Forest Island Dark premonition

            Rain lashed against the land as thunder boomed in the sky. A giant, rounded hulking shadow reached out for Nathaniel. Nathaniel fired arrows into the giant beast but nothing could slay the creature. The giant shadow monster was fifteen feet tall, ten feet wide with large stumpy legs and long arms, powerfully strong hands and stumpy fingers. This shadowman was almost entirely without feature, like the rest of the shadows, except this shadow had a large gaping mouth where a face should be. The mouth was filled with multiple rows of teeth and a large, human like tongue. Nathaniel screamed as he was lifted into the air. Thunder cracked the sky and lighting struck the ground. The booming storm drowned out the cries for help. All of the Bear Forces had been carried through the portal and Pubbles the bear was missing.

            Nathaniel struggled against the mighty grip of the beast as he was lifted helplessly into the air. He could only watch in horror as he was brought closer to the gaping open mouth. The giant shadow creature stuffed Nathaniel into its mouth and bit down. A bolt of lighting struck the ground and the booms drowned out the screams. Then only silence remained. The creature lumbered back into the dark portal, which was now a twenty-foot tall portal. The portal closed, the Forest Island was lost.

            Nathaniel awoke from his nightmare, drenched in sweat. The fourth night had arrived and it had been raining all day. Nathaniel was shaking as he stood. The dream felt real and he worried that it was a vision of the future. He knew he couldn’t tell anyone of his dream or he would risk demoralizing his troops.

            As Nathaniel shook the nightmare from his thoughts, a soldier appeared in the doorway to his room. “Es’cuse me sir” said a female soldier. She had red hair, was dressed in her full armor and was equipped with a mace and shield. “It’s night and the men are anxious to march” Reported the mace wielding soldier. Nathaniel had slept later than he wanted. He nodded to the soldier then hastily prepared for battle.

            Nathaniel grabbed a piece of bread with honey on it as he ran toward his group of soldiers awaiting his arrival. Nathaniel ate his meager breakfast as he ran. Pubbles the bear met Nathaniel and the two of them made their to the group.

            The group cheered when they saw their leader finally arrive. “Alright soldiers, are you ready to spend another night saving the village?” Nathaniel shouted with a smile. The soldiers cheered. Moral was high and Nathaniel hoped their enthusiasm would distract him from his lingering thoughts of his nightmare.

            The Bear forces arrived just as the portal was opening. The portal didn’t look any bigger than normal which made Nathaniel feel calmer. Soon, shadowmen poured out of the shimmering purple portal. These shadowmen were slightly larger than normal, just under five feet tall, they could strike with harder force and didn’t always die in one strike. The Bear forces engaged the enemy head on. The first wave of shadowmen crashed against the shields of the frontline knights then broke like waves on rocks against the weapons and strength the of Bear lord forces.

            Pubbles the bear launched into the group of shadowmen and began mauling anyone in sight. The roar of the bear mixed with the loud thumping sound of the bear’s powerful claws against the heads of the shadowmen. The group of shadows that surrounded Pubbles was dispatched in minutes.

            Nathaniel fired his arrows with precision and speed. As he picked off the shadow creatures he thought about how all of this fighting would improve his skills as an archer and a fighter in general. A shadowman snuck up on Nathaniel and grabbed his bow, but before the shadow could make off with the champion’s bow, The Bear lord moved like lighting and grabbed a dagger from his boot then plunged it into the shadowman’s head.

            The bow dropped to the floor and Nathaniel retrieved it. He took several steps back to avoid another flanking attempt.

            The fourth night went smoothly enough. Only a dagger and a pair of boots were stolen that night. Sir Richard the knight killed twenty shadowmen in one night and the mace wielding soldier from earlier that day had hit a shadowman so hard that it flew several feet and slammed into a second shadowman, killing both.

            The moral of the men stayed high, they felt strong and capable and knew that reinforcements were on their way. That sentiment was reinforced when the Bear Lord’s scout returned early and confirmed that the Stag lord and the Dog lord were marching on their way to the portal to put a final stop to these shadow beasts. They would arrive on the sixth night and would bring the full force and fury of the Forest King’s army.

Forest Island first night

In the Boundless ocean, among the inlands that are connected by the Pentacle Sea, rests the forest Island. The Forest Island is ruled by the three Forest Kings, the Bear lord, Nathaniel, The Dog Lord Stefan and the Elk Lord Gregory. The three kings worked together in harmony to ensure the peace and prosperity of every humanoid citizen and animal on the island. As the name implies the Forest Island is an island almost completely covered in dense forest. Living on an island covered in dense forest ensures a high level of safety from other possible invading forces. Unfortunately it also means that everyone on the island is forced to rely on each other for survival and would not be able to count on outside help if danger arose.

            Nathaniel the Bear lord was traveling the eastern side of the island on his trusty bear Pubbles when a villager wearing a faded maroon tunic ran up to Nathaniel. “Ma’lord! Thank heavens you are here! I was gonna hafta run all the way to the castle otherwise” Said the peasant sounding out of breath. The Bear lord wore a fancy pointed brown leather hat, with a green feather in it, a brown leather armored tunic and a bright yellow undershirt. His pants were black and his boots were brown. Pubbles the bear had a matching hat to Nathaniel but it was smaller. Pubbles had brown fur and emerald green eyes.

