Omg it's here


Armour: Aerospec Armour (Ranger)

Weapon: Galeforce (Ichor Arrows); Arkhalis

Acc(11/11): Charm of Myths, Ankh Shield, Terraspark Boots, Luxor's Gift, Deific Amulet, Counter Scarf, Crown Jewel, MOAB, Harpy Ring, Aero Stone, Skyline Wings

Health: (400/400)


It was hot.

Swelteringly hot.

Dreadfully hot.

It roared and crackled all around, and weighed heavy on him, like a sheet of suffocating chain mail laid atop his shoulders. it seared his eyeballs and coated his lungs with each tentatively drawn breath. It distorted his vision; it sucked down his throat. It seeped into his brain and made him dizzy so the ground wavered and doubled, and the great slopping expanse of lava loomed far closer than it ought.

Yet even thought he was fairly certain his brains were melting and leaking out from his ears - the heat of the underworld did nothing to assuage the ice in his stomach. His skin burned whilst his belly ached with slithering dread. He felt the tips of his ear char, yet even a journey into the heart of a blazing furnace did nothing to ease the dark sadness that had settled behind his eyes.

*hiss...bubble*

For at this very moment, although he was balanced on a narrow platform of obsidian over an endless sea of burning magma, The Terrarian's mind was entirely elsewhere. The Guide had shouted at him. There were bone serpents leaping at him from the burning abyss; there were flying demons hurling magical sickles in the distance; there was fire belching from all about ... but his greatest concern was that The Guide had shouted at him. His parent, his only friend, his light in this cold and empty world was so angry, it made The Terrarian nearly sick with anxiety.

He won't leave, right...

The Terrarian sighed deeply as he placed the next set of obsidian platforms, attaching one end to another in a way The Guide had assured him was entirely unnatural. He was never sure what his companion meant by natural or otherwise, as he was still too inexperienced to understand what 'normalcy' was supposed to be. Even so, recently even this offhand sort of comment began to prick at his heart.

He promised he wouldn't leave.

For if everything he did was unnatural, what did that say about him? Was he unnatural? Was his very essence 'wrong'? The Terrarian had long accepted he had been created by The Guide - although he had been too afraid to confirm the details... but what did it mean for your creator to say you were 'unnatural'? Did it mean, broken? Faulty? Fit for abandonment or disposal? Perhaps it was fitting for the fleeing members of his Compound to call him 'The Monster Knight'. Maybe he was nothing but that: a monster masquerading as a knight.

Nonsense, he has placed his life in my hands...

The Terrarian shook his head and clenched his teeth. These thoughts were such an annoyance. He battled them off day by day, reassuring himself, clinging to The Guide's promises and reasoning with that seemingly insatiable fear within him until he had nothing to encourage himself with. Whenever things weren't going perfectly in The Compound (and, admittingly, things haven't been perfect in a long, long while) the insecurities came back to plague his every waking moment.

Just don't mess up - and everything will be fine. Stop thinking so hard.

The Guide had never steered him wrong.

The Guide had never let him down. If The Terrarian just did everything he was told, everything would turn out alright. If he followed the plan - a plan whose end goal he admitted to not fully understanding - somehow, things would work out in his favor, right? That's generally what happened, as far as he could recall anyways. So - he had been careful to obey all the instructions given him: to drink a concoction of potions that allowed him to tread atop the lava floes, to stay clear of The Demon hordes - as they tended to mob together, to beware of that lava slimes that spilled burning magma where they died... In fact, everything he was doing was at The Guide's express instruction. The height at which the build the platform, the material from which to make them of. The exact placement of campfires and heart lanterns - gnome statues and sunflowers.

And he took every request with an almost trembling desperation, for The Guide's ire had made him more miserable than he'd ever been. He felt as if he were a small dog that'd been cast out and abandoned - and was now desperately scrabbling at the door, crying for entry. How pathetic it was, but he didn't care. He wasn't even going to risk speaking to his angry parent until he killed The Wall. Maybe then, everything would go back to normal.

Just... work quickly...

And thus, he who had once considered himself cool and unemotional was now clinging so tightly to this man, the stress of losing him far outweighed the very real dangers that milled about. How explosive The Guide had been! For as long as he could remember, The Guide had never scolded him so violently before. The Terrarian, in his panic, had apologized for his apparently offensive assumption. In retrospect, it was a rather brash accusation - to accuse The Guide of planning something so downright ruthless. But was it so offensive that The Guide refused to reconcile? He had apologized then, and he'd repeated the apology until The Guide refused to hear it. The man had told him: 'You'll be forgiven when The Wall is dead... so stop this nonsense and hurry it up.'

