The Core´s Guardian
The spirit and moki duo carefully made their way down the dark and twisting pathway. Nothing but darkness made itself known to them, but that didn't mean that they weren't both terrified. For Ori's part, he had that strange feeling, that tingle he always got right before danger struck. Much to his chagrin, he hadn't ever been able to change that last part yet.
Mori almost jumped out of his skin when the silence broke, but it was just Ori taking a sharp breath before speaking. "They're right in front of us… try not to move a muscle." The moki didn't quite know why, but the incredible abilities of the spirit were almost funny to him at the moment. He opted to shake his head in disbelief, asking, "Wait, you… you can sense the—" "Shh!" Ori interrupted. "Quiet… they're going to hear us," he whispered in the kindest voice he could offer at the moment, desperately trying to offset his own fear with a mask of bravado. "They're… they are very close by…" The wavering shiver of his breath forced him to speak with brief pauses and threatened to unhinge his mask. Mori's voice did an even better job at that, though. "Umm… Ori? A—above you…" Cold fear pinned his ears to his back as it crawled along his spine. With no other choice, his gaze slowly rose upward.
Dreaded things, there they were. Thousands of them hung from the ceiling, their yellowish glowing eyes staring into their delicious prey. For a moment, a viewer would be forgiven for mistaking them for statues. That was until the monsters simultaneously unfurled their wings, or whatever they were, with a loud hiss aimed directly at their soon-to-be catch. Their nasty bodies shook with a frantic, unnatural shiver. Rather than be eaten alive, Ori's previous experiences let him know exactly what was going to happen next, and he acted.
"Dive!" he shouted, grabbing the moki and swinging him around himself before jumping to the side in a roll. The sticky net projectiles missed, albeit barely, crashing to the ground in a splash. It was too close of a call for the spirit's liking, but there wasn't any time for a breather. New shots were already on track, a flood of the net flying at them and sparking a new sense of desperation. Instinctively, Ori's paws lit up and shaped his noble weapon in a nearly unconscious action. He'd gotten a lot better since he first came down here. Now wasn't the time to focus on his improvements, however, and with a forceful swing Ori split the air with a howling whistle. The webs fell to the ground as if they were nothing, having lost both their structural integrity and momentum in an instant.
As the torn fiber sank to the ground, the moment was ripe for a counterattack. He had to show that both he and his new friend were most certainly not easy prey to catch! Clutching his razor-sharp blade in his right paw, he zoomed at a dense cluster of the disgusting creatures with a silent roar. His hooves burned a trail of orange light on the stony path behind him as he raised his blade to fully utilize its mighty crackles of pure energy. Although, it was quickly becoming less and less of a blade, elongating and forming a spear tip at the peak. With all the strength he could muster, Ori swung his deadly weapon in a strike far beyond any skill level he previously had demonstrated before. His swings, now a blur of movement so fast his blade may have been nothing more than a feather, sliced the unfortunate opponents into thousands of pieces before they could even begin to avoid the onslaught. Their dark purple blood splattered all over the floor and the smallest candle of life they once held was extinguished as though it never held a flame at all.
Ori gracefully landed on his hooves, landing so softly that it was debatable on whether the small clap really happened. Even with all the action, his fur was completely unbloodied. Not even bothering to look at the carnage behind him, he took his left paw and symbolically bisected his body before laying the edge on his chest and taking a deep, calming breath. Even in the calming ritual, his weapon was still tightly held in the other paw. The brutal picture of the sliced enemies and their ruptured veins vanished into the darkness of his mind like dissolving fog. A single focused breath later, and he mastered his concentration and heartbeat once more.
Mori was speechless. "You´re… you´re a mighty warrior, Ori. I can't even imagine what your kind must be capable of." Humble as always, the little spirit slowly shook his head. "No. I'm not mighty, it was the light that gave me its strength." Fate wasn't willing to let the short respite last any longer, though. Its terrible game moved onwards to the next stage, and the pools of corrupted liquid began to take a shape.
