Blade Saga
Part Four: Death Mountain and the Fairy Council
By Kat Warrior
When Rayman woke up, he felt a strange sort of wave sweep over his body, taking away a great deal of his strength. He forced himself to sit up, a look of confusion on his face. He knew that he was losing life and strength to Chasm but still. that much so quickly? Surely there was an explanation.
Ly was already awake, finishing making the meager meal they would have before their travel up Death Mountain. Rayman took a deep breath and stood. He felt a sudden dizziness, but forced himself to stay standing. He would have to learn to deal with the weakness. It was now as much a part of the mission as the sword that caused it.
He picked up the blade and unsheathed it. It caught the morning sun, and the shining blue light of its surface seemed to be smiling at him, and telling him that all would be well and he could accomplish his mission. He could feel the sword submitting to his will just as well as could feel the weakness. Perhaps they could cancel each other out.
***
Neither Dekum nor Chasm had slept the night before. They had eaten a great meal and stayed up talking through the night about the sword and themselves. Even as the sun broke the dark of the night, they recalled Chasm's past.
"I can't tell you how glad I was that you were so accepting when I arrived here," Chasm told the old fairy. "I remember it like it was yesterday. My parents sent me here because they thought my mind wasn't being stretched enough at home. They were so proud that I had passed your exam and would be allowed to live and learn here. They sacrificed so much to make sure I received a proper education. If only they were here now for me to thank."
Dekum smiled. "I'm sure that wherever you family is, they're all smiling at you. They were proud of you in life, Chasm, and are even more so now. I know that you miss them, and they missed you when we thought you were lost forever. We both wish they were here right now to see you."
Chasm sighed heavily. His heart ached for his mother, father, and siblings. But it was good to hear what the old fairy had to say. Dekum had always reminded him of his father. His father hadn't had the unnatural intelligence level that Chasm himself had been gifted with, but he had possessed and extensive amount of wisdom and acceptance. Both Dekum and his father had always offered sound advice, and Dekum had been like a father to him when he'd arrived at the Fairy Council.
Chasm was about to say something when he felt a sudden shortness of breath. He grasped his chest and gasped heavily. Dekum rose from his seat and went to his younger friend. With a wave of his hand over Chasm's head, he took away the pain and exhaustion, but for only a short time.
"There is another," he said quietly, "And I did not realize or remember until now. You and Rayman are not the only ones bound to this slow death and weakness." He rested his hand on Chasm's head, and bowed his head sadly. With the gift of empathy, he could feel every emotion Chasm had. "Rayman can't be any better off than you are. Hope is dwindling for us all."
***
Rayman, Ly, and Globox found an entrance to the core of the mountain around noon. The sun was at its peak and beating down mercilessly on the already weary travelers. Globox formed a small rain cloud and caused a cool sprinkle to fall over them and refresh them for a small while.
While Rayman was refreshed by the cool shower (and did express his gratitude to Globox), it hadn't done anything for the weakness. He'd been too proud and shy to ask for help on their way up the mountain, but Ly had noticed that he looked exhausted and had insisted on carrying him most of the way.
Rayman looked as his hand, feeling a sudden burning pain. It was the hand he had cut on his sword, and he realized that his body's ability to heal itself was thinning out with the rest of him. He ignored the pain and glanced over his shoulder at his comrades and put the sword in the sheath on his back. "Let's go."
They walked single-file into the small entrance with Rayman in the front and a shaking, nervous Globox in the back. As soon as the darkness enveloped them, the circular mark on Rayman's stomach began to glow, but not as brightly as it had the day before, proving further that strength was leaving him.
Globox let loose a startled cry when he and others saw several pairs of small lights moving about the vast cavern they had entered. Rayman was just as startled, but managed to remain calm. One set of lights had wondered near enough to him that he had been able to see it clearly. They were all spiders of different sizes, scurrying about and likely reporting to their leader.
One rather large spider stopped right in front of Rayman, its amber eyes flashing with eagerness.
"The Great Arachnid wishes to see you," its scratchy voice hissed. "He has been so greatly looking forward to seeing you that he had not allowed any of us to attack you." His voice displayed irritation at the last few words. Obviously, all of Arachnid's children had been looking forward to getting to kill Rayman and his friends themselves. "This way."
Hesitantly, Rayman, Ly, and Globox followed the large spider. Since they didn't know their way around the inside of the mountain, they thought it was their safest bet.
