Miles away from a disgruntled Red Riding Hood, in a familiar forest, a new shape blurred through the trees. A massive humanoid shape that moved with such bewildering speed and dexterity that it personified the idea of transhumanism. A thick coat billowing behind it, struggling to maintain coverage upon the figure’s wide shoulders, stretching low enough to touch its knees when inert. Where Red’s cloak seemed to be made from an enchanted array of cotton and silks, this was rugged fur with a hood made from three bear heads intricately sewn together. Sleeves that ended in closed off mittens underneath resembling paws, each one housing a set of serrated claws jutting out from five open slits. Shooting from one spot to another, clearing chunks of land in each bound. Tilting forward with extended arms performing a front flip, spring-boarding up to stand vertically on a nearby tree, exhale then jumping to another. Every jump indented its foot upon strong bark that immediately put itself back to rights with a surge of strange green energy ever following its passage. Arms lifting, snagging a branch it swung itself around several times picking up speed with each rotation, letting go and catapulting itself skyward in a wide arch, past the treeline. A staccato of laughter exploded throughout the forest, a beautiful, joyous laugh full of jubilation.
“I’M FEELIN’ SPIFFY,” she howled out, such a blustering rush of laughter that shook half the forest.
Legs stretched out with complete confidence in a safe landing, she cast her gaze up and just free fell from heaven, looking towards a beautiful cloudless sky her world descended back beyond the thick canopy. A familiar clearing, so calming and peaceful in equal measures, not a sound could be heard for miles. No birds chirping, not even ant mounds, spiderwebs or burrows, like a painting, beautiful and barren, devoid of life. Until a visitor collided with the ground with all the grace of a bomb. A herald of sound like an explosion foretold her arrival, it proclaimed she was here to the very heavens she’d just left and beyond. A shock-wave composed of green iridescent energy swelled up like a bubble originating from her body, from her very core. When it popped all that stored power washed across like a crashing wave bearing down on a shoreline. For all the noise and lights she’d caused in moments, no visible evidence could be accounted for. No creator for evidence of a landing. The energy released dissipated without a trace. To clarify, no visible evidence was left; but to those who could feel a forest’s ‘spirit’, it felt like a fresh gust of wind just blew through a room that had previously been filled with a sitting smell of repugnance.
Placing her hands on her hips she began laughing again. An innocent, gleeful sound, with the cadence of a machine gun tore through the forest. Finally, sated by whatever had caused such seemingly spontaneous joy, she calmed down and took stock of her own surroundings, a smile never fading. Her smile dropped to one of puzzlement and instead tilted to the side in confusion.
“Wooooow Red wasn’t kidding, this place is dead.” Confused, perplexed, yet interested she began to walk about.
Not just physically but spiritually abandoned, any other forest that felt like this was likely a burned down ruin, but these woods were thriving, the very picture of growth on the surface.
“Pretty spoooky,” she she announced melodically, her index finger and thumb rubbing along her chin
Winds picked up blew throughout the trees, an angry whistle howled all around her and brought back that foul smell with it. Whatever happened here was festering like an old corpse. Calling it an offensive smell did no justice to how utterly foul it assaulted the nose. Within moments of taking that first sniff her smile lowered into a scowl, then twisted up like a gnarled tree branch. When they appeared, white hair with red accents, pale skin that shone with a luminous sheen, forever healthy, forever pure.
“Ah, Goldilocks Ursus. It is good to see you however unexpected. How can we help you, Shaman?” the Mala twins spoke in unison, every breath like a wind storm cutting through the shrubbery.
Tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth, Goldilocks dug around a fold in her pelt that functioned as a pocket.Thankfully, in Red’s infinite wisdom she’d sent a note with detailed instructions, she’d also know that Goldilocks herself has never come into contact with the Mala twins so odds are there was some sort of information about them. Just like she’d known, Red thought of everything, shes so cool, and smart and… getting off topic need to focus. A small addendum detailed the Mala twin’s in as few words as possible, those words being ‘do what you feel is best’. Pondering over what to actually do here regarding Red’s request, her nose scrunched up tight and her face contorted like she’d just smelled excrement from a goat. The twins had gotten closer, settling a dilemma that presented itself earlier.
“Excuse us esteemed Ursus what brings you -” they started, sentences cut short by a pair of claws bisecting each, creating four identical halves. Under normal circumstances, spirits had little to fear from common steel even silver had limited effects, but Goldilocks’ claws weren’t made of a mortal material.
