Thousands of men stood in a line. Equipped with swords, shields, spears, and bows, they were more than prepared for battle. In spite of that, most of their faces were ridden with apprehension and hesitancy. A few of the younger men were even covered in a cold sweat. It wasn't nervousness of their first battle, but fear that was spurned from something greater. Whatever lay ahead was daunting to unsettle all but the bravest of men.

And what was it that lay ahead?

A still forest that carried a stagnant air.

Not a single sound escape from within the trees. In the warmer seasons, the buzz of insects and cries of birds would be frequent, unlike now. It almost seemed as nothing living was within the trees, but that simply wasn’t true. Upon a closer look, hundreds of pairs of eyes were glinting from deep within the shadows. Whatever manner of creature those eyes belonged to was one that chose not to make a sound, simply staring at the humans ahead.

“Leave,” A breeze broke through the forest, carrying a clear voice with it.

The army of men jostled, breaking out into a chorus of hushed whispers and murmurs until an older man, who appeared to be leading them, raised his hand.

After ordering his men to silence, he marched forward through a few of his adjutants tried to stop him only to be ignored.

“I came here because I want to speak with you,” The man said.

“Was I difficult to understand?” The voice asked with a tinge of sarcasm.

“Is it not true that you were friendly to the villages that were once in this area?!” The man shouted in reply, glancing at his men. “I admit, we were ignorant in the way we approached you in the beginning. Thinking you nothing more than a simple creature was pure foolishness, however, now that we know you are something… else- can we not find a reasonable solution?”

There were a few moments of silence before condescending laughter filled the air in reply.

“If you wanted a reasonable solution, you would have come by yourself and you wouldn't have brought so many weapons.”

“Would you have personally appeared if I had taken a different course of action?” The man countered.

“No, I suppose I wouldn’t have,” The voice replied.

“Then–”

“We have nothing else to discuss,” The voice suddenly interrupted as the trees began to shift.

The forest became filled with sharp cries of animals creating a horrendous symphony. Flocks of birds took to the sky as the treetops began shaking in tune with heavy footsteps.

The man who attempted to hold a discussion smartly created distance between himself and the forest. While the men lined up nervously clenched their weapons tightly.

Breaking through the tree line was a magnificent creature that towered over them. An elk-like being with near-translucent, pearl-colored, antlers. The creature itself boasted a soft white coat that extended toward a pair of reddish hooves. Its eyes were completely grey but that didn’t seem to affect its sight. As it raised the creature raised head, the forest became silent once more.

“This is your final chance to leave,” The creature spoke, but its mouth didn’t move, rather the air seemed to act as its voice.

As if undaunted, the man met the creature’s gaze. In the villages removed from the vestiges of religious doctrines, they praised the beast in front of him as an old god. It drew scorn and skepticism, but seeing the aforementioned being firsthand now seemed to lend those accounts some credence.

“Is this situation truly irreconcilable? Can we not find common ground?” The man asked, unwilling to give up.

“What did you just say to me?” The creature’s tone suddenly shifted, something hostile growing deep within. "Common ground?"

“You're willing to stand in front of me and spew your hypocrisy!” Its thundering voice was laced with venom that caused the man to finally shrink back. “I stopped the famine that threatened to end your country! I curbed the tide of beasts that would’ve trampled your cities! I cured the sickness that would've killed thousands of your people! And what have you done? You killed your own people because of it, calling them blasphemous because they accepted my gifts. You killed my children, the fae, that I sent to help you disgusting creatures. You hunted the animals of this forest with wanton greed, to line your fireplaces with trophies and fill your stomachs with exotic meals. So why is it now that you come searching for peace?!”

By the end of its tirade, the creature’s voice came as a spine-chilling growl.

“We–”

“QUIET!” The creature roared as sparks crackled around its antlers. “I know how humans behave all too well. You require the resources that I have and can’t bear the losses that come with intruding in on this place. That is the only reason you seek peace... I see now that I was wrong to ever try to bridge the gap between man and nature because you all are nothing but beasts yourselves. Through all of my years in this world, I have learned that the greatest solution to rein in rabid beasts is to cull them. You no longer have the option to retreat, human. You all will die here.”

As it finished speaking, a thunderbolt was sent out from between its horns, landing right within the front line. Cries and screams filled the air and an overpowering stench of charred flesh came right after.

“Light the arrows!” The man yelled as he rushed back.

Without hesitation, archers lit their oil-drenched arrows and fired toward the forest. However, the wind suddenly blew the arrows back, causing them to fall without hitting anything. Even worse, the ground began trembling as massive roots erupted from the soil and lashed at the men. There didn’t seem to be a man who wasn’t torn apart after being whipped with the monstrous roots.

And from the forest, a tide of beasts came rushing into the fray, attacking the army in a frenzy. Riding atop large wolves were child-like beings with antlers who launched an unending assault with arrows.

“Fire the catapults!” Covered in blood, the leader of the army intoned his orders. “And where are the sorcerers?!”

His shouts were drowned out by the continuous screams and disarray of a shocked army. Through some miracle, someone fired catapults at the towering elk creature, but the projectiles were deflected by a gargantuan stone structure that rose from the ground. It wasn’t as tall as the white elk, but it was made of solid stone arranged into the shape of a human and held together with vines.

A strange creaking emerged from its body as if it was letting out a war cry before it began its charge. Each step caused the earth to shake as it headed straight for the army. Any poor soul unlucky enough to be caught in its wake was crushed into a reddish paste without a second thought.

“The sorcerers! Where are they?!” The leader of the army asked as the scene of terror unfolded before them. He snatched up a quivering old man by his collar and interrogated him as things grew increasingly dire.

“T-They left before sunrise! T-To inform the grand magus of the situation!” The elderly man clearly wasn’t a soldier as he wore thick robes.

“You lying bastard!” The leader tossed him aside and rushed to one of the few horses left.

"Retreat!"

He climbed atop and urged it to go, but it bucked wildly before rushing in the opposite direction, straight toward the giant elk.

“Damn it!” The man attempted to jump but as vine rose from the grass and snatched his body out of the air, pulling him toward the elk creature.

“I won’t allow you to die here. When they ask you what happened here, I want you to tell them that I am the guardian of this forest and I will allow no one to trespass.”

As the vine tightened around his chest, the man stared into the creature’s eyes, seeing his own horror-stricken reflection. As the air was squeezed out of his lungs, the man slowly lost consciousness.

By that time, there were no more screams left, just torn bodies and discarded weapons. The carnivorous animals involved in the battle gorged themselves on the warm flesh that was left in abundance. Still, there was simply too much for all of them to eat, so what wasn’t being eaten was instead devoured by the ground leaving no trace.

After everything was said and done, the unconscious man was placed onto his horse, secured with vines, and sent away. As for the white elk, it watched the horse disappear before retreating into the forest with a tide of animals and strange humanoids following close behind.

The forest regained its peace and birds could be heard singing in the distance.