The Second Moonrise Part 8: Tree Stalker

I heard a shuffle behind me. As me and Karen turned towards the sound, we saw Ron tumble off of Ve's shaggy back. He hit the ground with a grown, but caught himself.   "Ron? What are you do-" Ron raised a finger to his lips.   "Stay with Bjorn!" he hissed at us. Glancing back to Bjorn, we noticed that Vili and our stoic guide had stopped and were looking back at us.   "Looking to meet Odin?" Bjorn didn't even try to hide his annoyance.   Ron sheepishly looked back at Soil, still unmoving in the forest shadows. "Can you take the children to safety? I want to talk to her."   "I'd advise against it." There was a disapproving note in Bjorn's voice. He stared at Ron and then slid off of Vili's back. Quietly, he trudged over to the storyteller and crossed his arms. "Are you sure about this? One human to another, she's more likely to get you killed than lead you back. I have some personal experience with her outbursts."   Ron's face was set. He reminded me of Dad when he found me with the Ants: Trying to ignore how much he hated what he was about to do. "I'll take my chances."   Bjorn was quiet for a while. With his face turned towards Ron, I couldn't see his expression. Uncrossing his arms, he walked back towards Vili. The bear grunted as he climbed up. "Do what you want." He muttered something to Vili and our procession started again.   Both me and Karen continued to watch Ron as he hesitantly walked up to Soil. It was too far to hear what he was saying at this point, but she lifted her head uncertainly. Then the bears turned to corner and we lost sight of them.   I called up to Bjorn, "Are we just leaving them?"   "He made his choice. As for her... I don't think we need to worry about her. Now be quiet. The Forest is listening for you." With that statement I realized that the usual stomping and creaking of the Forest had ceased. The forest was utterly silent, for the first time since we'd entered it.   Bjorn looked around. Up and to the sides. Why up first? He knudged Vili and they began moving faster. Ve matched Vili's spead and came alongside him. The oppressive silence continued for almost five minutes before Bjorn shouted something and Vili broken into a short gallop. In front of us, one of the colossal trees uprooted itself. No... not a tree. It was the leg of a massive creature. Its skin was covered in scale-like bark near the base, but as it rose the scales gave way to a chitinous plating. My eyes followed the leg to see it joined with three other trees, all nearby us. In horror, I saw those begin to uproot as well. In the creature's round center a hole opened, and vine-like tentacles began to pour out.   "HOLD ON! We need to move!" By this point Vili and Ve were at full sprint.   Even despite the huge size of the bears, this new creature absolutely dwarfed them. It began to lift one of its legs, and slowly it took its first lumbering step. Bjorn took out an arrow and aimed towards monster's center. Several black eyes had opened up around the mouth, and Bjorn's arrow hit him in one of them. The creature groaned, and it was then that I realized that even with the bears moving at full size, we had barely made it out of the thing's reach.   The vines coming from the monster's mouth yanked at the arrow in its eyeball, but it was already beginning to pickup speed. Now that it was fully mobile, I had a better look at it. It had branch-like protrusions and even leaves growing out of its three legs, which all connected to a bulbous center, where its mouth was. The center had been hidden by leafy branches, which explained how we hadn't seen it until it started to move. The vines coming from its tooth-lined maw were uncountable, and were thrashing and probing the environment around it as it moved.   And it was moving. It was moving towards us.   CRUNCH! The massive foot slammed down onto the forest floor. The impact was so strong that even Ve was knocked around by it. The bear recovered quickly and kept moving. I could hear the heavy breathing as he ran. Bjorn was next to us on Vili. I looked over at him and saw him keeping his face ahead. His eyes were looking for something.   "There." He patted Vili and pointed. I followed his hand. Ahead of us was a purple glow. Both bears immediately turned towards it and kept up their pace.   The creaking of the creature behind us warned of us of another footfall. This time it was almost directly on top of us, and Vili was knocked down completely. The monster's tendrils began to swarm towards the fallen bear as Bjorn loaded another arrow. "Tyr protect me and let this fly true!" The arrow sailed through the air and disappeared into the creature's cavernous maw. Seconds later, it shrieked. The sound was deafening, and I tried to cover my ears with one hand. Ve was still moving towards the purple light as fast as he could, and I didn't dare take both hands off his fur. Karen hadn't even bothered to cover her ears seemed to be using the bear's fur as a pillow to block out the sound. Behind us we heard the beast crashing in the distance. Whatever Bjorn had it with had worked.   And then we broke through the trees and into the light. In the distance, we continued to hear the monster thrashing. I looked at Karen. She looked just has terrified as I felt, with her hair pressed against one ear. I noticed she had several twigs stuck in her hair too. "Is it over?"   Before the question could be answered, Bjorn broke through the trees on Vili and shouted, "Burn it!" Even as he said this vines coiled around both rider and mount and began to drag him back into the trees.   A massive fireball lanced from source of the purple light. It struck the creature head-on and it shrieked once more. It still didn't let go of Bjorn and Vili as it dragged them back though. Another fireball formed and launched, and then another, and another. They began to split into smaller globes that hovered in the air, pelting the thing with a constant stream of purple fire. At last, it released its hold on its captives and began to retreat into the Forest.   Bjorn rolled over and began to back towards the center of the clearing, barely even bothering to stand up. Finally, with his back towards a large purple bonfire, he breathed. "That was. The worst one. I've seen since. Zephnos." His arms were trembling and he was barely able to breath. He looked at his hands. At his shaking bow. It fell from his hand and he sprinted towards one of the trees on the opposite side of the Campgrounds and immediately scaled it like a monkey. In seconds, Bjorn was gone.   "That was a more eventful arrival than we've had in a long time."   A small lizard sat in the fire Bjorn had his back to. It looked exactly like the one on my token.