FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Reforged pt 14

comidacomida copyright 2020

The trip north was not a quick one, and Arthur covered many leagues with his sons before they arrived at the box canyon described by the Druids. A tree of surreal size stood tucked away between the rising land. Its canopy stretched from one side to the other, very nearly brushing the mountains and it was so stalwart that the layers of snow on its branches did nothing to its boughs. A gorgeous woman of surreal beauty cloaked in a gown of fall leaves and spring time blooms stood before it.

Her hair looked like willow branches cascading down her wooden body and concern was etched visibly on her fair features. The fact that she wasn't looking toward Arthur and his companions told him all he needed to know; either the Smiths were late, or they were right on time. Glancing to the rises that identified the start of foothills on either side of the valley, the blacksmith saw all he needed to know.

The canyon had several different approaches; the group was walking straight up the valley from the south, but foes have taken mountain passes which terminated on the west and east sides of the foothills. Each of the two parties were led by a collection of Orcs. One Orc on each side had a falchion and a shield; two were equipped only with their falchions which they wielded with both hands. Behind the front lines were bowmen-- two to a side, and each of the frontline troops was led by Orcs duel wielding; the west side had an Orc with two scimitars while the east had a wolf-cloaked Orc with metal claws strapped to his hands.

They were unlike the few Orcs Arthur had encountered before, not just in appearance, but in tactics. In addition to the Orcs, each side also had a large, hulking, furry humanoid amidst the Orcs; Arthur had never seen one before but, based on the stories he was able to identify them as Bugbears. Both Bugbears had a spiked mace and a shield and were standing near the front of each group. It was confusing to the Human; Bugbears and Orcs were usually enemies, so why would they join forces? To complicate things even further, both squads were accompanied by two Ogres each!

Glancing toward the far side of the valley, Arthur shouted "We were sent by the Circle! We're here to help!"

He met the eye of the wooden woman, who responded only with a slight inclining of her head. Beside him, a furry figure rose up from the undergrowth surrounding the tree. A tall, lithe cat man took up a defensive stance in front of the woman. Despite the distance, it was obvious that he could have challenged Orvig on height, though his thin, athletic build suggested that the Orc has him beat handily on weight. In his paws he held a recurve bow which glimmered slightly as if varnished, though the shine didn't not fade when it passed into the shadow. His teeth were bared in challenge.

Beside the woman what first looked like a thorn busy shuddered, pulling in on itself as it shrank in size while redefining its shape until it was almost reminiscent of a lion. The form it assumed looked as though it crafted by an artisan's tools, pruned and cultivated until Arthur swore he could see its individual muscles within the foliage. Even as he was staring, amazed at the plant-lion, the cat man finally spoke up, calling out to him "How do we know you are really allies?!"

Before Arthur could provide an answer, Harold stepped forward and raised a paw, holding the stone token he'd been given by one of the Druids up. "Algus gave us this to show you!"

The tree-like woman behind the cat man spoke, or, rather, all of the plant life around the party did, her voice echoing through it. "You have come at a fortunate time, champions of Brightwood... we are beset by a darkness which seeks to undo us."

As if to accentuate her statement, an unearthly howl arose from either footpath, drawing Arthur's attention immediately to the Humanoids pouring into the valley. Toward the back of either group were a pair of distinctive commanders. Both sides had older-looking Orcs covered with a myriad tapestry of ritualistic scars and body paints but what he really noticed were the otherworldly creatures accompanying them: twisted, gaunt-looking humanoids with reddish-black skin and sharp, blade-like claws dripping with a reddish oil.

Arthur watched as one of them brushed against a small clump of thistles as it descended the path and the plant life withered immediately, melting at the thing's presence. Behind him, the blacksmith heard Lucas speak up. "Those are summoned creatures... they're not from this world. Be careful, everyone."

The wooden woman, who, in Arthur's mind, could be none other than Eristhe explained everything. "There is a great darkness about them... and these Orcs... they have never come so far across the mountains."

