The Tree

Tension was in the air. A whole swarm of flying blades surrounded them, hesitating, keeping the air silent. Their intimidation crawled through their opponent's beings, what exactly did they plan next? They were on the side of majority, only two spirits were yet to slay.

Ori tried his best to keep his heart rate at bay, even when they were surrounded by dozens of creatures from which they didn't even knew how strong they were. Then, like an arrow one of them zoomed at them at tremendous speed, their stings pointed forward to hit their target. Ori had no other option left than dodge away with a roll. With one insect, more followed and began to attack the two of them from all possible directions. From north to south, from east to west, even from above, they tried to encircle them. Tsui used his big hammer as a shield, one of them didn't expect that wall of defense, flew with its stinger towards the weapon and impaled itself with its own thorn, as it connected with the hard surface and shove it right through their own body. A terrible scene that had yet to be ignored, as more of them followed, changing their tactics and flew around the tall spirit in order to confuse him. That one however didn't even flinch, he swung his heavy hammer around in circles, creating a storm, crushing them all at once.

Ori on the other side was given no rest. Those insects kept zooming at him one after another, even when he tried to counterattack right after dodging, the only thing he hit was air. If this continued that way, it was only a matter of time, until he became tired and slower. He had to think about a new tactic and quick.

His opponents certainly took notice of their advantage and kept attacking the poor spirit from all directions, not even giving him a single breather. Tsui was kept at bay, as they sacrificed more and more soldiers to his hammer, not giving him a chance to help his little comrade.

Then an idea struck Ori's head. He quickly rolled behind a tree and leaned his back at the wood. That way nothing could hit him from behind. And to add more safety, there was a broad, black wall to his right, being so high that it vanished within the fog. Grasping that new hope, he prepared his sword and kept everything in his view with a sharp glance. Straight back, straight neck, everything was tense. One of the insects again zoomed at him, but he already figured out their timing and slashed it in half right in that moment, when it was about to hit him. Confidence surged in his face, as the enemy crumbles, acknowledging that this tactic indeed worked. He took a deep, focused breath, when he noticed that his foes planned to attack all at once. He opened his eyes and swung his sword so rapidly that it was impossible to follow his movements with an ordinary eye. The air howled for just one second, when every insect that was attacking the spirit was cut in half.

It must've been a coincidence that Tsui was also done with his own enemies, silence once again ruled over the place. However, it didn't feel very peaceful. Ori and his bigger comrade refused to relax their bodies. There was still something around them.

"Ori! Up in the trees!" This sudden cut through silence scared his heart out of his body. Immediately, he took a glance up above him ... when it already was too late. He could only scream in fear, when something grabbed him immorally at his shoulders and violently pulled him upwards. It must've been the mouth of a creature, saliva ran down his arms and sharp teeth buried painfully into his skin. He screamed in agony, while his shining lifeblood escaped his trembling body. Tsui couldn't do anything for him, was forced to watch his little comrade suffer up in the air. "Ori!" He bellowed. Desperately, he tried to somehow climb that tree...fruitless. It was a pitiful picture of him sliding down, when he just began.

"Tsuii!" The child screamed, squirming and struggling in that painful grip of whatever was holding him up. However, it seemed like it wasn't its plan to eat him right away. It waited for its family to arrive. Five buzzing insects with their sharp stings pointed towards the helpless spirit rose from wherever they came from. Ready to finish their prey

Ori glanced at the scene with a mix of slight frustration and disappointment. "Cowards." He merely mumbled with a tear of pain escaping his eye. This was not the first time, he was in such a threatening situation. Everybody should be scared by whatever fate had to offer next for him. He however wasn't.

A spark of light? Another spirit? How quickly the tide turned, something bright suddenly appeared! Within a fracture of a second, the buzzing creatures became nothing more than finely cut flesh, succumbing to gravity. Without questioning what just happened, the spirit knew that luck was on his side again. With new scooped energy he felt stronger than ever before. Completely ignoring the pain of his deep wounds, he charged his energy into one single, concentrated ball in his belly. "Let...go of me!" With that shout, his energy exploded with a shockwave, strong enough to break his capturer's limbs and send its remains far away.

