CHAPTER3: “Rotten Wood”
Creeping carefully along the twisting pathways between the great trees, Tharne leads Ivy onward. Back toward the Gread Hall and saftey, he hopes. Twice more they have been assaulted by their shadowy stalkers. Each time closer to death, closer to oblivion.
Cautiously he moves ahead of her to the next great trunk and cover. Close behind, she follows. Hous have passe with their persuers close at their heels, sometimes even close enough to hear the tormented breathing rattling in their skeletal, un-natural throats. Circling and doubling back to avoid detection, hours have passed beneath the glowing orb of the artificial sun. Now, a change is occuring. The bright Yellow is fading into the dusty reds of twilight. If they cant escape soon, they may lose their way in the infinite corridors between the trees.
Tharne’s hand shoots up silent and rapid as the wind, calling her to a dead halt a few steps behind him. Ahead in the spaces between the trees, something is stirring, searching and echoing its morbid and rattling song.
The great beast rears up ahead of them. So close, its black scales reflect the dull red light as a thousand bloody teardrops along its huge form. Softly, dreadfully, it croons to its kin, a noise like a hunting wolves howl or perhaps an eerie wind beating through the high rocks of a mountain range and tearing climbers to their doom. The others appear in a matter of moments, they were all three so close, at any moment they could be caught. Chittering together they appear as mis-shapen beasts in the fading light.
Crouching together Tharne and Ivy sit motionless, barely even daring to breath, waiting for their chance to move on without their enemies noticing them. Finally as darkness threatens to dawn on the great forest, the beasts more off in three directions, away from the two figures concealed in the brush.
For a long moment Tharne listens, searching desperately for any noise to indicate the creatures approach. Then when the coast is clear, he pulls Ivy from her hiding place and they run towards the edge of the great forest, desperate to reach the safety of the hall. Leaping together, they run as darkness finally falls upon them and the bright light above shimmers and fades to a brilliant white blue moon. Fear takes them as shadows play around them, hinting at hidden figures and beastly surprises waiting all around them.
Tharne slows slightly and grasps Ivy’s hand. crouching he nestles them behind a great overgrown orange tree, its hanging branches and white blossoms glowing a pale blue in the moonlight. Ahead Ivy sees their goal. a bright doorway shines like a yellow beacon in the distance, her heart filling with the warmth of hope.
A feeling of dread seeps down upon her, dousing the warmth and the hope together as cold water on a flame. Ahead in the gloom, a great shape appears. Its dark tripple eyes, making the woods seem almost bright in comparison, are focused like three beams on them. turning its elongated snout towards the sky, its long howling cry chills the very depths of their souls. The beast levels itself crouching like a great cat, and its powerful legs launch it forward, the many pairs flowing together in unisen to propel it at great velocity towards them.
‘Ivy’ Tharne yells ‘ get back and hide!’ and brandishing his Willow Staff before him he strides out to meet the creature.
Hours of battle have given him far greater control and he weilds the staff with precision, cutting great sweeping motions and buffeting attacks back with brilliant energies flashing in the dark. Dark patches leak blood onto his clothes where he has been wounded, and although the hours have made him experienced, he is suffering and his stamina is wearing thin.
The great beast form and the lone warrior strike blow for blow, crashing into trees and carving troughs through the rich soil. Suddenly, the beast retreats, taking a few steps back from battle and staring directly at him, its horriblw mouth twisted into an un-holy smile. a chittering grinding noise erupts from the trees above him and, clambouring through the broken boughs, one of the other shadows leaps toward him, its talons bared and glistening in the night.
A bolt of light streams from behind him and smashes across the creature as it falls, blasting it sideways with enough force to crush several trees in its wake. Staring in disbelief, the beast cries and pulls itself back from the rubble and, turning he looks upon the source of the assistance. There on an outcrop stands a slender short woman with flowing red locks pulled loosely in a bun behind her head. In her hand stands ready a short bow, curved and deadly in its purity, it glows with the life of living Beech wood.
‘Well?’ the woman questions, and raises one eyebrow, tilting her head towards the right.
Confused, Tharne turns to see the first long snouted shodow beast leaping ferociously towards him. Thrusting his staff ahead he buffets it back and then delivers a second hit to its throat, toppling it backwards as it stands to come again. Three arrows hit it square in the side of its head, each bursting with a brillian spray of colour and energy and each punching it further off balance. Taking his opportunity Tharne leaps forward and concentrating he plunges the end of his Staff deep into the heart of darkness at the creature’s center, cauing it to erupt in wisps of shadow and smoke into the darkness of the forest. The second creature scuttles eratically arcoss the torn ground towards them, its legs dragging and broken.