"Uhmmm… Ori? Their blood is moving. Their blood is moving!" Mori's voice cried in a shivering panic. His eyes revealed a mixture of utmost distress and nausea, and it was visibly clear that whatever the scene unfolding before him was, it would probably be a new source of nightmares for the foreseeable future.
That familiar cold dread overtook Ori's being again as he watched the bubbling liquid with much a similar reaction to the moki. Unlike him, however, he couldn't afford to show fear. Before his ears could droop in fear, he forcefully pulled them into a spiked position, high and sharp. Clenching his teeth, he directed the peak of his weapon to the unfolding and constantly enlarging purple mass. "No, no room for fear," he thought, "Not the time!" Despite his efforts to stay calm, there was nothing he could do about his poor empty stomach from flipping in disgust upon realizing what the viscous liquid was forming.
Something horrible.
The abomination unfolding itself before him looked somewhat like its smaller predecessors, that sort of mix between a bat and a spider. Covered in the darkest black and dotted with red glowing eyes, its appearance reminded Ori of a picture from earlier that night he would rather have not remembered. Sheer terror radiated from the beast, sending both the moki and the spirit into a state of uncontrollable shivering. For those with normal eyes, it was almost impossible to make out the contour of its body, the darkness camouflaging perfectly with its outermost layers. If it were to be described, disgust would be the most prominent reaction. A longer explanation would include that it was more than three times the size of its component creatures, had four black legs with some kind of torn wings attached to them, and supported an unnaturally shaking head that wanted nothing more than to destroy its shivering prey.
Perhaps the most terrifying feature it held was its voice. It was somewhere in between the usual noises of customary living beings and the abstract eldritch realm beyond. Beneath the aggressive hisses and snarls laid a quiet, whispering voice speaking curses and promises that neither Ori nor Mori were able to understand.
For his part, Ori clung to his extended weapon, the energy contained within occasionally breaking free in yellowish gushes of powerful lightning. "H—hide Mori!" the scared spirit stuttered, desperately holding on to his last scraps of rational thought. His friend quickly understood what had to be done, and nodded frantically before vanishing from the creature's sight. Not having to protect anyone, Ori pointed his weapon's point towards the enemy while trying to collect any courage he may have still had.
The creature was not impressed in the slightest at this lackluster display of resistance and let loose an ear-numbing hiss in the spirit's direction, the entire building rumbling and only shaking harder with the increasing volume.
Trying as hard as he could to be patient, Ori gave his best effort at standing as still as a tree, carefully watching the monster's movement with fear-filled eyes as the creature threatened to eviscerate the shivering child. His breath became too difficult to command with the need for oxygen rising with every passing moment coupled with indescribable tingling sensations filled his belly. The tension that the dark creature output was comparable to an upcoming earthquake, like an electrified storm cloud filling the whole room and eagerly awaiting a chance to discharge a tremendous amount of energy. It became clear to Ori that it would attack in the next few seconds.
Just as he had made this determination, the creature forcefully lunged forward in a great push aimed directly at him, its legs slicing through the air and causing it to howl as loudly as if it had been pushed by one of the creature's wings.
Not a second too early, Ori dove to the side with a leap and rolled along the hard floor with a grunt of pain. While this level of speed would have been enough to catch any normal opponent unawares, this beast boasted an exceptional agility and gave him a quick, forceful blow rather than an opening. Clenching his teeth, he barely blocked the sword-like appendage away before it could reach him, and yet just as he completed his counter, another leg came flying at him. Loud clashes of metal on metal rang throughout the cavernous room. Each impact lead to Ori's entire body vibrating like a gong while the bat-spider suffered no such effects. Finally, he dashed backwards and drew back his tired arms for a practiced combination of several swings with his energy blade in a hasty attempt to break his opponent's guard. His breath grew to match the fierce rhythm of his swings while his small larynx gave the mightiest yell it could to go with the final blow. The creature remained unimpressed, though, and none of the strikes struck.
Never one to give up, Ori tried a different approach. Rolling to the side to dodge another attack, an opportunity arose to dive towards the hind legs and unleash his fury there. An opportunity worth taking.
