Cursed Yoshi

 

Chapter 83 = Counting down

 

Disclaimer: With one exception, all characters here are of my own invention, but the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

 

“Oh… h-hello again.”

Tsi-Lau nodded to Taráya’s mother as she re-entered the house. After leaving earlier, she had wandered for a while before coming back, intent on getting what she had originally come to the village for.

“Did Taráya show any interest in fighting before she left?”

“Y-yes… that’s why she went to the assassin’s guild… she was so strong, it came as such a shock to us that she-”

Tsi-Lau cut her off. “Well then… can I go check her room? I want to see if there’s anything there I can use…”

“Use? What for?”

“I… I want to avenge her death.” She said simply.

“But your friend, he…”

She shook her head. “He only helped. His friend was the real culprit…”

“But he’s the saviour!”

Tsi-Lau dipped her head. “If he really is the saviour, then he cannot die…”

“I cannot allow you to-”

Tsi-Lau decided to get intimidating and bared her fangs, hissing at her once, before going back to her placid self. “Both of us, me and my friend… and if you don’t help me, I’m afraid I’ll have to start drinking…”

The silvery assassin noted that this almost always worked. “O… okay…” the mother stammered, “that room… over there…”

Tsi-Lau went forwards with a smirk on her face. Perhaps the weapon she needed to defeat Darkmark was in here…

 

Abruptly, Darkmark plunged into a steep dive, zigzagging past rocky outcroppings from the closest mountain, and gaining speed as he hurtled towards the ground, heading straight for the sealed underworld entrance. At the last possible moment he turned sharply, heading straight into a vertical climb, rising several feet before floating back down to the ground with his wings outstretched.

Landing softly on the top of one of the obelisks, he leaned forwards and peered down through the flux of energy, looking down the hole. He could see nothing except, in the very centre, the faintest of red dots, glowing slightly, and he heard a voice call to him…

“Behind you.” Karlo-Shin said, as though he were speaking from within Darkmark’s head. “The temple is behind you…”

Turning around, he saw Yoshata hovering two feet above the swampy ground, holding a hand over her nose in feeble defence against the fetid stench of the decaying plants and putrid water that formed the swamp. Purple fumes rose from the stained ground, and Darkmark chose to fly fairly high above the ground to avoid them, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary…

Just beyond where the swamp ended – Darkmark noticed it was a perfect circle around the underworld entrance – he saw a cube of rock sticking up from the ground, three or four feet across, with one exposed face comprising what seemed to be a door of some sort, given that it appeared to be loose from the rest of it. Landing gently on the ground, he ran his fingers over the ornate symbols carved into the door, noting a distinct similarity in style to the ones he had found in the cave nearer the entrance to the mountain range…

“Ancient Yoshi.” he murmured aloud. “What does it say…?”

He heard Karlo-Shin’s voice again, only it was from directly behind him this time. Yoshata gave a loud gasp, and Darkmark turned around to see the black feral standing there, but his body was partially transparent, and he was floating slightly above the ground. “It says that a sacrifice is required to open the door…”

Darkmark looked at the door, then over to Yoshata as Karlo-Shin pointed to her. “You have one right here. You don’t know her, nobody knows her, just use her to break the seal…”

“No!” Darkmark snapped. “I’m not killing her… she’s innocent. She’s done nothing wrong!”

She started to step back, but somehow Karlo-Shin was able to knock her forwards with a bolt of energy, sending her falling to her knees in front of Darkmark. “Do it.” He urged. “Her sacrifice will bring a new era of peace to Chyrus…”

“There is no true peace that has been founded on the shedding of innocent blood…”

“If you don’t do it, think what will happen!” Karlo-Shin roared. “More ferals will be slaughtered! More sub-races will be wiped out! And one day, the humans will turn their attentions to the rest of us, and then what? Will you allow the divine creation of a god to be destroyed by a chance evolution from lower creatures? We are closer to perfection than they ever will be. A god created us…”

“But if we kill in the cold blood that they do, we are as low as them.”

“This is not murder.” Karlo-Shin hissed. “It is a sacrifice! It won’t be in vain, and the Gods will send her to her rightful place in the afterlife…”

Darkmark swallowed heavily. Nervously, his hands shaking, he brought the silver blade up above his head, holding onto it two-handed, moving into place. Yoshata closed her eyes and looked away, just as Darkmark brought the blade down…

The enchanted edge swung through the air harmlessly, skimming past her head with barely an inch to spare. Continuing on the wide arc, Darkmark swung the blade past his body and up again, slicing through the stone door with the enchanted blade quite cleanly, allowing it to fall in on itself, collapsing onto the ground.

Karlo-Shin gave a loud chuckle and some light applause, confusing Darkmark to no end. “Well done, well done. Always think for yourself! Don’t just take what others tell you at face value…”

“I-… I was supposed to do that?”

“Well…” Karlo-Shin muttered, “I don’t think supposed is the right word. It was one of a few possibilities. The sacrifice would have worked as well, but then, the future would have changed again…”

Yoshata cautiously stood up, feeling herself to make sure she was still alive. “Why?” Darkmark asked. “Is she important?”

The feral scoffed. “No, her life is meaningless in the long run. It’s only yours that is important now. But that is not your concern; the way is open! You know what to do…”

He faded out and left the pair of Yoshies on their own as the sun set. Darkmark turned around and looked into the cube, to find it was hollow, containing only a smallish altar upon which a fist-sized gem of some kind was set, pulsing slightly. It was purple and mostly transparent, and had a pentagram carved into it, which itself seemed to be shining brighter than the rest of the stone. Picking it up, he found that it had been set into a hollow in the altar, and after he removed it, there was a buzzing sound from behind him…

Spinning around on his toes, he saw the air seem to distort in a large flat space, melting the snow nearby, and out of thin air a large, marble temple materialised rapidly, halting the buzzing sound as soon as it was done. Statues of Karshina in various poses alternated with supporting columns, and Darkmark gladly ran forwards expectantly, entering the temple through the huge, wide doorway…

 

Skafria was flitting between the houses in the Anthro village, looking in the windows and checking the occupants of each one, until at last he stumbled across a lone female Yoshi, sitting by the fire, staring into its flames while the wings on her back twitched slightly…

Pushing open the door, Skafria nodded in her general direction when she turned to him. “Hey, I was wondering where you were.”

She looked around nervously, brushing her reddish hair off to one side, before it simply fell back into place covering one eye. “Oh, it’s you…”

“Hey, c’mon, we saved your life.” Skafria replied curtly. “You could at least show a little more gratitude…”

Nervously, she edged back, clutching at her scarf. “Please, don’t hurt me, I don’t want to be a vampire…”

“You won’t be.” Skafria said assuringly. “I’ve never turned anyone into a vampire yet…”

He took a step forwards and she leapt off of her chair, backing up against the wall. “Please, just go away…”

Skafria came closer, and she stepped along the wall until she could reach a large pike propped up against it, and in a single movement grabbed it and thrust it at him. It bounced harmlessly off of his skin, striking sparks, and she stared at him wide-eyed in shock, dropping the pike, and didn’t resist when he made another advance, giving a low hiss as he opened his mouth and brought his fangs closer to her neck…

 

To be continued…