Forest Island - The Other side - Final

            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.