The Spirit of the Mountain

[saicreed 10]

Long time have passed since the White Wanderer created the world of Arinar, a lot were written through out the ages. A lot were also forgotten, trampled upon by the unstoppable march of time. Some were told but not believed, and some were changed for the good of the many. One of these so-called forgotten stories involves the Legendary Berengar, on an unknown feat upon landing the frozen shores of Godgorath.
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They were all weary. The men soaked in rain, tears and sweat. It was the third storm that hit them on the ocean. They all lost hope except one and that was Berengar, the leader of the outcast from the mainland. They were in search of a new land, a land they could call their own. And finally like everyone hoped, they had found it. A snowy mountainous island in the placed atop the blue sea.

 

When Berengar set foot on the land he knew something was wrong. It was already owned, he can feel it. The Spirit of the Mountain whispered to him to flee if they wanted to live. Berengar tried to talk to the spirit but it did not answer. For a moment they thought that the night has arrived early, but they were wrong. Up in the sky was a black figure with a shape no one can tell. The only significant details they can tell were a pair of long horns protruding out of the beasts head, wings that stretched from the end of the horizon to another and if the people were not exaggerating back then a tail long enough to touch the ground from the sky.

 

They shivered in cold and fear. The beast gave off a roar like the sound of hundred thunders that pierced the ears of the men. The flap of its wings were strong enough to make a storm as men held to whatever they can hold to to not get blown away by the raging wind. And for a second within the blink of an eye the beast's tail had already swept the ships landed on the shore without them noticing it.

 

The men lost hope. Their knees kissed deep in the snow as they kneeled and beg for forgiveness to the hovering beast above. The beast although gifted with incredible wings, horns and a tail lacked a single feature; it has no ears. The wails of the wounded sounded silent to him, the pleads of cries sounded air to him and the words of forgiveness sounded nothing to him. But in truth the beast have ears, sharp to hear every rustle of your clothes and hear your every breath. The beast justs refuses to listen to the poor men.

 

Lucky enough for the remaining unfateful outcasts some of them managed to flee and stuff themselves in a cave that if they hadn't find out would have been the end of them. All hope was lost, including Berengar himself. But the spirit of the mountain once again whispered to Berengar.

 

"You, you have a strong mind and heart. But that alone is not enough to face the Ririkan." A cold voice talked to him.

 

"YOU! WHO ARE YOU? WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO ME!" Berengar shouted that the cave silenced. The men thought if Berengar has gone insane.

 

"Not now, we shall talk later. Until then don't lose hope." The voice faded away with its last words. Berengar waited for the voice to come once more but it did not. He waited till night time but still not a whisper has touched his ear. He decided not to sleep that night for he might miss the voice and never return. But for someone who has been on a voyage like Berengar, a sleep comes easy when you are tired.

 

In his dreams Berengar stood alone in the cold plains. He remembered the place, it was where the beast appeared in the sky. He scouted the place once more, he was alone. He couldn't even feel the presence of the beast. It was of course a dream.

 

A gust of snow appeared out of nowhere. He thought it was the beast flapping its enormous wings once again. Berengar reached out for his axe, but it was not there, but still he fixed his stance and prepared for what will happen next.

 

A stag appeared from the wind, it's horn was luminous as a full moon. It's nose pointed up and down as it pranced towards him.

 

"We have finally met." The stag talked through his mind.

 

"It is you, the voice. Who are you?" Berengar asked.

 

"I am the Spirit of the Mountain, I am the tree that sprung out of the rock, I am the crow that waits patiently for the my prey to die, I am the wind that brings cold to your skin and I am the flower covered in snow waiting for the spring to come."

 

"That is a long name for a stag with shining horns."

 

"Indeed that is a long name for a stag like me." The stag laughed as it changed its appearance to a young bear.

 

Berengar was amazed. He knew it was just a dream but he felt a strong power within the spirit.

 

"The monster, that beast, how can we defeat it." Berengar bent down and asked the bear transformed from a stag.

