Prompt 20
[1,898 words]
Fay, Galena, and Ramey stepped forward into the room, the heavy door swinging against the wall with a resounding thud. The sanctum was surprisingly average, no more regal than the rest of the castle aside from a notable lack of damage from the attacks. The carpeting and curtains were azure blue, decorated with swirling gold trim; the walls were a simple white, shaded a soft blue-grey with evening's light, bouncing off the floor and onto them.
In the center of the room sat a creature not entirely unlike them, small with six legs and horns curling up and forward from its head. Its tail was seemingly prehensile, and ended in what looked to be almost like a clawed, six-digit hand, with four fingers and a thumb on either side. But perhaps most unnerving was its colors. The creature was inky black and almost iridescent, with dark rainbow colors swirling through its veins and cumulating in five wide, opalescent eyes, blinking not quite in sync as it turned to look at them.
"Oh," the creature said, its voice high and childlike and almost echoing, as if not only it but many others were speaking all in unison. "Hello. You must be the heroes." It paused, looking between them. "You there, glowy mister," it said, gesturing to Ramey with one of its paws. "I like your lantern. It seems familiar, almost. And that light in your halo is awfully pretty."
Ramey glanced back at Galena and Fay, flicking his tails as if to say, "Don't trust it," then returned his attention to the creature before them. "Thank you," he said. "It took a lot of effort to get that light."
"May I see it?" the creature asked, tilting its head.
"Certainly." And as it began to walk forward, the swirling light brightened... Then launched what could only be described as a beam of pure light energy at the creature, which jumped quickly out of the way.
"Oh." The creature sounded almost disappointed. "So it's like that, huh? Okay."
And just like that its form began to change. The iridescent inky material that formed its body seemed to become half half-solid for a few moments and then it expanded. And expanded. And within a few seconds, the creature was easily three times Ramey's size, and even larger in comparison to the smaller Kalons who had drawn their swords behind him. Then it solidified into its previous shape again. A beam of its own formed in its mouth, shadowy and evil, and it blasted over their heads and into the floor of the doorway behind them, crystals sprouting up from where it hit and covering the exit.
There would be no running now.
"Okay," the creature said, high voice booming and echoing against the walls of the sanctum. "Let's play."
And it reared up on its hind paws and smashed down onto the floor before the trio, which cracked beneath the rug from the force of the impact.
The trio split into separate directions, Galena to the left, Fay to the right, and Ramey falling back, orb of light flaring as he prepared another beam of energy. The creature swiped at Ramey, who just barely dodged its long and sharp claws, and the light dimmed. Of course it would be focusing on him, with the weapon most capable of fighting back. He prepared another blast of magic, this time from his lantern, and it fired much faster, Ramey more adept with the familiar inferno of yellow-blue flame. The burning light licked the creature's face, and it flinched at the inferno pushing it back.
Over the roar of the fire Ramey yelled, only barely audible. "Fay, Galena, distract it!"
And then the fire dissipated and the creature straightened, unharmed.
"Oh, now I remember," the creature said, standing tall over them. "My creator gave you tha-"
Thick vines broke through the windows, glass scattering everywhere as Ramey attempted to restrain the creature. But just as he the plants broke through and had nearly reached it, it turned and fired a beam of energy, freezing and crystallizing them. It grabbed the vines in its tail and snapped the gemstone off, launching the sharp stone at Ramey as the vine withdrew back into the ground far below. It nearly caught him as he dodged left, and the creature spoke.
"You shouldn't interrupt someone while they're talking, Ramey."
"Fay and Galena turned to look at their companion.
"I thought you said your name was Tory!" Fay called. Gem shards formed around the creature's neck, looking small next to it but easily sharp and long enough to impale any of them.
"Does it really matter right now?!" he shouted, dodging behind the crystal pillar that had nearly killed him moments before as the creature launched a spray of shards at them. Galena closed her eyes tight, and a barrier formed around her, shielding her from the rain of spikes, and Fay dashed behind it, barely avoiding being hit herself.
"Oh no you don't," the creature said, snatching Fay up with its tail and throwing her hard into the wall. She fell in a slump at the base, groaning in pain from the impact.
"Ahh... Note to self, stay away from its butt," she mumbled, rising shakily to her feet.
The creature giggled a bit, and then its form distorted and split. Then suddenly, three of it stood amongst them in the room, one between each of them, each looking at the one opposite with an almost playful expression. Ramey and Fay looked between them, then watched Galena, glaring at the one between her and Ramey, dashed at it, sword drawn. All three of them pounced at once, targeting Ramey, and he leaped back as Galena jumped over and slid under the illusory creatures' paws and hopped onto the real one's middle right leg, clawing her way around and up its inner leg. The creature growled, illusions fading, and tried desperately to grab her with its tail to no avail.
