9. Marbas
Zael noticed, as he exited the elevator, that the Turrent Control room was an entire wreck of metal. There were control panels and levers that looked wrecked, and yet, somehow, the middle of the room glowed. Zael guessed that it might be the Outsider's power travelling through that area. After all, didn't it power the Lazulis Cannon?
If that was the case, why was this room left in such disarray for a hundred years? Was it because Zangurak figured out some other way to connect the Lazulis half of the Outsider to the Cannon? Or was there another reason?
Zael looked to his left and right, and for a moment, he thought he saw Asthar lying on the ground, bleeding out heavily from the torso with ragged breaths. As he took a step closer to Asthar, however, Asthar faded away entirely, and Zael realized it wasn't real. It was just a memory.
Zael took a deep breath, before looking ahead of where the memory was, realizing there was some sort of control panel ahead of him, in front of some sort of column. Did that power the Lazulis Cannon? Would that be what helped him retake the castle?
As he took a step forward, a roar echoed through the chamber. Zael swallowed, pointing his sword in the direction of the noise as he turned to see what it was.
A four-legged, lion-like being stomped into the clearing. It was certainly larger than any cat-like being Zael had seen before, but for some reason, seemed familiar.
"Careful, Master Zael." Asthar warned. "This being, Marbas…it was Zangurak's pet. We killed it once before, but he's resurrected it since he took over the island. It…wasn't what killed me all those years ago, but it certainly has killed any other people that snuck into this place, since its revival. Be on your guard!"
The lion roared, before launching itself at Zael. Zael instinctively moved to dodge it, sidestepping its attack, before slashing at it with his sword. He noticed his hand glow as he hit Marbas, and Marbas instinctively slowed down. Zael took the opportunity to stab it in the side, before pulling away to dodge one of Marbas' paws.
Marbas tried to swipe at him several times with its paws, Zael forced to back up a little bit, but then Marbas lunged at him again.
Asthar's cry echoed through the chamber. "Above!"
Zael managed to block the creature's massive paw descending from above his head, before using the momentum to push back and get some space between him and the beast. It roared, swiping at him.
"Below!"
Zael jumped, dodging Marbas swiping at him, rolling across the floor to try to get some distance. However, Marbas ran after him, trying to claw at him again.
"Above again!"
A yelp left Zael as Marbas slammed a paw down on his chest, before trying to scratch at his face with the other. However, Zael managed to twist his sword arm, stabbing upwards. The tip of the sword pierced Marbas' eye, and blood seeped out as it roared painfully, retreating from Zael briefly. Zael used the time to quickly get up, just as he heard Arganan call to him.
"Zael! I have an idea!"
"What!?" Zael looked towards the older man, noticing that Arganan was particularly close to the controls.
"The wires." Arganan rasped, looking towards him, then gesturing quickly to a few stray cables sticking out of the main column. "Get it over here so I can shock it with these!"
"Are you sure it's going to work!?" Zael called back. As far as he knew, so far, both of them were in this situation due to a lot of ideas that could easily not work. Then again, a lot of them did work so far. Maybe…
"We have to try!"
Another roar made Zael turn to see Marbas leap at him, and Zael barely dodged this time, before using the opportunity to stab it in the side. Marbas hissed, clawing at him several times as it turned to face him, and Zael carefully started retreating towards where Arganan was, while trying to keep Marbas at bay.
Marbas wasn't going down without a fight. Zael could tell that the way it snapped its jaws at him, clawed at him, and tried pinning him down that it was desperate. Desperate to kill. Desperate to devour.
Desperate to win the fight.
Zael felt a shred of pity for the beast. To be Zangurak's pet, only to be killed once before being brought back…surely it hadn't lived a good life. Who knows how often it was fed?
It clawed at his arm, and he winced as he felt the fabric tear and the stinging begin. Right now, he had a battle to focus on, and a battle to win.
"Are you okay!?" It was Asthar's voice that echoed through the chamber again. "Careful!"
"Right!" Zael looked behind himself briefly. Arganan and the wires were just a few more paces away. He took a few paces back. Marbas took a step back, before lunging at Zael…
And Zael rolled out of the way, leaving only Arganan and the column's wires in its way. Arganan grabbed two of the thicker wires, holding it up towards Marbas as it made contact with them with no way to slow down from its earlier lunge.
The beast roared as the cannon's energy coursed through its body, hot, white light surrounding its entire being. Zael thought he heard it sizzling as Marbas writhed against the painful energy, before it stumbled away from Arganan. It hesitated mid-stumble, letting out a weak, final roar, before completely collapsing, all life leaving it completely.
"Shite." Zael heard Arganan whisper, dropping the wires entirely. "That…actually worked?"
Zael frowned. Marbas certainly looked dead, but who knows if it was feigning such a thing? "Let me check."
He started taking a few steps closer towards Marbas, but the beast suddenly lit up in a light orange colour, completely enveloping its body. It then faded, leaving nothing left but a fang.
Zael wasn't sure if he should keep the fang, but he figured it might be good proof that he defeated the beast, just in case anyone asked.
"Ah…Zael. I knew you could do it."
Zael's eyes widened. For once, Asthar's voice didn't sound so echoey. In fact…
He turned on his heel to see none other than General Asthar standing a few feet away from him, smiling at him. He, like Arganan, appeared somewhat translucent, but the red tunic he wore, the magnificent blue coat with the sword at his side…the way his eyes twinkled with relief and satisfaction was familiar enough for Zael to remember him.
