The wind howled across the rooftops, echoing with creaking wood and roof tiles. A river of water rushed down the sides of buildings and roof tops under the continuous masses of water rushing from the roiling, black clouds. It was speaking wet within the buildings as water poured through every nook and cranny it could find.
On the distant horizon, the line separating ocean and sky looked like an ugly, swollen wound. The water spout rising from the waters only worsening the view as the vortexes cut across. Horrid, angry stitches. Inflamed and infected.
Lightning gleamed, illuminating the world for a split second, followed by a roaring thunder.
And yet, this chaos was reduced to little more than a background whisper faced by the disturbing sound of skittering steps, each like a massive spike driven into the ground before pulled out with a disturbing squelch. A sound repeated so rapidly, it melded together into a single, bone piercing noise. Only the sound of these steps shattering stone and splintering wood cut through this horrid melody as it neared the harbour’s plaza.
Pressed under the counter of the plaza’s bakery, Threy and Mako were huddled side by side. Hearts racing, both covered their mouths to muffle their bated breathing. Threy had pulled his coat over his head to cover the glow of his flickering eye of flames.
Mako flinched as the sound of one of her remaining Stickfigures being shattered echoed quietly through the air. Glancing through the Nightmare Lens, she felt her heart skip a beat at the unnervingly potent glow that shaped this monster roaming the harbour. Where the Cursed Skeletons had appeared as if shaped by mist, this was was a masterful sculpture of gleaming crystals writhing with cursed mist.
A rough sphere marking its centre with a quickly thinning tail, it skittered around on countless legs made of boney spikes and blade. It was as if someone had made the night terror fusion of a centipede and earwig reality and then crushed its middled together, leaving it but its front and back.
Skittering across the plaza, the creature’s centre jarringly moved from side to side, a cone of cursed mist pressing down on all it saw. Each step it took made the ground shudder and sounded like it stabbing flesh.
A few times the cone broken against the building Mako and Threy were hiding in, but the walls and counter covered them from its gaze. Still, each time it began to jolted back into a rapid skitter both our heroes couldn’t help but flinch.
Crawling up the clock tower with terrifying speeds, the sound of metal and gears shattering from each leg piercing through the stone, the terror amalgam gazed one last time across the plaza before letting out a bone chilling screech to leap off the broken tower and skitter down the side of the harbour’s cliff side.
It felt like an eternity had passed and the tumultuous sound of the howling storm outside was now akin to a beautiful, calming melody as it reached Mako and Threy’s ears.
“We’ve got time.” Mako spoke in a whisper, only realising now how dry her mouth felt as she tried to swallow. Not for a moment had she taken off the Nightmare Lens, watching disturbed as the horror skittered around the eastern edge of the cliff just above the breaking waves.
“Fucking hell… that was terrifying…” Threy breathed out, his blazing eye large and round as he pulled his coat back down and shivered.
“Being able to see it didn’t make it better.” Mako mumbled in agreement, tapping against the lens she was holding onto before her eye with a tight squint.
A fascinated look flitted over Threy as he inspected the monocle, not needing to her to explain. He leant backwards and furrowed his brow in thought.
“So, still a stealth level. Only now we’ve got a probably invincible monster chasing after us while we have to deal with the remaining three spires. Only question is… do we have to distract it or just need to continue sneaking?” He mused out loud before gently poking Key under his hat.
“N-NO! Nothing you could say will get me out of this wonderful safety of shadows and darkness!” Key’s panicked cry replied, sounding strangely echoey and muffled.
“Please, Key. It sounded you like you knew what thing was. Can you at least tell us? No need to poke your head out for that, right?” Mako answered here, giving a reassuring smile even as the dragon bean couldn’t actually see it.
“…t-that’s fine, yeah.” Key’s voice trembled nervously after a second of pause.
————
The Bone Curse. It was the true form of the Curse that had affected the Cursed Skeletons. Embedded into the land, it was the source all Cursed Spires and as such it wasn’t chained to a spire since it was the channel for the Curse itself. An invincible, insatiable monster that hunted down anything that lived spreading its cursed miasma. Its gaze capable of slowing and paralysing anyone within it. However, its awakening also meant that no other spires could be erected until it was embedded within the land again.
