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  “Enough!” screamed the tree beast, rearing up, its split-wood opening stretching wide. Twisting twigs for fingers clamped together into makeshift fists and it threw itself swiftly forward, punching the ground. As it did so, Ella saw some strange, orange energy throb from within the creature, pale light emanating from the cracks and separations of its layered bark skin as if a churning inferno raged just beyond, waiting to burst free.

  The fists hit the grass with a thunder, sending all three of them stumbling. Suddenly roots and small saplings burst free from the ground, splitting the dirt and shooting up from the grass like sudden spears. Ella felt a sharp punch in her left side as a jagged trunk ripped through her flesh and muscle, carving a swath of health from her reserves. Kydel shifted left, then lunged right, narrowly avoiding the jutting, jagged branches as they punched through the ground up at them. A long, sharp branch broke through the grass and angled right toward her, but she whirled with her two swords and hacked the branch apart before it could skewer her. Megyn scrambled away as well, grunting and jerking as one of the projectiles tore through her left calf, sending her stumbling.

  Fists pressed to the ground in small craters, the treant smiled widely, wooden teeth showing, the same orange glow visible behind his vacant eyes.

  “There’s some sort of power inside of him!” Ella shouted, pressing her hand to her side.

  You are Bleeding

  -2 HP per second for thirty seconds

  “He’s playing hardball now,” Megyn replied. “We need to put a stop to it!” Tyson came up behind her and growled low while she, once again, activated Weak Point. “Wait a minute,” she hissed, looking at the creature. The treant looked back her through its empty holes for eyes, and she saw the low red rings throbbing around the soft orange light. “His weakness!” she shouted. “It’s inside of him. He’s powered by some kind of magical energy from something underneath the bark!”

  “Great info,” Ella replied, testing her healing magic on herself. She watched her HP slowly crawl back, barely fast enough to compensate for her bleeding debuff. She needed to make that stronger, and quick. Though as much as she might complain, this healing magic had saved her life. The HP damage she’d suffered had left her with around fifty HP, and after thirty seconds, the bleed debuff would have wiped it all out. “But it doesn’t help us much if we can’t break through the bark!”

  “It’s not as strong as it looks,” Kydel replied. “I’ve been hacking pieces off with my sword. The issue is we need to punch through it, not hack at it.”

  “But our arrows aren’t cutting it,” Megyn continued.

  Ella smiled.

  Bleed Debuff Expired

  Her MP ran dry as ten more HP emerged in her health meter, leaving her just over halfway, which wasn’t great, but it was better than death.

  “Distract him!” she screamed and Kydel was already in motion, charging forward, her twin swords spinning in graceful, skilled hands. The treant peeled its fists from the craters in the ground and rose up, ready to strike. Ducking low and moving forward, the Amazon slashed out with her swift blades, silver streaks arcing and crashing against the creature’s legs, knocking wood chips off in groups of six and eight. Megyn vaulted onto Tyson’s back and he charged forward, growling, the treant spinning to face her. The wolf leaped into the air, Megyn rising up to a crouch on his curved spine, then she launched herself, pulling the bow string back and unleashing a swift duo of arrow flights. One shaft rammed into the tree’s right eye, while the second arrow screamed just over its leafy head. Tyson crashed headlong into the beast’s torso, sending the treant stumbling slightly as the white beast hit the ground in a clumsy sprawl.

  Ella moved, breaking into a run, jogging parallel to the treant’s movements, trying to get an angle. Kydel saw her motion and moved left, drawing the tree folk’s attention, turning its face to Ella and the Druid stopped, removing her staff from the sheath on her back.

