Now past the stone gates of the safety of the Wellspring Glades, Ori and Mokk ventured back to the forest. Back to the hostile ground of Niwen. So far everything was calm, the vegetation was lively and green. Which was most strange for Ori. From that stormy night, everything seemed corrupted. Perhaps this area is different from what he traversed before.
The new groves and the marsh were pleasing to see if the waters weren't so dirty. At least the forest had a strong will of strength to keep things as healthy as possible if that could make any sense.
"Things look much better around here." Ori commented while they traversed.
"The Inkwater Marsh is beautiful!" Mokk said. "Thanks to Kwolok, this part of the forest can live a little better."
"Kwolok? It's thanks to him that this flora is alive?"
"Yep, he is the one that protects this area."
"How does he do that exactly?"
"Hm, I don't know. I would guess it is because he is the Guardian of the Marsh."
Ori begins to consider. "I noticed he had that golden light orb, his presence was powerful, and his life energy… Oh!"
"What? You know what he does?" Mokk asked, surprised.
"It's just my guess, but is it possible for one to enroot themselves to nourish the land?"
"I don't know either. But I can say that I never saw Kwolok leave that pool."
"Then I'm partially right, I suppose. He was a strange being. Say Mokk, why is the forest… like this?"
Mokk takes a moment to reflect.
"Well, I learned that Niwen lost the Light, Her Grace's guidance long ago. The Light faded somehow. It was said that there once was a grand tree in the heart of this forest."
The Light faded? How could this be? Ori needed more details.
"A tree? Is it a Spirit Tree? What happened to it?"
"I don't know much, Ori. I can't confirm if such a thing exists. I never had seen that tree all my life; it has been a struggle to survive and preserve our family."
"Oh, sorry…"
Mokk smiles, not letting sorrow take hold. "Don't worry, we are fighting however we can. I can say with courage that we, Moki, are not easy to take down, as are the other people there."
Ori falls silent a couple of seconds, sighting wreckages of what could be of homes during their travel around the marsh. He remembers one thing...
"Mokk, last night I think I saw a village abandoned in the thickets past the marsh. Could that place have lost mokis?"
"Oh, that village… Nobody's there."
"That's a relief." Ori breathed. "But it served as a home, right?"
"It was one of our previous homes until the Decay arrived. The large stone gates didn't do anything in holding it back. We have been running away for a long time. I was born in some of these lost settlements and… well, running away is one thing that mokis have done since their beginning."
"How long has the Light faded?" Ori asked.
"For centuries, if I am not mistaken."
Ori stays silent, holding concern.
"But it is not all bad news. Thanks to the skies, we found Kwolok and he protects us from Decay. As you can see, this marsh is practically free from it. He is our hero, thanks to him we can settle down a little."
Ori could definitely say that Kwolok sustains this area somehow. Yet this was not important, right now. Ori did pay attention to Mokk's sorrow of how their lives had been radical for a long time.
"What do you usually do in the Glades, Mokk?" Ori asked, trying to change the subject a little.
"Me? I watch over the young. Many children need attention but not enough people to give them that. Mokis at a young age are reckless and if not watched they can zoom away and never be seen again. Meena and I are the ones that stayed back to care for them."
"Really? What happened to the parents and adults?"
"Many died, unfortunately. While others just can't stand babysitting. You may see other mokis roaming around. Some hate to stay still for too long."
"I see… I must say that it's very cool what you do. You were accompanied by many when we met."
"Yeah." Mokk rejoices. "That band is a brave one. I am responsible for doing small tours for the little ones to quench their need to explore. I do these expeditions almost daily with many groups. While Meena stays at the glades and feeds every mouth there."
"You and Meena are related?"
Mokk takes a moment, gazing to nowhere with a love fool expression; fingers pressing together and ears lowered.
"We are friends. I mean, we have been together surviving the ongoing days since our childhood. We are not related like that, but we have always been together."
Ori studies Mokk's nervousness while talking about his interest. Although Ori was not much familiar with such a subject, he understood that it was a dear matter for the moki.
"Don't mind me, hehe." Mokk sheepishly laughs and rubs the back of his head. "Can't really contain. She is cute, tough, and kind. Her food is delicious. To see her daily grants me the strength to press on."
Mokk then tones his enthusiasm down. "But of course, I can never talk to her about such a thing. We have too many responsibilities. Our lives are not easy. We don't have that type of time."
