by Robert Spina
The three commanders leave the tent, and Bastrenboar looks over the map of Ugoria, nodding and smiling. The day he has been waiting for centuries is close, and he can’t wait.
Cloakenstrike appears in a damp forest. The air is thick with moisture, and the smell of rain and vegetation is powerful. The air is warm, and the night sky is misty, shining reflected moonlight all around, giving off odd and spooky shadows. He walks about fifty feet and encounters a tall, concrete wall reaching high into the night sky. He looks up as the vines growing in the trees and on the ground start to move in his direction. They twirl, unwinding from the trees high up, and pull down the trees, forming long ropes of vine in all different thickness. They head toward Cloakenstrike, who is studying the wall before him, and increase in speed as they approach him. Very quickly they wrap around him and tie him from head to toe and start to crush his body like a large constricting snake would do. Cloakenstrike looks at his arms tied to his sides and his legs, which are bound together.
“You guys waste no time, do you?” He chants, “Firing Flaming Stromgengen Umfen Glangour!” His entire body goes up in an incredibly hot flaming fire, burning the vines to ash in seconds. He turns to face the forest, still in flames as more vines attempt to shackle him and end up ash as the fire quickly burns them. Cloakenstrike starts to levitate straight up alongside the wall, and the vines grow at him from the trees, trying to ensnare him, but the fire is much too hot and the vines all burn up. Nearly to the top of the wall and out of reach of the vines, Cloakenstrike loses his flame and chants a spell, becoming invisible. He floats up and over the wall to see the elves on the ground, hustling to the entrance, as somehow they have been alerted to the presence of possible danger outside their stronghold. Elven bowelves are running along the top of the wall that Cloakenstrike has just cleared, looking for the disturbance, and they quickly spot the burnt forest outside their castle wall. The elves shout instructions to the elves on the ground, alerting them to the area of the disturbance.
Cloakenstrike is a very powerful magic user himself and has cast powerful magic on himself, concealing him from the elves—a very impressive accomplishment. Whatever he is up to, he has planned it well and has the magical savvy to continue on undetected so far. There is a large courtyard below with paved walkways and neatly trimmed grass. There is not a castle or stronghold as you might think in here. Instead, the land creeps downward into a very large gully many miles wide, and there is a canopy of trees that rise some fifty feet higher than the courtyard itself, and the walkways lead down into the gully. Cloakenstrike floats through the air, down into the growth of trees, which is thick; but as the gully goes down, the night is illuminated by lanterns hanging from the trees, giving off a beautiful starlight glow, making the evening soft and comfortably bright. The trees grow tall and thick with leaves at the higher levels, making visibility to the ground from the air unattainable; however, below the leaves, the wooded area is clear and well kept. The ground is easily traversed between the large trees and is very beautiful indeed. Cloakenstrike moves lower into this amazing natural wonderland the Erkensharie elves make home. A large group of well-armed elves makes their way up through the trees, heading toward the entrance, and Cloakenstrike can hear them talk in their native tongue.
“Shastenbree, how did the Tronglebire make it through the forest to our walls? They have never dared venture this close to us.”
“I do not know, Kwerston, but we are about to give them a welcome they will not like.”
The twenty or so elves make their way to the entrance, and the guards open the very large slender doors. The guards give instructions to the whereabouts of the intruders, and the fighters make their way out as the doors close behind them. Cloakenstrike makes his way deeper into the elven homeland and starts to pass the homes built into the trees.
This is a magical place. The trees are so wide around that the elves have carved steps that wind up and around the trees to homes that they have carved right into the trees. The homes are all lit by magical starlight lanterns, and the homes are large enough to house two to four inhabitants comfortably.
Cloakenstrike ventures deeper, and more and more elves are becoming visible, aware of the disturbance outside their gate. Pretty soon, all the trees are housing elven families, and somehow this use of the trees benefits the trees in some way, because they are all tall, strong, and healthy. As Cloakenstrike moves deeper in, the trees become larger and thicker, where the homes are more secure, not completely open like the ones he has passed so far. Apparently, the deeper he travels in this land, the higher the status of individuals living here. It just makes sense as the trees get wider, stronger, and taller, and the homes built into them are more elaborate and fortified.
