//------------------------------// // 127. The Gods of Everfree // Story: Rebirth of the Damned // by Borsuq //------------------------------// Sixteen hours ago...   Ever since the Three Tribes had united and founded Equestria, the pegasi had known that while they could control weather everywhere else, the skies above the Everfree Forest were an exception. They could move the clouds, but they would travel by themselves. The clouds could shoot lightning when they weren’t supposed to. The pegasi had long since learned that it was best to stay well clear from the clouds above the Everfree Forest. And this morning, Knight Storm Clash of the Celestial Light learned that it wasn’t a good idea to sleep on them. He woke up with a loud yelp as the cloud on which he slept on shocked him with electricity, and he was literally jolted awake. When the shocks passed, Storm shook his head, trying to get a hold of himself and trying to locate the source of the sudden pain. Too late did he remember where he was; between the shock and shaking, Storm’s sense of balance was compromised and he fell down. The sudden sensation of falling and air hitting him in the face finally managed to wake him up completely. The paladin beat his wings and quickly stopped his fall before he collided with any of the trees below him. “Am I doomed to be the ponification of everything a pegasus is not?” he thought bitterly. “Who else could fall into a giant chasm and from a cloud in the matter of a few hours?” Storm sighed, not wanting to know an answer to that question. He decided that he should be just glad to be mostly unharmed after everything that had happened. Now properly awake, he scanned the area. “Based on those mountains on the horizon… I think I must be in the very center of the forest,” he thought, picturing in his mind that map of Equestria. After he parted ways with Daring Do and Sir Lightbringer (and Al’ar), Storm spent some time pondering his next move, while letting the wind carry him over the forest. On one hoof, he still considered that his initial assumption was right, that he had to look for the Eon Petals in something resembling a den in the heart of the forest. On the other, that train of thoughts had almost got him killed. “Okay, no more bending down to smell strange plants in dark caves, then,” Storm finally decided, shaking his head, and set off. Because no matter how bad this plan sounded, it was still the only one he had. But it wasn’t long before fatigue began to catch up with him. Despite being able to use the Holy Light to replenish himself, Storm had decided to not do that, out of fear of bringing more predators on his head. “Or rather, after my head… well, maybe insides more likely…” he wrinkled his nose in disgust. He had found a comfortable cloud to spend the rest of the night on. Storm was hoping that maybe in the light of the day he would have more luck in his quest. He ate some MRE’s that were in the small saddlebags attached to the armor Sir Lightbringer had brought him and had fallen asleep. “Until that stupid cloud hadn’t woke me up,” the pegasus thought angrily, leering at the criminal. Another lightning bolt shoot down, almost hitting him. Scared, Storm quickly dropped lower, trying to get out of the cloud’s reach. He flew through a hole in the barrier of branches and leaves, landing safely on the ground. He looked up at the crazy sky above him. “I was going to walk anyway,” he hissed before he turned his back on them. Storm checked if the Spring Binder's strap was clasped tightly and if he could reach the grip of it and of Stormfury, the dagger Sir Lightbringer gave him, easily. Satisfied, he took a deep breath and walked towards the unknown. “I will find those flowers for you, Rarity.”   He wasn’t trotting for even ten minutes before he realized that something was following him. “Alright, don’t panic,” he thought, continuing to walk as if he hadn’t noticed the quiet sounds of some animals prowling between the trees around him. “It sounds like… there’s only two of them. It should be easy to scare them off, now that I have my Spring Binder with me.” He barely thought when Storm had to jump and roll on the ground as something to his right tried to pounce on him. The paladin turned to see what his adversary was, one hoof raised and other grabbing the grip of the sword. It was a timberwolf. The monstrous beast of timber and leaves snarled, a horrid stench emanating from its mouth. It readied itself to attack the pegasus again, but Storm didn’t give it a chance. The second he registered the threat, he asked the Light to aid him, and the Light had answered. A blast of Light stunned the creature, letting Storm to concentrate on the one that tried to jump on him from behind. He whirled around, unsheathing the Spring Binder. The Light shone through the weapon as Storm brought it down on its head. In the middle of the swing he twisted the blade, so that it would hit the