The Druid - #1

The sounds of the wild assailed the sharp pointed ears of the young elf as he stood at the center of the clearing. He held a long gnarled wooden club slung across his back. His dark green tunic clung tight to his pale porcelain skin, his pale green cloak ruffled in the calm cool breeze. His hood hung over his head, covering his handsome features in shadows.

A ruffle in the bushes a dozen feet behind him caught the elf's attention. He turned around in time to see a large wolf walk out into the clearing. He tapped the staff on the grassy floor thrice, calling his faithful companion to his side. "A beautiful day it is my friend." The elf reached down and patted the soft gray fur of the wolf fondly as his eyes looked up to the clear blue sky above him. The sun shone bright and proud up in the sky, letting down rays of warmth and bringing light upon the world.

The wolf brought his muzzle up and sniffed the air. A low growl escaped its throat. "Intruders." Came the understanding exclamation of the elf. The two melted into the trees and ran through the forest, silent as shadows of the boughs above them.

The barking of dogs grew louder as the elf silently shuffled through the trees and approached the men who had intruded into his woodland grove. He drew ever closer, and the barking of the dogs grew louder with every step that he took. The dogs had caught his scent. The elf climbed up a tree, his arms and feet working with unison and skill honed by years of practice. a quarter of the way up the huge birch tree, the elf stopped his ascend upwards and started to swing from tree to tree. His arms and feet pumped with energy as he swung through the trees apelike and silent as the resident monkeys of the woodlands. He stopped right above the invading men, who unknowingly continued to swathe a way through his woods, cutting at small bushes and stomping on the grasses without a care for the woodland lives.

The handsome elven studied the men closely. Longswords hung on belts and sturdy leather jerkins protected the men from the assailing branches that hung low in the forests. Seven men, guards from the city patrol, he judged by the emblems that was clearly marked upon the shields of the men. "What are they doing here? They should know better than to invade the Woods of Vilsrough without my permission." He snarled to himself, a low mumble that was barely audible over the noise that the procession was making. He reached to his back, and pulled out a small object from his back pocket. A symbol of a unicorn head with engravings along the edge of the circular pendant.

He held the pendant close to his heart and closed his eyes in concentration. The elf’s voice filled the air, his chanting interrupting the men from their destructive advance into the heart of the forest. His voice chimed melodiously, his melody ringing in the air, more beautiful than the lovely forests and warmer than the glow of the sun. He continued the song, calling upon the power of the very woods he lived in.

The men looked around them, confused and wary. Many tales have been spun about the Woods of Vilsrough, stories of an unseen watcher who protected the woods and its inhabitants. The disembodied voice continued its melodious song, its elven words seeming to be a string of unintelligible mumbling.

Then, the words of power finally took effect as the spell ended. Vines and roots stuck out of the ground and reached for the unsuspecting men and their pets. The entire forest floor burst into motion, as the trees themselves seemed to come to life and reach for the men. Panic seized the intruders as they witnessed the very essence of the woods reach out to entangle them.

A hideous smile crept across the face of the elf as he watched the pathetic humans fight for their own puny little lives. That would teach them to have more respect for the woods that he called his home. Then, the entangling plant-life retreated from their assault and freed the men once more. It didn’t take long for the men to know that their presence was not wanted in the foreboding woods.

Ghostly laughter followed the men as they fled from the woodlands in a hurry.

>>#2