Nature's Wrath

Nature. It is a curious and precarious balance. There are those who believe omnipotence is to credit for its dawning, just as there are those who theorize its existence through the documentation of evolution and natural occurrences. Through thorough examination of the land; its lofty trees, rich greenery and brilliant vibrance, it can be concluded that whatever the cause of such majesty, it is a force to behold. There are many a tale of those who dare to face against its extreme elements, as well as word for those who have fallen victim to its inescapable wrath. However, there is but a single tale that stands above all others: throughout the land, whispers of a man named Darius echo like the clashing of lightning and earth; tremulous rumor of a battle-hardened druid accompanied by a canine companion – a vicious wolf clad in fur as white as the heavens and ice-blue eyes that could pierce the skies with sheer intensity. These particular rumors seemed to infect the population of the strife-afflicted country of Tan'riel like that of a pandemic, as the land itself was wrought with corruption; entire villages being burned to the ground while the bloodcurdling screams of the innocent sound a death rattle that echoes throughout a once proud and prosperous nation.
         
Three decades had since passed, and all of Tan'riel lived in absolute horror of the unknown – an enigmatic beast that had mysteriously surfaced from the hellish depths of the earth's core to feast and prey upon an unfortunate populous, or so it is rumoured. In actuality, its origins are unknown, and all that is truly known about the beast is its relentless brutality that has swept the nation for far too long. However, on one fateful day, a shining beacon of light arrived to penetrate the overwhelming darkness; none other than Darius himself had arrived to the origin of the problem – the corruption situated in the far east of the continent. This itself was quite apparent, as the further you traveled in that direction, the land was noticeably desolate; it was as if death itself had physically manifested and deeply rooted itself in to the once fertile soil, siphoning the life from all surrounding plants and trees. The landscape was bleak; clouds constantly shadowed the gray and stormy skies, bringing about an eerie silence to the sun's warmth. Darius and his wolf companion now walked amidst these desperate lands, and through simple observation, it was concluded that the area was completely ravished. The soil beneath their feet was loose and dry, crumbling away like that of a fading monument. The air was unusually arid as well; it caused Darius' lips to crack and bleed due to lack of moisture. The hero of legends found himself treading a worn and beaten forest pathway, and his surroundings filled his heart with resentment.

The pathway was strewn with leafless, withered old trees, and the thought of its once dominant and beautiful stature only fed his primal anger even further. However, Darius' appearance did not fit the part – even though his heart was as pure as his intent, the man stood at nearly seven leagues tall, and his weather-beaten face itself told of constant battle and hardships. His jet-black hair messily draped his shoulders, and his equally formidable beard nearly reached his knees. Darius knelt to the ground before him and took what appeared to be a withered flower in to close observation; he carefully sifted it in to the palm of his hand, feeling its cracking and crumbling properties. All life was precious to this man, and it filled his heart with great sorrow to witness such a vile act against nature and all that he himself stood for.

“... Akela... my faithful companion... I have not witnessed such shameful destruction of nature for many years... the beast behind this atrocity... simply cannot be one of God's creations...”

Darius uttered solemnly, as he calmly shut his eyes, clasping his hand in to a fist; one that was resolute on stopping what evil had arisen, while at the same time lamenting over the loss of both man and nature. He then slowly and carefully opened his palm, only to reveal that the once wilted flower was now brimming once more with life, its colour and hue now vibrant and violently clashing with the hostile environment surrounding it – the disgusting brown that the land had become so accustom to. Akela, Darius' fur-bound friend also felt the misery that plagued the land, and whimpered at its invaluable loss. Darius forced himself to his feet and to once again carry on – the two fate-bound partners pressed forward, and left blossoming flowers in their very wake; it seemed that life sprung from all that touched the mysterious duo. Such a feat was to be expected of Darius, the fabled hero, as his many exploits had often been recited through a bard's song or a dwarves' tale in many of the local taverns amidst Tan'riel; the tale of the King Chimera being the most renowned of all. It was common knowledge that Darius, along with his trusty companion Akela, hunted and downed the notorious Chimera King Bellerophon, whose labyrinth was said to be located within the deepest reaches of hell itself. It is said that Bellerophon spanned the size of an elder dragon and was twice as fierce; its lion, goat, and snake-like attributes enhanced far beyond imagination. The battle spanned for a period of two days, leaving the soil sullied with mounds of fresh blood and flesh, a battle so gore-garnished that Darius' hair and Akela's fur was dyed stark-red by the time their perilous task was completed. The respective King of Tan'riel offered endless riches and trinkets beyond mortal comprehension as compensation for their heroic deeds, though Darius, as humble a man as he was, rejected the gift and claimed that purifying the land of evil was the greatest honor he could possibly achieve.