“No guardian smells that much of death,” Goldilocks snarled
The sheer force Goldilocks struck created a ripple effect that expanded and ejected all four halves apart, two of which colliding with one another while others splattered across nearby trees. Under normal circumstances for mortals, this would have created a disgusting canvas of viscera and gore, even in abnormal circumstances a guardian would have just reformed itself, but this was a new experience all of its own. Turned a substance not unlike tar before splattering like spilled ink. Curiosity piqued, she leaned down, examining the now bubbling blots slowly transforming into steam before dissipating back to nothingness; all the while disrespecting her nose, a smell graduating from goat excrement to a goats corpse, much to Goldilocks’ annoyance. She looked and studied and looked some more before tilting her head admitting she did not know what was happening.
“Awwww, now I gotta go tell Red, and she's going to have the look, I don’t like the look,” She began to pout.
The ‘look’ was an apt nickname. Red would roll her cold blue eyes up into her skull while pulling the corners of her lips down a face that can only be described as…What was that word again?
“Huh,” Goldilocks began piecing together letters to make words. “Started with an ‘E’ hmm” mumbling to herself, fighting to summon up the word in question.
And just like that, Goldilocks Ursus, last child of the bear gods, lost her train of thought. Walking haphazardly around an undefined path, feet squishing along now forgotten pools of tar that had yet to dissolve.
“Enamorous, doesn't that start with an A? Ephemeral? No…”
She paid no heed to silly things like, direction or footing while toiling away to discover her lost word. Instinctively she leapt over branches and roots, that most others would surly trip over; as easy and natural breathing was to all. She could never nor would ever get lost in a forest, jungle, or bog of any kind.
“Erudite, no, but, she is that…WAIT, EGREGI-”
The whole world turned on its head and spun like a child’s toy. Knocked off her feet and sent flying, such speed and ferocity easily precipitated her body exploding through a tree; a process that somehow didn’t slow her in the slightest. Collision with another took more momentum away, enough for Goldilocks to begin bouncing across the forest floor as a stone would across still waters. Only when her back slammed into what felt like a third tree did she know stillness, an impact that crushed its bark and left her embedded at least a foot deep within. Groaning, Goldilocks peeled herself free, a process that saw her neck and back popping like cracked knuckles. Gazing out to see just how far she’d gone, because while it felt like three trees, upon closer inspection, revealed much more. Those three were just what she’d noticed, in fact her form splintered many an oak creating a thick cloud of dust and debris, but no amount of smokescreen could hide what blind-sided her. A silhouetted frame slowly walked forward, small trimmers with every step it took, a body that could rival a boxcar both in height and length, a pair of wicked pitch black antlers jutted out from its head.
“Is that a War-Elk where did you come from?” Goldilocks breathed in awe, so taken by its magnificence “where’d you come from fella?”
Despite its sheer size, which would normally stop a creature like this from being able to navigate through a dense forest, it blazed a straight line unmolested. Trees snapped like twigs on its antlers, such was a War-Elk’s right by virtue of its strength alone. Trees uprooted, trampled and bulldozed through with a frightening ferocity, it literally reshaped the land as it charged. If this forest had an ecosystem to begin with, it would forever be changed. Goldilocks, an impressive specimen of human physiology, stood at an imposing seven feet. Factoring in every species on Cresea however, she was but a pin prick in comparison to her aggressor, and yet she never moved, confident and ever smiling. Talking to those twins, pretending to be guardians was strong, confusing and all in all it made her head hurt. But this? A good old fashioned tussle, was more her speed. Palms out, legs positioned in a horse stance ready for its next charge. Palms met a single antler attached to an animal whose strength could in fact rival being hit by an actual train; having attempted to wrestle a moving train before, Goldilocks had to be the leading authority in train fighting.
In a show of prodigious strength, she grabbed its antler and brought it down in a twisting motion. The Elk’s gargantuan body spun, flattening everything in its wake. Dust settled, Goldilocks now stood in a makeshift arena, and the Elk on its side in complete shock of having been handled so casually. It wasn’t everyday that a War-Elk was put in the place of a child by anything other than a member of its own kind let alone some human.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Ooo tough little guy aint ya,” She smiled from ear to ear.
Finally getting a good long look at this absolute behemoth of a creature, a real beauty of the natural world; not to mention one of the largest animals at least in the lower part of the top ten. A thin hide of short brown hair gave an easy look at healthy, bulging muscles. A young male just reaching adulthood.
