HEEEEEERE'S Kuromori!

At first I thought Kuromori was a ferret, and I didn't want to attack it because I love ferrets! Then I thought it was some kind of armadillo. Naturally I started attacking it. And THAT'S when I realized that Kuromori is, in fact, a lizard.

Don't believe me? Read this chapter, see how Kuromori acts and THEN tell me what you think.

But until then, I own nothing!

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Dormin's Speech

Sound Effects

Thinking

Chapter 9

The Lizard

Thy next foe is...a tail trapped within a pail deep within the forest...it is a shadow that crawls on walls.

Having defeated seven Colossi now, Wander was starting to get some of Dormin's riddles. From the sound of it, the next Colossus had a tail and was somewhere in the forest. Apparently it could also walk on walls. But what did They mean about the pail? Wander shrugged it off, reasoning he'd find out soon enough.

There were many forests in the Forbidden Land, but finally Wander came to the conclusion the 'forest' was probably not in a place with lots of trees. Seeing as every colossus so far had been near some sort of ancient ruin or behind a rock, Wander looked for anything out of the ordinary. He came to a field too big to comprehend, with a giant door in the far-off distance. He was about to head for it when Dormin used all of Their power to push him away from it.

Turning angrily, Wander noticed a hole in a nearby mountain. Entering the cave he found a giant waterfall, with a lake far below and a ragged-looking bridge of stone leading across. Dismounting, he ran across the bridge to find a temple in the middle of a pond, with several different varieties of trees covering a large portion of the land here. Wander had found the forest.

Entering the temple, hoping this wouldn't be a repeat of Barba, Wander descended underground and found himself in a large cylindrical structure, like a collesium but far smaller, with several floors of pillars overlooking...what? Seeing a destroyed portion of the wall, Wander advanced and looked down.

At first he thought there was nothing down there and he was merely looking at his own shadow, but he suddenly realized it was both the wrong size and the wrong shape. It was also impossible that it was an oddly-shaped patch of dark ground because it was moving and far too defined for that. And so he came to a conclusion: this was the Colossus.

This colossus was much smaller than the others and took the shape of an giant lizard. Raising an eyebrow at the size, Dormin answered his unasked question.

Not all Colossi are as big as mountains. Kuromori is not the only one that is smaller than the others.

Trying to ignore the disembodied god's know-it-all attitude, he put on the mask to search for the vitals. His eyes somehow knew he was looking in the right place, but the creature was too small for the vitals to be anywhere but the back, and the creature's back looked to be as hard as rock. Even if he DID stab it there the beast wouldn't feel a thing.

Either that or the sword would break.

Cursing about a defective piece of junk, Wander ripped the mask from his face and hurled it down before realizing he had missed the floor and it was hurtling towards Kuromori. The tiny object hit Kuromori in the head and the beast paused, then eerily raised its head to look at him. Its head was also stony, as if it were wearing a mask of its own.

Remembering Dormin's warning about Kuromori being able to crawl on walls, Wander backed away and ducked behind a big portion of the wall. He felt the building shudder as the Colossus climbed up, then he had to stop himself from gasping as Kuromori stuck its head in through the hole in the wall.

Finding its prey gone, Kuromori waited to see if anything was moving before lowering itself back to the bottom of the 'pail'. Exhaling, Wander edged to the opening to see the colossus looking around to see where its foe had gone. Trying to figure out where to stab this creature, wondering if Dormin would offer him Their help, he didn't see Kuromori's back glow yellow.

ZZZZZPP

Wander was thrown back and hit the wall, dazed, as he found himself confronted with a yellow fog. Blinking, he noticed electricity on the edges of the smog and groaned. That was the second electric colossus he'd encountered. Then he realized Kuromori was still on the bottom floor--how could it have produced electricity so close to him? Walking to the edge, he saw Kuromori's back glow and a shot of yellow energy erupted from its mouth. He yelled in surprise and fell one floor down, grappling for the hole in the wall as he yelled at Dormin.

"IT CAN SHOOT AT ME?!" he screamed. This was the first time a Colossus had ever been able to attack hime without directly assaulting him.

We don't really think that thou requires that answer from Us. If thou wishes to defeat Kuromori, find a way to seal its quick movement.

Again having NO idea what They were talking about, Wander ran to the opposite edge of the level and suddenly realized that Kuromori had crawled up onto the walls to see if he was still there. It then occured to him that the beast's legs were glowing yellow. Just like--

His sudden realization froze him in his tracks, and a grin appeared on his face. Just like Quadratus's hooves. he thought. Eagerly pulling out his bow, he shot an arrow at one of Kuromori's legs. Immediatly the yellow tinge vanished and the Colossus groaned as the leg he'd shot darkened. He reckoned that it had gone numb, since it drifted off of the wall and hung down. But still the colossus clung to the wall.

Annoyed, he shot another leg and watched as Kuromori, unable to hold on, crashed to the ground with a satisfying thud. Leaping down, he suddenly realized that the beast's chest was very furry. Leaping on he expirimentally stabbed where its heart should have been. As expected, Kuromori squealed and recoiled, and when Wander twisted the Ancient's Sword the Colossus even roared in agony before waving its legs.

Having seen lizards do this when he shot them, he realized Kuromori was about to get up. He leaped from it as it flipped over and suddenly saw the Mask of Strength lying underneath the Colossus's bulk. Unable to get at it, he turned and ran up a flight of stairs just as Kuromori turned and saw him go up. He felt the building shudder and glanced down to see Kuromori had shot into the opening, and a yellow cloud was quickly rising up.

Repeating the process with some difficulty, Wander retrieved the mask and put it on to see another sigil appear directly below where the first had been. When he stabbed it Kuromori wailed, then fell silent and moved no more. Fastening the mask to his cloak, Wander didn't notice the black tendrils were moving towards him until it was too late.

Ku-ro-mo-ri! That's a cool name, I think. Read and review please!