God Class, page 25
“It is…” He trailed off, taking a few more deep gulps of air. “It is mayhem… utter mayhem…” Tulk got out and then finally sighed a long breath and stood a bit straighter. “We are under attack!”
“Attack?” Rae almost choked on the word, laughing as it came out. “The Charred Bone clan is under attack in their own cavern on their own territory? Old man, I may have been born but it was not just this morning. No rival clan would risk such an attack, and no militia of my kind would venture into a cavern system. Unless it is…”
“No,” Tulk answered, still flustered and shaking his head. He swatted the idea away. “It is not him, or if it is then he has tricks that no one could have foreseen. It is something else, it is the floral beast of legend! We do not know how it found its way down here, or what it seeks, but it is rampaging our entrance tunnels and storming for our main cavern. H’Alik has not acted yet, but I have no doubts that she will bring the creature down. That is why we must move and move swiftly!”
“If she will take down whatever it is you’re talking about, then why are we so concerned?” Silas asked with a raised brow.
“Whatever!” Burbles announced.
Tulk did a double take on the crustacean but ignored it for now.
“It is not our lives I am concerned about, at least not right now. It is our chance, your chance I should say. You both can escape this place! The entry tunnels will empty from the monster’s attack, you can make your way out in near-safety! Tulk will show you the way.”
“Wait,” Silas responded, a blizzard of questions filling is mind. Rae had already begun packing up what meager belongings it seemed like he cared about, such as a few scraps of paper he had hidden in a crevice on the wall and a corked bottle of what seemed to be dark wine. “Why? Why are you still helping us?”
Silas knew there was no love lost between the trainer and the Goblin leader, but he was still a Goblin. Despite any help he had given in the past, Tulk was one of them. Helping to rig a one-sided fight to be a little fairer was forgivable, but if he was found to have helped H’Alik’s two most prized possessions flee in the wake of some attack, Silas knew she would not be so forgiving. Tulk didn’t seem to be one of her favored underlings as it was, and with her newfound power she may not need a trainer at all for her clan. Actually, Silas had now grown certain that if H’Alik exploited his Minor Bestowment again for Vigask or Imgul, she would most likely remove Tulk from that position anyway.
“Do not think of it as me helping you, Human,” Tulk gruffly answered, checking the entryway behind him. “It is more that I am preventing any further damage you and your powers may cause. She is too powerful now, and I fear that anything more you give her will only bolster the tyrant she is becoming. Now, we must go and quickly. The beast will have reached the main hall by now, so it will only be a matter of time before H’Alik makes her appearance. Quickly, follow Tulk!”
Tulk began to move again but Silas called out to stop him once more. The Goblin trainer seemed beyond annoyed at their delay, but Silas had to check something for himself. He closed his eyes and thought hard to open the Underling System.
He could now sense her. H’Alik had not moved yet and may have been asleep, and he could see that her health and mana were untouched. That was good. Silas could track her movements and status as they moved, making sure they were not in her line of fire; literally. It also looked like she was able to have underlings of her own, and he could see there was a branching system of gray connection points that could easily be her own people. It was possible that they could not be added unless Silas gave them the system access, but he hoped to not test that theory.
Feeling the agitation radiating from Tulk like a raging storm, Silas closed everything out and mentally sighed about not having more time. He opted to not mention the Underling System to Tulk, deciding to wait until he understood it more himself before talking about it, and also not wanting to let the trainer know that there was potential to even further screw things up.
“Alright, let’s go,” Silas said, and Rae gave an agreeing nod as they followed Tulk with at a brisk pace.
“Go!” Burbles added.
A tunnel of stone, wide enough for a small troop and crudely carved so that the walls were an uneven and jagged surface, lay in ruins. Over a dozen scouts hung from its mouth, as if they were regurgitated by the cave system itself like spoiled meat. Goblin blood painted the walls and darkened the dirt, and two laid twitching as they waited for their approaching death. Prints in the dirt were circular and wide, with long drag marks dashing behind them as if the lumbering creature had slid its way into the main cavern. Behind the trails in the dirt, more beaten and broken green bodies laid still clutching their weapons.