  She looked long and hard at the twelve foot tall creature, an ancient being made of pure oak and magic, the low orange light glowing between slats in the bark. Ella took a long forward stride, silently calling upon the power of Javelin of Light, her staff growing hot and bright in her hands. Her MP had restored to about halfway from the drain she’d put on it with healing magic before and she funneled every last ounce of it into the magical staff, letting it radiate with a brightening glow. The treant turned toward her as she whipped her arm forward, the staff shifting into a white-hot shaft of pure magical energy. Its mouth stretched open into an angry scream as the spear of hot energy smeared into a narrow, blinding slash and punched hard and deep into the tree folk’s chest, splintering the wood, smashing into it and through, intersecting with the strange pool of orange energy contained within. There was a swift blinding blast, a collision of volatile magic against volatile magic, bursting outward in a twisting tangle of white and orange.

  Wood chunks, not just splinters, but large, ragged slabs of wood and bark broke apart and sprayed outward, chased by a strange viscous grime, arcing in the air, blasting from bright energy. The same bright energy shot from the creature’s opened eyes and mouth, forcing its way out of every possible small space and crack.

  “Watch out!” screamed Kydel turning away and shielding her eyes. Ella and Megyn followed suit and moments later the treant exploded in a white flash, a ragged slice through the air itself, expelling broken pieces of trees.

  When the light subsided, the once animated creature lay in a pile of wooden branches and trunk pieces, a large pile, centered in the clearing, standing nearly as tall as Ella herself. She dropped to a kneel, retrieving her staff from the wreckage and used it to help prop her up as she worked to catch her breath. Megyn knelt down herself, checking Tyson, who grumbled softly, but crawled to his feet and shook vigorously, spraying wood chips from his silvery fur.

  “Well done,” Kydel said with a nod toward Ella. “That was difficult to say the least.”

  There was a crackling energy in the air, a soft underlying electricity, more or less invisible to the naked eye, but they could all feel it, the hairs on their arm standing on edge, mixed within a thin layer of goose flesh. Kydel strode to the pile of wood and leaned down to touch it gently, then she smiled and nodded.

  Quest Complete:

  Preparations for War

  Part 05 - An Ancient Wood for an Ancient Weapon

  The Amazon stockpile of bows and arrows has been destroyed inadvertently by flame magic. The group must travel to the Ancient Oak Grove to retrieve more wood so that the bows and arrows can be rebuilt in preparation for the conflict with the Sharak-Ku.

  Rewards:

  2500 XP

  Reputation with Soracia improved

  Reputation with the Amazons improved

  “This is it,” she said quietly, turning to Ella and Megyn. “This is the wood we need. Bring those carts over, let’s get loaded up and head back to Thorathon. Queen Soracia will be ecstatic.”

  Chapter 30 - Many Unpleasant Returns

  * * *

  The trip back toward Thorathon seemed to be going much more quickly than the trip to the Ancient Oak Grove, the horses moving at a decent trot while Megyn and Tyson charged ahead, surveyed the path, then came back around to rejoin the convoy. Ella had taken a few moments to take turns healing the group, letting her MP replenish between uses until everyone was back to maximum HP. It had taken a while, mostly due to her lower level skill, but they’d gotten it done, slowly but surely.

  Evening was closing in on them, the sun retreating from the sky, shifting it from blue to a dull, bruising purple. Around them, the trees morphed into shapeless shadows, the sprawling branches and leaves mixing with each other to form an organic wall of various depths, bracketing the path like shrouded guardians.

  Ella looked to the sky, her eyes narrowed as they approached, her gray skin blending in with the surrounding dusk, nearly obscuring her entirely. This, combined with her organic, leaf-covered armor gave her an unnaturally sublime, n
early invisible appearance.

  “Do you smell that?” she asked as they continued along the grass and dirt, progressing westward through the trees. Thorathon was just around the bend and past the next wall of forest.

  Megyn lifted her own face, closing her eyes to better smell. She nodded and let her eyes fall open again.

  “Yeah, I do,” she said quietly. “It smells like fire.”

  Kydel looked over to her, the two of them meeting each other’s gaze.