The talking was pleasing but had to be interrupted. A sound, a buzzing of wings, reaches them. Ori and Mokk become alert.
"Skeetos." Mokk revealed. "These insects are dangerous, stay low."
Ori follows as instructed, and both crouches to appear smaller and hide. The marsh had several scattered trees around, a portion of bushes, and tall rocks that they could use to hide, but from which direction the insects approached is unknown. Their numbers are also unclear.
Ori remembers what a skeeto is from what he had seen with Tokk. Whatever happens, a mosquito that size must not bite them.
"I will create a diversion. Let's charge ahead while they're distracted." Mokk instructs and Ori nods.
Mokk makes a small decoy using strings, lots of straw, and a strange ore of purplish color, making a sort of a doll. Then Mokk whistles loudly and throws the decoy to the side.
The Skeetos arrive faster than expected, but Mokk doesn't show to be concerned and just signals for Ori to run ahead. The insects fly in, but they aim at the decoy. Ori and Mokk run away, and once gaining a safe distance, they calm themselves.
"The size of those insects is not normal!" Ori comments. "What did you do to keep them distracted?"
"I used a small ore that those dumb things confuse with a prey. The skeetos sense a Gorlek Ore, and rush in to drain a rock. Which they hate."
"They confuse an ore with a living being?"
"Yeah, the Gorlek Ore is special, they resonate with shadow energy and that it is for some reason attractive to them."
"These things are scary! Are they persistent?" Ori shares his thoughts.
"They've been more active recently. We don't know the cause but they are always on the move during the day. We always go out equipped with a few ores for these moments."
Survival knowledge. Ori begins to understand how things are in the lives of these people. The mokis have to deal with this and many other threats daily? Especially Mokk, he must have much experience in that regard. Ori probably could detain many creatures thanks to his combat prowess, but how Mokk could defend himself also was impressive.
"Well, we are almost leaving the marsh and reaching the Mill. Up ahead there will be more of those insects and other things. I have plenty of ore with me to distract any problem."
Ori nods, and they move forward and finally sight the Mill. The flora becomes a little more affected by the forest's grim state. From this point forward, the green plants and leaves had shifted to a blurred yellow tone. As if Kwolok's protection grew weaker due to the increasing distance from the source.
Filling the horizon, Ori beholds a huge structure that allows the waters to flow. A grand building with many wheels and probably many dangers waiting inside.
"There it is. Beware, Ori, this place has been abandoned due to the corruption of the nearby wildlife."
"Understood," Ori replied. "how are we going to fix that huge thing?"
Mokk ponders for a moment. "That's a good question! I don't know!" He informs Ori with a goofy smile.
"You looked like you knew what to do." Ori said back. "How do you expect me to do that?"
"Why, you're a guardian spirit. You can do anything!" Mokk places his faith on the spirit that simply did not know how to deal with such a problem. The huge structure at least had a manual? Ori would have to wait as he nervously planned; he had not thought that ahead.
"What? Just because I am a spirit? I am not an expert or anything like that!"
"But spirits are capable of controlling the Light. I know that you will find a creative solution. I will help you too!"
Mokk was zestful as always. Seemed that to be in the presence of a spirit was inspiring or his nature was simply too hard to be shaken by such a thing. Ori calmed down, it shouldn't be so hard to fix a damaged mill, right?
Gazing upon the structure again, it did not seem to be like that. The grand wheels were dirty by a pinkish and purplish goo and roots that Ori recognized. A familiar blight, the same that once struck the Ginso Tree. A disease that inflicted plants and turned them into those hideous vines that wrapped and corrupted the waters. Ori had the aid of Sein to incinerate the plants back then, but now he could do it by himself.
"I think I know what is happening there." Ori said observing the mill.
"Oh? We always knew you were the solution! Tell me, what is it?" Mokk returned happier by the second.
"You see those darkened vines like tendrils? I can say that they are keeping the engines of the mill ensnared and stuck, halting the flow. Inside there should be more. The solution is to burn this blight. But I think..."
The buzzing of wings returns. Ori and Mokk lower themselves in immediate response.
"They're already done with the decoy." Mokk shrugs. "Well, I can do more."
"No need." Ori informed Mokk, growing a bit more serious.
"Huh? What are you planning to do?"
"He's fighting! Yes! I wanna see!" A familiar voice said from hiding, scaring Ori.
"It's Motay, Ori. Calm down." Mokk explained.