 

The Spirit of the Mountain was silent for a moment. Berengar did not notice that the bear transformed to a wolf. It amazes him.

 

"The Ririkan," the wolf said in Berengar's head. "That is what they call him, no that's what he call himself. To others he is the destruction, to you he is the beast, but to me he is the conqueror of my land."

 

"Is it possible to defeat him?" Berengar asked the spirit.

 

"Yes, but hear me out first about the story of the Ririkan.

 

The wolf told Berengar about the Ririkan.

 

"Eras ago when Harad's hammer shattered the Spear on Garahan's claw, the shards of the spear was scattered all around Arinar. No one knows where the shards are, it seems that the White Wanderer himself has hid them so that none may ever use them again. Except the Ririkan, nothing was known about him about the past. The only thing known about him is that he is powerful and he has a shard of spear within him."

 

"He is so powerful that lands you had never heard of will never be heard again because of him, and I fear my land will be one of this." The spirit added.

 

"So how do we stop him, the Ririkan?" Berengar eagerly asked.

 

"Soon you will know Berengar, but first I want to know more about you. You seem interesting."

 

Berengar smiled. He knew it was a trade. Knowledge in exchange for knowledge. Now it was his part to barter.

 

He told the spirit about his story. That he cursed his own kin, about his inextinguishable hatred towards the people living comfy and warm on the grassy plains and the inhabitants of the forest.

 

"Now I see it, despite the strong will and dedication you have, a black spot still resides in your heart." The spirit spoke.

 

"My strong will and dedication comes from the black spot in my heart, spirit." Berengar proudly said.

 

The spirit laughed continuously changing his form back to a bear then to the stag while still laughing.

 

"Yet despite your hatred, you still love your people don't you?" The spirit asked curiously .

 

"Yes spirit, I love them as they were myself."

 

"Yourself? I see." The spirit changed form from a stag to an exact image of Berengar. The two looked at each others eye.

 

"You like changing forms do you?"

 

"Do you like it?"

 

"Yes, it amazes me."

 

"Now tell me, what do you see in me?"

 

"A strong man."

 

The spirit nodded and gazed back to Berengar's eye. "That's what I also see in you."

 

"Now Berengar, listen on how to defeat Ririkan."

 

Berengar swallowed, clenched his fist and opened his ears wide thinking he might miss a word or two. The spirit changed form back to a wolf, but it was different this time. The wolf held something in its mouth, a shard. Berengar didn't need an explanation what it was. He was terrified and glad both at the same time.

 

"Yes you are right Berengar, this is indeed a shard from the Spear brought into Arinar by the White Wanderer." The spirit read Berengar's mind. "Take it."

 

"But why? Why me? You have a shard of the spear that means you can face him right?"

 

"The Ririkan alone is strong even without the shard. This shard I have within me is not enough to face him. That's why I need a strong one like you Berengar."

 

"I am not that strong as you think mighty spirit, I am a human afterall. Even if the Ririkan doesn't possess a shard I believe I will be no match for him in battle."

 

"But now you possess one, it will be even."

 

Berengar had doubts. Inside him he knew that even if he had the shard he will still be no match for the Ririkan.

 

"Take it," the spirit said once more. "Take it if you want to save your people."

 

A sudden urge inside him made him snatch the shard on the wolf's mouth when the spirit reminded him of his people.

 

"Good." The spirit gladly said as Berengar took the shard.

 

Berengar inspected the shard. It seemed an ordinary piece of metal. But this metal was once a part of a powerful weapon that divided Arinar in to two. And a small piece of it was enough to bring destruction such as the Ririkan.

 

"What is it that you want for the exchange?" Berengar asked the spirit while toying with the shard.

 

"None, just defeat the Ririkan and this land that I own, I will gladly give to you."

 

"I thank you spirit of the mountain." Berengar bowed down to the wolf but when he raised his head up the spirit changed form again to the stag with shining horns.

 

"Who are you really, Spirit of the Mountain?"

 

"I guess you should have known that by now but it seems you still haven't. I am that shard you are holding."

