Lyralei ran. Without slowing down, she left the road and rushed into the shadow of what had, until recently, been a forest. Left and right of her black, lifeless tribes rose from the ground, bare branches tore at her clothes and scratched her skin. The earth beneath her bare feet felt cold and dead, and in the wind which captured the dust she whirled up, she could hear the countless cries of those who had died here. Lyralei did not intend to become one of them. Her red hair and her green cloak fluttered wildly behind her as she jumped over fallen trees and ducked beneath low-hanging branches. Anyone else could not help but stumble throughout the entire way or get lost in the shadows between the trees since the cold light of the moon was hardly enough to illuminate the narrow path. Yet, Lyralei knew the forest like nobody else.
Unhesitatingly she pushed herself off of the ground, jumped over splintered steps, rolled over and immediately was back on her feet. And stopped. Only a few steps before her, she could see one of the dragon tribes that had settled in this forest. In a moment of relief, she noticed that at least the dragons had not fallen prey to the raw, brutal power which had broken out during the night. A huge dragon and two smaller ones, all as black as the sky, were hovering over their nest, red eyes glowing in the dark. Lyralei had seen dragons before, but this was the first time a dragon didn't look at her like a hunter would look at his prey. Uncertainty was in their eyes, and anxiety. Even they, the most powerful beings in this forest, were afraid. Cold spread to Lyraleis heart. What kind of power was it that could, in only a few moments, kill an entire wood and that even the dragons feared? Her eyes met the dead trees around her. Trees that stretched towards the sky like gnarled fingers, complaining, searching for redemption from the gods. She was scared, but she was the only one who had seen with her own eyes what had caused the violent outburst of power. She had to make it back to the Ancient to report had what she had seen.
Child's play, you would say. Nobody ran as fast as her - a fact due to which she had been given the title Windrunner. Ever since her birth she had felt connected to the wind, and now her body flew right through him as she jumped down another stairs and landed inside the river. Ice cold water embraced her legs to just below the knees, dead fish drove past her and Lyralei had to watch her steps to not slip on the smooth stones.
She was not alone! The feeling was so sudden that she almost stopped in order to look for pursuers. With great difficulty she resisted the compulsion and waded on through the dark blue water, destroyed the reflection of the moon with her waves, hurrying towards the opposite shore.
Just the moment in which she set foot on the warm earth, an angry roar rose from the darkness of the dead wood behind her. At the same time a flame burst in the middle of the air, a few steps ahead of her. Long shadows flickered, light hit on moss-covered rocks and the trunks of ancient trees, and for a brief moment Windrunner could see a figure standing amidst the flames. A small creature consisting of bare bones stared at her from empty eye sockets and let out a cackling, mocking laugh.
Instinctively she had to smile, her yellow eyes flashed defiantly. It was time for her to prove herself worthy as the Windrunner. The wind around her awoke hissing, streaming around her legs, wrapping her like an armor, driving her forward. The cackling laughter rang somewhere in front of her, so she ran to the right. At least on this side of the river the destructive power had not harmed the forest, green grass covered the ground and trees whose crowns were hanging full of leaves rustled in the night air. Leaves, which had already been abandoned by the wind and, like a carpet, covered the floor, were stirred up again, as Windrunner - now even faster than before - ran up the stairs and rushed into the trees. The cackling laughter stopped abruptly.
Again the roar sounded behind her, closer than before. It was a dark, bloodthirsty roar, the sound alone was a promise of death. Against all reason Lyralei threw a glance over her shoulder. Bright, bluish light broke through the trees behind her, wood splintered and tribes broke. Not more than two dozen steps separated her from a massive, bear-like creature that struck its way right through the trees without even being slowed down. The bluish light came from a kind of morning star which it bore in his right hand, but his mane seemed to glow in the same light.
The creature was faster than her. Her fingers wrapped the handle of her bow so tightly that the knuckles were white. Only a few steps, then the being would have caught up. But although she had never expected to be followed by someone who could keep up with her speed, Lyralei was prepared. On the top of the stairs, she threw herself to the left, and rushed deeper into the forest. With the left foot she pushed away from a fallen tree trunk. With the right foot, they came up on a slanting tree, jumped further up and landed on a third tribe whose crown was caught in the branches of other trees. At least, this obstacle should be enough to…
Pain spread through her entire body in just fractions of a second. It felt as if the darkness itself had given her a blow to the head. Lyralei screamed in surprise and in pain. She stumbled, close to lose her balance. Immediately she had regained control over herself, but her speed was gone. Way too slow she pushed herself away from the trunk, landed three steps deeper in the grass and looked back.
"There is no escape," it growled behind her from the darkness. A creature whose dark blue, almost black body even at this distance was barely recognizable in the pale light of the moon, came out from between two trees. A blood-red armor protected the lower body, two giant, armed with blood-red talons wings grew out of the back of the creature. Yet the scariest was its mouth that did not only gape beneath his eyes but also up to his forehead, revealing three rows of sharp teeth. "In the night, no one can stand against me."
