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Mythical Beasts of the Border Woods

A large wolf-bear lies naked beneath a waterfall bleeding profusely with a petite tiger-vixen of decidedly Oriental form does her best to attend his wounds as he lays dying. Her fur is the normal orange of both tigers and foxes with the black stripes of a tigress on a decidedly vixen frame as she brushes her own purple hair out of her green eyes and concentrates on her own mystical abilities to stabilize the decided male of a thoroughly Germanic frame whose own fur is a deep russet brown with moss green hair. Her robes and his armor lay on the shore of the lake as she is desperate to save his life.

Nan Sakura Yamaha is her name and title, a mahoutsukai of limited training she is here to learn the ways of the gaijin so a better peace between the Eissenlands and the Kingdoms of the Dragon Lords may yet be achieved as the jaeger-ritter she is attending a geistiger krieger also of limited training was supposed to act as her bodyguard while she is traveling through the Border Wood. His name and title is Herzog Kodyax von Fenryx and he was fully prepared to lay down his life to protect the Oriental witch and almost succeeded in getting himself killed when a flock of blood hawks decided the pair of them looked like an easy meal. The actual fight was short and to the point as the jaeger-ritter had just enough javelins on hand to take care of the problem until their monarch decided it wanted in on the endeavor.

A greenish glow surrounds both of them as the death of the blood hawk monarch unleashed an eldritch energy that bathed them both in its mystical radiation. But that was just the final insult added to the injuries already sustained by both although Kodyax took the brunt of the bruises and slashes as the marks of the razor feathers launched at them are still quite fresh on his chest. However, as the saying goes, what does not kill you can only make you stronger.

Even as they bathe and try to wash away the grit and grime of battle the mystical energies that infused them through their very pores is beginning to mutate them in something greater than they were before. Arcane energy suffuses with Sakura's very soul enhancing her abilities with magical abilities she never knew she had before. The will to protect, utilizing his great strength to serve as a kind of living shield between those he serves and the monsters that would kill them serves now to guide the energy surging within him that will great him new and greater defensive abilities once he regains consciousness as Kodyax's body has largely shut down to allow those internal system that maintain his general health and well-being to do their work in repairing the damage done to him by the previous altercation.

As Kody's wounds close he begins to drift off to sleep as the day's events are quite tiring to him and given that it was just as stressful for Sakura, it should come of little surprise that she soon joins in the embrace of that conduit that transports a soul to the dreamlands. Observing them drift off to sleep is a serpentine ninja who fades into the darkness to make a report. Unconsciously the wolf-bear and the tiger-vixen intertwine their bodies as they arrive in the same area of the dreamlands together.

Dragon skull pauldrons grace Kody's shoulders linked to a harness that crisscrosses his torso to connect with his leather kilt as well as a diamond shaped leather gorget that displays the tree of life as an emblem. Sturdy leather glove-gauntlets cover his massive hands as reinforced leather boots protect his feet. The belt attached to the kilt has numerous rucksacks attached from which various items might be retrieved.

Leather lamellar armor in a decidedly Oriental style covers Sakura as she leans on her staff, with its iron bell framework finial festooned with rings that jangle as she walks, standing besides Kodyax. While her armor is reminiscent of the samurai, her main weapon is that of a magic user as is her custom and training. She is taken aback as she looks around and sees an Aztec temple pyramid before them and begins to wander towards it as Kodyax is taking in the sights, sounds and scents around them dark interest.

Something about this forest is just not right and the top of the step pyramid has a decidedly Oriental temple on it which is highly unusual which makes him suspicious. Five tiered layers make up the pyramid, each one with rails of a decidedly Oriental design and on either side of the steps leading up to each platform are Chinese dragons that look like they are carved of exquisite jade. The pagoda on top is mostly enclosed with another three layers to it on itself.

Just before they can climb the first set of stairs a hydra emerges from the moat lake that looks decidedly eye shaped surrounding the complex to challenge them. Evil radiates from it in dark waves to sap the will of those who gaze upon in and Sakura begins to cower behind Kodyax as the six heads weave a dance of doom. Sakura reaches out from behind him to touch Kodyax's hands and begins to chant as the smoke of intense heat begins to waft up from his wrists as his hands take on a nimbus of flame.

Kodyax smirks as the flames infusing his claws aren't causing him any discomfort as he grins at the hydra like a fiend. One of the heads strikes and swallows the wolf-bear whole as the tiger-vixen shrieks in alarm. The victory for the monster is short lived as the ranger decapitates the head on his way out.

The hydra shrieks in pain as it looses a head but it can do little else as the head that tries to eat the mahoutsukai utterly misses and gets a slap on the snout from her staff for its efforts. Kodyax leaps from the stump of the first head he eliminated to land on the back of the neck of the head that tried to bite Sakura. Attacking the mythical beast with his flaming claws, he easily destroys as flames erupt from its eyes as it collapses onto the bridge they were on.

Shrieks of pain and frustration erupt from the other heads as they try to attack Kodyax and successfully only hit each other as the jaeger-ritter targets another hydra head to unleash his fury upon. Venom drips from the fangs of the hydra heads as they seethe in frustration as they circle for yet another attack. Meanwhile, Sakura is stroking her chin to think of what spell she could cast to help out Kodyax.

Another head goes down in flames as Kodyax is thrown onto the bridge as the flames emanating from his fists start to smolder and then sputter out. Sakura shrugs her shoulders and casts the same spell again and follows it up with a mystical enhancement to his leaping ability. The remaining three heads stupidly just bob and weave as if daring Kodyax to leap at them again but do not initiate any attacks as the geistiger jaeger-ritter gets ready to launch himself at them once again with his claws aflame.

Once Kodyax has attached himself to the neck of one of the remaining head and starts to slash at it with his claws the other two head spit venom at him and drench him in their toxic spittle. Another head falls into the drink as the lupursyn gives the two head a look that tells them their attack was wholly ineffective as they lunge at him as one. One head mortally wounds the other head as Kodyax dodges at just the last second but in that same instant he attacks the one head with its fangs sunk deep into the neck of the other and severs it with a pair of deft slashes.

