The group of two humans, two Beasts, and one heartbroken dark elf child sat around the gentle white flame of Leor's torch as they rested. The night had been filled with many struggles. As they sat, deep in the hollows of the mountain, they reflected on the day's events.
Leor and Alina spent the morning hunting defiled fish in the swamps before the sudden eclipse put the entire fortress in danger. That felt like so long ago now, but it had only been this morning. They fought off the defiled invasion of Drelk's fortress, then set out into the night after the kidnapped Rynn, defeated the tentacled guard, were hunted by a swarm of defiled and forced to endure wave after wave of attacks. After that, they traveled into the lowest depths of the caves in search of Rynn, struggled to cross over the strange dark ocean, discovered the truth about the caves' Beastly nature, and finally rescued Rynn from her defiled mother.
It had been a long day. Even so, the way it ended was the hardest part. Watching hope fill Rynn's childlike face as her mother's voice reached her ears, only to have it cruelly torn away moments later, was more than he could bear. Such unfairness, especially toward an innocent child, made him struggle with his doubts about his own faith.
But that was not the way. Despair would only breed more despair. The great light of creation was not responsible for the evils of this realm. That was his truth, and his faith.
Leor glanced at his quiet companion, opening his mouth to try to change the somber atmosphere.
"You know, it makes sense now why this mountain is such a good source of spiritual herbs. It's sitting above a giant Beast corpse, filled to the brim with spiritual power," he suggested.
Alina turned to glance at him, then cast her gaze up toward the distant ceiling. She wondered about the rest of the great Beast's body. Somewhere up there, past the rows of gargantuan teeth, should be the eyes and snout of the great skull, while the remainder of its body should be down below the mountain.
"I wonder if Viridrak knew that such a thing was buried beneath his garden. Perhaps there were more reasons than the world tree sapling for keeping this realm a secret," Alina pondered aloud.
Leor followed Alina's gaze toward the mountain-like teeth.
"I wonder how it ended up here. What in the many realms could ever kill a Beast the size of a mountain?"
Alina raised one eyebrow as she turned toward him.
"You heard the children's tale. It was the great serpent's fault for being too greedy and trying to swallow the light." she joked.
"Hmm. Right. It seems like it's still trying to swallow the light even now. I can barely keep the torch lit." He sighed, a wistful look spreading across his face. "You know, it's too bad this thing has been dead so long. If there were any blood or flesh left, I'd have quite the Beast to embody. Much better than a simple dragon."
Alina's eyes slowly widened as she listened, then she turned back toward the mountainous teeth as if she had suddenly thought of something.
"In the story, the great serpent used its sharpest front teeth to devour the light and regenerate its body." She faced Leor again, an almost crazed look in her eyes. "Why don't we give it a try?"
"Try what? You mean you want to feed the corpse light?" Leor slowly came around to the idea as he considered it. "I guess we have nothing to lose, it's not like it could come back to life and eat us, we are already in its mouth." he joked.
The two humans stepped away from their resting companions, walking toward one of the sharp fangs positioned at the corner of the dead Beast's mouth. It took them nearly ten minutes to reach it, and the closer they came to the gigantic fang, the harder it was for Leor to keep his flame ablaze.
By the time they stepped up to the ivory tower, nothing remained except a gentle glow at the tip of his brass torch.
Leor ran his fingers across the smooth surface of the tooth, a strange emotion filling his chest as his heart began to beat wildly.
"Why am I so nervous? It's like my instincts are afraid to interfere with this ancient Beast," he whispered.
Alina stepped beside him, taking his free hand in her own as she studied the tooth in close detail. She gave his fingers a quick squeeze, and gestured at the towering fossil before them.
"Hurry up. We shouldn't leave the others in the dark for too long."
"Hurry up and what? How do I even give light to a tooth?" Leor complained.
Alina rubbed her chin for a moment, then shrugged casually.
"Your Willpower is light-natured. Try injecting some of it into the surface," she proposed.
"Right…"
Leor took a deep breath and pressed his palm against the smooth surface. After a moment of hesitation, he allowed his Will to begin flowing into the tooth.
For a few seconds, nothing happened. The Willpower simply emptied into the towering tooth as if it were any normal material. Then Leor's brow knit tightly as he felt himself becoming pulled toward the structure. It was like the Will inside him had been clasped by a hungry thief, and his power was being swiftly drained.
"A-Alina!"
The young girl realized at once that something had gone wrong. She rushed forward to pry him away, but even with her full strength she could not remove him from the surface.
Leor's vision began to darken as Willpower exhaustion took hold. Every ounce of Will was being sucked from his reserves, and the tooth was beginning to tear at his Body of Will itself. If such a thing were allowed to continue, Leor could become a cripple, unable to wield Willpower ever again.
Just as he began to fall into despair, a pair of furry trunk-like arms wrapped around his body from behind. It seemed that at some point Bone must have followed them over!
Leor felt as if he were being torn in half as the mighty ape hauled him backward, a sharp pain splitting through his arm as it stretched to the limit. He let out a desperate scream, gritting his teeth in pain.
Then Bone planted his legs against the smooth tooth and heaved.
A loud crack, followed by a chilling scream, echoed through the hollow as Leor's arm broke. However, the mighty ape had done the job. Leor was freed from the grasp of the tooth before his Willpower cultivation could be destroyed.
The young man collapsed to the ground, clutching his arm in agony as he struggled to maintain consciousness. Between the pain and the Willpower exhaustion, he could barely keep his eyes open.
Over the next few minutes, Leor slowly recovered. A thick sheen of sweat coated his pale face as he continued to endure the terrible pain, but by now his Body of Will had recovered enough to stabilize him.
He reached down to collect the Willpower torch that had fallen from his hands, using the small amount of Will he had regained to return a soft glow of light to his surroundings. Alina used the other half of the linen she had tied around her face to create a sling for his arm. When she finished, she helped him to his feet.
"Well. That's one of the most foolish things I've ever done, though I must admit it's only the second most foolish thing I've done so far today," Leor rebuked himself dryly.
As the companions prepared to head back toward the hollow's exit, the Beastly spiritual power that permeated the air of the hollow suddenly grew even stronger. Alina's eyes shone with sudden expectation as she looked for the source.
She followed the flow of spiritual power straight to the great fang, walking around its base in a wide circle. When she got to the backside of the great tooth, she saw a thin crack in the ivory surface, high above.
"Bone, do you mind?" she asked, pointing at her feet.
The ape seemed to understand, placing his hand flat on the ground before her. Alina gave a simple nod of thanks as she stepped onto his palm.
Bone gently lifted the petite human girl into the air, raising her above his head until she was level with the crack.
Alina reached into the tooth with both arms, her short legs dangling as she struggled to grasp something inside. Then a muffled cheer could be heard as the young girl's feet began to kick wildly. She hopped down onto Bone's hand and rode it back to the ground before rushing up to Leor like a child with a treasure.
A jubilant smile split Alina's bandaged face as she opened her palm. Inside lay a single droplet of some petrified substance, so deep red it was almost black. Its texture looked nearly identical to the amber-like blood stored in Alina's necklace.
As Leor focused his gaze on the strange substance, Alina's ability unexpectedly triggered, sending a wave of information directly into his mind.