Burrowed Within
As the portal snaps shut behind them, Azaan takes a moment to breathe in the familiar air of the Realm. His contemplation is interrupted by Moji’s waving finger.
“Now, before you go running off…” Moji states sternly as Po-Li seems to shake their heads signaling no.
“I sense the Abyss. What abomination is released here?” Azaan ignores the Leipori’s call for patience as he launches himself into the air. However, he begins to quickly fall and barely catches himself as he lands. Moji pulls Po-Li out of the way and sighs deeply.
“When Nyx emerged from the Abyss and took your silly star station, she redecorated it to weaken you. You’ll barely be able to handle this, but you have to.” She continues onward, gesturing towards Azaan to walk begrudgingly behind her.
“You’re probably hungry. What kind of food do Pyre Lords eat anyways?” She attempts to make small talk but Azaan simply grunts in reply.
They emerge from an alleyway into the center of Brightmarsh, the once-vacant home of the Vulpin. Azaan is caught by surprise when he notices families running and plumes of fire rising from various homes.
Noticing his reaction, Moji explains, “They had started moving back, thinking the conflicts were over. You defeated Yagorath. Then the Magistrate defeats the Resistance. And then the Abyss comes back, right?.” Moji states this as a matter of fact, but he feels her tone conveys a level of judgment he has not experienced in a long time.
He quickly starts to will himself forward faster, walking amongst the houses, and scanning the city for the evil he feels in his bones. Moji directs Po-Li as they scamper forward to keep up with Azaan. “So then the Abyss rises and defeats the Paladins. And then Vora of the Maw defeats Raum. And now we’ve ended up with Raum, and the Maw have moved in too. Why would the Maw move here?”
“I know not what those parasites want with your forest, but I will see to the removal of whatever demon plights you.” Azaan charges his hammer. “Then, I will leave for their queen.” Azaan directs them around the town, Moji quickly hands out treats to heal the fleeing Vulpin while he charges his hammer.
“You're leaving after? Weren't you a human once? Didn’t you have families to defend…friends to protect?” She begins to question him but as she does, he suddenly dashes forward through a building as it succumbs to its structural damage. She barely manages to shield herself before arriving on the other side to see Raum rampaging through the town center.
A Vulpin bounced through the air around the demon, who Moji identifies as Pip, raining potions from his launcher, and directing the demon away from the repopulated district. Above them floats Willo, the faerie blasting volley after volley of seeds towards the demon lord. Even though they look drained and tired, the two appear to be having more fun than filled with fear, Pip guiding the raging force into the zones of control cast by his ally.
Moji joined Azaan’s side once again. “The fighting has gone on for hours while they try to tire him out.” Moji mimics Azaan’s monotone voice as she commands him forward. ”I trust you can send him packing. Then, you will stay for a meal.” He sneers as he rises into the air once more, already set on his actions.
“I will purge you, beast!” Azaan shouts as he throws his hammer forward and blasts towards the conflict. Pip barely jumps out of the way in time as the ground ignites with Pyre's blaze. “Hot hot hot!” he yelps as Willo cackles and flutters towards Moji.
“Aw, is the fun over?” Willo groans as she shakes her wand in the direction of Raum and Azaan’s clash, spreading pollen across the ground.
Pip leaps in to join them and slides onto the ground. “Hardly. There are still plenty of Vulpin here. And now we have a second big bully to worry about.” He glares at Moji who crosses her arms in retort.
“Oh sure, you aren't tired, you can hold him off forever. I got you a solution, that's what you asked for. Those two aren't even our biggest problem.” She gestures an arm out and magic slowly ripples from beneath her, highlighting a path into the nearby forest.
“What are you on about, Mo-mo?” Willo replies to her. She stretches her wings and inquisitvely flies upward to look ahead, leaving Moji behind on the ground.