"Oh yeah?" Lyralei carefully stood up, her free hand moved slowly towards her quiver. She was sure that the creature could very well see her movement, but a strange torpor had spread to her legs. There was no way she could outrun any of her pursuers like this. The creature growled, lifted a hand in Windrunners direction and clenched it into a fist.
Anxiety. Death, pain. Panic. Lyraleis hands began to shake. Her heart felt as if icy fingers gripped it and would rip it into pieces with their long nails, while images flashed through her mind, showing herself covered in her own blood and mangled on the floor. Her lips trembled, unable to speak the spell she had prepared. The creature approached. She would die.
That moment the bear-like creature broke through the tribes Windrunner had jumped over. A single blow of the morning star was enough to make a trunk of the thickness of a man break in two, another one it simply rammed aside with its armored shoulder. Wildly roaring it rushed past the winged creature and rammed his shoulder into Windrunners chest. The impact drove the air out of her lungs and sent her flying through the air before she got slammed into a trunk. Dazed and unable to move, she slumped to its roots.
"Barathrum, don't you dare touch my prey", hissed the dark blue creature.
"This is my prey, Balanar", growled the creature called Barathrum. Seen close up, the figure looked more like that of an ox, powerful shoulders were protected by a black armor and two huge horns sticking out the side of his head. Blue light radiated from his morning star, but his mane which waved above his back like blue flames glowed blue too. "Dare to touch her and you'll never see the moon rise again."
The creatures came up to her. But instead of the cold that had possessed Windrunner, a warm feeling started spreading inside her chest. The pain subsided, even the gruesome pictures inside her head vanished. Still trembling, she stood up.
"You're not going anywhere," growled Barathrum and swung his morning star in her direction. Lyralei smiled.
An arm, thick as the trunk of a tree, blocked the blow, a second arm hit Barathrum in the chest and forced the massive creature back. Almost simultaneously roots shot out of the arm, wrapped around Barathrums body and began to pulsate.
"Nature is not always kind," grumbled Rooftrellen, the Treant Protector, and positioned himself protectively in front of Lyralei. Green eyes flashed angrily down at the two creatures, his powerful arms were already raised to deliver the next punch. Leaves grew on his powerful shoulders, even his body looked like a tree that had come to life. The head looked like a tree stump, long roots sprouted from his chin like a beard. "Run, little woman," grumbled Rooftrellen and waved towards her. "Report what must be reported."
A shudder ran through her body, and as Windrunner looked down at herself, she only saw the forest floor beneath her. The Treant Protector had made her invisible. "What about you?" she asked, but Rooftrellen walked towards the creatures. "Run," he grumbled.
"Not so fast," shouted Barathrum and also lifted his arms. A clear, pale luminous scheme broke out from his body and flew towards Rooftrellen. He tried to fight it, but his arm just slid through the appearance. Windrunner watched horrified as the creature called Barathrum suddenly appeared behind the Protector, the morning star crushed onto his back. Simultaneously, the winged creature attacked from the front, its clawed hands ripping scars into Rooftrellens body.
"Overgrowth!", roared Rooftrellen and struck simultaneously with both arms on the floor. Roots shot out from beneath the two attackers, wrapped around their bodies like snakes and tied them up. Windrunner could not help but watch as they both tried to rip their bonds apart, but instead the roots joined more tightly around them.
"Run, Windrunner," she heard the keeper say, forcefully she turned away and rushed between the trees. Behind her she heard the massive arms of Rooftrellen hammer down on the bodies of his enemies. Angry, pained roar followed her along the way, then there was silence.
It felt like an eternity until she could finally see the light of one of the towers in the darkness before her, relieved she emerged from the shadows of the trees. Immediately she felt the invisibility slipping from her, but now that didn't matter anymore. She was safe. From this tower onwards, it would only take her a few minutes to reach the Ancient where she could put together a squad to come to Rooftrellens rescue. She would call the wind, but still not enough time had passed to use the spell again. She had to make it like this.
Wolf howl scattered the silence that only just returned to her, a shadow moved in the thicket to her left. Only thanks to her reflexes Lyralei could duck just in time to avoid the massive body that suddenly broke out of the darkness and attacked her. Teeth, each one as long as her fingers, snapping just where her shoulder had been a second ago, the wolf missed her by a hair and crashed into a tree behind her. She had no time to rejoice in happiness. A second shadow detached itself out of the thicket right in front of her. Again, she managed to avoid by turning at the last moment, but the tail of the wolf slapped her face and blocked her vision for just a second. With grim satisfaction she heard the wolf howl painfully and would have loved to turn around. Two quick arrows and both of the wolves would be dead.
Yet this time, it was her who got surprised. A third wolf, larger than even the previous two together, jumped at her from the front and tackled her. The force of the impact forced the air out of her lungs, her head banged painfully against a root, and darkness covered her eyes.