As much as Ori wanted to, he was astounded that the chameleon was truly keeping that promise of chasing him around. What a weird fellow.
"Really now? Where is he?"
"I dunno. But Motay is not our concern here."
"Can he help us?"
"Difficult to say, Motay is not a fighter or useful in any way."
"Hey!" Motay exclaimed from hiding.
There was no use discussing it now. Ori heard the buzzing growing louder.
"Mokk, go hide." Ori summoned his blade and readied himself.
Mokk grows impressed by the blade's manifestation. A long, shiny sword coated in blue flames. A tool so beautiful!
"Wow! How do you do that?"
"Not now. Go hide!"
The insects arrive. Two of them circle above the spirit. Ori took his breathing exercises, focusing up and crouching low. Determination was set, the foes were not the likes to be forgiven in any way. Mokk was out of harm's way and Ori at the clear sight of the threat.
From two a third arrives, and then a fourth and a fifth. So many and more could be on the way. Still, Ori did not let that bother him. Flying opponents was not something unfamiliar to him thanks to the previous training, independently if this was the real thing. Simple insects were not a concern for the spirit.
Each mosquito had four wings of fragile cuticles. Their proboscis is much longer and sharper than normal and designed to drain dry their victims. Thanks to their greater size, they are capable of killing easier than their normal kin.
Their movement patterns are commonly confusing. Ori thought to himself, insects fly at speedy rates and their trajectory is erratic. Nearly impossible for the normal eye to predict their next way. Ori had a much simpler strategy to deal with them. Which was, simply to await them strike first.
Ori kept his crouched stance, prepared to Charge Jump and begin combat. One, two, three seconds of unwavering focus Ori kept. Until, ZOOM! A skeeto flys in, and Ori releases the energy to launch himself into the air. The first is surprised and split in half as Ori flies higher.
The other skeetos sense a vulnerability in the spirit hovering a moment and beginning to fall. A second flies in with its sharpened nose pointed at the target. The moment it would pierce the spirit's body, Ori jumps on thin air. Double jumping and stepping on the skeeto's weapon. Without delay, the creature is cut and Ori bashes this one away and goes for the next.
Ori had a momentum that the insects could not follow. He bashes every single one and strikes the next. Leaping from skeeto to skeeto, never touching the ground. One by one was struck down, their number piling on the forest floor.
Before long, Ori descends and elegantly lands on his feet. The Spirit Edge is dismissed and Ori doesn't even pant. With combat over, Mokk reapproached with star gleaming eyes, impressed to the core.
"That was so COOL!" Mokk jumps in place. "You're incredible!"
"Yes! Impressive!" Scribbling noises flew about.
Kinda flattered, Ori smiles awkwardly. "That was nothing really. They were a little scary, but insects are insects. This doesn't change with size."
"Oh? How cute." An unknown voice spoke and giggled, echoing throughout the forest.
"Who said that?!" Mokk asked in visible surprise.
Ori knew that this voice was not friendly and could not deduce where it came from. It was unfamiliar and sounded female. Back at an alert stance, they searched for clues of the enemy. But there is nothing they can learn.
"Who's there?" Ori asked with a glimpse of fright.
"So you're the one?" The voice giggles. "Let me offer you… a suitable challenge."
With the last sentence, the earth below them trembles and shakes. An earthquake!
"Mokk, you need to-" Ori wanted to warn Mokk to hide, but a spike began to erupt from the ground behind the moki. Ori had not the time to speak and before Mokk would be impaled, Ori dashes in and takes Mokk out of the way. A sharp horn black as charcoal bursts from the ground and a new massive creature begins to reveal itself.
That was too close! Ori took Mokk to the nearby bushes.
"Are you okay?" Ori asked.
The moki was fatigued and afraid. "What… what was that?" He asked with the curtain of dust that showed the silhouette of the new great creature's form dissipated.
Both of them are silent as they see a giant hornbug. Some sort of monstrous beetle with a spiked carapace of stone almost all over its body and many legs like a centipede.
"Well then, I hope this little pet can be entertaining. Enjoy." The mysterious voice speaks for the last time and goes silent.
This creature would not waste time, it pointed its horn to the spirit and began charging. The problem was that Ori stood in front of Mokk, if Ori were to dodge, could Mokk do the same? It was far too late to consider. Ori picked Mokk up and dashed out of the way with plenty of space before the slow beast wrecked everything in its path, raising a new cloud of dust.
