Ore Compass: Part Four

 Parlan awoke from his small nest in the wool, and yawned.
A few days had passed since he had started this journey, and had found out after Gilbert had told him a few Ore Compass tales that each journey was short.
How disappointing.
Parlan had expected a long battle to the end, but it seemed as if there was only a struggle at the end where Lakono, the robotic phantom, would tell you about your parents if you survived the battle. His words were different to each Jamaasian's ears, so you could work together with a few other orphans in the battle.
Parlan sighed, wondering why he would need somebody else to beat a phantom. What a push-over!
"Parlan, get out of that heap NOW or I will strangle you!" Frost cried from the other side of the pile.
 Parlan slid off the skins, but when he did, there was nothing under him!
"We prepared some breakfast already, Sleeping Beauty." Frost said, as if that explained everything. "You slept like you hadn't slept for a year. It's already six in the evening!"
Parlan looked up, and saw the sun setting.
He was puzzled, but decided to drop it.

After a hearty meal, they were ready to follow the compass, despite how late it was.
Parlan shrugged. After all, there wasn't any llama skin anymore.
"We need to get moving, after all." he said.
Frost and Zion were reluctant, but Sir Gilbert was quite enthusiastic.
"I want to meet Lakono!" he said cheerfully.
Frost rolled her eyes. Parlan was a big pain in the butt for her, and she barely agreed to go.
But it meant spending time with handsome Zion...
Sir Gilbert led the line of adventurers, and they headed through the misty valley towards the direction where the Ore Compass pointed.
After a lot of confusing rock climbing and fanning away the cool mist, they reached the river. Peat moss floated in the water, and beautiful islands dotted the surface.
"This place needs to be freed from the phantoms! Its so pretty!" Frost sighed. The fragrance of the flowers floated in the air like perfume, and the birds chirped in harmony.
"I wonder how the Forgotten Valley could be forgotten!" Zion remarked.
They trudged on through the undergrowth, the compass their only guide. The sun persisted beating them with heat, but the mist cooled them down. Once in a while, they would sit down and drink dew and eat sandwiches.
"Argh! This journey is too long!" Parlan complained as the sun finally started to set. The nighttime animals began to stir from slumber, and the daytime ones begin slumber.
"We need to make camp soon, or the phantoms will get us during the night." Sir Gilbert advised, his deep voice full of charmspeak.
Frost fought the charmspeak, but he didn't need magic to convince her. Every muscle in her body ached, and her heart was heavy after a lot of travel that seemed to get them nowhere.
Zion vanished into the trees to get some moss and brambles for a bed, while Frost hunted for food and Parlan fooled around with the compass. Sir Gilbert, however, stared at the starry night sky and Shade's constellation.