With flaming fists Kodyax bludgeons that final head into the sweet embrace of death as the flames burn out its eyes as it dies from the massive coronary that the warrior gives it. Kodyax rides the last neck into the drink and swims to the shore of the island they were heading for anyway. Sakura smirks at him as she casts a healing spell to repair what damage the hydra managed to do to him before they move on.

Arrows rain down from the first tier railed platform of the step pyramid as human clay statues of archers and spearmen advance to challenge them. Kodyax growls and prays to the power of nature itself for the speed to deal with these things quickly and easily. His prayers are answered as he runs like the wind to smash the one clay spearman and move onto the archer without losing a step.

Sakura loads a bullet into her sling and casts a spell of her own as she launches the bullet to devastating effect follows it up with another spell that causes a shuriken of pure purple energy to launch from her hand and slams unerringly into the clay archer she shot with the bullet and causes it collapse into a pile of dust. Her concentration is complete as she advances and slams the finial of her staff into the face of the other clay soldier as she is confident, Kodyax can shatter the other archer with his bare hands. The clay soldiers don't have a prayer as the kymera make short work out of them.

Panting in partial exhaustion from this bit of exercise the pair look at each other with a smirk on their muzzles as they climb the stairs to the second tier. Second verse same as the first at the same number of clay soldiers as last tier attack them with similar results. They remove shafts from their armor as this time the archers actually manage to hit them before they went down and once that chore is done, they take out potions of healing that they prepared for themselves and toast each other before drinking.

The only difference between the third and fourth tiers is the number of clay soldiers they have to fight to advance and even then the number is only doubled. A strange sensation comes over them as the last clay soldier is crushed into dust by the pair as they both feel stronger for their efforts. Once they reach the fifth and final tier the real challenge presents itself in the form of a knight statue in addition to four halberdiers and four archers.

Kodyax casts a protective spell on himself as the clay army approaches swiftly and Sakura does likewise activating a special ability she has had all along an looks to see who to target with her spells. A halberdier actually breaks its weapon on Kody's hide only to be pummeled into dust for its efforts by both living adventurers as the cavalier just charges past them in its fury which causes both of them to look at each other and chuckle. Kodyax takes a javelin out of one of his rucksacks and chucks it at the cavalier who stops a scant twenty feet away from and is in the process of turning around as Sakura gives an archer a firm smack with her staff.

A crack appears in the cavalier's torso as the javelin strikes hard upon its body. The clay cavalier retaliates by lancing the ranger squarely in the chest and drives him back as Kodyax winces in pain. Rather than force out the spear from his chest, Kodyax grabs the weapon as the clay cavalier foolishly grabs on for dear life.

Its unwillingness to relinquish its weapon proves to be a big mistake as Kodyax spins as best as he can and uses the knight to clear away the pawns in this chess game and in doing so there is another explosion of mythic power that knocks down both kymera. They shake their heads to clear the cobwebs before Kodyax casts a healing spell on himself because he definitely needs it. Entering the pagoda is easy but once they do so, a stone wall rises behind them to make it clear that getting out will be significantly more difficult.

"Welcome to my tower said the Spider King to the flies." A voice out of nowhere cries before maniacal laughter comes from what sounds like everywhere. "Do try to be entertaining before you die, it's been so long since I wasn't bored by invaders to my sanctuary."

"Who are you and what do you want?" Sakura asks of the voice.

"I am a spider king, that's all you need to know, prey," the voice retaliates. "You won't live long enough for even that to matter ultimately."

"Humor me," Kodyax inquires, "Which spider king are you? I want to know so when I kill you I can cross your name of our list."

"My, my, my!" the spider king states. "It would seem as if an agent of the Druid Council has found his way to my hiding place in the dreamlands." More laughter follows. "I like to call myself the Weaver of Night Terrors if that means anything to you."

"The Somnambulist Stealer of Souls," Kodyax says grimly. "I've heard of you. They also call you the Killer of Dreamers." He slams his fists together. "I will end your reign of terror. "

"And who are you?" Weaver of Night Terrors asks mockingly.

"I am Herzog Kodyax von Fenryx Geistiger-Krieger und Jaeger-Ritter." Kodyax states.

"You're the ranger that's been killing my spyders!" Weaver thunders. "I've been waiting for you to blunder into my lair!"

"Yours specifically?" Kodyax asks in a mocking tone. "The Druid Council seeks the death of all the spider kings. All of you have a spyder army at your disposal. I don't really discriminate. When I find one of them I kill it. They can be damn hard to find though."

"That's the fucking point you fucking moron!" Weaver curses. "Their task is to infiltrate societies and find out their secrets. Easier to strike the heart when you know where it is."

Hundreds of spiders drop from the ceiling.

"Ah, I see some of my foot soldiers have arrived." Weaver beams. "If you manage to survive and reach the magic circle to the next level I will be surprised."

A total of 12 spiders either drop down from the ceiling or appear as if out of nowhere that both Kodyax and Sakura recognize as being of three different but equally deadly strains the largest group are blink spiders who are named as such for their fantastic jumping ability that is assisted by magic as well as the ability to wink in and out of reality as needed; there are six of those, each the size of a small child. Largest of the group in terms of size but not number as there are there are only three of them are the ogre spiders, each one is larger than Kodyax and each one looks menacing. Lastly but not least are the human sized spider magi of which there are three as well each one has three bees of golden energy orbiting them as well as a screen of mystical force in front of them that shimmers in the near light of the chamber.

They split off into three groups of four spiders each with the witch spiders leaping onto the backs of the ogre spiders as the blink spiders fall in line around them as they fan out to try and herd and flank the heroes. Sakura raises her staff defensively as Kodyax reaches into one of his rucksacks and pulls out a javelin. Both of them begin to cast spells as the spiders approach first they each cast defensive magic on themselves before a battle spell is prepared to give their antagonists a nasty surprise.

