The Secondary Saga

[Thaal Sinestro]

Group 3
Grobdum, Lyra, Pinocchio, Raw Onion, Top Man

Grobdum waved the stone above his head wildly, a psychotic look of joy on his face. He cackled as the temple crumbled behind him, his sundry comrades stumbling ,fumbling and bruising themselves in their escape. A massive cloud of stone dust washed over them as the last of the building toppled into itself, bits of rock raining down as it gave in to whatever force consumed it.

The sound of it was deafening as the rock cracked and crumbled, enormous forces collided and dispersed, the earth below their feet rumbling almost too forcefully to stand. As each of the group slowly clambered from the wreckage of stone and magic, they made account of each other.

Raw Onion was the second one to her feet but the first one to make the count, as Grobdum was too consumed with his sparkling trinket to even notice their presence.

The tiny Pegasus weakly attempted to flap a wing, which was limber but sore, and her tiny voice called out, “Is everyone ok?” The purity of her concern could be heard by anyone who listened, her massive eyes crinkled with concern.

“I banged my knee pretty bad,” Top Man muttered as he flexed it back and forth, the soft sound of scraping steel murmuring from within, “but it seems like it’s still functional.”

Pinocchio fumbled with his massive nose, trying to get the dirt and mud off of his face. “I think I’m ok,” he finally conceded after he knocked free a large clump. His wooden eyes rolled towards the lithe girl, who was looking over a glowing map of some kind. “What’s Lyra got?” he pointed as he asked, drawing everyone’s attention to it.

“It seems like a map,” she said flatly, “and yeah, I’m fine. Just a little cut.” She turned the page back and forth, inspecting every detail, exploring every line of the paths and every letter of detail. “I think we’re in some kinda place called, ‘The Blighted Dell.’”

“One sec, like, the Blighted Dell?” Top Man almost shouted, clearly shocked. “My brother Snake Man went through here a while back! Him and Proto Man were trying to fix the Blight. It still looks pretty Blighted, though.”

“Yeah, I dunno if it’s gonna be winning any tourism awards anytime soon,” Pinocchio said sardonically. “I know I keep on saying this, but let’s just get out of here as fast as possible.”

Lyra nodded in agreement, “Yeah, I don’t like the looks of things. It almost looks like…” she squinted in the dying light and gazed into the trees, “it looks like there’s something in the trees.”

The tiny goblin stuffed his treasure into a small sack at his hip and scurried over to the group, “Yeah, I’z hearin’ it too, Big ‘Un.”

The woman’s bubbling contempt wasn’t offered an opportunity to express itself before she was interrupted by a horrible shrieking noise and Grobdum was smashed violently into the ground. The thief couldn’t help but leap back from shock, blinking a few times before looking to see a horrible, thrashing creature mounted atop the prone goblin, its claws raking down into his back. The sound of shredding clothing, shrieking, and sobbing filled the air as the shaman helplessly flailed under the powerful creature, all while the sun slowly died behind the trees.

Without much thought, Top Man charged forward and kicked the thing in the head, sending it sprawling on the ground beside Grobdum. Whimpering, the small goblin rushed away, the tattered remains of his clothing barely clinging to him. Snarling, the goblin withdrew his dagger from behind the safety of Pinocchio’s wooden body.

“They’re Darkspawn!” Top Man yelled as he stepped forward and smashed his foot into the monster once again, “I’ve seen them on Tumblr! I think these ones are called Shrieks or something!” A few thousand comments rolled in and he nodded, “Yeah, Shrieks! Or, I guess ‘Dickbutts,’ but I’m going with Shrieks for now!”

As if on cue, several more of the ravenous little beasts fell from the treeline and emitting horrible noises to live up to their namesake.

“Circle up!” the soldier pony roared, slowly cantering backwards. The rest of the party fell in at her command, most falling into some form of fighting stance. Pinocchio, and thus Grobdum, stood in the center, mostly just cowering.

With a determined glare, Raw Onion flapped through her pain and ascended into the sky, snatching one of the clouds with her hoof, tugging it down into the battlefield. “Look out!” she screamed, and kicked the cloud with both of her rear legs. A lightning bolt spat out of the cloud and tore through the horde of howling darkspawn, catching a few in its path. Those unlucky few were instantly charred to a dark black, convulsing as their bones were illuminated from the inside of their bodies, eventually falling into smoldering heaps.

“Holy shit!” Top Man yelled as the tiny magical pony called down the power of the elements to incinerate her foes. “HOLY SHIT!” he repeated, caught somewhere between astonishment and panic. When one of the shrieks leapt from the shadows he barely had the presence of mind to duck out of its way, quickly spinning to kick it in the gut. “Holy SHIT,” he finally concluded, returning his attention to the melee.

Lyra’s bow twanged and an arrow found itself in a darkspawn’s throat, a blood-soaked gurgle the last noise it ever made. She drew another arrow, but the creatures were quick and plentiful; she barely had time to fire before the next was upon her. “You guys need to keep these things off of me!” she barked, stepping backwards as she caught one of them mid-leap. “What are you doing, Grobdum? BLAST THESE THINGS!”

“I can’t!” he pleaded, trembling behind the wooden boy. The tall woman cast him a fierce glance and he started, her expression offering no sympathy. “Dere ain’t ‘nuff WAAAGH! Boss!” he moaned.

“I don’t know what the fuck that means, and I don’t care!” Her most recent shot missed as the shriek bound to the side, closing the distance to its target and slashing at her.

“No magic!?” he asked himself, an uncharacteristic gravel in his voice, “I’ll make me own magic!”

Pushing past Pinocchio, the goblin charged forward screaming at the peak of his tiny lungs, “WAAAGH!!!” His dagger plunged into the shriek’s thigh, and in response it exhaled an awful squeal.

The monster’s reaction was short lived however, as it swept its bladed arm back and dashed the goblin aside, turning back it its original target. Unfortunately for it, Lyra had restrung an arrow and was in the process of putting it through the creature’s eye.

Even with a fresh new wound across his face, Grobdum sat up quickly and shook off the hit. “I… I’z feelin’ it!” he screamed with ecstatic joy, “I’z feelin DA WAAAGH!” Laughing at an insane pitch, he tore a branch from a nearby bush and thrust it into the darkness.

“I IZ DA WAAAGH!” he roared as the magic flowed through him, small flecks of green sparking from his skin. With a maniacal look in his eye, the shaman rode the wave of euphoria as the power surged through him, along his arm, from his fingers, down the branch and launched into the world.

The dribble of green magic sputtered out a small orb which trundled this way and that, popping like a party favor at the end of its journey.