***
Arachnid's eyes gleamed with pleasure when he saw the oldest of his children entering the hall trailed closely by Rayman, Ly, and the useless frog-like creature, Globox. The first two would serve his purpose greatly, but the last he could let his children had their way with.
He slunk down the rocky wall of the cavern until all of his feet were on the floor and the three travelers could see him.
Globox let out a terrified wail as he jumped a few feet into the air. Rayman's eyes widened but Ly remained calm. She was the only one who had been expecting what they saw. Arachnid wasn't just a spider, but more like a centaur with a spider's body. What would have been his thorax was the well-built body of a man with a slender face. He had short, dark gray hair and a beard, both of which were neatly combed and slicked back. He looked almost like an evil twin of Dekum. The human-like part of his body ended just bellow his navel and was formed into the abdomen of a spider. He had only six legs, but he also had two arms.
"Surprised?" he asked, his voice a low hiss, "Surely you were expecting a mere spider. But I am more. I was a fairy once, you see. But I have become greater than both spider and fairy, and my children will someday be the same."
It was Arachnid's turn to look shocked when Rayman drew the sword. In the dark of the cavern, the blade glowed by itself, as if threatening Arachnid on its own. The spider-taur let out a holler of fury, directed partly at his children for not reporting the blade's existence to him. When he had calmed his anger, he spoke to Rayman directly.
"So that is why," he said, "I have been feeling weakness lately. I didn't occur to me until now that you might have found the sword. You see, I am bound to it because I was defeated by it. And now I can tell that you are bound to it, too, but we aren't the only ones, are we? No matter. Now I have even more reason to kill you once I have your power. But this means that after you I must eat the other. And then I shall have to kill Dekum as well. I cannot rest until all who opposed me are gone from this planet."
Rayman, Ly, and Globox all jumped just as Arachnid's foot struck the ground where they had been standing. While they were scattered, Arachnid turned his head to Ly and a bright, yellow light came from his mouth and surrounded the fairy. She cried out sharply as the light formed a dome around her and pinned her to the cavern floor.
Globox had hit head on a rock and so was lying on the ground unconscious. That left only Rayman to deal with. Arachnid turned to him, amber eyes glowing with twisted pleasure. This was turning out to be easier than he had thought it would be. He had forgotten about his increasing weakness.
Arachnid's foot came down and Rayman jumped again. He slowed his dissension with his helicopter-like hair and grabbed onto the rocky wall of the cavern. Despite the fact that his body felt like a lead weight, he tried to climb. He had to evade Arachnid until he came up with a plan. But he was trying to climb with one hand because he was holding the sword, and he couldn't continue for long.
***
Chasm and Dekum had become solemn when Chasm had started having trouble breathing. Chasm had fallen asleep under the watchful eye of the old fairy. He looked rather peaceful as he slept on a large, glowing mushroom with a giant leaf as a blanket. Dekum sighed and bowed his head. He wanted Rayman to succeed and for his granddaughter to be safe, but it brought his heart great pain to know that either Chasm or Rayman would have to die, and he could do nothing to help. He almost wished that he had never made the sword.
"Please bring her back," Dekum murmured, "We'll have to see what happens from there, won't we?"
***
Rayman couldn't stand it anymore. He could hardly move, but he just couldn't stop. He had to keep away from Arachnid. But the spider-fairy was slowing down quite noticeably, too. His motions were as slow as Rayman's, and since he was larger his labored breathing was easier to hear.
Rayman looked at the sword as he flew down to a ledge. The sword. he had to use it somehow! He glanced to where Ly still was, trapped beneath the dome of yellow light. And idea came to Rayman's head and he simply dropped to the cavern floor. He jogged to the fairy as fast as his tired feet could carry him and sliced through the amber shield with his sword. It gave way like butter under a knife, but he paid that no heed. He lifted Ly's head into his free hand.
"Ly, what should I do?" he whispered, "I need some advice."
Ly forced her eyes open and looked wordlessly at him. She was even weaker than he was, but she was determined to help him. Despite Rayman's protesting, she gathered energy into her hands and lifted them in Arachnid's direction.
"Wind your fist up," she commanded feebly. Rayman obeyed, and the hand of his that held the sword began to spin at a great rate. Ly fired her own shot and hit the still-struggling Arachnid in the side of the head with it. He howled in pain and brought his hands to his head, making an opening for Rayman's attack.
