The three GateKeepers spawned near a merrily burning campfire. Six grey orc warriors lifted their faces in greeting. Kalthu lifted one huge arm and the Captain waved at the fire, welcoming the humans to its warmth. The orcs were already used to the Ghost Lords appearing and disappearing at will. What was important though was that, so far, they had never disappeared in the middle of a fight. The Ghost Lords did not leave or betray their allies.
The Witch sat slightly apart from the orcs. She had been startled by the appearance of the trio. The feeling of seeing them again was different this time. Her algorithm had been altered again and so, she now saw them in a friendlier light. She was their Guide before but now she was also their ally. The Ghost Lords had somehow overcome the odds and proceeded into the Bello's territory. That gave her the ability to help them actively. She will be freed from the Bello and the Bello too will finally be free of her. Her face softened, the poor Bello. The Witch wondered if the three Heroes would discover the true nature and situation of the faultless creature or kill her trying to get the Lifestone.
Her slitted eyes narrowed as she made her decision. She would prevent them from killing the Bello. There must be a way to save herself, the Bello and be free of the never ending cycle (reset of Final Boss when it's killed).
"What's all that glittering stuff?"
"Are these gems? Precious stones, yes? No?" Constantine got up excitedly to examine the grounds. "Are they valuable? Can I take a few? They are winking at me!"
Before them leading further into the Bello's realm were hundreds of shiny coloured stones littering the land. Bright colours winked randomly at him inviting him to step on them.
"Careful Ssspell Casster," came the Witch's voice from behind him. "You will have to passss them to get to the Bello but do not get caught if you are not ready to sstart the next Challenge."
"Next Challenge? What next Challenge, didn't we pass all three already?"
"Thisss isss part of the Bello'sss home. Meeting the Bello is not as eassy as you think."
"What happens if I step on those pretty stones?"
The Witch tilted her head. She could let them get caught by the stones ... but if she did, they would all die there. She really should help them to prepare themselves. That way they would know what to expect, minimise the damage and ensure a higher chance of success through this seemingly mild test.
Lazarus lifted up his head, "Lady ...?"
She held up one scaly hand and pointed. "Wait for it ... there!"
Just then, the stones started sparkling intensely. First the red stones, then green followed by yellow and several other colours, a total of seven colours glittered in turns sometimes two or three colours at the same time in different areas.
"Ooooh! Nice! I should take a screen shot of this," murmured Valentine appreciatively.
"It is very pretty, yes? I feel like I'm in a club."
The orcs sat mesmerised by the flashing colours. They had seen it before whilst waiting for the humans but had made no move after being cautioned by the Witch. After a minute, the kaleidoscope died down. The surroundings suddenly seemed dull and dreary.
"It is pretty but very dangerousss," stated the Witch.
"How so?"
"They are the Demon sstonesss. Getting caught in the colours bringsss out the worsst emotionsss in you. The intensse negative feelingsss are crippling."
Valentine stood up to have a better look. "Negative emotions? Is that all?"
"That is not a problem, yes?"
"Do not take it lightly my Lordsss. Anger, fear, ssadnessss, jealoussy, depressssion and other sstrong feelingsss can and have killed," the Witch cautioned again before turning back to gaze at the hidden distance. "The poor Bello isss confined here by the Challengesss, true but it isss the Demon Stonesss which sshe truly cannot endure." The Bello could not escape here ever unless it rid itself of its desperate longing for home and rage for being summoned to this realm. Her fault that, the Witch though with regret.
"Poor Bello? Isn't she the final big bad Boss?" asked Valentine. His question met with silence as the Witch continued staring into the distance lost in her memories.
"What do you think Laz? How should we proceed? The Bello is beyond the Demon stones."
"Lady, how far do the stones stretch?"
"Hmmm, a few hundred metersss maybe a kilometre or two? I'm not really ssure, Dark One."
Lazarus nodded. "O'kay. Worst case scenario it's about two kilometres. Let's make a run for it. That way it will take five minutes tops." He calculated at 15 seconds for every 100 meters but of course he and the other Heroes could move much faster than that. They also had the endurance for some hard running, unless his Skills glitched on him again. Lately his Speed, Precision, Agility and Perception had been faulty reflecting his deteriorating condition. He hoped they held a bit longer, he needed all his abilities to have a chance at survival.
"Hahaha, you mean five minutes if the orcs can keep up," laughed Valentine.
Kalthu growled at the Thief. "I can run faster than you puny one even if I have to carry you all the way."
