Chapter 11: The Forest of Thorns
After waking up at the Forest of Thorns, Chise and the rest of the team head into the woods to collect what they came for, however they run into something very unexpected...
Chise woke up feeling pain in her left arm. Chise winced at this and sat up from where she was lying. Chise looked at her arm and then remembered her earlier confrontation with the Spell-Breaker and how he shot her with his tranquillizer. Chise got up and looked to see the unconscious bodies of her friends.
"Oh my god! Guys!" Chise said as she rushed over to them.
Chise tried to shake them awake but it was no good. Chise then realized that Ruth's body was missing.
"Ruth, Ruth! Ruth, where are you!?" Chise called.
"Over here." Ruth said from behind her.
Chise turned around and ran over to Ruth.
"Ruth, are you okay? Where are we?" Chise asked.
"I'm okay, I just got up myself. As far as where we are; my guess, the Forest of Thorns." Ruth said as he pointed to the large forest in front of him.
Chise and Ruth looked at the large forest in front of them. Thorns growing on the trees, thickets everywhere, thorn bushes all over, this place definitely was the Forest of Thorns. It looked to be very dark and scary, even to Ruth, who was normally not one to be scared of the dark. The trees were tall and their bark was very tough. There were quite a few animals impaled on some of the longer thorns. Blood trickled down the thorns as a couple animals had very recently just been impaled on the thorns. There was a very eerie vibe coming from the forest.
"Yeah, that looks accurate." Chise said.
"The question is, how did we get here?" Ruth said.
"My only guess is that the Spell-Breaker brought us here." Chise guessed.
"Why would he bring us here? If he were smart he would have killed us." Ruth said.
"Well, he obviously brought us here for a reason." Chise said.
"It seems very fishy. He's probably set a trap for us in the forest. Wait a minute, why in god's name would he let us keep our weapons!?" Ruth asked as he saw their weapons and stuff nearby.
"Who knows. Wait, how did he know we were going to the forest?" Chise asked.
"Come to think of it, how did he know we were staying at that cabin?" Ruth asked.
"Now that I think about, the Spell-Breaker told me that he knew about my visions and how we had been training earlier." Chise said.
"Okay, THAT is freaky. How would he know about those things?" Ruth asked.
"I have no idea." Chise said.
"It's like he's got eyes and ears on us at all times or something." Ruth said.
Elias: "(Groan)"
"Elias!" Chise called as she and Ruth rushed over to Elias and helped him sit up.
"(Groan) What happened?" Elias asked as he rubbed his head.
"The Spell-Breaker tranquillized us." Ruth said.
"Where are we?" Elias asked.
"We're at the Forest of Thorns. Me and Ruth are pretty sure the Spell-Breaker brought us here." Chise said.
"Why would he do that?" Elias asked.
"We're not sure, but there's something even more crazy. The Spell-Breakers knew about Chise's visions and our training. He even knew we were in that cabin." Ruth said.
"That is most disturbing. But how would he know this? We were not shouting that information out to the world, how could he know?" Elias asked.
"We have no clue, but it's like this guy is always 2 steps ahead of us. There's no doubt in my mind that the Spell-Breaker knows what we are after here." Chise said.
"If that is the case, why would he bring us here? He has already taken the lives of some of our friends, why would he help us?" Elias asked.
"Maybe he's got a split personality thing going on. A part of him wants to destroy us, and the other part wants to help us." Ruth suggested.
"I doubt it, he made it pretty clear that he wants me dead. I don't think he would have any reason to be helping us. But, from what I remember, the Spell-Breaker said that he wanted a fair fight, but still, that doesn't make much sense." Chise said.
"Hmm." Elias said as he thought about this situation.
"Hey, Elias, catch." Ruth said as he picked up Elias's wand and tossed it to him.
"Thank you, Ruth." Elias said as he caught his wand and stood up. "Strange that the Spell-Breaker left us our weapons and supplies." Elias said.
"Silky!" Joseph cried from behind them.
The three turned around and saw Joseph holding up Silky's unconscious body.
"Silky, are you okay? Silky!" Joseph cried.
"It's okay, Joseph. Silky's not hurt. As far as I'm concerned all the Spell-Breaker did was tranquillize us. He didn't hurt any of-Gah!" Chise said as she clutched her stomach in pain.
"Chise?" Joseph said as he saw Chise wince in pain.
"Chise, what's wrong?" Elias asked.
"You okay?" Ruth asked.
Chise let go of her stomach and lifted her shirt slightly to reveal 5 large claw marks on her stomach, bleeding.
"Yeesh! Those are some nasty claw marks." Ruth said.
"Joseph, get the bandage wrappings from Silky's bag over there. Chise, who did this to you?" Elias asked as Joseph ran to pick up Silky's bag.
"The Spell-Breaker. After you guys were tranquillized, I had a short scuffle with him; let's just say he totally kicked my ass." Chise said, trying to sound cool, but failed miserably due to the immense pain.
Joseph came back with the wrappings and proceeded to wrap them around Chise's stomach.