“Okay, does that mean we just need to destroy the remaining spires or is there something more needed to destroy that thing?” Threy asked Key after listening to her stuttered explanation.
“A B-bone Curse always requires s-something to fuel its e-existence in our world. A c-constant swell of energy that…” Key’s echoey voice was drowned out by another flash and thunder, making her squeak. “T-there s-s-s-should be a connection to it visible! G-g-good luck!”
And with that, their scaredy Guide scrambled deeper into Threy’s bottomless pockets.
“Can you see something like that?” Threy immediately turned to Mako as she was squinting hard through the Nightmare lens. A light twinkle flickered within his blazing eye. “Because I think I already have an idea.”
“Say it together?” The shark girl replied with a mischievous grin, meeting his gaze.
“Sure.” He chuckled.
In perfect synch, they nodded down the count and after taking a deep breath, they spoke as one.
““It’s the mill.””
Their words were underlined by a rapid series of lightning bolt as they struck the very top of that very same mill. Thunder rolled across the harbour as a deafening shockwave.
Even if Mako hadn’t noticed the pulsing wave of Cursed energy flowing into the Bone Curse from the mill, she had already come to the same conclusion as Threy. It was kinda the most prominent and ominous looking building left around the harbour and all those bones adorning its outside kinda sealed the deal already. But it was always better to make sure, just in case this was just a red herring.
“There are three more spires we need to deal with first. Let’s get a game plan ready.” Threy smirked which Mako returned with glee as they began their work on the downfall of this horrid curse.
——Mako——
The Bone Curse was still skittering along the underside of the harbour cliff, likely striking against fish and other nautical life, as Mako made sure of its current location. Standing atop the broken clock tower, she waved towards Threy for the okay to go, holding her breath as she waited for any sudden changes in the monster’s attention. There were none and she watched relieved as Threy easily rushed across the swaying bridge connecting the plaza with the closest of the pillars jutting out of the ocean.
Wooden cranes towered above simple, wooden buildings with only roofs and some walls to the side. Long since drowned skeletons of bushes and small trees lined the edges of this plateau. It was also the location of the first of the last three spires they needed to shatter, roaming with Cursed Skeletons. However, the shattering would have to wait for a bit.
With Threy having made it safely across, the shark girl leapt into action as well. All of her strove against taking the eastern bridge instead of the much safer western one, terror washed over her at how close she would be above the Bone Curse, but this was all part of the plan.
Gaze glued to the Bone Curse, Mako realised that the real challenge was not to run into any buildings or stumble over any obstacles on her way through the harbour. The view through the Nightmare Lens made watching her surroundings hard as keeping both eyes open gave her a pounding headache.
Wind and rain tugged at her body and soaked her to the bones. It was uncomfortable, safe to say, not to mention that the ground was muddy under her feet, splattering all over her. Yeah, she was definitely going to take a steaming hot bubble bath by the time they got back to the inn.
But for all the unpleasantness, it didn’t take her long to reach the bridge. The plateau on the other side stood a bit taller to the eastern side adorned by wooden stairs, buildings and platforms with the west an open field of mud and stone where the Cursed Skeletons roamed.
Her throat felt tight and she swallowed nervously before tensing and speeding as fast as she could across the bridge. For a second she felt her body want to lock up as the Bone Curse froze in its movement for a second. And then she had safely reached the other side.
——Threy——
It was a feeling of cold blades pressing against him from all sides that washed over Threy as he snuck along the outer edge of the plateau, allowing him to easily ignore the uncomfortably scratching and poking of the gnarled bush branches. Luck had been on their side as none of the Cursed Skeletons had patrolled the bridge. And he wouldn’t be surprised if any that had patrolled around the outer edge had just simply fallen down into the waves below.
The other important reason he was taking this route was to keep an eye out for Mako.
