Hey!
I hope as always that you all have been happy and healthy.
I have been fighting myself on whether I should post this part or not lol
Well, we can see who won that fight huh?
I hope you all enjoy this latest installment, and enjoy more the fact that we are progressing into 1.5 territory lol
The "World Lore" and "Origins of the World" installments are numbered differently, as they are more so fillers (for lack of better terminology)and are meant to add more depth and flavor to the main tales.
So if/when you see those parts post with numbers that don't match the "main story" please don't let it bother you or throw you off.
I hope that this week has been good and productive for you all. I have gotten a fair bit of concept work done, and there are a couple of new pieces of concept art for our colorful cast of characters as well if you head on over to the One Last Knight Facebook page!
I hope you enjoy what is to come, and I hope more that you all remember where each of these short stories left off! lol
I'm kidding!
Kind of!
As we come around to the "Part 1.5" story arch, it may server you well to flip back to some of the earlier stories, if not just to job your own memories, I know that the first Parts were posted almost a years ago, and I wouldn't want to any of you to be lost as to what is going on.
It'll all make sense with more words I assure you lol
Thank you all for sticking around for this long, It means the world to me.
I won't keep you any longer, your new chapter awaits!
Thank you for getting this far! lol
Feel free to maybe buymeacoffee.com/TeranceIvy
I would be forever grateful!
Your support and love and loyalty are more than I could ever as for already!
Without further ado, I present to you:
"Go your own way. Part 1.5."
Enjoy.
-------------------------
Kneeling before the massive, slobbering Troll, Laxe was a bit perplexed yet still very much composed. Her chest burned and ached with each breath that she took. The blow had been a glancing one, yet still it had been solid enough to launch her several yards from where she had been.
Luckily for her, this discomfort would be short lived. The sigils that she had magically placed within the lining of her light armor flared to life, their healing effects nearly instantaneous. She could feel the bruised muscles quiver as the magics countered the inflammation. She kept her face in a mask of normality and calm as the fractured bones 'fixed' themselves, the sigil accelerating her innate healing abilities and mending the damage in a matter of seconds.
She shuddered as the process completed itself. It was quick yes, yet far from painless. It also took a considerable amount of her Aether reserve, something that she was sure that she would have to deal with a bit further on down the line in this fight.
She shook her head to clear it of the fog that came with near unconsciousness.
She forced her heart to slow. She needed to stay just as calm as the Toll before here appeared to be. She needed to stretch her stamina and Aether for as long as possible. Probably much longer than she would ever have had to up until this point.
Skuttlebottom had shot passed her just a couple of minutes ago, whooping and shouting about the five Mud-bugs that she had dispatched. That encounter had taken all but 30 seconds, and hadn't required much of her energy at all. By her count this meant that she would have to dance with this monster alone for at least 15 minutes before any form of reinforcements would show from the dorpie.
That was IF any would.
Laxe didn't believe for a second that the Forward Scout had seen the Troll among the Goblinoids that he had reported to her, or he would have definitely included that detail.
Thus he wouldn't share that detail with the guards at the East gate either.
This in turn meant that they would be less hasty in their response, and less likely to respond in real force if they even did...
She didn't have time to process it all at the moment, but she knew that this situation and the monsters actions made very little sense.
The Trolls Aura was jagged and sharp. It spiked and jumped around the massive monster erratically as it stood breathing heavily in the middle of the trail. This -to a trained Ranger like Laxe- was a clear sign that something on a deeper level was afflicting the thing. Something or someone with enough power to command not only a Troll, but more than a handful of typically peaceful Mud-bugs as well...
She would have to act and think at the same time, for the Troll didn't seem keen on waiting around for her to figure it out. She only had a few moves before the thing would realize that she could "see" it.
She had less time before her Aura detection ability would have to cool down and then be recast. Yes it was an inherent ability, but she still had to consciously conjure its effect.
She didn't intend on wasting this time.
The overconfident Troll started towards her with a crooked sneer. His long, ugly, serrated tusk bobbed as he chuckled to himself believing still that the little women before him could not see him. Raising his heavy club over his head with both hands, he took three steps forward and moved to bring it down and end the women in a single heavy blow.
The air around Laxe's hands and wrist vibrated ever so slightly.
It had been a while since anyone or anything had challenged her to the point that she had needed to call upon her Aether in such a way. It felt good.
She felt the spell that she had prepared draw from her Aether pool.
She felt the magic began to manifest in her veins, flowing through her hands and concentrating at the pits of her palms and the tips of her fingers.
It took no more than a forth of the Aether that she had left to spare if she had to guess.
Not so bad.
She rolled to her right at the last moment, extending her arms and letting her gathered Aether burst forth from her palms as the looming club missed her by just an inch. The energy pulsed and glowed with a vibrant green hue for a split second before shooting upward and into the nearest cluster of trees.