"Thank you, Joseph." Chise said.
"How dare that monster harm you like this. I will tear out his spine and beat him to death with it. I will break every bone in his body when I get my hands on that Spell-Breaker." Elias said angrily.
"That's very sweet of you, Elias." Chise said as she was sweating nervously.
"Yeah, it was so romantic I almost puked at the thought of you beating someone with their own spine, Elias." Ruth said sarcastically.
"Dog, now is not the time for your jokes." Elias said.
"Yeah, um, not a joke, that was sarcasm." Ruth said.
"What... happened." Silky asked as she finally woke up.
"Silky!" Joseph cried as he rushed over to her.
"Joseph? Where are we?" Silky asked.
"The Forest of Thorns. Our running theory is that the Spell-Breaker brought us here after he tranquillized us. As to why he did that, we are unsure." Joseph said.
"Where are the others?" Silky asked.
"It's okay Silky, we're all here." Chise said as she stood next to Joseph.
"Hey, Joseph here's your sword and Silky here are your Kamas or whatever their called." Ruth said as he handed them their weapons.
"Here, let me help you." Joseph said as he helped Silky stand up.
"So, what's the plan, Elias?" Chise asked.
"We need those ingredients, we go forward into the forest." Elias said.
"It could be a trap." Joseph said.
"Maybe, but going back home is not an option." Elias said as he began walking into the forest.
"Come on, we have no more time to waste." Chise said as she caught up to Elias, with the rest following close behind.
While there wasn't any sunlight, it was still somewhat bright out, but the moment the group walked under the tall trees. it was like the time shifted to night in under a second. All around there was nothing but barren trees with lots of thorns and thickets. There was hardly and life flourishing in the forest aside from insects and the occasional woodland creature. All the living creatures that were present looked very demonic and scary, much like how fish that live near the bottom of the ocean look rather bizarre and terrifying. Even the occasional rabbit or two that the group would spot looked like it came from the pits of hell.
"So, where are we going exactly?" Ruth asked.
"In the middle of the forest, there should be a rather large tree." Elias said.
"(Scoffs) Yeah, Elias, all the trees here are big." Ruth said.
"(Sigh) You will understand when we get there." Elias said.
"What ingredients do we need to get again?" Chise asked.
"We need some roots and herbs." Elias said.
"How much of those do we need?" Ruth asked.
"Enough to create one sample of the formula. Once we have made one sample of the Nebula Formula, we can duplicate it multiple times." Elias said.
"That should save us multiple trips back-." Ruth said before Chise cut in.
"Wait, do you guys hear that?" Chise asked as they stopped walking.
"Hear what?" Joseph asked.
"Everyone get back to back." Elias said as they all got back to back with each other.
*Rustling Noises*
"What was that!? Where did it come from!?" Joseph asked.
"Above us!" Elias said as they all looked up at the trees.
As the group examined the trees, something ran out of one of the bushes and punched Ruth in the face.
"Ow my jaw, that hurt!" Ruth yelled.
"What the hell is that!?" Joseph cried.
They all looked over to see one of the skeletons from the cabin. However this one had armor on and looked much more menacing. The skeleton glared angrily at them and then let out a loud scream. Suddenly about 50 more of the skeletons jumped down from the trees in front of the team. They all had on armor and some had swords, while others had daggers. One thing the team noticed was that aside from the skeleton that attacked Ruth, the armor of the other skeletons looked to be less durable and seemed like they would barely provide any protection.
"Ah crap, it's those bone freaks from earlier." Ruth.
"(Growl) We have our orders! You will all be terminated, aside from you, Chise Hatori. You will be kept alive as our prisoner before we bring you to the Spell-Breaker." The skeleton said.
"We can do whatever we want with you as long as we don't kill you." another skeleton said as he cackled and grinned at Chise.
"That's creepy." Chise said.
"If you skeletal monsters do anything inappropriate to my wife, I will rip out your ribs and beat you to death with them." Elias said as he let out a loud snarl and his red eyes glowed brighter.
"...…. First of all, Elias Ainsworth, we are skeletons and have no human organs. Second, Chise Hatori is a 16 year old child." The skeleton said.
"Oh, but torturing and hurting a child is fine!?" Ruth asked.
"Hush, Ruth Dog or we will kill you." the skeleton said.
"It's Ruth Hatori you boney freaks!" Ruth said angrily.
"Whatever, you will not reach your destination, attack!" The skeleton said as they began to approach the team.
"You guys ready?" Chise asked as she sharpened her Dragon Claw and held up her wand.
"Oh yeah, I've been dying to use these brass knuckles!" Ruth said as he held up his fists.
"All of you remember your training! Don't hold back! We fight to the end!" Elias said as he held up his wand.
"You thugs of Cartaphilus will not stop us!" Joseph said as he held up his sword.
"Time to die." Silky said as she held up her Kamas.
With that, the team began their first battle against the army of the Spell-Breaker and Cartaphilus.
