Trapped up a tree in the middle of a forest, lost in a strange world he hardly recognized, a wolf pacing back and forth on the ground beneath him with long yellow teeth and slavering lips waiting for him to fall. Max had been in a city laboratory stealing industrial diamonds only a few hours ago. How had he ended up here?
He remembered the lab assistant shouting at him. The huge dark donuts glittering with the industrial diamonds scattered across their surfaces. The aurora and the lightning in the rain-filled night sky. He remembered how the lightning had struck the experiment, and it had sent him falling into darkness. And then he’d awoken. Naked and alone. Lost.
The more he thought about things, the more certain Max became that the mysterious apparatus had sent him to this place, and not his mob bosses. He couldn’t help but smile at the thought of having escaped the mafia. If he didn’t even know where he was, how could they?
He looked at the tangle of branches and let them twist and turn so they formed a window of his stats. It was all he had to work with, but that wasn’t unusual.
He regarded the wolf pacing about below, looking up at him with hungry eyes.
“Picking pockets isn’t going to help me today,” he muttered. The wolf turned and paced back the other way. “Maybe Sneak. I could always move quietly when I wanted to. I’ve had lots of practice sneaking around at night for the boss, avoiding security.”
The wolf turned.
“But all security would do if they caught me was hold me until the cops showed. And all the cops would do is read me my rights and throw me in a holding cell. I don’t think this wolf is going to do any of that.”
The wolf turned again, kicking up leaf litter off the forest floor. It snarled and let out a low guttural growl.
Max was close to despair when he saw the shimmering white cloud once again appearing next to him. It was outlined by the deepest black that made the white even brighter. Was desperation creating this illusion? But Max could see something swirling and emerging out of the dark outline. The cloud was taking on a shape. A fine shape. Under a long white cloak, there was a shapely female form. The wild red hair seemed to swirl as if it was floating underwater. A voice came from the cloud. It sounded like thunder. It punched at Max’s ears. Although it hurt, he knew the sound was inside his head.
“Where am I? Can you see me?”
Max looked at the cloud. The voice mellowed. Soft now.
“I can see you,” Max said, tilting his head this way and that, trying to focus on the figure before him. The figure, swirling like a mist and barely formed, spoke to him.
“Someone is coming.”
Max was sure the voice was coming from the misty form. The cloud swirled violently as if stirred by a strong gust of wind. The vaguely human shape twisted and turned like rising steam in a strong breeze, and then it was swallowed up by the black outline and was gone.
Max felt alone and bereft again. Not even the ghostly figure to keep him company. He knew he must be losing his mind if he was conjuring ghostly companions. The thief looked down at the wolf. The only wolf in he’d ever seen was in a zoo. The only trees were in the park. The nearest farmer probably hundreds of miles away.
He stared at the wolf in disbelief.
Where was he? Was any of this even real?
A movement deep in the trees caught his eye. From his vantage point high in this tree, he could see only as far as the tangle of leaves and branches would let him, and nothing new was revealed to him. The wolf had detected something approaching, too, for it sniffed the air, its huge nostrils opening up and sucking in a lungful of air, searching for a hint of what approached.
Max heard movement in the trees again, as if someone moved at great speed. He saw the wolf cocking its huge head from side to side, trying to zero in on the sound. The wolf’s sense of smell was keener than its hearing, and its nose pointed toward the approaching figure. Max followed the wolf’s gaze and looked.
He could hear something, just a rustling of the leaf litter on the ground. When Max had tried to move quietly over the forest floor, even though he was skilled at moving stealthily, he hadn’t been able to keep quiet. The dry leaves and twigs crackled under his feet no matter how lightly he moved. And the branches reaching this way and that had creaked and crackled as he had pushed them aside, but whatever approached seemed to move over the forest floor as lightly as a feather on the breeze. He detected the slightest movement of the branches as they were moved aside, and then he caught a glimpse of what was approaching.
It was difficult for him to make out the image clearly. The shape seemed to shift in and out of the trees, melding with the branches, the bark of the tree trunks, and the leaves. But as it came closer still, Max was sure he was seeing a human form.
The figure stepped into a small clearing twenty yards away - a dark-haired beauty with green, almond-shaped eyes and smooth skin. Tight leather armor clung to her shapely body. It covered her bosom but left her shoulders and neck exposed. Her thick dark hair was pulled back and cascaded over her shoulders. Her emerald eyes looked up at Max. They were strange and beautiful and unlike anything he’d ever seen before. Her full lips pursed together, and she raised a finger to those lips to give Max the signal to be quiet.
The leather-clad woman twirled a six-foot-long staff in her right hand as easily as if she were a baton twirler in a marching band, but Max could see that the staff was heavy and sturdy. Leather straps wrapped tightly around each end creating a tough covering to protect the wood from any heavy blows it might land or take.