  “Oh, no,” Ella whispered from ahead of them as they drew closer to the row of trees separating the path from the Amazon village. Even in the darkened dusk, she could see it, framed by the dull, dark blue sky.

  There was a thick column of rising smoke, a billowing pillar, crawling up from the surface, swarming into the cloudless night.

  “Something’s burning!” Megyn shouted. “Come on!” She jabbed Tyson gently with her heels, bending low and wrapping her fingers in his fur. “Go, Tyson!” she hissed and the wolf understood, lowering his head and bounding forward, charging over the grass, darting to the trees. Ducking her head under the branches of the wall of trees, she held tight as the large wolf angled around the ridge of forest, barreling toward the village. Megyn got a clear view of it and her breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t speak, bringing herself upright, slowing Tyson’s pace by relaxing her grasp. She could hear the dull thud of horse hooves just behind and beside her, the other riders coming around her flanks and seeing the same thing she did.

  “No!” Kydel screamed, swinging her legs up and leaping from the horse, running at full tilt toward the village, ripping her swords from her sheaths as she approached. “Queen Soracia!” she screamed as loud as she could as she dashed towards the village. Ella tugged on the reigns of her mount, slowing the horse, her eyes wide and unbelieving.

  Thorathon Village was engulfed in flames.

  From their vantage point, she could see at least four buildings reduced to cinders, columns of orange and yellow fire reaching up to the evening sky, reducing the structures to darkened wood and charred straw. Her eyes followed the entire length of the village and she could see people scattered about, throwing buckets of water on buildings, stomping out small fires, desperately trying to save the entire town.

  For several of the Amazons, Ella could already tell it was too late. The still form of dead or injured warriors were scattered about, not huge in number, thankfully, but enough so her mouth parted slightly in shock.

  “Ella, don’t just stand there,” Megyn said over her shoulder as Tyson leaped in the direction of the village. “These people need our help!”

  She acknowledged and sent her horse charging forward, slipping free from the creature’s back and landing smoothly in the grass, crouching for a moment before lunging off to help the wounded. Soft, muffled groans echoed among the crackling fire, the entire stretch of what passed for Thorathon’s main street covered in the injured. Ella glanced to the meeting hall and saw that it remained mostly intact. Her heart clutched for a moment. Had this been caused by the same fire that burned the bows and arrows?

  “Help,” a soft voice called and Ella looked down, seeing a young Amazon reaching for her. It was one of the new recruits, she recognized her face, though she didn’t know her name. She wasn’t one of the magic users, she didn’t think, but she was streaked in blood, and barely moving.

  “Hold on,” Ella said quietly, drawing a deep breath, collecting her mana, coalescing it, preparing it. She dropped and laid a hand on the girl, letting her energy flow. Slowly, the girl’s health began to restore, her breathing eased and she started moving more comfortably.

  Ella patted her lightly and shifted her gaze, moving to help someone else. As she headed in the direction of another injured Amazon, her foot caught on something and she almost tripped. Catching herself, she turned to look and a shriek lodged in her throat, barely cut off before it spilled out into the smoke-filled air.

  There was another body laying on the ground, and she’d tripped on it, almost fallen over it. But it wasn’t an Amazonian. It wasn’t even a human. It was the prone, lifeless form of a Sharak-Ku warrior.

  “The Sharak-Ku!” Ella shrieked, yelling over to Megyn. “The Sharak-Ku did this!”

  “What?” Kydel demanded, whirling on her and storming over. Her face was streaked with gray soot, her hair matted in sweat, and her voice hoarse from shouting and from the intake of smoke and ash.

  “She’s right!” a voice echoed deeper into the town, from a direction none of them could see. “They attacked!”

  “Kydel!” another voice barked, this one firmer and stronger. Kydel’s eyes met Esmelda’s as she emerged from between two snarling fires. She walked with a limp, her left leg a dull sheen of crimson, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at her.

  “Esmelda! You’re alive!”