It worked!
One fast swing later, and the right hind leg buckled and stumbled back. As his opponent's height lowered to a more reasonable altitude, he jumped upwards to the top of the creature with a high-pitched warrior's cry and full intention on striking its back. So hopeful did the situation look that it really was a catastrophe when things took a turn for the worst. A creature possessing such agility and reaction speed noticed what its prey was up to with ease and jumped to the side, leading to Ori's strike piercing nothing but the air and his face assuming a wide-eyed look of shock as he fell to the ground. He wouldn't reach it.
One slash through the air later and…
A brief and earsplitting cry of agony reverberated off the walls of the room as red, shiny blood flew through the air, losing its glow and dying before ever even hitting the ground. The poor original vessel for the liquid hit the ground underneath it only for it to shower down beside him. He didn't even have enough time to get up; the black being attempted to crush the near-defeated spirit in a move with both of its blade-like legs, a truly dramatic way to finish the battle, but Ori rolled away at the last second. The legs smashed into the ground with such force the noise alone caused his sensitive ears to ring. Opportunistic as ever, the obstinate little spirit took another opportunity to strike and swung his sword against the two weapon-like legs in an attempt to cut them off and cripple the creature. It was a partial success, with one of the legs slicing clean off, but he barely missed the second. Before suffering any consequences for such a daring action, he flung himself as far backwards as he could to avoid any possible counterattacks coming his way, of which there most certainly was. The creature hissed in pain, a sign that he actually dealt a damaging blow that was unlike the failed clashing from before. Confidence washed over him in waves, he finally had regained control over the situation.
The dark being, now down one of its appendages, changed tactics. It didn't try to approach the spirit anymore, instead maintaining its distance. Ori bravely directed the peak of his weapon at it once more, re-assuming his normal combat stance without bothering to question the miraculous speed at which his injuries had healed.
One of the plans the beast came up with apparently held merit to it, and it opened its maw to spit several gooey balls of black ooze at its opponent. Ori was no amateur at dodging projectiles, though, and his almost casual dodges from side to side came naturally without him even really trying. That was the point, though. As one of the thick balls flew right over his head and his gaze followed it, he quickly realized that it hadn't been aimed at him at all, but by then it was already too late. Only a second's worth of inattentiveness was enough for the wicked fiend to rush over and smash him against the wall behind him. The process was so fast that it wasn't even startling, there wasn't time for shock to set in. His breath was forced out of him, and in the ensuing act he lost his grip on his weapon and let it fall. Separated from its owner, the creation shattered into thousands of shining pieces that dissolved in the air. It all happened in the blink of an eye, but in one instant, the entire situation of the fight had been changed and he was at the creature's mercy.
When his vision cleared enough for him to see again, he immediately regretted seeing anything at all. He was stuck fast to the wall, held tightly by the black substance that the creature had shot behind him and left him no methods of escape that could possibly have been quick enough for survival. There was nothing left to do but just stare at the slowly approaching incarnation of evil itself in total horror.
Something changed about the whispering the being constantly gave. They became more aggressive, even louder, and somehow even painful in a way that wasn't related to the noise. They weren't comparable to the whispers he had heard back in the cave, instead they sounded more like a desperate call for help.
"…Find…"
Panic overtook any curiosity about the whispers and forced him to frantically whirl his entire body in an attempt to break free somehow. He whined, panted, breathed heavy, he tried everything, but it was all to no avail. Nothing he did changed the fact that he was stuck to a wall while the malevolent entity came ever closer.
Nothing seemed like it was going to help the poor thing anymore, but that was when he heard a confident voice up ahead. "Hey you! I have one of your ugly little legs! Come and get it!" Who could have found his way into the spirit's mind this time? What kind of foolish games did it intend to play? It kind of sounded like…
"Mori? Mori, is that you?"
"That's right!" the voice shouted. "Come and get me!"