Peter's expression became dire as he pulled the stone axe off of his back. "Then that wizard already got to this place..."

The woman by the tree raised her arms and, in response, the brush, shrubs, and small trees around the footpaths leading from the mountains quickly overgrew, becoming solid walls of vegetation. Without so much as a pause the aggressors immediately started attacking the plants, cleaving, hewing, and cutting into them in an attempt to clear the path. Orvig drew his sword and readied his stone shield. "They are definitely hostile. Arthur-- will you and your sons join me in protecting this place?"

Harold responded first, pulling out his bow. "Hells yeah!"

Peter readied his own shield, opeing his muzzle to object, but Lucas beat him to it, doing a convincing impersonation of the tone used by the eldest brother. "Language, Harold."

Even as Arthur spread his sons out an guided them into a defensive posture, he watched as the Tabashi across the way knocked an arrow into his bow, remaining by Eristhe's side as the front row of foes cut the rest of the way through the wall of greenery. Beside the cat man the strange animal-like plant creature lowered itself closer to the ground, in all ways looking like a great cat about to pounce. The blacksmith was eying the animated topiary lion at two guttural voices shouted out some kind of chant and he jumped when a crisscross of blazing beams of fire streaked across the valley and slammed into the it.

The lion-like plant let out a convincing-sounding roar and bolted some forty or fifty feet forward to leap into a small pond, submerging itself to be rid of the flames. Arthur took a step back, identifying the new threat immediately. "They have magic users among them."

Lucas let out an unimpressed grunt, followed by a flat statement of "Well so do we." A few seconds later, the Kobold was casting, and a large ball of fire roared overhead, lobbed the distance at the mountain trail to the party's left. The fireball exploded amidst the humanoids, decimating them. Burning bodies were launched off the ground, creating black arcs of smoke as they were sent flying, scorched and charred.

The two ogres remained standing and the Orc carrying the two swords was obviously injured, but he stood is ground. At the back of the group, the ritualistically scarred Orc paused to bat at its gray, wispy beard which had caught fire, but it recovered quickly enough. The demonic creature following along behind their first two rows didn't seemed physically affected, but even considering the distance between it and Arthur he could tell it was not happy. Almost as if in response to Lucas' magic, it sneered, spreading its arms wide. Cracks appeared in the ground and dark, twisted forms rose out of it as if emerging from the Hells themselves.

Hazarding a glance across to the opposite mountains, Arthur was disturbed to see that the other demonic creature had done likewise and, suddenly, the party had new threats to worry about. Worse yet, the two archers on the east side of the valley had taken aim at Lucas, and they loosed their arrows; he could tell right away that they were aiming for his youngest son. The blacksmith barely had time to shout "Lucas! Watch out!"

No sooner had Arthur cried out in warning than the Kobold responded, raising his arms in defense of his face and chest; the stony bracers around his forearms expanded, creating a thin shield of rock and both arrows were deflected. While that threat was addressed, the blacksmith caught sight of the singed Orc with the two swords charging his youngest son. Before Arthur could respond, Harold had stepped up and responded to the aggressor with two swiftly fired arrows; both caught the Orc in the chest, dropping him a few dozen yards out.

A war cry from the right, however, pulled the Human's attention to the other side of the valley, and Peter, who had stepped in to face them. The Minotaur had his hooves placed soundly, shield protecting his body from the front most Orc, a tall, broad-shouldered warrior wearing a wolf head like a helm with pelt attached as a cape. The attacker had metal punching claws strapped to his fists, and he assailed Peter with them. The first was blocked soundly, but the second slipped past the bull man's defenses, digging three shallow cuts across his bicep. That was not the end of the threat, however.

Through sheer numbers, the Orcs appeared to be intent on overpowering Peter; the sword wielders followed the clawed orc in, lashing out at the Minotaur who, thankfully, managed to fend off their attacks. Arthur's attention shifted to the Ogres of the group who, each as large or larger than Peter, maneuvered around the battle field with strangely astute attention to the ebb and flow of combat. The blacksmith had only ever encountered an Ogre once, and all the stories he'd heard about them suggested a complete lack of tactics; that thought worried him more.

