CHPT 265: More Questions, More Answers, More Monsters....

The body reflects the mind. Maybe not a popular saying-- or even a correct one, but in this case it worked. It was working in Claude's case. More and more everyday. Not a good thing to have happening to a Shape-Shifter meant to be protecting a middle-aged man and his home.

He became strongly aware of that fact as he held Rollan up above him by the hem of his black loosely fitting sweater, claws rending the fabric to shreds while his legs fought against the hold of Nature.

Despite the previously violent exchange, they now stood as still as stone amidst the floor of lush grass in shock. Both for the same and very different reasons.

Rollan had power. Claude was sure of that now as the vines around his legs held as tight as steel cords that hummed with the power of life.

It also made sense. Someone with no power living in the wild in such a state as Rollan's would die 9/10 times. And yet, here he was. In all his glory with a home made of trees and Monster heads in jars as decorations to add an almost gruesome twist to his beautiful natural home.

Now he was almost sure those heads weren't collected and were instead harvested from a once living body.

Almost. He was almost sure of that fact until the metallic scent of blood began filling his nostrils and threatened to revert him back to the feral state he just broke free from.

Rollan suddenly let out a wet cough from above him, causing Claude to look up and find the man looking worse off than he'd ever been.

Blood leaked from everywhere as if he were internally erupting. It poured from his eyes, wetting the blindfold covering them while red streams fell from underneath. The same thing happened at the sides of his head where his ears were located-- and when he tried to speak, the scent of more blood coated his breaths, completely banishing any scents of alcohol.

Claude's brain snapped into action in response to Rollan's physical change. He knew exactly what he was looking at, he'd looked just like him once or twice in his life. "Mana over-usage...."

An odd thing to see since all Rollan did was conjure up enough vines to hold Claude's legs. But that didn't matter, he was currently on the verge of failing his mission before it had even really begun.

In a flash the binds around his legs fell away as Rollan's condition worsened, allowing him to rip Rollan from his own and move to get him within the comforts of his own home.

"H-How?....How did you break....urgh!..How did you rip through my SpellBloom Wards? How long have you wielded Nature? What are you?" Rollan sputtered as Claude approached the door into the mans home.

"[I thought those flowers looked familiar...]" Arne cut into his thoughts.

"One....I don't know what a SpellBloom Ward is, two....a few months. And three, I don't really know-- to be honest." Claude replied, too busy to consider Arne's words before pulling open the door to Rollan's home--

SHRIP!

In a flash, the door came off it's hinges, still locked in his hand while he held Rollan in the other.

"What the fuck?" Claude thought in confusion at his random growth in strength.

"I can't help but notice you're failing your job miserably at the current moment, Monsieur...urgh!" Rollan spat, coughing up a spray of blood to conclude his words.

"Yea tell me about it." Claude growled before entering Rollan's home.

The inside was just as the outside was. Wooden, vibrant and natural. It had no floor-- giving the entire home an earthy scent that rose from the packed earth beneath his feet, now studded with the beginnings of green blades of grass.

Despite that fact, the interior was still lined with furniture. He stood in what looked to be the living room that occupied the front half of the house while the back half was left in the hands of mystery due to the brown curtain the hid it's contents from him.

A few feet ahead of him, in the center of the room, a thick dinning room table made of unrefined wood stood staked into the earth-- it still had branches studded with leaves sticking out from the tables legs and corners as if Rollan cut the thing out of a tree and simply placed it within his home without attempting to polish or clean it up. Aside from that, it retained a look of relative norm due to the many sheets of paper that littered the top of the table in a disorganized mess. Just like his father.

To the left of the table, a hammock hung from two hooks that dug deeply into the....bark of Rollan's house-walls and left it to rock back and forth silently with the light from outside shinning on it's pale threads calmly. Behind it, a dresser occupied the space between the hammock and the brown curtain divider.