They awoke in a cave.
Phantoms went by them, doing whatever phantoms do normally, and didn't even bother to look at them.
Everyone was all tied up, with the compass normal again.
Had they come to journey's end?
Or were they doomed?
None of the group really knew in this new area.
"Mmmff!" cried Frost. Deerskin gags were tied tightly over their mouths for some reason.
"Lord Lakono, why do we need these scraps? They're so thin and measly!" a phantom covered with oozing scars and armor growled.
A phantom sitting in a throne replied to him, seemingly bored with his life.
"Haita, I told you, Frost is one of the most potent-powered Hero Of Jamaa! She has phantom blood, so she would be easy to convert, fuzz-brain." Lakono replied, and pointed his golden scepter at Haita. Haita immediately bowed and left the cavern.
Lakono turned to the four Jamaasians, a hint of a phantom smile on his eye.
"You little scraps, you are helpless to my might. I am Lakono the Ultimate Punisher, and I will fight you until only Frost remains. I present you with a choice to make: Fight and perish almost instantly, or be converted to my servants...forever." Lakono hissed. He was old for a phantom, but most phantoms were immortal unless slayed. It was unfortunate they couldn't live like a mayfly, which would make life easier.
Unfortunately, life was harsh enough to make phantoms almost invincible.
Never before had Lakono implied a decision into his speech, and have a drop of doubt in his dark heart. He was sure he could beat any opponent, but these were strong opponents.
The Ore Compass glistened in the dim light, which signaled this would be the hard decision.
"Choose wisely, bearer, because either choice gives you knowledge of your past... yet you could die either way." the spoon whispered. Nobody else seemed to notice the Ore Compass's spirit, so he was relieved that Lakono couldn't hear and therefore try to discard the spoon.
"I choose the fight." Parlan said bravely. Lakono looked disappointed at his decision, which kind of surprised Parlan and the others.
The cavern melted around them, and so did the bindings on the heroes.
"I am disappointed in you, Parlan. A quick, painless death would be much easier for both of us.Now, endure the pain while you're still alive." Lakono said quietly. The platforms supporting them starting to flip randomly, forcing them to be nimble.
"Before we start the battle, I may as well tell you about your past, Parlan, because you deserve something for your pain. Your mother was named Ani, and your father Helan. You were a good racer, as they said, but your family was poor. You also had a sister named Hecate, who had only rag dolls to play with. But one day.... phantoms found the house you were living in and sniffed out you. Ani died defending you, and Helan was captured and roboticized. Hecate was also captured, but this time she was brainwashed and upgraded with robotic parts. She died protecting one of her comrades. You, however, were brainwashed but escaped before they could replace your memories. The racemaster at the time, Tink, put in some other memories to make you belong on the racetrack." Lakono said, in a somewhat nice tone. He seemed to be the nicest of the generals that any Alpha had ever met. There were like, a dozen more yet undiscovered, but this one actually had some sort of nice side.
Lakono sent out some lightning spears, and struck Sir Gilbert in the belly just as Parlan comprehended what his past was.
Little phantom minions came out of nowhere, but suddenly they were absorbed by Frost. She unleashed the minions, turned against their master. Lakono was tackled by a steady stream of brainwashed minions.
"Wha..?" Zion stuttered. Frost also seemed shocked at this new power.
"No time! Keep moving or we're falling chicken!" Parlan shrieked. Sure enough, Frost nearly slipped off the platforms.
Zion tackled Lakono, but at the feel of fur, the minions suddenly switched sides and tackled him.
Zion went down yowling.
Parlan went over to Sir Gilbert and try to get him on all four paws, leaving Frost to fight Lakono.
"You're powerful, for a hero. The others were pushovers." Lakono snarled. Frost  pointed a claw, and nanites started to crawl onto his skin.
More spears of lightning shot out of Lakono, and several actually hit Frost, but her tail armor healed her almost instantly.
Lakono suddenly shivered, and millions of bats came out of his eye. They flew away in seconds, but they distracted Frost long enough for Lakono to knock her off her paws. Frost's claws scrabbled at the platform as she was almost tipped over the edge.
The nanites, bats and phantoms retreated, but Lakono and Frost were still dazed.
Suddenly, Frost snapped out of her daze, and struck.
Her claws raked Lakono's pelt, and bits of time material were ripped off. Blood oozed from the fatal wound.
"You... I thought... You were a lie... You... are...too....powerful..."
Lakono's last words weren't impressive, but his downfall was.
His eye slowly glazed over as he plunged into the eternal darkness below the platforms.
Suddenly, the platforms started to fall, and Frost nearly had a panic attack.
She was super-scared of heights, after all.
Barely supporting her own weight under her shaky paws, despite her wounds from the bat's claws that were healing slowly she managed to pick the others up... with her will, of course. Frost's powers were getting surprisingly potent these days.
"Nobody... dies today!" Frost screamed, and Mira's spirit came, picking up the fallen heroes in her talons.
The last Frost saw before she blacked out was Mira's soft feathers forming a blanket around her.

Frost awoke in Cosmo's room, a robotic counterpart of Cosmo grinding some herbs for Zion and Parlan to eat. She felt dizzy and weak from her drained mana, but at least all of her wounds had healed. The energy level she had wasn't too bad.
Metal Cosmo looked up at her, and smiled.
"Frost, you're just in time! We're having a party to celebrate the downfall of Lakono!" he beeped. When Frost didn't reply, he continued grinding horsetail and tansy.
Frost groaned, and got up. Expecting to find an empty hallway, she didn't expect to find a full hallway jam-packed with Jammers, Alphas and Phantom Rebels. Even the Cithara Order attended.
Streamers, confetti, banners, cakes, clowns, balloons, and more of the good stuff decorated the hallways. (Well, maybe not the clowns, but still, it was a party!)
When Frost started shoving her way to the outside world, the loud hallway suddenly grew silent. Everyone started whispering.
Frost was afraid she had done something wrong when Lisa came over to her and grinned.
"Frost, Lakono had killed many! And you killed him by yourself!" Lisa cried. "You're brimming to the edges with potential! Imagine how much room you have for growth! Bravo, bravo!"
"I...um..." Frost stammered, blushing.
"WE LOVE FROST! WE LOVE FROST!" Frost heard that very cheer all day... and decided that she should continue the fight against the phantoms, for all of these Jammers that celebrated her.
Frost would never let her fans down!