As the skeletons got closer to the team, everyone ran and launched their attacks. One skeleton lunged itself towards Chise, trying to impale her, but she sidestepped out of the way, grabbed the skeleton by the spine and slammed the skeleton hard on the ground, shattering it. Chise was able to use her training well as she was easily able to block and counter the attacks the skeletons were unleashing on her. Chise was able to swing her wand downward at the feet of 2 skeletons, causing them to fall. Chise crushed the neckbone of one of them with her foot and jabbed the other one in the eye with her wand and then with the wand still jabbed in the eye, she flung the skeleton hard into a tree. Another skeleton approached her and held out its two daggers at her, taunting her. Chise grinned and unleashed a swift and furious attack on the skeleton. Chise used an attack that Silly taught her earlier called, 'The Deadly Butterfly'. Chise used this attack to cut off the skeletons arms and then smacked its head off like a baseball being hit by the bat. One skeleton tried to sneak up behind Chise and stab her with its sword but she sensed it and sidestepped out of the way of the skeletons attack. Chise swung her wand at the skeleton; the skeleton countered the attack by blocking it with its sword. Chise managed to push the skeleton back and once she had an opening, she struck the skeleton, just like in her training; Chise backhanded the skeleton into a tree. Another skeleton swung its sword repeatedly at Chise, but managed to duck and weave from the attacks. Chise was able to avoid all the attacks, before she lunged at the skeleton, stunning it and allowing Chise to put the skeleton in a choke hold with her wand. Before the skeleton could fight back or stab her, Chise broke the skeleton's neck bone. One skeleton actually managed to run up and cut Chise's hand, causing her to drop her wand. Chise hissed in pain but quickly got in a fighting stance.
"You will come with us, or we will have to use lethal force, Chise Hatori!" the skeleton said.
"You're not going to do crap!" Chise said.
"You are weaponless, you have no chance of survival." the skeleton said.
"You think I can't fight anymore? You're dead wrong!" Chise yelled as she slashed at the skeleton with her claw.
The skeleton backed away in time to avoid Chise's slash. The skeleton lunged forward with sword, but Chise sidestepped and grabbed the skeleton by its leg and tossed it to the floor. Before the skeleton could get back up, Chise jumped on top of the skeleton and started slapping the living hell out of the skeleton with her Dragon Hand. As the skeleton was getting slapped, it it jabbed its sharp boney fingers into Chise's side, causing her to stop in pain. The skeleton then grabbed Chise by her face and shoved her off. Once the skeleton was free, instead of reach for its sword that it dropped when the skeleton was thrown on the ground, it wrapped its arms around Chise's neck.
Elias was in the middle of taking down two skeletons, when he noticed Chise was in serious trouble. Elias backhanded a skeleton that tried to sneak up on him and ran over to Chise. To make sure Chise was less prone to breaking free, the skeleton took a sharp looking rock and jabbed Chise's Dragon Hand. The skeleton then attempted to snap Chise's neck, despite its orders not to kill Chise.
"You die now, Chise, Hator-AAAHH!" the skeleton cried as Elias grabbed the skeleton by the backbone and pulled it away from Chise.
"DIE!" Elias yelled as he then grabbed the skeleton by the head and then jump-slammed the skeleton to the ground, crushing its head to pieces.
Elias picked up Chise's wand and helped Chise stand back up.
"Thank you, Elias." Chise said.
"Do not underestimate them, they are still dangerous. But you have learned much from your training, I am proud. Now let's get back out there." Elias said as he handed Chise her wand.
"You got it!" Chise said as they got back in the fight against the skeletons.
Two other skeletons charged at Elias with their swords, only for Elias to block both of their swings with his wand. Elias dodged another swing and then cut one of the skeletons in half with the pointy part of his wand. Elias then grabbed the other skeleton and quickly bit its head off and then threw the body at two more oncoming skeletons. One skeleton jumped on Elias back and tried to stab Elias in the neck, but due to Elias vigorously trying to shake the skeleton off, the skeleton only managed tp lightly cut Elias shoulder. Elias then ran backwards and slammed himself into a nearby tree, crushing the skeleton on his back. As Elias recovered, two more skeletons ambushed him, with one even managing to cut Elias's hand a bit, causing Elias to drop his wand. The two skeletons let their guard down for a moment as they slowly prepared to stab Elias with their daggers. Elias quickly grabbed both of them by the neck and crushed their neck bones. Elias quickly picked up his wand and smashed an oncoming skeleton in the face with his wand, stunning it. Elias knocked the skeleton to the floor and with one good whack, crushed its skull to pieces with his wand.
Ruth managed to push his way through the skeletons, only suffering minor cuts on his back. Ruth turned back to see he was being followed by 10 skeletons; 9 armed with daggers and one armed with a sword. Two skeletons ran at Ruth in an attempt to pin him against a nearby tree, but Ruth was quick to react as he was able to narrowly avoid being cut by their daggers. Ruth saw an opening and kicked one of the skeletons so hard it fell to the floor. Ruth then charged at the other skeleton and tackled it to the ground. Ruth broke the arms of the skeleton quickly and then punched it in the face multiple times until the skull shattered. The skeleton Ruth had kicked to the ground had gotten up and ran towards Ruth, letting out a war cry. Hearing this, Ruth stood up and sidestepped out of the way. Ruth then grabbed the skeletons armor and actually tore it off. Ruth then clapped his hands around the skeleton's head so hard, he crushed the skull. Ruth turned to the 8 remaining skeletons and gave a smug smile to them.