He wasn't able to take in more of the house for the simple fact that the most important piece of furniture in the house had just been found.

Rollan groaned loudly as Claude placed him in the hammock, trying his best not to let it shake since the man seemed to be made of glass. An odd and unfitting trait for someone that lived in the wild to have.

"Why are you showing Mana overuse signs already? You barely even did anything." Claude questioned.

Rollan grunted angrily and spit out blood, "Merde!....It's just how I am, Monsieur. Not everyone is blessed with a body that blends perfectly...."

"[What a weird way to put it...]" Arne commented.

The silence that followed gave Claude a moment to consider Rollan's rather vague words. But a moment was all he was rewarded before the man erupted in another coughing fit worse than the one had had before.

More blood spilled, covering his rather unnaturally smooth yet creased dark skin in red. Arne advised him to look around the house for anything that could help him, but as soon as he moved to go, the man grabbed his arm with fingers as strong as iron clamps.

"Hey! I'm trying to help you, I don't think having me sit around will do that."

Rollan sat up partially, causing the muscles in his neck to flex, "Wait...."

"Why are you getting worse if your not using any more of your Mana?" Claude asked, impatience and panic twisting his already deep voice into a low growl.

"Because I am still using my Mana, Monsieur la bête....." Rollan replied with a mischievous smile while focusing on something else. Something outside of the house.

"WHY?!" Claude roared.

Rollan raised his hand to silence him with his smile disappearing in a flash, "Your job is in the midst of beginning. Foutre!....I didn't get to explain everything to you yet."

Claude's ears perked up in response to the man's words, "What? How can yo--"

"--They're here...deeper within the forest. They must've heard the Wards shattering. Go get your human, bring her in here. You must hold up your end of the bargain, Monsieur. They need to be balanced....You need to balance them through execution. Even if they've already been touched by the desert."

Claude got up and faced the door, "We're going to talk about what that means when I get back."

"Yes. We are. Hopefully the first time you see them, is from me and not in the midst of battle." Rollan told Claude before he rushed out of the house to face the forest and it's oncoming attackers.

***

"[Looks like duty has finally called, Claude.]" Arne announced as Claude exited the house and hopped over the ripped off door that laid on the grass.

"Hopefully I can respond appropriately...." He replied as he closed in on the pack that stood facing the forest while they clung to Ursula like a wet t-shirt. They knew.

Now that he was outside, he knew too-- even without Rollan's word he would've been able to tell. He could hear them moving in the distance, crunching through dead leaves and bushes, heavy breathes and sounds transforming into words erupting from deep lungs. Even the ground was shaking from their heavy steps. They were still a ways away but it wouldn't stay that way.

The shake of the ground caused him to notice the vibration of his own limbs. They felt stronger than usual. He still didn't know why, but he was glad for it. If the one's approaching them were, "touched by the desert" as Rollan said, then he was sure he'd need as much power as he could get.

"[I suppose now is a good time to explain your sudden growth in strength.]" Arne suddenly announced from within his thoughts.

"You know what this is?" He questioned while looking at his arms and legs.

"[SpellBloom Flowers become SpellBloom Wards when the seed is planted with the users Mana. After it's used to grow the plant and the flower blooms, it absorbs the ambient Magic of the world and spits it back out as a force-field of sorts.....any of this sound familiar at all?]"

Claude stood silent for a moment before catching on, "Ambient Magic....that's Wild Magic isn't it?"

"[Precisely. SpellBloom Wards are mostly made of condensed Wild Magic combined with the flowers unique protective capabilities.]"

"So that's how I broke through the Wards? I absorbed it?"

"[Mhm. As all Lupines would. We are natural Ward breachers for that very fact.]"

"A boost of Wild Magic. That's good...." Claude thought before moving to relocate Ursula and prepare to face the oncoming threat.

Maybe afterward he'd get some answers about the many questions he had concerning Rollan and his current dilemma centered around the forest and desert.