"Levi be careful!" Illios yelled, tumbling forward into a summersault which seemed unnaturally graceful for a man of his size. Mist threw herself sideways to evade a massive gnarled tree branch which fell from the sky like the arm of a god.
Whump
Levi stared around wildly. He didn't know what to do, everything was attacking, all at once. It was too much. Are they behind me? In front? What's going on! It felt like the whole forest had come alive, and the very grass beneath their feet began to shiver wildly, great swathes of it dancing and twisting, trying to tangle their feet up.
Thump!
Levi staggered back. Ringing filled his ears. Then pain erupted on his side. He barely saw the culprit. Just brown bark, a thick tree limb. It really is the forest! But how the hell are we supposed to fight a forest! In front of him, Mist was shouting at him, but he couldn't hear over the ringing in his ears. Everything hurt, but he saw the ground explode next to him. Saw the serpentine root thicker than his own body rip itself out of the loam and throw itself at him. Gotta dodge! He ignored the pain. Let the blood and adrenaline in his head take hold and rolled as Illios had. Stumbled as the edge of the root just barely shot by and grazed his boot. Even the slightest touch had bruised his ankle.
"What did you learn!" Mist's voice seemed very far away. Faint...ever so faint. "Levi! Stop dreaming! You must start fighting!" Her screams grew louder, but not nearly so loud as the explosions when more trees uprooted themselves and unleashed their branches upon the world. Illios was staring at him. Levi could see him, even if he couldn't hear Mist's voice. The man held his spear casually in one hand, and he mouthed the words to him. Every time Levi looked up, Illios was there. He couldn't make out the words on his lips until...
Run.
Run?
We can't fight the whole forest. He's right. We need to run. But not like this. We'll be torn to shreds like this. It's just like my dream. Yes...in order to survive I...
Levi's head cleared. The annoying ringing in his ears faded as if it was sucked away and the sound of the world returned. He could hear the tree branches whistling as they shot around seeking to bury themselves in his flesh. Heard the thumps as the roots slammed themselves back into the dirt from whence they had came, trying to smush him into paste. And he finally heard Mist's screaming clearly.
"Fight Levi! Run Levi!"
"I AM!" He roared back in reply, raising his sword in his right hand. Lightning crackled upon its length as he swung it at an incoming tree branch. The blade intercepted the terrible missile and sheered into it, smoke filled the air as chips of wood sprayed out and a different kind of scream pierced the evening.
"Good gods! That's hideous!" Illios shouted. Levi grimaced as he yanked his sword out of the tree branch which had dropped to the ground, writhing as blackened flames sprouted from the burning wound. He took a step forward. Swung again, slicing through flailing roots nearly as large as his arms. This time it was not screams, but more wailing which came forth. Levi hardened his heart, it was ridiculous to feel anything in this strange battle, but the sounds were not that of unliving creatures. Some part of him understood- This beast...plant...animal...creature, it has been given the ability to understand pain by the Shatterstorm. However, it is between me and Jasmine, so it must yield!
"Yield!" Levi cried out, taking another step and smashing another branch aside. He danced past the swaying trunk of a tree, spinning to carve a chunk out of it as he went. Up ahead, Mist and Illios turned back occasionally as they dodged and weaved through the forest with approval in their eyes. One step at a time, Levi smote any challengers down, bringing lightning to the forest like an angry god. Though he had become powerful, confident, Levi did not become arrogant and the enemy was not without its tricks. Once, when Levi took a step, the ground erupted behind him, and a thick root came, covered in hairs of living grass, to grasp and squeeze his leg. Only incredibly quick reflexes and a bit of luck saved him. Even still, it managed to grab his ankle loosely. CRAP!
"Levi!" Illios shouted and ran back. Mist too turned and tried to help but the trees were too thick and the forest too many. She could only watch as Illios somehow made it to Levi. It hurts! The branch squeezed on Levi's ankle, crushing him through his boots and pantlegs. Slowly, it smushed the leather against his flesh, and then his bones. Levi didn't allow anything else to approach him while he was tied down, swinging his sword in great swathes to clear space. Illios took one look at him and arrived at a decision. Levi thought he was going to use his spear to help cut him free. Instead, the big man tackled him.
"Wha-?" He coughed out as he went to the ground. Miraculously, the pressure on his leg lost its grip as the angle changed and a second later, Illios was off him and the two of them rolled to their feet. "How did you-thanks!" Levi said while Illios began to run to Mist again. He followed, a slight limp in his step, but just grateful that he had survived. How did he get me out? In front of him, the two carved a path out of the forest. "How do you know where Jasmine is?" Levi asked, confused how they knew where to go in the chaos.
"Whoever those men were, they took her from the North gate for a reason." Mist said while ducking under the branches of a murderous tree. "My past life was a mystic. The person you seek is no ordinary girl. Her destiny is extraordinary. Inescapable. It gleams, even in the darkest night, like no other. We shall find her!" Mist's explanation only made the vaguest of sense but Levi was in no position to question her further. Suddenly howls sounded and the baying of wolves surrounded them!
"Direwolves!" Levi cried a warning. He twitched as he saw them, little glimpses amongst the trees. Illios yelled back while still forging forwards through the thick forest.
"Don't stop! You stop, you die!" The big man did not even turn, showed little sign that he even cared the Direwolves existed. Levi did his best to catch up, but the trees seemed to focus on him even more than Mist or Illios, taking every opportunity to try to trip him or smother him in their thick boughs. Then the wolves attacked.
Awoooooooooooooooooo!!
