Bayonetta Playthrough Part 10

Bayonetta Playthrough Part 8 Temperantia Boss

Bayonetta Playthrough Part 6 Jeanne 2 Boss

Nier Automata Playthrough B Part 2

Bayonetta Playthrough Part 5 Fortitudo Boss

Bayonetta Playthrough Part 4

Bayonetta Playthrough Part 2

The Day Vante Saved Devil May Cry Part 4 (VmV/LDK)

Lone wolf chapter 6

Chapter 6

Dark Priest Xande

He watched as the two men squared off with the homeless man, his father held him tight, preventing him from rushing to the elderly man's defense as the two men, gang members he would later find out, beat the fool senseless.

“Look well upon it my son, there is not a single person in this group who is not a victim and villain.” he explained as the two gang members struck out, beating the man half to death.

The homeless man pulled a gun halfway into the beating and fired off a shot, screaming in some manner of deranged gibberish.

The remaining gang member fled through the streets, but not before being shot in the back as he fled.

The homeless man, in his fury, then turned on lurion and his father.

“A pity, though he wasn't worth the breath he drew, he still lived.” lurion's father lamented, and with a wave of his hand the homeless man burst into flame.

“father what did you do?!” lurion cried.

“did you not see him? He would have killed us both, his wits were gone in any case. That man was so addicted to drugs that he attacked a younger member of those people's gang in order to rob him, these two were dispensing their own twisted form of justice...and look at them now...hm.” he nodded as he gestured to the two corpses littering the alley.

“this is mankind, my son. Abandon all delusions of reason from the human race now. Humanity are devils, to them, those positive emotions you love so much are but a fretful convenience at best. They do not care for you, they do not even care for one another save when they've the luxury to do so. No son, give men nothing, and they will begin to take, teach a man violence, and he will learn to hate. This is the true shape of men, lurion...devils...the lot of them, eventually they may become mighty demons if they continue down this path...and I wonder what you will say in their defense then? Will you perhaps bring up the necessity of their actions? Do not make me laugh. Those gang members are just as vile as that vagrant they were beating, there were no true victims here, only animals, scrabbling for senseless purpose in a world bereft of it. I wonder….is this the world you crave little one? A world of….”freedom?” his father began to laugh at that, a cold, haunting sound that rang melodiously across the brick walls of the buildings keeping this small alley encased in frigid shadow.

The dead remained even as his father dragged him into the snowy streets of new york.

“Never forget this lesson, my son. Men are not worthy of you, or me..they will live and die alone, surrounded by the eternal pretense of social and cultural values, but eternally isolated from one another. Family? Friendship? All alternative names for business arrangements, pretentious nonsense dropped at the first sign of tro-” lurion pulled away from him.

“You don't understand anything!!” he yelled, and he fled through the crowds while his father watched on, impassively.

All around him the faces of complete strangers stared onward, empty, hollow, devoid of life, forever trapped in the merciless cycle of society, a self-feeding abyss of nothingness enforced on pain of death.

He saw their faces for what they truly were then, masks, masks being worn to defend the facade of social cooperation, masks meant to sustain simple survival.

“you're wrong!” lurion shouted as he raced through the streets. “they're more than that!!”

“But they weren't, were they lurion?” garland asked as he awoke, barely cognizant enough to halt his own words as he spoke of the past self, almost as if “Lurion” were another person.

“In the end they warred with themselves on a planetary scale a third time. A third time with weapons so powerful...they surely doomed the world….world war three...nuclear annihilation. What good was your faith in men, little pup? What use was your hope for the good of men when the good of men may well have never existed at all?”

he muttered this as he rose, shaking off a day's worth of sleep.

Ten years had passed, yet garland hadn't aged, he had, however, learned a substantial amount about alendarc, the world he was in.

alendarc was the realm of magic, a realm where dreams became reality.

Over ten years garland had meditated, had trained, and had ultimately acquired a modest understanding of green magic, the power to manipulate and summon plantlife at will.

But this green magic wasn't useful in battle.

Syena's tree had been mended five years ago, but garland didn't care about that any longer.

In truth, garland's thoughts turned to home, earth, the world that was surely a nuclear wasteland by now, and if it wasn't, it was surely in bad shape.

Garland couldn't imagine that humans, who couldn't stop killing one another for over two thousand years, could hope for anything resembling a happy ending, and he no longer thought of them as anything other than beasts.

With the tenth year ended on this very day, garland had no further reason to be here. He'd learned all he could from the ents, and he departed the forest before they could seen him off.

Over the past ten years his appetite had diminished, fading away entirely. He'd taken time to explore his body, and found that its supernatural strengths had been coupled with an almost complete removal of his needs.

He no longer ate, save once or twice a month, and even then food didn't seem to sustain him anymore, his body remained whole, never deteriorating, never aging.

Ten years was not so long, but garland, once twenty five, was now in his mid-thirties, what should have been a milestone was little more than a simple acknowledgment that he'd aged at all, and he barely felt any older.

Perhaps it was his presence in this world? Or perhaps he needed to accept that he was never human to begin with, and that his human weaknesses had been exclusive to his time on earth.

No matter.

Without thinking, he headed for the city of dimmery for a rematch against the temple of mateus, he felt the need to settle a score with them, perhaps for vengeance, or perhaps he could bury the hatchet?

The moment the thought left his mind however, he instead turned away.

His daily routine in the grove had been maintained for ten years, ten years of doing the same thing over and over, meditate, train in basic green magic spells, tend to the grove.

On it had gone for ten years, ten years spent wholly on one set of daily actions.

Garland wanted nothing to do with the city of elves, he left, barely aware that his black coat was frayed, his pants tattered, his boots stained.

Ten years without replacing his clothing, ten years locked in a sort of behavioral stasis, had taken its toll on his apparel.

He didn't care.

Before he could leave however, the two fairies he'd met earlier came up to him and chanted words of power he recognized as some manner of spell.

Casting a pair of luminous orbs at him, his body was engulfed in a curious light, and he stood there, glancing at his frame as their magic went to work, mending and enhancing his clothing.

His coat was restored, the tatters and fraying at the bottom now resembling bat-wing tips, the zipper had been replaced with a golden fringe, and the buckles were now shaped like moons and could no longer be connected.

The shoulder pads now had a set of silver pauldrons that were affixed with glowing crimson sigils that he would later discover cast basic barrier spells around him to keep him dry during the rain.

His boots had undergone the more drastic change, the metal plates, rusted and deteriorated as they'd been, were now wolf-faced emblems etched onto each strap hooking over the front of the boot, each wolf face glowed a dull red.

The strap's edges now resembled bat-wings, and the bottoms had been completely restored.

His pants had been mended entirely and a gold chain spilled over one of the pockets, looping around his front to hang as an ornament of sorts, from this chain several small bead chains hung loosely, each one affixed with what resembled a spell tag.

