Forest Gaurdian

Victoria led Chris deep into the woods in search of the tree she had in mind to make her new table and bed from. The two walked for close to half an hour before Victoria finally stopped and pointed at a large oak tree.

"There she is. Why don't you go ahead and cut it down for me?"

She grinned mischievously. Thinking Chris could never do it without a tool. Her grin faded a little as the thought suddenly 'what if he had magic?' She dismisses this as a possibility though as she notices his going straight to the base of the tree. Chris points at the tree directly in front of him.

"This one right?"

"Yep, that exact one, go ahead and bring it down."

"Ok then, this might take a minute, I wanna try something new."

Thinking he's stalling Victoria snorts in disdain.

"Yeah, whatever you need to do."

She watches as he shifts around awkwardly trying to settle in a comfortable position. She chuckled as she saw him practice swinging his left leg at the side of the tree. Just stopping before he actually hit the tree. He was also adjusting to how his tail affected his balance.

"Like that's gonna work."

She muttered to herself. She rolled her eyes as he brought down his leg and nodded satisfied with his kick technique.

"You know if you can't do..."

As she was finishing her sentence Chris suddenly swung his leg full force at the tree. There was a loud booming sound followed by snapping as the tree came down towards Chris. He caught it and hefted it over his right shoulder.

"Wow, looks like my awakening made me even stronger. Trees were pretty heavy before but now they're not so bad. Where should I take this?"

Victoria just stood staring at him, Chris noticed her face had gone pale.

"Everything all right?"

She just stood still for a moment as the trees began rustling intensely. Chris notes this as odd since there is currently no breeze or any wind at all. He added this fact to the fact Victoria was afraid and to what he learned from fantasy books he'd read as a shit in. His own face fell as he looked slightly afraid at Victoria, who was now looking around them trying to find something.

"What have I just done exactly?"

She stops and looks at Chris fear written in every fiber of her body.

"I-I didn't t-think you could actually do it. Oh no, oh sh..."

Suddenly the ground nearest Victoria explodes upwards as hundreds of what appeared to be roots and vines shot to the surface. Victoria stumbles and then ran quickly beside Chris, before turning to face the thing coming out of the ground. Chris stares as the roots and vines seemed to begin taking shape. It towered over the two of them by several feet and was comprised completely of roots and vines. It was humanoid in appearance only lacking really in the face area, because it was made of roots its eye sockets were empty. This Chris thought was the creepiest part of the creature. Or Treant he guessed, or was it an ent? He never really payed attention to what made the two different while reading. Victoria started backing up slowly.

"Why am I an idiot."

She looked at Chris quickly and grabbed his arm.

"We need to run!"

But it was to late. As she turned to start dragging Chris away vines shot forward from the Ent and ensnared the two. It hoisted them up into the air and up to the height of its head.

'Who dare destroy my forest.'

Chris heard the voice as if it was in his head. He was thinking on how he could possibly beat the Ent when he heard the voice and it startled him. Suddenly an idea came to him. He muttered to himself.

"I must be suicidal."

'Well?! Who did this!'

Steeling himself Chris looked straight into the Ents empty eye sockets.

"Oh? Are you asking who crushed that puny tree? Why that would be me. It was such a weak tree that it was easy, as a matter of fact I bet you're not much stronger."

Suddenly from next to him Victoria shouted at him.

"What the hell are you doing!? Are you trying to die!?"

Chris made his best 'I've got a plan, shut up and go along with it' face and used it on Victoria. She just looked at him with a kind of concerned look on her face.

'You dare insult the forest!'

The trees started rattling with even greater intensity.

"Why should I not insult something so weak. It barely even weighed anything as I threw it aside."

'You!..'

Chris quickly interrupted the Ent

"As a matter of fact I bet your not much stronger, and I bet you couldn't even throw me as high as the tree was that I brought down and tossed aside."

The shaking trees had reached a crescendo, Chris could barely hear himself think with all the rattling and scraping of branches.

'I'll show you, you foolish mortal! I'll show the might of the forest myself!'

The vines holding Chris suddenly brought him forward and dropped him sideways into the Ents hand. The Ent, gripping Him tightly, the lowered him close to the ground before he threw him as hard as he could straight into the air. Chris slightly lost consciousness on his way up he had been launched so fast. He managed to regain full consciousness right as he reached the peak of his flight. He looked around himself and saw he was much higher than he'd been when he jumped himself.

"Oh god. How, and why did that work so well. This is just stupid. Welp, here comes the hardest part."

Chris began descending rapidly back to the ground. Whilst he was falling he worked his limbs, mostly relying on his tail to put him above the Ent as he fell.

As he gained speed his vision flickered as if it was turning on and off. As he was falling and getting closer to the Ent he pulled back his left fist and shouted down to the Ent.

"Hah! Gravity bit..!"

He was interrupted by a massive shockwave that rippled down through the entirety of the Ent's body from the force of Chris's punch. Destroying every root and vine holding the Ent's form together. All three of them fell to the ground after the Ent was destroyed. Chris stood up, covered in roots, his legs shaking and dry heaved from fear.

"You know what, that went surprisingly better than last time."

Victoria was coughing, trying to get air into her lungs. She lifted herself up with her arms and murmured.

"The core, get the core."

Chris looked over at where she lay, worried she was injured.

"What?"

Her head snapped up, her face red with anger.

"What are you stupid! Grab the core or else it'll reform!"

Chris looked back at the Ent and saw that Victoria was indeed correct. Raising itself on a pillar of vines a blood red crystal was emerging from the rubble of the Ents last body. Chris quickly staggered over to the pillar and wrestled with the vines for control of its core. He managed to get the core from the vines but they began to creep around him, holding him in place. He raised his right hand with the core high above his body as the vines crept up him slowly. Victoria was now up and running towards him.

"Throw it to me! Until it's destroyed it'll just keep trying to reform!"

"I just have to destroy it you say?"

Chris looks up at the ball sized core and begins crushing it in his hand.

"What are you waiting for throw it you..!"

Victoria cut off as she watched the core begin to crack and finally shatter in Chris's bear hand. Just like that all of the vines that had been climbing him fell away and he stepped clear of them.