Picking a spot toward the middle of the valley, Arthur shouted to Peter and Orvig who, together, created an all-too-small defensive lines on two battle fronts. One other benefit of selecting where he'd chosen to stand was that it allowed the blacksmith to intercept any enemies that made it past the two Paladins, hopefully before they made it to his middle or youngest son. It was fortunately he'd selected that position since the bug bear from the east side of the valley was able to pass by Peter unhindered, and so Arthur moved to intercept.

If he was expecting any help from Orvig, he was disappointed, as he heard the Orc engage in enemies off to his left, which meant that Arthur was on his own. Yet Orvig, Arthur and his sons were not the only combatants, and the blacksmith was pleasantly surprised when several arrows arced out over the valley and found their targets in one of the Ogres drawing dangerously close to him. Two arrows from behind the blacksmith answered the call and rained down on the same targets.

The moment Arthur's hammer struck against his Bugbear opponent's weapon the rest of the battle shifted into background noise. The blacksmith exchanged several blows with it, circling quickly as he was required to match its footwork; had he not been granted a healed leg, Arthur realized it would have been a lost cause. Just as that thought sunk in, the Bugbear charged forward, attempting to overbear him. Shifting to the side, Arthur moved past its attack and brought his war hammer up from low to the ground, connecting with his opponent's jaw from underneath. The furry humanoid was lifted off the ground, thrown back a few feet, and landed splayed out on the ground, unmoving.

Another explosion off to the left caught his attention and he quickly shifted his focus to where another one of Lucas' fireballs had landed, decimating the remainder of the forces from the west. That quickly improved the situation in his mind considering they would no longer be required to fight on two fronts. Raising his voice, he shouted out directions. "Orvig! Back to support Peter! Harold, we need--"

His voice froze in his throat when he glanced back to the Gnoll and Kobold just in time to see a black cloud of smoke poof into existence with one of the demonic creatures within it. Lucas spun around just in time to encounter the slightly singed outsider; it lunged with both of its ichor-covered claws, digging them into the scaled sorcerer's abdomen. The Kobold backpedaled out of range of its reach after that, supported by Harold, who, noticing Arthur glancing his way, shouted "Go help the tree woman!"

Looking back over his shoulder toward the end of the valley, Arthur froze; the situation there was just as dire, if not more so. One Ogre was beating away at the cat man and the tree woman, both managing to barely evade the worst of it. Peter was closer to them at that point, still fighting off the Orcish wolf-fur-wearing berserker but, just as with Lucas, the second demon had appeared out of nowhere and jabbed its wicked-looking claws right into the trunk of the tree. The wooden woman cried out if he herself had been struck and, right before Arthur's eyes, he saw the side of her body immediately shrivel, turning grayish and brittle.

Arthur was caught with indecision about where he'd best serve in the battle before that moment, but upon seeing the woman fall he made up his mind and raced forward to help. He passed by Peter, who finally finished off the clawed Orc with just enough time to raise his shield and protect himself from a volley of arrows aimed at him by the enemy archers. Orvig closed the distance as well, intercepting a sword wielding Orc who moved to intercept Arthur; it provided the blacksmith the opening he needed to get to an Ogre just as it slammed its huge club into the Tabashi bowman's shoulder, sending the cat man stumbling back.

Arthur was upon it a moment later. Attacking it from a blind spot, he winded up his strike and jumped, bringing the weapon down with all his might on the thing's head. The strike knocked the Ogre senseless and, despite the attack having been more than sufficient to fell a normal man, the large humanoid's thick skull had obviously kept it alive. Snarling, it turned to regard him, swinging its club with a backhand and missing by a wide margin thanks to the effects of hits head being used as an anvil.