The main cavern was in the midst of total devastation as the three approached.
Cookpots were spilled, their brown sludge poured out on to the dirt to reveal chunks of bone and tender meat, and the cooking fires beneath them smoldered. Goblins flooded through each tunnel with raised weapons and torches as they made contact with the massive foe. It lumbered over them, swinging its arms like trees in a tropical storm and knocking swaths of scouts away at a time. The Goblins shrieked and shouted, ordering one another to attack or retreat and lacking any true leadership.
A scout lunged at the creature, its chipped sword meeting the rough leg and landing a shallow cut on the hard surface. Another jumped on its back, driving in a small dagger repeatedly, while a third came at it with a two-handed axe made of carved stone. In the span of a breath, the towering monster smashed a fist in a downward strike, splattering the first scout while it reached its other arm back, grabbing the dagger scout and spiking them into the axe-wielder. The two burst on contact, bone and viscera flying from them like a frag grenade. Its rampage only continued, a stomp popping a fallen scout while its fist sent another flying. Every movement of the beast was a horrifying display of strength.
And Silas nearly wet himself.
“No… No way,” he said, backing away. His fear was so intense that Burbles climbed back into the sack, shaking in the staunch fabric. “It can’t be… It can’t be that thing again.”
“A living legend, a true force of nature,” Tulk said, moving slowly along a far wall as to stay undetected. “The Forest Guardian.”
“This is incredible!” Rae exclaimed, following in Tulk’s steps. “Yes! Yes! This is a rare sight, a truly rare sight! Look at it! Sil, are you looking at it? Look at it! Are you?”
Silas had composed himself again, but just barely. He began to follow them, doing everything but looking directly at the tree monster, and he pressed against the rough wall as much as he could without harming Burbles. Silas’s heart was beating so hard it threatened to crack his bones, his stomach turned in ocean tides, and his fingers went numb at the tip. The Forest Guardian groaned with each hit, its familiar voice, like that of stones grinding together, triggered nightmarish memories of it chasing him only days prior. A cold chill scurried over his skin as a thought bloomed.
Was the creature there for him? Had it tracked him here out of some misguided vengeance?
If that was the case, then Silas had to flee even faster. He couldn’t have an overpowered Shaman Arsonist and an ancient monster of legend hunting him. No, it was in his best interest to leave as quickly as possible and leave no trace behind. If he was very lucky, they would kill each other.
“It truly is a majestic creature,” Rae sighed, a smile on his face.
The Forest Guardian snatched up a scout that was attempting to strike it with a carpenter hammer and threw it with enough force that it burst through two other scouts in a wave of popping flesh. Blood and skin clung to the tree creatures broad torso and hollow face, dripping off in chunks with each powerful step forward like a shaggy dog shaking off snow.
“Truly. Majestic,” Rae repeated.
“Hush, Rat. If that sacred giant’s gaze falls on us it will be our entrails decorating the dirt. Stay close to the wall, stay quiet, and let us hope that neither the creature nor my kind see our retreat. Just follow Tulk. We will have to round the room and exit by the eastern tunnel.”
Silas followed the trainer’s extended arm and pointer finger as it trailed toward a far tunnel that happened to also be just behind the advancing Forest Guardian. It was easy to make out, given the bodies that lay in the opening like city street trash.
His body nearly froze in place picturing how they would get by all of that without being noticed. Not only was it directly near the attacking tree creature, but there would be no way to hide from the charging scouts, let alone H’Alik if she should enter the fight before that. Silas had no doubt that H’Alik would sacrifice as many of her own people to the monster as possible if it meant stopping Rae and him from escaping. Her only knowledge of the world came from Rae, her new powers came from Silas. It would be the equivalent of losing her meal ticket just before the big feast.
