Ori and the Stranger

Chapter 18

     The next few moments were a mad dash. Ori quickly bashed his way up to the top of the chamber, while Blitz quickly scrambled his way up, stabbing his blade into the wood for use as an improvised grabbing point. The vicious torrent of water tore completely through the floor of the chamber, sending more debris into a violent spiral within it.

     Ori and Blitz climbed their way up the shaft, the water rapidly gaining on them. They climbed into another chamber, desperately scrambling up the walls, avoiding monsters and briars. Ori stayed well above the water thanks to bashing, but Blitz wasn't so lucky. The water was constantly nipping at his heels, and one slip up would mean he would surely be enveloped in the fatally violent torrent.

     As Ori dashed through another portal and into a new chamber, he leapt onto one of the blue launcher plants, and was flung up the shaft. Blitz did the same, the extra boost allowing him to gain some distance from the torrent.

     Blitz scrambled forward, not daring to look back for fear of making a slip-up. His heart was racing as fast as his legs, muscles screaming, and blood pounding in his ears. He knew how close the torrent was to him. Ori continued to dash and bash his way up the tree, using monsters and lanterns to bash off of, and rapidly jumping up sheer walls. He didn't think about anything else. He didn't think about Blitz dancing with death below him, he didn't think about Sein levitating over him and screaming for him to move, he only thought about running.

     At last, they entered the final chamber: a massive shaft. And at the top of this shaft was a wide open hole, out of which Ori could finally see the sky, which had darkened as night had fallen. He dashed and bashed harder, eager to finally escape. However, Blitz was not doing so well. As the shaft grew narrower and narrower, the torrent began to rise faster and faster as it had less room to expand. Eventually, Blitz could not stay ahead, and the torrent consumed his body.

     After all that, it was simply a blur. Blitz felt his body become weightless as he was tossed around like a ragdoll. He curled himself up into a fetal position, feeling shards of wood, debris, and expired monsters impacting on his armor and suit, and his body was being slammed again and again into the wooden walls as the shaft grew even more narrow. He also felt his body rising faster and faster towards the top of the shaft, and he hoped and prayed that his suit would hold out long enough. He felt a shard of debris slash across a soft point in his armor. He flinched as he felt a searing pain as his suit and skin were pierced.

     Ori bashed off of another lantern, and then another, and another. The exit was so close, and the shaft had become so narrow that the water was practically shooting up at him. He felt drops of water splashing on his body as he continued to bash his way up. He felt the torrent nipping directly at his hooves, and he felt as though he would not make it.

     But he did. He shot up out of the hole at a tremendous speed. The water shot out as well, mere milliseconds after he did. As Ori landed several meters from the hole, the geyser of water spat out tremendous amounts of debris and water, which quickly evolved into a massive waterfall that billowed down the side of the Ginso Tree and into the forest below. Ori laid still for a moment on the moonlit canopy of the Ginso Tree, panting as his tiny heart fluttered in his chest. As the adrenaline left his body, he slowly sat up. His muscles were screaming and his heart was pounding, but he was alive and uninjured.

     As Ori's mind cleared from the fog of his panic, he noticed a shape laying a couple feet from him. It was Blitz, and he was drenched with water. His heart skipped a beat as he realized that his friend had been caught in the torrent, and he quickly dashed over to Blitz's side, ears drooping with worry. He saw a massive gash in his side which spurted out a steady stream of blood. He delicately placed his paws over the gash, not knowing what to do to help. Panic began to make its way back into his body as he saw his friend's condition. "Blitz, you're hurt!" Ori shouted in a panic, staring at the gash with wide, frightened eyes.

     Blitz groaned, slowly sitting up. He clutched his hand to the gash, but it didn't hurt too bad. "Just a flesh wound," Blitz said with a reassuring, albeit slightly hoarse voice. "Just need a couple bandages."

     Ori nodded, but still felt slightly worried. As he saw all the scratches covering Blitz's suit, he wondered how he had not been more severely injured.

