It was the
Sixth day when the Forest Kings’ reinforcements arrived in the village of Cliff
Peak.
The Dog lord Stefan rode a giant
black wolf named Galious and was surrounded by hunting dogs, foxes and wolves.
Stefan wore a black vest over a white shirt, black pants, black boots and an
emerald green cloak that matched Galious’ green eyes. Stefan wielded a long
handled axe with a curved blade, meant for fighting on horseback or in this
case Wolfback.
Greggory rode a tall and majestic
elk with long branching horns. The elk’s name was Pan, named after the god of
mountains and wilderness. Greggory wore a tan shirt, brown cloak, auburn pants
and thick leather boots. Greggory carried a belt covered in knives everywhere
he went and was proficient in thrown and close range fighting with knives and
daggers.
The two Kings arrived to find the
village ransacked but being rebuilt, villagers unharmed and only five Bear
soldiers remaining to protect the village.
Stefan rode up to the soldiers and
asked them to explain what had happened. The redheaded soldier with a mace
began to speak, she told the story of Nathaniel’s bravery and the enemy they
faced.
On the other side of the portal,
Nathaniel and his soldiers we finally shown what kind of enemy they had been
fighting for the last week.
The portal didn’t take them to
another world or another dimension, they were transported underground deeper
below the earths crust than man had ever dug. These shadow monsters had been
amassing underground for hundreds of years, going unnoticed by any humanoid
race on the planet.
Nathaniel stared up at the ceiling
of the tunnel they were in. the underground tunnels were twenty feet high from
the ground to the ceiling and twenty feet wide. The tunnels stretched on
endlessly into the darkness. The only source of light in these dark tunnels
were glowing purple crystals that gave off a mysterious energy. Nathaniel was
not a scholar or wizard but he was willing to bet money that these magic
crystals helped fuel the energy needed for the portal.
The caves were empty and Nathaniel
knew this was the perfect time to strike at the power source. Nathaniel touched
one of the crystals with his bare hands and felt a numb tingling in his fingers
as he held it. When he moved away the feeling stopped. These crystals had power
and he was determined to use them to get home again.
“Alright men, we need to pull every
crystal we see off these walls. If you can’t reach it, then shoot them down”
Nathaniel pulled out his bow and fired an arrow at a crystal high up on the
cave wall. The arrow hit the center of the crystal shattering it into a dozen
fragments. The fragments hit the ground and were collected by his soldiers.
When
the crystal shattered it let out a loud hum and a ripple of energy shot through
the air and down the tunnels into the darkness. Nathaniel ordered his men to
move as fast as they could, as he was concerned what that ripple of energy
could lead to.
Nathaniel and his men broke
crystals off the walls and gathered them into a pile. Some of the purple
crystals were stuck in the wall and had to be broken off with a sword or mace,
some had to be shot down with an arrow but others came off the wall easily as
if they had been placed on the wall purposely. Nathaniel had noticed that the
crystals formed rows that went from the floor and to ten feet up the walls. The
rows were horizontal and stretched five feet across. There was a blank space in
the center of the rows leading Nathaniel to believe that was where the portal
would open every night.
Vibrations rippled in small bursts
with every crystal that was pulled from their pattern. These vibrations were a
signal to the cave dwellers and each pulse of energy released was like throwing
stones at a hornets nest.
Glowing red
eyes emerged from the darkness, hundreds of eyes on both sides of the tunnel.
The true shadow people, the reason for the attacks, surrounded the Bear Forces.
They were no longer facing the foot soldiers and grunts and Nathaniel now saw
what was truly lurking in the darkness.
The Shadow
Lords closed in on the group. Each one had glowing red eyes, rows of teeth and
long tendrils flowing from their backs. Some of the tendrils had claw like
hands on them and others looked like sharpened spears.
“close
ranks and prepare for battle!” The men had finished gathering crystals into a
pile and now formed ranks back to back to face the approaching threat.
The
Shadowlords floated several inches off the ground giving them greater agility
and speed. This made the shadows look more ghostly and shook the moral of the
troops.
Nathaniel
fired an arrow at the closest Shadowlord, the arrow struck the creature in the
head with a sickening thunk. Black ooze bled from the shadow but the monster
continued forward. “Fight with everything you have, we don’t need to defeat
them all, we just need to last until the crystals power up again and make
another portal” Nathaniel shouted as the Shadowlords clashed with his troops.
Nathaniel was using pure speculation and hoped that he was right but knew that
any doubt would not serve his soldier’s moral.
Long shadow
tendrils shot out from the Shadowlords and struck against shields and armor.
The soldiers pushed back with spears, arrows and swords. A mace wielder struck
a Shadowlord so hard that its head exploded into black ooze. The creature
stumbled and its tendrils began flying off in every direction. Losing a head
didn’t kill the Shadowlord but now that it was headless it seemed weaker and
completely disoriented. The wild flailing tendrils struck through the bodies of
the other Shadowlords causing black oozing wounds. The wild flailing also took
the Bear Forces by surprised and several spearmen were wounded by the
unpredictable strikes.
