Anima, Ch.15: The Black Orb

[Anima, Ch.15: The Black Orb]
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--01-- [Scene: !Tir Chonaill] <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
Shortly after sunrise, I woke Devin and Vivian up.
"Feeling better?" I asked Vivian.
"Still a little woozy...I'll manage. The potion helped a lot."
Well, at least she looks normal now...

--02-- <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
"You sure, sis?" Devin asked.
"This is too important for us to lounge around," she said. "Besides, if we stay here much longer,
we're gonna run out of food, and nothing here seems fit to eat."


--03-- <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
"Speaking of food, don't expect a five-star breakfast," I said, rummaging through my pack
for any kind of food. All I came up with is a half-stale loaf of bread, at least two days old.



--04-- <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
Sighing, I roughly broke the loaf into thirds and handed the siblings one piece each.
"It's all I have. Enjoy," I lamented.
"Better than nothing, I guess," Devin said.
"Thanks," Vivian said, nodding.

--05-- <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
We sat around the dying remnants of the fire as we ate; it still gave off a bit of warmth.
The sun had risen, but the high mountain air gets very cold at night, and the mornings are slow to warm.



--06-- <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
Unsatisfied with such a meager meal, we broke camp and started carving a path to the dungeon.
Is it just my imagination, or did all the weeds we cut through to get here grow back overnight?



--07-- <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
I felt a bit thirsty; I imagine they feel the same way.
Even getting water is going to be a problem.
The reservoir was a fetid pool of green slime, and the fishing dock had collapsed into the muck.


--08-- <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
Adelia Stream wasn't the placid brook it was back home; here it was a narrow, deep, raging torrent.
The river's flow had cut a gully several feet deep into the land, and the water was out of reach.



--09-- <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
In the bright daylight, we got a good look at just how run down this place was.

Everything build from wood was fading and rotting.
Everything built from stone or brick was cracking and crumbling.

--10-- <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
Humans were gone; now everything built by humans was being erased.
All the plants were sharp-edged, pointy, barbed, and covered in thorns.
And the animals...well, we know they're none too friendly.


--11-- <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
"Geez. I'd say this place has been abandoned for at least fifty years," Devin observed.
"Makes you realize just how many things around us need people to keep them in one piece," Vivian added.



--12-- <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
"The Fomors say they exist in balance with nature and want to kill us off to restore it.
If *this* is what they had in mind by the 'balance of nature,' then let nature burn," I said.



--13-- <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
"Now that's the last thing I thought I'd ever hear an elf say," Vivian laughed.
"I rather like all the perks of civilization; this roughing-it business gets old fast," I said.



--14-- <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
"What bothers me most is that Erinn could end up like this if things keep going the way they are,
with the animal attacks," Devin said.

"Then hope the Goddess knows how to stop it," Vivian replied.

--15-- <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
The giant worm's carcass was still there. Or rather...most of it. The dingos had made a meal of a large
chunk of it. The same pack of dingos...that seemed to be lying dead on the road ahead of us.



--16-- <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
"Looks like something they ate didn't agree with 'em," Vivian said as we walked past the dead dingos.
"That worm didn't seem to agree with anything. Looks like even its flesh is toxic," I said.



--17-- <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
Devin sighed. "So much for hunting. It's like everything here is trying to kill us somehow,
even after it's dead. It would have been nice of Morrighan to have warned us about this, you know?"



--18-- <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
"If she's been imprisoned here since the Battle of Mag Tuireadh, then maybe she doesn't even know
how bad things have gotten?" I pondered. "That was centuries ago, wasn't it?"



--19-- <BGM: Bird Drifting Into Ruins>
We passed though a gated wooden barricade, which was rotting like everything else. Then we had to
trudge through more knee-high, sharp-bladed grass to the cave that, in our world, held Alby Dungeon.



--20-- [Scene: Alby Dungeon] <BGM: A Safety Zone>
Inside, it looked...much like a natural cave, other than an altar of Morrighan that marked the
dungeon entrance. The edges of the cave were lined with deep ravines.
I couldn't see the bottom.


--21-- <BGM: A Safety Zone>
"So where do we start?" Vivian asked.
"Didn't that guy say something about a 'green gem' yesterday?" I recalled.
"Yeah, he did. Hm, now where did I...?" Devin trailed off, searching his pack.


