Zephyr returned to Evernight; his minions decked out with enchanted Durium armor and weapons. He and his merry band of minions looked around for more root nodes to smash. The first one they found was in a swamp guarded by giant frogs, and they splattered them as quickly as they did the node. Activating the tower gate near it, Zephyr found something else while searching for nodes, an uncorrupted grove with one elvish tree in the middle. The ghosts in the area were good enough to explain.
"The sacred grove is the last place in Evernight untouched by corruption. See, our ancient tree still stands." Zephyr looked into the grove, and while the tree was pretty, the bloody unicorns around it were not.
"The area is infested! Those creatures don't know how to destroy the tree." Gnarl said in his ear, pointing out the obvious as usual. Thankfully the elf was not done talking and could drown him out.
"I know you need aid, stranger. Over by the tree is an ancient artifact."
"And clearing out the corrupted unicorns is the price, yes?"
"Indeed."
"Here is a crazy thought. Why don't you do it? You are invincible to anything in the living world, and they are of the living world. Hence this should be easy for you!"
"We are nothing more than the greaving shadows of who we were in life. The nightmare cannot be destroyed; it would be an exercise in futility for us." Zephyr took a deep breath and did everything in his power to not have his blues kill the ghosts. He ordered his minions to stay behind, he needed to blow off steam, and the unicorns were perfect for that. The beasts charged him, and he took two out by simply sidestepping and letting them run into each other. The last one was more thoughtful, running and jumping off a stone to dive-bomb Zephyr. He activated his shield spell just in time, breaking the monster's neck and sending it flying. He then had his blue's grab the mana object, and his browns harvest the horns from the unicorns.
"Thank you, stranger, the sacred grove is now cleansed. Now, leave me to my greaving."
"It's a miracle you lazy fucks were not exterminated a long time ago; you know that?" Zephyr then moved on, fighting his way through nightmare beats until he got to the spot he could not pass before. Activating the bridge and moving towards the cave. The deeper Zephyr and his happy horde went into the cave, the more fleshy and boney everything was getting. Gnarl was, for once, thankfully on hand to explain.
"We are directly under the tree of that sleeping elf... The heart of his nightmares."
"Well, this should be fun." Zephyr and his minions charged on. The skull-beasts were no match for him and his minions. The only thing halting him from going out another exit was the corruption root blocking the path.
"It seems Oberon does not want us venturing this way... All the more reason we should!" Zephyr found another manna object guarded by skull-stags exploring the depths of the skull den. They were quickly dealt with, and the object recovered. After taking a pit stop to kill a skull-bore, he found the root node in a moist pit. The moment he destroyed it, the whole cavern began to shake, and then he heard it.
"I hear the creaking of something dying nearby!"
"No shit Gnarl!" Hordes of skull-beats charged Zephyr and his minions. Their new equipment did serve them well, but it could only do so much against the endless tide of nightmares. Even the walls seemed to contract, like the jaws of a pitcher plant closing in around a fly. Using both the rage and flamethrower spell, Zephyr did his best to clear a path to the nearest exit with as many minions as he could. Finally making it out of the hell hole, the nightmares did not fallow them out of their pit. Zephyr quickly recovered, but he was down to a third of his horde. After returning to the main tower gate to replenish his minions, he explored the new area. It did not take him long to discover that the place was infested with trolls, four to be exact, all large and smelly.
"This should, if nothing else, be a fun distraction!" Zephyr said as he ran at the first of the brutes. Feeling nostalgic, Zephyr blasted the fat-ass in the face with a fireball and chopped at its knee cap to send it tumbling down, letting his minions finish it off. At the same time, the poor beast grabbed at its melting face. The second one did not fare any better, a confusion spell making it grab at the air harmlessly while the minions swarmed and killed it. The last two were not in his way, so he moved on, letting the thugs live for now. Zephyr soon found a beautiful sight, an overgrown forest temple. He could see the last of the roots entering the temple, so he followed it in, only to be greeted by a snobby elf ghost.