timberwolf with its flat side. Storm didn’t want to kill it; it was an act against a pony’s nature and his paladin teachings. Upon contact, however, the beast literally fell apart. As Storm took in the sight, scarcely believing it, the timberwolf behind him had recovered. It growled as it attacked again, but that was its mistake. The noise snapped Storm out of his shock. He reared up, and with his hind hooves, strengthened by the power of the Light, he bucked the timberwolf, making it also break down into loose branches. “This is the other kind of timberwolves,” Storm realized, nudging one of the branches with the Spring Binder. “The one that is more like spirits than beasts…” He let out a breath he hadn’t even known he’d been holding. He was relieved that he hadn’t killed an actual living creature… even if the more living-like timberwolves would have also tried to eat him. Shaking his head to put those dark thoughts behind him, Storm sheathed his sword and continued to trek towards a promising looking hill.   As the pegasus slowly left the scene of the short fight, the forest became silent in that part of it. There were no birds singing. Not even the wing sang through the foliage. Everything in the Everfree Forest had sensed something that only a few of its inhabitants could allow themselves to ignore. Her hunt had begun. The loose branches and pieces of timber, enveloped by a green aura, rose from the ground.     When about an hour later Storm found a promising looking cave, he wondered if it was a stroke of good luck, or a foreboding sign. Of course, despite the memory of how the last time things ended when he entered a cave, he still went. If there was a chance to find the Eon Petals there, he had to at least look around. He paused at the entrance, measuring it. It was big; the ceiling was about five times his height above him, and it was wide enough to allow five or six ponies standing side by side to pass through. “Well, it definitely looks like it could be the den for a forest spirit,” he thought, then once again winced at the thought about what - according to the legend - had transpired in it between the Spirit and the Hero. “Oh, get over it. It was a very long time ago, right?” He flexed his wings before he took a step forward. And then another one. Soon he was engulfed by darkness. Luckily, the gentle light that the Spring Binder emanated was more than enough to shine his way and lift his heart. Storm braved into the cave, looking around to see if there were any signs of the flowers he was searching for. However, unlike the previous cave, where there was that strange moss-like plant that had drugged him, this one seemed to have no life in it. Storm’s eyes went to the ceiling. There were several stalagmites coming down from it, which explained the soft sounds of water dropping.  “Would the Eon Petals be able to survive with just this water?” he pondered. “Hmm… That doesn’t seem likely, now that I think about it. Maybe this den isn’t a cave after all? Maybe it’s a… a gorge of some kind?” Perhaps it was due to the memory of the night before, or the general creepiness of such place, but the idea struck Storm to be closer to the truth. He was about to turn around and march out of the cave, when- Crack! His movements stopped as he heard the awful noise, coming right from under his hoof. Gulping, Storm glanced down. He had stepped on a skull of a manticore. Before he could even begin to start imagining what fate had befallen its owner, fate seemed determined to let him know that it wasn’t a natural death. Hissssssss… Storm’s eyes shot right up, Spring Binder ready in his hoof, prepared to defend himself as he looked right into the glowing, scarlet eyes of the beast which lair it was… … and realized that he couldn’t move his hooves, not even by an inch. As the horrific, cold feeling began to crept up from his hooves, Storm, who could not tear his gaze away from those awful eyes, realized what he was facing. A cockatrice. Spring Binder’s glow illuminated its features as the animal slithered closer. Storm had to stifle a shout. It was gigantic! Just its head was bigger than Storm, not to mention the rest of its body. The cockatrice spread its wing as it rose higher, still keeping the eye contact with the paladin. It stood on its chicken’s legs; Storm heard the unpleasant noise of claws scratching stone. And its long, serpent’s tail… … began to wrap around him, lifting him higher into the air. As all that was going on, Storm fought desperately to free himself. His legs were now completely changed into stone. It was a terrifying sensation; as if his legs were no longer there, as if somepony had cut them off, and in their place a chill that could freeze a heart appeared. To make this worse, Storm could feel this sensation spreading even further. His wings were still not affected by cockatrice’s gaze, but it’s tail was preventing him from flying away. And now the cockatrice