────── Fenrir ──────
Summer 5, 125
An average statured aelf moved around the small conference room and said, ”upon arriving to our destination we are to annihilate the enemy, focusing on any air-borne forces first.” He paused, “leadership does not want this enemy pushing out from the mountains.”
He pointed at the markings with a large circle around it, indicating the location of the cave that Vokhai were suspected to be in. Once they are destroyed we will direct our firepower to the rest of the enemy.”
Those around the table began to shuffle their feet. “I want all of you to gather your things. We leave in 3 minutes.” Everyone saluted and hurried out of the tent. Fenrir was the only one who remained.
“How many are there?” she asked.
The aelf remained silent and then slowly began, “there are easily a couple hundred enemy troops making their way through the tunnels. If we confronted them head on we would be sure to sustain some losses. This is why our men will sneak up on them from an alternate route while your treants engage from the front. I hear you have a big one now. We need you to position it outside the cave mouth to catch anyone who tries to escape.”
The Vokhai were a fierce lot known for their relentlessness. Two years ago, the aelves ordered to infiltrate and assassinate this new Vokhai warband leader who was increasingly aggressive. This very same aelf and a unit of faelnir took to the caves to root out the problem. It took 3 long months to find their base of operations. They had battled for weeks and every single faelnir had died in the process.
Things were different this time. They had intelligence, they had treants. This wouldn’t take nearly as long as it did last time. Terrarri had painstakingly mapped out the entire area that the Vokhai now resided and through clever positioning had helped Fenrir direct her treants to literally every avenue of escape, except those created on the fly with enemy terra magic. Fenrir mentally commanded her treants to march forwards fearlessly towards the Vokhai who were probably just now aware that something was wrong.
Meanwhile, Fenrir and the troops were far, far away. They’d boarded a grovewright crafted machine propelled by spinning leaves that carried them through the air. As the scenery whipped past Fenrir, she read through the details of the previous mission. The fourteen aelves were making good time as they continued towards the mountains. Their leader was in front, with Fenrir following on his left. The other members followed in pairs forming a V shape. Just ahead was a ridge.
“We’re ready,” reported Fenrir through one of her fetches that would relay that message to interested parties across the country. “We’re approaching the ridge now.” Shortly following, each member checked off until all fourteen aelves had signaled they were ready. Their pilot lowered their altitude to a couple feet off the ground then everyone jumped out.
“How’s it going down below?” someone asked.
Fenrir closed her eyes and sifted between the various treants. She switched from one to another to see what they were perceiving. As expected, the mass of soldiers had spooked the Vokhai and they were rapidly moving towards the tunnels on the upper level. The main entrance and exit was the cave mouth which Fenrir’s colossus was stationed at. They were fucked no matter what they decided to do, but the tacticians back home had expected them to make a new tunnel and to head up towards the surface.
The scene above ground was quiet except for the occasional chirp of the local birds. The sun had just broke over the horizon casting is glow upon the ridge. Most of the gnoll warriors above ground were fast asleep. A few scouts roamed the area, some on foot and others on small mounts. Those that were awake did not notice the shadows dropping over the mountainous ridge to the south.
As the shadows dropped down the mountainside, they started to break off, surrounding the scouting camp. Fenrir headed to the south end of the camp, where her birds had spotted some kind of equipment storage building. An aelf in charge of keeping her protected followed close behind. The other members had separated and were now position in various points around the camp. Each waited for the signal to attack.
“Quietly”, Fenrir whispered as she came up to the tent, which was sure to house something dangerous. Weapons at a minimum and who knows what other deadly devices. The aelf behind her cast some spells as Fenrir crept along with her gun held at the ready. They’d approached from the rear and could easily see the two guards outside the tent’s front entrance and a third was walking a perimeter around the tent. There was a faint glow from inside the tent, sure enough, someone was inside.
”Possibly taking a break?” assumed Fenrir as she primed her gun to fire. She turned and signaled with a tilt of her head.
The other aelf then floated to behind a large boulder at the back of the tent and waited as he watch Fenrir advance to her first target. The gnoll warrior was making his second trip around the tent. In his hands was a crossbow. He rounded the rear corner of the tent and as he passed a large boulder then his thoughts suddenly stopped. The weapon in his claws dropped to the ground and he was unable to look down to retrieve it. Instead his eyes began to blur as a liquid ran down the front of his face, burning his eyes. There was no noise of alarm that escaped the gnolls mouth. The creature tried to move his body but it would not respond. The burning sensation subsided and in moments his view clouded as he fell into a slumber.