"Come on you boney freaks, is that all you got? I'm not impressed!" Ruth said.
The skeleton with the sword yelled at the remaining skeletons to attack Ruth. For some reason, the skeletons attacked Ruth one by one, giving Ruth almost no troubles. One skeleton tried to swing its dagger down on Ruth's head, but Ruth grabbed the skeleton's hand and performed an uppercut so powerful, he knocked the head right off. The second skeleton was quicker than the others and actually managed to put Ruth in a choke hold. Before the skeleton could stab Ruth, Ruth crushed the skeletons feet, causing it to let go of Ruth. Ruth then put the skeleton in a choke hold and he crushed the neck bone. The third skeleton ran at Ruth with two daggers, but Ruth grabbed both of the skeleton's hands and slammed the skeleton into a tree, causing the skeleton to shatter. The fourth and fifth skeleton ran at Ruth from opposite sides, but Ruth jumped back, causing the skeletons to slam into each other. Ruth then grabbed both of them by the head and crushed their skulls together. The sixth and seventh skeletons suffered the same fate. Finally, the eighth skeleton ran at Ruth and swung its sword at him. Ruth was able to avoid the blade and after blocking and barely avoiding getting cut, Ruth ran behind the skeleton and snapped its neck. Ruth then looked over at Joseph struggling a bit.
Joseph had managed to kill about 4 skeletons with his sword, but he was struggling against these 2 skeletons with two swords each. Joseph did his best to block the attacks, but he could see that a large crack was forming on his sword. One of the skeletons swung its sword so hard against Joseph's sword that his sword broke in half, leaving Joseph weaponless.
"Oh, crap." Joseph said as the 2 skeletons laughed.
Right as the 2 skeletons were about to kill Joseph, their heads were suddenly sliced off by Silky, who had thrown her Kamas at them. Silky wasted no time and dodged many attacks from skeletons as she ran to reclaim her Kamas. Joseph saw 4 skeletons approaching him fast. Joseph managed to only pick up one of the swords that were dropped by the decapitated skeletons, before the 3 of the 4 oncoming skeletons picked up the rest. Joseph was surrounded by 4 skeletons armed with one sword each, while he only had one sword.
"Joseph! Catch!" Ruth yelled as he threw him a sword from his recent fight.
Joseph managed to catch the sword and now had 2 swords to fight back.
"Thanks, Ruth! Alright you monsters, time to die!" Joseph said.
The 2 skeletons in front of Joseph swung their swords down at Joseph, but Joseph just blocked the swords with one of his swords. The other 2 skeletons behind Joseph swung their swords too, only for Joseph to use his other sword to block their attack from behind. Joseph grinned as he then spun around, knocking back the 4 skeletons. Joseph was quick to slice off the heads of the 2 skeletons in front of him and then he did the same to the other 2 skeletons with his 2 swords. Joseph let out of confident laugh. Joseph then was horrified to see that as Ruth was fending off more skeletons, a skeleton armed with a sword was sneaking up behind Ruth.
"Behind you, Ruth!" Joseph yelled.
Ruth turned around and gasped as the skeleton swung its sword down at Ruth. Ruth closed his eyes, but before the skeleton could kill Ruth, its head was impaled by a sword. Joseph had thrown his sword at the skeleton's head, saving Ruth's life.
"Thanks, Joseph!" Ruth said as he punched a skeleton that tried to attack him.
"Anytime, Ruth! YAAA!" Joseph yelled as he ran towards an oncoming group of skeletons.
After Silky had reclaimed her Kamas, she ran at a small group of skeletons running towards her. One skeleton bought its sword down at Silky, but Silky caught the sword with her Kamas. Silky then kicked the skeleton back and cut its head off. Silky then jabbed her Kamas through the armor of another skeleton and tore it off. Silky then jabbed her Kamas between the rib cage and tore the skeleton in half with her Kamas. Another skeleton charged at Silky, only for Silky to flip over the skeleton, catch the skeleton by its jaw and tear its head off as she landed. The moment Silky landed, she flung one of her Kamas at a skeleton, stabbing it in the head. Silky pushed past a couple more skeletons as she ripped the Kama out of the head of the skeleton she just killed and ran at one skeleton with a sword.
"Ha! The fools were stupid to bring their, 'housemaid' with them to battle." the skeleton said.
"I am no housemaid!" Silky said as she and the skeleton ran at each other.