"I'm sorry! I'll get to safety!" Mokk darted away from the battlefield.
It was useless to face it like that. Stone covered its entire body like armor, a bit difficult to say if Ori could cut through it.
This creature was much scarier than the previous ones. No training could have prepared him for such a thing. Distinct fear made Ori's wrists start shaking slightly.
The hornbug finally turns around and appears facing the spirit. It releases a skittish roar and begins to twist its body, provoking an earthquake.
Ori holds his ground before the quakes and soon, the creature slams itself so hard down the earth that the soil concedes. Ori is caught by surprise as the land below him crumbles and gravity takes him to the passage below. Mokk is made to helplessly watch from above.
"Ori, are you okay?!"
Ori quickly raised to his feet without any fall damage, studying the surroundings. The sight was obnoxious at the minimum. He fell to what seemed like a network of tunnels dug by that creature. The earth was already unstable because of it, now how was that hornbug able to do such a thing?
What Ori didn't know was, that huge bug could burrow, but it wasn't alone on that.
"I am alright." Ori replied to Mokk.
"Thank goodness! I will get something to pull you up!"
"It's okay! I can get back up on my own!"
Things became eerily silent. The giant battering beetle had vanished. Ori would not dare to follow it through the tunnels afraid of getting lost. So Ori focused on getting out of that hole as quickly as possible. He approached one of the walls and began climbing.
"Oh! You know how to climb! I never had a doubt!" Mokk said.
Ori was halfway there. Mokk began to consider the danger that creature could bring.
"I never had seen that thing before. We must warn Kwolok about it!"
"Good call!" Motay said from hiding.
"But how did that thing come to be? Have any ideas, Ori?" Mokk asked.
Ori was almost there, but shortly before he could reply, a sound of erupting earth and screeching came under him. A slim worm with a gaping mouth bites on Ori's ankle and drags him down. Ori grunts to the sudden pain of grasp of teeth around his leg, becoming disoriented by the new collision as his head hits the bottom of that pit. The worm quickly pulls him into one of the tunnels.
"Ori!" Mokk calls, desperate, but nothing he could do as the spirit vanished into the darkness.
"Oh no! Oh no! We must do something, Motay!"
*Scribbling noises*
"Stop writing and help me!"
*Scribbling intensifies*
"Skies above." Mokk rolls his eyes and hops into the den of the hornbug. Upon reaching the bottom he felt a sinister chill crawling his spine. The series of holes were intimidating, which way was Ori pulled into again? Mokk could not waste time!
Mokk grew stressed, each second he wastes thinking in a strategy Ori is taken deeper into the cavernous maze. He feels fear, he wasn't prepared for such a thing. However, Mokk had a tool for emergencies, a volatile type of dust, a type of powder.
"Argh!" He cried. "I am Mokk the Brave, I will not back away! Not while there are victims in need!"
Mokk filled his lungs with air and moved in, switching to all fours running to be faster. Again he is forced to reconsider his actions the moment the path divides in many new directions. That was a shocking realization for the poor moki.
Which way? Which way Ori was taken?
Scared to a point that the decision he makes will impact his safety for good was overwhelming. The chances to become lost in those tunnels were high and knowing what dug them, it just fueled the terror.
"I will… I…" Mokk tried to gather courage. "I will find you!"
Mokk releases a powerful shout calling for the spirit's name. The sound travels through the maze, and to Ori, it was a heavenly sound. Ori had freed himself from the worm but he was still searching his way out of the place.
"Mokk, I am okay!"
Mokk's ears shot upwards with the response, truly relieved that the worst didn't happen. Yet.
"Thank the skies! Can you follow my voice?"
"The place is swarming with these creatures! Get out of here!"
A new worm reveals itself to the moki, making him gasp; it tries to make use of the opportunity to strike.
Serrated teeth surrounded the worm's mouth, the body was huge and it could slither swiftly. Mokk's survival instincts allow him to jump over the creature and run to a safe distance but he creature goes after and slithers over a trail of powder left on the ground. It did not matter the slightest to the worm what that black dust was.
"Stay away, ugly thing!" Mokk lights a match and ignites the trail, blowing up and burning the oblivious worm. The creature writhes in agony and quickly is defeated. Bright confidence arose in the moki's eyes.
"Ha! I can do this! You don't scare me, Decay!"
But after the taunting sentence, more worms appear to test the moki, which releases a squeak of fear and runs away.
