Wishful Falling

To Climb and to Burn

The earth was infected, and the grass was a sickly brown that slowly seemed to spread throughout the valley as the horse rested by a fungal-infested tree. Miasma flew into the air as its spores rain back down on its body. The backside of the horse was leathery and decaying, slowly making its way up the animal's body. It wouldn't be around for much longer and after that, it would spread, slowly but surely, and regain its lost power

Onyx rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. It was dark out, and the sun hadn't even risen yet. He yawned and rolled out of bed, checking to make sure everyone was still asleep.

He grabbed his satchel and slung it over his shoulders, and snuck out into the night. Now would be the best time to try and climb Death Mountain, but he was still nervous.

"Ok, double-check." he pulled out a fireproof map and checked his supply of fireproof potions. He made sure everything was packed nice and tight before heading out into the night. He would have liked to have gotten some ice arrows for the trip, but that would be a bit too obvious.

Sealing his satchel shut, he took the dirt path up to the mountain. It was fairly dark, but the small patches of glowing magma rocks made it easy for him to follow the path. It wasn't long before he came across the first checkpoint.

'Death Mountain Marker #1 Climbing Path Trailhead'

The heat was obnoxiously thick and heavy. Sighing, he checked out his map and squinted. He hadn't taken any turns, so this was the correct path. There was a small cliff he'd have to climb eventually, but he trusted his body to get him up the wall, no problem!

By now, he'd entered the Maw of Death Mountain. Large knee-deep lakes on either side of the path with hot springs on either side. It was fairly peaceful, and he wished he wasn't here on business so he could stop and play in the water. However, time was of the essence, and he needed to get a move on!

He came across a dragon bone Moblin spear buried in the earth next to a destroyed guardian.

"Geez, this thing is massive." he kicked the old metal machine, "Hard too." he couldn't imagine what it was like trying to fight one of these things off. There was a moss-covered leg so it was mobile for a while! He yawned and continued walking. His eyes trained up on the night sky and the thousands of stars in the sky. It was so pretty. Onyx could only imagine what was up there.

"Wonder how far I got?" Stopping he checked his map, "I'm still at the base." he looked around, trying to find a landmark. and saw something big move in the shadows. Over a massive stone archway.

'What was that?' He squinted at the shadows. That's when he heard the heavy thumping of something moving down the trail. He immediately turned and ran to hide behind some rocks when he heard the low gong of an activated Guardian.

To his horror, a stalker Guardian approached from the shadows. Silver body glinted in the moonlight as it trained a red dot on his body. He screamed and ran, making sure to hide behind some rocks that it fired off its first Lazer.

The blast was strong enough to send boulders flying! And the Shockwave made his ears ring. He didn't bother trying to hold onto his satchel after that. It climbed over the rubble it had just created and focused its eye on him again. It took less than a second for him to take off back down the path again.

He tripped and rolled down the sharp incline just as another blast went off behind him, scorching his skin and backside.

Stomp stomp stomp wherrrrrrrrrr