“Okay, time to go then.” He muttered to himself as he saw her tiny, green dot make safely across the bridge through the storming rain.
One of his last four Stickfigures twirled between his fingers. He would’ve to make all of them count if he wanted to succeed here. Neither of them had known what would happen if they want back to Zaunder’s Counters to restock and having to redo all of the earlier horror was definitely not something they wanted to deal with.
Risking a glimpse towards the Bone Curse, Threy took a deep breath and then jumped down the side of the plateau. His feet struck against the side and with a small smirk, he hopped around to the northern part of the pillar, just beneath the platforms holding up the two massive cranes.
The spire here stood at the very centre that was currently crowded by Cursed Skeletons.
“Not for much longer.” Threy smirked as he leaped onto one of the fluttering ropes hanging from the cranes. He grimaced, feeling the triple twisted rope pinsh him as it moved within the howling winds. Slowly he climbed his way up, until he was just below the platform and out of sight of the skeletons. He took a deep breath.
“HEY!!! OVER HERE YOU MORON SKELETONS!!!”
The sound of shuffling and creaking skeletons turning towards his locations was accompanied by their wheezing rattles. But as dumb as the skeletons were, or maybe because of it, they only tilted their skulls confused to the side when they didn’t see anyone actually there where that strange but very insulting call had come from.
Threy sighed and climbed just a tiny bit higher before breaking the Stickfigure against the rope.
“WAHOO!” With a cheerful jig, the stickfigure began to cheerfully dance while keeping perfectly ahold of the rope without falling down. In full sight of the horde of skeletons.
Ah, now there was someone there! A collective breath of relief rippled across the Cursed Skeletons as they looked at each other in nervous laughter and reassurance that, no, they hadn’t all suddenly started to hallucinate about insulting intruder. Of course there was an actual intruder! One skeleton gave a wheezing laugh as he sheepishly rubbed the spine piece connection to his skull while another punched its neighbour in the ribs with skeleton grin. Annoyed, that one slapped it over the back of its skull, making it chaotically spin, as it had to reattach the rib that broken off.
And then they all rushed towards the rope dancing distraction, which was just about as fast as someone on a segway. And not even on full speed ahead.
More hearing than actually seeing the success, Threy hopped back towards the stone pillar. A grin of exhilaration gleamed on his face as the air rushed past him, over fifty metres above the roiling waves of the dark ocean, and jumped off its side back into Double Jump abuse after around a five metre fall.
Quickly he made his way towards the western edge of the plateau. Behind him, the first wave of skeletons had started falling towards their watery grave with confused, wheezing cries. Or shattered atop the swaying skeleton boats whose startled crew stared wide eyed at their cursed brethren awkwardly pulling themselves together. If they didn’t disintegrate because they had fallen outside the remaining spires’ range.
“Hehe, leave it to Mako to find out that stickfigures are master acrobats.” Threy chuckled to himself as the amount of Cursed Skeletons left on the plateau quickly thinned out.
Leaping back on top, he pressed himself against the western side of the buildings. Risking a glance around it towards the plateau’s centre, Threy noted that only a few scattered skeletons were still left as they wandered back out from under the roof that covered the crane platforms.
More than he would have liked but now they were no longer just clustered up in one place and instead wandered around to patrol for any more intruders.
“Damnit, I should’ve move a bit faster.” Threy chided himself, letting a trio of Bronze Grenades roll out of his sleeve and into his hand.
Rolling them in circles, he noted the remaining skeletons. Four clusters. The biggest of five was facing the crane platform. Three were moving back and forth along the path between him and the spire’s bulb. There was no need for him to deal with them all and so he waited… waited… and bolted around the corner!
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The first grenade spun through the air, towards the three skeletons just as they met up in the middle. It struck the ground beneath the feet, detonating instantly to send them flying over and behind Threy. His second grenade already delivered towards the cluster of five, leaving them no time to react to the first explosion before being sent careening down the plateau. Threy winced a little as the explosion had been strong enough to shatter parts of the wooden platform, an alarming creak echoed through the air.