Rayman released his hand and it shot right at Arachnid. The sword imbedded itself deep into his chest, taking Rayman's hand with it. Arachnid howled again, this time a terrifying, bone-chilling roar as he melted into a black puddle on the cavern floor.
Rayman watched all of this with wide eyes, still holding Ly. She had gone limp, but a quick check of her pulse let Rayman know that she was still alive. As his hand made its way back to him with the bloodied sword, he turned to see Globox walking up behind him, rubbing his head.
"You need to look after Ly for just a short moment," he told him, "I need to go find Tily. She must think that we couldn't get here to rescue her."
"Roger that, captain!" Globox agreed with a salute just before picking Ly up. Rayman smiled proudly at his frog-like friend and jogged off, hoping he would find Tily soon. He had a strong urge to leave Death Mountain.
Had it not been for the glowing ring on his stomach, Rayman's journey would have been much more difficult. He walked from one huge room to another, calling Tily's name and looking up at the ceiling every now and then, wondering if she was in a cage suspended from it.
Finally, when he was almost too exhausted to move and about to give up and turn around to go another way, he heard a small voice call a reply to his cries. He looked around the cavern carefully, looking for a way to climb up. He kept talking to her as he searched, and even after he found a rather steep route up, he continued their conversation. By the time he reached the top and was able to see Tily's cage hanging from the ceiling, he was out of breath from yelling and exhausted from climbing. He rested for about fifteen minutes, listening to Tily speak to him and replying every now and then.
Finally, he gathered enough strength and fired a fist at Tily's cage door lock. It burst and the door swung open, squeaking as it did so. Tily fluttered out eagerly and landed on the ledge Rayman was resting on. Since he was too tired to helicopter safely to the floor, Tily picked him up without a word and used her small wings to land them both safely. Once they landed, Rayman used the light of the ring on his stomach to find the way he had come in. Eager to be reunited with her sister, Tily picked him up and ran, but followed his directions.
*** Author Note: Rejoice my brethren, for I have completed yet another chapter, and it was actually eventful! So Arachnid is gone and dead and that problem is solved, so Rayman and Co. need to get home and settle the whole mess with Chasm before it's too late. And I'm making no promises on when the next chapter will be done. Arachnid, his children, Chasm, and Dekum are © me. All others are © Ubi Soft Entertainment.
Part Four: Death Mountain and the Fairy Council
By Kat Warrior
When Rayman woke up, he felt a strange sort of wave sweep over his body, taking away a great deal of his strength. He forced himself to sit up, a look of confusion on his face. He knew that he was losing life and strength to Chasm but still. that much so quickly? Surely there was an explanation.
Ly was already awake, finishing making the meager meal they would have before their travel up Death Mountain. Rayman took a deep breath and stood. He felt a sudden dizziness, but forced himself to stay standing. He would have to learn to deal with the weakness. It was now as much a part of the mission as the sword that caused it.
He picked up the blade and unsheathed it. It caught the morning sun, and the shining blue light of its surface seemed to be smiling at him, and telling him that all would be well and he could accomplish his mission. He could feel the sword submitting to his will just as well as could feel the weakness. Perhaps they could cancel each other out.
***
Neither Dekum nor Chasm had slept the night before. They had eaten a great meal and stayed up talking through the night about the sword and themselves. Even as the sun broke the dark of the night, they recalled Chasm's past.
"I can't tell you how glad I was that you were so accepting when I arrived here," Chasm told the old fairy. "I remember it like it was yesterday. My parents sent me here because they thought my mind wasn't being stretched enough at home. They were so proud that I had passed your exam and would be allowed to live and learn here. They sacrificed so much to make sure I received a proper education. If only they were here now for me to thank."
Dekum smiled. "I'm sure that wherever you family is, they're all smiling at you. They were proud of you in life, Chasm, and are even more so now. I know that you miss them, and they missed you when we thought you were lost forever. We both wish they were here right now to see you."
Chasm sighed heavily. His heart ached for his mother, father, and siblings. But it was good to hear what the old fairy had to say. Dekum had always reminded him of his father. His father hadn't had the unnatural intelligence level that Chasm himself had been gifted with, but he had possessed and extensive amount of wisdom and acceptance. Both Dekum and his father had always offered sound advice, and Dekum had been like a father to him when he'd arrived at the Fairy Council.
Chasm was about to say something when he felt a sudden shortness of breath. He grasped his chest and gasped heavily. Dekum rose from his seat and went to his younger friend. With a wave of his hand over Chasm's head, he took away the pain and exhaustion, but for only a short time.
