Zeke stumbled. A stray root was hidden under the dense foliage of the forest. The excited warcries of the pursuing small goblin army echoed endlessly as Zeke kicked up dirt while clambering to his feet. Low hanging branches and hidden thorns whipped across Zeke's terrified face and legs as he fled past, drawing thin lines of blood. The goblins were gaining ground, their energy sustained by the thrill of hunting a wounded enemy, they knew, the next time Zeke crashed into a thicket or tripped on a dead log, it would spell his end. Zeke of course was aware of the imminent danger too. Already wounded, and low on mana, beating the 50 or so goblins and hobgoblins behind him was an impossibility, it was certain death.

All according to plan.

Bit by bit, Zeke had 'pretended' to 'accidentally' run into a tree, 'stumble' over a bush, or 'fall' over a large stone. Never once did he actually feel any danger, despite the frothing army that was rapidly closing distance. In order to fool the less than perceptive goblins to the sudden change of scenery, he would need to act as bait, staying just out of reach so they were committed to the chase. Any sane person would have immediately noticed that wilted grass and plant life, the absence of wildlife, and the muted sun that was casting a dull light on the surroundings. Zeke could of sworn he'd even seen a cluster of roots, tight'y wrapped around what looked like the skeletal bodies of once, too-curious goblins.

"Mana concealment" Zeke whispered in the stale air.

It was time to get serious, Zeke had once again stepped foot into the Scarlet Ent's backyard. He was confident in his plan, being that mana concealment made him completely invisible to the Ent's mana sensing skill. The not so prepared goblins would simply waltz into their own death while Zeke watched from the sides.

For good measure, he decided put on one last performance for the chasing audience that was not even 10 meters away. Well, the performance was mostly directed at the owner of this corrupted forest, it did have good hearing from what Zeke remembered. He was going to sing his favourite song, as loud as he could.

With a deep inhale Zeke filled his lungs with as much of the empty air as possible. He cupped both his hands around his mouth and directed his shout upwards to the sky.

"DINNER TIME!"

"C'MON SCARLET! I BET YOU'RE HUNGRY!"

Zeke's outrageous bellow completely dwarfed the vicious snarls and cries of delight that the ugly goblins vocalized. The uproarious declaration lingered in the air, an air that seemed to shift, where it had been still before, it now picked up and swirled around the Ent's interlopers, seeming to pin point their numbers. Zeke felt the change acutely, there was no way he could forget any of the horrifying sensations in the forest, the goblins however, must of assumed Zeke had only wailed in anguished, as his escape proved futile.

As the many different swords and daggers of metal and stone traced their way to Zeke's stationary form, he dashed at a 90 degree angle from the relatively straight line he ran untill now. Zeke pumped his legs with every ounce of his 52 strength and 31 agility as he accelerated away, he had done his part of the plan, now it was Scarlet's turn.

A howling groan reverberated across all the forest, rumbling the ground and causing a few of the dead trees to fall on their own. The sound was so monstrous that the unknowing army stopped in their tracks, all thoughts of Zeke had vanished as the realisation of their surroundings sunk in. Zeke lunged down to the vile, brown mockery of grass when the goblins took their sight off him, to watch his trap spring before his eyes.

The Scarlet Ent groaning was increasing in volume every second, it was already loud, but now it was deafening, Zeke had to jam his thumbs into to ears to prevent them from exploding. The ground trembled stronger, causing some flat-footed goblins to randomly fall as the rest of the helpless goblins kicked and clawed over one another to escape back to the green.

The roaring groaning and creaking of the Ent stopped just as it reached it's climax, silencing the world. But to those present, the sound had already been etched into their memory, and they could still hear it in the silence. Not a single soul dared to move after the abrupt silence, Zeke was sure he was thinking the same thing as the goblins... 'maybe I'm safe now'.

A hushed snapping twigs whispered, barely audible, not from the goblins or from Zeke, but somewhere in the distance, and it was getting louder. Mortified goblin heads all spun and surveyed the direction the sound was emanating from as it got closer. Zeke couldn't see anything different, only hear it, he also had a good idea what the sound was from his last visit here. Seconds trickled by as the new sound of snapping twigs drew closer, now it sounded like branches being broken apart, only thousands breaking at once.

The standstill was brought to an end when, as Zeke expected, a living mass of burrowing roots erupted from the barren dirt. The blood-sucking tendrils snaked towards the despairing army of goblins. Tormented screams of terror and pain alike contended with the sound of the Scarlet Ent's tendrils. The blood-red roots pierced into goblin flesh, transfixing them to the floor, preventing escape as the Ent stole away their life. Many blades hacked away at the crimson shackles, the stone weapons, did next to nothing while the metal ones chipped only a few centimeters at a time. The effort only served to prolong the suffering as each chopped root was replaced with three more.

Zeke stoicly observed the ordeal to it's end. He wasn't as happy with he results as he would've like. The plan had gone perfectly, if anything it was more gruesome than he would of ever fathomed, it was too... torturous. Zeke thanked the goblins for just that, being goblins, if any other creature had of been subjected to that... experience, Zeke may have actually felt some remorse for his actions. Goblins don't deserve remorse.

With a meek, downcast gaze, Zeke hurriedly paced back into the living forest, leaving the scene behind him. He pushed any vomit-inducing thoughts to the back of his mind as he continued back towards the goblin stream. After all, there was more work to be done, villages needed to be pillaged, goblin villages that is, and now was the best time to do it.