Hero Scout 79 Chapter 7 - Twisty Pines

"Twisty Pines is what we call the area of forest between the Goodwood and the monster nests around the Cold Mountains. Never could claim the region, although the Church comes down sometimes and helps us clear it out of all the filth backing up there," the Hunter General laughed along with his crude looking men, bruisers all of them.

At first Kenji had thought they were being robbed when the sc.r.a.ppy leather bound pair had arrived, but soon found that what he had thought to be gang members were really the General's 'hunters'. They hadn't spoken much outside of incomprehensible grunts, and had taken between peering about for danger, staring at Kenji's coin pouch, and scrutinising Tenko's small frame with equal measure.

Grating his teeth, Kenji continued to picture rubbing their faces in dirt as the troll in his [Forbidden Slot] to calm down. He wouldn't ruin this for Tenko, not when they had come so close.
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"We're nearly there," the Hunter General added, causing Kenji to frown. Were the werewolf dens really only a few hours away from Essenark? Looking around the trees were growing thick and dark, while the terrain became increasingly difficult to traverse.

Not enough to impeded them too much, and certainly not enough to place the werewolf dens out of the striking range of Essenark's most determined. So why would the Hunter General claim they were nearly there?

Just in case, Kenji got ready to transform at a moments notice.

It turned out, he wouldn't get so much as that. An arrow bolt flew out one eye socket to to pin one of his golden orbs against a nearby tree. Blood rushing down his throat, bits of brain splattering his front, Kenji collapsed while Tenko screamed.

Darkness. And within the dark, Kenji raged.

Morphing into the full size of a Mountain Troll, Kenji bellowed at the pair who had already pulled his coin pouch free, then grabbed their heads and squeezed. They crunched in a satisfying matter - a scream made Kenji spin around, the Hunter General having put a knife to Tenko's throat before she could transform. Under all those layers, she had had a bit of trouble, bits of fluff and legs poking out before she reverted into her humanoid form.

"No closer - demon! Or your companion will have a red smile she'll never recover from," the Hunter General grinned with crooked teeth, subtle green magic coating his limbs. "With my [Hunter Boost] I guarantee I'll kill her before you can do a thing, with my [Camoflauge] I'll get away too. So back off - I said give me some mother f.u.c.king DISTANCE RIGHT NOW!"

Kenji stepped back, then again until his back rammed against a thick oak.

The hand holding the blade to Tenko's throat shimmered, and soon the Hunter General became splotched in colours matching the dark trees. He was easy to see if Kenji focused, but with the gummed up eyes of a Troll, he would certainly lose the Hunter General if he got into the forest proper.

And once back at Essenark, he'd have all the time he needed to raise a force of Hunters to track Kenji down and add each of his heads to a series of plaques named 'Continuation of the last kill, 1, 2, 3'. Then again the Hunter General could just block his path, the monsters and mountains making any other way of leaving the Twisty Pines a gamble at best without going through Essenark and onto the King's roads.

And even if they did escape through the mountains, what then?

As Kenji was thinking, the swauve butler from earlier appeared behind the Hunter General.

"Blackie?" The Hunter General whispered, before his knife was forcefully pulled away from Tenko's throat. In the next moment huge wolves exploded from the nearby bushes, and bit down hard on the Hunter General's arms and legs. Kicking one free, he pulled out another knife and plunged it into the eye of a wolf before the butler ripped out his throat with clawed hands.

Quickly he cleaned the blood off on the Hunter General's leathers, and kicked him aside to splutter in a gully. Wolves started to feast, maws drenched red, while the butler put on his white glove and helped Tenko to her feet.

"Are you ok, priestess?" the butler whispered, the wolves staring with their yellow eyes as they ate as if starved. Rubbing the goo from his eyes, Kenji barely made out that they were indeed rail thin, their heads appearing too large for malnourished bodies.

Quickly Kenji transformed into Dana, the Boy Knight body going to take at least a full day before it was ready to be used again. Perhaps next time he leveled up he should choose a trait that quickened the healing speed of damaged bodies? a.s.suming such an option was provided.

"I'm- you know who I am?" Tenko pulled her hands away, looking up at the butler.

Smiling, he unfurled wolfish ears, and grew his teeth into sharp fangs.

"Grankash is a warrior. I would sense you anywhere," the butler said, eyes becoming wet.

"Who are you though? Are you not a servant of the Mayor?"

At that word the wolves snarled, the butler having to whistle sharply to calm them down.

"No, Grankash only pretend to be. As a Warrior Grankash can resist the drug they put in our food, and have consistently avoided the larger doses. Still, now that the priestess has returned we might finally fight back!"

"But why is-"

"Hush Priestess, our time is short. Take these supplies, and follow one of our kin to the dens. There all will be explained, and you can lead our people to salvation. With your help we might finally overturn the Furbolg's plan to finally annihilate us."

"The humans are the ones using you as servants, why are these 'furblogs' to blame?" Kenji snapped, his suspicion no longer being kept in check after the Hunter General's betrayal.

"They have been our enemies for centuries, their herbal knowledge and druidic magic is powerful too. Do you really think that the humans could achieve all this without-"

An owl hooted nearby. At daytime.

The Butler stiffened as if it were a lightning strike.

"Go now, Grankash cannot a.s.sist you further," the Butler whispered and vanished back into the foliage, all bar one of his wolves leaving silently after him. Pawing at her side, the little brown furred wolf remaining indicated at them to follow.

As the owl hoots came ever closing, Kenji nodded, and together they followed the brown furred wolf deeper into the Twisty Pines. Into it's darkest depths.

Until mountains sourrounded them on all sides, and appeared to hold up the sky.