‘It’s all mine’ the red haired woman chuckles as she comes to stand beside him and, pulling another living Arrow from the forest floor draws the bow string and fires, shattering the beast into oblivion in a shower of sparks and flame.
‘Thank you’ he laughs and places a hand on her shoulder. ‘I couldn’t have taken them both myself’
‘Don’t buy me a drink yet pretty boy’ she groans, shaking her head.
‘I’m no expert, but I think big daddy over there is not pleased’
Turning, Tharne whips his staff into readiness. There on the edge of the field, stands the large shadowy form, sinuous and thick, it wraps around the trunks as its huge body disappears into the gloom. Red compound eyes glisten in the darkness, red as great rubies and burning with an evil fire.
‘Just like in the Hall’ he mutters
The creature roars, and spiralling teeth glisten wet and dripping in its gaping maw. Forked tongues flick in twos and threes from its throat, testing the air and threatening to devour everything it can reach.
‘well, whatever, I’m Nima’ the red haired girl shrugs, reaching out and comically shaking Tharne’s hand, a sarcastic grin playing over her face as she rolls her eyes.
‘Nice to make your aquaintance!’ She yells, turning and Stripping a huge arrow from the ground beneath her, its shaft and fletchings sprouting up almost instantly to meet her outstretched hand. Drawing it back, she fires, the shaft splitting and spiraling to pepper the creature across its entire body, tiny flashes and splintering wood echo through the clearing.
Angrily, he beast lunges forward, its huge coils tearing several trees to the ground as its millions of legs scrape and grind across the forest floor to gain traction. Leaping to the side, Tharne narrowly escapes a falling pine tree. and loses sight of Nima as she springs away, loosing another arrow into the aproaching creature. Wounds stinging, he climbs to his feet and bravely walks towards the great beast as it tears through the trunks of the great trees, digging for them all, to devour them. Striking down, a great wave of force crashed behind his staff as it clashes with the scales and chitin of the creature. Arrows fly from its flank as the small and nimble form of Nima bounds from tree to tree, attempting to evade the creatures vision.
Flailing, the beast lunges with hundreds of battering limbs and Tharne strides furiously back and forth, barely reflecting the blows as they fall. a barrage of timed blows knocks him from his feet and throws him across the glade where he slides to a halt bruised and bleeding.
‘Tharne!’ screams Ivy, grasping the orange tree in terror.
A flurry of blows comes as Nima leaps from her perch above the creature, leaping across its side and firing. The beast turns and launches a burst of dark oozing sludge towards her. Trying to evade it, she fails, and becomes immobilised as the goo instantly hardens around her, pinning her to the tree. Slowly the beast makes it way towards Tharne’s limp body, his breathing laboured and slow. Two of the great monsters tongues leap forth from its mouth and wrap themselves around his legs, worming their way up and constricting him as they retract towards the beasts open mouth.
A bright light flashes, and a searing blde of bright light sears through the air, severing cleanly the creatures tongues, and returning Tharne roughly to the ground. An ear peircing scream echoes from the beasts mouth as it keels back and its tongues whip frantically, spraying dark blood whick dissipates into dust.
The great beam crashes past the beast and into the trees themselves, however, instead of slicing into them as it did with the beast, new growth sprouts instantly wherever it touches.
Turning, the creature snarls at its attacker. Ivy, standing proud and feirce, White blonde hair trailing behind, her golden, honey coloured eyes blazing with fury, a sceptre of woven orange wood clutched in her hand glows with the reflected light of the delicate living leaves and orange blossoms which adorn its top. Enraged, the beast charges. Ivy aims and lets loose three powerful blasts of pure white light, their afterburn leaving a glow that penetrates the clearing and sprouts new growth over everything nearby. The Beams penetrate the creature through its heart and it collapses. Slowly at first as its core disrupts and its body decays, but then like a wild fire burning away the dead and rotten wood, the creature burns in dark red heatless flames to nothing.
Moving quickly Ivy leaps towards Tharne. Turning him over she finds deep wounds penetrating his body. As she weeps for his pain she picks a flower from her sceptre and focusing through its delicate form pushes her energies towards him. Nima cautiously approaches and squats down nearby, her green eyes silently wathing the woman work. His muscles start to knot together and his bleeding stops, soon colour reappears on his face and his grey eyes open to see the smiling faces of the only two people he knows in this world.
‘Thank you Ivy’ Tharn smiles, and embraces her in a full armed hug. her pale cheeks suddenly glowing red as she pushes away and smooths her skirts.
‘I would just like you to know’ said Nima, smirking.
‘That if it means you never point that thing in my direction, I promise not to ever, EVER, lick your boyfriend either!’
Shattered Cosmos 
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