Silky tried to land a cross chop attack, but the skeleton blocked the attack with its sword. This skeleton was a bit smarter and a bit stringer than the rest and it had managed to keep an eye on Silky, learning some of her attacks. This skeleton was also apparently the leader of this small group of skeletons. As the leader was holding Silky's Kamas in place with its sword, the leader kicked Silky back hard, causing her to stumble a bit. Silky was quick to regain her posture and tried to slice the leader's exposed legs, but the leader dodged all of Silky's attacks. The leader slashed as Silky, managing to leave claw marks on her right arm, causing Silky to drop one of her Kamas. The leader locked its sword with Silky's Kama as they both struggled to gain the advantage over the other. The leader managed to shove Silky back enough to where it had an opening and cut Silky's leg. Silky stumbled back in pain, allowing the leader to slice Silky's other leg, making her fall to the ground. The leader grinned as it walked above Silky and then sliced at her left and right hand. Silky hissed in pain as the leader stomped on her to keep her down.
"Foolish housemaid, you die!" The leader said as it raised its sword up and brought it down on Silky.
"NO!" Joseph yelled as he ran over to them and blocked the leader's sword from killing Silky in the nick of time.
"You will not interfere, Joseph!" the leader said.
"You don't even think of hurting her!" Joseph said as they both began to lock blades with each other.
Joseph and the leader clashed their swords in combat. Joseph put great force into his swings out of a feeling of protective anger. Despite this, the leader was more skilled with a sword than Joseph was as Joseph was basically a beginner. Joseph tried to go for a decapitation, but the leader was quick to block all attempts of having his head chopped off. Joseph attempted to cut off the leader's hands, but the leader was quick in avoiding the slices. Even though Joseph was at a disadvantage against this skeleton, he did not let that stop him. The leader tried to cut Joseph's head off, but Joseph quickly ducked under the blade and then shoulder rammed the leader, stunning the leader. With the leader stunned, Joseph took this opportunity to unleash a fury of attacks. Joseph wildly and angrily slashed at the leader, tearing up his armor really good with his sword. Joseph also managed to cut both of the leader's hands off. Joseph grabbed the leader's sword and then kicked the leader to its knees. Joseph held his two swords on the sides of the leader's neck, ready to slice his head off. The leader looked around, waiting for back-up, but instead the leader saw that the entire army group was defeated. as Joseph kept the leader in place, the rest of the team walked up to them.
"Pathetic life forms, you've won this battle, but you will not win the war." The leader said.
"Shut up!" Joseph yelled as he cut the leader's head off.
"YES! WE F*CKING DID IT!" Ruth yelled as the group congratulated each other on their victory.
"Yes, but we must not take too much pride in this victory of ours. I refuse to believe that Cartaphilus's army was this weak." Elias said.
"He's right. There's NO WAY Cartaphilus would go this easy on us." Chise added.
"So, are you suggesting that this was a test?" Ruth asked.
"Whether it was a test or not, we have all sustained injuries. We will tend to our wounds, then we move on. Before more of those skeletons arrive." Elias said.
While the group began to tend to their wounds they got from their battle, they failed to notice one of the skeletons was somehow still alive and crawling away. Once the skeleton was far enough, it took out a small walkie-talkie and radioed to the Spell-Breaker.
"(Bzzt! Bzzt!) Hello? What do you want?" The Spell-Breaker asked from the radio.
"Master, the first squad has been defeated." the skeleton said weakly into the radio.
"Damn it! You useless bone fucks!" The Spell-Breaker cursed angrily.
"On behalf of the fallen squad, I give you my most sincere apologies my master." the skeleton said.
"I don't give two shits about your apology! You tell me, did you at least manage to HURT them?" The Spell-Breaker asked.
"Yes, they sustained minor injuries during the attack." the skeleton replied.
"A powerful army? Bullshit, Cartaphilus! You failed your mission, I'm pretty sure you know what to do with yourself, am I correct?" The Spell-Breaker asked.
"I will kill myself for my failure." the skeleton answered.
"Very good. Get it done with! Spell-Breaker, out." The Spell-Breaker said as he went offline.
With that, the skeleton snapped its own neckbone, killing itself.
Meanwhile, somewhere else in the Forest of Thorns...
"These god damn skeletons are useless!" The Spell-Breaker said to himself.
"What has happened, master?" General Skull asked.
"Nothing, go make sure your men are ready to fight! I don't need any weaklings in my army!" The Spell-Breaker ordered.
"As you command, my master." Skull said as the general walked back to the army.
The Spell-Breaker activated his helmet's radio and radioed in to Cartaphilus.
"What is it, Spell-Breaker?" Cartaphilus asked from the radio.
"Listen, Cartaphilus, your first platoon of skeletons failed. When I said I wanted an army, I wanted a strong army, not an army that can be killed by the likes of a housemaid!" The Spell-Breaker said.
"Do you not remember what we discussed? I told you that the first deployment of skeletons would be a test against Chise and her friends." Cartaphilus said.
"And I told you, NO TESTS! Save your god damn tests for innocent civilians or even a hospital for disabled children, not for our targets!" The Spell-Breaker argued.
"Spell-Breaker, your hatred for Chise is starting to cloud your judgement and causing you to forget our agreements. Remember the deal we made. Your time will come. Are the men in position?" Cartaphilus asked.
