Gaia's Champion Ch. 17

"I don't like it, but it is a sensible approach," Sheena agreed.

"Indeed. Some knowledge of what's out there is better than nothing," Jason nodded.

"OK then. Ready whatever defensive spells you have and keep them handy! We take this one step at a time," Phalmina stated, leading the group.

"Ah! Let me take point. I don't want you being in the direct line of fire, Mina," Jason told her.

The fairy was about to protest until she saw where he was staring. Her hands shot protectively to her still flat belly, pressing them over it. Phalmina huffed, but nodded, seeing Jason's logic on the matter. Exposing her unborn baby to Dark Magic wouldn't be a good idea, so she got behind Sheena and let Jason take the lead. All three embraced their magic, ready to fight or defend at a moment's notice.

"So, Sheena, any ideas on why the home is protected like it is?" Jason asked.

"None. There has to be a reason for it, but I am fresh out of ideas," Sheena replied.

"I could feel the magic, how old it was. It had to have been done before Europeans came here, or just after," Phalmina told them, keeping her eyes peeled as the group moved deeper into the black forest.

"It's that old?" Jason queried.

"Likely, a native Shaman put the protections in place. The magic feels deep, intimately tied to the land it's on. Only Native Shamans had that level of a connection with the land," Sheena explained.

"She's right. The Natives of North America practiced their Shamanistic magics for so long, that their connection to Gaia is still strong, even today. Though few still practice the old ways, they have a deeper connection to Gaia than most other races in existence," Phalmina agreed.

"Did they have any Druids among them?" Jason queried, curious about this lost chapter of history.

"They did, but they were few. It was rare that guardians of such power were needed here. At least until Europeans arrived," Sheena griped.

"Can we do the history lesson, after we've seen what's here?" Phalmina told them.

"Sorry, Mina," Sheena apologized.

The trio moved deeper into the forest, sensing the darkness ahead, but seeing no sign of it. They searched around, looking for something that would point out just what they were dealing with. Jason's hands were wreathed in Gaia's power, as he could sense that they were dealing with something powerful.

"There!" Phalmina exclaimed.

"Where?" Jason asked, craning his head this way and that.

"Right there!" the fairy told him, pointing.

Jason followed her finger and saw something on the edge of a tree. It looked like blackened mushrooms or fungus, which had wrapped itself around a tree. He almost scoffed until he saw the blackness move! His eyes popped wide open as he saw the subtle shift of the mold as it moved, overtaking the lower part of the tree.

"Fuck! This is some serious shit!" Sheena yipped. "Seen enough, Jason?"

"More than enough! Let's get out of here!" he agreed, fear etched onto his face.

The three of them headed back to the house, eager to be out of the forest. They kept their wits about them, not wanting to stumble onto or into anything dangerous. Jason kept looking over his shoulder, as though he could sense something was following them. Both Phalmina and Sheena could feel it too, and turned to see something leaping out of the foliage.

"Jason, look out!" Sheena screamed.

Jason turned and something lunged at him, nearly on top of him. He brought his hands up, the Gaian magic flaring to life. A strangled cry emanated from the creature as it squealed in pain. Jason fell to his back, but quickly scrambled to his feet, invoking what defensive magic came to mind. Phalmina and Sheena joined him, bringing their magic out and at the ready.

In front of them stood a squat creature which almost looked like a skeleton. It was thin and decrepit, much like a zombie would be. It possessed no eyes, had little bits of flesh dangling on its bony frame and teeth that looked like they belonged on a shark. It snarled at them, as though it was angry for interrupting its fun.

"What the fuck is that?!?" Jason growled.

"It... almost looks like... a child!" Sheena gasped.

"It's powered by Dark Magic! Be careful!" Phalmina warned.

Almost on cue, the child-beast leaped again, its target changing to Phalmina this time. On reflex, the fairy used her magic to blast it, sending it flying. The bolt of energy caused a hole to form in its torso, and it smashed into a nearby tree with a crunch. It collapsed to the ground, much of the fight taken from it.

The beast looked defeated as it barely had enough energy to kneel, much less stand upright. It then uttered a cry, a high, piercing note, which had everyone cover their ears, it was so painful to hear. Additional cries echoed through the forest, and the three of them could hear... whatever they were. The underbrush rustled and snapped as the sound of those creatures got closer.