Kodyax hurls his spear to start things off targeting only one group of spiders in hopes of hitting one instead of actually trying to hit any one individual. All three witch spiders look at Kodyax intently before each sends one of their energy bees hurtling at him in a death spiral as he mumbles a chant to himself. The lupursyn braces himself for impact as he stomps his foot on the ground and as he does so, Sakura goes wild eyed and leaps up to avoid what she thinks she knows is coming.

They

Shockwaves pulse around the ranger and knock the blink spiders to the floor while the ogre spiders struggle to keep their footing. Sakura breathes fire from her mouth and roasts one of the downed blink spiders. Kodyax punches one of the downed blink spiders and crushes it to death with one mighty blow as Sakura touches his shoulder and golden light encapsulates his frame.

Kodyax smiles as the witch spiders send their energy bees to attack Kodyax once again as the ogre spiders just stand firm and glare at the pair. Sakura throws a large egg at one of the ogre spiders that it does not even try to deflect to its detriment as fire erupts from the smashed egg to scorch its carapace, the carapace of the witch spider on its back and roast the two blink spiders at its feet. In retaliation the witch spiders send their last bees to attack Sakura but she concentrates and whispers words of power to erect her own magic shield on which the bees squash themselves ineffectively.

Sakura smiles before launching a torrent of purple energy at the one witch spider and destroys it with her barrage. The remaining two blink spiders wink out of existence momentarily before appearing on either side of Sakura to bite her severely. Their attack immediately provokes a retaliatory strike from Kodyax that again causes the spider to gush blood and guts from the force of the blow.

The ogre spider she hit with a fire egg grenade surges towards her in an attempt to overrun her only to get a face full of fire as her screams carries with another belch of flame. The ogre spider topples and crushes the witch spider on top of it in the process. The witch spiders utter what sound like curses as they glare at Sakura.

Both of the ogre spiders try to trample Sakura who wisely makes a mad dash to get away from them. I ask you the reader to imagine the wacky sax of the Benny Hill to be playing as the ogre spiders chase Sakura to kill her as Kodyax chases after the ogre spiders with much the same intent but in his case he wants to kill the monster and not the mahoutsukai. Sakura leads the ogre spiders on a merry chase throughout the chamber until Kodyax manages to tackle one of the ogre spiders so he can bludgeon it to death with his fists as the other continues on with the chase.

Kodyax kills the witch spider that was riding the one ogre spider he took down rather easily before he resumes his chase of the last pair trying to kill Sakura. He needn't look very far as Sakura herself has started to get amused by this and runs by him with the ogre spider close behind him. The last ogre spider almost runs him over but not quite as Kodyax overturns the oversized spider with a single mighty punch and forces it on its back, killing the other witch spider with a satisfying crunch.

While Kodyax has it pinned Sakura stabs at it with her yari which helps kill it that much more quickly as they hear more alien cursing in ether around them and know that they pissed off the spider king who was fully expecting them to get slaughtered by its minions. Sakura found the magic circle the Weaver was talking about as she was running around and leads Kodyax to it which so happens to have a fountain in the middle of it. The fountain itself seems out of place in a tower run by a spider king being one of blue marble with river nymphs pissing the water into the pool below.

Neither Sakura nor Kodyax have any illusions about what this could be so they both activate some minor spells as they investigate the fountain. They both register the fountain as magical and while Kodyax also checks for poison, he finds none although he does find some script written in the secret tongue of druids that as a ranger he was taught so the druid council could send him messages that were for his eyes only with little fear of the message being intercepted and understood. As he reads the script he has to chuckle as it proclaims that the fey are so wonderful even their excrement is beneficial to mortal beings which Kodyax himself knows to be a lie as he has dealt with many fey of different temperaments and the idea that all are beneficial to mortal beings is quite a joke.

"What's so funny?" Sakura asks.

"The inscription," Kodyax states. "It extols the 'virtues' of the fey and claim even their excrement is to our benefit."

"Who would..." Sakura starts to ask.

"Someone infatuated with the fey," Kodyax reasons, "Or one of the fey themselves. They do like their little jokes."

"Do you think it's safe to drink?" Sakura inquires.

"Safe enough," Kodyax says as he takes a swig. "I detected no poison and it tastes like sparkling water infused with citrus."

"Tasty," Sakura remarks as she drinks a cup. "I wonder if this is for our benefit or his minions?"

"Definitely the minions," Kodyax assures. "I don't think he expected us to actually defeat them."

"Is it just me," Sakura asks as the runes in the circle around them alight and the projections first hang in the air around them before beginning to dance. "Or does that not seem normal?"

"I think we activated the circle somehow." Kodyax observes.

Kodyax and Sakura vanish from the spot where they were and reappear on the next floor up where they seem to teleport into a boxed in chamber. The walls of the box have portions in them that shift at random forming and unforming patterns without seeming rhyme or reason. Sakura studies the patterns and thinks she puzzles out a meaning to them and begins to play with the patterns until they hear something click that causes the walls to recede into the floor and the voice of the Weaver condescendingly welcomes them to the second floor.

"Well, well, well!" Weaver beams mockingly. "It would seem you're worthy of some sport after all. About time somebody figured out my little puzzle box. Of course most folks that can overpower my minions below are not exactly the brainy ones. Those are the ones that usually get eaten." Maniacal laughter fills the chamber. "Alright, here's the deal: This level of my tower is more a test of the mind than the body although the physicality is not really wasted either." Walls spring up from the floor. "The circle to the final level is at the end of this maze. All you have to do is find it. Of course there will be other puzzles along the way. I can't make it too easy can't I?"

"You know," Sakura says to Kodyax as they begin walking, "I'm really beginning to detest this thing whatever it is."

"They're not much to look at either from I've heard." Kodyax states. "I know from experience only dealing with spyders. I have yet to actually meet a spider king."

As they walk along the passageways they are being involved by a gray skinned humanoid that crawls around the rafters like a baby just learning to move. It is observing the pair as it shadows them through the maze. The eyes of the creature shine darkly like obsidian as it goes about its business.

