The speed at which I was being dragged through the Dark was mind boggling. I was gripped in the boney hands of several monsters I could only describe as stump creatures. They literally just looked like stumps with dark empty holes in their bark for faces and limbs made of twisted roots and twigs. But even if they did not look capable of it, they were unbelievably fast and crazy strong. I tried my hardest, while dodging tree branches and boulders from bashing me in the face, to pry their reedy fingers from my flesh.
I screamed and kicked, and eventually stopped trying to dodge the oncoming obstacles in an effort to detach myself from these evil little tree gremlins. All that got me was a face full of thorns and even more frustration.
"Iifree!" I screamed, channeling what energy I could at the stump dragging my right arm. If I could dislodge that one then I could better aim with either targeted magic or even fox fire.
It looked to work at first, the stump's face lighting up orange and a squealing noise escaping from it. But whether the creature that looked like kindling was immune to fire, or we were just going too fast and the air pressure was too much, I don't know. What ever the reason the flame went out and my captures didn't even miss a step.
"Damn it!" I screamed, picturing Lagdon's irritated face, knowing he would be thinking 'I told you so' even if he may never dare say it out loud. "Get off me!"
I reached for the fox fire, it was weaker in power than the spell Iifree, but it was less likely to be put out by the elements. But before I could even think to activate the power, I was unceremoniously tossed aside. I spun, dizzyingly, through the air before slamming, hip first, into a large, hard tree. Screaming in pain I fell to the ground and rolled to my knees.
At least my hip wasn't broken. Probably bruised though. Coughing and trying to catch my breath, my tangled silver hair spread out around me with thistles and twigs caught in it. I squinted toward where I thought I had been tossed from to see what had happened. Had we reached what ever destination they were planning on taking me?
I saw the tree people first; there were four or five of them and they all stood, clumped together, their little twig arms shaking and they were making odd, angry, clicking noises. Still a little dazed, I tried to see what It was that was irritating them so much. I had to double blink when my eyes landed on it, unsure if I should believe what it was I was seeing.
I grunted, and did my best to get to my feet, one arm wrapped around my aching midriff and the other using the hard tree to lift myself up. I leaned against the tree and decided that I was, indeed, looking at a cream colored fox. But this was like no fox I had ever seen or heard of before. It was huge for one, at least the size of a small car! And its fur was longer than I thought a fox from earth would have, its eyes glowing an angry red color and its hackles raised, probably making up at least a few inches of that impossible size.
And its teeth! Each mouth dagger was at least the size of one of my fingers and bared at the trees, saliva glistening and pink tongue flashing as it snarled. And lastly, from its backside, flowed several thick furred, cream colored tails each at least my own body length. It was a beautiful and terrifying beast but the stumps didn't seem to think so. They clicked and raged at the fox like it couldn't use them as tooth picks if it wanted.
Clearly the fox felt zero intimidation from their lack of fear and it lunged forward, snapping up one of the trees in its jaws and literally snapping it into a million bark strips in seconds. Seconds. A black clawed paw swung forward and shatter another of the creatures with relative ease as two of them jumped fearlessly on the fox's back, their twiggy fists yanking on the fox's fur.
As I drew my dagger, the gift that Lagdon had given me recently, I was surprised once again when the fox began to speak. It was a slightly growly voice but seemed feminine to me all the same, and she demanded the creatures take her to their master or she would destroy them all. I understood the sentiment, given I didn't apricate being dragged deep into a dark and menacing forest. But this fox was extremally furious with these little beasts.
And whether the stumps couldn't, or wouldn't, give up their 'master' was a mute point, because the fox barely gave them thirty seconds before shaking them off and smashing them to pieces too. I stood there, looking pretty stupid with my dagger and twig strewn silver hair, just panting and at a loss for what to do now. Was this fox going to tear me to pieces too? I had no doubt she could, even with my nifty little pin sticker.
After a solid minute and a half of her glaring down on the scattered shards of bark on the ground, and me watching her awkwardly, she turned those red eyes on me.
"Ummm..." I said stiffly. I knew she could understand as I had heard her speak just a moment ago, but I had never held a conversation with a fox the size of a ford F-150 before. If anyone ever asked in the future, it was, indeed, very different talking to a fox person than a massive fox that may have been able to swallow me whole. "Hello?"