"They better not kill my only friend!"

A shout with a familiar voice came out of a moki's mouth that had a scarf still glowing in his paws. "Let's destroy them all!" He said, punching in the air filled with determination.

"Mori!" The child shouted, "You can't believe how happy I am to see you here!" Ori who now had fully scooped enough hope to wear a happy smile on his face ran towards his friend and gave him a tight hug. "Hehe, easy there, Ori. I don't wanna be squashed by your incredible strength!"

"I'm so glad, you're ok."

The moki chuckled.

"Well I probably wouldn't be, if it wasn't for you, throwing me out of the battlefield! To be honest, I'm glad that you're doing alright, buddy."

The spirit gave him a wink.

"I wouldn't be, if it wasn't for you, slicing those beasts in the air!"

"Ori! We have to be careful. As long as this strange darkness corrupts the air, I have the feeling that there will always come more!"

Suddenly, Mori narrowed his eyes in pain and fell to his small knees. "Mori!" The child shouted. "Are you alright?!" Speaking must've been a workout for the moki, his throat only emitted gasping words, pushed out with real effort. "I...I don't know...what's going on...my body...feels like a furious fist is squeezing my heart..."

"We have to get him out of here Ori!"

"Up above, Ori."

There was this voice again.

"You are very close. Climb the wall next to you."

That wall...now he got it! Vanishing in all that fog, he couldn't make out that this was actually the trunk of a giant tree. His father! Without making further examinations, the little spirit grasped all that strength that remained and not only climbed that tree, he ran on his hooves only.

"Ori, where are you going?" Tsui asked, visibly confused and shocked about his ignorance. "Please, just trust me!" He shouted back, as he ran up the first meters and eventually vanished within the fog.

"I can't...believe it...that child..."

"Oh, sweet sweet destiny. Is my adventure over already?" The weakened moki was huddled on the ground, gasping for air. Ignoring whatever Ori might be currently doing, something else seemed to be way more important now. "I'm getting you out of here!" Tsui shouted as he picked up the moki almost effortlessly. "What a kind spirit. Where will you bring me? What do I deserve after death?" "You're not dead yet! Stay awake!"

Where ever Mori found his strength from, he used it to violently shake his head, which helped him gaining a little more focus. "Yes, sir!"

However, when Tsui was about to leave that place behind and bring the moki to safety, he got blocked by more of those insects, now even accompanied by a couple of false spirits. "You've got to be kidding me." He said as he gently put the moki down and prepared his massive hammer. "Ori, whatever you are doing right now, I hope it helps getting rid of those nasty creatures!"

Meanwhile, Ori was running as fast as he could. Soon, three false spirits rose out of the seemingly dead wood to block his path as well. "Getting in my way I see." He merely said, preparing his weapon - no, his weapons! Another blade, shaped like the other manifested in his left paw. The now two wield warrior charged forward, where ever this strength came from, he used every single bit of it. He crossed his arms and explosively opened his chest, letting his blades slice through these obstacles. "You won't stop me!" He shouted heroically.

A loud, deep cry was heard, when Tsui swung his mighty hammer, sending all of those insects flying in every possible direction. Immediately, he got back to Mori and picked him up again. "Oh no..." the moki almost whispered. "How badly I need to use the bush right now..."

Tsui merely nodded. "This toxic fog must be weakening your whole body. Whatever you do right now, just stay awake." Even in face of death, Mori didn't let himself get bogged down and chuckled weakly. "Well. That shouldn't be that hard...I guess."

Ori could sense the vicinity of his goal, the tree top. He dodged the last branches that were in his way, before finally reaching the edge of their golden center. When his eyes beheld the orange light sphere in the middle, he ran for it as quickly as he could. As his knees began to hurt, he knew that something was wrong. He wasn't approaching his target, he stopped. His vision was tear blinded, his breath was blocked. His lungs almost didn't follow his orders at all. He was choking, crying. His heart felt like it was squashed, bumping like it had to lift heavy weights. His whole body was shaking, paralyzed from the painful exhaustion. A bucket of water can give away all the liquid, however, Ori was now biting at the wood of it, gradually breaking it apart. Like a stomach having nothing to eat and slowly digesting itself. "Can't...give up" he wheezed with tremendous effort.

