From Their Eyes - Chapter 14 (Shadow Of The Colossus)

Attention: Shadow of the Colossus is property of Sony. This should not be considered canon, but is based off the game. Please forgive any mistakes made, as of my information is from wikias and watching play-throughs on YouTube.com

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From Their Eyes

Chapter 14: Care Free No More (Audio)

Phalanx rested his massive form underneath the desert sands. It wasn't because of the heat of the sun, though. He enjoyed that. He did it because he enjoyed the feeling of the sand shifting on top of his body.

To be honest, he enjoyed everything life had to offer. The colossi like him enjoyed everything that was offered. He loved flying through the air, and cruising under the sand like Dirge. He had even loved the old lands.

Thinking of the old lands would cause him some sadness, but it never hampered his carefree spirit. He always remembered the joy of flying. He would always remember flying over the mountains and knocking the snow caps. The chill always felt good when he did that. When he flew over the waters, he enjoyed the spray of water that came up as he flew by. He could go all over the old lands, except for one place.

That place was the castle. It was a place imprisoning the shadow beings, and their queen. There was something about the castle that kept Phalanx and his kind away from it. While he didn‘t care about going anywhere near the place, it was only the slightest of disappointment that there was a small area he couldn‘t go. He had never cared about it before.

That was until Dormin had made a request. Dormin had told his kind that there was a way to fly through the castle area. There was apparently a way to do so, flying through the special rings built into the structure. Phalanx had heard that the rings kept the shadow beings trapped inside the walls of the castle, otherwise, they would have been able to get out of the castle, and even break their queen out.

It had been Phalanx that considered trying what Dormin had said. Dormin had said that if one were to fly through the direct center of the rings, nothing bad would happen, and Phalanx‘s kind would be able to fly through the area. It was an appealing idea to him at the time. He had loved the idea of flying through the area that was now off limits to all.

As Phalanx looked back on that, it was the only thing he ever regretted attempting. The temptation had been too great for him to ignore, and he had decided the best way to do what Dormin suggested was to fly as high as he could, and then to dive towards the castle. He had pushed the limits of his bladders to take him to that height, and to release it so he could get the proper speed to do what he was going to do.

He had not expected, however, to be doing his stunt in the middle of a battle. That was not his kind’s way. They hated conflict, but with his increasing speed, he would have a hard time fully avoiding it. He also came to a realization. If a battle was going on, what he was going to do was going to cause a problem. It had been a trick by Dormin, but he had no idea why Dormin would want to unleash the shadow beings.

For a brief moment, Phalanx slowed down under the sands, remember what happened when he realized he couldn‘t fly through the rings. He tried to pull up, and swerve out of the path in time, but he couldn‘t. The power of the rings struck him as he tried to dodge. The injury to his gas bladders caused him to crash into the ground, near the shores of the lake.

After that, and the others had been stopped, Phalanx was banished with the others. His foolishness, and carefree nature had cost him his home. When they were all deposited in this world, he saw the rings get dropped. None of the other Colossi had seen it, but he knew what it meant. It didn‘t bother him, however, since he could fly over the whole of this new land.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Malus speak to him. “Phalanx. You need to be careful. Dormin has tricked a small person into helping free him. I know you avoid conflict, but this little person has been crafty.” Phalanx took that information in, and continued gliding under the sand.

He tried to avoid the conflict as he had then, and during Dormin‘s attempt to control the little people when they came to this land. He had remained underground during the battle, but that had been part of the plan. When the little people and the exiled Colossi fought back, it had been in the desert. When Dormin was about to strike again, Phalanx had erupted out of the sand, distracting the traitorous Colossi at a key moment. It had succeeded, and they divided his power amongst the remaining Colossi.

That thought then reminded him of the joy of flying about, combined with that rare moment, made Phalanx break out of the ground, to enjoy the air again. It was true that his area was limited now, since after Dormin‘s defeat, the remaining Colossi and the little people put some of the rings in the desert he called home, but he could soar through the air.

As he took to the air, however, Phalanx noticed a creature in the desert. He remembered seeing such a thing long ago, back when the little people were in the lands. It looked like a smaller version of Phaedra, but it had a little person on it. This must be the little person Malus had just warned him about. It would be no problem to avoid them. Phalanx could stay in the air for hours. Most of the his kind‘s life was spent in the air anyhow.

As he soared, he momentarily wondered how such a little person could have brought down the twelve others before him. Some of them were as large as he was, or at least as long as he was. No single little person should have been able to bring down all of them.