The fox narrowed her eyes, ears up and forward but her hackles now lowered. I was not one to know nonverbal communications with anyone, much less monsters with fox faces (Even after living with a village of fox faced people for half a year now), and so I had no clue if this meant I was safe or if I was about to have my face eaten off.
"What are you?" Was the answer I got as she looked me up and down, still glaring.
Well, that was a broad question. "Um, a human?"
"Tch. I can see that, little one," She said, before sitting down, her head now above mine which was mildly terrifying. "I can also see that you are a land god... I guess, I was asking what land god you were? I do not know of many."
Okay. Chatty, but suspicious. I could work with that! It was defiantly way better than angry and blood thirsty, and I was not opposed to answering the question either. "Um, well, I'm the land god of here. Uh, the Monster Nation of Aeros." I really needed to speak to the others about changing the name. Monsters and names were just such a pain really.
I had seen foxkin and foxie raise their eyebrows before, but it was even more amusing to see the movement on a creature that I should fear. Damn, I was getting used to dealing with weird creatures. "Is not Aeros the land got of the Monster Nation of Aeros?"
"Well, he was. Till about six months ago. I guess I sort of inherited the job?"
"Oh? So the dragon finally met his end then, did he? Good riddance." She said, flicking a leaf that fell off her ear. "I did not like him overly much. Rude and very full of himself..." then she looked at me skeptically however. "I can not imagen that he intentionally left a small human woman with power over his lands. Not that he cared about this place overly much, but I think its more the principle of the thing. Not big on humans, the old lizard." She looked me over once again, clearly not overly impressed with what she saw, she said: " And, no offence, but you do not seem strong enough to have defeated Aeros and taken the title from him."
I laughed nervously. "He was not happy, but he did seem to see the irony of it and was faintly amused. At least from what i gathered from the brief conversation I had with him before he left." It was a very strange conversation I was having right now. It was not lost on me that I probably should be desperately trying to get back to the kobold village and Lagdon, and not exchanging small talk with a massive fox in the middle of what was, supposedly, the most dangerous place within these borders. But this seemed to be about right given the turns my life had taken up to this point. Besides, what if I offended the fox and she decided to make a snack of me?
"So, how is it that you came to be the land god here?"
"Would you believe that I really have no clue. I'm from another world... I think I died there, then I just woke up hear near one of Aeros' little shrines near the mountain. I have been kind of winging it since. From what I have been told by some of the monsters I have come to know since waking up here, they have never heard of an other-worlder arriving just to be a land god. But they also told me that they hardly knew much about the god either way."
The fox sighed, getting to her feet. Stumbled back a couple steps but made sure not to raise my dagger. The fox had been pretty calm and non-violent (towards me at least.) so far and I really did not want to antagonize her. "Very well, I believe you. So, why are you here in the Dark then? Land god or not, you do not seem... hardy enough, to last long in such an unforgiving place."
Nice... even the random monsters I encountered could tell I was a weakling, unable to protect myself from a stiff wind. How encouraging.
"I am not in here on purpose!" I said, annoyed. "those tree monster dragged me here. I was evacuating the kobold village just outside the Dark and passed over the border before leaving to get a better reading on the place. It figures I'd get kidnapped after being in here for thirty seconds..."
"Hmm." She said. "Well, they were not monsters, just minions. Magical constructs used by a master to do its bidding. A power has been rising, here in the Dark, for quite some time now. But it has been very active as of recently."
"And you are mad about that...?"I asked, eyeing the remnants of the 'minions' left at the foxes rather adorable but deadly feet.
The fox followed my gaze before looking back at me. "No, I did not care what another creature was doing. Not for the longest time, at least. But this being went and did something I can not forgive, and has made an enemy of me. Now it will pay."
Her voice was rather dangerous, and I did not want to aggravate her, but my curiosity won over the fear. "What happened? Is there a way I can help?" I added, after all- intentional or not- she had saved me, so it was only right that I help her out as well. Especially since I suspected that the being she was referring to was likely the Specter as it was the only thing that had stood out when I was doing my little scan earlier. There were other powers- no doubt this fox included among them- but the Specter was the only one openly aggressive. Or even active for that matter. It was hard to explain how I knew, but I could tell that most of the truly powerful beings located in the Dark were more or less at rest. Too ancient and tired to bother with mundane things.