His shirt was more or less unchanged, though his ascot was now crimson instead of black, the collar of his shirt was a bit higher and laced with gold.

He looked to the fairies for an explanation, but they simply giggled and fled, and after inspecting his restored clothing, he gave a sigh and decided that they'd simply helped him out of the goodness of their hearts. Tricksters or no, they seemed amicable enough.

Taking off the coat, he noted that there was a glowing red image on the back of the coat, the face of a dragon.

Shrugging he put the coat back on and left, wondering where he should go next. Dimmery seemed a reasonable start if he wanted answers, but he would doubtless meet resistance from the locals if he tried.

All the same, perhaps discovering who had given the fanatics the means to summon him would bring him closer to resolving the mystery of why he was even here.

Torn between purpose and the desire to simply wander, he reluctantly began the journey to dimmery, ready for a fight should it come to that.

Despite his efforts, par managed to find him just as he was exiting the forest, and the ent stopped him.

“where will you go?” he asked.

Garland shrugged. “I wish to sate my curiosity. I'm heading back to the temple, where I was summoned. It is my hope to infiltrate the city unnoticed and gather information.”

“Be careful if you must enter, as you are well aware, elves came to the ents seeking you out. They found little of course, to convince them of your presence here, but they were very determined to have you.”

“sounds like their problem, not mine.”

The ent thrust a maple staff out toward him.

“with this, you are now a green mage. You have come to understand our people over the ten years you've spent here. At my behest, the fairies Palom and Porom have enchanted your clothing to ensure it doesn't wear down again.”

“I confess, I find the alterations they made...quite fetching.” garland replied, taking the staff and looking it over.

“walk with care, you will be in danger if you return to the elves. No doubt they will hope to finish what they began. You have been a friend to us and- where are you going?” garland didn't bother sticking around to listen to par-salain finish his speech about friendship and debts owed, it wasn't his way, he loathed such speeches, seeing them as pretentious nonsense.

“Know that you have allies in us, lone wolf!! do not turn away from our kinship!!” par called out after him, but garland wasn't listening.

He loathed the idea of being friends with anyone, this had been a business matter, and little else, and while he relished in helping the ents, he didn't wish to burden them with his presence any longer.

He had no intention of ever returning to their grove.

He didn't want to feel the inevitable sting of betrayal when they turned on him out of convenience.

Just like….they had done…

he arrived at the gates to dimmery mere days later, he wore a hood to conceal his features. One of the alterations to his attire was the presence of a face mask, and he made it a point to combine it with his hood to fully mask his features. His clothing was not distinct enough that he wouldn't be immediately recognized as “the demon” but he was wary of the elves nonetheless.

Still when he entered they addressed him as “father” once more mistaking him for a pastor of the luminaire faith, he made it through the gates, one hand gripping the staff as he tapped it against the cobblestones, weaving through the crowds of elves on their way to work, or perhaps to the markets, another hand folded behind his back while his eyes settled on the temple, it practically dominated the entire skyline on one side of the city, so vast was it that garland hardly understood how he'd ever managed to escape the thing.

And now he was going to be returning to the summoning room to inspect the circle, assuming it remained.

As he walked, a guard walked up to him and, saluting said “sir, we have need of you!! please come this way!!”

“For what purpose?” garland asked, irritated.

“we need a healer sir!!”

“I am ill-taught in the ways of healing magicks. For whatever reasons my capacity to use them was stunted.”

“and..you are a pastor of the faith sir?” the guard asked, shocked.

“I compensated for my shortcomings with basic green magicks, subsequently I am unfit to be a healer. I offer succor in the form of my wisdom, but the church has barred me from casting healing spells, preferring to use my green magic for other..less savory purposes.”

the temple knight was at a loss for what to do, and it was clear to garland that he was expecting a healer of the church.

“I have been long away from the city.” garland explained. “two decades, in fact. My memory is abominable and I seem to have forgotten much, if you would kindly direct me to where I might fetch for you a proper healer, I will be of service in that capacity my son.”

the temple knight brightened at this, and with a bow gave garland directions to the white district, an area of buildings comprised entirely of white stonework. This was where most healers were trained, and after a moment he nodded “ah yes, I remember now. Thank you my son, I fear I am not the most competent of pastors, hence why I was asked to work outside the city, but I shall see to it that healers are brought to you. I shall return shortly.”

despite his reservations on the matter, garland decided that if he was to impersonate the clergy, he might as well own the role, and when he finally made his way to the white district, he wasn't disappointed by the sight.

The white district spread unfettered by the presence of trees, for a good three miles, white buildings and towers of white and gold spread for a considerable distance, light magic was all over the district, finding the healers guild wasn't so difficult, when he entered he immediately asked if there were any pastors free to aid him.

Two volunteered, and he explained the situation to them complete with the lie that he was unable to be a proper healer, and thus served the church in other capacities. He introduced himself as father Xande, and explained that a guard needed the services of healers right away.

Upon returning to what he later learned was known as the “Primus” district, the guard escorted the two healers into a nearby building.

Following after them garland beheld a truly horrific sight.

An elf lay in bed, his skin had gone pitch black and his extremities seemed to be turning into shadows, he tried to figure out what the illness was by listening to the healers as they discussed the disease with growing concern.

“Shadowblight.” one said, shaking his head. “He will need to be burned.”

“can you do nothing?!” the guard asked.

“it's a fatal illness, only one whose heart is not aligned fully with our lord mateus can hope to mitigate the disease. It would take a soul of true generosity, who did not mind risking his own life, to even hold the disease. If he was not resistant to it, he would also be consumed by it and become contagious.

“Perhaps...” garland began. “I might be of service after all.”

the two blinked as they turned to face him their expressions incredulous. “father, what are you saying? You are aligned with the lord, are you not?”

“there is a reason my capacity for healing arts is stunted.” garland explained as he moved to the elf. “I am not truly aligned with mateus. It is ever my curse to question all things, including the gods. Mark me my brethren, I am cursed with a mind that must always scrutinize, must always question..must always….”

“doubt.” came the accusing reply from one of the healers.

“for this, my capacity for healing arts is bare, if not altogether nonexistent. My understanding of the arcane is also sorely limited. I was asked to work outside the city for this very reason, my questions are...not welcome in the order of light. I ask things many would consider blasphemous. I was recalled when I deemed it necessary to keep my mouth shut. However, though I am a pastor of the luminaire faith, it is a title only, a way to keep this foolish thinker from perhaps spreading information or views that could potentially do great harm to the order. In other words, I am kept on a leash, out of respect for my insightfulness, and the potential a stray word can have to cause..inconvenience to the order.”

“if your heart is not truly aligned with mateus...perhaps you can...take the shadowblight?” one healer mused.

