More arrows were fired down at Gerrard's accompaniment and wooden death continued buzzing and whirring around them. Gerrard, fleeing to the shelter of the trees, watched in horror as the Draungerion Elitists were one by one shed entirely of life. Finally, Sypherist was the only one left alive of his band, unscathed by the onslaught of the deadly arrows. Sypherist had armor unlike any Gerrard had ever seen, as the arrows seemed to just break upon impact with the metal. Sypherist charged the captain of the group and thrust his sword clean through the neck of the commanding soldier. The captain uttered one final breath before Sypherist pulled the sword from his bleeding neck felling the officer to his knees until finally he ascended prone upon the earth. Averting his attention to the other five guards Sypherist quickly spun about building moment enough to catch one of the other soldiers in the middle of where the guard's neck meets his shoulder with enough force to cut across his body right into the heart of the stunned patrol. Leaving the sword inside his victim, Sypherist stole the mace that the officer was holding just before his demise. Dodging a blow given by one of the remaining guards closest to him he stepped past and knocked the helmet off of another guard standing behind the attacking guard. Yet another of the tyrannical warriors swung his sword at Sypherist and caught his shield knocking it away leaving Sypherist open for a moments attack. Sypherist retaliated to this assault with a powerful upward thrust to the jaw of the guard that had nearly loosed the shield from him not granting the officer a chance to stab the Draungerion, and sent him sprawling to the ground, but he was dead before he got there. After this brutal display the hero was finally knocked to the ground after one of the remaining patrols struck him with a costly blow to the back. The three remaining soldiers did not bother to mourn for the fallen and went in search of the priest.
Gerrard understood the dire position he was faced when he saw the defeat of the ranking Draungerion Elite, Sypherist. He realized it was only a matter of time before the marauders eventually found him. He thought to himself that the only chance he stood was to make a stand by seizing one of the weapons littering the path. He held bound a dagger beneath his leggings, but the overwhelming number of guards could easily overpower such a minuscule device. Glimpsing Sypherist's sword still protruding from the body of the last to die by its piercing edge, Gerrard readied himself for a break to the weapon. Before he could, he felt something grab hold of his body and start raising him to the treetop. Gerrard looked around to find that hands were protruding naturally from the tree and that the extensions were somehow apart of the bark that spanned the mighty oaken plant. As he ascended into the tree's canopy out of the reach and sight of the seeking warriors, he thought he heard a soft giggling enter into his ears. Set upon a lofty branch by the mysterious appendages, Gerrard's initial fear of the creature transformed into curiosity. The protruding hands moved around him on the branch to the far end and upon reaching near the edge the beautiful face of a woman with skin of bark started to rise from the branch betwixt the two arms, somehow still apart of the tree and yet slowly melting away from the plant like liquid. A neck followed the head, which sang prelude to the body and legs until the beauteous humanoid was detached completely from the confines of the tree. The mysterious green bark-skinned creature was smaller than an average woman and appeared frailer, she had eyes the color of the leaves on the tree, her hair the shading of the tree trickled freely down her right side in a gorgeous fashion, and her beauty was unmatched by any mortal Gerrard had ever seen. She raised her finger to his lips hushing him as he tried to pose the question of who and what she was. Giggling softly and pointing to where the guards were standing in the path. Gerrard saw they were now confused by the priest's disappearance and that they were busy discussing the possible locations of concealment he might have taken refuged within.
As the men were conversing, a woman much like the one that had saved Gerrard slowly walked towards the already confused soldiers. She was soon followed by two more from other areas of the marsh. Two more came from yet another region. Pretty soon there were seven beautiful bark skinned women standing before the guards giggling. The soldiers seemed baffled by the sudden appearance of these forest creatures and obviously had never seen them before either. Three of the creatures slowly walked up seductively to one of the warriors each. The soldiers not minding the intrusion one bit replaced their weapons within the concealment of their scabbards with the false sense that danger had passed. Grinning peacefully they each one by one kissed the ear of the soldier before them and pulled back. The grins of the creatures were wilder on these bark-skinned women than that of the one that preserved Gerrard's life. They had eyes that glimmered in the sun and their hair blew serenely with the breeze. The bark skins, slow and seductive, walked away into the forest. The lusting soldiers followed after the nymphs as if held entranced by their beautiful features and serene touch. The creatures led them further and further into the unknown labyrinth of the marsh until becoming ensconced by the forests natural entrapments. In the distance, Gerrard heard the screams of two soldiers perched in a tree suddenly fall violently to their deaths. The branches had moved themselves out from underneath the soldiers. Moments later he watched as the vulture and other carrion started circling around the air deep in the forest where the soldiers had ventured after the seductive nymphs. The birds knew the ways of the nymphs and now Gerrard did. The soldiers were not so lucky.
The creature in front of him giggled again and said in a high-pitched voice that embraced the ears of the listener, "Gerrard the priest has finally come back! You said you would you know! You knew you would! You knew that you would come to deliver us salvation!" She giggles once more before smoothly disappearing into the tree once again only this time with much rapidity. Just as the last hair meandered into the tree, the branch that Gerrard was resting on moved out from underneath of him. He found himself suddenly hurtling headfirst towards the ground at a breakneck speed.
