Raze ~ 24!

~ Twenty-four ~

The Wolfman Warrior stopped them after an hour of stumbling through the dark. Frankly, Joe had no idea how they had managed not to be attacked by all the things that were going bump in the night. Or screeching into the night; that was more common.

“I bring you this far on honor of Pain Power man. Sleep is safe for the night, at the least.” The Warrior was towering over them even though he was badly hunched. “But here… here I need strongest vow from each of you. Swear you will bring no harm to those where I bring you. That you not show this place to anyone, not breathe word.”

“We could never find our way back to here anyway.” Poppy smarmily responded, obviously grumpy after the sudden shift in sleep schedules. There was no reply to his sass, so he reluctantly agreed. “Fine, I won’t tell anyone where your secret base is.”

The others also agreed to protect the secrets of the Wolfmen, so he nodded and walked off again. Another half hour tromping through the lush forest, and they looked up to see the tip of a dozen arrows pointed at them from the trees. Joe grabbed the shadows around them, tossing them into the air. The group was blanketed in a thick, cloying shadowy mist that even Joe couldn’t see through. “An ambush?”

“Hold! All!” The Warrior then literally barked something at the Wolfmen Scouts that had lost sight of their targets and were starting to panic. The arrows came down, the Warrior growling at a few who still hesitated. “They swore strong vow to do no harm. We pass. The O’Baba waits. Humans, this is just perimeter guard.”

Joe and the others were standing in a defensive posture even as the black mist boiled away. When everyone was calm, the group carefully followed the Warrior into the camp. The foliage was at a density that didn’t allow for much in the way of scouting out the area, but that was probably the intent when living in such a dangerous area. The party winced as a large square of blazing light appeared, but their eyes adjusted quickly and they realized that a door was open in front of them.

Jaxon skipped through, leaving both the Humans and Wolfmen slack-jawed as he got to the wizened old crone Wolfman female that was sitting near the fire and swept her up into a hug before poking her all over while snarling at her. Joe and company got ready to head to respawn, but then heard chuffing laughter from the elderly leader. “Hello, friends of Jaxon. I see that you have not been able to housetrain him yet.”

“It’s an ongoing and thankless task.” Joe managed to reply. Something flicked past his ear, nicking his throat and drawing blood. Joe reacted instantly, and a Shadow Spike skewered the… he picked up a fresh-blood stained origami paper crane. “What just…?”

O’Baba gestured and snarled, and a robed form was slapped out of the room by an invisible power. Joe saw what looked like an armful of books go tumbling with whoever that was, then turned back to O’Baba with a questioning look. She sighed and sat down, “Of course he was unable to resist. I am sorry, I allowed you to be attacked by one of mine when you are here as a guest. I will make reparations for the damage caused.”

Joe was going to speak, but Jaxon darted over and put a hand on his mouth. “Don’t insult her debt. Also, they make the best cured ham, if you get to choose the form of repayment.”

“I… Humans are so strange.” O’Baba shook herself. “If I may be so bold, why are you here? You are too weak for this area; your kind should barely be testing the edges of the Mad Forest.”

“Is that what you call it? Interesting.” Joe commented as he tried to find a proper way to phrase his next words. “My people are on the verge of starvation. After the battle, millions more Humans arrived. At this rate, many will die. Even more will work to strip the land of all things of use, and will eat the trees if it comes down to it. I found an ancient text that listed this area as a place that Elves once lived in, and it said that they had access to nearly unlimited food. We came here to find anything that might help us.”

The O’Baba sat on her wooden chair, tapping a long claw onto the arm of it. “You know… I have a vested interest in ensuring that Humans do not do too well. There is bad blood between us. Our King is slain, our people shattered. But… I do remember a time when my own people starved. If you think we are animalistic now… hmmm. I will help you, and here is why.”

She stood and walked over to Joe, looking him directly in the eyes as she approached. Her irises were a deep, swirling red, just as he knew that his eyes swirled with a lesser amount of blue and black. The signature of concentrated mana in a body. “Our people have a rule. Only family may touch another without causing pain. In this way, we train ourselves to become hardy, to ignore the pain. Do you know what happens when someone is in pain, or fears pain… Human Joe?” 

“They tend to lash out, swear to get revenge later, or collapse into a puddle?” Joe replied with a fair bit of humor, trying to diffuse the tense environment.

“This is true.” The powerful Shaman nodded. “So, as a small act of petty revenge… I am going to help you get what you want.”

“I don’t understand.” The humans all looked at each other and offered up shrugs.

“Nothing leads to weakness like a fat society who do not need to struggle to attain what they need. If I give you all the food you need, I may not need to do anything when the time comes for our ascendancy. Your own people will simply move out of our way. They will move out of fear of losing what they have for free. You might think on this, swearing you won’t use the ability you have. But when the first Human starves to death in front of you… you’ll give in.” O’Baba turned away and sat in her chair again.

“Now. This is still information that is worth much. You will personally benefit, and soar to great heights among your people. So, I need you to do something for us first.” O’Baba had returned to being a smiling old crone, and looking at her now Joe would never think that she was the one that had made him sweat bullets moments ago. “I need you to clear out a temple in the area. There is an infestation that I would rather not lose people to clear. You can always return, so it shouldn’t be that much of an issue.”

“Offering a… quest?” This was something that Joe could get behind. “Could I bypass this as amends for whoever it was that just attacked me?”

O’Baba returned with a chilly stare. “The compensation I am offering is to not have to reach ‘Friend’ status with The People before I ever offer you a quest personally. Is this not enough?”

“You make a good point.” Joe swallowed and tried not to smile. Showing his teeth seemed like a bad idea right now. “Let me guess, the temple is at the center of the forest, and we need to slay whatever is controlling all the imps and expanding the forest so much?”

“No.” O’Baba snorted. “You are barely able to survive at the edges of the forest, and even then only by attacking strays that are away from their packs. You want to go into a level thirty raid zone? That would require a much more… grand reward than simple growth houses. Certainly not something either of us are ready for.”

“Oh.”

“We will guide you to the northmost site, which is too close to us for comfort.” O’Baba gestured at a door next to them. “Go rest. You will need to be in the best shape possible to survive tomorrow.”

“Can we see the greenhouses before we agree to this quest?” Joe stopped her from dismissing them. “I know that you would not be offering something you don't have; I just want to see what it is that we are getting out of the arrangement.”

“Sleep now.” O’Baba ordered with a bite in her voice. “In the morning, we will venture to the production area, and you will find what you came looking for.”

Joe looked at his team, who were swaying on their feet. They needed sleep, and there was plenty of time to find answers when they had clear minds. Joe reluctantly agreed, and they were shown to a set of surprisingly comfortable, extra-large beds. “Well, at least this is really nice. You guys think I made the right call here?”

He looked around, but found that his team was already asleep. An unnatural tugging pulled at him, and Joe succumbed to the embrace of Morpheus as well.