And so we now come to Argus.
Onward. I own nothing.
--
Dormin's Speech
Sound Effects
Thoughts
Chapter 16
The Executioner
"It is almost done."
"Do not jinx us! Two remain, and they are each more powerful than the rest."
"I shall enjoy seeing how he handles them..."
Wander gasped, and it seemed one of the black figures was a bit late in vanishing as he glimpsed a humanoid shadow with blue eyes. He yelped and reached for the Ancient's Sword, only to discover its sheathe was empty and the sword lay next to him. Grabbing it and rising, Wander felt for sure that his limbs were falling off. Hearing a bang behind him, he turned to see Cenobia's idol crumble to dust. Walking to the end of the hall, he observed the two remaining idols. One seemed simple enough, but the last one...it seemed that whenever he looked at it the idol faded from view. Shaking his head at this strange feeling of doom, he walked to the center of the light.
Art thou ready?
Dormin seemed like They were in a hurry. "Yes, Lord Dormin." Wander said, forgetting all about his decision to take a break.
Thy next foe is...a giant has fallen into the valley...acting as a sentry to a destroyed city...
Wander did not like the thought of facing something that was described as 'giant'--whenever Dormin mentioned that word the thing was bigger than most Colossi! Groaning, Wander mounted Agro and set off.
Emon saw light ahead and urged his men on. He could see, no more than a mile away, the top of the entrance to the Forbidden Lands. "Finally, justice will be served." he muttered.
Wander led Agro out of the Shrine of Worship and found the beams pointing him to the northeast. He turned Agro and rode to the east before finding a bridge leading north. Following it, he saw a huge rock dune with a massive abyss in front of it. Directing his horse around the dune, he saw a huge ruin built into the mountainside. When he reached it and took Agro up a flight of stairs, a fallen pillar blocked the way forward--he would have to do this without Agro. The horse whinnied as he climbed the pillar, and then he was out of sight.
Wander looked around as he walked, the sound echoing all throughout the passage he was in. In front of him lay a huge row of pillars supporting a large broken bridge. Beyond that were two unbroken bridges, three story tall stone structures on either side of the long area he was in, and a huge...did I say huge? No, COLOSSAL valley in front of him. He stared in awe at it for a moment before advancing to get a better view.
CRUNCH
"That's not a good sound." Wander winced.
CRUNCH
CRUNCH
CRUNCH
CRUNCH
CRUNCH
CRUNCHCRUNCHCRUNCH
ROOOOOOAAAAA
Wander yelped and fell back as an enormous beast rose in front of him. The giant's face was hidden behind a large stone mask, but Wander could easily see large blue eyes staring at him. The Colossus heaved itself out of the hole before glaring at Wander. "Dear god..." he whispered. The beast raised a foot, then slammed it down in front of Wander, knocking him back several yards. He yelled in pain and looked at the huge beast that was advancing.
"Lord Dormin! Any advice?"
Do not let Argus step on thee.
Wander showed quite a colorful vocabulary at that moment, the words he was using so...imaginative...that even Argus paused to gawk at the wanderer. The shock wore off soon, though, and Argus swatted the large machete that it held to nearly cleave Wander in half. The warrior scrambled to his feet and fled to the broken bridge.
What art thou doing?! We must have been mad to let thee carry out this task! Fight Argus, instead of fleeing from it!
"In case you haven't noticed," Wander panted, "I think Argus plans on eating me!"
Let it. Do Us a favor and get rid of the headache that thou hath been causing! FIGHT!
Wander leaped onto a stone square and turned to face Argus. He did not realize it had been so close.
GRRRNNN
BOOM
Wander felt himself flung high into the air and landed on solid stone. He groaned, then opened his eyes to see Argus's kneecap. He looked down and saw the giant had stepped on the square he was standing on and had flung him to the second level of this forgotten city.
Grinning, he ran up a small flight of stairs and waved at Argus. The Colossus seemed confused as to how the warrior could smile after nearly being crushed. This was short-lived, however, and Argus stomped to try and make Wander fall off the level. The wanderer staggered and ran to the center of the long open hall he was in, then turned to see Argus's cleaver.
BOOM
CA-RACK
CRUNCH
When the dust cleared, Wander saw that some of the stones had fallen loose from the ceiling to make a sort of pile that he could use to climb to the next level. He did so and then paused. Here, there was little room to walk, and Argus was getting impatient. He quickly but carefully made his way over, then climbed another flight of stairs to the third level.
Now he could clearly see a bridge ahead. He looked over to the Colossus and saw he was at eye level with it. The bridge was curved upwards towards the center: He could easily jump onto Argus from there. Running towards the bridge, shooting arrows at the colossus as he did so, he came to the center and whistled. His enthusiasm died abruptly as Argus snorted, then drew back its arm.
Look out!
CA-RAAAAAAACKK
Wander coughed, dust in his lungs, and opened his eyes to find that he was on the very edge of the now broken bridge, and Argus was advancing. He scrambled to his feet and prepared to jump, but tripped over his own feet and fell, with a thud, on something...soft. Opening his eyes, he found himself staring into the Colossus's face.
With a roar. Argus whipped back its head and flailed its cleaver. The motion caused it to stagger backwards, and the sudden jerk caused Wander to lose his grip and slide down the Colossus's back, gripping the rock armor it wore just before he would have slipped off. He then remembered something and looked up. "Lord Dormin, you said something?"
We believe We said, 'Look out.'
"Fat lot of good that did me!" Wander yelled, vaulting himself back up to Argus's head.
Thou art still alive, art thou not?
Dormin sounded really amused. Wander swore and stabbed his sword into Argus's forehead, causing the giant to roar in protest and shake violently. He stabbed again and Argus reached up, then plucked Wander from its head. Wander yelled and flailed his sword wildly, and he felt it sink into something soft.
The Colossus bellowed so loud that the broken bridge on the other side of the city crumbled to dust along with the pillars that supported it, and it let go of Wander and its cleaver before holding its hand. Wander had stabbed its palm.
With a moan that sounded like thunder, Argus staggered forward, then made an effort to turn and so landed on its back, next to its cleaver.
Wander, knocked out by the collision, didn't notice when the tendrils rose and seized him.
Sorry this took so long.