opened his beak, preparing to swallow the paladin pony whole. Storm didn’t spare much time trying to ponder as to how exactly this was going to work in the beast’s mind; more than half of his body was turned to stone at this point. He wasn’t at all curious if the cockatrice stomach could digest stone, or how that skull had turned up at the cave’s floor. If he felt like it, he would ponder about those matters after the threat of being eaten was over. The paladin could no longer move, so he did the only thing he had left; prayed. Storm reached into himself, to the small flame in his heart that burned with the Holy Light. He prayed to the Holy Light to give him the strength to free himself, and the Light had answered. The small flame extended, spreading throughout his body and soul. Storm took a deep breath, and as his lungs filled with air and chest rose, the stone curse that was binding him was broken. However, he still couldn’t get away. The cockatrice’s tail was holding him. However, the foreleg which he had extended still held Spring Binder. Now that he could move it, he gripped the blade tighter and slashed the fanged beak. The cockatrice cried in pain as it took a step back. The cut was shallow, but it was still painful. Storm wasn’t waiting to see the effects of his attack, though. He quickly used the strength the Light had given him to hit the tail around him with the sword’s grip. The cockatrice’s hold loosened… and Storm just bolted out of there. Of course, the cockatrice very quickly gave chase after him. It wouldn’t have gotten as big as that if he let every meal escape that easily. But that was the problem with being so much bigger than your intended prey; you couldn’t fit in all the places it could. Storm realized it, so as soon as he was out of the cave, with the raging cockatrice hot in pursuit, he immediately dove in between the trees. He could hear the great beast tear out one tree in anger, and then it tried to follow him from above. Luckily for Storm Clash, the trees were thick with leaves in this part of the forest. The cockatrice quickly lost his trail.     “Looks like I’ve lost it,” Storm sighed with relief. He had been standing on one of the highest branches of a tree, where leaves would cover him from unfriendly eyes, looking around for the signs of the cockatrice. Storm had put some distance between himself and its cave, and it’s been a while since he could hear the great animal, but he still wanted to make sure he was safe. Satisfied, he thanked the Light, and rose above the tree-tops to scan the area. Since his epiphany in the cave, he tried to recall if he had seen any kind of gorge during one of his earlier searches. However, considering that until now the need to escape a pissed off giant cockatrice took priority, he couldn’t focus. “Let’s see…” Storm pondered, looking around. “My main focus was hills, but… I could swear that- Aha!” he thought triumphantly, seeing a small break in the tree-line. With a quick look at the clouds above him, to make sure they weren’t going to shock him again, the paladin flew straight towards the spot he noticed. He reached in a matter of seconds. Before him lied a cavity in the ground, separating two parts of the forest for about half a mile. Storm smirked, feeling certain that he was bound to find something in there. Trying to remain positive - and not think just why he hadn’t thought of this earlier - he flew right into the gorge. It was quite spacious, leaving him plenty of space in the air. There was no sign of a river at its bottom; Storm assumed that whatever stream must have carved this small canyon had dried out millenia ago. His eyes kept searching through from one side to another, trying to find- Out of the blue, he collided with something. He immediately focused and tried to regain his balance in the air… only to find out that he couldn’t. Whatever he had collided with had now trapped him, keeping him suspended in the air. It also wobbled him a bit forward and backwards, and felt really strange, as if… sticky. Storm gave out an irritated sigh. “How many more times am I going to get caught like this?” He shrugged - finding it to be very hard now - and tried to see into what kind of trap he had gotten himself into. He didn’t like what he found out. Storm gazed at the white thing that sticks to his hoof, then to another one on his wing and on another hoof. Then he tried to see how far the edge of the gorge was. “Spider web…” he muttered weakly, his brain beginning to shut down from the panic. “I’m stuck in a gigantic spider web…” He had seen one gigantic animal today; it wasn’t much of a stretch to figure out that there could be something like a gigantic spider prowling nearby. The web vibrated. Swallowing with great difficulty, Storm - who didn’t know if he was trembling due to the vibration or fear - looked down, from where the vibrations seemed to emanate. What he saw made him scream and begin