“I could, my will may be aligned with god, but my heart still doubts. A heart that beats with doubt makes a marvelous nest for the shadows, i've found. And eventually my heart will be swayed by the lord, I am sure of it, when that time comes, the blight will be erased from my body.”

“and what if you don't? What if it consumes you?”

“then I discreetly abandon the city and live in isolation, where I will be consumed alone, without running the risk of spreading the disease.” garland replied calmly, and after a moment, the healers came to a consensus and gestured to the ill elf.

“Please father, we're aware that this is unorthodox, but we shall be grateful for your sacrifice.”

“I am all too happy to make it my sons!” garland replied, moving over to the elf.

“Just imagine there's a funnel in your hands, sucking out the shadows.” one healer explained, and garland did precisely that.

He'd learned that the key to controlling magic and manipulating magical fields was too visualize, and have faith that the vision would connect to the real.

To his amazement, the dark pall began to leave the elf, his extremities began to materialize, as if they'd always been there.

Within mere minutes, garland had effectively taken the darkness from the elf into himself, and upon looking himself over, he admitted that he didn't feel any different.

Turning to the elven healers they stepped back in shock, shaking their heads, clearly confused.

“not even the stain of shadow blights you!!” one said in amazement.

“do not mistake this for a blessing.” garland warned as he looked himself over. “Be grateful that men of doubt such as myself exist to fulfill such ends, but do not presume that you should join our ranks. I have little doubt in my mind that had anyone else attempted this, they would have been consumed. Do not be impressed by what I did, look upon it with a grim understanding that my actions today are a result of my flaws as a pastor of the faith. Convenient, true, but flaws they yet remain.”
he bowed.

The guard rushed to the elf's side. “Brother!! it'll be alright!! you've been cured!! thank you father xande!! thank you for everything!!' he cried.

“it was a trifle. No doubt once word of this spreads, I will be made into a pariah. Perhaps I should consider leaving the city, even though I was recalled? I would hate to stir trouble...”

“No!! it's...more than fine!! we of the luminaire faith believe that the flaws of men are part of what makes them beautiful, surely you remember that, yes?” one of the healers cried out, appalled by the idea that he would be made a pariah for such a kind act.

It was then garland realized something.

Elves were decidedly different from humans, in that they were not overly mistrusting of one another, even now the healers and the guard blessed him and thanked him from the bottom of their hearts. Garland left the building and made for the temple, feeling very much conflicted by this.

Had they been humans, doubt and suspicion would surely have ruled them, turning their responses into fear and disdain, instead they were praising him.

He shuddered at the idea that he was worthy of praise at all, given his deception, and of course, if too much attention was brought to the “dark priest xande” no doubt his cover would be blown and he would be jailed, or worse, sacrificed to mateus.

He needed to hurry, before word of his good deed spread too far.

IT'S FINALLY HAPPENED

chapter 5 of lone wolf

Chapter 5

Green magic

The ents were uncharacteristically kind, he noted as he ate and maintained his meditation.

They'd brought him to a secluded grove deep inside the forest, here only a single beam of light emerged through the canopy, spilling over a small shrine that looked as though it could have been a shinto shrine, now a moss coated relic in disrepair, the shimenawa over the front barely holding.

How curious that a relic from a culture in my world should be here! Garland had thought as he observed it, for the design was unmistakably of the shinto faith.

Upon seeing this, he had immediately assumed that perhaps this was a dream after all! But quickly dismissed the notion, dreams weren't this convincing and didn't feel quite so real.

No, if this was a dream, it was surely a dream of the afterlife.

The ents claimed that humans had settled in this forest hundreds of years ago, castoffs from a different dimension, and that this shrine had been at the heart of a small village, one mateus had personally cleansed when he had seen them living here.

Something about the humans had offended the god, that much was certain.

Here, the ents brought him baskets of fruit, he ate sparingly, taking great pains to bury the seeds when he was done.

The shrine was on an island at the heart of a small pond, its surface thick with green aquatic mold. Bugs, chiefly dragonflies, flew all around, and the thin beams of sunlight that somehow squeezed their way into the canopies barely offered any measure of light here.

Ten winters was the agreement, a full ten years of life in this strange world, and so sitting at the shinto shrine's entrance, garland meditated for the first half of the day as bade, par instructed him to send his thoughts into the ground, look for a light, but garland struggled with understanding the basic concept.

He came from a world where magic didn't exist, where men who were of faith were openly ridiculed, a man who was religious minded ran the risk of being disowned by society entirely.

So to garland, the idea was hard to reconcile with what he knew of superstitions and faith, but then again, he was summoned by an elven religious order as a sacrifice, so perhaps this train of thought wasn't the most convenient to hold at this time.

Leaves fell on the lake, only to be assaulted by the fish that swam in the pond, the ents would come by on stepping stones, their feet barely rustling the leaves or making a sound as he settled there in meditation, reaching into the ground with his thoughts, probing.

He thought of his father then

“Look at them son, worthless animals, the lot of them!! they live as squalid fiends, barely comprehending anything of importance or value!” the tall shadowy figure said, motioning to the people passing by on the streets, talking on cellphones or driving to work. The tall skyscrapers of new york loomed overhead, like mighty tombstones to some obscene deity that he couldn't fathom.

“they disappoint me son. As well they should disappoint you!”

“why should I care?” lurion asked angrily. “they're not our problem!”
“that...is where you are wrong my son.” the shadow said, kneeling down to stare him in the eyes. “they, in their arrogance, would prey upon one another like cannibals, and they prey upon us as well!! never forget son, they are monsters to us!”

“it's not my place to look down on them, why is it yours?!” lurion cried, receiving a backhand from the shadow.

“because if I do not judge them...who then will? Who else has the courage to see the madness and put a stop to it?!”

“and who puts a stop to you father?!” he cried out angrily.

“if you knew what you were saying...”

“Garland, wake up!” Par said, kneeling on his haunches to stare at him.

Blinking, garland glanced about. “My apologies, I seemed to have dozed off.”
“it's part of the process. Many saplings enter dormant states during their sessions. It's perfectly fine..here-” he handed garland a bottle of crafted glass filled with water. “the lady of the heart of the forest wishes you to have it. It refills with an endless supply of water. If will prove useful to you, as the pond here-” he gestured to the pool surrounding the shrine- “Is unfit for drinking...the algae is breeding at this time, swallowing it is ill-advised.” standing he glanced around. “seems you eat slowly, strange, I was certain humans were far more ravenous than this.”

“ever since I came to this world, my appetite has dwindled and my strength increased dramatically, my senses have improved as well. Perhaps I am ill?”

“Illness seldom gives strength. No, I wonder if perhaps the hydalians were right to name you devil. Yet you insist you are human?”

“In my world, I was never this strong, I was comparable to humans. You say you met my kind?”