The slid along the wall, Tulk moving quickly while Rae and Silas crept along with eyes fixated on the carnage of the main hall. So far, the trio had not been noticed with all of the commotion. They had made their way to the distant back wall, and now only faced a short stretch to the exit tunnel. Shadows covered them, the torches being unattended to for long enough to cause the flames to recede and die out; for most of the next part they would still be shaded, which gave each of them some measure of comfort as they moved closer to the heart of the battle. It was that last bit that would difficult, there were dozens of Goblins and the Forest Guardian’s advance had been significantly slowed which left it far too close to the exit tunnel. It would be a sprint to the exit, Silas had no doubts about that.
“Dar an makhaakec or maagaan?!” H’alik’s voice called out in the distance, and the three paused where they stood.
The Forest Guardian roared. It was the voice of an earthquake that echoed in deafening booms across the large cavern and down the tunnels. It swept its arm, sending four more scouts skidding across the stone floor as it pushed forward even harder. From the opening of her quarters, high on a raised tunnel, H’Alik stood snarling. A glowing ball of swirling, liquid flame was held in one palm like a volleyball ready for the first serve. Their eyes met, glossy darkness to wooden hollows, and as another thud from its stump of a foot shook the ground, H’Alik let her fireball fly.
“Run!” Tulk called out, and Rae was only too eager to follow.
Silas was momentarily paralyzed, his legs from and his blood cold as he watched the glowing orb launch into the air and descend toward the Forest Guardian. It splashed against its chest, the flame rolling over it like a shallow tide and popping with a frying sizzle. The creature screamed as the flames dissipated, leaving smoking charred wood in its wake. It stood but was obviously weakened by the fire as it placed its vine-like fingers against its blackened chest and scraped char off in a falling, black snowfall. Smoke drifted up in gray, dancing spirals and the smell reminded Silas of a neighbor’s house fire when he was a child; smoldering wood, an overpowering aroma that filled every nook of the cavern within moments.
Without waiting a moment longer, Silas joined the others in their sprint.
Scouts launched themselves at the Guardian, who regained its strength and sent them flying with massive blows. Yet, this time it was being pushed back. It fell back on its heels, fighting defensively while obviously distracted by the approaching Goblin that was already conjuring another ball of flame. She smiled at it as she took her steps, the scouts parting for her and each grinning maniacally at the small fire forming in H’Alik’s palm.
And it was at that moment that her eyes fell on the silhouettes of three fleeing humanoid figures approaching the entry tunnel.
“No!” H’Alik called, launching the fireball prematurely at the wooden beast as her focused changed. “The humans! Capture the humans!”
The fireball, much smaller this time, landed a glancing blow on the Forest Guardians arm. But it was still just enough to set its arm on fire just below the shoulder, sending flames licking up toward the creature’s face and startling it into stumbling backwards. It bellowed, swatting the flames with its other hands to smother them but doing little to stop the wood from growing just as black as its chest. Just as the flames died again and the smoke rolled over its shoulder, it turned and launched into a retreat of its own.
Silas turned back, feeling his heart skip a beat.
The tunnel had been bottlenecked behind. The Forest Guardian was ahead of them, but from behind they could see the Charred Bone clan at its heels, swinging their bladed weapons at it or launching projectiles. Some of their slung stones or crude arrows had almost made it to their group, and Silas called out to the others with his heart pounding in his throat.
“Move! Move!” He shouted, causing Rae and Tulk to make the mistake of looking behind them.
Their eyes bloomed with fear like summer sunflowers, and Rae even yelped a bit as they turned back to their task.
“Not far now!” Tulk called back. “But the tunnel grows steep! We will be at a disadvantage to the creature!”
As his sentence ended, a fountain of flame rippled over the ceiling, grazing the edges of the Forest Guardians leafy hair. The fire evaporated again, but only a moment later another small fireball flung over the Guardian’s shoulder and splashed against the wall beside Rae, sending him to the ground as he attempted to avoid it, massively slowing his pace. The edge of his dirty robe smoldered a bit, but he ignored it and scrambled to his feet. Their assailants had gained crucial ground on them from that exchange, and the flames could only mean that H’Alik had been gaining as well.
