Into the Light (Axe Druid Book 1)
Page 4
I walked for about an hour before I reached the indicator on my map. I called out into the empty woods for a couple minutes, hoping to draw my trainer’s attention, before deciding to just have a seat and wait. The sounds of the forest came and went throughout the few minutes I sat there. The sun felt great on my fur, and I guess I dozed off.
I woke up to the sound of silence.
That’s odd, I thought to myself and stood.
I stretched and looked around. Whenever the forest full of noisy animals got quiet in the movies, it meant there was some big bad nearby. I pulled my axe from my belt and searched the tree line. I couldn’t see anything, but I had forgotten the crucial flaw of being the supposed apex predator on my own world.
A sleek black panther dropped from the tree above where I had been napping. The muscles on the big cat coiled with contained aggression. It paced around me in a slow circle, looking me over almost appraisingly. It eyed me with emerald-green orbs, the deadliest gems I’d ever seen.
The panther sat down and began to lick a paw, seemingly losing interest in me as fast as it had arrived. I took a tentative step closer to the creature. In the light, I could see lighter markings in the black fur that looked almost like a leopard’s spots.
“Are you my trainer?” I asked in wonder. Would I be able to be as deadly as the creature before me?
“What would Sharo teach you, cousin?” said a sweet voice behind me.
I turned to see a lean Elf sitting in the tree to my right. I really needed to start looking up. “I was told to come here to receive training,” I said as I fished the coin out of my inventory. I held it up to the light.
She dropped out of the tree and walked toward me with confidence and grace. Her lithe body moved so well, and the green tunic and trousers she wore moved as if painted on her skin. She wore no boots, which struck me as odd, but oh well.
I offered the coin to her, and she took it. As soon as it cleared my outstretched fingers, it glowed like a beacon. She gasped, and her body went rigid. I didn’t hear a thing, but the panther sprung and knocked me onto my stomach. I felt the crushing weight of a paw on my upper back, and Sharo growled menacingly into the back of my neck. I could feel his teeth just there on my skin.
“SHARO, RELEASE HIM!” the Elf cried. Sharo backed off, startled, and lunged to her side. He stood on his rear legs and sniffed her, checking to see if she was injured.
He attacked because he was worried for her. I rubbed the back of my neck where he had held my life in his jaws. I felt the indents and a slight slickness. I brought my hand away and saw crimson on the small fur surrounding my pads. I confirmed, with my HP bar, that a little health had been taken.
“You are a traveler?” she said in wonder. She swiped the great cat out of her way and walked toward me. I felt my whiskers bend a bit as she touched my cheek. I leaned back as she leaned toward me. She seemed to be trying to see into me, as if I was a pond with hidden treasure at the bottom.
“Yes,” I said slightly embarrassed at her sudden closeness.
She suddenly swept me into a hug so tight that I grunted and wondered how she hadn’t broken a rib. She laughed. Her smile was as dazzling as the sun reflecting on a pond. She let me go and danced away. Sharo looked confused, but he played along and started to bounce around her and rub against her legs.
She stopped and looked at me again. “This is good. I was so worried for the forests and beasts of this world, but Lady Radiance has delivered our hope at last!” She smiled again and beckoned me to come closer.
“I will awaken your dormant Druidic power. Come.” She had me sit in the middle of the clearing. “Close your eyes.”
I did as she asked. Her slender hand on the top of my head shifted my fur aside and settled against my scalp. She began to whisper in a language I had never heard before. It sounded like a series of natural sounds: a growl, a snort, the babbling of a brook, and a whoosh of air.
A screen popped into view behind my eyelids.
Secret language learned: Druidic – the language of nature herself, all of nature’s bounty understand the language.
“–Lady, mother of the wilds. Defender of the downtrodden prey and sacred master of the predator. This lone wolf wishes to join your pack. He wants to protect the bounty of your lands from the evils that pervert your creatures, those who drive them mad and enslave them. He will seek them and destroy them for you, in your name. Will you grant him your strength and grace? Will you relinquish your secrets to him?”