"Yes they are. Listen here, if that thing you told me about ends up being an urban myth, I swear to god, I will do what Chise should have done to you!" The Spell-Breaker said.
"(Chuckle) Such anger you have. Rest assured, Spell-Breaker, the creature I told you of is no urban myth. I know the plan will work. If it doesn't, you can do what you wish. Be patient, do you understand?" Cartaphilus asked.
"You're not the boss of me, Cartaphilus!" The Spell-Breaker said.
"And you're not the boss of me either, Spell-Breaker." Cartaphilus replied.
"This plan better work, or your finished. Spell-Breaker out." The Spell-Breaker said.
"It will work, trust me. Cartaphilus out." Cartaphilus said as he went offline.
"That psychotic freak! I swear, I am going to kill that asshole once Chise is dead." The Spell-Breaker said as he clenched his fist in anger.
One Hour Later, back to our main group...
"Sorry, Silky, about the sword you gave me breaking. I didn't think that would happen, I swear." Joseph said.
"It is fine, at least you survived." Silky said as she smiled warmly to him.
"Th-Thanks." Joseph said as he blushed.
"Okay, Silky, NOW will you tell us how you and Joseph became an item?" Chise asked.
"Later." Silky said.
"Silky, come on." Chise whined.
"They say patience is a virtue Chise." Silky said.
"(Sigh) Alright. How about once we get back home you tell us?" Chise asked.
"I'll consider it." Silky replied.
"I'll hold you to that." Chise said.
"Ugh, It's probably super cringy." Ruth said.
"Ruth!" Chise said trying to shut him up.
"Chise, I guarantee you, it's going to be so bad, that I'm probably going to cringe my asshole off, I won't have an asshole anymore." Ruth said.
"Ruth... that's disgusting." Chise said.
"I am unaware how that would actually work, if it happened. But I suggest we get our minds back to focusing on what our task is, instead of Ruth's issues." Elias said.
"I don't have any issues, you boomer!" Ruth snapped.
"Ruth, enough. Let's focus please?" Chise asked.
"Right, sorry." Ruth said.
"Hmm, it appears the number of trees is decreasing, we are getting close to our destination." Elias said.
Indeed, the trees were lessening as they continued walking further.
"The center of the forest?" Chise asked.
"Yes, if I remember correctly, the center of the forest is very empty except for one tree in the exact center of the forest. We will gather the ingredients there." Elias said.
"So, Ainsworth, what exactly are we going to do after we get the ingredients?" Joseph asked.
"Once we create the Nebula Formula, we will begin our search for the identity of the Spell-Breaker." Elias said.
"And how exactly are we going to do that? We just going to knock on random people's houses and ask, 'hey are you the Spell-Breaker by chance?'?" Ruth asked.
"That's what I had in mind." Elias said.
"Seriously?" Ruth asked.
"Yes, I am serious, I hardly ever make jokes. We will ask everyone we know that is a most likely candidate to be the Spell-Breaker based on what we know about that mysterious person." Elias said.
"Not the most efficient way to do things, but I guess we don't really have any other option." Joseph said.
"That and what else is there for us to do about this crisis? We have no idea as to where Cartaphilus and the Spell-Breaker are hiding otherwise we would take them down." Elias said.
"I hope we can find clues as to where their hideout is. The sooner we find their hideout, the sooner we-ARGH!" Chise cried as her head started to hurt.
"Chise!? What is wrong!?" Elias asked as he held her steady.
"I think... another vision!" Chise said as she suddenly went blind for a moment and then her next vision played out in her head.
Chise's Vision
Once again, Chise was surrounded by nothing by darkness. She found herself on the ground, a large hole in her stomach, and her Dragon Arm was missing. She was in a bloody mess, coughing up blood and lying in a pool of blood. She appeared to be alone, no one else with her. She spotted no signs of life anywhere. Only darkness watched over her as she bled from her wounds.
Chise suddenly began to feel this intense pain in her stomach. She looked down and screamed as she saw her insides were being eaten by bugs. Her screams echoed around the void of darkness that she was in. She could feel some of the bugs burrowing their way deeper into her body. Eating her from the inside. Chise had also been stripped of all her clothing so bugs were also eating her raw flesh.
Just then, Chise heard foot steps approach her. She expected to see the Spell-Breaker as he was present in pretty much all of her visions. However, Chise was in shock as she saw the tall presence of Cartaphilus looming over her.
"(Evil Chuckle) How beautiful you are. There's no need to be afraid, Chise. You're my bride now. (Evil Laugh)" Cartaphilus said as he laughed at Chise.
"F-Fuck you!" Chise spat.
"My, my, you sure are a feisty bitch aren't you? Once you die, you will be mine... forever!" Cartaphilus said as he then raised his hand quickly and close his hand into a fist, with a green aura surrounding his hand.
Chise tried to say something, but her body gave out, and due to the immense blood loss, closed her eyes for the last time.
Chise's Vision End
Chise finally snapped out of her vision and panted hard as she clung to Elias, who was holding her.
"Chise, are you alright?" Elias asked.