As the orange Kalon climbed, Fay dashed at it, sword drawn, and Ramey began to charge another beam of light. But the creature noticed him just a moment too early, and smacked him into the crystals blocking the doorway. His vision blurred for just a moment as he fell, but then he shook his head and looked again at the creature as he rose to his feet. Galena was on its back now, dashing towards its head as it tried to grab her while swiping at Fay. With some effort he charged again, and this time successfully fired a beam at the creature... But it jumped aside at the last moment, Fay knocked back by its paw and landing to Ramey's left, Galena barely keeping her grip on its inky mane as it fired its own beam, missing Ramey by mere inches to his right. He jumped aside as crystals formed over the spot where he'd been mere moments before, standing in front of Fay, and the creature roared in frustration.
Ramey's lantern flared to life again, and he fired another blazing vortex at its face as Galena hid behind its neck. "Fay," he said over the roar of the fire, "this isn't working. We need to change tactics. Can you focus long enough to not rip reality apart at the seams?"
Fay looked nervous for just a moment, then nodded, a grim look on her face.
"Good. Galena seems to be going for its eyes. When she does and distracts it, you need to warp me under its stomach, understand?"
"I... Yeah. I'll try."
"There's no time to just try. Not with this situation and those powers," he warned. "This is it. You either do this or we fail."
She took a deep breath and nodded has the fire dissipated once more. "Okay."
And, the fire vanished and the creature shaking itself off, the duo split apart again. Ramey hid behind the clear, dark crystal pillar, Fay dashing towards its rear, trying to stop it from grabbing Galena as she climbed past its ears. Sword drawn, Fay slashed at its hind laws, and it snarled, grabbing her with its tail and slamming her against the wall.
"Didn't you learn not to do that the first time?!" it snapped, squeezing her tight in its grip. Ramey dashed towards the right, behind the crystalline vine and nearer to where Fay was held suspended in the air.
"Heh, I guess not," she said. Galena looked at her from her perch atop its inky hair, then nodded and jumped down, sword drawn and pointing right at its topmost eye.
The creature let out a screech of pain as metal collided with what felt more like stone than flesh, and it dropped Fay, pawing desperately at its face, trying to remove Galena by any means possible. Ramey dashed over to his companion, orb glowing brightly.
"Now!" He yelled.
And they disappeared in a burst of indigo clouds and stardust.
For just a moment, they were gone from the room entirely, space distorting and barely hanging on. Fay held her eyes tightly shut, heart racing as she tried desperately to focus.
And then they were both underneath the giant creature, with a clear shot at its chest.
Ramey fired his beam once more at the creature, hitting it square where its heart might have been were it a proper Kalon, and Galena jumped down from where she was clinging on its muzzle as the light cut through the gem eye in its forehead. The creature grew still, light pouring from the cracks in its form where the beam had hit it...
And then there was a great puff of black and rainbow smoke that enveloped the room and a clattering of metal on stone from where Galena's sword had fallen as the creature's form broke apart.
It was several minutes before the smoke faded. When it did, the crystal pillars around the room had vanished, several Kalons laying unconscious around the room in their places, and before them sat a small, terrified kalon, tears in his eyes and shaking furiously before a tiny opal, now glowing softly with a familiar white light with hints of blue, green, and orange-red, a light which no longer floated amongst Ramey's own glowing halo.
Galena stepped forward, grabbing her sword from the floor and slipping it into her sheath.
"Hey," she said gently.
The kit whispered something under his breath, too quiet to be heard.
"Hey," she said again. "Speak up, please."
"...I... I'm sorry..." he whispered, voice quivering. "I didn't... I didn't know..."
She stepped forward, placing a hand on the kit's shoulder. He shrunk back at first, afraid. But she simply offered him a reassuring smile. "It's okay," she said. "It's over now."
Ramey sighed. "And thank god for that," he said. Turning his head to look at Fay as Galena reassured the child, he nodded. "Good job on that last part."
"Not bad yourself," she said. Then she gave a sigh herself. "Well, that was fun. I think I might take a break from adventuring for a few months now. At least in real life. Might play the new Zelda DLC when we get home. Probably not gonna be running off on a quest like this again for another few months, though."
"Mm, a break would be nice," he agreed.
They'd done it.
Thank god.