She took another step forward. Tight leather boots rose high to her knee, her bare thighs a deep tan. A short brown fighting skirt made of strips of leather gave her freedom of motion while exposing more of her shapely legs.
Max stared at this mysterious beauty. She stepped behind a low branch and almost vanished from view, melting into the branches and leaves, almost invisible. Her form melded with the natural twisting of the branches like a camouflaged predator hiding in natural cover.
The wolf let out a low growl that twisted Max’s guts. The creature was sniffing again, a little to the left and then a little to the right, fine tuning the location of whatever was approaching. It stood on three paws with its front left one raised off the ground, then it stepped forward, gently but with menacing purpose, walking slowly toward the leather-clad beauty.
Max called out. “Look out, lady! A wolf!”
The trees parted, and the piercing emerald eyes stared up at Max. A smile on her full lips, and again, she bid him to be quiet with a gentle shushing.
Max searched for her stats until the trees above her twisted and formed them.
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> Name: Anita Charmroot
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> Class: Druid
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> Level: 10
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> Health: Full
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> Strength: 14
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> Stamina: 12
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> Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
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> Agility: 14
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> Intelligence: 12
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> Wisdom: 17
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> Charisma: 16
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> Abilities:
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> • Charm animal
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> • Herbology
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> • Wilderness lore
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A sexy druid! Max exhaled, a smile on his face.
Anita stepped into the clearing, her staff in one hand at her side. She crouched to the ground and placed one hand on the forest floor as if pulling power from the land itself.
Max looked down at the Druid’s tight tunic, at her chest heaving gently as she breathed slowly and calmly.
The wolf stepped forward, a low growl building in its throat, growing into an intimidating snarl.
Anita extended her left arm toward the wolf, her right hand still holding the staff at her side. She whistled lightly with a sound that was beguiling and melodious.
Max could see the air shimmering around her fingers as she called gently to the wolf. It looked like heat haze, but there was also the faintest flickering of light as if glitter hung around her hand.
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> Anita uses Charm Animal ability.
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The wolf slowed its step, and the snarl in its throat grew silent. Still, its lips were curled back over its huge yellow teeth, and it sniffed the air, standing poised and ready to attack but motionless for the moment, increasingly calm as it fell under Anita’s charm ability.
Anita continued to whistle as the wolf shook its head violently, saliva flicking away from its huge maw. It growled and took a step forward.
Max shifted his position in the tree, and a small branch, dead and dry, that was hung up in the rich green foliage, came loose as Max shifted. The dead branch tumbled down from the tree. Light although it was, it fell like an arrow, straight down toward the wolf.
The dislodged branch struck the wolf on the nose. The beast whimpered for a second, shook its head, and then let out a bloodcurdling snarl. The thick dark hair on its back stood up, making it look even larger and more fearsome. The very sight and sound of the wolf poised to attack sent a shiver down Max’s spine.
Anita stood up. The lilting tune faded as her attempt to charm the wolf had failed. Max could see that the wolf was focused on her, its dark eyes fixed on its target, its lips curled back over its teeth ready to bite down, to tear and crush.
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> Charm Animal fails.
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Anita twirled the staff one-handed as the wolf stepped forward. She gripped the staff in its center and twirled it with both hands. It spun faster and faster until the leather-bound tips of the staff were little more than a blur. The wolf bounded forward in a mighty leap.
Anita brought the staff around from her left and struck the wolf with a hard crack on the side of the head. The wolf staggered to the right as Anita followed through with the right-hand end of her staff and struck the wolf a second heavy blow. The animal stumbled to the side and appeared stunned. With the wolf motionless, Anita jabbed her staff forward into its throat then flipped backward, away from the beast.
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> Anita attacks Wolf causing moderate damage.
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She landed a dozen feet away and skidded to a halt. She twirled the staff with her right hand as the wolf shook its head to clear it.
The wolf growled again as it regained its focus. It stared at Anita, growling low then began to slowly circle, its side exposed to Anita but its eyes fixed firmly on her.
Max could do nothing but maintain his grip on the branch and hope the Druid could defeat the wolf without getting mauled.
The wolf lunged forward again.
Anita brought her staff around the right side and struck the wolf again, but before she could bring her weapon around the left side to complete the devastating double strike that had halted the wolf’s previous attack, the wolf bit down on the staff. It snarled and growled and started tugging at the staff furiously, very nearly ripping the weapon from Anita’s hands.
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> Anita attacks Wolf causing moderate damage.
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> Anita attacks Wolf.
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> Attack blocked; no damage done.
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Anita took hold of the staff at one end with both of her hands and fought with the wolf. She pulled back and then thrust forward, shoving the staff deeper into the creature’s huge mouth before again attempting to pull it away from its huge maw. The wolf held on, growling and snarling, pulling the staff so hard that Max was sure the Druid would be pulled off her feet. Anita lashed out with her left foot, forcing the creature back.