"(Pant, pant) Yeah, I'm fine, just give me a moment to recover." Chise said.
"Are you sure you are okay? Tears are falling from your eyes." Elias pointed out.
Chise had no idea she was crying so she wiped away her tears and shook herself to regain focus.
"Seriously, I'm fine." Chise said.
"What happened in your vision?" Elias asked.
"The Spell-Breaker again?" Ruth asked.
"N-No, Cartaphilus." Chise said.
"Cartaphilus was in your vision? What happened? What did he do?" Elias asked.
"I was in this dark void. My left arm was completely torn off, I had a giant hole in my stomach. I was naked for some reason. I was coughing up blood. A-And bugs were eating me from the inside out." Chise said.
"Jesus, that's messed up." Ruth said.
"Cartaphilus was there, watching me as I was being eaten. He told me not to be scared and that once I was dead, I would be his bride forever. Then, I died." Chise said.
"That sounded terrible. Do not be afraid, the vision is over. I promise you this, Cartaphilus will not lay a finger on you." Elias said as he hugged Chise.
"Thank you, that really does help." Chise said as she hugged him back.
"I swear if Cartaphilus ever does something like that to you, I am going to tear him to shreds faster than a chew toy." Ruth said as he clenched his fists.
"Did you see anything else?" Joseph asked.
"No, nothing." Chise replied.
"I hope that never happens." Joseph said.
"It will not happen!" Elias said quickly.
"C-Come on, let's keep going. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get back home." Chise said.
"Very well, you all go on ahead, I would like to have a word with Chise." Elias said.
The others nodded and began walking ahead.
"Is something wrong, Elias?" Chise asked.
"Not necessarily, but I am just very concerned about these visions of yours. It seems that each one is worse that the last one. I dread to think of what will be next." Elias said.
"I'd prefer not to think about that." Chise said.
"I understand. When we return home and we have our magic back, I will try to do something about those visions. Maybe I can stop you from having them." Elias said.
"I would greatly appreciate that." Chise said.
"Very well, come, let's catch up with the others." Elias said.
"Yeah." Chise agreed as they caught back up with the others.
About 10 minutes later, the group had reached a large open-field in the forest. There was nothing but an empty field, with one massive tree in the center of it all. They had arrived at the heart of the Forest of Thorns.
"We are here." Elias said.
"Where do we get the stuff from?" Chise asked.
"At the base of the tree in the middle, if we dig a bit there, we will find the roots. There are a few bushes near the tree, gather some herbs from there. That is all we should need from here." Elias said.
"Cool, let's get this over with, I'm sick of these scary-ass woods." Ruth said.
"I hear you, buddy." Joseph.
"First off, we aren't buddies, second off, why is the tree so damn big?" Ruth asked.
The tree in the center of the forest was very wide and huge. It stood taller than any of the other trees and it was as wide as 5 pick-up trucks.
"The size of the tree should not concern you. Let's get the ingredients quickly." Elias said as they headed toward the tree.
As the group was gathering the ingredients, Elias was very cautious and constantly looking around, searching for any signs of life.
"Elias, is everything okay?" Chise asked.
"Yes, yes, everything is fine. I am just confirming that we are alone and not being watched." Elias replied as he continued scanning the surrounding trees.
"I totally understand that. I'm surprised we weren't greeted by the Spell-Breaker and more of his skeletons. I doubt they will just let us get the stuff we need and leave." Chise said.
"Would you two calm down already? Look, I get it, the Spell-Breaker is one clever and scary dude, but there is no sign of him anywhere. Everything is fine." Ruth said.
"I suppose you are correct, Ruth. Wait, somethings wrong. Everyone get back to back, now!" Elias yelled as the group got together.
"What's wrong, Ainsworth?" Joseph asked.
"We are not alone. I sense a greater presence." Elias said.
"I think I can sense it too." Chise said.
"The Spell-Breaker? The Skeleton Army? Both?" Ruth asked.
"No, something worse." Elias said.
Just then, the group could hear the sound of wood snapping and cracking. They turned around and saw that the big tree was starting to split open in one spot. Then, two large claws emerged from the tree and pushed the gap wider. There was a massive black void in the tree and six glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness. A loud growling sound came from the void. The group backed away from the tree and held up their weapons, prepared to face whatever was coming out of the tree. Then, from the darkness, a large creature leaped out of the tree and onto the ground. The creature growled intensely at the group and showed off its razor sharp teeth. The creature than roared loudly and was ready to kill and devour these 5 intruders.
The creature was very demonic looking in its appearance. It's body was built much like a dog or even a cat. It had a long rat-like tail with a barbed spike at the tip of the tail. The creature walked on all fours. The front legs were very muscular, much more muscular than the back legs. The back legs looked much more cat-like. The claws where long and sharp, looking like the claws of a dragon or even a dinosaur. Same with the legs, the front claws were more menacing than the back claws. The upper back of the creature was covered with fur and natural armor. Large spikes grew out of the back of the creature and ran all the way to the base of the tail. However, the scariest part of this creature had to be its head. The head was unlike any animal anyone had ever seen. the mouth was large and wide, filled with razor sharp teeth. The beast had 6 eyes that glowed red with no pupils. It had small ears but that was no issue. The creature was mostly black and grey, but there were a lot of glowing red orbs all over its body. There was also a small green emerald on the creature's forehead.
