Chapter Text
A Dark Entity
The wind howled unholy, accompanied by the unsettling cracks of breaking branches. Once a living being, now dying and falling apart due to a terrible disease that plagued the land. A disease that soon will devour the whole forest and snuff out every smallest candle of life forever. A small figure made their way into this dark and gloomy place. Their body glowed with a soft bluish light, illuminating its surroundings weakly. The being who was accompanied by an orange glowing wisp seemed to be in hurry.
“Maybe it’s not too late yet.” The little spirit said to the small sphere beside him. Apparently, their goal was the very top of those dark roots. The long died treetop of an old willow. Soon they arrived at a place within these rotting roots that made them stop in their tracks in shock. Gigantic spheres were floating in the air, shining almost too bright for the eyes. They periodically shot powerful beams of energy into all different directions. The sight of many killed beings, insects and smaller mammals, all stuck in those roots without being allowed for a proper funeral disturbed the little spirit deeply.
“This will become of the whole forest, if we don’t act quickly now, Ori. The fate of this land lays in our paws. Be careful not to get hit by those beams. i don’t want you to end like those poor souls before us.” The glowing child nodded and they both were about to continue their journey further upwards, when a strange black fog manifested itself right in front of them. The little spirit stopped for a second, confused of where this mist even came from. His acute ears twitched fiercely, when suddenly, it rapidly drew together into a form. A being twice as tall as the little spirit himself slowly walked closer. Ori’s blade emerged from his paws, as he prepared himself for combat. “Be careful Ori! I’ve never seen anything like this.” The light orb spoke with a worried tone.
Its right misty hand with sharp, thin fingers then suddenly manifested a long, sharp weapon, as sword apparently forged out of black fog and approached the spirit quickly with a fast downstroke. Gracefully, Ori parried the attack in the perfect moment and his blade made a loud metallic sound, when it connected with the other sword. More powerful swings followed, all crashing into the spirit edge, before Ori jumped backwards with a elegant flip and created a shiny bow in his paws, shooting several fast arrows at his enemy. The misty creature however, vanished into the air, right when an arrow was about to hit it. A jolt shot through Ori’s system, when he noticed just in time that it was right behind him, ready to attack again. “That’s enough!” Now the wisp joined the fight. They first shone brightly then merged their energy to a forceful orange lightning and shot it at the attacker, letting it shine brightly. Loud claps of thunder echoed through the place as the wisp’s energy struck several times into the mysterious being. Blinded by the light, the spirit’s eyes opened again, revealing the black mist scattered in the air. However, mere seconds passed by as it further manifested into the very same dark creature, unharmed.
“It can’t be hurt.” The wisp stated anxiously. Ori’s eyes widened in attention. “It’s approaching again!” Now he took the initiative and was the first to strike with his blade. The wisdom of the ancestor trees reverberated within him, a graceful pirouette, an upper slash and downstroke, a combination of a master. Loud, resounding clashes echoed through the dying place, until suddenly, Ori’s spirit edge shattered into pieces. With no weapon to defend himself, Ori’s eyes widened, stared right into where he suspected the face of the enemy. “No...” He mumbled quietly, before the air hissed, as the misty creature approached him and kicked him in the gut. “Ori!” The poor cringing spirit flew some meters away, crashing into a branch with a short cry, until he suddenly was raised by an invisible force. Before he could react, the power violently smashed him to the ground and sent him flying away. He hit the ground hard and lay still for a couple of seconds. Getting up shivering, the spirit decided to take flight of that monster. Panting heavily, he tried his best to outrun this superior enemy. He didn’t care about where he ran to, he simply wanted to escape. A quick glance behind revealed that the misty creature wasn’t actually chasing him. However, the startled child didn’t care and jumped off a thick branch into the depth below.
The orange orb of light followed him. “Ori! Where are we going?”
“Away from it! Simply away from it!” The spirit was about to extend a big feather to soften his fall, when he suddenly stopped. He was floating in the air, his fall was prevented by something invisible. Ori gasped in fear from the sudden loss of any control, A pitch-black pit which looked like a very rift in space itself emerged in the darkness and grew bigger and bigger to a threatening size. Panting, the shivering spirit prepared for his fate of becoming prey of the superior, mysterious monster. Why did it attack him? Why was it so filled with hatred and fury?
It felt like every hope of saving the forest or merely saving his own life was violently ripped away, when he was powerless to prevent that ominous pit from sucking him into its darkness and swallowing the screaming spirit whole.