"Ori...Ori!"

With the light beginning to speak, the little spirit got some clarity in his senses and felt his lungs clenching like fists of steel, as he had a terrible cough attack. He could hear his own pitiful voice, desperately gasping for any air. Eventually, he clenched his teeth and gave it all his strength to get to the light wisp that was speaking to him. Even moving an arm was excruciatingly exhaustive and felt like he was moving a giant boulder with a single arm. However, his will was strong enough to finally reach it with the tip of his finger, before collapsing.

"There you are."

The light merely said. Within a second not only his finger, but his whole arm was flooded with pure, warm, orange light. Then it expanded through the spirit's entire system and being, giving him enough strength to move forward and hug that warm wisp completely like it was his mother. With that the energy explode into all directions and unleashed an ocean of beaming flames, spreading all over the giant tree and down to its roots. The cold was chased away, the dark, dead color of the tree lit up and shared its light with its surroundings.

Mori and Tsui could only watch in awe, while the great tree shone brightly and warm, slowly dissolving the weird blackness that surrounded them. The last remaining false spirits couldn't hide in face of light, as they descended mass less into the air and floated towards the great tree's crown.

"So many memories, filled with sorrow and misfortune. It burdens my heart." A deep voice resonated from the tree's crown, as the little spirit clenched his heart. It felt as if he himself was speaking these words. His connection to the great spirit tree must've been stronger than he first thought. He felt the recalling voices of memories of hundreds of his long deceased kins. It felt as if those branches, surrounding him were his own arms, as they lit up with every single memory.

"You made it, Ori."

Again spoke a higher pitched voice, coming from the shining wisp.

"You once again saved this land from inevitable destruction."

Ori blinked in realization of what he just did.

"You chased away the darkness that was slowly eating your tree away. You sent your kins back to where they belong, barely loosing your own life in the act. You're undoubtedly the hero, I once met."

The wisp made a short pause and continued, "Even though it is an act of a true hero to be as selfless as you, it would have become very difficult for us, if you were to lose your light."

Ori frightened for a second and widened his eyes.

"It already wasn't easy to heal your deadly wound. Luckily, you were connected to the ground. Otherwise I'm not sure, if we were able to save you, child."

The wisp gave Ori some minutes to digest what they just said. The child was already about to say, "So, you were the one saving my life." But his reverence towards the wisp and the tree was too strong to let any word pass his lips.

"The cold...would have destroyed us from within, if you weren't alive."

Ori violently narrowed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief.

"You and the spirit tree. You both have a strong bond, I can't fully understand myself. I...must've lost my memory. Or at least a major part of it."

The wisp once again made a pause and their light pulsated wider for a second. It almost looked like a deep breath.

"I can only remember fractures of...a war. A war between light and dark. Child of light. You saved the land from inevitable destruction. However, I still feel a pressure, burdening you and the spirit tree. The misterious winter has not yet vanished. Still, I can feel more lost souls, wandering through the cold land. Souls like those, aimlessly attacking everything living, in desperation and confusion."

Ori's face disturbed in sorrow and compassion to the uncountable number, he already was forced to take out. They were probably spirits from a long forgotten time, now extinguished by one of their kind.

"You didn't do anything malicious, Ori. There was nothing else, you could do. Your ancient kins already had a long time, living in death. I can only remember a tremendous wave of thousands of screams that went silent in the very moment. Something terrible must've happened back then. There is something I can give to you. Take that light sphere with you. It will gift you warmth and comfort and helps you bear the burdens wherever you are. It creates a link between you and the spirit tree and uses the energy to create a healing orb of light. Use it wisely, for it taking a moment to ignite."

In that very moment, the treetop Ori was sitting on began to glow with a warm orange light and white, shiny sparks began floating in Ori's direction and let him absorb them. It was like a tingle all around his being, when they entered his organic vessel and spread a comfortable warmth from within.

"Thank you." He humbly said, while his eyes blinked with soft joy.

"Now go forth. Your family needs you."