"You are journeying towards damnation, outsider! We are the ever-vigilant ones. Swarn to protect the tombs of our heroes fallen in battle. We guard their rest so that they-"
"Well, you're doing a shit job because those raiders got in and are diddling with that grave."
"WHAT!?" The ghost turned to see the same kind of raiders that attacked castle Spree, along with a woman wearing a purple outfit that left little to the imagination. As they shoved open the coffin opening the door behind them, Zephyr could not but feel like he knew the woman. A feeling he always got before he met an asshole, it seems. It was at this time that Gnarl made his usual unwelcomed observation.
"It seems that the tombs are the keys to this place. Be thankful for the foolishness of others." The ghost looked pissed and chased after the raiders scream such things as.
"Intruders! Defilers! Infidels! Cease so I may strip the quivering flesh from your unholy bones!" Zephyr simply moved on with his day, finding what looked like a large pile of dwarf bodies guarded by a wild troll. After more than easily dealing with the troll, he could see that the door forward was closed and could only be opened the same way that the last door was.
"OK, back the fuck up. If these elves love their dead heroes so much, why are the doors only openable by desecrating their tombs!? This is stupid! This is more than stupid! This is a level of moronic I have never even seen before in my life! I was going to try and explain that I'm here to help, but fuck that! Get ready to kill some ghosts blues!" His minions gave a cheer of joy as he went down the left hall, bumping into some ghosts.
"Go back! We are the watchful on-"
"FUCK YOU CUNTS! YOU MADE ME DO THIS!" Zephyr screamed as he willed his blues to eradicate the ghosts. After the violent exorcism, Zephyr proceeded the open every tomb he found, even if he did not need to by that point. And killed every ghost or raider he came across on principle, then went to the other side of the temple and did the exact same thing. Only when Zephyr had desecrated every single tomb in the temple did he return to the main room and pass through the door. He found what looked like a massive altar, and the raiders lamented over not finding anything.
"It's gone! The statues gone! I told you lot to hurry up! Fools! We're meant to be the thieves! And look, those rock hoggers have got hear first! Let's get out of here. You, call the overseer." The leader whined like a child, something that Zephyr also remembered her doing a lot of, but never an exact incident. He was about to walk over and confront her, but then one of the ballsack looking monsters came over, and teleported in a massive warrior.
"Honey! Love muffin! I've found you! You mustn't use the overseer's, snuggle bottom, the old man don't like it."
"Clearly, I didn't hit you hard enough!"
"Jewel, I don't like you beaming off like that on me, my little thieving sugar plum."
"Just stop talking!"
"It makes Khan, angry!" The giant man screamed before swinging his flail, killing the raiders the were with Jewel. To her shock horror.
"Look what you did! Come on, you great lug, let's go!" The two then teleported away, leaving both the node and a minion spell, all to Zephyr. As Zephyr claimed the minion spell, ghost elves floated in, lamenting as usual.
"We are lost... We are lost, the statue is gone. She has been taken from us. Is the destruction of our race not enough for those barbarians?
"We beseech you, return her, and you will not find us without gratitude. Until then, we shall mourn."
"Mourn? Never rely on an elf to do anything useful! On a happier note, berzerk! Good find, sire. This temporarily raises the health, defense, and attack of your minions! However, they have very little self-control and will attack anything they see... Animal vegetable or mineral!" Gnarl said, just as disgusted with the ghosts' apathetic nature as his master was. Zephyr spotted the last root node, willing his minions to attack it, but it was not nearly as squishy as the others.
"This node is sturdier than the rest. Something must have strengthened it. Loud stomping alerted Zephyr to two wild trolls rampaging into the room.
"And there is the something now! The proximity of those trolls must have toughened the node."
"HOW!?"
"As hard as it might be to believe, but trolls are magical creatures, sire." Zephyr's left eye started to twitch. Without even saying a word, he activated the berzerk spell and let his minions have at it. They were destroying everything in their path, the trolls, the node, and even the ghosts that were left.
"That was the last root node, sire! The shield is down! Now let's see if that elf can keep his eyes open long enough to fight! He can sleep all he likes in the afterlife!" Gnarl said, in a little too happy a tone for Zephyr's liking.