"There is another," he said quietly, "And I did not realize or remember until now. You and Rayman are not the only ones bound to this slow death and weakness." He rested his hand on Chasm's head, and bowed his head sadly. With the gift of empathy, he could feel every emotion Chasm had. "Rayman can't be any better off than you are. Hope is dwindling for us all."
***
Rayman, Ly, and Globox found an entrance to the core of the mountain around noon. The sun was at its peak and beating down mercilessly on the already weary travelers. Globox formed a small rain cloud and caused a cool sprinkle to fall over them and refresh them for a small while.
While Rayman was refreshed by the cool shower (and did express his gratitude to Globox), it hadn't done anything for the weakness. He'd been too proud and shy to ask for help on their way up the mountain, but Ly had noticed that he looked exhausted and had insisted on carrying him most of the way.
Rayman looked as his hand, feeling a sudden burning pain. It was the hand he had cut on his sword, and he realized that his body's ability to heal itself was thinning out with the rest of him. He ignored the pain and glanced over his shoulder at his comrades and put the sword in the sheath on his back. "Let's go."
They walked single-file into the small entrance with Rayman in the front and a shaking, nervous Globox in the back. As soon as the darkness enveloped them, the circular mark on Rayman's stomach began to glow, but not as brightly as it had the day before, proving further that strength was leaving him.
Globox let loose a startled cry when he and others saw several pairs of small lights moving about the vast cavern they had entered. Rayman was just as startled, but managed to remain calm. One set of lights had wondered near enough to him that he had been able to see it clearly. They were all spiders of different sizes, scurrying about and likely reporting to their leader.
One rather large spider stopped right in front of Rayman, its amber eyes flashing with eagerness.
"The Great Arachnid wishes to see you," its scratchy voice hissed. "He has been so greatly looking forward to seeing you that he had not allowed any of us to attack you." His voice displayed irritation at the last few words. Obviously, all of Arachnid's children had been looking forward to getting to kill Rayman and his friends themselves. "This way."
Hesitantly, Rayman, Ly, and Globox followed the large spider. Since they didn't know their way around the inside of the mountain, they thought it was their safest bet.
***
Arachnid's eyes gleamed with pleasure when he saw the oldest of his children entering the hall trailed closely by Rayman, Ly, and the useless frog-like creature, Globox. The first two would serve his purpose greatly, but the last he could let his children had their way with.
He slunk down the rocky wall of the cavern until all of his feet were on the floor and the three travelers could see him.
Globox let out a terrified wail as he jumped a few feet into the air. Rayman's eyes widened but Ly remained calm. She was the only one who had been expecting what they saw. Arachnid wasn't just a spider, but more like a centaur with a spider's body. What would have been his thorax was the well-built body of a man with a slender face. He had short, dark gray hair and a beard, both of which were neatly combed and slicked back. He looked almost like an evil twin of Dekum. The human-like part of his body ended just bellow his navel and was formed into the abdomen of a spider. He had only six legs, but he also had two arms.
"Surprised?" he asked, his voice a low hiss, "Surely you were expecting a mere spider. But I am more. I was a fairy once, you see. But I have become greater than both spider and fairy, and my children will someday be the same."
It was Arachnid's turn to look shocked when Rayman drew the sword. In the dark of the cavern, the blade glowed by itself, as if threatening Arachnid on its own. The spider-taur let out a holler of fury, directed partly at his children for not reporting the blade's existence to him. When he had calmed his anger, he spoke to Rayman directly.
"So that is why," he said, "I have been feeling weakness lately. I didn't occur to me until now that you might have found the sword. You see, I am bound to it because I was defeated by it. And now I can tell that you are bound to it, too, but we aren't the only ones, are we? No matter. Now I have even more reason to kill you once I have your power. But this means that after you I must eat the other. And then I shall have to kill Dekum as well. I cannot rest until all who opposed me are gone from this planet."
Rayman, Ly, and Globox all jumped just as Arachnid's foot struck the ground where they had been standing. While they were scattered, Arachnid turned his head to Ly and a bright, yellow light came from his mouth and surrounded the fairy. She cried out sharply as the light formed a dome around her and pinned her to the cavern floor.
Globox had hit head on a rock and so was lying on the ground unconscious. That left only Rayman to deal with. Arachnid turned to him, amber eyes glowing with twisted pleasure. This was turning out to be easier than he had thought it would be. He had forgotten about his increasing weakness.
