The Secondary Saga

[Dark Link]

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

The waning sun painted red streaks across the darkening sky, its last rays postponing the shadow of the night. But the intense twilight that blanketed the decaying forest had already made it difficult to make out whatever was hidden amongst the tree trunks and bushes. With only torches to light their way, the stalwart companions made haste deeper into the woods, running as fast as their short legs could carry them.

Lyra kept a firm grip on her bow, having handed over the torch she was carrying to Pinocchio as his own improvised one burned out. She glanced at the deformed and sometimes leafless trees that stretched alongside the path. Fear gripped her heart, though she did not know what unnerved her more: the Darkspawn that had pursued them or whatever manner of creatures were lurking in the forest. The archer was certain that any being that still remained in this accursed place was as sickly and twisted as the plants that concealed them.

The girl was reminded of the fate that had befallen the forests of Hyrule during Ganondorf's reign. As bad as life in the cities and villages could be, it was still vastly preferable to trying your luck in the woods. Though the plants were largely unaffected aside from the poor and unstable weather, the Gerudo king's evil had resulted in dark creatures inhabiting them, preying on any who ventured deep. Even Ganondorf's servants — the pig-like moblins, the dark-skinned Gerudo and the others — did not dare go beyond the outskirts.

As the literal shrieks of their adversaries grew ever distant and eventually died down entirely, the group came to a halt at a section where the forest path widened. The biological members took this opportunity for a bit of respite, drawing heavily the surprisingly cool dusk air. Meanwhile, suspecting that he wasn't going to get another opportunity soon in all this madness, Top Man decided to engage with his audience: "Ladies and gentlemen, once again, our brave heroes have cheated death! With every step, we come closer to reaching the Man in White himself!"

Shifting the camera's attention to Raw Onion, the orange robot continued: "Let's hear it from our heroes! Raw Onion, why don't you say something to all our Dataverse viewers?"

"Dataverse? Oh, oh!" the brown mare responded, attempting to adjust to this sudden shift. Though unsure if this was really the right time, the pegasus nonetheless proudly saluted: "Thank you for watching! We really appreciate your support!" As the online celebrity anticipated, this elicited the expected response from the live feed, becoming filled with comments of praise and adoration.

"Oh, that reminds me! If people are watching, then some of them might have left comments on my Twitter account!" the armoured pony continued. Seemingly out of nowhere, she pulled out an electronic device of her own. After a few presses with her nuzzle, Raw Onion received the information she desired...and audibly gasped: "Oh my gosh, this is amazing! Over a 100,000 people have started following my Twitter feed! I only had fellow ponies on there before!"

Wondering how many more followers she would earn through this inadvertent advertisement of her account, Top Man shifted his attention to Grobdum, who had been awfully quiet during their flight: "What about you, magic lettuce? Got anything to say?"

"...N....No more Waaaagh....." was all that came from the robed shaman, who seemed almost heartbroken at the fact that they fled from the Darkspawn.

"Okaaaaay...." the robot responded before turning to the other lady in the group: "Lyra, do you have something to say to our wonderful audience?"

Blankly staring at the sentient automaton, she uttered with a puzzled expression on her face: "Dataverse? Twitter?" To her, it was almost as if her companions were speaking in a completely different language. The Hylian girl wasn't even entirely sure that they hadn't gone mad. Audience? What audience? There was no one there aside from them and the Darkspawn! But in spite of her inability to wrap her head around the concept of people watching from afar, said audience didn't seem to mind. In fact, her confused look only served to endear her to even more viewers. Though it was only up for the briefest of moments thanks to the constant influx of text, Top Man was certain he saw a comment stating in big, bold letters: "MARRY ME, LYRA-CHAAAAAAAAN!"

Suddenly, the teenager gasped. Noticing something, she aimed her bow, taking her companions by surprise. But they quickly discovered the cause of her sudden alarm — from the shadows of the trees emerged a tall figure, As the rest of the group prepared for combat, the unknown entity came within range of the burning torch, its featured becoming recognisable. It was a Darkspawn...but it was unlike the ones they had fought before. The flesh on its muscular body was covered with symbols, all of which were unknown to the motley crew. It wore a horned helmet of steel that covered everything but its mouth, empty eye sockets staring back at them. It also held an oak staff in its hand, its grasp firm.

As the undead creature came to a halt, Grobdum responded in amazement: "Dis one 'ave strong magic..."

Quietly staring at the group that was ready to bash its head in at a moments notice, the dark magician opened its deformed mouth: "Turn back...."

The companions were all surprised by this. They did not anticipate that a Darkspawn could speak, let alone issue demands. Taking a defiant posture, Raw Onion answered: "And why should we listen to you? You've been trying to kill us! I bet you're just trying to prevent us from getting to Omni."

"No...." the creature said, clenching its razor-sharp teeth. "I am trying to protect you.......from her."

This was followed by a stunned silence. In spite of the vagueness of his words, the group strongly suspected they knew who he was referring to. After all, many unanswered questions still lingered about who she was and why she had brought them to this place. Lyra, attempting to regain her composure, inquired: "Her? You...you don't mean...?"

"She is not your friend," the spellcaster continued unabated. "She is deceiving you.....If you proceed down this path, you will only find oblivion."

The four of them exchanged glances, unsure what to make of this warning. Stepping forward, it was Top Man who decided to offer his response: "You're an Emissary, right? Listen, buddy...we have to see this thing through to the end. All of us want to see Omni. Even if this is a bad lead, it's the only one we got."

The Darkspawn snorted, though it was difficult to tell whether this was a show of derision or simply a force of habit. Pausing for a few moments, his raspy voice finally said: "The warning has been given. Your fate is now your own..." Before anything further could be said, the emissary's body disintegrated into a black mist, which was swept away by the wind. And with that, the group was alone once again.

"I wonder if the others we met at the temple are alright..." the blonde girl expressed her concern, the warning having reminded her of them.

"We need to worry about ourselves first," Top Man replied, turning around to face them. "Pinocchio isn't here. He must have run off ahead."

As the rest of them collectively gasped at this realisation, Raw Onion responded with determination: "Well, what are we waiting for?! We need to find him quickly!"

Nothing else needed to be said. Without delay, the companions broke into another sprint, hurrying to find their lost wooden friend. Lyra in particular pushed herself to run as fast as she could. Though she still barely knew the people she was traveling with, they had been reliable comrades and none of them could have survived this far without each other. This even applied to Grobdum — as grating as he could be, he still saved their lives with his magic.

One thing was clear in the archer's mind: she wouldn't let anything bad happen to them if she could help it. She had seen far too many perish as it is.