D’aww, you’re so cute, just became a man haven’t ya” Goldilocks said flexing her own biceps. “Well, why are you out here, no cows around these parts to mate with” she chuckled before realization settled “Or is there?”
That realization stuck home, Goldilocks to take a more invested look at her surroundings. The scent of lush healthy grasslands slick with morning dew cut mingled with the rotten smell she’d come to associate the area with. It emanated from the Elk. It didn’t smell like its surroundings at all or to be more accurate, it didn’t smell like these surroundings.
“You didn’t come here, did ya champ, someone brought you here, somehow. Magic, maybe”
A high-pitched scream resonated from the animal’s throat with an undercurrent roar that made her blood run cold. It managed to teleport to its feet. No, it just moved so fast it gave the impression of teleportation. Shaking its head from side to side in a threat display. Densely packed muscles bulged out even more, turning an angry red that ran across its body, as steam emitted from its pores.
“Oooh no, no, no, no. Not good not good at all,” she chanted, getting ready to receive another charge looking far more tense now.
It wasn’t just that this Elk was entering maturity, it was also male, with a howl like that she now understood he was rutting and this might be his first mating season, meaning, he was looking for a mate. An already irritating time for any animal, but moments ago, Goldilocks tossed him around like an unkempt child, creating in his eyes at the very least a challenge to his status as a bull.
Such things were a normal phenomenon where he came from, and happened every mating season, however, this ecosystem has never housed an animal of this magnitude. Letting him roam free in a frenzy would put himself and everything around him in mortal danger. Even though no wildlife seemed to exist here, she knew for a fact a village happened to be nearby. Goldilocks’ stomach churner, her chest tightened, she wanted to cry. The poor thing was confused and frustrated. This wasn’t his fault! But what could she do? Without magic to send him back or banish his hormones, killing him was the only option.
Another charge. So much stored up potential energy turned unstable and ignited into a bodily kinetic lung straight forward. A one animal stampede, such a beautiful demonstration of the species namesake. Thankfully, she was expecting the change in tempo. Readying her hands to once again catch an antler, only this time pivoting her body upward as if to perform a handstand. Instead of being run over she was catapulted skyward. Flipping up and over, with two tightly balled fists, Goldilocks torqued her body to deliver a devastating hammer fist to the Elk’s skull. A collision, like cannon balls exploded rocking the Elk head back to earth cratering the ground on contact.
She landed steadily on her feet opposite her opponent. Green iridescent energy began to pool around her, small drafts that spilled outward, forming into thin tendrils. Poking. Prodding. Searching for life. Each tendril, a connection to the natural world, all searching for boons to feed their mistress’ already brutal strength. All things born of nature exuded a power. An energy. All one needed to do was ask and the planet will provide if able, sadly only dregs returned. Minuscule and anemic. These things were concerning but there was no time to examine them further, for now Goldilocks took what she could get.
“Manageable, too cold for everywhere, but just right in one place,” she muttered, willing each tendril to pull back, taking command of what little they collected.
Infusing one's entire being with nature’s blessings would be ideal, however, with what little turned up, the only viable option was to condense it all into one area, her arm “No gotta keep pushing, not arm, all in fist, one good punch, end it quick, easy, painless,”
With the energy so tightly convinced a chain reaction occurred. From an emerald to azure, it gathered around her fist and changed again. Simmering. Bubbling like water left on an open fire for too long. A violent eruption shifted its hue from blue to a molten red that radiated its intentions. Demanding to destroy. A heavy thrum radiated in all directions, lashing out randomly, almost dragging her fist to punch a nearby tree, like an unchained animal whose only instinct called for brutality.
So much cataclysmic potential forced in such a small area felt almost sinful. There was no need to look up to check on the Elk, he was fine. She knew he was up just like before, had turned around and charged again; moving so fast it left after-image imprints of its passing. At this point, no matter how fast he could move, predictable was still just that. Goldilocks threw a wild haymaker, no proper technique other than engaging her whole body into one strike, carrying every bit of force she could bring to bare.
“I’m sorry”
There was no struggle, no tussle for dominance. In one moment at the point of impact they gave birth to a sound that could humble thunder. Filling the air with raw unfiltered power enough to make trees bow to its command. In the next moment, all was hushed, still, mute. The War-Elk’s body slumped, head caved and death came in an instant. Pain started at her hand and lanced up to invade the arm in its entirety. A sprained hand, pain meant she was alive but he felt nothing, a candle snuffed out before it got to truly shine – dead.