"Damn it! Fucking thing called for help," Jason growled as he invoked Runes of Stoneskin for the girls and himself.

"I told you coming out here was a terrible idea!" Sheena yelled as she prepped a few defensive spells of her own.

"Chew my ass out over this, after we get back to the house!" Jason told her.

"If we can get back there!" Phalmina shouted as she pointed behind them. More rustling and sound carried through the bushes, coming from behind them now.

"Shit! They're surrounding us!" Jason groaned.

Seconds after he said that, more of the same creatures rushed out of the bush. They were in various states of decay, some more like living skeletons than others. Some appeared almost human, if it hadn't been for the pits of blackness that replaced their eyes. They yelled and gibbered at the trio, before they surged in and attacked, biting and clawing at the living beings.

Jason shouted, and he unleashed a wave of earth, engulfing the creatures and slowing them down. Phalmina used her fairy magic to conjure a wave of air, which sent the child-beasts flying like leaves in a gale. Sheena shouted and invoked a blast of water at one group, the force of which was enough to shatter some creatures.

Many of the creatures were caught up in these magical attacks, but some were quick enough to evade them. They danced in, clawing at the legs of the intruders, howling with glee. Jason cried out in pain and brought his foot up, then down on one of the child-beasts, crushing it. Phalmina took to the air, hovering just out of reach. Sheena, however, was pissed and unleashed a blast of fire at the offending creatures.

They then lit up like kindling, the flames engulfing their forms. They howled in pain and ran from the vengeful Shaman, not wanting to suffer from her wrath. Sheena blinked a few times before what she did registered with her mind. The moment it did, she changed up her magic from defensive to offensive.

"Use fire! It hurts them!" Sheena told her friends.

"Got it!" Jason replied, tuning his magic from earth to fire based.

Using his mind to create the projection of what he wanted, the runes formed out of the magic. He then pulled them into being, forming the spell needed to drive the evil creatures away. Jason pushed out with his hands and a tidal wave of fire erupted from them, engulfing the creatures. Many of them howled in pain and fear, running from the Druid as fast as they could.

"Damn! Good job babe!" Sheena enthused, watching Jason's impressive magical display.

"Still need to clear a path to the house!" he told her.

"I've got this!" Phalmina growled.

Embraced her magic, using a technique similar to Jason's, but with her own unique flair. Instead of forming a wave of magical fire, the fairy woman made it into more of a twister. The creatures kept their distance from it, but it did little good. Phalmina then waved her hand and the fire then... erupted, splashing outwards, catching the creatures in its blast. They howled and cleared the area, scampering for the depths of the woods.

"Now's our chance! Let's go!" the fairy woman told her friends.

Not needing to be told twice, the trio ran for it, the fire not even touching them. Jason turned for a second, to see if any were following him, but saw nothing. Relieved, he kept on the girl's rear, staying close enough to protect them, if they needed his help. Soon the house was in sight, and they breathed a sigh of relief as they passed the barrier.

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The fire in the forest soon went out, as because of its magical nature, it wouldn't keep for long. Among the smoldering ruins of the trees and underbrush lay dozens of creatures that had attacked the Gaians. Most of them were little more than charred ash and bone, while others barley clung to their pitiful existence. They chittered and moaned, doing what they could to head back into the forest.

It was just then that a figure stepped out of the depths of the forest, rage painted across her features. The figure was that of a woman, but she wasn't human, as she had no flesh to speak of. No, she was a Meliae, an ash tree Nymph, a type of mythical being often referred to or thought of as 'tree people'. Though she was a creature of the forest, she wasn't one of those kindly ones, but a dark corruption of what Gaia created her to be.

She stood at well over six feet in height, willowy in her build, and was pretty enough. She would have been considered attractive, had it not been for the way her eyes looked. They were blacker than ink, looking like she'd suck your soul into their depths. Her hair was the same color and her clothes comprised burned and rotting tree bark, which covered most of her form.