“Can NONE of you see it? This place stinks. With Darkness, I mean. It’s crawling below our feet.” She raises a paw off her saddle, and Po-Li raises a paw off of the ground. As she says this, Pip scrapes the bark off of a nearby root and pulls out a flask of blue liquid.
“There is a concerning lack of growth…” He mutters to himself, but his thought is interrupted by a crash echoing in the distance. The three turn to see an Azaan shaped hole in a stone wall with Raum charging towards it.
“Should we be helping him?” Willo asks hopefully.
Moji and Pip both turn to her and shrug. They hear a loud thump as Azaan meets Raum’s shoulder with his fist.
“He’ll be fiiiiiine. I'm sure he'll learn to ask for help if he ever needs it,” Moji giggles. She swirls more magic to bring light into the treeline, “and we have a Yagorath to find.”
“Well, would you look at that?…” Pip finishes taking an extract from the root, and looks at it floating in the flask of liquid. “This has Maw remnants in it, and I foresee some… interesting experiments.” He shakes the flask between two fingers. “You were right”, he admits “lead the way.”!”
With her allies finally convinced, she guides them down the trail deeper into the Enchanted Forest. Willo zips from branch to branch as Pip continues to analyze the roots for more anomalies.
As they move deeper, they slowly watch the Forest twist and bend into tendrils, resembling the Darkness that once consumed the Shattered Desert. “Grovey always told me that one day we’d need to step up.” Moji thinks to herself. “I hoped the wars would end and I could help heal the Forest…but wars never end.”
They hear a roar in the distance, one that rumbles the ground below them and turns into a groan. The three quickly hasten, as a light glimmers between the trunks. As they approach, they witness a form of Yagorath – smaller in size but still menacing – slowly draining energy from a large Crystal nestled in a cradling canopy. It bleeds a greenish-blue magic that slowly turns muddy red as it enters the Devourer’s quills.
“What do we do?” Pip whispers as he pulls the group down into a bush.
“Do we have a choice, Fire Thief? We have to fight.” Willo excitedly prepares her wand. Moji stares at the two, covered in scratches, and still breathing heavily from their previous bout. She looks down at Po-Li and focuses on a question. Her familiar stares back at her, two eyes focused and two aloof. Both of the heads respond, Li with a slight nod and Po enthusiastically head bobbing .
She turns to her companions, suddenly serious. “You two follow my lead. We’re all going to come out of this okay, I’ll make sure of it.” She tightly grips the reins to her faithful mount. The other two are surprised at her conviction but nod in agreement. She waves her hands and envelops the three of them with a magic shield. She takes a deep breath and charges out of the bush. As she leaps forward, Po spits a glob of magic to take Yagorath’s attention and Li sprays their allies and the damage done to the canopy to repair it.
The form of Yagorath lurches around and faces the group, a faint smile forming across her wide jaw.
“Oh, my meal comes with mints. How lovely.” She lunges toward Moji, but Willo lands a seedling directly in her mouth, forcing her head to blow backwards and unrooting her from the ground temporarily. As the seedlings explode, Pip bounces into action, launching a flask where she rooted that attempts to hold her where she’s planted. She rolls up and begins to reposition, shrinking the arena with pools of acid. Settling in front of Moji, she stands tall – once more blocking their view of the canopy – unhinging her jaw to launch quills towards them all.
Without hesitation, Moji dashes in front of her allies and blocks the hits, pivoting her stance to continue facing their foe as Po-Li circles around Yagorath. Moji slides to a stop as Pip quickly tosses a potion at Po-Li’s feet. Yagorath chuckles and bares her jaw. The Leipori and the Worm stare for a moment as the familiar grinds its feet into the ground, unsure whether to act first or wait for the other to make their move.
“Oh, dear. Your misplaced hope only makes you a more delicious treat.” Yagorath begins to rip the air out from the space, dragging Moji towards her. Pip and Willo attempt to volley her once more, but a tail rises to shield the blasts.