"I am sorry! I didn't mean it! I beg your pardon!" Mokk tries to apologize to the worms that were challenged, swiftly running away while leaking the same powder in his wake.
Ori on some part of the maze could hear Mokk's squeaks and crying voice. He is being chased! Ori has to find him quickly but to navigate in this place was the first challenge.
Where is the hornbug? What is this place they are trapped in? Ori tried to mind any details possible to distinguish any sort of progress towards finding Mokk or the exit; a raiment of a corpse, a shred of morphed skin, a simple rock, anything! But the tunnels are plain and identical.
Ori parried most of the chaser's attacks but was not fond of fighting back, he focused on running and getting out of that maze. Guiding himself through the dark tunnels, a distinct dim glow of a musky green catches the corner of Ori's eye. He glances in the new direction, what could that be? There was no time to lose, and so, Ori ran towards that faint light.
Upon finally approaching, it was not what he expected to see, far from it.
It was the hatchery of those creatures. Ori had to halt his advance before falling into the egged pit. The worms still chased him and would arrive soon, he had no choice but to fall in and step on the safe spaces where he could have distance from the place's vicious spawns.
The musky green tones lighting the place came from pulsing eggs. Silhouettes of the larvae inside squirming constantly could be seen. Creepy and disgusting, it seemed they were close to hatch.
Much to Ori's delight, the place also had a nasty smell, and not only that, Mokk's voice came screaming above him as the moki found his way to the same chamber and fell from the high tunnels. Ori moved quickly and catches Mokk before he would fall headfirst into the eggs on the corners of the room.
"Ori! Finally found you!" Said the moki with quick breaths, holding firm on Ori's arms.
"Why did you come? I had warned you!"
"I am not scared of anything! For I am Mokk the Brave! I am here to help you!"
The creatures sprout from each tunnel and each passage brims with the abnormal worms. Their screeching is overwhelming at first and slowly toning down as they have sensed their prey.
"We don't have time. Hop on my back!" Ori wished he could cover all directions at the same time, but as surrounded as they were Ori could not protect themselves. An alternative immediately flashed for Ori. "We're going to fly a bit!"
Ori's words made the moki perplexed but most and foremost, Mokk jumped and held on to the spirit's back. "How come?" He then asked before the horde overwhelmed them. The tunnels above had clear passage as the creatures occupied the chamber.
"Hold on!" Ori jumps on one of the charging worms, posing to use the creature as a trampoline, and slams both hooves on it, launching both of them into the air. A bash; somehow the kick's impact repelled both the attacker and foe.
Mokk was astounded to see how Ori created an ample impulse to travel such a distance with that peculiar kick. Things became turbulent thanks to Ori who was jumping away from foe to foe, forming a ravenous sea below them. The bouncing turned out to be fun and Mokk would say it out loud if they were not in such a perilous moment.
Ori took direction to one of the high tunnels and Mokk remembered something that could help them to give these creatures a lesson. While he ran to this place, he leaked a powder trail from the exit to their location. That gave him an idea.
"Ori, take that tunnel over there! I have left a trail for us to follow!"
Ori listens and sights the way Mokk points to. "Ok!" Ori bashes a new creature and propels his way to that particular tunnel. It seemed so simple to get there, if it weren't for Ori, Mokk would be toast.
"You gotta teach me this!" Mokk shared his joy to jump and bounce on enemies without getting hurt.
"It's a secret!" Ori replied, feeling calmer since Mokk is not scared. Things were under control, they could escape easily.
They reach the tunnel and the trail extends far. Mokk gets off Ori and both dart away. The creatures keep on chasing while they follow the black dust.
Noticing what the trail was, Ori remembered seeing and using it against the wolf. Was Mokk the creator of this powder? But it wasn't the time to ask. The creatures showed to be relentless; other worms appeared in front of them, two to be precise, and Ori would answer in kind.
Ori summoned the bow and fired on the enemies. Two shots met their marks and the foes were dealt with. The exit was almost at reach and a quake hit the tunnels.
"Was it that huge thing?" Mokk asked as soon as the quake stopped.
"Maybe. Keep your guard up."
Keep your guard up… words that Ori had listened to quite a lot during his time in Nibel. Ario had taught him little about dangers out there, and definitely, Ori started experiencing them. That time was special, and Ori began to understand why Ario tried to convince him to stay at home, out and away from these threats.
"I see the exit!" Mokk pointed.