Whispers call to Kodyax and Sakura as they wander the twisting hallways that seem to go on forever on this second level of the tower. Scant pieces of sentiment is all that can be gleaned from the voices whose progenitors cannot be seen in the near light of the passageways but even these are incoherent and maddening to bear witness to as the mind reels from the blasphemy of unreality uttered in these frightful fragments like thoughts of terror barely perceivable by the conscious mind and should the subconscious mind is able to decipher the meanings of such ramblings, it mercifully neglects to inform the waking consciousness of its findings. Kodyax ignores the whispers after awhile but Sakura finds she cannot and has trouble concentrating because of it, something that ends up annoying Kodyax as he glares back at her.

"Sakura, language is almost non-existent in the realm of dreams." Kodyax calls back. "We can understand each other because it is out intent to do so. More than likely the Weaver of Night Terrors intends these disembodied voices as a distraction."

"A distraction?" Sakura calls after him incredulously. "A distraction...you may be right; do we have any idea where we're going?"

"I'm not quite sure about that." Kodyax admits openly. "We are hopefully unlikely to meet a minotaur here."

"Given that our host is a spider king," Sakura jokingly agrees with him with a giggle, "I would sincerely doubt that myself."

"Well, not your typical minotaur anyway," a voice from behind them calls which causes the two of them to look back and behold a horrific creature with the body of a gigantic spider that features a quartet of hooved feet with an equally large torso rising from its front with four massive arms as well as a head that is an amalgamation of bull and spider complete with both horns and fanged mandibles, "but throw something like me for instance and you get a whole new breed of monster. I take it you are the 'lucky ones' that managed to make their way up here?" Both Kodyax and Sakura nod stupidly. "Excellent! It's been ages since I had a decent meal."

"Good time to start panicking?' Sakura asks.

"Verily," Kodyax says as he grabs Sakura, throws her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and starts running.

"Go! Go! Minotider!" The Weaver's voice booms from above before erupting into maniacal laughter once again.

"Fuck me! Fuck me! Fuck me!" Sakura intones fearfully.

"Maybe later," Kodyax says in fearful levity. "Right now, we need to get away and come up with a plan."

Kodyax casts a quick spell that increases his speed as he runs full tilt away from the monster behind them as the minotider just strolls after them. It whistles a merry tune as it takes its good old time chasing the adventurers. The pair turn a corner only to find their antagonist right in front of them once again.

The minotider swings a powerful axe that looks something like a weaponized meat cleaver at the pair and forces Kodyax to do a baseball slide between the thing's legs as Sakura swings for the fences with her staff. The minotider squeaks to high heavens as something sensitive gets hit and it partially collapses. The pair take the opportunity to beat feet and run off in a few random directions to confuse the minotider just where the heck they are going, although it is not the only one as they have no idea as where they are going either.

Sakura skids to a stop when they run across an impossibly large library and enters much to Kodyax's consternation. The fact that she will not be able to exactly read the books in the library is not entirely lost on Sakura but she is desperate for anything and hopes their might be some illustration that will help them in here.

A map book for this level falls from the shelves along with a book of Rube Goldberg inspired death traps and they merge together as it drops onto a nearby table and a random page shows them something promising. A tube with rotating blades at random areas appears on the pages of the book along with tenderizing hammers to pulverize, puree and ultimately make hamburger of the poor unfortunate dropped into this fiendish device presents itself as well as a highlighted portion of the map showing the hallway where this trap door that drops some poor unfortunate soul into the diabolical machine presents itself to Sakura who shows it to Kodyax as they share a fiendish conspiratorial nod between themselves. They only have a moment to study the map before the minotider comes after them, waving its axe recklessly.

The pair taunt the minotider into coming after them, a move they didn't really need to make but it does make the creature angrier which was the point in the exercise in the first place. Sakura casts a quick spell that will allow her to see traps before they stumble through them accidently; she does this to make sure the secret door to the trap they are looking for will appear to her so they can avoid it even as they hope to make the minotider so angry he fails to notice them trying to avoid the death trap they hope to lead it into. Full tilt they start running for the nightmare hall of traps designed to grind and dismember those foolish enough to blunder into it although truth be told it is through this gauntlet they must traverse to get to the magic circle they need to access to get to the spider king.

For its part the minotider is livid as its very honor is at state as so far nobody has ever survived to reach its master so far and it will be damned if these two become the first to ever do so. Unfortunately in its rage it fails to take into account that it is far too large to avoid any of the traps in the hall and while the lupursyn and the fulpyn manage to bob and weave to avoid the spinning circular blades and time their jumps just right to leap through the deadly slicing fans, it must blunder its way though. When Kodyax and Sakura parkour their way past the final barrier unscathed, the minotider falls to its demise in the meat grinder as the Spider King wails and gnashes its mandible teeth.

As they activate the magic circle to take them to the next level they can feel power surging through them as they know the minotider has indeed perished. Kodyax gains new insight into confronting aberrations from his experiences and a new spell unlocks in his mind as well as hearing music upon the wind as well the means to perform it. Sakura can now see mystical auras all around her and they both feel remarkably stronger.

Darkness permeates the room completely as Kodyax and Sakura hold hands to reassure themselves of each other's presence. Something slithers up Sakura's leg and secures goggles over her eyes and with the gift of goggles she can see again as she witnesses a luck dragon do the same to Kodyax as it no doubt did to her before it gives them a knowing wink and flying off.

Sitting in a gilded throne modified to fit its bloated frame is the Spider King, a thing of nightmares with the bloated thorax of a spider a humanoid torso whose head features eight eyes like a spider with the terrifying mandibles of a tarantula. Four legs and four arms support the thing when it moves and allows it to fight when it chooses to do so. Right now it drums the four finger claws of the one hand against the carapace of its chin in irritated contemplation.