Ori couldn't believe what he was seeing. In front of him stood the moki, holding nothing other than the long, sharp leg in his paws and waving it around like it was some sort of prize. He shook his head in disbelief. The moki's foolish attempt would lead to his death, didn't he know that? "Mori! What are you doing?" he asked, though nothing he could have said would have reached over the screaming curses of the evil creature ahead. He watched as the abomination approach the brave moki without even giving the slightest attention to its already caught prey anymore. "Oh no… This is going to end badly…" said Mori, trying his best not to stutter.
Whatever his suicidal attempt was for, he had given Ori some badly needed extra time. He had to rescue him! While he closed his eyes for deeper focus, his mind played around with thoughts and ideas on how to break free from the sticky mass surrounding him. It had to be something big and powerful. Something like… an explosion!
Meanwhile, the moki tried his best to avoid a brutal evisceration courtesy of the remaining leg. "Your attacks may carry tremendous force, however, since you've lost one leg, you've lost any sense of balance you once had. You stumble with every attempt to attack me!" Confidence-boosting aside, Mori was actually right. The being had to balance the whole weight of its upper body on one single leg that was also the leg it used to assault its new prey, a major disadvantage when compared to the speed and agility it had on the spirit before. Eventually, the creature stumbled forwards particularly badly, and gave Mori a brief period during his dodge to look over at Ori. Why was the spirit shining with that yellowish tone?
With a brief cry of effort, the spirit let out a powerful burst of pure orange burning energy and vaporized the sticky mass in one go, freeing him from the wall to land gracefully on his hooves.
Confused by the loud clap of thunder, the creature once again turned to face the spirit, who was now more determined than ever. The edge of his weapon shone with bright crackles of barely-contained energy as its point never wavered from its opponent.
Now with more ponderous steps, the creature approached the spirit that was so recently defeated. It only took one swing with its front leg before it was flung violently to the side, the pathetic attempt easily parried by Ori. He finally crushed the creature's guard, and from there broke through its black, wicked tissue. The painful, stinging deathblow rumbled throughout the whole being and caused it to stumble backwards. When it was time to finish his enemy off, Ori approached the now whirling thing and place his paw onto its body. He closed his eyes and began to collect the remaining power of the absorbed light resting in his body to finally finish his enemy off. Of course, this was when the being whispered yet another identifiable word in its tirade of unintelligible ones.
"…Origin…"
Ori's eyes opened in his confusion, quickly combining the two words in his mind. While he may have wanted to ask more, he couldn't stop the force of his light now and his body shone with a bright orange tone. Another forceful explosion of energy incinerated what was left of the creature, and it fell to ground, drifting off with a hissing moan before even making contact with the stony floor.
Breathing in ragged gasps from both the fear and exertion, Ori sank to the ground himself, completely exhausted. The two words the creature had provided him flowed relentlessly in his head and echoed with the power of thousands of different voices, an insufferable cacophony that prevented him from thinking of anything else.
"Oh dear, I thought it had killed you after it sliced you in the air… wait. You… don't have any injuries." Ori immediately considered the oddness of the already faded pain, inspecting his whole body while carefully driving over his arms with his paws. "You're… right," he said, astounded. It wasn't hard to guess at what the reason could be, though. "I guess this was the power of the light I absorbed." He made a pause, unsure of what to discuss first. "Mori…," he started, "you put yourself in danger to save me. You could have died."
The moki pondered his word choice very carefully. "I… I just had this really strong urge to help you. I forgot my fear like rage—" Before he could finish his sentence, a strong, warm hug from the smaller gleaming being finished it for him. "Thank you. Your courage saved my life."
His head slowly moved away from Mori's chest, and he kindly looked into his eyes. "But please… don't put yourself in danger like that anymore. I can't bear to see a friend getting hurt." Mori's current path of thought halted immediately as he digested what his shining comrade had just said. He had just called him a friend.
"Well, I didn't really know how to get through here without you. To be honest, I had considered it impossible to get out here ever since I encountered these beasts. Then you came, filled my life with light and company, and… You gave me hope, Ori. I want to help you in recollecting whatever is left of your mysterious memories. Write down your dreams in my book and try to connect them properly. Maybe I can find a logical pattern to help you remember."