“Yes, they used to be a primary force on this world, numbering in the billions. But years upon years of garnering displeasure from the god of light ended miserably for them when he lost his patience and struck them all down. Years later a castoff group came to this very forest where they lived for some time. The hydalians caught wind of them and...”
he trailed off, and garland didn't need further explanation.

“for now I need you to help with something. The second half of the service we require of you and payment for your lessons, you are to help the grove out in small ways. Here-” he handed garland a sack, glancing into it, he saw it was filled with glowing gems.

“those are life-stones, spread them at the roots of every tree, two per tree, continue this until nightfall.”
with that he left, and garland shrugged and set about to work, taking care to not overlook even the smallest of saplings.

He traveled along the paths, dropping two gems down whenever he came across a tree, which was every step he took. The sack refilled continually, and to his credit, he maintained the pace, easily setting gems around six hundred trees before the day was finished.

Once the sun set, par returned and took the sack. “you may return to your shrine now, get some rest and begin the day with meditation as we've discussed.

The next day was much the same, he awoke, and normally he expected that he would immediately need to use the restroom.

To his surprise, the urge was nonexistent.

“I am becoming like these trees.” he lamented. “as still as stone, yet alive and barely able to do anything save grow and shed my leaves!” a panic fell over him, his needs were diminishing with the passing of every day, but without need...what urgency to life would there be? To his thinking, needs were a way to establish purpose, without need there was no do, without doing there was no animation, no point really. One could literally sit in one place for all eternity and not budge and it would be the same.

No, he reasoned, the trees live, and if their sentience as ents is any indication, they seem perfectly at peace with their immobility.

He began his meditation with the usual haze of worries and fears swimming across his thoughts like angry koi fish, or perhaps a swarm of buzzing gnats flying about in stinging, annoying clouds in the summer heat.

In his unsettled condition, he reflected on another parental figure…

she stood there, arms crossed as she stared down at him, her eyes glowed too, but these glowed a soft gold, as opposed to HIS crimson.'

“tell me what happened.” she bade.'

“He….he wants to kill them all.” lurion replied.

“he wants to kill them all because he has the wits of a utilitarian and none of the creativity needed. He is right to despise them of course, humans are monstrous..but then..so is every beast. If we are to judge them, where do we then stand?” she shrugged. “quit thinking about it the way he does. Quit thinking about such small, trivial matters, let your father simmer and fume, it is his choice and we've no right to change his mind on the matter.”
“what if I want to stop him!?” lurion cried.

“oh then by all means try! But enough of this.” she picked him up and carried him to her bed.

“I'm not tired.” he grumbled.

“no, of course not. But you need to rest all the same. All humans do.”
“am I human?” he asked.

She frowned at that, “Perhaps you are. What then? Will you fight in humanity's defense? Will you battle for the beasts that dared to upset your father so?”
“Maybe I will! He doesn't deserve to be around them if he's so cruel!”

“Ah, you must really hate him! But do not be sad, my son...someday...someday you will miss your father dearly when he's gone!”
“No! I don't need a father, or a mother! I don't need mankind or anyone!! if people like him get to judge anyone at the drop of a hat, if he can force his expectations on people like that, then i'd rather stand alone...forever!!”

“forever….” she whispered, stroking his hair as she looked deep into his eyes “is a frightfully long time, my son.”
“I'll stand alone forever!” lurion shouted. “I don't need anyone!! I don't need anything!! I'll fight the world!! better to be the world's enemy than to be looked down on by all the people in it!! I refuse to carry the weight of the world like those humans and my father seem intent on doing, I won't share that burden!! I won't!!”

she nodded. “I suppose you've every right to reject your fate...but perhaps you will change your tune when faced with the reality?”

Garland opened his eyes.

“Forever….is a frightfully long time..hm?”

He hardly remembered anything about his mother and father, let alone what they looked like. Reflecting on them revealed precious little about what they were, why they had a decidedly anti-human view, or why it was he had considered them human at all.

Was he human? All evidence before his arrival on this world seemed to indicate that he was quite human, but his newfound strength, stamina, and the steady decline of his needs had begun to convince him that he wasn't human at all.

Perhaps he was a demon after all?

Garland mulled that over then faced himself with another, more daunting question.

Why was he subjecting himself to this?

He then settled on an answer, his conscience wouldn't let him avoid it. He'd wronged someone, and while he was fiercely independent and loathe to be bound to anything, debts included, garland didn't like hurting others, especially if the wounding was unintentional.

When par returned with the sack of gems, garland's first stop was to syena's tree.

Ten years was not so long to repay a debt owed to a victim of his own foolishness, he decided as he gingerly placed two gems at her roots.

Syena then appeared, arms crossed as she glared at him, with a humble bow he turned away, stalking through the forest and continuing his duty to the grove without complaint.

The next four weeks weren't especially fruitful, his meditation often led to sleep, or worse, nightmares, but finally, one morning, he managed to catch something.

It was tangible, as though there was a green river of light below him and some invisible part of him was touching it.

He felt it pulse, flow and writhe beneath that invisible hand he extended into the ground, and without thinking, he lifted it up to inspect it.

Hearing the ground explode all around him, his eyes snapped open in alarm, and he found himself surrounded by newborn trees and vines, one had actually pierced the roof of the shinto shrine behind him as it rose from the ground, and to his delight, he realized he'd summoned green magic for the first time in his life.

Par came to the shrine to find garland inspecting the trees he'd summoned, and with a smile he set down the basket of fruit.

“empty shells.” he explained. “More like spears or weapons to our kind, we cannot inhabit them, as they did not begin as seeds. They are trees without us ents in them.”

he stroked his green beard as he looked over the saplings and trees. “a good first attempt, these will last several decades before they deteriorate. Tomorrow you will begin the next phase of your training, learning how to shape wood. With that knowledge you will finish repairing my daughter, agreed?”

“of course.” garland said with a bow, and par left him the sack of gems and the unspoken command.

Garland would continue the day spreading the life gems all around the forest, two per tree, until evening.

This time he'd spread them to well over a thousand before the day had ended.

Chapter 4 of lone wolf

Chapter 4

New world, new lessons.

Before the aurora, the man was like a specter of death, a looming shadow in the evening light.

His eyes glowed a pale red as he looked down upon Lurion, not uttering a sound, he reached down and picked him up by the arm.

The chill wind was calm, but bit furiously into his skin wherever the figure touched him, and as he stared into those eyes, the dull crimson irises glowing like smoldering embers, he felt that death would be preferable to meeting that gaze on any other day.

“My son, a dragon, yet so….so far away from your true potential.” he muttered. “someday son, you will wake up and find yourself a stranger in a strange land, without ever really knowing why. When that day arrives….dry your tears, offer no prayers to the gods, move forward, and do not look back, lest you forget who it is you truly are….WAKE UP!!!”