*bubble...slop*

So, fear had made him desperate to appease. The Guide had required a small dugout be built for him in the cavern's upper ashen layer and The Terrarian had lavished it with all the amenities he could think of in an fruitless attempt to assuage the situation. However, he received not even a word of thanks for his efforts. It really did seem like the only thing he could do to pacify The Guide was to destroy The Wall... and if destroying The Wall would make The Guide look at him again, The Terrarian would do it a hundred times over.

*screech*

A fiery bat spotted him from the cavern's roof. It shrieked and dove, its fangs bared in bloodlust. The Terrarian hardly spared it a glance as he generated an ichor arrow from between the tips of his fingers. With the flick of his wrist, he hurled it at the noisy offender, piercing it through as listening as the poison began to consume it from within. A terrifying fluid, the blood of The Gods. The Terrarian was glad to have it at his disposal when he fought The Wall.

*blub-blub*

But... just where was this 'Wall'?

The Terrarian could smell its lurid stink seeping through his nostrils and up into his brain. The overwhelming smell of ash, of smoke and the guide-like stench of a monstrous beast. It was everywhere at once - hanging in the air as if held back with invisible chains. Above. Below. Within and without - as if it where here, but he could not see it nor touch it. Such a thing... he had encountered it before. When he faced down The Des-... the worm? in the sand? (there were few things he hated more than his own faulty memory) hadn't he thrown a medallion into that valley? Yes- only then did it appear - bursting out from beneath the dunes like a great monolith. Was The Wall the same? Perhaps something must be used to summon it onto this plane of existence.

*bubble...bubble...slosh...crash*

The Terrarian took shallow breaths as he attached the last of the Arena's platforms. He took a moment to look about, seeing if there was any obvious method to summon The Wall, but could see nothing but ashen mounds, lumps of hellstone and the occasional embered insect. The great pool of magma beneath was bubbling and boiling violently, throwing flames to lick at his heels. He spread his wings and took flight to avoid singeing his ankles.

... what now?

The Terrarian tentatively looked towards the adobe, from which - even at a distance - he could feel The Guide's gaze piercing through him. The man was looking down at him from the large double layered window, his expression something between annoyance and sparkling resolve. There looked to be a potion in his hand, but he quickly downed it before turning away. Was that disappointment furrowing his brow? or was it merely a distortion of the heat. Regardless, The Terrarian felt terrifically sheepish as he began to make his way back to the small ashen cabin.

... did he tell me how to summon it? I don't think so.

He was fairly certain The Guide hadn't given him any summon item, but double checked his inventory anyways. Nothing. Yet The Guide surely must have told him something!? He wouldn't ask him to fight without providing a means to draw out the monster. Did something so critical truly slip his mind? Embarrassing.

I hope he won't scold me.

Once more, The Terrarian cast his eyes to the large window - but found The Guide had disappeared. He panicked. Where had he gone? The question was answered momentarily, as The Guide re-emerged from the small shelter and began to scramble down the long rope ladder. He landed on one of the obsidian platforms with a thud, his clothes steaming violently with the heat. The Terrarian hurried to meet him.

"Guide, it's very hot here. Give me the summon and return quickly."

He called out as landed several meters away, balancing with his wings outstretched. Why had The Guide come out here? Why was his expression so terrible? Like wood carved in cruelty. His voice, likewise, jagged, curt and loud. His eyes flint. His teeth ground together in bitterness as he barked a sharp order.

"Stop there. Don't move."

The Terrarian froze mid-step, obeying out of sheer habit. All around him, the magma began to rumble - the tectonic plates shifting and groaning as if the very fabric of space was straining at the seams. The Terrarian frowned as he peered through the slats in his helmet. That horrendous dread in his stomach was growing ever more painful. He wanted to be sick as he looked upon The Guide's cold expression. When he spoke, his voice came out small.

"Guide... the summon."

"Stay back."

The Guide snapped as he stabbed a finger at him, driving him back one step, then two. A tongue of flame burst up between them and The Terrarian watched in horror as The Guide's sleeve caught on fire and skin beneath charred an ugly black. Strangely, the man didn't react. His movements and reactions were dulled - as if he could scarcely register the violence being done to his body. What had he drunk just now?! Had... had he drugged himself? Why?