Arachnid's foot came down and Rayman jumped again. He slowed his dissension with his helicopter-like hair and grabbed onto the rocky wall of the cavern. Despite the fact that his body felt like a lead weight, he tried to climb. He had to evade Arachnid until he came up with a plan. But he was trying to climb with one hand because he was holding the sword, and he couldn't continue for long.
***
Chasm and Dekum had become solemn when Chasm had started having trouble breathing. Chasm had fallen asleep under the watchful eye of the old fairy. He looked rather peaceful as he slept on a large, glowing mushroom with a giant leaf as a blanket. Dekum sighed and bowed his head. He wanted Rayman to succeed and for his granddaughter to be safe, but it brought his heart great pain to know that either Chasm or Rayman would have to die, and he could do nothing to help. He almost wished that he had never made the sword.
"Please bring her back," Dekum murmured, "We'll have to see what happens from there, won't we?"
***
Rayman couldn't stand it anymore. He could hardly move, but he just couldn't stop. He had to keep away from Arachnid. But the spider-fairy was slowing down quite noticeably, too. His motions were as slow as Rayman's, and since he was larger his labored breathing was easier to hear.
Rayman looked at the sword as he flew down to a ledge. The sword. he had to use it somehow! He glanced to where Ly still was, trapped beneath the dome of yellow light. And idea came to Rayman's head and he simply dropped to the cavern floor. He jogged to the fairy as fast as his tired feet could carry him and sliced through the amber shield with his sword. It gave way like butter under a knife, but he paid that no heed. He lifted Ly's head into his free hand.
"Ly, what should I do?" he whispered, "I need some advice."
Ly forced her eyes open and looked wordlessly at him. She was even weaker than he was, but she was determined to help him. Despite Rayman's protesting, she gathered energy into her hands and lifted them in Arachnid's direction.
"Wind your fist up," she commanded feebly. Rayman obeyed, and the hand of his that held the sword began to spin at a great rate. Ly fired her own shot and hit the still-struggling Arachnid in the side of the head with it. He howled in pain and brought his hands to his head, making an opening for Rayman's attack.
Rayman released his hand and it shot right at Arachnid. The sword imbedded itself deep into his chest, taking Rayman's hand with it. Arachnid howled again, this time a terrifying, bone-chilling roar as he melted into a black puddle on the cavern floor.
Rayman watched all of this with wide eyes, still holding Ly. She had gone limp, but a quick check of her pulse let Rayman know that she was still alive. As his hand made its way back to him with the bloodied sword, he turned to see Globox walking up behind him, rubbing his head.
"You need to look after Ly for just a short moment," he told him, "I need to go find Tily. She must think that we couldn't get here to rescue her."
"Roger that, captain!" Globox agreed with a salute just before picking Ly up. Rayman smiled proudly at his frog-like friend and jogged off, hoping he would find Tily soon. He had a strong urge to leave Death Mountain.
Had it not been for the glowing ring on his stomach, Rayman's journey would have been much more difficult. He walked from one huge room to another, calling Tily's name and looking up at the ceiling every now and then, wondering if she was in a cage suspended from it.
Finally, when he was almost too exhausted to move and about to give up and turn around to go another way, he heard a small voice call a reply to his cries. He looked around the cavern carefully, looking for a way to climb up. He kept talking to her as he searched, and even after he found a rather steep route up, he continued their conversation. By the time he reached the top and was able to see Tily's cage hanging from the ceiling, he was out of breath from yelling and exhausted from climbing. He rested for about fifteen minutes, listening to Tily speak to him and replying every now and then.
Finally, he gathered enough strength and fired a fist at Tily's cage door lock. It burst and the door swung open, squeaking as it did so. Tily fluttered out eagerly and landed on the ledge Rayman was resting on. Since he was too tired to helicopter safely to the floor, Tily picked him up without a word and used her small wings to land them both safely. Once they landed, Rayman used the light of the ring on his stomach to find the way he had come in. Eager to be reunited with her sister, Tily picked him up and ran, but followed his directions.
*** Author Note: Rejoice my brethren, for I have completed yet another chapter, and it was actually eventful! So Arachnid is gone and dead and that problem is solved, so Rayman and Co. need to get home and settle the whole mess with Chasm before it's too late. And I'm making no promises on when the next chapter will be done. Arachnid, his children, Chasm, and Dekum are © me. All others are © Ubi Soft Entertainment.