Rage radiates from its form in waves of pure unadulterated anger as if the mere fact that they have made it this far is an anathema to it, an insult to its intellect of ill will to all unlike itself. In truth it is extremely annoyed that for all its plans and the work it put into pulling in minions to defend itself and prevent this very scenario from occurring a pair of dreamers actually managed to make their way to its lair to confront it and worse yet, one of the two is a ranger, a warrior agent of the Druid Council, the one organization that has the tenacity and resources to successfully frustrate its efforts to do more than frighten a few folks to death in their sleep. All the spider kings have been similarly stymied by the council and its most trusted and powerful agents in the rangers.

He calls himself a jaeger-ritter, a hunter knight but Kodyax has the mystical training of a druid and the martial training of a warrior with the drive to hunt to kill those that would despoil the natural world that he so loves and has vowed to protect with his very life if necessary. The thing before him is an abomination, a creature that has no right to exist yet alone hatch its foul plans to enslave others with fear and terror for its own amusement and sustenance. Kodyax knows his duty, his obligation of faith and honor in this situation: this aberration must be eradicated by his claws.

Looming invisibly behind the spider king is yet another being that has been watching these proceedings with its own keen interest. Unseen by those in the chambers its presence can none the less be felt as tentacles writhing in the darkness best left unobserved for the preservation of sanity although of the three persons in the chamber only Kodyax has any inkling or desire to view the thing and it knows for its own good from his eyes it especially needs to remain as mostly unaware of its full presence as he is. The spider kings are but a set of pawns to the entity and it is fully willing to let the pawns fall in order for its very presence to remain fully hidden from those that would destroy it.

Sitting on its throne the Weaver of Night Terrors can feel an influx of eldritch energy infusing its very being. Leeches with spider legs and scorpion tails emerge from the floor en masse and start to swarm the adventurers as the spider king watches from its throne. Webs begin just appearing throughout the chamber that obscure vision for Kodyax and Sakura but not for the Weaver of Night Terrors as it just observes and mentally directs its conjured minions.

Tendrils of shadows erupt from the floor and solidify into full on tentacles that wave around menacingly and really annoys Kodyax and makes Sakura really nervous as they both become vaguely aware of them. The leech spiders are a great distraction for the two as they beat them off as much as possible as the tentacles reach for them in a much more subtle manner. Black blood makes the stone floor extra slick as shadow hued tentacles snake up the legs of the two adventurers as they are too busy keeping the leech spiders from attaching to themselves to notice much of anything else.

Eyes go wide on both adventurers as the tentacles grope their groins as Kodyax is very traditional on what he wears beneath his kilt. With Sakura there is some silk between a given tentacle and her naked cooch but she still feels it trying to ram itself inside of her. Additional tentacles wrap themselves around Sakura's legs and tries to drag her down and over to a central position.

Kodyax growls as he uses his claws to shred the tentacle that ramrodded its way into his tail hole after copping a feel on his nuts. He is just about ready to slash his way through the webbing when he hears Sakura screaming for help. The tentacles on her are shredding what clothing she imagined she had on in the dream state and have started to fill her lower holes as they grope her breasts.

Sakura eventually has a tentacle shoved down her throat to keep her from screaming as she is lift and her limbs are held apart in a spread eagle manner. Waves of doubt and despair emanate from beyond the spider king to hit Kody's mind in a relentless stream of dark thoughts to confuse him and drive him to his knees instead of rescuing the mahoutsukai. It takes every ounce of will he can muster but he manages to resist and fight off the assault on his mind.

For a moment he thinks that maybe killing the spider king will stop the manifestation of these tendrils of shadows acting as tentacles of madness driving her insane but then he realizes that something behind the throne is the real cause of this insanity around him and his mind's eye searches for it so he can target it with his fists of fury to make it all stop. The very real threat that in this dreamscape where anything can and does happen Kodyax truly can have the power to do what he intends to do frightens the entity that it withdraws deeper into the shadows and takes its power with it into the long cold night where only gloom can be perceived. The tentacles securing Sakura and her body dissipate like mist in the morning light and she drops into Kody's arms.

Kodyax cradles the limp form of Sakura in his arms; her chest rising and falling giving him the only indication that she yet still lives but her breathing is shallow as she sobs softly into his shoulder. Gently he lays her down in the corner before drawing a flask of amber fluid from his rucksacks as well as a well-worn leather sack that looks like it's just about ready to fall apart. The flask he throws at his feet, shattering the glass as fire burns away the webs surrounding him as he hurls the bag at the spider king where it erupts at his feet to release green goop that quickly cements its feet to the floor.

"No running away, monster," Kodyax growls. "I will finish this once and for all!"

"I have no intention of running from the likes of you!" Weaver bellows defiantly as a whip of spiders manifests in one of its hands. "I have many, many tricks to utilize on foolish adventures who invade my lair. I'll feast upon your soul when I finish killing you!"

"I shall not fall to the likes of you!" Kodyax promises with righteous rage and endures the sting of the spider whip. "I will pummel you into your grave!"

"NO!" The Weaver retorts at full volume as his free hands shoot sticky webbing to hold him in place. "I am master here and you are my prey!"

"I think not," Kodyax says as his whole body becomes wreathed in flames for a brief moment before it concentrates on his fists. "You will burn in your own lair for this. I swear it."

The Weaver of Night Terrors wraps itself in webs as if creating armor for itself as Kodyax approaches slowly in a menacing manner. It makes a javelin of hardened spider silk and coats the tip with its own venom before throwing it at Kodyax, an attack he effortlessly knocks aside and keeps on approaching. Another lashing from the whip of spiders only strengthens his resolve as he keeps on coming.

Kodyax sprints the last few yards away, turning himself into a kind of living missile as he tacks the thing from its throne. It bites Kodyax furiously and his body blackens from the attack but it does not deter him as he launches a powerful punch at its head that causes quite a concussion on the creature. Confused, the creature would stagger if it were not for the fact that it is on its back with Kodyax on top of it pummeling away with his fists.