 

"This is you?" Berengar looked at both the spirit and the shard.

 

"Yes, that is me. When the spear broke and shattered, I got thrown away in this place and I became a spirit that guards this land. Go now, Berengar. You have my blessing."

 

Berengar turned around but shifted back to the spirit immediately.

 

"Shard, I mean Spirit of the Mountain, do you happen to have a name?"

 

"A name? I suppose I have, it is Godgorrath."

 

"Godgorrath." He repeated.

 

"Sleep well Berengar, you still have a battle to fight."

 

Just as the spirit's word ended Berengar was awakened by a loud noise. The cave he is in shook, it was no mistake it was the Ririkan. As he stood up from his sleep he felt something in his hand, he smiled knowing that all that happened was not just a dream. The shard same as what the spirit of the mountain gave him in his dreams looks exactly the same as what he is holding right now.

 

"Thank you Godgorrath," he whispered to the shard.

 

Berengar rushed towards the entrance of the collapsing cave but was stopped by his own men.

 

"Chieftain! We are no match for that beast!" Said one of his men.

 

"Berengar please! Don't die, save yourself at least. Find a way out of this land! We'll handle the beast for now, find a new cave, one nearer to the sea so that you can flee instantly on a raft." Said another.

 

Berengar knew his men is hard to please. With the remaining time he had he told them the story about his dream, the spirit and the shard with haste. The men took not a minute to understand what is happening.

 

"I shall now leave my men, this battle is mine. Until then stay safe." Berengar said to his men.

 

"No, we will not leave you alone." His men repeated.

 

As Berengar expected, his men are hard to please. He smiled, grateful that he has men like them.

 

"Wear your best gear my men! We will go into battle!" Berengar shouted on the top of his lungs.

 

"YESSS!!!" His men even shouted louder.

 

The battle took a day. Berengar on the lead provoked the Ririkan to come down by reflecting the shard on the sun to the beast's eye. The Ririkan darted down on the sky with its horns downwards. The men were unable to believe what they saw as Berengar stopped the beast's horn by his hand. Berengar jumped on the Ririkan's back and cut its left wing with the shard. The maimed beast no longer has the ability to fly making the battle on ground, a favourable battle for the men. Hunters volley uncountable amounts of arrows as others chopped down the beast's enormous horns with axes. Finally the beast was now weakened to death but unable to die, it still lives but unable to move.

 

"Use me to kill the Ririkan." The shard whispered to him.

 

"What is that Godgorrath?" Berengar pretended he did not hear.

 

"Use me, that beast has now taken the powers of the shard. That means he is a living shard. He is a shard himself now."

 

"But that means...."

 

"Yes, I will be gone too. A shard for a shard. You must be familiar with that kind of ruling."

 

"No, you are the reason why the Ririkan is dead, not me."

 

"Not me, you are Berengar, I'm just a tool here right in your hands."

 

"You know I can't do that."

 

"You must, save your men at least. They risked their live as you have risked your life to them."

 

"Thank you, spirit of the mountain." Berengar nodded to the shard. The spirit didn't say another word.

 

As Berengar stuck the shard in the beast's heart. It gave off a painful roar that lasted minutes, they did not pity him. At last the beast silenced and became dust that was blown easily by the wind. The men shouted in joy, all of them. Each one patting each others back of the ones still alive. Even the ones that has lost a love one were overcome by joy, all except Berengar whose inside was mourning for the lost of a part of him.

 

Many years have gone by and the Ririkan never returned, same with Godgorath. Never has been another incident similar to the Ririkan's. But to this day they say that the Spirit of the Mountain is still guarding his land alongside Berengar.

 

    ~END~ 

10500+ characters, spaces not included

IGN: Saicreed

Server: Us-Sapphire

Edited July 29, 2020 by saicreed
Edited minor mistakes.

[saicreed 10]

Hope this 10k+ character story is ok. I got inspired by the story even though I told myself i will limit it to 6k.

[Jcbref 610]

Good luck