In Isaac's group on the second layer of the GreyClaw Forest.
I slowly draw my sword, and all the eyes suddenly turn their attention to me. "What are you!" I say loudly. I watch as the eight pairs of eyes seem to look back and forth at each other. One of them finally moved toward us, which all the others turned their attention to. A white fox creature walked out of the darkness. It had two tails which immediately told me it wasn't normal. It has one blue eye and one gold eye, which it did not share with any of the others, they all had only blue eyes. Its fur had a strip of light gray down its back. It opened its mouth and words surprisingly came out, "Hello humans." The words seemed to be made through magic as a blue aura leaked from its mouth which hung open. "Hello, fox," I responded.
The Foxes' head tilted to the side slightly before its head twitched. Suddenly its mouth snapped shut and its head raised back up, its eyes were completely white now. It stood still for a few seconds before twitching again and its eyes were back to normal. "Mother wishes to speak to you, humans." The fox spoke again, turning towards the darkness and walking off. The seven other foxes revealed themselves. Most of them looked similar to the other one, excluding two of them that were orange instead, they had no markings, unlike the first one. The realization that the white ones were female, and the orange ones were male came to me at that moment.
They came toward us and pushed us in a specific direction to get us moving. I put away my sword. A few minutes after we started walking I heard coughing followed by a thud, I turned around to see Lisa on the ground clutching her stomach, she pulled her mask down and I looked away as she threw up. I open my eyes and watch as the fox that spoke to us returns, probably due to our sudden stop. I turned back toward Lisa and James. "What happened, why did you drop her," I said to James. "I-I didn't, she just woke up coughing and pushed herself away from me." He responded. Something told me that that wasn't the full story and it seemed I wasn't the only one who thought that.
The first fox suddenly bolted out from behind me and straight at the smaller of the two males. She grabbed him by the scruff and pinned him to the ground, growling loudly. It was only now that she was standing next to the rest of them that I realized she was significantly larger than the other seven, between twice and a quarter as large. She is the eldest one here. I stepped towards Lisa, but she held her hand in the air towards me, in a sign that suggested she didn't want me getting any closer. I ignored her as I grabbed her arm and pulled her up toward me, grabbing and looking at her face. I stare at her face for a few seconds before letting her go. Her eyes were bloodshot, and there was some magic residue swirling around her face.
"Close your mouth and eyes." I said to her, "Wha-" she tried to respond. "Do it!" I cut her off. At my command, she did so and I used water from a canteen on my belt to get all of the magic residue off of her face. I turn to Nessie, and she nods as I look at her. "That means. . ." I say before stopping. I turn back to Lisa as she pulls her mask back up. Her eyes were still bloodshot but looked like they were already getting better. "Thank you," she says as she turns to the commotion nearby.
"THEY ARE GUESTS, YOU KEEP YOUR MAGIC TO YOURSELF BROTHER!" The eldest fox yells through a small cloud of blue mist. The smaller one yelped, and the eldest let him go. He stood up with his head lowered, and the eldest nodded before turning and getting back on our path. We started walking again. "Where are we going? What happened to the harpy?" Lisa said in confusion. "Well, what happened wha-" Tim started, "Harpy's dead, we're going to meet the mother of these Foxes," I said, cutting off Jim. I heard him huff, obviously upset I didn't let him speak.
"What's a fox?" James suddenly said. I looked back toward him, surprised to find nine pairs of eyes looking at me with curiosity. "On Trinity they're called fefinians," I replied. "Aren't they an animal native to earth?" Tim asked, "Yes." I responded. "Most of the creatures in the GreyClaw Forest have ancestors from Earth." I heard Nessie start as we started walking again.
Nessie then began, "Around three thousand years ago, a meteorite landed at the center of this forest, inside, it was believed to be holding a young god, and a sapling. The godling disappeared without a trace around a year later, and the first Blackwood tree started to grow, then around It spread its seeds, and eventually the whole eastern coast of Centaria was covered. During the growth, it's said that creatures from another world started popping up in the forest. First came the humans, us, who at first didn't get along with the local giants, werewolves, and vampires," She said.