"Wanna bet?"
The Captain brightened up. He did not understand this insulting game, for that was how the Warlord had explained his constant banter with the annoying human, a Game. The insulting game that was played by the humans is a battle of words. The battle was played mostly with good friends, if played with enemies it would usually end up with one party dead, but who would bother to play with enemies? To win, one had to control his anger and respond in kind. The loser was the one who lost his temper and drew his weapon first. Humans were weird creatures. Normally, when an orc insults another orc, it was a prelude to a good fierce fight where one would end up dead and the other probably severely wounded. Ahh, but betting, he understood that. Betting and killing. He was a simple orc.
"Of course, puny one," Kalthu accepted Valentine's challenge immediately. "The winner is the one who passes this pretty stone field first. Loser will have to clean my armour," he said confidently tapping at his heavy bronze and fur lined protective gear.
"You mean my armour," Valentine countered indicating his intricate leather and steel getup. "And make sure your clumsy paws don't break anything."
The Warlord grinned gruesomely. "Deal."
Everyone got up. The orcs put out the camp fire carefully and got ready.
"Remember, there will be no physical enemies. Just run until there are no more coloured stones under your feet," the Captain instructed his warriors. The Witch nodded in agreement confirming the Captain's strategy.
"Ready? On my mark ..." Lazarus said as he counted mentally.
The interval between each kaleidoscope was one minute. Each phase also lasted a minute. They had to make the most of the initial time they had then endure a minute of emotional manipulations and so on. The initial estimated time of five minutes for this mission was now stretched to nine minutes if all went well, meaning that they only stopped when assaulted emotionally and could not move on. If the assaults were not as bad as the Witch made it out to be and they managed to keep moving during the lights, they would make better time.
With their Speed abilities, the human Heroes should make it under six minutes.
Fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine ...
"GO! Go, go, GO!"
Everyone sprinted across determined to make the fastest time. The orcs had scoffed at the so called Demon stones exchanging grins among themselves. There was no physical foe, no monsters, in short there were no opponents to worry about. Imagine being scared of lights. This was going to be so easy. What were the humans so worried about?
After a minute, the stones started glowing. Red engulfed a few spots whilst yellow lighted some others. Moments later, the spaces in between started flashing blue and green.
An orc roared in anger at his comrade. They were both bathed in red.
"You bumped into me oaf!" he cried hefting his battle axe aggressively.
"Blind fool! Look at where you are running!" He stopped to raise his own weapon and faced the first orc. He was furious. Didn't he know better? Where were his eyes?
The two suddenly hostile orcs growled menacingly at each other and clashed violently. In seconds they had already started fighting.
An orc caught in yellow suddenly hunched down and hugged himself whimpering uncharacteristically. "I can't go on. Stupid humans. We are all going to die uselessly here. My mate is waiting for me," he mumbled in despair. "This is a useless quest. What if I don't die? What if the Bello turns me into something like the field dwellers? I don't want to turn into that." He shook his head in horror engulfed in sudden cowardice. His thought of the worst scenarios, second guessing his future and all he had done in the past. He should have stayed in the Stronghold.
Green caught the Captain and another warrior. "Faster!" the Captain urged. "The faster we cross ..."
"Who do you think you are to order me around?" the orc cut in angrily. His grey features were screwed up in rage and jealousy. "If not for Cattak's untimely death, you would not have been chosen Captain."
"What do you mean by that, soldier?" the Captain bristled. "I was chosen by the Warlord himself."
"The Warlord is biased. He only chose you because your sister is in his mate's circle guard!"
"Say that again and you will regret it." Both faced off with raised weapons ignoring their surroundings.
"Stop it!" Kalthu roared getting his warriors' attention. "Move forward! It's the stones! They are making us hate and fight each other. They ..." he stopped in mid-sentence as he was caught in a blue flash. A wave of dismay and sadness washed over him. Oh my God, what was he doing leading his loyal warriors to their deaths? Unchecked tears trickled down his rough face as he thought of them never seeing their mates again. Then he envisioned Sharn and his little one. A strangled sound escaped him. His love was waiting for her mate who will never return from this impossible hopeless mission.
Constantine, like Kalthu and another orc was enveloped in blue.. Both orcs were crying shamelessly caught in their personal miseries. The Red Warlock himself had knelt down with his head bowed; whatever they were feeling right now could not be worse than him. His sorrow was the greatest, yes? What could be more depressing than being made a fool of by ones true love?