This was an older spell that she had been taught by a gruffer, more experienced Dwarven Ranger that she had crossed paths with nearly a decade ago. The odds of this particular spell working were rather low, he had explained, but he had also theorized that casting it on several trees at once (if one could muster enough Aether in the moment) would likely significantly boost those odds in the casters favor.
Laxe thanked the Forest Gods that right here and now, his theory had turned out to be right.
Two of the five trees struck by the Aetheral wave responded immediately.
As her Aether poured into their branches, a pair of previously dormant Tree-folk sprang into action, suddenly very much alive, reaching for, and latching onto the surprised Troll with long and winding claw-like branches. Laxe would need a bit more 'raw strength' to even the odds against such an advisory, and the Tree-folk would help as much as they could, and for as long as she donated her Aether to them. Their strength was greater then anything that she could muster on her own, and even if they could not kill the monster, they would help her keep it busy until...well until she could figure a more permanent solution. Two out of five was not enough for what she had initially planed, but having only two meant that they could fight longer and harder with less tax on her Aether pool.
Three on one was much better than one on one in this situation.
She would make due.
The first and nearest Tree-folk snapped its arms forward with blinding speed, wrapping the Trolls club in strong yet thin elastic vines, while the second reached out with its knobbed and bark-armored "arms" to grab the monster by the waist.
The Troll roared with rage, yanking at the bindings that snaked their way around its midsection with one of its mighty hands, but the plans of the rubbery vines from the first Tree-folk had come to fruition. Just before the Trolls initial swing could be completed, the vines that bound them snapped taught and pulled the heavy club back towards its owner.
The solid wooden club slammed into the right side of the hulking Trolls face and with it, its right tusk.
The impact was as loud as it was devastating.
The ear-splitting crack that accompanied it gave Laxe a bit of satisfaction as the Trolls right tusk snapped off at the middle and flew past her, stopping only as it impaled a thin tree off to her right.
The Trolls eyes rolled back in its great and horrible head, its mouth agape with a mixture of anguish and awe.
Before it could register what had happened, the Tree-folk continued their assault. The first wrapped its free hand around the Trolls head, grabbing hold of its other tusk and pulling back hard, the second had planted its "feet" and began to will its two hands to grow into a sort of large and enveloping net.
A net that began to spread and grow over the twisting Trolls midsection.
The three of them fell backwards and away from Laxe, rolling down the trail in a tangled heap and giving her time to breath and contemplate her next move. She took a moment of that time to close her eyes and send a quick Rangers prayer to that grizzled Vet.
A blessing if you will.
His teachings had saved her on more than one occasion, and she could only hope to be as great and as wise as he had been. If she made it out of this alive that is.
She wondered in the back of her mind as she thanked him silently: What would Pomilio do in this situation? And where in the world was he at this moment when she could have sorely used his legendary long blade?
She shook the thought from her mind and brought her focus back to the task at hand. She needed to get to the bottom of this and quick. She drew her Bomkerrie and rushed after the brawling Tree-folk and the Troll, willing the enchanted staff into its full-sized form as she went.
She thought as she moved, waiting for the perfect time to assist her battle bound companions.
A Troll in the middle of the day was the first thing that set her mind a spin. Trolls were nocturnal not by choice, but by natures design. So the fact that this one was even awake right now was strange enough.
Trolls did not pair well with sunlight, it would burn their hyper sensitive skin and drive them into fits of rage. This rage would often wear them out to the point of confusion, which in turn would have them further expose themselves as they thrashed and tore at the forest around them. It was a cycle that typically ended in a large pile of stone and ash, as this was what the sunlight did to them.
This Troll was not only walking -without any obvious adverse affect- through the beams of light that danced between the leaves of the canopies above, but it was also oddly calm. A trait that not a single Troll was ever known for.
Trolls are even angry in their sleep.
A Troll leading a squad of Mud-bugs was second on her list. Why in all hellz would they follow let alone listen to a Troll? The two species did NOT get along in nature, nor were these two known to even cross paths very often, as their habitats were also very unique and diverse. Trolls of this sort tended to stick to the thicker parts of the forested regions where the suns light was less common at the ground level. It was a rare thing, if at all that a Troll would choose to take shelter in a lower-lying cave. Mud-bugs were nearly exclusively bound to the mountains and would only ever venture into the forest should water become scares in and about their settlements. They were cave dwellers, more likely to be a menace to a Dwarven clan than any surface dorpie.
She would have to hold onto those thoughts for later, as the tables had began to shift in the Troll's favor just ahead of her. It would be up to her to restore what little balance that the Tree-folk had brought to this mess of a fight.
Her Aether pool was starting to drain, and she didn't have time to waste.
-------------------------
Skuttlebottom had delivered the message to Laxe.
That part that he had been tasked with delivering at least.
That part of his mission was behind him now.
He had to get the rest of the news of what he had seen and done back to the dorpie.