Garland's eyes snapped open just as a pair of fairies giggled and flew behind some shrubs and foliage, their prank apparently having been a success.

Garland didn't see the painting on his face from the berry juices they'd mixed together, but he wouldn't have cared.

Garland's ego was, in a sense, bordering nonexistent, his sense of self and his ego had deteriorated to a bare shell since his childhood, he barely did anything on earth, he sat in libraries that would host him, surfing the internet and mulling over the tedium of existence. Oh he held jobs of course, but he was undeniably a vagrant in the human world, and now, here in the elven and fairy world, he was surely worse than a mere parasite on society.

No...not a parasite, he thought as he rubbed his face, noting the red smear and rolling his eyes before cursing “gods damned fairies.” and seeking out the closest source of water he could find.

In his world, the economy was crumbling due to world war three, the president had launched a preemptive attack on syria, leading to china panicking and sending a force down to north korea to bar refugees when north korea inevitably garnered the ire of the newest president.

What followed was...a nuclear exchange...the first in history. North korea launched a missile on the nearest chinese city, and from there the US intervened on china's behalf.

Together the two nations stormed north korea.

Of course, then russia became involved, and shortly thereafter another nuclear exchange was had, but this one was brief, and very devastating.

An area of washington DC was struck, and then the US responded by launching their own nukes, but on top of that they sent their full military force into russia, with china and many other nations backing the effort due to russia's newfound belligerence.

And so world war three had begun in earnest, with most large nations siding with china and the US and many lesser nations siding with russia.

It was around this time that garland had gone to sleep on a couch at a friend's home, and awoke a sacrifice in a temple.

He wasn't certain, but he had an idea that the timing of his summoning was no coincidence. Garland knew little of his lineage, but he'd met his father, and he had the distinct feeling his father was a dangerous character, perhaps not even human.

As he mulled over the possibility that his father had somehow been involved, a pair of fairies brought a small wooden bowl, three of them held it aloft and set it down at his feet.

It was filled with water, and he eyed the bowl warily, but decided that if he broke out in a rash due to the water being tainted, it wouldn't be so bad as the mess on his face in dire need of washing.

Taking care to wash the mixture off, he rose to his feet and took in the surroundings while the fairies settled on his shoulders, picking at his hair and studying his ears and facial features.

He didn't respond to their poking and prodding, too intent on the forest.

The roads were in plain view, barely a few dozen yards away, elves were busy traveling via carts and coming and going in droves. The landscape beyond the roads were littered with farms, but the pastures weren't cleared out, if anything they were mixed with the forest, and only identifiable by the fences surrounding them.

He looked to the forest.

The trees were massive, moreso than any forest he was familiar with, their trunks alone were the size of small houses and their boughs formed roads, in fact he could see people high above traveling the trees, having formed actual roads on their branches.

While there was no apparent way up or down, the elves didn't seem to have much trouble getting up, indeed, one made his way toward the forest, eying garland for a second before bowing respectfully, no doubt assuming him to be a pastor for god, and then he leaped with incredible strength, easily clearing the thirty foot distance in a single bound and landing safely and gingerly atop a “roadway branch”

these branches formed a vast complex network all about the canopy, and garland had to admit, he was impressed with how at peace with nature the elves were.

But he had more pressing matters to consider.

With a yawn he moved to the roads, noting that the number of carts was considerably higher, there was virtually no foot traffic passing him as he made his way as far away from the city as he could.

The first day of walking wasn't particularly troubling, the fairies remained on his shoulders, and when the elves noted him with them riding him, they seemed impressed and sometimes offered him prayers or shouts of approval.

While he tried to converse with them, he found that the fairies didn't speak his language at all, even if they sympathized in the universal tongue of body language.

Rather than be put off however, he assumed that his newfound companions would simply be riding his shoulders for as long as they deemed it necessary.

The next day they decided It was time to leave, and they offered him a shout of farewell and what he assumed was encouragement before fluttering away.

He waved, but deep down inside, he simply didn't care.

Something was nagging at him, and being in this peculiar world wasn't brushing that feeling that something was amiss away.

Of course that was likely the something that was amiss.

His stomach grumbling soon clued him in, and he noted that he hadn't “felt” hungry every since he got here.

Normally when he was hungry he would feel awash with fatigue and his stomach would feel as though it was filled with hot coals threatening to turn his insides to dust, now however he felt no strain from hunger, he hadn't even noticed he'd not eaten or wanted to eat for a while.

But he wasn't sure exactly how one hunted, or even how to cook.

No doubt if he were to try cooking over a campfire, he would soon be met with opposition from the elves, for elves were nature lovers, at least according to his understanding of them from fantasy novels, indeed they were also xenophobic, and there was even a race that enslaved all other races and lived on flying dragonships!!

fantasy literature aside, garland realized he'd need to hunt something, he hadn't the slightest idea what was or wasn't edible, but he needed food, even if he didn't feel particularly hungry.

Deciding it was high time to test his newfound strength and stamina, he left for the nearby forest and- finding a sapling, carefully aimed at it and launched a punch with full force.

The sapling shattered beneath the blow as though it were made of foam atop a mug of ale, and he stared blankly at his fist, trying to reconcile this new truth with what he knew of his considerable limits.

He was a weakling on earth, always had been, a worthless sort of person with barely the strength to go for a walk, though he wasn't heavy, he wasn't fit either, and this was due in large part to his flat-footedness. His feet lacked an arch, and so he couldn't run without crippling himself for a few days.

Here however, in this world, his body was undergoing some manner of change, or perhaps it was merely gravity was less in this world?

He considered that argument, taking a stone and dropping it.

The stone seemed to be what he would consider a normal sized one, and it felt heavy enough in his hand, when he dropped it, it fell normally, landing with a soft huff onto the thick carpet of grass and moss at his feet.

Just then, a naked woman with green skin emerged from the sapling he'd sundered, looking positively livid.

Snarling she pushed him back and away, and he held up his hands defensively as she gestured to the sapling, speaking a strange tongue he didn't know.

Confused, he stared at her as she shouted at him, gesturing to the sapling.

Perhaps she was accusing him?

Gritting her teeth she summoned a blade of emerald energy from that air and moved to attack him, the blade sliced the air before him as he backed away, unsure of what to do.

As he danced back, more green skinned humanoids emerged from the trees, sleepily blinking and watching the exchange, as they did so one of them, a bearded fellow with antlers, stopped the maiden and turned to face garland.

“she says you injured her tree...is this true young one?”

“I….I did….forgive me I….I wasn't...I had no idea these were your homes-”

“Homes?” the ent replied in surprise. “Boy those are our bodies!! you crippled my syena as surely as if you punched her yourself!”

“How...how might I make amends? I truly did not know!”