Silas grabbed Rae by the hood of his robe, almost sure that it would fall to pieces in his hands like old parchment and dragged him upward as he passed. It took all of his 35 points of Strength, making him grateful that he did not go the glass cannon route, whether it was up to him or not. He pulled Rae up to his and pushed him forward, just as another fireball sent the dirt behind them scattering into a cloud of dust.
Silas spared a glance back just as they approached the steep climb to freedom, and the Forest Guardian had not been doing well. Ultimately, this was a win since the creature would have crushed him and his new companions next, but he still felt for the creature. It was protecting its homeland, and if the people of Galleon were anything like the ones of Earth, then Silas could picture what kind of damage they had been causing to the wooded areas around their towns and cities. Goblins might not be excluded from that.
The Guardian was a smoking mass of charred wood. Smoke rolled from it like an aura, billowing to the tunnels ceiling in sheets of gray. It was clear that despite the few fire attacks that had almost hit Silas and Rae, far more had struck the Guardian, and its pace had slowed drastically. Its left arm was barely hanging on, and it had taken only a few seconds for a particularly thin scout to raise a rusted hatched and sever it entirely. The creature groaned in a show of pain, but left the stiff, wooden arm on the tunnel floor as it pushed forward.
“Go! Get up there!” Rae shouted as he pushed Tulk up the tunnels entrance opening. “Go before we are eaten, you old fool! Then again… perhaps if we turn back, we will catch breakfast.”
Silas nudged into Rae to knock him out of his trance.
Sunlight poured into the opening, and a rolling breeze flushed down into the tunnel. It was freedom, Silas could almost see it. No more underground, no more Goblins, just freedom. But their enemies were too close. They would gain on them before they could fully escape, and whether it was right at the entrance or on the surface itself.
They would be caught.
With a tinge of regret, Silas turned and faced the oncoming enemies. He looked at the Forest Guardian, the creature who had once sparked years’ worth of therapy on a single glance, and he felt pity. It barely moved at all, more of a crawl than anything else, and the Goblins were making quick work of it with their weapons while more pushed past it in their attempt to apprehend the humans. There was no love lost between Silas and the Goblins, or even for the Forest Guardian, but it still just did not feel right with him for some reason.
With a final push, he buried those feelings and did what he had to for himself and his new allies. Burbles climbed on his shoulder as if knowing what was to come.
Silas felt the power run through him. Every vein burned, as if radiating with a scorching light, and his body began to feel at the brim of bursting with raw energy. He inhaled, raising one leg, bending his knee, the power of earth meeting the energy of light in the air for an instance, before slamming his foot down.
[Consecrated Ground] activated, an explosion of force rippling the ground and cracking it around him like spiderwebs. Each crack glowed with light that flashed between white and dull yellow as if it were alive, and it spread out until it passed the approaching enemies and stopped them in their tracks. The cave shook, the Goblins who stood on the imbued ground burst as the light flooded through them from the cracks, marking them as enemies. More crawled over as if to chance a step before falling to the same fate. Soon the advance stopped, the Goblins fell back from the cracking and glowing ground and began to call to one another in their cackling tongue.
The Forest Guardian emerged, barely a trickle of life left in it now, and it threw its hand down on the glowing, burning ground and pulled itself forward.
Silas watched, waiting for his very first adversary’s death with conflicted emotions. The people of this world seemed to view this being as a legend of sorts, Rae had seemed genuinely disappointed when he had thought the emperor disposed of the Guardian, and Silas knew he was ending the life of something truly magical.
Or, at least, he thought he was.
To his surprise, the Guardian had not taken any damage. Silas squinted, allowing the stats and numbers to float in his vision for a moment. He could see the red numbers that had floated over the Goblins, indicating they had been damaged, but not the Forest Guardian. In fact, the small numbers floating over where its hand had just landed were green. Each second a new green number rose, and while visually there were no differences, the color could only spark one thing for Silas.