"Soon enough though, they started being let into their culture. That's why humans are living throughout not only Centaria but the other continents as well. Anyways, around a thousand years ago, a group of foxes appeared, and over generations, they rapidly evolved in the GreyClaw forest habitats. Something about GreyClaw, it's not just a forest. While the upper level is mostly thick dark woods, the second layer is lighter and more spread out in its trees, the Eastern side of the second level also has large open fields. If I'm correct, a demon lives over there as well, but I think another party has already gone after it," She continued.
"The third level is the most dangerous. It's a desert of gray sand, dragonoids live on that level, constantly fighting and consuming. It's best not to go down there," She finished. I was pleasantly surprised at how much she knew about the GreyClaw. "So wait, how do creatures end up here?" James asked. No one knows, some believe it is that long-forgotten god or the Orb itself bringing them here." Nessie responded. I stopped as the eldest fox came back into sight. She turned to look at us before walking around a large tree. As we got closer the other foxes did the same and when I got there, I noticed there was a large crack in it. The entirety of the tree was hollow, and a wide tunnel led downward inside it.
I crouched down as I started down the tunnel, it was just barely wide enough for me to squeeze through without having to crawl. As we got to the bottom, it opened to a large area. I immediately noticed the floor was covered in a reddish-orange moss. As I stepped on the moss, it seemed to glow slightly. I looked around and noticed a couple more tunnels, one of which sounded like a bunch of animals were howling at each other. As I moved farther into the den, I could stand up straighter. I turned back toward the entrance pulled off my sword and its sheath and placed them by the door before going toward the tunnel.
I heard everyone else do the same as I crouched through the next tunnel. I exited into another large room, it suddenly went quiet and I noticed the room was full of a lot of young foxes. As I stood up they all ran to the side walls, revealing the eldest fox in the middle being the reason they were all liked in the middle. She shook, seeming surprised by their enthusiasm at her return, before walking toward a larger white fox. "Hello," a female voice struck my mind like a sledgehammer. I blinked as the pain slowly faded away. I heard the others enter the room, suddenly all the foxes flooded towards Tim.
"Woah hey! That's my finger, little guy! Oi, give me that back!" Tim said as one of the fox kits stole a ring off one of his fingers. He went to chase it but before he could catch it, he was tripped by one of the slightly older ones and then the rest of them piled on top of him. I saw the eldest snort as she saw the scene in front of her. Suddenly the larger fox barked and all the kits went back to the walls and sat, Tim got his ring back and stood back beside us. I noticed 18 foxes in this room, all of the kits were lined up opposite another one that was the same age. Most of the kits were female. The only ones without a second fox were the eldest and the largest, which I guessed was their mother.
I knelt before speaking, "Hello." The largest nodded before using her telepathy again. "I am the leader of this den and oldest here, mother to all but one GreyClaw fox here." She said, as if on cue, I felt something push past me and saw a large orange fox squeeze past us dragging a deer in with him. He looked up at us slightly confused before looking at the leader of the house. "Didn't we agree to tell each other when we allow others into the den?" The voice echoed through my mind. She suddenly glared at him and he looked up at us quickly. "Oh, oops, sor-" the voice suddenly stopped. He dragged the deer into the middle of the room and suddenly a whistle released from his jaw and all the kits sprung towards it as he walked over and sat by their mother.
"I am "Dysnomia". This is my mate "Davino", and this is my eldest daughter, "Vail"." Her voice rang through my head again. "I am Isaac, that's James, Tim, Nessie, And Lisa," I said pointing at each of them. "Tell me, why would a human from Earth, and another four from Trinity come here, to the GreyClaw Forest?" she asked. "We're hunting a demon. . . That may happen to be a GreyClaw fox." I replied nervously. All the foxes in the room turned to me, Dysnomia shifted slightly, and Vail's expression switched to one of surprise.
"I may know who you're talking about." Dysnomia said, "And I know where his den is as well, including every exit, so we will help you." She suddenly turned to one of the mid-sized foxes and beckoned her to come over. She did so and sat in front of her mother. "You were there earlier today, his smell lingers on you, as you disobeyed me once again, you will be Isaac and Nessie's guide. Vail will lead the other three of you to the second exit down in the third level. Now here's the plan. . ."
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Around an hour later.