“Normally...” he began, pushing the maiden behind him as he turned to face garland, looking him over carefully. “we would demand you repair the tree with green magic...but you don't look to be a hydalian. What are you then? How is it you do not know of my kind?”
“I am garland...a human.”

that sent a gasp of shock from the ents and he realized that it wasn't a good thing to be human right now.

“Balderdash, your kind went extinct years ago! no- centuries ago!! mateus killed the lot of you!”

“I wouldn't know anything about that sir.” garland replied. “i was summoned here from another world as a sacrifice to this...mateus. In my world there are no spirits living in trees...or fairies...or hydalians." (he wanted to say elf, but decided that perhaps political correctness was called for in a foreign world.)

“spirits he calls us! Hah! How very human!” the ent fell over the word “Human” in an accusing manner but let the matter drop.

“alright then human, you are to be our prisoner.”

“for what purpose?” garland asked, bristling.

“we shall teach you the ways of green magic and this world, as you call it. If you were indeed summoned from another world you will doubtless cause trouble here without intending. In exchange for our teachings we shall take from you a stipend of time and freedom from you. If you refuse...well...I suppose you will refuse. We will have great disdain for you, but you are free to leave and never enter our forests again. At least not without battling our kind, and wouldn't you know it? Forests account for most of the world!” the ent grinned.

“I see no problem with waging endless battle.” garland replied coldly and it was the ent's turn to be surprised by the comment.

“I would reconsider your words with great care-”

“Let me be clear here tree spirit.” garland continued. “those who threaten my freedom for any reasons become my enemy no matter what. Those who are my enemy have absolutely no right to have a hold of any sort over me. You consider your offer reasonable and expect a willing servant out of me, a stipend of time and freedom, now a rational person, be he man or elf (he was too livid to be politically correct) would positively leap at that offer when the threat of being forced out of the world's forests was the alternative. I on the other hand, would burn the forests to the ground to spite you for the mere act of making such a bargain. So tree spirit, I highly suggest you reconsider just what sort of person it is you think you're speaking to. I can be rational, but I will not be if my freedom is taken for granted. But i'm open to continued bargaining if you retract your threat.”

“and if you do not retract yours?” the ent asked, growing angry.

He went pale when he saw garland's eyes narrow, almost too murderously to belong to any human, and the ent did not doubt that this human before him would deliberately pick the path of the most resistance for the sheer pleasure of spitting on his offer for the sake of his pride.

“Perhaps I was being…..too callous.” the ent said warily and syrena practically screamed at him.

He lifted a hand to silence her.

“then our offer will be changed. You are free to come and go through our forests, and we shall not do you harm, but we shall not aid you either, should you refuse us. However If you wish to perhaps make amends...we would ask you pay a price of time and freedom in order to learn more and repair my daughter's tree.”

“then.” garland bowed. “I humbly accept your generous offer of tutelage.

The ent breathed a sigh of relief at this, glad to at least be making some headway on the matter of his daughter's broken tree.

“we are known as the macha, ents the hydalians call us. “tree spirits” as you call us. We are extensions of the trees we call home, they are our bodies, and what you see is our soul given a form and image. For ten winters you will live among us and serve the grove, ten years human, within that time we shall teach you our tongue, teach you our ways, teach you what we know of the world, and when the hydalians come inquiring about their sacrifice...” he turned to syena “we shall keep silent on your presence here. You will repair my daughter's tree before it dies.”

“what happens if it dies?” garland asked and the ent stared at him for a few moments as though the answer was obvious.

“and...you show no concern?”

“it will take weeks for the trauma to her tree to kill it. I give you one to learn the basic repairing magicks and heal her tree. If, within that time it dies….she dies. But do not think that for us, death is the end. Our kind are reborn, and very, very long lived. This is my fifty-thousandth life cycle here. I am known as Par-Salain, the tree of wisdom, and my people, as you may have guessed, number in the thousands.”

Garland began his lessons the next two days, learning from par directly, but his understanding of magic was so limited that par ended up repairing the damage to syena himself to be safe before continuing.

“you shall instead mend her back to full health.” he explained. “had I known you were so difficult to teach spells to, I would've done this sooner.”

“My apologies.” garland said, his eyes downcast by this failure, for the past two days par had been trying to teach him how to reach into the earth and speak to the life-force, but garland hadn't the slightest idea what that even meant.

“we shall begin as a sapling would, with meditation. You are to sit and remain silent for half a day.”

“I need to eat.” garland said in protest but par held up a hand. “you will be brought food shortly, we have two ari trees who've just borne fruit. You shall devour those for the time.”

“are you...alright with that?” he asked and the ent laughed. “come now boy!! it is how we reproduce, you fleshlings devour the meat of our fruit and cast the seeds, and they delve into the soil over time while our souls, adrift as they are in the lifestream, find one and inhabit it!”

“your kind seem very attuned to life after death.” he noted.

“all plants are. It's you fleshlings who are always confused. We plants and plantkin are life incarnate, we are the wheel of life and death, and enlightened to it we are!! meditate, food will come shortly.”

garland did precisely that, deciding that perhaps learning magic would be beneficial to his survival on this strange new world.

Bipolar Nightmare Dual Mix

Lone wolf chapter 3

Chapter 3

Dainslief and the old wolf clash

Garland had attributed his uncharacteristic burst of stamina to the adrenaline induced by the terror of his situation, but when dainslief's sword came crashing down before him, sending out a shockwave that lifted benches all around him, he wasn't so sure that was the case.

Garland saw the attack and found avoiding it easy, though he saw the shockwave coming in with incredible speed, he saw too, a similar vision, but slower.

It was strange, it was almost as if he was perceiving two different events, and he found moving out of the way of the attack to be very easy.

When the shockwave slammed into the altar at the back of the chapel, the blast shattered the stained glass windows, sending a rain of diamond dust raining down as dainslief blinked in confusion, seeing the demon prince had narrowly avoided the attack.

“a wiseass eh?” dainslief muttered. “fine, let's see you dodge THIS-” another blow, this one sending three shockwaves at him, one behind the first one, and another snaking to the left and right of the other two.

And once again garland saw it coming at two distinct speeds, very fast, and very slowly, and he focused on avoiding the slower speed, it was the same image, but it seemed to be playing twice in his mind, as though at the same time, yet somehow not.

He could guess that something was altering his senses for him, perhaps a toxin in the air, or perhaps this world's influence on him was causing an anomaly, if this world had magic, how would it affect a non-magic user? These thoughts came to him as the foremost image of the three shockwaves resembling a climhazzard attack, came toward him, now entirely slowed down.

No magic was this, however, merely garland's perception of the event being altered.

Stepping to the side of the foremost shockwave, he calmly stepped back as the one winding between the other two passed a mere two inches before him, its form like a serpent made of dust clouds blown about by a cutting wind pressure.

