Heartstone

Fey Dryad

A flicker of motion at the edge of his vision. Yaz instinctively ducked and rolled away before he could end the life of the goblin chieftain.

Blood splattered one side of his body.

He looked overhead. A long shaft of twisted black wood pierced the air where his skull had been. Looking left, he saw that the spear stretched tens of meters, having gone right through a dozen different goblins, killing many.

The spear retracted, and the impaled goblins collapsed on the dirt, those still alive wailing in agony.

Yaz rose and turned so that both the chieftain getting to his feet and whatever had launched that spear was in front of him.

Goblins panicked and scrambled in all directions.

From across the gully, a frightening being approached. It was twice as tall as a person and vaguely humanoid in shape but looked like a mobile tree without leaves. Flesh was rough black wood. Gangly arms had long, knobby fingers as sharp as needles that nearly dragged on the ground. From within, the creature's eyes and mouth emanated a sickly yellow light.

Yaz, who understood goblin, heard the monsters as they ran:

"The fey dryad!"

He grimaced. Fey creatures came from another realm, one very different from this one. While someone from Drearia might think of Heartstone as incredibly magical, the Fey world was a step above. The denizens of that realm were often incredibly powerful, dangerous, and hostile to all non-fey lifeforms. When they took up residence in other worlds, they often exuded a corrupting influence, their innate magic so strong it acted like a cancer on the natural environment, turning it into something more fey-like. That must have been the strange tree he'd seen earlier. The dryad's home.

The black fey speared the ground with a finger. A couple of moments later, sickly yellow-green vines erupted from the ground to curl around Yaz's legs. Wet leaves emerged from the vines and the liquid ate into Yaz's bones like acid.

He screamed in pain that he hadn't felt in centuries. But only for a moment. With swift swings of the axe, he cut the vines away and leapt away.

The butchered vines steamed in a pool of acid sap.

The fey dryad marched toward him, eerie yellow eyes locked on Yaz with malevolent intent.

He hefted the axe. He already regretted not ending the goblin chieftain when he'd had the chance. Now there was a fey creature in league with the rapacious monsters? This wasn't just a serious threat, it was a disaster. What could have brought these two together? Whatever it was, Yaz had to end them both — now. He prepared to attack the fey. His enchanted axe would likely chop that evil being down.

Before he could move, a red fireball hit him from the side.

He staggered.

Another hit him from the other side.

He wasn't hurt, but he was blinded and thrown off balance for a moment. He backed up out of the bubble of hot air he was now in.

Goblin shamans stood inside groups of regular goblins all over the gully, aiming spells at him.

The goblin chieftain was sprinting in the direction of his sword, desperate to reclaim it.

The fey lashed out, and fingers turned to multiple wooden spears that shot right at him.

He dodged, lopping one finger off and getting an unearthly howl from the glowing yellow mouth in return.

Arwin's voice called from the edge of the gully. "Yaz! Yaz! Run!"