“____” speaking

‘____’ thoughts

*____* telepathy

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The tree spirits words pierced me to the core of my very being, mind Arcane was in play here and I had done nothing to counter it. It was easy to tell that if I didn’t make a break for it neither of us were leaving alive. Turning and running should have been simple but my shaking legs refused to let me move let alone keep a steady footing.

‘Not scared. Nope not at all. This most definitely is not the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen.’

False bravado would only help me regain a footing on the battlefield of emotion I was fighting, true terror does strange things to people. A step forward and a raspy laugh were all it took to get me moving when all was said and done. One foot back, slight pivot to turn, and a push of wind Arcane to get me moving away from certain death.

My reaction was, sadly, very common and predictable for those in my situation and the tree spirit was well rehearsed in the song and dance he played. Five steps and two vines later I was on the ground with my face and hair damp with fetid water. Not wait for an attack, I brought out my lantern and sent a swath of fire towards the tree spirit while focusing a smaller flame on the vines that had tangled my feet.

The slime on the vine was resilient to fire and I had trouble burning through them and opted for the faster route of cutting them with wind Arcane. Free of the makeshift shackles I scrambled to my feet while moving forward as fast as I could. I didn’t dare take the time to look back; just one second of hesitation could mean being caught and a possible fate worse than death.

My feeble attempt to hold back the tree spirit had done nothing as more vines quickly sprouted in front of me and tried to yet again snare me. Sliding and jumping got me past the first set of vines, but I wasn’t safe from them yet. The air next to me compressed and a loud crack reverberated through the empty air as the vines tried to whip me, skewing my sense of balance from the force imparted to my inner ear.

The vines in front of me seemed to double as the world slowly rocked side to side. I fought the building nausea I was feeling and took a few more step forward while gathering large amounts of fire Arcane around me. The heat from the flames held back some of the weaker vine, but did little to dissuade either the tree spirit or the larger vines he was controlling manually.

Once my vision was closer to normal I started to move forward again, leaving the fire behind to act as a decoy. Evidently the tree spirit was not fooled as more vines grew up around me, this time adorned with jagged and barbed thorns that were oozing a pus like liquid. I moved to the right to avoid an incoming vine only to feel a sharp pain in my side. The retreating vine told me everything I needed to know as I quickly cauterized the wound and shot a cone of fire out in front of me to try and reduce the number of attackers. I gripped Ormonde tighter and continued to try and move forward only to meet more resistance.

Any sort of fancy maneuvering was out of question due to the pain in my side and the fatigue that was starting to catch up with me from burning through so much Arcane so quickly. I erected a small earthen tomb to hide in, my breath was becoming more labored and I was losing feeling on my left side where the thorn had punctured me. The small protection I had created was quickly crumbling under the assault of vines and water from the tree spirit.

I tied Ormonde to my back and burned the bottom of my left foot and hand so I could use the pain as a way to keep track of where they where. My barrier crumbled and I launched myself forward using a combination of wind and water Arcane, hoping to put myself as far from the tree spirit as possible.

The vines that had surrounded me weren’t prepared for my sudden dash and I was able to move quite far from the tree spirit and his hoard of vines. Running had become awkward but was still possible thanks to the burns on my foot. Vine were no longer sprouting up around me so I turned my head to see why.

I fell to the ground jarring my skull, my leg flaming up in pain. Pulling my leg underneath me to look at it I was able to see that one of the thorns from earlier had been shot at me and had punctured my calf. Pulling on the thorn only resulted in more pain due to the barbs that had adorned it. The constant pain and distance from the tree spirit had cleared my head of any mind Arcane and left me room to think.

I burned the thorn from the inside out and closed the wound before clumsily standing up again. Creating a clean patch of water, I pushed myself into the air and pushed myself forwards with a blast of wind. I would be able to remain airborne for a few minutes with the little Arcane I had left but it would be enough to get me as far away as fast as I could go.

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A splash of water got my attention as my journey through the skies was not going to go uncontested. The tree spirit was crating water spears and throwing them at me with dishearteningly good aim. Another barrage of spears shot passed me giving me some tiny cuts due to close dodges. My speed was dropping from the constant dodging and I was impaled by a water spear and lost control of the wind Arcane that was keeping me afloat.

Falling with all the grace of a rock, I reduced the speed of my descent while observing the ground. The area below me was covered thickly with brambles and large vines, an obvious trap that would provoke an equal reaction. I created two bursts of wind Arcane, one to change my trajectory and the other to soften my landing.

The first burst of wind pushed me to the side of the bramble patch and I looked to be in the clear until more vines grew up around me new landing zone. Too close to the ground to create another burst of wind Arcane, I pushed myself forward and past the vines. A sickening crunch and another wave of nausea indicated the success of the landing; my left arm was broken in at least one place.

I tried to stand only to be held down by a vine that had wrapped itself around my broken arm. I couldn’t use wind Arcane to cut it due to where it was and using fire Arcane would take to long to burn through it. The tree spirit was quietly closing the gap and the deafening silence didn’t help my panic levels.

With no other options, I pulled my arm free of the vine shredding it in the process. The mangles limb was now broken, dislocated and bleeding profusely, none of which increased my chances of survival. A water spear broke me out of my trance and spurred me into action again. If normal fire didn’t work I was going to have to get hotter.

I gathered plasma Arcane and fed it into my lantern. My control was too low to use myself as a direct medium and I needed every advantage I could get. With the tree spirit close enough to hit I lifted my lantern and shot a ball of plasma at him.

The resulting heat dried the water and blood on my body and I could smell burning hair. Without looking to see if the explosion had worked I turned and resumed running away as fast as my numbed leg could take me.

A sudden wall of thorned vines put a stop to my flight and earned me three more puncture wounds. I created the hottest fire I could without using plasma Arcane and ignited the vine wall. The Arcane I was getting back from destroying the vines was minuscule in terms of what I was spending to ignite them and I could tell was on my last legs.

I may not have been able to feel my left arm or leg, but I felt something pierce my stomach. Looking down I was greeted with the sight of a bright red vine playing with my spilt viscera. The numbing agent in from the thorns did little to dull the pain from the new wound and I fell onto my hands and knees, avoiding the water as much as possible.

Blood forced its way out of my mouth and my body was wracked with shaking from the physical trauma. I fought to stay conscious as I pulled my guts back into their proper place and burned the hole as closed as I could, each action sending another wave of fresh pain through my body. The icing on the cake was the fire inside my lantern had grown to a small spark, a much larger yellow flame fighting to escape it.

‘No! After keeping you asleep for so long I refuse to let you out!’

I now had a battle inside my soul happening as I fought to keep myself under control. My feet barely supported me as I stood only to get thrown a good distance by another vine whipping me. I rolled on impact and slid to a halt, my body almost completely numb from the poison the vines had in their thorns. Succumbing to a coughing fit I spat out more blood, the water I was lying in was slowly being given a red tinge.

I looked up with blood dripping from my mouth to be greeted by a slightly singed tree spirit only a few feet from me. The tree spirit started to create a spear out of dirty water while giggling to himself. A black ring was starting to form on the outside of my vision and the pink flame inside the lantern was almost nonexistent. I tried to stand in one last final fling of resistance only to fall again.

“Well this was a fun little game we played, but I’m afraid I’ve grown both bored and hungry. Toodle-loo.”

‘Shit! I have to dodge this and get Ormonde out of here.’

With new resolve, I lifted my head just in time to see the spear pierce it.

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AN: Cliffhanger! Tee Hee!

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