--22-- <BGM: A Safety Zone> {SFX: pow}
"Oh, I'll just go shake one loose from that sign outside. Somehow those things are everywhere," Vivian said.
She ran back outside, and soon the sounds of punching echoed back in.



--23-- <BGM: A Safety Zone> {SFX: failure}
Followed by the sharp sound of cracking wood, and a loud crash.
Vivian returned, a green gem in hand.
"Good news, I found one! Bad news...I kinda broke the sign... What? It was rotted!"


--24-- <BGM: A Safety Zone>
Vivian handed the gem to Devin. He stared at it in his hand for a brief moment.
"One chance, huh? Well, no pressure," he said, nervously. "We'll manage...right?"
He dropped it on the altar.


--25-- <BGM: Unspeakable Evil>
Reality distorts around us, and we're suddenly in an underground labyrinth of green walls.
It seems to be a dungeon like any other...except there are no other statues of Morrighan inside.



--26-- <BGM: Unspeakable Evil>
It is a warning-- this place is *not* under Morrighan's protection.
If something goes wrong in here...we don't come back.



--27-- <BGM: Unspeakable Evil>
Surprisingly, all we encountered along the way were groups of Goblins. Something doesn't feel right;
if this is all there is between us and the key to Morrighan's prison...



--28-- <BGM: Unspeakable Evil>
Carefully, nervously, with probably more caution than needed, we made our way through this
unfamiliar and unearthly dungeon, one room and one hallway at a time.



--29-- <BGM: Unspeakable Evil>
Much the same as dungeons in Erinn work, a giant red key was dropped by a goblin deep into the
second floor, and a matching door lay in the next room ahead.



--30-- <BGM: Unspeakable Evil> {SFX: slam}
The door with the comically oversized lock groaned open; in the dim light beyond we saw several
vaguely humanoid creatures. They had dog-like heads, bat-like wings, and held...very large weapons.



--31-- <BGM: Formidable Adversary>
"Gargoyles," Devin said. "Lots of them."
"Those...are some very large swords," I noted.
"Got any ideas for how to deal with this?" Vivian asked.
Hmm. They're all in a tight group. If I could...

--32-- <BGM: Formidable Adversary>
"Keep them busy for fifteen seconds while I...work my magic," I said, readying my Lightning Wand.
I don't use this spell much and it takes a lot of Mana, but it should be just the thing for this...



--33-- <BGM: Formidable Adversary> {SFX: pow}
"Hope you know what you're doing," she said, as she walked into the room, cast a meager Icebolt
of her own, and flung it right into a gargoyle's chest; it drew blood.
"Hey!" she shouted at them.


--34-- <BGM: Formidable Adversary> {SFX: pow}
"Foolish human," the wounded gargoyle growled. It flapped its wings, charging with a machete raised,
right at Vivian. Devin nailed it with a powerful shot from his bow, but another one attacked in turn.



--35-- <BGM: Formidable Adversary> {SFX: pow}
Vivian sidestepped a machete swing from the gargoyle, deftly counterattacking in the same motion and
knocking it away. "Meara! Do something!" she shouted.
My spell finished charging and I casted it.


--36-- <BGM: Formidable Adversary> {SFX: lightning}
A stream of pulsing electricity shot out from my wand, chaining between each of the gargoyles.
They were all visibly stunned by the shock.
A strong tingling sensation fills the air; Thunder at work.


--37-- <BGM: Formidable Adversary>
The gargoyles snarled and growled in pain as the arcing current kept them stunned.
"Meara, I hope you had more in mind than a little lightning!" Vivian shouted.
"That's not all," I replied. "Watch."


--38-- <BGM: Formidable Adversary> {SFX: lightning}
Powerful lightning bolts repeatedly struck down the gargoyles, leaving them all dead.

"...oookay, that was a *lot* of lightning." Vivian said.
"Remind me never to get on your bad side," Devin added.

--39-- <BGM: A Safety Zone> {SFX: failure}
In the final room, we found a black orb the size of a person's head sitting on a pedestal.
"Is this what we're looking for?" I asked.
"I think so," Devin answered. He pulled it loose and held it.


--40-- <BGM: A Safety Zone>
"So if we use that up there, this'll take us to Morrighan?" Vivian asked.
"We're one step away now," Devin said.
"As long as we can get past whatever the Fomors have guarding her prison," I added.


[chapter end]