Defiance: The Hybrid's Tale (MxM)

Chapter 52: The Might of The Forest. [Edited]

Nathan Underhill.

Pushing forward with all my might, I teleported into the inferno's path. The fire flowed over my body, burning every nook of my exposed skin. I fought through the excruciating pain and erected the strongest barrier my mom taught me before the flames reached my loved ones. A blue, shimmering barrier diverted the flames up into the sky. I choked when I saw my hands; they were burned black. The smell of burned flesh didn't help settle my stomach, either.

"Nathan, hold on!" Fenrus shouted, preventing me from blacking out. "I'll focus on healing us while you find a way to lob the bastard's head off his body."

"Easier said than done!" I repeated the phrase. The barrier cracked under the overwhelming stress of my grandfather's attack. My feet slipped as the barrage of flames pushed me backward. My blackened hands shook under the pressure, adding to my pain.

"Don't give up!"

"I'm trying!" Clenching down on my teeth, I tried to steady my footing. I pushed forward as hard as I could, but I was losing ground bit-for-bit. My grandfather continued to laugh at my hopeless attempts to save my family.

"Give up, boy!" my grandfather said, increasing the size of the fireball, rattling against the weakening barrier. "You have no chance of saving your wretched family!"

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! What do we do?"

But there was no solution, no outcome. I was steadily losing the fight, and the cracks that ran along the barrier brought home the truth.

We were about to die.

"Don't lose hope..." A soothing voice slipped into my frantic mind.

Out of the corner of my eye, a flash of silver came into view. The Spirit of the Forest! I would have broken out crying at that moment, but I already did. I couldn't help it. The stag strutted out of the shadows and came to a halt on the edge of the embankment. What a sight for sore eyes...

"Let me in, and together we'll finish what your grandfather had started. It is time that my judgment shakes the very earth!" The stag stomped its mighty foot into the earth, shaking the ground beneath our feet. All of a sudden, my grandfather halted his attack, causing me to stumble forward. The barrier dissolved.

"What is this?!" My grandfather's face paled as he stared at the stag. "Begone! You have no right to interfere with mortal affairs, and you know it." He shook his croaked finger at the spirit.

The Spirit of the Forest sorted, continuing to stomp its feet. It let out a screech that thundered through the woods. The once quiet forest came to life; the sounds of thousands of animals filled my ears. Once again, the Spirit nudged for access to my mind, which I happily gave. At once, my mind flooded with visions of animals, from the smallest bunnies to the biggest bears, tearing through the rogues. I had to choke down a snicker when one vision showed how a legion of fluffy bunnies leveled a bloodwitch while she screeched for help.

Death by bunnies... How pathetic.

Soon the visions faded, and the Spirit's soul overtook mine, talking through me. "There comes a time when even the Gods may intervene when the balance is threatened by a cockroach such as yourself." My deepened voice boomed across the clearing, causing my grandfather to stagger backward to gain as much distance between us.

"What's the matter, grandfather?" I mocked him. "Scared of a god?"

The fool's face twisted into a sneer and yelled, "What do I have to fear from a shackled god? He can't touch me on this plane."