Time for Barba! Or Barbus. I forget.

ANYWAYZ!

This guy is funny! He's a dwarf.

I own nuttin!

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Dormin's Speech

Sound Effects

Thinking

Chapter 7

The Dwarf

The usual idol-destroying tremble surged Wander from his rest and he looked up to see whisps of blackness fade from around him. Standing, he saw water around him and remembered the duel with Avion. "Next time I see a bird, I'll shoot it right from the sky." he muttered.

Thou seems confident with thyself.

Dormin's voice sounded amused, and Wander glared at the hole in the ceiling. "You know, Lord Dormin, if you were in my place, battered and bruised by a giant BIRD, you'd be pretty confident if you survived too!" again Wander expected some kind of punishment from the god. But instead Dormin merely laughed. "Lord Dormin?"

What is it?

"At the beginning of my quest you would have knocked me flat for saying such things." he said to Them. "But you seem to be getting more patient. Why?"

We cannot help but appreciate the great favor thou art doing for Us. Exhaustion can overwhelm even the most powerful of soldiers, and so thy reaction is expected.

Mouth agape, Wander tried to understand this before shaking his head. "Very well, my lord. I am ready to fight the next Colossus."

Thy next foe is...a giant lurks beneath the temple. It lusts for destruction, but a fool it is not.

Hearing the word 'temple' Wander looked down, but judging by Dormin's chuckle he could guess the god was not talking about the Shrine of Worship. Mounting Agro, he set out.

For several hours Wander searched for a temple other than the Shrine of Worship, until at last he came to a giant stone structure with an entrance leading underground. Sighing, seeing that Agro could not follow, he spotted a turtle crawling slowly towards the entrance. Shrugging, he picked it up and set it on his shoulder before entering the tunnel.

After many leaps, dead ends and swearing, Wander finally came to an enormous chamber with three stone barracks, one after another, leading to a stone ruin similar to the one on Valus's plateau. Looking down at the long drop, he discovered rungs etched into the stone. Slowly climbing down, he peered around for the colossus. Dormin had said that his next foe was a giant, so he was looking for something big. But there weren't very many places for the beast to hide other than behind a huge central pillar.

When he reached the bottom, he set the turtle down and gazed at the chamber. There was nowhere for this thing to hide! Unless it managed to squeeze itself behind the barracks. Swearing, Wander kicked the wall he just climbed down.

It was then that Wander realized the wall had split near the top, making a sort of seam. He gulped as the lower part of the wall started to descend, showing an eerie cave behind it. When it was gone, two pulsing blue eyes stared out at him from the darkness. "Umm, Lord Dormin?"

Aye?

"I think I found the Colossus." he said, shivering as the beast pulled itself from its prison. Its legs were stone, like Valus and Gaius, and there was no weapon to climb up on. The only thing he could see that was furry, besides the back of the beast's hands and its head and back, was a scraggly beard that dangled down from the Colossus's chin.

Aaah, thou hath found Barba? Well done. Now make sure he does not step on thee.

Swearing, and hearing Dormin's laughter in the back of his mind, Wander unsheathed the Ancient's Sword and held it up. However, since he was in the shadow of the beast there was no light to reveal a way up. Cursing loudly, Wander took out his bow and shot the beast right on the head. Other than a very loud roar and Barba stomping angrily, it had no effect on the colossus.

Wander turned and saw an outcropping jutting out from one of the barracks. He leaped up and grabbed it, then hauled himself up and leaped over the edge of the stone wall to the other side. Looking back at Barba he saw the beast's eyes turn from blue to red. Smirking he shot several arrows at it. "Can't get me, can ya?! No!" laughing at the Colossus, he did not notice it was still moving forward.

CRAAACK!!

Wander's smile faded and he found himself flung backwards against the central pillar as Barba walked right through the barrack as if it weren't there. Gaping at his foe, Wander stumbled to his feet and tried to move away. Barba, however, was angry enough that he had been shooting arrows at it, and seeing its foe try to leave it swatted an arm at him. Wander was sent flying right over the next barrack by the Colossus's strength.

Fumbling for his sword, he raised it to the little light that was left when the dust cleared. He knew there was a weakspot on Barba's head, bu the other seemed to be on its chest. That presented a problem, seeing as with no way to climb up and seeing as Barba would smash him against it if he tried to climb down, he would be stuck with shooting arrows from afar. He suddenly heard Dormin speak to him.

Find a place where thou art hidden.

Looking back, hearing the crack of Barba destroyed the second barrack, Wander saw he had only one more to go. Looking up at his colossal foe, he leaped to the top of the final barrack and made a guess as to whether the Colossus would want to kill him bad enough to reach into the structure.

This thought stream was cut short, however, as Barba broke through the barrack with Wander still on top. Skidding back, he dimly saw Barba step over the rubble towards him. With a yelp he scrambled behind a pillar on the structure and waited.

Hearing the giant's footfalls as it shuffled around, Wander tried to speak to Dormin but only heard silence from Them. Then, suddenly, everything was quiet. Curious as to if Barba had retreated or not, Wander edged around the pillar...

...and found himself face-to-face with the Colossus.

Barba, knowing that Wander had hidden behind the pillar, had knelt down so that if the warrior moved it would see him. Then it waited. Its patience was rewarded as the Colossus growled lightly at Wander, but its tiny foe had an idiotic grin on his face.

"Can't get under here, huh?!" he smirked. "You may have been able to get past man-made barracks, but this is solid stone, Barba! You'll never--!" so content was he with jeering at the giant he never noticed Barba raising its arm.

BOOM

Wander was flung back and collided with the stone wall. Dazed, his confused brain realized Barba had struck the ruins. Hearing the beast chuckling, he raised his sword and leaped at the beard which was dangling in front of him.

Feeling Wander seize the beard, Barba roared and stood, shaking its head to try and get him off. Wander slid to the bottom of the beard and used the Colossus's momentum to vault up onto its head, sword point-down. Roaring as the sword struck its head, Barba let out a howl and flung its head back. Wander slid down its now-vertical neck to its back, as he figured all bipeds required the use of their spine.

His theory was correct, and with one stab Barba roared, shaking wildly. Wander twisted the sword and the beast leveled out before he stabbed again. This time Barba wasn't able to fight, and it fell sideways before crashing into the stone floor. Wander smiled and let go of the Colossus, which was rapidly being covered in shadow, and embraced the black tendrils.

How was it? Read and review please!