Out of Light, Into the Dark

[Proto Man]

The preteen machine yelped and dove to the right as fast as he could. He hit the ground hard and had to roll hard to the left to avoid the oncoming hammer blow from a screeching monster. Planting his shoulders, he swung up the barrel of the Proto Buster and released the shotgun-like blast of energy at his attacker. The blighted humanoid let out a gurgling shriek before toppling backwards. With half of its torso blown away by the blast, it wouldn’t be standing back up anytime soon.

Venting the shotgun gases out the barrel of his arm cannon, Proto Man rolled over onto his stomach and hopped up onto his feet. His eyes immediately searched the clearing for his companions, but before he could spot either of them, he was beset by a pair of stout, armored darkspawn. One of them lashed forward with a mace, smashing Proto Man square in the chest with the weapon. The robotic youth let out a whimper and stumbled backward, nearly losing his momentum as he brought his weapon to bear on his attacker. Before he could fire a shot, the second creature dove at him, tackling Proto Man to the ground.

There was a silver flash that preceded the dagger punching down through the softer, unreinforced part of Proto Man’s shoulder. The red robot bit down on his lower lip to hold back a yelp as he smash the barrel of his weapon into the side of the creature’s head. As he tried to sit up, he had to use the Proto Buster to intercept an oncoming mace swing, but even with that small victory, his eyes caught the flash of light that came right before the lightning bolt connected with his chest and gut.

For a brief moment, everything was stars and white circles, and Proto Man even feared that the blast had knocked out a few of his motor systems until he was able to ‘feel’ his feet jiggle. When his visual display was back to normal, he found himself about fifteen yards back from his previous position. Judging by the small path of destroyed trees in front of him, his flight hadn’t been a pleasant one for anybody.

“Kill the prime!” The magic-wielding darkspawn bellowed from the clearing as darkspawn began to pour into the path that the boy’s body had made. With a grunt, Proto Man wrenched himself free from what remained of a ruined pine tree and stumbled forward a few steps. Unlike the last few scuffles, he had some breathing space, and he planned to take advantage of that.

A flash of white light consumed Proto Man’s form, forcing the darkspawn to shield their eyes or be blinded momentarily. When they lowered their arms a few moments later, their intended prey was decked out in additional armor plates. In his formerly free hand, the preteen now held a large shield. With a grin, Proto Man leveled his glowing weapon with the approaching horde. “Finish Buster!” He shouted as the deluge of energy erupted from the barrel of the weapon, bathing the darkspawn in light, heat, and death.

Out in the clearing, the darkspawn emissary winced as the yellow beam tore out through the forest, scattering those underlings that it failed to obliterate outright. With a grimace, the magic-wielding creature looked down at his tome and beckoned it to the page he desired. A grin stretched across the monster’s gaunt features as he looked up to see an augmented Proto Man staring at him from across the opening in the otherwise dense forest.

“Where are my friends?” Proto Man demanded, glancing around for any sign of his traveling partners. In the distance, he heard the sounds of snapping branches and crushing leaves, but those noises were receding into the distance at a frantic pace.

“Scattered to the winds,” the tall darkspawn rasped as the gemstone atop of his staff began to glow. “Did you really think you stood a chance? That one prime would be able to stop him? You are a foolish little child.”

Proto Man frowned as he started to walk toward the mage.

“Come to your death then,” the emissary rasped as he slammed his tome shut and grabbed his staff with both hands. Swinging the old piece of wood forward, he aimed its glowing tip at Proto Man and snarled as a concentrated lance of energy erupted forth.

Without skipping a beat, Proto Man planted his shield into the ground and rolled to the left. The mighty attack blasted through his abandoned bulwark and slammed harmlessly into the forest as the red robot popped up to his knees and fired a charged burst of energy at his foe. The dense projectile connected with the gemstone that decorated the emissary’s staff and exploded—shattering the glowing jewel into a thousand sparkling shards.

The change was instant and almost thunderous.

The darkspawn dropped his ruined weapon and recoiled, almost as if he’d been shot square in the chest. With a dull thud, he fell back onto his haunches before his entire body seemed to break apart like dust. While the display was impressive, it nevertheless robbed Proto Man of his only means of extracting intelligence from the upper-level darkspawn.

A sigh slipped from the robot’s lips as the additional armor plates vanished from him in a flash of light. Reaching up to his shoulder, he grabbed the dagger and ripped it free, eliciting a small flurry of sparks in the process. As he was about to drop the weapon, Proto Man noticed some strange markings near the base of the blade. He took a snapshot and ran the results through a dataverse search engine. A few moments later, a new window told him that the markings were similar to the little letters placed onto coins that marked where they had been produced. The particular design was from an old forge used by the Kingdom during the war with Diablo. Where was said forge located?

Proto Man sighed as his overlay indicated that he had to travel deep, deep into the Pale Moors before he’d reach what had been a small village at the height of the Kingdom’s power.