They rushed in as a pack, coming from all directions at once. Are these the same ones as earlier? Are they here for revenge? Levi wondered. He had little time to think. It was an endless nightmare, a situation which he was sure would haunt him forever. The first wolf came at him as he hacked through a massive tree root, sending sparks and smoke flying everywhere. It bounded right through the twisting trees and Levi felt the scar on his forearm tingle, a phantom reaction to the fear flooding his system like an infection. Not this time! He turned, instantly, delivering a powerful cross cut, flaring the lightning on his blade to maximum. The coiling electricity obeyed his order and sheathed his sword in resplendent light which he met the wolf's claws with. Levi cut the beast out of the air, sword upon claw, the creature's weight swinging him around but also throwing the wolf to the ground. The scent of seared meat filled the air as it tumbled a few times and tried to rise, only to fall on one of its legs...got you! Levi prepared for battle against the other Direwolves, but then...something strange happened-
Awooooooooo---yii?
One of the Direwolves cutoff midhowl. The majestic and skin-crawling battle cry turned into a whimper of desperation. Something touched Levi's face. It was warm, wet. He raised a finger and wiped it off, looking down to see what it was. Blood? But not mine...
Graaawwwwrrr!!
The wolves growled in unison as a smacking sound came. Levi looked back just in time to see the first Direwolf he had struck down be caught midleap by the swaying branches. It was snatched out of the air like a mosquito landing in a spiderweb, and it hung there suspended amidst the trees as the vines and branches wrapped around...twisting...coiling...pulling...Levi watched as its skin tautened, grew so tight that the wolf wheezed as its lungs were squeezed when its legs dragged its ribcage in two different directions. Then it came apart.
Puchi!
A terrible ripping noise overcame all the other sounds and the wolves began to run, howling madly in retreat. However, there was no running from the forest. Suddenly, it was as if the trees had awoken to the fact that there was new prey, and Levi watched their branches stab into the pieces of the dead Direwolf, like straws poking into flesh. It's...eating it? Drinking its blood? I...
"Stop gawking and let's get out of here kid!" Illios' rough voice woke Levi up from his stunned silence. The strong warrior grabbed Levi and pulled him away. "It'll be us up there if you keep forgetting why we're here!" He said. Levi nodded though he knew the man couldn't see it.
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine. Just get your head on right, kid. Mist likes you. I don't want you to die here tonight." Illios said gruffly, all the while guiding Levi through the forest. Up ahead, Mist called back to them.
"I think the trees are less active up here! It's getting colder, there must be a storm coming, or a cold front!" She exclaimed. Levi gasped for air. He had been running and fighting for so long he was completely spent. Each step had been a battle he had to fight for. He was covered in the blood of Direwolves, resin of shattered branches, and splinters from every root he had severed. His body was simultaneously on fire and yet numb, exhausted. There was a slight lull, and he felt the wind on his skin, a chill spreading from its touch as his sweat evaporated. They really are slowing down!
"Why are they stopping?" Levi asked. Mist closed her eyes, holding a hand out.
"The cold...it slows their...their mind. We need to go further. I think we're almost at the end of the forest's influence!" Mist cried out. As if enraged by her words, the trees swayed inwards, long boughs grasping towards them like overly lanky arms. The attacks resumed, but Levi could tell. The farther we go, the slower they get! It became easier to dodge. Levi saw the branches coming, and it was like he could remember how he should move to evade. He began to see patterns in the trees attacks. The branches always swayed in an arc from the trunk, like a scythe. The roots attacked in a linear line, and though he dreaded the idea of getting hit, he could hear them uproot themselves before they hit. Around him, the pained and dying cries of Direwolves caught by the forest began to die out. Either they're all dead or they've escaped. Levi was amazed at Illios and Mist now that he had time to think. They were barely touched, their clothes only slightly out of place. Whatever Reincarnation Illios has, it must be insane, he's been watching out for me and Mist this entire time!
"Levi! Stay on me!" Illios cried once more. He twirled his spear, distracting the nearby trees. Levi saw or rather almost felt them slow down around him, as if when Illios drew their attention, the other branches could no longer keep up. The trio continued to run forwards so long that Levi no longer knew how long they had been running, but the sun had long since fallen and darkness reined supreme. It was difficult to see by moonlight, but Levi summoned lightning to his blade and used it as a beacon to illuminate the forest. The shadows rippled, like long cloaks and slender arms grasping for their bodies, but still, Levi survived. Onwards and onwards, an infinite march, an endless battle. Every once and a while, they'd pass some poor forest creature, some mutated, some not. The most unfortunate were caught out in the open and the trees would tear them apart. After an eternity of fighting, there was a spark of light on the horizon and Levi's breath caught. Could it be...dawn?
"Almost there!" Mist suddenly announced. As if hearing her declaration of victory, the trees shivered, and up ahead, a huge thicket of mutated oaks and maples and all manner of trees interlocked their branches, forming a thorny trellis through which there was no escape. Illios stopped at the edge. Mist stared at the trellis and then turned around, closing her eyes for a moment while Illios defended her. The swarming branches abated their attacks as if waiting to see what they would do, but Levi could feel them creeping closer, boxing them in with every second more they waited.
"Step aside! I'll burn us a way through!" Levi said with more confidence than he felt. It's thick...I don't know if I'll be able to cut all the way through that, even with lightning. However, Mist just opened her eyes and looked at Levi with a smile. Illios also broke into a strange chuckle. For a second, Levi got the impression that they weren't mortal, they seemed so calm, so serene, ephemeral. "What are you doing? Move!"