As Krankos peaks around the corner, the creature turns. Its claws, long and sharp. Krankos's eyes brighten in disbelief; it is... a fluffy little squirrel.
Krankos approaches the squirrel with trepidation as the squirrel stares at the machine. "So you're the ‘Warbringer’ they were referring to? But you're so cute and small."
The squirrel replies with a simple squeak and a tilt of its head. If you weren't sound of mind you might believe that it actually understood Krankos, wondering what it was talking about.
Despite the belief that this creature is indeed a bringer of war, Krankos is filled with excitement. For months it wandered around a lifeless base, waiting for the moment its creators would return. Months of cleaning, crafting and images of war filled its mind but in this moment, Krankos gets to appreciate the freedom of life.
Enjoying the moment for a while longer, Krankos sits under the large tree where the squirrel was hiding. "I shall wait here," Krankos affirms, "no doubt the tiny ones will return to collect their weapons."
With the wind swaying the trees, the new scenery is a breath of fresh air while Krankos observes Warbringer. The squirrel runs around the forest, collecting nuts and seeds. It stuffs some in its mouth while others it buries with occasional glances at Krankos. It isn't clear who is more intrigued by whom, the squirrel or Krankos.
As the hours pass and the sun fades, the blue light around Krankos's body brightens and grows warm. Feeling the heat, the squirrel cautiously moves closer to the Elmforge until it is nuzzled behind its neck. It is an unusual feeling of happiness for the Elmforge; feeling the ball of fur cuddled behind it.
Early in the morning, sun rising over the trees, a large group of angry dwarfs march towards the forest with torches and weapons in hand.
The group is led by Bonvere, a large dwarven war-chief with a long black beard, scars and rough facial features. He is most similar to Krankos’s masters, carrying the largest torch. Even his gear resembles them, heavy plated armour with gold accents and equipped with a large war-hammer which, to Krankos, seems like an ordinary one.
Krankos jumps up with excitement, "My masters! They are here! Finally, they can give me a new purpose!"
The squirrel is no fool though and sees only danger approaching. It finds a space behind the Elmforge to hide and stay safe.
"Welcome home my tiny friends!" Krankos shouts with arms open as a welcoming gesture before realising this isn't actually their home. To correct itself, Krankos points to the mountain, "Well, not home. Up there is home."
The dwarven pack is now fifty feet away from the towering machine. Bonvere can be heard clearly bellowing over the others, "Get lost you walking piece of tinfoil before we make you!"
The rest of the group join in, yelling, "Get out of here!", "Run before you cause more damage!" and one even said, "Get lost before you become my wife's new toy!" though Krankos has no idea what is meant by this.
The squirrel peeps it's head over ever so slightly around Krankos while the Elmforge tries to understand the dwarf’s responses. Then everything clicks into place, ‘They are angry because I am protecting the Warbringer.’
"Hmm, I see. Well I don't know why you fear this 'Warbringer' but I assure you it means no harm," Krankos replies as it postures defensively.
Bonvere scoffs, "We know all too well what you Warbringers can do, the destruction you cause, we're having none of it!"
"I can assure you we mean no harm. I have been awaiting you, my masters, and the furry thing was just planting nuts and seeds."
The machine’s attempts to calm the situation only agitate Bonvere more, "Your masters? No, your masters are gone and this land is ours along with this forest, you have no place here!"
"What?... Where have they gone?"
"Dead. Now leave this forest before we make ya!"
The machine's stance gets firmer, "Well I doubt that, maybe some of them are still alive... Besides this forest is not yours."
Bonvere's grip tightens as his nerves begin to show. "This forest is valuable, it's trees are filled with rich magical energies and we will not let the likes of YOU take it away from us. Our livelihood depends on this. Now I'll only ask one more time, stand aside."
Krankos retorts,"These forests have suffered enough and this little creature is trying to restore its beauty. If you choose to fight, it is not we who are creating war."
"So be it," Bonvere yells, charging at Krankos.
"Keep down little one, I will take care of this," Krankos says to Warbringer as it hides, hooking its claws into some of the indents and ridges to secure itself.
The dwarf's hammer slams into Krankos’s abdomen.
Krankos grabs the hammer, holding it tight with both hands, and uses it as a handle to throw Bonvere into a tree. The collision makes a loud thud and crack as he collides with the bark.