With this etched in Darius' mind, he pressed forward through the rough and beaten path with Akela at his side, toting his battle-axe over his shoulder as he took in to account the conditions surrounding him – it seemed that they were beginning to tread the deepest reaches of the God-forsaken forest, as with each passing moment the environment became darker and more hellish than ever. Alas, the pair finally came to an open forest meadow, though it was twisted and deformed beyond all belief and mortal comprehension. Darius let out a chilling gasp, and his firm grip loosened, sending his axe asunder and in to the damp earth beneath his feet. What he saw before him finally brought this fabled situation in to a manifested state of reality, and he ultimately realized the severity of the situation. It however did not seem like reality, but more like a hellish nightmare that one could never escape. The soil was stained with gallons of blood, and much worse, the warped meadow before him was matted with thousands upon thousands of fresh and rotten corpses alike; hell vines twisted and twirled about the unfortunate civilians and the like of mutated crows and rats feasted upon their rancid flesh. The air was heavy with the most stifling of odours; one that could knock the air from your lungs and rip the consciousness from your very being; cleverly coordinated carcasses and the remains of otherworldly beings made the oxygen nearly unbreathable. Stomach cavities were exposed and skulls cleaved in two; the ground wore entrails as its festive decorations.

“... In all my life, I have never once entered such an unholy and repulsive lair! The beast whom is responsible for these innumerable deaths... the beast that has done such injustice to the mortal realm... he will pay in full with his blood!”

Darius exclaimed with fisted hands, as he reached for his axe and ploughed it from the blood-stained soil, taking it on to his shoulder once more and gazing ahead to his newly marked target – amidst all the fallen men, there stood a massive tree with bark as black as ash; slain and gutted men hung from its branches like rag-dolls, while crows and ravens alike picked clean at the hearty corpses. More importantly, however, was the tree's size – it was large enough to house a small village or potentially more than that, though such trivial thoughts were unnecessary to Darius at that very moment. The hell-tree seemed to beckon him and ward him all at the same time; such a vile creation should not be approached by man nor beast, though an opening the size of a large building was conveniently carved in to the tree for entry purposes. Darius shot a decisive glance at his companion Akela, and both nodded with an intimate understanding of one another; the pace was set, and now both of them charged towards the entrance, tossing all fear and pretension behind them as to fight at their best without hindrance. Their hearts no longer felt heavy, as they seemed to draw strength from the lingering and vengeful souls that had been claimed by the violent onslaught of the beast. The duo breached the entrance with ease, and upon entry found the tree's cavity was pitch-black, and far beyond the adaptation of human sight. Akela, however, sung a different tune altogether;  being a wolf, her eyes did not require adjustment, as they were already destined to pierce the shadows of uncertainty and lead them to victory.

“Akela! I cannot see beyond a shadow of a doubt; my vision fails me at the most decisive of moments... I ask of you, aid me in this endeavour; without you I am perilless!”

