The Forest Awakens

[Treshure 5817]

 

Hobs Gullyworth scribbled his quill against the paper in the hour of twilight. A report was being written to Lord Barbanov, detailing the events in the North. All had been quiet in the recent days, save for the occasional blizzard. “These blizzards..”, he would note, were not normal. They would rise several hundred feet tall, engulfing the land in a furious storm. And now, the winds had gone down with no sightings of them. Terrible creatures had been rumored to be seen in the midst of the blizzard, but they were only rumors.

 

Bells rung outside. Hobs peered out his window, seeing two men of Siegrad sprinting back to the keep. They barked commands to the guards, with a multitude of soldiers assembling to face the threat. Hobs trotted outside into the night cold, pulling a cowl over his head.

“What is the threat?” he inquired.

One of the men looked at him with a frightened gaze. “Dead things in the land, dead things in the water.” he muttered.

Hobs watched him scurry off to gather soldiers. Shuffling behind the amassed troop, he saw two terrible figures not far beyond Siegrad. Ancient words swirled throughout the air, thundering and echoing archaic meanings. The men of Siegrad trembled to behold power not seen in hundreds of years. Numerous wights rose from the ground as servants to these terrible creatures, attacking the men of Siegrad. The hoary figures strode towards the men, both wielding crackling bolts of thunder in their hands. The descended the cold mountain they came from, fighting with brutal precision.

 

A billowing wall of frost approached the assembly.

The onslaught of the wights grew, more rising to their masters. The terrible creatures were struck down, more undead rising from their graves to take vengeance on their fallen commanders. The frost overtook the men, driving them back to Siegrad. The elementals stalked behind the mass of wights attacking the bridge. Hobs rushed backwards, cowering in his nightgown as he watched the battle take place. Bolts of ice crashed into the crowds of men, yet more surged to retake their dead brethren. The elementals stared out to the soldiers of Siegrad, watching their risen wights fall mass after mass. The wights were no more.

“Brace!” shouted one of the levymen.

The elementals glanced towards each other.

“Arghuz.” they whispered. The elementals shattered, crumbling into a pile of dust and ice.

 

Hobs had watched this hall, slowly taking steps back to his home. The elementals and wights were gone, but dread lingered in the air. Dead levymen littered around the bridge to Siegrad.

Hobs finished his report, taking time to stoke in more lumber to add to the hearth. The coming winter was rumored to be harsh, after all. Hobs added one more line to the report before sending it via pigeon.

“Dead things in the land, dead things in the water. The forest awakens.”

 

Wasn't doing too well this morning. I apologize for the writing.

[Publius 4098]

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.