As one might expect the web armor the creature composed for itself catches on fire, adding further injury to Kody's efforts to manually bludgeon it to death. With each subsequent punch the Weaver feels closer and closer to death as it feels itself getting weaker from the pounding, relentless assault by the ranger. For his part, Kodyax's face is a mask of anger, his gaze is intent on the murder he is committing without a shred of remorse as he knows this thing has killed hundreds of folks in their sleep without shedding a tear of remorse; glee maybe but it is not sorry for the evil it has done and thus von Fenryx feels no guilt in ending its existence for when you die in dreams; you die for real.

Sakura feels a little better as the dark form that was watching over them and filling the chamber with despair with its very presence has retreated into the shadows from whence it came and took with it the aura of dark depression it emitted when it was silently bearing witness to the proceedings, unwitnessed by anyone with their active perceptive powers although their subconscious registered its attendance quite firmly and distinctly with the primitive part of their brains reeling from the fearfulness it was detecting with dire dread filling their souls with each passing moment. It is as if a dawn has broken through the cloud cover to dispel the long night made more fearful with presence of an ancient evil of such primordial power that one can only shudder before it since one has no real hope of destroying it in any fashion. Although, that said, it has been foretold that in strange eons even death may die.

Evil ichor taints Kody's hands with it spilling as each subsequent strike from his mighty arms drives his knuckles deeper and deeper into the carapace of his arachnoid opponent. When at long last the monster breathes its last the scenery around begins to considerably lighten as bright white light fills the chamber and obscures everything around themselves as their eyes cannot form images in such conditions; not even of their own forms. As one they awaken; as naked as the day each was born still waist deep in the sacred waters of the waterfall in a secluded cavern within the Border Woods.

Candles flicker as they float upon the waters all around as the pair emerge from the dream and the journey they took while encapsulated within its nebulous boundaries, a shared experience in their minds. Slowly but surely the realization of the adventure they just partook within the dreamlands asserts itself in their waking brains as the two smile at each other in a manner most conspiratorial. What's more there is another development that they quickly become aware of in the fact that the excitement of what just transpired in the dreamlands has evoke a sensual response in their own body as he is fully hard with his soft sword sheathed in her crevasse; a fact that embarrasses both but at this moment neither one truly wishes to do much to rectify the situation other than bring their mutual state of mating readiness to its inevitable conclusion.

Kodyax and Sakura look at each other with a lustful smirk when an elven shrine maiden walks in, sees the two of them and gasps. Mikiko bows to the pair and apologies for her intrusion although she can't help but look and see that yes they are currently connected at the groin. Sakura is actually massaging Kodyax's cock with her inner walls but she is embarrassed as to the fact that they now have an audience.

Mikiko smirks to Sakura as they have played with each other before but as she comes closer she is taken aback by the markings on Kodyax's body. Warriors like Kodyax often get tattoos but these are new even for him as they appeared as a direct result of the actions he partook of in the dreamlands. Emblazoned on his chest is the tree of life in green with Viking dragons snaking down is legs and arms with their heads encompassing his hands and feet.

Sakura is a little too close to him in proximity to really notice as she presses her front against his to hide her nakedness as Mikiko approaches. She has no markings right now but she has lain with men that had them and in some ways the idea that mostly bad boys get tattoos makes them more attractive to her. Kodyax has been assigned to her as a bodyguard and she got the impression that if she would attach hereself to him in some fashion she would find greater favor in the Border Wood.

A recess opens up in the waterfall for Kodyax to retreat into and he does so more to get some privacy as the shrine maiden is called away. He braces her against a wall to finish off his stiffy within her as folks outside are calling their names. The sounds of what they are doing kind of clues them in on where they and what they are doing with sort of informs those looking for them that actually interrupting them might not be the best idea to follow up on them.

"Really?" A humanoid tree asks with some annoyance. "She just got here for crying out loud! Animals! I will never understand..."

"Oh, don't split your roots, Konefir," a rock woman in brown robes says with a smirk on her face. "They were attacked by a flock of blood hawks coming in. I know they were getting cleaned up but that was hours ago."

"They looked like they were meditating for a bit," a creature who looks like an animated tiki statue says with some authority. "Although it did seem a bit strange."

"What is this?" Konefir asks as he spies something in the water. "Terra, Bongo, come here."

"Is that the Weaver of Night Terrors?" Bongo asks.

"It must be!" Terra says incredulously. "But where did the body come from?"

"I can guess," Konefir says with annoyed amusement. "It dream them into the dreamlands thinking it could kill them there but it would seems Kodyax was a little much for it."

"It does look like it was beaten to death." Bongo ascertains. "I would have sympathy for the victim but I know the horrors it inflicted on its victims before it killed them."

"Indeed," Terra says with a proud smirk, "I think some congratulations are in order."

"KODYAX!!!" Konefir bellows. "If you are quite finished, we have things to discuss with you."

"And who is this we?" Sakura calls in an annoyed tone of voice.

"You might say your welcoming committee Nan Yamaha." Bongo calls back in a joking tone of voice.

"Alright, Bongo, we're coming." Sakura calls back dejectedly, then she whispers in Kody's ear: "Later, Kody, I promise. I enjoyed what we had."

Sakura and Kodyax emerge from their niche together but not attached as the three beings of the soil watch them emerge. The new tattoos on Kodyax come of something of a shock to all three as they did not know him to have the desire to get them. More disturbing is the fact that they emerged upon his body as they were fighting the weaver of night terrors in the dreamlands.

"It was quite a sight to see," a dryad says as she walks out of a tree. "I was a little disturbed as I watched it happen from my tree."

"You observed everything, Sylvania?" Terra asks.

"For the most part," Sylvania admits. "Kodyax is a ranger and one that I have known a few times pleasantly." She giggles at this and then continues. "So I do have something of a vested interest in seeing him remain relatively safe and sound." Then she sees the spider king and visibly recoils. "Where did that THING come from?"

"I killed it, maybe a half-hour ago?" Kody admits.