Nathaniel
fired arrows as rapidly as he could until the shadows were all bearing down on
him and his soldiers. Nathaniel put his bow away and reached into his cloak to
pull out clawed gauntlets. This weapon switch filled his soldiers with
determination. Nathaniel was known as an archer and only switched to his “Bear
Claw” gauntlets when he was fighting for his life and facing death. Everyone
knew it was time to fight with every ounce of strength they had.
Nathaniel
leaped forward with the ferocity of a bear and began to claw and slash like a
bear but he moved and dodged like a boxer. Pubbles the bear charged forward
using his weight and claws to plow into the group of shadows.
Knights
guarded the group with their shields and slashed out with their swords,
spearmen struck with the force of a lighting bolt and the mace wielders brought
their mighty weapons down with thundering force. Black ooze and splattered the
group, darkness surrounded them and Shadowlords moved in uncountable numbers.
The oppressive darkness hid the true numbers of the enemy.
“I told you
I would follow you to hell. I was hoping you wouldn’t take me up on that offer”
Shouted Sir Richard as he forced a smile to cover his pain ridden face. Blood
trickled from Sir Richard’s armor but he kept pushing on with everything he
had.
Nathaniel
heard his friend’s words but couldn’t risk replying at that moment. He couldn’t
let doubt and fear invade his mind, he couldn’t waiver and become overwhelmed
with worry for his wounded and possibly dying soldiers. Nathaniel had to fight
for not just his life but the life of everyone.
Nathaniel’s
arms ached as he struck out with each punch, each strike had his full force
behind it. The Bear Forces were the sturdiest and most resilient soldiers in
the land and this was their truest test.
Shields
reflecting tendril attacks let out a metallic echo, the sickening sound of
tendrils piercing flesh dug into the ears and minds of all who heard it. The
splatter of Shadowlords was the only reply the Bear Forces would give. They
refused to give an inch and with every injury they took they gave back the
damage ten fold.
As the
battle raged on the purple crystals began to glow brighter and brighter. “Once
that portal opens, we grab every crystal there and retreat through the portal”
Nathaniel shouted to his men as he dodged a spiked tendril.
Pubbles the
bear ran to the pile of crystals, two of the soldiers in the back ducked down
and piled crystals onto Pubbles’ back. The knights were trained to guard the
rear guard but soldiers gathering crystals risked their lives by letting their
guard down.
The
Crystals grew brighter and brighter until they looked like blazing stars in the
night sky. A clawed tendril shot forward and grabbed the crystal gathering
soldier and began to dig its sharp claws into the soldiers torso. Sir Richard
cut the tendril from the Shadowlords body and then charged forward with his
shield. The force of Sir Richard’s shield bash pushed the Shadowlord backward
and knocking into the shadows in the back.
The portal
opened and the crystals were all collected onto Pubbles’ back. “Retreat
soldiers! Pubbles stay with me” Nathaniel shouted. Nathaniel clawed and fought
as he tried to cover his retreating troops. Sir Richard stood by his kings
side, dripping with blood but fighting as if he was uninjured. Nathaniel turned
to Sir Richard “You are a true friend, please live through this” before Richard
could reply he was grabbed by the armor and thrown through the portal by
Nathaniel. A tendril struck through Nathaniel’s torso, Nathaniel whipped back
around and clawed the tendril from the Shadowlords body, then delivered a
crushing blow to the shadows head and face.
With the
soldiers all safely through the portal the Shadowlords all surrounded Nathaniel
and Pubbles. The loyal bear bit down onto Nathaniel’s collar and charged out of
the portal.
The
crystals, Nathaniel, Pubbles and the Bear Forces all escaped through the portal
and collapsed on the ground on the other side. They were finally home but the
portal was still open. Hundreds of Forest King soldiers surrounded the portal
and dragged the Bear forces, Pubbles and Nathaniel to safety.
Shadowlords
rushed out of the portal to peruse their prey only to be greeted by hundreds of
healthy, fully armed soldiers. The second the Shadowlords stepped from the
portal they were attacked. Relentless strikes, slashes and arrows rained
punishment down on the Shadowlords. The
remaining shadows were smart enough to know they were outnumbered and retreated
back into the portal. Seconds later the portal flickered and closed.
The crystals
lost their shine and turned into dull purple stones. The portal was closed for
now and the crystals would have to be heavily guarded in case they activated
themselves and opened another portal.
The sixth
day was a victory, the portal closed, the crystals were now under the care of
the Forest Kings and the Shadowlords who lurked underground knew to fear the
humans who ruled the surface lands.
Sir
Richards smiled at Nathaniel as the two lay next to each other on the ground.
“We did it sir, made it to Hell and back” He said with a smile then closed his
eyes. Nathaniel smiled and closed his eyes. Nathaniel fell into a deep sleep,
exhausted and wounded from battle. Sir Richards slipped away as he closed his
eyes, too wounded from battle to ever wake up again.
The Sun
rose up on horizon, it was a new day and the inhabitants of Forest Island could
rest knowing that when night arrived again, only the moon and stars would be
there to greet them.
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