"Help?" She asked, eyeing skeptically once again. I tried not to be too offended. I knew I looked weak, and I was compared to other gods, no doubt. But I had learned that, if I needed the power, I could pull on if from my people and the land. I liked to think that the energies I had were invested in other things, and that i could call in those investments when necessary. I felt they were good investments.
"I think it is you who may need my help... but I do not mind telling you the reason for my ire. It is good, talking to people. When you go long stretches with out it you realize the true value of other, intelligent, interactions..." She sighed once again, seemingly arranging her thoughts. "About two months ago, I was out hunting. Not unusual, but I had not been safe as I should have been... I had left others back at my den. Young ones that I had been minding for but a few weeks... The being sent out its minions and they found the little ones while I was out. They were but small half-lings and unable to protect themselves. When I returned they were nothing but dried out corpses. No one takes what is mine to protect and think they can just get away with it." The last sentence was a savage growl that had the hairs on my arms stand on end. But I could hear the grief below the anger and felt bad for the fox.
"I'm sorry... I am afraid that I don't know what a halfling is, but I know of the being you speak of, and have seen what it does myself, back at the kobold village. Its why I was evacuating them. They call the creature the Specter, and it has been stealing people in the night. Actually taking them away or just draining them as you described."
"Halflings are people who are part human and part demi-human or have a mixed demi-human lineage." She said, offhandedly, still a little lost in thought. She shook her head, ears flopping. "This Specter does sound like the enemy I seek. Are you hunting it as well?"
"No." I said. "At least that had not been my intention right away. When I got home I had planed to assemble a goodly number of hobgoblins and goblane, and probably a few foxie and foxmen added to the mix, then return here to see what could be done about the Specter. I do not want it anywhere in my lands, attacking my people."
At that the fox looked at me strangely. "You seem to care more about the lives of monsters than most would. Even other monsters."
I blinked in surprise. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean. I just want them to feel safe in their own homes. Aeros may have dropped the ball on being a good land god, but I want to do the best I can with the job I was given here!" I huffed. It may be a hopeless and fanciful wish, but it was the one I had all the same.
"Aeros was an arrogant and self involved beast, but he was not a bad land god, over all. Save the last couple centuries that is. Most land gods are arrogant and self involved, directing nothing but the bare minimum of power back into the lands that they govern, and almost none into the people who live on it- save a few favored beings that is. And dragon's have double those traits, which is why they often become land gods in this world. So long as your lands live and thrive, you are considered a good land god."
Now I was the one to look at the fox strangely. "I don't understand."
"I am saying that it is you who is the strange one, human land god. But, I am a guardian, and there for can understand your sentiment. Even if it is a strange point of view for a land god, or even a human for that matter."
Well, I could safely say that I had never thought of it that way. It explained the raised eyebrows I got often enough when I first got here I guess. And still got from time to time for that matter. Still, I had no plans on changing my point of view, and it had been working for me so far. And it made me happy to see the monsters happy damn it!
But instead of saying all that I said "I'm Enna, what's your name? Also, is Guardian your race?"
The fox actually chuckled at that, getting to her feet and shaking out her fur, dislodging a few leaves that had drifted down during out strange little talk. "Kishi is my name. And yes, I am a guardian, a rare evolutionary form from the fennik line." She looked over her shoulder, looking at what I do not know, but when she turned back my way she looked determined. "I an very determined to take my revenge, but can put it on hold long enough to try and see you safely back to your friends. I rather doubt you will find your way back on your own given the nature of the Dark, and the fact that this 'Specter' can manipulate a fog that confuses the senses."
"Really?" I asked, shocked. I had not expected any help. In fact I had been the one offering aid in the first place. But I was all for getting back to Lagdon and the others and calling in reinforcements first. The more I heard about this Specter the more I felt that he was more of a problem than i could have thought.
"Yes, really. I am interested to see the world it is you wish to create here. and that would be pretty hard to do if the Specter kills you and steals your status as land god before you could even make any real head way on it after all."
Well, that was a morbid and utterly terrifying thought. Was that the plan of this monster? To kill me and become the land god himself? I suppose it was possible, but I was under the impression that killing me- no doubt easier than with most gods- was a pretty difficult thing to accomplish for just any old being. How strong was the Specter, exactly?