What sections of her that saw the light of day were white, paler than a slug beneath a rock. She appeared to be fit and moved with a grace that would be considered ethereal. Where she walked, anything green and growing sickened and withered, eventually falling down dead. She glided over to the remnants of the beast-children and tsked to herself.

"Fighting the intruders was what you were made to do, my children. But, these intruders, you should have waited for me. They would not have gotten away, had you waited," she purred, more annoyed than angry. "Now, stop your lazing about and rise."

Black energies flared in her hands, the tendrils of which reached out to the broken and blackened forms of the children. The Dark Magic did what she commanded it to do, and it reanimated the children from their broken and burned forms. Like a macabre caricature of life, these forms rose up, ready to do harm and mischief once again. Some children did not rise, but that was because their bones had been burned to ash.

"Some of you are now gone. This is what happens when you don't wait for your mother!" she said, scolding the beast-children as they stood. They all looked away from her, ashamed of themselves for not doing as they should have done.

"Though I cannot be angry at you for very long. It wasn't your fault that these people were... Gaians," she replied as she spat the word. "They are the ones responsible for hurting your brothers and sisters this badly."

The beast-children then stared up at her, happy at the forgiveness she was granting them. They stared and gibbered at her in adoration as she touched and stroked them as she passed by.

"Let us make these... intruders, pay for what they've done! No one hurts my children and lives to tell the tale!" she growled, exhorting the children. They all yipped and gibbered happily, ready to take their vengeance on the Gaians who had dared to hurt them.

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"That's the last one," Jason said as Sheena used her magic to heal a deep gash in his love's leg.

"I told you going out there was an awful idea!" Sheena said, berating him.

"Yeah, you've made your point! The only thing we should concern ourselves with is what do we do now?" Jason groused.

"What we need to do is leave! We will need help if we're going to take on creatures that are made with Dark Magic! Especially once we confront their creator!" Phalmina stated.

"We're not leaving! Not yet, at any rate," Sheena told her lovers.

"What? weren't you the one saying that we needed to get help in the first place?" Jason growled.

"Yes, but you also had a point about knowing what's out there," Sheena admitted. "Now that we know, we need to do something more, to keep them from overwhelming us. Or worse, growing outside the forest."

"Sheena makes an excellent point, Jason. We should do something to prevent them from leaving," Phalmina pointed out.

"What's saying they haven't left already?" Jason questioned.

"None of us could feel the presence of Dark Magic outside the property. Whatever is going on here, it's obvious that the magic that is here, somehow contains those creatures," Phalmina reasoned.

"It's still here, but I can feel the magic... weakening," Sheena agreed.

"So, what did you have in mind? Empower what's already here?" Jason asked, thinking along those lines.

"Yes. If you and Mina would help me with that, it could buy us some time to figure out what exactly is going on here," Sheena told him.

"Sound plan. Who leads the chant? Me?" Jason wondered.

"No. It will have to be me. I can... sense the magic here as... something I am... familiar with. I don't know how else to word it," Sheena explained.

"All right. You lead, Mina and I will lend our magic to help," Jason agreed.

Phalmina nodded, and the trio joined hands as Sheena embraced her Shamanistic magic. She called upon the power of the Wolf, to grant her the knowledge and strength to protect this place. The Wolf answered, directing the path upon which her magic had to flow. Sheena followed Wolf's guidance, finding the pathway the Shaman from before had laid down, traversing along it herself.

The magic poured out of her, reigniting the sigils and runes of protection. She felt the mark of the Shaman who had come from before. Those of the Crow, the Eagle, the Bear, pouring their magic into this land, to keep it safe and hidden away. Their runes and sigils came to life, empowered by the Wolf, but also by the magic of the Fae and of Gaia herself.

The additional power gave the protection a strength it hadn't had since its creation. Where it was weak before, it was now strong, hearty and ready to defend against any who would come against it. It drew much power and magic from the trio, fortifying its defense, making it a bulwark against anything... unnatural. The flow of magic then slowed before it petered out, the spell finished with them.

"Hooo! That was... a bit draining," Jason commented, feeling slightly weakened.

"It was, but I can feel how much stronger this place is now!" Phalmina tittered.

Jason had to admit that Phalmina was right, as he could feel the magic much more clearly now. Sheena had been right, as he could now sense a particular... essence, in the magic itself. It wasn't Druidic or Fae in nature, which meant Shaman magic. One with a much deeper connection than he thought possible.