"Good!" Sylvania spits. "I do not speak for the whole of the Seelie Court but I for one am glad to see a spider king has gotten his comeuppance. Whatever power has been bestowed upon with those tattoos, Kody, you more than earned it by doing this service to the forest. On behalf of my sister dryads of the Border Wood, I thank you." She bows after she says this and then starts to back up. "Now if you will excuse me, King Kernoonos must hear of this."

The three druids look at each other, shrug their shoulders and then turn their collective gaze to Kodyax and Sakura.

"Great," Konefir groans, "Just what we don't need."

"Kody," Terra intones. "Please take Sakura on a tour of the Border Wood if you would. Please?"

"Alright," Kodyax says amicably and then turns to Sakura, "I think we should get dressed somewhat first and then I'll see what mounts are available."

Sakura just giggles as Konefir face plants and Bongo shakes his head. Kodyax dons his harness without his boots and glove-gauntlets as somehow he gets the feeling he is better off without them and finds that Sakura has somehow acquired a new draconic head dress and staff in the style of the dragons of the east.

"Ah, Herzog von Fenryx!" A friendly racket calls when Kodyax and Sakura walk into his stables. "Good day to you, sir, what can I do for you?"

"Hello, Harry," Kody calls to Harold Esquire, one of the finest mount traders in the Border Wood, "I have the pleasurable assignment of body guarding the lady that is with me, Sakura, this is Harold Esquire, a talented trainer of mounts and one whose skilled is unmatched in these parts far and wide. Harry, this is Nan Sakura Yamaha, formerly of the Dragon Kingdoms who is seeking asylum in our neck of the woods to save her own neck so to speak."

"An honor and a pleasure to make your acquaintance, however brief this might be, milady," Harry says with a respectful bow. "May I take it the Council has tasked you with taking the lovely lady on a grand tour of our humble forested estate?"

"Perceptive as always, Herr Esquire," Kodyax says amicably. "What mounts do you..."

<ME!!> A voice sounds in their heads. <Oooh! Oooh! Pick me!>

"Gabby is still here is he?" Kody asks facetiously to which Harold just sighs and nods solemnly.

"There are very few individuals that have your patience with him I'm afraid." Harry states. "Heck if you do choose him, I'd be inclined to pay you out of gratitude."

"Why?" Sakura asks simply as they approach a stall with a purple and green tarantula the size of a Clydesdale horse. "Ah! Spider!" Then she turns around and looks pleadingly at Kodyax. "No, please, Kody, after what we just went through?"

<What happened?> Gabby asks telepathically with all the excitement of a child faced with the potential of a new toy. <Come on, Kody, please?! Tell me!>

"We had to deal with a spider king, Gabby," Kodyax admits as Sakura gives him an incredulous look to which he just rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "Gabby is endlessly inquisitive, Sakura, he means well but the worst thing about him is the mental chatter."

"There's a reason you call him, Gabby, huh?" Sakura asks with a smirk. "Although, come to think of it, why am I hearing a childlike voice in my head in regards to him?"

"Gabby is a mage-bred mount," Kodyax explains, "More than a bit of sorcery went into making Gabby the way he is. Part of that made him very smart, his mind became awakened to the magic of the psychics and is able to do interesting things. But with that awakened mind came many side effects, his coloration being one and the other is his wisdom."

"How well developed?" Sakura asks.

"He has all the wisdom of a small boy," Harold says. "He is intensely loyal to those that can endure his near endless stream of inquiry. And getting him to shut up is rather difficult at best."

<I'm having trouble keeping my curiosity under control and just do my job like I should.> Gabby admits shamefully. <I just have so many questions. I'm also unique in what I am. The only spider like creatures that has a mind like mine are the spyders and their masters the spider kings. I have not met a spider king that did not want to enslave me. I know I was created to transport other beings. But at least in doing that you aren't trying to have me kill things for no good reason.>

"Sentience without ego," Sakura observes. "Acceptance of his lot in life but still wanting to make the most of it without hurting others. This is a rarity to be sure."

"Saddle up, Gabby," Kodyax commands. "We're going for a ride."

"Yes, sir!" Gabby says happily and the three mammals watches the psychic spider telekinetically put a howdah on his own back and kneel to allow them to mount him.

Gabby helps act as tour guide as he runs on the grass and up the trees to visit a few of the fortified ranger lodges set up among the branches. Other rangers react by raising ranged weapons to potentially shoot the giant spider before realizing who it is and then they stand down as many salute Kodyax as he rides past. Sakura is taken aback somewhat that the avenger ranger they chose to protect her is so well received.

Kodyax explains that in the hierarchy of the ranger lodges in the region he is considered a ranger lord because of his dedication to hunting down monsters and destroying them instead of just being a reactionary militarized police force that most other rangers content themselves with. Just manning the towers and keeping the peace are all well and good, Kodyax reasons but to know true peace you must actively hunt down the forces that would bring it all to ruin. As a case in point Kodyax spots the beginnings of a goblin bandit camp and decides to do something about rather than just call it in.

A bugaboo towers over his lesser goblin cousins and directs them to construct blinds with which to try and demand tribute from a trade road. Kodyax takes out the four goblins with sling shots before throwing a spear into the bugaboo. Gabby sinks his fangs into the bugaboo to finish him off as well as grab a quick bit to eat.

The goblin band had already waylaid one traveler on the road and put him in a cage so they could torture him later. Dressed in voluminous blue robes with a red scarf and a yellow hat that completely obscures his face the puhxee stares at his rescuers with eldritch golden eyes that seem to swim in a pool of darkness as pale white hands seem to float before him wringing themselves with worry. Kodyax recognizes the creature immediately as a puhxee, a fey creature of pure magic that visits this reality for a time before going home to its own plane of existence.

"Th-thank you for freeing me," the puhxee says haltingly. "I am Phaymooz the Incomparable at your service."

"Oh, you mean, Phaymooz the Incompetent," Kodyax jokes. "There is a pamphlet floating around the lodges about you."