            “What is the trouble kindly sir?” asked Nathaniel as he pet Pubbles on the head. “Trolls, Sir! Small shadowy trolls have been attacking the eastern most villages” said the villager. “Small and shadowy? That doesn’t sound like trolls. I will investigate anyway. Please continue down this trail to my camp and inform my men that I am heading to Cliff Peak village to investigate and they should meet me there” Nathaniel instructed, then made his way up the trail, riding on the back of his bear friend.

            The eastern most village was known as Cliff Peak village because it was positioned a half mile from the peak of a cliff that lead to a sharp drop. The peak of the cliff was also the highest point on the island and the sharp drop would send you out of the forest and plummeting to the beach shore below. Cliff Peak village was one of the safest villages on the island because there was only one path to the village on one side and an unscaleable cliff wall on the other side. Nathaniel was concerned because anyone attacking Cliff Peak village would have to pass through the lower altitude hamlets on their way and those locations had not been attacked.

            Nathaniel traveled through two small hamlets on his way to Cliff Peak, along the way he asked if anyone had seen small shadowy trolls or any unusual sightings. No one had seen shadowy creatures or been attacked, which was good news but even more confusing to Nathaniel.

            The trail to Cliff Peak continued up higher and higher up the large hill. Nathaniel’s guards from the Bear Lords camp had caught up to Nathaniel on their way to meet him at Cliff Peak. While the Bear Lord rode a fierce bear who could help in a fight, the guards all rode horses and could travel faster across the island than Nathaniel could.

            The Bear Lord and his men finally reached the village of Cliff Peak and were shocked to see that it had been ransacked. The huts, houses and storage buildings were empty with broken doors, windows and locks spread across the ground. A woman with a blue dress and bonnet came out of her empty house and ran toward the Bear lord and his men.

            “Sire! It was awful! Please help!” She shouted frantically. “Calm down” what happened?” asked Nathaniel. “Shadowy imps keep attacking the village. At first the men repelled them, but every night they came back in larger numbers. We attacked with swords and axes but any creatures we didn’t kill would steal the weapons right from our hands!” She exclaimed.

            “First I hear they are trolls, now they are imps. I will investigate this, do not worry” Said Nathaniel. “Bless you sire!” Said the woman in blue.

            The bear lord decided that the best way to stop the shadowy threat was to learn as much as he could about them. He and his twenty men guarded the town that night while the villagers slept. Nathaniel let Pubbles roam the village to search for any threats as the bear lord himself walked through the village on foot carrying a well crafted bow and arrows. The soldiers in town had swords and bows, some stayed on their horses and others wanted to search on foot. The Bear lord’s group was on high alert.

            The night was cool and breezy, it had been a warm couple of days and this break on heat was a nice change. Some crickets could be heard chirping in outside of the village but otherwise it was quiet. A loud roar from Pubbles the bear broke the silence. Nathaniel went running toward his friends cries. He stopped in his tracks in shock when he saw it. Pubbles stood nervously in front a six foot tall oval shaped glowing portal. The portal was made of swirling purple energy and from the portal emerged three foot tall jet black monsters. They looked like small humans made of shadow itself. The first little shadow monster ran at Pubbles but was instantly destroyed by the bear’s mighty claws.

            These creatures weren’t invincible or even that strong but their numbers were incalculable and they continued to spawn from this mysterious portal. The portal appeared from the thin air outside of town and Nathaniel had no idea how to deal with it.

            “Men! We are under attack!” Nathaniel shouted as he took aim and shot the closest shadowman in the head with an arrow. The creature vanished taking the arrow with it. Nathaniel stepped backward as he shot at the creatures emerging from the portal.

            Swordsmen charged forward and sliced through the shadows, each slice destroyed them instantly. “Sire, these buggers are no threat to us!” Cheered Richard the swordsman. “Do not be over confident, we do not know if this is the extent of their strength” Nathaniel called back

            The shadowmen continued to flood out from the portal. Soon fifty shadows had emerged and were making their way into town. Richard slashed with skill and precision, each strike vanquished a shadowman. Then Richard was struck hard in the back, the blunt force of a charging shadowman made Richard stumble forward and drop his sword. The second his sword hit the ground a greedy little shadowman scooped it up and ran off with it. Richard yelled in anger and chased the little imp until he reached the portal. The sword thief escaped through the portal, a place Richard didn’t dare to follow.

            Nathaniel was the best archer on the island and his skills were put to the test while fighting such large numbers of creatures. Pubbles stuck close and clawed any creatures who came into melee range of Nathaniel.

            Villagers awoke to the sound of fighting. They saw their king fighting to protect them and this inspired some of the men and women to charge into battle, using rocks, shovels and anything the shadowmen hadn’t already looted from the town.

            The shadowmen continued to pour from the portal endlessly but the combined might of the villagers and Nathaniel’s group was able to fight them back. After an hour of fighting the shadowmen retreated back into the portal, having killed no one, injured just a few and stolen a keg of beer, two shovels, Sir Richard’s sword and Bob the archer’s bow.

            This was just the first night and Nathaniel knew that this would continue until he put an end to the portal.