"Now, I think we should get out of here. This place should be safe for us to return to. Provided that no one gets any bright ideas," she said with a pointed look at Jason.

"Hey, no need to tell me twice! Those little fucks are dangerous! I'm not headed out there without some serious backup and some better knowledge of what we're up against," Jason told her, raising his hands in surrender.

"Smart boy. Sheena, you have your keys?" Phalmina asked.

"Right here!" Sheena said, jingling the keys.

In a matter of seconds, the trio were in the car and gone, more than ready to put some distance behind them. Though they knew the protections would do their job, they needed to get their friends to help. There was no way they were heading back there without additional firepower and most importantly, knowledge of what they were dealing with.

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The Dark Nymph walked forward, the grounds for the house coming into sight. She stood there and smirked, knowing that it wouldn't be long before the barrier came down. She and her children had been stuck in this wretched forest for decades. Only now, when the magic had weakened enough, was there some glimmer of hope. Hope for them to leave this prison and to spread the darkness beyond this place.

She halted for a moment, sensing that something was amiss. She couldn't sense the magic, as she knew, but there was something... telling her that something was wrong. Before she could deduce what exactly was going on, she watched one of her children walk forward, past the barrier. What followed next terrified her beyond all belief.

The child, who had once been a young boy of seven years old in life, was enveloped in the green energy of Gaia. He wailed in pain and sadness as his existence ended. His body withered and crumbled, becoming ashes and dust in a matter of seconds. The Dark Magic, which granted him the gift of Undeath, was driven from him and cast away from the land. A final, feeble cry escaped the boy, before he collapsed, gone forever.

The Nymph was filled with fear as she saw what followed the boy's 'death'. Everything that he was swirled upwards in a movement of green magic, taking the shape of who he had been in life. His spirit, which had been bound to the bones, was finally free, and he looked down at his hands, touched his face and smiled. He then looked up at the Nymph and waved at her, looking saddened, before he vanished into the earth, Gaia claiming his spirit.

"Stop! Do you all want to vanish and die?!?" she called out, halting the children.

Some of them were fascinated by what had happened to their brother and thought about joining him in peace. But none of them dared disobey their mother, who maintained complete control over them. She growled softly, knowing what had thrown her off. Somehow, the Gaians were more powerful than what they appeared to be. Powerful enough to breathe life back into the protections on this place.

She cried out in rage and frustration, believing they had been so close to finally becoming free! Now, she had to contend with these Gaians, who had reinforced the door in which they had hoped to escape. The Dark Nymph dared not even stick her hand out to the protective barrier, as she was certain that death waited for her as well. She ordered her children back into the forest and went with them.

She grumbled the whole way, knowing that it would likely be awhile before they could get out of this forest. She only hoped that these Gaians would come back, and if they did, then she could devise a plan to kill them. Their deaths would be the only way they would lift the protection, and the Dark Nymph was already formulating ways in which she would accomplish this.

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Karla was sitting at the local Starbucks, enjoying her coffee, while waiting for her guest to arrive. She had spoken at length with the fairy, Emalia, and they had become fast friends in the month that followed. It was more than a little... interesting, being friends with a real, live fairy. It was nothing at all like the fairy tales she had grown up with, but an eye-opening experience to be sure.

One of the first things was that she realized was much of what humanity knew had been... watered down. Many things about fairies that had been assumptions were debunked, but some things held true. A couple of which was how attractive fairies were and also how... mischievous they could be.

Already, both she and her aunt had been on the receiving end of Emalia's jokes. They were harmless pranks, which eventually had everyone in stitches afterwards. Karla smiled in amusement as she straightened her white sundress while sipping her coffee. It was just that that Emalia flounced in, catching everyone's attention.

The fairy woman's outfit comprised a tight red camisole, khaki booty shorts, and flip-flops. While the outfit itself was fairly modest for the weather, it fit Emalia like a second skin. This didn't go unnoticed by every male in the coffee shop, even those who were with a girlfriend, wife or fiancé. Even some women couldn't help but stare, as the fairy's beauty was rarely matched.