Asdza’s curious pupils remained unwavering by the uproar.

Her ears missed not a beat from the unfamiliar guttural vocalizations of the pale men.

“A sowlid-itius titan…”

One of the blue-eyed men called.

“A whot?!”

The other questioned.

“A SoWliditiu…”

His companion repeated.

“WHOT?!”

Again his confusion spoke first.

“Jus gimme the fakin’ Ante-powd Nutwood, you inbred sod!”

He yelled in frustration.

She witnessed as the blonde explorer pulled a small, gemite box from his belt’s pouch.

As his hands uncapped the small jar, a deafening screech rang behind her ears.

Banging behind the base of her skull, it felt.

She covered her ears, with her eyes clenched in pain.

The luminous threads of mycelia became erratic as the gemite box remained open for the hunter to seep a small cloth with its contents.

“HASTE NUTWOOD YA TWIT!”

The buck stood on its hind legs, flaring its rib cage with a deep inhale.

A cloud of its earth energy surrounded its frame.

“Uh….Eustace…?”

Nutwood questioned.

In their desperation, the panicked men dropped the jar of black sludge unto the pure green pasture.

BLOOOOUUUUGHH!

Letting out one last bellow, the Shakoshke slammed its weight to the floor.

Its craggy horns hurled spikes, as the men shot their last gambit at the rampaging stag.

BLEAAAT!

The soaked shell pierced the beast’s stony hide.

THUMP!

The Shakoshke slumped to the floor from the impact, letting out a breaking yelp.

His body shook as it struggled to swell any energy.

As the animal lay there convulsing, a sudden muteness silenced its jarring cries.

“AAAAAAAHHH!”

Unable to contain herself little Asdza let out a sharp squeal.

Realizing her mistake, she sealed her lips and dropped to the floor behind the hilly stump.

She could hear the Shakoshke thrashing on the ground, its blood-curdling bleats piquing her bravery.

Quietly she rose back to her toes looking for the stag.

There it stood, its legs straight, with his chest bulked and proud.

As if nothing.

By the looks of it, even the hunters had left their tracks clean.

With a petrified stance, the creature stood reticent.

Almost un-alive.

Moving her head sideways, Asdza searched for the pale men.

Maybe they got scared

She thought.

Trot

trot

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

trot

The buck pranced away, disappearing into the trees.

Planting her soles back on the floor.

Her toes ached from the strain.

She turned around, ready to take make for home.

GASP!

Stopping dead at her first step.

There before her small stature, two men blocked her escape.

Both clad dirt and beard, their brass and blonde hairs hosted small patches of gray.

Helmets, like bowls over their heads, only with a bow forth and back like a crescent moon.

Their eyes gave out a hungry stare.

“Well ‘en, not a total failure this was.”

The blonde man chuckled.

“Ow ‘bout we count our blesins Nutwood.”

Eustace warned.

“Cap’in said, not all of ‘em littl buggers are tamed.”

Asdza awoke her frozen body from the shock.

Taking a long breath, she lifted her hand forth.

Her forefinger beginning to shine.

Erratically she outlined a circle before herself.

The men instantly drew for their weapons.

[TIDE DROP]

Aiming at the huddled men she scribbled the rest of her spell.

Before the hunters could unleash their first rounds, the pulsating glyph hurled a sphere of swirling water against them.

The bubble exploded into a tidal wave.

Its strength is like an undertow tossed the wild men against the large protruding roots, flinging their equipment left and right.

Eustace dragged himself and grabbed one of the roaring staves. Taking aim as the girl readied her next spell.

BAAAAANG!

The thunderous rod blustered.

Queuing the other man to grab one of their strewn daggers.

“AAAAAAAAHH!”

Asdza screamed as the grazing shot sliced open her shoulder.

A sudden yank tilted her head up.

Nutwood had her in his grip.

“Jeesus Krist I ‘ate savages.”

Licking his lips, the saliva coating his unfortunate teeth.

He places his icy blade on her forehead pressing forth into her scalp.

“Let me go!”

A warm trickle crawls down unto Asdza’s watering eyes.

“HELP! HELP! please….”

She howled.

THUUUUMP

The men’s knees buckled as a loud shock wave rocked the ground.

BLOOOUGH

Behind them, the Shakoshke bellowed on his rear legs.

Ready to trample the ground.

Her attackers’ attention was now undivided by the infuriated buck.

Standing not over a yard from his partner, the Shakoshke swung his head, slamming Eustace over the Neeschitsin foot.

The beast, now focused on Asdza’s holder, paced closer and closer.

Its body radiated the brown energy, seeping into the ground.

Reining its body back, it crashed forward back into the ground.

A wave of rumbling earth shot forth swimming toward the gawking hunter.

“Shite!”

Releasing the struggling child, Nutwood darted for the dense wood, attempting to evade the coming attack.

The bulging soil followed the assailant.

Once reaching his fleeing steps, the ground erupted into a clump of dirt; the impact of the compact dirt sent him off into the distance joining his accomplice.

Grunt

Grunt

The stag’s majestic size dwarfed the girl.

Gently lowering its head toward Asdza, her curious hands caressed its jagged antlers.

She could feel the Shakoshke rummaging through her boots.