The body of the Vokhai fell to the ground right out of view of the others. Fathom combined with zephyr was a hell of a combo. Fenrir surveyed the area for any activity that might indicate the enemy was aware of their presence. Satisfied that they still unseen, Fenrir slowly crept forwards.
“One down,” she communicated via fetch, ”at least three more to go.” Fenrir wiped the sweat from her brow and proceeded alongside the inside tent. Still hovering above the ground, she could hear the two guards having a conversation in a language that she could not understand. Fenrir signaled to her partner that she was going to make her move. And disappeared around the corner.
The aelf waited as he heard a muffled groan and some shuffling. There was a clank, maybe the sound of a weapon hitting the ground. He watched the glow in the tent vanquish and in moments a line appeared at the rear wall of the tent. The line started at the top and slid down, parting the fabric to make a rear entrance. Fenrir’s hand further widened the opening which allowed aelf to enter the tent from the rear.
There were a few airshot sounds from inside the tent when Fenrir got spotted. Airshot wasn’t great at doing much of anything against armored opponents. Fenrir needed help, and she got it. The other aelf come in and used zephyr to sweep them off their feet then used ensorcelled terra spells to spear them through the head. Now they could dispose of the weapons storage. Fenrir nodded in thanks as the other aelf pulled out a small round device. This device was a high capacity fulgur powered explosive.
Fenrir left the tent through the self made exit and shortly after her partner followed, minus one explosive device. The two retreated back up the ridge, making their way to another tent on the opposite side of where they were just at. Fenrir checked through her fetches to see that the other members had already taken out several sentries.
Once enough time had passed, the ensorcelled explosive finally went off. A loud explosion rang through the enemy camp. The tent that housed the weapons was engulfed in flames as flames and smoke rose into the air. Many Vokhai warriors flooded out of their tents. They just watched as the flames from the explosion licked at the sky.
And so it began. The treants down below forced the Vokhai up above ground. They flooded out of tunnels they made on the fly with Terra while others moved out of the main entrance only to be blocked by a collosal treant. Fenrir’s companions worked their magic as well, killing so many of them in the process. Over the course of the next hour, the thick smell of death floated throughout the enemy camp.
The occasional scream of pain rang through the empty, destroyed tents. This was the sound of someone being tortured. The Vokhai camp was littered with the bodies of the fallen. It hadn’t been long but their enemies’ numbers were reduced to a few stragglers, who were being hunted down methodically.
Fenrir made her way around the camp. Each turn around a tent revealed another tent. Some splattered with blood, others completely destroyed. She rounded a final tent and stopped. Just beyond some flames she saw someone hiding behind a pile of debris.
Surrounded by bodies, flame and the ravages of war, an out of place looking faelnir stood in a ready stance, blade in his right hand. Fenrir could almost feel his desperation as he backed into a corner. He was in front of two Vokhai warriors that were using him as a meat shield. The faelnir one charged at Fenrir’s treants, yelling in a language that she couldn’t understand. Her treant moved in front of her to intercept the attacker that leapt into the air, raised its sword above it’s head, and came down on it.
Fenrir watched, calculating the Vokhai while their meat shield struggled. As the faelnir leapt into the air, the treant leaned forward to absorb the attack. It was hard to out-muscle a hunking mass of wood and flesh. The faelnir was smashed into and put onto his back, but spun his legs catching the treant in the leg. He then leapt back onto his feet and charged Fenrir.
The treant lazily held out an arm to grab the faelnir then hurled him at the gnolls. The gnolls slashed the body as it came closer then stepped forward. They ran at the treant in unison, assaulting their opponent with a flurry of kicks and stomps. Their enemy was large, but lacked speed and apparently any fighting skills. With each hit, the treant’s body chipped away.
Fenrir took the time to aim airshots at the gnolls, not really having much luck at hitting either of them but she was enjoying how the mere threat of getting shot was making them slip up. The smaller gnoll paused as his brother got grabbed by the treant and choked to death. Realizing the power of his enemy, the Vokhai rethought its strategy.
The Vokhai hissed as he searched for any signs of life in his brother when his body was tossed to the ground… but no, he’d died. Fully enraged, the gnoll reached into it belt and pulled out a small vial. Fenrir noticed some movement below and watched as the gnoll raised it’s hand to its snout and then back down.
”What the hell?” Fenrir asked herself.
The gnoll threw the vial to the ground and coughed because the liquid tasted of tar. Soon the Vokhai fell to the ground as it’s body spasmed out of control. The small gnoll man’s body pulsated and with each spasm its muscles increased, stretching and expanding into greenish, scaly skin.
The Vokhai warrior smashed it’s fists against its chest and growled as it ran to meet with the treant. Lowering it’s arms, the razor sharp claws extended, as the warrior continued its sprint.
