Epic Fanfiction: Nod x MK

Chapter 4 - Wrathwood

~a little earlier~

Nod
"Get down!" I shout as I tackle Ronin to the ground.

We roll down a small hill and scramble under an overhanging rock. Arrows rain down around us as we crawl further underneath it.

Huffing I glance over at Ronin and I can't help but smirk, "You look about as bad as I feel" I say. He looks up at me and lets out a hoarse laugh, "and who's fault is that? This was supposed to be a stealth mission, remember?"

"How was I supposed to know that wall was actually a boggan?!" I respond while throwing my hands up.

Ronin only shakes his head turning serious, "Doesn't matter now, we need to get back to Moonhaven and report what we've found out."

With a nod of my head, we both turn to look out across the rotting wasteland of Wrathwood. The arrows had stopped coming but we both knew that the second we stepped into view they would come raining back down on us again.

Ever since the new Queen was chosen and the death of Mandrake, the boggans numbers had been greatly reduced and without a leader they were a lot more unorganised, attacking at random and in small groups. The rot no longer spread through the forest and thanks to the Queen's magic, it had been almost completely eradicated, but for some reason her power couldn't reach Wrathwood.

We didn't think much of it at first, simply assuming that it was too far gone for the Queen to heal not to mention she was still learning so that must've played a part in it, so we left it alone.

Then about 4 weeks ago Ronin started getting reports about the increase of boggan activity as well as a new kind of rot stemming from Wrathwood. It wasn't like the rot Mandrake created, this rot spread slower but it was ten times more destructive and seemed to disintegrate rather then just rot the forest.

Not only this but it puts a lot more strain on the Queen for her to rejuvenate the parts of the forest that this new rot was affecting. After two weeks of the non-stop reports, Ronin decided to scout out Wrathwood to see what was causing the rot, and like the honourable leaf man I am, I decided to tag along.

So that's what we did, we snuck into Wrathwood.

What was supposed to be a quick in and out situation quickly turned into a full on stake out when we found the reason for the new rot. The Boggan Queen.

Using the same trick as last time, we had snuck past the guards and slowly made our way into the centre of the hollowed out tree. It had changed a lot since we'd been there.

In the middle of the once empty space was now a massive throne made from dead brambles, the walls were covered in black vines that twisted and moved like snakes. The most noticeable change however was the ceiling, what used to be just a big gaping hole was now a crisscross pattern of cages hanging off the same black vines that covered the walls.

That's when we saw her, striding towards the throne with a blank expression. Two foot soldiers scrambling after her. Her skin was an ash grey, her eyes were pitch black, and her hair was a tangled mess that hung to her waist. She walked with a staff made from the same vines that covered the walls and her shoulders were wrapped in the skin of a white rat.

There had been rumours before but no one could actually confirm anything. The mystery wife of Mandrake, the leader of the boggans. Most just figured she had died and according to Ronin, she had. So how the hell is she alive?

Ronin insisted we stay to gather more information, something about having to check a few things out. I was more then a little disappointed since that would mean 2 whole weeks without talking or seeing MK, and I couldn't even tell her that I was going, but I knew the mission had to come first.

Eventually, Ronin decided we had enough info and that we could leave, that's when the whole it's a boggan and not a wall situation happened and we ended up being chased out. Again.

Pushing aside my thoughts for a minute, I glance around and notice a few pieces of bark lying on the ground just a little bit in front of us, nudging Ronin's foot I gesture towards them. With a quick glance in that direction he nods and holds up three fingers.

3....

2....

1....

Go!

I jump to my feet and sprint towards the bark, Ronin right on my heels. We slow down just enough to pick them up and throw them over our backs before continuing our sprint through the hollow roots of the once great trees.

The arrows hit our backs with multiple hard thuds but none of them managed to get through the thick bark.

It didn't take long for us to get to the meeting point, when Ronin had made the decision to scout out Wrathwood some more, he had sent our birds back with a message to Moonhaven telling the leafmen to send some birds in two weeks time.

With a few short whistles, a familiar flash of green and purple appeared and we mounted our birds as quickly as possible. The boggans having finally given up on shooting at us from the ground were now chasing after us on their own rides. Crows.

I take off from the ground and welcome the familiar rush of adrenaline I get every time I fly. Twisting and turning through the air to avoid the onslaught of boggans that were on our tails, I look behind me to see Ronin jumping off his bird to take out a boggan who had managed to catch up to him. Show off.

We were close now, nearly at the edge of Wrathwood. A little more and we'll be able to lose the boggans in the trees, the crows are a lot bigger then our little hummingbirds so it'll be a lot harder for them to manoeuvre.

Only two boggans left now. I see Ronin take a swipe at one, sending it careening towards the one that I was currently fighting. I jerk back slightly as the boggan I had been fighting previously turned away from its comrade and flung itself right at me, successfully knocking me and itself into the air.

I hear Ronin shout as I wrestle with the boggan in mid-air, kicking and punching as it attempted to latch onto me. With one last push, I manage to untangle myself from the boggan and watch as it falls ahead of me and into the trees.

Time seemed to slow down as I fell, the air rushing past my ears, the beating of my heart, it all slowed as I came to a realisation and squeezed my eyes shut.

I'm going to die, and I'm never going to see MK again.

Then everything stopped.