Nikola played the melody with a heavy heart. Jean was throwing the blades at the demons, who were becoming smaller and smaller.
But the brunette didn't kid himself. These fiends could set the old oak on fire.
The tree was beating its branches, causing a whiplash. It was furious. It was defending itself.
It was feeding the demons.
Nikola tried to think of a way to get the tree to stop its attack, but he could no longer hear its thoughts. No, in their place, there was a roar.
A roar filled with pain. A roar filled with anger.
The smell of rotten eggs was reaching them now. Jean was down to his last dagger.
Nikola began to play the tune with more urgency. He thought about how he had created the rain. Thought about what it had taken him to stop it.
Smoke was rising to the forest canopy.
He had no other options.
Nikola sucked in a breath and then began to take the demonic souls into himself.
He felt ill. So, as if he was eating something rotten. Something that already had maggots in it.
The first raindrop fell on the oak. Then the second.
Thunder sounded in the distance.
The fire demons began to smoke. Fallen branches were collected so they could keep their form.
Grass was set on fire.
The rain was cleansing the forest. Washing away the dust on the leaves, feeding the roots.
Finally, Nikola saw that Jack was leaping at the sulfur demon. The crystal dust was sprinkled atop the creature. The rain began to fall heavily.
As if it knew as well that it was playing a vital role in it all.
"Hold!" Jack yelled at Dimitri.
Dimitri began to make a barrier around the sulfur demon. A barrier that lets the water inside.
Nikola could see that Dimitri was using his own mana. The crystal on his staff was no longer glowing.
The old oak shook itself from the ground, towering over the entire forest.
It began to stamp out the flame demons, as Nikola played on the flute.
"Man, change the melody to the buffing one, why don't you? The tree is no longer listening to you!"
Nikola blinked when he saw the system screen. But how could it be possible?
Wasn't the system something Tangra gave him?
"Oh, lumping me in with that demon?" The system snarked. "I am a part of your soul! The realistic one that doesn't give up even when you are full of bullshit! Now buff your party!"
Nikola changed the tune. Dimitri's stance relaxed. He was still using his staff for support, but he no longer leaned on it.
Jack took off running towards the fleeing fire demons. A grin on his lips.
Nikola watched on, as Jack hacked his way through the hoard. A hoard weakened by the rain.
The sulfur demon gave out one last cry, before it collapsed.
Nikola wasn't willing to let it enter the soil!
He made grass grow under the demon. Grass that he was going to burn.
The old oak gave out a roar, as it slammed its trunk on top of the demon.
Nikola could hear its rage.
The cries of the saplings which were dead before their time.
His melody changed. It was now mournful. He didn't even know it. He just played. Letting the flute guide him.
When the sun set once more, there was no demon to be found in the area anymore.
Nikola jumped from the old oak. Heading towards the graveyard as if in a trance.
"You endangered my family," he roared, as he looked at the uncompleted statue.
Something that had no place in this forest.
"And I will take everything you hold dear!"
Nikola touched the scorched ground. He let the last of his mana inside the soil.
The grass grew. Trees began to grow again.
The next thing he knew, he was falling.
****
He wasn't in the steppe anymore. Rather, he was in an empty field.
There were no yurts, no neighing of horses. It was just him and the grass.
The Leshy from before was near a tree. Next to the tree there was a small pond.
Nikola walked towards it.
Not knowing what the being was going to ask of him. Not willing to risk it.
When he made a stop before the creature with the moose head, the Leshy looked at him.
"You ran away," the creature told him so, as if that was a great crime. "To greener pastures. To a time, the world was still wild."
Nikola nodded. That was no lie.
"And yet, you still managed to free yourself. Tell me, do you really believe in the deaf one?"
"He is not deaf," Nikola said, as he sat down by the nature spirit. "He gives us strength to solve our own problems."
"And how can you be so certain?" The Leshy asked him.
Nikola smiled.
"Because he is not behind us, but in us. We are his temples. And you, dear Leshy, are a friend. I will not tell you to follow someone you don't believe in. But I am never, ever, going to worship that demon again!"
The Leshy chuckled. It took out a small branch from its head and gave it to Nikola.
"Real results come from hard work. Not from shortcuts. Make something from this. He will take his bow and arrows away."
Nikola nodded. He had figured as much.
"But he can't take away the knowledge he gave you," the Leshy continued, as it took a chunk of metal from the ground next to his feet. "This is a new beginning for you. Your foe is no weakling. Why show your back to something which could destroy you in seconds?"
"Because," Nikola made a pause. Why had he done it? Why had he given up on his safety?
What had the statue on the cliff wake in him?
"Who are we, if not those who stand for good?" Nikola asked.
The Leshy chuckled.
"Good. I love me an underdog."
Nikola woke up. The branch and the iron bullion were right next to him.
His bow was gone.