“I’ll have you know, I’m the expert in how delicious treats are.” Moji retorts and waves her hands forward, conjuring a treat and letting it lodge itself in Yagorath’s mouth. Yagorath begins to reply but her voice pauses and her form begins to shudder.
“What, too sweet for you?” Moji scampers away from the vortex as Yagorath begins to contort and gasp. The two behind her begin to rain fire once more as Yagorath is forced into a curl to protect herself. However, right before Moji expects the spell to take effect, Yagorath bursts from her shell and knocks all of them back.
“You disgusting amalgam, worthless vermin, I WILL CONSUME YOU ALL!” She lashes out and rolls directly towards Moji in response, flaming with acid dripping down to the ground. Moji and Po-Li both look back at their friends and decide to stand their ground, spraying and spitting toward the invader of their home.
Just before Yagorath clashes against the Leipori, roots spring from the ground and shield Moji.“The spirits do not rest,”a low voice calls out. Yagorath scrapes against them until she rolls away. She stands tall and looks around, a look of concern in her eyes. Trees begin to reach for her, and flowers spray pollen to attempt to blind her. Disgruntled, she hisses and begins to roll away. A nearby tree’s bark slowly creaks open as Grover steps out. Pip and Willo also join him above Moji, who is resting on the ground next to an exhausted Po-Li.
“Grovey? That you?” She weakly says, but with excitement in her voice.
“I am here, little one. You did well. The whole forest owes you gratitude,” He extends a hand out to help her back onto her mount and slowly restores them, “Yagorath escaped, but many spirits were saved.”
As the healing magic envelops her, Moji feels a rush of purpose. She’s spent so long away from home that she had forgotten why she fought: her friends. She slowly channels her magic and rises slightly, feeding it to Po-Li. Pip and Grover, coming to the same conclusion, smile at Moji while Willo rolls her eyes at the burst of green magic that explodes around them.
Filled with determination, Moji turns Po-Li towards Brightmarsh and points. “The fight isn’t over, let’s help them all!” She leads the charge, with all her allies in tow.
As they emerge from the Forest, they find the remaining Vulpin have evacuated to safer structures. Azaan and Raum continue to brawl, fist to fist, with both looking severely weakened. Raum has souls falling from his skin as Azaan’s fire is now dimming with every clash. As they reach the edge of the opening, Raum slams his hooves into the ground and Azaan is pulled to his knees.
“Unworthy Pyre Lord. I will end you!” Raum rips his gun from a portal and it begins to whirl to life once more. But as it does, a barrier surrounds Azaan and Moji coughs into her sleeve to garner attention from the outskirts. Raum turns towards the group and huffs.
“That Unworthy Pyre Lord is my friend. If you want him, you’ll stand and fight us. So…I’d recommend you flee. You seem to be good at that.” Moji smirks as Grover summons his axe and the blasters beside her reload, ready to rejoin the fight.
Raum roars out in drained frustration, sizing all of his new foes up. After a moment, he stomps twice into the ground, turns, and rushes into the distance away from the Forest.
As Moji drops the protective shield, Azaan comes to his feet.
“You let that wretch get away?!” Azaan protests as he slams his hammer into the ground.
“Today. He’s gone today, but you’ll get him one day. If those two couldn’t stop him, what chance did you have?” She gestures to her friends. “As for you, you are staying and having a meal. The only thing eternal in life is hunger, Zaanny.”
Azaan stares blankly as Po-Li rushes over to lick him. For a brief moment, he feels a sense of connection he had lost a long time ago, a core humanity locked behind Pyre's virtue. He lets his guard down and his shoulders drop.
“I enjoy… stew.”
Moji smiles at the response and gestures with her hands.
“Then let’s get you some stew, big guy!” She giggles as the Vulpins return to their homes. And the group… the friends… go to rest.
Zitat:
Paladins Chronicles are short stories meant to enrich the world of Paladins & serve as context for future events. This is a part of Series 2, which is focused on expanding players’ knowledge of the Realm. please provide us your feedback on socials!
