Heart of a Warrior

Chapter 5: If Trees Could Talk

Something was clearly wrong, but none of them could place it. Every now and then the earth would shake in a way that was just noticeable but Sir Arden repressed the fear that rose in his body, and urged his horse onward. The towering deciduous trees of the Cordonian Forest blotted out the light of the sun, bathing them in a cold, dark air. They each followed Sir Arden's example and followed close behind him, each of them bouncing they're eyes across the landscape. The earth shook more violently this time, and they turned to look but there was nothing there.

Sir Gerald rode next to Sir Arden in the lead and they both scanned the trees as they rode. The faint sound of the sloshing of water caught Sir Gerald's attention from the right side of the path. "Halt!" He shouted as he held up his right hand. Everything went silent as the group came to a stop. The wind tickled Sir Gerald's fingers and whistled in his ear as the hairs on the back of his neck stood at attention. The air became as still and quiet as a corpse, and no one dared to move as much as a toe in their boot.

Sir Gerald caught a glimpse of an elven sword stuck into a tree, and another protruding from the swamp to their right. Before he could speak, a large shape began to emerge from the marsh. Standing as tall as four men, this behemoth of a creature towered over them as they froze in its shadow. Its was composed from head to toe of rust colored stone, with rotted trunks of trees covering its enormous forearms like armor, and two sapphires inlaid into the rock that resembled eyes. 

"Earth elemental! Dismount horses!" Sir Arden yelled. The Huntsmen dismounted and formed a line between the construct and the horses. Lennox struggled from his horse in a panic and fell to his knees on the muddy path.

They each brandished their weapons and stood as rooted as possible in the shifting mud. "There is no way we can defeat this thing here." Sir Gerald called out, barely audible over its deafening bellow.

Sir Arthur held his war hammer tight, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the handle. "So long as I live, I will not flee from this beast." With that he charged, and delivered a bone shattering blow that hardly chipped a pebble off of the construct. With a low growl,2 akin to two heavy stones grating together, it swung its log covered arm and flung Sir Arthur deep into the marsh.

The elemental charged the group with another grating bellow and flung Sir Arden, Sir Gerald, and Isolda like rag dolls. Sir Duncan and Sir Tristan emptied half a quiver each into the construct's stone hide but to no avail. The horses bolted forward into the trail leaving Lennox to hide behind a tree for cover. Sir Tristan and Sir Duncan scampered up a tree to find some cover to lay down fire on the construct leaving Alec to fend for himself.

The monster swung its right arm at Alec who ducked and rolled out of the way. It's arm struck the tree Sir Duncan and Sir Tristan were in and the force of the blow cut it in half. The two Huntsmen scrambled onto another tree as their original cover came crashing down.

"Elementals are born as much of magic as they are of the elements." Isolda shouted from somewhere within the swamp. "If magic fused them together, magic is the only thing that can kill them. We need the Prince."

"Lennox where are you?" Alec called out.
"Here!" Came a terrified squeak from behind a large tree. Alec dropped his twin axes in the mud and ran. Rolling under a stomp that nearly caused an earthquake, Alec rushed to the prince's side. "I'll be needing this." He said as he took Stormbringer from Lennox's back and ran off. "Hey what are you doing? That's mine!" Lennox shouted.

Alec took the sword in both hands and aimed the tip at the construct. He moved in smooth circular motions, making a half circle around the monster as it watched him cautiously. The glowing silver sword seemed to make the construct hesitant, but it moved forward nonetheless.