Focused on the Ogre, Arthur left his flank open, and felt the punishment for it in the form of a heavy sword blade slamming against his armor. The blow was a strong one, and the blacksmith was certain he could feel blood seep down against his armor padding; he turned to regard a bugbear. There were too many enemies in too many areas to track everyone, and he growled out angrily "Just how many of you ARE there?!?"

There was no real answer forthcoming but, as Orvig downed another sword-wielding Orc, he strode over, eyes beneath his helm's visor set with intensity as he closed the distance in order to provide support. Suddenly faced with two enemies, the bugbear backpedaled, putting both Arthur and Orvig in position in front of him. The plate mail wearing Orc shot a glace toward the blacksmith. "You alright?"

Arthur simply nodded, and the two attacked in unison. Despite outnumbering the Bugbear, they were still in for a fight, especially since he was reinforced by two more Orcs. The combatants exchanged blows for far-too-long; Arthur sustained another cut and Orvig took a nasty blow to the head, but fortunately his helm held. At the end, however, they stood victorious over their opponents Orc opponents, and only then did Arthur glance back toward Harold and Lucas; encouraged by what he saw.

Harold had dropped his bow and was doing his best to protect Lucas from the demon that seemed intent on ending him. Between the Kobold's defensive attempts and the Gnoll's aggression, the demon had no choice but to focus more on keeping itself protected, but all that ended in failure as Harold landed a powerful hammer blow right down on its skull. Arthur could hear the crack despite the difference, and the evil creature disappeared in a black puff of smoke. Unfortunately, the lesser ones it had summoned joined the fight at that point, leaping upon the Gnoll with teeth and claws leading the way.

Orvig, at that point, motioned toward the tree and the melee going on there. "Help Peter. I'll aid those two."

The remaining scar-covered Orc had drawn closer to Arthur's eldest son at that point, who was quite successfully fighting off a small groups with the aid of the strange thorny plant-lion creature. As the Minotaur cut down the last foe between them the bearded Orc spread out his hands, speaking words of power, and a large fan of fire sprouted from his finger tips, engulfing both Peter and the plant-lion. At that point, two of the lesser summoned demons pounced at him, claws leading the way.

The plant-lion, smoldering from the fire, raced past the Minotaur and the two demons, pouncing the Orc caster and, as Arthur neared to provide assistance to his son, saw pieces of the humanoid flying everywhere as the animal-like thorn bush ground its entire body against the Orc. The blacksmith was glad to know that he was not opposing the thing, but he pushed the thought from his mind, looking to provide aid to his son. With one mighty blow he knocked the demon from the bull man's leg, and then shouted out the order. "Help with the ogres!"

Needing no further encouragement, Peter charged the Ogre assailing the cat man. Despite taking a parting claw from the demon on his flank, the Minotaur lowered his head, letting his horns lead the way. He slammed into his foe, knocking the Ogre off its feet as its crumpled body was thrown back into the bushes, dead before it hit the ground. Arthur's attention remained on the demon facing him, but he didn't miss another wail from the wooden woman, sparing just enough of a glance to see that the demon by the tree was pushing its claws even further into its trunk, causing the grand oak to wilt visibly, rotting before his eyes.

The battle continued to shift around Arthur; the sound of combat behind him giving the blacksmith no clue as to how his younger sons and Orvig were faring, aside from occasional battle orders being issued by the Orc, and an odd curse or two from Harold. He wanted to help Peter against the remaining Ogre facing him down, but he also wanted to go back to aid Harold and Lucas, but he was still facing his own foes in the form of two child sized demons, obviously looking for blood... not to mention the Bugbear, who, despite falling back earlier, was still very much in the fight.

One of the demons rushed him, slamming bodily into his gut with its shoulder in an attempt to knock him over, but he withstood the bum rush, batting it away with the shaft of his hammer. Once it was at range, he tool a step forward, following it up with a wide swing from his weapon, crushing its chest. Not stopping there, he kept the momentum, aiming for the Bugbear, which had chosen that opportunity to charge. He caught the furry Humanoid in the ribs, causing it to stumble to the side and double-over in pain. Arthur finished it off with a double-handed overhead strike, bringing his hammer right down on the back of his head.