Darius beckoned his faithful partner, and Akela answered with a firm bark; it was apparent that she did not belong to Darius as a pet, but was no less than an actual companion, with her own individual thoughts and desires. Akela brushed up against his leg to signal her approval, and Darius then crouched so he was at level with his canine companion; he brought his forehead against hers, and through a passage of rites, temporarily gained the sharp instincts of a wolf himself. Clarity was brought to his vision, and the room soon came to immediate focus; he slowly began to examine his surroundings, though all he could detect was emptiness. Darius glanced at Akela with great uncertainty, and proceeded further in to the depths of the cavernous tree, and after some keen observation, finally began to understand what sort of immediate danger he was dealing with. The inner-walls were paved with what appeared to be a thick, sticky rope-like substance, with that of a silk-white hue. He brought his hand against the foreign material, and found that he could not pull away, it had attached to him and constrained movement of his left-hand.

“I knew it! We're not dealing with any ordinary beast... we're dealing with something far more primal... something born in to this world with the most advanced hunting instincts... we're dealing with a spider...!”

Darius grimaced with impending doom, and began to writhe and wriggle from the unyielding grasp of the spider web, but it seemed to be weaved from the strongest material – it was apparent now that this was not to be a normal spider or anything of the like. At that exact moment of desperation, the situation seemed to only become more dire with each passing second, as the temperature of the room began to suddenly explode, causing the air surrounding them to twist and distort with a sudden rush of heat. Akela barked menacingly and threw her head upward, sniffing out the source of the sudden flame – the ceiling was now engulfed in hellfire, and amidst the furious flames was the largest, most fearsome spider ever documented in all history; each of its eight legs were as sharp as blades, and its back seemed to emit such fearsome jets of flames – it was no mere spider they were dealing with, that was for certain.

“... What evil... this is simply the start of a much larger problem... this was once a child of nature itself, just like you and I, but through demonic means was manipulated and transformed to the most fearsome of beasts, to do another's bidding...!”

Darius exclaimed as he continued his ultimate struggle, though before he could even break the bonds that held him, the spider grew impatient and detached itself from the ceiling, landing behind the duo and causing the earth below it to tremble with fear before its awesome power. The spider hissed and clicked its sword-esque legs together with anticipation, salivating at the thought of the bountiful meal that had so foolishly wandered in to its lair. Losing the best of its patience, the spider rushed towards them with incomprehensible speed, and then lashed out towards with its death-instruments, swinging down upon him like the reaper's decisive scythe. However, Darius' mind proved as sharp as his enemy's blades, and he managed to position himself so only the webs attached to his fist was severed, tearing him from a doomed fate and once again giving the man a gleam of hope. Darius gritted his teeth together and gripped his battle-axe with both of his hands; Akela growling and bared her fangs with displeasure at the spider's attempt to slay her greatest of friends. Darius glared with burning resolve; a flame which burned even hotter and brighter than that of the spiders, and then dashed forward with immeasurable speed, leaping in to the air with all his might and letting out a mighty battle cry.

Akela carefully coordinated herself and leapt just beneath Darius, allowing him to ricochet from the beast's back and further his leap of blind faith, jetting him towards the spider's large, fang-bearing head. He whirled towards the arachnid bravely and through great strength and concentration, buried his axe deep within its head, cutting and cleaving it in two, then spiralling towards the ground in a form of disarray and uncertainty. The spider let out a repulsive shriek that would pierce any normal mortal's eardrums, and then clumsily stumbled about the room, ultimately collapsing in to a pool of its own vile blood. However, Darius' tumble to the hard ground caused him to lose all consciousness, and at that very moment he felt overwhelming peace like none other. It was as if a wave of relief came crashing down upon him, and he became lost in its unwavering current; the battle fought was long and difficult, and indeed there is no better reward than rest and peace of mind. Akela approached Darius' unconcious body and nudged his cheek with her wet nose, and whimpered, though she herself knew that he would awaken just fine – the two were connected in the most intimate of ways; like the close ties of a tightly intermittent family. The battle was won, and good once again triumphed over evil, though the question would still beckon him the moment he awoken. What greater forces of evil were at work here, and what devastating power could possibly turn a mere spider in to a beast of burden? It was a question that would haunt him for the rest of his life.