Ori could see the sunlight at the end of the tunnel and they rushed forward. Upon reaching the hole they had fallen into, Ori asked Mokk to climb on his back again, and Ori focused on jumping back to the surface with the Charge Jump. They leave the underground maze and are back stepping on the forest floor with grass below their feet.
"We're out, but they're still coming!" Ori could still hear the screeches.
"Light the trail!" Mokk ordered. "The trail is volatile and will explode upon contact with great heat!"
Ori nodded and aimed down to fire another arrow. This was to be another challenge, he had to use Sein's flames on an arrow to make it ignite the powder. Ori gathered focus, and the arrow's tip lightened in blue flame.
"Take cover!" Ori warned and fired. The burrow and the subsequent tunnel are blasted and dirt is lifted with the force of explosions rocking down the tunnel.
The curtain wears down and the hole is sealed. Ori and Mokk watch from above the passage they had come from. They felt victorious but somehow that striving feeling also had doubt following. Was the threat properly vanquished? They couldn't be certain. Ori remained alert, exercising his senses to catch any sound or scent...
"Are you okay, Ori?" Mokk asked, pulling Ori's gaze to meet him.
"I am." Ori breathed. "The powder saved us."
"Indeed, but I doubt they are done. Those mutated earthworms can just dig new tunnels. We must warn Kwolok about this."
"We can't go back." Ori said back, dismissing Mokk's request.
Mokk took a moment. "Why not?"
"Because they're still onto us!"
Ori summoned his blade as the ground began shaking just like the first time.
"Mokk, get to safety!"
Scared, Mokk climbed one nearby tree to its top and watched from above. Ori ran to an open space without trees and away from Mokk hoping to draw the creature and it worked like a charm. Seems that the creature had the spirit as the target. The tremors were following him and finally, a giant horn erupted from the earth.
Ori jumped away, gaining distance from the monstrous beetle revealing itself anew. And fear struck the poor spirit. Ori would feel insignificant before the beast, but taking heed, Ori had to face it, otherwise, it would be free to cause more damage.
The creature growls, the horn pointed to the spirit and the many legs propel the heavy body forward. It is simply an unstoppable force. The more it ran the stronger the impact would be.
Again, Ori leaves the beast's path while it crashes against so many trees that it becomes stunned. Ori thought fast, he pursued the beetle in this after-collision state and leaped on its carapace. Positioning the Spirit Edge, Ori plunged the sword down to pierce the carapace but Ori was met by a great hardness that he could not penetrate. Harder and harder Ori brought the blade to sink into the foe but its shell would not relent.
The creature sensed Ori standing over its protective shell of stone and thrashed. In a flash, a new spike emerges from the carapace and erupts to impale the spirit. Ori gets out of the spike's way just in time and jumps off the hornbug.
Ori was in shock. A spike surged suddenly! How was it possible for such a thing to bloom from stone!? Little time he had to consider what just happened as the eyes of the hornbug fixated on the spirit and charged forward faster than before.
It was growing more powerful! Ori darted as fast as he could out of the charge and managed to do it in time. It couldn't be real, it became faster? Ori's mind raced, this thing was growing powerful and himself, weary.
Though the brief time he had before the hornbug charged again, Ori searched for weaknesses but was not able to see anything in particular on its sides or front. Plus it was unsafe to stand on the carapace. And just like that, the creature turned to Ori even faster than before. It advanced, its large body crushing everything that was fool enough to be caught in the path.
Ori had an idea to crush the carapace with the Spirit Smash, a large hammer that could pack just the necessary punch to break the beetle's shield.
Taking advantage of the post-charge disorientation again, Ori equipped the hammer and leaped with the weapon ready, slamming down the creature's side and the collision sent a shockwave to travel across the carapace.
It worked! The carapace cracked; a few more hits and the creature would be vulnerable. However, the spirit's success was short as an emerging spike forced him to retreat and the carapace healed back to normal. No way, the crack was gone! Ori watched with wide eyes as he had to get out of the way immediately.
"Ori, attack its backside!" Mokk's voice shouted from the top of a nearby tree. "The butt is the weak spot!"
Ori listened and would give it a try, but to get to the beetle's behind would not be easy since it can quickly turn around. The best chances Ori would have would be when it charges and gets disoriented, but Ori needed something hard enough to make it charge into. Something that would give him enough time.
