Ori and the decayed land

Chapter 17: Arriving at Willow's end

The three spirits and floating light fled with the gigantic worm chasing them "How do we lose this thing?!" Ori quickly asked. "Maybe through the sand?" Sein suggested "It's worth a try!" Orin replied before the three spirits began to burrow through the sand with Seir managing to follow them, but to no avail as the worm followed the four through the sand.

The four burst out of the sand "That didn't work!" Ori spoke as he saw the worm burst out the sand "Then we run!" Sein told the other two spirits as they ran for their lives.

The path soon turned vertical with a moonblossom, so the three grappled it which shot them upward and to two piles of sand on the walls. They burrowed through the sand, bursting from the one to the other before reaching the ground as they kept running. They came across a spring plant and jumped on it, shooting the three spirits upward and into some more sand, which they began to burrow through the sand with the worm right on their tails.

They soon shot out of the sand with the worm following while breaking any rock in its path before multiple bits of rock fell on the worm and crushed it.

The three spirits slowly got to their hooves while they covered their eyes "We actually survived that?" Ori said out of breath "Were you not expecting us to live?" Seir asked "I'll be honest, I didn't think we would escape." Ori admitted "Well, the more important thing is that we did escape." Sein replied with Orin agreeing.

The three spirits began walking to the edge of the ground that they landed on. "I can't see a thing in this sandstorm." Sein commented on the visibility during the sandstorm. Seir floated in front of the three spirits and released a powerful flash of light, which dispersed the storm and revealed the late Spirit willow.

The three spirits looked at the willow "There's the Spirit willow! I never got to finish what I was going to say. The only path to her is through Silent woods." Seir told the three "Alright. What are we waiting for, let's go to the Spirit willow." Orin said to the others. The others agreed and they began to head back to Silent woods.

An hour passed as the four reached the spirit well that the three spirits landed on after they escaped Shriek. "We'll need to burrow through the sand." Ori told the Sein and Orin, they nodded and the three began to burrow through the sand as Seir followed them. They burst out of the sand with the three spirits looking around "So where's the path exactly?" Ori asked. "It should be somewhere above us but I don't see it." Seir replied.

It was then that Orin spotted Shriek as she landed in front of the four "It's Shriek!" Sein screamed as Shriek lifted her left stony wing. Seir began to charge her light and fly into Shriek's stone covered face and released a powerful blast of light, which broke a part of the stone off and revealing Shrieks face.

The three spirits were stunned with awe "Wow... That was powerful..." Orin spoke "Yeah... it was. It's just as powerful as my charge flame." Ori replied as he remembered using charge flame for the first time.

It was then that Ori stepped towards Shriek and began to reach out to her like he did with Kuro before she sacrificed herself to bring back the one thing she hated the most: spirit light. "Shriek we know what happened to you. You were shunned from your kind and feared by many for something you couldn't control. We're willing to help you." He spoke to the stone covered owl, but to no avail as Shriek released a shriek from her beak and flew off.

Ori felt sympathetic for Shriek as he watched her fly off "At least you tried." Orin said as he placed a paw on Ori's shoulder.

Sein soon saw a wall of sand next to some blue moss "The path could be through the sand up there next to the blue moss." she pointed out the sand and the moss "One way to find out." Ori replied before he grappled to the moss and burrowed through the sand as the other three followed him.

They quickly found themselves in front of a portal "This should take us closer to the Spirit willow." Seir stated "Well, let's go then. We do need to save Niwen after all." Sein replied as Ori and Orin nodded.

They went through the portal and came out the other side into a different part of Silent woods. The sky was dark as night started to approach. "This portal brought us to Weeping ridge. We are closer to the Willow. There's an ancestral tree here, I can sense its light now that I'm whole again." Seir informed the three spirits "Let's find it, it could be helpful in reaching the Spirit willow." Ori told them as they agreed, and they began to look for the ancestral tree.

The four came to a lift after the three spirits jumped over a gap "This should take us up." Orin told the other three before he flipped the lever, which made the lift begin to rise.

As the lift rose, four corrupted gorlek managed to leap onto the lift, alerting the four beings of light. "Corrupted gorlek." Ori spoke as he summoned his spirit edge, its golden light and flames lit up the area around Ori as he ran up to one of the gorlek and quickly put the gorlek out of their misery as Sein and Orin summoned their spirit edges and did the same with Seir shooting her spirit flame, which turned the last gorlek to ash.

The three spirits began to relax as their spirit edges vanished "Those poor gorlek... If only they escaped the decay." Ori spoke sadly "It'll be ok, Ori." Sein replied trying to comfort him "I know it will." Ori replied with a slight smile.

The lift soon came to a stop as it led to a path "The ancestral tree must be down this path." Seir said to the three "We'll find out if we trek the path." Orin replied as both Ori and Sein agreed and the three began to trek the path.

The three spirits and floating light followed the path and came across the ancestral tree a few minutes later "There it is, the ancestral tree." Sein spoke as they looked at the tree. The tree's bark pointed straight up "I can't make out what this one is supposed to be." Ori spoke "Well, one way to find out what it is." Orin replied as the three spirits placed a paw on the tree and absorbed the light.

Ori, Sein, and Orin have acquired launch! They can now launch into the air and reach extremely high places!

"Launch? Sounds like a different version of charge jump." Ori said "I agree. It could come in handy though. Let's head back to see if there's a path that'll lead to the Spirit willow." Sein said to the other two spirits as they agreed and the four made their way back.

They returned to the lift and saw a path above the lift "Up there!" Ori said. "Let us use launch to get up there." Sein replied before she shot upward. Ori and Orin followed Sein as Seir floated up to the three spirits.

The three spirits launched more upward before reaching a ledge. They landed on the ground as Seir floated to them "We're almost there. There should be the entrance around here somewhere." Seir informed the three "You mean the entrance with the rocks blocking it." Ori pointed out the rocks blocking the entrance. Seir floated to the rocks and blasted them away "We can now enter. There is no time to waste." Seir spoke before the four went through the entrance.