     As Blitz pulled a bundle of gauze from a pouch on his waist and wrapped up the wound, Ori found his attention drawn to the fresh water spurting from the tree. As he watched the crystal clear water bubble off of the side of the Ginso Tree, he felt an overwhelming, powerful thirst overtake him. He hadn't realized just how thirsty he had become, and couldn't remember the last time he had a drink of water. He quickly dashed over to one of the smaller streams, and eagerly lapped up the water. He relished the taste of the clean elixir of life on his tongue, and felt it circulate throughout his body, granting him a cool feeling that was more than welcome to stay.

     Sein hovered above Ori. "Well done, Ori. You have been so brave, and now we are one large step closer to saving our beloved forest," Sein said in a praising, proud voice. "I am sure that the Spirit Tree is as proud as I am."

     Ori kept lapping thirstily at the water, but felt pride slowly welling up within him. He had come so far, risked so many dangers, and had managed to rekindle one of the Elements of Light. He had done what his older, more powerful siblings could not. Although he did not do it all on his own.

     Blitz stepped up to the stream beside Ori, and sat down next to the little spirit, chuckling as he saw Ori desperately lapping at the water. He produced a small canteen from his belt and filled it up with the crystal clear water. He took a small sip himself, though he was not nearly as thirsty as Ori was.

     But their moment of peace was cut short. The entire Ginso Tree suddenly rumbled. Ori stopped drinking and raised his head, looking around. Blitz looked around too. There was a steady rumbling that slowly got louder and louder, until Ori could discern what the sound was: wingbeats. Massive, powerful wingbeats.

     Ori looked around, more frantically as his mind raced. Rekindling the Element of Waters hadn't exactly been subtle, and they had likely attracted the attention of whatever this thing was.

     The entire Ginso Tree rattled as something massive landed on it. Ori and Blitz turned around to see what it was, and two flaming white eyes glared back at them. It was an owl. A massive owl, many times bigger than anything they had encountered before. It let out a low, guttural growl that rattled in Ori's mind and sent shivers down his spine.

     "Kuro..." Sein whispered. Her tone had fear in it, something that she had not expressed before.

     Ori's eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat as he recognized Kuro. She was the same owl that he had seen in the vision. However, she was far more imposing and terrifying in person. Blitz and Ori stood completely still, hoping that she would just leave. There weren't any other options; Ori didn't know if he could survive a fall from the top of the largest tree in Nibel, and Blitz definitely couldn't.

     The owl suddenly let out a loud, rage-filled screech, so loud that Ori thought his ears would burst. Kuro spread her massive wings, blotting out the moon and casting a shadow over Blitz and Ori.

     "Run!" Sein shouted, recognizing that Kuro was about to attack. "To the edge! Go!"

     Ori was already running, as was Blitz. They scrambled desperately to the ledge of the Ginso Tree, and they heard massive talons thumping behind them as Kuro quickly gained.

     With another screech, Kuro beat her massive wings together, releasing a powerful gust of air that slammed into Blitz and Ori like a boulder. They were immediately flung into the air and over the ledge. Ori was knocked unconscious by the sheer force of the attack, and his limp body fell in a complete freefall down the side of the massive Ginso Tree. Blitz barely managed to stay conscious, his larger body taking the force of the attack with the help of his armor. He saw Ori's body freefalling, and realized that his little friend was unconscious. Sein fell next to Ori's body, desperately shouting at him to wake up.

     Then Blitz saw Kuro. She had not given up so quickly. She was divebombing down the side of the Ginso Tree, parallel to Blitz and Ori, she then suddenly steadied herself, and swooped over to Ori with her talons open wide, a look of pure hatred on her face.

     Blitz didn't think about what he did next. He wrapped his arms around Ori, watching as Kuro's talons grew closer and closer.

     Then, at the last moment, he tossed Ori away, and Kuro's talons wrapped around him instead.