It's getting more challenging for the goblin to stand — his shield gave out long ago. Now all he has is a wispy illusion of protection. One more stomp and it will be gone. The stomps are happening less and less, fortunately. Even the spear strikes are more sporadic and spaced out than before. So even though he can't rely on his barrier for protection, he can dodge each attack. Truthfully, he only maintains the barrier for the life drain and the deception.
Rotts is a stupid tree. It's lazy and unimaginative with its attacks allowing him to predict and plan for what's coming. Then again, the same can be said for him. He only does a little more than slice, dodge, and get back up when he stumbles. The difference being the tree is too big to dodge his attacks.
He slices at the root nearby, but the foot lifts, pulling the root away from him. He has to dodge the foot to avoid getting kicked and then wait for the sign of the foot coming down so he knows where to avoid it. All the while, his armor is taking hits from rocks and leaves. He dodges five spears, parries one, and dodges another, only to land where the foot is falling. He rolls to his left, avoiding the hammering foot, and slices three roots off the foot next to him.
Yellow energy bursts from the goblin druid. He feels the strain in his channels and soul replenish. His life becomes so more vibrant. His connection to the living around him is more vivid and detailed. It's now clear the demon does not belong in this world… an actual demon, not just a monster. The world is trying to force it out. He can see the life drained from it and that it has only a quarter the strength of what it once had.
Through his connection, he feels the forest willing him to win, wanting… needing him to win this fight. He can tell that alone, he will not succeed. His strength will wear out before the demon, and he will lose. He keeps hacking at the monster anyway.
That's what he does; it is who he is and has always been. It doesn't matter how tedious or dauntless the task before him. He crushed his jobs with pride, whether others accepted it or not. Whether he is accepted or not, whether he is enough, the goblin… Crusher just didn't care anymore. With each frantic swing, he resolves to be who he wants to be, who he has always been. The name isn't given to him. Perhaps he was foolish thinking he would be given one. It is his name, nonetheless.
Long past his breaking point, life mana is his only strength to stand on. Even that is being borrowed from the demon. Crusher hardly pays any thought to the monster now. He's more focused on the mana in his soul. Since binding to life, he hasn't died once. Life mana came to him willingly when he could not find any other energy to bind. Now, his mana is holding him together in a crucial fight for the forest's life and his own.
He analyzes the mana repeatedly, stretching the fight out, one more hit at a time. He digs deep into his soul, seeking a solution for the undying task. Lost in the chasms of Crusher's soul — his soul longing for more, to not be alone — is the bond to the spiders. His spiders.
He wastes no time renewing his life-draining barrier and then feeds the life bond all the mana he can. His third layer is drained, and then his second. Caution forces him to withhold the rest of his mana for himself momentarily. In his small personal battle, fear is pushed aside. He puts all his faith into his bond and sacrifices the rest of his mana.
Tolling as the mana sacrifice is physically and spiritual, Crusher feeds it more. He cuts into the demon with his own devil-like vigor. All the life he steals, he gives away. Rotts becomes more aggressive, swinging its branches and showering down razor leaves and heavy rocks. Laughing fills his ears as his body is beaten and broken.
Tormented by the mockery and near defeat, he hunkers down and anticipates failure. Then the laughing stops. All one thousand eight hundred and four spiders are summoned to the battle once more. As one, they rush to their god and fight by his side. Life shields are created similar to Crusher's, all with life-draining enhancement. The guards withstand the demon's attacks and drain energy with each blow they receive.
The blades, led by Trish, cut deeply into the roots of the demon. When Rotts finally falls over, the blades don't stop cutting. Side by side, Crusher and his spiders fight and absorb the monster until its last bit is destroyed.
The grove stops seeping the demon's energy. Foul air dissipates. Sensing his job not entirely done, Crusher places his hand on the ground and pours his life mana into it. The spiders pass all the absorbed energy back to him. He runs all of his mana into the earth. As he does so, he feels the demon's connection and taints pass away.
When he finishes pouring mana into the ground, four golden seeds the size of his fist rise from the dirt. The heavy seeds are brighter than any autumn leaf he has seen or exotic fabric worn by goblin nobles. The amount of life and nature mana pulsing from them is almost intoxicating.
Golden Life Tree Seed is the information he gains from reading their energy. Sensing a great void in the desolate grove, Crusher plants one of the seeds. The seed is pulled into the ground. Vibrant green and yellow energy emits around as the seed is pulled into the ground. He might have just given up a valuable treasure, but he didn't care. The forest needs the life energy the seed is so full of.