A slight pain underneath him caused Phalanx to descend. He knew that something must have hit one of his gas bladders that kept him afloat in the air. That was known to happen if one of the small birds accidentally hit one. The problem was that since they arrived in the Forbidden Lands, Phalanx, or any of the other Colossi, had never seen a single avian in the desert.

He felt his fins touch the ground, and shortly after that, he felt something on one of them. For a brief moment, he started to panic, something he never did before. He tried to take to the air, feeling once he did that, he would be safe. Of course, if the little person had gotten on him, there was no way he could strike all the sigils, especially if he was moving. So, he returned to cruising through the air.

After he had calmed down, horror over took Phalanx again. He felt a stabbing, right in the spot where one of the sigils were. It was a nightmare coming true. His calm, carefree demeanor was forgotten, and he sped up. That had to keep the little man from being able to reach any more of the sigils.

For a moment, Phalanx thought he had been successful, and then the horror returned. There was a second stabbing sensation, this one at where the second sigil was. That meant only one was left, and that one was closest to his head. He had to take drastic actions before it was too late.

Phalanx dived for the sand way below. It would be the only safe place, and the sand would help seal the damage caused to the gas bladders. With luck, the impact of going into the sand would knock the little person out or, even better, kill him. For good measure, he rolled in the air, hoping that would also make the little man drop to the ground.

Soon, he submerged himself into the sand of the desert. He swam under the ground, allowing the sand to heal his wounds. He also tried to listen for where the little man was. If he was lucky, Phalanx would resurface far away from the threat of the little man.

He reemerged at a different spot, relieved the little man wasn‘t there. He could now resume his peaceful flight, and they would no longer have to worry about Dormin returning to power. He could fly for the rest of his life, looking over the Forbidden Lands, looking over to Malus, and return to a care free life again.

Once again, he felt something strike the gas bladders. He struggled to keep from having to lower himself, but eventually he gave in. Once he reached the ground, he again felt something grab onto him. He tried to raise back up into the sky. He was distracted, however, by feeling something run along his back again. He tried to roll, hoping to shake it off, but he still felt it on him.

It wasn‘t too long until he felt the stabbing pain again. It was accompanied by his sight starting to fail, and him losing height. It was over for him. He was dying, and he failed. Soon, the part of Dormin‘s essence in him would be freed. At least, he thought as he started crashing to the ground, he would hopefully take the little person with him.

Dormin felt stronger as the power left Phalanx‘s body. Another of his foes was gone, and only three more were left. Once those three fell, he would have his power back, and then he would defeat his other foes. He already had the feeling one was coming, and once he took care of them, he would have more than enough power.

When he was exiled to the Forbidden lands, with those who had followed him, those who exiled them placed special barriers up. While some could be moved by the Colossi and little people working together, the most powerful ones were at the entries to the Forbidden Lands. The power would be broken when he had Emon‘s power. Emon had been infused with the power from the Colossi. His power would be all that is needed for Dormin to fully break free.

Dormin put those plans aside, however, since he needed to focus on the next Colossi, Cenobia. That particular Colossi was a hunter. It would be tricky for the little person to defeat him. Even when Dormin used Cenobia‘s kind to keep the little people in check, the little people didn‘t stand a chance if they were weak. He would have to give the little person more access to his powers. Better stamina, better strength, both at the cost of more of the little person‘s spirit and mind. It would have to be enough. He wanted to be free, and if the little man fell, it would undo all his hard work.

Back where the little people had settled outside the Forbidden Lands, things were happening. The guards of Lord Emon had been busy searching the grounds, looking for a missing member of their number. In their search, they discovered some things that were more disturbing. A body that had been prophesized to have a doomed life was missing, after being put out of their misery before they could live to that point. One horse was missing, who had been the favorite of the missing person. Worst yet, the sacred sword was missing.

Lord Emon‘s blood had run cold when he found all that out. It confirmed his worst fears, especially given the fact that the missing person had been gone for too long. He knew where they had gone, and what they planned to do. There was only one thing now to be done. When the last of his most loyal people were with him, he looked at them and said, “We have a very important task ahead of us. You all have heard of Dormin.” The name made all the men gasp, and he continued. “Yes. He has influenced one of our own. One with a weak mind. We must stop Dormin‘s plan. If we don‘t…” Lord Emon trailed off with that statement. The men didn‘t need anymore words to know it would be bad. They saluted, and made for their horses. Lord Emon followed, prepared to lead the way. After all this time, he was returning to the Forbidden Lands, hoping to stop Dormin before it was too late.