The beautiful exquisite Carmilla had led him on for months and had broken his poor, poor heart. It had broken into a million pieces, no, a gazillion pieces! He would never recover from losing the love of his life, yes? He had been positive that she had been the one, his one true love but she had turned out to be a catfish. She was a totally different girl using stolen pictures for her profile and feed. Ahhh, that horrible day when he found out the truth. How his heart still ached. He had been truly in love and had been willing to give up all the other Mademoiselles for her but now, now how could he ever love again? He had been such a fool. His eyes watered and a lone tear slid down his handsome face.
The stones flashed randomly again, catching Lazarus and Valentine. The grey ambience drenched their pale features in shadows, highlighting high bridged noses and strong jaws. Valentine blinked feeling the beginnings of depression and glanced at his friend.
"C'mon Val, I'll help you through."
"Don't you feel it?"
"Feel what?"
"This heavy sadness, depression," Valentine sighed hopelessly. "I'm going to be crying in a second."
Lazarus tilted his head considering Valentine's words. "Nope. I don't feel it." Then he added softly, "Guess I'm used to it."
He thought of his past and what he had gone through with his family, yeah he had been depressed for far too long. Thank God that was all in the past but despite an almost 'normal' exterior, he was still healing mentally and emotionally inside. It would take time for him to resolve his numerous trust issues.
"Really? You are used to it? That's just sad, Laz. So damn saaaad," the Thief opened his mouth and wailed in despair, flapping his arms to emphasise his point "Sooo very saaad. No one should be used to this horrible feeling."
The Assassin clenched his jaw in an attempt to keep a straight face but his enigmatic silver eyes twinkled in amusement. It would not do to laugh now. Val would be seriously offended and would probably never forgive him if he did.
After one hellish minute the lights faded.
"Go, go, GO!!" Lazarus yelled. He dragged Valentine to a faster pace.
"I'm alright now," Valentine said as he ran faster. "Don't mention this to anyone, ever, or else ..."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
Valentine who was behind did not see Lazarus' boyish grin.
Only four orcs and three humans followed the Witch forward. Two warriors had died in the skirmish with their fellow comrades. The Captain and the orc who had killed them were moving silently, regretting their actions once the manipulative lights disappeared.
They counted as they ran and were ready when the next wave of emotional attack hit them. As the lights flashed randomly, orcs and humans stopped in their tracks fighting their inner turmoil.
"Arrghhhhh!!" cried Constantine, trying to get a grip. A nameless fear had engulfed him together with the yellow glare around him.
An orc started digging frantically and pushing the stones away from where he was standing. "Push them away. PUSH THEM AWAY! Clear the area! If we are not on them, the lights will not touch us. We will be safe from feeling this way!"
"It isss usselesss orc. The Demon sstonesss are deep. It would take more than a lifetime to dig through them. You cannot esscape them that way."
"Arghhhwaarr!!" he cried in despair and half-heartedly flung a handful of small rocks at the Witch. She avoided them easily and proceeded on her way unoffended. Whether the orcs made it or not did not bother her. She was only concerned with the Ghost Lords. Would they make and if so, how many of the three?
The Captain yelled at his Warlord. "Gwar!! Onwards! My lord!! WARLORD!! ONWARDS FOR THE OVERLORD!!" A second later he fell onto one knee as black enveloped him.
Kalthu snapped out of his despair, smacked his own face hard several times growling. "It's in my head. Sharn will be there waiting for me! She is not with another warrior!" He shook himself free from the green glare's influence. He was jealous for nothing. "SHARN LOVES ME! I am her mate, now and forever!!"
"WARRIORS!! FORWARD!! FOR THE GLORY OF THE OVERLORD!!"
Kalthu kept yelling and thumped his Captain on his broad shoulder. "IT'S ALL IN OUR HEADS! IT'S NOT REAL!! GET UP WARRIOR! Get up or the only thing you will be guarding is the miserable meep rakeesh rats in the gloomy Pouuk Swamps when we get back!! That goes for the both of you!"
"The Overlord!!"
"Gwar! Gwar! GWARR!!" yelled the remaining warriors in response. They took up the battle cry with tears streaming down their faces whilst green, grey and blue flashed around them. The Captain struggled to his feet from sheer will. "The Overlord ..." he mumbled despondently.
"Get up for the Overlord or stay down for the meep rakeesh, your choice," grinned Kalthu like a maniac at his Captain as he hauled the warrior up to his feet. "Not that I'm giving you a choice."