I hoped for the best and whispered, “Please. I want to help.”
I felt warmth blossom in my chest and travel throughout my body. I could hear the trees gently swaying, moaning, and their leaves tickling the breeze. I could feel the comfort of the earth beneath me and the warmth of the sun for what felt like the first time. The animals all around the clearing seemed to find something nearby fascinating because they grew louder and louder until it was almost deafening.
There, amongst all the chatter and emotion in the forest around me, I heard it—a voice that sounded like a hundred breezes through a thousand leaves, an aged tone with an almost-frightening level of wisdom but still soft with tender love. I felt it more than heard it, my entire being enveloped in this soft, nurturing embrace that stated one thing.
“Welcome, my child.”
I opened my eyes at last and saw that Sharo was sitting in front of me, but rather than his emerald green eyes, I saw violet and gold. It was nature herself looking back at me, her ancient wisdom pressed against my mind almost like a physical force. It was like water lapping up against me, soothing but a reminder of the deep pool I had dipped my feet into, like anything could be lurking beneath those waters and I might never be the wiser. It wasn’t necessarily a bad feeling, oddly enough. It helped me know my place and gave me something to strive for—survival.
Then he blinked and his eyes were normal, and the pressure was gone.
The great panther bounced again and head-butted my shoulder in welcome.
“Welcome, brother.” I looked up and saw the Elf looking down at me with pride.
She offered me a hand up, and I took it. The forest around us just seemed so much more alive. I couldn’t believe how unaware I had been before.
I saw my notifications screen flashing at me, so I opened it up.
CONGRATULATIONS TRAVELER – You have unlocked the Class of Druid.
With the power of Nature’s might, you can make your stand as a champion for the realm. Quest Completed: 10 Exp and 5 copper gained.
New Abilities Available
Shapeshift – Take on the shape and fighting capabilities of the form you choose. Restrictions: shapes are acquired in two ways: the Druid must have fought the animal or touched the animal for an extended period of time (2 minutes) in order to shapeshift into that animal, with the exception of any forms the Druid could take naturally otherwise due to racial abilities or traits. Base stats affect the transformation. Cool Down: 1 minute. Restrictions: Cannot shift from one animal form to another. Shapeshifting must occur from the Druid’s natural form. Caster is restricted to certain types of creatures: no mythical or legendary creatures, no creatures not of the Prime Plane. (These restrictions can be lowered or nulled at higher levels or by meeting certain criteria.) Note: Any and all worn gear—to include weapons—and inventory items will be magically set aside for the Druid in animal form. They will return as worn upon returning to the Druid’s natural form.
Animal companion – Acquire an animal companion through the “Nature’s Bond” spell. A companion will assist the Druid however it can, in combat or otherwise. Restrictions: Only one companion can be had at a given time, and the bond last’s until the Druid chooses to end the bond or the companion dies.
New Blessings Available
Nature’s Love – Nature herself has decreed that you are of her children. Natural animals and creatures of nature will be less likely to attack unprovoked. Some of Nature’s children will be willing to offer aid however they can.
The last one seemed pretty amazing, if I said so myself. That meant my future pet and I might be able to level a little faster together.
The Elf and her friend watched me from the shade of the tree I had been under. They must have moved there while I was reading over the new abilities I had acquired. I winced, wondering how slow I had been, but she didn’t seem to mind.
“I am Dinnia, and this is my companion, Sharo,” Dinnia said, indicating herself then the panther. “We are the protectors of this forest, and now, we are also your trainers.”
“Great,” I said smiling. “Thank you. What should we learn first?”
“I will begin by teaching you how to take the form of an animal,” she said as she beckoned me over to the shaded area.
We sat, and she talked me through the process. It seemed simple enough: just think of the animal I wanted to take the form of and will the change to occur.
“Don’t I need to touch an animal or fight one to take the form of it?”
“You already have.” She laughed and pointed to Sharo who hid his nose behind his massive paws.