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With no more tasks pressing on Crusher, he feels like passing out. He wants to close his eyes and sleep so badly. As much as his body urges him to shut down, he cannot. He is a god and must act accordingly.
Two days pass by. Crusher gets his needed rest in the spider cave. Half of Gwen's platoon is assigned to guard over the newly planted seed. The other three seeds remain with him. While he rested and recovered, his spiders continued to cull the forest. The dark woods no longer apply to this forest.
My Lord, we have located the cave you told us about. It is empty. Should we move to the new home? Diti passes the message to Crusher. He had been thinking about where he wanted to live while he recovered. The spider cave is not a good spot for him. He needs life, and he needs nature. He wants to avoid seeking out the other goblins on the island. He isn't ready for them yet.
The cave where his new life started is worth checking out.
****
Draxxonicus looks over the beauty of his realm within the overlook he created in his castle keep. Some would call it a perch. He was much more refined than those beings, though. Here, where he rules his roost, he feels the most secure and comfortable. Here he is the greatest. However, it is here he hates being the most. The greatness of his domain can never be excellent if death is a threat. Like all shadows, he wants to devour life in the other realm.
If only the demon wolf born kept her word. No matter, he made a new contract recently — a new contact that owes him a favor. The valkeer's toothy grin opens wide. He can still hear the laughter from his joy when he snuck the deal on the wandering demon. The foolish welp even gave Draxxonicus his name… willingly.
Lingering laughter from his memory grows louder and louder. The deep guttural roar sounds nothing like his own. Foot stomps like a tree trying to walk, echo through the halls. His castle should be empty; this is much out of place. The double doors burst open, and a lumbering dryad cloaked in a tree laughs as she tromps in uninvited.
"Hanger Rottixis, you birch. You're back? How did you manage to avoid Furriox for so long? I thought the dragon would have burned you down long ago. I imagine he still harbors resentment." The tree cloak fades away, and Roxi's proper form takes shape. Bright greenery covers her lithe body, enhancing her feminine figure. Her face is angular and robust. Curly tangled hair drapes down her back, almost touching the floor. Beautifully laced thorns cover her head in an elegant crown, a feature found in Hangorian nobility.
"That hack of a bird couldn't singe a twig if it was covered in pitch." A deep and sexy voice responds as the last of the dryad's proper form takes shape.
"It's a wonder why the dragon was so persistent on binding fire when his essence is darkness. So, you hid?"
"Dryads do not hide. We simply bide our time under cover of trees… and webbing, in my case. I neither hid nor did I make my presence known."
"Your time not hiding in the other realm served you well. You've progressed through three stages. You were only a sapling when you left. Now you're practically towering. I like the reinforced bark and your willowy hands. I am disappointed. I figured you were more the maple variety."
"You're an idiot, Draxxo. And you still know nothing about dryads."
"Even so, you have done well for yourself. Was it the swordsman that cut you down?"
"It was no mere swordsman. He did have blades for arms, but he had more spiders. Lots of spiders. The goblin and spiders sucked the life out of me."
Draxxo's eyes light up with curiosity. "A blood-sucking goblin?"
"Worse than a vampire. It was a mother nature-loving druid."
The excitement fades into a disappointing grunt. "Nature boys," he says as if they are common curse words. His head motions with similar disdain. "So, will you go back?"
"Of course. There's much more power to gain in the other realm. And little risk." Roxi pauses for only a moment, then takes a cheap shot. "You should try it." For only a sliver of a second, Draxxonicus loses his cool. Hopefully, she didn't notice.
"So why are you here? Did you miss me? Or does my misery bring you joy?" A log of a fist crushes into his face turning it slightly. The pain and evidence of the impact vanish before the punching motion ends. A demonic smirk crosses his face. Roxi matches his smirk with a spruce smile of her own.
"Because I hold onto my grudges. Next time there will be blood."
Boisterous high and low laughter howls from the castle as stomping steps slowly saunter down the endless stairs.
Draxxonicus can't help smiling about this new promise. Fighting Dryads, especially one as feisty as Hanger Rottixis, is guaranteed to be entertaining. Life is quite dull here if one thing is sure about being in the shadow realm.
****
Though unsure why Draxxo is laughing, Roxi knows why she's laughing. Her punch and line were fabulous. In her one hundred years in the other realm, she could never have guessed her first encounter back with the Shadow King would go so well. His face definitely moved from her punch. She'd swear her life on it. Now it's time to secure her power.
So shocked by her powerful blow, the Lord of Shadows didn't even notice she robbed his treasury right before him. The foolish man really knew nothing about dryads… about her. Passionate hate fuels her laughter as she exits the castle with a kingdom's treasure. Now it's time to visit her family.