

"Oww…" the Wanderer said as he got up. He watched as the black tendrils escaped from the beast's back, surprised that it only took two stabs to kill it. He sheathed his sword and waited as the black tendrils swirled around in midair, then buried themselves into his chest.

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Author's Note: There. It's finally done. I'm on summer break, so I'll try to update more often.

And this time, I mean it.

Promise.

Please review!!