"Nothing too terrible, I hope?" Phaymooz asks hopefully.

"Your people are concerned about you," Kodyax says in all seriousness. "But they warn that your ambition far outstrips your actual ability to control the magic within."

"Oh, that," Phaymooz says dejectedly as he looks down towards the ground in utter shame. "I'm working on control. We puhxee are creatures of pure magic you know."

"Of that I am well aware," Kodyax states with a smirk.

"This is something I have never heard of in my homeland," Sakura states. "What is this puhxee people?"

"You're a native of the Dragon Kingdoms aren't you?" Phaymooz asks to which Sakura just nods. "We don't travel to your lands. Too many of your shogun warlords have tried to enslave us for their own purposes."

"Shogun arrogance," Sakura sighs with a shake of her head. "When will my people learn that forcing capitulation is a fool's errand?"

"Razor!" a voice calls out from behind them. "Where are you? Answer me, you lousy bugaboo!"

"The bugaboo is dead," Kodyax announces. "Who are you?"

"I am the Crimson Pyre!" The voice announces bombastically. "One of the Gang of Four adjudicates to General Tso Wat, shogun of the Kingdom of Lung Wang and one day Emperor of all the Dragon Kingdoms if not the world."

"Crimson Pyre?" Sakura shouts in alarm. "Kody, he is one of Tso Wat's main lieutenants. We need to leave."

"Who am I addressing?" Crimson Pyre demands to know as he emerges from cover, being a dozer, a race of large humanoids that look like humanoid elephants with huge bony spikes on their forehead like a rhino, in flaming red samurai armor and wielding an odachi that looks like it's on fire. "Who knows my master here?"

"I am Herzog Kodyax von Fenryx," Kody bellows. "Geistiger jaeger-ritter of the Druid Council. What business did you have with these goblins?"

"None of yours, gaijin," Crimson Pyre growls. "Knowledge of that sort is for your betters and there are none here superior to me." Then he spies Sakura. "Nan Sakura Yamaha! Fortune smiles on me this day. Gaijin! In the name of my master, Shogun Tso Wat I demand you hand that wretch over to me so I can properly execute her."

"Fat chance, fatso!" Kodyax challenges. "You'll get her over my dead body!"

"As you wish, peasant!" Crimson Pyre spits and then charges forward with his sword raised above his head.

Kodyax goes into a defensive stance and immediately assesses his opponent before smirking in supreme confidence. He stomps his foot on the ground and the waves of power rush forward to trip Crimson Pyre as hits the ground with a curse. Crimson Pyre quickly recovers as Kodyax rushes in to kick him between the legs.

Crimson Pyre swings his odachi in a wide arc hoping to catch his opponent off guard but the burning blade bounces off his forearm harmlessly for the most part while still marking its passage with a light trench carved into his flesh. The fire singes Kody's fur but it does little to shake his resolve. The ranger slashes the samurai twice with his mighty claws that shreds the armor around his belly but does little else.

The dozer tries to belly bump the lupursyn but the guardian infused with nature's fury is well able to stand firm. The predatory warrior then executes a spinning side kick in retaliation that forces the herbivore aggressor back with the sheer strength and power behind the forceful foot assault. The agent of the East trumpets in frustration and surges forward once again with his sword at his side to try and deliver a devastating chop to bisect his opponent quickly so he can get on with killing the mahoutsukai.

Sakura shrieks in fear as she watches what she thinks is Kody's doom but instead the ranger crouches down before springing up in a devastating spinning uppercut to the samurai's jaw. Crimson Pyre falters and falls down at this blow as Kodyax capitalizes on the moment and decapitates his opponent with only his claws. Kodyax's hand paws catch fire harmlessly for a brief moment as the tattoos on his hands shimmer as if they absorbed something before the face of one who is a cross between an iguana and a Komodo dragon shimmers into being above the corpse of Crimson Fire.

"Oh ho!" The ghostly head bellows in an incredulous tone. "What is this? Someone actually managed to best Crimson Pyre?"

"Kody!" Sakura cries as she points to the phantom face of the yguodo shogun that is trying to kill her in a fearful manner. "That's him; that's Tso Wat!"

"Sakura!" Tso Wat says with a sinister smile. "So the ninjas have so far failed to find and eliminate you, you rebellious wench! And who is this martial artist with you? Did he somehow manage to best the least of my gang of four?"

"I am Herzog Kodyax von Fenryx," Kodyax bellows. "Send all the assassins you want, villain, while I draw breath they will never kill her!"

"Oooooh! A challenge?" Tso Wat says sarcastically. "I see the ridiculous tree of life emblem on you chance. You don't by chance serve that worthless Druid Council do you?"

"Aye, gladly," Kodyax says, "They are infinitely more worthy masters than a wretch like you could ever hope to achieve in a thousand lifetimes."

"Insolent peasant!" Tso Wat thunders angrily. "I will see your head put on a pike in my fortress with hers for you disrespectful tongue!" Then he scrunches up his face even more. "The fire gem! What have you done with it?" He then glares at Kodyax. "You absorbed it? Are you a spell caster of some stripe as well as a warrior?"

"Aye," Kodyax shouts back. "The power of Nature itself lends its magic to my ends."

"Well then, enjoy the power while you have it, warrior," Tso Wat says in a mocking tone of back handed congratulations. "It won't last. I will instruct my ninjas to retrieve the fire gem from your corpse."

"That may prove difficult, Tso Wat," Sakura challenges. "He killed a spider king with his bare hands."

"And that is supposed to impress me?" Tso Wat inquires mockingly. "Well, perhaps you can defeat my other servants: Storm Sickle, the wind of death; Razor Wave, the scaled blade of winter; Stone Wall, the fist of the mountain. Defeat them and maybe you'll be ready to take me on."

With that the phantom face of Tso Wat fades from existence like morning dew in dawn's early light. Sakura shudders and hugs Kodyax fearfully from behind. Kodyax just stares at the spot where Tso Wat was speaking to them with anger suffusing his gaze.