Ori ran away and the beetle ran after. The spirit's swiftness would not win against the increasing battering force wrecking the forest. Luckily, Ori found a stone wall, a solid surface on the forest's dense hills not far from where Mokk observed.
Ori stood where he wanted, in front of the stone wall and awaiting the hornbug to arrive. Ori inhaled deeply and crouched to Charge Jump.
The time arrived and Ori soared with powerful impulse! He landed On the creature's front and ran forward over it while the beetle smashed its face on the wall. So incredible the impact was that rubble flew everywhere. Ori sped up, and reached the target: the beetle's weak spot. After crossing the huge body and evading the debris flying by, Ori reached its backside with generous time before the hornbug regained control.
Quickly analyzing, a faint glow in orange shone from a thinner shell of stone. Wasting no second, Ori equipped the hammer and crushed the feeble defense. The glow intensifies as an organ of sorts is revealed. No matter what it actually was, Ori took advantage before the carapace could be restored. Quickly swapping to the Spirit Edge, Ori unleashed six sword slashes that made the hornbug roar in pain.
That caused damage, but Ori was not done. During the adrenaline rush and after wounding the external of the gelatinous organ, Ori swapped weapons again to the Spirit Spike, the most powerful weapon in sheer impact. The spear brimmed with energy and Ori hurled it at point-blank, having it burst and launch himself back.
The wound spilled orange-colored blood and the beetle would not stop squirming. Releasing skittish growls, it begins to dig and burrows to safety. It provokes new quakes as it makes its escape.
Ori is forced to withstand the quakes as the hornbug escaped. The fight was over and Ori was not daring enough to pursue the creature.
Yet again, Ori failed to kill the foe. Not entirely his fault as he had not enough power to make it. That large beetle would return and what if he attacks others? What about that hatchery?
It was useless to think about that, they could not deal with such a threat in their current state. And neither Ori wanted to return now.
"Are you okay?" Mokk arrives running.
"I am." Ori panted, stabilizing his breathing. "How did you know about its weakness?"
"I observed that particular part to be glowing. It made me consider that it was a sort of exposure to the creature's defense. Luckily it was the case!"
"Well done, Mokk. I would never be able to notice that since it always faced me."
"I'm glad to help! Now we should go back to the glades."
"No, we should not." Ori began walking towards the Mill, groaning softly.
"What? We must return and get a rest. We can also inform what happened here to Kwolok."
Mokk notices the spirit's wounded ankle. "Oh, you're hurt!"
"I am fine. We must repair the Mill."
Ori had a racing mind. There was no time to lose, he had to get the Mill repaired one way or another asap. More than that, what was happening to the insect life in this forest? No way that had to be their natural state. Obviously, that was a Decay influence...
"Okay then, let me patch you first." Mokk stops and aids Ori to sit down to begin rummaging on his little bag, almost like a pouch. Mokk pulls forth a long length of bandage.
"I never noticed that bag of yours."
Mokk giggles. "Maybe because it blends well with my fur. It is my good ol' friend. This pouch carries many things. Both useless and useful." Mokk shared details and served first aid. In no time Mokk made a good treatment for the spirit's wound, cleaning and covering it.
"There, you good now."
"It wasn't that bad, but thanks."
"It wasn't that bad now, you mean. I ain't letting that wound be exposed to grow worse later. You've been bitten and Light protects us. I don't wanna know what bacteria those worms had. If you feel weird, do tell me immediately."
"Fair enough." Ori replied. "Thank you, Mokk."
"You're welcome!" The moki replied happily.
Ori got up, tested walking with the new bandages. Oddly, it wasn't as uncomfortable as he thought, the material was flexible to not difficult movement.
"Let's go before we get ambushed again." Ori solicited.
"Sure. But ahm... do you think that voice will bring problems again?"
That voice, Ori was having quite a lot of voices echoing for him to hear. First a mysterious, reinvigorating voice, then the wolf, and now this unknown villain that caused the hornbug to engage them… Alas, none of it was clear for the spirit, he would have to learn about them later.
"We don't have any clues of who or what could have spoken. Let's not burn ourselves to that, we have a mill to deal with." Answered Ori.
"Okay then, but I'm still worried."
"Me too, Mokk. Me too…"
Ori shares the same worry but nothing he could do at the moment. As they moved on to the Wellspring Mill, vigilance was required because of the dangerous zone. Now out of the Inkwater Marsh and far from Kwolok, Ori would be tested if he really wishes to repair the Mill and travel further into the corrupted land.
...