As it lifted its head, she saw the animal’s jaw gnashing.

Her hands quickly made a search for the fungal lump.

She looked around the grass beneath her.

NOTHING

Double checking her satchel, and under her moccasins.

NOTHING

“OW!’

Her mind snapped to her seeping wound.

She wobbled back to her feet, leaning into the Shakoshke.

The Shakoshke sniffed the cut and proceeded to drag its heavy tongue over her bruising shoulder.

SLOOOOOSH!

Its thick saliva slumped along.

“Ewwww…”

She moved her hand ready to reactively wipe the slime off; but as her small fingers landed on the site, she began to see a band of white threads knitting over the injury.

Relieving her pain.

“Thank you”

She tightly hugged the stag’s long leg.

As Asdza looked up at the magnificent animal, she saw the same web kneading over the buck’s own torso, closing as the sewing wound expelled a black ooze.

“Haiya

Haiya

Haiya”

She looked back towards the trail she had followed to the Neeschitsin.

Off in the distance, the faint chanting of her people was steadily growing louder.

She had made sure to be the first in visiting the ancient pine.

Now with her tribe here the whispers from the forest would be lost with some of the more, rowdy citizens.

“Asdza?!”

A man’s voice echoed among the redwoods.

“T’aah.”

Her eyes disappeared with her curling grin.

“Sweety, how many times have I told you not to wander too far in the wilds?”

Her father plucked her up into his arms, playfully biting her fingers.

“NAM NAM NAM.”

“Hahaha!”

Her tiny laugh rang.

“Next time you’re losing five nubbies.”

He joked.

”Noooooo!”

Her father’s joy sank back as he saw the wound on her shoulder.

“What happened here, little warrior.”

His hand carefully caressed her shoulder.

“An Innaa hit-”

“WHAT?!

He demanded

“Where were they? which way did they run off?”

“The Shakoske tossed them.”

Her smile still intact.

She pointed towards the titan still standing by the large pine.

“Kuruk!”

He called.

An older gentleman came over from the huddled folk.

He has adorned in embroidery and skins none of the other villagers held.

His face was painted with white and red lines running down his face.

“Yes…Bilsahani?”

The shaman answered.

“What kind of Koshke is that?”

Asdza’s father asked.

Kuruk’s eyes jostled at the sigh of such an exotic specimen.

“It’s a Mezakoshke.”

“Impossible!”

Bilsahani scoffed.

“As improbable as it might be…

Its hide with the appearance of Mictetzahuat sandstone and antlers of fine jasper…”

Kuruk analyzed the animal’s anatomy.

“It’s a Mezax Shakoshke, without a doubt, Bilsahani.”

“I warned the Chief the joke that of treaty, was a trap.”

The worry about his family, and his people sent his imagination through the worst scenarios.

“The Mezans lend too much trust to the Innaa.

Now look they’ve brought their black magic to this sacred place.”

The man showed the shaman his daughter’s injury.

“How?…”

He ran his fingers over the site, which was now covered by the knitted fibers the Shakoshke had slobbered on her shoulder.

BLOOOUGH

The large stag bellowed, rearing its hind legs and leaping away over the pines’ massive roots.

“KURUK THE STARS!”

A villager shouted.

A brightness began dawning over the forest.

“What is that?”

“It’s the titans!”

“RUN!”

The tribe broke out in a frenzy.

Kuruk and Bilsahani bent their necks, looking at the blazing skies.

Pillars of light flew over the canopy.

“THIS IS WHY THEY WANTED A TREATY!

THIS IS WHY THOSE INNAA ARE HERE!”

He shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Imposs-probable.”

The shaman stuttered.

A pillar of light started to curve down towards the Neeschitsin forest.

Its brightness exploded midair and dissipated into ripples of light over the great pine.

The magical aura that saturated the forest enveloped its furthest reaches with a field of energy, a barrier that protected the Neeschit Gowah.

“NDEENI!”

Bilsahani commanded.

“Ndeeeni, channel to Neeschitsin NOW!”

As men and women among the terrified villages surrounded the giant trunk, an incoming blast pierced the pines barrier, searing through the tree.

Its passive force field flickered from the strike, as the trunk started to split in half.

Asdza’s father placed her down and instantly proceeded to draw a spell glyph.

A stir of energy swelled around him.

[MEND LINK]

The gathering force expulsed forwards, enveloping the Neeschitsin’s damaged bark.

Bilsahani’s power clamped the splintering wood, clamping it together as the energy slowly healed the wound.

“Hurry! I can’t hold it forever!”

He urged his countrymen.

A crowd of the Nepatche joined him mimicking his movements and spell.

[MEND LINK]

The crowd’s souls echoed.

The mass of energy rushed around them, suddenly launching down Bilsahani’s healing tether, flowing from the pine center down to its roots and its high branches.

A pulse reignited the barrier, but its range had weakened, reaching no further than the Neeschitsin’s roots.

BOOM

BOOM

BOOM

As the bombardment persisted, the mystics’ hands shook from the strain.

“HOLD IT!”

Asdza’s father grunted.

With its diminishing strength, the light blasts swathed across the forest’s now unprotected reaches.

As the once great pain began to snap from the magnitude of the shining comets.