But none of that mattered with the goal just ahead. The third grenade rolled in his hand, keeping note of the remaining skeletons with his peripheral vision, not risking direct eye contact with their cursed gaze.
“SHATTER!!!” He screamed out, lopping the grenade towards the closest cluster of skeletons, as he pulled out his revolvers swirling with Skill Energy. A spinning dual cannon shot burst from his guns, the swirling spheres of darkness casting everything behind into shadows, before detonating against the spire’s bulb.
A shock of shadows washed across the plateau, weaving through the Cursed Skeletons just before they began to disintegrate alongside the glittering dust within the rain.
The howling scream of the enraged Bone Curse didn’t keep him waiting for even a moment.
“Yup, time to book it!”
Threy whirled around on the spot and ran as fast as his legs could carry him across the bridge leading to the western cluster of pillars and their spire. Not even needing to glance backwards to know that the Bone Curse was skittering at horrifying speeds across the cliffside, a loud, screeching crack after moment of silence made him pretty sure it had just leapt onto one of the pillars.
“Plan’s definitely working so far…!” He panted with wide, blazing eye. The sound of creaking wood echoed with a soft groan behind him. It shattered and the splashing of water into water followed soon after.
——Mako——
The moment the Bone Curse began to move, Mako felt her heart race in trepidation. With bated breath she pressed herself into the shadow of the wooden structures. And so she waited. But not for long. A small grin came to her lips, pushing away the fear with smugness. Yep, their plan seemed to have worked perfectly.
She flitted out of the shadows and with jump onto the nearby support beam, she quickly climbed up to the highest point on this plateau. Not a single Cursed Skeleton had remained after Threy had shattered the Spire, giving her a free path forward.
The way up was rather uninteresting as it was just large, wooden platforms with nothing on it besides the basic buildings nestled against the side of the rising stone. Flipping herself over the final edge, Mako landed gracefully on her feet… and in the cold, wet mud that covered everything that wasn’t stone or wood around here. She had really thought she had gotten used to the cold by now.
Grimacing, she looked sadly at the grey and boney skeleton of what had once been a tall and majestic tree. Standing here alone, it seemed to truly embody what the cursed had done to this place.
“This better be one of those situations were things go back to normal once the curse has been lifted.”
A grumble on her lips, Mako flitted towards the northern edge and finally got a better overview of where to go next. They had taken a look back on the main land to plan everything out, but they hadn’t been able to get too good a view. Now there was no doubt left as to where she had to go.
Cursed Skeletons roamed the chaotic gathering of buildings dotting the sloped plateau up ahead, a veritable maze with buildings randomly built atop each other. She could see shadowed tunnels zigzagging through them.
Her gaze lowered.
Besides the bridge connecting it to her current pillar, it had two more. One lead to an unimportant, smaller one to the east. And the third lead directly to where the next Spire awaited. Its plateau was overgrown by the skeleton of a once beautiful forest, ash grey spots peeked out between the rolling hills of black to dark purple mud.
Mako’s tail flicked from side to the side as the cold rain splashed against her body. Hopefully they would actually get something… good…
“Fucking hell! We didn’t get anything for our struggles yet!” Mako realised, jaw dropping in disbelief. Besides the Nightmare Lens, neither she nor Threy had found any chests or worthwhile items at any point so far. Not even after dealing with those Spires!
Sure, this was a stealth horror segment, but still!
“Okay, I just want to be done with this harbour.” Mako huffed annoyed and to underscore her words, she leapt off the edge.
The bridge awaited below and with a double jump boost, her hard fall turned into a quick sprint forwards. Wood groaned under her feet and out of sheer habit she felt the urge to painstakingly sneak through the maze up ahead.
“Yeah, no.” With an amused smirk the shark girl shook her head and veered to the left, leaping over the side of the bridge.
Mako’s feet hit its side and jump boosting the rest of the way, she completely subverted the maze by just leaping along the side of the pillar. A stickfigure laid in her hands. It was one of only two she had left. And she needed to use it now or the Cursed Skeletons on the bridge would make things rather difficult on her.