“That was more like a surprise attack, but if you think it counts.” I laughed and closed my eyes, trying to form an image of Sharo in my mind. Once I had it firmly envisioned, I willed myself to shift.
I felt warmth for a split second before the change came. I was sitting in front of my trainer but looking down at her from a little bit higher perspective. I looked down at myself and saw that it had worked! I was now a panther a little smaller than Sharo. Sharo looked and felt like he weighed about four hundred pounds, and I probably weighed around two hundred and fifty and reached about seven to eight inches shy of his massive five-foot height. His fur was a little lighter than mine, as well. Where his had a faint hint of spots, mine was just midnight black like my own fur.
I stood and paced around, assuming I would have difficulty moving, but I didn’t. This form felt as natural as simply walking through the forest normally.
Sweet! None of that lanky, awkward teenage phase for me! I noted that there was another notification and opened it with a thought.
Abilities Unlocked
Kitsune Shapeshifting – Take the form of an anthropomorphic fox, human with similar features, or a fox as your natural shape. Transformations are indefinite until the Kitsune chooses to change forms. Each of these forms is considered a natural form, as all are the Kitsune. (All clothing, worn items, and gear remain a part of the Druid while in fox form.)
So this was how that had come about? Weird. Maybe I had needed to actually shapeshift before it came about, or was it because I had accomplished the prerequisites needed to unlock the ability? What if I had been a Paladin or a Rogue? How about a Ranger?
I shifted back—a lot easier of a process than that first shift had been—and raised the question to my mentor.
“Some abilities, like shapeshifting, do require that certain criteria be met,” she explained patiently. “As the Kitsune are racially considered cousins to the Elves, I think I may know how you were restricted, but I’m not an expert so it may be an incomplete explanation. For the Kitsune to be able to transform for the first time, they need to unlock another ability. I think it has something to do with their trickster nature, children running off or playing as foxes and being hunted. The god of the Elves—and this is where it gets a bit fuzzy for me—put a condition on their ability to change form until they were mature enough to gain skills and abilities to protect themselves.”
I could understand that to some degree. I still didn’t see why that had meant crap to me, since I had chosen the race, but you couldn’t expect the gods to drop something as heavy as a racial requirement on an ability for a single person, right?
I shook my head and thought to myself, Listen to me wax philosophical over some rules. Bah, get on with your training, kick some ass, and get home. Kind of stupid that all we had to go on was, ‘Hey do this thing for us, and it will save your people too—oh, and we’ll get you home.’ We had all volunteered for this. How bad could it be?
I nodded once more, then shifted back into my panther form a lot faster this time.
Sharo looked over at me and seemed pleased by the representation. Dinnia clapped and smiled.
“Follow me!” She shifted into a wolf about the same size as Sharo.
Her fur was a motley of browns and grays streaked with black patches. She looked back at me with her normal green eyes, barked, and then took off to our left. It looked like we were heading further east.
I could tell that—even though we were moving quickly—Dinnia could have gone faster. She was allowing me the opportunity to get used to the speed I had at my disposal. No matter how natural it felt, practice would make perfect.
After a couple hours of running and a couple of rest stops for me, we arrived at what I assumed was the destination: a large ruin. It looked like it was a castle of some sort, but it had been destroyed, or at least, at one point, it had been attacked and left to the weather and time. The walls looked decrepit with piles of rubble strewn everywhere. Vines grew all over the walls that were strong enough to support them. If the outside looked this rough and overgrown, the inside must be worse.
“This old ruin was where Lady Radiance stationed her knights and Paladins,” Dinnia explained. “We won’t be going any closer, as you aren’t yet ready to face the enemies who lie in wait.”
“What happened?” I asked. I tried to see if I could see any of the enemies she spoke of but got nothing. Lame.
“About a century ago, when the dark forces initially struck, they took to the holiest places after slaughtering our best.” She indicated the castle with her hand. “This was one such place. The General of the Sword, one of the great beasts who slaughtered our strongest warriors, took this castle and left his minions in his place as he continued to go about his foul mission of desecrating our world.”