  She nodded. “Indeed. Fortunate to be. We all are. A Sharak-Ku strike team hit us. No more than a dozen of them, and they brought the entire village to its knees!”

  “Queen Soracia?” Kydel asked, not even wanting to know.

  Esmelda’s eyes fell. “They took her.”

  “What?”

  A firm nod, though she still wouldn’t meet her eyes, as if she were somehow ashamed of what had happened.

  “They struck fast and hard. We were not expecting it. Killed six of us and used flaming arrows to start the fires. While some others were putting them out, they attacked them. We finally came together and drove them from the village, but not before they grabbed Soracia. She put up a fight— killed three of them all on her own, but in the end they were able to overcome her resistance and drag her away.”

  “I should have been here,” Kydel snapped, looking away. “I should not have left!”

  “Your presence would have made no difference here,” Esmelda said, taking a step to the queen’s guard and placing a calming hand on her shoulder. “The only difference it might have made was your death would have been piled upon the others.”

  “You think so little of me?” Kydel asked, glancing back. Her fingers clenched tightly around the two swords still in her hands. Ella guessed she wouldn’t be sheathing them any time soon.

  “It’s not that,” Esmelda replied. “You would have eagerly given your life to save your queen, this is known. These Sharak-Ku were strong. Some of the toughest of their warriors I’ve ever seen. Soracia killed three, I took down two, a few others were also killed, but the two or three remaining managed to make off with the queen.”

  “So, we get her back,” Megyn said, helping an Amazon to her feet. Ella walked behind her to another, lowering herself down to cast another healing spell.

  “I suspect they are bringing her back to Devil’s Mouth,” Locratia said, emerging from the right, her cloak smoldering lightly. Her hands were coated in a pale shine of magic light, fresh from casting Ice Dagger spells to put out the fires.

  “So that’s where we go,” Megyn said. “We were planning an attack anyway.”

  “We assumed they were unaware of our efforts,” Locratia replied. “I don’t think we can assume that any longer.”

  “We were also amassing the largest armory of bows and arrows in the village’s history,” Aldena interjected, arriving just behind Locratia. “Those are gone now.”

  “Not necessarily,” Megyn said, gesturing to the two horses they had rode into town on. “The carts are filled with enchanted oak. We found what you needed.”

  “Perhaps there is some good news tonight, then,” Aldena replied. She looked back and gestured to a handful of her archers and they all converged, walking to the horses and carts.

  “We can’t let them just walk away with our queen!” Megyn insisted. “They can’t get away with that!”

  “So what would you suggest, impatient one?” Esmelda asked. “We charge into the trees after them? Launch a full frontal attack only to be wiped out by the combined forces of several Sharak-Ku clans? I don’t think that’ll get us the result we want.”

&nb
sp; Megyn clenched her fists and lowered her eyes, her entire body radiating an energy of frustration.

  “Esmelda is right,” Locratia said. “We hadn’t attacked yet because we weren’t fully prepared. We’re still not.”

  “So, we start carving fresh bows and arrows,” Megyn said. “How long will it take to replace the ones that were burned in the fire?”

  “If we focus all efforts on that, perhaps twenty-four hours?” Aldena said, walking back over from the carts where her archers continued to retrieve the ancient wood. “That wood you brought back is especially supple. Practically radiating with mana energy. They will do very nicely, and there’s probably enough wood to carve out twice the number of arrows we had before.”

  “You can get that done in twenty-four hours?” Megyn asked.

  Aldena drew in a long, hard breath, looking toward the village itself, the rippling flames reflecting in her dark eyes.

  “If we must, we can. But we still don’t have the numbers. We were already outnumbered, and here we stand with at least another ten of us dead.”

  “Thirteen,” Esmelda corrected.

  Aldena’s mouth pinched closed.

  “There must be a way!” shouted Megyn. “We can’t just stand here. Certainly there’s something we can do!”