Terror and Escape

Wanderer couldn’t bear to watch any longer, the slaughter of their kin disturbing their soul too greatly, and so, to the mixed emotions of their Spirit who was conflicted between wanting to leave the place of danger and exploring more of the humans and the Magi, Wanderer left.

As they walked, Emio, who had at some point wandered off as the Verdestry was accustomed to do, rejoined Wanderer, pacing a little ways ahead of the Golem on its long, wooden tendrils.

Occasionally, without breaking stride, Emio would turn its runic eye backwards to stare at its companion for a time before once again laying its attention on the path ahead.

As they followed their rough heading, Wanderer's mind was in turmoil, how could the humans, whom they saw as benevolent creatures from Emio's memories, so cruelly destroy an entity so majestic and beautiful as the Golem?

But with that thought, Wanderer felt as if they were suddenly dunked within water far colder than the lake, as an idea held their mind hostage.

“Death isn't beautiful?”, the Golem was a creature of power and majesty, yes, but it was also a monster of death and destruction, as Wanderer themself had once been.

The Golem's movements were refined and dance-like, but ultimately they still bestowed annihilation upon those in their way, their weapons of gold and bronze were stunning and powerful, but in practice, they were identical to the crude club of bone that Wanderer once wielded.

These thoughts threw the Vessel's already conflicted mind into a frenzy, both the humans and the Golem were bringers of destruction, and now that they thought deeper, could they truly be sure that it was the humans attacking the Golem and not the reverse?

Wanderer was startled out of their musings by the sound of hard wood impacting the floor as a startled human dropped two buckets filled with fresh water.

They were dressed in a similar fashion to the warriors that fought the Golem, clothed with rags, yet this one was armed with little more than the wooden pole on which they carried their buckets.

A pole they were defensively pointing toward both Wanderer and Emio, in a panic-stricken attempt to ward the pair off and prevent their perceived aggression.

The terror that encompassed the water-gatherer hurt the Vessel, that one would see them as such a threat to the point they would cower in fear at the very sight of them hurt.

Once again the Golem was snapped out of their contemplation, not by an outside sound or force, but by the calling of the Spirit that resided right next to their soul, a desperate call to take action upon the ensuing scene.

For a moment the Vessel was confused, but as they once again became aware of the world around them they saw the need for concern.

Emio was towering over the human, a single root tendril was raised threateningly above the terrified human, worryingly similar in stance to a snake prepared to strike.

On the ground lay the pole now snapped in half, presumably by an ineffective attempt to harm the verdestry, and one that ultimately did far more harm than good.

With only a moments hesitation, Wanderer dashed forward in an attempt to stop the imminent attack, Emio’s tendril shot forward with a power unbefitting of living wood, its point sharper than any spear, but its point found not soft flesh but instead malleable clay.

Immediately the attack was rescinded, the Verdestry not expecting the sudden interference, and Wanderer not expecting to be hit.

Wanderer's shoulder was mutilated by the attack, the root-like pseudopod having penetrated it with ease, white-hot pain emanated from the site of the injury, a warning from Wanderer's body about the severity of the attack.

And though they wished to fix their damaged body, the Vessel had more pressing concerns, chief of them being to dissuade Emio from continuing their attack.

Emio had propelled themselves several steps backwards from their previous position, cautiously glaring toward both Wanderer and the terrified human with their single eye.

The Golem slowly approached and began to, by way of hurried hand gestures, attempt to stop the verdestry's retaliation, emphasising that the creature was merely afraid.

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Emio looked on in obvious confusion, as evidenced by the restless movements throughout their composite body, and after a few moments, the frantic pointing seemed to have the opposite of its intended effect, the herbal creature reluctantly raising its tendril for a follow-up attack.

Wanderers quickly put themself in the way again, grabbing the offending limb and pushing it downwards.

At this action, Emio finally understood, the ripples of confusion lessening, and with a passing guilty look towards the Vessel's destroyed shoulder, took its customary place atop Wanderer's head.

It was at this time that a sharp scream rang through the forest, the horrified human finally coming to their senses and sending out a cry for help.

Instantly the whole plateau came alive, camps hidden in amongst the nooks and crannies of the treacherous terrain suddenly came alive with men and women woken from their midnight rest.