"I'm grateful for your help, Mori," Ori agreed. It was kind of difficult to think much further on it, and he changed the topic to focus on their original task.
"So, you were talking about there being a water spring here in this building. Could you possibly tell where it is?" he asked. "Oh, of course!" Mori practically shouted. He had almost forgotten the reason they were here in the first place. "It must be very close by. I saw it right before I saw the creatures next to it."
Ori gave a soft nod in agreement and looked over the room they were in. Their situation had finally cooled enough to give him a change to inspect their surroundings a little closer.
Beneath them, the stony floor was covered in dust and debris. All remains of ancient architecture created in a way that the little spirit had no hope of understanding. "This must be it," he said, stopping in front of a small metal basin that was filled to the brim with seemingly fresh water. It at least looked clean, but he wasn't going to just trust it. To be absolutely certain, he dipped his finger into the liquid and licked the drops off. Nothing felt wrong about the water. It was that same old almost tasteless fluid that he was familiar with, ready to drink whenever he was thirsty. "It's definitely drinkable," he stated, turning to Mori with a smile of relief.
But before Ori could begin to fill Mori's tube, both of them could percieve a magical tone coming from behind them. When Ori turned around, before him was glowing light sphere that was more than a little familiar to him. It was if the yellowish glowing veil surrounding it was searching for the little spirit as it slowly expanded in his direction. Ori didn't feel the anxiety and dread that came from being down here anymore, and instead moved closer to the shining sphere to hasten its search. In reverence, he stretched out his right arm towards the ball and gently spread his fingers, willing to embrace whatever it had to offer him. Much like the previous ball of light from earlier, there was no danger coming from this light, it was like the warmth of his mother. He began to hear a voice speak, and while it was inexplicable where the sound came from, his intuition knew that it had to come from the light hovering in front of him.
"I once was the guardian of the core. I served the spirits, and they served me. One sorrowful day, they vanished and left us in stillness. Died in front of our eyes, their exhausted light, extinguished by darkness."
Ori's reverence for the light quickly changed to grief at the last sentence. "They… died?" echoed his soft voice, his eyes coming together as they glassed over, followed by his slowly drooping ears. Just like with his mysterious dreams, he couldn't tell, why, but it seemed as though he was more than familiar with loss and a beloved person's death.
The light finished its speech and faded away, letting the little spirit absorb its energy. He closed his eyes to fully experience the soft touch of its warmth in his body. Even though he didn't know any of the spirits who died here personally, he let out a single tear that shone like a star while it rolled down his cheek.
"Who died?" asked Mori with a worried expression, fearful of what his friend must have seen. Ori didn't even turn around before responding. "The spirits who lived here. They all died in front of his eyes. The light told me. It must have been a tragic event." The moki immediately forgot the sorrow of the little spirit and shook his own head in excitement to clear his thoughts. "Wait. Did you just say 'The spirits who lived here?' So I was right with my assumption. They indeed lived inside this beast! Well, they certainly chose a weird place to call home, that's for sure."
Ignoring the moki's somewhat disrespectful comment, Ori moved his head to scan what was left in the room. "This room can't just be here with no purpose. There has to be something we've overlooked."
"Well, my personal guess is that this room was merely designed for the guardian to live in. Whatever he protected, however, must be hiding behind another door," answered Mori as he adjusted his scarf. The search hardly took any time at all, Ori's light scratched over the lines of another heavy door decorated with more mysterious mosaics all over it. Whatever awaited them inside, they were prepared for it.
Ori's mind wasn't ever at rest, however. What was the creature trying to say with those unidentifiable whispers it wouldn't shut up about? Was there more to the message than just those two words? Could it have told him more if he had left it alive a little longer? That last question he could answer. Thinking it wouldn't have killed them both without hesitation would be stupid. He couldn't have spared it any longer.
The other questions remained a bigger secret, though. More than ever, the little spirit was dying to find out more about the ancient past. About his kind's past. About his past.