The villagers look on in shock before a younger dwarf charges. This dwarf is different and fears nothing, seeing such drive from another brings the machine much delight. This doesn't stop Krankos from retaliating though as its hand engulfs his face and slams the dwarf into the ground.
“Kill it!” another dwarf screams before the rest of the crowd charge at the Elmforge.
"Finally," Krankos yells, "I've needed something interesting to do!"
These dwarfs are clearly not trained or well equipped and this becomes apparent as the machine sends them flying around the forest. Grabbing them by the legs and arms or using their own momentum to send them flying into the dirt.
The squirrel can see its oppressors being taken out, one after the other. To the squirrel, this was a magical sight.
Bonvere gets back up onto his feet and sees his town being thrown around like rag dolls. He pulls out a handaxe and throws it at Krankos, clipping its chest.
The machine looks up, "Oh good, you're up," and walks towards him.
Bonvere races to grab his war-hammer while the villagers climb on Krankos, hitting it with any object can in an attempt to slow it down.
With the villagers dogpiled on Krankos, the squirrel squeaks worryingly. Until this point, Krankos was being as gentle as possible but the squirrel has been the only living thing that has been nice to it in months. It felt a connection with the creature.
Krankos’s throwing, thrusting and swinging become much more intense as it shouts, "Leave Warbringer alone!"
The villagers slam into trees causing the bark to crack and fly off. Whilst the forest is important, at this moment, keeping the squirrel alive is top priority.
Suddenly, the villagers jump off Krankos and Bonvere slams his war-hammer into Krankos's leg forcing it onto one knee. A follow up shot is thrown however Krankos catches the war-hammer mid-swing, pulls the hammer from the dwarf, forcing him forwards, and lands a firm punch in the face, sending Bonvere flying through the air.
The machine gets back onto its feet, now war-hammer in hand as it turns to the villagers. Some run in fear, others do not back down and run in for another round. Krankos swings the war-hammer back and forth, making each dwarf fly through the air with a trail of blood.
As the group begins to thin, Bonvere tries to escape. Krankos hears the footsteps and throws the war-hammer at him, colliding with the back of his head. Bonvere falls for the last time and Krankos watches the remaining dwarfs stand in fear, unsure if to run or fight.
Krankos can see the fight is done, deeming all remaining as not worthy fighting. "Take your injured and leave this forest," it says firmly before walking over to sit by the tree.
The dwarven villagers grab the injured and flee as quickly as they can, Krankos watching each one carefully. It takes nearly an hour before all the dwarfs are gone.
It was odd, this is not how it remembered dwarfs, 'Why were they so aggressive to something so innocent?'
With the last of the dwarfs leaving, the squirrel climbs down from behind the Elmforge, moving cautiously as it continues planting seeds and nuts. Krankos continues its observation of the squirrel, "You know, maybe I was not woken for war or to clean. Maybe I was woken up to protect. Like a protectey-forest person."
The squirrel looks back at Krankos in confusion but seems happy that it could plant its seeds and eat in peace.
"If I am staying here, I best give you a more suitable name."
The squirrel looks back, nibbling on a large nut.
"Nibbles. I will call you Nibbles,"
The newly named Nibbles continues what it was doing. Either it has no clue what Krankos was saying or it doesn't really care.
With the setting sun, Nibbles once again climbs onto Krankos for warmth while it rests.
The night is quiet. There isn't much of any noise at all, however, as the night goes on, an eerie presence begins to manifest in the forest.
Making sure Nibbles is securely latched onto its shoulder, Krankos carefully rises to its feet. It walks around the dark forest with caution, looking for whatever is causing this feeling. Then, around one of the trees, it sees a radiating green glow. The energy from the glow isn't bad. It feels gentle. Like the machine could fly; but only magic could make the Elmforge feel so strange.
Krankos pursues the light but it maintains its distance, growing brighter and moving faster as it darts around the forest. Walking becomes running. Running becomes sprinting. The forest seems much larger than Krankos remembered. The small forest of around forty acres now seems to stretch for miles.
Krankos chases the glow around a sharp corner before making a sudden stop. The green glow is now a bright green orb. However, that isn't what unnerves the machine; it has been lured to a large open expanse.
The expanse flows with natural energy. Trees, flowers, soil and rock sprout from the centre of the orb. Around the expanse is a vortex of green arcane energy. Behind this are thousands of trees, many unfamiliar to Krankos.
