The King's Harem

The Black Forest

"You'll need to bathe yourself, I need to find a friend." After the beating the King order on Fluke Fluke was probably in need of a healing pod. Hopefully it wasn't to late and his friend was safe.

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The men below were not King Joss's soldiers. They seemed very different to the evil minions that the King lead.

"We should kill them and get it over with." Toptap whispered to Chief Earth. The Chief silenced Toptap with a single gesture, when one of the men below began to speak.

"Hey! Is anybody there? Mond? Bright? Can you hear me? I can't see anything!" Boun called out.

"Hey!" A voice responded.

"Who's that?" Boun turned his head to the voice, not seeing anything in the pitch black darkness. The crunching and swishing around him was even more unnerving than the darkness that engulfed him.

"It's Mike!" Mike responded his voice getting closer.

"Who the hell is Mike?!" Boun crouched low to the ground not trusting the unfamiliar voice. "Are you one of the bastards that followed us through the jump?"

"Bastard? If you guys hadn't tried to escape... none of this shit would have happened." Mike yelled back. 

"Guys yelling at each other isn't going help. Besides we need to find Bright and the others." another voice spoke.

"Mond! Is that you?" Boun asked, relieved when he heard a familiar voice. "I can't see anything. I think we're in a forest. Where are you at?"

"I'm not sure I can't see anything either." Mond called back.

 "Keep talking I'll walk to you." Slowly making his way toward his friend, Boun stopped when he heard screaming "What's going on!" More screams echoed.

"Help!" Mike yelled, running toward Mike's screams, Boun fell hard when a sudden tug pulled him hard to the floor he screamed in pain when he felt the sudden snap of his leg.

"Boun! Where are you? what's going on?!" Mond yelled his voice frantic.

Boun punched wildly trying to connect to whatever was pulling him. Suddenly, Boun's eyes burned as light filled the forest. The trees once black now glowed luminescent, beautiful and ethereal. Men dropped to the ground, with a sweeping motion Chief Earth cut the vine that held Boun's leg and was pulling him down to the ground below. Other men dragged a fighting Mike and Mond throwing them to the ground next to Boun. All three men were stunned into silence as they stared at the glowing trees. Never in all their travels had they seen anything so magical or beautiful in their life. 

"What is your business here?" Face stony, eyes hard and serious Chief Earth looked down at the men their attention still on the trees above them. 

"My friend, Bright, fell." Boun replied, "He's hurt badly and we can't find him."  The man before him said nothing his stoic face reveling nothing. 

"This black forest is not meant for weak men." The Chief stood, shoulders back and proud. His staff held luminescent gems leaving anyone to gaze upon them transfixed and mesmerized by it's haunting beauty.

"Weak? I'll show you weak!" Before Mike could move, Chief Earth threw a dagger and hit a prowling creature that was preparing to make it's lunge toward Mike. Mike's blood drained when he turned to see the creature had long fangs and even longer claws. The creature was only a foot away from making its deadly lunge toward the unsuspecting Mike. More men dragged a unconscious bleeding Bright towards the Chief.

"Bright!" Mond yelled startled at the amount of blood that was trailing behind them. The men surrounded Mond holding him back with a sword at his throat.