The lion-like plant creature, done with the Orc caster, spun around and sprang forward, tackling the other minor demon which had just readied itself to attack Arthur. Suddenly free of foes, the blacksmith was forced to weigh his options. To his left, Peter and the Tabashi were fighting off an Ogre, but there was still a demon corrupting the great oak; to his right, Orvig, Harold, and Lucas were facing down two more of the lesser demons and, Arthur noticed, the Orcish bowman were firing again at Lucas. Blocking the newest volley of arrows, Orvig provided him the determining factor to help him decide. "Arthur! We need you!"

Hefting his war hammer, the Human charged back to aid his sons and Orvig. Harold had managed to separate one of the demons from his injured little brother and had pushed it into Orvig's attack range. Sword gleaming with holy light, the Paladin cleaved it in half just as the blacksmith arrived to interpose himself between the final demon and his youngest. It looked up at Arthur, red eyes gleaming orbs of malice. "The master wants THAT one alive... but YOU, I can kill!"

Harold put a quick end to the statement with a decisive blow from his war hammer, smacking the thing on the head. It was a mighty strike, and, by all rights should have ended it, but the thing just sneered, spitting a small amount of ichor from its split lip. Orvig, no longer pressured by opponents, stepped forward and rested a hand on Lucas, who was horribly wounded. A moment later the Kobold was less so, and rose up to his full height before pointing at the two Orcish bowmen taking aim. "Si rechan ixen garmth."

The guano smothered all over his extended finger ignited, growing rapidly in size until it filled his palm, and then launched itself out into the air, following the exact trajectory of the Kobold's indicated gesture. The archers were blown off of their perch, scorched bodies sent flying in different directions. Lucas then fell back, retreating from the demon, which attempted to get past Harold.

When its attempt was foiled by two fending blows from the Gnoll it scowled, but the expression quickly turned to one of sadistic glee. It whistled beckoningly before calling "Here doggy. Nice doggy..."

When Harold scowled and opened his muzzle to respond it attacked. The Gnoll's armor took the worst of the blows, but one of its claws caught him on the arm, digging deep into his hide. Yelping out in pain, Arthur's middle son swung his weapons to keep it at bay while Arthur knelt down to feed Lucas the healing potion he'd received from the Druids. Orvig, however, yelled out a prayer to Hieroneous, charging the demon in a flanking maneuver.

Even with the divine power of Hieroneous, the Orc's sword did only so much damage. Injured, the evil outsider turned to regard the Paladin. Arthur took that opportunity to get Lucas behind him. Harold also seized his change and attacked the demon with axe and hammer, striking with each weapon and catching the creature's attention. Something else, however, did an even better job of it and it paused, rising up to look past Arthur and toward the tree.

The blacksmith did so as well, caught by its sudden shift in focus. Peter stood by the tree, his stone axe buried into the thing's shoulder. It was sneering at him, body fading away faintly, but Arthur saw that it still had one claw lodged into the tree, its other containing the last remnants of the lion-plant creature. Erithe was crying, one hand outstretched toward the tree, the other toward the blackened, loose, thorn-covered vines in the demon's grasp.

Faelyn had a hand on Peter and Arthur saw the Mintotaur's muscles expand visibly as he was filled with green energy. Despite the distance, the valley allowed the cat man's voice to echo back to where the blacksmith stood. "End it."

The Minotaur pulled his axe free of the demon, and struck again. The weapon cleaved into its skull and, as its body faded, a disembodied, scornful laugh heralded its banishment back to its evil place of origin. "Kill the tree. Take the kitty. The master said."

The demon behind Arthur snarled, pulling his attention back to his own foe. Next to him, the blacksmith saw that Lucas had a book in his talons; it was the one they'd taken from the catacombs beneath Traven Keep. As he watched, Lucas finished reciting from one of its pages, whereupon that piece of paper burst into flame and the book closed of its own volition. The ground around them and the demon shook, and the corpses of the slain Orcs and bugbear shuddered, then slowly rose.