Another aelf swung by, noting the strange transformation the gnoll had undergone. He held out his hand and launched a ball of flames at the gnoll’s back causing him to stumble forward and reach for the burns on it’s back. The Vokhai looked around again and saw nothing, just tattered tents, dead bodies, and other groups of warriors battling it out. Suddenly the gnoll’s feet were pulled from under it and the Vokhai fell to the ground, looking up to see an aelf flying in the sky.
Smiling, the aelf unsheathed his blade and came down on the beast with great speed. The fallen gnoll whipped out it’s hand and disarmed the aelf with one quick move. The aelf frowned and swerved to avoid crashing into the vokhai.
The gnoll scrambled to its feet then turned to the treant that was already coming up on him. They exchanged blows, both countering each other’s attacks. They were soon back on their feet, squaring off for another assault. The Vokhai warrior threw a left hook, claws extended. It watched as Fenrir’s treant ducked under it and slammed his elbow into it’s body. Spit flew from the gnoll’s mouth as the blow rocked its body.
Fenrir relaxed a moment and then tensed her eyes calculating whether or not her treant could win. It was clearly less skilled in combat and now that their masses were more similar it was probably not going to go well for her. That being said, she had so many more treants ready to go. Dozens of them marched up from the sidelines. Fenrir commanded one trenat to spring forward and it quickly rotated its waist and slammed its fist into the same spot that the other’s elbow had hit. This blow contained even more power as Fenrir urged her treant on.
Its body creaked and groaned as it rotated once more, sending its other fist into the gut of the Vokhai warrior. The sidelined aelf thrust his hands forward and a gust of wind sent the gnoll through the air and crashed through several tents, before coming to a stop.
More aelves arrived to deal with this gnoll. They came at it with great speed, leaving dust kicking up into the air. As they approached, the enhanced gnoll flexed his muscles and brought his right foot around to deliver a blow to one of them.
Another aelf lifted his legs and slammed them into the gnoll’s chest. The hit was precise and the impact sent him staggering several feet away, sliding across the dirt. As he came to a stop, he flipped to his feet and leapt into the air. The aelves had anticipated the move and upon sending him across the ground, one had already gotten to his feet and ran to grab his foot as he attempted to leap onto the edge of the ridge. The aelf slammed the gnoll’s body into the soft dirt after which the gnoll was finally finished off by a myriad of weapons. The beast was on his knees, both his palms digging into the ground. With each pound into his back, side and head, he let out a yell. With each, his anger increased but there was no point. He was defeated.
Fenrir slowly walked towards the victim. "What in the world was that vial filled with," she thought to herself as he was joined by some of the aelves.
“Better late than never,” commented Fenrir.
The aelf chuckled, ”looks like you handled yourself just fine.”
Laughing , the two approached the dead warrior, it’s inside sprawled on the ground and a large cavity in it’s stomach.
Satisfied, Fenrir turned to the aelf. “Let’s go regroup and report in.”
A few hours later and the aelves had all done their respective tasks. There were so many bodies laying about and it was a shame that Fenrir didn’t have the reserves to make good use of them. And they were much too far from her grove to realistically transport them.
”Attacking these gnolls before they even got to mount their own attack… quite a successful mission,” said someone in a nearby tent. His voice lowered to a whisper as Fenrir walked in.
The aelf got up from a stool and began to talk to her, ”I am glad to see your treants in action. I’ve heard stories about how you fight but I’ve never seen your creations in person.”
Fenrir declined the chair that aelf offered and nodded, “we all played our part.”
There were only nine aelves left. The others had already gotten called away to do other duties, like investigating the underground network. They wouldn’t go too far as that would be too dangerous, but they could scope out the top levels. Eventually they would send treants down, piloted by Deadsight.
“We have overpowered these Vokhai fools and what survivors that did manage to escape will be hunted down and destroyed.” stated their leader.
Hoots and hollers erupted from the aelves. The sides of the tent waved from the force of the drinking and celebration that ensued. This was a fairly important job to have done, though it was a regular occurrence. Eliminating Vokhai was a full time job on its own. They multiplied and festered down below and whenever they grew to a critical mass they would attack and raid. So even though the aelves would prefer to not have to attack at all… it was necessary to do so. There was already a place for vokhai to congregate at, a whole city in fact that the aelves had let be for far too long in Fenrir’s opinion.
Fenrir didn’t celebrate much. She sat in a chair and sat back with her eyes closed. She spent hours sifting through the various treants she had, making sure all was well and keeping an eye on the populace. There were several aelves she was interested in due to intelligence that they might be breaking the law and she hated having to deal with aelven criminals.