*boom... splash...*

This... this was odd. The Guide was acting exceedingly strangely. His eyes were growing unfocused and his movements discoordinated. He seemed to be rapidly losing his balance and swayed drunkenly from side to side. Yet even so, the smell of the monster was looming ever closer. He could hear it now, chattering and screeching - the slithering of straining flesh and the squelching of organs. Its notes were familiar. Its smell was familiar. It was so close he could nearly taste it - but still, it was invisible. That great beast wanted to squeeze into this plane of existence - and the channel of its entry was none other than...

The... Guide? No... he said it wasn't true!

The Guide wasn't looking him in the eyes anymore. His brow was shadowed and his movements were groggy. With his face intensely focused, he pulled out a small leather doll from his waistband, holding it about its neck. It had buttons for eyes and sandy brown hair adorning its strange little head. The body was stuffed with what smelled like a mixture of odd, pungent herbs - but soaked through it all was a very intense scent of blood. Not the blood of an animal, nor of any a human... but that distinctive ashen stink The Guide carried about him.

*thud...thud...*

A cold shiver went down his back the moment he laid eyes upon it. A paralyzing terror, a trembling dread. Something about the glint in those button eyes made him want to scream and tear at his hair. Something about the way The Guide squeezed its neck made his skin crawl and his heart to pound against his sternum in anticipation for something dreadful. The Terrarian wasn't one to raise his voice, but the apprehension curling in his chest had wound its course and was all but bursting. There was fire and heat everywhere. His vision was tunneling, going black at the edges. The ground was swaying and his head was pounding. He bared his teeth and charged as he roared over the crescendo of the crashing lava beneath.

"Guide! That thing. Give it to me!"

Everything moved slowly.

The Guide turned towards him, yet the movement was far too sudden to be natural. His head looked disjointed, his neck wrenched in an odd manner. The Guide's dark eyes stared through him... why... why did they look so sad?

"Guide? wh- Stop! STOP!"

Then, the Doll slipped from his slackening grasp.

There was no time to think. The small leather doll plunged down towards the blasting flames; The Terrarian spread his wings and plunged down after it. He could feel his armour heating up. He could feel the metal glowing white hot and singeing his skin until the feathers and clothing beneath were alight with flame. A great stream of magma burst forth before him, but The Terrarian heeded it not. He burst through it. His eyes were fixed on the small leather doll that was stitched in The Guide's likeness.

*splash*

...

"haaah!"

The Terrarian cried out as he all but plunged face first into the surface of the lava. The heat was so unbearable, he might have died if not for the obsidian potion he'd been instructed to consume. Yet although it hurt terribly, he had managed to snatch The Doll out of the air. He cradled it carefully to his chest before flying to the safety of the platform and whirling toward's The Guide. His screamed at him, his voice broken and cracking. He shouted all his fear, and his anger, and his indignance for being used and lied to then betrayed. Furious tears were leaking from the corners of his eyes, but they evaporated before they could stain his cheeks.

"You promised not to! You said you'd never leave me alone! Gui-... "

The man didn't respond.

No, rather.

He couldn't respond.

For those once intelligent eyes were dull and flat. His neck was twisted too far in a way it wasn't supposed to turn. The vertebrae stretched and poked from beneath that sheet of wan skin in a sickeningly painful manner, like gnarled tree roots crawling out from the earth. The Guide's nose was pointing between the shoulder blades. His mouth was slack; a dribble of blood trickled down his chin as the body collapsed loosely to it's knees and tipped off the platform.

"G-guide? Please..."

The magma was churning. Voices were roaring. A hundred thousand of them, shrieking and laughing and screaming and crying, but The Terrarian could hear nothing at all. He was frozen, crouched on that platform with The Guide's Doll cradled to his throat. His mind was blank as the body fell. He couldn't move. He could only beg in broken whispers as the heat coiled about him.

"L-let me come with you! I promise I'll never complain again. Ill never doubt you. Ill never argue - Guide, I-"

It hit the surface of the magma with a heavy slap.

"...Pl-please... don't go.

Then it sank.

And The Terrarian wept quietly, aghast, as the only one he'd ever loved was swallowed by the lake of fire.


:c