Krankos panics, checking to make sure Nibbles is safe. The squirrel is now a glowing green ball.
"What is this?!" Krankos demands. Although on edge, there is no fear to fight if needed.
The green orb explodes before its eyes; a giant flash and wave of green energy erupts outward and collides with the barrier of the expanse. This causes the machine to take its eye off the orb and when Krankos regains vision, it sees a large spirit floating in mid air.
The spirit's whole body sways like soft silk clothing blowing in the wind. Every part a different shade of green making it difficult to distinguish.
"Who are you?... Green floaty lady?" Krankos asks. The floating feeling it felt earlier is much stronger and it is no longer sure how to process any of this.
"I am no lady," the spirit replies. It's voice calm and controlled.
"Okay, what are you?"
"I am a nature spirit."
"A nature spirit?" Krankos replies, unsure of what this really meant, "like the spirit the tiny ones used to drink?"
"No. We watch over, protect and create nature."
Although this is beyond Krankos’s comprehension, at least the spirit is co-operating. "And what would you want with me?"
"Indeed, no doubt it must be strange, a machine such as yourself, talking to a nature spirit. Yet you seem to have bonded with one of us."
"But we've just met."
"No. Not I. The one on your shoulder."
"You mean Nibbles?" Krankos asks mystically.
"I do not know what a ‘Nibbles’ is, but if you are referring to Ollarrah on your shoulder, then yes."
Krankos looks to Nibbles and back to the spirit, "Explain."
"’Nibbles’, so you call it, is in fact a nature spirit in mortal flesh. It needs to be protected. Krankos, you need to take them far away from these forests."
"But Nibbles has been helping bring life to the forest. Why would we leave? Surely this is what you want?"
"There is something approaching. Ollarah needs to leave. It appears the magical energies have attracted far too much attention."
Elated, Krankos replies, "So, a new challenger approaches!"
"Not a challenger you can handle. You must leave this forest."
"But... I think I was woken to protect this forest and bring it new life... I believe that was my purpose."
"Ah yes, I forgot about this. The Elmforged desire for a purpose." With a brief pause, the spirit continues, "Krankos, it was I that woke you."
"What?!? I have been waiting in that base for months and you have only come to me now?!?" Krankos struggles to restrain itself; angered that this spirit knew why it woke but left it to months of loneliness.
"I apologise. It requires a lot of energy to communicate, especially with an Elmforge."
Krankos doesn't respond.
"Allow me to explain. Ever since the end of the Great War, many forests with raw magical energy have been slowly dying. Ollarrah volunteered to bind themselves to a mortal form and find the root of the problem. This forest has been showing some growth however there are those that can feel the magic and are being pulled to it. We needed someone we could trust to get Ollarah out of the way and not abuse their link to the Nature Realm."
Krankos replies with reluctance, "Well. Why can't Nibbles escape now? I like my furry friend but if it keeps them safe..."
"Those bound so cannot leave their vessel until they have fulfilled their oath."
"Is there no way to unbind Nibbles early?"
"Unfortunately, there is little you can do. The only way to break this oath is death of natural causes. Any other way would kill Ollarah as well.”
"Then Nibbles and I shall defend the forest," says Krankos naively, "I will even buy a sword... No two swords!"
"No. You cannot fight this. You are nothing but a machine and a squirrel, no sword can change that."
"I thought Nibbles was a spirit?"
"Yes, in mortal form, so many of their powers are heavily reduced. Our abilities are also not designed for war. We create life, we do not take it away."
"Then how could they use your powers for war?"
"You should ask your creators. They were the first to do that," the spirit says with an airy tone.
"My creators?! What do you know about them?"
"Unfortunately, I cannot maintain this connection." With a final pause, the spirit begins to fade with its final words, "Krankos... Protect Ollarah... Protect Nibbles...."
Another flash of light and Krankos loses vision, regaining it a few seconds later to see the rising sun through the trees. Krankos looks at Nibbles who is once again a fluffy squirrel sleeping on Krankos's shoulder. Unsure if what it experienced was real or not, Krankos gets up. Nibbles wakes but does not leave the machines shoulder this time; instead Nibbles re-adjusts to better secure itself and lets out a little squeaky yawn.
Krankos turns its head to Nibbles, "Okay Nibbles, I'm not sure what is going to happen but I'm going to head to a nearby village for some supplies, would you like to join?"
Nibbles squeaks with a nod of its head.
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