"I want the succubi to join me in this fight, have them meet me at the edge of Oberon's clearing." Zephyr commanded, and sure enough, he saw all four of them. Flaming whips ready, and wicked, perverted grins on their faces. Walking into the corrupted grove, Oberon woke from his dreaming with a yawn. Something stirred in Zephyr; unlike the other heroes he remembered, he did not hate him. And when the elf spoke, it triggered something Zephyr did not expect, sadness.
"Once I deserted my people, my forest, and I have been punished. I will not desert them again!" The elf then started summoning roots up from the ground to impale Zephyr and his forces. The succubi avoided the roods with dancers' grace, and the minions did so in a much more clumsy but effective manner. Zephyr could not hold still enough to use the flamethrower spell, but the fireballs he was pelting him with were practically useless.
"You shall feel the suffering of Evernight... Every broken branch, every fallen leaf!"
"The suffering of the elves was your doing, Oberon, not mine!" He then willed his minions to charge up the half-tree half-elves roots and start hacking and blasting at him. He let out a painful scream before tossing them aside.
"Roots... burrowing into my brain. I cannot control it. They are coming... They are coming!" Six giant frogs then hopped into battle, and the minions took to fending them off while Zephyr and the succubi continued the attack. He blasted the elf with fire while they lashed at him with burning chains.
"My nightmares... it brought them forth..."
"Too bad he didn't have a wet dream instead, am I right?" Impella said before getting knocked onto her ass by a root attack.
"The blackness... The shadows... Cease! Cease! Leave me!" Just when the frogs were almost taken care of, bloody unicorns came charging out of the darkness. They were wreaking havoc among Zephy's forces, one of the unicorns even kicked Jill into the path of a giant frog's tongue. Watching her legs kicking out of the frog's mouth was amusing, but Zephyr did not waste time laughing and killed the beast and saved her.
"I cannot control it... It controls me... It controls me!" Oberon lamented as skull beasts started burrowing up from the ground. Zephyr's forces were under threat of being overwhelmed by the horrors that dug their way up from below. Zephyr had all of his troops focus on keeping the beasts at bay while pressing his attack on Oberon.
"It is weakening... It is weakening!" Zephyr tried to ignore Oberon as he continued his assault. Wave after wave of nightmares, corrupted beasts, and even a few mind-controlled trolls pushed the horde to its limit. And then, just as it seemed like they were going to be overwhelmed. The skull beasts crumbled to dust, the animals and trolls scattered, and Oberon went limp. Some of his bark falling to make a ramp for Zephyr to walk up and deal the killing blow.
"Enough. Finish this! Free me from this torment!" Zephyr walked up to look Oberon over. He felt almost hesitant, he cared for Oberon, but he didn't know why.
"I'm sorry this had to happen, Oberon." The elf weakly looked up, looking like he saw a ghost.
"Zephyr... Is that you?"
"Ya, it's me."
"Good... I'm happy it's you... I'm sorry... What we did was wrong..."
"What did you do to me, Oberon? Why can't I remember?"
"Perhaps it is a blessing... Please... It hurts..." Zephyr did not know why, but he couldn't keep making Oberon suffer, even for answers. One quick swing from his ax and Oberon Greenhaz was no more. The explosion of evil energy splintered the tree in half, opening the way into dwarven lands, and exposing a new shield spell. The ghost elves gathered in Oberon's clearing, looking over the sean.
"The eternal sleep has claimed him."
"The earth stirs beneath us. Evernight will be reborn."
"Return the mother goddess statue to us, blessed of the elves, and every tree in this forest will sing your praises."
"You have no idea how little that means to me." Zephyr said as he claimed the new shield spell and returned to the tower. In his throne room, Gnarl explained the new spell.
"The shock shield works just like your normal shield, lord, only he's got a bit of a charge to him. He'll stun your enemies, giving you more time to give them a good bashing!"
"Thank's for the info, Garl. Have some food sent up to my private quarters. I'm turning in early." Zephyr went to his quarters and looked at his face in Rose's mirror, wondering why he was crying for an elf he couldn't remember. But he knew he cared for him once and that he had killed what was left of him.