to sharp violently against his restraints. From below him, from a hole hidden beneath the ground, emerged a huge black spider, with thin but long legs spread across the web. It had a blue star on its abdomen, and Storm, for the brief moment he was looking down, could swear he saw four pair of eyes look into his with hunger. No matter how hard Storm shook and jerked his legs, nothing worked. The web was stuck to his coat and armor for good. Even when he gripped the dagger Sir Lightbringer loaned him with his mouth, his situation hadn’t improved. He couldn’t cut the thread. Maybe if he had the time, he could try to saw it, but the spider was coming closer! “I’m… I’m… I’m gonna die like a fly!” Storm realized with panic. “No! This… this cannot end like this! Not here! I… I was supposed to find her a gift, I-” Storm paused, summoning Rarity’s face before his mind’s eye. Today was her birthday... “I will not die on her birthday! You hear me!?” he shouted at the spider, his resolve strengthened. His shout didn’t seem to have any effect on the arachnid, but it managed to chase away his fear. Being able to think more clearly, he once again bathed in the Holy Light. Those who walk the path of the righteous need not fear restraint, Sir Lightbringer had taught them. The web around him have dissolved. Storm once again didn’t stay around for the huge beast to catch him again. He avoided the spider’s leg, which it tried to hit him with, and flew up high, satisfied that at least this time the thing chasing him had no wings. The smirk that appeared on his muzzle disappeared as he had barely avoided colliding with another web, spread across the two ridges marking the edge of the gorge. “Son of a-” he thought before turned around and headed for the mouth of the small canyon, wondering just how he had missed it when he first saw the gorge from the sky. One would think there would be leaves or something sticking to it. However, he did not have time to glance at it and see if he was right. The gigantic spider was chasing after him, its long legs letting it keep up with the flying pegasus. The arachnid’s eyes stayed on him as it passed various rocks and trunks falls seemingly without effort. Storm reached to the Light for strength, gaining on speed. If he could just reach the mouth of the gorge, he could fly into the sky… … the sky which was now blocked by a wall of clouds with spikes. “Oh, come on!” he shouted in exasperation as he kept to the ground while the spider chased after him. It also began to spit small projectiles at him. When one flew right past his head and hit a tree before him, Storm had realized what it was. He looked back to confirm it: the spider was arching its abdomen up to spit web-missiles at him. He hastened. Storm hoped to use the similar tactic to the one he used against the cockatrice; lose the beast amongst the trees. Unfortunately for him, the trees were scare here; it looked as if this part of the Everfree Forest was converting into a marsh. There was green water below him (and below the spider), a weird, smelly scent lingered in the air, a giant green rock stood from the- Storm shot his head. That was no rock. Stopping in mid-air, he raised his eyes to look up… and up… Before him stood a gigantic, four-headed hydra. “I hate this forest!” Storm shouted as the hydra stared back at him. All four heads regarded him with surprise and hostility; they were also blinking slowly, as if they had woken up just now. Storm had realized, probably explained why he hadn’t noticed them earlier. He didn’t have much time to ponder on that, though. Behind him he could hear that hissing and rattling of the giant spider. In front of him, the four long necks straightened as hydra looked over him at… Storm felt as if the Holy Light shone brightly for a second above his head. The paladin rose slightly into the air and spread his forelegs, emanating light that dazzled and blinded both beasts. The spider continued to run, and crashed into the hydra. The four-headed monstrosity roared in rage, and one head bent down to bite two of the arachnid’s leg. The spider gave out a curious mixture of rattling and hissing noises as it spit some green substance on it. The hydra cried as in pain as its scales began to melt… But by then Storm was too far away to see those details.     “I would say ‘if I see another giant animal I’m leaving’, but I know that the very moment I do, a giant animal will try to eat me again, so…” Thoughts along those lines run through Storm’s head as he rested on a riverbank. He could still see some of the hydra’s heads above the treeline as it walked somewhere. The sounds of battle between it and the spider had toned down some time ago, though. Storm briefly wondered what had happened to arachnid, but he quickly stopped as he pondered his next move. “I’m running out of time…” he thought as he took another MRE from his saddlebags. The paladin looked up in the sky. “It’s already past noon. I have just a few more hours to find the Eon Petals if I want to make it in time.” Unfortunately for him, it looked like he was going to be delayed a few minutes more. From behind him he heard a twig snap. Storm turned around, readying his blade. What he saw almost made him smile. Instead of gigantic monsters that he would prefer to see from the safety of the local cinema, stood about ten timberwolf. Of course, it wasn’t exactly a pleasant sight, especially considering their numbers. Neither less intimidating were their wooden fangs that they bared at him, nor were their claws. Their poisonous breaths - Storm was almost positive about that one, nothing that smelled this bad could be healthy - also left many to be desired. The paladin, however, was simply relieved that he had to face foes roughly his size. Also, because he could see that they were identical to the pair that attacked him a few hours ago, he knew he could go all out. The first three timberwolves leaped at him right from the start. Storm used the power of the Light to stun the one trying to flank him from the right and focused on the other two. Spring Binder sang as it cut the air and timberwolf’s head off. The rest of its body immediately crumbled. Storm turned around so that his hind hooves where just in the right position for him to buck this “strike group’s” remaining timberwolf. Quickly dispatching the one that he stunned earlier, Storm noticed that the remaining timberwolves had formed a circle around him. They cut him from the river and were coming closer very quickly, probably to not give him the time to fly into the air. Storm summoned the Light to hit all his enemies around him. He swung his blade again and again, blasted them with the Holy Light and bucked them with his hooves. The timberwolves, all seven of them, having sustained damage from the storm of Light he had unleashed, fell easily. The last one managed to get a drop on Storm. It pounced on him and was about to sink its fangs into his neck. In the last moment Storm managed to grab Stormfury and pierce the spirit’s neck. Breathing heavily after the exertion, Storm shrug off the pieces of timber and stood up. He wondered why he hadn’t simply just flown away. “I guess I just wanted some revenge on the forest,” he realized with a chuckle, but then scowled. Revenge was beneath the paladins. Shaking his head, Storm trotted over to the river, wanting to splash some water on his face to cool off and clean himself. He had to get a grip; he had a quest to complete. Going around relieving some stress on weird nature spirits or whatnot wouldn’t get him anywhere. “Not that I am going anywhere at the moment,” Storm thought darkly as he splashed some water against his face. “How am I supposed to find the Eon Petals in time? In this gigantic forest? I mean, it’s not like I thought that I would just stumble upon a road sign, but still…” he mused, standing on the edge of the riverbank, looking at his reflection. Suddenly, he blinked. “Wait, did something moved in there?” He leaned closer to the water, trying to see through it… The speed with which the humongous jaws shot from the water was astonishing. Storm barely had the time to cast the Light’s shield around him as the two sets of very sharp fangs tried to rip him to shreds. The beast - which Storm suspected to be a cragadile (and a rather big one at that, because why not) - increased the pressure of its bite and turned around its own axis. The paladin, though slightly dizzy, managed to retain enough of sense amidst the terror to point a hoof into the depths of the cragadile’s mouth and blasted it with the Holy Light. The beast roared as it parted its jaws. Storm immediately took advantage of the fact and flew into the sky, out of the reach of the cragadile. The animal glared at him from the water as he hovered in the air, trying to calm down his heart after the traumatic experience. After a few minutes, the cragadile turned away and, submerging under the water, it swam away against the river’s current. The paladin sighed with relief. “My, what an unruly display.” Storm blinked. Did he really hear that, or was it his mind playing tricks on him? He turned around, expecting… well, he wasn’t sure what exactly he expected to be able to talk within the Everfree Forest. Certainly not that, however. A little further down the river was a gigantic sea serpent. Storm took in the sight of it looking at the retreating cragadile disapprovingly, it’s arms crossed on its chest. The paladin assumed that it was a ‘he’; the sea serpent had a mustache, orange - although about a half of the right one had a strangely familiar violet color - like his hair. “Um… hi?” the paladin asked, not sure if the bizarre creature’s intentions. “Oh, hello!” the sea serpent said cheerfully. “My, what a surprise! I hadn’t expected to see a pony so deep within the forest… and not in such a tacky get up, if you don’t