Orvig gasped. "Lucas-- you----?!"

The Kobold seemed just as surprised as the undead humanoids stood, turning to face him. With a voice full of as much confusion as his face, Lucas pointed at the demon. "Kill that thing!"

The undead shuffled in and the demon glanced around at them. "You are lucky I don't have time to play." and it disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

Arthur turned to Lucas, wanting to ask so many questions he had a hard time choosing one, but he didn't get a chance as a cry of alarm arose from the direction of the tree. Spinning to address the problem, the blacksmith saw that the demon had reappeared behind the cat man. It wrapped an arm around the Tabashi's neck. "Come now, kitty... the Master wants to--"

The demon didn't get a chance to finish its snide comment as its hold on Faelyn came to an end. The young cat man's body easily doubled in size, clothing and armor fading away as he rapidly grew to an amazing mass, four times or more his earlier weight; the demon may have been able to subdue a Tabashi, but it was unable to grapple with an enormous sabre tooth tiger. It let out a gasp of surprise, and then got mauled. Within seconds, it disappeared in a sulfurous blast of black vapor.

With the demon banished, the enormous feline turned around, eyes filled with fury. Peter took a step back, lowering his axe. "We are friends."

The beast made as if to leap at him, but, suddenly, the fallen wooden woman was on her feet, stumbling to interpose herself between the enormous feline and the Minotaur. "Faelyn! No! Stop!"

Akin to a forge being quenched, all of the predator's unbridled rage disappeared in an instant, and it stepped forward, raising a foreleg and, right before Arthur's eyes, the sabre tooth tiger transitioned seamlessly back into the Tabashi, who reached a paw out to help steady the wooden woman. "Eristhe... you are hurt."

With the battle at an end, Arthur moved to collect Harold and Lucas. The Gnoll had just smacked the back of his little brother's head. "I don't CARE if they're under your control-- they're an affront to nature, now get rid of em!"

Scowling, the Kobold gestured, and the shambling corpses all dropped to the ground, once again unmoving. "I know... geez. I didn't do it on purpose!"

Gathering up his sons, the blacksmith went to see what aid, if any he could provide to Eristhe and Faelyn. The cat man, who was already inspecting her, looked up as he drew close, and explained things without even having to be asked. "If you are from the Circle then you MUST help me. Eristhe is a Dryad, and that THING has hurt her tree."

Peter spoke for all of them. "How can we help?"

Before Faelyn could answer, Eristhe raised a hand and took hold of the cat man's paw. "The demon... its touch is like poison. You must follow these people to safety, Faelyn... you cannot help me. My tree--"

The Tabashi pulled his paw free. "No. We'll help your tree, Eristhe... then you'll get better. It's not too late!"

The woman shook her head. "No. I am a snare around your leg, Faelyn. The Defiler means to keep you here long enough for him to get you. Do not be here when he arrives."

As if not registering her words, the cat man looked up at Arthur. "There is a moss on the north side of Dawnspark Peak that can draw most any poison out of a wound. Please, I need your help to get it."

Eristhe spoke with more conviction to her tone. "North. Remember your vow to the Circle. You will not be able to help if the Defiler gets to you."

Faelyn paused visibly when she called him 'North', but his paws turned to fists and began shaking; Arthur saw his claws were out and blood was dripping from his palms. "They knew he was coming and they sent me to you... now he's done this here and you're sending me away too. I don't want to run!"

She smiled softly. "Then I will not make you." Without elaborating, her gaze rose slightly as her head rotated. "You must be Harold, of Man. Please... take care of him."

The Tabashi objected. "Eristhe, no. I'm going to--"

The woman closed her eyes and she whispered something in a language Arthur didn't know. A gentle wind flowed by and, in the blink of an eye, the blacksmith, his family, Orvig, and a very distraught Tabashi were somewhere completely different.