The wolf let go of the staff as Anita yanked it and kicked the beast away. She did another back flip and Max nearly fell from the tree, completely mesmerized by the Druid’s lithe body. When she landed, the wolf was already coming after her, but she was ready for him and took the staff by one end and swung around in a wide arc.
The staff caught the wolf a glancing blow on the side of the head. The creature fell to the side, whimpering.
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> Anita attacks Wolf causing moderate damage.
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The wolf was on its feet in an instant and leaped forward again.
Anita brought the staff up to protect herself, holding it between her and the wolf, but the wolf avoided the staff and snapped its jaws shut, narrowly missing Anita’s left wrist.
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> Wolf attacks Anita.
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> Attack dodged; no damage done.
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Max watched the fight move further away as Anita gave ground with the wolf pushing forward, but her staff struck true time and again while she continually avoided the monster’s attack. Max checked the wolf’s stats that appeared in the leaf litter at the wolf’s feet. Its health bar was going down, but even though the wolf had taken some heavy blows from Anita’s staff, the beast’s health was still fairly high.
Anita had defended against the wolf’s attacks so far, and her health was still full, at least for now. As the fight moved off deeper into the trees, Max looked up the slope toward the town. Now that the wolf was occupied, he knew he could make his escape. He climbed down the tree quietly while the wolf was totally focused on Anita the Druid. He landed on the ground lightly and picked up his sack and staff.
He looked over at Anita fighting the wolf, her green eyes fixed on the beast. This was his opportunity. This was what he had always been good at, sneaking away. He had done it so many times when in a tight spot: hiding in shadows, moving quietly and stealthily until the cops or whoever was looking for him had their attention elsewhere, and then he could slip away into the darkness.
Max hated the choice. The Druid seemed to be a match for the wolf as she used her weapon skillfully with powerful, accurate strikes. The thief picked up his staff. He knew he couldn’t fight at the same level. He’d taken down a few Death Crows, and although they were fast and dangerous, they had been nowhere near as deadly as this wild wolf.
Anita suddenly yelled out in pain.
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> Wolf attacks Anita causing moderate damage.
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Max saw that the wolf had bitten down on her left wrist, and the leather armor covering her wrist was being shredded as the wolf jerked its head side to side. Anita struggled to maintain her balance but was in danger of losing her footing, and then she would really be in trouble. Max knew what he had to do.
In an impressive display of courage, if he did say so himself, Max turned toward the battle, dropping the burlap sack containing his gold and the letter to the farmer’s daughter. He picked up his staff and held it like a longsword then ran toward the wolf.
Anita looked up at him with wide eyes as he ran forward. She shook her head as if to warn Max off this brave course of action. But Max was committed, intent on saving the beautiful Druid. He leaped into the air, raised the staff high above his head, and as he landed, he brought the staff down heavily right across the wolf’s back. The impact was jarring and sent vibrations up the staff and shot through his hands and wrists.
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> Max attacks Wolf causing moderate damage.
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The thief nearly dropped the staff but was confident his attack had devastated the wolf. When he looked to where he expected the creature to be whimpering in pain, he saw a very different scene.
The wolf let go of Anita’s wrist and turned on Max. It regarded him for a moment, curled its lip, and then leapt forward in attack.
Time seemed to slow down for Max and freeze for a brief moment that he felt might be his last. Anita’s wide eyes stared at him, and the wolf’s dark eyes fixed on him, saliva falling from its mouth as it opened its jaws. He took in every detail of the terrifying moment, and then time returned to normal as the wolf’s front paws hit him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and sending him sprawling backward and to the ground.
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> Wolf attacks Max causing minor damage.
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The damage dealt was thankfully low, but Max now lay on the forest floor, his head spinning. As he fought for breath, he felt the wolf’s paws on his chest.
Max could feel the wolf’s claws through the light cotton tunic the farmer had given him. He held his arm up to protect himself from the crushing bite that was sure to come. He could smell and feel the wolf’s hot breath as it opened its mouth and bit down.
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> Wolf attacks Max.
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Max quickly moved the staff in front of him, and the wolf bit down on the staff instead of his arm.
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> Attack blocked; no damage done.
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Max pushed the staff right to the back of the wolf’s mouth and stopped the wolf from fully closing its mouth. The long yellow canines at the front of the wolf’s mouth dripped saliva onto Max’s chest.
The wolf suddenly let go of the staff then lunged forward.
Max pulled away, trying to escape, but the creature’s jaws clamped down on his shoulder.
The thief yelled out, the pain making his head swim.
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> Wolf attacks Max causing critical damage.
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Max felt darkness close in and his vision began to fade.
At least the pain will go away, he thought groggily.