As much as Aina did enjoy being around other people, she still loved to forest and the nature that was there. With everyone currently preoccupied, it meant that the forest was nice and quiet. Well at least that was what she had expected.
She had wondered a little far, when she saw it. What was it they had called the creature, a button⊠baggage⊠buggane⊠Buggane, that was it. She had been told to stay away from it, and so she backed away to hide behind one of the trees. Definitely a good idea, as this one seemed to be in a particularly bad mood and was on a rampage. It didnât actually look like there would be much of this part of the forest left at this rate. Then the Buggane happened to hit a tree and instantly she realised something was very, very wrong.
For all she knew, it was perfectly normal for a tree to suddenly come to life when it was uprooted. Maybe it was just something she had yet to witness. Except this tree was not actually happy about it, and her instinct was to run, and fast. Forgetting the need to be quiet, she turned and ran, not bothering to check back to see if that had alerted the tree to her whereabouts. But nothing was simple, and her foot caught in the root of another tree, causing her to fall down to the ground, just about managing to not hit her head.Â
Cyrus had never seen, in all his thousand of years, anything like it. Heâd seen malicious forest sprites, and lava sprites, and gargoyles and monsters. But a tree...an angered tree..It felt like an Ent had walked right out of a Tolkien book. What sort of enchantment was on it to animate the tree so, he couldnât even guess. But the thing was angry, and stomping its way knocking over other trees.
Then he saw her. She wasnât from these parts, that much he could sense. Young and naive. And prone to danger, a magnet almost. He was on her before he could even guess why he was doing it. Helping her up. And then the tree was on him.
âFuck.â The tree was tall, at least thirty feet tall, and the blow it lashed out right at Cyrus he caught, his forearm coming out to stop the blow. âGet up. Quick.â He could take this thing. Stop it before it stomped into a town and things got really bad. Though a part of him had to wonder...No, maybe he could restrain it instead. And thatâs what he was thinking of as it hurtled another blow, coming right at them.