The third one exploded, but he saw it coming long before it could affect him, and he wisely moved away, only grazed by the force as it gently pressed into him.

The blow immediately sped up his perception, and suddenly his mind and senses were running at normal speeds, and his arms stung from lifting them to block the blast of air as he was knocked into a pillar.

Dainslief let out a chuckle, thinking victory his, only to find his dark clad adversary hardly fazed, glancing left and right garland blinked.

“I must confess, you're quite tricky sir knight.”

growling, dainslief lifted his blade and charged, deciding that perhaps he wasn't taking the threat seriously enough, just as he neared garland, roaring angrily, he tripped and tumbled head over heels, grabbing his heel a bit too quickly, garland noted, and immediately crying out in pain “OH!! oh my ankle!!! i've sprained it!!”

a moment of silence ensued between the two as garland watched him warily before asking “really?” which was immediately punctuated by “Oh yeah, totally hurt my foot, I'll be limping for a month at least!”

more silence ensued.

“Yep.” dainslief said after another minute of confused glaring “totally busted, it's going to take a loooot of time in the chambers of passion with my favorite priestesses to heal this...hehe….gonna need LOTS of succor….totally...”

“you're pulling my leg.” garland growled.

“that's not funny, can't you see i'm wounded?” dainslief growled.

Another minute of silence, and dainslief gave a cough “y-you know….if you were clever….you could probably escape...with me in the condition i'm in….i can't possibly chase you down.”

“I killed your men.” garland stated flatly, and he shrugged. “we have resurrection magic, they'll be back on their feet in no time.”

that gave garland pause, resurrection magic….meaning one could be revived from death? Such a thing would have been invaluable in his world.

“sounds convenient for you then….does it have limits?” he asked.

“yeah, burn a body to ash and the spells are useless...but uh...you sure you should be sticking around here? Shouldn't you be...I dunno...leaving?”

“should I be? What of your duty?”

dainslief gestured to his leg incredulously. “I'm wounded you idiot!! I can't fight at all! NOPE!! NOT AT ALL!! I'M TRULY DEFEATED!!” he raised his voice and garland sighed and moved past him without a word.

“you're welcome.” dainslief shouted after him, and garland gave a shrug in his general direction before exiting through the doors.

He didn't get far, for just as he ran outside, the silver dragon appeared, landing before him with the high priestess astride it.

“So, dainslief has fallen.”

“Yes.” garland replied. “he has a sprained ankle if you can believe it.”

she scowled and leveled the spear, visibly brimming with crackling arcs of lightning.

“Demon, you're to be sacrificed to our lord effective immediately. Come Tiamat, let us disable him, that he might be sent to mateus without further convenience!!”

The dragon called tiamat gave a chuckle at that and the high priestess dismounted as the silver dragon took to the skies while the priestess slowly circled him, keeping the spear leveled at him.

“You people summon me here to kill me, yet you don't seem to get that I'm not interested in serving your god.” garland growled. “Well, since sir dainslief was so generous as to give me his name, I would like very much to know the name of the maiden who so presumptuously woke me from my slumber and tried to slay me for her god.”

“I am called high priestess Anne, and you will come with me, the question is, how many limbs will you be missing? One? Two? All? So long as your core self Is intact I hardly feel that the great lord mateus will care a whit for the state of your body.”

“Spoken like a true fanatic.” garland returned, adjusting his ascot as he looked up at the dragon, who was no doubt waiting for the priestess to engage, to compliment her attacks and make it more difficult for him to evade her.

“tell me priestess….why? Why are you tormenting me like this?” he asked and she paused, a confused look on her face. “Because you are a demon, we are well within our rights to sacrifice you dark prince.”

garland nodded, confirming his suspicions that coaxing rational conversation out of this woman, his chief antagonist, was as distant as possibilities could become.

“very well then.” he said, I'll go with you willingly.”

“t-truly?” she asked, incredulous.

“Yes! I'm bored, perhaps this mateus will be a worthy vision for me to behold before the end. Come, lead the way for me.”

she blinked, confused, after all he'd slain, she wasn't convinced that he was actually going to submit, and he gestured up to tiamat. “i cannot possibly fight or outrun a dragon.” he explained. “If I am to be sacrificed, I shall do so of my own accord.”

nodding, she moved closer, a look of calm over her features. “I'm sure that the lord mateus will be grateful for your...cooperation on this matter.” she replied. “oh how I envy you devil, to be summoned to his side and-”

“hold on!! what is that?!” garland cried pointing behind her.

She gave a sigh and brought the spear up. “that won't work a third time!” she growled.

“I disagree! It worked perfectly!” garland replied, staring up at….something.

It was then she noted the looming shadow of something behind her, she turned and saw a hideous sight, a tall, muscular archdemon with curving ramlike horns, whose every breath brought with it curls of smoke, he was in the middle of lifting a clenched fist to backhand her when she glanced around, and to his credit, garland did well to hide his surprise at the sudden appearance of the creature.

“So YOU are the devil they summoned?” the demon asked in growling tones as it knelt to meet him at eye level (it was fully twenty feet tall and had to do this just to stare him in the eyes)

“nothing special, welp, better get this over with-” he lifted his powerful muscular arms, each as thick as a tree trunk in size, and brought them down on garland's head, or tried to.

But to garland, the devil's attack seemed to be moving quite slowly, and testing this bizarre new reflex out, he moved to touch the demon's hand as it came crashing down ever so slowly, to his surprise, the force of the blow seemed to be ever slightly mitigated by his mere touch, leading garland to the hypothesis that his body was somehow improving in this strange world.

Balling his fist, he punched the demon's arms with full force as they came down, and to his amazement, he sent the devil's arms flying wide.

Blinking in stupefied surprise, the devil looked to both of his arms, then growling, brought them down again, now they were aflame.

Walking to the demon's side, for he was still in slow motion, as was most of the world, garland decided that the world wasn't moving slowly, he was simply moving faster and perceiving everything with more clarity, hence the reason he had perceived two instances of the shockwaves earlier, his body was adjusting to the heightened sensory input and trying to adapt.

Moving behind the devil, he aimed a fist for its spine and punched with full force, which to him felt like a normal blow, but to the demon it would mean death.

Garland's hand tore through the demon's back and easily broke his spine, the demon spun about mid-swing, not intentionally, its body simply spasmed and he was thrown to the side by the force of his attempted assault combined with the sudden irrational jerking of his form.

Nodding, garland turned to the priestess, who even now was staggering to her feet, leaning on her weapon.

Walking toward her, he grabbed the spear, tearing it from her grasp.

The dragon, having recovered from the shock of watching the demon assault her mistress, was even now racing toward them, snarling angrily as the devil it was ordered to capture neared the high priestess.

Grabbing the priestess by the throat, he lifted her up.