"Okay, so, Elias, can I ask, WHAT THE F*CK IS THAT!?" Ruth yelled.
"I don't know! I have never seen or heard of this thing!" Elias said.
"You sure you don't remember a demonic looking creature that lives in the big tree of the Forest of Thorns, Elias!?" Chise asked.
"Chise, if I knew that something like THAT lived here, I wouldn't have bothered bringing you here!" Elias said.
"So you would risk everyone else's lives!?" Chise asked.
"Yes! No! I don't know!" Elias said.
"Stop fighting you two!" Joseph shouted.
"Yeah, this is not the time for a husband and wife argument." Ruth said.
"We're not arguing!" Chise and Elias shouted.
"SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!" Silky yelled as the creature hissed loudly at the group, causing everyone put their focus back on the creature in front of them.
The creature was rather tall, as it was pretty much as tall as Elias was. This creature was very much capable of killing all 5 of them in an instant.
"No but seriously, WHAT IS THAT THING!?" Ruth yelled again.
"I have no idea, you damn grim!" Elias yelled.
"Foolish humans, I am the Beast of Thorns!" the creature said.
Everyone was frozen stiff at this.
"Y-You, you can talk!?" Joseph cried.
"Yes, I can talk, and I'm feeling a little hungry! You will all make a fine meal!" the creature hissed.
"WAIT!" Chise yelled as she held her hand out.
"Chise, what are you doing? Don't provoke that thing!" Elias said.
"Chise, this is not the time to be a heroine!" Ruth cried.
"Why are you here!? Did the Spell-Breaker send you here!?" Chise asked.
"GRRR! I have no master, you stupid bitch! I server myself! I have been trapped in this damn tree for thousands of years! Oh, what I would do if I could be free. Too bad I will never be free! I live to kill anyone who dares to trespass in this forest!" the beast said.
"We don't want to hurt you or this forest! We just need some things that we can't find anywhere else!" Chise explained.
"Chise, what the f*ck are you doing!?" Ruth cried.
"Please, let us get what we need and we will leave you alone and never come back." Chise pleaded.
"You are a brave bitch, talking to me like if I was normal. You know I could eat you up right now?" the beast asked.
"You lay a claw on her and I will rip out your heart!" Elias growled as he stood in front of Chise.
"What is she to you? A snack?" the beast asked.
"She is my wife!" Elias said.
"HA! Your wife!? Then I will enjoy eating her in front of you! Maybe I'll make her the mother of my young." the beast said as he laughed a laugh that could only be described as demonic and high-pitched.
"What. Did. You. Say!?" Elias asked as he began to growl and shake angrily.
"You just crossed the biggest line ever! Prepare to die you demonic beast!" Ruth said as he growled as well.
Then something unexpected happened. Somehow, Ruth morphed into his dog form.
"Ruth?" Elias said.
"What?" Ruth asked.
"Ruth, you morphed into your dog form." Chise said.
"Huh?" Ruth asked. Ruth lifted his paw and saw that he had indeed morphed into his dog form. "But, how? Wait, that means our magic is..." Ruth said.
Elias and Chise tested out their magic and saw that they could indeed use magic again.
"Our magic is back." Elias said as he used a random spell to make a flower appear in his hand.
"But, how? I thought our magic didn't work here." Chise said.
"Yes, that is correct. Allow me to explain. You see, I am the reason that magic is ineffective here and in the nearby mountains. It's part of my bond with this damn place. When I am sealed in the tree, your magic is gone. But when I am out of the tree, you get some of your magic back, not all of it. However, unless I am killed, magic will forever be influenced by my energy." the beast said.
"Even though our magic may not be fully restored, we won't need any magic to kill you." Elias said as he held up his wand.
"Ha! Are you so sure! RRRAAGG!" The beast hissed as it suddenly smacked Elias so hard with its head, that Elias went flying and smacked right into a tree, knocking him out cold.
"Elias! No!" Chise cried.
"DIE!" The beast roared as it attacked the remaining members.
The beast smacked Chise, Silky, and Ruth away with a good swing of its tail. Joseph managed to duck under the attack so he wasn't hit. The beast was prepared however and then spewed a large amount of sticky slime from its mouth onto Joseph. Joseph was basically glued to the ground.
Chise, Silky, and Ruth got back up on their feet and looked at the creature.
"Okay, play times over. We could have done this the easy way, but you chose not to cooperate." Chise said as she sharpened her Dragon Claw and got her wand ready.
Silky said nothing as she held up her Kamas, ready to inflict some serious damage on the creature.
"You're so dead now! KILL HIM!" Ruth yelled as they ran towards the creature.
The creature roared loudly as the three charged forward.
And that was chapter 11! How did you all enjoy it? I hope you are all liking the story so far. See you next time :)