- Heaven's Last Breath -

Fighting the Forest

"This is getting boring now." Aaron stepped forward, calling out to the forest, "Hey! Show yourself coward!"

Then before I knew it, I sensed something coming our way, rushing toward Aaron. Instinctively, I dived on top of the wine haired boy, pushing him out of the way as a huge tree flew behind my back, crashing into the treeline.

The two of us stood to our feet, ready for a fight now that our opponent had made the first move. Aaron shoved both hands into his jacket pockets, letting out a short sigh, turning to me as I kept my focus on the treeline.

Aaron stood beside me, following my gaze as  a shadowed figure darting between the trees, moving around the path where we were stood.

Just as Aaron lifted his arm to make a move, I raised my hand in front of him. With a confident smile across my lips, I spoke softly, "I've got this."

Slowly, I stepped forward, following the movements of the shadowy figure as it darted around the trees and shrubbery.

"Boreas' Glacial Wind!"

Within seconds, an ice cold gale wind had picked up, sweeping through the forest. Snow atop the trees was knocked off, the leaves rustling as the powerful freezing wind cut through the trees.

At first, the wind moved aimlessly but after a few seconds I was in full control. I looked to the treeline, seeing the same shadowy figure moving to avoid the gale wind but I was on its tail.

Then at last, a rush of icy wind bought the figure out into the open, now in clear view. It took us a moment to process what we were looking at.

In a heap, a humanoid figure was slumped over on the floor. Its body was made of a thick spruce tree bark, its joints appearing stiff which was surprising considering how agile the creature was a few moments ago.

"What the fuck is that?"

Aaron stepped forward, crouching beside the unusual creature as I kept it pinned to the muddy floor with my glacial wind. Now that we were close, we could see that its eyes were missing, two hollowed holes and a stern expression on its face only spelled more mysteries.

"Wow, I never expected to see a forest golem here. But, I guess..."

"Eh? This is what had you spooked?" A smile crossed Aaron's lips as I stood to my feet. He shoved both hands into his pockets, as he looked over to me but I was still looking through the treeline ahead.

I heard Aaron making his way over to my side, clicking his fingers as a raging orange flame engulfed the wooden creature. Thinking that the humanoid was dealt with he stood at my side, poking fun at me for being even a little shaken.

"I guess it makes sense. This must mean..." I was thinking out loud, not paying any attention to the wine haired boy as he joked around.

Then I looked up to him, a more serious look in my eyes, "Aaron, stay alert. These aren't the usual golems that can be dealt with like that."

Just as I spoke up, I heard the creaking of a wooden body pulling itself together. As we turned around, the forest golem was stood on its feet, wrapped in huge, scorching flames which didn't seem to faze it at all.

Aaron let out a deep sigh, realising that this would take more effort than he wanted it to. But just as he raised his arm, dozens of shadowed figures leapt out from the tree line, taking a stance in the open.

Before we knew it, we were surrounded by a horde of humanoid forest golems. Each of them had thick bark covering their bodies like a tough armour, each of their eyes hollow.

"Hey Aaron, just so you know, if a golem has hollow eyes that means someone is controlling them. If they have eyes, then they can move without being controlled." I looked over to the wine haired boy, seeing him focused on the enemies.