The Familiar

Part 5: The Juju

He appeared now in a new location. A mountainside. Off to his right, the massive forest of the Wildlands stood like a wall against any who would dare to cross the mountains. Off to his left, however, plains stretched quite far into the distance. Nestled in the very middle of these plains, was an army.

You are brave little creatures. As brave as this dragon, I would say.

A shadow passed overhead. Gawaine. She was carrying a boulder in her front claws, going for the army. An earth-shattering roar echoed off the mountains and throughout the Planes. Aster could feel the power laced into her roar. It quite literally woke the trees.

Treefolk poured from the woods that came from one side of the plains. The little figures that made up the army began to move around like ants in a disturbed ant hill.

Gawaine soared over them, dropping a boulder right into the middle. Tiny streaks flew through the sky, aimed at Gawaine. They were shooting at her.

Aster tried to move, but found himself unable.

Just a little peek at what's happening while you're pursuing me. Isn't that the guardian of your beloved witches? The voice chuckled, a deep sound that bounced around in Aster's head like an ominous echo.

Aster was forced to watch as the treefolk charged across the field, clashing with the army. Gawaine had went to retrieve more boulders from the mountains to drop upon the back end of the Human army, until there was just one mass of creatures. It was then that Gawaine landed, taking the field.

The first minutes, it seemed like the treefolk and Gawaine were winning. Then something bright caught his eye. Not far from the bare edges of the battle, balls of fire began forming into existence. Were those witches? Did Gawaine have them come?

That question was immediately answered as seven raging balls of fire the size of three men were all hurled at Gawaine. Four crashed into several ancient treefolk. Their massive branches quickly caught flame.

Three of off the fireballs had crashed into Gawaine's back, scorching the beautiful silver scales. She roared, this time her voice was mixed with both pain and power. The earth trembled and cracked below these rogue witches. Who were they? Why were they attacking Gawaine? There wasn't even a spell to conjure forth a fireball like those, if he recalled correctly.

The rogue witches fell into the cracks. It wasn't at all fatal, but it allowed Gawaine a chance to get there and smash them. After they were nothing but broken bodies sprawled over the cracked earth, Gawaine took flight. She roared, angling her body for the mountains. She was fleeing, Aster had realized. Or perhaps she was going to warn the witches of what was happening.

Aster's vision faded, and he was hurled into another place. A strange Grove, with houses grown into trees. Aster recognized the design, as Seren was raised in one of those. Her mother had been an isolationist to the extreme.

He took a good look around. This must've been where the witches were gathering.

Out from the houses, emerged other witches. He could smell their sweet, unidentifiable scent, mixed with more personal scents. They all met in the middle of the Grove, and began talking. Even though Aster was right there, their words sounded like gibberish.

A glance around the crowd though, told him enough. Fear was predominantly their facial expressions. What were they afraid of? He turned his head, smoke catching his eye off in the distance. Curious, he sprinted to the location.

There, he found a city, with tall, pointy-eared people running in panic. They would've looked beautiful, ethereal almost if they weren't so absolutely terrified.