She prayed. She threw. And the cheerful call of her double echoed through the storm a second later, soon deafened by wind and thunder. The way was clear for now.
“Please hold out just a bit longer.” Mako mumbled as the dead tree forest stretched out before her.
It had been difficult to make out any Cursed Skeletons from her previous vantage point through the mesh of dead tree branches. And even up close, only the terrifying glow of their eyes she glimpsed occasionally within the forest gave her any clues to their positions. But with the Nightmare Lens it had become clear that this plateau was positively teeming with them.
They wandered through the thick mud, some had somehow gotten into the branches above and others had hid within the writhing roots of the tress, their ash grey shapes visible wherever the rain had been able to wash away the mud.
“Oh, this is going to suck…” Mako groaned.
——Threy——
“This sucks so freaking hard…!” Threy panted hard as he pressed himself into the dead undergrowth of a similar forest directly on the other side of the ocean pillars. The gleaming eyes of Cursed Skeletons twinkled through the rainy haze. But much more terrifying was how easily the Bone Curse blended into the mass of dead tree trunks. More than once had he twitched in panic as a leg began to move that he had mistaken for just another tree trunk.
He had managed to escape from the Bone Curse’s sight but not before he had felt the effect of its gaze. Draining. Life and Energy was sucked out of him. Had he not pushed himself to his limits, the heavy weight of fatigue settling in his bones would have likely meant his end. And he would rather keep his no-death streak going, thank you very much.
In the end, it was the chaos of the forest that had become his refuge. The undergrowth and many trees obscuring him extremely well from its gaze.
Even if it meant he had to crawl through freezing cold mud.
At least he had the next Spire in view, located on a smaller pillar that he could easily reach as soon as Mako lured the Bone Curse back towards her side.
——Mako——
Mako absolutely hated stealth segments with all her heart. Back in the maze of rooms and hallways she had at least always a good idea of where she was safely out of view. Here? Here not so much. And getting through this dead tree forest had been really trying her patience.
Which was why she decided to take her frustrations out on it after finally reaching her breaking point.
“Oh, they’re going to be distracted. Distracted until their end.” Mako grinned with a manic twinkle in her eyes as she plopped down half her entire arsenal of grenades alongside a number of wobbly balls that reminded her of water balloons.
Any hesitations of blowing everything up had gone away with no buildings in the way and now she had dropped a good dozen grenades and balloons into various parts of the mesh of roots. All of them primed, just waiting for a trigger. A trigger that she finally gave with the last grenade rolling into the dark depths of the root network, pin drawn.
And as fast as she could, Mako sprinted away towards the safest part of the forest. Her heart beat. Once. Twice. Three times. Four times. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine…
BOOOOOM!!!!
A deafening roar echoed through the air as part of the forest was consumed within a cascade of fiery eruptions rapidly following each other, thick and heavy smoke that obscured everything from view billowed out as well. From one second to the next, the gloomy forest was illuminated by bright flickering flames of red and white.
Despite having soaked in rain for all that time, the boney wood was surprisingly flammable and fuelled the raging inferno that began to spread across the plateau.
Send flying forwards by the shockwave, Mako scrambled back to her feet, her front covered in mud from head to toe. This was a bit more effective than she had expected, the shark girl sweatdropped at the dark black smoke wobbling between the flames behind her.
But it had worked. The creaking and clacking sound of nearly every Cursed Skeleton of this plateau running towards the explosion could be heard. Those that didn’t were either entangled between roots and branches or had just been blown up alongside everything else and were scattered all over the place to put themselves back together.
“Yeah, no time to waste now.” Mako nodded firmly to herself and rushed through the undergrowth, a wobbling balloon in her hand. Smoke bombs. They had to be the source of all that thick, black smoke. Probably a good way to escape the gaze of any Cursed Skeletons in the worst case.
Ducking behind thick tree trunks or flitting under roots, she hid from the scrambling mass of undead as they rushed towards the flames.
