Having a huge hole in tbe middle of the trunk does not help at all. So it was to be expected that once Jake had punched a hole through the beasts face, it would fall down. The fall was comically slow, for the beast only fell after the remaining half of Felrod's face blinked, realising that it was no longer alive.
After confirming that the abomination had finally fallen, Jake, Grud and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Jake sat underneath a tree, trying to control his vertigo, resisting tbe urge to vomit. Grud lay on the ground, all out of gas, for the attack had taken most of his strength. Druis, hobbling towards Grud, wheezed every step of the way, a sequela of his desperate attack. The brothers Beba and Biba locked their wounds, bandaging as much as possible.
"So, what do we do now?" After what seemed to be hours, Grud tentatively whispered this question. Druis, still wheezing, managed to barely utter a weak repsonse "Boy... hah... let's all... pant... clean up the...ughhrrh... battlefield. Pant...
We should get Beebo before... hah... the ruin closes." As Druis managed to convey what they should do next, Biba, bandaged as best as possible, hobbled closer to Beebo's corpse.
Just as the group started to pick themselves up, rustling noises started to be heard.
Thwack
A loud thud hit the ground.
As the group slowly looked down, their breaths froze, eyes widened in shock. Gone was the stooped figure of Biba. Bloodstains were splattered everywhere, blood cogealing into shallow ponds.
One minute they saw a sorrow-filled Biba, picking up his brother's corpse, the next thing they saw were the bloody remains of their Wulfus comrade, head, torso and all smashed into smithereens, it's remaisn splattered everywhere.
As they remain gobsmacked, the rustling grew even louder, forcing their attention towards the source.
As they watched in horror, the hole in the treant's torso started to shrink, along with its many branches, until it compacted into a very humanoid shape.
Its skin glistened in a dark golden hue, sigils and glyphs intermittently flashing along its entire body. Eyes the colour of rust spun in its three sockets, each focusing on one of them. The branches spun and warped itself over the naked body, forming a psuedo armour of sorts, covering in design unknown to them.
As they were wondering what was happening, Grud suddenly called out "Hey, doesn't it look like Feldor a bit?" Upon focusing their attention on this tiny detail, Druis commented with an astute observation as well "Yeah, that thing does remind *wheeze* *wheeze* me of that young strappling from... cough cough... the Dulred family." Wheezing even harder, Druis confirms Grud's speculations about the new beast.
Just then, a gutteral howl sounded beside them. "Brotheeer!!!" A lound thump is heard, as Beba crumbles to his knees. "No, no, no, no, no..." In a desperate attempt, he repeatedly slapped himself on his cheeks, evidently truing to wake up from the nightmare.
Sadly, Biba did not rise up again. All that were left were piles of twitching flesh, still freshly killed, and a pair of still grovelling paws.
Druis covered Grud with the back of his left hand, still shivering badly. Not noticing this abnormal phenomenon, Grud asked it "W-what are y-you?"
The beast, its twitching stopped, turned its attention towards it. Whether it deemed him worthy or not, it did not matter at all. It toom a quick cursory glance at him, before lifting a bronze finger, before shooting a beam of highly concentrated aura, discharging it straight at Grud. Before he could do anything, it was already very close to him. He knew without a shadow of a doubt, he would die today.
Just then, a flash of white appeared in front of his eyes.
Relieved, he turned towards his uncle, foe he knew that it was him who had saved him. As he was about to thank him though, he realised what was happening. "No, no, no,no, no..." He watched in horror as his uncle, smiling a soft, sad, smile, aged rapidly in a matter of few seconds, before turning onto dust.
Just as he was about to attack the beast in rage, the curtain of fire exploded, sending him back into the nearby forest, where he bonked his head onto a tree, causing him to faint.
Just then, Jake sobered up.
Shaking his groggy head from the vertigo of the attack, he too froze in place, watching in pain as Biba get decimated into piles of flesh, Druis disintegrating into dust protecting Grud. He watched in silent shock as Beba, in a madness filled haze, launch a desperate counterattack against the beats, only to be thrown onto the air, crashing into a nearby pile of bronze coloured rocks.
As the beast started to inch closer to Grud, he sobered up, and ran towards it, trying to move its attention away from Grud. He used every attack, every move he had on his arsenal, yet failed to deliver any form of damage.
Still not discouraged, in a gutteral roar of rage, he used Prathee Sanrak, covering his fists, before launching another volley of attacks on it. This finally aroused the attention of the beast.
"You are too... annoying." It spoke in a mismatched voice, it's tone shaded with myriad colours, sounding like everyone, yet no one at the same time. Horror crept up his spine, for he knew that if the beats got out, ot would cause great devastation across the city.
Despite his bravado, Jake knew he had no time left. He was too tired, having spent most of his energy in tbe previous battle. It did not help that he never had the proper rest while he was exploring the ruins.
He knew, deep in his heart, that today was his last day. He wished that he could meet his parents once again, he wished that he had spent more time exploring the world.
He wished that he could say sorry to old man Edward.
Just as he closed his eyes, he felt a searing flash of bright, golden light, before an unearthly cry faded into the night sky.