The orcs' ruckus broke the emotional trances. Constantine's head snapped up. "Who cares about the beautiful Carmilla? She is in the past. She was not even real," he choked psyching himself up.
"I am better than that. I can move on, I HAVE moved on, yes? I am handsome and charming and sooooo many real mademoiselles like me. Some even love meee! Poor them, there is only one of me to go around! I am the great Red Warlock! The best in Orc Wars and the handsomest most charming Hero of all. You can NOT take me down SImtrixx!"
Lazarus was down on one knee. His face was a mask of misery and shame. Enveloped in an eerie green glow, he was reliving his 'real life' humiliation. The Hero moaned and covered his face with his hands, mortified that his friends around him would discover his darkest deepest secret. He relived the degradation and violation, squirming in loathing at himself. His ugly past engulfed him and almost broke him again when the colours changed.
Valentine had approached the Assassin when he saw Lazarus fall to his knees but had stalled when was caught in a yellow glare himself. Insecurity and indecision hit him hard. From his friend's tortured expression, he could guess what was going on and that green glow ... it represented jealousy and shame, didn't it? Not good. Yet he stalled wavering uncertainly. Should he go to Laz and comfort him or would that highlight his emotional pain? No, he should not cause Laz more pain, right? Laz would hate him for that because he was the only one who knew his sordid past. On the other hand ... before he could finish that thought the yellow faded and he was engulfed in darkness.
Now, Valentine felt his acute indecision fade away. A cold pit in his stomach grew, invading his whole being in a few seconds and his sympathy for Laz melted away to be replaced by a need to kill. He glared at his friend as the Assassin shook himself from his harsh memories the green had brought on. His face took on a grim expression as white substituted the green glow.
Lazarus illuminated in a harsh white light faced Valentine who was in black shadows. The Assassin's expression was cold and deadly as he twirled long twin blades and got into optimum position to kill his best friend. This would be fast and painless, well almost painless.
The Thief undaunted, held his favourite long sword expertly. He moved with the Assassin adjusting his position and stance as Lazarus stalked and circled around him preparing to attack. If only he did not feel so damn bad about killing Laz. It was going to take him time to get over it. Oh well ... he shrugged as he waved his sword warningly.
Lazarus lunged at Valentine just as the orcs' battle cries filled the air. He came to his senses in mid-air and twisted his body, improvising to void his lethal attack. He was too near and moving too fast for anything else. Valentine too who had made to slice the Assassin, saw his intentions and reacted in sync. He moved his sword fractionally sideways, catching Lazarus' twin blades as they slid along the longer blade emitting sparks. The sharp edges stopped right in his face. The long knives were withdrawn with a flick of the Assassin's wrists as Lazarus landed in a half crouch a few feet away.
"You o'kay?"
"Yeah," said the Thief. "Thanks."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to attack you. I ..."
"It's o'kay. I was going to disembowel you and mourn you after ... maybe," countered Valentine.
"You were?" Lazarus raised one dark elegant eyebrow at the grinning Thief. "I don't feel so bad now."
"Let's get out of here."
"Copy that."
Once the Heroes and orcs found out that other distractions reduced the effects of the manipulative lights, they kept up a loud chant, yelling battle cries and calling at each other. The small group sprinted ahead when the glares faded but continued to move forward when the kaleidoscope started up again albeit at a slower pace.
The ordeal was over in less than five minutes for the humans. They collapsed on a white sandy beach. Valentine looked back at the struggling orcs urging them on. He yelled triumphantly at the Warlord, "C'mon hurry up! My armour needs polishing!"
"I am going to polish your armour with you still in it!" Kalthu retorted huffing in exertion. He was physically fit but running and fighting intense mental, emotional and psychological attacks was another matter. The inner battle messed up one's coordination and concentration so that simple tasks like running at maximum speed became difficult. He kept slowing down without meaning to as his mind wandered and got distracted with mental taunts and negative thoughts.
Valentine laughed. "He think's I'll still be in my armour when he finally get here, hahaha!" He turned to Laz when his friend did not laugh at his joke. "Laz? Laz!!"
The fine white sand near the Assassin was stained red as he doubled over coughing violently. He heaved painfully, hardly able to draw in breath when his whole body rocked forward again and again. When he was finally able to stop, his shoulders drooped as his head dropped down to his chest. He swallowed painfully, hugging himself trying to fend off the sudden intense cold which engulfed him.
"Constantine! Get the orcs in! Laz is in trouble!"