"Are you completely sure this is gonna work?" Nessie asked me, "as long as he doesn't sense us before we do, yes." I responded. We followed the small fox through the trees, being cautious so as to not make too much noise. She started to go slower which most likely meant we were coming close to our destination. Just as I thought, I stopped at the edge of a tree line, staying behind the trees, I could see a small pond. As I looked out at it, I saw our target. He was currently drinking from the pond, and after he finished he moved to a tree opposite us, turned, and started scanning the area.
We hid, concealing our bodies behind the trees. After a few moments, I peeked back out and I saw his tail slipping behind him into a hole. I nodded to Nessie, confirming our part was finished for now. Nessie turned towards the direction of the third level. She flicked her wrist and a small ball of fire flew into the sky a good distance before going out. We waited a few minutes and then a second one came from the opposite direction, confirming the other group was in position as well. "Well, it's now or never," I said as I stood up from my crouched position, shaking my sleeping legs.
We walked toward the entrance to the den as quietly as possible. I removed the cover and gave her the all-clear, she shot another fireball into the sky and then started chanting something I couldn't make out. She then blew into the entrance of the den and a strange blue ice started to creep down the tunnel. I covered the tunnel back up with the lid and watched as it froze shut. "Step one is complete, let's go!" I yelled as we bolted towards the third layer.
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Inside the den
The fox shot up quickly as the temperature dropped exponentially. He could feel something was wrong and as he turned towards the entrance, a strange blue frost started creeping into his den. He opened his mouth and flames burst forth from it, but it seemed to do nothing to the ice. He ran to the roots opposite him and tried to snatch his necklace off it, surprised by its sudden resistance. The chain got stuck on a small root. He unhooked it just as the frost was about to get to his foot and then bolted. He sped down the second tunnel.
He looked back as he was running to see that the frost was speeding up. He could see the end of the tunnel and sped up. He burst out of the tunnel and immediately dodged backward as a blast of ice almost hit him. It was a trap. He remembered why he was running and tried to move out of the way but was just barely grabbed by the blue ice as it burst out of the tunnel. He yelped as it caught hold of one of his tail spikes and it snapped in half. The ice slowed and stopped now having reached its target location.
He looked around, concerned. "Brother." A familiar voice said. Shadow froze as he turned to the origin of the voice. "Sister." He responded, a green mist leaking from his mouth. He noticed the three humans accompanying her. He growled and she growled back in response. He suddenly lunged at her, resulting in her lunging at him as well, a cloud of sand flew into the air as the two of them fought. James looked at the other two confused about what he should do. The two foxes jumped out of the cloud opposite each other. And started circling each other. Tim suddenly jumped at Shadow, swinging his shortsword.
Shadow ducked under it, backed up, the leaf on his tail glowed, and swung his tail. It left behind a trail of red dust that went into the air. He grinned as it went around Tim. "GET OUT OF THERE!" Vail yelled. Lisa jumped into the dust, pushing Tim out of the cloud. An arrow flew toward shadow, but it was too late, he dodged, then slammed his tail on the ground and a spark was created. The cloud of dust started sparking and electricity was sent throughout the cloud, shocking Lisa. She groaned as it stopped but was still standing. Shadow looked surprised. He was about to lunge at her when he heard a loud thud behind him.
He turned around to see a guy in white and gold armor holding a greatsword. "Oh my Or-!" He was cut off as he swung the greatsword down, forcing Shadow to dodge. "I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOX!" Isaac yelled. "Sorry, but I don't wanna die today Mr. Crazy Man," Shadow responded. An arrow flew past his head as he ducked down again, the archer was getting annoying fast. Shadow's tail glowed again and he threw a wave of flames at the group, most of which jumped back or were pulled back. The only ones getting hit by it was Vail, who was unaffected, and Isaac, who's armor dispersed it automatically.
Shadow noticed two more people jump from the cliff above, floating slowly down. Another one of his sisters and a witch. He knew immediately that it was her who froze his den. Isaacs's sword starts to glow in a golden light, but before he can do anything, a roar resounds from above. A Greyclaw drake landed in the middle of the group, roaring. Everyone's attention turned to it as its neck started to glow and it launched a fireball at the group. Shadow took the opportunity to bolt and escape the group. He followed the wall and before long he could no longer see the group. As he walked, he saw someone, A body lying on the ground.
End of Chapter 3