The land has steadily fallen deeper as he travels into the Erkensharie homeland. The trees at the center of Erkensharie must be the oldest, because a view above the trees shows they are all the same height, but the trees in the center have grown much taller than the trees to the outside, because the land slopes down to the center of the Erkensharie homeland. You would think that this land would flood a lot because the land is actually a large natural bowl, and it extends for tens and tens of miles, making this a very large natural wonderland. The land does not flood because the trees absorb and drink exorbitant amounts of water to sustain their incredibly long and successful life. It is so beautiful how the homes are built right into the trees and how the grass is so well kept, allowing for walking in any direction throughout all the trees.
There are no branches from the trees that are now over one hundred feet in the air, and then very high up the trees, there is like an explosion of branches, leaves, and buds, blocking out the sky from above. The trees have no bark, so you would think. They are smooth and look like they have been sanded a very light brown color, like a two by four that has been milled. This is the natural evolution of this rare Erken tree. The bark is actually a very soft coat of wood that absorbs moisture on contact like a sponge, and the water filters up the tree to the leaves and buds that actually produce a sucking mechanism in the tree, and it’s very fascinating.
As Cloakenstrike moves deeper, the homes in the trees start to thin out and the forest becomes more natural, without the elves and their manipulation of the trees. The neatly trimmed grass ends abruptly, and the true grass length and form takes shape—a tangled web of grass and thick insect life waiting for warm-blooded nutrition, making walking here very cumbersome and irritating. Cloakenstrike stops at this point and flies up to a high branch and rests, becoming visible.
This is where the challenge begins. He chants magical spells in various languages and reaches into his Bag of Holding and pulls out a pendant hanging from a necklace made of small vine. There is no knot in the vine or any clasp of any kind. It is one continuous loop, just large enough to fit over his neck. The pendant is a small leaf with a small stick bug sitting on the leaf. The stick bug has four wings on its back, like a dragonfly. It has four stick legs to the back, two extending from either side of its body, which look like toothpicks, and the body is like a log, only very tiny. To the front of the bug are two legs, which extend from the front, and it has a snakelike head, which grows from the body, with very large eyes. From the top of the head grows a horn about two inches and very sharp.
He puts the necklace over his head, and it rests nicely just below his neckline. He chants a spell, and the stick bug on the pendant moves. Its body lies flush with the leaf, and it turns its head to the right side, laying its head flush with the leaf, like it is going to sleep.
That should take care of the small ones, now to deal with the midsized ones, something with a little more bite. He reaches into his Bag of Holding and pulls out an eight-inch wand, very thin and very fragile looking. He holds the wand, which is very simple, just a piece of wood, but very powerful in this instance indeed—the Wand of Splintering. He holds the wand out in front of him facing forward and releases it. The wand levitates about mid-chest high, and he holds out his ar
ms in front of him, palms down. “I summon the Wand of Splintering.” The wand separates into two identical wands and move to the top of Cloakenstrike’s forearms and rest on them. The wands start to grow small stems from the sides, which weave together around Cloakenstrike’s forearms, forming very thin but sturdy wristbands covering both of his forearms. He punches his left hand with his right fist a couple of times then his right hand with his left fist a couple of times. The big ones will be a little tougher, but I always have fire.
Cloakenstrike leaves his perch and flies through the trees midway between the thick growth on the ground and where the branches start to grow from the trees. There are no lanterns lighting the woods here, but the soft starlight from all the lanterns in the village where the elves live cast light, very dim but just enough so that the night is not completely dark. He is flying much faster now than he was through the village, very alert and ready for danger. The grass below him starts to chime with the sound of buzzing wings as swarms of young Treestriders ascent to meet him. They are tiny, only a couple of inches in length, but have numbers on their sides. They charge the intruder with the horn on their head, ready to impale their target. They fly fast and straight for him, horn first, and make impact; however, they do not make contact with Cloakenstrike’s body. About an inch before hitting Cloakenstrike, a protective barrier around his body acts like a gelatin, allowing the horn of the young Treestriders to enter flush with its head, and then the gelatin snips shut like sharp pliers, cutting of the horn and consuming it, making the gelatin stronger and thicker.