mind me saying so,” he added, glancing at the armor Storm wore with a mild disgust. “I do apologize for that ruffian’s action,” he continued, his head turning back towards the disappearing cragadile. “None of the others have much of civility left in them, it would seem. A pity,” the sea serpent added, shaking his head. “They were such a fabulous bunch to hang around with. Everfree and I have even used to be besties! Now she all but growls at me whenever I try to speak to her. Can you imagine?” “Um…” Storm murmured, staring at the sea serpent. He didn’t understand even a half of what he had said. “Did he say that he used to be best friends with… the forest? And that it now… growls at him?” The sea serpent, oblivious to his confusion, continued to talk. “I go like ‘hello!’ but she totally tried to bit me! And the others were even worse! I swear, I don’t know what happened to everybody in this forest… I live in the sea most of the time, you see. I only travel up the river every once in a while. Funny, the previous time I was here I also bumped into ponies… though unlike them, you seem a little lost. May I help you?” “W-well…” he stammered, not sure if the strange being could help him or not. However, it wasn’t like he had any better lead… “I was looking for a flower that is supposed to grow in the Heart of the Forest, but-” “Down the river, by the huge willow with five branches turn right, continue until you see a rock split in two, then go left and you will get there.” Storm blinked. “Did he… just…” He continued to stare at the sea serpent for a good few seconds, completely baffled that he had just learned the location of the place he seeked. “Is anything wrong?” the sea serpent asked, furrowing his brow in concern. Finally, Storm managed to regain his senses. “N-no…” he replied, a bit shakily, but he shrugged it off. He now knew where the Eon Petals were! “Thank you very much, sir!” the paladin said, bowing graciously to the sea serpent. He then spread his wings and flew in the direction his savior told him. “I will never forget this! Thank you!” he called out, waving behind him. The sea serpent waved back. “No problem!”     Storm’s smile grew wider when he spotted a gray rock that was split in half. “I’m almost there!” Once he reached it, he turned left, just like the serpent had said. He could not believe his luck; the sea serpent had said that he only came to the forest every once in a while. The Light must have been clearly at work behind their meeting. Despite his glee, he continued to be on alert for any sort of dangers that could wait for him. The forest around him was much more spacious; the trees were all several paces from each other. They were much bigger, however. Thick bark protected the massive behemoths, whose stumps were wider than four ponies standing together. Their branches were of an odd number and spread in a strange way, bringing something to Storm’s mind that he couldn’t quite place. He paused by one of the trees, wanting to examine it. His eyes were quickly drawn to the hollow in between its branches. “It almost looks like… a face…” Storm noticed, half-amused, half-intrigued by the discovery. However, he soon found his biological research in need of being put away for a brief time. A ear-piercing howl sounded around him. All around him, from several places and several throats at once. Storm tore his eyes away from the tree hollow and looked around. He was surrounded by another pack of timberwolves. This time, thought, there weren’t just two of them. Nor were there ten of them. There were dozens of them. Storm glanced at them nervously. It was clear that he wasn’t going to fight them. He readied his wings to carry him far above the reach of their fangs. “Why did they all came after me?” he wondered as the timberwolves gave out another howl. “Is there no other prey in the forest for them? And… this is the same kind as the ones that I had encountered earlier. How come I’m bumping only into those and not the ones that are animals and not spirits?” Another howl rang, and though it was as terrifying as all the previous ones, there was something in this one that froze Storm’s blood in his veins. In the next second, he knew why: because that howl was foretelling what was about to happen now. All there timberwolves as one were enveloped by green aura. Storm had the prayer of protection at the tip of his tongue, ready to use it… but what followed baffled him. Instead of attacking him, the timberwolves fell apart. However, their remains, despite what common sense said, did not fall to the ground. They remained in the air, but not for long. Soon they lifted higher, all of them, as if guided by an unseen hoof. They gathered together, joining… As the realization of what was happening hit him, Storm’s eyes grew wide. He had read about it not so long ago: As the trees fell, dying the needless death, it was the end of the line. An ancient fury awakened in