Headed by a Snake

Megara tried waving to the Tree God, but it looked like he was concentrating really hard. He was even bigger than the outside of the cabin, so it was always hard to get his attention.

He held Mister King by the foot and whipped him down hard into the ground. Dust and dirt and leaves flew everywhere-- and there was a big hole in the yard.

"Bork," Blackie sighed.

"Y-yeah," Megara frowned. "It probably is too late to stop them from fighting."

"GrrrrRrrrghh..." The Tree God's whole body creaked as he rotated his body. Where his heel twisted in... there was another big hole...

BOOM! Mister King was slammed down again!

[THE ELVES.]

Boom. [ARE NOT.]

Boom. [WELCOME.]

...Boom. [IN. MY. FOREST]

Megara cupped her hands to shout, "Tree God! You're hurting him!"

[MEGARA!!!] Boom. [Good. afternoon.]

"Good afternoon!" Megara yelled back.

[Is your...] Boom. [master?]

"N-no, he's not here! He's in the Dungeon?!"

[Very... well,] The Tree God shrugged his big wooden shoulders, [I shall... deal with this... on my own.]

He spun his arm around, tossing King into the air like a toy.

Megara watched him go up high-- incredibly high... almost to the sun.

It looked like he'd be there awhile.

"Let's go to where he's gonna land, Blackie."

"Bork!"

Following her loyal Shadow Hound, she navigated to almost the other end of the pitted yard.

Then finally, BOOM! Mister King splatted face-down right in front of her.

Well-- he didn't splat like a normal person. He was still breathing and in one piece, even if he was covered in cuts and bruises.

"Um... um... Mister King," Megara folded her hands. "You... should really listen to the Tree God. He's a very nice... person? God-person? Individual?"

"Of... that..." King pushed himself up with his arms, sitting on his knees, "I am... certain. T-take cover, Miss Megara. We... are merely-- urgh... settling our differences."

"I have Blackie with me!" Megara grinned, "She'll protect me."

"Bork..."

"Who's a good girl, Blackie!! It's you! You are! And everybody loves you!"

King nodded-- but suddenly, he lurched forward, covering his mouth with his hand.

Then... he swallowed something.

He didn't look happy about it-- so Megara figured it would be rude to ask.

"Ugh..." King looked up with a troubled smile, "I'll have you... apologize to your master on my behalf."

Megara tilted her head, "Huh? For what?"

"Bork..." Blackie whined.

Megara looked back at the yard. The grass was turned up in more spots than not.

The hole in the house and the... window-widening looked particularly bad, too.

She pursed her lips... "Oh."

A sudden gust of wind passed by, whipping Megara's robes up and over her head.

...She was glad she was wearing shorts, even though it was warm.

"⌈Wind as my Blades!!⌋" King shouted somewhere in the distance. "⌈Slaughter Cross, the Pride of the Northern Stars!!⌋"

There was a big explosion, too...

By the time Megara adjusted herself, there was a third hole in the house.

...She took a deep breath in and sighed before climbing onto Blackie's back.

"Let's go, girl..."

"Bork."

...

Blackie took Megara back into the house... through where the front door used to be.

There was a weird feeling, stepping through.

It was probably because the formations that were keeping the inside bigger than the outside were having trouble keeping together. Alana was doing a great job, though-- and she wasn't even awake.

King was beating up the Tree God with his swords, slashing away with big schwing-schwing sounds.

Pieces of bark kept crumbling off... and the Tree God kept... shrinking in size? There was a sparkly, rainbow-colored slash that looked more like a Spell than a Weapon Skill.

The Tree God was launched back, breaking a couch, her desk, and... the protective formation around the armory.

"Bork," Blackie remarked.

"Don't worry about it," Megara said as she stroked the back of Blackie's neck. "Like I said, I already finished my homework-- and tomorrow's too!"

When the dust cleared... the Tree God was only about the size of Dad. His upper arms and parts of his face were plant-green and the pieces of bark looked a lot more like armor than just parts of his body.

Still... even just his chest was three times as wide as King, and judging from the look in his eyes, he was really mad.

Slowly, the Tree God clacked his hands together, "Bravo, Elf God... You've forced me to to use my ⌈Transformation⌋ Skill."

Megara had never heard anyone... *breathe* angrily before. Whatever King had done to upset him, it must have been as bad as Mister Qiv's pranks.

"Indeed," King nodded. "I recall your... Forest Warden form from long ago. It offends me."

He spun his blades around-- which was a really bad habit. He could have hurt himself!

The Tree God-- or... the Forest Warden? He bent over as if his tummy was hurting. Six green arms burst out of his back, flinging green goo everywhere (and onto the nice rug.) Then, he started grabbing some of the old weapons on the wall or snatching them up off the ground.

That... was even more dangerous than what King was doing. A lot of them either belonged to Dad or Dad's friends. A lot of the scarier ones were sealed, but most of them still had crazy-strong enchantments.

In a super-fast blur, the Forest Warden started attacking King with weapons in all eight of his arms. He even grew two more legs.

Megara glanced down at her hands and bare feet... "I wonder when I'll be able to do that..."

"Bork!" Blackie opened up a ⌈Shadow Portal⌋ to catch a big burst of flame that made Megara's skin hot for like-- a second.

"Oh!" She pointed, "Look, Blackie! That's the Fire Seal! You can tell which one it is, because it's on fire."

"Bork..."

"That's a um... a replica of the Soul Calibur-- oh, it broke. And that one! That one's the Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker."

"BORK!" Blackie opened up another three ⌈Shadow Portals,⌋ which sucked in all the lightning bolts.

"Whew... good girl, Blackie," She said as she patted down the parts of her hair that were beginning to stick up.

"Bork..."

"I'll be fine as long as I have you here!"

"Bo... bork..."

"Oh, wow! The hammer the Forest Warden is holding with two hands-- that's the Aegis-Fang!"

Megara watched in horror as the Forest Warden broke through King's guard and hit him in... a certain place.