Tears blurred her vision. They ran down her rosy cheeks, dripping to the ground in the unbearable silence around her. In a dead quiet forest a young woman openly sobbed, cutting through stagnation. Loss. She hadn’t even known his name. So young, in the prime of his life and ready to sire so many young. To have such a viral life cut short for being in the wrong place at the wrong time...No. Being brought to the wrong place, but the right time for someone else.
Goldilocks hissed, looking around frantically; he was spirited here by someone or something, likely because she’d attacked that fake guardian earlier.
A silhouette shimmered on the far side, in a vague approximation of man, in a full rage, she didn’t care what it was. Humanoid with digitigrade legs that ended in hooves and a head topped with antlers. A Satyr. Part man, part creature. She sprang into motion. Arms pushed into sleeves that bore claws, smashing down on her target area with a substantial amount of force. She didn’t need her instincts to know she’d missed, the lack of a body at her feet was telling enough. Scanning around, she needed to find it, to kill it, to make it pay.
The silhouette was there again trying to blend in with the shadow of a snapped tree, further away this time.. It didn’t move faster than her, but rather transported from one section to another; armed with a superior sense of smell, she could confirm it wasn’t actually moving physically. Displacement magic or its more potent sibling teleportation. It disappeared again, this time for good, but she’d seen enough to memorize its build. Not many satyr still lived and walked the world, even less with that kind of magic, next time there wouldn’t be any running, only a debt to a pound of flesh.
Goldilocks looked back at the carcass, leaving it to rot and go to waste just wouldn’t stand. A War-Elk could feed a village for a week; thankfully thanks to Red’s note she knew exactly where such a village was.
“She really does think of everything.”
There was no way she could carry the thing, even Papa would have trouble, meaning this was going to be a very straining walk. A plan of action settled, Goldilocks grabbed her hundred-ton burden, and set off, dragging it behind her.
“I’ll do the other thing Red asked after I take a nap, and eat, and bathe, and…” she continued to rattle off, mostly to distract herself from yanking this behemoth through a forest.
Breaching the forest line felt like it took forever. Not to boast, but Goldilocks was quite confident in her strength and endurance. Even with all her gifts and tenacity even her muscles were beginning to burn, strain and give out under such heavy use.
Dragging dead-weight of this size and weight was one thing, but adding onto having an area where every ten seconds it could and would get snagged on something did not make it any easier. Despite it all, she managed to move out onto a medium flatland, some natural but most smart deforestation; newly settled townspeople were typically warned from taking too much of a bite out of the natural world and advised to replant what they took as to avoid any local deity or guardian’s ire.
People were already lining up cautiously around their town’s entrance. With all the lights and sounds she caused since coming here, they couldn’t be blamed for being stirred and taking an interest. Heaving ever forward, marching over rolling hills, pulling her bounty. Sweat dripped from her face, rolled down her back, got in her eyes, all in all a miserable experience. Exhaustion coursed through her muscles from overuse in oppressive waves.
“Mama always did say I was stubborn,” she chuckled.
Goldilocks made it halfway to the village proper when a man met her, probably to evaluate a potential threat. Being seven feet tall herself, it was hard to discern whether he was considered tall or average, when standing over a certain height everyone looked short. He had a beard once, now nearly trimmed stubble decorated his square chin. A muscular barrel chest bulged out of a flannel shirt spoke of long hours of hard work to build and maintain that physique; he didn’t just work outside as a living, he lived to work outside.
“My name is Adam Woodsman, I’m the Mayor of this town,” he greeted.
Mayor Woods looked her over in awe, confirming what she was dragging, like a child who refused to drop their favorite teddy bear. An Elk corpse had been stubbornly forced through every trial the natural world could throw at it, taking a beating, even after death. Goldilocks chuckled between heavy pants, a massive mop of obscenely curly hair covered her face as she pressed hands to knees and sucked in massive lungfuls of air.
“A mayor of a logging town and his name is Woodsman. That's funny. I’m...Goldilocks Ursus. my friend Red asked me to come and…” She stopped, losing her train of thought. Whether due to exhaustion, or she just plain forgot was indeterminable. A note produced itself. “Investigate strange occurrences,” she read aloud. “And things are strange here, things that should never be here are here,”
Now it was his turn to chuckle. “A girl with gold hair named Goldilocks, now that's funny,”
They both laughed, right before she fell over in a heap and immediately drifted into sleep.