the heart of the Nature’s Goddess. The fallen trees and timber swirled around her, giving her a physical form in which she could extract her vengeance. “T-this…” Storm thought, his eyes observing the re-emergence of a being like no other, “this is her…” Limbs and torso became distinguishable, so had the claws. “The Spirit of the Forest…” Finally, the monstrous head of a wolf was also completed. Storm, who continued to stare at it in awe and terror, saw green lights appear in previously empty sockets. She was whole. The Spirit of the Forest, in the body she shaped when she was on a warpath eons ago. She threw her head back and parted her jaws, wanting to announce her presence in the world. Storm, who retained enough of a common sense to cover his ears, was taken aback. What the Spirit had uttered was nothing like the howls the timberwolves gave earlier. It much more reminded him of the sounds a dog’s whining. He looked carefully at the monstrosity of wood as it shook in, what he realized, was pain. There was a sickly orange aura surrounding her, and from her mouth a green mist shoots forward, heading towards a dark shape. A shape that was growing. “Yes…” Storm heard suddenly, first quiet, them louder, and then finally triumphantly. “Yes… Yes! All this waiting had finally paid off!” UIt continued to speak as the dark shape continued to grow. “I knew that sooner or later you would focus your being into a single form if I waited long enough, and it had finally paid off! Now, with all your magic, I can finally exact my revenge on those ponies!” With a pitiful whine, the body of the Spirit crumbled, becoming a mound of timber. Storm’s eyes briefly stopped on it before they returned to observing the one who caused it as he stepped out of the shadows. The stranger had said something about ‘revenge on Equestria’, and whatever he meant by that it couldn’t be anything good. Storm’s eyes widened once he could see what the mysterious creature was. A centaur, a very rare hybrid of either pony, zebra or a horse with a minotaur. He had a body of an equine, but in the place where they had necks, another torse emerged, that of a minotaur, creating a bizarre mix. And he was huge! Not nearly as big as the Spirit of the Forest had been, but still about three times as big as a normal centaur should be. His skin, visible on his face and arms, was red. The rest of his body was covered by black and gray fur. On his arms he wore a pair of metal braces, and there was another one around his neck. Underneath it he wore a strange golden medallion. The centaur also had a pair of long curved horns adorning his head. Burying his fear of the much larger being, Storm called out. “Who are you?” The centaur stopped and looked at him. He smiled maliciously. “I suppose as a thank-you for forcing most of Everfree to focus into a single body I can tell you.” Storm had a strange feeling that he would not like where this was going. His hoof reached for the Spring Binder. “My name is Lord Tirek, soon the master of all the magic on Equestria… starting with yours!” Before Storm could react, the centaur’s horn glowed and a sphere appearing in between them, a sign of a minotaur using its magic. The paladin hastily recited the prayer of protection, but just as he uttered the first syllable, something unexpected happened. A vine shot from the ground, wrapping around one of this Lord Tirek’s arms. Another one shot up a split second later, wrapping around his leg and torso. More vines emerged, all seemingly wanting to devour the centaur. Lord Tirek, however, was not so easily defeated. He pulled his arms free of the vines with just his physical strength, and then torn off the vines from the rest of his body. Having freed himself, he bellowed: “Who dared?!” “I had,” spoke a voice, calm but strong, quiet, but with a force of storm. Storm Clash followed his ears to the source of this voice. He looked to his side and saw a timberwolf walk slowly from between the trees. It was clear to Storm immediately from the way it walked that this wasn’t just a part of the Spirit like the ones he encountered before. This was a living, singular creature, with its own life and mind, and a real body with a wooden hide. But… it wasn’t like any timberwolf he had seen or heard ever before. It didn’t have any branches protruding from its body in any weird angles. Its hide was smooth, like of a real wolf. It had a mane, starting at the edge of its head and coming to stop at its chest. This mane was composed of leaves and small flowers, and as the timberwolf walked, they crackled against the wind. His eyes shone, like that of the spirit-like kind, but with an amber glow, not green, and its look spoke of intelligence. Lord Tirek blew steam through his nose and asked the question that was going over Storm’s mind. “Who are you, mutt?” The timberwolf’s eyes narrowed. “I am Provato, the last of the demigods of this forest… and you are trespassing.”