That was a close one; Ori thought as he washed up on the lake's shore. He had not expected to slip on that rock, sending him splashing down into the tainted waters of the swamp. Fortunately he had managed to escape the toxic pond before any serious damage could be done. The soaked light spirit got to his hooves and prepared to move forward, determined to put this whole ordeal behind him...
But as Ori took his first step, he swooned, overcome with a sudden and unexpected weakness. The strength was sapped from his legs, causing him to collapse forward. Why did he feel so weak? The poisoned water hadn't affected him THAT much; Why then did it feel like the life was draining out of him? As he slammed to the ground, the answer to his question flopped in front of his face. The fat worm-like creature dangled between his eyes, its dark and slimy form rippling and pulsing with activity. It was then that Ori became vaguely aware of a light suckling all across his body. His eyes grew wide as realization dawned on him. Parasites! The swamp had been infested with parasites!
Ori's eyes darted around, noticing another one of the creatures latched onto the back of his paw. The massive leech bulged and contracted, growing a little plumper with each gulp as it leisurely feasted on the spirit's life blood. A wave of disgust and panic washed over the poor spirit as he saw his life literally being drained away. He needed to act, to fight back, but he was already too weak to resist the greedy blood suckers. In one final act of desperation, he reached out his paw, arm trembling with weakness, hoping that someone or something would save him from this horrific fate. But the forest remained blind to Ori's plight, leaving the poor spirit to die in the clutches of those foul parasites.
With the last of his strength drained, Ori's body fell limp, his life consumed by the gluttonous leeches. They did not care about the fate of the spirit; They did not care about the fate of the forest; All they cared for was sating their boundless hunger.
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