The flattened fields around Kabuterval had helped him deliver the first and most basic part of the message to the guards who had been chosen as the 'Key Listeners' for that shift.
Of that he was certain. The amplifying effect that the fields had were infallible in their design.
They would react as they always did.
Prepare and ride to the fields edge as they always did.
They would be out of the way.
It was his hope, that they Troll would do away with them just as it would most likely do away with the annoying half-breed girl.
He dared not broadcast aloud the rest of the message that he had to deliver.
That news was for his employers ears only.
An employer who was not of Kabuterval, but would come to be its rightful rulers and owners with time.
If all went to plan that is.
Ripton's first objective was complete.
Divert the attention of the Ranger.
Rangers were dangerous. Smart. Intuitive.
They were a threat to his employer and their plans for the growing dorpie.
He had done as he was instructed by the trio of dark-robbed men.
He had lured the Mud-bugs to that particular part of the woods where Laxe would be on patrol.
He had baited the Troll with the Goblins, knowing that it would be ravenous once it was awoken from its hibernation long before it was "scheduled" to be in the early days of winter.
The dark-robbed men had given him the ingredients for the potion that would not only grant the Troll invisibility, but resistance to the damaging rays of the sun. The potion was also made in such a way that it would suppress the monsters aggression for a long as it didn't get worked up in the first place.
He left that part to Laxe, and by the sounds of the crashing and roaring that he had heard as he was making his way towards the dorpie, she had done a grand job of doing just that.
He smirked to himself.
The payout would be worth the Elfyms death.
A part of him really liked Laxe. She had been about for several years, and had done well by Kabuterval on many occasions.
But he liked his head on his shoulders more...
More than that, he like the idea of being very, very wealthy.
The trio of dark-robed men had promised him both of those things in exchange for his cooperation and assistance with... well.
He swallowed a deep, hard swallow and kept moving.
He would have more time to think on his other actions once he did them, by that time, he would be far richer for it all.
He didn't have time right now for internal moral conflicts.
He was going to be okay regardless of what became of the stale, old, unchanging village.
The robed-men could have it.
He would take his cut and be gone to the warmer lands of the South.
Lumaleza.
The Crater Coast Collective.
Maybe even Suidelain.
The dorpie could burn for all he cared.
He had been their joke and messenger boy for far to long. The microaggression and mental abuse had eaten away at not only his conference, but what little care he had once had for the place.
There was much more to it...but this was not the time nor place for his pitiful memories of school yard bullies and parental neglect.
This was his moment to do something great and better his own life.
He would be the Hero, no longer just a news runner. A joke with little purpose or importance.
Everyone around him had had their day.
Their week.
Their month.
Hellz, even their year!
It was time for Ripton Skuttlebottom to become something more.
As he neared the gate, he swallowed his excitement and painted his face again with a mock mask of fear. He had to convince the guards that the Goblin threat was much greater than it was so that they would ride immediately to the aid of the Ranger.
He also had to do so without ruining the trap that was the Troll.
He needed them to be away from the dorpie in order to enact the next step in his plan.
He needed them to either die in battle alongside the Ranger or return in far fewer numbers.
It was time to put on another act.
-------------------------
Lisander watched as the forward scout approached the main North gate, his pace was that of high urgency. Their had been reports of heightened Goblin activity in the area as of late, so this hadn't come as that big of a surprise to the Captain of the guard.
The surprising part came in the form of the reported numbers.
"Three score and more!"
Ripton had shouted to the stationed guards as he sprinted into town making for the Chieftains dwelling.
Lisander would not wait.
If it were true that at least thirty armed Goblins were out on the Northern trails and heading this way, there was no reason to.
More importantly, Laxe was out on that same trail.
Facing at least thirty to forty goblins was no small feat, and Lisander doubted that even Laxe could handle that many on her own.
The Chieftain would only issue the order to head out anyway right?
He was better of getting a head start.
He grabbed his bundle of javelins, his long bow, and his helmet.
He popped his thumb and index finger into his mouth and gave a long, low whistle.
A handful of seconds later, his ridding mates and fellow guards came riding out from the nearest horse stalls, his own mount at the lead.
His men totaled just fifteen.
Thirty to forty Goblins would never be enough for the seasoned riders of Kabuterval.
While this may have been true, they had yet to ride against a magically enhanced Troll.
Today, they would find out in great detail the difference.
-------------------------
Hey hey!
I hope that you all have had a good time with that story!
Laxe is in a bit if a tough place huh? We will have to wait just a bit to see where that leads and how this one plays out.
I look forward to the rest of this story part unfolding for you all, and I hope that you will return to read it when it does!
I hope that this finds you in a good place in you life, and if it doesn't?
I am always open to talk if need be. Life is short folks, be as happy and healthy as possible yeah?
I love you all dearly, and I will see you back here at the gates to Enverdolmal very soon.
Until then,
Stay safe.
Stay healthy.
Stay vigilant.
-Redd.