Asthar mentored him, once, in the ways of being a true knight. Zael remembered that now.
"It seems that your defeating Marbas freed me and this castle. For that, I must thank you." Asthar paused, looking down at himself, and then up at Zael, frowning lightly. "Are you alright, lad? That's a nasty wound, there."
Arganan approached Zael, putting his right hand to the cut. White light flashed, briefly, and it faded, leaving no indication that Zael even had wounds in the first place.
"I'm fine." Zael managed, before looking towards Arganan briefly. "Thank you. For helping me."
"It…it was nothing." Arganan shook his head lightly, letting go of Zael. "I'm just glad you survived that fight. There will be more." He paused, then looked towards Asthar, frowning lightly. "Are you…?"
"Well," Asthar looked down at himself, then up at Arganan, "To be honest, I don't know much of what happened since I died. I know of what happened in this Military Wing, since I was stuck here, but that's it. Otherwise I've been waiting here until now…"
Zael grimaced lightly at that. "We…have a lot to tell you. But it's probably best that we get out of here, first. Or figure out how to configure the cannon and the island as a fortress."
"We might as well figure out how to use the damn cannon, while we're here." Arganan pointed out, frowning. "Who knows how soon the blasted Gurak will realize that we're already in this area and defeated Marbas?"
"Okay, but.." Zael looked towards the control panel, then towards Asthar and Arganan. "What do I do? Just put a hand to it, or…?"
It was then that the sound of Arganan's yelling shot through his head, expressed frustration at the cannon disobeying him, before a bit of the wall opened up in the chaos of the Gurak attacking, revealing a path. Only a memory, Zael realized, after blinking a few times.
Zael swallowed, then looked towards Arganan. "The cannon…last time you tried using it…it didn't obey you immediately, did it?"
Arganan faltered, staring straight at him, before hanging his head, shaking it slightly in admittance. "I'd hoped that your presence would help. But…it didn't. We had no choice but to go to the actual Outsider rock itself, and provoke it from there, but…you probably remember what happened."
Arganan disappearing into light as Calista screamed for him, Zael dragging her away before she could get caught up in being overloaded with the Outsider's power.
Zael paused, looking towards the control panel, and then towards Arganan and Asthar. "Is there a way to get down to the Outsider itself, if it doesn't work?" He didn't see an open passage anywhere.
Asthar sighed. "The Gurak sealed up the original entrance where all of you went through to get to the Outsider."
"Do you know if they replaced with a hidden door? Or sealed it entirely?"
"Hidden door. Mainly to make sure Marbas didn't accidentally go through and start wrecking the rest of the castle by accident, but also so they could access the Outsider directly anytime."
Arganan shuddered, looking towards the dead beast on the ground, and then up at Asthar. "What about the automatons that Zael and I saw? Are there more down there?"
"Yes. To prevent intruders. They're only built to shoot at humans, though."
"So they can identify anyone going in and out?" Arganan asked, frowning. "They instinctively know who's a human and a Gurak by themselves?"
"Yes."
Zael admitted, at the back of his mind, that it was impressive that the Gurak came up with identification technology by now. Then again, they did have a hundred years to develop it.
"Let me try activating the cannon and the fortress from here." Zael managed, looking between both men. "If the control panel works, we won't have to bother going down there." He took a few steps towards the panel, before putting his hand to it.
The panel lit up in a light blue, but flickered between orange and blue moments after that. The entire earth trembled underneath them, and Zael heard Arganan yelp wordlessly, surprised. Asthar braced himself against one of the pillars in the area until the trembling stopped, and Zael looked up to see blue light glowing above them. As he looked straight ahead, through a few windows, he noticed the blue light as well.
At last…you are..here…
Zael looked around, frowning. "Who said that?"
"Said what?" Arganan frowned, his brow furrowing. "Neither Asthar or I said a thing."
"That's true." Asthar agreed, and Zael looked towards the control panel glowing blue, just as he heard a voice speak up.
To activate directly, access the Outsider's half.
A sigh left Zael at that. "I don't think we're getting anywhere without getting into that hidden area first. I heard a voice say that I have to directly access the Outsider's half."
"Then we have no choice but to go down there." Arganan concluded, groaning lightly.
"Now? But…" Zael faltered, checking his own weapons. He did have supplies, but he wasn't sure if he was entirely ready, per se. He knew time was of the essence, but still.
"I can stay back and look after this place." Asthar managed, and Zael looked towards him, noticing the General's concerned expression. "If you come back…I can warn you if anything's changed, since I can roam more freely now."
"Hopefully they don't bring Marbas back while we're gone." Arganan muttered.
"We'll be back," Zael spoke, looking towards Asthar, "As soon as we can. I promise."
He saw Asthar smile lightly, but even then, Zael sensed the worried undertone in his voice.
"I have faith you will. Just be careful."
Zael nodded. "I promise. I will."
Author note: This fight scene was really fun to write, given that I drew inspiration from both the mechanics of how the general duel-type of battles happen in The Last Story, and trying to combine that with some elements of Breath of the Wild, like the Champions often shouting hints and/or suggestions during boss battles. I hope that you enjoyed reading this chapter!