The Treestriders fall to the ground, dying from blood loss and the exposure of their brain. This is sheer amazement as swarms of Treestriders in the thousands attack and lose their horns, falling in such great numbers that the night air is blackened with the falling Treestriders. It’s like they are not aware there is any threat and attack him in greater and greater numbers, dying faster and faster as Cloakenstrike’s barrier grows bigger and stronger the whole time. This is a testament to the ability of this most powerful magic user and his ability to adapt and create magic of his own. Cloakenstrike created the Treestrider Absorption Pendant, and it is the only one of its kind in existence. He also adapted the Wand of Splintering for his needs here, which he is about to test very soon.
The Treestriders attacking Cloakenstrike now are very young and have two more stages of growth before they become adult Treestriders. They live in the young stage for up to three years. There is an amazing harmony in this elven-controlled forest. The young Treestriders remain in their first stage of life for up to three years and only go into metamorphosis to reach the second stage of their life if there is need for them; if not, they die. The young Treestriders feed on the nutrient-rich water in the grasses lining the floor of the forest, which sees a lot of rainfall, and instinctively attack any unknown living creature in the forest with the exception of the Erkensharie elves.
The Treestriders protect the forest from all unwanted intruders to maintain the unique balance of the forest here. They are really the guardians of the forest. The Treestriders attack any intruder in the forest by simply bombarding the being with their relatively small horn, which alone would not do much damage, but the constant bombardment of thousands and thousands of them is like being shredded by thousands and thousands of cuts until the creature dies of blood loss. This in turn is a nutrient-rich blood food that the Treestriders consume most eagerly. When there is need of more, Treestriders in the second phase of their life, the Erken Tree, or Trees, will exude a thick, rich sap just below the branch line of the tree or trees high up, which attracts the young Treestriders, and they flock to the rich sap. This is a first come, first served basis, and there is great competition in being the first Treestrider on the sap, because once there, the sap encompasses the young Treestrider, and once in the rich sap, the metamorphosis begins. Once the drops of sap hit the ground, the Treestriders begin their dueling to see who will get there first. They try to knock each other out of the air by flying into each other, and once on the tree near the sap, they duel with the horns on their heads, sometimes to the death, because without this sap, they cannot reach the next stage of their development and will die anyway.
Once a dominant Treestrider has time to exploit an open area of the tree dripping sap, it opens its mouth and begins sucking the sap that comes out from the tree much faster now and engulfs the little insect. The sap hardens around the Treestrider, and the release of sap comes to a halt. The young insect grows for sixteen days, burrowing into the tree, growing three inches a day, becoming the next stage of the Treestrider life.
Cloakenstrike is starting to be attacked by them now. These are more deadly and feed on meat as well as the leaves high in the trees. These look like four-foot praying mantis. They have large abdomens with four more developed legs at the back, and the two front legs at the front are more developed, with barbed stabbing ends for capturing prey. Their heads are pyramid shaped; however, the mouth is extended to a short snout with four sharp biting teeth on top and bottom in the front of their mouth, which is used for biting and shearing food, while the back teeth are molars used for grinding their food, whether it be vegetation or meat.
They still have four wings like the dragonfly’s but very thick and strong, easily capable of flight with heavy loads. The midsized Treestriders are very intimidating and can easily overtake an unarmed man. They start to descend from the trees and attack when Cloakenstrike is in view. The first one lands abdomen first on Cloakenstrike’s head and stabs him with its forearms. Their forearms have two hinges in them, allowing for the Treestrider to maneuver its forearms in all directions. The pointed barbed ends of its stabbing arms stick in the now-many-feet-thick gelatin of Cloakenstrike’s barrier. The magical barrier he has created is invisible, but when he is attacked by a Treestrider, the gelatin becomes visible, looking like a green glow, showing the thickness of the barrier. When he was attacked by the juvenile Treestriders, it maintained its green glow because he was being stabbed by hundreds, if not thousands, of horns continuously.