Hmmm… how did that make sense, though? If it was only minions, why didn’t the locals just take care of them and take the place back?
“So, wait,” I began and rubbed my temples a bit, “if you know that they’re here, why not just go in and take care of it yourselves? You are much more powerful than me. With the other trainers, you, and Sharo, you could go in there and kick some serious tail.”
“Were you not informed of our issue?” she asked incredulously. After I shook my head, she just sighed and looked up to the sky. “My people, native Brindollans, cannot go near them for two reasons. One being that if we are near them, they can sense us. Once they inhabit a world, they seem to grow accustomed to the people of it and use this to hide themselves. Two, if they so choose, the stronger ones can drive even the most stalwart warriors mad and bend them to their will. Some places like this will be crawling with minions of the dark; others may have men and women, children even, carrying weapons and guarding them.”
My jaw dropped a bit at the fact that, since we weren’t from here and we weren’t here when they came, we were essentially invisible to their senses. Well, they could see us, I’m sure, but we would have a definite advantage. Wait, there has to be some kind of catch.
“Won’t they get used to us as well?” I asked as doubt reared its ugly head.
“A working theory is that, with there being so few of you and so many of us, we act as a kind of cloak for you. We hide you from them by existing.”
“So… what? Do I just head on in there and try to whoop some darkie butt?”
She laughed. “No. At least not until you and the rest of the travelers are ready. Lady Radiance believes that you all might be able to do it at a higher level.”
“Well, how do we get that ball rolling?” I asked, slightly nervous but exci
ted to try some things out.
“We fight what we can fight,” she said. “The ‘Darkies,’ as you have called them, have enraged some of the animals here and driven them insane due to their close proximity. These insane animals are not like normal creatures, so you must be cautious. We will hunt and kill those animals until either you are strong enough to go into the castle or the week runs out. The others will be going to the inn nightly. You will not. My training will be harsh. I hope you are ready.”
“Sounds like fun,” I said as I stretched my back. “Let’s get started.”
Chapter Three
Our first encounter was with a wolf eating a rabbit in a nearby copse of trees. It only weighed as much as a German shepherd. The poor thing was foaming at the mouth, and its fur was matted and caked in blood and dirt.
I watched it closely for a while. After about a minute or so, the level and health bar popped up over its head and body.
Insane Wolf Level 2 with 80 HP.
Not a bad monster to sharpen my teeth on. I was going to shapeshift but figured I should get comfortable fighting on two legs first, to see what my capabilities were. So far, a lot of what I did seemed natural, though in my world, it would be far from it.
I stepped into the clearing, my eyes glued on the wolf, and the rest of the world fell away. My palms began to sweat a bit, and my vision narrowed, excluding my surroundings except for the wolf. I was focusing too much; I needed to pull it back and be aware, so I glanced around and used my peripheral vision to see if I could catch anything out of the ordinary. Nothing seemed amiss.
I pulled out my axe slowly and crouched down. I walked as silently as I could behind it, trying to sneak like I would have if I were playing a Rogue class. It seemed to be working well so far. I was about four feet away when it went still. I stopped and slowed my breathing to the point where it almost felt like I wasn’t.
After what felt like forever, the wolf went back to its meal. When I finally snuck close enough to attack, I slowly widened my stance and reared back to swing my axe overhead like I would chop wood. At the halfway point in my downswing, the wolf spooked, and I only scored a shallow hit on the rear leg. It whipped around and snarled at me before it lunged. Somehow, I managed to put the handle of the axe between me and the wolf, and it snapped at the wood for all it was worth. A quick glance at its health bar told me about ten percent of the wolf’s health was gone. I pushed to the left a bit, then snatched the axe back to the right to dislodge the handle from the toothy prison. I only had a split second before the wolf was lunging at me again. This time I swung the axe like a golf club and just aimed for the wolf’s nose. Never was one for golf; I sucked at it.