The Vessels' mind immediately turned to the treatment of the Golem by these people, and how they would likely react to the presence of another amid their camp, and so, without even a second to repair their damaged shoulder, they sprinted off into the night.

Emio rebelled at the sudden acceleration, but as the shouts from the camps intensified, likely a result of the water-bearer's testimony, even the ignorant verdestry realised the emergency of the situation, removing itself from its perch and instead clambering upon Wanderer's back.

A quickly-heeded warning from their Spirit caused the Vessel to leap behind a thick tree root, a sharp spear of flames sailing where their head had been a fraction of a second ago proving to be a sound decision.

The spell landed among a patch of verdant grass, setting it alight and lighting up the flammable ground.

Scrambling from their position, Wanderer once again resumed their hurried escape, still hurt by their previous wound, they spared but a moment to gaze upon their attacker.

The Magi from earlier was there, preparing another spell to make up for their previous failure, unlike before their spell did not involve a complex dance or ritual, instead, a few quick hand movements weaved together vigorous runes into a bolt of orange flames.

Next to the Magi stood an imposing figure, taller than Wanderer and twice as menacing, they wore thick steel armour, with highlights of blue and white, at their side rested a sheathed sword and in their hand rose a massive steel shield.

The shield had a similar colour theme to their armour, differing only in that the steel had a green tint, in the centre rested a large green gem and the closer they looked at it the more they were convinced they could see a creature moving inside, though they had little time to look.

To either side of the gem sat a hole and inside the hole rested a ritual, similar to the one they saw in the underlake chapel, except many times smaller and formed of the same green metal, tiny runes were engraved within.

At the sight of this shield, their Spirit cried out, an odd desperation in their tone, though Wanderer had little time to decipher its meaning.

Once again a bolt of fire targeted the Golem, slightly late in their dodge, the bolt singed their deformed lower left arm, hardening and burning where it touched.

But the most significant effect this attack had was upon Emio, the spell having set a loose tendril alight.

Immediately the affected limb was shoved deep underground, extinguishing the flame in a moment.

A number of emotions were conveyed through the verdestry’s wooden body, barely visible in the night, the ripples of confusion, rigidness of pain but most of all, blatant even to Wanderer, was a grim rage that flowed through the monster's body like blood through an animal's veins.

Before Wanderer could even attempt to stop them, Emio grabbed a passing boulder and hurled it toward the offending Magi at speeds far surpassing what Wanderer thought was possible for the little creature.

Without hesitation, the massive bodyguard moved between the stone and their employer, slamming down the shield into the earth with an indecipherable certainty.

The once dull armament came alive, the motionless ritual circles spun and danced as they were fed magic from the stone in the centre, the waltzing runes created by the ritual fled towards the ground, covering the floor at the shieldbearer's feet with a dark green glow.

Without a moment of delay, the runes pulled on the ground, and the ground followed, faster than Wanderer could track, a solid wall of compact earth appeared, at least twice the Vessel's height and three times their width, the boulder, despite its speed, dashed harmlessly against the magically hardened earth.

Wanderer didn’t waste a moment of time to watch what happened next, they could tell they were outmatched, they once again dashed forward with all the speed they possessed.

They passed quickly over a particularly large root, breaking line of sight with their pursuers and giving the trio a moment to strategies.

“must get away from the tree”, Wanderer reasoned, finding a route down from the plateau was their best option, where they could escape into the surrounding waters and be safe, but the protecting roots that hid them grew smaller around the sides of the plateau, and they would undoubtedly be revealed to their pursuers.

With little choice, they resumed their escape, intent on discovering a safe place where they could climb to freedom.

Racing around a corner, Wanderer almost crashed into a squad of soldiers, numbering in the thirties and well-armed, unlike the many that were slain against the Golem.

With a loud shout and a few commands, the torch-wielding warriors were after them, attempting to catch the now-fleeing Golem.

Unexpectedly, Wanderer was trapped, caught in a pincer, Magi to the right, Warriors to the left, any attempt to leave the plateau would undoubtedly be met with swift and likely deadly retaliation.

And so, with all options exhausted and their Spirit unable to provide a better option, the Vessel did the only thing they could and began climbing up the colossal tree's trunk.