If you thought the magical savvy of Cloakenstrike was impressive in devising magic that could protect him from the juvenile Treestriders, his ingenuity continues to impress as you realize the spell he has created grew stronger and thicker when attacked by the juveniles and now can withstand the thrusting stabs of the larger, older Treestriders. The barbs on the ends of the Treestrider legs do not impact Cloakenstrike’s body; however, the barbs have hold of his barrier, and the Treestrider is easily strong enough to fly off with him. This is where the Wand of Splintering comes into play. The Treestriders’ abdomen is just above Cloakenstrike’s head, and he punches it with his right hand. The wand on top of his forearm acts like a fang shooting forward into the abdomen of the Treestrider and injects a poison that has remarkable effects. The wand shoots forward, injects, and pulls back into its resting place on Cloakenstrike’s forearm in a flash, amazingly fast, and the effect of this attack is almost as fast. The body of the Treestrider starts to harden like a rock, and Cloakenstrike punches it with his left hand. Again the wand shoots into the Treestrider, and its body shatters, its forearms and head fall to the ground, disturbing a herd of large herbivores resting through the night.
Another Treestrider attacks Cloakenstrike from the back, stabbing the shield and holding him from the back. This presents a problem for Cloakenstrike since he cannot punch backward. This is really not a problem since he is flying. He simply tucks into a ball and inverts, so he is now facing the Treestrider upside down, and he punches one, two, and shatters the Treestrider. The barbed arms of the Treestriders do remain stuck in the gelatin, but when they die, the shield disappears and the forearms fall to the ground as well. These Treestriders do not attack in swarms; they are less numerous. But as one Treestrider falls, another is quickly there to make another attack. This is time-consuming, and Cloakenstrike does not want to waste time. He flies as quickly as he can to his destination but does not get far before he is attacked
again. He spots another herd of large herbivores that have adapted to survive on the lush grasses here and are unusual indeed. He flies down to them as uses them as a shield to help protect him from the Treestriders. This causes them to move in the direction he wants to travel, and he flies as low as he can to them, making much better time to his destination.
The Grinesomes do fall prey to the Treestriders, but they are large four-footed eight-hundred-pound animals, and healthy adults can protect themselves against the Treestriders and, in some cases, can kill them. This running, now-stampeding herd makes attack on Cloakenstrike less attractive, but still some do and he quickly shatters them. The herd runs for a little more than a mile before heading in a direction that Cloakenstrike does not want to travel in. He breaks from the herd and is tackled to the ground by a Treestrider. He faces it and shatters it with his offensive weapons. He flies farther toward his destination, and the attacking Treestriders stop as the forest grows thicker with now smaller trees lining the ground.
The grasses in this forest are very unique and do not survive on photosynthesis since little sunlight reaches the ground in this forest. They are sustained solely on the nutrient-rich water that combines with the trees and unique earth here, allowing a rich soup of nutrients that the grasses here have adapted to survive on. The smaller trees here only grow about six feet tall and have no leaves and have adapted to survive on the soupy rich water like the grass. This is a most spectacular and beautiful forest with unique trees, grasses, and animal life and needs the very special condition this ecosystem enjoys to survive, making it a very fragile system indeed.
Cloakenstrike now rests and thinks, knowing a supreme challenge awaits him. He reaches into his Bag of Holding and pulls out a very beautiful sword. The sword has a wooden hilt with the impression of Cloakenstrike’s hand on it, allowing him a perfect grip on the sword. The blade is green glass infused with magic, making it unbreakable. It is known as the Wood Slicer Sword, specifically designed and created by Cloakenstrike for the adult Treestriders, and his ability in casting magic and knowing his enemy is about to be tested.