Hell's Glitch (initial draft)

22 The Will of the Forest

Will You Summon The Charitable Walker, King Herke?

"Oh Alex, baby! You guys are magnificent assholes aren't you? I can't believe you hid this beautiful golden ticket to victory all the way over here, surrounded by all those annoying Stumpies. On second thought, I can believe it knowing that you all learned game design at the Troll Institute of Design and Technology. I could cry right now."

He stared at the symbol and also stared at his nearly depleted Soul Power gauge.

"I'll have to pass for now, king, but once I get my SP back, I'll return. Don't go anywhere."

Sam returned down the path towards Ji Susano. He had a start when he saw that she wasn't beneath the tree anymore.

"Damn, I thought you'd stay a little longer. I hope you pop up again. That Dragon's Breath sounds like a badass Pyromancy."

He continued on, back to Barrington's camp. He immediately went to where King Herke had been moon gazing before, but the king wasn't there. Sam let out a sigh.

"Doesn't matter, I can still summon him, at least. I hope."

He made his way back around to the Beacon Fire and sat down in front of it. The warmth from it engulfed his body and replenished his SP. He sat and tweaked his stats in the level up screen. He leveled up his speed twice and finally got it to twenty-five. He put his remaining point into dexterity to up it to twenty-one. Once he was done with that, he bought more arrows, including two-hundred Wooden Arrows and one-hundred metal tipped Army Arrows, from Barrington and set off down the northern forest trail once again.

******

Sam's heart was pounding the whole time as he again cleared his path of Stumpies and Big Mid-Boss. He didn't want to get hit even once before going into the boss fight and he succeeded in doing just that before he made his way over to King Herke's Charity Sign. Once at the golden glowing sign, he knelt down and put his hand on it.

Will You Summon The Charitable Walker, King Herke?

Yes No

Sam chose yes and took a step back once the sign began to glow much brighter. The golden rays from the sign cascaded outwards, blanketing everything nearby in a brief radiance. The light dimmed as it took the form of King Herke's Walker. The king sprouted up from the ground like a plant yearning for sunlight, his hands stretched upwards and outwards towards the sky, as he embraced his new awakening. Sam was impressed by the sight of the king in his Walker form. He wasn't sure if he liked the king's golden form more or his own crimson form whenever he invaded other Planes.

Sam gave a bow once he saw that the king was fully formed and alert. Golden Herke returned his bow with one in kind.

"Welcome back to the forest, king. How's it feel to be a Walker?"

Golden Herke remained silent and stone faced.

"Dumb question, I suppose. Well, I've prepared everything for this battle. We are going straight to the beast's lair. Are you ready, sir?"

The king didn't utter a word. He only stared at Sam with his now golden eyes.

"So not even NPC Walkers can talk? That's a strange design choice, but whatevs. As long as you can kick some ass like the real King Herke, that's all that matters. Wait! Are you the real King Herke?"

It wasn't as if the silent Walker could answer, but Sam wondered it nonetheless. It most likely was the real king, since Sam was his real self when he was a Walker. The king confirmed his question with a nod.