Tiny Heroes
Chapter 3 Timber
By: Major144
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Later after some unpacking MK joined her father for a walk through the woods. Randy pointed at the various plants and wildlife they encountered and identified them and MK impressed her father by showing her own knowledge of the plants and wildlife.
"Most impressive MK." Said Randy in wonder.
"Mom loved nature and taught me a few things and I did take a few classes in botany and zoology." Said MK.
"Well I have to say you are a very good student." Said Randy.
"I got straight As in my classes." Said MK.
"Your mom was a very good teacher and smart lady." Said Randy.
"She really was." Said MK.
The two stood silently thinking about Susan.
"I remember the trips we took to the river." Said Randy.
"I do too. Those...were nice." Said MK.
The peaceful moment was interrupted by a thunderous crash that seemed to shake the forest. Both Randy and MK tensed up as they looked around for the cause of the crash. Randy spotted a flock of birds shooting up into the sky several yards away.
"Come on let's see what that was." Said Randy.
MK followed her dad in the direction the sound had come from.
Several minutes earlier.
Some ants were going about digging tunnels, when there was a loud rumbling coming from one wall. Then the walls burst open as half a dozen moles crawled out from it. The ants looked at the moles in confusion and then they noticed beings riding on top of the moles. The riders were Boggans!
The Boggans were a race of froggish, insect-like goblins that wore a mix of dead tree bark, leaves, and various parts of dead animals and insects and were armed with spears, clubs, axes, and swords. They were the sworn enemies of the Leafman and wanted to spread rot and decay throughout the forest.
The ants attacked the Boggans and the moles by throwing rocks and sticks at them, but their attacks barely phased the moles. On one mole carried the leader of the Boggans, Mandrake. Mandrake was more humanoid looking then the rest of the Boggans, but he was a very imposing figure. Mandrake was tall and wore a tunic and cowl made out of the pelt of a bat. He had fierce and intelligent yellow eyes and carried a large dark wooden staff with knots on it.
Mandrake directed his mole and lead his forces down the tunnel, until they came across the roots of a large tree.
"Perfect. This will send a message to Queen Tara and the rest of the forest." Said Mandrake as he jumped off his mole and approached the roots.
Mandrake reached the roots and trusted his staff at them making contact. For a few seconds nothing happened. Then the roots began to turn black and decay and the decay spread throughout the rest of the tree. In less then a minute the entire tree had been taken over by rot and decay and it fell over and hit the ground with a thunderous crash ripping it's roots out in the process!
Mandrake smiled at his handiwork and his underlings cheered for him. With the tree dead Mandrake and his forces quickly left the scene.
Randy and MK came across the tree and were bit shocked by the sight, especially Randy who knew about this tree. He went to inspect it and was very surprised to see how rotted the tree was.
"What happened dad? Did that old tree just fell over?" Asked MK.
"This tree did fall over, but it wasn't dead or rotted last time I saw it." Said Randy.
"What do you mean?" Asked MK.
"I mean I've passed this trees many times over the years. It was incredibly healthy and now it's not." Said Randy.
"Did someone poison it?" Asked MK.
"That is a possibility, I'll have to check and see if one of the cameras I setup caught anything." Said Randy.
"You have cameras in the woods?" Asked MK.
"I do they're part of of work and job. They help me keep an eye out for poachers or illegal loggers in the area." Explained Randy.
"So we should head home and check them then." Said MK.
"Right we are, hopefully one of them caught what happened." Said Randy.
The two of them headed home and Randy headed to his study to check his security footage. Randy found one camera that was to the area of the dead tree and he and MK went through it. The camera footage showed the tree being perfectly healthy and then it just decayed, fell over, and died.
"Ok that's not normal." Said MK her eyes wide open in shock.
"I don't really...know what to make of this. Trees just...don't rot and die for no reason." Said Randy in concern as he tried to think of a possible reason and culprit.
"Do you have someone you're supposed to call about this?" Asked MK.
"I do, but I want to look into this a bit more, before I do that. Why don't you go rest for a bit, while I try to figure this out." Said Randy.
"Sure." Said MK before she walked off.
Randy review the footage again as he fought about what he was seeing. He then turned to another part of his study where he kept all the research and items regarding the tiny people of the forest and went through. According to some of the old folk tales there was a group of tiny creatures that killed plants and animals called Boggans. Could they be the ones responsible for the tree? Randy was unsettled by this thought. He knew there was a balance in nature and everything played their part, but nature could become unbalanced. There was a possibility that the tree had been killed as part of the balance and by the orders of the tiny people, but there was also a chance that the tree's death was a deliberate act of the Boggans going against nature. This could be a great danger to the forest as well as a danger to both Randy and MK.
Randy considered telling MK his concerns. True MK didn't believe in the tiny people or Boggans, but Randy could come up with a believable story and cause for the tree's death and convince MK not to go into the woods, until he figured things out, or he could wait and see how things played out and decide what to do. The tree's death and decay could have been a natural occurrence and there was no need to panic. Randy thought it over for a few minutes then decided that the best course was to simply wait and see if anything happened. If a bunch of trees, plants, and animals started dying he would get MK away from the forest and try to see what he could do if there was a Boggan problem or some other force at play.
Randy turned off the screen and said a slight prayer that there was no danger in the woods, before he went into the kitchen to prepare dinner for himself and MK.
To be continued.