And then her path was free, towards the top of central hill where the Spire jutted towards the sky.
——Threy——
The sound of the massive chain explosion had easily reached even Threy over the storm, making him blink startled as that was definitely not the shockwave of a Spire crumbling as he had expected.
“What the heck did you do, Mako…?” He sweatdropped, currently hiding within a mud hole that he had accidentally fallen into. Only his head poked out, blazing eye covered by his coat again. With how wet and cold everything already was, that really didn’t make things any worse.
Unexpectedly, the explosion had also alarmed the Bone Curse. Threy had been able to keep an eye out for its form through the rainy haze and was able to watch it freeze and whirl around towards the noise. And then it took off with a bone piercing roar.
Things were decidedly not going according to plan anymore.
With a wet squelch, Threy pulled himself out of the mud hole and shook himself until the worst was off. Brushing the last few spots away, he didn’t waste any more time to haste towards his next Spire. The raging glow of a forest in blazes noted only in passing.
“Better hurry up, Mako…!” He called out, even knowing she wouldn’t actually be able to hear him.
——Mako——
Fire, wind and rain warred with each other all around Mako as she leapt up the hill of mud and roots. One moment her body was warmed by an upstream of wind, the next a cold gale from above made her shiver. Small whirlwinds had flared up and died down just as quickly, pillars of fire and embers that crackled against the rain.
Within this chaos, not a single Cursed Skeleton got in her way. The ones that hadn’t rushed towards the explosion were still caught in whatever roots and branches they had gotten tangled up in. But as the flames consumed the trees, branches and roots turned to ash while bones stayed unharmed. No doubt, there was an army of burning Cursed Skeletons waiting within the inferno.
None of that mattered if she reached the Spire and shattered it however. And with her goal in sight, Mako readied her strike.
Jutting out of the mud, the Spire stood tall within an open glade. What was left of the surroundings trees seemed to bow low around it, as if the hand of an evil gardener had pressed them down. Poetic musing aside, Mako spun her trident and Energy surged through her body and once again she rocketed through the air as torpedo of abyssal waters.
Nothing stood in her way and as her trident connected with the bulb, it shattered after a only a moment of resistance.
The blazing forest flared under the sudden build up of warm heat, cold wind pushing from all around the pillar towards where heated air rose upwards. A play of dancing flames and crackling sparks surrounded Mako, casting her shadow against the dark clouds above. She stood right at the centre of this inferno, within the eye of the storm and the whirling tornado of flames that swirled around her.
“And now it’s all up to Threy.” Mako grinned smugly. Only for the smile to fall from her lips as the Bone Curse’s roar echoed through the air a moment later. Loud. Deafening. And far, far, far too close for her liking.
She really didn’t even need to Nightmare Lens to see where that monster was, Mako realised as she whirled around. The dark flaring flames were more than enough to see where it was breaking through the burning forest. Fire was now everywhere, the few trees that hadn’t caught on fire before had done so with the flare caused by the shattering of the Spire.
Mako’s head whipped around, looking for a way to get out of this cage of fire. There was none. At least not without her getting a bit too close to the heat than she would have liked.
By now the heat had started to become unbearable, the rain evaporated before it could even reach the canopy of flames that breathed new life into the forest. Only now it was a ocean of fire that adorned the trees instead of leafs, a crown of flames that roared in defiance against the unnatural storm.
But as freezing and uncomfortable as the rain and wind had been, the fire and heat were decidedly much more debilitating to Mako than those could have ever been.
Swallowing, her throat already feeling rough and dry like sandpaper, she pulled out her last few Energy Drops and moved. Speeding through the flames, the swirling mass of abyssal water wrapped around her like a protective cocoon. There was only one way for her to go now, the final bridge connecting the plateau to the Bone Mill.
Flaming trees were pushed aside like they were delicate flowers and the Bone Curse was hot on her trail. Quite literally as it entire body was wrapped in a mantle of flames.