Something heavy pressed onto her chest. She opened her eyes just in time to see how the huge wolf ripped her throat with a single bite.
"First Blood", Banehallow growled as he reached the other hunters. "But certainly not the last." He had assumed his human body, protected by a black and red armor. Blood dripped from his fangs and the steel claws that protruded from the front of his armor bracers. The two wolves ran left and right of him, and glanced at the waiting figures with hungry eyes. Their mouths were smeared with blood, but a simple human woman would have been an adequate seizure for only one of them. "Where is the Treant Protector?"
"That did not go as expected", grumbled Barathrum. The Spirit Breaker waved around his bluish bright morning star, his red eyes glittered murderously. "He vanished. But the peace is broken here. Once I find another fighter of the Radiant, I will break both his spirit and his back. "
Balanar, the Night Stalker, spread their wings and drank greedily in the night air. „After all this time, I cannot wait to feast on the flesh of the Radiant."
Banehallow looked at him dismissively. "You will need to wait, Balanar. We ..." he paused, as flames enlightened the night. A shadow, barely perceptible before the blackness of the trees, hurried around them, yet the smell was obvious. "Clinkz," he growled into the darkness, "you bloody pile of bones. Show yourself, or I let the wolves have you. "
The shadow approached them, stopped beside Balanar and let out a cackling laugh. White bones appeared in the air, as Clinkz, the Bone Fletcher, gave up his invisibility. Two long horns stacked out of his skeleton skull, behind the bare ribs burned a demonic fire. Though his entire body was made of bones, he wore both gloves and shoes. A bow, also consisting entirely of bones, was held loosely in his hand.
"Go ahead", he said, voraciously eyeing the wolves out of his empty eye sockets. He was just as big as one of them, reaching only up to Banehallows chest. "My arrows are loose. They didn't get drilled through a body of flesh for quite some time. "
"Enough of this, all of you." A fifth figure detached itself from the surrounding trees and approached them. "You've had a long enough time to fight each other. But just as soon as you are free to go out and kill Radiant, in a world in which is filled with enemies worth fighting, you start fighting amongst yourselves." Ostarion, the Skeleton King, looked at every single of them. Just as Clinkz, his entire body was only bones, yet he even surpassed Banehallow by almost half a head. A dark red cape with gold fringe, black boots and a black tank with gold decorations on his right arm was all he was wearing for clothes, but he was holding a huge sword in his right hand.
Banehallow noticed how Clinkz 'eyes flicked to the gray crown which rested on Ostarions head, but the Bone Fletcher seemed the only one to be intimidated by the presence of the skeleton king. Both Barathrum and Balanar seemed ready to unleash their pent-up anger both at the Dire fighters or anyone else unlucky enough to be found by them.
"When will the first Creeps be sent out? " Banehallow asked Ostarion before anyone else had the time to start the fighting. Not because he wanted to avoid a fight, but because he got tired of fighting amongst the Dire. Ostarion was right; tearing the throat of a Radiant was by far the more satisfying feeling.
"Shortly after sunrise, that's at least what the magician told me", said Ostarion. "And from that time, until the last of the Radiant is dead. Until their Ancient lies shattered before our feet. "
"Cursed Wizard", hissed Balanar. "Another day to wait until I can tear flesh and crush bones."
"There are plenty of animals in the forest, and no one there to disturb you." Barathrum let out a satisfied grunt. "Finally I get to kill. I've waited all this time only for that moment."
"Keep storming carelessly on your opponent like that and you'll be the next to be killed." Banehallow walked past them, ignoring all of their angry glances. "Tomorrow begins the hunt. And I will kill anyone who gets between me and my prey."
Silence returned to the clearing. Yet not that kind of silence that seemed to be everywhere and yet was filled with the presence of countless creatures that moved seemingly invisible in the shadows. It was a cruel silence. The forest itself seemed to hold his breath, remaining motionless, tense, until the intruders had left him for good.
Rooftrellen the Treant Protector was old. Older even than all the trees that grew in the forest. But for the first time in his long life he was in a hurry. With rapid strides he went along the way that he had seen Windrunner disappear in. To the point where the bloody, barely recognizable remains of Lyralei the Windrunner lay between the thick roots of an oak tree. Rooftrellen had liked her. She had often come visit him in the forest. Not because of the trees themselves, but because of the wind that played in their leaves.
"I have not been able to protect you", growled the old Treant Protector. He had sensed the destruction, heard the silent cries of the trees when this creature, Barathrum, bashed his way through them. He had failed to kill him, and had also failed to protect his ally.
"After life comes death", he murmured as he buried Lyraleis body between the roots of the tree. "But from death arises new life." He put a little seed in the ground. In a few years from this seed a new tree would grow. Then he would stand next to the tree and watch as the wind played in the treetops. "Everything as it should be." Rooftrellen turned, strode to the city. "Your death will not be in vain, Windrunner. I will report that the Dire Ancient is burning again."