The group walked through the trees. Flint was in front, cutting a path through the vines. Nathaniel tried to avoid the mud holes, but there were to many. After five minutes, their shoes were mostly covered with the stuff.
They hadn't been there long, but everyone decided that they hated the Elder Woods. The trees themselves were creepy enough. But every so often, they would see a pair of eyes staring at them out of the dark. That combined with the screaming birds, made it one of the scariest places in the eastern kingdom. Nathaniel hated it most of all. He didn't like the way the trees seemed to whisper to him. "Intruders," they seemed to say. "Must destroy."
"Stop!" he shouted. The rest of the party stopped and turned toward him. "Just stop cutting the vines. I have a feeling..." his words drifted off. The others gave him a suspicious gaze, but Flint stopped cutting the vines.
A while later, the group was incredibly tired. "Can we stop?" asked the dwarf.
"Only if you wish to be eaten," said Flint casually. Jax opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again.
Nathaniel was beginning to fall behind. He wasn't quite as athletic as the others, and he kept stepping in mud. Maybe because he was in the back, he often heard sounds. At first, he simply dismissed them as a squirrel. Then he felt that it was something more. "We're being followed," he told the others.
"Don't be ridiculous," replied Lakota. "I have the best ears of us, and I haven't heard a sound either than the screaming banshiee bird."
He decided that he must have been imagining things. Then he heard it again. Uh-oh, he thought.
"Watch out!" he yelled as he lept for the dwarf. He knocked Jax out of the way just as a vine-like creature came down where he was standing. It stood almost ten feet tall. Its body was made up of intertwined vines and leaves. It had no face except for two beady black eyes. It stared at Nathaniel, as if deciding if to attack him or not.
The others jumped into action. Flint pulled out a crossbow and shot it into the arm of the beast. Lakota drew her daggers and spun around, cutting into its chest and face area. "Get off me!" Jax said as he pushed Nathaniel off of him. The dwarf picked up his axe as he walked toward the thing. He swung, aiming for its head. "Chop!" Its head hit the ground with a thud.
"Where, in all the underworld did that come from?" said the dwarf.
"I don't know, but did you see the way that I used my daggers," the elf said. The others began bragging about their fighting. Nathaniel looked back at the fallen creature.
"Uh, guys," he said. "Guys!" The others looked at him. "I don't think you killed it." The creature stood up and put its head back on. It put its hands into the ground, and two others slowly rose up behind it.
"Oh, mithrel," Jax said.
YOU ARE READING
A Medieval Story
FantasíaA farm boy lived in a peaceful village. He had lots of friends and was working up the courage to ask out a girl. But he was forced to leave when the great spirits warned him about a danger that threatened all of the material world. Will he be able t...