——Threy——
The wind was pulling at his coat and the roiling waves of the ocean swirled chaotically beneath him. A free fall through the air after he had leapt off the plateau edge. And with the thundering pulse of Mako shattering the second to last Spire, Threy found himself caught in a sudden updraft that threatened to pull him back.
“Nope nope nope nope!”
Instead of letting himself just be a helpless leaf in the wind, he grasped the edges of his coat tightly and turned it into a makeshift parachute glider. It was anything but graceful but it got the job done as he rode the sudden updraft like a wave forward. Right above the Spire.
The plateau was teeming with Cursed Skeletons but they had no idea that he was there. And that only needed to stay this way for a few more seconds.
With all his strength, Threy pulled his coat close around him. The wind no longer caught within it and instead washed around his more cylindric shape. He was falling again, quickly, a nervous flutter in his stomach even after all the previous leaping and jumping from before.
There was no way for him to reach for his revolvers right now but he was already drawing on his Energy.
The ground rushed towards him, twenty metres turned into five, one. And with a splash he Double Jumped, all around him the eyes of the Cursed Skeletons whipped towards him. Icy, malevolent power bearing down on him within a single moment. Frost began to settle in his bones, weaken him rapidly. For a moment his grip faltered as he drew his revolvers on the Spire’s bulb, they slid out of his…
His hand clenched tight and the shot was fired. A swirling duo of writhing shadow cannon balls that struck the bulb like a gong and then exploded in a beautiful flower of flames and shadows. And the skeletons disintegrated.
“Haa…!” He gasped wide eyed in relief, the icy death washed out of his body by a wave of vitalising warmth. But it wasn’t enough to stop him from shivering at the remaining frost that still pumped through his veins.
The now familiar shudder of the curse rippled through the land. Only this time the world continued to tremble. The storm turned silent for a moment, no sound made even as the wind continued to howl and lightning cut through the dark sky. It had drawn away to not distract from the ominous creaking and cracking that now echoed across the harbour.
Leaning onto his knees, Threy panted exhausted and was forced to watch in aggravation as the Bone Mill began to grow. The two floors began to rise. Bones elongated, menacing with greater spikes. One, two and a third floor rose from beneath. Five in total, each adorned by gothic and primal architecture. It was the final obstacle that laid ahead. Of course it had to be a freaking Dungeon!
“Like we haven’t already dealt with one!” Threy groaned, plopped down on now dried mud and massaged his temples annoyed.
——Mako——
When the shudder of the final Spire’s shattering echoed across the harbour, she could have cried tears of joy and relief. Her body felt completely dried out and wrinkly, not a single Energy Drop was left and she had been running on nothing but fumes as the Bone Curse broke through blazing trees as if they weren’t even there. She felt her life drain away as its gaze reached her sporadically through the mass of flames and trees.
But now it had frozen. Just as the inferno around them had. And all sound but that of the Bone Mill’s growth.
For a moment she feared that the Bone Curse would leap at her as sound returned to the world. But no, ignoring her completely, it skittered straight towards the mill. A hateful, maddened crackle echoed from its form as it leapt towards the plateau and skittered up its side before crawling inside the mill through a shattered part in the wall that quickly closed behind it as wood and bones folded itself together in very unsettling manner. Mako could swear she had heard its creaking and groaning. And then the last gaze of baleful malice vanished behind wood and bones.
Mako shivered as she finally managed to pull her eyes away, feeling like she had finally shaken off a insidious curse.
“Well, at least the fire’s dying down.” She mumbled, blinked and had to hold back a giggle. Her dried out body made her sound like some ancient grandma!
Indeed, the blaze of flames had started to settle down. The cold wind of the storm alongside the occasional rain drop once more reached her body. It was still burning, but where the trees had fed the flames a feast, the dead forest had now much less fuel to give.
Smacking her dry lips, Mako nodded to herself and hurried on. There was no time to waste. They had unlocked the harbour’s final Dungeon and together with Threy, she would finally put an end to this nightmare of a level.
In what clearly another stealth maze. She didn’t sob but it was a close thing.