She muttered a prayer then, and garland rolled his eyes and held her up as the dragon landed mere inches from them.

“release her scum!!!” tiamat snarled.

“No, I think I'll keep her, she may make for a wonderful hostage in such an unreasonable situation.”

the dragon growled hatefully, and garland found he didn't quite like the taste of his own words.

Hostage taking wasn't something he was familiar with, but he certainly didn't respect the process, it was pretentious, aside from anything else, and one could easily break the illusion of a hostage by giving up the hostage, it was the hostage taker in a dire situation, not the other way around, and only a coward took one.

With a sigh he tossed her to the dragon's feet.

“get her out of here, devils seem to be attacking your people, you should worry about them, and less about me.”

“that...” the high priestess coughed “was zasalamel, an archdemon of incredible renown….you...you'd slay one of your own kind?”

he glanced to the demon, its body loosing a pool of blood blacker than night.

Shrugging, he held onto the spear. “I don't know anyone like that. And besides...he struck me first.” he ran, doing his best to escape in time for the two to recover and realize they should still be chasing him.

A small army formed in the lower reaches of the city, he passed countless buildings and plazas filled with elves celebrating the coming demise of a demon prince, all the while questioning just what demons were in the context of this world, and how it was he was supposedly one of them.

He recalled that the clergy had called him the old wolf, perhaps that was related to it, perhaps not.

He suspected, however, that this was all an elaborate ruse by the actual devil they fully intended to summon, and that he, garland, was a victim of a long-standing sham of sorts, one that mateus had apparently no interest in correcting.

Or perhaps not? Perhaps he was this demon prince after all? It wouldn't be the first secret his fool of a father had kept from him, and certainly wouldn't be the last. Even so, for secrets, this was extreme.

Confetti flew in the air, music played, and at the edge of the celebrations groups of holy knights milled about anxiously, seeking their prey. The streets were thick with hundreds of elves praising their gods and praying for the success of the coming sacrifice...his own.

Warily, he moved into what he assumed to be a shop, the elf at the desk's ears perked up and he shouted “welcome to the inn of ill omen!! will you be staying long father?”

“Oh..no...um...how to say...I am being chased by the demon!! it has escaped the temple, murdered several members of the clergy and targets me with its curse!! is there a back door?”

“well yes!! what of the knights?” the innkeep asked, terrified.

“all unaware, the demon took on a disguise the moment it left the temple, even now it stalks me, seeking to do me in!! it's determined to finish the job for some...confounded reason of sadism!!”

“this way father!! this way!!” the innkeep cried, and he ushered garland through a door leading into an alley.

Content that he'd found a safe avenue, he immediately climbed a ladder leading to the rooftops, only to find tiamat making a pass.

With an angry roar she turned, whipping about.

Garland still had the high priestess's spear, though he knew not if throwing it was a particularly good idea.

He'd seen it, or at least assumed, that it could fire bolts of electricity, and was thus determined to see if perhaps that could do the job he needed, holding the spear aloft, he made as though he was about the throw it and pushed it forward

nothing.

“damned magic...” he cursed, thinking to just throw the spear and be done with it.

Just then dainslief appeared on the tiled roof, slowly advancing toward him.

“Oh, dainslief. Foot all better?” garland asked.

“Yep, one could say it was a miracle.” dainslief replied dryly, and the two shared a nervous chuckle as they squared off uneasily.

“I must say….I like you.” garland admitted.

“don't make my job harder for me kid. I don't really feel like doing it, but the boss has spoken.” he gestured toward the high priestess atop the dragon.

“come quietly and I suppose they'll make it quick..I don't bloody know. Just...do whatever.”
“alright, well...erm...” he considered his choices then, he had a few, his newfound strength and perception would surely aid him, but he sensed that it would do little good against this particular opponent.

Dainslief didn't seem a pushover.

Or even an elite.

He seemed far above that level of talent for a swordsman.

Meaning that, even with enhanced strength and speed, garland stood little chance against him.

“OH heavens!! look there!! what is that abomination!!” garland cried, and dainslief, confused, glanced behind him.

Garland couldn't stop laughing as he fled, all the while the high priestess's frustrated scream all but rent the air asunder as the dragon, sensing the danger atop her back, immediately gave chase, all the while dainslief kept looking around asking “what is it?”

almost at the gates, he immediately saw a small army gathering before them and gritting his teeth, he leaped into the air, higher than he'd wished, and aimed the spear at the group.

It occurred to garland that, given his unnatural strength and speed, he should perhaps make up an attack name for the sake of looking cool, entirely for vanity reasons of course, and even then he envisioned the spear striking the group with force enough to create a small explosion of force that would scatter them.

And so when he shouted “Raging Wolf Drive!” none of the knights stationed at the gates seemed to know what to make of the shout, until that is, he and the spear came flying at them, him barely holding on, for he'd flung the spear forward as though to throw it, only to grip the handle more tightly when he realized he'd still need it for general melee.

Instead the force of the thrust was significant enough to send him flying with the spear and both came crashing into the group with a shockwave of electricity that sent them all flying in every direction.

Not one to double check his blessings, he took up the spear and crashed through the heavy wooden gates, which gave like paper before his newfound might, all the while the guards panicked and cried out, thinking to perhaps stop him before he fled.

The angry cries of the high priestess were a guilty pleasure for garland then, he wasn't the sort of person who enjoyed making enemies, and so he continued to feel bad that he'd been forced to make one in an entire faith this unfortunate day.

But he wasn't in the humor to give the matter much thought, perhaps when celebrations ended and perhaps when he'd found a place to collect his thoughts, he might make amends to this church or find the means to reconcile with them, for surely this was all a misunderstanding, and if what dainslief had said about resurrection spells was true, then surely he'd done no lasting damage.

Of course, the demon immediately rose to his thoughts, why was a demon attacking someone known to be a demon? Was it sent by someone? That seemed the most likely choice, but then...by whom?

He raced down the green pastures beyond the city at frightening speeds, though to him the whole landscape was passing by normally. And he wondered just where he'd found himself, and why it was he'd been summoned like this?

Eventually he found a peaceful place to rest beneath a great oak surrounded by diminutive winged humanoids no bigger than his finger, he immediately recognized them as fairies, though he knew not how they were real, or if any of this was real.

His thoughts swam about as he watched them flutter, their wings glowing in the evening gloom as an ocean of stars slowly swam into view overhead, revealed by the receding dress of the sun as she gently sank to her satin bed to be with her lover, the moon.

He watched this new world, the faint crackle of the high priestess's spear glowing in the dark and illuminating his stern features as he came to terms with all that had happened.

But he hadn't the faintest idea of where he was, or how to get back home.

Moreover, he wasn't entirely convinced he wanted to return home, for compared to this...newness! Home was quite dull indeed.