For Hooves the Bell Tolls - Chapter Five

A Night to Remember

Quthbert, Volmak, Marinus, Malbrix, & A.G.R.

653 Post Maelstrom

Quthbert, Volmak, Marinus, Malbrix, and A.G.R. rode for two full days and nights before finally finding a clearing to rest. They rode as hard as they dared through the woods away from Oldetown into the Imperial Forests. While nothing compared to the Great Greenwood, the Imperial Forests were still a naturally expansive old forest that held many secrets and dangers.
Just as the party finished setting up camp and were groggily making food, they heard a long boom in the sky. They saw above as something like a meteor fall towards them. Until the last seconds it seemed to be directly above them until it rocketed into the forest no more than a mile away. There was no crash, no shake, no eruption of the earth as a crater formed. It was eerily silent, until the wolves began to howl.
While the party slept A.G.R. sat watch and listened to the night. Wolves howling was a normal sound these last two days, but not like this. No, never like this. The wolves all howled together, over and over, from all over the forest moving closer and closer to something nearby. Eventually AGR figured they had to go check out whatever it was and went to wake the party.
Everyone except Volmak woke easily, but Volmak trashed about in his sleep and refused to wake. After a few minutes of everyone trying to wake him Volmaks eyes shot open, and he only remembered one thing from his dream.
The death of the forest is coming. Shadow must not win. The forest must not die here. The party sets off back into the woods with Volmak leading the charge. Leading with sword drawn Volmak uses druidic magic to guide them. Magic that Volmak wasn’t prepared to embrace before the death of Flintfeet. Volmak is finally ready to step up and accept the destiny that has been thrust upon him.
As their group gets closer to where the wolves are howling, they can hear the wolves battling something ferocious. The party bursts into a small clearing just to see a massive, twisted bear sweep out with one massive paw and shred three of the wolves throwing their mangled corpses to the ground. The bear roared through a skull that had most of the flesh striped away. Its body was cover it cuts and lesions that bled and from their wounds oozed thick black smoke.
The party circled the massive creature striking out at it again and again with little effect. Malbrix blasted it with fire that burned and enraged the horrible creature. The rest of the party chopped and cut it, but the creature easily shook off a lot of their blows.
The bear was agile for its size and every time its claws lashed out it came back thick with blood and oil. It cried a sound that came out like a screech, a grotesque sound to hear from such a creature. At this call the dead wolves rose and began driving Quthbert away. The bear then smacked down SCUBA destroying the bot, crushing it with a massive paw.
Volmak transformed into a wolf and leapt in front of Marinus defending him and attacking the bear. The Wolf and the bear fought for a moment. While Quthbert dodged and dove away from the wolves weaving in daggers taking the beast in the eye, the mouth, the neck. Driving the creatures back into death.
With a roar the bear struck out throwing Volmak away destroying the wolf form. In this stunning moment an entity tried to force a message into Volmaks mind. Volmak, in a moment of incredible will, pushed the voice aside to leap back into the fight. Only one brief line made it through.
Don’t let the forest die. Seeing Volmak fall Marinus renewed their assault on the bear, but it lashed out taking them across the chest dropping them to the ground. The same swing forced AGR away lest he fall to the same blow. The bear reared up to come down on the unconscious Marinus with all his might. Volmak seeing this clears his mind of the message and leaps at the bear with his great sword slashing the bear across the chest. Opening a deep wound and forcing the bear to step away from Marinus. Volmak swung again driving his blade home just as the bear crashed down on top of him rending Volmaks chest open with a might swing of its paw. Volmak stumbled back bleeding profusely.
The lifeless carcass of the bear rose into the air and a voice not of the bear spoke through its body. “There must be a god of death and shadow, too long has the world gone without,” the voice rasped like it used a throat that had too long been dry “New powers rise in the world and the old pantheon is crumbling.”
With this decree the Moon in the sky above erupted into flames like a massive, brilliant torch lighting up the world like a red sun. The bears' body feel limply to the ground. Blood now flowed freely from its wounds as though some unseen force had been keeping the blood inside long after it should have leaked free. The strange black smoke no longer rose from the bear.
Marinus lay on the ground, unconscious, but stable. Malbrix was trying to assist Volmak, but she had little healing knowledge and was weak from the fight. A.G.R. attempted to resuscitate Volmak, but with a final shudder and cough the dwarf went limp in AGRs arms. Volmak passed from the world only moments later, joining his faithful Flintfeet in the next life.
AGR, Malbrix, and Quthbert do their best to bury Volmak Flintfeet and pile some rocks on top of his grave. They leave the Slime Kings Sword as a grave marker for Volmak. AGR and Quthbert sit by in sadness, but Malbrix swallows her grief and goes back to trying to tend the unconscious marinus.

The end of Part One